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5G Millimeter Wave Exposure And Human Health
Most listeners, if they’re like Americans in general, are tethered to their cell phones and other devices with built-in antennas that communicate with cell towers. And most don’t give a second thought to whether these omnipresent devices are safe for humans. The telecom wireless industry tout cellphones as the greatest modern achievement, and uniformly pledges that the radiation they expose us to is safe.
Scientists, on the other hand, caution that cell phones AND the antennas that power them, expose humans and wildlife to a level of radiation that can result in brain and thyroid cancers along with a host of other diseases. The advent of 5G, the 5th generation of mobile networks, will require more cell towers within smaller distances. Researchers and health experts are worried that the public will have even greater exposure to dangerous radiation.
Powerful forces in the industry and government, however, have a stranglehold on how safety information is disseminated to the public. As sales soared worldwide–in 2019, around 1.52 billion smartphones were sold-the industry has even more incentive to ensure that scientific research is withheld from consumers. And last week AT&T and Verizon finally agreed to delay expansion of 5G service near some airports out of potentially catastrophic safety concerns repeatedly voiced by airlines and aviation regulators.
Guest – Barbara Koeppel is a Washington D.C.-based investigative reporter who writes for The Nation, Washington Spectator, and other outlets about social, economic, political, and foreign policy issues.
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Lawyers Beyond Borders: Maria Armoudian
Over the years Law & Disorder has interviewed dozens of “people’s lawyers” about the seemingly intractable social justice cases they bring to the courtrooms, nationally and abroad. These intrepid mavericks toil far from the limelight, often for little remuneration. Despite international conventions and human rights declarations designed to protect world citizens from illegal and degrading treatment, millions of people and communities suffer at the hands of ruthless government and corporate actors. Most have no remedy or recourse as they endure extreme and ongoing violence including torture, slavery, or violent deaths. They exist outside of the laws’ protections, or as scholar Maria Armoudian puts it, “below the law.”
How can these victims seek justice? Armoudian has some answers to that question. In her new book Lawyers Beyond Borders: Advancing International Human Rights Through Local Laws and Courts, she presents a 40-year examination of the movement, the cases, and their backstories. Her book reveals the struggles, impediments to justice, and the process of solving those problems. It chronicles little covered accounts about the politics of “people’s lawyering” while shares intimate accounts of how cause-related advocates craft creative strategies to propel injustices into the public arena. Lawyers Beyond Borders reveals how the process of litigation has value for many in restoring a sense of agency to survivors of psychological trauma.
Guest – Maria Armoudian has written two other books, Reporting from the Danger Zone: Frontline Journalists, Their Jobs and an Increasingly Perilous Future and Kill the Messenger: The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and produces and hosts the syndicated radio program, The Scholars’ Circle. Maria served as an environmental commissioner for the City of Los Angeles for five years, and on the Board of Taxi Cab Commissioners for two. She also worked for eight years on environmental protection, government oversight, poverty reduction, civil rights, and corporate reform legislation for the California State Legislature.
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