1) From the New York Times a simple explanation of the benefits of 5G, which are few and slight for the vast majority. No mention of the major issues of privacy, security and health but it could reduce the hype about 5G.
What You Need to Know About 5G in 2020
“The much-hyped, ultrafast variant of 5G is known as “millimeter wave,” but let’s call it rocky road. It lets carriers transmit data at incredibly fast speeds — the kind that would let you download an entire movie in a few seconds. The problem with rocky road is that its signals travel shorter distances, covering a park in New York but not a broad swath of the city, for example. It also has trouble penetrating obstacles like walls. So Verizon and AT&T have focused deployment of rocky road in large spaces like sports stadiums and outdoor amphitheaters. Because of the technical limitations of rocky road, we are unlikely to see it deployed nationwide anytime soon (if ever), meaning we won’t be getting these incredible speeds in the vast majority of places.”
2) Dr. Olle Johansson has shared a YouTube of a presentation he gave in Ireland a couple of months ago.
Adverse Health Effects of Artificial Electromagnetic Fields, Galway, Nov. 19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEZ_pisuqlo&feature=youtu.be (1 hr. 17 min.)
3) There are many reasons why schools around the world are deciding to ban cell/smartphones from schools. Whether it is because of cyberbullying, inability to concentrate, being a distraction, health, or whatever, school officials are taking a position that is beneficial to the students as well as the teachers. Why is BC’s Minister of Education refusing to even discuss this issue?
(click on photos to enlarge)
SCHOOLS: Madrid bans smartphone use in classrooms
“Madrid has become the latest of Spain’s autonomous communities to ban smartphones in all state-funded schools following Galicia and Castilla La Mancha, reports RTVE.es. Previously individual schools were responsible for setting their own rules on the use of smartphones in classrooms but the new regional government will outlaw all use starting from 2020-21 school year. The clampdown will affect around 800,000 pupils in 1,700 schools, who will be allowed to confiscate handsets from pupils who breach the prohibition, although each centre will still be able to decide whether or not the devices can be used in the playground.
The report cites an INE poll indicating that 66 percent of Spanish children aged 10 to 15 have a smartphone, increasing to 80 percent of those over 13. Rising instances of cyberbullying during school hours rather than lower concentration levels are the main driving force behind the measure, added the report.”
https://www.telecompaper.com/news/madrid-bans-smartphone-use-in-classrooms–1321165
[or https://www.entertainmentbox.com/madrid-bans-mobile-phones-in-classrooms/
or
EHT is tracking schools, both international and American, where cell phones have been banned.
https://ehtrust.org/schools-banning-cell-phones-classroom/
4) Several communities in BC will be holding Stop 5G events on Sat. Jan. 25. Details are or will be available at:
If there is nothing showing for your community, please consider organizing an event. If there is something planned, why not get involved? This is a chance to get the word out. And please consider inviting those concerned about the environment and climate to join you. See one such letter below.
5) An interview with a reporter who is investigating how “critics of 5G are being silenced”. She speaks about how ICNIRP, the agency that sets the RF guidelines that WHO employs and which were used by Health Canada until a reduction in 2015, disregards scientific studies which are recent, well-done, and call for a significant reduction in exposures. Many experts have complained that ICNIRP and WHO are biased because they are headed by and filled with people with strong industry biases.
5G wireless guidelines outdated by 22 years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA-AWatx7ag (6:21 min.)
Letters:
From: “Einar Olsen” (name given with permission)
To: “citizensforsafertech” <citizensforsafertech@shaw.ca>
Sent: Friday, January 10, 2020 12:34:34 PM
Subject: Fwd: “High Climate Council” on 5G
Sharon, this is how I handled your EHT climate change email, thanks. This went to those two main climate change leaders in Iowa, and about 50 of the main climate change activists locally. Fairfield is one of two activist centers in Iowa, including one group in Des Moines
called Citizens For Community Improvement (CCI).
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Einar Olsen
Date: Fri, Jan 10, 2020 at 2:32 PM
Subject: “High Climate Council” on 5G
To: Thom
Thom,
Your point about employing ‘sustainable’ tech to power the exploding wireless facilities is valid.
However, the question on my mind has been, what is the speed of deployment of wireless, compared to the speed of deployment of ‘sustainable tech?’
This big blast about Climate Change from Environmental Health Trust is just on this point:
http://ehtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/5G-and-Climate-Change-Flyer-EHT.pdf
I can’t format the following any better than it is, my cut and paste from the above email is not reworkable:
5G is NOT Sustainable The demand for technology is outstripping the increase in efficiency. The energy consumption will rise sharply due to the ever increasing IoT energy demands at every stage of the lifecycle of 5G equipment, from device manufacture to data centers to data transmissions, and networks.
5G is an Energy Hog “A lurking threat behind the promise of 5G delivering up to 1,000 times as much data as today’s networks is that 5G could also consume up to 1,000 times as much energy.”— IEEE Spectrum, 5G’s Waveform Is a Battery Vampire.
We must consider the environmental footprint of the digital ecosystem. “Behind each byte we have mining and metal processing, oil extraction and petrochemicals, manufacturing and intermediate transports, public works (to bury the cables) and power generation with coal and gas. As a result, the carbon footprint of the global digital system is already 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and its energy consumption rises by 9% per year.”— Jean-Marc Jancovici,
Einar
Sharon Noble, Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“It is no use saying, ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.” Winston Churchill