Escaping Wi-Fi in the National Quiet Zone

[salvorhardin]

WNCY's On The Media's Bob Garfield talks with BBC journalist Matt Danzico about his story covering people who believe they are sensitive to electromagnetic fields from WiFi and other radio sources. Danzico sounds pretty credulous about this topic.

No transcript up yet, but you can listen online here:
http://www.onthemedia.org/2011/sep/16/escape-wifi-national-quiet-zone

The BBC News story that Danzico co-wrote with Jane O'Brien:

'Wi-fi refugees' shelter in West Virginia mountains

There are five billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide and advances in wireless technology make it increasingly difficult to escape the influence of mobile devices. But while most Americans seem to embrace continuous connectivity, some believe it's making them physically ill.

Diane Schou is unable to hold back the tears as she describes how she once lived in a shielded cage to protect her from the electromagnetic radiation caused by waves from wireless communication.

"It's a horrible thing to have to be a prisoner," she says. "You become a technological leper because you can't be around people.

"It's not that you would be contagious to them - it's what they're carrying that is harmful to you."

Ms Schou is one of an estimated 5% of Americans who believe they suffer from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), which they say is caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields typically created by mobile phones, wi-fi and other electronic equipment.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14887428

[laconicsax]

1. The study they describe is hilarious.

A single-blind trial with a grand total of one subject (who diagnosed herself with EHS) and no apparent controls.

This is the pinnacle of evidence for EHS. :rofl:

[salvorhardin]

2. How about the cell phone psychic?

(Paraphrasing) "She knew I had a cell phone on me the second I came in the door. She even pointed to the pocket it was in!"

Umm, it's a pretty good guess that the journalist who (probably) just flew hundreds of miles to interview you would have a cell phone on them and even the thin iPhones make characteristic pocket bulges.

That's why I said the guy sounded credulous.

[SheilaT]

3. I will admit, that I sometimes

wonder if all the radio and TV signals and cell phone signals and so on and so forth might actually be having an adverse affect on us.

However, I think if that were true there would be by now some real obvious symptoms or illnesses or whatever in enough people to make the link clear.

Some years back there was a segment on one of the on-air magazine shows profiling some people in some company who were claiming chemical sensitivity, and were demanding all kinds of odor-free, chemical-free concessions so they could work. The company essentially discovered that if they simply put these people in a separate room and assured them that they'd done all requested, the symptoms magically went away.

The mind is so powerful, that if you're convinced that something out there is making you ill, it probably will make you ill once you know it's there.

Don't even get me started on people with fibromyalgia.

[Warpy]

4. Fibromyalgia has been confirmed as a real neurological illness

with measurable changes within a sufferer's body.

You need to do some research on this stuff before you pop off like that.

[lazarus]

5. thank you

as a sufferer of fibro, I get miffed when I see stuff like that.