I can’t say this was unexpected. The World Health Organisation has classified long-time use of cell phones as ’2B’, meaning “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. Continue reading »
Jun 022011
Dec 262010
Cables released by Wikileaks have exposed United State diplomatic efforts to strongly back the corporate push for GM crops to be accepted in Europe and elsewhere.
Not only that, the US diplomats under the Bush administration recommended retaliatory action against a list of ‘targets’ in Europe for failing to embrace GMOs. In a leaked cable, US Ambassador to France Craig Stapleton wrote:
Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory.
Oct 052008
Some good news reported in The Star. The Penang state government will broaden its consultation about the possible health risks of wi-fi.
Wide consultation is a good idea. Such public consultation should take place before any major project is launched.
“The state government is ready to cancel and abandon the project if there is scientific proof to show that the health of the people will be adversely affected by the wireless network,” says Guan Eng.
Fine. But what if studies point to significant health risks? When it comes to untested new technology and public health, caution should be exercised – especially if we are not sure of the long-term effects.
There is a difference between free wi-fi for the whole of Penang and say, mobile phones. In the former, the technology is thrust on the people, who do not have a choice. In contrast, in the case of mobile phones, people are free to choose whether or not to use them.
Sep 262008
A concerned Penangite has just sent me this article from the Independent in the UK:
EU watchdog calls for urgent action on Wi-Fi radiation
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Sunday, 16 September 2007Europe’s top environmental watchdog is calling for immediate action to reduce exposure to radiation from Wi-Fi, mobile phones and their masts. It suggests that delay could lead to a health crisis similar to those caused by asbestos, smoking and lead in petrol.
The warning, from the EU’s European Environment Agency (EEA) follows an international scientific review which concluded that safety limits set for the radiation are “thousands of times too lenient”, and an official British report last week which concluded that it could not rule out the development of cancers from using mobile phones.
Aug 242008
Anwar speaking in Seberang Jaya last night
Anwar has sharply criticised the federal government for overcrowded general hospitals such as the one in Seberang Jaya.
He said he was responsible for the construction of the hospital more than a decade ago. “But look at the state of the hospital today,” he said during a ceramah in the midst of low-cost flats in Seberang Jaya last night. “It is so overcrowded and I feel sorry for the poor folks there.”
The rich and the better off have the option of seeking immediate treatment in private hospitals but the poor have no choice but to wait at government hospitals. “If they need heart surgery, for instance, they might have to wait for eight months,” said Anwar. “But by the seventh month, they could have dropped dead.”