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Phone mast to stay for nine months despite outcome of judicial review
Ireland Created: 6 Jul 2022
A telecommunications company has agreed to move a mobile network mast placed in a Dublin suburb on foot of a flawed decision by An Bord Pleanála – if the mast is left in place for nine months.

Cignal, an Irish subsidiary of Spanish telecomms giant Cellnex, first applied to install the 15-metre tall mast at Kingswood in Tallaght to South Dublin County Council in March of 2020, with that request approved in September of the same year.

The mast application was made under Section 254 of the Planning and Development Act, which grants licences for certain developments along public roads, and the mast itself was built in on Sunday, November 15, 2020.

The matter was appealed to the planning authority in December 2020 by a local community group, the Kingswood Heights Mast Opposition Committee, with ABP’s planning inspector backing the group, stating he was “not satisfied” that the proposed mast location “is on or along a public road in accordance with the requirements of Section 254”.

Section 254 has been used in other jurisdictions, notably Cork city, for the installation of masts as it exempts structures less than 12 metres in height from requiring planning permission.

The planning inspector’s opinion was subsequently overruled by ABP’s deputy chair Paul Hyde, who said in his ruling in May 2021 that the mast “would not be contrary to the site’s open space land use zoning objective” and would be “in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

Mr Hyde, who is currently absent from his duties “without prejudice” pending the results of a number of inquiries regarding his decisions with ABP, made no reference to Section 254 in his order. The Irish Examiner previously revealed that Mr Hyde had voted to override his own planning inspectors in the vast majority – 31 out of 36 - of applications for telecommunications masts made to ABP over the past two years.

The Tallaght community group took a judicial review regarding the ABP decision to the High Court in July of last year, with the planning body agreeing last May to drop its defence of Mr Hyde’s decision, and to pay the objecting group’s legal costs, due to the mast not having been located on a public road.

Cignal then agreed to relocate the mast providing a nine-month timeframe was allowed for the move to take place. It’s understood the local community has insisted that a maximum of a three-month timeframe be granted.

However, no judicial order officially quashing the ABP decision is likely until an agreement has been reached, leaving the situation at an impasse, with a decision unlikely before the courts close for three months on July 29.

A spokesperson for the mast opposition committee said it “formally calls on Cignal to acknowledge the illegality of the mast they erected on public open space and formally calls on them to remove the mast with the same haste that they had in putting it up”.

“I can confirm that An Bord Pleanála, through its legal agents, has informed the High Court that it is conceding this case,” a spokesperson for the planning body said. Asked whether or not it is appropriate the mast should remain in place for nine months given the ruling is invalid, the spokesperson said “that is not a matter within the jurisdiction of An Bord Pleanala”.

A spokesperson for Cellnex meanwhile said that the company “complies with the planning decisions at a local authority and, as necessary, An Bord Pleanala level on all our sites”.

“It would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings in which Cellnex is not a party to,” they added.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Irish Examiner, Cianan Brennan, 01 Jul 2022

BREAKING! German Court rules Landowners who host Mobile-Phone Masts can be held liable for EMF health-damages
Germany Created: 30 Jun 2022
The court confirms that not only the mobile phone system operator (as the so-called disruptor) is liable for damage caused by his system operation, but also the property owner (as the so-called disruptor) who makes his property available for the operation of the system. In the event of damage, this can be claimed by third parties in the same way as the system operator. And because the municipality and its representatives could/should have known that, their lawsuit for the termination of the tenancy was dismissed. [1] Very few municipalities and landowners who rent or lease their land for the operation of mobile communications systems are likely to be aware of their own liability risk.

(Article machine-translated from German)

The liability risk for landlords is not just theoretical

Lawyer Krahn-Zembol writes:

"Since even official bodies such as the European Parliamentary Research Service (STOA) of the European Parliament [3] point out that the limit values ​​in the area of ​​electromagnetic radiation fields are at least 10 times too high, owners when concluding a contract with a cell phone system operator do not just theoretical liability risk.

In the meantime, almost 1,000 scientific studies out of more than 1,600 scientific studies in the field of mobile communications have documented biological effects and harmful effects below the long outdated limit values ​​of the 26th BImSchV. Even the cell phone system operators have been warning their shareholders in their annual reports for years against further state regulations [4] .

In addition, the plant operators themselves have insured comparatively small amounts of liability [5] . Should municipalities nevertheless conclude a contract, they would have to ask themselves whether and to what extent provisions should be made from the municipal budget for this liability risk. The whole thing is reminiscent of the extensive (even legal) exemption of nuclear power plant operators, who would only be liable for up to € 250 million even in the event of a worst-case scenario (GAU). (...)"

Limit values ​​do not generally protect against liability claims

“Even if the plant operators repeatedly argue that they comply with the limit values ​​of the 26th BImSchV during plant operation, liability on the part of them or the owners is by no means excluded. On the contrary, the Federal Court of Justice has stated several times that producers or plant operators cannot exonerate themselves by referring to compliance with official limit values ​​if they are accused of further damaging effects and the like. are known or should have been known [6] . This is already obvious today in view of the fact that even the scientific study situation predominantly proves further effects and harmful effects below the limit values ​​of the 26th BImSchV.

Since even the head of the office for technology assessment at the German Bundestag, Prof. A. Grunwald, pointed out that the intended introduction of new radio technologies with significantly higher frequencies without a previous technology assessment is irresponsible [7] , this also creates a not inconsiderable risk of liability clear."

In the present case, the court made it clear that the municipality is contractually liable for 30 years (!) in this case. It also has to bear all the new dangers and risks that can be exponentially increased by upgrades and new radio technologies! The fact that it is part of the operators' business model to provide mobile phone coverage " deep into the house " makes things even more critical, because higher and higher frequencies also require higher overall transmission power from the mobile phone systems and the radiation exposure for the entire population thus increases overall .

_______________________________________________________________________________

EMF-related damage is not insurable

For many years, diagnose:funk has been pointing out the limited liability of mobile phone operators and the associated risk for the site lessor. As far as we know, mobile phone operators generally cannot insure themselves against potential damage to health from the electromagnetic fields/radiation emitted by their systems. From the operators themselves it is said that they would very well be able to rule out the liability risk - but they did not want to present corresponding insurance cover in the above-mentioned court proceedings, as RA Krahn-Zembol writes.

diagnose:funk recommends clarification and concrete contract content

Educate your community and potential landlords about this liability risk . [8th]

Potential landlords of a piece of land/property should make sure that the lessee agrees to accept liability for all liability claims in an individual lease agreement, up to an unlimited amount.

"The lessee releases the lessor from all third-party claims arising from the construction, operation or dismantling and otherwise from the use of the leased property."

It is definitely not enough for a contract to be concluded if e.g. For example, the press spokesman for Deutsche Telekom responded cryptically to the question of existing insurance cover for his systems:

"Deutsche Telekom maintains a liability insurance program that appropriately insures the risks of the group's business operations" [9]

See also guide 4. 'Municipal fields of action'from page 67 or online >>> .

________________________________________________________________________________

[1] In the judgment handed down by the District Court of Münster, AZ: 08 O 178/21, it says on page 11, 2nd and 3rd paragraph: "Insofar as the plaintiff wants to derive the incalculability of her own liability risk from the fact that she did not know this when the contract was concluded wants to have that she herself is liable as a person disturbing the state of affairs, she cannot get through with that. As a public body, the plaintiff as a municipality must be sufficiently aware of its own condition. A possible obligation of the defendant to provide information, which it did not comply with, as claimed by the plaintiff, does not result from this. Any ignorance of one's own liability is based on one's own fault and not on the defendant's fault."

[2] Reinsurers warn their customers to insure cell phone operators against EMF damage – the damage potential cannot be calculated. https://www.diagnose-funk.org/655 , https://www.diagnose-funk.org/1412 ;

[3] See the full STOA study by the European Parliamentary Research Service, July 2021 at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2021/690012/EPRS_STU(2021)690012_EN.pdf

[4] For example, in Telekom’s 2017 Annual Report, under the heading “Health and Environment” it says: “There is a risk of regulatory intervention, such as lowering the limit values ​​for electromagnetic fields or the implementation of precautionary measures for mobile communications...” .

[5] In the judgment handed down by the District Court of Münster, it says on page 11, paragraph 3: "Insofar as the plaintiff bases what she considers to be an unreasonable liability risk on a partial limitation of the defendant's liability, this does not lead to any other result.".

[6] e.g. BGHZ 81, 199, also in detail: Krahn-Zembol, “Germany: product liability risks for EMF-emitting systems and devices”, product liability international 6/93, pages 204 to 210.

[7] diagnose-funk, article: "5G like a real experiment on humans".

[8] Especially for municipalities that intend to conclude a contract with a plant operator, it should be noted that the district court of Münster found in its judgment that no reason for termination is to be seen in the fact that the municipality is aware of the further possible health hazards below the limit values ​​​​of the 26th BImSchV were not sufficiently evident at the time the contract was concluded. This is what it says on page 12, last paragraph and page 13 at the top of the judgment:“As a public corporation, the plaintiff is not a particularly vulnerable private individual. According to her own presentation, not only have the discussions about possible health hazards from mobile radio systems, even if the limit values ​​of the 26th BImSchV are observed, not only been public for many years, but (there) were "scientifically justified doubts" even before the contract was signed. In this respect, the plaintiff municipality must accept the knowledge of its then mayor. The risk of an incorrect assessment of the political effects of the decision made by the plaintiff is part of its own area of ​​responsibility and risk, which it cannot pass on to the defendant as a contractual partner with the help of information obligations.".

[9] According to Merkur.de, 08/08/2020; https://www.merkur.de/lokales/weilheim/weilheim-ort29677/5g-telekom-wehrt-sich-gegen-oedp-brief-90022476.html

(Published with the kind permission of attorney W. Krahn-Zembol)
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Diagnose-Funk, 28 Jun 2022

ELETTRA - italian short movie about EHS (english subtitled)
Italy Created: 30 Jun 2022
Electra is a girl like any other: she spends her time studying, shares an apartment with a close friend and leads a carefree life. Suddenly however, she begins to suffer from strange symptoms that disturb her sleep and cause migraines, loss of balance, even fainting.

Watch the movie:
https://vimeo.com/724141518

Following an unhelpful visit to a doctor who prescribes her with anti-anxiety medication, she discovers on the internet that she suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS).

After being misunderstood yet again by someone close to her, she runs away with no destination in mind...

The film’s main character is Lisa Granuzza Di Vita, an actress who suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity.

Director: Alessandro Quadretti
Production: Officinemedia for Associazione Italiana Elettrosensibili
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Officinemedia for Associazione Italiana Elettrosensibili, 26 Jun 2022

French court orders 4G mast turn off after 40 cow deaths
France Created: 9 Jun 2022
A French farmer has won his battle to temporarily turn off a 4G antenna after he claimed it was damaging his cow herd’s health.

The administrative court in Clermont-Ferrand ordered the two month switch-off after Frédéric Salgues, a farmer in Haute-Loire, said he suspected that it was damaging his herd’s health.

The court stated: "It is appropriate to order the temporary cessation of the operation of this antenna for a period of two months, taking into account its general impact, with monitoring, by the judicial expert, of the behaviour of the herd, and of the dairy cows in particular, during this period."

Mobile network operator Orange now has three months to act in accordance with the ruling, including stopping the antenna’s operation but must ensure phone coverage continues for their customers in the area affected.

After the decision, Mr Salgues told the French Press that he hoped his cows would be able to 'recover as soon as possible' and called the case ruling 'a major relief and a victory'.

Mr Salgues said that since the antenna’s installation in July 2021 – 200 metres away from his farm in Mazeyrat-d'Allier (Haute-Loire) – around 40 of his normally-200-strong herd had died, and milk production had decreased by 15 to 20% within days of the antenna being switched on.

He claimed: “There are no medical elements that could [otherwise] explain this brutal drop in milk production.”

Philippe Molhérat, the mayor of Mazeyrat-d'Allier, who had previously authorised the antenna’s installation, testified in favour of the farmer.

He said that he feared 'a catastrophe on a human level' and that his 'concerns' were growing for the 1500 inhabitants of his village.

Yet lawyers for the mobile operators affected by the ruling, which as well as Orange also included Free and Bouygues Telecom, said that there was 'no scientific evidence' that there is a link between animal health problems and electromagnetic fields surrounding mobile phone antennas.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: The Scottish Farmer, John Sleigh, 08 Jun 2022

UPDATE – PERMISSION GRANTED AT THE COURT OF APPEAL
United Kingdom Created: 29 May 2022
Secretary of State to be challenged on failure to give adequate information to the public about the risks of 5G and to explain the absence of a process for investigation of any adverse health effects.

We are delighted to announce that the Court of Appeal has today granted permission for our case to proceed on two grounds concerning:

1. The failure to provide adequate or effective information to the public about the risks and how, if it be possible, it might be possible for individuals to avoid or minimize the risks;

2. (a) The failure to provide adequate and sufficient reasons for not establishing a process to investigate and establish the adverse health effects and risks of adverse health effects from 5G technology and/or for discounting the risks presented by the evidence available; and/or (b) failure to meet the requirements of transparency and openness required of a public body.

These grounds advance a breach of the Human Rights Act 1998 by omissions and failings in violation of the positive obligations to protect human life, health and dignity, required to be met by Articles 2, 3 and/or 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case will now be sent back to the Administrative Court and we await the directions as to the full hearing in due course.

To our wonderful supporters: this is YOUR victory. Without your unerring faith in our case, this would not have been possible.

With eternal gratitude

Action Against 5G
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Action Against 5G, 25 May 2022

Corruption? Deputy chair planner overruled inspectors in vast majority of mast applications
Ireland Created: 28 May 2022
Paul Hyde, who has stepped aside from his role at the planning body pending the outcome of two investigations into his voting record, voted to overturn refusal recommendations by planning inspectors in 31 of 36 mast applications since September 2020.

Mr Hyde provided the final planning authorisation for 30 of them.

In contrast, other members of the nine-strong board voted to overturn the recommendation of planning inspectors on three out of nine occasions over the same timeframe.

While it is not unusual for An Bord Pleanála to overrule its own inspectors, sources familiar with the process have indicated that such overrulings occur in roughly 10% of cases, which would make Mr Hyde’s rate of overturning his own inspectors roughly eight times the average.

Investigation

At least 100 applications to build telecommunications masts or antennae were lodged in the 20-month period under investigation, with 88 approved, 34 of them against the recommendation of An Bord Pleanála's own inspectors.

Of those 100 applications, Mr Hyde voted on 75, second only to fellow board member Michelle Fagan, who voted on at least 78 of them, and some distance ahead of any other members of the board.

Mr Hyde made 71 of those decisions in collaboration with Ms Fagan. Just one of those 71 decisions involved a third board member.

Many of the masts in question have been built close to residential areas and amenities, contrary to ministerial guidelines

In one application by Eir — for a 15m high communications pole in Kells, Co Kilkenny — the planning inspector stated that the applicant “has not provided a sufficient examination of alternative sites”, adding that the build would be “contrary... to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

Overruling the inspector, Mr Hyde said: “The proposed development would not seriously injure the visual or residential amenities of the area.”

Mr Hyde granted permission for five communications structures in Cork against the opinions of his own inspectors. In one of those, an application by Vodafone for an 18m monopole in Innishannon, the inspector recommended refusal, stating the build would “seriously injure the visual amenities of the area” — an opinion flatly contradicted by Mr Hyde in his decision.

All told, Mr Hyde voted to grant permission for 70 out of 75 of the decisions he was involved in, a pass rate of over 93%.

He voted on 42 of the 49 applications made by communications firm Eir over the same period, all bar one were granted.

Of the 20 applications made by Eir across the country for which a recommendation of refusal was made by the planning inspector, Mr Hyde was involved in 19, every one of which was approved.

In fact, the only application made by Eir that wasn’t granted during that time was one of just seven in which Mr Hyde had no involvement.

Mast applications

The 100 applications predominantly involve micropoles, or masts designed to boost blackspots for mobile phone coverage around the country and to aid in large-scale data downloading.

Neither Eir nor Mr Hyde had commented on this matter at the time of publication.

A spokesperson for An Bord Pleanála said it was “conscious of the need” to maintain public confidence and an internal audit of certain files is expected to conclude within the next four weeks.

Meanwhile, Ian Lumley, head of advocacy with heritage body An Taisce, said the trends for mast applications “raise further major questions that need to be added to the investigation of An Bord Pleanála decisions commissioned by the Department of Housing”.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Irish Examiner, Cianan Brennan, 28 May 2022

Mobi-kids: a study infiltrated by the mobile phone industry
France Created: 26 May 2022
Our investigation into the conflicts of interest of the authors of the Mobi-kids study [which analyzes the impact of wireless phones on the risk of brain tumors in young people] has now shown that ten of the eighteen people in charge of measuring the exposure of patients worked directly or indirectly for the mobile phone industry.

What is now also evident in the organization of this study are the proven conflicts of interest with the mobile phone industry of ISGlobal, the Institute of Global Health of Barcelona (which, according to their website, includes the banking foundation “la Caixa“, academic institutions and government agencies).

ISGlobal, la Caixa and financial ties to the mobile phone industry

In fact, that is where the problem lies because, according to the Wikipedia entry on “la Caixa“, there are several close financial ties with mobile phone companies such as Cellnex telecom and Telefónica :

The La Caixa Banking Foundation manages the Group’s shareholdings through Criteria Caixa (formerly Criteria CaixaHolding), a equity instrumental company fully controlled by the foundation. The shares of Criteria Caixa include the ones owned in CaixaBank (as of 31 December 2018: 40.00%),[19] as well as those held in several companies including Cellnex, Naturgy, Saba, Suez and Telefónica.

Can this explain the choices of ISGlobal and its coordinator of the Mobi-kids study, Elisabeth Cardis, of, to say the least, highly controversial experts with important conflicts of interest? You be the judge!

In an article published in June 2014 on the website dedicated to the Mobi-kids study, ISGlobal presents the international team in charge of the “exposure measurement”. There are a total of seventeen people in this specialized working group under the responsibility of the British researcher Myrion Maslanyi.

Mobi-kids: five French experts from Orange with clear conflicts of interest

The French team is led by Joe Wiart. At the time, Mr. Wiart was working directly for the mobile phone operator Orange. He is the manager of Orange Labs. However, despite the evidence of conflicts of interest, here is what has been added to the section “conflicts of interest” concerning him:

« Before 2015 J Wiart was an employee of Orange. At that time, his work in the study was limited to dosimetry. In 2015 he became Ingenieur General des Mines, employed by the Institut Mines-Télécom, a state academic institute. J Wiart has no conflict of interest to declare. »

Really, can we accept this statement that Mr. Joe Wiart has no conflict of interest to declare?

To get a clearer picture, it is necessary to add that his team is composed of four other persons, they too working for the industrialist Orange, namely, Emmanuelle Conil, Nadège Varsier, Abdelhamid Hadjem, and also Thierry Sarrebrousse who was not quoted in the above article (it will be our eighteenth contributor). This means that no less than five people paid by Orange have contributed directly to the study. But the Mobi-kids authors have nothing to say about it!

The three Korean experts of the Mobi-kids study work for ETRI

The Korean team is under the responsibility of the expert Ae Kyoung Lee. The work of the investigation by Phonegate Alert has brought to light the important undeclared conflicts of interest of this author. We are now able to show that the other two members of her team, Hyung Do Choi and Seon Eui Hong, have similar levels of conflict of interest. Indeed, they also work for the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).

As shown by figures posted by ETRI in 2014 – and remember that the Mobi-kids study ran between 2009 and 2016 – the Institute earned more than $152.3 million in royalties from filed patents. And that’s just a tiny fraction of the money tied to the mobile phone industry.

The Japanese expert’s conflicts of interest disappear…

The same applies to the expert in charge of the Japanese component of the study, Mr. Masao Taki.

Indeed, clearly, Mr. Masao Taki should also be listed in the conflicts of interest section. In fact, it was not made a secret in a previous publication devoted to the Mobi-kids study, published in the epidemiology journal Frontiers in Public Health in September 2014 and signed by the same authors. It stated:

« Masao Taki’s department received a grant to support numerical modeling under a university-industry partnership. »

This conflict of interest simply disappeared in the article published at the end of 2021. However, we have found the explanation, and it would still be the industrialist Orange (formerly France Télécom) that we find in charge through its subsidiary Whist Lab (joint laboratory of the Institut Mines-Télécom and Orange).

The wife of one of the Australian experts owns shares in mobile phone companies

The Australian component of the study was entrusted to Mr. Malcolm Sim. A quick search on our part showed that during the publication of an article in Frontiers in Public Health (September 2014) concerning the Mobi-kids study, Mr. Sim had to declare a conflict of interest concerning shares of firms in the mobile phone industry owned by his wife. However, there is no longer any mention of this today!

Furthermore, Sim was assisted in his task by another author, namely, the expert Geza Benke. The least that can be said about his work on the subject is that it is particularly close to that of ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection). What is more, while Benke is not (to our knowledge) a member of this organization, he has been directly involved in several articles with members of ICNIRP, most recently with its president, Rodney Croft of Australia.

At this stage, our research is still ongoing regarding the British experts Carolina Calderon, Terry Mee and Darren Addison. However, neither the expert Ae Kyoung Lee nor her collaborators, nor Masao Taki, nor Malcolm Sim appear in the “conflicts of interest” section to date. And Mr. Adrian Covaci, co-editor-in-chief of the journal Environment International (Elsevier group) has still not intervened to place a warning or better, to withdraw the article.

Finally, the Dutch part was entrusted to Mr. Hans Kromhout who was assisted by Roel Vermeulen and Geertte Goedhart-Wolf. Our investigation into possible conflicts of interest is also still ongoing.

The Dutch expert ignores numerous conflicts of interest

However, in a recent interview given by Roel Vermeulen, he told the journalist of the BN DeStem website:

« …Critics say that telecom companies are funding this type of research. They question the results of this type of research, also taking into account the important financial interests at stake… ».

Vermeulen, who disputes the role played by industry, seems to be unaware of the many conflicts of interest that undermine the strategic core of the Mobi-kids study, even though our investigative work has shown that ten out of eighteen stakeholders are problematic, which is already almost two-thirds.

An analysis from 2012, entitled “How conflicts of interest can influence research and expertise”, details the strategies implemented by industrialists:

“In any experimentation, in the biomedical field as in other fields, the design of the study influences the results.”

For Dr. Marc Arazi who presides over the NGO Phonegate Alert:

« There is no longer any doubt that the mobile phone industry has infiltrated a study led by ISGlobal and financed mostly by public funds from the European Commission. It remains to be seen how involved the fifty or so scientific authors are. Did they just turn a blind eye to these practices, or worse, did they allow the results of this study to be deliberately biased? »
Click here to view the source article.
Source: PhoneGate, Equipe Phonegate, 13 May 2022

Electrosensitive Ricky Gardiner, guitarist for David Bowie and Iggy Pop, dies aged 73
United Kingdom Created: 19 May 2022
Ricky Gardiner, the guitarist who performed classic riffs for albums including David Bowie’s Low and Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life, has died aged 73.

Producer Tony Visconti announced the news on social media, saying Gardiner’s wife had informed him. He described Gardiner, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, as a “guitar genius”.

Born in Edinburgh in 1948, his first major band was the prog rock group Beggars Opera, who formed in 1969. Beginning with Act One the following year, he recorded six albums with the band, who became a cult favourite across Europe, particularly in Germany.

He was invited to play guitar on Tony Visconti’s solo album Inventory, and Visconti suggested that he perform on David Bowie’s Low – Bowie then invited him to join the recording sessions at a chateau near Paris, in 1977, later moving to Hansa studios in Berlin. Gardiner played lead guitar on the album’s first half, including the cheerful, whimsical lead line on Sound and Vision, the fanfare-like riff for opening track Speed of Life, and the cosmic solo on Always Crashing in the Same Car.

The Bowie recordings brought him into the orbit of another star, Iggy Pop, and he toured with Bowie and Pop for the latter’s album The Idiot, with Bowie on keyboards. On this famously debauched tour, Gardiner preferred to take early morning walks – “If others used [drugs], they must have been discreet. I enjoy the occasional drink but I would be quite happy if alcohol was returned to its rightful place in the laboratory,” he later said.

He then played guitar and contributed songwriting on the Bowie-produced Iggy Pop album Lust for Life later in 1977, describing the writing and recording sessions as “a joy”.

Among Gardiner’s contributions is a riff regarded to be one of the simplest and greatest of all time: the swaggering three-note motif for The Passenger, which came to him in bucolic surroundings not usually associated with Pop. “The apple trees were in bloom and I was doodling on the guitar as I gazed at the trees,” Gardiner later said. “I was not paying any attention to what I was playing. I was in a light dream enjoying the glorious spring morning. At a certain point my ear caught the chord sequence.”

He also co-wrote the songs Success and Neighbourhood Threat, and played drums on the closing jam Fall in Love With Me. “Lust for Life benefited from a lot of spontaneity and was largely recorded as the moon was waxing towards full,” he later explained. “The song Success epitomises this jubilant energy and the album on the whole shows imaginative qualities consistent with this rising lunar energy.”

Iggy Pop paid tribute to Gardiner, writing: “Dearest Ricky, lovely, lovely man, shirtless in your coveralls, nicest guy who ever played guitar.”

Gardiner became a father and didn’t continue to tour with Bowie and Pop. He set up his own studio and began exploring the possibilities of digital production, occasionally releasing albums with collaborators – including his wife Virginia Scott – such as the ambient project Kumara. In 1995, he released Auschwitz, an instrumental work marking the 50th anniversary of the camp’s liberation that he regarded as his most important solo work.

He was diagnosed with electrosensitivity in 1998, which made him feel unwell when in proximity to electronic devices – he had to adapt his home studio to accommodate the illness. As well as recording his own versions of The Passenger, in his later years he returned to the Beggars Opera project, releasing seven further albums.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: The Guardian, Ben Beaumont-Thomas, 17 May 2022

Longitudinal study of exposure to radio frequencies at population scale
France Created: 13 May 2022
Abstract: Evaluating exposure to radio frequencies (RF) at population-scale is important for conducting sound epidemiological studies about possible health impact of RF radiations.

Numerous studies reported population exposure to RF radiations used in wireless telecommunication technologies, but used very small population samples. In this context, the real exposure of the population at scale remains poorly understood.

Here, to the best of our knowledge, we report the largest crowd-based measurement of population exposure to RF produced by cellular antennas, Wi-Fi access points, and Bluetooth devices for 254,410 unique users in 13 countries from January 2017 to December 2020.

First, we present methods to assess the population exposure to RF radiations using smartphone measurements obtained using the ElectroSmart Android app. Then, we use these methods to evaluate and characterize the evolution of RF exposure.

We show that total exposure has been multiplied by 2.3 in the four-year period considered, with Wi-Fi as the largest contributor.

The cellular exposure levels are orders of magnitude lower than regulation limits and are not correlated to national regulation policies. The population tends to be more exposed at home; for half of the study subjects, personal Wi-Fi routers and Bluetooth devices contributed to more than 50% of their total exposure. In this work, we showcase how crowdsource-based data allow large-scale and long-term assessment of population exposure to RF radiations.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: ScienceDirect, Boussad et al., 24 Mar 2022

FCC proposes funding Wi-Fi on school buses
USA Created: 12 May 2022
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has proposed that federal funding be provided to equip school buses with Wi-Fi, potentially closing the homework gap by that much more. I don’t know if any kids are going to do any work at 7:20 in the morning or right after the last bell has rung, but it certainly can’t hurt.

The proposal would allow the use of E-rate program funds, generally set aside for school tech and connectivity costs, to be used for purchasing wireless hot spots or other methods for getting the buses connected.

“The ‘homework gap’ is still a hard fact of life for millions of schoolchildren in urban and rural America. Wiring our school buses is a practical step we can take that is consistent with the history of the E-rate program. This common sense change could help kids who have no broadband at home,” said Rosenworcel in a statement announcing the proposed ruling.

$35 million has already been spent on this through the FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund, and the declaratory ruling (as the proposal is formally called at this point) found that the costs would more than justify the benefits.

Though it’s easy to think of scenarios like a kid uploading their homework on the bus as silly or typical of teenage procrastination, connectivity is a serious problem around the country. And some kids have pretty long bus rides! If Wi-Fi at home is cutting out, and you can’t access the school servers on mobile, what are you supposed to do, stop by the library on the way to homeroom?

Being able to polish off that essay and upload it from the bus (after a bit of feedback from their seatmate, of course), or skimming through that lecture one more time before the test, could be actually helpful. Once they have it, they’re going to rely on it.

It makes sense these days much more than even five years ago because mobile networks and integrations for things like cars and buses are far cheaper and more standard. If they can put Wi-Fi on subway trains, or on company shuttles, we can put them on our big orange buses. And you know we might even get a little WAN party going.
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Source: TechCrunch, Devin Coldewey, 12 May 2022

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