Switzerland: Electrosmog Exposure: Are We Preparing the Way for the Next Disease of Civilization?

Memorial to the insatiable hunger for data:
a mobile phone antenna

Swimming in a sea of ​​rays
by Jürg Steiner, Berner Zeitung, 22 December 2013 (translated from German by Google and the Editor of this blog)


We are sending ever faster and bigger data packets through our mobile and wireless network. We are doing so through electromagnetic radiation. Are we preparing the way for the next disease of civilization?

Casting WLAN networks like fishing nets, the Spitalgasse in Bern would be impassable. From the street, via a smartphone, one can locate dozens of pulsating wireless screens within a confined area. There are no benefits but everyone is irradiated, also by the mobile antenna covering the city center at full strength.

In the train, the same picture: from left and right, pulsating electromagnetic waves from private phones and laptops, while travelling through the sea of ​​rays of the mobile phone network.

Omnipresent radiation

Switzerland: Testimony of Electrosensitivity

Sosthène Berger, with an electrosmog meter in his hand, struggles with
the fact of having to dress in this way the moment he sets foot outside
his home.  Photo:  Sandro Campardo

« I am living in hell, due to waves »
by Cléa Favre, Le Matin,

28 December 2013 (translated from French by the Editor of this blog)
[See Sosthène Berger's site:
www.gigasmog.ch]

Testimony – While France is on the point of creating a “white zone” to protect them, electrosensitive persons living in Switzerland often remain considered as crazy.

Sosthène Berger, 49, receives « Le Matin » in his garden in La Neuveville (Berne), where he spent his days between April and October 2011, only entering his house to take a shower and sleep. That year, the engineer discovered he was “electrosensitive”. Suddenly, Wi-Fi, cell phones, tablets and even the vacuum cleaner, drill and sewing machine made his existence hell. Since then, he lives in a “permanent building site” in order to better protect himself against electromagnetic waves.

Marketing Tablets for Babies 'Horrifies' Parents

Amazon.com is marketing the Appivity seat for babies as one
of its "best gifts for kids in 2013".  A warning to parents:
you will be guilty of harming your child's health if you give
a tablet to him/her at too young an age.

iPads for Newborns? Marketing Tablets for Babies 'Horrifies' Parents, Experts
by Jon Queally, staff writer, Common Dreams, 24 December 2013

Fisher-Price 'iPad Apptivity Seat' only the worst example (so far) of a culture awash in screens that may be harming childhood development

It's Christmas Eve in the Digital Age, but for those concerned about the growing amount of screen time that teenagers and young children—even infants—are now experiencing, the holiday gift-giving season may become an increasingly "horrifying" affair.

As the rise of technology dovetails with the multi-billion dollar toy and media industries, children are now growing up in a digital environment that may seem harmless to some but could be dramatically harming key components of their physical, mental and emotional growth at one of the most precious and fragile stages of human development.

The New York Times reports on Tuesday:

A recent survey of 1,000 parents with children between 2 and 10 found that more than half planned to buy a tech item for their children this holiday season. About two-thirds of those planned to give a tablet or smartphone, according to the survey, which was taken for PBS Kids, the brand of the public broadcasting network aimed at young children.

Teach Your Children Well: Reduce Radiofrequency/ Microwave Exposure!

Teach your children well:  Reduce radiofrequency/microwave exposure!
Parents Against Wi-Fi in Schools, Australia

Smart phones, tablets and laptops use microwave radiofrequency radiation to communicate.
Radiofrequency has been identified by the WHO as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’. 

Carl Sagan on Science and Technology

And here is what Carl Sagan says about the media in the United States.
(Ref. Media Matters for America)

A Science Icon Died 17 Years Ago. In His Last Interview, He Made A Warning That Gives Me Goosebumps.

by Rajiv Narayan, upworthy.com

Carl Sagan inspired a generation of scientists with his work in and out of the classroom. But he didn't always present science with cheer. In this clip, he passionately defends science with a grave warning. It's something we all need to hear.

Extract from an Interview with Charlie Rose, 27 May 1996  (text transcribed by the editor of this blog)

Sagan: …We live in an age based on science and technology with formidable technological powers.

Rose: Science and technology are propelling us forward at accelerating rates.

Sagan: That’s right, and if we don’t understand it, by “we” I mean the general public - “ if it’s something I’m not good at, I don’t know anything about” – then, who’s making all the decisions about science and technology that are going to determine what kind of future our children live in? Just some members of Congress? But there is no more than a handful of members of Congress with any background in science at all and the Republican Congress has just abolished its own office of technology assessment, the organization that gave them bipartisan competent advice on science and technology. “We don’t want to know. Don’t tell us about science and technology.”

Dr. Oz Says Keeping Your Cell Phone in Your Bra Can Cause Breast Cancer

UPDATE:  The 6 December episode of the Dr. Oz Show, "Why You Should Keep Your Cell Phone Out of Your Bra" is now available.  It should be viewed by everyone.  His guests include Tiffany Frantz, who at age 21 was diagnosed with breast cancer and cancer surgeon, Dr. John West.

Here in Geneva, where more and more young women are being diagnosed with breast cancer, we drew the attention of the English Speaking Cancer Association (ESCA) to this issue. Our awareness-raising was taken rather lightly.  "I personally don't know of anyone who keeps a cell phone in their bra," commented one of the group's key personnel.  Geneva's main newspaper, the Tribune de Genève, published our comment on this issue in their readers' mail column.  Dr. Monica Castiliogne-Gertsch, Director of the Center of Oncology/Breast Cancer, University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), who is also engaged in research and advocacy, has always been receptive to our communications on breast cancer and electromagnetic radiation.  

Dr. Oz says keeping your cell phone in your bra can cause breast cancer
examiner.com, 6 December 2013

Dr. Oz says women who keep their cell phones in their bras are putting themselves at risk for breast cancer.

On the Dec. 6 episode of the Dr. Oz Show ("Why You Should Keep Your Cell Phone Out of Your Bra"), Dr. Oz said he believes there is a definite link between cell phones and cancer.

"When it comes to cell phones, the bra has become the new purse," said Dr. Oz, who said millions of women are unknowingly endangering themselves for the sake of convenience.

The Relationship Between Cell Phone Use, Academic Performance, Anxiety, and Satisfaction with Life in College Students

The relationship between cell phone use, academic performance, anxiety, and Satisfaction with Life in college students

Summary and Abstract of the study to appear in the journal Computers in Human Behavior  

Kent State University researchers Andrew Lepp, Ph.D., Jacob Barkley, Ph.D., and Aryn Karpinski, Ph.D., all faculty members in the university's College of Education, Health and Human Services, surveyed more than 500 university students. Daily cell phone use was recorded along with a clinical measure of anxiety and each student's level of satisfaction with their own life, or in other words happiness. Finally, all participants allowed the researchers to access their official university records in order to retrieve their actual, cumulative college grade point average (GPA). All students surveyed were undergraduate students and were equally distributed by class (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior). In addition, 82 different, self-reported majors were represented.

From Digital Media to Digital Dementia

A recent article in a Swiss newspaper on e-courses shows
children using laptops on their laps, exposing sensitive
parts of their bodies to electromagnetic radiation.

Experts warn that digital media is detrimental to learning and can cause insomnia, depression, addiction, and many physical illnesses concerning the cardiovascular system, the musculoskeletal system (lack of exercise, incorrect sitting posture), up to dementia.  Switzerland is moving towards providing school children with tablets and organizing courses on digital media for parents, children and educators, with little mention of health risks.

The too frequent use of digital media reduces the mental capacity of our children
by Dr Rudolf Hänsel, qualified psychologist, Lindau/Germany, Current Concerns, no. 46,

5 November 2012 (www.currentconcerns.ch)

Psychiatrist and brain researcher Manfred Spitzer warns parents and educators

The neuroscientist and medical director of the Psychiatric University Hospital Ulm, Professor Manfred Spitzer, met with intense press coverage about his new best-seller “Digitale Demenz. Wie wir uns und unsere Kinder um den Verstand bringen” (Digital dementia. How we drive us and our children mad) and his trenchant theses. Referring to many neurological findings and supplementing new findings Spitzer reinforces in his book previous research of reputable media experts saying that the too frequent use of the Internet can make people dumb. He never denigrated juvenile and adult Internet users however. Reacting to the spiteful attacks by the press, he said in an interview: “I do not pathologize but I state: Where there are effects there are also risks and side effects.”1 However, Spitzer does not just express warnings; he also shows what parents, teachers and politicians can do to protect our youth.

Treat the Earth and All That Dwell Thereon with Respect

Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect.

Remain close to the Great Spirit.

Show great respect for your fellow beings.

Work together for the benefit of all Mankind.

Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.

Do what you know to be right.

Look after the well being of mind and body.

Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good.

Be truthful and honest at all times.

Take full responsibility for your actions.

Let us greet the dawn of a new day

when all can live as one with nature

and peace reigns everywhere.

from the Native Commandments - 

Jasper Saunkeah, Cherokee

 

Switzerland: Is Wi-Fi in Schools Making Children Sick?

Is Wi-Fi in schools making children sick?
by Hannes von Wyl, 20min.ch, 21 November 2013  (Translated from German by Google and the Editor of this blog)

From 2015, elementary school students will already be working with mobile phones and tablets - over WLAN (Wi-Fi)  connected to the Internet. Critics warn of health problems and even leukemia and tumors.

(Photo: Tablets and mobile phones in the classroom: from 2015/16 this should be the standard. Because the devices can only be connected wirelessly to the Internet, the schools will be equipped with Wi-Fi. According to critics, irradiation from the radio waves results in lack of concentration and more cases of ADHD and cancer.)

According to Curriculum 21, which should be implemented in all German-speaking schools in Switzerland from the school year 2015/2016, children will learn how to use new media technologies in kindergarten and in primary school. Due to the proliferation of tablets and smartphones, not only computers and notebooks, but also "small mobile devices", will be taken into account.

"Children are especially sensitive"