November 3-4 Safe Tech International News and Notes
Norm re: Lithium Battery Fires, Teen Suicide & 'Empathetic' Intelligence, Children's Declaration, EHs correlates w/ immune responsivity to oxidative stress
The 14-year-old who committed suicide as the result of his interactions with his personalized chatbot have launched a new wave of outcry. It needs to be bigger and louder.
Nicki Reisberg of “Scrolling2 Death” has been podcasting interviews, including those with families who have lost children to various risks posed by tech, including bullying, stalking, blackmail, etc. In an interview with Laurie Segall, the two discussed the growing issue of the industry using children as beta testers for new technology. Nicki will be interviewing the deceased teen Sewell Setzer III’s mother next.
Those new to this issue may not be aware of the 2015 story of Jennifer Frye of the U.K, Listen Jenny Fry Teen Suicide Due to WiFi – Interview with her Mom via Boil the Frog radio (50 minutes)
Debra Fry, Children’s EMR Health Ambassador, will share the story of her daughter Jenny at the UK event on Nov.7. (Details under events)
Newcomers may also not be familiar with the harm inflicted on the Gilardi family, when a cell tower was installed in their residential neighborhood during lockdowns, rendering the home uninhabitable for the two girls, and sickening at least 17 in the neighborhood. See Amelia’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Cell Tower Days
Concerns about children have been codified into “The International Declaration on the
Human Rights of Children in the Digital Age”. “In this International Declaration, we posit three fundamental legal rights of children regarding the deployment and use of technology: their right to be free from intentionally addictive devices, platforms and apps; their right to be free from excessive exposure to wireless radiation; and their right to be free from commercial exploitation.” The Declaration is a joint project of the Broadband International Legal Action Network and Americans for Responsible Technology, and an international team of medical, legal and mental health experts whose contributions are gratefully acknowledged.
You can sign the Declaration here: Sign the International Children's Declaration
Love is the seventh wave. - Sting
FEATURED:
JOEL MOSKOWITZ’S radio interview about wireless radiation health effects can be listened to or downloaded from Google Drive at https://bit.ly/cellphone_WBAI.The interview on Green Street Radio produced by Doug & Patti Wood was broadcast today on WBAI-FM in New York City. The program will be broadcast and live-streamed next week on two California radio stations:
Monday (11/04/24) at 2:00 PM PT: KPFA (Berkeley)
Tuesday (11/05/24) at 2:30 PM PT: KPFK (Los Angeles)
Doug & Patti Wood's websites:
Grassroots Environmental Education
Americans for Responsible Technology
Joel’s recent webinar:
"Health Hazards of Wireless Technologies: What do we know now?"
FEATURED
EMR AUSTRALIA: EMR-S EHS FRANCE The man who was sensitive I’d like to tell you the story of a young man from France who is the subject of a case study by an international team of researchers. The 25-year-old from Compiegne suffers with a range of symptoms (electromagnetic hypersensitivity) when he’s exposed to electromagnetic fields from electrical and telecommunications equipment. The researchers say, ‘His symptoms include but are not limited to: sensation of pressure in the skull, sensation of acute and burning cerebral pain following a vascular trajectory; pain in the temporal region and circle of Willis; fatigue; difficulty in concentration; memory loss; lack of focus; reduced motor function; insomnia; nausea; hearing deficit and/or hyperacuity; and problems with vision. In addition, the patient experienced acute thoracic pain, dyspnea, and spasms …; variations in arterial tension; intestinal transit problems; generalized trembling; spasms/microspasms in internal tissues (not related to muscular activity); and contractile sensations in the teeth. There is further generalized pain throughout the body, heaviness in the limbs, reduced sensitivity/feeling in the face and arms, and generalized retraction in the superficial veins’. The symptoms occur within 20 minutes of exposure and the man requires at least two hours to recover afterwards. They have become more severe over time, making it impossible for him to work or to spend time in the modern technological world. In search of answers, the man underwent a battery of medical tests – but none of them could account for his severe reactions to electromagnetic fields. However, subsequent biochemical analysis of his blood provided clues that the research team think could help explain his condition. They found that the man’s blood had lower levels of antioxidants (Vitamin C, beta-Carotene and Coenzyme Q) than normal. There was also evidence of higher-than-normal levels of ROS (reactive oxygen species), which are unstable molecules that can damage the body and cause oxidative stress. They also found a 40-fold increase in a toxic byproduct of oxidative stress (called Low-Density Lipoprotein [LDLox]), which can cause hardening of the arteries and inflammation. The authors think this could help explain the patient’s condition. They say, ‘The current case report provides a clue as to the missing link between the dramatic symptoms experienced by EHS patients and a subtle increase in cellular oxidative stress triggered by man-made EMFs. The answer may lie within the immune system, as demonstrated by the increase in this patient’s antibodies to LDL oxidase [LDLos], a lipid oxidation product formed by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the cell. Even a minor increase in LDLox, for instance in exposed membranes of the vasculature, could plausibly elicit a severe auto-immune reaction. This would explain the rapid onset and severity of the patient’s EHS symptoms, including to brain, blood vessels and circulation. Furthermore, the progressive nature of his symptoms, which have worsened over time, are consistent with increasing immune response as a result of repeated exposure (‘boosting’) to an EMF elicitor. The fact that standardized tests for autoimmune or allergen pathology of this patient proved negative (CRC, ANCA, etc.) (Figure 1c) is consistent with the transient nature of the EMF elicitor and the rapid elimination of ROS and ROS byproducts subsequent to EMF removal.’ Further, the authors say that these reactions can occur from exposure to environmental electromagnetic fields that are far lower than and comply with levels specified in international standards. They suggest that electromagnetic hypersensitivity and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), which are closely related, could be more likely to occur in people who have lower coping mechanisms for oxidative stress. REPORT Thawatchai Thoradita et al, Hypersensitivity to man-made electromagnetic fields (EHS) correlates with immune responsivity to oxidative stress: a case report, COMMUNICATIVE & INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2024, VOL. 17, NO. 1, 2384874, ARTICLE The man who was sensitive – EMR Australia YOUTUBE VIDEO 1 MINUTE COURTESY LYN MCLEAN, EMR Australia
NOTE: The symptoms of the 25-year old man can be mapped out against the yin and yang hollow bodyguard organs of the meridian system of Oriental medicine, which is the electromagnetic roadmap for chronobiology. For example, the stomach and large intestine can respond to stress by behaving in an off-rhythm way by rapidly emptying contents. (Vomiting and diarrhea are actions of the energetic immune system,)
“Intestinal transit problems; generalized trembling; spasms/microspasms in internal tissues (not related to muscular activity); and contractile sensations in the teeth” can all be mapped out and understood via the meridian function being disrupted by artificial, man-made frequencies. See: Home < Interactive Meridian Tooth Chart®
NEWS AND NOTES
ADDICTIVE DESIGN DISCONNECT PARIS MARX: Roundup: Targeting platforms’ addictive design Earlier this week, the European Union announced they were investigating Temu. The company is accused of selling illegal products, including counterfeit goods, but the aspect of the investigation that stood out to me was the desire to look into the “addictive design” and aggressive sales tactics that dominate Temu’s platform. [] the company is known for using aggressive discounting and many other strategies in the design of its app, website, and communications strategy to try to push customers to complete a sale. While there’s good reason to look at the products being sold through its platform, I think targeting the design of the platform itself is a welcome development and something that should be happening on a much greater scale. [ ]We’ve long known that app developers at major tech companies like Meta looked to the gambling industry to learn how to keep people hooked on their platforms, using design tricks to create dopamine responses to keep people engaged and keep them coming back. That included everything from how social media timelines work to when to send notifications. Sometimes, this is taken to an extreme, like in the Social Dilemma documentary of a few years ago, to suggest that tech companies are controlling people’s minds — I think that’s ridiculous, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t serious reasons to be concerned about the design of these platforms and the broader effects of social media and smartphones more broadly. In the past, it was easier to believe that these technologies were having a net positive impact. There’s no denying they’ve allowed us to be more connected with the people we know and have enabled a new form a digital socialization TECH WON’T SAVE US
AI: Mark Zuckerberg Pledges to Fill Facebook With Even More AI Slop Oh, good. Instead of stemming the tide of a massive tidal wave of AI slop menacing his platforms, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he welcomes AI-generated content on Facebook and Instagram. FUTURISM
AMERICANS FOR RESPONSIBLE TECHNOLOGY NEWS: TechSafe Schools has joined with Fiber First LA and other advocates in California to urge schools to consider limiting the use of cell phones in schools. In a letter to the LAUSD, we write, "The banning of cell phone use in schools brings with it the opportunity to re-evaluate the amount of RF radiation present in schools. As you are aware, RF radiation negatively impacts a growing cohort of children and adults who are particularly sensitive to its effects, with symptoms that Include headaches, fatigue, inability to concentrate, depression, anxiety and cardiac arrhythmia." Read the full letter here.
AND: Green Street with Patti and Doug Wood, the radio show created by the founders of Americans for Responsible Technology and Grassroots Environmental Education, has become a staple of the New York radio market on Friday afternoons. Now both KPFK in Los Angeles and KPFA in Berkeley have picked up the program. You can hear Green Street in Berkeley at 2:00 on Monday afternoons, and in LA the program airs at 2:30 on Tuesdays. (You can also listen any time at GreenStreetNews.org) Green Street features news and expert interviews, and covers a wide range of environmental health issues, from fracking to fluoride, PFAS to plastic pollution, and artificial turf to..... wireless radiation! AND Flyers, rally signs, municipal code checklists, remediation sources, sample letters, draft resolutions, and the amazingly helpful ART Treasure Chest (with quotes from highly respected sources you can use in your advocacy) are all ready and waiting for you in the ART Tool Kit. If you haven't visited in a while, check it out. If we're missing something, let us know!
AUTOMOBILES: Elon May Have Made a Huge Mistake on Full Self-Driving That's Too Late to Correct While Waymo is now providing over 150,000 autonomous rides every week, Tesla still has a long way to go until its controversial "Full Self-Driving" software is ready for the EV maker's competing robotaxi service. Just this week, a Tesla driver plowed through a deer without even a hint of slowing down with the $8,000 add-on feature turned on, and another smashed into someone else's car when its owner employed its Summon feature. Those flaws have caught — and continue to catch — the attention of regulators. Earlier this month, Tesla became the subject of yet another investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The probe hones in on one of Tesla's most eyebrow-raising decisions when it comes to its driver assistance package: the insistence on exclusively relying on camera sensors instead of LiDAR and radar like its competitors, which CEO Elon Musk has long derided as a "crutch." In 2022, the company went all-in on cameras, ditching ultrasonic sensors in its vehicles altogether — a decision that could prove to be a major mistake as it struggles to catch up with its competition and has now promised robust self-driving capabilities to owners who may lack the necessary sensor hardware. FUTURISM
AUTOMOBILES, AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS The Human Toll of ALPR Errors Wrongful detentions like these happen all over the country. In Atherton, California, police officers pulled over Jason Burkleo on his way to work, on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle. They ordered him at gun point to lie on his stomach to be handcuffed, only to later realize that their license plate reader had misread an ‘H’ for an ‘M’. In Espanola, New Mexico, law enforcement officials detained Jaclynn Gonzales at gun point and placed her 12 year-old sister in the back of a patrol vehicle, before discovering that the reader had mistaken a ‘2’ for a ‘7’ on their license plates. One study found that ALPRs misread the state of 1-in-10 plates (not counting other reading errors). Other wrongful stops result from police being negligent in maintaining ALPR databases.
BATTERIES NORM’S SUBSTACK: One lithium-ion battery connection REPORT FOR INSURANCE COMPANIES: In October of 2017, a report was issued by the United States Department of Transportation, specifically for The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and it revealed several issues ignored by or totally missed by lithium-ion battery manufacturers: Li-ion batteries are complex systems built to manage and control the electrochemical reactions in Li-ion cells to safely and efficiently receive, store, and discharge electrical energy while preventing or mitigating failure causes. The results of this investigation identified seven primary categories of external causes contributing to failure of Li-ion battery cells:
1. External electrical causes such as external electrical short, overcharging, or over-discharging.
2. External thermal causes such as exposure to high temperatures or charging at cold temperatures.
3. External mechanical causes, which include excessive shock, impact, compression (crush), or penetration.
4. External chemical contamination including packaging penetration by corrosive and aggressive agents and contamination of internal components by water, saltwater, or corrosive agents.
5. Service-induced stress and aging causes such as excess cycling that lead to electrochemical component breakdown, fracture and crack growth
6. Cumulative abuse and service causes in which combinations of electrical, mechanical, and thermal abuse (summarized above) and normal charge/discharge duty cycles cause damage to initiate and grow to the point of failure.
7. Errors in design, manufacturing, operation, and maintenance, which induce electrical, mechanical, and thermal abuse causes.
BATTERIES FIRE: Video shows massive explosion rip through battery processing plant in Missouri FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. (KTVI) – A massive fire broke out at the Critical Mineral Recovery facility, a battery processing plant south of St. Louis, on Wednesday afternoon, releasing thick, toxic smoke into the air and prompting an immediate response from emergency teams. []Watkins explained that lithium-ion batteries are inherently unstable and can easily ignite, requiring careful recycling and dismantling. Despite extensive safety measures, he noted, risks remain as Wednesday’s fire demonstrated. [] CMR is the largest employer in Fredericktown and Watkins says the facility suffered a “total loss” from the fire, which results in the loss of 75 high-end jobs. The plant is considered to be one of the largest lithium-ion battery processing facilities worldwide. MSN
CANADA UPDATE BARB PAYNE: 2024-11-01 New science. New wireless. New interview. INCLUDES FCC “LABELING”
CELLPHONES: More evidence that mobile phone use increases the risk of brain tumours A new study from Korea has found further evidence in research that radiation from mobile phones increases the risk of brain tumours. Jinyoung Moon and his team analyzed data from 24 previous studies and uncovered interesting correlations. EMR AUSTRALIA
CELLPHONES & SATELLITES: Apple Wants More Satellites and Ground Stations for iPhone Satellite SOS Globalstar has announced an expansion of its deal with Apple that will help the iPhones satellite services keep up with demand, and possibly to expand the service to more countries and regions. Globalstar is a connectivity provider for the iPhones life-saving satellite services. And now, the company confirmed in an SEC filing it'll build brand a new satellite constellation for Apple, expand related ground infrastructure, and boost global licensing of these services. As more people get iPhones with SOS connectivity, it makes sense that the infastructure needs more capacity. MSN
CHILDREN; A New Era of Addictive Intelligence WATCH OR LISTEN Posted by Nicki Reisberg of Scrolling2Death What is empathetic AI and is it safe for our kids? Parents are reeling after learning about 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III, who was suicide-baited by an AI chat bot on Character.AI. I brought in Laurie Segall of Mostly Human Media to educate parents on the rise of human-like AI chatbots. We talk about the risks, the lack of regulation and how parents can safeguard their children from this dangerous technology. https://www.scrolling2death.com/post/a-new-era-of-addictive-intelligence-with-laurie-segall 36 MINUTES
Laurie Segall is the founder of Mostly Human Media, an entertainment company with a focus on society and artificial intelligence. Segall is the author of Special Characters: My Adventures with Tech’s Titans and Misfits, a memoir chronicling her experience reporting during the late 00’s tech boom. Formerly CNN’s senior tech correspondent and a reporter for 60 Minutes, Segall has interviewed the world’s most influential tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook. Her access to the titans of tech has allowed her to give audiences a behind-the-scenes look at companies like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Uber during their meteoric rise. Segall served as executive producer and host of CNN’s Mostly Human with Laurie Segall, A docuseries that explored sex, love, death, and humanity through the lens of tech. She has received numerous awards for her work championing women, including a Gracie Award for her docuseries Revenge Porn: The War on Women, which shed light on an alarming type of cyber harassment aimed at women.
AND her full report: Grieving Mother: AI was the stranger in my home | Dear Tomorrow Character.AI’s tagline is “AI that feels alive.” But what happens when AI actually starts to feel alive? Megan Garcia shares the tragic story of her son, Sewell, who ended his life after developing a relationship with a chatbot on the AI platform. In the first episode of Dear Tomorrow, we’ll explore a company’s mission to create “empathetic AI” and the unintended consequences of a platform where the lines between fantasy and reality blur. YOUTUBE 43 MINUTES
CHILDREN: Screenagers Bites - Why Parents Need To Role Model Healthy Phone Use | Sherry Turkle, PhD YOUTUBE 2 MINUTES
CHILDREN: Screenagers Bites - How Our Brains Process Emotions | Adriana Galvan PhD YOUTUBE 3 MINUTES
CHILDREN: Screenagers Bites - How TV and Online Videos Affect Kids' Attention Spans | Dimitri Christakis, MD YOUTUBE 1 1/2 MINUTES
CHILDREN HEALTH SLEEP SCREENAGERS: The Screenagers Podcast The Sleep Crisis: Addressing Melatonin and Tech as Sleep Aids SCREENAGERS
DATA CENTERS PARIS MARX: Data Vampires: Fighting for Control (Episode 4) Paris Marx Tech billionaires are embracing extreme right-wing politics. It’s not just to enhance their power, but to try to realize a harmful vision for humanity’s future that could see humans merging with machines and possibly even living in computer simulations. Will we allow them to put our collective resources behind their science fiction dreams, or fight for a better future and a different kind of technology to go along with it? This is episode 4 of Data Vampires, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us. TECH WON’T SAVE US 36 MINUTES (TRANSCRIPT ALSO AT LINK)
DATA CENTERS: U.S. regulators mull issues around siting data centers at power plants NEW YORK (Reuters) - Costs and reliability concerns related to the burgeoning trend of building energy-intensive data centers on the sites of U.S. power plants were the focus of a technical conference held on Friday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Connecting data centers directly to power plants, in an arrangement known as co-location, has presented a fast way to access large amounts of electricity, instead of toiling for years in queues to connect to the broader grid. The arrangements have sparked concerns that the co-located centers will increase power bills for everyday customers by using grid infrastructure and services paid for by the public. Co-located data centers have also raised reliability questions, in part, by diverting steady power from the grid or potentially sucking electricity from the system if the neighboring power plant goes down.[] FERC is also currently gathering details on a regulatory battle being waged by electric utilities over a co-located Amazon data center at a Talen Energy nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. Talen's interconnection agreement for the center is being opposed by utilities Exelon and American Electric power, and FERC's decision could set a precedent for similar deals. MSN
EMF; last paper by Italian scientists that concludes no genotoxicity of EMF! https://e-smogfree.blogspot.com/2024/11/italian-cnr-in-connection-with-icnirp.html COURTESY Giorgio Cinciripini
5G/6G INDUSTRY: 6G will merge human, physical and digital realms — that matters (Reader Forum) The advent of 6G era technology promises to blur the lines between physical and digital realms in ways that were once the stuff of science fiction.
INSPIRATION: There is a place too far Transhumanism threatens to destroy even these last few places. Transhumanism, at its core, is a movement that advocates using technology to augment human capabilities to transcend our current limitations. We are already transhuman: we use technology to go farther, faster all the time. We use cars to drive as far into the mountains as possible so we can more easily access remote places, places becoming increasingly less remote as more roads are built and more people own cars. We buy the latest high-tech lightweight gear so we can go farther, faster. [] Most people think that we control our technologies; that technologies are value neutral and it’s how we use them that matters. We believe that it’s up to us to be responsible in their use, and that if we are responsible enough we can limit how much damage we do. But we can’t. We don’t. History proves this. Technologies change the culture. Over time, we adapt to new technologies and then we expect to be able to do more, consume more, travel farther and faster, and soon we become dependent on these technologies. We build our lives around them. Once that happens, our technologies control us, rather than the other way around. And then, we merge with the machines that control us and we lose our wild, animal souls in the process. RadFemBiophilia’s Newsletter Courtesy Katie Singer
LIGHTING: Zaid K. Dahhaj from The Circadian Classroom Using LUX To Optimize Circadian Health The intensity of light in your environment is key
POLITICS: How Silicon Valley Helped Make Donald Trump Competitive Again The venture capitalists have created a permission structure for those who favor Silicon Valley-style 'disruptive innovation.' BROADBAND BREAKFAST
POLITICS BROADBAND: GOP Senators: Biden Deliberately Excluding Satellite, Wireless From Broadband Count 'When the data are wrong, policy outcomes will inevitably suffer,' GOP senators say. The GOP Senators – Ted Cruz of Texas, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee – said they discovered the alleged undercount in the fine print of Project LEIA (Local Estimates of Internet Adoption) under development by the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Census Bureau. BROADBAND BREAKFAST
SPACE NASA Image Reveals Ozone Hole Three Times Size of US cientists have reported that the ozone hole over Earth's southern pole spans nearly 20 million square kilometers this year, almost three times the size of the contiguous United States, while simultaneously signaling promising progress in global environmental recovery efforts. The ozone layer, a critical atmospheric shield, protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Depleted ozone regions allow increased ultraviolet light exposure, which can lead to higher rates of skin cancer, reduced agricultural yields and damage to delicate ecosystems. This year's hole ranks as the seventh smallest since recovery began in 1992, following the implementation of the landmark Montreal Protocol, an international agreement designed to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals. "The 2024 Antarctic hole is smaller than ozone holes seen in the early 2000s," said Paul Newman, leader of NASA's ozone research team and chief scientist for Earth sciences at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in a statement. https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/nasa-image-reveals-ozone-hole-three-times-size-of-us/ar-AA1tl7n4
TOWERS AND ANTENNAS UK: Main road closed and police on scene as 5G phone mast bursts into flames A cordon is reportedly in place this morning
EVENTS
Courtesy Gillian Jameison of the UK: Conference on exposure of children to wireless radiation in schools 9th November, Forest Row, East Sussex, UK On 9th of November a conference will present a neglected aspect of the smartphone and children debate, namely the potential health risks of wireless radiation signals from smart devices, Wi-Fi and phone masts. It will highlight the disproportionate vulnerability of children, using scientific studies to illuminate this topic. The conference will be held at Michael Hall Lecture Theatre, Kidbrooke Park, Priory Rd, Forest Row, East Sussex RH18 5JA and begins at 12.30pm, continuing until 5.30pm. Tickets are available at this Eventbrite link.
Dr Devra Davis, the distinguished epidemiologist and toxicologist, lead author on a Nobel Peace Prize-winning team, former scientific advisor to the Clinton administration and founder of the Environmental Health Trust will be travelling from the US to present current science published on this issue.
Dr Erica Mallery-Blythe (Special Expert at the International Commission on Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF), Founder of Physicians’ Health Initiative for Radiation and Environment (PHIRE), Advisor for Oceania Radiofrequency Scientific Advisory Association and Honorary Member of the British Society of Ecological Medicine) will lecture on evidence relating to variations in sensitivity to electromagnetic fields in humans.
Alasdair Philips, an EMR mitigation and metering expert and Special Expert at ICBE-EMF will explain how to reduce exposure and answer common questions as well as those raised on the day.
Debra Fry, Children’s EMR Health Ambassador, will share the tragic story of her daughter Jenny.
Scientific papers underpinning that content of the conference can be found here and here. This expert conference is expected to be of interest to parents, educators, policy-makers and medical professionals.
Gillian Jamieson's Substack is free today and will remain free!
Gillian Jamieson from Gillian Jamieson's Substack
ACTIONS:
Do you live in New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau or Suffolk counties? Do you have kids in school? Are you concerned about their health and safety? If you answered "yes" to these three questions, please contact us immediately to learn how you can help reduce wireless radiation in classrooms. Email daw@grassrootsinfo.org
or call (516) 883-0887. Thank you.Please sign the Children’s Declaration here: Sign the International Children's Declaration