5G - What you don't know won't hurt you

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5G: What you don't know won't hurt you

... and that's the bliss of ignorance.

Sorry, but this might actually hurt a tiny bit:

TruePublica: What you don’t know about 5G but will find out when its too late

• The first eight months of WWII with no fighting – was called The Phoney War. Using millimetre waves as a fifth-generation or 5G wireless communications technology is a phoney war of another kind.
• This phoney war is also silent, but this time shots are being fired – in the form of laser-like beams of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from banks of thousands of tiny antennas[1] – and almost no one in the firing line knows that they are being silently, seriously and irreparably injured.

Wow, this certainly calls for a reality check. It's been years since I consulted Quackwatch, mainly because I pretty much know what the guy is going to say. But in very serious matters such as this, it's sometimes good to find out exactly what the naysayers are naysaying.

Quackwatch: "Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity" Is Not a Valid Diagnosis

• People who claim to be electromagnetically sensitive can cause great emotional and economic harm to their community.

Well, "emotional" might not be so bad, but "economic": ain't that always the rub, eh? So many communications industry moguls failing to become bona fide oligarchs: what a shame that would be.

Personally, I don't know why people are so hell-bent on wildly increased Internet speed. You can be sure some other technology would be focussed upon if we weren't so continually told that "speed" is great, "speed" is good, and you're nobody without "speed".

When I had no choice but Bell for Internet they kept reminding me of how fast my download speed was, and how even faster it could be if I would just fork over more moola.  But when I changed to VMedia (you'd have thought it was over Bell's dead body the way they carried on) I deliberately chose to go from 300 down -10 up, to 40 down -10 up just to see what would happen, and so help me, there's no perceptible difference at all - and for a lot less money!  Call me whatever you wish, but I don't see anywhere near as much need for 5G as the profiteers do.

Side note: Bell finally stopped haranguing me by phone, after I moved, and started sending me letters. I eventually decided to write "Unwanted mail, please return to Sender" on the envelope, and so far I think it's working.

Moving on: The owner of "Quackwatch" says in his bio that he was trained as a psychiatrist, and from what I've been able to glean of his activities, he doesn't appear to actually see patients. So he lacks empirical evidence to back up his strident naysaying. He pretty much seems to think everybody is either stupid and/or neurotic except himself, though he comes across as an angry, hypercritical, hyperactive individual.

He would definitely label me a reactionary (and I would think, "right back atcha") since I rely far more on the examination of a variety of opinions, and then follow my own gut instinct rather than the biases of any particular so-called "professional" -- especially the outdated pronouncements of The WHO:

The World Health Organization (WHO) 2005: Electromagnetic fields and public health ... Electromagnetic hypersensitivity

• Physicians: Treatment of affected individuals should focus on the health symptoms and the clinical picture, and  not on the person's perceived need for reducing or eliminating EMF  in the workplace or home. This requires:
• a medical evaluation to identify and treat any specific conditions that may be responsible for the symptoms,
• a psychological evaluation to identify alternative psychiatric/psychological conditions that may be responsible for the symptoms,
• an assessment of the workplace and home for factors that might contribute to the presented symptoms. These could include indoor air pollution, excessive noise, poor lighting (flickering light) or ergonomic factors. A reduction of stress and other improvements in the work situation might be appropriate.

In other words, if we can pin it on anything else, we will -- and that's clearly revealed in their exhortation to Governments to educate the population:

• The information should include a clear statement that no scientific basis currently exists for a connection between EHS and exposure to EMF.

(Can you imagine your family physician walking into your workplace with a clipboard to assess factors that may be contributing to your symptoms?  "Not bloody likely." Seinfeld-YouTube)

Obedient to outside influence, as usual, the Canadian government flatly states:

• ... there is no scientific evidence that the symptoms attributed to EHS are actually caused by exposure to EMFs.

Nor is it embarrassed to have quoted the outdated (2005) WHO statement as proof.

Okay, so we have the emphatic word of an aggressive non-practising psychiatrist and the great WHO (which perhaps should be followed by a question mark?) which is notorious for having disseminated extremely faulty information, not to mention its apparent cahootness with the tobacco industry:

NationalReview: (2017) - Stop Funding WHO Until It Cleans Up Its Act

• WHO is plagued by persistent wasteful spending, utter disregard for transparency, pervasive incompetence, and failure to adhere to even basic democratic standards.

How can one expect the WHO to have a clue about protecting populations from 5G EMR when the EPA has been declared "Numnutz of the Week (for Outstanding Nuclear Boneheadedness") and the WHO has been accused of telling lies about the Japanese nuclear meltdown:

NuclearHotseat: World Health Organization’s Fukushima, Chernobyl Lies

I think it's also worth taking a look at the Vaccine Resistance Movement's critique of NATO and the WHO, beginning with a quote from a former US President:

• ‘The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.‘ President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address to the Nation, January 17, 1961

You can find more stories about the WHO's sad lack of credibility simply by doing an online search for "World Health Organization lies".

Moving on:

Forbes: A Radiation Oncologist Says Everything You Need To Hear About WiFi And Cancer Risk

Gary Larson, a radiation oncologist (treats cancer patients with radiation) -- who must not be confused with the brilliant cartoonist of the same name -- has an extremely good opinion of his own opinions:

• I'll tell you with absolute certainty that radio waves cannot harm you (unless perhaps you were in the path of a multi-megawatt microwave beam, in which case they might cook you. But as far as I know, there is no likelihood that this danger even exists). 

First he's absolutely certain, but then he blurts: "as far as I know".  It seems the good doctor may have become aware that his hiney was a bit exposed, so he covered it thusly:

• There has never been (and will never be) a randomized trial assessing the cause and effect relationship between radio frequency emissions and neoplastic disease. In order to have a randomized study, half of the randomly selected subjects would need to avoid cellphone use and that's not going to happen.

I don't like to say this, but we all know of people who faithfully took all the radiation treatment that was offered, and yet died of the spread of cancer. If I were a radiation oncologist, I wouldn't want to believe that radiation can cause cancer, either.  I'm just saying ...

And he wants to blame addicted cell phone users for the fact (his fact) that no proper assessment of 5G effects can be made?

Then, this oncologist, who boasts of empirical knowledge concerning cancer, but has no training in psychiatry (a mirror image of the Quackery blogger who does have psychiatric training but no apparent empirical knowledge) goes on to explain to us plebeians the workings of the human mind:

• Since we have this subconscious, ever-present fear of death, we employ magical thinking to give us a false sense of power over it. When we create artificial threats to our survival in our imagination, and then avoid practicing behaviors that make us vulnerable to those threats, we feel we have some power over whether we live or die. These are also known as superstitions.
• Primitive cultures made sacrifices to imaginary gods so they wouldn't destroy their village. Children learn to avoid stepping on cracks. The germaphobe may engage in compulsive hand-washing. And some people avoid putting their cell phone right next to their skin.

Well, that's what we needed to hear, alright. This guy, having illusions of expertise in psychiatric assessment, reduces the rest of the population to "primitive" neurotics.

So, what we have is an MD, who sees only cancer patients and has no psychiatric training, attempting to educate us on the human psyche, while a psychiatrist, with no discernible patient contact, expounds on physical health issues.

Causing cancer and creating susceptibility to it might be two different things but we've already been told that any symptoms related to EMR are psychosomatic.

How do you like all the acronyms? Gee, I feel a bit dizzy, but since that couldn't possibly be from EMR, then maybe it's from PMM (professional mind-messing)?

Okay, how about this:

International Appeal: Scientists call for Protection from Non-ionizing Electromagnetic Field Exposure

• The WHO adopted the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classification of extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF EMF) in 2002  and radiofrequency radiation (RFR) in 2011 . This classification states that EMF is a possible human carcinogen (Group 2B).  Despite both IARC findings, the WHO continues to maintain that there is insufficient evidence to justify lowering these quantitative exposure limits.

Well, clearly the scientists making such wild accusations must surely be victims of the "primitive brain". Even more whacko, this group of experts have included outer space in their prohibition appeal:

INTERNATIONAL APPEAL- Stop 5G on Earth and in Space

• We the undersigned scientists, doctors, environmental organizations and citizens from (__) countries, urgently call for a halt to the deployment of the 5G (fifth generation) wireless network, including 5G from space satellites. 5G will massively increase exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiation on top of the 2G, 3G and 4G networks for telecommunications already in place. RF radiation has been proven harmful for humans and the environment. The deployment of 5G constitutes an experiment on humanity and the environment that is defined as a crime under international law.

Hold the phone:- China is far ahead of the US in advances in 5G technology. The Chinese also recently did what no other country has done: it visited the far side of the moon. We really should think about that in view of the recent build-up of American animosity toward China. There's way more to this controversy than meets the eye. And I suspect those with vested interests - and their "experts" - do not care whether or not 5G is dangerous to living creatures.

I rest my psychosis.