Switzerland: Swisscom Deploys 5G and Creates Controversy

Betrayal by the president of the Geneva cantonal government which had voted a moratorium on 5G.  Betrayal by the Confederation.  Profit reigns over health.  The Swiss Confederation owns the majority of shares in Swisscom. No one is listening to the voice of the people.  Democracy has died.  

Swisscom deploys 5G and creates controversy

by Sami Zaïbi, ABO+, Tribune de Genève, 18 April 2019 - translation

Geneva: The operator is launching its 5G network in Geneva. Antonio Hodgers had nevertheless assured that the Canton would "not rush" this controversial technology

5G antennas in Geneva in operation

Swisscom has taken everyone by surprise. While a national debate is underway on the usefulness and health impacts of 5G, the Cantons of Geneva and Vaud have passed a moratorium on technology, and anti-5G collectives have formed, with great fanfare, the operator today launched its national 5G network, the first to cover major cities, including the City of Calvin. Sunrise had launched the technology in March in small towns and cities.

Political scam

Swisscom's announcement is particularly surprising in Geneva: last week, the President of the Council of State Antonio Hodgers made it clear that the technology would not be coming to the canton any time soon. While he urged the Grand Council to refer the moratorium on 5G (which was finally adopted by 58 votes to 28) to the committee, he had insisted on reassuring elected officials about the progress of the implementation of the technology: "In any case, we are not going to rush to install these antennas. It is a process that first requires public inquiries, all of which must be subject to a weighing of interests, particularly for health, development or heritage. We're certainly not going to rush, that's for sure. I don't have a request on my desk for a 5G antenna yet, to be very clear. When there are, we will treat them with due attention."

Streaming Is the New Way of Flying - How Digital Consumption Affects the Climate

If you think digital technology is "green", think again.  The ICT sector could already account for 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2025.

Streaming is the new way of flying - how digital consumption affects the climate

by Thomas Fuster, nzz.ch, 16 April 2019 - translation

What is digital is nowhere near green. The environmental costs of information and communication technology (ICT) are mostly underestimated. An important driver for a rapidly increasing power consumption is the streaming of videos.

Watching a video on the go for 10 minutes needs the same
amount of power as an electric oven for 5 minutes in full
operation. (Image: Matt Cardy / Getty)

In the climate discussion, the roles are clearly divided: on the side of the "bad guys" are heavy industry, transport and agriculture. By contrast, most service providers are among the "good guys" because their products - such as insurance or loans - are more of an intangible nature. Information and communication technology (ICT) is usually assigned to the good side in this classification. Digitization is considered part of the solution and not part of the climate problem. After all, the electronic gadgets are getting smaller and smaller. And the services used on displays somehow seem virtual - and therefore low in pollutants.

More harmful than aviation

French Court Rules Monsanto Liable for Farmer's Health Problems

French Court Rules Monsanto Liable for Farmer's Health Problems
by Olivia Rosane, ecowatch.com, 12 April 2019

French farmer Paul François outside a courthouse 
before a 2015 appeal of his case against Monsanto.
Jeff Pachoud / APF / Getty Images

A French appeals court ruled Thursday in favor of a farmer who has been in a decade-long fight with Monsanto since he fell ill after inhaling a now-banned weedkiller.

Paul Francois, 55, said he suffered neurological damage after inhaling Monsanto's Lasso in 2004. He sued the company arguing that the labeling on the product had been inadequate. Courts ruled in his favor in 2012 and 2015, but France's top court overturned those rulings and ordered a new hearing.

"We are all happy to have won but it came at a heavy price," Francois told reporters, according to Reuters. "It's a big sigh of relief. It's been 12 years of fighting, 12 years during which I had to put my whole life on hold."

Press Conference: Phonegate: First Criminal Action: Paris, 15 April 2019

[Press Conference] Phonegate: first criminal actionEquipe Phonegate, phonegatealert.org 12 April 2019

After several months of work and reflection, we are launching the first criminal action in the context of the Phonegate health and industrial scandal. A press conference will be held in Paris on Monday, April 15, 2019 at 10:30 am in the presence of attorney Elizabeth Guélot, Co-founder of Platform V for Verdict, attorney Elias Bourran, member of the Phonegate lawyers’ consortium and Dr Marc Arazi, President of Phonegate Alert. The meeting will be broadcast live on Facebook video on our Phonegate Alert page. Thank you in advance for your support.

https://www.phonegatealert.org/en/press-conference-phonegate-first-criminal-action

The Government, 5G/Wireless Industry Perpetuate Scientific Fraud

The government, 5G/wireless industry perpetuate scientific fraud
By Peter Tocci CONTRIBUTING WRITER, trendsresearch.com, March 2019

Criminal instigated. Terminally pathological. 5G ups the ante.

This article begins to make the case that information carrying microwave radiation (ICMR) from wireless systems, 5G included, is one of the most devastating environmental and health threats ever created.

(Photo):  Wireless telecommunications, As with so many technological conveniences we all depend on, started out as a military project. Though an important distinction to be made is that wireless technologies were initially designed as a weapon.

While the preponderance of danger warnings concern human health and well being, the greater threat by orders of magnitude is to the environment.

A public and scientific wave of resistance may be building against 5G, but much of it is out of critical context and consequently ill-advised. The obvious context, of course, is wireless technology in general, the ultimate context of which includes the very nature of being. Life is affected by artificial electromagnetic fields (EMFs) because electromagnetism is the foundation of life.

" 'Phonegate' Will Spatter Everyone in the Telecommunications Industry"

This was published 7 April 2019 on the site of the Phonegate Alert Association: 
Interview with Dr. Marc Arazi, president of the Phonegate Alert Association.

CONTROVERSY OVER THE WAVES
" 'Phonegate' will spatter everyone in the telecommunications industry"
by Ana Montes, Barcelona, elperiodico.com/es, 2 April 2019  - translation

Marc Arazi, president of the PhoneGate Alert association, predicts that the arrival of 5G will end up spreading the scandal

Marc Arazi unveiled 'Phonegate' in 2016, according to his words, the great "scam of the manufacturers of mobile phones on the consumers", that since then approaches judicial level, requesting the withdrawal of the infringing models. They exceed the maximum levels of SAR, the specific rate of radiation absorbed by head and body, according to the model, which in Europe is 2 W/kg of weight in 10 grams of tissue. This reveals that we have been subject to more radiation than allowed for more than 20 years, "a risk for everyone and a public health fraud". According to the French doctor, this generalized bad practice when it comes to labeling the SAR, has the consent of industry and governments. In his opinion, 'Phonegate', which bases its complaint on official documents, will be 10 times more important than 'Dieselgate'.

- Why are you leading this battle?

Phonegate: New smartphone in SAR excess, the Nokia 5

[Last minute] New smartphone in SAR excess, the Nokia 5
Phonegate Team, phonegatealert.org, 5 April 2019

In a new press release published on 5 April 2019, the French National Frequency Agency (ANFR) announced that, as part of its monitoring of the radio equipment market and the control of public exposure to electromagnetic waves, it had sanctioned the Nokia 5 telephone for exceeding the trunk Specific Absorption Rate (SAR).

The big loser customer

The Finnish company HMD GLOBAL OY, manufacturer of the NOKIA 5 mobile phone, had to carry out, at the request of ANFR, an update in order to comply with the SAR limit value located “trunk”. Once again, it is up to the user to ensure that his phone is effectively updated, in a total lack of transparency on the part of both the manufacturer and ANFR.

Phonegate Scandal: Swiss Deputies on the Front Lines

Phonegate scandal: Swiss deputies on the front lines
Phonegate Team, phonegatealert.org, 4 April 2019

For the past year, many Swiss deputies have been asking the Federal Council for information and explanations regarding the Phonegate industrial and health scandal. Most recently, on 20 March 2019, National Councilor Silva Semadeni (Socialist group) and 26 other deputies* tabled another interpellation, 193180:

“Phonegate”: Properly inform mobile phone users:

https://www.parlament.ch/fr/ratsbetrieb/suche-curia-vista/geschaeft?AffairId=20193180

“…smartphones are often worn close to the body, in the pants pocket, or directly glued to the ear during a call. In 2018, in France, it was made public that many models of mobile phones sold exceeded the specific absorption rate (SAR) values declared by the manufacturer. For years, users have been deceived…”

Mounting Resistance Against 5G in Switzerland

(Revised 3 April 2019:) 

Roger Federer is advertising in favor of 5G for the Swiss
telecoms company, Sunrise.

There is a well-organized resistance against 5G taking place in French-speaking Switzerland: frequent lectures, petitions, demonstrations, letters to deputies in Parliament and at local level, parliamentary and local deputies introducing interpellations, motions..., increasing opposition against installation of cell phone antennas, Green Parties in 5 cantons requesting their communes to declare a moratorium or apply the precautionary principle, favorable mainstream media coverage, including Swiss national TV (RTS), sprouting of groups against 5G on Facebook (more than 2,500 members).

The growing resistance against 5G is commendable.  However, we are neglecting the fact that this will encourage us to make greater use of our radiating devices.  What is missing in most of the media articles on 5G opposition is the mention of the particular vulnerabilities of children and pregnant women to radio frequencies emitted by these technologies and wireless devices.  It is now more than urgent to launch an information campaign on the use of these gadgets in order to reduce exposure to this radiation.  We see too many young mothers walking with their babies in strollers, using their mobile phones near the baby's head and body and even placing a radiating cell phone or tablet in their tiny hands. 

Here is a glance at the Suisse Romande media:

The People of Geneva are fighting against 5G antennas

Tribune de Genève , 01 April 2019

'Telecom Industry Did No Research on Health Impacts of 5G'

Prof. Paul Héroux

‘Telecom industry did no research on health impacts of 5G’
By Akshit Sangomla, downtoearth.org.in, 27 March 2019

India plans to begin 5G trials by 2020, but experts and industry stand at odds over its impact on human health and environment. The fifth generation wireless network promises to be 50 times faster than its predecessor — 4G. Down To Earth talked to a series of experts on the issue

Paul Héroux, professor of toxicology and health effects of electromagnetism at Department of Surgery, McGill University Health Centre, Canada, speaks with Down To Earth about adoption of 5G will be detrimental towards people’s health.

Q: What are the primary health impacts of using 5G mobile network and is there enough scientific evidence to prove that these impacts will take place?