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Betreff:
Gauss meeting |
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Von: Patricia Ormsby |
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Datum: Sat, 9 Jun 2007 23:39:39 -0700 (PDT) |
I have sent
this in for comments from Tetsuo Kakehi of the Gauss Network, but don't
anticipate hearing any. Please feel free to use this, and in the off
chance that changes are needed, I'll inform you. Pat Ormsby 2007 Gauss
Network General Meeting with Guest Speakers
The 2007 Gauss Network General Meeting featured two guest speakers who had
new angles on the subject of harm from electromagnetic fields. The
first,
Dr. Akio Manaki, drew parallels to other cases of harm caused by industrial
emissions, including the Minamata mercury poisoning. The second, Dr.
Yasuyuki Fujimura, provided some terrifically innovative solutions to vexing
economic problems that relate strongly to the predicament of people aware of
health damage from overuse of electricity.
The Gauss Network of Japan is an organization working to address the issue
of harm caused by ubiquitous electromagnetic fields in the living and
working environment, with a special focus of drawing official and public
attention to the growing problem of health damage from our use of
electricity and radiating technology. It holds monthly meetings to
discuss
news and strategies and an annual general meeting with guest
speakers. The
general meeting was held this year on May 12 in Tokyo.
Discussion of Gauss Network Activities
The first half, in the morning, was an overview of activities and finances
of the organization followed by a discussion. Eighteen people
attended,
divided equally between men and women. (I’m noting that because
“concerns
about EMF” are too often perceived as a women’s problem. Of the
people
present, two admitted openly to electrosensitivity (ES), both
women. The
persons I know with ES are divided nearly equally between women and men, but
there has been talk among Gauss Network members that certain researchers
have ES but cannot afford to admit to it. Also, none of the Japanese
with
ES I have met before attended the meeting, and one of the two in attendance
pointed out antennas on a rooftop nearby that she could sense. Despite
the
lower attendance, there is optimism about the Gauss Network’s growing
membership.)
Upcoming plans of the Gauss Network included having a booth in Yoyogi Park
on Earth Day next year (April 22, 2008) to provide information on EMF
issues. There was a long discussion of strategies to inform people
of the
effects of EMF. An idea of a long-time member, Mrs. Karasawa from
Yokohama
(who was unable to attend), was to create yellow cards (warning) and red
cards (violation) to give to people using their cell phones in the Silver
Seat sections of trains, where their use is prohibited. It was noted
that
persons with pacemakers are having to wear distinctive signs before boarding
trains these days to get any recognition of their rights at all.
Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Somusho) is said
to know about electrosensitivity. The Gauss Network has made sure
they
know. However, they deny knowing and refuse to tell the public about
the
problem. (Many years ago, EMF health issues fell under the jurisdiction
of
the Environment Agency, but that was changed to the Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications (precursor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications) which is not organized to deal with medical issues.)
When one asks around in Japan, most people say they’ve never heard of
problems with EMF, or worse, they say they heard about it many years ago,
but not recently, so they presumed it had been resolved. People use
their
cell phones in hospitals, where signs are posted telling them to refrain
from it due to possible interference with electroonic equipment. PR
is
needed to explain the situation to people.
People with ES have tried visiting the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications but were turned away. It is thought, however, that a
group
of them were organized to make a visit, they might receive more attention.
It was noted that at this year’s Earth Day, the Amnesty International booth
mentioned “blood diamonds,” and in smaller letters below that, also
mentioned cell phones and other items fueling wars in Africa. However,
even
among socially conscious organizations such as Amnesty International,
awareness of these issues remains low. (I commented that AI of the
USA was
promoting a cell phone service as a fund-raising measure and wrote a letter
to them protesting this. I have not received a reply, but they
stopped
e-mailing me the advertisements for it.) Greenpeace, it was said,
also had
a movement persuading everyone to use their cell phones to protest the war
in Iraq.
It was thought that it would also be useful to mention that overuse of
electricity contributes to CO2 emissions.
On the subject of how to raise awareness, one lady attending said that many
citizens don’t like to join movements such as Gauss Network because they
associate it with “fighting.” They don’t want to fight. A
collaborative, helpful attitude, she said, would draw more people.
Another person noted that if you ask kids if they’ve heard of anyone whose
ear gets hot when they’re chatting on their cell phone, they’ve all heard
of it and most know someone who has that problem. From there it is
easy to
explain the problem in terms of a microwave oven, which they cal also
understand.
One person pointed out that the scene of young people taking photos with
their cell phones and then thumbing away on them endlessly was peculiar to
Japan. Virtually all kids in Japan have one or more cell phones¯much
more
than in other countries. People use them constantly here, even in
prohibited zones.
Other topics of discussion included the expanding Keitai Off!Kai
organization founded a year ago, which promotes cell phone-free activities
and lifestyles; the problem of Japan’s one-sided promotion of “all
electric” housing relying on electricity for all heating and cooking, with
highly electro-polluting IH heaters (I receive fliers in the mail promoting
it frequently, and almost all new housing in Japan is all-electric)
600-meter tall communications tower being built in a densely populated
residential area in Tokyo (Sumida-ku) to provide digital TV and “Wansegu”
cell phone service, with talk of boycotting these services in response;
efforts to get Japan’s government to consider the problems arising from EMF
from high-tension power lines; and problems associated with expanding use of
IC cards and “Mobile Suica” (sensors for cell phones for payment for
services) in libraries, retail stores and train stations.
Reports from Members and Featured Speakers
The second half of the meeting, in the afternoon, featured several reports
by Gauss Network members and two guest speakers. The first report
was on
Koto-ku, another centrally located densely populated residential/
area of Tokyo, where twelve huge parabolic antennas are being planned, which
will be directed at satellites. A protest movement is underway to
get the
antennas moved to a more suitable area. The second report was on the
enormous tower being built in Sumida-ku. People are becoming aware
there of
environment-
the introduction of a new broadcasting tower. There were also
reports from
chapters of Gauss Network in Hokkaido and Miyagi Prefecture.
Dr. Akio Manaki
The first featured speaker was Dr. Akio Manaki, a lawyer on the Kyushu Relay
Tower court case. An outline of the evidence being presented was
supplied,
and included cases from both Japan and abroad. Dr. Manaki also
represented
the plaintiffs in the Minamata industrial mercury poisoning case, and he
drew several parallels between the two cases and also the case of government
recognition of the dangers from dioxins.
In the case of Minamata, the industry representatives argued that they were
operating within the country’s standards, therefore what they were doing
was safe. They were, in fact, obeying the law, just as they are now
with
microwave radiation. The mercury emissions released by Chisso Corp.
were
“drinkable” by government standards. Both are cases of health damage
caused by industrial emissions.
The lawyers for Chisso also argued that no cases of “Minamata Disease” had
been occurring prior to the case, therefore the timing did not coincide with
the pollution. In fact, the disease had been in existence for a
while, but
under a different name, known to affect the fishermen of Minamata. When
the
victims of a new disorder go to the doctor, he is likely not to recognize it
as a new disease, but rather categorize it in terms he is familiar with.
(We see this with ES victims being labeled mentally unfit or diagnosed with
other ailments and being treated for those ineffectually.
were eventually officially acknowledged represented only the tip of the
iceberg¯the really obvious cases of poisoning. People vary in their
vulnerability. In the chromium poisoning case, mothers giving birth
were
most vulnerable because they were releasing calcium from their bones and
that was being replaced by chromium, which weakened their bones and caused
them terrible pain.
In the case of dioxins, the government of Japan has only recently recognized
them as a danger. This was long after other countries recognized the
danger. They put up much resistance, at first arguing that the
Japanese
were uniquely strong against dioxin pollution. In truth, the levels
set by
the government were the maximum before serious damage would set in. In
2001, Japan tightened its standards for dioxins by a factor of 1,000 to
reflect accumulative effects. Safety standards need to be based on
the
ability to eat the item throughout life without crossing the level which
produces disease. (Unfortunately, the government of Japan is noted
for
choosing to publish dioxin figures from fish in unpolluted areas and to
disregard the figures from polluted areas.) Living things are adept
at
picking up minute amounts of substances and concentrating them, for example,
shellfish produce calcium shells from the minute amounts present in sea
water. Similarly with EMF, standards on the “milli” level (possible
heating) are being debated in Japan, meanwhile people experience effects on
the “micro” level, and Salzburg has adopted standards on a “pico” level
in consideration of cumulative effects.
Dr. Yasuyuki Fujimura
The second featured speaker was Dr. Yasuyuki Fujimura, an inventor of
non-electric devices, such as refrigerators, to replace our electric ones.
He reminded me of a physically fit Santa Claus¯a charismatic, white-bearded
person full of optimism, bringing his talents and time to enrich the lives
of impoverished people around the world. He said, “People think we
need
electricity in order to live, so they see nuclear energy as unavoidable.”
He also said the number of people with ES coming to him recently has
increased notably. To counter the “all electric” movement, he
proposes
the “no electric” movement.
Lots of houses are being built “completely electrified” and are touted as
“ecological.” It is to the point now where all new housing uses only
electricity for cooking, heating, showers, baths and everything. Dr.
Fujimura began considering how to free society from its addiction to
electricity while travelling in China and India. Japan, with its
enormous
suicide rate, is held up to everyone as the world’s most prosperous,
happiest country, deliberately creating the urge among people to gain
wealth. In Nigeria, by contrast, the people are very poor, but not
so
stressed. They are friendly and happy and they don’t commit suicide
despite 60% unemployment. In Japan, 30 million people experience
severe
stress. Keeping with the spirit of people in non-industrialized countries,
Dr. Fujimura is finding ways to improve their lives in creative ways that do
not require them to make the enormous sacrifices of industrialization, and
has written a book on this, Creation of Independent and Sustainable Industry
in Not Industrialized Countries by Leap Frog Theory.
He gave an example of a non-electrified orange juice factory versus an
electrified one. In contrast to the electrified one, the
non-electrified
one 1) produced tasty orange juice, 2) was safe, 3) was ecological, 4)
employed many people, 5) produced cheap juice, and 6) was
profitable. But
the non-electrified factory looks shabby!
Dr. Fujimura has produced a non-electric refrigerator which uses water
evaporation to cool the contents and a reflective exterior to keep heat out.
It can be produced from scrap available locally around the world. For
humid
places such as his native Japan, he has produced a dehumidifier which uses
absorptive paper material. In Mongolia, he created a horse-powered
car
battery recharger, which requires two hours of work to charge. A TV
can be
run for two weeks on one charge. This makes the long winters much
more
enjoyable for the people and provides business opportunities in battery
recycling.
He has created a “Slow PC” with a keyboard made of wood, using the feet to
operate it. If you stop moving, it goes off. The mouse is
operated by foot
as well. They are very slow and cost 300,000 yen each (about
$2,500), but
they sell well.
He showed us a chart of energy consumption by Japanese households broken
down by source (electricity, gas and petroleum) and use (the biggest being
lighting and the TV), presenting a new unit: the “Genpatsu” (GP,
translates as “nuke”), equaling 50 billion kWhr/year. For
households,
heating uses 34 GP (4 electricity, 7 gas and 23 petroleum), water heating
uses 33 GP (2 electricity, 11 gas and 20 petroleum), and other forms of
heating use 9 GP (2 electricity, 4 gas and 3 petroleum). The
remainder are
exclusively electrical GPs:
Air conditions: 3
Lighting: 10
Refrigerators: 5
TVs: 10
Laundry: 3
PCs: 3
Hot water pots: 3
Rice cookers: 2
Vacuum cleaners: 2
Microwave ovens: 2
Dehumidifiers: 1
Toilet seat heaters: 1
Total electrical GPs: 56
Total gas GPs: 22
Total petroleum GPs: 46
In Japan, currently 202 GP of electricity is consumed overall. Here
is the
breakdown of that and other energy consumption:
Electricity
Gas LPG+Oil Coal New Forms
Households 56 22
46 0 1
Businesses 57 16
35 2 2
Industry 85 23 209
89 5
Transportation
4
0 488 0 0
TOTALS
202 61 778
91 8
Dr. Fujimura recommends 1) avoid use of electric pots, 2) use non-electric
dehumidifiers, 3) buy non-electric goods, 4) oppose “all-electric”
housing, 5) reduce use of lights, TVs, vacuums, etc. Efforts can
reduce
electric usage by 44%, saving 22 GP.