Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
28 February 2011
by Magda Havas
February 27, 2011. Fear mongerer: one who uses fear to influence the opinions and actions of others towards some specific end. The feared object is sometimes exaggerated, and the pattern of fear mongering is usually one of repetition(adapted from Wikipedia).
Why is it that scientists who pronounce that electrosmog may be harmful to health are called "fear mongerers"? Obviously it is to discredit them by implying that they are exaggerating the threat and somehow are gaining something by this action, perhaps attention.
Most scientists don't want attention from the media and often refuse to give interviews. Scientists who speak out about the harmful effects of electrosmog do so out of desperation. Those who speak out are often criticized, rightly or wrongly, by the "skeptic" community, some lose their research funding or their jobs because the financial fingers of the telecommunication industry are far reaching. So why on earth would anyone want this type of negative attention!
The skeptics are wrong about fear mongering but they are right about one thing, fear can make people sick!
Fear may be motivated by an external threat or an internal insecurity and it may be real or perceived. Fear is a basic survival mechanism that warns us of impending danger and it can be a life saver. If the fear is uncontrollable or unavoidable and prolonged, it can lead to chronic anxiety severely limiting the quality and duration of one's life.
Fear can be a friend or foe. It all depends on your personal relationship with fear.
If fear motivates you to act; to clean up your environment; to write letters to school boards, newspapers, government agencies; to be proactive in your community then it is a friend. If it disempowers you and you become a slave to fear it becomes your enemy. Once you have become a slave to fear your life is over.
Fear is far too often used to control others. Governments use fear to justify the loss of civil liberties; religions use it to control behaviour; adults use it to manipulate children; employers and unions use it to gain the upper hand; and bullies use it in a school yard. This type of fear must not be tolerated!
Most of the people we admire are those who courageously stood up, against vast opposition, for what they believed was right. This is what a growing number of scientists, medical doctors and activists are doing around the world. And the opposition is vast from government bodies to the multi-billion dollar wireless industry to electrical utilities and the manufacturers of electronic equipment.
The brave men and women who speak out are not fear mongerers, rather they are individuals who have placed society's interest and wellbeing above their own with the hope that some will heed their warning and do what is right.
My advise to those who are afraid is that you have a choice, use the fear to empower you or allow it to disempower you . . . the choice is yours.
My advice to parents is . . . don't raise your children on a diet of fear. You may be doing them as much harm as the electrosmog, against which you are trying to protect them.
Here are some famous quotes about fear and courage to inspire:
Courage consists not in hazarding without fear; but being resolutely minded in a just cause. ~Plutarch
Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. ~Marie Curie
To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another. ~Katherine Paterson
A cat bitten once by a snake, dreads even a rope. ~Arab Proverb
To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. ~Bertrand Russell
None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear. ~Bertrand Russell
Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light? ~Maurice Freehill
He who fears something gives it power over him. ~Moorish Proverb
The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure. ~Sven Goran Eriksson
Fear has its use but cowardice has none. ~Mahatma Gandhi
It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. ~Mark Twain
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. ~Mark Twain
Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain. ~Mark Twain
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. ~Nelson Mandela
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
Fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind. ~Dale Carnegie
Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear. ~Albert Camus
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never having lived. ~Marcus Aurelius
Never let the fear of striking out get in your way. ~Babe Ruth (baseball player)
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. ~Winston Churchill
The world shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. ~Anais Nin
Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other. ~Samuel Johnson
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EMF: Summary Tables Conversions and Equivalent values
http://www.next-up.org/pdf/EMF_Unit_Conversion_Equivalent_Chart.pdf
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Wi-Fi OK for elementary schools: report
23 feb 2011
The Enterprise-Bulletin (Collingwood)
BY SHAWN GIILCK
The Enterprise-Bulletin (Collingwood)
BY SHAWN GIILCK
http://www.theenterprisebulletin.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2989907
Parents remain unconvinced by report's findings
COLLINGWOOD — A new report commissioned by the Simcoe County District School Board indicates there is no problem with the Wi-Fi systems at two Collingwood schools.
Trustee Caroline Smith told the Enterprise-Bulletin the report was presented at last week's Business & Facilities meeting.
"An evaluation of radio frequency ( RF) and microwaves levels at Mountain View Public School and Collingwood Collegiate Institute ( CCI) was conducted by Dr. Tony Muc & Radiation and Health Consulting," ( http://www.rhsc.ca/ ) she said.
Smith said the report updated the board on the Wi-Fi safety debates that have been ongoing for months now. "
" There has been a great deal of talk and opinion around the subject of WiFi," said Smith. " This report (attached) helps clarify that the levels of RF within SCDSB schools are safe. Muc's report scientifically measures the RF levels within two schools within the SCDSB."
Board Superintendent John Dance also said he was satisfied with the report.
" He was doing a thorough study of the emissions, for want of a better word," he said. "We're satisfied with the results that support what we have been told all along that the transmissions are safe."
"We're not planning changes in our direction," said Dance.
Muc's conclusions state "the RF and microwave electromagnetic field levels in a representative sample of areas normally accessed by students at both MES and CCI are a factor of least 25 below the exposure limits specified in Health Canada Safety Code 5. All the observed levels are far below exposure limits currently established or proposed by the major international or national agencies or organizations for public (including children) or occupational exposures."
Smith said she was satisfied with the report.
" They've done their research and it shows that the RF levels are at very safe levels, well under the guidelines."
Rodney Palmer, one of the chief activists leading the charge against the use of Wi-Fi, was hardly convinced by the news, even though he hasn't seen the report.
" We already know that Health Canada's standards aren't safe," he said. " The board is relying on false statements that have no scientific basis."
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Victorians warned on bad wiring in homes
Melissa Fyfe
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorians-warned-on-bad-wiring-in-homes-20110226-1b9be.html
AS THE smart meter rollout uncovers thousands of cases of dodgy home wiring across Victoria, the Baillieu government has issued a warning to home owners that it is their legal responsibility to maintain the electrical safety of their properties.
This comes as Victoria's Energy and Water Ombudsman Fiona McLeod confirmed she had received almost 300 cases relating to the smart meter rollout since July 2010, including 42 complaints that advanced to an investigation.
More than 3500 Victorian households are facing bills of thousands of dollars to fix dangerous and possibly life-threatening electrical hazards after smart meter installers identified so-called ''customer-side'' defects as part of the $2 billion rollout.
The government was responding to a case before the Ombudsman of Mount Waverley woman Mandy O'Donnell, who lost all power in her house only hours after a smart meter installation in December and now faces a $2400 bill to rewire her 50-year-old home.
The electricity distribution company, United Energy, denies there was any connection between the smart meter installation and loss of power, but did pay to rewire some of her house so she was not left without power. ''They told me it was my responsibility to maintain my wiring,'' Ms O'Donnell said. ''I realise that, but I didn't invite them on my property. My house was fine before the smart meter was installed.''
United Energy's general manager of corporate affairs, Lisa Drought, said customers were thanking installers for picking up unforeseen issues. ''We're installing hundreds of thousands of meters across Victoria and having a qualified installer on people's properties means not only are they installing the meter safely, but they are picking up defects in customers' homes.''
The smart meter rollout began under the former Labor government. It is continuing under the new Baillieu government but is being reviewed. The new meters allow electricity companies to read power use remotely and charge tariffs at different rates throughout the day. With added in-home displays and web programs, the meters will also allow customers to more easily monitor their energy use.
In an interview with The Sunday Age, Ms McLeod said the smart meter installers were not allowed to put in a meter unless the wiring was safe.
''The distributors doing this rollout are unearthing a whole lot of dodgy wiring and customers should know about it and get it fixed for their own safety,'' she said. ''People should be paying attention to the safety of the electrical installation in their homes.''
She said the distribution companies had a range of assistance for customers served with a defect notice. If people felt they could not afford the cost of rewiring, they should first call their distribution company and ask what assistance was available.
Concession card holders should inquire with the Department of Human Services, she said.
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A brain tumor, a funeral and a new cell phone study
A week ago today, my friends and I said farewell to a dear friend at a funeral. She died of brain cancer, not a pleasant way to go. She did an amazing job of connecting with her friends throughout her life and was one of the heaviest cell phone users I'd ever met.
Did cell phone use cause her cancer? We'll probably never know.
What does the science say? The weight of the evidence to date indicates that cell phones are safe. But there are some studies that show a slightly higher incidence of glioblastoma, the kind of tumor my friend had, and heavy cell phone use. And her cancer was in the temporal lobe, the area near where most people hold a cell phone while talking.
Earlier this week, another study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association saying that just 50 minutes of cell phone use can change brain metabolism. While it's unclear what effect that has on a person's health, it's interesting that the small amount of radiofrequency put out by a cell phone can alter brain activity.
There was a good report in the New York Times about the study.
I think it's clear that the jury is still out on cell phone safety. We simply don't know enough to say definitively that they are safe to told hold against your face. It could be years before we can answer that. Until then, I think it would be prudent to use a headset or an ear piece. I try never to make calls without my ear piece or putting the phone on speaker and holding it away from my body. I'm shocked at how few people do this.
It would be tragic if a few years from now we discover this devastating brain cancer is on the rise because of cell phones when a simple precaution could have made a difference.
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Health risks could switch off home energy meters
The National
Health concerns in the US are creating a backlash against smart meters, which measure electrical usage in homes. Pat Sullivan / AP Photo Storm clouds are gathering over the booming domestic-energy monitoring sector in the US as concern grows that ...
http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/personal-finance/health-risks-could-switch-off-home-energy-meters
