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    • 17 MAR 14

    A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

    This article dates from 2011 but still very relevant for today’s high-tech rollout in school. Well worth a read!

    Don

    *******************************************************************************************

    The Waldorf School in Los Altos, Calif., eschews technology

    Excerpt

    LOS ALTOS, Calif. – The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard.

    But the school’s chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home.

    Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix.
    SNIP

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    • 14 MAR 14

    Is wireless technology in Swedish schools adversely affecting the kids?

    The answer to that is yes according to a new paper by Olle Johansson. Here is an English translation:

    Excerpt

    Thanks to the so-called PISA* (OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment) survey, in Sweden we now know: student scores in maths, reading comprehension and natural sciences are plummeting. The results are prompting rage in Swedish schools. Something is wrong.

    The government response is to force all students to go through another school year. In addition, a series of panic measures has been initiated by the authorities. But do not expect schools to be given peace and quiet, so that they may be able to figure out how to get things to work while dismantling those gadgets and administrative ‘reins’ that do not.

    For years schools have undergone a multitude of changes and been given new assignments, including being forced to monitor more grade control data and using new and more administration. Some changes are good, some bad. Changes include an enormous amount of computerized teaching where students via their apps, mobile phones and tablets are
    supposed to gain new knowledge. Pedagogy innovators have deleted textbooks and pencils, blackboards and pointers, and instead replaced them with new wireless e-readers
    and cell phones. Academics, such as myself, have many times – usually completely unheard – raised a warning finger to the educational establishment.

    Today it is very difficult to be a teacher and take responsibility for teaching in the classroom where students’ cell phones are constantly ringing, text messages are being
    sent back and forth, and surfing the entire time online or playing games through iPhones and iPads. All this when students really should be working on their school assignments.
    In Sweden, there have been several cases where the teacher was reprimanded because he or she “violated the students’ privacy” after taking cell phones from students, while
    other teachers have been criticized for being too strict with students for not allowing them to do what they want during school hours.
    SNIP

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    • 14 MAR 14

    AAEM on Australian smart meter case studies paper

    Excerpt (From October 2013 AAEM press release)

    Founded in 1965 as a non-profit medical association, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) is an international organization of physician and scientists interested in the complex relationship between the environment and health.

    AAEM physicians and physicians world-wide are treating patients who report adverse, debilitating health effects following the installation of smart meters,
    which emit electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) and radiofrequencies (RF). The peer reviewed, scientific literature demonstrates the correlation between EMF/RF exposure and neurological, cardiac, and pulmonary disease as well as reproductive disorders, immune dysfunction, cancer and other health conditions.

    The evidence is irrefutable. Despite this research, claims have been made that studies correlating smart meter emissions with adverse health effects do not exist. The AAEM has received a case series submitted by Dr. Federica Lamech, MBBS, Self-Reporting of Symptom Development from Exposure to Wireless Smart Meters’ Radiofrequency Fields in Victoria. AAEM supports this research. It is a well documented 92 case series that is scientifically valid. It clearly demonstrates adverse health effects in the human population from smart meter emissions. The symptoms reported in this case series closely correlate not only with the clinical findings of environmental physicians, but also with the scientific literature.

    Many of the symptoms reported including fatigue, headaches, heart palpitations, dizziness and other symptoms have been shown to be triggered by electromagnetic field exposure under double blind, placebo controlled conditions. Symptoms in this case series also correlate with the Austrian Medical Association’s Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of EMF Related Health Problems.

    It is critically important to note that the data in this case series indicates that the “vast majority of cases” were not electromagnetically hypersensitive until after installation of smart meters. Dr. Lamech concludes that smart meters “may have unique characteristics that lower people’s threshold for symptom development”.

    SNIP

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    • 13 MAR 14

    Employee Smartphone Usage, Sleep and Productivity

    From People Diagnostix:Optimising Performance

    Smartphones are ubiquitous in modern life. They are an essential tool for communication, information storage and retrieval as well as entertainment. Many organisations supply smartphones, as well as similar technology (e.g. tablet PCs and laptops) to their employees in order improve productivity. There is no argument that this technology can expedite employee responses to time critical events and allow faster responses to internal and external customer enquiries. With their mobility, smartphone technology can allow employees to work regardless of the venue, or the availability of a desk. But does this technology come at a cost?

    Smartphones are almost perfectly designed to disrupt sleep. They typically keep individuals mentally stimulated, encourage poor sleep hygiene and expose them to blue light emitted from their luminous screens. This blue light exposure is key. About 15 years ago researchers discovered a new photoreceptor in the eye, called Melanopsin. Many are familiar with the “rods and cones” that provide our visual capabilities, however melanopsin, which are sensitive to a narrow band of blue light in the 460-480nm range, has been discovered to have unique effect on sleep by suppressing melatonin production. Melatonin is a circadian hormone that induces sleepiness at night, assists with getting to sleep, and obtaining deep, restorative sleep. A decrease in melatonin production at night typically creates sleep disturbances, but has also been linked with increased risk for diabetes and obesity, as well as increased risk for more serious diseases, such as breast cancer. Recently there have been a number of studies further investigating the impact of night time technology use, melatonin suppression, and subsequent impacts on sleep and next day performance.

    SNIP

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    • 12 MAR 14

    Cell Phone Addiction: Parents Glued To Smartphones Have ‘More Negative’ Interactions With Their Kids

    By Philip Ross
    on March 10 2014 7:24 PM

    For once, it’s parents and not youngsters who are being told to get their noses out of their smartphones. The reason? Thumbing through one’s phone incessantly could damage the parent-child bond.

    A new study published in the journal Pediatrics found that adults absorbed in their mobile devices were more likely to harshly scold their children’s behavior.

    Researchers from Boston Medical Center observed parents interacting with their children during meals in fast-food restaurants. They noted that one-third of the adults used their phones continuously during the meals, and 73 percent of them checked their devices at least once.

    When a parent who was glued to the phone was interrupted by a child, the parent was apt to react negatively, according to the study. One mother even kicked her child under the table after the child attempted to get her attention while she tapped away at her smartphone. Another mother ignored her child as he tried to lift her head from looking down at a tablet. Researchers believed the kids may have been acting out as a way to test limits or gain the parent’s attention.
    SNIP

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    • 11 MAR 14

    SCENIHR criticised over its inept approval on dental amalgam.

    In May 2008 SCENIHR issued a report titled, Safety of Dental Amalgam and Alternative Dental Restoration Materials for Patients and Users. The report concluded, in part: “We conclude that dental health can be adequately ensured by both types of material. All the materials are considered safe to use and they are all associated with very low rates of local adverse effects with no evidence of systemic disease.”
    SNIP
    HOWEVER, this report has come under extreme criticism from the International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology – Europe (IAOMT), with its membership restricted to scientists, Medical doctors and dentists. The Scientific Advisory Committee of IAMOT issued a dissenting report on SCENIHR’s dismissing the toxic effects of mercury amalgams. SNIP. They concluded in part: “The SCENIHR report is best described as a Fishing Expedition rather than a scientific document; the omissions speak louder than the inclusions. The only logical interpretation is that the committee has selected data to support a predetermined conclusion as to the safety of dental amalgam.”
    SNIP
    And now the experts at SCENIHR are to give their opinion on the Potential health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields. According to Dariusz Leszczynski (last message) it is looking like SCENIHR is about to do another almighty spin and dare to call it science.

    Read more →
    • 10 MAR 14

    Dariusz Leszczynski: Very problematic SCENIHR Report

    From Dariusz Leszczynski’s blog Between A Rock and A Hard Place:

    I just finished reading the 2013 SCENIHR Report and got an overwhelming feeling of the utmost desperation. Evaluation of the scientific evidence is being distorted and SCENIHR provides an aura of “legitimacy” to this distortion. SCENIHR report has over 200 pages and it is not possible to mention all problems with it in this short blog. Here are few of the more grave problems with the SCENIHR report.

    Membership of the working group

    I do not know what procedure was applied when the membership of the working group of SCENIHR was assembled. What is clearly seen, is that the vast majority of scientists involved in the working group are known for the opinion that the current scientific evidence shows that RF exposures do not cause detrimental effects to human health. Such composition of the working group is, by itself, a reason for serious concern about possible bias in evaluation of the scientific evidence.

    SNIP

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    • 05 MAR 14

    A critique of the New Zealand report: “Health and Safety Aspects of Electricity Smart Meters”

    During a trip to New Zealand in November 2013 for a series of public presentations on issues raised by the introduction of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (Smart Meters) I was given two pieces of literature on smart meters in New Zealand.

    The first was copy of a statement titled “Smart Meters” issued by the Ministry of Health NZ in 2013. This statement claimed, among other things, that smart meter emissions are low, when compared to the New Zealand radiofrequency standard (NZS 2772.1:1999) and that smart meters ”only transmit periodically, using very brief signals.” This second claim is patently incorrect and is of concern that the Ministry of Health could get this fact so wrong as even a brief look at the available information on how smart meters work clearly shows that they do emit “very brief signals” but that they are emitted constantly throughout a 24 hour cycle. This will be discussed later in this paper.

    The second was a widely circulated report: Health and Safety Aspects of Electricity Smart Meters produced by New Zealand’s Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPEC) at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch in 2012. This report is now being circulated in New Zealand as evidence of the safety of smart meter technology. As the EPEC report claims to be addressing the health aspects of smart meter deployment in relation to the official radiofrequency exposure standard I address the following points:

    SNIP

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    • 04 MAR 14

    Research “firewalls” – The King is Naked!

    From Dariusz Leszczynski’s blog “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”, March 3, 2014:

    There is talk of “firewalls” between the industry funding research and the scientists executing this research. Are these firewalls providing a real independence of scientists from the funding industry or are they just for the sake of “keeping up appearances”? In practice, how reliable is the system of “firewalls”?

    In my opinion, the currently used system of “firewalls” does not work. Industry sponsors and sponsored scientists are intelligent people. Industry sponsors do not need to say “things” aloud and scientists understand “things” that are not said. In the situation of research data being very ambivalent, the interpretation of the meaning of the results is crucial and should not be in any way influenced by “things” not said…

    SNIP

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    • 03 MAR 14

    Australian Primary school opts not to install wi-fi

    From the Adelaide Advertiser, February 18, 2014

    Back to nature to bring out our best

    Martina Simos
    Education Writer

    UPPER Sturt Primary School is going without wi-fi in favour of valuing local bushland, but the decision does not compromise the value of the internet in children’s learning, an educator says.

    Principle Barb Jones said the decision for the school to not have wi-fi as part of its environmental and safety stance, was made in combination with the local community.

    When she arrived at the school of 27 students, parents approached her about their concerns over the long-term exposure to wi-fi, because research had been published about the possibility of health problems. After readingthe research, Ms Jones began a discussion with staff aaans it was decided not to install wi-fi but to data cabling instead. “The parents had done lots of research from Canada and they sent us information.” she said.

    “I looked at that research and I thought there was something there – especially for girls in the area of reproduction. This does not mean we do not value the internet or that children are unable to access the internet.”

    SNIP

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    • 26 FEB 14

    BRHP Blog: WHO Knew: The Elephant in the Room – guest blog by Susan Foster

    From the blog of Dariusz Leszczynski.Between a Rock and a Hard Place

    This is the next in a series of guest blogs on BRHP. The opinions expressed in it are of Susan Foster herself. Publication of these opinions in BRHP does not imply that BRHP automatically agrees with or endorses these opinions. Publication of this, and other guest blogs, is an attempt to start an open debate and free […]
    SNIP

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    • 26 FEB 14

    Microwave News: Why Nothing Ever Changes

    Regular readers of Microwave News are aware
    of our common complaint that nothing ever changes.

    We decided take a close look at why and how this
    happens. Here we focus on what we thought would
    be a “breakthrough” research paper. Yet, this was
    another dead end.

    See how industry stacks the deck with a helping hand from the anti-EMF establishment.

    Read our latest post at
    http://microwavenews.com/news-center/lost-opportunities

    Best,
    Louis Slesin

    Read more →
    • 24 FEB 14

    The Controversy Manual (Recommended reading!)

    The controversy manual
    Brian Martin

    Brian Martin, The Controversy Manual (Sparsnäs, Sweden: Irene Publishing, 2014), 465 pages. ISBN 978-1-291-67241-1

    This book is available as a free download, by courtesy of the publisher. Irene Publishing is a non-profit operation, committed to providing works relevant to grassroots social change. I do not receive royalties, and the publishers are not paid for their work. If you would like to contribute a few dollars to support this venture, click on this button.

    From the back cover

    Climate change, psychiatric drugs, genetically modified organisms, nuclear power, fluoridation, stem cell research – these are just a few of the hundreds of issues involving science and technology that are vigorously debated. If you care about an issue, how can you be more effective in arguing for your viewpoint and campaigning in support of it? The Controversy Manual offers practical advice for campaigners as well as plenty of information for people who want to better understand what’s happening and to be able to discuss the issues with friends.

    The Controversy Manual provides information for understanding controversies, arguing against opponents, getting your message out, and defending against attack. Whether experts are on your side or mostly on the side of opponents, you’ll find advice for being more effective. While not taking sides on individual controversies, the emphasis is on fostering fair and open debate and opposing those who use power and manipulation to get their way.
    SNIP

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    • 21 FEB 14

    Electricity privatisation in Australia: A record of failure

    Press release from the New South Wales Electrical Trade Union (ETU):

    New report lays bare electricity privatisation’s “record of failure”

    Posted on 20-2-2014

    Prominent Australian economist Professor John Quiggin has launched a scathing attack on energy sector privatisation, concluding that it has failed to deliver promised benefits for consumers. Professor Quiggin examined 20 years of pro-privatisation reform in his report, “Electricity Privatisation in Australia: A Record of Failure”, which included a detailed economic examination of the outcomes of power sales in Victoria and South Australia.His research has revealed that many of the claimed benefits of privatisation have not been supported, with key findings including:

    * price rises have been highest in States with privatised electricity networks;
    * customer dissatisfaction jumped, with complaints to the energy ombudsman in privatised States leaping from 500 to over 50,000 per annum;
    * resources have been diverted away from operational functions to management and marketing, resulting in higher costs and poorer service;
    * reliability has declined across a wide range of measures in Victoria;
    * promised increases to investment efficiency have not occurred;
    * real labour productivity has reduced as employment and training of tradespeople was gutted and numbers of managerial and sales staff exploded;
    * private owners are receiving unjustifiably high rates of return based on the low investment risk; and
    * consumers in privatised states bear the cost of approximately 10 per cent per annum interest on private owners’ debt, compared to substantially lower government borrowing
    costs of three per cent.

    SNIP

    Read more →
    • 19 FEB 14

    Recommended reading: Alison Wilson’s “Hold the Phone” companion books

    Some weeks ago Alison Wilson sent me two copies of her new companion set of books, Hold the Phone and Hold The Phone: Here’s Why.
    With all that has been going on the past few weeks with several submissions underway the book remained unread on the bookshelf.

    Only now have I had a chance to go through the books and I can fully recommend them to readers on this list. I will be delivering a copy of each to the state library for their reference section. It is unusual to have two companion books but with Wilson’s books they work well together. The first book Hold The Phone is a solutions based publication designed to give guidance on how to use wireless technology in such a way to reduce the risks to health. The companion book Hold The Phone: Here’s Why, works well as a handy reference book, not just for mobile phone use but also for other wireless devices, such as Wi-FI and smart meters.

    See more on www.holdthephone.co/

    Also follow the holdthephone blog. Here’s the latest entry about the latest latest MTHR spin:

    http://www.holdthephone.co/news/dont-be-misled-by-the-latest-study-saying-mobile-phones-are-safe-it-highlig

    Read more →
    • 18 FEB 14

    Smart Meter “Malfunction” Causes Pennsylvania Apartment Building Fire

    From Kit Weaver

    I am writing you about a probable un-reported or under-reported story about an apartment building fire. I have concluded based upon my review that the fire was definitely caused by a smart meter.

    This is probably one of the more serious smart-related fires on record in that it does not just involve flames going up the side of a home. There is
    significant involvement of an apartment building plus there is quite a bit of video to go with it.

    This event is somewhat unique because once the smart meter blew, it was in an enclosed wooden shed attached to an apartment building, unfortunately an
    ideal situation for the fire to then take off rapidly involving the entire structure.

    There are even relevant videos now in the “comment” section.

    SNIP

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    • 18 FEB 14

    British Society for Ecological Medicine EMF/EMR and Health Conference

    ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION AND HEALTH: EVIDENCE, DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT
    9am to 5.30pm Friday 7th March 2014 – book your place now!
    Hallam Conference Room, Hallam St, London W1W 6JJ

    Come and hear leading scientists, medics and other experts present the latest information about health effects caused by exposure to electric and magnetic fields and radio-frequency microwave fields. The talks are aimed at people who do not have expert knowledge of electromagnetic radiation and health and will be suitable for members of the general public. However, enough detail will be presented to also be valuable for medical practitioners and other health workers. The speakers will be available to talk with participants during refreshment breaks and at lunchtime.
    SNIP

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    • 16 FEB 14

    A VALUABLE REPUTATION

    From Blake Levitt on the cheemf list:

    The piece below is long but an excellent read. The telecom and now smart grid industries, IEEE, EPRI, COMAR, and others use most of these same tactics. Researcher Jerry Phillips described Motorola’s intentional delaying of his research results in the film Full Signal; they used “product defense” groups like Exponent to influence state agencies considering smart grid legislation in Maine and elsewhere; plant review “papers” in states like Texas and Washington under bogus authors; “buy” domain names to guarantee that their contrived “sound science” pages come up whenever a search is done on BioInitiative or specific people like me and Henry Lai; make false test “replications” by changing test parameters to confuse outcomes and therefore contaminate the database; maintain databases on “friendly” journalists to plant stories and personally profile unfriendly journalists and scientists, etc. etc. Jim Tozzi is mentioned below — he worked with George Carlo and CTIA on discrediting Henry’s work. Bogus risk analysis is applied to federal regulation and the industry controls the lit reviews considered by agencies like FDA, FCC, DoE, EPA. It’s the exact same playbook as below and what is described in David Michaels’ “Doubt is Their Product.”

    SNIP

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    • 14 FEB 14

    The IEEE’s Forum on Very Bad Ideas

    The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), that venerable organization responsible for our thermally based RF standards, likes to take the lead on promoting new technology. In a few weeks time they will be hosting a Forum on the Internet of Things (IoT). (I would like to see “di” inserted between the I and oT).

    Will the conference bring up the down-side of the IdioT concept (everything will be RF connected-even baby’s nappies). Of course not, its all about promoting the technology and any problems will have to be worked-out later by someone else. See below article on one of those problems.

    SNIP

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    • 12 FEB 14

    Here we go again: “New” MTHR report claims no health effects from cell phones, etc.

    Whenever I occasionally see a newspaper headline proclaiming new research has found that mobile phones are perfectly safe for everybody my first thought is: is it industry funded and secondly, who is evaluating the research.

    Well, its just happened again. On February 11, 2014 the New Zealand Herald published an article titled Cellphone cancer fear quashed, announcing the release of a ‘new’ report titled Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme, MTHR Report 2012 released by the British Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) group. This report gives the findings of 31 individual research projects, funded by the telecommunications industry and UK government over 11 years.

    The NZ Herald article painted a glowing picture of unproblematic scientific certainty with statements, such as: A new international study appears to have put to rest the question over whether cellphones cause cancer – they don’t . The newspaper article also stated, under a photo of a young woman using a cellphone, that You can rest easy using your cell phone as cancer fears are quashed by experts.

    Really?

    SNIP

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