Topic: Clearly, cell phones cause brain damage.

[WindAndConfusion]

How else could these people be so stupid?

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2472133.ece
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2472140.ece

Wi-Fi: Children at risk from 'electronic smog'
::: Revealed - radiation threat from new wireless computer networks
::: Teachers demand inquiry to protect a generation of pupils
Britain's top health protection watchdog is pressing for a formal investigation into the hazards of using wireless communication networks in schools amid mounting concern that they may be damaging children's health, 'The Independent on Sunday' can reveal.

Sir William Stewart, the chairman of the Health Protection Agency, wants pupils to be monitored for ill effects from the networks - known as Wi-Fi - which emit radiation and are being installed in classrooms across the nation.

Sir William - who is a former chief scientific adviser to the Government, and has chaired two official inquiries into the hazards of mobile phones - is adding his weight to growing pressure for a similar examination of Wi-Fi, which some scientists fear could cause cancer and premature senility.

Wi-Fi - described by the Department of Education and Skills as a "magical" system that means computers do not have to be connected to telephone lines - is rapidly being taken up inschools, with estimates that more than half of primary schools - and four-fifths of secondary schools - have installed it .

I hate journalists so much. What point does that last paragraph even serve? If you had never heard of Wi-Fi, would that explanation really give you any useful information?

Recent research has linked radiation from mobiles to cancer and to brain damage. And many studies have found disturbing symptoms in people near masts.

Professor Olle Johansson, of Sweden's prestigious Karolinska Institute, who is deeply concerned about the spread of Wi-Fi, says there are "thousands" of articles in scientific literature demonstrating "adverse health effects". He adds: "Do we not know enough already to say, 'Stop!'?"

This would be an example of someone outright lying about the science. (PS the illustrious Olle Johansson is an associate professor of dermatology.)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3272249.stm

Protesters who spent a week blockading the site of a vandalised mobile phone mast to prevent it from being re-erected pledged to continue their action after being given false hope the mast would be resited.
[...]
The 22-metre mast fell down on Bonfire Night after bolts were removed from the base, in what police have described as an act of vandalism.
[...]
But the relief of the residents, who blame the mast for cancer cases and other illnesses, was short-lived.
[...]
She said: "They are just corporate bullies. This does not surprise us.

"If they turn up we will be right in front of their vehicles. They will have to run us over.

"It's going to be over our dead bodies."

Yeah, you do that. Form a mob, tear down a cell mast based on a silly superstition, then get yourselves killed trying to prevent its repair.

[scottws]

I didn't read any of that, but I've read on several occassions from several sources that cell phones and 802.11-type wireless computer networks are completely harmless.

Though I did hear their is a suspicion that a declining honeybee population might be related to cell phones.  I've been meaning to check that out but just haven't yet.

[Antares]

One of my least favorite conspiracy theories.


People are so gullible.  Electromagnetic fields from cell phones can kill you, but electromagnetic fields from magnetic bracelets can cure cancer and help your golf swing!

[WindAndConfusion]

I didn't read any of that,

Thank you.

but I've read on several occassions from several sources that cell phones and 802.11-type wireless computer networks are completely harmless.

Yeah, I already knew that. I've even read several studies on the subject. Turns out there is a correlation between how likely you are to get certain cancers and how close you live to a cell mast (or transformer/power station/large number of wi-fi bases), but that's because how close you live to a cell mast is correlated with all sorts of other health risks (industrial pollution, poverty, et cetera). This is similar to how the "crack baby" myth got started: it turns out that crack addicts are on average less fit to be mothers than non-crack addicts, and even for reasons that have nothing to do with the crack use.

Though I did hear their is a suspicion that a declining honeybee population might be related to cell phones.  I've been meaning to check that out but just haven't yet.

Bees are more likely to get lost around high-voltage transformers, maybe, according to a reputable study. If memory serves, some jackass decided cell phones must have a similar effect and a media scare was born. (Yet Asia, the most cell phone-laden continent on earth, has few or no reported cases of Colony Collapse Disorder (yes, that's what it's called).)

[Quemaqua]

Call me from Hell on my landline when you all get brain cancer and die.



 ... yes, I'm joking.

[Cobra951]

Correlations are worthless--worse, because idiots use them to scare other idiots.  My favorite is the one between violent crime and sales of ice cream.  The third and unmentioned variable there is obvious, and illustrates why correlations alone are meaningless.  Then again, some bozos may try to ban ice cream.

[Jedi]

Call me from Hell on my landline when you all get brain cancer and die.



 ... yes, I'm joking.

Yeah Q doesn't actually want you calling him. 

[Quemaqua]

Jedi wins!