The American Religion: The Smokestack Culture

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

As a child in the urban heartland of America, I learned about a time when the pollution from private industry was so bad that a white collar would turn brown by the close of the business day. Later in life, I read the description of the same condition existing as far back as the early nineteenth century. Industrial emissions today are not as visible, but they may be more lethal. On the less deadly side, a recent study of juvenile hearing loss makes me wonder if it could be related to a new form of industrial pollution: electromagnetic noise.

From a libertarian perspective, we have a natural right to own electronic devices that emit small quantities of noise pollution. Likewise, private industry and the military have the right to pollute the public wave space with higher powered transmitters. Children have no right to their full, natural range of hearing.

The solution to E-Mag noise pollution is probably not politically acceptable. It would reduce the ability of law enforcers to monitor cell phone and Wi-Fi traffic. It would obsolete existing infrastructure to the tune of billions of dollars. It would require the purchase of software that is outside the control of Redmond, Washington. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are willing to make the sacrifices needed to move America away from its toxic environment.

Please feel free to share your perspectives on and experience with gnarly E-Mag noise.

Comments

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

Do you just like, read some stuff and then weave it into some morally sanctimonious template from Microsoft Word or something? Hello, I see you are trying to grind your axe on an obscure issue. Would you like some help?

[chemchick.livejournal.com]

Come on dude. Play nice.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Why the emotion? Did she press some button or smth?

[sagittipotens.livejournal.com]

I would point the finger at MP3 players and more modern, popular and heavy metal concerts. It adds up. Why most people on stage wear ear plugs.

And of course, parents not being bovvered to regulate their kids' use of electronic products and everyday activities.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

The gubmint parents better stay out of kids' bizzniss mp3-player-lists.

I would, too...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... I just thought it was a good excuse to bring up the issue of industrial noise pollution.

[karmanotdharma.livejournal.com]

Children have no right to their full, natural range of hearing?? Why not? Or are you joking?

[http://users.livejournal.com/aviation_/]

I would say that is "sarcasm."

[rogerdr.livejournal.com]

How exactly is EM noise supposed to affect the ear? I'd like to see a verifiable mechanism for this, at least, before thinking that it has anything to do with hearing loss. Sounds like so much aluminum foil golf cap paranoia to me.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Yeah... imma need some more evidence too, before I get on the hate-wagon.

Hearing degradation...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... does not have to be centered at the ear. Interference in the nerve space which processes sounds can degrade hearing by a notch or two.

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

Is this the "power lines cause cancer" for this decade?

Before you proceed further you might want to read this:

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html

and this:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/ear/hearing.htm

Or is this your way of saying the CIA implanted a receiver in your head?

Cool sites.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

I'd rather argue that the CIA implanted disinformation in your head. Your pointers are cool, but they reveal nothing about the interaction between neural wave patterns and external factors, such as E-Mag noise. Here (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/8730.htm) is a simple description of a brain wave monitor. You may want to learn more about the internal workings of that organ that sits between your ears.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

I'll ask the kid next door what he thinks causes it. My house is starting to vibrate from his car audio system... he couldn't be more than a block away.

[chemchick.livejournal.com]

Most of the studies done on juvenile hearing loss have more to do with too loud headphones and concerts than anything else. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone that thinks that emag is what is causing it. There's been studies that have tried to link living near powerlines with cancer (which is what emag is more likely to effect) and those studies have been inconclusive at best.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Yeah, some mp3 players get up past 120 dbs I think? OSHA wouldn't allow a person to work in an enviroment that loud without hearing protection.

what's going on

[http://users.livejournal.com/aviation_/]

Where am I

Re: what's going on

[ironhawke.livejournal.com]

Wait, what?

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

??????


WTF does electromagnetic noise have to do with hearing?

Are you seriously that stupid that you do not realize that Electromagnetic noise is closer related to vision than hearing?

You can stand in a room with enough EMI to cook you like a turkey but your ears will be perfectly fine.

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this sounds to me like the next step in the crazy "I'm allergic to WiFi!" hypochondria. Another blatant misunderstanding of a scientific term, just like Creationists with the laws of thermodynamics.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Eh, it's a price I'm willing to pay.

I mean, my hearing is pretty good. Cept for when crazy super-religious folk start talking. Suddenly there's this loud wave-like sound that just drowns out their superstitious crap.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

It's a solution looking for a problem. In other words, it doesn't exist. EM waves are not produced at toxic power levels except in your microwave oven.

Cooked by radar!

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's true that the brain can be cooked by radio waves in the microwave range. Here (http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/printthread.php?t=3511) are some interesting accounts of brain damage caused by radar. The hypothesis that this is the only way that the brain can suffer from the effects of electromagnetic radiation will not hold up under closer scrutiny.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

What, no Caesar?

The spirit of Caesar...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... is alive and well, and living in Redmond, Washington.

[headhouse.livejournal.com]

I want a turing test attached to the post function for this community, please.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Or better yet, a thumbs-up/thumbs-down option like on Youtube.

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

By "electromagnetic noise," do you mean the noise emitted by MP3 players and other sound devices that run on electricity, or are you talking about noise from the actual electromagnetic fields generated when a current runs through a wire?

Or is this just the next explanation for those who claim to be "allergic" to things like WiFi, cell phones, and radio?

MP3 player noise...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... is sound energy, not electromagnetic energy. I'm referring to electromagnetic signals with the capacity to interfere with the smooth function of the brain. Such noise can interfere with the brain's auditory center to a significant degree. You may have experienced it without realizing what it is.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

I understand the point you are trying to make, but unfortunately your example is a distraction. If an activity is known to be a significant threat to public health, then yes it should be regulated. The balance between public health and the usefulness of the utility must be considered within those regulations.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I was born hard-of-hearing.

I will say that the increase in hearing loss among people who weren't born this way has probably more to do with the dumbasses that play radios so loud that it makes cars two cars behind them vibrate.