We Built the Technosphere. Now We Must Resist It - Local Futures
FEATURED:
ELISHA CELESTE INTEVIEWS KEITH EMF Poisoning: WiFi, Cell Phones, Smart Homes, Influenza, and Dirty Electricity | Keith Cutter In this conversation I’m joined by Keith Cutter, a former tech professional turned EMF remediation expert. After struggling with chronic health issues for decades, Keith uncovered the hidden cause of his illness: electromagnetic radiation. In this conversation we dive into the four types of EMF, their potential health impacts, and practical steps to protect yourself and your family. From dirty electricity in our homes to radio frequency radiation from cell towers, this eye-opening conversation unpacks how we’re affected by EMF and what we can do about it. Through Keith’s search for answers on his healing journey he has become a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. I’m grateful for him sharing his experience and expertise in this often misunderstood world of EMF. YOUTUBE 1 HOUR 45 MINUTES
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KATIE SINGER: 21 questions for solar PV explorers
NEWS AND NOTES
AI: Oprah’s upcoming AI television special sparks outrage among tech critics AI opponents say Gates, Altman, and others will guide Oprah through an AI "sales pitch." ARS TECHNICA
AUTOMOBILES: Your Car Is No Longer a Sanctuary—It's a Surveillance Tool | Opinion Ford's initiative is part of a broader trend among car manufacturers, where vehicles are increasingly used to spy on drivers and harvest data. In today's world, a smartphone can produce up to 3 gigabytes of data per hour, but recently manufactured cars can churn out up to 25 gigabytes per hour—and the cars of the future will generate even more. These vehicles now gather biometric data such as voice, iris, retina, and fingerprint recognition. In 2022, Hyundai patented eye-scanning technology to replace car keys. This data isn't just stored locally; much of it is uploaded to the cloud, a system that has proven time and again to be incredibly vulnerable. Toyota recently announced that a significant amount of customer information was stolen and posted on a popular hacking site. The U.S. government is also eager to join the effort. As 2023 came to a close, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiated the process of mandating anti-drunk driving technology in all new vehicles, with plans to release its final regulation before the year's end. This initiative, rooted in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, largely flew under the radar when the legislation was first introduced. NEWSWEEK
AUTOMOBILES: Self-Driving Cars Aren’t Making Roads Safer. But These Systems Are Expert argues that automation isn’t making our roads any safer. But crash avoidance features really are. Self-driving tech hopes to make our roads safer, but the data proving its effectiveness is limited so far. Instead, ADAS with crash avoidance features are a proven solution that need wider implementation. Study says self-driving systems cause more accidents than human-driven vehicles at dawn and dusk and during "turning conditions."Road accidents rank among the leading causes of death in the U.S., and over the past few years, things are actually getting worse MSN
AUTOMOBILES: China’s Connected Car Collapse Is a Warning for the American Market For more than a decade, connected cars have won over new car buyers with their streamlined, smartphone-like software updates and convenience features. But this convenience comes at a price: What happens when connected cars become disconnected cars? Like that scene at the end of The Phantom Menace, they’re losing function en masse as the Chinese auto industry consolidates, leaving many connected cars unsupported. And if we’re not careful, the same thing could easily happen to American car owners, too. MSN
BEAD GRANTS: BEAD to Allow Alternate Technologies The NTIA just released proposed Guidance rules for State Broadband Offices to consider if they want to make BEAD grant awards to alternate technologies (specifically unlicensed fixed wireless and low-orbit satellite service). These are draft rules, and comments are due back to NTIA by September 10. POTS AND PANS
BIG TECH RESISTENCE: My Alternative Tech Canon: 26 Mind-Expanding Books Tech CEO Patrick Collison started the discussion ten days ago when he shared his “tech canon”—a hodgepodge of books and blogs that reflect today’s Silicon Valley worldview. Others responded with their own suggestions. These lists mostly offer a mishmash of sci-fi, pop psychology, trend-of-the-month journalism, bios, and mass-market science books. What they don’t provide is much historic perspective—except for three titles, all of Collison’s recommended books date from the last 50 years. Human values—ethical, spiritual, communal—play almost no part in this discussion. I find that deeply troubling. There’s a resistance to the notion that philosophers or humanists or artists or spiritual individuals with large souls have anything to offer in this debate. So they are excluded from the conversation. Tech is treated like a closed universe, operating by its own rules. You might think this isn’t a big deal. After all, who cares what books tech leaders read? But I have a very different view. I believe this is a deadly serious matter. Tech is destructive if it operates outside of core human values and holistic, empathetic thinking. Those STEM disciplines are useful, but only when they contribute to human flourishing. My Alternative Tech Canon: 26 Mind-Expanding Books (honest-broker.com) These works offer a holistic, humanistic critique of technology—and healing alternatives to a device-driven life
Broadband, Students INDUSTRY: The Case for Ubiquitous Broadband for K-12 Students All Students Need High-Quality, Consistent, and Safe Access to Digital Tools and the Internet Through one-to-one (1:1) device programs, every student has their own school-provided device. Rates of 1:1 student device access through schools have increased dramatically over the last decade. In the 2023-24 school year, 84 percent of teachers reported that their students had access to 1:1 classroom devices, up from 54 percent in the 2019-20 school year, and from just 20 percent in the 2014-15 school year. However, only 48 percent of teachers reported that their students could use those devices at school and at home, with even fewer students taking devices home at urban (25 percent) and Title 1 (36 percent) schools.3 This inconsistency in school device programs can lead to more location-based inequities for students. Inconsistent access to devices and to the internet leads to inequities in learning opportunities. Some students will always have access to the internet and a reliable device, regardless of school policies. These students enjoy opportunities to engage in self-directed, interest-driven learning outside of a school setting, known as “Free Agent Learning,” that may not be available to their peers. Over two-thirds of students in grades 6-12 say they are regularly leveraging digital tools, most notably their smartphones, to support learning activities that are un-tethered to school-based learning, but rather address students’ learning passions and curiosities.4 Without consistent out-of-school access, some students are not benefiting from these types of independent learning as well. The implications of this digital divide are still emerging, but the bottom line is that all students need high-quality, consistent, and safe access to digital tools and the Internet to fully engage with learning and prepare to be responsible citizens of our digital world. BENTON
BROADBAND APARTMENTS UK: UK government consulting telecommunication companies about how to accelerate the rollout of high-speed broadband to apartment buildings BENTON
CANADA UPDATE: UPDATE 2024-09-02 BC opportunity | Snowflake | FCC | Mensa 1. B.C. gas meters
CELLPHONES: It’s time to ban smartphones in the workplace Around the same time research by Deloitte showed that 90 per cent of workers accessed social media at work – but that figure’s likely closer to 95 per cent these days due to the way that remote working has further blurred the boundaries between work and personal time. The problem of increasingly poor performance at work isn’t just that employees are on their smartphones during work time; it’s the broader impacts on their focus and efficiency that are most damaging. We humans have quickly become so addicted to our smartphones that merely being in the same proximity hugely distracts us all, reducing our ability to perform tasks at work or anywhere. Deloitte’s 2017 research showed that 36 per cent of people check their smartphones at least once every ten minutes while at work – up to 6 times per hour – and this number is likely even higher today. The Telegraph
CELLPHONES INDUSTRY: Mobile phones not linked to brain cancer, biggest study to date finds Some 63 studies from 1994 to 2022 have been analysed by Australian researchers commissioned by the World Health Organization GUARDIAN
CELLPHONES: Biased? WHO-Backed Study Finds No Link Between Cellphones and Cancer A scientific review commissioned by the WHO in Environmental International claims there is no link between cellphone use and brain cancer, but an expert on wireless technology and public health accused the reviewers of being biased. In a post published Tuesday on his Electromagnetic Radiation Safety website, Moskowitz wrote: “The WHO selected scientists to conduct systematic literature reviews on the biologic and health risks of wireless radiation who had demonstrated their bias through prior publications by either not finding evidence of harm or dismissing any evidence they found.” The WHO’s review reached very different conclusions than those reached by Moskowitz and his colleagues in a 2020 review of cellphone use and cancer tumor risk. “I believe that our 2020 review of cellphone use and tumor risk is less biased and will withstand the test of time better than the new review commissioned by the WHO,” Moskowitz wrote. CHD
CHILDREN FAMILY LIFE: THE ANALOG FAMILY What Do We Parent For? The day-to-day matters as much as the distant future. est of all, though, I like this digital minimalist life. I like not fighting with my kids over phones or having to monitor what they’re doing. I look forward to waking up each morning and seeing them; they’re my favourite people in the whole world—and others tell me they’re great kids, too. It is true that I do not know how my kids will turn out. No one does! Like many other parents out there, I am simply trying to do the best I can, with the tools I have at my disposal. But I am keenly aware that I have to enjoy the process of raising these young humans to adulthood, and if that means curbing digital media use now, so that each day is more pleasant than it might be otherwise, then I’m willing to run the risk of potential future resentment. ANALOG FAMILY SUBSTACK
CHILDREN CELLPHONES SCHOOLS: Be ScreenStrong Substack How Cell Phones Have Made Middle School Even Harder Real observations from a public school teacher
CHILDREN SCHOOLS SCREENAGERS: Back-To-School for 24/25! Today's blog includes summaries and links to some of my previous blogs about back-to-school and related topics. Also, our new movie, Screenagers: Elementary School Age Edition is finished and I look forward to sharing a trailer with you next week! SCREENAGERS
CLIMATE ENERGY CARBON CAPTURE: America’s New Climate Delusion If everything goes as planned, the carbon that Climeworks captures will count against the world’s total emissions budget, and will perhaps have a marginal benefit for stabilizing Earth’s atmosphere. But most of the other carbon-capture projects proposed in Louisiana are attached to oil and gas endeavors; Stream told me that the carbon from the Climeworks project would represent a small part of his company’s portfolio, which would focus more on commercial clients. The oil and gas industry argues that the world still needs its product, and that this semblance of carbon stewardship justifies them providing it. In a sense, the U.S. government agrees: IRA tax credits cover (at a somewhat lower rate) even projects in which oil companies use the captured carbon for more oil drilling. In those cases, the carbon goes toward forcing more petroleum from nearly empty wells—perhaps the least climate-friendly use of the technology imaginable. People involved in carbon capture say that humanity needs it. And the IPCC has said that, without carbon removal, countries’ current emissions-cutting plans will not avoid the most significant climate impacts. But the same IPCC report ranks carbon capture and sequestration among the most expensive solutions, with the least potential for impact. At the United Nations’ COP meeting in Dubai last year, then–U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry warned that carbon capture must be used judiciously, and not as an excuse for building more fossil-fuel projects. Some academics warn that the IRA tax credit could offer exactly that. In Louisiana, new LNG terminals are now being proposed with carbon capture attached. Each new terminal represents greenhouse-gas emissions of up to 9 million tons. Carbon capture cannot yet hope to keep up. Climeworks’ DOE-funded project hopes to capture just 1 million tons a year, and likely won’t begin building until several years from now. Meanwhile, Louisiana produces more than 216 million tons of greenhouse gases a year. The entire state is operating under a logic that cannot hold: As its population faces acute consequences of climate change, its central, carbon-heavy industry is digging in its heels. Even if carbon capture is technically necessary as long as other decarbonization attempts fall short, it very quickly starts to look less like a solution to climate change and more like part of a future that the fossil-fuel industry designed for itself. Louisiana is the prototype. MSN
CLIMATE, INSURANCE, NORM LAMBE Good News for Insurance Companies in California The news coming in from Sacramento will be making Insurance Company CEO’s dance on their desks. Commissioner Lara has indicated that the State Insurance Commission will now let Insurance Companies consider Climate Change when they are setting their prices. SUBSTACK
ENVIRONMENT MAX WILBERT: The Science of Conquest An article, a video, and a news roundup includes mining: local opposition to the mining has arisen due to potential devastating impacts on groundwater, soil, water usage, biodiversity loss, and waste accumulation. Research drilling by the mining company has already produced environmental damage, with mine water containing high levels of boron leaking from exploratory wells and causing crops to dry out. Furthermore, our investigations reveal substantially elevated downstream concentrations of boron, arsenic, and lithium in nearby rivers as compared to upstream regions. Additionally, here we show that soil samples exhibit repeated breaches of remediation limit values with environmental consequences on both surface and underground waters. With the opening of the mine, problems will be multiplied by the tailings pond, mine wastewater, noise, air pollution, and light pollution, endangering the lives of numerous local communities and destroying their freshwater sources, agricultural land, livestock, and assets. STUDY HERE, “How Journalism Protects Elites and Maintains the Status Quo,” and “16 Tips for Speaking to the Media.” The Hualapai Tribe has filed a legal challenge to planned lithium mining which would impact a sacred spring in Northern Arizona, and in late August a judge ordered a temporary halt to preliminary drilling. Protect Thacker Pass got a nice shoutout from German activists fighting to protect their forests from the expansion of a Tesla gigafactory. Opposition to offshore wind energy turbines planned for the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington is ramping up, as details of these massive projects emerge. Check out these two excellent videos to learn more about what these projects entail, how they will harm the oceans and nearby land areas, and why we are resisting: part 1 and part 2. I’ve written about this issue here before in two posts: “120 Questions About Offshore Wind Energy” and “Oregon is Facing Largest Energy Development Threat in Generations.” MORE HERE
FCC: FCC Still a No on Broadband Subsidies for Musk's Starlink Agency said petition under review was filed about 45 months late. HERE
5G; AT&T Awarded $146M Contract from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Includes Services for 5G Networks Key Takeaways:
AT&T was recently awarded a 10-year contract to provide the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) and Wireless Priority Service (WPS)
The contract, initially awarded in March 2024 and valued at $146 million, was expanded in August to extend these services into next generation 5G networks. 5G AMERICAS
5G: FCC to push forward with $9bn rural 5G Fund The funding will look to provide 5G coverage in rural areas of the country The regulator has proposed that as part of the first phase of the 5G Fund, to distribute up to $9 billion to bring voice and 5G mobile broadband service to rural areas of the country, which it notes are unlikely to otherwise see unsubsidized deployment of 5G-capable networks. The purpose of the fund, which was first unveiled in 2019, is to target investment in the deployment of advanced, 5G mobile wireless broadband services in rural communities. FCC to push forward with $9bn rural 5G Fund
5G INDUSTRY: 5G close to becoming the majority FWA technology New research from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association found that 5G will account for 42% of all fixed wireless access customer premise equipment shipped this year. That proportion is up from 34% last year, suggesting 5G is set become the majority FWA CPR technology next year, especially as the GSA also found that 4G FWA CPE shipments fell 5% between 2022 and 2023. These numbers should be taken with a small pinch of salt, however, since in the equivalent report last year the GSA forecast 5G would account for 40% of the FWA CPE market last year, a number it has since significantly revised downward. TELECOMS.COM
5G; FCC approves $9B in subsidies for rural 5G expansion
HAVANA SYNDROME: JOEL M ACHIVE Electromagnetic Radiation Safety: The "Havana syndrome": A special case of electrohypersensitivity? (saferemr.com)
HAVANA: NIH cancels 'Havana syndrome' research because the CIA forced people to participate in it The National Institutes for Health has abruptly ended its study of "Havana Syndrome" after it learned that the CIA forced people to participate in it. Though the agency isn't named in the NIH's announcement, CNN reports that "some of the people who reported being sick previously claimed that the CIA made them join the research as a prerequisite for getting health care." "They wanted us to be a lab rat for a week before we actually got treatment at Walter Reed — and at bare minimum, that is unethical and immoral," Marc Polymeropoulos told CNN in May. Havana Syndrome—a mysterious collection of ailments suffered by U.S. personnel serving at embassies abroad—is widely thought to be a somatic disorder. Hyped by credulous national security reporters as caused by electromagnetic weapons (or other tall tales from three-letter agencies), the whole saga is now so murky that to discuss it at all is to juggle conspiracy theories. BOINGBOING
HAVANA: Decision Sparks Controversy: U.S. Health Authorities Halt Investigation into "Havana Syndrome" The National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the United States announced on Friday the suspension of their investigation into the mysterious "Havana Syndrome", which has afflicted American diplomats, soldiers, and spies. Despite efforts to understand the cause of this mysterious condition, studies have not found conclusive evidence of brain damage or significant differences between affected individuals and a healthy control group. Nonetheless, experts like Dr. David Relman from Stanford University warn against dismissing the severity of the syndrome, as other research has identified brain anomalies. Amidst this backdrop, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel took to Twitter to criticize the narrative surrounding the "Havana Syndrome" as a "false pretext" for including Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism and reinforcing U.S. sanctions. "The false Havana Syndrome can no longer withstand studies," Díaz-Canel stated, referring to what he considers political manipulation of the situation. The controversy surrounding the "Havana Syndrome" remains a sensitive issue, impacting both U.S. domestic policy and international relations. As the investigation is suspended, questions about the origin and nature of this affliction remain unanswered, fueling skepticism and distrust among the victims and the global community. In April, an investigative report by The Insider, in collaboration with 60 Minutes and Der Spiegel, provided evidence of the use of "directed energy weapons" by members of Russia's military intelligence unit 29155 as the cause of the so-called "Havana Syndrome." The detailed journalistic work revealed that members of the Kremlin's military intelligence sabotage squad had been located at the sites of alleged attacks against U.S. government personnel abroad and their families. CUBAN HEADLINES
HAVANA: CIA May Have Derailed Research Into ‘Havana Syndrome’ Mystery around the bizarre psychological phenomenon continues to deepen, despite years of investigation into the matter. It’s been awhile since we heard anything about “Havana Syndrome,” the bizarre brain malady supposedly impacting droves of U.S. service members all over the world. Now, a new report suggests that the Central Intelligence Agency recently helped derail a government probe into the phenomenon. []The National Health Institute has been researching the bizarre health incidents but has now said that it will end that research “out of an abundance of caution.” According to a report from CNN, the research is being halted because an internal probe of the program found that some research subjects had been “coerced” into participating in the program. Forced participation in research is considered deeply unethical. CNN also notes that some participants in the program had “previously claimed that the CIA made them join the research as a prerequisite for getting health care.” []Nobody is quite sure what to make of Havana Syndrome. Some people think it’s a hoax. Others, more controversially, say it’s evidence that some sort of “sonic weapon” exists that has been zapping U.S. personnel without their knowledge. Experts have yet to reach a consensus, and the syndrome has been blamed on a host of culprits—including mass psychogenic illness and crickets. []Another research group, this one hired by the intelligence community itself, also claimed that the most likely explanation for Havana Syndrome might be some sort of electromagnetic weapon. Intelligence officials came out against this interpretation weeks before the study was published. GIZMODO
LINKS TO MARCH 30 ARTICLE: Newly Declassified Report Contradicts Officials, Suggests Havana Syndrome Might Be Caused by Directed Energy After years of debate about the cause of the strange malady, a recently declassified document points the finger (once again) at "electromagnetic energy." []The group behind the report, the Intelligence Community Experts Panel on Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs), was established by the government to figure out just what the heck had happened to the 1,000-ish American officials who claim to have suffered from “Havana”’s bizarre symptoms. Those symptoms, which first cropped up at a U.S. embassy in Cuba in 2016 and soon spread to other parts of the globe, include a rash of inexplicable ailments—things like hearing and memory loss, severe headaches, light sensitivity, nausea, and a host of other debilitating issues. If you’re somehow just joining this story, you should know that one of the most prevalent and controversial theories about the syndrome’s origins is that it’s caused by a “sonic weapon”—some sort of spooky unknown mechanism that can fire electromagnetic energy at targets. Hypothetically, this energy is what’s causing the kinds of mental and physical anguish that “Havana” victims appear to suffer from. It’s a wild explanation (albeit one that scientists seem to agree is technically possible) and it’s also one of the most recurrent theories to be posited amidst a truck load of others (“Havana” has also been blamed on pesticides exposure, mass delusions, and crickets, among many other things). GIZMODO
HAVANA CHINA TODAY: 'Havana Syndrome' and more such lies shatter US' credibility The US National Institutes of Health's latest announcement that it would stop investigating the "Havana Syndrome" — a mysterious illness marked by hearing loss, dizziness, nausea, migraines, fatigue and other symptoms that was supposedly afflicting US diplomats posted abroad since 2016 — means Washington finally admitted that the whole thing was a self-orchestrated lie to groundlessly smear other countries and impose sanctions on them. The mysterious illness was so named because the symptoms were first reported by US diplomats posted in the Cuban capital of Havana, making Washington claim that Cuba was using a "secret weapon". In fact, a number of US intelligence agencies jointly announced in March 2023 the results of an investigation into the mysterious ailment, saying it may have been caused by environmental factors, undiagnosed medical conditions or stress. The results overturned a finding more than a year ago by a team from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which linked the syndrome to "directed" radio frequencies. But this has not stopped US politicians and media from using it to repeatedly politicize medical and scientific issues []The US has a long tradition of fabricating lies to discredit and suppress other countries, or to justify its violence and plunder around the world; the "Havana Syndrome" is just another example of its decades-old lying targeting countries it does not like. As former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who once served as CIA director, said, "we lied, we cheated, we stole." A number of international companies have fallen victim to the US' suppression and bullying for "endangering US national security" [] The "Havana Syndrome" farce should serve as a reminder to the US that it should stop fabricating lies to smear other countries to avoid a bigger loss of its fragile credibility. CHINA DAILY
HEALTH: Perfect balance: How the brain fine-tunes its sensitivity But how does the brain manage to be highly sensitive without becoming over-activated? "The key lies in maintaining a balance between neural excitation and inhibition," explains Professor Peter Scheiffele from the Biozentrum, University of Basel. "In mouse models, we have now discovered how this balance is maintained to ensure stable brain function." The study particularly focused on the neocortex, a brain area responsible for perception and a range of complex functions such learning. [] "We now understand at the molecular level how neural networks balance excitation and inhibition," says Scheiffele. "With our work, we are expanding the repertoire of options to treat epilepsy and other neurodevelopmental disorders." Targeted interventions in the BMP2 signaling pathway could help to fine-tune and re-adjust brain sensitivity. More information: Zeynep Okur et al, Control of neuronal excitation–inhibition balance by BMP–SMAD1 signalling, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07317-z MSN
HEALTH: Sweat-powered finger wrap tracks glucose, vitamins, drug levels in your body MSN
LOCAL FUTURES: We Built the Technosphere. Now We Must Resist August 23, 2024 by Andrew Nikiforuk It Our brave new world of plastic, wire and concrete promises liberation. Instead, its cult of efficiency controls and kills. “People will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” — Aldous Huxley Many people spend more time living in the technosphere than they do in the real world. They can identify the virtual characters of video games but cannot name the trees or birds outside their windows. The average U.S. teenager spends nearly eight hours on screens, floating like internet astronauts steered by algorithms. Their French counterparts have owned, on average, five mobile phones by the age of 18. Peter Haff, a U.S. geoscientist at Duke University, has written extensively about the technosphere and its powers. In a fascinating 2013 paper he broadly defines this machine-mediated universe as an interlinked system of communication, transportation and administrative technologies that mines, metabolizes and consumes fossil fuels and any other energy sources it can draw upon. With every tonne of fossil fuels the technosphere consumes, it extracts another six tonnes of material stuff including sand, metal, rock, wood and stone. “On land the technosphere,” writes Haff, “transports large quantities of solids further and faster than any natural process except sediment transport by rivers.” As such the technosphere possesses its own metabolism, continuously appropriating resources like some Napoleonic army. Its fresh water demands alone divert the equivalent of a Mediterranean Sea every year. The endless transformation of Earth wrought by the technosphere is, in Haff’s words, “an emerging geological process that has entrained humans as essential components that support its dynamics.” The word “component” is instructive. If a citizen or component doesn’t serve the technosphere, then they may well find themselves discarded or, as Haff explains, slated for repair. What course of action, then, is left to any one person? [] Jacques Ellul, a man who loved life, offered three choices. He wrote in 1989 that people can accept technology as our determined fate, bear witness to its transgressions or resist its dominance in every human affair. [] Only the last two paths, he wrote, offer promise, hope and, finally, liberation. Neil Postman took Ellul’s advice to heart, recommending steady and persistent resistance. “A resistance fighter,” wrote Postman, “understands that technology must never be accepted as part of the natural order of things, that every technology — from an IQ test to an automobile to a television set to a computer — is a product of a particular economic and political context and carries with it a program, an agenda and a philosophy that may or may not be life-enhancing and that therefore require scrutiny, criticism and control.” We Built the Technosphere. Now We Must Resist It - Local Futures
SECURITY/HACKING SOLUTION: What Is a Credit Freeze and How Do You Place One? A credit freeze limits access to your credit report. You can place a free freeze with each bureau online, by phone or by mail. “The best way to prevent your personal information from being used to set up new accounts is to institute a credit freeze with each of the three major credit bureaus. When your credit is frozen, potential creditors cannot access your credit report to approve new accounts, making it difficult for someone to open accounts in your name without your permission.” This link will take you to detailed instructions to place a freeze with each of the three major credit bureaus. Basically, you freeze your credit either by calling the credit bureau, or creating an account to log in and freeze your credit on-line. Personally, I chose to create an account at each of the credit bureaus, so I can log in at any time and see check my account. This process took me about 15 minutes for all three major credit bureaus. There is a difference between a credit freeze and a credit lock, but the main one seems to be that the freeze is free and the lock is a paid service from the reporting agency. So, make sure you choose a freeze, not a lock. When you freeze your credit you may be supplied with a PIN or a password - make sure you record the PIN or password and keep it in a safe place. Source: ComputerMom
SECURITY: Have you see the recent headlines about the National Public Data breach? "Hackers may have stolen the social security numbers of every American". It's still unclear exactly who or what is affected, but, with so very many credentials published on the dark web, you should assume yours are among them. Why you should worry: The estimates of how many people's data has been stolen ranges from 200 million to 1.9 billion. National Public Data has not released any lists of who has been affected by the breach, but, with so many records kept and stolen, you should assume that at least some of your information is compromised. There are a number of websites that purport to check if your data has been stolen. I don't recommend entering your Social Security number into any of them, but this one will check with just your name and zip code. Unfortunately, in this breach the data stolen is exactly the data needed to open up credit accounts. Your biggest worry should be identity theft, and you have two concerns - protecting your existing accounts, and preventing scammers from using stolen information to open new credit in your name. Source: ComputerMom
SPACE: 'It basically lifts the skies up.' NASA discovers Earth's electrical field at last after 60-year search A long-sought invisible force wrapped around Earth has been detected more than half a century after it was first hypothesized. The field, dubbed the "polar wind," explains how Earth's atmosphere escapes easily and rapidly above the north and south poles, and may have played a role in shaping our planet's thin upper atmosphere. Scientists say it's as vital to our planet as gravity and the magnetic field. "This field is so fundamental to understanding the way our planet works — it's been here since the beginning alongside gravity and magnetism," Glyn Collinson, who is the principal investigator of Endurance at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in an agency video. "Despite being weak, it's incredibly important — it counters gravity and it basically lifts the skies up." []Scientists estimate the field begins roughly 150 miles (250 kilometers) above the surface, where atoms in the atmosphere separate into negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions, which are over 1,800 times heavier than electrons. Given their opposite electric charges, an electric field forms to "tether them together," countering gravity's incessant pull and letting some particles escape into space in the process, according to the NASA statement. Hydrogen ions, which are abundant in the polar wind, sense an outward push from the field 10.6 times stronger than gravity, the researchers found. "That's more than enough to counter gravity — in fact, it's enough to launch them upwards into space at supersonic speeds," study co-author Alex Glocer, who is the project scientist of the Endurance mission at NASA Goddard, said in the statement. Oxygen ions, which are heavier than their hydrogen counterparts, were found to be getting a speed boost from the polar wind as well. "It's like this conveyor belt, lifting the atmosphere up into space," Collison said. Because polar wind is spurred by dynamics deep within Earth, scientists expect it to be present on other planets, including Venus and Mars. Studying the phenomenon in further detail can also reveal clues about its influence on the evolution of our atmosphere and its fingerprints in our oceans, Collinson said. "This field is a fundamental part of the way Earth works, and now that we've finally measured it, we can start to ask some of these bigger and exciting questions." Collinson and his colleagues describe their findings in a paper published Wednesday (Aug. 28) in the journal Nature. MSN
SPACE: NASA Will Attempt to Launch Boeing's Troubled Starliner Away From Space Station as Fast as Possible, Just in Case "The reason we chose doing this breakout burn is simply it gets the vehicle away from Station faster..." FUTURISM
SPACE: SpaceX, T-Mobile Forge Ahead with Satellite Coverage Plans SpaceX conducted a study to counter industry claims of harmful interference. HERE
SPACEWEATHER: SUNSPOT NUMBERS CONTINUE TO INCREASE: Last month, the average sunspot number exceeded 200 for the first time in 23 years, significantly exceeding official forecasts. The surge could be a harbinger of strong solar activity for years to come. It's also great news for sky watchers as we enter the equinox aurora season. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.
EVENTS:
9/5: The National Call for Safe Technology Federal Bills Meeting, Thursday September 5, 2024, 4-6pm ET Here's the registration link for the Federal Bills meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcldeuhrDItHtHSz4DbrVwAxaJeP--XwsU9 Congress and the Senate go back in session on Sept 9, 2024, and the bills will be moving quickly. So we need to stem that movement until they amend the bills. After you register, you will receive a list of telephone numbers where you can call in to the meeting. Here is a 1-1/2 pager to explain the issues - a Congressional briefing. https://thenationalcall.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Congressional-Briefing-5-19-24-FINAL.pdf
9/9-9/11: Free ADHD Parenting Summit (September 9-11) includes Victoria L. Dunckley, M.D. eith joining 25 other world-class experts - including NY Times bestselling author Ned Hallowell MD, in the field of ADHD
9/13 The National Call for Safe Technology Mark your calendars for our next regular meeting on Friday, September 13 at 1:00 pm ET.
ACTIVIST CORNER:
Courtesy Monique: I wanted to share a new approach for EMR activism outreach that I tried on Saturday at a local Black Men’s Health and Wellness fair. (I'm sure there are activists in other states who are like me in that they can't afford a booth and/or it's difficult to find others willing to sit at a booth and do this.) Instead of signing-up to have a booth at health fairs or other community oriented events, I go and carry bags of handouts with me. Then I talk to the people at the booths about EMR activism and give them handouts. I carry 2 bags – one with handouts I definitely plan give out and one for handouts I might have an opportunity to give out. I bring a combination of handouts from SWORT as well as from national organizations. I have been doing outreach like this at health fairs and other community-oriented events for the 5 or more years. I’ve found it to be a good way to get out information quickly and to a lot of people Booth attendants are sort of sitting ducks who can’t really protest that I've stopped by to talk to them. Most actually thank me for the information. A while back, Thea from Environmental Health Trust had sent me to some of their handouts and cards for distribution. There were some great postcards in there including their “Save the boys” postcards. I’ve saved most of those for a special occasion and Saturday seemed like a good one; however I only had 16 of these postcards. So I had my husband make a display I could show people using 2 of the postcards. See attached. When I introduced myself to booth attendants, I said something like “Since this is a men’s health event, it seemed appropriate to share this with you today”. I showed them the display and encouraged them to take pictures of it on their phones to share with others and many of them took pictures. There were some laughs – especially from the Black women’s nurses’ sorority. I left one of the "Save the boys" postcards along with other information with people at the booths. I’m going to have my husband create a display like this with some of the other postcards for women’s and children’s health events. I thought I'd share this with you in case any of you would like to try this out or share the idea with others who do community outreach. Thanks for all you do! Monique