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Phone users in border counties may receive text from UK emergency alert system this weekend

There is no reason to be alarmed, we’ve been assured.

THE UK GOVERNMENT plans to test a new emergency alert system between 3pm and 4pm on Sunday, which could be received by some people living in or visiting border counties.

The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications has said that a small number of people may get a text and audio alert on their phone but there is no reason to be alarmed and no action is needed.

A statement from the Department read:

“Mobile phone customers on mobile phone networks based in Ireland will not receive the message. However, mobile phone customers near border areas in Ireland who roam onto a UK mobile phone network during this time will receive the alert/message.”

“Recipients will hear a loud, siren-like sound and the phone will use a distinct vibration. A message will appear on the home screen of the phone until it is acknowledged.”

The UK launched its emergency message system last month and it’s intended to be used in instances of severe flooding, fires or other extreme weather events.

Phones will make a loud siren-like sound – even if they are set on silent – vibrate, and read out the alert.

Women’s Aid UK have stated that the alert system could lead abusers to find phones that their partners have been hiding from them.

A statement from the charity read:

“We are concerned about the potential safety risks to survivors who may be keeping their phones hidden from an abuser, as the alert is a loud, siren-like sound with a screen message and vibration.”

“Survivors can opt out from receiving emergency alerts to avoid their device from being detected.”

“For many survivors, a second phone which the perpetrator does not know about is an important form of communication with friends or family – as some abusers confiscate or monitor and control their partner’s phone. It may also be their only lifeline in emergencies.”

iPhone’s and Androids allow users to opt out of alerts in their settings.

The Department of Communications has said that it plans to introduce an emergency phone alert system in Ireland by the end of next year.

The new ‘Public Warning System’ would notify phone users who may be close to a possible natural disaster or terror attack.

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    Mute ponythegringo
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    Dec 9th 2012, 11:57 AM

    Best of luck to him , I will always have great respect for Hugo Chavez for trying to be a president for the common man and for sending the yank vultures and their puppets packing .

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    Mute Niall Carson
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    Dec 9th 2012, 12:20 PM

    Absolutely 100% agree with you. Any one in any doubt should google John Pilgers documentary, the war on democracy. Chavez is a man of the people that big business want to see the back of.

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    Mute JP SHERRY
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    Dec 9th 2012, 12:03 PM

    Great documentary by Oliver Stone about Chavez “South Of The Border” worth a watch, tells how the US tried and failed to bring him down. Great interviews with him and other South American leaders about their refusal to be governed by US policy, it’s an eye opener.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Dec 9th 2012, 12:42 PM

    Best wishes to him. He’s an inspiration.

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    Mute michael o'toole
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    Dec 9th 2012, 12:59 PM

    don’t know much about Chavez,
    but the fact that extreme right-wing yanks seem to hate him, makes me think he’s ok.
    anyway – hope he defeats his cancer.

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    Mute gingerman
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    Dec 9th 2012, 12:35 PM

    There is a very real possibility that his cancer was deliberately induced by the US military industrial complex in my opinion.

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    Mute Simon
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    Dec 9th 2012, 12:43 PM

    seriously? bit too much conspiracy perhaps?

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Dec 9th 2012, 12:48 PM

    Not really Simon. The CIA tired similar stuff with Fidel down the years.

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    Mute Simon
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    Dec 9th 2012, 1:31 PM

    They tried to give him cancer?

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    Mute Xadovan
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    Dec 9th 2012, 2:06 PM

    How do you give somebody cancer?

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    Mute Simon
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    Dec 9th 2012, 2:32 PM

    Exactly..

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    Mute Simon
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    Dec 9th 2012, 3:11 PM

    I can selectively quote parts of a random article from the internet too, first line under the heading… “Can you give someone cancer? If they’re healthy probably not”.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Dec 9th 2012, 3:39 PM

    You want me to copy and paste entire articles here?

    The point – and it’s embarrassingly obvious – is that while nobody knows whether his cancer was deliberately induced, it’s a possibility and a reasonable suspicion given the various ways the US tried to murder Fidel Castro down the years.

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    Mute Simon
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    Dec 9th 2012, 4:19 PM

    ha you quoted one part of an article to suit your own agenda! The US are capable of most things, so if they wanted rid of him I’m sure they could find a more effective way then giving him cancer, which your article goes onto say is a highly unreliable way of assassinting someone.

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    Mute Kevin Higgins
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    Dec 9th 2012, 5:21 PM

    It’s highly unreliable yea but very discrete , I know it’s what I’d do it can’t be traced

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Dec 9th 2012, 5:30 PM

    A dose of radiation sufficient to appreciably increase cancer risk would undoubtably cause acute radiation sickness (about 3 to 5 sieverts).

    Then, if the exposed person survives radiation sickness, there would be a ~10 year latency period before there’s an increased risk of Leukaemia, then if they don’t get Leukaemia, another 10 to 20 years would pass before there’s an increasing chance of solid cancers.

    The maximum increase chance of cancer from radiation is ~40%, the risks are not higher as the exposed person would more likely die from radiation sickness at higher doses, they wouldn’t survive to get cancer years later.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Dec 9th 2012, 6:17 PM

    Do you have a source for that, David?

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Dec 9th 2012, 7:09 PM

    Studies of the Mortality of Atomic Bomb Survivors, Report 14, 1950–2003: An Overview of Cancer and Noncancer Diseases

    The Japanese Life Span study is the gold standard, 130,000 atomic bombing survivors monitored since the mid-1950s, since Japanese doctors started to notice increased cases of leukaemia.

    The Excess Relative Risk per Gray (roughly the same as a Sievert) is 0.42, since the baseline cancer rate is ~30%, this gives a cancer rate of 42.6% for 1 Gray dose.

    For an additional increase of 40% (30+40%)= 70% cancer rate, the radiation dose would need to be massive, undoubtably accompanied with severe radiation sickness.

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    Mute Tara Tevlin
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    Dec 9th 2012, 3:21 PM

    Where is that’s documentary pls love to see it

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    Mute Paul Mallon
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    Dec 10th 2012, 8:35 AM

    Here’s a great one filmed by two Irish reporters, they were in the Chavezs’ office when the coup happened. They stayed behind, when Chavez and his ministers fled; they said they wanted to film the revolution happening. They got both sides from the inside, it’s a real eye opener, an excellent documentry:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZajyVas4Jg

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    Mute hill16bhoy
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    Dec 9th 2012, 10:52 PM

    Venezuela has one of the most democratic systems in the world.

    Here’s what former US President Jimmy Carter of the Nobel Prize-winning election monitoring Carter Center had to say about it:

    “Of the 92 elections that we’ve monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world.”

    All Venezuelan expatriates get a vote. Those people are likely to vote for the opponents of Chavez, yet he still gives them the vote.

    The people of Venezuela keep voting for Chavez, because he is of them.

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    Mute Brian
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    Dec 9th 2012, 6:52 PM

    It’s amazing that just because Chavez has stood up to the United States people make him out to some kind of hero. He presides over a massively corrupt country, which usually happens when one man resides in power way beyond what is healthy for any supposedly democratic country.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Dec 9th 2012, 6:54 PM

    He keeps getting elected. Pesky democracy!

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    Mute Brian
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    Dec 9th 2012, 7:34 PM

    Because he has made it easier and easier for him to get elected. Himself and Putin have a lot in common.

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    Mute Paul Breen
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    Dec 10th 2012, 6:04 PM

    At least he’s not owned and operated by Goldman Sachs, like BOTH of the selected candidates in the USA’s farcical overture to democracy.

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    Mute Xadovan
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    Dec 9th 2012, 4:24 PM

    That article doesn’t even back you up. Anybody that knows anything about cancer knows you can’t give somebody cancer.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Dec 9th 2012, 5:05 PM

    Are you pretending to be dim or does it come naturally. Read. The. Comments. Again… S l o w l y !

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    Mute Kevin Higgins
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    Dec 9th 2012, 5:22 PM

    I agree its unlikely but to rule if out is daft , best way to kill someone is to make it look like an accident.

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    Mute Xadovan
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    Dec 9th 2012, 6:02 PM

    Petr no need to get upset because you were wrong

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Dec 9th 2012, 6:15 PM

    Exactly, Kevin. Quite a simple point to grasp really.

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    Mute gingerman
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    Dec 9th 2012, 8:02 PM

    A large dose of dioxins will induce cancer in most people. There are many carcinogenic compounds that can be administered covertly in food. It’s not science fiction

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Dec 10th 2012, 2:23 AM

    No, the amount of Dioxin required to greatly increase cancer risk would cause obvious symptoms – Chloracne. Just look at what happened to Viktor ‘s Yushchenko’s face after he was poisoned by Dioxin.

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    Mute padraig
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    Dec 9th 2012, 10:09 PM

    Caracas is one of the most dangerous places on earth. I suspect Damascus would be safer. Roaring inflation and shortages makes his rule not much of a success. It would be possible to have clinics in slums areas without wrecking the economy. He or his heir won’t be able to buy support for much longer.

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    Mute Paul Breen
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    Dec 10th 2012, 6:02 PM

    I wish Mr Chavez all the best and I admire what he has done for working people in his country and the region. For too long the United States have treated South America as their own private plantation.

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