San Francisco set to pass cell phone radiation law

[SN2005]

I see that, in common with every other western country, they're not so interested in having shelf-edge information about the dangers of saturated fat or alcohol; which are infinitely more harmful to large numbers of society.

Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, did pretty famously push for a tax to be levied against stores that sell drinks containing high fructose corn syrup (sodas) a few years ago. He hoped it would help tackle the city's obesity problem. Of course, the story got picked up by FOX News and other conservative outlets who duly ran with it covering it day and night under the context of 'where will liberals stop?!'. The policy was eventually dropped, but in this clip you can still sample some of FOX's tamer news coverage...

[Gavin Scott]

I coped with 55 seconds of that right wing shite.

Please don't post Fox News links on my website. It offends me.

[Chie]

European retailers may soon have to display radiation levels next to mobile phones.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... aders.html

The committee concluded that member states should:

• Set thresholds for levels of long-term exposure to microwaves of the type emitted by mobile phones;

• Introduce clear labelling on products indicating the presence of electromagnetic fields and any health risks associated with use;

• Ban all mobile phones and wireless networks in classrooms and schools;

• Run information campaigns aimed at children and young adults about the risks to human health;

• Step up research on less-dangerous types of antennae and mobile phones.

[Jovis]

• Ban all mobile phones and wireless networks in classrooms and schools;

Does this mean banning WiFi? That's a massive step backwards.

[Sput]

The Council of Europe, which has 47 member states and is based in Strasbourg, cannot impose its will on governments, but is highly influential in policy-making and has often seen its decisions enacted through conventions and treaties.

I thought I smelled a rat, I just wasn't sure if it was the telegraph being anti-science (as far as I'm aware there is no proven link to health problems that can be warned against) or anti-EU (damn forinners trying to take away our phones!111!). I'd wager they're overstating the importance of this group.

[Chie]

Well if you read the whole article...

A draft resolution – calling on governments to "take all reasonable measures to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields" from mobile phones and similar devices, including the ban in schools – was adopted unanimously by the organisation's Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs.

The committee is composed of 84 MPs and politicians from member states, and its vice-chairman is Lord Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister. Its members reviewed the latest research on the effects of electromagnetic fields and took fresh evidence from experts before reaching its conclusions.

The draft resolution will now go before the council's full Parliamentary Assembly for approval.

[Sput]

I felt that reading a telegraph article for too long would render me stupid. Evidently I was too late in stopping.