25th October 2019
1st November 2019
1st November 2019
Sunday
Politics Provides Tribes And A Sense Of Belonging For Many -But At What Cost?
Despite having created a hashtag that hasn't caught on - #MoveForwardMoreTogether - I really don't know how we do this. I return to my motto "I don't know best, we know better" and, in this spirit I seek to build #DialogueNotDebate, paying particular attention to the underlying pre-conditions of GoodWill and Co-operation.
Clearly, in politics, we are not used to politicians trying to summarise what the other has said such that the first person acknowledges that they have a sense of being heard and properly understood. It is only with such mutual understanding that the space opens for creative work together on the next stage of action planning, doing and review. Instead, we often have what I call "biting chunks out of each other" and "negating the other's concerns". People then rally round positions and block out seeing that the other is trying to meet the same universal needs -e.g. belonging -but in a different way.
One group we all belong to is humanity, and humanity is the dominant form of being on this planet. By creating a group called "Extinction Rebellion", when one acts under that banner, there is a camaraderie and strong sense of mission. Of course it would be great if everyone took to heart the change needed to address what, thanks to the April 2019 actions from Extinction Rebellion and the Fridays For A Future actions from school students, even Parliament has acknowledged to be "A Climate Crisis". The laws that prevent climate catastrophe have not followed. The concern I attempt to articulate is that an understanding develops that "Extinction Rebellion" is not the whole of what an earlier American activist, writer, etc - Joanna Macy - called "The Great Turning".
I seek to find ways in which many who shun the idea of belonging to "Extinction Rebellion" still see themselves as active in "The Great Turning". Launching another hashtag has been my default action to try to offer a mission which more might attempt. So I offer up a little bouquet that I know to be inadequate, but it may yet be a rallying point for some? #EveryStreetCarbonNeutral2025
These words on a blog post seem inadequate to me to address that deep need for belonging. What I end with is a statement that I believe in the value of deeper forms of community development work and spiritual work/regeneration than "Extinction Rebellion" represents -with their focus, as I see it, on mobilising 3.5% of the population in the capital to effect change. Yes, they do call for involving a cross section of people in Citizens Assemblies and the local Extinction Rebellion groups operate in a way that cares about personal regeneration for the next challenge. However, until a public discourse emerges that stimulates in more people a shift in motivation and a clear role in "The Great Turning", the three blades* of the (metaphorical) wind turbine will not be harmoniously generating the change we need to see. Help build language, dialogue, imagery, mission, action and camaraderie that works on every street to deepen the caring and sharing that gets us beyond where we are not all turning together.
* Wind Turbine Blade 1 - The Spiritual Ideal/Regeneration/Hinterland
Blade 2 -Talking Truth To Power with NonViolent Direct Action For Harm Reduction
Blade 3 - Deepening of Community (AKA #CommunityDevelopment) e.g. by voluntarily bringing personal posessions/property into collective ownership & taking on responsibility for local care needs with a variant of Heinz Wolff’s Care4Care
I hope you’ll keep the blades turning by reciting a personal mantra honouring all three blades; mine is “Retreat/Regroup - Stand For Generosity - Share”
Clearly, in politics, we are not used to politicians trying to summarise what the other has said such that the first person acknowledges that they have a sense of being heard and properly understood. It is only with such mutual understanding that the space opens for creative work together on the next stage of action planning, doing and review. Instead, we often have what I call "biting chunks out of each other" and "negating the other's concerns". People then rally round positions and block out seeing that the other is trying to meet the same universal needs -e.g. belonging -but in a different way.
One group we all belong to is humanity, and humanity is the dominant form of being on this planet. By creating a group called "Extinction Rebellion", when one acts under that banner, there is a camaraderie and strong sense of mission. Of course it would be great if everyone took to heart the change needed to address what, thanks to the April 2019 actions from Extinction Rebellion and the Fridays For A Future actions from school students, even Parliament has acknowledged to be "A Climate Crisis". The laws that prevent climate catastrophe have not followed. The concern I attempt to articulate is that an understanding develops that "Extinction Rebellion" is not the whole of what an earlier American activist, writer, etc - Joanna Macy - called "The Great Turning".
I seek to find ways in which many who shun the idea of belonging to "Extinction Rebellion" still see themselves as active in "The Great Turning". Launching another hashtag has been my default action to try to offer a mission which more might attempt. So I offer up a little bouquet that I know to be inadequate, but it may yet be a rallying point for some? #EveryStreetCarbonNeutral2025
These words on a blog post seem inadequate to me to address that deep need for belonging. What I end with is a statement that I believe in the value of deeper forms of community development work and spiritual work/regeneration than "Extinction Rebellion" represents -with their focus, as I see it, on mobilising 3.5% of the population in the capital to effect change. Yes, they do call for involving a cross section of people in Citizens Assemblies and the local Extinction Rebellion groups operate in a way that cares about personal regeneration for the next challenge. However, until a public discourse emerges that stimulates in more people a shift in motivation and a clear role in "The Great Turning", the three blades* of the (metaphorical) wind turbine will not be harmoniously generating the change we need to see. Help build language, dialogue, imagery, mission, action and camaraderie that works on every street to deepen the caring and sharing that gets us beyond where we are not all turning together.
* Wind Turbine Blade 1 - The Spiritual Ideal/Regeneration/Hinterland
Blade 2 -Talking Truth To Power with NonViolent Direct Action For Harm Reduction
Blade 3 - Deepening of Community (AKA #CommunityDevelopment) e.g. by voluntarily bringing personal posessions/property into collective ownership & taking on responsibility for local care needs with a variant of Heinz Wolff’s Care4Care
I hope you’ll keep the blades turning by reciting a personal mantra honouring all three blades; mine is “Retreat/Regroup - Stand For Generosity - Share”
Monday
What Do We Know About 5G?
The nuts and bolts of 5G – background for the non tech-savvy
(prepared for the #GeneralElection2019 #Pause5G Campaign )
5G
- Is the fifth-generation (“5G”) digital cellular network technology (how wireless devices such as mobile phones and tablets receive and transmit information)
- It follows 2G, 3G and 4G
- 5G gives faster connections with higher capacity of data
- 5G is already live in many cities across the UK e.g. Manchester and Birmingham
- 5G is widely used for private networks
Cells and antennae
- Service areas covered by providers are divided into small geographical areas called cells.
- Wireless devices communicate by radio waves with a local antenna and an automated transceiver (transmitter and receiver) in the cell, over frequency channels.
- Local antennae within the cell are connected with the telephone network and the internet with a high bandwidth optical fibre.
5G waves and new antennae
- 5G use millimetre long waves
- They have a shorter range than previous waves used (4G, 3G) so each cell will have more antennae (on average a few hundred metres apart)
- Antennae are several cms tall unlike large antennae previously used
- Multiple antennae in a cells send mm long waves to a wireless device e.g. mobile phone simultaneously – a technique known as beam forming
- 4G supports up to 100,000 devices per km squared, whereas 5G supports up to 1,000,000 devices per km squared
- New spectrum has been allocated to 5G in order to support increased requirements; in March 2018, EU lawmakers agreed to open up 3.6 and 26 GHz bands by 2020 (compared to 700-2500 MHz used by 4G)
Concerns
Interference
- The spectrum used for 5G will be close to that used by weather and Earth observation satellites – this has already caused significant interference – it impairs weather prediction performance
- More harmful weather events cannot be picked up – this impacts on national security
- Many organisations including US Navy and NASA have raised concerns
- Surveillance
- As of early 2019, several countries including the UK have taken action to restrict or eliminate use of Chinese equipment due to espionage fears
- GCHQ are massively involved to monitor surveillance standards
Health
- April 2019, Brussels blocked a 5G trial in the city because of radiation laws
- In Geneva, Switzerland, a planned upgrade to 5G was stopped for the same reason
- Electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not scientifically recognised, but effects such as headaches and neurasthenia have been claimed form Wi-Fi and 4G as seen in a report by the World Health Organization
- This presents concerns with 5G which uses higher microwave frequencies from 2.6 GHz to 28 GHz (compared to 700-2500 MHz used by 4G)
- Critics say wave frequencies used by 5G have not been subjected to substantial scientific research
- In January 2019, over 180 scientists and medical doctors wrote a letter to officials in the EU demanding a moratorium on 5G coverage in Europe until potential hazards for human health have been investigated
- The European Commissions’ Scientific Committees on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) reported in the “Statement on emerging health and environmental issues (2918) “5G networks will soon be rolled out for mobile phone and smart device users. How exposure to electromagnetic fields could affect humans remains a controversial area. Studies have not yielded clear evidence of the impact on mammals, birds or insects. The lack of clear evidence to inform the development of exposure guidelines to 5G technology leaves open the possibility of unintended biological consequences”
- In US, many senators have raised concerns over health impacts on human and animals
[All research references available by emailing paul.crosland[at]gmail.com]
More links on the Pause5G Twitter account @GPause5
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