Nov 29, 2018 06:00 PM
https://narratively.com/inside-the-great...esistance/
EXCERPT: . . . [Ashley] Portman’s collaborator today is Elizabeth Kelley, who has been on a two-decade mission to build awareness of issues surrounding the wireless technology revolution — and to “get the facts” about the health, environmental and constitutional consequences of the multibillion-dollar telecom industry. A former federal government public policy analyst, Kelley is now the executive director of the nonprofit Electromagnetic Safety Alliance and manages an international appeal brought by 244 scientists from 41 countries “urgently calling” for the international community to “address the global public health concerns related to exposure to cellphones, power lines, electrical appliances, wireless devices, wireless utility meters and wireless infrastructure.”
[...] According to the World Health Organization (WHO), electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is characterized by nonspecific symptoms that vary depending on the individual, running the gamut from fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and dizziness to heart palpitations, nausea, and tingling or burning sensations on the skin. While the WHO maintains that “the symptoms are certainly real and can vary widely in their severity,” and that “whatever its cause, EHS can be a disabling problem for the affected individual,” the organization also states that “EHS has no clear diagnostic criteria and there is no scientific basis to link EHS symptoms to EMF exposure. Further, EHS is not a medical diagnosis, nor is it clear that it represents a single medical problem.”
Portman and Kelley say they’re used to people discounting EHS, and sufferers are often told it’s all in their heads. In “The Hidden Marginalization of Persons With Environmental Sensitivities,” Pamela Reed Gibson, a professor of psychology at James Madison University, writes that although “substantial numbers of persons report having ES [electric sensitivities] in several developed countries, many persons, and particularly health-care providers, remain ignorant regarding the conditions. Thus persons with ES are marginalized and extruded from access to modern resources in their own communities.” Patients, writes Gibson, often report “highly negative” contact with mental-health practitioners, who often assume the root cause of the disorder to be psychological in nature.
But increasingly, and in correlation with the rise of new technologies, there are no shortage of people like Portman and Kelley who remain steadfastly convinced that their symptoms stem from exposure to electromagnetic frequencies. And they believe that things are only going to get worse. “I spend a lot of time analyzing how this industry behaves,” says Kelley. “This is just huge coming at us, like a big train.” [...] Kelley, Portman and others believe that the rapid approach of 5G is the most serious and terrifying development in wireless technology yet. [...]
[...] For years now, Kelley has received phone calls from all over the world, often from those too sensitive to work or leave their homes. “They can’t participate in normal life activities,” she says. They may have difficulty working or living in grid-connected neighborhoods. Some seek out communities made up of others with similar electrical, environmental or chemical sensitivities. The town of Snowflake, Arizona — four hours north of Tucson — has become one such haven, due to its isolated geography. Others have flocked to Green Bank, West Virginia, which is located inside the National Radio Quiet Zone, an area protected by law from cellphone and Wi-Fi signals, for astronomical purposes.
But Kelley says, “Moving out to the middle of nowhere isn’t necessarily the solution.” She notes that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently working on infrastructure for rural broadband deployment. Essentially, she says, even if you move, it’s likely to follow you.
With the further saturation of cell towers, smart meters, high-voltage train tracks, high-frequency radio stations, and above all, the deployment of 5G wireless technology, Portman and Kelley believe that the number of EHS sufferers will skyrocket. And they maintain that those already experiencing EHS symptoms are the canaries in the coalmine, being overlooked by the rest of us....
MORE: https://narratively.com/inside-the-great...esistance/
EXCERPT: . . . [Ashley] Portman’s collaborator today is Elizabeth Kelley, who has been on a two-decade mission to build awareness of issues surrounding the wireless technology revolution — and to “get the facts” about the health, environmental and constitutional consequences of the multibillion-dollar telecom industry. A former federal government public policy analyst, Kelley is now the executive director of the nonprofit Electromagnetic Safety Alliance and manages an international appeal brought by 244 scientists from 41 countries “urgently calling” for the international community to “address the global public health concerns related to exposure to cellphones, power lines, electrical appliances, wireless devices, wireless utility meters and wireless infrastructure.”
[...] According to the World Health Organization (WHO), electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is characterized by nonspecific symptoms that vary depending on the individual, running the gamut from fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and dizziness to heart palpitations, nausea, and tingling or burning sensations on the skin. While the WHO maintains that “the symptoms are certainly real and can vary widely in their severity,” and that “whatever its cause, EHS can be a disabling problem for the affected individual,” the organization also states that “EHS has no clear diagnostic criteria and there is no scientific basis to link EHS symptoms to EMF exposure. Further, EHS is not a medical diagnosis, nor is it clear that it represents a single medical problem.”
Portman and Kelley say they’re used to people discounting EHS, and sufferers are often told it’s all in their heads. In “The Hidden Marginalization of Persons With Environmental Sensitivities,” Pamela Reed Gibson, a professor of psychology at James Madison University, writes that although “substantial numbers of persons report having ES [electric sensitivities] in several developed countries, many persons, and particularly health-care providers, remain ignorant regarding the conditions. Thus persons with ES are marginalized and extruded from access to modern resources in their own communities.” Patients, writes Gibson, often report “highly negative” contact with mental-health practitioners, who often assume the root cause of the disorder to be psychological in nature.
But increasingly, and in correlation with the rise of new technologies, there are no shortage of people like Portman and Kelley who remain steadfastly convinced that their symptoms stem from exposure to electromagnetic frequencies. And they believe that things are only going to get worse. “I spend a lot of time analyzing how this industry behaves,” says Kelley. “This is just huge coming at us, like a big train.” [...] Kelley, Portman and others believe that the rapid approach of 5G is the most serious and terrifying development in wireless technology yet. [...]
[...] For years now, Kelley has received phone calls from all over the world, often from those too sensitive to work or leave their homes. “They can’t participate in normal life activities,” she says. They may have difficulty working or living in grid-connected neighborhoods. Some seek out communities made up of others with similar electrical, environmental or chemical sensitivities. The town of Snowflake, Arizona — four hours north of Tucson — has become one such haven, due to its isolated geography. Others have flocked to Green Bank, West Virginia, which is located inside the National Radio Quiet Zone, an area protected by law from cellphone and Wi-Fi signals, for astronomical purposes.
But Kelley says, “Moving out to the middle of nowhere isn’t necessarily the solution.” She notes that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently working on infrastructure for rural broadband deployment. Essentially, she says, even if you move, it’s likely to follow you.
With the further saturation of cell towers, smart meters, high-voltage train tracks, high-frequency radio stations, and above all, the deployment of 5G wireless technology, Portman and Kelley believe that the number of EHS sufferers will skyrocket. And they maintain that those already experiencing EHS symptoms are the canaries in the coalmine, being overlooked by the rest of us....
MORE: https://narratively.com/inside-the-great...esistance/
