With the health risks of telecommunication technology all over the media (most of it horribly misleading, biased and outright false), and phone masts going up all over the country (even where there are already several in situ), eBay choose their moment to demand that industry lapdog…oops, sorry….watchdog – Ofcom – force the mobile operators to install more masts (also known as cell towers and the distinctly un-sexy base stations) and turn them up to 11. As if either Ofcom or the mobile operators need any encouragement to “increase coverage and signal strength”.

Apparently, blanket wi-fi coverage over almost all of Britain (give them time, give them time) is still not sufficiently paralysing to enable enough shoppers to bid and buy on enough stuff over at eBay. Access via poor old superfast broadband or cable through the PC/laptop at home or work is no longer fulfilling the unquenchable needs of potential eBay customers, desperate to bid 1p on something while they are out and about. Or is that the unquenchable greed of eBay’s shareholders, not satisfied with the billions being made through the existing online platform? I’m confused.

Smartphones, they say, are the saviour of the retail industry. Fail to embrace this technology and we will fall into the dark ages. We must be able to capitalise on the wonders of the Smartphone (ie. its ability to help people spend money at will)! We must allow everyone to shop! shop! shop!

Which brings us to another observation. Funny how the subject of Smartphones and their fundamental, vital difference to previous mobile phones has not been mentioned at all in the press coverage surrounding RF Radiation’s risk to human health. Likewise the thorny topic of those unsexy base stations. The public continues to be kept in the dark, and deliberately misinformed. Smartphones are mini-cell towers by themselves; the mast-in-a-pocket.

Talk about the elephant in the room. This is a whole zoo-full of them. What do people think phones, and especially smartphones, run on? How do they think they work? Magic?

Nearly everyone on this planet now uses a phone and most are now using smartphones. This is no longer about making or not making calls, or holding it 10mm, or 25mm from your head. This stuff, the invisible magic stuff that makes the smartphones work like mini computers, downloading, browsing, doing all those groovy interactive things you see on the TV, is everywhere. It is stronger than 6 months ago. Much, much stronger than 12 months ago. The game has changed.

And yet the media coverage and the reports carry on discussing the issue as if we are still in 2007, using little mobile telephones and texting our friends a couple of times a day. Not carrying a portable phone mast around with us, close to our bodies and always turned on. The entire debate is out of date before they’ve even started to address the problem.

Just in case anyone still hasn’t made the connection between the mobile in your hand and or on your ear….they need giant masts. The type which eBay want more of. Lots more.

Over to you, Ofcom.

“The vast majority of existing studies have not found a link between phones and cancer and, if such a link exists, it is unlikely to be a large one.”

So, let’s get this straight. The World Health Organisation’s own International Agency for Research on Cancer finally publish the full findings of the most in-depth global study yet undertaken on the health effects of mobile phone technology on humans, a mere 7 years late, after a week of revelations concerning high-ranking IARC members exposed as Telecom lobbyists and vital data from the Interphone study having been witheld.

The truth, or at least the very small stirrings of the truth, seeps out and the links between mobile phone usage and the rise in particular brain cancers are at last made public. Most alarming, or damning, are the statistics contained in that conveniently missing data.

http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/news/20110527-mobile-phones-cause-tumours.asp

And yet, our Mr. Yong is not convinced. How odd that this news, confirming the widely-growing belief that mobile technology damages human tissue and can result in cancers and tumours of the brain, should be so readily dismissed by the UK’s own Cancer Research body. The WHO actually move to reassign RF Radiation as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, but CRUK aren’t buying it. Why?

Well, perhaps it’s because CRUK’s state-of-the-art research centre, opened in 2002, was funded to the tune of £5.3m by mobile phone company Hutchinson (now “3″). Their donation was, in the words of then-Hutchison chairman Mr Li Ka-shing, “to further the study on cancer. Cancer is now the number one killing disease. Through medical research and practical applications, we hope that we are able to find better cure and prevention of this disease, and therefore benefit all mankind.” All very honourable. Except that, obviously, the results are coming in from the global juries of doctors and scientists (those who haven’t been silenced, naturally) and, well, it’s not looking good for the telecoms industry; their addictive little gadgets are giving innocent, misinformed people tumours and cancers in their brain.

Mr Yong, who also moonlights as a freelance journalist, is clearly prepared to ignore the evidence of the Interphone study’s findings, as well as the hundreds of other reports and papers published on the serious health risks associated with RF Radiation, and to go on record with his (or his paymasters’) dismissive comments.

I suppose £5.3m can do that.

The Daily Mail strikes again. This, from their “Good Health” section earlier in the week:

“Ditch It: Worrying about your memory. A failure to remember facts could simply be a sign you are having fun. According to a study in the journal Cognition and Emotion, concentration levels fall when we enjoy ourselves, reducing the brain’s ability to commit facts to memory”.

Right. Our brains are failing to work properly because we’re enjoying ourselves too much. Who thinks up this rubbish?

So, with a just a vague reference to some journal, this un-credited piece is published in the UK’s biggest daily newspaper. It’s very convenient, too…yet another sneaky way of misinforming the public and helping them fail to make any connection between EMRs, phone use, masts near their home/work, and health/cognitive problems they might be getting that they can’t explain.

Rather more sinisterly, this ridiculous explanation is suggesting a link between mental incapacity and enjoyment, at the very moment in history when society is totally under the spell of technology’s ability to entertain us at the touch of a button. More to the point, when nearly everyone is glued to their mobile phone or smartphone in order to talk, text, surf, tweet or watch “content” transmitted across too-powerful 3G networks. The connection is surely no mere coincidence. This is misinformation of the worst kind, deliberately fed through the media to stop the public thinking that their unexplained mental lapses could possibly be caused by that gadget they have constantly next to them.

Spin this around, and imagine the reaction to an article/comment claiming links between EMRs and illness. “Where’s the evidence??? We want hard, cold facts backed up by zillions of studies!!!!” they would scream. They’d discredit it immediately, and probably not even publish it in the first place. Yet unsubstantiated drivel like this, designed purely as a smoke-and-mirrors tactic to throw people off the scent, is not even credited to a journalist and still gets slipped in with all the other Health advice and tips.

Oh, and next to this article is a silly picture of a dog in a party hat. Genius.

An app for this particular function was comissioned in 2010, but – presumably once they saw the results would show just how much EMR their devices were pumping into the nearby vicinity – the idea was quickly, and tersely dropped. In a remarkably dismissive e-mail to the CEO of Tawkon - the company that Apple had asked to create the app - Jobs had only two words to say. “No interest”. He signed off with a pointed “sent from my iPhone”. Nice guy.

Undaunted, Tawkon have since issued their radiation level-measuring app through Cyndia. It remains ignored by Apple, who are eager to add the most trivial and mundane features to the iPhone, but clearly want to keep users in the dark over the less sexy aspects of phone dependency.

In the spirit of that charming missive to Tawkon’s chief, a brief two-word salvo to Steve Jobs might be appropriate.

His radiation-beaming ”toys” are already, and will continue to be, responsible for an epidemic of cancers, tumours, dementia, suicides and accidents. He might not live to see the full extent of what his inane, selfish “technology” wreaks upon the human race, but wherever he ends up, good luck because if karma has anything to do with it, he’ll need all the help and luck you can get.

(Oh and this wasn’t sent from my iPhone).

FIRST PARAGRAPH: Reports and studies suggest there is a problem.

SECOND PARAGRAPH: Some experts express concern that there is a problem.

THIRD PARAGRAPH: Contradict these views with those of other experts, but give no conclusive reasons or evidence why. Just their opinion that they don’t believe there is a problem.

FOURTH PARAGRAPH: Conclude that therefore no problem exists.

PUBLISH, AND ALLOW COMMENTS – but only until those agreeing there is no problem begin to be outnumbered. Then close article to all comments.

REPEAT THE ABOVE STEPS EVERY MONTH OR AS NEEDED.

Simple!

Last week, The Daily Mail newspaper published an article by Powerwatch’s Alasdair Philips. One of his periodical pieces on the dangers of mobile technology, “Is Wi-Fi Frying Our Brains?” attempted – with mixed results – to get the message across to the public in an easily-understandable way, by using examples that most people could identify with; the efffects and risks from heavy mobile use, reports of dropping sperm counts, rising cases of depression, links to dementia, and so on.

The approach was also characterised by repeated assertions of his own technological background and knowledge, obviously to nullify the usual “this idiot doesn’t know what he’s taking about” accusations that follow any such article. Also, and more damagingly, the content appeared to have been watered-down to include unnecessary caveats and backtracking statements suggesting that any dangers still had not been confirmed or proven.

This is, of course, absolute nonsense and what makes it worse is that Alasdair Philips knows this. He believes passionately in the very real harm that Wi-Fi, EMRs and mobile technology in general can cause, and are already causing to a widespread degree.  So why neuter his own genuine argument?

Quite simply, no media outlet will allow the truth about microwave radiation via mobile phones and telecom base stations to be published. There always has to be that caveat, the disclaimer, the air of weakness in the author’s case against the technology, for it to be palatable to them.

So, men like Mr. Philips compromise their position, and their beliefs, in the hope of raising awareness. They run the gauntlet of abuse, ridicule and accusations of impartiality because they are involved in an organisation, a company, which recommends and sells a range of products to combat the symptomatic effects of culminative exposure to EMRs. Yet those who try to discredit an opinion on the basis of vested interest are happy to accept the Government and the Telecoms industry’s continued insistence that wi-fi, mobile phones and phone masts are all totally safe, ignoring the fact that literally billions of pounds’ worth of investment and projected income are behind their claims!

 ”Is Wi-Fi Frying Our Brains?” wasn’t a great piece in terms of arguing the case against mobile technology. It seemed necessarily aimed at a particular audience, and written with them in mind, trying to break through the carefully created wall of ignorance perpetuated by the media through endless, sexy advertising.

Many points were flawed, shocking facts were swiftly passed over, and the only suggestion given to us in the battle to protect ourselves from this onslaught of penetrating radiation was to move somewhere remote. Given that plans are already afoot to bring saturated wireless broadband to every nook and cranny of the United Kingdom, it isn’t the most helpful advice. A sense of defeatism also permeated the latter third of the article; while it is entirely apparent that MPs, councils, health organisations and news outlets are all committed to a wall of silence over the subject, it is wrong to simply accept it and do nothing more. On that point, I can see why detractors would criticise Mr. Philips’ attitude; the ultimate tone of the article makes it seem he is saying “there’s nothing you can do, except purchase one of my products”.

So far, so very predictable. The Daily Mail has a history of putting supposedly ES-sympathetic material in its print and online editions – usually with a hopeful headline – only to make sure it undermines the argument by the article’s end. There have also been cases of blatantly pro-Wi-Fi pieces published on their website (see my earlier blog post “Recycled Rubbish”) which quickly have their “comments” section disabled to prevent any meaningful debate.

It is this refusal to countenance a balanced outlook on the subject that leaves The Daily Mail looking like hypocrites. Championing populist, Middle-England, middle class injustice is all very well if you are not simultaneously silencing discussion on a divisive topic such as this. Of the first 88 reader comments that were posted in response to Alasdair Philip’s article, early reaction was primarily of growing concern; several people shared tales of how much their lives have been affected by this rampant growth of Wi-Fi-related technology. There were obviously the usual mob of dissenters and deniers, though fewer than is often the case.

However, perhaps having been tipped off about the piece’s existence, a flood of negative responses began to follow. Many were near-identical to the type seen during the summer of 2009 on The Daily Telegraph’s website, when a then-Science Editor (since promoted) wrote a withering, ill-informed attack on anyone who thinks this technology is harmful. It was pathetic nonsense, but the mob loved it. The Daily Telegraph made no attempt to moderate some of the nastier comments, in fact the author effectively encouraged the abuse by making no secret of his own hostile stance to the idea of Wi-Fi causing problems.

This was in contrast to The Daily Mail’s subversive approach where they pretend to be concerned about the health effects yet do their best to undermine or censor any views that might jeopardise their relationship with the Telecom firms. Just the weekend before “Is Wi-Fi Frying Our Brains?” appeared, the inside front spread of The Mail On Sunday was a huge advertisement for the new Daily Mail e-newspaper iPhone app. “Download it wirelessly!” they excitedly intoned. All newspapers and TV stations are doing the same, of course, since revenues are tumbling and they need to surivive in the digital age (blah blah…) but it leaves them in a tricky situation. If they put too much doubt in the public’s mind over the safety of using their Smartphones and iPhones and Blackberries, they lose money. They lose readers. They may eventually go bust. Likewise, the phone companies will be none too pleased, since they will also stand to lose customers.

And that is what it’s all about, really. What everything seems to be about. Money. Nevermind the damage to our health, our sanity, our futures. Nevermind journalistic integrity or the right to free speech. Nevermind the need to show both sides of an argument in a fair manner. Just let the “Total rubbish! Go and buy a tin foil hat” remarks through, and make sure the “hang on, shouldn’t we have a choice about all this?” comments are kept to a minimum and, if necessary, close the topic to any comments if the latter outweigh the former.

And that’s all right, isn’t it.

Think about it….

What does EMF exposure do to the brain? It steadily reduces and impairs cognitive function and memory.

What are the most identifiable symptoms of what they now term Alzheimer’s? (Senile Dementia has been consigned to the PC bin)? Degenerative impairment of cognitive function and memory.

How convenient would it be for the powers-that-be to mask the widespread effects of Wi-Fi/Electrosmog on the population by raising public awareness and acceptance of a brain-deterioration illness/condition, and get them used to the idea that this kind of deterioration is somehow more normal nowadays and can be magically beaten by medication that those lovely scientists are working overtime to successfully create?

It’s a win-win scenario for the telecom firms and the drug companies. The use of wi-fi goes on, and the effects (at least for some of the public) are kept reasonably at bay by medication. All under the familiar, recognised umbrella of “Alzheimer’s”. All they need to do is make sure they find the successful formula in time, before too many poor souls get chronically sick, die or go insane. They’re in a race to beat the effects of a new disease they’ve artificially created but which they’ve slipped in under the catch-all term “Alzheimer’s”.

If they were so concerned about prolonging life and saving sick people, why don’t they allow the prescribing of cancer drugs, or machines to stop epileptic children dying? They will let women die of breast cancer, but they will pull out all the stops to prevent the growing problem of “Alzheimer’s”.

So the next time you see/hear yet another “report” on the medical world’s latest obsession, just remember WHY they are so desperate to tell us about it, and WHY they want to find a cure.

“Call for more mobile phone masts in the countryside as ‘patchy’ reception ‘is killing off rural economy’”

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309691/Call-countryside-mobile-phone-masts-improve-patchy-reception.html#ixzz0zAWnXOOs

In classic journalistic parlance, repeated references to “a study”, and various ”claims” are made to add weight and credibility to the article, when in fact it is no more than thinly-veiled propaganda to further the pro-Wifi cause.

The Telecoms industry, in league with the Government, will stop at nothing to push home their insistance on blanket wi-fi coverage. Every reason they give is always in our interests, for our own good, to help the economy, to improve the quality of life for everyone in the country.

What a pity that this technology makes people chronically ill (often killing them over time), pushes the human tolerance threshold for microwave exposure close to tipping point, messes with the atmosphere, reduces the value of nearby property, and God knows what else (because they refuse to look into the consequences, naturally).

It’s all so…..inconvenient.

Everyone involved in this so-called Commision For Rural Communities, and the hack who wrote such drivel, should be ashamed of themselves.

True to form, we had another morning dominated by the ball and characterised by a quite crazy England collapse from 39-1 to 40-odd for the loss of five wickets mid-session. No further wickets came for some time, again now typical of the pattern emerging. Upon the restart after Lunch, two quick wickets fell – exactly as had been the case in the previous Tests – before Trott and Broad saw out the rest of the afternoon.

How long it takes anyone (other than myself) to realise what’s happening, I have no idea. For now, a wonderful sport is being reduced to a farce, where the ability of players is being rendered virtually obsolete as the artificially-altered atmosphere continues to make a mockery of the scoreboard and distort the pattern of play.

At the time of writing, England are 191-7, having been 102-7. No guesses as to what is likely to unfold this evening.

Test matches should ebb and flow. Not fluctuate wildly between dominance with the bat and then the ball. Why do we keep seeing these dramatic batting collapses, alternating with huge partnerships, and so many low-scoring Test matches this summer? When both teams appear to be affected, there has to be a reason beyond technical competence.

Much was made in the first two Tests between Pakistan and England of the former’s inexperience and naivety, and they twice slumped to record-low totals of 72 and 80 all out. Yet, aside from one afternoon when a pair of England’s batsmen put on an uniterrupted 200 partnership, the home team’s performance was only marginally superior. Each day’s play would follow the same pattern; either wickets would constantly tumble, or none (perhaps one) would fall for an hour or more. Even during the second doomed Pakistani innings, they managed to survive almost an entire evening session without losing a wicket. That they also failed to score many runs in the process would have clouded the picture for most observers.

This odd scenario continued in the second match of the series; England’s total boosted by a litany of fluffed catches by the opposition (which themselves could have been a result of the “wi-fi” factor, and the loss of concentration and co-ordination it creates). Both sides appeared to be struggling with more than just each other. Pundits discussed the weather conditions at great length, and possible explanations for the bizarre nature of play were trotted out.

Nobody, quite understandably, had thought the electromagnetic radiation from the masts in the Cricket ground might be a reason.

Cricket’s susceptibility to the vagaries of nature are well established and accepted. Cloud cover, humidity, wind direction, even the dew on the grass….all these have an effect on a game. Tactics routinely take all these factors into consideration, as does team selection. If it’s overcast, better to have a bowl. Sunshine, and brace yourself for a fruitless day in the field. So, given the ability for electromagnetic radiation – including the kind pulsing from giant mobile telecommunication towers at sports events – to physically change the atmospheric conditions, is it really so strange to wonder if “wi-fi” might be causing new problems?

Phone masts do not emit signals at the same strength continuously; they are chaotic and randomly pulsing, yet follow certain patterns. Think of them as painful energy fields, stronger at different times duirng the day and peaking for 15-30 minutes at regular intervals. The prime distance from a mast to feel the greatest signal strength is approximately 100 metres. How far is the large mast currently erected at The Oval, for instance, from the middle..the strip of grass where the action takes place? If the boundaries are about 70 meters, then it is about 100 metres. The strongest signal is therefore going to land right on that 22-yard strip of dried grass. 

No matter which team decides to bat, the session which unfolds will yield either a clatter of wickets for 60-70 runs, or a score for the batting team during those two hours of 100-1. That is the defining characteristic of every innings of this current Test series. A combination of altered atmospheric conditions (the effects from the natural overcast weather heightened by the presence of wi-fi) and possible mental/physical impairment of the batsmen and fielders (poor decision-making, loss of concentration and motor skills again brought on by wi-fi presence) is producing Cricket in extremis ; if sporting ability is to become second fiddle to the lottery of who bats when the mast emissions are strongest, then what sort of game are we left with?