July 25, 2008
GUEST ENTRY: YAEL KLEIN ON CELL TOWERS + CELL PHONE NEWS FLASH
"Saturday morning I was driving north towards Tacoma where a scene caught my eye on the west side of SR 507, 2 miles south of SR 7 & Spanaway. To my left I saw a gathering of old, dead Fir trees standing in their place, as in a circle. When I looked closely, I saw a very tall green cell tower in the center of them all. The height of the trees was as tall as the cell tower (see picture). My body quivered to such scenery.
To make sure I get across to you what I mean, I would like to describe to you that when a tree dies on my land, its colors change from green to pale green to orange to yellow and, lastly, to brown. Then all the needles fall off. The trees I am referring to in this article were just standing there dead, gray — just dead gray. I have never seen this color on trees that died out of dryness. I wanted to yell out to the world for such a crime that is slowly accruing right in front of us, yet we passively move along in our busy daily schedules accepting it all as part of life.
I was pondering those trees and their unjustified fate, realizing how nature — a giant being who only knows how to give, and one we can’t live without — in its quiet way allows us to do all that we want, and even when we affect and destroy its parts, it is just silently being there, present in its glory. Yet the testimonial evidence of our misdoing, misuse, and abuse is so vividly there!
I ask, when are we going to finally wake up and say,
“NO MORE!”
NO MORE KILLING, NO MORE DESTROYING, NO MORE ABUSING, NO MORE IGNORING, NO MORE "ADVANCED" TECHNOLOGY THAT KILLS US ALL!!!
There are harmonious ways to live life on our beautiful planet earth!!! PEOPLE, WAKE UP!!!
Yael Klein
Yelm
[Ed. Note: Yael is the wife of this writer. We own no cell phones, as to do so would require cell towers, which we do not want in our neighborhood!]
As Yael was writing this story, a news flash came onto the radio:
"Cancer Docs Warn Staff Of Cell Phone Risks
University Of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Advising 3,000 Workers To Limit Exposure"
"The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday [July 23] : Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer.
The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Herberman is basing his alarm on early unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science and he believes people should take action now - especially when it comes to children.
"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," Herberman said.
No other major academic cancer research institutions have sounded such an alarm about cell phone use. But Herberman's advice is sure to raise concern among many cell phone users and especially parents....
The issue that concerns some scientists - though nowhere near a consensus - is electromagnetic radiation, especially its possible effects on children. It is not a major topic in conferences of brain specialists," quoting the AP on CBS News.
[Ed. Note: This is the very first time an American university has issued a warning about cell phone use. The issue is electromagnetic radiation that is emitted not only from the phone into the brain of the user, yet also from the cell tower up to a radius of several hundred feet. In 2007, eminent researcher Carroll Cobbs wrote a Guest Entry for the Yelm Community Blog about cell tower radiation and the effects on living organisms.
Click here for that report.]
For those of your readers desiring more information on this story, the Tacoma Tribune carried Doctor Heberman's warnings in the 07/24/08 edition. The link is provided below:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/tacoma/24hour/healthscience/story/421584.html
Additionally, if your readers will Google the article's title: "Limit cell phone use, cancer researcher says", they will see that this article appeared in newspapers all over the country.
May the wise hear the wisdom in this warning and act on it swiftly.
I totally agree with Yael's view on the cell towers. It reminds me how we fought them in the town of Rainier a few years ago and we stopped it from being built in Rainier, but there is no law that says they can't do it outside the city limits on private owners property,regardless of health concerns from the effects of thier cell towers. The co. went ahead and put it within view of where I live outside Rainier city limits. They approached us about putting one up on our property since I live on top of a hill and with a better location than the site they decided on, that stands today, about 300 ft high. They offered us a monthly sum for as long as the tower was in service if we said yes, but since we were very aware of the health issues of cell towers we refused and more or less told them to take a hike. The law states that it doesn't take into consideration the health effects of thier towers, one reason it is very challenging to go up against them. If there is anything you come up with let me know because I for one would like to support you. It looks to me that you have to change the laws and they have strong lobbyist to get thier laws passed, it's about the money and to hell with us or nature and I realized that allot of people would rather have thier convenience of cell phones regardless of what it does to thier health, not to mentioned mother nature. The sooner the earth changes come the better, I keep seeing those towers being blown down, yea! Regards Walter
I do agree completely about cell towers and the use of cell phones. But, in reading Yael comments regarding those specific trees, there was a fire there that burned the trees around the same time as the construction of the tower. I drove past this area just after the fire was put out.
I have seen another site that looks like the above picture. On Martin Way, driving from College street towards Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, look up on the hillside on your left.
Yes, there has been fire in that area, but those trees were not burned by that fire. I can tell the difference when a tree was burned by a fire or just died. And now since I became aware of such a sight, I look wherever there is a cell tower to see if the area has the same effect. I already saw another area that had the same, sad look to its environment -- tall, dead, and gray trees surrounding a cell tower. I wish I had had my camera with me.
While I agree cell towers are sources of radiation with potential negative impact to life, I caution Yael and readers to refrain from jumping too quickly to assume causality.
There are unusual dead trees. They surround a cell tower. It's faulty logic (by academic standards) to then say, "Therefore the cell tower caused the damage."
Perhaps there is another explanation. One reader offered the fire. Here's another - a pine beetle infestation in the Northwest that turns the trees gray. An article published just yesterday.
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_080308_environment_pine_beetle.3e1c39e.html
"Foresters won't know the extent of the damage done this year until next summer because it often takes a year for a tree to show telltale signs -- changing colors from green to red to gray -- of a beetle attack, said Andy Eglitis, an entomologist with the Deschutes National Forest."