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OB OY Le VEN? IRRADIATED PET FOOD LINKED TO CAT DEATHS he Canadian manufacturer at the centre of a local pet food scare caused by paralysis in more than 40 cats has placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Australian government. Champion Petfoods, of Alberta, said it was pulling out of the Australian market after independent tests from a US laboratory on its Orijen brand of cat food showed that dangerous levels of irradiation mandated by the Australian government appeared to be to blame for the outbreak of serious illness among Australian cats. Citing a US study last year which found that levels between 36 and 47 kilograys (kGy) of cobalt-60 gamma rays were linked to neurological symptoms similar to those found in the affected Australian cats, the pet food company said the minimum level of 50 kGy demanded by the Australian government for the imported product was clearly excessive and had possibly led to a serious depletion of vitamin A. The only human foods approved for irradiation in Australia are imported production and use of cluster bombs. > a In a world that is plagued by war, military occupation and terrorism, the involvement of the great military powers in signing and ratifying the agreement would have signalled, if even symbolically, the willingness of these countries to spare civilians! unjustifiable deaths and the lasting scars of war. Nonetheless, the incessant activism of many conscientious individuals and organisations came to fruition in December 2008 when 93 countries signed a treaty in Oslo, Norway, that bans the weapon, which has killed and maimed tens of thousands of civilians across the globe. The accord will go into effect once it is ratified by 30 countries. There is little doubt that the treaty will be ratified; in fact, many are eager to be a member of the elite group of thirty. Unfortunately, albeit unsurprisingly, the US, Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan—a group that includes the biggest makers and users of the cluster bomb weapons—neither attended negotiations nor showed any interest in signing the agreement. (Source: Ramzy Baroud, Global Research, Canada, 13 December 2008, http://tinyurl.com/89wjhj) AVA herbs and spices, irradiated at 10 to 30 kGy, and tropical fruit, irradiated at no more than | kGy. (Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 28 November 2008, http://tinyurl. com/8upb2s) SUPERPOWERS REFUSE TO SIGN TREATY ON CLUSTER BOMBS Ihe United States, Russia and China are sending a terrible message to the rest of the world by refusing to take part in the historic signing of a treaty that bans the DAD, THROUGH ABSCLUTELT No ‘FAULT oF MT own ZI AM Atmest iSSoLVENT AND, sirvcé IT AM A VITAL a CORN ERSTe-E oF THS —_=—. FAMILYS Econ ony, T : HAVE Flow/ HERE’ | | l c= TOORY T? SEERA W/E 7 6Eenehous qi 4xJ Fiscal NH STIMULLS, ES <2 So mervviffe HIDDEN FLOODS BENEATH ANTARCTICA SPEED UP GLACIER SLIDE Ama glaciers have a secret controller: a network of lakes beneath the ice that accelerates their flow during hidden floods. Recent satellite observations have shown ice sheets appearing to "breathe" up and down in some regions—a motion shown to be linked to the ebb and flow of a network of ice rivers and lakes deep below the ice. Now Leigh Stearns of the Leigh Stearns of the 6 ¢ NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com FEBRUARY — MARCH 2009