April 4 Safe Tech International News and Notes
CHD Legal Win, Omnibus Bill RF Tracks Cattle, Dowsing Hartman Lines & 5G
Our movement is diverse and growing, but not without divides, please skip over items that are not of interest…I aim for accurate labels (and truth in advertising) in covering outlets reporting EMF/RF issues.
I am so happy to see more tech writers on Substack. And thank you to Keith and Roman for referring new readers…Welcome!
FEATURED CHD: ‘Huge Win’: Court Rules Big Telecom Must Comply With State Environmental Laws A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge last week ruled that federal law does not preempt California’s state environmental law, which requires environmental impact reviews before telecom companies can apply for permits to build new wireless infrastructure on scenic highways and historic sites. Los Angeles County officials must comply with state environmental law when issuing permits for new wireless infrastructures, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled. The ruling is a win for Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and a coalition of community and environmental groups in a historic case challenging the fast-tracked proliferation of wireless infrastructure in Los Angeles County. W. Scott McCollough, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a press release, “The court’s ruling is a huge win in the battle against unfettered proliferation of wireless because of the known risks to the environment and people’s health.” Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia, director of CHD’s EMR & Wireless program, called the judge’s ruling “hugely important” because it established the legal principle that state environmental law isn’t preempted by federal law, so it must be taken into consideration when it comes to the placement of cell towers. “Our EMR and wireless litigation strategy is testing the limits of federal preemption in this space,” Eckenfels-Garcia told The Defender, “as we are trying to establish and secure what states and local authorities can do to protect the public and the environment from harmful RF [radiofrequency] radiation.” https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/chd-lawsuit-la-county-court-telecom-comply-state-environmental-laws/
Lawsuit: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FiberFirst-LA-Petition-3-6-23-1.pdf
FEATURED: 27 New Papers on Electromagnetic Fields and Biology or Health Electromagnetic Radiation Safety April 3, 2024 https://www.saferemr.com/2022/06/recent-research-on-wireless-radiation.html Joel Moskowitz has been circulating abstracts of newly-published scientific papers on radio frequency and other non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF) monthly since 2016. The complete collection of these papers contains more than 2,000 abstracts with links to the papers. Several hundred EMF scientists around the world receive these updates. To see abstracts for the most recent papers or to download volumes 1 to 3 of this collection go to: https://www.saferemr.com/2022/06/recent-research-on-wireless-radiation.html
NEWS AND NOTES
AI: How “energy-hungry AI” is straining grids and spreading climate disinfo Artificial Intelligence (AI) has previously been heralded as a potentially invaluable tool in the fight against climate change, but a new report by several green groups has found that it in fact poses “two significant and immediate dangers” – its vast and increasing energy requirements, and its propensity for “turbocharging disinformation”. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/how-energy-hungry-ai-is-straining-grids-and-spreading-climate-disinfo/ar-BB1jVj08
AI: Why AI Is So Thirsty: Data Centers Use Massive Amounts of Water Shaolei Ren, an associate professor in the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, Riverside, has been researching big tech's water use for about a decade. "People were talking about carbon emissions when they study sustainable computing, but I believe that water is also a very important metric," Ren told Newsweek. Ren's most recent work focuses precisely on how AI is increasing water use. A large language model like OpenAI's popular ChatGPT-3 must first be trained, a data and energy intensive process that can also boost water use. Ren found that training GPT-3 in Microsoft's high-end data centers can directly evaporate 700,000 liters, or about 185,000 gallons, of water. Once the AI model is in use, each inference, or response to queries, also requires energy and cooling, and that, too, is thirsty work. Ren and his colleagues estimate that GPT-3 needs to "drink" a 16-ounce bottle of water for roughly every 10-50 responses it makes, and when the model is fielding billions of queries, that adds up. To get the full measure of water use, Ren looked at both the water directly used in cooling servers in a data center and the water used in the generation of electricity the data centers require. "When we generate electricity using coal-based power plants, using nuclear power plants, we are actually also consuming a lot of water," he explained, and AI is sharply boosting the energy that data centers need. Add all that water up and apply it to the projected growth in AI in the next few years and the total quickly reaches a staggering level. Ren concluded that global AI demand could result in as much as 6.6 billion cubic meters, or 8.6 billion cubic yards, of water withdrawal by 2027. To put that in perspective, he compared it to how much water some countries use. "This will be roughly equivalent to four to six Denmarks of national water withdrawal," Ren said. "That's quite a lot."[] Microsoft's total water use grew by 34 percent in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, and that increase is likely due at least in part to AI's demands. That has major implications for places like Iowa where Microsoft has used its data centers to train OpenAI models and where water use is becoming a concern. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/why-ai-is-so-thirsty-data-centers-use-massive-amounts-of-water/ar-BB1kr6n7?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=f6b553748d5a440ca256f6fbbc3dcbdb&ei=46
BIG TECH Tom Valovic : Big Tech Companies Are Becoming More Powerful Than Nation-States (2023) https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/big-tech-companies-more-powerful-than-nations
BIG TECH: Team Human vs. Team Posthuman—Which Side Are You On? How Silicon Valley billionaires intentionally muddle public conversations around human extinction. These are just a few examples of an ideology that some call “accelerationism,” or the view that we should “accelerate AI development as rapidly as possible” while opposing “restrictions on the development or proliferation of AIs.” As an academic paper from last year notes, “this sentiment is alarmingly common among many leading AI researchers and technology leaders, some of whom are intentionally racing to build AIs more intelligent than humans.” In fact, over the past several months, an especially insidious version of accelerationism has emerged in the form of so-called “effective accelerationism,” abbreviated as “e/acc.” The core claim of e/acc is that we must colonize space and build a sprawling, multigalactic civilization, and the way to do this is by developing superintelligent AIs as soon as possible. If humanity perishes in the process, so be it — all that matters is that these machines are conscious and able to fulfill our grand, cosmic destiny of spreading beyond Earth and taking control of the universe. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/team-human-vs-team-posthuman-which-side-are-you-on/
BUILDING BIOLOGY: Longer-terms measurements needed for varying magnetic fields generated by renewables on power lines From Canadian Building Biologist Katharina Gustavs wrote: I just translated an article about the changing patterns of ELF magnetic field levels around high-voltage power lines. Very interesting. I have not seen that in BC yet; this province runs mostly on hydro power. In a new article in the Building Biology Magazine, Dr. Manfred Mierau, a seasoned Building Biology Professional from Germany, shares his latest measurements of ELF magnetic field levels around high-voltage power lines. According to the author, ELF magnetic fields have always fluctuated, anywhere from 2 to 4 times higher during high-exposure periods. With the current shift to use significantly more renewable energy sources; however, otherwise more or less predictable exposure patterns are about to change drastically. Check out the long-term measurement data in the article here: High-voltage power lines and electromagnetic pollution — what’s new? https://baubiologie-magazin.de/high-voltage-power-lines-and-electromagnetic-pollution-whats-new/ “Current measurements-Since about 2015, our measurements near various high-voltage power lines have shown that the associated ELF magnetic field levels now fluctuate much more than before. Differences between minimum and maximum often are up to 10 times greater and the periods between lower and higher field levels are much longer. In addition, field levels often change quite abruptly over time, with actual jumps and no smooth transitions. The graphs of ELF magnetic field levels below clearly illustrate these abrupt changes over time.” https://baubiologie-magazin.de/high-voltage-power-lines-and-electromagnetic-pollution-whats-new/ – courtesy Andre
CELLPHONES CHILDREN: How to Delay the Age Kids at Which Get Smartphones A smartphone-free childhood is easier than you think. “Today we have an essay in a new series: What Parents Can Do Now. Our first essay is from Melanie Hempe, who founded the organization ScreenStrong in 2015. Melanie's personal experience with teen screen addiction, combined with her extensive background in public education on this issue, provides her with a unique perspective and a strong commitment to helping others. With a nursing degree from Emory University, she uses her medical background to develop educational materials for parents and children, helping families prevent and reverse screen dependencies.” Enjoy life again When you trust your instinct to skip smartphones and social media through high school, the odds will increase that your teens will emerge physically healthier, emotionally more stable, and socially better adjusted with fewer scars. Regardless of where you are on your journey, it’s never too late to help them. No parent has ever looked back and wished their child spent more time in the virtual world. Your children need the gift of your leadership now so they can be leaders tomorrow. Stand up for them to help them stand out from the crowd. Let me encourage you to make the countercultural choice to move your children’s entertainment and social lives from the online world back to the natural world. Jon Haidt says, “The costs of using social media, in particular, are higher for adolescents than adults, while the benefits are minimal. Let children grow up on Earth first before sending them to Mars... It’s time to end the experiment. Let’s bring our children home.”
CELLULAR PHONE TASK FORCE: ARTHUR F., RADIO WAVES ARE HARMFUL, PERIOD! POWER LEVEL IS IRRELEVANT Just one violin out of tune in an orchestra, or one voice off-key in a choir, will ruin a beautiful harmony, or an enchanting ensemble. It matters not how loudly it grates, or how softly; if it does not stop, the performance will come to an end. So it is with the cells of our bodies, and of the birds, insects, animals and plants whose music fills the Earth. When a jarring note is introduced, no matter how softly, chords become discords, melody becomes noise, life degrades and disappears. https://cellphonetaskforce.org/power-level-is-irrelevant/
CHD: CHD has launched a new short EMR news update feature EMR News Update With Claire Dooley | March 2024 “The impacts of wireless, digital infrastructure is widespread, and they are being rolled out at a rapid pace. From AI headsets for kids with neurological disorders to microchipping of wildlife, lawsuits over lightbulbs and cell tower installation — staying up-to-date on the development, deployment and enforcement of these technologies can seem futile. However, with these rapid changes come great risks, so be sure to tune in to CHD.TV for the education and empowerment necessary to advocate for yourself, the children and future generations to come!” https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/events/emr-news/emr-news-update-with-claire-dooley-march-2024/
CHILDREN: Catherine Steiner-Adair on Tech and Child Development We know tech is bad for our kids. Is it also bad for our relationship with them? 39 minute podcast:
CHIDLREN TABLETS Untold Dangers of Tablets + Homeschool Planning CHD Host Sarah Kenoyer, Shane Reilly (This is a homeschooling podcast, first 14 minutes is with Shane re: EMF and tablets, the end is OT) Kids holding screens at restaurants and in cars, staring at the latest video or clicking through the newest game — is this the world we want for our children? What kinds of mental, physical and emotional harms does the blind, unmitigated and careless use of these technologies pose for future generations? Guest Shane Reilly illustrates these consequences, today, on ‘Good Morning CHD.’ We also hear from Carrie Duncan, homeschooling enthusiast, on alternative education curriculum. She answers important questions for both the parents who consider themselves veterans when it comes to their kids’ at-home schooling as well as the ones just getting started. Catch this episode, and others like it, on CHD.TV! https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/good-morning-chd/untold-dangers-of-tablets--homeschool-planning/
DISCLAIMER: only for those interested/open minded re: Dowsing (I believe some humans are more sensitive to this phenomenon.) DOWSING: Robert Callan - 5G Energy Remedy (TRANSCRIPT VIA YOUTUBE) 33 minutes At 5:00 minutes he explains “In 1951 the physician Dr Ernest Hartman discovered an electromagnetic radiation grid surrounding the earth he called the global net grid. Today it's called the Hartman grid. and it consists of standing waves which are oriented on the earth's magnetic field running north to south and from east to west there are parallel lines about 8 to 12 inches wide with an auric field that extends up to one yard on either side. Hartman lines are approximately two to two and a half meters apart with a neutral zone between [ ] Hartman lines are negatively affected by electricity. and 3g 4g and 5g base stations require increasing electrical energy the greater the power of the electrical item the more negative the results the typical 5g site has power needs of over 11.5 kilowatts. that's up to nearly 70 percent from a base station deploying a mix of 3g and 4g; 5g macro base stations may require several new power hungry components including microwave or millimeter wave transceivers field programmable gate arrays [] faster data converters high power low noise amplifiers and integrated mimo antennas. Those are highly micro a highly very small high intensity antennas and a great number of them in a small area you'll be comforted to know that they have tested the microwave transceivers effect on humans and they didn't raise the body temperature of a person in close proximity by more than one degree. These Hartman lines have become negatively supercharged by higher concentrations of 3g 4g and now 5g stations. Hartman lines seem to be the main carriers of this high intensity negative 3g 4g and 5g energy through our homes and office buildings. Prior to 4 and 5g energy electromagnetic wave energy transmitted from cell towers and then the Hartman lines affected negatively by electrical energy were independent of each other and did not interact. Video here. [The Dowser’s convention comes to Marlboro MA Friday-Sunday, June 14-16, 2024 https://learntodowse.com/]
FARMING: Electronic Tracking of Cattle Omnibus Budget Bill includes provisions for Electronic Tracking of Cattle The omnibus bill, which was proposed on Sunday and combines six essential spending bills into one, includes text that allocates $15 million to "related infrastructure" needed for electronically tracking livestock. The full text of the provision states, "The agreement directs the Department to continue to provide the tag and related infrastructure needed to comply with the Federal Animal Disease Traceability rule, including no less than $15,000,000 for electronic identification (EID) tags and related infrastructure needed for stakeholders to comply with the proposed rule, 'Use of Electronic Identification Eartags as Official Identification in Cattle and Bison,' should that rule be finalized." However, ahead of the vote on Wednesday, Republican representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky took to X, formerly Twitter, to criticize the bill, saying it will be used to limit beef production and challenge small ranchers. "Hidden in this week's Omnibus: Lobbyists got $15 million dollars to implement ELECTRONIC TRACKING of all cattle in the U.S. No law authorizes this! https://www.cattlerange.com/articles/2024/03/omnibus-budget-bill-includes-provisions-for-electronic-tracking-of-cattle/
And from Tri-State Livestock News: Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, in a letter to the OMB, described her objections to USDA’s mandatory animal identification proposal. ” is also meeting with the OMB and she provided a powerful written submission of her objections to the USDA’s mandatory EID scheme. You can read her letter to OMB here. Hageman told the OMB that during the 2013 rulemaking “APHIS acknowledged that the estimated cost of a comprehensive EID program was between $1.2 and $1.9 billion dollars, a number testified to before the US International Trade Commission and a number that APHIS did not dispute. It is unclear how APHIS has been able to calculate a wildly lower cost of implementation and compliance despite the fact that the Agency is proposing to replace legacy livestock identification systems (long identified as effective) with new, costly and evolving technology, the use of which has never been tested on the current proposed scale. https://www.tsln.com/news/house-approves-appropriations-package-bill-includes-15-million-for-electronic-cattle-tagging-system/
See also: https://prepperbeef.com/blog/2024/03/31/cattle-tracking-provision-in-omnibus-bill-will-limit-beef-supply-even-further/ reprint of article from Epoch Times.
“American cattle rancher Shad Sullivan told The Epoch Times that he fears that the electronic tags will be the end of the small rancher. “They are going to use it as a taxing mechanism to eventually control the livestock,” Mr. Sullivan said. “In the European Union, they used these measures under the guise of climate change lies to limit the cattle supply, and if they do that here, it will destroy our industry. “If the tag mandate is implemented it will be the key to open the door to the gas chamber for independent ranching.” Currently, most livestock are tracked using tags that display 11-digit numbers, which are both visible and trackable. On Jan. 19, 2023, the Federal Register published proposed regulations to mandate the inclusion of radio-frequency identification in ear tags. These enhanced tags must be “both visually and electronically readable” to be recognized as official for the interstate movement of cattle and bison.
(If you have not seen it: Health and environmental effects to wildlife from radio telemetry and tracking devices' state of the science and best management practices Manville AM, Levitt BB, Lai HC. Health and environmental effects to wildlife from radio telemetry and tracking devices' state of the science and best management practices. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Vol. 11, 2024. doi:10.3389/fvets.2024.1283709.
5G: Verizon's 5G Home Internet Now Comes With Freebies Get a Samsung Chromebook Go or a $200 Target gift card when you sign up for 5G Home Plus Internet from Verizon. https://www.cnet.com/deals/verizons-5g-home-internet-now-comes-with-freebies/ (because customers have to be bribed?)
HAVANA: US Hasn't Taken Havana Syndrome Seriously: John Bolton Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton issued a warning on Monday regarding Havana Syndrome, calling it "very concerning," and said that the U.S. government did not take the syndrome "seriously." On Monday, Bolton appeared on CNN's Newsroom and spoke about a recent report from CBS' 60 Minutes about a possible link between Havana Syndrome and Russian intelligence. https://www.newsweek.com/united-states-government-hasnt-taken-havana-syndrome-seriously-john-bolton-1885612
HEALTH: Neurological conditions ‘leading cause of disability and ill health worldwide’ The number of people living with, and dying from, conditions that affect the brain such as stroke, dementia, migraines, epilepsy and nervous system cancers, has increased globally by 18% in the last three decades, analysis suggests. In 2021, 3.4 billion people worldwide experienced neurological conditions, making it the leading cause of ill health and disability globally, according to research published in the Lancet Neurology journal. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/neurological-conditions-leading-cause-of-disability-and-ill-health-worldwide/ar-BB1jUOVq
INDUSTRY: Nokia – EDITOR’S COMMENT: Is this why some people feel worse at this time, health -wise?????
“At the time CSPs often referred to low-band spectrum as beachfront property because it was desirable. Wireless carriers could serve thousands of customers within hundreds of square miles with just one tower.” “[] low band spectrum does make it easier for the wireless signal to penetrate windows and walls.
Network-monitoring companies like Ookla have shown dramatic rises in mobile network speeds thanks to implementing 5G over mid-band spectrum. Operators such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon spent the last couple of years installing mid-band radios to the cell towers they lease. T-Mobile covers around 260 million people in the US with its mid-band 5G network and expects to increase to 300 million. Meanwhile, Verizon covers 200 million and expects to reach 250 million by the end of 2024. Some US operators are also planning to refarm (or re-use) some mid-band spectrum (such as the 1800 MHz) currently used for 3G services and use it for 5G. https://www.nokia.com/thought-leadership/articles/spectrum-bands-5g-world/relationship with machines
INSPIRATION: Naive Technocapitalist Optimism: The Most Dangerous Worldview - Daniel Schmachtenberger I minute video clip here
He has numerous longer in depth videos on youtube and elsewhere:
Highly recommended: Daniel Schmachtenberger | Misalignment, AI & Moloch | Win-Win with Liv Boeree 1 ½ hours “A deep dive into the game theory and exponential growth underlying our modern economic system, and how recent advancements in AI are poised to turn up the pressure on that system --and its wider environment -- in ways we have never seen before. Not a conversation for the faint hearted, but crucial nonetheless. This conversation was episode zero of the Win-Win Podcast. Daniel is a founding member of The Consilience Project, aimed at improving public sensemaking and dialogue around global catastrophic risks and technology.”
Daniel Schmachtenberger: Steering Civilization Away from Self-Destruction | Lex Fridman Podcast #191 4 ¼ hours
Daniel Schmachtenberger: "Artificial Intelligence and The Superorganism" | The Great Simplification, 3 ¼ hours
Daniel Schmachtenberger l An introduction to the Metacrisis l Stockholm Impact/Week 2023 51 minutes AT 43 ½ MINUTES: “so don't act out of anger depression and fear act out of that sense of the Sacred and that you are in service to a life that is beautiful to a life with a capital l a world that is beautiful and that you're at a time when there is a higher possible consequence of your action than there has ever been for humans and there is an obligation in that and there is a meaningfulness in that that you don't want to waste.”
NEURALINK: Weaponizing Reality: The Dawn of Neurowarfare Stavroula Pabst explores the race to apply emerging neurotechnologies, such as brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), in times of both war and peace, expanding conflicts into a new domain — the brain — while perhaps forever changing humans’ https://scheerpost.com/2024/03/25/weaponizing-reality-the-dawn-of-neurowarfare/
POLICY MAKING: EPA Launches New Website to Improve Transparency in Permitting Today, April 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the launch of a new website, epa.gov/permits, a centralized web-based platform for information about federal environmental permitting. It highlights EPA’s permitting and environmental review programs and shares information on related statutes and environmental justice initiatives. In support of EPA’s commitments under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), it also displays the status of EPA permits for large scale infrastructure projects covered by this statute. The website is a resource for the public, permit applicants and federal agency partners. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-new-website-improve-transparency-permitting
SCHOOLS Safe Tech Schools New Resource Radiofrequency (RF) radiation emitted by all wireless devices was once thought to be harmless. Now thousands of studies, including a major study from the National Institutes of Health, are showing that exposure at levels below current FCC guidelines can have biological effects and trigger physical symptoms. While federal agencies work to establish new guidelines for exposure, there are simple steps administrators can take that will dramatically reduce the amount of radiation in school classrooms. This site contains links to scientific studies, practical instructions for reducing exposures, Best Practices for students and teachers and much more, Let us know how we can help you. Patti & Doug Wood https://www.techsafeschools.org/
SECURITY: AT&T notifies users of data breach and resets millions of passcodes https://techxplore.com/news/2024-03-att-notifies-users-breach-resets.html
SMART METER FLYER: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QTLRF5iNkyG40Lei-XV6dtAl9gSFWmhr/view courtesy Mark (Note: I like the layout and info although all caps is harder to read…and there is mention of covid that others may not appreciate.)
EVENTS:
Upcoming FREE webinars:
April 12, 7pm EST: Don't Paint Your Bedroom Black, and Other Tips on EMF Shielding with Keith Cutter of EMF Remedy.
April 18, 7pm EST: How to address wireless tech at school with Shelley Wright of Canadians For Safe Technology
May 2, 7pm EST: How to apply effective EMF shielding with Rob Metzinger of Safe Living Technologies
More info and registration links here:
In case you missed it:
Citizen Science: Charlie’s Garden and Family’s Food vs. the Pittsfield Cell Tower
RE: delaying the age kids get smartphones (and similar messaging)
This idea of using smartphones 'responsibly' or 'for emergencies only' or 'for limited hours a day' might be a necessary first step to break the addiction, but even if everybody took that approach it would do no more than take us back to the late 1990's / early 2000's.
This was a time when EVERYBODY regarded their cell phone as 'for emergencies only', 'limited use', 'for nothing frivolous' - but nobody was able to keep that promise.
My point being .... this kind of approach will solve nothing. The only behaviour change which can reduce wireless pollution and push back against wireless culture is to opt out of the technology, and then start demanding (or defending any remaining) pollution free zones and accommodations for non smartphone owners (cash, paper tickets, traditional booking methods etc).
If you have a smartphone for emergency use only it won't be long before 'emergency use' includes 'buying food at the supermarket' or 'getting on a bus or train' or 'applying for a job interview'.
We are hurtling towards a fully wireless EVERYTHING society (IoT/ IoB). But even if we were not, there is still no scenario where 'limited use' or 'age restricted use' could possibly save the environment, save our health or give EHS sufferers their life back. So from every angle this is a pointless strategy.
It's better that we aim to abandon this tech completely, which is the only viable solution (it should never have been implemented in the first place), rather than spend another 10 years pussyfooting around with the concept of reducing our use or giving it to our children as a kind of 'coming of age' reward.
The good news is that to accommodate human beings and the natural environment requires the industry to allow for pollution-free zones to be established in public spaces, the workplace, residential areas, public transport, natural spaces etc. But anything less than a complete network (blanket coverage) renders the technology pointless and worthless in a practical sense.
This means even if there are only a small percentage of non-users out there, they still have the potential to expose wireless technology for being an unworkable and therefore pointless technology (which it is), simply by opting out and demanding the most reasonable accommodations (the same accommodations that non smokers demand from smokers).
Your posts are so very thorough and helpful. Thank you so much!