World-News

09/02/06

Expert warns Irish mobile phone masts unsafe By Dan Buckley and Tom Prendeville ONE of the world's leading experts in mobile phone technology has warned that the radiation output from Irish phone masts is at least 100 times too high for safety.

His warning comes as new research reveals that long-term use of mobile phones poses an increased risk of brain cancer.

According to Dr David Aldridge, a scientist who has worked developing microwave technology for the US Government, the international 'safety' limits which Ireland adheres to are out of date and totally flawed.

"What is happening is that the external signals (from mobile phones) are swamping the body's natural internal signals," he said.

This can lead to cancers and a whole range of other serious medical disorders, particularly among children, he said.

"Expose a cell to microwaves from a mast or phone and it interferes with the cell repair process. In the case of young children, the rate of cells dividing in half to form new ones is so fast that you end up with a vast number of what we call mis-repairs."

According to Dr Aldridge, the current international safety standards are over 50 years old and obsolete.

Meanwhile, a new study into the risks associated with using mobile phones has found an increased risk of brain tumours in people who have used them for 10 years or more.

The study, by German researchers, found an increased risk of glioma, an often deadly brain cancer, in people who had used mobile phones for over a decade.

However, a similar study in Britain appears to contradict these findings and concludes that there is no proof that long-term mobile phone use can cause glioma.

Both studies are part of the 13-nation Interphone Study, an effort sanctioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to assess possible health risks from the radiation emitted by mobile phones.

The German study, conducted by Joachim Schuz and colleagues at the University of Mainz, compared a group of 749 brain tumour patients with 1,494 similar people who had not used mobile phones and found a doubling of the risk of glioma after 10 years of use.

They said the number of people in the study who had used the phones for 10 years was small and the findings need to be confirmed by other studies.

This same 10-year threshold has previously been reported for acoustic neuroma, a benign tumour of the acoustic nerve, by two Swedish teams.

"This result is very difficult to interpret," said Dr Schuz.

"I can only say that it's still an open question whether there is a tumour risk for more than 10 years of use."

The British researchers found no overall increased risk in people who used mobile phones.

Although it revealed a significantly increased risk for tumours that developed on the same side of the head where patients said they most often held the phone, lead researcher Patricia McKinney, an epidemiologist at the Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics, said that the finding probably was due to many patients not accurately recalling which ear they had used most.

The Swedish study, conducted by researchers at the Karolinska Institute, found an increased risk for a non-cancerous brain tumour called acoustic neuroma after 10 years of mobile phone use.

Mobile phones: Do's and don'ts

Keep mobile phone conversations short.

Consider using a text message or picture message as an alternative.

Choose a handset with a lower SAR rating, which means it emits less radiation.

Don't hold the phone to your head when you can use a hands-free kit.

Consider using a phone with an external aerial.

Limit the amount of time that children use mobile phones.

© Irish Examiner, 2005, Thomas Crosbie Media, TCH

http://www.irishexaminer.com/pport/web/Full_Story/did-sglh7v6ouLIgMsgDQQ5wn3uAIg.asp


From Mast Sanity/Mast Network

Mobile phone masts are accountable for adverse health effects on residents nationwide, it was claimed today.

Members of IERVN (Irish Electromagnetic Radiation Victims Network) recounted their daily sufferings to the Joint Committee on Health and Children in Leinster House.

Group spokesman Con Colbert said electrosensitivity was not just an Irish phenomenon but a global one, with people suffering from physical pain and discomfort all over the world.

Many members, some suicidal, have been forced from their homes due to radiation levels from nearby phone masts. Their quality of life – domestic, social and economic – has deteriorated with families being disrupted and sufferers unable to shop or work in areas with a high energy capacity.

Mr Colbert himself sleeps in a chalet at the end of the garden of his Raheny home to try and escape the burning sensation from radiation from nearby phone masts.

Fellow sufferer Helen McCorry and her two children were forced to flee a new apartment in Dublin’s inner city due to the erection of antennae.

Once rehoused in Clontarf their health improved until antennae appeared on a building just 80 metres from their home. All three are now forced to sleep in their car at night to avoid the radiation.

Mrs McCorry, who was physically distressed during the committee hearing from the use of phones in the building, called for the homes of all sufferers to be screened from radiation waves with specialist materials.

“I have pleaded with phone companies to turn the masts down,” she said. “We are sitting in our homes dying from this. There is nothing we can do.”

Others, including farmers, reported the erection of masts near their land having a detrimental affect on their lives and that of their livestock.

John Gormley TD told the speakers they were the forgotten victims of a lucrative business.

Senator Fergal Browne contacted Beaumont Hospital to research any links between brain tumours, particularly in young people, and radiation.

He said: “A big difficulty is that we have no significant evidence proving that masts are bad for you.”

Omega this is not true. See under:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cancer+Cluster
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2006.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=171489518&p=y7y49xzz4


From Mast Sanity/Mast Network

Ostafrika: Hilfsappell für Millionen Hungernde in Kenia und Äthiopen (29.03.06)

Der Vorstandsvorsitzende der Hilfsorganisation CARE International Deutschland, Staatssekretär a.D. Heribert Scharrenbroich, hat seine Ostafrikareise beendet. Nach Besuchen in Kenia und Äthiopien rief er dazu auf, "die Finanzierungslücke zur Hilfe schnellstmöglich zu schließen." Scharrenbroich wies darauf hin, dass erst ein Drittel der benötigten Gelder in den betroffenen Ländern und Regionen eingegangen seien. Die bei seinem Ostafrika-Besuch im Januar geschätzte Zahl von Betroffenen sei von sechs auf mittlerweile acht Millionen angestiegen.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13267

ORGANIC CONSUMERS GETTING MILKED: TAKE ACTION TO SAVE ORGANIC STANDARDS

The watchdog group Cornucopia Institute has published a long-awaited report ranking organic dairy companies in the USA, and the facts are rather sobering. The good news is that most organic dairies in the U.S. are following strict organic standards, including giving animals regular access to pasture. The bad news is that several major players in the organic dairy sector are blatantly violating organic standards, with a wink and a nod from the USDA and the industry-controlled Organic Trade Association. Two of the largest organic dairy companies in the nation, Horizon Organic (a subsidiary of Dean Foods); and Aurora Organic, a supplier of private brand name organic milk to Costco, Safeway, Giant and others, who together control 65% of the market, are purchasing the majority of their milk from feedlot dairies where the cows have little or no access to pasture. In addition, a routine practice on these giant dairy feedlots, many with thousands of cows, is to continuously import calves from conventional farms, where animals have been weaned on blood, fed slaughterhouse waste and genetically engineered grains, and injected or dosed with antibiotics. Send a message to the National Organic Program of the USDA to stop the labeling of factory farm milk as "organic."

http://www.organicconsumers.org/nosb2.htm

Haushaltsdebatte: Friedensinitiative startet Protest-Mail-Aktion "Rüstungshaushalt senken!" (29.03.06)

In diesem Tagen wird der Haushaltsentwurf im deutschen Bundestag behandelt. Aus diesem Anlass hat die Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft-Vereinigte KriegsdienstgegnerInnen (DFG-VK) die e-mail Aktion "Rüstungshaushalt senken!" gestartet. Trotz Verschuldung und angeblicher Sparzwänge werde auch dieses Mal der Rüstungshaushalt vor Kürzungen verschont werden nach dem Motto: Sparen, Sparen und nicht an die Bundeswehr denken! Zahlreiche Bürger seien mit den Auslandseinsätzen der Bundeswehr nicht einverstanden und lehnten die dafür notwendige teuere Umrüstung der Bundeswehr zur Interventionsarmee ab. Mit der Mail-Aktion wolle die Friedensgruppe einen Akzent in den Haushaltsberatungen in dieser Woche setzen.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13272

Öko-Institut: Studie widerspricht Argumenten für Laufzeitverlängerung von Atomkraftwerken (29.03.06)

Das Öko-Institut hat im Auftrag der Heinrich Böll Stiftung (hbs) alle in der Öffentlichkeit vorgebrachten Argumente für den Ausstieg aus dem Atomausstieg analysiert. In der am Mittwoch dazu veröffentlichten Studie kommt das Institut zu dem Schluss, die im Vorfeld des Energiegipfels der Bundesregierung von Atomkraftwerksbetreibern, industriellen Energieverbrauchern und Unionspolitikern vorgebrachten Gründe für eine Verlängerung der Reaktorlaufzeiten seien vorgeschoben. Weder würde die Strompreisentwicklung gedämpft, noch seien Entlastungseffekte beim Klimaschutz zu erwarten. Auch die verlängerten Reaktorlaufzeiten zugeschriebene „Brückenfunktion“ beim Übergang zu einem Energiesystem auf Basis Erneuerbarer Energien erweise sich eher als Fiktion, sagte das Ökoinstiut.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13268

A message from Eleanor:

Please sign and forward this important petition against the dumping by Dupont and the US Army of toxic waste in the Delaware River. Please help the people of this area fight this contamination of their environment. Nobody knows what effect this dumping will have in the long term, not Dupont and not the Army!

*sign*
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/625207933

I had meant to include this link with the petition link! In case anyone needs more background info! Thanks to all who have signed! You are just wonderful!

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/cumberland/story/6070645p-6070328c.html


Love and thanks!

Eleanor

-------

US Army Plans To Dump Neutralized Nerve Gas Into Delaware

(from: philly.com)

Nerve gas has village at wits' end Fishermen fear an Army plan to dump neutralized VX gas in the Delaware Bay will kill fish - and their livelihood.

by Jacqueline L. Urgo
Inquirer Staff Writer

FORTESCUE, N.J. - Perched on the mud flats of the Delaware Bay, this remote village, where there are more fishing boats than houses, could become ground zero for the effects of a chemical so deadly that scientists call it a weapon of mass destruction.

But people in the "Weakfish Capital of the World" aren't scientists. They're fishermen.

"This will just kill the fishing industry here once and for all, no question about it," said Clarence "Bunky" Higbee, whose family has owned a marina here for three generations. "We've weathered a lot of storms, but this would probably be the worst."

The Army wants to get rid of a stockpile of the highly lethal nerve gas VX, which was developed in 1952 as a chemical-warfare agent. The Army would neutralize the VX at an Indiana stockpile and haul up to four million gallons of hydrolysate, a byproduct of the neutralization process, to New Jersey by truck and train.

After further treatment, the hydrolysate would be dumped from the DuPont Chambers Works treatment facility in Deepwater, near the Delaware Memorial Bridge, into the Delaware River.

Government and DuPont officials, in a public relations campaign launched last month, have tried to assure residents that the hydrolysate would contain no detectable VX.

Current technology, however, can only detect levels above 14 parts of VX per billion parts of water, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which hasn't determined what level is harmful to humans or fish.

The threat of real terrorism after the 9/11 attacks prompted the government to plan the disposal of the material from its Midwestern stockpile.

But Higbee and others don't like the sound - even in a "treated wastewater" form - of a lethal chemical flowing into the Delaware Bay.

"She's as temperamental as a newborn baby with colic," Higbee said of the bay where his son captains the Miss Fortescue, one of the dozens of boats in a fleet that takes thousands of tourists and fishermen each year into the bay to fish for weakfish, bluefish and flounder.

"Being downstream from industry and other interference has always been a problem for us here; one thing is always related to another. To think we won't be affected is foolish," Higbee said.

Higbee points to other upsets that have historically wreaked havoc on the entire Delaware Bay shoreline, a region that a decade ago was designated by the Nature Conservancy as one of the "Last Great Places" on the planet, ranking it in environmental importance with Jamaica's Blue Mountains and Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Higbee says people here are worried because they understand the fickleness of the bay.

This is the body of water that brought fishermen to their knees in the 1950s when a mysterious protozoan parasite called MSX killed a thriving oyster industry.

This is a town where a fish called a croaker was king until the
1920s, when the bay seemed to have abruptly sloughed off the noisy drum fish in favor of other species, such as weakfish.

Before that, the bay gave the boot to a lucrative caviar-harvesting industry - a product so prized it was exported to Russian czars - when sturgeon began dying off for unknown reasons.

"Look what happened with the DDT in the '60s. It affected the bald eagles and the fishing here for a long time," said David Morgan, an avid angler who is contemplating the sale of a fishing cottage his wife's family has owned in Fortescue since the 1940s. "If this VX plan goes through, it'll never be the same here. We'll be selling."

Indications are that the Army never used VX on the battlefield because of the danger that the wind could blow the odorless gas back in the direction of troops, according to Karl Harrison, a scientist at Oxford University in England, where the gas was developed in a plant in Wiltshire in 1952.

Newport, Ind., is one of eight U.S. chemical weapons stockpile sites. The Newport site consists solely of bulk containers of VX, which are now in the process of being neutralized at the facility with water and a caustic solution, according to the Army.

Harrison, who has studied VX extensively, says that contact with even a drop of the substance can kill a human.

In a 1998 report in a British scientific journal, Harrison wrote: "If these weapons were launched against a nation, then there would be the possibility of a nuclear counterattack because VX is a weapon of mass destruction that spreads from impact point killing all in its path."

The Army contends that the treated material would be no more harmful than drain cleaner, which is highly corrosive.

The plan to transport the treated VX sparked environmental protests in six states on Thursday. Legislators have for months said they were keeping a close eye on the plan but are waiting for the results of a report due later this month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on potential hazards.

"There are legitimate concerns by many of our residents and local communities, and I share in them," said U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a New Jersey Republican and chairman of the House Coast Guard and maritime transportation subcommittee. "This is an important issue that needs to be fully examined to determine the risks associated and must be carefully evaluated with final approval granted by the state before moving forward."

Contact staff writer Jacqueline L. Urgo at 609-823-9629.


Informant: Blue Ridge Mama

By Jemma Dobson

MAST PROTEST: Neighbours are furious about the siting of a phone mast near their homes

A COMMUNITY has been left "outraged" after a mobile phone mast was erected without planning permission.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has launched an investigation into the sudden appearance of the 28-metre- high mast in Eclipse Mill, off Park Farm Road, Feniscowles.

Today a spokesman for Hutchinson 3G said engineers had installed the mast as a temporary measure for 28 days in a bid to see how best reception could be improved in the area.

Masts over 15 metres need planning permission, but residents claim there was no such application or consultation.

But the spokesman for Hutchinson 3G indicated that the 28-day test meant planning laws could be by-passed for a limited period.

Hutchinson 3G has rented the land on which the mast stands from packaging firm Premier Cases.

Robin Green, managing director of Premier Cases, said his company did not want a permanent mast there.

The mast was installed last Friday and within hours council officers visited the site after receiving scores of complaints.

Adam Scott, director of regeneration at the council, said: "Council staff are investigating but I have yet to see the findings."

Coun Derek Hardman, who represents Feniscowles, claimed the mast was also in breach of guidelines which state they should not be erected close to schools.

He added: "The mast is within a few hundred metres of St Paul's RC Primary School. New regulations mean this should not be done. I certainly don't recall any planning permission being applied for and certainly not granted. The people of Feniscowles are outraged."

Resident Mike Britnell, 58, of St Martins Drive, which backs onto the site said: "It's an eyesore. It's a monstrosity. We were not consulted because we would have said no."

Mr Green, of Premier Cases, said: "We have rented the land to Hutchinson 3G for six months for the temporary mast.

"Under our agreement it was their responsibility to seek the relevant permission. We would not have agreed to a permanent mast and have refused such requests in the past."

The Hutchinson 3G spokesman added: "We had been receiving complaints from our mobile phone customers that they were getting a bad reception in the area.

"We are allowed to have the structure up for 28 days before seeking planning permission under telecommunication planning regulations."

7:00pm today

© Copyright 2001-2006 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk/news/newsheadlines/display.var.717681.0.fury_as_phone_mast_appears.php

By Andy Lenderman
The New Mexican - March 29, 2006

The Rio Arriba County Commission will consider a temporary ban on cellphone towers at its Thursday meeting, Commissioner Elias Coriz said Tuesday . A recent cell-phone tower erected on private land in Chimayó has prompted Coriz and Chimayó residents to address the issue. “What I want to put in place is that any tower that comes into Rio Arriba County, I would like for the community to have some input, some say about what comes into the community,” Coriz said by telephone.

continued >>> http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/41517.html


Informant: James River Martin

Across the country, there are more than 100 chemical plants that could kill or injure more than a million people in the event of a terrorist attack or accident. Do you or your loved ones live or work in a kill zone?

Since 9/11, little has been done to protect us from this lethal threat. What's worse, there are safer chemicals available to replace deadly and volatile chemicals like chlorine. But the Bush administration and the chemical industry have practically ignored the problem, and even tried to block attempts to improve safety. In fact, Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff just endorsed the chemical industry's legislative agenda - or lack of one - on chemical security.

Just a few months ago, I wrote to you about the dangers of transporting these same chemicals between manufacturing plants by train - through your cities and towns. More than 20,000 of you responded to the threat by writing a letter to Congress, and now, thanks to your efforts, Congress has finally recognized the threat posed by chemical plants that make and use these deadly chemicals.

Take Action >> Tell Congress to act now, because tomorrow could be too late.

http://usactions.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=95

Please spread the word - this is a threat to all of us, and Congress should hear from you, your family, your friends and coworkers. It takes just a second to forward this message to your loved ones, and it could save thousands of lives.

HP Victory Toxic chemicals carried on trains present a massive threat in just an instant, but some toxics are just as lethal over time.

From cell phones to laptops, and i-pods, we have a love affair with high-tech gadgets. But it doesn't take long for last year's model to end up in the trash. Electronic waste is filled with toxic chemicals and heavy metals, and every year, hundreds of thousands of discarded products are shipped to Asia to be disassembled by young children who are exposed to lead and mercury.

Many companies like Sony, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have agreed to remove hazardous chemicals from their products, but a few companies have refused to make their products safe. In December, we took our case directly to the employees of Hewlett Packard with a huge blimp over their headquarters and a radio station dial-in to explain our position.

After two years of our campaign against Hewlett Packard, the company has made a giant step forward and agreed to eliminate several toxic chemicals from its products. Now we're turning our attention to other toxic technology companies including Apple, Dell, IBM, Panasonic and Toshiba. Stay tuned for our next big announcement - we'll be asking for your help again soon.

Sincerely,

Rick Hind
Legislative Director

Schools are still making thousands of pounds from mobile phone masts on their premises seven years after Oxfordshire County Council banned the practice.

Figures obtained by the Oxford Mail under the Freedom of Information Act revealed five secondary schools which signed contracts before the ban was introduced are making almost £35,000 a year in total from seven mobile masts.

They are Matthew Arnold School in Oxford, Oxford Community School, Larkmead School in Abingdon, Burford School and Banbury School.

The county council banned new masts being built on its sites within 200m of a school in 1999, but there is nothing to stop schools renewing contracts.

It has refused to discuss the issue with the Oxford Mail but in a statement said it would consult schools before deciding whether the contracts should be renewed.

Matthew Arnold School, Oxford, has three mobile masts, boosting its budget by £15,000 a year. The others have one mast each worth between £2,273 and £6,428 a year.

Governors at Matthew Arnold will decide whether to renew one of its contracts in December this year. The other two are due to expire in July and October 2008.

School business manager Ian Carr said: "The radiation levels from the three masts here are well below recommended levels so that has put a lot of fears to rest among parents.

"No new masts can be built within 200m of school premises but that doesn't prevent individuals whose garden backs on to a school from putting one up."

Burford School headteacher Patrick Sanders said he planned to renew the school's 10-year contract with O2, worth £4,000 a year.

He said: "There's no reason why we shouldn't renew it. It's far enough away from the school on an old farm site several hundred metres away and it's not particularly big. Nobody will know for many years to come about the safety of them."

Oxford Community School renewed its mast contract in 2001 and is now signed up until 2016. Projects director Pat Norman said the revenue from its mast had been invested in new toilets.

She said: "It's preferable to have the mast on our own buildings because we know how much is coming out of it and where it's distributed."

Larkmead School head Christopher Harris said: "The contract was entered into before I joined the school. We will review the situation when the contract comes up for renewal."

Scientific opinion on the safety of masts near schools is divided.

Dr Gerard Hyland, of the department of physics at the University of Warwick, has claimed the frequency of pulses in transmitter emissions could affect the brains of young children so masts should not be sited near schools.

But former Oxford scientist Prof Colin Blakemore, a member of the Government's Stewart Committee which looked into the effects of mobiles, has argued that schools are the best places to put masts because exposure directly beneath them is the lowest.

Green county councillor Craig Simmons believes that masts should not be installed on schools until there is evidence to prove it is safe to do so.

He said: "My view is that we need to take a precautionary approach and not put masts on highly-populated areas or close to schools."

The Oxford Mail was initially told no-one at the council was available to comment. After offering to wait, the council admitted it was not prepared to discuss the issue, saying: "We don't always put people up for interview".

In a statement, health and safety officer Colin Shipton said: "It is correct that OCC banned installing any new mobile telephone masts on school premises and restricted installation on any of its sites within 200 metres of school premises.

"The 200 metres was not based on any scientific evidence nor guidance from our radiological expert and is not enforceable for non-OCC premises.

"The levels of exposure were checked and it was revealed that they were well below those recommended by Government and the National Radiological Protection Board."

Omega read "Base Stations, operating within strict national and international Guidelines, do not present a Health Risk?" under: http://omega.twoday.net/stories/771911/

9:18am today

© Copyright 2001-2006 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.thisisoxford.co.uk/display.var.717009.0.schools_net_mast_profits.php

Marketplace feedback

Hello,

Thank you again for taking the time to contact CBC News: Marketplace. We thought you might like to know that, due to overwhelming interest, Wendy Mesley's 'Chasing the Cancer Answer' will be repeated this Sunday, April 2nd, at 7pm on the main CBC network. You can also find information about the show on our website, http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace .

Thank you,

The Marketplace Team

--------

It looks more and more obvious to me that the cancer industry is protecting the wireless industry and the power generating corporations. It would appear that they either hold stock or they are getting heavy funding from these corporations. I believe the time has come for the public to know where the cancer industry is getting their funding. They have people running, jumping, swimming, etc. for funding to find a cure and when ever a possible cause is discovered, they seem to find fault with the scientific methods used.

I feel it is time we all speak out and call for a thorough investigation and accounting. Here in Canada we have CEO's from the cancer industry appearing at protest gathering against power lines and cellphone towers as expert witness for the corporations, where they should be preaching precaution, knowing that science has proven that childhood leukemia can be caused by EMF.

Iris in Isreal discovered that corporate funding for the IARC study was being channeled through the cancer industry so it would not appear as direct corporate funding. This act is, in my opinion, money laundering, which I understand to be an illegal offence. It has also been established That the Cancer Industry holds stock in tobacco corporations. This to me is as low as they can get, knowing full well that smoking causes cancer.

Wendy Mesley on CBC TV, Market Place March 5/06 asked some very interesting questions about cancer and why so much enface is placed on the cure and not on the cause. I am attaching the program transcript .

Regards Robert

Shortcut to: http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/health/cancer/index.html

--------

Don't interrupt the polluting industries in their work
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/1658159/

New study ties brain tumors to cell phones
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1787691/

The Congress will cover the latest results and practical activities concerning influence of low and superlow radiations and physical fields (electromagnetic, magnetic, gravitational and acoustic) on biological objects, including ecological and medical, as well as moral and social aspects of the problem. Some plenary sessions with invited lectures will be held, the main work will be conducted in three thematic symposiums. There will be also an exhibition of scientific instruments and laboratory equipment, while humanitarian problems will be discussed at a special workshop.

http://lfbm-congress.spb.ru/main_eng.htm


Informant: Waldemar Lotz

Mar 29 2006

Chester Chronicle

FAMILIES have blasted plans for an 18m mobile phone mast in a field, claiming it would be an eyesore and a potential risk to health.

Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council has been inundated with objections from people trying to block plans for the Vodafone mast on land off Wistaston Green Road, Wistaston.

Letters have been received from nearly 200 households.

Parish councillors fear the mast would be an eyesore and potentially harmful to children at nearby schools and a nursery.

They suggest Vodafone shares a mast with Orange near the Rising Sun pub.

But Vodafone says it is under legal obligation to provide 3G coverage for at least 80% of the population by 2007 and experts have yet to link masts with a health risk.

Omega this is not true. See under:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cancer+Cluster
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

Council planners are recommending the go-ahead at Tuesday's development control committee.

Members will hear how Vodafone has struggled to find a site suitable for a large mast which is not close to houses and which will fill the gap in coverage.

A council spokesman said: 'On balance the proposed mast represents an environmental solution given the amount of tree screening.'

© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2006

http://iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16876663&method=full&siteid=50020&headline=families-give-mast-plans-rough-reception--name_page.html

Welcome to Whales Revenge, an ambitious campaign to gather 1 million signatures for a petition to stop whaling.

Every year thousands of precious mammals are slaughtered in the name of so-called 'scientific research.'

Add your voice by signing this campaign then forwarding it everyone you know. Please help us stop the killing.

Target: International Whaling Commission
Current Signatures: 150629 Signature Goal: 1,000,000

http://www.whalesrevenge.com/


Ideas, News and Opinions brought to you by: Fighting for Animal Rights and the Environment (FARE). An affiliate of The Earth Force United Organization (EFU). PO Box 828 Perry, Michigan 48872 EarthForceUnited@aol.com Fighting for Animal Rights and the Environment: http://hometown.aol.com/earthforceunited/FARE.html Online Animal Rights Focus Group: http://groups.aol.com/pixiesanimals?mmch_=0

The Magnum-Opus Project---The Mission: To do a greater good. Righting the wrongs of the Manhattan Project's deceit and treachery national security methods using openness and accountability.

Video

THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12535.htm

Oklahoma Residents: Your Help Still Needed to Speak out against Reckless Wildlife Bill

Please Contact Your Representatives

TODAY Your help is urgently needed to oppose legislation that would legalize river otter trapping and authorize the trophy hunting of mountain lions and black bears in the state of Oklahoma. Please contact your State Representative today and urge him or her to oppose SB 1296, introduced by Senator Frank Shurden. River otters were trapped nearly to extinction in Oklahoma by the 1950s. In an attempt to bring back this native species, river otters were reintroduced into the southeastern and central portions of the state beginning in 1984. This proposed bill would allow river otters once again to be trapped and killed in Oklahoma by using leghold and Conibear traps. These trapping devices are inherently indiscriminate and will trap any unsuspecting animal that steps into the trap, including companion animals, threatened and endangered species, and even humans. In addition this bill has been amended to authorize the trophy hunting season of mountain lions and black bears in Oklahoma. For more information on the history of these species in the state of Oklahoma, please see the background information below. What You Can DoUpdated: This bill has passed the Senate and has now been referred to the House of Representatives. If you live in Oklahoma please contact your state Representative and politely urge him or her to oppose SB 1296. See talking points and background information below for more information. If you can, it’s best to call, fax, or email on this issue because time is of the essence. NOTE: Since this bill will be heard in the near future it is especially important to contact your state Representative if he or she is one of the following:

Mike Jackson
405-557-7317 mikejackson@okhouse.gov

Brian Bingman
405-557-7414 brianbingman@okhouse.gov

Lance Cargill
405-557-7400 lancecargill@okhouse.gov

Jerry Ellis
405-557-7363 jerryellis@okhouse.gov

Chris Hastings
405-557-7330 chrishastings@okhouse.gov

Fred Morgan
405-557-7409 fredmorgan@okhouse.gov

Jerry Shoemake
405-557-7373 jerryshoemake@okhouse.gov

Glen Bud Smithson
405-557-7315 glensmithson@okhouse.gov

Faxes and letters can be addressed to: The Honorable [Full Name of Representative] 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd State Capitol Building Oklahoma City, OK 73105 If you do not know the name of your state Representative, go to http://www.capitolconnect.com/oklahoma/default.aspx and enter your address. Then scroll down to State Representative. You can mention the following points (in addition to the points above): River otters already have been trapped to extinction in Oklahoma. Their numbers have not rebounded to a stable level as they are still listed as a Species of Special Concern. Leghold traps and Conibear traps can trap any unsuspecting animal that steps into the trap jaws, including companion animals, threatened and endangered species, and even humans. Proposing a trophy hunting season on black bears and mountain lions when their statewide population status is unknown is biologically reckless. This legislation specifically targets predators. Predator species are considered keystone species and help to maintain the health, stability, and integrity of ecosystems. Because populations of predators are regulated naturally by available food sources and the availability of habitat, there is no need to implement a killing season on these species. For further information, contact Barbara Schmitz at bschmitz@api4animals.org or 916-447-3085 x208. For more information on API’s work to expose the dangers of trapping, please visit http://www.BanCruelTraps.com.

Thank you for helping protect Oklahoma’s wildlife! Background InformationRiver otters: River otters were trapped nearly to extinction in Oklahoma by the 1950s. In an attempt to bring back a native species that once was a part of Oklahoma’s heritage and thereby maintain the health and diversity of the ecosystem, river otters were reintroduced into the southeastern and central portions of the state beginning in 1984. Even now, river otters are listed by the state as a Species of Special Concern, which is a native species identified by technical experts as possibly threatened or vulnerable to extinction but for which little data exist to document the population level, range, and other factors pertinent to its status.

Mountain lions: SB 1296 would authorize a trophy hunting season of mountain lions when it is unknown if lion populations even exist in the state. According to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, there have been no population surveys or habitat assessments in more than fifty years that could confirm a breeding population in Oklahoma. Furthermore, the Department of Wildlife Conservation lists the mountain lion as an Oklahoma Species of Greatest Conservation Need. A 1997 report, The Mountain Lion in Oklahoma and Surrounding States, written by Oklahoma State University researchers, concluded: “Mountain lions are significant predators in North American ecosystems, and it is of great ecological importance to allow this carnivore the opportunity to immigrate back to its original domain. Biodiversity is a priority of many natural resource state agencies, and the mountain lion in Oklahoma could serve as a keystone species for sound management and protection of the state’s native fauna.” Black bears: Like river otters and mountain lions, black bears are not a common species in Oklahoma. Proposing a sport hunting season on them is not only ethically indefensible, it is biologically and ecologically reckless. According to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, “Black bears, like other Oklahoma wildlife are a part of or natural heritage. It is remarkable that a few rugged and remote areas still exist within the state that are capable of supporting them. Bears were once common in Oklahoma — with a little help from us, they can again become an integral part of Oklahoma’s wildlife resources.”

Posted 03/27/06 - Okay to Forward/CrosspostAPI Newsletter & Action Alerts. Copyright ©2006 Animal Protection Institute, PO Box 22505, Sacramento, CA 95822. All rights reserved.

Today's (01.04.2006) print edition of THE IRISH TIMES carries a large photograph of children from Curaraheen National School, in Co. Kerry, carrying protest banners outside the Dublin constituency office of the governmental minister John O'Donoghue. Regrettably, I can't locate this photograph with its accompanying caption in the newspaper's online edition, so can't send it along to you for posting.

However, the IRISH EXAMINER last Wednesday (29.03.2006) reported on another protest organised by the same Kerry school against the erection of a mast. I will transcribe this below.

Imelda O'Connor


IRISH EXAMINER,
WEDNESDAY 29.03.2006

By Donal Hickey, Kerry

A COMMUNITY in the scenic Ring of Kerry yesterday protested against the erection of mobile phone masts in their area.

Clara Leahy, spokesperson for the Mountain Stage community between Glenbeigh and Caherciveen, said they were very unhappy with decisions by An Bord Pleanála in relation to masts.

“Kerry County Council, because of its ban on the erection of masts within one kilometre of residential buildings, has been refusing planning permission for these masts, but An Bord Pleanála is granting permission on appeal,” she said.

Ms Leahy said one mast had been erected in the area and two others were under appeal to An Bord Pleanála.

“Our main objection is on health and safety grounds.

“If the mobile phone companies can give us a written guarantee that these masts pose no risks to people’s health, we’ll sit down and negotiate with the companies.

“There’s a great need for the companies to consult local communities. We believe the companies should go for sites on top of mountains and other elevated areas, rather than opting for low-lying sites.”

Ms Leahy said her community was concerned about moves by some Kerry councillors to have the one-kilometre ban removed.

“Do the councillors want to put people’s health in danger? How sure are these councillors that there’s a safe level of radiation coming from these masts?”

Mobile companies have been pressing for an easing of restrictions, arguing that more masts are needed if reception for customers is to be improved.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue has hit out at attempts by Independent Councillor Michael Healy-Rae to contravene the county development plan so as to allow the erection of a phone mast to service the Black Valley, a telecommunications blackspot.

Mr O’Donoghue said a feasibility study had been approved and it should be allowed to be completed.

But Fianna Fáil Councillor Tom Fleming said he was confident An Bord Pleanála would grant planning permission for two masts near the valley, which would serve the 70 residents.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/pport/web/ireland/Full_Story/did-sgjk2wAWkyIlAsgTbBP-2fa91M.asp

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Ireland: Anti-mast postcard campaign
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/2198138/

http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=423

MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Kevin Byrne is a man in the prime of his life who feared he had an old man's problems. Last summer, he was devastated by chronic back pain and thought his hips were about to give out.

"I'm thinking, gee, I'm 47 years old and I'm going to need hip replacements already," he said.

The hip pain was the beginning of a strange personal odyssey for Mr. Byrne, a technical writer who lives in Newcastle, a bedroom community east of Toronto. He is now convinced his ailment wasn't a sign of premature aging, but an allergy to one of modern society's ubiquitous substances: electricity.

No one knows how many people are sensitive to electricity. Scientific debate is intense over whether the condition exists or is a figment of people's imagination. Some estimates place the number afflicted at a handful out of every million. Others view it as more common but still a tad unusual, perhaps a few individuals out of every thousand.

Mr. Byrne counts himself among those unlucky few. He began researching the topic when a neighbour expressed the belief that electricity was dangerous. In an act of desperation brought on by constant pain, he did something he initially thought was off-the-wall. He spent $1,000 on filters that, much like surge protectors on a computer, clean up fluctuations and surges in the electricity flowing in the wires around his home.

"When you're in a lot of pain, you'll do just about anything. So I was sort of grasping at non-medical straws," he said. "I didn't think they would work, to tell you the truth. I thought I was probably wasting my money."

But within a couple of days, after months of pain for which his doctor could find no cause, he started feeling fine again. "I said to my wife, 'This has got to be the placebo effect,' " he said, referring to the well-known medical phenomenon of patients reporting that they are cured of illnesses after being given a sugar pill doctors suggest will help them.

Mr. Byrne also noticed another odd health effect after he cleaned up his power, convincing him that electricity was at the root of his problems. Both he and his wife suddenly began to sleep more soundly and his dreams became "incredibly real and very vivid."

Stories such as Mr. Byrne's are not isolated tales. In fact, they're becoming increasingly common, rising in lockstep with homes filled to the brim with electronic gadgets and the proliferation of wireless technologies.

Symptoms of electrical sensitivity include the joint pain Mr. Byrne experienced, but also a bewildering array of other common problems most everyone feels at one time or another, such as fatigue, headaches, poor sleep quality with frequent wakefulness, ringing in the ears, depression, difficulty remembering things, and skin rashes. The list of symptoms has created speculation that some cases of sick building syndrome, where people working in buildings complain of nausea and headaches, might be due to electrical sensitivities.

Madga Havas, an associate professor at the Environmental Studies Department of Trent University who is an expert on the health claims about electricity, says she receives "almost a call a day" from people who say electricity is making them ill and they can't find help in the medical system. "It's not just from Canada. It's usually from the States as well," she says.

She thinks the condition is more widespread than commonly thought, and speculates that for some people, exposure to electricity causes physiological stress, producing symptoms of tiredness, difficulty concentrating and poor sleep.

The possibility of such a widespread health impact from electricity is greeted with skepticism in the electricity industry, where such an effect would have wide-ranging consequences.

"We don't have support to suggest that there is electrosensitivity in members of the population," says Jack Sahl, a manager of safety and environmental issues at Southern California Edison, a large U.S. electricity provider.

The industry position has been bolstered by studies showing that most of those who say they have allergies to electricity are unable consistently to detect the presence of electric currents in laboratory experiments.

Medical authorities and scientific researchers have consequently been baffled over these wide-ranging claims of ill health, not only in Canada and the United States but in Britain and other European countries. In Sweden, the electrically sensitive are so numerous they have established their own self-help and lobby group.

Those with the condition bristle at suggestions their symptoms are imaginary. "This is not psychosomatic at all. . . . We're not delusional," says Susan Stankavich, who lives near Albany, N.Y., and says her problems developed after a large cellphone tower was erected near her home. She's had debilitating headaches, among other symptoms, and can barely tolerate being under fluorescent lights.

Reacting to this rising tide of claims of a new illness, the World Health Organization issued a fact sheet in December on the allergies, which it dubbed "electromagnetic hypersensitivity" and likened it to multiple chemical sensitivities.

The WHO says the "symptoms are certainly real" and "can be a disabling problem for the affected individual."

Reports about sensitivity to electricity began with the introduction of computers, predating the recent spread of Wi-Fi and cellphone towers, which release a related but more powerful type of electromagnetic energy than that produced around electric wires.

There have been long-running concerns about the possible health effects of electricity because it is a source of both electric and magnetic fields, invisible lines of force that surround all power lines and any power-consuming device, from the lowly kitchen toaster to a computer. Electric fields are always present near power wires and appliances, even when devices are turned off, but magnetic fields are generated only when devices are on.

The nerves in living things work on electrical impulses. So do other biological processes, such as the voltages in hearts detected using electrocardiographs. This has given rise to worries that man-made electricity fields, to which humans were never exposed before the modern era, might be biologically active, just like chemical pollutants.

The WHO has been looking at electrical sensitivity as one aspect of a larger investigation into the health effects of the cocktail of electromagnetic fields enveloping people in modern societies via everything from power lines to cellphones. It says that exposure to electromagnetic fields represents "one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences, about which there is anxiety and speculation spreading."

Until now, most of the medical researchers looking at electricity and health have searched for links to cancer, rather than the fatigue-related symptoms the electrically sensitive claim.

The cancer research has linked childhood leukemia to power-line magnetic fields. About 5 per cent of the U.S. population is regularly exposed to fields of the strength associated with leukemia in children, a percentage that is probably similar in Canada. For adult leukemia and brain tumours, some studies have found links to electricity, as they have with Lou Gehrig's disease, but the research is less conclusive than that for childhood leukemia.

Richard Stevens, an epidemiologist at the University of Connecticut Health Center, has been studying electricity for nearly two decades, and first advanced the hypothesis that the use of electricity is a factor behind the rise in some cancer rates in developed countries. He says there is strong evidence linking the use of night lighting to cancer because exposure to light at night disrupts people's production of the hormone melatonin.

But he's unsure what impact the fields around electric wiring and devices might be having. Some studies have found that magnetic fields suppress melatonin in animals, something that might explain the allergy-like symptoms, but this effect hasn't been observed in humans. "Whether or not magnetic fields have any effect at all, I do not know," Dr. Stevens says.

The allergy-like symptoms are a far different medical condition than the cancers Dr. Stevens studies, and some researchers are speculating that a possible culprit is the recent deterioration in the quality of electricity flowing in power wires.

Power quality is a well-known problem in the utility business, caused by the proliferation of computers, lighting dimmer switches, energy efficient bulbs, and other modern electronic gadgets. These new devices cause a more complicated use pattern for electricity than old-fashioned items such as incandescent bulbs, producing negative feedback involving high-frequency peaks, harmonics and other noise on electric wiring.

The way to picture the quality effect is to imagine that electricity is like water flowing in a pipe. An incandescent bulb uses electricity steadily, just like an open tap allows a constant flow into the sink. Computers and other modern devices use power in variable amounts, similar to turning the tap on and off, or any setting in between, causing water pipes to clang.

This deterioration in power quality has been going on for years and would have likely escaped public notice, except that when home computers became popular in the 1990s they would frequently crash or malfunction because of it.

The change in power quality means more variable electromagnetic fields, and possibly more biologically active ones, are associated with electricity than there used to be. This is a possible explanation for the rise in electrosensitivity complaints in the view of Denis Henshaw, a professor at the University of Bristol in Britain, who is an international authority on the health effects of power transmission lines.

He says that if electricity were flowing in a constant way, most people's bodies would likely adapt, but with all the interference from modern devices, the resulting fields are too variable for people to get used to. "We just don't get to adapt to these because they don't have any special pattern to them," he said. "There is no proof of this, it's just an opinion."

In Canada, Dr. Havas has been investigating whether the deterioration in power quality has led to sensitivity. To this end, she's been installing filters that clean up the interference on electrical wires to see if people notice.

In 2003, she installed filters in a Toronto private school where a student was electrically sensitive for a six-week test, three weeks with the devices and three weeks without them. Half of the teachers who responded to her questionnaire said they felt health improvements, such as being able to concentrate better and feeling less tired, when the filters were in place. Even more unusual, the teachers, who were not told what the research was about, reported that 60 per cent of their classes showed improvements in student behaviour when the filters were installed.

Based on this finding, Dr. Havas estimates that perhaps half of the population may have some sensitivity to electricity.

In another test, she installed filters in the homes of people with multiple sclerosis, a disease that might be reactive to electricity because it is associated with poor sheathing on nerves. Brad Blumbergs, 29, says his MS improved so much last year that he could walk without shaking and could even run again. "It allows me to retire my cane," he said. "It hasn't cured me, but my symptoms are a percentage of what they used to be," Mr. Blumbergs said.

Dr. Havas has presented some of these findings at scientific conferences on electrosensitivity, but the work hasn't appeared in the gold standard of research, the peer-reviewed scientific journals that would confer more legitimacy on the results.

The utility industry's Mr. Sahl is skeptical about efforts to improve power quality, which generally cost about $1,000 to handle one home, and calls them a "waste of money."

He agrees that the action may make some people feel better, but only because they're affected by the power of suggestion and not by the power of electricity. "I hate to be blunt about it, but there is this well-established effect in science and we've studied it over and over and it's called the placebo effect."

That doesn't ring true to Mr. Byrne. He says his sensitivity might have been prompted by his decision last year to conserve energy by replacing much of his home's simple incandescent lighting with high-efficiency compact fluorescent bulbs, some brands of which cause the power-quality problem.

He's become so convinced that electricity can make people sick that he's set up a website, offering tips to fellow sufferers on how to alleviate their symptoms, such as urging them to throw out their dimmer switches and limiting exposures to electronic gadgets. When it comes to electricity, Mr. Byrne says, "I think people should automatically begin changing their lifestyles."

© Copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060328.wxelectricity28/BNStory/Science/home?pageRequested=all&print=true

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Electricity disorder a real health problem
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1775805/

In the next two weeks there will be a final push to get H.R. 550, a bill introduced by Rep. Holt of New Jersey, on the House floor. H.R. 550 would protect the integrity of our elections by requiring a voter verified paper record of every vote, requiring mandatory random hand counted audits to verify the accuracy of electronic tallies, which is the only way to ever conduct an audit we can trust. It will also prohibit the use of secret software and wireless communication devices in voting machines.

The recent change in leadership of the Committee on House Administration has created a new opportunity for passage of this vital election integrity measure. Previous constituent meetings in June and August of 2005 were a huge success, generating 24 new co-sponsors on the bill from both parties. In addition, 27 States have now passed voter-verified paper record requirements.

THERE ARE THREE WAYS YOU CAN HELP -- lobby in person in Washington, D.C. or your home district . . . and/or sign the petition:

IF YOU CAN COME TO WASHINGTON DC ON APRIL 6 & 7 TO LOBBY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO COSPONSOR HR 550, CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP: http://www.icountcoalition.org/dclobby.html

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ARRANGE TO MEET LOBBY IN YOUR HOME DISTRICT, CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP:
http://www.icountcoalition.org/indistrictsignup.html

IF YOU CAN'T COME TO WASHINGTON DC (OR EVEN IF YOU CAN), CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION URGING THE HOUSE ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE TO PASS HR 550 AS WRITTEN ASAP:
http://www.millionphonemarch.com/hr550.php

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this message to everyone else you know.

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Copyright 2006, Patent pending, All rights reserved