From Aaron Leibovich
Please see Dr. Charlie Teo this morning on Today show channel 9
April 21, 2014: Neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo is on a mission to lower the number of children who die of brain cancer every year and improve treatments.
http://today.ninemsn.com.au/videoindex.aspx?uuid=3489243856001
Read more →Rising numbers of infants lack the motor skills needed to play with building blocks because of an “addiction” to tablet computers and smartphones, according to teachers. Many children aged just three or four can “swipe a screen” but have little or no dexterity in their fingers after spending hours glued to iPads, it was claimed. Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers also warned how some older children were unable to complete traditional pen and paper exams because their memory had been eroded by overexposure to screen-based technology.They called on parents to crackdown on tablet computer use and even turn off wi-fi at night to address the problem. The comments were made after Ofcom figures showed the proportion of households with tablet computers more than doubled from 20 to 51 per cent last year.
SNIP
From SkyVision Solutions:
Excerpt
[Editor Note: This blog article highlights a document authored by Ronald M. Powell, Ph.D. The document makes a strong case against the use of wireless smart meters and for replacing them with safe metering technology. Although specific mention is made in this well-written document to the state of Maryland, reference to any state or province could easily be substituted, as applicable, when electric or other utility companies have been allowed to move forward with wireless smart meter deployments.]
The Health Argument for Replacing Wireless Smart Meters with a Safe Metering Technology in Maryland
by Ronald M. Powell, Ph.D. [1], April 16, 2014
“The electric power companies of Maryland made a dreadful mistake when they elected to install Wireless Smart Meters to measure electrical power. Wherever these meters are installed, they threaten the health of all residents in the community, violate their privacy, increase the cyber vulnerability of the supply of electricity to their homes, decrease their personal security and safety, and threaten property values in the community. And Wireless Smart Meters do all of this without any persuasive evidence of any financial benefit to the customers.”
SNIP
Posted on SkyVision Solutions, April 18, 2014.
[Editor Note: This blog article consists of a document authored by Richard H. Conrad, Ph.D., intended as a letter addressed to a utility company that may be considering the installation of smart meters.]
NINE REASONS WHY TODAY’S SMART METER SYSTEMS ARE A MISTAKE
by Richard H. Conrad, Ph.D. biochemist
Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
Smart electric meters and smart grid systems track and record details of customers’ energy usage, and transmit the information to utilities wirelessly at microwave frequencies. Authorities are attempting to make smart meters mandatory. They are usually installed without permission and sometimes against the wishes of homeowners. Smart meters fill homes with pulsed microwave radiation 24/7 without consent, and infringe on the privacy, security, safety and health of residents.
For the above reasons there is world-wide opposition to smart meters. Fifty-seven jurisdictions in the US are opposed to mandatory smart meters. Fifteen jurisdictions in California have made smart meter installations illegal. More than half of the States in the US have wireless smart meter opposition groups. The opposition is growing and is persistent.
SNIP
Read more →From Steve Weller:
Introduction:
My name is Steven Weller and I wrote this Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) case study that is included with this covering statement with the hope it may be of benefit to those who either find themselves in a similar position to me, or, maybe just interested in a getting a better understanding of what EHS is and the likely cause.
The study documents my personal journey towards self-diagnosis as being EHS, the ensuing questions it raised, along with information which might assist fellow sufferers to better cope with a condition which, until relatively recently, was unknown on our planet.
SNIP
OTTAWA, April 14, 2014 /CNW/ – Two peer reviewers involved in this month’s Royal Society report on wireless safety say the results cannot be trusted, because the Panel ignored evidence that wireless radiation is harmful to humans.
The scientific reviewers also said key panelists were in conflict of interest as they regularly accept funding from wireless and energy companies. One of the reviewers, Dr. Martin Blank, holds two PhD’s and has published more than 200 papers at Columbia University on the health effects of wireless radiation. The other reviewer, Dr. Anthony Miller MD, is Professor Emeritus at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Both say the Royal Society panel ignored scientific evidence published over the past five years. As peer reviewers, they noted some panelists were conflicted and others lacked sufficient expertise.
SNIP
From Dariusz Leszczynski’s blog, Between a Rock and a Hard Place:
Excerpt
ARPANSA Report: No epiphany, just déj vu, all over again
Gallery
Posted on April 14, 2014
From time to time are published new reports, reviewing scientific evidence on possible health risks of cell phone and cell-phone-like radiation. Reading them, I do not experience epiphany feeling but, often, I experience déj vu feeling. I often have the feeling that the authors of new reports use extensively texts and opinions of earlier reports. It means that instead of duly reviewing also older original studies they rely on the opinions of others.
This is not a good development. Reading older original studies and evaluating them in the context of new original studies, it may together bring this very welcome feeling of epiphany. Instead, authors of new review reports bring us, readers, often the feeling of déj vu.
The just published ARPANSA report is no exception. No epiphany, just déj vu.
SNIP
Read more →From the blog of Dariusz Lesczcynski: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Excerpt
Recent publication of the Canadian report on Safety Code 6 (RF-EMF and health) brought again to limelight the problem of electromagnetic hypersensitivity – EHS.
Yet again, scientists and lay audiences were fed with the standard mantra in the Canadian report: “The symptoms are real, but what causes them is a mystery”. The same mantra is propagated by WHO, ICNIRP and numerous expert committees.
I have the feeling that this mantra was introduced to the EMF research area few years ago for the sole purpose to “get the EHS people off our backs”. Designers of this mantra assumed that by showing compassion for the suffering of EHS people they will alleviate tensions that exist between EHS sufferers and decision-makers.
They were mistaken. The mantra did not alleviate tensions and EHS sufferers more and more forcefully demand solution to their problem. Simple admission that their symptoms and suffering are real is not enough. What is needed is both, precautionary approach and a serious research effort to find out what and how causes EHS.
Unfortunately the arena of EHS research is polluted with bad science. Badly designed studies waste money and produce bad conclusions. This status quo is perpetuated and new funding is granted for new badly designed studies. Are scientists gone mad? Don’t they understand what they are doing?
SNIP
Read more →From SkyVision Solutions:
Excerpt
An expert panel of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) released a report on April 1, 2014, entitled “A Review of Safety Code 6 (2013): Health Canada’s Safety Limits for Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields.” Although the report is comprehensive at 165 pages in length, it clearly presents a disappointing and biased account of the current state of science on RF exposure effects and what to do in response to those effects.
As summarized by one Toronto new source regarding the new report, “Federal guidelines that spell out safe exposure levels of radiofrequency waves emitted by cellphones and other wireless devices appear to be mostly adequate, but research to clarify the potential risk of cancer should be aggressively pursued, an expert panel recommends.”
In other words, there is some evidence that RF exposure might be harmful, but we need more studies to quantify the possible risk. Where have we heard that before?
SNIP
A shocking exposé on corruption within World Health Organization ranks, relating to scientific causality of harm from electromagnetic radiation (EMR) Just WHO are they working for? Is the World Health Organization complicit in an unprecedented coverup of skewed science and conflicts of interest?
An uncomfortable shift could be felt in the room. The Advisor asked one final question: “Would Drs. Wild and Stewart have a problem with people of all ages being exposed to RF radiation 24/7?” Dr. Stewart voiced his opinion in a professorial fashion,“I would have no problem at all.”
SNIP
The below document was discovered by New Zealand Lawyer Sue Grey during a document search. I do not have a url for the document yet but can send subscribers Sue’s document if requested. Sue Grey states: “Possibly a good invention but look what Swisscom (a SwissTelco) admits in terms of the biological and genotoxic effects of RF EMR (at least to the patents office, if not to the public generally).” Here’s the translation of the Swiss Telecom patient application for an invention to reduce radiation levels. It dates from 2003.
Excerpt:
The influence of electrosmog on the human body is a known problem. The health risk from mobile radio transmitters, handys and DECT telephones has been an explosive subject among the general public at least since the enormous breakthrough in mobile radio technology in the 1990s. To meet the concerns of science from the legislative side, the permissible limit values have thus been lowered several times, and technology has been increasingly focused on this problem. The risk of damage to health through electrosmog has also become better understood as a result of more recent and improved studies. When, for example, human blood cells are irradiated with electromagnetic fields, clear damage to hereditary material has been demonstrated and there have been indications of an increased cancer risk.
SNIP
These findings indicate that the genotoxic effect of electromagnetic radiation is elicited via a non-thermal pathway. Moreover aneuploidy is to be considered as a known phenomenon in the increase of cancer risk.Thus it has been possible to show that mobile radio radiation can cause damage to genetic material, in particular in human white blood cells, whereby both the DNA itself is damaged and the number of chromosomes changed. This mutation can consequently lead to increased cancer risk.
SNIP
The implication of the below story is all to obvious. Where did Sancia carry her phone, which she cannot bear to be separated from? Perhaps in her jeans pocket only inches from her ovaries?
I have made comment to this story, perhaps others might also.
Don
****************************************************************************************************************
Courageous Sancia keeps on inspiring
JENNIFER CRAWLEY
Mercury
April 01, 2014 12:00AM
A BEAUTIFUL, brave, young girl this week heads to Melbourne for life-saving surgery.
Sancia Fenton captured the hearts of Tasmania and the nation when she shared her story of ovarian cancer six weeks ago. She decided to go public to let others know the disease affects young girls, not just older women. Since her diagnosis on Christmas Eve, the Glenorchy schoolgirl has turned 14 and is about to embark on what she hopes is the final chapter in her cancer story – surgery. Two weeks after her story broke, the normally stoic teenager found herself very emotional and hid under the blankets crying. “ I still have little moments when I cry myself to sleep – I’ve got to accept the burden,’’ she said. After extensive chemotherapy, the mass around her ovary has shrunk from football size to baseball size and now to softball size – small enough for surgeons to remove at the Royal Children’s Hospital. She has a huge folder of homework to take with her, and plans to do some shopping with mum Joanne in the two-week recuperation period. And like other girls her age, she insists she will not be parted from her mobile phone, even trying to think of a way to sneak it into surgery.
SNIP
Tosh Szatow & Damien Moyse
*This is the second part of a two-part series. The first part – When will people unplug? – was published Friday.
In part one of our series, we outlined findings from research released in January by the clean energy social enterprise Energy for the People and the not-for-profit Alternative Technology Association. Entitled What Happens When We Un-Plug: Exploring the Consumer and Market Implications of Viable Off-Grid Energy Supply, the research found that many Victorians could unplug from the grid by 2020 – using stand-alone power systems combining the use of solar power and battery storage technologies.
Here, we offer our take on the common arguments for why unplugging from the grid is a dumb idea.
SNIP
The Dominion Post New Zealand:
Last updated 10:10 29/03/2014
Excerpt
After thousands of studies, the most that experts worldwide can determine is the radiation used for wi-fi networks, digital devices, cordless phones and cell phones is a “possible” cause of cancer. With such uncertainty, OLIVIA WANNAN asks if we are using this technology with enough caution.
As in many countries around the world, the debate about long- wave radiation has come to a head in New Zealand through the recent introduction of wi-fi networks in schools.The energy waves have been harnessed for more than a century to bring radio and television to our home, track objects by radar, microwave our food, and connect us through texts, phone calls and the internet.Yet the World Health Organisation lists this radiation as a “possible” cause of cancer, based on research showing a link between heavy cellphone use and an increased risk of developing brain tumours.Kapiti Coast parent Damon Wyman is a vocal advocate for caution. He became aware of the possible health effects of wireless technology after losing his son Ethan, 10, to cancer last August.Ethan died 11 months after being diagnosed with two brain tumours. Three months earlier, he had been given a wi-fi connected iPad.His parents later discovered he had been falling asleep with the device under his pillow.Even though it was on standby, it was still emitting bursts of radiation as it tried to connect to the router, Mr Wyman said.Doctors who saw Ethan said the tumours appeared to be about four months old, Mr Wyman said. “We’re not saying that caused it, but it seems like a bit of a coincidence.”
SNIP
While plans are well underway for a global smart grid which will be controlled by a few mega-corporations the continuing advances in solar power and storage battery technology are emerging as a significant threat to their plans for, rather than centralization, solar power fosters decentralization and local community control over their energy.
While Energy distributers in Victoria, Aust, , Canada, the US and elsewhere are doing their worst by forcing smart meters on an unwilling populace, there may soon be a consumer counter-revolution underway. This is when it will soon be technically feasible to cut off from a centralised electricity grid althogether but still enjoy all the benefits of electrical power by using new technology solar energy. The following article is from the Climate Spectator, an Australian site and part of the Business Spectator.
From the Climate Spectator
When will people unplug?
Tosh Szatow & Damien Moyse3 hours ago 1
Research released in January by the energy services company Energy for the People and the not-for-profit Alternative Technology Association found that regional towns and new housing estates in Victoria could function viably without connecting to centralised electricity and, in some scenarios, centralised gas grids by 2020.
Entitled What Happens When We Un-Plug: Exploring the Consumer and Market Implications of Viable Off-Grid Energy Supply, the research sits with a growing body of evidence, validating the hypothesis that viable stand-alone energy supply will be with us before 2020, including The Economics of Grid Defection by the Rocky Mountain Institute, research by Morgan Stanley into off-grid tipping points and, most recently, the views of the Independent Market Operator in Western Australia.
SNIP
Read more →From SkyVision Solutions
Posted on March 27, 2014 by SkyVision Solutions
On March 26, 2014, three (3) hearing examiners for the state of Maine Public Utilities Commission released a seriously flawed and biased report (and Appendix) concluding that the “installation and operation of … smart meters and related devices and systems are consistent with [the utility’s] statutory obligation to furnish … safe, reasonable, and adequate service.” The report was issued in the form a draft Commission order. Affected parties have until April 11 to file comments or exceptions to the report.
The hearing examiners expressed in the summary portion of the report that their conclusion regarding health and safety issues was based upon seven (7) findings. For purposes of this blog article, each finding will be listed and then an alternative finding (or counterpoint) will be provided that would more correctly and objectively describe a conclusion based upon the facts.
Finding: “The radio frequency (RF) emissions from CMP’s smart meters and other AMI components comply with duly promulgated federal safety regulations and other RF emission standards;”
Counterpoint: Current Federal RF exposure guidelines were never formulated to fully protect human health. In fact, they are only believed to protect against injury that may be caused by acute exposures that result in tissue heating or electric shock and burn. FCC exposure guidelines have no biological relevance to protect humans from chronic exposure to pulsed radiofrequency radiation emitted by devices such as smart meters. Therefore, RF emissions from installed smart meters are simply unregulated. As stated by the U.S. Department of Interior in a letter dated, February 7, 2014, “the electromagnetic radiation standards used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continue to be based on thermal heating, a criterion now nearly 30 years out of date and inapplicable today.”
SNIP
In the following article, the GSMA (the telco trade association representing the interests of mobile operators worldwide), bemoans the fact that their planned rollout of 4G/LTE technology in the EC is being hampered by what they call “non-science based restrictions on mobile phone antennas in some member countries”. No doubt that GSMA is also worried about the future rollout of 5G.
This shows that ICNIRP’s assurances of safety, based solely on thermal considerations, is seriously being questioned and rejected in the EC. Hopefully this ‘contagion’ will spread internationally. What is not said is that the EC doubts over ICNIRP flow directly from the widespread awareness of the Bioinitiative report.
SNIP
The Department of Interior charges that the FCC standards for cell phone radiation are outmoded and no longer applicable as they do not adequately protect wildlife.
PRLog (Press Release) – Mar. 24, 2014 – BERKELEY, Calif. — The Director of the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance of the United States Department of the Interior sent a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in the Department of Commerce that addresses the Interior Department’s concern that cell tower radiation has had negative impacts on the health of migratory birds and other wildlife.
The Interior Department accused the Federal government of employing outdated radiation standards set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a Federal agency with no expertise in health. The standards are no longer applicable because they control only for overheating and do not protect organisms from the adverse effects of exposure to the low-intensity radiation produced by cell phones and cell towers:
SNIP
Notice from Cindy Sage on behalf of the Bioinitiative Working Group:
The BioInitiative Working Group sent the below letter on March 7th to SCENIHR – DC SANCO about the limited public consultation input – and received their reply (also below) on March 13th.
We’ve been able to open the comment process to email comments – rather than posting in the narrow format on-line. It opens the process to much more detailed (longer) assessments.
And, to extensive referencing for our analysis, which is much needed.
You can share this with others who have our same concerns about the process, and how it’s been opened up now.
SNIP
Read more →Lawyer Sue Grey’s below letter to the Editor of the New Zealand magazine North and South is in reply to a just published investigative article by NZ journalist Donna Chisholm. Titled with the leading intro.: “Science for Sale?: With scientists now expected to deliver more economic bang for each funding buck, Donna Chisholm asks if corporate funding is putting their integrity, and the direction of our science, at risk”
But first a bit of background:
In September 2011 New Zealand lawyer Sue Grey contacted me with a request to undertake a formal review of the MD thesis by Dr. David Black. As Black had refused to provide a copy for some reason, it took Grey a bit of digging around Auckland University to unearth a copy. It is important to note that it was largely on the strength of his thesis that Dr. Black was elected president of the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) and invited to be a consulting expert to ICNIRP. Despite these impressive appointments, however, there were serious deficiencies in his thesis.
SNIP