[AAP (Doctor Thomas McInerny) – Adam Leventhal – American Cancer Society (Otis Brawley) – Andy Przybylski – BCCDC – Brain Tumours – Cell Phones (Possibly Carcinogenic) – Cell Towers – Children – Complaint to BCHRT BC Human Rights Tribunal & Decision by Walter Rilkoff – CTIA Data – De-Kun Li – Digital Addiction (ADHD, Behaviour, Depression, Emotions, Suicide) – Dimitri A. Christakis – EHS / ES Microwave Radiation Sickness Accommodation – EMFs – Environmental Working Group (Olga Naidenko) – FCC – FDA (Jeffrey Shuren) – Gabriel Zada – Health Canada – Jenny Radesky – John West – Judy Darcy – Letters to Bethany Lindsay, Christina Stevens, Diane Girard, Gabrielle Emond by Christel Martin & Sharon Noble re Media Articles – Magda Havas – NTP (John Bucher, Mechanism, Schwann Cells) – Pew Research Center (Smartphones) – Press Release by Ros Salvador – Ramazzini Institute – RF – Safety – Studies – Tiffany Frantz (Breast Cancer) – WHO – Wi-Fi in Schools – Wireless Devices | BC – Canada – Belgium – France – Germany – India – Israel – Italy – Moscow, Russia – Switzerland – California & Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA] & (videos) & Websites
1) Newsweek has just published a major article on cell phones and the recent NTP study. How wonderful that info like this is in a major magazine!!
(click on photos to enlarge)
Do Cellphones Cause Cancer? Government Study Reveals ‘Stunningly Important’ Findings
The discovery was especially concerning because prior epidemiological studies have shown that heavy cellphone users were more likely to develop rare brain tumors in the same kind of cells. In March, Italian researchers published another study, in the journal Environmental Research, with strikingly similar results. Scientists at the Ramazzini Institute also bombarded rats, 2,448 of them, with radio-frequency radiation for 19 hours a day over their lifetimes. Like the Chicago basement rats, the Italian male rats exposed to the highest exposure of radio-frequency radiation were significantly more likely to develop tumors in Schwann cells in their hearts.
A panel of academics and pharmaceutical industry experts reviewed the findings of the NTP study and in March concluded that, in the case of male rats, it showed “clear evidence of carcinogenic activity.” Dr. De-Kun Li, a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California, described the preliminary NTP findings as “stunningly important.” And Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, called them a “game changer.”
2) CTV published a very similar article about the HRT decision re. EHS. In response, I sent CTV a press release written by the lawyer [Ros Salvador] acting for the family: https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Press-Release-Wi-Fi-in-Schools-A-Human-Rights-Issue-A-Childrens-Health-Issue-by-Ros-Salvador-July-18-2018.pdf
Let’s see if they have the decency to publish a follow-up article. The email addresses of CTV and the author are in the letter below. I have encouraged people to write to CBC and to CTV, but please know that the person/agency to which we should address our frustration is the HRT and Mr. Rilkoff. I have not found a contact yet but will. [Contact – http://www.bchrt.bc.ca/tribunal/index.htm]
A major concern is that this decision, if it stands, becomes a precedent that will make any future legal complaint re. EHS and accommodation even harder to win.
More, when I have the info, about what is going to be done next. The press release has been sent to all the major media outlets. Please feel free to share the attached with your local media.
3) A study shows potential links between high use of digital media and emotional and behavioral problems.
ADHD study links teens’ symptoms with digital media use
“Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician and director of the Center for Childhood Health, Behavior, and Development at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, called the study “the best to date” showing the association between digital media use and ADHD symptoms.
He said that looking at symptoms instead of diagnoses was one strength of the research.
“Even without a clinical diagnosis of ADHD, diminished attentional capacity is associated with poorer function both in childhood and in subsequent adulthood,” said Christakis, who was not involved in the research.
“We know that having a shorter attention span, regardless of whether or not you have a diagnosis of ADHD, is bad,” he said.
A shorter attention span, or distractibility, is a “cardinal feature of ADHD,” Christakis said.
With constant digital media use, “you can create a habit of mind where your brain is constantly seeking something more interesting, something more stimulating, because it’s always available — and that leads to distractibility,” he said. “The biggest problem children with ADHD have is, they’re easily distracted.””
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/17/health/adhd-symptoms-digital-media-study/index.html
4) A member sent in this timely article from last year, Premier Horgan announced a new cabinet position – Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. Is Minister Darcy aware of the effect of exposure to microwave radiation on the brain that can result in ADHD, depression, suicidal thoughts? Is she aware of how many people become addicted to games and to their wireless gadgets? Just see the article above for one example.
Judy Darcy: ‘I will pour my heart and soul’ into mental health/addictions file
Letters:
Christina Stevens, CTV Vancouver Island <christinastevens@ctv.ca>
From: Sharon Noble
Sent: July 19, 2018
To: news@ctv.ca; christinastevens@ctv.ca
Subject: BC Human Rights Tribunal decision — Lawyer’s response
Dear Ms. Stevens,
Re: Tribunal dismisses claim that school Wi-Fi caused Saanich boy’s headaches
Vancouver Island CTV News islandnews@ctv.ca
Attached is a press release by Ros Salvador, attorney acting on behalf of the family.
On July 13, 2018, Walter Rilkoff of the BC Human Rights Tribunal released his decision in the case of J and L obo T v. School District No. 63 and others, to deny a now 13 year old boy suffering from a chronic health disability, EHS, his right to accommodation in the public school system.
Walter Rilkoff stated that because the 54 publications peer reviewed studies, a Table Summarizing Literature Review and an Index with links and references were too “highly technical” they were dismissed as hearsay. There is no evidence that Walter Rilkoff made any effort to seek out a scientist or medical expert to help him understand the evidence that was presented to him. Instead he decided to toss out the evidence and rule in favour of the School District denying this teen his fundamental right to participate and socialize in his home school community. Denied his right to Inclusion.
[30] In their response to the application, the Complainants introduced two thick binders containing “54 publications relevant to the issues at hand”.
[31] For the most part, the publications are hearsay. Moreover, if I understand why they are being proffered, it is to somehow establish that T’s symptoms arise from the presence of electromagnetic or microwaves. The Tribunal can accept evidence not admissible in a court of law but is generally reluctant to accept hearsay evidence on a central point, unless it is expert evidence.
[69] Unfortunately, there is no way to evaluate the articles submitted. They are often highly technical and it is not apparent whether they are peer‐reviewed articles from reputable scientific journals. While the Complainants say they will call an expert if this complaint proceeds to hearing, they do not identify the expert or the expert’s credentials. No expert report is provided. Applications to dismiss are decided on the basis of materials presented.
In my opinion, this was a personal attack on the mother and grandmother and not an unbiased or objective decision made by the Tribunal member Walter Rilkoff.
Your article gave voice to Mr. Rilkoff with no response from the family or the family’s lawyer. In the interest of fairness, I would hope that you would publish this press release.
Sincerely,
Sharon Noble
__________________________________________________________________________
From: Sharon Noble
Sent: July 19, 2018
To: commissioner@cbc.ca
Cc: bethany.lindsay@cbc.ca
Subject: Shameful article by Bethany Lindsay
Dear Commissioner of Values and Ethics for CBC,
Of all my years of depending on CBC for honest and independent reporting, I have never been more shocked and disturbed by an article published by your organization. Ms. Lindsay may be a journalist, but she certainly is not an independent one, if this is any example of her work.
The family that received this very unfortunate HRT decision has fought for many years to help educate teachers, school boards, and other parents about what much of the world already knows – children should not be exposed to microwave radiation from wireless devices. All they wanted was to have their child/grandchild to be able to go to school, as is his constitutional right. In support of their concerns, they provided 54 scientific studies and reports from world-renowned researchers and doctors. But Walter Rilkoff, the author of the HRT decision, who apparently has no relevant training or experience, said that these studies were too technical for him to understand. So they were disregarded. On the one hand he held these 54 studies to be hearsay while, on the other hand, he held as fact information that is unfounded, dated, and held to be insupportable by independent experts. As a consequence, he reached his decision that the symptoms suffered by this young child are imaginary — implying that his grandmother’s and mother’s fears make him a victim of Munchausen by proxy. Similarly, without basis, he implied in his absurd HRT decision, that the child had not been seen by doctors. Ms. Lindsay quoted Mr. Rilkoff, without substantiating his statements or assertions as being true. She quoted from the decision:
“”This is a very unfortunate case, where a young boy has been isolated from his peers at school even though his caregivers claim that he wants to be among his peers and learning in a school environment,” tribunal member Walter Rilkoff wrote.
He urged the family to consult with objective medical professionals to determine the cause of the boy’s symptoms.”
Mr. Rilkoff has reports from doctors, including those from a neurologist. Apparently they were too technical for him to understand, too, because he obviously didn’t read them. He has wronged this family by his ill-founded charges, and Ms. Lindsay reported erroneously without checking her sources.
In North America, the telecoms’ influence is so great that major studies are ignored by Health Canada, by our provincial health officers, and, most obviously, our media. Did Ms. Lindsay, or anyone, read any of the 54 scientific documents to see if the symptoms this boy suffers are consistent with science? No, they did not. Instead in her article, Ms. Lindsay said something that simply is not true:
“According to his family members, T has a condition called electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), a bundle of non-specific symptoms that they attribute to EMF exposure.
But there is no scientific evidence linking those symptoms to EMFs.”
And if she had done her due diligence before reporting, she would have found out for herself that experts estimate at least 3% of Canadians (or approximately 1.1 million) are severely sensitive to microwave radiation. They are so sensitive they cannot work, go to school, or participate in normal day-to-day activities. Instead she quoted Mr. Rilkoff who also failed to do his due diligence.
Ms. Lindsay cherry-picked very “attention-getting” statements that Mr. Rilkoff made in the HRT decision that make the school boards appear to be the victims, the grandmother and the mother cruel and unfeeling creatures projecting their fears on to this child who imagines his illnesses. Have you seen the comments on CBC’s Facebook that resulted from Ms. Lindsay’s irresponsible reporting? The child is said to be a victim of a psychotic grandmother and mother. Threats were made to call in family services so that the child can be treated by a doctor. The family is being call “wingnuts”, “dangerous”, “negligent” by people who have no understanding of the scientific evidence and are reacting purely to your article.
Do you know how a child (or any person) can imagine a migraine so severe that he vomits, has night terrors night after night? Do you know any parent or grandparent who would watch their child suffer like this and do nothing when they know the cause?
What would Ms. Lindsay and Mr. Rilkoff do? I hope, if they have children, that they would be as caring and diligent as T’s caregivers have been all of these years.
Commissioner, I ask you to demand that Ms. Lindsay publicly retract this article with a full apology to this family. And, if CBC wants to maintain its reputation for transparency and accuracy, it should interview this family and report its reaction to this outrageous decision by HRT.
Sincerely,
Sharon Noble
Victoria, BC
__________________________________________________________________________
From: Christel Martin (name given with permission)
Sent: July 19, 2018
To: commissioner@cbc.ca; gabrielle.emond@radio-canada.ca
Cc: bethany.lindsay@cbc.ca; Sharon Noble
Subject: No proof B.C. boy’s migraines caused by Wi-Fi, tribunal rules
Dear Commissioner,
This article is disgusting, prejudicial and just plain ignorant.
I am electrohypersensitive as a result of mercury poisoning by an unethical exterminator who used mercuric chloride to kill carpenter ants in my house in 1997. I was 46 years old. I lived with mercury vapourizing out of my carpet for five years before my new dog vomited and had diarrhea all over it. When I removed the carpet, my breathing improved within days, my older dog stopped have petit-mal seizures, my cat stopped urinating all over the place, and I started chelation: which is on VIHA’s own website as the only treatment for heavy metal poisoning. (I worked in the lab at NRGH, so had access to the non-public parts of the site.)
Chelation cleared most of my physical symptoms but mercury left me EHS — which is one of the symptoms of mercury poisoning as sensitivity to light, fluorescent lights & computer screens in particular. I could literally hear electricity running in the computer switching closet in the lab; when IS techs opened the metal door, I had to leave the room because the screeching was so loud. It’s not tinnitus; it’s the Frey effect, literally microwave hearing, and I still have it.
EHS became blatant after I retired and returned to university. I sat near windows to take advantage of natural light and had fluorescents turned off during class. When VIU installed Wi-Fi in “my” building and distributed wireless-enabled laptops (I was taking web design classes), I went from Dean’s List to Dropout in one semester. I could not read the classroom numbers on the doors, and I had no idea what Wi-Fi is or that it had been installed over the summer. All “my” computer screens were blurry although others could read them just fine. I had my eyes checked, tried various screen filters and colours, and nothing worked. I followed VIU’s instructions and saw counsellors, etc.: blame the victim.
At the same time, I had tenants who used the neighbour’s Wi-Fi, so I had no break from 24/7 EMR RF exposure. My health deteriorated — again — for no apparent reason, with sleep difficulties, headaches, vision problems, increased sensitivities to chemicals, light, noise, etc. I had never heard of EHS, had no idea what wifi, etc. really is, until 2009, when my doctor coincidentally told me about a 16 x 9 program about a woman who had “sunburn” from fluorescent exposure.
I contacted Dr. Magda Havas and started to learn. . .then I had my house EMR checked by a Building Biology-trained technician and changed the wiring under my bedroom, replaced all fluorescents with incandescents, disallowed any use of microwave emitters in my home (and stopped renting, incurring a $1,000/mo. income loss since 2011), replaced my coil-spring mattress and metal frame bed with a wooden futon frame and organic latex mattress, barricaded my analogue Hydro meter, and recently bought an RF-reflective bed shield as smart meters, smart appliances and neighbours’ use of Wi-Fi and cell phones increased.
I sleep in a Faraday tent every night, eat organic food, and limit my exposure to microwave radiation as much as possible in this society. Ironically, while travelling with my realtor to look at an off-grid property, I got dizzy in his car for no apparent reason despite his having turned off his cell phone. When I checked the car with my meter, I found wiring bundles under the seats (heated seats), GPS and other gadgets throughout the vehicle. I now drive my own 1991 Golf to view properties.
I am 67 years old, and cannot use public transportation, go to university, use the public library, swimming pool, gym, or attend public meetings or have what most people consider a “normal” life. I still pay the same taxes as everyone else, even though most of society effectively banishes EHS people. I was on CPP Disability until I reached 65, then by regulation, I magically became healthy and Disability was cut off — 20% cut in income.
Educate yourselves! Health Canada is in the pockets of Big Pharma and Big Telecom. You will not get truth from Health Canada or even from WHO. Did you know that the WHO IARC 2011 committee that looked into the effects of microwave radiation was polluted with Big Telecom executives and they still came up with a Class 2B carcinogen rating? It should have been Class 1 because it’s been known to be a carcinogen since WWII, when Russia irradiated the US Embassy in Moscow with microwave radiation and radio operators on ships developed “radiowave sickness” aka electrohypersensitivity. Health Canada’s own Royal Commission on radio frequency/microwave radiation was also polluted with Big Telecom representatives, and they successfully ignored unbiased science. Parliament told them to go back and re-examine the science, but to date, I haven’t heard anything further.
I feel sorry for the child in this article because he has no one to stand up for him but his family, and your reporter successfully painted them as over-protective meddlers. I can fight for myself, but what choice does a child have but to depend on his family to protect him?
Disgusting.
Christel Martin
8 minutes on dangers of wireless radiation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOSbSurf6DU
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.”
~ B.F. Skinner