" . . . Some years ago, education in our schools became a follower of trends in society, economy, media (imitation of television shows about fashion, singing, dancing, etc.) and politics. Despite all the posters and symbolic demonstrations--such as for Earth Day/Week-- consumer mentality thoughtlessly advocates continued pollution of the environment under the arrogant tenet that humans have the right to use the planet's resources as they see fit. This tenet has been adopted by many institutions and organizations, as well in the educational field.

"As life and learning are inseparable, I believe that education should lay the foundation in any society and culture. Education should lead the way of life and instill higher levels of thinking and higher valuation of nature and our only living space: the planet Earth.

"Our economy has shifted from a focus on manufacturing industries to a focus on service industries. This transformation cost society many job losses and made a huge impact because service industries rely more heavily on retailing. As a result, this service economy relies more directly on end-user consumers. Therefore, the best way to guarantee that the service industries will continue growing and the corporations will make profit is to find ways of assuring that the end-user population is well-trained to become dependent consumers with limited consciousness of the result of their purchases.

"In the name of education, we are killing this planet, we are contributing to global warming, we are officially producing e-waste and we are proud of it (the more we rely on technology the higher our score as a teacher/school)! Worst of all, we are raising a generation of dependent consumers--their sense of entitlement and their need for convenience, instant gratification and feeling good in the moment is dangerously destructive to their own environment and the future of the only home we have: Earth.

"Radiofrequency sickness results from overexposure to radiofrequency radiation. Radiofrequency sickness is not a disease. It is an environmentally induced functional impairment. Radiofrequency sickness has real and disabling consequences...

...Our current safety regulations are not designed to protect people from the non-thermal hazards posed by wireless devices and transmitting meters...

...Microwave and radiofrequency radiation are now being associated with attention deficit disorder, autism, sleep disorders, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, SIDS, epilepsy and chronic pain, as well as asthma, diabetes, malignant melanoma, breast cancer, and other illnesses that have become increasingly more common..."

"According to SodaHead.com, a discussion community with more than 10 million visitors a month, cellphones and iPads rank as the most-wanted items among youngsters, with 65% placing these devices at the top of their wish lists. Parents planning to succumb to the lobbying and get their kids the latest electronic gadgets would do well to ponder experts' warnings before buying them . . ."

Smart phones and other portable communication devices offer many chances - and many challenges. They can become addictive and even counterproductive not only for private users, but also for companies.

Click "View Video" for Swiss television video connection.

A collage of wireless freedom fighters working to promote health and safety above profit within the wireless industry.

"This video and future ones, I hope solidifies essential messages that we are trying to convey. I hope this will help educate people in a short period of time on the dangers of wireless technology, the struggles people are having, and the tireless work we are doing to bring change. Thanks, all of you who are working hard to bring positive change. I dedicate this project to you."

There are over 5 billion operating cell phones on the planet. These phones exchange signals with millions of cell phone towers.

In your home, your favourite coffee shop, your local library and certainly in your office, you have WI-FI.

You probably also have a sprinkling of other wireless technologies, like a cordless phone, a wireless baby monitor or alarm system, or maybe even a USB-powered device that gives your cell phone Web access, which has been referred to as a "cell-phone tower for your pocket."

-- Your environment is filled with wireless technologies and the frequencies they emit - and you're being impacted whether you realize it or not

-- Evidence is mounting that 'electromagnetic loads' may lead to cancer, concentration problems, ADD, tinnitus, migraines, insomnia, arrhythmia, Parkinson's and even back pain, among other health problems

-- It is estimated that 3-8 percent of populations in developed countries experience serious electro hypersensitivity symptoms, while 35 percent experience mild symptoms

-- Even if you don't use a cell phone and your home is wireless-free, you can be exposed to microwave radiation from your neighbour's wireless devices or while visiting "hot spots" or traveling near cell phone towers. Steps are outlined to help you reduce your exposure to EMFs as much as possible

Even if you have opted out of such conveniences, there's a good chance your neighbourhood has not.

This means that, essentially, your environment is saturated with wireless technologies and the frequencies they emit - and you're being impacted whether you realize it or not.

The simple answer to this question is, no one knows.

How could they? The technologies that have become so intertwined with what it means to live in the 21st century - cell phones, laptops, iPads, and so on - have never-before existed. And as a species, we have embraced them fully, without understanding what types of risks they may ultimately present.

"Ever worry that that gadget you spend hours holding next to your head might be damaging your brain? Well, the evidence is starting to pour in, and it's not pretty. So why isn't anyone in America doing anything about it?

"Earlier this winter, I met an investment banker who was diagnosed with a brain tumor five years ago. He's a managing director at a top Wall Street firm, and I was put in touch with him through a colleague who knew I was writing a story about the potential dangers of cell-phone radiation. He agreed to talk with me only if his name wasn't used, so I'll call him Jim. He explained that the tumor was located just behind his right ear and was not immediately fatal--the five-year survival rate is about 70 percent . . . "

Related Ketcham Article: Warning: High Frequency  Winter 2012

(Related Christopher Ketcham Article: Warning: Your Cell Phone May be Hazardous to Your Health, February, 2010)

"Consider this story: It's January 1990, during the pioneer build-out of mobile phone service. A cell tower goes up 800 feet from the house of Alison Rall, in Mansfield, Ohio, where she and her husband run a 160-acre dairy farm. The first thing the Rall family notices is that the ducks on their land lay eggs that don't hatch. That spring there are no ducklings.

"By the fall of 1990, the cattle herd that pastures near the tower is sick. The animals are thin, their ribs are showing, their coats growing rough, and their behavior is weird - they're agitated, nervous. Soon the cows are miscarrying, and so are the goats. Many of the animals that gestate are born deformed. There are goats with webbed necks, goats with front legs shorter than their rear legs. One calf in the womb has a tumor the size of a basketball, another carries a tumor three feet in diameter, big enough that he won't pass through the birth canal. Rall and the local veterinarian finally cut open the mother to get the creature out alive. The vet records the nightmare in her log: "I've never seen anything like this in my entire practice... All of [this] I feel was a result of the cellular tower."

"Within six months, Rall's three young children begin suffering bizarre skin rashes, raised red "hot spots." The kids are hit with waves of hyperactivity; the youngest child sometimes spins in circles, whirling madly. The girls lose hair. Rall is soon pregnant with a fourth child, but she can't gain weight. Her son is born with birth defects - brittle bones, neurological problems - that fit no specific syndrome. Her other children, conceived prior to the arrival of the tower, had been born healthy.

"Desperate to understand what is happening to her family and her farm, Rall contacts the Environmental Protection Agency. She ends up talking to an EPA scientist named Carl Blackman, an expert on the biological effects of radiation from electromagnetic fields (EMFs) - the kind of radiofrequency EMFs (RF-EMFs) by which all wireless technology operates, including not just cell towers and cell phones but wi-fi hubs and wi-fi-capable computers, "smart" utility meters, and even cordless home phones. "With my government cap on, I'm supposed to tell you you're perfectly safe," Blackman tells her. "With my civilian cap on, I have to tell you to consider leaving."

"Blackman's warning casts a pall on the family. When Rall contacts the cell phone company operating the tower, they tell her there is "no possibility whatsoever" that the tower is the source of her ills.

"You're probably in the safest place in America," the company representative tells her.

"The Ralls abandoned the farm on Christmas Day of 1992 and never re-sold it, unwilling to subject others to the horrors they had experienced. Within weeks of fleeing to land they owned in Michigan, the children recovered their health, and so did the herd.

"We are now exposed to electromagnetic radio frequencies 24 hours a day. Welcome to the largest human experiment ever.

"Not a single one of the half-dozen scientists I spoke to could explain what had happened on the Rall farm . . .

The global market for off-the-shelf surveillance technology has taken off in the decade since 9/11. WSJ's Jennifer Valentino-DeVries explains some of the new methods governments and law enforcement are using to monitor people.