THE HANDSTAND |
FEBRUARY-MARCH2010
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SHOCKING
US SENATE HEARING CONFIRMS DANGERS OF CELL PHONES
Witnesses before a Senate Committee testified about
research into cell phone use and its potential impact on
human health, as well as the potential side effects such
as brain and salivary gland tumors.
In 2008, cell phones were identified as a contributor
to salivary gland tumors. Dr. Siegal Sadetzki, who
testified in September 2009 at the U.S. Senate Hearing,
is the principle investigator of the study that made this
finding.
The report states that your risk of getting a parotid
tumor on the same side of your head that you use for
listening to the mobile phone increases by:
- 34 percent if you are a regular cell phone user
and have used a mobile phone for 5 years.
- 58 percent if you had more than about 5,500 calls
in your lifetime.
- 49 percent if you have spoken on the phone for
more than 266.3 hours during your lifetime.
About 4 billion people are now using cell phones
around the world, despite the fact that their safety is
being increasingly called into question. In fact, there
are no safety standards for testing cell phones before
they are released to the market.
Meanwhile, government agencies, similar to their
stance on tobacco before the evidence became overwhelming,
have essentially ignored all the danger warnings.
Just like smoking tobacco, they fail to realize that
it can take anywhere from 10 to 30 years for brain tumors
to develop from cell phone exposure, so we are just now
beginning to see some of the tragic effects of heavy cell
phone use. The truth is, we are on the verge of a brain
cancer epidemic. It could grow to 500,000 cases worldwide
in 2010, and there may be over a million cases in the U.S.
alone by 2015.
Sadly, children and teens are at an even higher risk,
as their thinner skull bones allow for greater
penetration of cell phone radiation. The radiation can
enter all the way into their midbrain, where tumors are
more deadly. In addition, children's cells reproduce more
quickly, so they're more susceptible to aggressive cell
growth. Their immune systems are also not as well
developed as adults. Lastly, children face a far greater
lifetime exposure.
Professor Lennart Hardell of Sweden has found that
those who begin using cell phones heavily as teenagers
have 4
to 5 times more brain cancer as young adults!
Increasing evidence is pouring in that cell phones are
not only a risk factor for brain tumors, but also
salivary gland tumors, eye damage, Alzheimer's disease
and more.
The second video below by Electromagnetichealth.org,
filmed at Columbia University Law School at a
presentation on Wireless Hazards, explains how wireless
radiation creates cognitive problems, damages DNA,
diminishes fertility, causes disorientation and
navigation difficulties for birds, bees and other
wildlife, and may contribute to Bee Colony Collapse,
which, if not reversed, will jeopardize the future of
life on earth.
Your Safety is Now Riding on a Severely Flawed
$30-Million Cell Phone Study
You may be wondering why, if there is so much data
showing the risks of cell phone use, no warnings are
being made. First, the telecommunication industry is
even BIGGER than drug industry, and they have far
more influence in Washington.
This is compounded by the fact that a large
percentage of retirement funds from several powerful
lobbying organizations are invested in
telecommunications.
Second, institutions like the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the European Commission have
cautioned that conclusions about possible cancer
risks from cell phones cannot be drawn until the
INTERPHONE study is published.
The INTERPHONE Project -- a massive 13-country
epidemiological study of tumors among users of mobile
phones -- is already lagging years behind its
scheduled completion date.
Part of the delay in putting together the final
report now appears to be internal strife, as
scientists are reported to differ in their
interpretation of the results.
The GSM Association, a global trade organization
of mobile operators, and the forum, which includes
Nokia and about a dozen other manufacturers,
contributed more than $3.5 million to the $30-plus
million project. The European Commission also helped
fund it with contributions passed through the
International Union Against Cancer in an effort to
create a barrier between the mobile phone industry
and the scientists.
Further, a team of international EMF activists --
the International EMF Collaborative -- has released a
report detailing 11 serious design flaws of the
INTERPHONE study. They say a systemic-skew
in the study is greatly underestimating brain tumor
risk, and they pointed out the following flaws, among
others:
- Categorizing subjects who used portable
phones (which emit the same microwave
radiation as cell phones) as
unexposed
- Excluding many types of brain tumors
- Excluding people who had died, or were too
ill to be interviewed as a consequence of
their brain tumor
- Excluding children and young adults, who are
more vulnerable
You can read the full report Cellphones
and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, Science,
Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone here.
If the wrong conclusions are drawn from the
Interphone studies, the resulting lack of public
warnings could have disastrous consequences for the
generations to come. And this is why I urge you to
take action NOW. Do not wait for the results of more
studies to come in or for the final conclusions of
this meta-analysis, and please do not be swayed by cell
phone safety spin.
As Lloyd Morgan, lead author of the report and
member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society says:
Exposure to cell phone radiation is
the largest human health experiment ever
undertaken, without informed consent, and has
some 4 billion participants enrolled.
Science has shown increased risk of brain
tumors from use of cell phones, as well as
increased risk of eye cancer, salivary gland
tumors, testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
and leukemia.
The public must be informed."
AMERICAN
DOCTOR APPRAISES HEALTH CARE CONCERNS OF
congressman Dr.RON PAULBy
Dr MercolaThere
are many reasons why I support Ron Paul, but a
major one has to do with his devotion to your
freedom of choice.
He
is a shining example of how one solitary voice
can inspire necessary change. Dr. Paul is nearly
single-handedly leading the charge against the
perverted relationship between multi-national
corporations and the U.S. government.
Ron
Paul is a constitutionalist who seeks to minimize
abuse by government; therefore, he is not a very
popular figure in many corporate circles.
Nevertheless, there is an increasing groundswell
of public support for him, which the completion
of the 2008 presidential election did nothing to
deter.
He
is in the news every bit as much now as while he
was campaigningactually probably more so
now, as a growing number of Americans are
realizing the fatal flaws in our existing health
care system.
With
the recent focus on health care reform, I believe
Dr. Pauls ideas are spot-on in bringing
about the changes this country really needs.
Ron
Paul is one of the few physicians serving in
Congress, and one of even fewer Congressmen
who are trying to decrease
government involvement in your
health care.
In
terms of your health, Ron Paul:
- Wants to expand your ability to use
alternative medicine and new
treatments
- Opposes legislation that increases
the FDAs legal powers
- Believes the government should never
have the power to force you to get
vaccinations
Sound
familiar? These are things Ive been
passionate about for decades. Ron Paul could
almost be my personal spokesman!
One
of the courageous actions Dr. Paul has taken
was introducing the Health
Freedom Protection Act to Congress
in 2005, a bill that would strongly and
positively affect Mercola.com and many other
natural health organizations, and the field
of natural health in general. The bill would
curb restrictions imposed by the FDA and FTC
regarding health claims for dietary
supplements.
Dr.
Paul indeed favors health care reform, but
NOT in its present formmeaning the
Affordable Health Care for America Act,
the bill that is the focus of debate right
now in the Senate.
This
bill could cost the U.S. nearly two
trillion dollars.
And
What Exactly Would Those Two Trillion Dollars Buy
You?
a.
The limiting of unnecessary, ineffective
treatments and the elimination of fraud
b.
The lowering of exorbitant health
insurance premiums, along with incentives
for physicians to provide charitable care
to the poor
c.
The provision for effective, inexpensive,
holistic treatment alternatives and the
establishment of new nutritional
guidelines that actually make sense
d.
Promotion of health instead of
preoccupation with disease
e.
None of the above
If you answered e, you get an
A.
The fact is, Big Pharma has a choke hold
over our government, which is most likely why
you do not see any discussions about these
very real, underlying problems.
The
fact that our political entities are so
subject to influence by special interests,
combined with the monumental amounts of money
big corporations spend to manipulate them,
means that a government-run program cannot
fix Americas broken health care system.
Because
the government is PART OF Americas
broken health care system.
In
fact, the solution might even be
worse than the problem. Already many of your
personal freedoms are being threatened at the
hands of the government, and there is
language in this new reform that gives the
federal government unprecedented
power to meddle in your personal health care
affairs.
Whats
REALLY needed is a radical change in
consciousness about what health and health
care really is.
As long as your focus is on drugs and
surgical interventions, you will never see
the fundamental changes that are so
desperately needed. It can only be
accomplished by a radical change in how you,
and how society as a whole, think about
health.
Old
Geezers Unite!
David
Brooks, columnist for the New York Times,
published a great article entitled The
Geezers Crusade[i] which
addresses the question of who and what is
needed to propel social change.
Brooks
predicts that the changes we need wont
be coming from Washington, and he makes the
case that our eldest generationnot our
youthare in a unique position to be the
catalyst for this change.
In
order to make this argument, he cites the
following research findings:
- Your brain is capable of creating new
connections and even new neurons
throughout your life, which refutes
outdated views that old people are no
longer educable due to declining
brain function.
- People report being happier, more
outgoing, more self-confident and
warmer as they pass from middle age
into old age, and advanced age
affords them a better ability to
grasp the big picture.
- The elderly tend to want to provide
for future generations, and they are
happier after doing so. Seniors who
perform service for the young have
more positive lives and better
marriages than those who dont.
If
youve ever spent any time listening to
a wise grandparent or other elder, youve
probably already witnessed the wisdom that
comes with age.
However,
Brooks says that the odd thing is, in
politics, the opposite behaviors are true.
Politicians
by and large, are taking valuable resources
from younger generationsin the form of
money, freedom, and opportunity.
The
federal government now spends seven times as
much on the elderly as it does on children.
In the private sphere, seniors provide
wonderful gifts to their grandchildren. But
in the public arena, they take them away.
Brooks
writes:
Spontaneous
social movements can make the unthinkable
thinkable, and they can do it quickly. It
now seems clear that the only way the U.S.
is going to avoid an economic crisis is
if the oldsters take it upon themselves
to arise and force change.
The
young lack the political power. Only the
old can lead a generativity revolutionmillions
of people demanding changes in health
care spending and the retirement age to
make life better for their grandchildren.
It
may
seem
unrealisticto expect a generation
to organize around the cause of non-selfishness.
But in the private sphere, you see it
every day. Old people now have the time,
the energy and, with the Internet, the
tools to organize.
We
often hear that children are our future. And
the expanding enthusiasm Dr. Paul is
generating among the youth in this country is
truly remarkable.
Dr.
Paul says:
I
think [my support] is rapidly growing,
and I go to the college campuses
frequently and always get large crowds
out, and the young people are really very
receptive to these views. I think thats
very important.
I
dont think true revolutions occur
if you dont have the next
generation ready to accept those ideas.
And it doesnt mean that only young
people do it, but if you get the support
of the young people, it means they know
there is something wrong with the system.
They have to think about the change in
the system and the reception there is
very, very good.
The
younger generations are going to be making
tough, critical decisions in the future,
which affect the world. But perhaps the
elderly are even more important in
leading them where they need to go.
There
is something that every one of you can do
to move us onto the right path.
There
are 1.5 million people who receive this
newsletter. We CAN make a huge difference. If
only a small fraction of you spread this
message within your little community of
family, friends, and coworkers, just imagine
what we can accomplish together.
[i]Brooks
D. The Geezers Crusade (February
1, 2010) New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/opinion/02brooks.html?emc=eta1
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