Medical hypothesis - A possible link between mirror neurons, autism and electromagnetic radiation
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16530334

Possible assoc. between autism and foetal/neo-natal exposure to em fields (Kane) - http://omega.twoday.net/stories/224062/

Firstenberg & Molloy on ES - autism incidence -
http://www.mindfully.org/Health/2002/Electrical-Sensitivity-Firstenberg1jul02.htm

Also - http://www.emfbioeffects.org/

from Catherine (via artjar)



Autism Disorders
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/autism_disorders_kane.htm



Lots about autism
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/autism_em_bits.htm



I have had one son battle and die from leukaemia, and another who is severely affected with autism. The boys bedroom window had a clear view to Crystal Palace mast which was under 2 miles away. We moved out nearer the 'green fields' for our children and have spent the last 2 years fighting a poxy base station 130metres away.

Excuse me if I sound angry - it's because I am! I'm not technically minded, and protecting, caring for and 'fighting' on behalf of my son takes a huge amount of time (parents of SEN children need to be 'experts' in so many fields). My son attends one of the six National Autistic Society schools, and it turns my stomach to think that Vodaphone are trying to make themselves look good.

It sounds plausible to me that there is possibly a link between the mast, leukaemia and autism. Has anyone any thoughts?

Thanks.

Angie



Dear Angie,

You have my sympathy for the loss of a child and admiration for the loving support you are obviously giving to one suffering from autism. When Crystal Palace first sprang into action, illnesses sprouted around it and 2 miles may sound a long way away, but what is far and what is near? It just depends on the "power/strength" of what is reaching you and what effect it is having.

We had three daughters and as you will have read, we lost one to breast cancer which she developed when she was just 28 years old. We are now bringing up her son, our beloved grandchild, Sebastian, so I have first hand knowledge of the way children behaved at school years ago, and the way they appear in class now. In Seb's age group (10), there are so many children that one might say are over-active or even attention deficit syndrome. They are unable to sit still for any length of time and need to be fidgeting (and I mean really really fidgetting or getting up and walking around the class room or running around and constantly fighting, etc. Boys and Girls -Both! (Though the boys are more noisy than the girls!) This may sound normal, but if we go back, say 30 years, the children were very much calmer, less frenzied, or one might even stretch the issue and say " less disturbed". Any mother of today will see an active child and perhaps not think too much of it, but there seems to me to be a considerable difference in children of today and those of say, 30 years ago. WHY? Well, like you, I have no doubt that emissions from masts are highly suspect and am sorry that you moved away only to have to fight another mast so near to you. Sods Law!!

I have been making my own personal study of the way these children behave and one very "hyper" child has tvs, dect phones all over his house, plus the play station in his bedroom, etc. To make matters very much worse, the children spend nearly 2 hours every afternoon on their sports pitch, which is being blasted by at least 3 masts approximately 500 meters away, and the lurking Tetra (which b......s up door locks and sets off alarms). My Acom goes completely beserk on the pitch and there is no doubt at all in my mind of the effect that it is having. Anyone know of a good school where there is NO WIFI AND NO MASTS NEAR AND THE ACOMS ARE SO QUIET THAT YOU THINK THAT THEY DON'T WORK?? If so please e-mail me immediately, so we can re-think schools.

The Hutchison mast which blasts into our house set my Acom buzzing on Seb's pillow and where his tummy would be. He was rushed into hospital last year to have his appendix out! His neck/head appears to be having problems too. If you haven't got something like an Acom, it would be helpful for you, because then you can determine where radiation is coming into the house, etc. His school reports have been lousy and the inability to concentrate were causing great concern, and it wasn't funny being hauled in front of the headmaster - and that was David and I!! Since we blocked out a lot of the emissions with Alisdair's paint, and changed just the glass in our windows facing the mast for the European standard Anglian one, the Acom hisses, but doesn't shriek and Seb's ability to be calmer and to work and to do very much better in all his subjects has been rewarding (and amazing.) Yes, there are other factions that can cause illnesses and emotional stress and it's good to have other people's views and help. However, if you can protect your house against this radiation it just might make some difference - I don't know, but just wish you all the best.

Kind regards,

Vivienne B.



Would also like to add my thoughts to your discussion. I totally agree with your sentiments about hyper active children and your comparisons with children of 30 years ago. I think it should also be mentioned that, in addition to the bombardment of our children with EMR, the introduction of food additives has also had a huge detrimental affect on the behaviour of children. I have an 8 year old daughter. We are not what you would call affluent. I never have and never will own a mobile phone. Instead of the latest car/dvd/tv/computer/play station/game etc, I spend my money on healthy food and always (where possible) buy organic. The difference between my daughter's behaviour and that of her friends is remarkable. She is very calm and level headed and I often watch her face when her friends burst into tears/throw a tantrum for no reason and her look of astonishment is quite funny. I find it amazing how parents force feed their children the utter rubbish that passes for food these days. I often ask the parents of my daughters friends why they give their children diet coke when it contains the poison aspartame. They look at me as if I am mad and say "what is aspartame". Of course when my daughter has tea at her friends house she eats the same rubbish as they do. When she comes home after drinking diet coke she is a different person. Totally hyper and obnoxious.

Unfortunately my daughter has developed a stomach (indigestion) problem. We live near 3 masts and the ACOM reading in our house is horrendous. I think it is a leaky gut type problem. Fortunately I have at long last managed to sell my house and will be moving away from the masts shortly. I only hope the damage inflicted on my family has not been too bad.

John Elliott



To Vivienne, Sarah P, Andy, John and everyone (excerpt)

Many thanks for your replies (sorry for delay - half-term and everyone wants a go on the computer!). I have been reading the posts and thank you for your thoughts and help. It's dreadful that we have to protect ourselves to such an extent, or watch people we love suffer - your post, Vivienne, touched me and it's so unfair - no-one should outlive their children. I am heartened, though, that we are like-minded people, and are all doing the best we can.

Briefly on the Crystal Palace 'theory' - it seems very coincidental that my son, and the boy who used to stay with his Grandad next door, both developed leukaemia at roughly the same time. I did some research at the time and found references to the 'Churchfields cancer cluster', and I talked to two employees of CP about the number of dead birds around the mast. I don't know if the exposure from CP weakened my children's immune systems, leaving them open to other influences - it's possible (but I would imagine not prove-able). In my younger son's case, I believe he didn't tolerate the MMR vaccine, which did extensive damage to his body and brain - although it is not my intention to open a debate up about this! My point is, I suppose, that different people react to different inputs, and sometimes they overlap, but until these 'inputs' are proved to be safe, they should not be forced upon a (mostly) unsuspecting public.

At the moment, I am worried that the new technology (QS4) will be used everywhere. Technology-phobe that I am, I'm assuming that existing masts could be replaced with the 'shared' ones, and obviously the operators wouldn't inform anyone (although I'd imagine we'd know because our A-Com's would be going mad!). Could this be a real possibility for the near future? Also, any experiences that anyone wants to share regarding BT exchanges, I would be very interested to hear - we've stalled the operators here and 'only' have three O2 masts at the moment, but the other operators are circling like vultures.

Many thanks again for the time and trouble you've all taken.

Best wishes.

Angie


From Mast Sanity/Mast Network

--------

China Has More Than 100,000 Autistic Children
http://english.cri.cn/2906/2006/12/07/65@171713.htm

The biological effects of man-made electromagnetic fields with respect to humans and the environment
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2073482/

CELL PHONES AND THE BRAIN
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2073545/


http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=autism
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=autism
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=CELL+PHONES+AND+THE+BRAIN
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Firstenberg

The health implications of playing with Big Brother’s most cool tool
http://proliberty.com/observer/20060401.htm
http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20060401.htm

A Cautionary Tale: The Capalaba Post Office

Before the RMIT building EMF controversy is written off as ‘case-closed’ with both Radiofrequency and ELF magnetic fields being given the all-clear, it is worthwhile to consider another cancer building scare that I was briefly involved with which took place about 5 years ago at the Capalaba Post Office in Queensland.

In that case, there was a reported high incidence of cancer and other illnesses. Apparently, over the previous 10 years, out of 53 full-time staff, 25 had developed cancer or auto-immune diseases, at least four had died and others had serious illnesses. Counting part-time workers, 25 percent of the workforce have developed illnesses since 1998. The concerns of the workers was that there was an Energex electricity sub-station next to the Post Office and they were wondering if there was EMF coming from the substation that could be the cause of the illnesses.

Preliminary ELF magnetic field testing around the post office and the electricity sub-station indicated that the levels in the Post office were generally quite low (below 3 mG by memory). When I was asked to comment on the measurements I said the building readings were generally low, but there were areas of concern in the staff lunchroom and at the front counter. I concluded that “At this point, you can’t say that it is an electromagnetic field problem. The best I can say for now is we have looked at the electromagnetic field angle and there are a few areas of concern.” One of my concerns was, according to the building plans of the PO, that the building’s concrete slab was poured over two electrical earthing pads that served as the return circuit for the substation. However spot readings at the time did not indicate a problem and I left the case at that point. As it turned out however (see below) it can be very misleading to just rely on spot readings and this should serve as a cautionary tale for RMIT.

With the Capalaba PO however there were additional confounding factors, mainly previous soil contamination from a nice mix of petrol, arsenic and PCBs, so trying to find a single cause for the apparent cluster of illness was impossible and most likely a combination of environmental factors making for a very sick building.

For more on the Capalaba case see: Cancer danger at Australian mail centre: Postal workers demand inquiry and relocation
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/may2001/post-m05.shtml

and:

Interview with Australian postal worker: “Hell will freeze over before I believe that these illnesses are a coincidence”
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/may2001/poin-m05.shtml

However, as a result of the current RMIT situation, I received an email today from one of the CEPU’s consultants who had worked on the Capalaba PO case and who had further examined the EMF angle in the building. Exerpts follow:

Hi Don, JS here. I did some consulting work for CEPU on the Capalaba Post Office anomoly which had a cluster of terminal illnesses which was very significant [in my view] - but ’swept under the carpet’ by Comcare Australia ………. in the early part of 2002.

The issue there was ground current [referred to as stray voltage by some] and its relationship to off-peak signals sent to the nearby transformers. MilliGauss readings taken most of the time were not especially damning, but when the off-peak signals arrived, Gauss meters went off scale and ELF fluctuations were so unstable and large they were difficult to measure. We concluded that the monitors needed to be continuous over a minimum period of [at least] 24 hours and preferably weeks or months. The point is - the readings can be timed to miss the relevant data. Unfortunately, we did not have the equipment and funds to continue the investigation…………….. Just pointing this out in case it’s relevant to current researchers…………

Regards,

JS

Source: http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=480

--------

Frequency vs. field strength
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=495

--------

Comments on RMIT Final Report

RMIT: An incestuous peer review?

I was asked this morning why I am not happy with the peer review that examined the primary RMIT reports and the SRMA risk assessment. See: http://mams.rmit.edu.au/g60adi0a81r3.pdf

My concerns here is that the reviewers are all Melbourne based academics appointed to the panel with the approval of RMIT, which has a very big vested interest in the outcome. The NETU lawyer has previously stated that a class action may be launched if a connection between the workplace and brain tumours was found. So it would be perfectly understandable that the emphasis of the whole exercise from RMIT’s viewpoint would be to disprove any connection between cancer cases and environmental exposures in the building.

The reviewers seem all to eager to rubber stamp the idea that there is no cancer cluster in building 108 and that “It would therefore be reasonable to conclude the investigation at this point.”

However before the investigation is closed a closer examination needs to be done on the the claims that nothing is amiss with the amount of cancer on the top floors of Building 108.

According to the Southern Medical Service Final Report of the investigation there was no correlation between offices on floor 17 with spot readings over 4 mG and all cancer cases ” It should be noted that only one of the 12 tumour cases occupied a room with a magnetic field greater than 4.0 mG and this was a benign meningioma” (page 29) With this we have to conclude that there is no association but I would have liked to have seen in the final report the floor plans of floors 16 and 17 with all room measurements given as previously by EMC Technologies but in the powered up mode (which was selectively done) - and with the actual room locations of the cancer cased identified. As the old saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words!

Don Maisch

http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=531



From Sam Milham:

Dear Don,

I smell a rodent. There were 4 brain cancers in the workers in floors 16-17, while according to appendix table 3, 0.29 cases would have been expected. This a significant excess using a poisson test. If the benign tumors are added to the total malignant tumors, there is also a significant excess of all tumors (obs. 13, exp. 6.9 ).

Sam Milham

http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=532

--------

Lloyd Morgan’s commentary on the RMIT Final Report

Hi Don, I have attached my commentary on the Final Report of the RMIT Cancer Cancers. Please use the usual caveats re my association with the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States to wit, “For identification purposes only. All statements are mine and mine alone and do not represent positions or opinions of the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States.”

Best regards,

Lloyd


Commentary on the Final Report of the RMIT Cancer Cases

This report is a cover-up of the first order. I will restrict my commentary to the cases of brain tumor on Levels 16 and 17.

There were 4 brain tumors reported in a population of 114 staff members in an 11 year period. These tumors were:

* One glioblastoma multiforme
* Two meningiomas
* One haemangioblastoma
* One pituitary adenoma

The report remarks that since there was only a single malignant tumour, “the presence of a single case only of a primary malignant brain tumour within the population on these floor levels does not enable an accurate epidemiological analysis.” This statement was made in the context that no “benign” brain tumour data is collected in Victoria. The report also states that a pituitary tumour is not a brain tumour stating that the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies such a tumour as “an endocrine tumour and not a brain tumour.”

There was neither an attempt to examine the incidence rate of “benign” brain tumour beyond Victoria nor was their statement correct about WHO’s classification of pituitary tumours. Pituitary tumors are classified by WHO and here in the United States as a brain tumour.

Let’s examine the facts for each of these brain tumours using data published by the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States ( http://www.cbtrus.org ).

* The age adjusted rate of glioblastoma is 3.05 per 100,000 people per year

* The age adjusted rate of meningioma is 4.53 per 100,000 people per year

* The age adjusted rate of haemangioblastoma is 0.9 per 100,000 per year

* The age adjusted rate of pituitary adenoma is 0.92 per 100,000 per year

There were 114 staff members over a period of 11 years. Thus the person-years of this cohort are 1,254. Using the above incidence rates the number of each tumor type that would be expected is:

* Expected glioblastomas are 0.038. The observed/expected ratio is 26.

* Expected meningiomas are 0.11. The observed/expected ratio is 8.8

* Expected haemangioblastomas are 0.011. The observed/expected ratio is 89.

* Expected pituitary adenomas are 0.012. The observed/expected ratio is 87.

This report is a cover up of the first order.

Source: http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=537

--------

http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=RMIT

I have sent this e-mail to the BBC after watching this mornings report on WIFI in Manchester. Very supportive of the Operators - nothing at all to "balance" the report - as they are told to do when reporting anything detrimental to the Industry.

Sylvia


Concerning: WIFI
From: SylviaWright
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 04:30:14 EDT
To: breakfast.tv@bbc.co.uk

Your report on this mornings Breakfast show re WIFI in Manchester -and the plans for this to spread to other Cities in the near future - was very "exciting", unless you happen to be one of the unfortunate group of electrosensitive people, reconised by the Health Protection Agency in November 2005. The conservative estimate is 3-5% (of the population of Manchester?) - you can work out how many people that could possibly affect.

I believe that it would be in order for you to now compile a similar report on the down side of this technology. After all, when reporting on one of the thousands of scientific studies which show a risk to health from these microwave emissions, isn't it the case that you "balance" that report with a contradictory one claiming "however, this could still be down to chance" or "Joe Bloggs report published last month shows no conclusive evidence of risk".

What is happening today with mobile phones is almost identical to the tobacco industry's wooing of, say, 40 years ago - where cigarette advertising and sponsorship was King. Of course, the effects on health was carefully glossed over by the Industry and, to a large extent by Government - (sleaze is alive and well and living in Westminster - look at today's headlines).

However, the problem we now have with mobile telecommunications is potentially far more damaging. By the very nature of information technology - media have embraced this and, therefore, are in a very tricky situation when it comes to reporting that the Goosie's golden egg may very well be about to explode!

I would like to think that we are learning from past mistakes and can recognise a need for honesty and truth. And I would also like to think that the BBC can lead the way? There are many scientific experts out there who can assist in compiling such a report and, portrayed in an honest way, can help to make sure that your viewers are in possession of all of the facts.

Regards

Cllr Sylvia Wright

--------

Health risks of Wi-Fi and WLAN on our health
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1122031/

Dear Colleagues:

The environmental surveys prompted by the brain tumor cluster in Melbourne, Australia, were released earlier today. We have taken a look at the EMF and RF measurements and we don't think they go far enough to allay public concerns.

We have posted a comment on our Web site, http://www.microwavenews.com, together with links to the new reports. We encourage you to take a look.

Omega see also under:
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/australian_bt_cluster.htm


Best,

Louis Slesin,
PhD Editor Microwave News,
A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation
155 East 77th Street New York, NY 10021, USA
Phone: +1 (212) 517-2800;
Fax: +1 (212) 734-0316
E-mail: mwn@pobox.com
Internet: http://www.microwavenews.com



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=RMIT

Here is a good article for everyone.

Lester Brown is always insightful and here he provides a good forecast on the world after oil peaks.

This is not doom and gloom. This is a wide-eyed, realistic assessment of how society will of necessity respond once we hit the half-way mark on global oil supplies. Many oil company geologists suggest that we are there now -- which explains the sharp rise in gas prices and airline travel. But this, Brown suggests, is only the beginning.

Best to you all,

Fred

--------

THE WORLD AFTER OIL PEAKS
http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/Seg/PB2ch02_ss6_7.htm

by Lester R. Brown

May, 2006

Peak oil is described as the point where oil production stops rising and begins its inevitable long-term decline. In the face of fast- growing demand, this means rising oil prices. But even if oil production growth simply slows or plateaus, the resulting tightening in supplies will still drive the price of oil upward, albeit less rapidly.

Few countries are planning a reduction in their use of oil. Even though peak oil may be imminent, most countries are counting on much higher oil consumption in the decades ahead, building automobile assembly plants, roads, highways, parking lots, and suburban housing developments as though cheap oil will last forever. New airliners are being delivered with the expectation that air travel and freight will expand indefinitely. Yet in a world of declining oil production, no country can use more oil except at the expense of others.

Some segments of the global economy will be affected more than others simply because some are more oil-intensive. Among these are the automobile, food, and airline industries. Cities and suburbs will also evolve as oil supplies tighten.

Stresses within the U.S. auto industry were already evident before oil prices started climbing in mid-2004. Now General Motors and Ford, both trapped with their heavy reliance on sales of gas-hogging sport utility vehicles, have seen Standard and Poor's lower their credit ratings, reducing their corporate bonds to junk bond status. Although it is the troubled automobile manufacturers that appear in the headlines as oil prices rise, their affiliated industries will also be affected, including auto parts and tire manufacturers.

The food sector will be affected in two ways. Food will become more costly as higher oil prices drive up production costs. As oil costs rise, diets will be altered as people move down the food chain and as they consume more local, seasonally produced food. Diets will thus become more closely attuned to local products and more seasonal in nature. At the same time, rising oil prices will also be drawing agricultural resources into the production of fuel crops, either ethanol or biodiesel.

Higher oil prices are thus setting up competition between affluent motorists and low-income food consumers for food resources, presenting the world with a complex new ethical issue.

Airlines, both passenger travel and freight, will continue to suffer as jet fuel prices climb, simply because fuel is their biggest operating expense. Although industry projections show air passenger travel growing by some 5 percent a year for the next decade, this seems highly unlikely.Cheap airfares may soon become history.

Air freight may be hit even harder, perhaps leading to an absolute decline. One of the early casualties of rising oil prices could be the use of jumbo jets to transport fresh produce from the southern hemisphere to industrial countries during the northern winter. The price of fresh produce out of season may simply become prohibitive.

During the century of cheap oil, an enormous automobile infrastructure was built in industrial countries that requires large amounts of energy to maintain. The United States, for example, has 2.6 million miles of paved roads, covered mostly with asphalt, and 1.4 million miles of unpaved roads to maintain even if world oil production is falling.

Modern cities are also a product of the oil age. From the first cities, which took shape in Mesopotamia some 6,000 years ago, until 1900, urbanization was a slow, barely perceptible process. When the last century began, there were only a few cities with a million people. Today there are more than 400 such cities, 20 of them with 10 million or more residents. The metabolism of cities depends on concentrating vast amounts of food and materials and then disposing of garbage and human waste. With the limited range and capacity of horse-drawn wagons, it was difficult to create large cities. Trucks running on cheap oil changed all that.

As cities grow ever larger and as nearby landfills reach capacity, garbage must be hauled longer distances to disposal sites. With oil prices rising and available landfills receding ever further from the city, the cost of garbage disposal also rises. At some point, many throwaway products may be priced out of existence.

Cities will be hard hit by the coming decline in oil production, but suburbs will be hit even harder. People living in poorly designed suburbs not only depend on importing everything, they are also often isolated geographically from their jobs and shops. They must drive for virtually everything they need, even to get a loaf of bread or a quart of milk. Suburbs have created a commuter culture, with the daily roundtrip commute taking, on average, close to an hour a day in the United States. While Europe's cities were largely mature before the onslaught of the automobile, those in the United States, a much younger country, were shaped by the car. While city limits are usually rather clearly defined in Europe, and while Europeans only reluctantly convert productive farmland into housing developments, Americans have few qualms about this because cropland was long seen as a surplus commodity.

This unsightly, aesthetically incongruous sprawl of suburbs and strip malls is not limited to the United States. It is found in Latin America, in Southeast Asia, and increasingly in China. Flying from Shanghai to Beijing provides a good view of the sprawl of buildings, including homes and factories, that is following the new roads and highways. This is in sharp contrast to the tightly built villages that shaped residential land use for millennia in China.

Shopping malls and huge discount stores, symbolized in the public mind by Wal-Mart, were all subsidized by artificially cheap oil. Isolated by high oil prices, suburbs may prove to be ecologically and economically unsustainable.

In the coming energy transition, there will be winners and losers. Countries that fail to plan ahead, that lag in investing in more oil- efficient technologies and new energy sources, may experience a decline in living standards. The inability of national governments to manage the energy transition could lead to a failure of confidence in leaders and to failed states.

National political leaders seem reluctant to face the coming downturn in oil and to plan for it even though it will almost certainly become one of the great fault lines in the history of civilization. Trends now taken for granted, such as urbanization and globalization, could be reversed almost overnight as oil becomes scarce and costly.

Developing countries will be hit doubly hard as still-expanding populations combine with a shrinking oil supply to steadily reduce oil use per person. Such a decline could quickly translate into a fall in living standards. If the United States, the world's largest oil consumer and importer, can sharply reduce its use of oil, it can buy the world time for a smoother transition to the post-petroleum era.


Adapted from Chapter 2, "Beyond the Oil Peak," in Lester R. Brown, Plan B2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006), available for free downloading or for purchase on-line at http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB2/index.htm


-- Tim Hermach
Native Forest Council
PO Box 2190 Eugene, OR 97402
541.688.2600
541.461.2156
fax web page: http://www.forestcouncil.org
DEFENDING LIFE, LAND & LIBERTY *
Honest & Fully Costed Accounting,
* Voices of Integrity, Hope & Reason
* Honest & Uncompromised Education, Advocacy & Litigation
* Real Protection for 650 Million Acres of Federal Land, Rivers & Streams
See for yourself at:
http://forestcouncil.org/learn/aerial/index.html


Informant: Scott Munson

http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/05/1821446.php
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/05/1821943.php


Informant: Scott Munson