Harmonic Planet

When I began looking into the issue about the harmful effects of cell phones, I found that just as I finished reading one study about the effects of electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) that seemed to clearly indicate there were serious problems, I would find another article that said there were not. I read so many conflicting reports it made my head hurt — and I didn’t have a science background to help me analyze the information. . .

Then I met Dr. George Carlo. Dr. Carlo is the scientist who ran the 5-year, $28M study financed by the wireless industry to prove that cell phones were safe. He found just the opposite. That was in 1999.He then wrote a book titled Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards of the Wireless Age. That was in 2001.

Dr. Carlo has a unique combination of credentials and experience that qualifies him as an expert with an in-depth understanding of the issues involved in what has been and will continue to be a major battleground regarding the truth about EMF and whether it is harmful to human beings.

He is a scientist, an epidemologist, a public health official, and a lawyer. He has inside knowledge of the wireless industry, the players, and the issues. He can explain in layman’s terms what the impact of cell phone usage is on human physiology. He can explain in scientific terms what to look for in a study to determine its validity. And he can relate the history of how we got here and why we don’t know more about the harm that EMF is causing us.

I trust Dr. George Carlo, and I am not by nature a trusting person. I do not usually jump on bandwagons, and I am not a believer in conspiracy theories in general.

However, I have listened closely to Dr. Carlo for over a year now, and I have read everything I can find on the web about him. I have seen him on numerous occasions, and I am close to people who know him well. He is a man of integrity and enormous personal courage. When I falter in my conviction or in my dedication to helping people understand this issue, I think about the dedication of Dr. George Carlo, one man alone against one of the most powerful industries the world has ever known.

Does what I am saying sound dramatic? You bet. But here is just one small story about why I am so committed to this cause. When I was a child growing up in Kodiak, Alaska, in the mid 1950’s, I used to play in the back yard of our Navy housing. I remember the big trucks that would come through our alley spraying a substance to get rid of the mosquitoes — that substance was DDT. I would play in grass that was wet with DDT.

Then in the early 90’s, I had an office in the Century City towers in Los Angeles. I was the Executive Vice President of a corporate consulting firm and had just written a book on Change Management. I had arrived at exactly the spot in my career that I had been working toward for over twenty years.

We were growing so rapidly that we needed to restructure and remodel our offices. New carpeting, new paint, new pressboard cabinets –everything was completely new. And the building was a tower building with no fresh air. All of the new substances were outgassing formaldehyde, and of course we could smell it. But, like the DDT so many years before, we did not understand what effect this toxic substance could have — particularly on the immune system of a person like myself who had been overloaded as a child with toxins.

See, our immune systems are like a water glass. We can keep pouring water in — and if we have a big water glass we can pour a lot of water in before it overflows. But, regardless of the size of our glass, sooner or later, if we keep pouring, it will overflow. And mine overflowed big time.

No one even knew what Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was in those days. I thought I was losing my mind. The saga of my CFS fight is another story, but suffice it to say that CFS changed my life dramatically. You can’t have a career when you can’t get off the couch for five years…

So — I understand first hand how ignorant we can be about what is causing us harm. The industry in which I spent my career? The computer industry. I love new technology as much as anyone, and I was as hell bent for leather as the next person about getting the newest and smallest gadget.

I managed to get well and eventually came back into the industry, back as Vice President of Sales with a start-up software company, then as Director of Sales Training for Kinko’s, and finally as Director of Global Sales Productivity for another software company. I spent half my time in offices and worked from home as well. Whenever I was in an office, surrounded by flourescent lights, computers, copiers, and cell phones, I would feel tired and unable to think clearly.

Now I know why, and, once again, I was being harmed by something we do not understand, something we created to advance mankind, something that our bodies don’t like but they have no way of waking us up until it is too late.

So now I am taking a stand about the harmful effects of electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) and electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from cellphones and other wireless and electronic devices. It is not easy to be on the front lines of a controversial issue. Most of my friends from the computer industry have lost patience with me — they do not want to hear what I am saying. I get overwhelmed sometimes, and I just have to walk away from it for a few days.

But Dr. George Carlo has not and is not walking away. If he can have the tenacity and courage to persevere, then so can I.

This fight will not be easy. It will heat up. There is much at stake for the wireless industry, but there is more at stake for mankind. Dr. Carlo has revised his figures regarding the epidemic curve he presented a year ago. He now says that, if we do nothing, by the year 2015 one in every four people will be affected with some symptom of EMF radiation poisoning. And those most affected will be the children.

I could explain why children are more affected because their brains are less developed and their immune systems are not as effective as adults, but a picture speaks louder than words. This picture was part of a presentation given at the International Conference on Electromagnetic Safety in Benevento, Italy by Dr. Alvaro A. de Salles from the Universitao Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

The scientists who participated in this Conference created and signed a document titled the Benevento Resolution.

I suggest you take a few minutes to read this document that was signed by 31 scientists from all over the globe. What do they know that we do not?

And, while you are at the page with the link to the Benevento Resolution, take the time to read the latest study, the Danish Cohort Study, that tells us cell phones are safe. Then read Dr. George Carlo’s response to that study — you will learn a lot about the politics of the wireless industry that may remind you of another time in our history, something about the tobacco industry telling us cigarettes were safe. . .