MSM: Plan to Aid 9/11 Victims Is Rejected in House

(NYDaily) – House Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic plan to provide billions of dollars for medical treatment to rescue workers and residents of New York City who suffered illnesses from the toxic dust and debris at ground zero.

A majority of the lawmakers in the chamber supported the bill, but the 255-to-159 vote fell short of the two-thirds margin needed under special rules that were used to bring the measure to the floor. In the end, 243 Democrats and 12 Republicans supported the measure; 155 Republicans and 4 Democrats opposed it.

Democrats used rules requiring a wider majority for approval to prevent Republicans from offering amendments on the floor that would embarrass Democrats in an election year.

Republican opponents of the legislation expressed concern over the $7.4 billion cost of the program. But Democrats accused Republicans of being callous and vowed to bring the bill back for another vote in the fall. Full article here

See Also: (CSPAN) – Video: Rep. Anthony Weiner On the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act

Rep. Anthony Weiner spoke on the House floor tonight in support of H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which was blocked from passage by House Republicans. Rep. Weiner addresses some of the false arguments Republicans were using in their opposition to the bill. The vote was 255 to 159 in support of the bill, short of the 2/3 needed for passage; 155 Republicans voted against the legislation, which provides medical monitoring and treatment to World Trade Center responders and survivors who were exposed to the toxins at Ground Zero.

9/11 Rescue Workers Suffered Severe, Permanent Lung Function Losses

(Medscape) – Study Summary

The emergency rescue workers who responded to the terror attacks and collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, were exposed to a dense cloud of pulverized building materials and products of the combustion. Many of the first responders were rescue workers from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and the emergency medical service (EMS). For most of these workers (10,870 from FDNY and 1911 EMS workers), records of routine lung function tests that predated 9/11 were available. Therefore, it was possible to accurately determine the acute effects of the exposure that occurred after the attack.

Economy

(GoldScents) – GOLD BUBBLE? WHAT BUBBLE? – Read More Here

(IsraelFinancialExpert) – Special Report- The Secret Engine Behind China’s Housing Bubble- The Ponzi Shark Loan Finance

It is clear that artificially low interest rates and massive money printing by the government is fueling this bubble. But few know about the engine behind the monuments bubble- A giant shark loan ponzi scheme. Read More Here

(NYTimes) – That ’30s Feeling – Paul Krugman

Suddenly, creating jobs is out, inflicting pain is in. Condemning deficits and refusing to help a still-struggling economy has become the new fashion everywhere, including the United States, where 52 senators voted against extending aid to the unemployed despite the highest rate of long-term joblessness since the 1930s. Read More Here

(STLToday) – Fannie and Freddie tab is $146B and rising – Read More Here

(USAToday) – Bank failure is 83rd in ’10; pace more than double last year’s – Read More Here

(Boston) – May foreclosures in state double – Read More Here

(StarAdvertiser) – 4,171 on Oahu have no homes – Read More Here

(NEB) – Slide in shipping shows global recovery running out of steam – Read More Here

(VoiceOfSanDiego) – Foreclosures Still Piling Up – Read More Here

(ZanesvilleTimes) – Act would be disastrous in light of our country’s economic situation – Read More Here

REPOST – (RussiaToday) – Video: The Economic Crisis – “Major Currencies Can Simply Collapse”

Michel Chossudovsky says that the financial crisis is not over as President Barack Obama has hinted. Read More Here

REPOST – (WSWS) – Nearly One Million US Workers Cut Off Unemployment Benefits

With 12 Democrats joining a unanimous Republican bloc, the US Senate voted Wednesday to defeat a proposed extension of unemployment benefits for workers who have been jobless for nearly two years. The bill would have extended unemployment benefits for those out of work more than six months, until November 30. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – What do BP and the Banks Have In Common? The Era of Corporate Anarchy

On the occasion of the BP oil spill disaster, President Obama’s delivered an Oval Office speech last night—a masterpiece of milquetoast faux-outrage. The speech was all about “clean energy” and “ending our dependence on fossil fuels”. Faced with the BP oil spill—likely the most severe environmental disaster ever—this was President Obama’s response: Polite outrage, and vague plans to “get tough”, “set aside just compensation” and “do something”.

President Obama missed what the BP oil spill disaster is really about. Though unquestionably an environmental disaster, the BP oil spill is much much more. Read More Here

Layoffs

Amylin Pharmaceuticals – 60
Horizon Air – 120
AT&T Wisconsin – 125
Nexteer Michigan – Layoffs Likely

Huntsville Constellation Contractors – Hundreds of Layoffs Next Week
3 Catholic Schools in NJ – 38
Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department – Layoffs / Furloughs
Northrop Grumman Corp Amherst Systems Division – 74
Wayne County Detroit – 700 Temporary layoffs this summer

Missouri  – 250
Update: Wayne-Westland school – 32
Jones Day Law Firm – 32
Merck ( France ) – About 800
Prudential Retirement – 60 : 30 in Hartford and 30 in Scranton PA
Morris Township NJ – up to 20
Richland County Ohio – 7
AOL – More Layoffs Possible?
American Municipal Power Inc – Job Cuts to start soon at Marietta Plant
Adams 12 Five Star Schools Colorado – 188
Fresno Unified School District – Job Cuts or Furloughs
City of Marengo IL – Considering 3 Layoffs
Dot Hill Systems – 10% of Global Workforce
Abbott Laboratories – 101
EastLink ( International ) – 33
McClelland & Stewart – Several Layoffs this week
Albert Einstein Healthcare Network PA – 48
City West Palm – 6
Detroit’s EMS – Warns of 36+ Layoffs Possible
US Cellular Tulsa Center – 160

Source: The Coming Depression

Video: B.P. Suppressing Evidence – Riki Ott Amazing Interview!

(MSNBC) – Keith Olbermann

MSM: Obama Wants Supreme Court to Rule on Arizona Law

(WPost) – The Obama administration on Friday urged the Supreme Court to review and set aside an Arizona law that sanctions employers who hire illegal immigrants, saying it would disrupt the “careful balance” that Congress struck in federal immigration law.

The act in question is not the strict new Arizona law that President Obama and other members of his administration have criticized. That measure authorizes police to question the immigration status anyone who appears to be in the country illegally.

The law being challenged, the Legal Arizona Workers Act, imposes tougher sanctions than federal law for hiring illegal workers. If the court chooses to hear the case, its ruling could show how receptive the justices would be to arguments that enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility that cannot be usurped by the states. Read entire article

Coca-Cola’s murderous record of anti-union activity in Colombia exposed

(NaturalNews) – Coca-Cola: to many, it is simply the all-American cola that everyone grew up drinking. Originally created in the late 1800s as a medicine, Coca-Cola eventually evolved into one of the world’s most popular soft drinks. Besides being a very unhealthy beverage, Coca-Cola has another dirty secret for which few people are aware; the Coca-Cola Company has been involved in a series of kidnappings involving union leaders and organizers at its Colombia bottling facilities. Many of those kidnapped have been severely tortured and even murdered by company thugs.

As shocking and unbelievable as all of this sounds, there is a trail of documented evidence against Coca-Cola for its crimes against union officials. In fact, back in 2001, the United Steelworkers of America and the International Labor Rights Fund, filed a joint lawsuit on behalf of SINALTRAINAL to address the problems in Colombia.

Video: Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe

(SundayTimes) – MAY DAY protests in Greece turned violent yesterday as youths in gas masks and hoods set fire to vehicles, smashed shop fronts and threw molotov cocktails and rocks at police in an explosion of fury over austerity measures they claim will hurt only the poor.

Tourists were cut off from their hotels as thousands of communists, civil servants and private-sector workers converged on a main square in Athens to vent their rage at the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

MSM: Louisiana rig explosion – millions of gallons of oil spill into Gulf of Mexico

(Telegraph) – A blazing oil rig has collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico, sparking fears of an environmental disaster two days after a massive blast that left 11 workers missing.

A national disgrace: Neglect of Ground Zero workers is a scandal and a shame

(NYDailyNews) – The latest scientifically established facts about the harms suffered by 9/11 rescue and recovery workers scream out for action.

A study of 13,000 firefighters and Emergency Medical Service workers revealed in 2006 that about one-fifth had lost the equivalent of 12 years worth of lung functioning.

MSM: The image Microsoft doesn’t want you to see – Too tired to stay awake, the Chinese workers earning just 34p an hour

(DailyMail) – Showing Chinese sweatshop workers slumped over their desks with exhaustion, it is an image that Microsoft won’t want the world to see.

Employed for gruelling 15-hour shifts, in appalling conditions and 86f heat, many fall asleep on their stations during their meagre ten-minute breaks.

Hating the government finally goes mainstream

(WashingtonExaminer) – Three years ago, the Republican establishment piled scorn on the presidential candidacy of Ron Paul.

Today, he is in a statistical tie with President Obama in 2012 polling. His son, an ophthalmologist who has never run for elective office, is well ahead of not only the GOP’s handpicked candidate for Senate in Kentucky but also both Democratic contenders — all statewide officeholders.

What happened? Did America suddenly develop an insatiable appetite for 74-year-old, cranky congressmen from Texas? Is the gold standard catching on?

Philippines: Arrests, Torture and the Presidential Election – James Petras

(GlobalResearch) – The run-up to presidential elections is a time of heightened state-sponsored repression as Asia’s foremost ‘death squad democracy’ wages war on its progressive rural medical workers.

The notoriously violent and corrupt elections in the Philippines stand in sharp contrast with those in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Malaysia, where the ruling elites have secured their hegemony via economic prosperity, rising salaries, increased employment and extensive social services for their citizens. In these countries, the elite can abide by the results of a relatively ‘open’ election, whereas in the Philippines, any challenge to the closed, family-based ruling class is met with relentless terror.

Video: TSA Letter Confirms Naked Body Scanners Transmit Images

(KurtNimmo) – Earlier this year, as the government began to roll out in force its dangerous and intrusive naked body scanners at airports around the country, we were told the machines are unable to save images. For instance, the claim is made in the Associated Press report below.

Family-farm advocates call for U.S. to ‘bust up big ag’

(MinnesotaIndependent) – Whether they realized it or not, the roughly 250 family farmers, workers and consumers gathered in Ankeny, Iowa, Thursday night fired off their own point-by-point response to a letter from two Republican senators that urged the U.S. departments of agriculture and justice to maintain the existing status quo in the agriculture industry.

Video: Ron Paul on the Totalitarian ID Card

(Fox) – The US House of Representatives passed a spending bill last week that contains provisions establishing a national ID card, and the Senate is poised to approve the measure in the next few days. This week marks the American public’s last chance to convince their Senators they don’t want to live in a nation that demands papers from its citizens as they go about their lives.

MSM: ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration Plan

(WSJ) – Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.

Economy

(BusinessInsider) – 70% Of The Elderly Aren’t Retiring Because They Can’t Afford To Anymore

A new survey from Career Builder exposes what will be an increasingly common trend as America ages demographically — older workers are being forced to keep working and postpone retirement for financial reasons. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Greece Just Passed Another $6.6 Billion Cut, Now Let’s See How Its People React

Greece is almost over the bailout finish line! Read More Here

(Prospect) – The Plight of American Manufacturing

Since 2001, the U.S. has lost 42,400 factories — and its technical edge. Read More Here

(JSMineSet) – The Skinny On Greece And What It Means To Gold

Greece will fail and be rescued is all that is discussed in the financial world. Here is the real skinny: Read More Here

(MarketOracle) – Nine Shocking Forecasts for Stocks, Gold, Economy and Financial Markets for 2010-2012

We have just ended an online video conference to brief investors on major events that could forever change your future.

We made nine new predictions to pinpoint, as accurately as possible, how and when that future is likely to unfold. Read More Here

(ABCNews) – Economists: Another Financial Crisis on the Way

Even as many Americans still struggle to recover from the country’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, another crisis – one that will be even worse than the current one – is looming, according to a new report from a group of leading economists, financiers, and former federal regulators. Read More Here

(RussiaToday) – Video: Tent City In NY – View Video Here

(USAToday) – New ghost towns: Industrial communities teeter on the edge

When Henry Kaiser arrived 55 years ago, this place was no place — “a rural problem area,” the government called it, so poor and isolated that the population had dropped 15% since 1940. Read More Here

(SafeHaven) – Dont Bet on a Recovery – Peter Schiff

It is astounding how many economists, government officials, and Wall Street strategists construe the current economic conditions as evidence of a bona fide recovery. It is a testament to the power of the rose colored glasses handed out by our nation’s leading universities that such a feeling could be widely held despite the clear and present danger that compounds daily. The myopia leads us to enact policies that actually exacerbate our problems. The “remedies” are postponing, perhaps indefinitely, a true recovery. Read More Here

(DotEarth) – Fuel Taxes Must Rise, Harvard Researchers Say

To meet the Obama administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, some researchers say, Americans may have to experience a sobering reality: gas at $7 a gallon. Read More Here

(CanadaFreePress) – Citibank needs seven days?

Late last week, a slight furor arose when it became public knowledge that Citibank sent the following notice to customers:
“Effective April 1, 2010, we reserve the right to require seven (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking accounts. While we do not currently exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past, we are required by law to notify you of this change.” Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Looming Crisis: America’s Credit Card Debt Bubble-Burst

If you are one of the millions of Americans locked into long term debt service, your road to debt serfdom was likely paved by a mortgage, home equity loan, credit cards, or a combination of all three. Read More Here

MSM: Apple admits child labour was used to build iPods and iPhones in Chinese factories

(DailyMail) – Technology giant Apple has admitted that child labour has been employed at some of the factories that build its iPods, computers and mobile phones.

Video: Life’s Easy For Government Workers – Andrew Napolitano & Peter Schiff

(Fox) – Freedom Watch – February 24, 2010

See Also: Ron Paul on Freedom Watch – Winning the Hearts and Votes of Conservatives –

Economy

(Reuters) – Nearly 20% of US Workers Underemployed in Jan

Nearly 20 percent of the U.S. workforce lacked adequate employment in January and struggled to make ends meet with reduced resources and bleak job prospects, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday. Read More Here

(Reuters) – Regulators report 27 percent jump in problem banks

The number of “problem” U.S. banks jumped 27 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009 to 702, the highest level since 1993 and a sign the industry’s recovery is still shaky, regulators reported on Tuesday. Read More Here

(Reuters) – US Jan mass layoffs edge up on weak manufacturing

The number of mass layoffs by U.S. employers edged up in January as manufacturers stepped up job cuts, data showed on Tuesday, but probably not enough to alter views that the economy is on the brink of creating jobs. Read More Here

(AP) – Report: States’ tax collections fall again

States again saw sharp declines in tax collections in the last quarter of 2009 — a record fifth straight quarterly drop, according to a new report that predicts more looming spending cuts or tax increases. Read More Here

(TheComingDepression) – Mainstreet in the gutter while wallstreet post 17% bonuses in 2009

Bonuses on Wall Street rose 17 percent last year to $20.3 billion even as the industry faced a public backlash over pay practices. Read More Here

(Telegraph) – Concerns grow over China’s sale of US bonds

Evidence is mounting that Chinese sales of US Treasury bonds over recent months are intended as a warning shot to Washington over escalating political disputes rather than being part of a routine portfolio shift as thought at first. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Secret AIG Document Shows Goldman Sachs Minted Most Toxic CDOs

When a congressional panel convened a hearing on the government rescue of American International Group Inc. in January, the public scolding of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner got the most attention. Read More Here

(Aljazeera) – Spain engulfed by pension protests

Spain’s debt-laden Socialist government has witnessed the first mass protests by unions in its six years in power as anger over a plan to raise the retirement age spilled onto the streets. Read More Here

(247WallSt) – Underwater Mortgages Hit 11.3 Million

There is a reason that 702 American banks, nearly one in ten, were on the FDIC “problem list” as of the end of 2009. A large number of small and mid-sized banks are burdened with home and commercial mortgages that are in default and may even go into foreclosure. Read More Here

(VancouverSun) – U.S. economy is a shambles, with no improvement in sight

President Obama’s claim that a second depression isn’t possible doesn’t square with the relevant numbers Read More Here

(ZeroHedge) – FDIC Hits Record “Default” Level As Deposit Insurance Fund Plunges By $12.7 Billion To NEGATIVE 20.9 Billion

The U.S. banking industry continued to struggle in the fourth quarter, as the number of banks on the brink of failure continued to rise and the government’s fund to protect deposits fell sharply into the red. Read More Here

(EconomicPolicyJournal) – Where Did the Links Go That Point to the Government Forcing Your 401k and IRA Money into Treasury Securities?

Forget about hedging inside your 401k and IRA against inflation. Sooner than you think, you will not be allowed to own gold ETF’s, gold mining stocks or gold related mutual funds in your 401k or IRA. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Greek Police, Protesters Clash in Nationwide Strike (Update2)

Greek police fired tear-gas and clashed with demonstrators in central Athens after a march organized by unions to oppose Prime Minister George Papandreou’s drive to cut the European Union’s biggest budget deficit. Read More Here

(ChimpPlanet) – Trillions for War And None For The American People

In 2001, George W. Bush attempted to destroy Social Security by turning the people’s money over to Wall Street. Then, 9/11 happened and Social Security was saved for the time being. Read More Here

(WashingtonsBlog) – Foundation for the Study of Cycles: Gold to $2,000 By Late 2011, While Dollar and Stocks will Sink

I’m agnostic about different cycle systems, but – for what it’s worth – the Foundation for the Study of Cycles is predicting: Read More Here

(ZeroHedge) – The $100 Trillion Problem: Can America Learn From Chile Before It’s Too Late?

Jose Pinera provides an Entitlement State 101 lecture, in which Chile’s former Labor and Social Security Minister demystifies the U.S.’s $100 trillion unfunded benefits problem. Since Pinera is the man who many years ago privatized Chile’s entitlement system, America, and the entire Western system, which for the past century has been relying on unfunded liabilities to provide benefits to the population in the hopes that funding day will never come, may do well to listen to what he has to say. Read More Here

Crisis in California – Everything Touched by Capital Turns Toxic

California dreaming turns to California nightmare as decades of agribusiness, real estate development and exploitation of migrant workers take their toxic toll. Gifford Hartman takes us on a guided tour of the Golden State’s darkside
I should be very much pleased if you could find me something good (meaty) on economic conditions in California […]. California is very important for me because nowhere else has the upheaval most shamelessly caused by capitalist centralization taken place with such speed. – Letter from Karl Marx to Friedrich Sorge, 1880
Read More Here

MSM: Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly to 480,000

(Fox) – The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, evidence that layoffs are continuing and jobs remain scarce.

Wages growth lowest in 27 years; minimum wages are bad?

(ComingDepression) – The Labor Department said Friday that wages and benefits rose by 0.5 percent in the three months ending in December. For the entire year, wages and benefits were up 1.5 percent, the weakest showing on records that go back to 1982.

Video: Democratic Education – Left-Libertarian

Video: The Disposable Worker

(BusinessWeek) – On a recent Tuesday morning, single mom Tammy DePew Smith woke up in her tidy Florida townhouse in time to shuttle her oldest daughter, a high school freshman, to the 6:11 a.m. bus. At 6:40 she was at the desk in her bedroom, starting her first shift of the day with LiveOps, a Santa Clara (Calif.) provider of call-center workers for everyone from Eastman Kodak (EK) and Pizza Hut (YUM) to infomercial behemoth Tristar Products. She’s paid by the minute—25 cents—but only for the time she’s actually on the phone with customers.

MSM: Millions face new pay freeze in 2010

(Times) – Millions of people face a second year of pay freezes or salary cuts next year, dashing hopes that the end of the recession will ease the squeeze on family budgets.

MSM: Poll reveals depth and trauma of joblessness

(MSNBC) – More than half of the nation’s unemployed workers have borrowed money from friends or relatives since losing their jobs. An equal number have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments because they are out of work.

Barack Obama: Manchurian Candidate Version 2.0

(OpEdNews) – I once wrote an article about former President George W. Bush saying that he was a perfect Manchurian candidate. That is, if his missing year when he was supposed to have been flying fighter jets with the Texas Air National Guard was actually spent in the former Soviet Union being reprogrammed as a covert KGB agent whose job it was to go back to America, win election to the White House, and proceed to destroy the US, he couldn’t have done a better job than he actually did.

Special report: Silicon Sweatshops

(GlobalPost) – Despite strict “codes of conduct,” labor rights violations are the norm at factories making the world’s favorite high-tech gadgets.

MSM: The worst is yet to come: Unemployed Americans should hunker down for more job losses

(NYDaily) – Think the worst is over? Wrong. Conditions in the U.S. labor markets are awful and worsening. While the official unemployment rate is already 10.2% and another 200,000 jobs were lost in October, when you include discouraged workers and partially employed workers the figure is a whopping 17.5%.

Job Losses Demystified – Peter Schiff

As the unemployment rate crossed the double digit barrier for the first time since Michael Jackson learned to moonwalk, President Obama announced that he will convene a “jobs summit” to finally bring the problem under control. Using all the analytic skill that his administration can muster, the President is determined to figure out why so many people are losing their jobs and then formulate a solution.

MSM: 9/11’s delayed legacy – cancer for many of the rescue workers

(Guardian) – A spate of recent deaths of New York police and fire officers who took part in the emergency operation at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks has heightened fears that it could be the start of a delayed epidemic of cancer-related illness.

Video: Max Keiser on GM – US predators sacrifice workers as lambs

(RussiaToday) – The United States does not value jobs and trade unions; General Motors cut ten thousand jobs across Europe at its Opel unit in favour of Christmas bonuses. That’s the view of Max Keiser, finance critic and former stockbroker. He commented to RT on GM abandoning plans to sell Opel to a consortium of Canadian firm Magna and Russia’s Sberbank.

Pensions: the Next Casualty of Wall Street

Nobody wants to admit it, but the next casualty of the Wall Street meltdown will probably be your golden years. For years corporations have been trying to choke the life out of traditional pensions, working hard to get out from under the risk—and the cost—of providing for their retirees. Between last year’s credit crunch and changes to federal pension laws, they may get their wish.

California Hospitals Urge Nurses Union to Stop H1N1 “Scare Tactics”

The California Hospital Association (CHA) is engaged with hospitals and state and local public health officials in a voluntary statewide effort to ensure that all hospital workers — including registered nurses — are vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus.

Made In China – Importing America To Its Own Death

During the Bolshevik Revolution that led to communist Russia, Comrade Vladimir Lenin said, “Sell the capitalists enough rope and they will hang themselves!”
Nearly 100 years later, Lenin’s predictions reveal his veracity with chilling fruition. The United States bleeds $11 trillion in debt. It suffers a $700 billion annual trade deficit, mostly with China, which by the way thrives as a communist nation selling us lots of ‘rope’, i.e., consumer goods. We import another $700 billion in oil annually from other countries. We borrow $2 billion daily to float our sinking economy. The average American’s credit card debt equals $9,425.00 according to NBC’s Brian Williams. We suffer 15 million unemployed American workers and 35 million subsisting on food stamps.

Barney Frank and the Planet of the Banks – Ralph Nader

What planet is Congressman Barney Frank on, anyway? It is the planet of the banks and other financial firms that keep his campaign coffers humming, as their chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Letter from South Africa – Cynthia McKinney

Hello, as promised, I’ll give you a brief report from my visit to Cape Town, South Africa.

Judge says New York workers must get flu shots

A New York judge denied a request Wednesday for a temporary restraining order barring the state from mandating flu vaccines for health care workers but left open that possibility pending another hearing on the matter next week.

MSM: U.S. health worker vaccine fears mirror public doubt

(Reuters) – Hospital and other healthcare workers are at the front of the line to get the new swine flu vaccine, but many are resisting and even fighting vaccination requirements.