European Politicians Look To Ban WiFi In School... For The Children
from the not-this-again dept
Every so often we hear from some random city where a bunch of folks who don't understand technology or radiation claim that WiFi is making people sick and it should be stopped. However, would all of Europe go that way? Apparently there's a proposal in the EU to ban all WiFi and cellular technology in schools to "protect" the children, of course. Notably, the proposal fails to provide any actual evidence, but uses the cop-out of "well, it could be harmful." The report says that since there is still research going on, we should wait until that research is done -- as if that kind of research is ever done. Even more ridiculous are things like:pay particular attention to "electrosensitive" persons suffering from a syndrome of intolerance to electromagnetic fields and introduce special measures to protect them, including the creation of wave-free areas not covered by the wireless network;How many times does this claim of "electrosensitive" persons need to be debunked? There is a ton of evidence that no such thing as electrosensitivity exists. There are studies that suggest the symptoms are real -- but they are not caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields (they may be caused by the person's own brain, or they may be some third factor). But there has been no serious study that has shown, in a controlled setting, that anyone can successfully and repeatedly "sense" when there's an electromagnetic field around. And we're talking dozens of studies on this, with pretty much all turning up the same result. So why should anyone create "wave free areas" since the evidence shows it won't actually do anything.
The proposal also suggests limits on wireless technology use even in your own home, saying that "preventative thresholds" should be established.
The proposal fails to cite any significant evidence to support most of its claims, instead choosing to use circumstantial claims -- such as noting that since there's an "ongoing public debate" about this, we should block it until that's all been worked out.
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Turnabout is fairplay
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About, oh..., couple of hundred years ago Jerome K. Jerome wrote:
"And they didn’t give me pills; they gave me clumps on the side of the head. And, strange as it may appear, those clumps on the head often cured me – for the time being. I have known one clump on the head have more effect upon my liver, and make me feel more anxious to go straight away then and there, and do what was wanted to be done, without further loss of time, than a whole box of pills does now."
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don
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don't we have these zones in the US already?
i was going to say that the expanse between denver and kansas city was pretty much civilization free, and therefore signal free as well.
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The way things are going
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Re:
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Re: Re:
We need to ban the laws of nature. That way kooks can get the laws they want despite going against the very nature of reality. A physical laws free zone.
(I specifically include DRM supporters here since trying to make sequences of 1's and 0's not copyable is like trying to make water not wet.)
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oh and ... "is like trying to make water not wet" ... its called ice.
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Wouldn't that make a hair dryer a "circumvention device" and illegal to own under the DMCA?
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Re: Re: Re: Re:
> its called ice.
Don't know about you, but every time I've picked up an ice cube, my hand comes away wet.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Your Notice:
"Please remove and destroy said devices, unless you wish to face possible civil remedies and criminal penalties for violations under the anti-circumvention provisions. If the violations are determined to be willful and for commercial purposes or private financial gain, such as melting ice with your hands to sell as water, courts can order significant fines and/or imprisonment."
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What about politicians?
Oh sure, there may have been a few helpful outcomes here and there, but who's to say those weren't merely coincidence.
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I'd argue that the most likely is "some third factor": the child's nervous nellie luddite mother.
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Glad to see the EU finally getting wise to the real problem,
Just look at what they knew for certain back in the yesteryear of computer viruses:
SUBJ: Really Nasty Virus
AREA: GENERAL (1)
I've just discovered probably the world's worst computer virus yet. I had just finished a late night session of BBS'ing and file treading when I exited Telix 3 and attempted to run pkxarc to unarc the software I had downloaded. Next thing I knew my hard disk was seeking all over and it was apparently writing random sectors. Thank god for strong coffee and a recent backup.
Everything was back to normal, so I called the BBS again and downloaded a file. When I went to use ddir to list the directory, my hard disk was getting trashed again. I tried Procomm Plus TD and also PC Talk 3. Same results every time. Something was up so I hooked up to my test equipment and different modems (I do research and development for a local computer telecommunications company and have an in-house lab at my disposal).
After another hour of corrupted hard drives I found what I think is the world's worst computer virus yet. The virus distributes itself on the modem sub-carrier present in all 2400 baud and up modems. The sub-carrier is used for ROM and register debugging purposes only, and otherwise serves no othr (sp) purpose. The virus sets a bit pattern in one of the internal modem registers, but it seemed to screw up the other registers on my USR. A modem that has been "infected" with this virus will then transmit the virus to other modems that use a subcarrier (I suppose those who use 300 and 1200 baud modems should be immune). The virus then attaches itself to all binary incoming data and infects the host computer's hard disk. The only way to get rid of this virus is to completely reset all the modem registers by hand, but I haven't found a way to vaccinate a modem against the virus, but there is the possibility of building a subcarrier filter.
I am calling on a 1200 baud modem to enter this message, and have advised the sysops of the two other boards (names withheld). I don't know how this virus originated, but I'm sure it is the work of someone in the computer telecommunications field such as myself. Probably the best thing to do now is to stick to 1200 baud until we figure this thing out.
Mike RoChenle
And luckily someone came up with a fix for this just in the nick of time to prevent this disaster from destroying the planet:
Date: 11-31-88 (24:60) Number: 32769
To: ALL Refer#: NONE
From: ROBERT MORRIS III Read: (N/A)
Subj: VIRUS ALERT Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE
Warning: There's a new virus on the loose that's worse than anything I've seen before! It gets in through the power line, riding on the powerline 60 Hz subcarrier. It works by changing the serial port pinouts, and by reversing the direction one's disks spin. Over 300,000 systems have been hit by it here in Murphy, West Dakota alone! And that's just in the last 12 minutes.
It attacks DOS, Unix, TOPS-20, Apple-II, VMS, MVS, Multics, Mac, RSX-11, ITS, TRS-80, and VHS systems.
To prevent the spread of the worm:
1) Don't use the powerline.
2) Don't use batteries either, since there are rumors that this
virus has invaded most major battery plants and is infecting the positive poles of the batteries. (You might try hooking up just the negative pole.)
3) Don't upload or download files.
4) Don't store files on floppy disks or hard disks.
5) Don't read messages. Not even this one!
6) Don't use serial ports, modems, or phone lines.
7) Don't use keyboards, screens, or printers.
8) Don't use switches, CPUs, memories, microprocessors, or mainframes.
9) Don't use electric lights, electric or gas heat or
airconditioning, running water, writing, fire, clothing or the wheel.
I'm sure if we are all careful to follow these 9 easy steps, this virus can be eradicated, and the precious electronic fluids of our computers can be kept pure.
---RTM III
Thank the powers that be that someone was on the ball and had the knowledge and foresight to prevent the world from ending, or we might not be here to read this "EU kernel of ultimate wisdom making decision" today.
I think that if we and the EU all follow the 9 steps listed above, we can prevent our certain demise...
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Re: Glad to see the EU finally getting wise to the real problem,
Several things about that response strike me as odd, for example, the fact that he signs it "RTM III" instead of his usual "rtm".
Is there a larger website you pulled this from? I wouldn't mind taking a look over some hacker folklore I somehow haven't encountered yet.
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Re: Re: Glad to see the EU finally getting wise to the real problem,
Several things about that response strike me as odd, for example, the fact that he signs it "RTM III" instead of his usual "rtm".
I can't be sure if it's actually the infamous "rtm", but I do recall personally reading this "VIRUS ALERT" message on a dial-up BBS back in 89'. His name was already known, and suspected of causing the worm by the time the date on the message was originally sent:
Portrait of an artist as a young hacker
November 14, 1988 12:00 PM ET
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9129344/Portrait_of_an_artist_as_a_young_hacker
so the message could have been done as a joke against him also.
Here is where I grabbed the text from this time:
http://cluestick.info/hoax/History_of_Virus_Hoaxes.htm
and here is a link showing it already circulating in Jan 89', just two months after the "Morris Worm" was released onto the unsuspecting net:
http://www.textfiles.com/humor/COMPUTER/virus.hack
I wouldn't mind taking a look over some hacker folklore I somehow haven't encountered yet.
Take a look in here. Nice collection of various bits of history from 1980-1995, you may know some or most of it already, but might be surprised at what you never knew:
http://www.textfiles.com
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Re: Re: Re: Glad to see the EU finally getting wise to the real problem,
It's hacker culture, that's a given. Geez, I still remember the first version of the jargon file I found . . .
By this time, I've already tracked down this email to one of it's earliest incarnations, and the email appears to be genuine; in that the parts that struck me as suspect, including the signature, were added later. It was at least definitely meant to be attributed to mister Robert Tappan Morris.
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New Movie: "Boy in the Metal Faraday Cage" (2011?)
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I further propose that while the child size full heavy metal body armor is in the manufacturing process that all families immediately encase their children in tin foil.
A tin foil hat has worked wonders on keeping the government spy satellites and EM radiation out of my brain.
Heh
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It's from the council of Europe
The CoE has nothing to do with the European Union.
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Re: It's from the council of Europe
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Re: Re: It's from the council of Europe
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electromagnetic fields
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Re: electromagnetic fields
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Re: Re: electromagnetic fields
Sounds can cause them too, also after consuming mass quantities of alcoholic beverages. Damn, another pile of frequencies that need to be banned.
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High EMPs? You got entities!
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Re:
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For the children?
WiFi and cell phones have been of great use in recent protests.
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Sensing electromagnetic fields
Well, sure you can. When I go to a park near my house, everyone's hair stands on end because of the massive electrical towers that the park is built under. So people absolutely can sense electromagnetic fields. You can feel static cling on a windy day or know that you are about to shock someone when you touch them.
But in the amounts of power that we are talking about with cellphones, it's true that it would be nearly impossible to sense anything.
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Tedious debate
There's an ongoing public debate about religion. Maybe we should ban that too until it's been worked out.
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Cage
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Radiation
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Well said!
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WOW! And it's not even to protect them from...
Who saw that one not coming? I figured, for sure, that the rationale would be to prevent "the children" from unauthorized access to the innertube. I never figured it was an attempt to rewrite the laws of nature.
Just saw this joke posted in the office, the irony in how apropo it is to this story is amazing:
Man asks Genie to let him live forever.
Genie says "I can't grant wishes like that".
Man then asks to live until politicians get their heads out of their arses.
Genie says "You crafty bastard!".
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The Sun
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Re: The Sun
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Wave Free Areas
The only places that should be "wave free" are sports stadiums.
The last time I was at the ball game, that damn wave came around and everyone stood up with their arms raised and resulted in a severe case of alcohol abuse when the gal next to me knocked the beer from my hand.
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Oh geez, this is one of my pet peeves...
It drives me batty when political allies & friends who are otherwise on target start going on about the health effects of cell towers or- this is the new one in California- SmartMeters. These are new electric meters that the local, rapacious, corrupt power company (PG&E) have begun to install. (I'm fine with people attacking them because of possible PG&E chicanery- it's just the health aspect that bugs me)
I try to swallow my snark & deal with it firmly but diplomatically in public. Science is science, and fear & unquantifiable rumors are quite another.
P.S.- I used to work w/ Environmentally Ill (EI) people and the most affected (those who are home-bound & have extreme health effects) are totally open about their belief that yes, their environmental sickness is at least part mental. These folks are generally reacting more to man-made toxic chemicals in grooming & cleaning products than RF.
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Re: Oh geez, this is one of my pet peeves...
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Re: Re: Oh geez, this is one of my pet peeves...
Just pointing out that it's not just right-wingers who are afraid of flouride in the water, the Illuminati, and wear tin-foil hats.
Providing balance. Carry on being anonymous, buddy.
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public debate
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It's not unusual for people with autism to have one or more senses boosted to a high level, with little or no ability to ignore or filter that sense. A common one is hearing, where the autistic person hears normal, every day sounds as if they were at rock concert intensity. A rare one is electrosensitivity. But it does happen.
To the best of my knowledge, no study has ever identified the portion of the human brain responsible for being able to sense the Earth's magnetic field. Some biologists go so far as to claim humans lack that sense. And yet, some people always know where magnetic north is.
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Overheard At A Demonstration
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ban the wifi, legalize jammers
Peanut allergies (as with other allergies) also are caused by a persons own brain or some third factor.
It is a good call to protect sensitive children.
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Re: ban the wifi, legalize jammers
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EHS
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EHS
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EHS
http://www.citizensforsafetechnology.com/uploads/scribd/McCarty%20Marino%202011%20EMF%20ES%20& amp;%20neurological%20syndrome%20Int%20J%20Neurosci%20July.pdf
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Doubtful
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WiFi Health Concerns
2 - I trust industry groups even less.
3 - I have read enough to be VERY concerned about exposure to EMFs, WiFi, etc.
4 - The writers who include insults and scoffing dismissals contribute nothing useful to the conversation.
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