Many of us have certain mental images that spring to mind when thinking of the effects of radioactive contamination: mutated animals, children with deformities and birth defects, for example.

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That data has some investors thinking that stocks may be able to avoid the kind of spring slump that has bedeviled the market in recent years.

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As Lyndon Johnson escalated America's involvement in Vietnam in spring 1965, he was already thinking about how any sign of "weakness" would benefit Richard Nixon, who was starting to publicly criticize LBJ for not doing enough to achieve victory.

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