City wide Wi-Fi canceled over "woo woo"

[Locknar]

Sebastopol city officials voted 4 - 0 last week to cancel plans to allow Sonic.net to install a city wide wi-fi. Citizens, ignoring the fact that many businesses already have Wi-Fi based networks in the downtown region, voiced concern that the city wide system would pose a health hazzard (story can be found here (http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080324/NEWS/803240314/1033/NEWS)).

According to the World Health Organization:
Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.


Sebastopol resident Sandi Maurer gathered the support necessary to persuade the council to reconsider the matter. Maurer, claims to be sensitive to electricity much as some people are sensitive to chemicals, worked with others to gather signatures from people concerned about the effects of Wi-Fi signals.

Given the overall regional density of Wi-Fi/RF and electricity, makes me wonder just how Ms Maurer can survive given this "sensitivity"; let alone how she was tested to confirm this...simply laughable.

Another case of "woo woo" in action...setting civilization back once again for the benefit of none.

[fuelair]

More incompetant fools to make the smart look even smarter. She should probably be sent flyers on the dangers of water and foods. If she is that worried about the invisible.....

[NorwegianSquirrel]

Yup, they're a fun bunch (http://www.antennafreeunion.org/)

http://www.antennafreeunion.org/images/bad_recept_sm.jpg

I really like the slogan "Hell no we wont glow" :)

[aggle-rithm]

Yup, they're a fun bunch (http://www.antennafreeunion.org/)

http://www.antennafreeunion.org/images/bad_recept_sm.jpg

I really like the slogan "Hell no we wont glow" :)

!!!

So THAT's why I've been glowing ever since I got a cordless phone!!

[Fnord]

I see the problem ... and an opportunity. No one in the picture is wearing a tinfoil hat, and they all should be!

:tinfoil

Anyone with a roll of Reynolds Wrap and skills in origami could make a fortune off this bunch!

:roll:

[fuelair]

Morons of the World Unite! (MWU WOO)

[shadron]

Yup, they're a fun bunch (http://www.antennafreeunion.org/)

http://www.antennafreeunion.org/images/bad_recept_sm.jpg

I really like the slogan "Hell no we wont glow" :)

Let them have it if they want it. Eliminate jobs and cars and wireless service on the whole peninsula, if that's what they want. I rather think the woo will die along with the population. This is a self-healing problem.

[schlitt]

I see the problem ... and an opportunity. No one in the picture is wearing a tinfoil hat, and they all should be!


Not to mention blocking out those pesky spirits Lisa Williams style.

[geni]

"Hell no we wont glow" I was working with a Co60 sample today but it appears I still need to use a light to read by. What did I do wrong?

[Ysidro]

Maybe they should be warned of the dangers from DHMO.

And bread. Everyone I personally know who has died has eaten bread at least once in their lives.

[DRBUZZ0]

As usual, I'm ahead of you all already: http://depletedcranium.com/?p=489

[dahduh]

Sandi Maurer ... claims to be sensitive to electricity much as some people are sensitive to chemicals.

It's a good thing Sandi Maurer hasn't got any brain activity then.

[DRBUZZ0]

Yup, they're a fun bunch (http://www.antennafreeunion.org/)

http://www.antennafreeunion.org/images/bad_recept_sm.jpg

I really like the slogan "Hell no we wont glow" :)


I wonder what would happen if I tried to explain why that makes no sense.

Yes, by glow you're obviously referring to the fact that radioactivity has classically been portrayed as "glowing" especially glowing green.

Well, actually that doesn't apply here. That's only for ionizing radiation and the whole concept comes from a few narrow examples of glow being derived from radioactivity. The most commonly known being the use of radioactive substances to ionize a material like zinc phosphorus in order to cause it to glow. Green is the native color and the brightest. Some radioactive substances may have some phosphorescent qualities which are said to be "self-scintillating" which means they actually glow from their own ionization. Radium is one of these, and it is the iconic one because it too glows green, but only in very very high concentrations.

Then there's some other effects which people don't seem to understand too well. One is air glow, which is really only seen with accelerators where you have a charged particle beam which creates a stream of excited atoms if it is in the air. Then there's another which happens in water and is caused by the speed of charged particles being higher than the speed of light in this medium. Light, of course, cannot exceed a certain speed but it can be slowed by certain materials. This is called Cerenkov Radiation. It is actually blue in color.

You usually can't see Cerenokov radiation though, not even in highly radioactive spent fuel pools. If you see a photo of glowing fuel rods or materials underwater, this is almost always a long exposure.

So since this is only applying to ionizing and not RF radiation and is only in some narrow settings it's totally inaccurate to make a comparison.

[Wolrab]

Maybe they are afraid that their children will receive unfiltered internet access through their braces.

[fuelair]

Maybe they are afraid that their children will receive unfiltered internet access through their braces.Or they themselves will get something up through their anal orifices - that will disrupt their brains.:)

[dudalb]

I am a native Californian,and this is the kind of thing that makes me despair of The Golden State's EVER getting rid of it's reputation as the Kook Capital of the US.
And This is still more evidence that the SF Bay Area is ,sadly,the epicenter of California Kookiness. It took over that dubious title from SoCal a long time ago.

[dudalb]

More incompetant fools to make the smart look even smarter. She should probably be sent flyers on the dangers of water and foods. If she is that worried about the invisible.....


The problem is that in a democracy, the vote of a kook is just as valid as the vote of a non kook........

[Mark A. Siefert]

I'm both speechless and enraged...

[Zep]

Seems like a golden opportunity for an upstart cable-network company to me... ;)

[ponderingturtle]

Yup, they're a fun bunch (http://www.antennafreeunion.org/)

http://www.antennafreeunion.org/images/bad_recept_sm.jpg

I really like the slogan "Hell no we wont glow" :)

Ah think of the fun that could be had with them and a IR camera...

We must freeze them in liquid helium, get their temp to as low as possible that should satisfy them.

[Fnord]

I am a native Californian,and this is the kind of thing that makes me despair of The Golden State's EVER getting rid of it's reputation as the Kook Capital of the US.
And This is still more evidence that the SF Bay Area is ,sadly,the epicenter of California Kookiness. It took over that dubious title from SoCal a long time ago.

Move down here to Anaheim. There is a WiFi antenna and repeater atop the light pole in front of my house. Anaheim has installed these little beauties all over town. The local franchise charges somewhere around $12 a month for access.

I've been irradiated by these things for almost two years, and feel prefectly norbal -- no dain bramage at all!

;)

[Hamradioguy]

Sebastopol resident Sandi Maurer gathered the support necessary to persuade the council to reconsider the matter. Maurer, claims to be sensitive to electricity much as some people are sensitive to chemicals, worked with others to gather signatures from people concerned about the effects of Wi-Fi signals.



It's people like this (Specifically two local people ) who were able to keep any kind of cell phone antennas out of our town until just a couple of months ago. He stood up in a public hearing and said he had heart problems and just KNEW cell towers caused heart attacks, and his wife said she had vision problems and just KNEW that cell towers caused cataracts.

Another local lady insisted she had electromagnetic sensitivity. When living in another town she successfully sued her landlord in court forcing him to remove the 220V service entrance line to her apartment and replace it with a 110V line as she could not tolerate 220 volts. When she moved here and needed something copied she'd sit in her car outside the Town Offices and lean on the horn until someone came out and took her paperwork in to copy as she claimed she couldn't go near a copying machine without getting sick. We were all happy when she eventually moved to Hawaii.

Fortunately, the Daubert decision in the courts has greatly reduced such "junk science" lawsuits these days.

[PrincessMo]

Sebastopol resident Sandi Maurer gathered the support necessary to persuade the council to reconsider the matter. Maurer, claims to be sensitive to electricity much as some people are sensitive to chemicals, worked with others to gather signatures from people concerned about the effects of Wi-Fi signals.

This reminds me of the wacko housewife in our former neighborhood who vehemently opposed the city's proposed use of reclaimed water in our neighborhood for non-potable means (irrigation, fire hydrants, etc.). She was convinced that it would give us all some sort of top secret plague. And I do mean plague. I assumed she would be laughed out of town, but after she went around to all the other housewives and convinced them that their kids would DROP DEAD if this water-conserving measure went into effect, she got enough signatures to make the city postpone its plans. She was never able to explain how the other neighborhoods around us were able to manage their water conservation efforts with nary a plague on record... Must've been a gov't cover-up. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I wonder how Mandi Saurer obtained a diagnosis of electrosensitivity? And what does one take for that?

[JoeEllison]

Anyway, I wonder how Mandi Saurer obtained a diagnosis of electrosensitivity? And what does one take for that?
Personally, I would prescribe a lightning rod up the bum for her... for safety's sake, of course.

[godless dave]

Someone on slashdot pointed out that these aren't people we want on the internet anyway. Can you imagine the poor souls who would have to provide tech support to these idiots?

[JoeTheJuggler]

If the OP weren't made by someone as trusty as Locknar, I'd suspect the story was a hoax.

It's so hard to believe people believe nonsense like this--and that they believe it that strongly.

[DRBUZZ0]

Here are some pictures of this and other protests of wireless networking, various cell and local dispatch towers and so on because of RF field dangers: http://depletedcranium.com/?p=492

[fingersmith]

Sebastopol resident Sandi Maurer gathered the support necessary to persuade the council to reconsider the matter. Maurer, claims to be sensitive to electricity much as some people are sensitive to chemicals, worked with others to gather signatures from people concerned about the effects of Wi-Fi signals.

This reminds me of a TV programme I saw about a village protesting a mobile phone mast. One of the main opponents was interviewed and claimed to suffer from 'electrosensitivity'. When asked how this manifested itself she replied along the lines of "headaches, backpain, tiredness...it can be lots of things", or basically, any symptom...it's the phone masts! She was oblivious to how ridiculous that is.

[Locknar]

This reminds me of a TV programme I saw about a village protesting a mobile phone mast. One of the main opponents was interviewed and claimed to suffer from 'electrosensitivity'. When asked how this manifested itself she replied along the lines of "headaches, backpain, tiredness...it can be lots of things", or basically, any symptom...it's the phone masts! She was oblivious to how ridiculous that is.Self diagnosis...always science based and reliable.

Funny thing is though, when these same people are scientifically tested their “sensitivity” (Wi-Fi/RF, electricity, etc.) are always proven to be false.

But goodness knows…lets not allow science, or logic, to get in the way of knuckleheads and “woo woo”….

[Damien Evans]

This reminds me of a TV programme I saw about a village protesting a mobile phone mast. One of the main opponents was interviewed and claimed to suffer from 'electrosensitivity'. When asked how this manifested itself she replied along the lines of "headaches, backpain, tiredness...it can be lots of things", or basically, any symptom...it's the phone masts! She was oblivious to how ridiculous that is.

That wouldn't happen to be Judge John Deed would it?

[Locknar]

If the OP weren't made by someone as trusty as Locknar, I'd suspect the story was a hoax.
April 1st is only a few days away :) Though, I'd be hard pressed to top such things as Creekfreak's "BF" pic, or George's "code" hoax wise *lol*

[Elvis666]

Move down here to Anaheim. There is a WiFi antenna and repeater atop the light pole in front of my house. Anaheim has installed these little beauties all over town. The local franchise charges somewhere around $12 a month for access.

I've been irradiated by these things for almost two years, and feel prefectly norbal -- no dain bramage at all!

;)

Is your avatar a picture of the latest meeting of your neighborhood association?:D

[Leftus]

How many of those in the protest group have cell phones?

[Prometheus]

It's a good thing Sandi Maurer hasn't got any brain activity then.

You're nominated.

[Prometheus]

As usual, I'm ahead of you all already: http://depletedcranium.com/?p=489

Nice article DB, I like this quote, particularly the bolded comment:

Here’s one comment pulled from the petition:

I have had health challenges, and my body cannot handle wifi…it gives me headaches and makes me very sick. I would be unable to go to the store, shop. I have enough problems being limited in my travels, it is outrageous that a place so environmentally conscious would create this in our/my hometown. In Europe they are much more advanced than us, and there wifi is not allowed in cities in the European commonwealth

Apparently this woo-woo missed the news (http://www.m-travel.com/news/2003/10/european_wifi_g.html). Must have been unable to go online to do any actual research.

[Monza]

...Anyway, I wonder how Mandi Saurer obtained a diagnosis of electrosensitivity?...


If she, or anyone who claims "electrosensitivity", were to see a doctor to be tested I wonder how many would not like the results? I can imagine a doctor saying, "Congratulations, the tests are conclusive and you do not have electrosensitivity." I would bet that they would be upset and not believe the results. These are the type of people that want to have an illness, and want to believe there are horrible side effects from cell towers and such.

Also, I am sure "electrosensitivity" would make her eligible for the MDC. It would be very easy to test.

[Monza]

Double post.

[DRBUZZ0]

Nice article DB, I like this quote, particularly the bolded comment:



Apparently this woo-woo missed the news (http://www.m-travel.com/news/2003/10/european_wifi_g.html). Must have been unable to go online to do any actual research.

Well there is truth to both sides of that. Obviously "commonwealth" is a completely wrong term, but if they mean european union then it is true that wifi is growing there in general faster than the US.

Of course, the thing that is also true is that Europe is ahead of the US in terms of opposition. There are more than a few towns there that have passed city ordinances against it. In the US, there is not nearly the number of protests or opisition in Europe.

It's starting though but it was a big deal in Europe a couple years before it hit in the US. I can't blame them though. We invented chemtrail paranoia and people were doing that years here before it finally took hold in the EU.

[Fnord]

Is your avatar a picture of the latest meeting of your neighborhood association?:D

No, not the latest... ;)

[In My Spare Time]

Warning: Wireless isn't the only danger. All household light bulbs emit radiation far more energetic than RF. It's even more energetic than microwaves and almost as energetic as UV rays, which cause sunburns. There is no law or regulation to prevent this! Why doesn't the government do something about this?

[Prometheus]

I'm photosensitive. I protest the sun. How can I be expected to live in a community that builds above ground. I demand that my town be buried.

[Travis]

This is too bad. Sebastopol is really a pretty town. My older brother lived there for a few years and I've driven through it countless times on my way to Bodega Bay.

However I'm not really surprised by this. That entire area, encompassing the Russian River towns like Guerneville, is just overflowing with aging hippies and all their alternative healing/aura/woo woo garbage. Still it's a very pretty place.

[nathan]

Has someone pointed out to these fools how much radiation a TV emits? (enough for you to detect what channel it's watching from I don't know how many feet away). They should be convinced to Kill Your Television :)

[Travis]

Has someone pointed out to these fools how much radiation a TV emits? (enough for you to detect what channel it's watching from I don't know how many feet away). They should be convinced to Kill Your Television :)

Don't give them any ideas.

[Corsair 115]

Has someone pointed out to these fools how much radiation a TV emits? (enough for you to detect what channel it's watching from I don't know how many feet away). They should be convinced to Kill Your Television :)I'm reminded of a scene from Futurama:

Fry: "What's wrong with 20th century television?"
Bender: "Well, besides causing eye cancer, they had a fuzzy, low-definition picture."

[Hamradioguy]

Has someone pointed out to these fools how much radiation a TV emits? (enough for you to detect what channel it's watching from I don't know how many feet away). They should be convinced to Kill Your Television :)

I'm always amazed at how the electrical sensitivity these folks claim to have is so darn selective. The lady in our town with the "electrical sensitivity" had to have a speaker phone because she couldn't hold a telephone handset near her head, and couldn't go near a copying machine but she seemed to have no problem sitting just a few feet from the high voltage in her automobile ignition system. ( Before she left town we had an incident with her where she parked in front of out fire station and refused to move, claiming she was handicapped and could park anywhere she needed to. Our Fire Chief solved that problem by pointing out that she was parked directly underneath a 12KV three phase power line. Somehow her "sensitivity" didn't pick that up, but she left in a hurry nonetheless.)

[Bull13]

You know stupidity like this really get me angry, buttttttttttttttt seeing the Randi doll is a vodoo doll and hell no we wont glow I have been laughing the last ten minutes. I was having a really crappy day up until that point. The goofy are at times entertaining if nothing else.

[nathan]

Fry: "What's wrong with 20th century television?"
Bender: "Well, besides causing eye cancer, they had a fuzzy, low-definition picture."
What /was/ Amy's tat?

[skeptigirl]

....

Another case of "woo woo" in action...setting civilization back once again for the benefit of none.It also shows how easily the elected officials in our communities are influenced by the persuasive woo arguments.

And often these woo promoters on their fanatical causes to eliminate black magic go out lobbying and get a law changed or added before the scientific community is even aware they are up to anything. That happened in this state with a vaccine law against using any thimerosal in vaccines for kids and pregnant women.

I would love to know what people think we might do to make legislators more aware of these woo causes and where to get the actual reliable information.

[skeptigirl]

That gave me an idea. We need a big science day where we all go out and make a point of exposing the silly magical thinking that people are currently involved in. We could make a campaign of showing how much of this fear and false image of science is no different now than it was a thousand years ago.

[Locknar]

That gave me an idea. We need a big science day where we all go out and make a point of exposing the silly magical thinking that people are currently involved in. We could make a campaign of showing how much of this fear and false image of science is no different now than it was a thousand years ago.That is a interesting idea; I like it.

[AliasN]

I like the idea, too. We could all get these t-shirts (http://www.achewood.com/shop/appm_dspec_premt_qssci.php)to wear!