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EMFacts Blog

    • 14 SEP 16

    Woman claims severe health problems are caused by wi-fi but Rodney Croft disagrees

    From ABC News, Sept 12, 2016:

    Excerpt

    Woman claims severe health problems are caused by wi-fi but international studies find no link

    Leonie Southern says she can no longer live anywhere near sources of wi-fi transmissions because of severe health effects she attributes to a condition known as electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS).

    The condition is so distressing she and her husband have moved from their home in Bermagui on the NSW far south coast to a farm further inland, to get away from any wi-fi reception.

    However, extensive international research studies have found no evidence the condition is caused by electromagnetic waves such as wi-fi. SNIP……

    Professor Rodney Croft, director of the Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research, said the symptoms experienced by sufferers of EHS were recognised as genuine, but the cause was something other than exposure to wi-fi.

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    • 08 SEP 16

    Australia one step closer to smart city standard

    Back in July 18 I posted “Standards Australia/ENA plan to mandate smart meters nationally”

    Now, as a directly related development, Australia is in line for an “interoperability standard” for the Internet of Things (Iot) in the so-called “smart city” by creating “a platform to facilitate cutting edge technology solutions to be applied to urban problems”.

    Although not mentioned in the article below, a ubiquitous smart meter mandating-by-stealth is a necessary feature of the smart city concept……SNIP

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    • 07 SEP 16

    Cell Phone Radiation Breaks DNA: Latest NTP Findings Are Consistent with Higher Tumor Counts

    From Microwave News Excerpt In May, the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) announced that male rats exposed to cell phone radiation developed higher rates of cancer. Soon, the NTP will explain how that might have happened. The same radiation that led male rats to develop brain tumors also caused DNA breaks in their brains. Female

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    • 04 SEP 16

    Fracking and earthquakes in Oklahoma

    Oklahoma earthquake: State orders shutdown of 35 wells

    Five months before Saturday’s 5.6 magnitude temblor in central Oklahoma, government scientists warned that oil and natural gas drilling had made a wide swath of the country more susceptible to earthquakes.

    The U.S. Geological Survey, in a March report on “induced earthquakes,” said as many as 7.9 million people in parts of Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas now face the same earthquake risks as those in California.

    The report found that oil and gas drilling activity, particularly practices like hydraulic fracturing or fracking, is at issue.
    SNIP

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    • 30 AUG 16

    News Flash: Political opposition to Fracking galvanizes in Australia

    From the ABC online

    Excerpts:
    VICTORIA
    The Victorian Government is introducing legislation to permanently ban exploration and development of unconventional gas in the state, including coal seam gas and fracking.
    Key points:

    Legislation will permanently ban development, production of all unconventional gas in Victoria
    Moratorium on conventional gas extraction to be extended until 2020
    Government says ban will protect Victoria’s agriculture sector

    The legislation – the first of its kind in Australia – will be introduced into State Parliament later this year…..SNIP

    AND from ABC Rural, August 29, 2016:

    THE NORTHERN TERRITORY
    Landslide victory for NT Labor brings moratorium on fracking, water license review ……SNIP

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    • 28 AUG 16

    Lo And Behold: Reveries of the Connected World

    Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World is a 2016 documentary directed by Werner Herzog. In it, Herzog ponders the existential impact of the Internet, robotics, AI, the Internet of Things, and more on human life.The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival,and was sponsored by the company NetScout. The film contains interviews with Bob Kahn, Elon Musk, Sebastian Thrun, and other leaders of the technology world. SNIP

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    • 24 AUG 16

    EUROPAEM EMF Guideline 2016 for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and illnesses

    The EUROPAEM EMF Guideline 2016 was written by the EUROPAEM EMF- WORKING GROUP and adopted by the EUROPAEM Board on 9 August 2016. The EUROPAEM EMF Guideline 2016 represents the current state of medical science.
    Intention and core content of the EUROPAEM EMF Guideline 2016….. Rev Environ Health 2016

    Abstract

    Chronic diseases and illnesses associated with non-specific symptoms are on the rise. In addition to chronic stress in social and work environments, physical and chemical exposures at home, at work, and during leisure activities are causal or contributing environmental stressors that deserve attention by the general practitioner as well as by all other members of the health care community. It seems necessary now to take “new exposures” like electromagnetic fields (EMF) into account. SNIP

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    • 23 AUG 16

    British bar installs Faraday cage to block phone signals / Cafe Thrives Without WiFi

    From www.thegeek.com

    By Matthew Humphries Aug. 3, 2016

    t’s becoming increasingly difficult to disconnect. The smartphone we all carry will usually find a signal, be it 3G, 4G, or WiFi meaning you’re always connected and able to receive messages, chat, or surf the web in your own insular bubble. Getting away from that is tough and most of us wouldn’t want to anyway, but one British bar is forcing the disconnect on its patrons.

    The Gin Tub cocktail bar in Hove is owned by Steve Tyler and he dislikes what the smartphone has done to social gatherings. So he decided to do something about it in his own bar by installing a Faraday cage that blocks all phone signals. The Gin Tub is a dead zone.
    SNIP

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    • 19 AUG 16

    Canadian Safety Code 6 inadequacies highlighted in new report

    Excerpt

    Report of the Standing Committee on Health

    HESA 2015 Recommendations on Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation and the Health of Canadians
    On Tuesday June 9th, 2015 the Standing Committee on Health, whose mandate is to study and report on all matters relating to the mandate, management, and operation of Health Canada, unanimously adopted the final report into their study of Health Canada’s Safety Code 6. During three full days of hearings spread over two months, the ten MP member panel heard from both sides of the issue including leading scientists and doctors from around the world, Health Canada and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. (Full testimony and recaps can be found further down on this page)
    SNIP

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    • 11 AUG 16

    Do mobile phones give you brain cancer?

    From Dariusz Leszczynski in the Conversation UK:

    Excerpts:

    It is a question any mobile phone user would be keen to have answered – and science does offer some clues. In 2011, for example, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified mobile phone radiation as a possible human carcinogen, group 2B.

    The classification was based predominantly on evidence from population studies. A study by the European Union-funded INTERPHONE group and another led by L. Hardell, a Swedish epidemiologist, showed an increased risk (40-170%) of developing glioma, a malignant brain cancer, in people who used a mobile phone for 30 minutes a day over ten years.

    The idea of mobile phone radiation increasing the risk of cancer was strengthened by two other studies. The Cerenat study, published in 2013, confirmed observations of the INTERPHONE and Hardell studies. And an animal study in 2015 showed cell phone radiation enhanced the carcinogenic effects of chemicals…..

    However, other studies show the number of people getting brain cancer has remained unchanged or only slightly increased. This is in spite of the dramatic increase in the number of users of mobile phones over the last ten to twenty years.

    And so there is a contradiction between the evidence that shows an increased risk of brain cancer and the studies that show that the rate of brain cancer in populations “saturated” by mobile phones is fairly constant.

    Which view is right? SNIP

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    • 31 JUL 16

    Post Fukushima: US EPA approves vastly higher radiation limits in drinking water

    After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, with cesium 137 contamination in Sweden, Norway and to a lesser extent, Finland, they all faced a marketing nightmare for their food industry (especially for Raindeer meat) The stuff now was unacceptably radioactive according to the then existing “safe ” limits. Sweden’s ingenious solution to this dilemma was to simply increase the allowable limits so it was now okay to eat raindeer meat. More recently, post Fukushima, the Japanese government has done similar by significantly raising allowable radiation limits for both workers and children. Now we have the US EPA doing similar by raising the allowable level of radioactive contamination in America’s drinking water. WHY? Read on, SNIP

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    • 29 JUL 16

    Report from the BioEM2016

    From Dariusz Leszczynski

    Report from the BioEM2016

    Excerpt:

    Posted on July 27, 2016

    The 23-pages Report from the BioEM2016 is now available

    From the Introduction and Contents: Front page

    BioEM2016 conference took place on June 6 -10, 2016 in Ghent, Belgium. Seen here is the view of the conference site, Het Pand, the large building on the left on the Leie River, a former monastery.

    This report has been prepared for the Pandora Foundation, Germany, and Competence Initiative, Germany, which supported travel and participation of the author in BioEM2016. Parts of this report were published during the course of the BioEM2016 as blogs on “BRHP – Between a Rock and a Hard Place” site. SNIP

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    • 28 JUL 16

    Opinion piece: A response to the Demasi ABC Catalyst situation

    Excerpt

    From Mary Redmayne PhD

    July 28, 2016

    Opinion piece: A response to the Demasi ABC Catalyst situation

    I am shocked with the way Dr Maryanne Demasi of Catalyst programme “Wi-Fried” has been treated. I am a researcher who has been working in the field of radiofrequencies and health for some years. My PhD thesis was titled Wireless phone use by young New Zealanders: Health and policy implications. This was followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Monash University. I have many papers in the peer reviewed literature.
    The programme explored extremely important questions regarding health and safety and was, I believe, presented in a balanced way, as discussed below. While some of those interviewed were clearly extremely concerned, most of their comments were well handled. For instance, after Dr Davis showed an illustration of how far radiofrequencies can penetrate a child’s head, Dr Demasi reasonably enough showed surprise and asked, “Now, do we know that this translates into health effects for the child?” Dr Davis said, “No, we don’t ….”. Dr Demasi followed the response by explaining, accurately, that radiation exposure drops off exponentially with distance, distance matters. One comment from an interviewee I take issue with is Frank Clegg’s claim that the Standard in some countries is 100 times safer. The power density limit is indeed 100 times lower, but this does not necessarily translate into 100 times safer. SNIP- Read on

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    • 27 JUL 16

    FCC + 5G: New “Take Back Your Power” video

    From Josh del Sol, producer of “Take Back Your Power”:

    As promised, today we’re delivering a new YouTube video, “Gestapo In The USA,” which blows the doors off the FCC and 5G story. Here’s the link: …..This is the most important piece I’ve released since Take Back Your Power. Five absolutely remarkable events unfolded at FCC’s July 14 public meeting in DC, where 5G was rubber-stamped. There was shocking intimidation of press and suppression of truth. SNIP

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    • 18 JUL 16

    Standards Australia/ENA plan to mandate smart meters nationally

    Excerpt:

    Following is an email distributed by Standards Australia today (18 July 2016). Note that the deadline for submissions is 7 August 2016. In my opinion this is an underhanded move to essentially mandate the introduction of smart meters through the Standards Australia process. Will the public interest in regards to potential adverse health issues be included in the discussions? Obviously not. For this reason it is vital for concerned groups and individuals in Australia get on to this issue immediately and lobby for a voice in the Standards Australia process. SNIP

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    • 16 JUL 16

    A historical perspective on the Catalyst Wi-Fried program controversy

    With the current Media Watch attack on the Catalyst program Wi-Fried and calls for its producer Maryanne Demasi to be sacked, it is worthwhile to note that this is not the first time in Australia that such an attack has happened when questions on the safety of wireless technology have been raised.

    In this other case it was not a reporter or TV program but a senior CSIRO research scientist and his entire research department. Consider……

    In early 1994 the Spectrum Management Agency, forerunner of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) commissioned the CSIRO’s Division of Radiophysics to undertake a comprehensive review of the available world-wide research on the biological effects of radiofrequency/microwave (RF/MW) exposure on the human body. Funding for the study came from the national carrier Telecom (later Telstra), and the carriers Optus and Vodafone and the resulting report was authored by Dr. Stan Barnett from CSIRO’s Ultrasonics Laboratory, Division of Radiophysics. SNIP

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    • 16 JUL 16

    Stephen Cleary (1936-2016) An Insider Unafraid To Challenge the Microwave Orthodoxy

    From Microwave News

    Excerpt

    Steve Cleary, who died last month, spent his entire professional career as a radiation biophysicist investigating microwave health effects. He was a remarkable scientist who played it straight, but who got tripped up in the politics surrounding health studies on cell phone radiation some 20 years ago.

    Cleary had first-hand experience with those who sought to suppress microwave research and who defended arbitrary exposure standards. He called them the “microwave mafia.”

    I first met Cleary in 1979 and we stayed in touch over the years. I’ve a written a personal reminiscence. Take a look and you will see shadows of what goes on today. One of those responsible for the roadblocks standing in Cleary’s way back then is now the chairman of the FCC. SNIP

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    • 13 JUL 16

    Read “Nation on the Take” to understand why Wheeler now heads the FCC

    Excerpt

    About Nation on the Take by Wendell Potter and Nick Penniman

    American democracy has become coin operated. Special interest groups increasingly control every level of government. The necessity of raising huge sums of campaign cash has completely changed the character of politics and policy making, determining what elected representatives stand for and how they spend their time. The marriage of great wealth and intense political influence has rendered our country unable to address our most pressing problems, from runaway government spending to climate change to the wealth gap. It also defines our daily lives: from the cars we drive to the air we breathe to the debt we owe.

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    • 12 JUL 16

    The New York Times on Wheeler as F.C.C. Chairman (May 2013)

    Excerpt

    From the New York Times, MAY 1, 2013

    Telecom Investor Named to Be F.C.C. Chairman
    By EDWARD WYATT

    WASHINGTON – Tom Wheeler, President Obama’s pick to be the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, knows all about the most advanced telecommunications systems – of the 19th century.

    In his 2008 book “Mr. Lincoln’s T-Mails: How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War,” Mr. Wheeler, an investor in start-up technology and communications companies, documents how Lincoln was an “early adopter” of what has been called “the Victorian Internet.”

    Lincoln’s championing and advancement of popular uses of the telegraph are not unlike the challenges Mr. Wheeler is likely to face as chairman of the F.C.C…..
    SNIP

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    • 12 JUL 16

    Leszczynski: Wheeling and dealing at the FCC

    The following article was originally published in the Washington Times Communities on May 2, 2013 in relation to the appointment of industry lobbiest Tom Wheeler as director of the FCC. As an indicator of the influence the wireless industry has over the media the Washington Times has removed and discarded from its website all articles published by Leszczynski. This one however has survived.

    Leszczynski: Wheeling and dealing at the FCC

    Post published on Thursday, May 2, 2013

    HELSINKI, Finland, May 2, 2013 – In my previous post, I urged the FCC to tighten exposure safety standards for cell phone radiation, as we do not have sufficiently good scientific evidence to support the validity of the current safety standards. On the other hand, we have evidence of the possible problem – as I called it ‘red flags’.
    SNIP- Read on….

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