Posted on

Hazards of Microwave Radiation

A Review from 1960.

Kuo-Chiew Quan. 1960. Hazards of Microwave Radiations – A Review. Industr. Med. Surg. 29:315-318, July 1960 and reprinted in Occupational Medicine, Medical News Letter, Vol. 36, No. 10. November 18, 1960, pp 29-34.

This document, written nearly 60 years ago, discusses the hazards associated with levels of RF Microwave Radiation exposure that might be experienced by those who work near radar installations, radio frequency heat sealers, or medical diathermy machines. Note: this article also applies to those who repair both broadcast and cell phone antennas.

Kuo-Chiew Quan makes several statements about energy absorption and thermal effects of microwave radiation.

Statement 1:

“any biological effects, beneficial or harmful, produced by microwaves can result only from absorption of energy by the tissues.”

Statement 2:

“all biologic effects of microwaves cannot be attributed solely to temperature increases that result from energy absorption or whether these effects are produced in part by mechanisms other than simple thermal elevation.”

Statement 3:

“at this time it is impossible to rule out the possibility of athermal effects of microwaves.”

The thermal vs athermal debate was well underway in 1960.

Continue reading “Hazards of Microwave Radiation”

Posted on

Problems with Palo Alto Verizon Cell Tower Project

Challenges in Scaling So-Called "Small Cell" Cell Towers

By Sean Kinney, Managing Editor on June 16, 2017 |
Original article here

In California, challenges to [so-called "Small Cell" cell towers] at scale include selecting the correct paint color and addressing concerns about health impacts [human health hazards].

Actual deployments of small cells has lagged behind perhaps ambitious projections for years. The problem is that, given the unique nature of each site and the regulatory process that governs a particular location, it’s difficult to establish a scalable, predictable process. With deployment estimates ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 per small cell, carriers have struggled to develop a one-size-fits-all approach; coupled with regulations that vary from city to city, it can take months of lead up for field work that can be completed in hours or days.

Case in point, Verizon Wireless is currently working with the city of Palo Alto, Calif., to install 92 small cells, 80 on wooden utility poles owned by the city, and 12 on metal street lights , according to a project description received by the city on Jan. 30. Verizon contemplates three configurations, all containing one antenna, three radios and one disconnect. The variations are in whether the battery back up is located on the pole, on the ground next to the pole, or not needed at all.

Note: the 12/7/17 Architectural Review Board (ARB) voted to require that all radios and ancillary equipment and other ground equipment must be below grade, which you can view here. Liquid cooling technology can be used to ensure that undergrounded equipment does not use noisy fans. The 4-1 ARB vote can be viewed here.

Continue reading “Problems with Palo Alto Verizon Cell Tower Project”

Posted on

Restore Net Neutrality

The Problem: The FCC Repealed Net Neutrality

by Aylin Woodward on December 14, 2017; The following was selected from the original article here.

In a 3-to-2 decision on December 14, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the rules that regulate how internet service providers (ISPs) connect us to the world wide web. Termed “net neutrality,” these rules ensured that companies like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast couldn’t charge more for higher quality service or block certain websites. In short, these rules helped guarantee equality for all voices and prevented censorship.

With net neutrality in place, ISPs had to treat all data — no matter what the content was, who owned it, or who created it — passing through their networks the same. But with this repeal, which rolls back regulations passed under the Obama administration in 2015, high-speed Internet is no longer a utility regulated by the federal government. Now, providers can prioritize the content and data from companies that pay more, shifting them to the Internet “fast lane,” while smaller companies that can’t afford the higher costs are left behind with slower streaming speeds.

The Solution: Take Back the Internet

1. How We Take Back the Internet | Edward Snowden
2. Sue the FCC
3. Fight The Filter Bubble

Here’s What The Experts Are Saying

We asked experts in business and media to weigh in on what the death of net neutrality means. Here’s what they had to say:

Roger Kay

Technology market analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates, Inc.

When we allow an industry to divide us into castes, it allows them to make the experience bad for everyone. First class people don’t want to meet other’ eyes. Some people become jealous of others’ privileges. These social dynamics are likely to play out in Internet domain as Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T benefit from them.

Aram Sinnreich

Professor at American University School of Communication

Continue reading “Restore Net Neutrality”

Posted on

Napa Clears Verizon to Top Traffic and Light Poles With Close Proximity Microwave Radiation Transmitters

HOWARD YUNE | hyune@napanews.com Dec 20, 2017; Original article here.

Across Napa, city-owned light poles and traffic signal poles will start taking on a new look – courtesy of an agreement between the city of Napa and Verizon Wireless.

Micowave Radiation transmitters will start appearing on utility poles owned by the city, under a rollout meant to improve cellphone and Wireless Internet reception while creating a backbone for synchronized stoplights and, Napa hopes, less congestion on the streets below. The City Council signed off on the plan Tuesday afternoon, nearly a year after expressing support for improved cellular coverage instead of a never-built implementations of citywide Wi-Fi service.

Continue reading “Napa Clears Verizon to Top Traffic and Light Poles With Close Proximity Microwave Radiation Transmitters”

Posted on

The FCC Repeals Net Neutrality

. . . so, we have to Battle for the Net!

The FCC just voted to gut net neutrality rules, letting Internet providers like Verizon and Comcast control what we can see and do online with new fees, throttling, and censorship. But we can still get Congress to stop this—by passing a “Resolution of Disapproval” to overturn the FCC vote. We can win. Write and call Congress now!

Congress can overrule the FCC vote. This is how.

The FCC vote to destroy the Net Neutrality protections on Dec. 14 should not stand.

Text BATTLE to 384-387 to contact Congress and stop the FCC.

Write to your elected representatives:

Dear Senator/Representative:

I’m calling on you to work with your colleagues to use the Congressional Review Act to pass a “resolution of disapproval” reversing the FCC’s vote.

The FCC’s Dec. 14 decision willfully ignored the outcry from tens of millions of people, and it abdicated the FCC’s responsibility to protect the internet from ISP blocking and discrimination. The FCC has injured our economy and free speech in just one action, all without so much as a single public hearing.

We need members of Congress to stand up for the open internet and for the digital civil rights of their constituents now. Please use the CRA to pass a Resolution of Disapproval to overturn the FCC’s December 14 “Restoring Internet Freedom” vote.

Thank you.

Ajit Pai’s Cringeworthy Net Neutrality Propaganda PSA: 223,000 Thumbs Down

Continue reading “The FCC Repeals Net Neutrality”

Posted on

City of Palo Alto: Take Heed

The City of Palo Alto is allowing the placement, construction and modification of 120+ so-called "Small Cell" Cell towers in the public rights of way in Palo Alto’s residential zones, while the City of Palo Alto ignores substantial evidence and their non-prempted duties to regulate the operations of these so-called "Small Cell" Cell towers.

When regulating the operations of the so-called "Small Cell" Cell towers in the public rights of way, the City has both the freedom and the duty to consider the latest science that establishes health hazards from RF Microwave Radiation exposures, including the following:

Posted on

Thank You, FCC Commissioner Clyburn

The following statement can be downloaded here.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn:

I dissent. I dissent from this fiercely-spun, legally-lightweight, consumer-harming, corporate-enabling Destroying Internet Freedom Order.

I dissent, because I am among the millions who is outraged. Outraged, because the FCC pulls its own teeth, abdicating responsibility to protect the nation’s broadband consumers. Why are we witnessing such an unprecedented groundswell of public support, for keeping the 2015 net neutrality protections in place? Because the public can plainly see, that a soon-to-be-toothless FCC, is handing the keys to the Internet – the Internet, one of the most remarkable, empowering, enabling inventions of our lifetime – over to a handful of multi-billion dollar corporations. And if past is prologue, those very same broadband internet service providers, that the majority says you should trust to do right by you, will put profits and shareholder returns above, what is best for you.

Continue reading “Thank You, FCC Commissioner Clyburn”

Posted on

Thank You, FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel

The following statement can be downloaded here.

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel

Net neutrality is internet freedom. I support that freedom. I dissent from this rash decision to roll back net neutrality rules. I dissent from the corrupt process that has brought us to this point. And I dissent from the contempt this agency has shown our citizens in pursuing this path today. This decision puts the Federal Communications Commission on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American public.

The future of the internet is the future of everything. That is because there is nothing in our commercial, social, and civic lives that has been untouched by its influence or unmoved byits power. And here in the United States our internet economy is the envy of the world. This is because it rests on a foundation of openness.

Continue reading “Thank You, FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel”

Posted on

Net Neutrality Chant

The following is by Bruce Kushnick; 12/13/2017 04:54 am ET; Original article here.

On December 14th, 2017, the FCC will vote to shut down Net Neutrality. The decision has already been made; the vote will just be a formality. The Republican ‘FCC Gang of 3’ (Pai/O’Rielly/Carr) is now a voting block, which AT&T, Verizon, ALEC et al. put into place to remove nearly all federal regulation and obligations on the Telecommunications companies (phone, broadband, Internet, cable, wireless, etc.) companies and is preempting state laws to get this done.

Unfortunately, the FCC’s decision on Net Neutrality is only one of 15-20 different current FCC proceedings that are designed to all work together, which we dubbed the “Wheel of Mis-Fortune”. While Net Neutrality is a catchy phrase, it is more of a distraction; the real problems are much deeper and they have gotten far too little attention.

Sue the FCC; Break Up Verizon & AT&T

(Note: I will address the cable companies’ role in all of this in a future story.)

Our position is simple. We need to have a collective ‘Ah-Ha’ moment. America needs to need

  • Restore properly functioning competitive markets
  • Light up the fiber-optic networks for which we already paid
  • Enforce the fiber optic installation contracts that the Telecomm firms and the FCC have conveniently ignored.
  • Stop AT&T and Verizon Cross-Subsidies: these Telecom firms have been looting their Wireline Utility Networks to Cross-Subsidize construction and operations of their other subsidiaries, including Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility.
  • Take back our rights as the public

Continue reading “Net Neutrality Chant”

Posted on

Four Organizations Sue the FCC Over Shut Down of Legacy Copper Telephone Networks

By John Eggerton; Original article here

Various groups have taken the FCC to court, appealing its decision on speeding the transition to fiber and the retirement of legacy networks to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, generally thought to be a more friendly venue than the D.C. Circuit.

Asking the Ninth Circuit to reverse and vacate the November order were

  • Public Knowledge,
  • The Greenlining Institute,
  • The Utility Reform Network, and the
  • National Association of State Utility Advocates.

In another remake of a decision under his Democratic predecessor, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the FCC’s Republican majority voted last month to make changes to the timetable for the copper-to-fiber-based IP network remakes, changes billed as "speeding the transition to modern broadband networks".

Public Knowledge et al. support the Wheeler approach in 2015, which put in various requirements to maintain those legacy networks and services during the transition. Pai said at the time those were needlessly slowing the transition.

“The protections the FCC previously adopted ensured that the retirement of legacy phone services would be an upgrade for everyone, not an upgrade for some and a downgrade for others," said Public Knowledge senior VP Harold Feld. "The FCC claims that removing these protection will encourage telephone companies to upgrade their networks more quickly. But it practically guarantees that these companies will continue to leave rural America behind.”

In their petition for review, the groups said that the decision was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion, and otherwise illegal.