Subject: Gary Brown, Sutro Tower, Editorial Thoughts (Bumpe)...
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 103446 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers"
To: emfguru
--------------------------------------------------
......Do not ask whether a small group of dedicated 'activists' can
mobilize and change the world.... That is the only 'force' that ever
has....
(Margaret Meade -- guru's apologies to Dr. Meade for failing to "look
up" the exact words of her world renowned quotation...... Just lazy....)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 11:15:40 -0400
From: Bdumpe@
To: Christopher Beaver
Cc: dlhelp@bellsouth.net, "Roy L. Beavers"
Subject: Re: Gary Brown, Sutro Tower, Editorial Thoughts (fwd)
Christopher: I found your OPEN thoughts and statements most sincere and
profound. I moved them around in the order of importance I accorded your
commentary. Will not delve into your comments, let the re-structure I gave them
tell the story of my agreement and what my remarks would be on each.
Gary Brown is exceptional. He gathers the proper information; he listens; he
effectively executes his plan. And when his audience hears his booming voice,
people shut their mouth, listen, and say nothing that would elicit another
positive retort from his mouth. Gary has a way with words, which he turns in
convincing and expressive presentations. Christen Linenbach appears to be
likewise. This is what is required to overcome the microwave tower and EMR
colonization by the federal government of the USA and the world. If only
activists would recognize this fact.
Agree that no one of us can singularly resolve the problem. But, Chris, the
activists refuse to accept this. Each group, rather than amass power by uniting
-- goal-wise -- with other groups, strives to gain power onto itself. The result
is alienation, discontent, in-house fighting of which the industry is VERY MUCH
AWARE and on which it capitalizes. So it may just be ONE PERSON or GROUP that
gets the point across. Remember, Rachel who wrote Silent Sprint and the woman
who brought about the standardization of plumbing fixtures each worked alone to
bring attention to a problem. Their persistent challenge to industry invariably
succeeded, and changed the world. With the bickering and cross words I have
encountered from members of this network, I feel that the only way to bring
about change in the EMR issue to move forward in a positive, and decisive way,
either alone or with those willing to cooperatively unite and forge ahead to win
this telecommunications war.
As for the churches, it might shed some light on why they are embracing towers /
antennas, other than money -- Albert Gore is talking to them. Most church
officials seet antenna siting as a public service, which Gore promotes, rather
than a hazard of which they have no knowledge. The Good Shepherd Church in
southern California, and other churches, abandoned the antenna installations
after citizens brought the health issue to their attention and emphasized it by
removing or threatening to remove their children from the school.
In general, it is apparent that the commissioners on the Sutro tower want to
deal and decide on the side of citizens. But, also evident, citizens have not
yet provided a strong enough reason for the commissioners to risk an industry
lawsuit by challenging the -- reputedly -- federal government. Those opposing
Sutro must present a more intrinsic reason than seismic and health. Libby once
asked for my help, but I have never received the full story about the
opposition.
I note a failure air re your comment about the Ad-Hoc and Fichtenberg challenge
of FCC health rules? I sort of had that notion myself, because in the past few
weeks I received requests for data on EMR sensitivity and health hazards from
notable universities and scientists. What is there to challenge?
Anyway, I am confident that alone or together the EMR issue will be resolved.
Suddenly, probably trying to influence voters, the media is joining the EMR
bandwagon.
Bert
Christopher Beaver
::::::::::::::::<>::::::::::::::
>>>>>>>>>>><
George Washington commented that what held his army together was not
patriotism in some abstact or noble sense; it was each soldier's
perception of self-interest and self-worth. Gary Brown found a way to
sit down with Apple because he felt threatened or felt the need to
protect those less capable of protecting themselves. Christine
Linenbach, two months after passing the bar, stood up to Bob McCarthy, a
lobbyist who has had his way in San Francisco for two decades, because
Sutro Tower might fall down on her home.
>>>>>>>>>>><
The simple fact is that none of us as individuals nor any of our groups
alone can compete against the entire telecommunications and electrical
industries. The game is rigged and the hour is growing very late. The
simple fact is, we have no choice, we need each other. Maybe that's one
of the lessons provided by the onslaught we face.
>>>>>>>>>>><<:::::<<<<<<<<<<<
I was knocked out that Gary Brown had not one but two meetings with
Apple, and that somehow in his finesse, he found a way for them to
consider the information he brought them. That's taking some mighty
impressive action.
As an additional thought for Gary and the group, have you sent the
information you've gathered to Steve Wozniak via his web-page and
e-mail? Or is this something I should volunteer to take on? Wozniak
appears to be devoting much of his time to computer instruction in the
classroom and hasn't seemed to be quite as in thrall to the wonderful
world of technology as his successors at Apple.
Number Two: Sutro Tower
A second hearing was held on Tuesday, August 17, before a subcommittee
of the Board of Supervisors.
The hearing began with Deborah Stein, attorney for Sutro Tower, Inc.
reaching behind her front row seat to pat the knee of Frank Chiu, head
of building and permits for the City and County of San Francisco. It
ended with Mr. Chiu slumped in his seat, at one point having covered his
face with his hands, and Ms. Stein huddled with her cronies in the front row.
During the course of the hearing, Mr. Chiu disclosed that there are 179
antennas at the Sutro Tower site that have been constructed without
permits, construction that has taken place on a regular basis since the
original site permit was granted in 1966
People who read my last item on Sutro Tower may recall that the Planning
Department and Sutro Tower Inc. admitted in that there were 120 or 119
or 129 antennas constructed without permits on Sutro Tower plus two
unpermitted underground diesel fuel tansk.
On the basis of these and other misleading statements made earlier by
the Sutro Tower attorneys, Christine Linenbach, the attorney for the
neighborhood group that has been fighting antenna construction, accused
the Sutro Tower representatives of committing what would have amounted
to perjury if the statements had been made under oath.
SUTRO HEARING - REVELATION - 179 ILLEGAL ANTENNAS ON TOWER
///////////<>\\\\\\\\\\\
Supervisor Leland Yee to Mr. Chiu: How did this situation of the
unlicensed antennas come about?
Mr. Chiu: I can't tell you.
Yee: Do you have know the total number of structures on the site?
Mr. Chiu: I don't have the figures.
Supervisor Alicia Becerril: Is there any truth to the assertion that
permits are not required?
Mr. Chium: I've always maintained that permits are necessary.
Toward the end of the hearing?
Robert McCarthy: I resent the implication that Sutro Tower, Incorporated
is a scofflaw, we have received permits for everything except the fuel
tanks and the antennas. ...
Concluding statements from the Supervisors?
Supervisor Yee: Sutro Tower, Incorporated has retained two attorneys who
have served you well, unfortunately to the detriment of the neighbors
around Sutro Tower...To the Building Department, I am extremely
disappointed. You are supposed to be the servants of the people but you
appear to be the servants of Sutro Tower....It's a sad day for me to say
I'm a representative for the people and yet the city departments
involved seem to be in the service of the corporations. I can't look the
neighbors in the eye and say, we will protect you...ultimately it is the
people we represent and no one else.
Supervisor Sue Bierman: I think we're being awfully polite about all
those antennas that went up without permits....Nobody knows for sure
what radiation has been affecting the neighbors and their children...You
can't imagine the fear I have from one window that looks out on that
tower. After all these years, I don't think the tower owners or their
representatives have done anything to dispell that fear, because it's
deliberate [their actions in constructing antennas without permits].
More hearings are to follow with much of the struggle taking place
beyond the eye of the public, and almost certainly without news reports
from the newspaper, television and radio station owners of Sutro Tower.
In one such incident, according to Christine Linenbach, in the hallway
after the hearing I've described, Bob McCarthy, one of the Sutro Tower
attorneys, grabbed Ms. Linenbach's mother, Doris Linenbach, by the arm
and threatened her daughter's career. Mr. McCarthy was quoted as saying,
"you have not yet begun to feel my wrath." Doris Linenbach was one of
the earliest people in San Francisco to sound the call about the threat
from Sutro Tower.
These same neighbors found out this past week that they are facing the
construction of cellular phone antennas in the steeple of =====Saint
Anthony's Church====in their neighborhood. The first public meeting on
these antennas was held earlier this evening, Tuesday the 24th. I was
not able to attend due to a freelance video job I'd taken earlier. But
there now seems to be a pattern of pushing these antenna proposals in
August when many people are on vacation.
==========I can't help but wonder, however despite my absence from the meeting,
what's going on with these Christian churches. Of course, it's no more than
cynics outside the church, like myself, have come to expect. But
what is literally going on with their thinking? Don't they read their
own literature?===========
They seem so self-satisfied to accept money from the phone companies,
believing it literally, in their own words, to be an answer to their
prayers. I myself can't help but recall the Biblical story of Satan's
temptations to Jesus in the desert. Satan promised to deliver the entire
world to Jesus if Jesus would only bow down and worship him. And where
are these antennas to be placed in exchange for money? In the steeple of
the church... beneath which parishioneers will bow to pray. It may not
be in the Bible, but I was raised to beware "easy" money. Or was I
taught never to accept candy from strangers?
YOUR Editorial Comment on "environmentalists"
>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Finally, as a commentary, and to join the dialogue concerning
"environmentalists" and EMF or EMR activists, I would like to toss in my
own two bits worth.
A. I knew privately that the neighbors felt they could not oppose the
antennas on the basis of radiation hazard because due to the federal
pre-emption. Before the hearings, I thought that only the
radiation hazard was of importance. During the hearings, I've had time
to re-consider my own thinking.
B. .......hunger for a challenge to the FCC. We all want that. I would like to
see something like the Karen Silkwood trial with Gerry Spence defeating
Kerr-McGee.....to happen.......David Fichtenberg and Libby Kelley.....
certainly headed in that direction. The appeals court verdict is
expected within the next few weeks....appeal to the next level.
C. .........don't see any contradiction among any of the
approaches that calls for increased regulation of power lines and
antennas on any basis:
1. .........power line radiation and microwave antenna radiation harm
human beings........no longer a question for me.....free to discuss the causes
or the amount of harm, some studies may even deny that any hazard exists, but
for me, the basic issue has been settled. I would concur with any proposal,
guideline, standard, or law that lowers human exposures in any respect...and
concur with any standard that lowers them further.
2. ......accept that the antennas may kill as many as four million
birds.......guy whose note showed up by accident in this forum
said that it wasn't the antennas fault that songbirds are disappearing
in North America, habitat destruction is the cause. If antenna
construction is not habitat destruction I don't know what is......fact is,
antennas kill a great many birds.
3. ......learned......Sutro Tower that Sutro Tower
is a very real seismic hazard......as other antennas......elsewere.....the 179
unpermitted antennas on that tower, some of them weighing
500 pounds or more.....less to fear than the folks near Lookout Mountain. It
turns out we're in the same boat even including the same engineering
firm, Hammet and Edison.
D. ...........finally gotten it through my head that virtually every elected
official at the federal level has given their consent to the diminution of our
Constitutional rights. Who among them
didn't lobby or vote for the Telecommunications Act or provide a
succession of proposals to evade environmental, human health, and
liability considerations in the siting of antennas.
E. 1.......Would antennas and powerlines be A-OK if microwave radiation were
harmless to human beings or power lines only caused childhood leukemia,
or maybe only a few rare cases or just made people irritable?
2. Would the antennas be okay if they only killed birds?
3. Would it be okay if Sutro Tower were only a seismic hazard to the
surrounding neighbors?
4. Would the antennas be okay if they only represented an attack on our
constitutional rights?
F. .....antennas and power lines come under attack just because people
think they're ugly....not wrong;........antenna is a visual
signature of Big Brother's triumph.
G. The real watchword to keep in mind may be what Bob Marley and the
Wailers once said, and I think this is the perfect challenge for myself
considering your motto to light one candle rather than curse the
darkness: "now you've seen the light, stand up for your rights."
Very best always,
Christopher Beaver
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com