From Brit telly presenter Eamonn Holmes to burning 5G towers in the Netherlands: Stupid week turns into stupid fortnight for radio standard

Sleepy ITV daytime show This Morning isn't typically the venue for conspiratorial chatter. It's more Loose Women than Loose Change. Still, that didn't prevent Eamonn Holmes – or, as many of us know him, "Who?" – from espousing the belief that the "mainstream media" is participating in a cover-up about the dangers of 5G. During …

[Doctor Syntax]

"But for the avoidance of any doubt I want to make it completely clear there's no scientific evidence to substantiate any of those 5G theories. I hope that clears that up."

Actually, no, it doesn't. Scientific evidence is that they're so utterly bonkers that it can only be believed by celebrities and the seriously stupid.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Scientific evidence is that they're so utterly bonkers that it can only be believed by celebrities and the seriously stupid."

Goop anyone?

[Fred Flintstone]

Goop anyone?

That would be OK, I don't think that smearing the towers with avocado will do much harm..

[Anonymous Coward]

...aside from making 5G definitively non-vegan, you mean?

[[e-mail]]

FFS, they're NOT vegans!

Look, Vegans come from a star a short distance way from Earth - and they are a damn sight more advanced than 5G telephony (and accelerate much faster, too - they've got inertial compensators rated for over 250G last the MiBs checked).

Please stop calling a bunch of holier-than-thou fussy eaters 'Vegans' before the Alien Races Relations Board sends a strongly worded protest. (note to any self-styled vegans in the audience - the definition of "alive" is something that breathes, consumes food and reacts to external stimuli, all of which applies to plants as much as animals. So if you are really that set against eating living things, you should stop eating plants too. Just sayin' :-) )

[M7S]

(Humour) bypass

When we see 42 towers burned, we'll realise it heralds the arrival of the...

Vegan (De)Constructor Fleet

[Fazal Majid]

Re: (Humour) bypass

Well, listening to vegans prattle about their higher level of consciousness and ethical virtue makes my own major intestine, in a desperate attempt to save humanity, want to leap straight up through my neck and throttle my brain.

[sanmigueelbeer]

And if scientific evidence is dancing in front of them butt naked, will they listen?

There was a comedian who summed this all up succinctly (and I'm paraphrasing): Being a celebrity is not a guarantee a person of intelligence.

[You aint sin me, roit]

No scientific evidence...

That's the problem, even the "apology " is written in conspiracy theory terms...

"Just because they don't have the evidence yet doesn't mean they won't get it someday. Though of course the state will make sure it gets buried..."

Once you pull the tin foil over your head you only hear what you want to hear.

[tfewster]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-52272649/do-celebrities-still-matter-in-a-crisis

Do celebutards ever matter? Or are they always a poison?

[Anonymous Coward]

Giving credence to such ideas merely reinforces them, and contributes to an atmosphere where gullible rubes set fire to 4G antennas, because they're too fucking stupid to know the difference.

And therein lies the nub of the problem (emphasis mine) ... these are the same fools who are lauding Spaffer and Hancockup as saviours of the NHS despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.

George Carlin was right ... if my code scaled as well as stupidity appears to then I'd be happy indeed.

[Dan 55]

Nah, they're not setting fire to 4G towers. Those are good, they let us check the Facebooks and the Twitters and the YouTubes so we can find out how 5G towers are killing us.

[Arthur the cat]

or as people outside the UK know him, "Who?"

I'm in the UK but still went "Who?"

[Zippy´s Sausage Factory]

Re: or as people outside the UK know him, "Who?"

To invoke the spirit of the late Sir Terry, I would advise you to cherish your ignorance on that point.

[Arthur the cat]

Way out of date

The Fourth Estate is supposed to inform and educate the populace, not discuss bonkers conspiracy theories spouted by random tinfoil-hat-wearing Twitter eggs.

When did you last read a British newspaper? With one exception(*) they're all full of clickbait bullshit designed to get eyeballs for their advertisers, and axe grinding opinion pieces with statistics so abused that if the stats were kids the police would raid the premises immediately. The only difference between the tabloids and the so-called "quality" papers is the reading age required.

(*) The FT. Shame about the paywall.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Way out of date

When the government manages to get rid of the BBC, this will be the best TV journalism available

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Way out of date

Oh the FT definitely has its own, very strong, agendas that are also not fully grounded in reality. They just tend to stay away from celebrity. They definitely still do some clickbait headlines though.

[21st Century Peon]

Misinterpreted?

"I want to clarify some comments that some of you may have misinterpreted from me yesterday"

Nobody misinterpreted you, Eamonn. You were very clear in your attempt to become an Irish Glenn Beck.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Misinterpreted?

More like an Irish David Icke?

He's clearly an anti-5Ger who's been told by his employer to tone it down. But he'll be out on a protest with the other anti-5Gers, that are to be spotted up-and-down the country of a Saturday morning, * asking people to sign ther petition against the "Masts-Of-Death".

Too many of these loons now.

*Not these past weekends, obviously,

[Roger Kynaston]

Anti 5Ger

Am I not right in thinking that the frequencies used by 5G were repurposed from broadcast television until all our TV content was first re-tuned and then pushed on line. So, if he is worried about this stuff cooking his brain, he is several decades too late.

Beer because this wilful nut jobbery drives me to drink.

Also, as others above noted

* or as people outside the UK know him, "Who?"

I still went who despite being a limey

[ridley]

Re: Anti 5Ger

No you are not right.

5G is at a much higher, but still safe, frequency that does not penetrate or go around corners too well so would not have been very good for terrestrial TV

[Martin an gof]

Re: Anti 5Ger

He is partly right. The reason Ofcom has recently cleared the "700MHz" band is to increase spectrum available for "mobile services". This was also the reason for clearing the "800MHz" band back in 2012. I believe some current 5G is using the same bands as existing 4G services, but the first "new" band for 5G will be up around 3.6GHz and the 700MHz band is expected to carry 5G services soon:

Ofcom, Enabling 5G in the UK

Ofcom statement on the award of 700MHz and 3.6 - 3.8GHz bands

They are also investigating the use of 26GHz and even higher frequencies.

This is all UK-based, of course. Other countries have other schemes (I believe the US is planning a national rollout of 5G on 600MHz as well as local uses of other frequencies) and it looks to an outside observer as if 5G is going to be dotted all over the spectrum in a way that makes 4G's fragmentation look positively well-planned.

M.

[JohnGrantNineTiles]

Re: Anti 5Ger

Yes, frequencies around 700 MHz are intended to give better coverage in rural areas. It's 26 GHz that is causing all the angst. And tbh while ITU are very clear there's absence of evidence of any harmful effect, I'm not entirely convinced there's evidence of absence.

[Martin an gof]

Re: Anti 5Ger

You sound like that twit on ITV.

26GHz isn't deployed anywhere yet, as far as I'm aware. Not anywhere in the entire globe, not for 5G services anyway so there is evidence of absence - there's nothing there. As far as I'm aware there isn't a single handset yet available that is capable of operating at any frequency higher than 3.8GHz and most existing deployments are I believe using existing frequencies currently occupied by 3G and 4G services. You are right about 700MHz, but the related fact is that 26GHz is likely to be used for very small cells in heavily-populated areas such as town centres, or industrial sites with high density office accommodation.

We have the same old tripe trotted out every time there's a new technology, particularly a radio technology, and how on earth could a radio signal "spread" a flippin' virus, for heaven's sake? Teleportation?

I once knew someone who was convinced a mobile phone mast (probably only 2G back then, but maybe it was just as 3G was coming in) was affecting his health from several hundred yards away, claiming symptoms had started around the same time the mast was erected. However, he had nothing at all to say about the 275kV overhead lines (or maybe they were 400kV - I'll have to look that line up) which ran almost directly above his house and garden and buzzed alarmingly in the rain.

M.

[CrazyOldCatMan]

Re: Anti 5Ger

nut jobbery drives me to drink

To be fair, *most* things seem to drive commentards to drink..

(Hic)

[Anonymous Coward]

re: God's gift to women

That's what Eamonn's opinion on himself was 20 years ago.!

It's about time the smug eejit was put out to pasture to make way for the next generation of presenter.

I gave up on watching daytime TV years ago and ITV pretty much. Lowest common denominator broadcasting, appropriate for (un)Social Media generation I guess.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: re: God's gift to women

Holmes is an utter egocentric twunt. In his recent court case where he was trying to avoid a tax bill he described himself as "the best live TV presenter in the country", "better than anyone else", "the market leader and an expert", and "answerable to no one but myself". Satisfyingly he lost the case.

[Inventor of the Marmite Laser]

Lovely turn of phrase

" clickbait bullshit designed to get eyeballs for their advertisers, and axe grinding opinion pieces with statistics so abused that if the stats were kids the police would raid the premises immediately"

[DailyLlama]

Simple solution

Classify these essential infrastructure attach as terrorism, just like they did when all those heroes were setting fire to the money generating speed cameras a few years back?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Simple solution

That had at least some benefit to society (as long as they left the ones at actual accident hotspots alone)..

[deive]

Re: Simple solution

Yeah, because the people who go around setting fire to stuff are totally going to research that first.

[Frank Zuiderduin]

The most moronic about 'burning 5G towers' in the Netherlands is there aren't any. Sure, there are a couple of test sites, but all towers found 'in the wild' over here are no more than 4G, because 5G HASN'T BEEN ROLLED OUT YET!

Bloody tin foil hat idiots.

[werdsmith]

I was content in my delusion that the Netherlands doesn’t have any idiots because I’ve never encountered a Dutch idiot.

Very sad to have that illusion shattered.

[Anonymous Cabbage]

The major Dutch cities are generally quite civilised and educated, and the rural areas are so sparsely-populated that it's hard to find people, never mind idiots. But its small towns tend to be similar to small-town Britain: full of bored underemployed people who are stuck there because they are too thick and/or lazy to move anywhere else, and believe it's somebody else's fault, usually foreigners. They prefer the target of their ire to be dark-skinned for easy identification, but "foreigners" can sometimes include people from the other small town a couple of miles away.

[Daniel von Asmuth]

conspiracy theory

Just imagine that merely shaking hands with a 5G user could infect you with a 5G smartphone too. That would spell doom for Apple and Huawei.

[TonyWilk]

One can but dream...

Shame we can't educate these conspiracy nuts about electromagnetic radiation: microwave ovens, wifi, mobile phones, cell towers, even the CPU in your PC/laptop emits some measurable GHz 'beamz' !

Therefore, they should do the only sensible thing: limit their communications to good old pen and paper.

You know it makes sense

[Stoneshop]

limit their communications to good old pen and paper.

Just don't mention the chemicals in inks.

Or rather, do, and have them move to clay tablets and cuneiform, or stone, a chisel and a hammer.

[Lord Elpuss]

Re: limit their communications to good old pen and paper.

"...or stone, a chisel and a hammer"

Stone dust and low level radioactivity from the metal hammer?

[Fred Flintstone]

Re: limit their communications to good old pen and paper.

stone, a chisel and a hammer

I think we want to avoid putting anything dangerously heavy in those hands. Quills and ink are fine, thanks.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: One can but dream...

One can but dream...

Shame we can't educate these conspiracy nuts.

FTFY

[Captain Scarlet]

Re: One can but dream...

Big Clive on Youtube recently did a video explaining it, however he himself has changed it several times as he is still worried his video might be misinterpreted.

[JohnGrantNineTiles]

Re: One can but dream...

Then again, I can remember when asbestos was thought to be safe. And lead in petrol. Maybe there are frequencies that couple into people's brains and make them come up with these crazy ideas.

[Martin an gof]

Re: One can but dream...

I don't think anyone thought Lead in petrol was "safe", per se. The dangers of Lead had been known about since the Romans first used it for plumbing (the clue's in the name). People had been urging caution on Lead in petrol since the early days but as an anti-knock agent it was unsurpassed for many years so the growing evidence that Lead in exhaust fumes was just as harmful - if not more so - as Lead in drinking water was mostly brushed aside.

Asbestos I'll give you, though again there were people who spotted the signs early on, and evidence of harm from that kind of dust had been present for many years in the lungs of miners and quarrymen, but covered up in the name of commerce.

Your final sentence makes a lot more sense :-)

M.

[Alan Brown]

The RF nutters

Have been doing this for decades.

We'd put up a pole and hang an antenna on it. Then the complaints would roll in about how the radio waves wwer upseting their chakras and making their chickens lay tetrahedral eggs.

Some time later we'd come back and attach cables to the antennas - and maybe a transmitter.

In one notable instance we put a suitably painted wooden replica of a mobile phone antenna up a pole - it got just as many complaints as a real one.

In another, we disguised the antennas and left the site active for a year, then changed them out for a more visible one. The complaints about damaged chakras and tetrahedral eggs all stated the problems started the day the visible antenna appeared.

The best thing you can do for people like this is to inform them that they need lots of tinfoil and to pay particular attention to tightly covering the skull's orifaces to keep the RF out - ears nose, mouth and eyes

[Danny Boyd]

Re: The RF nutters

Pity human intellect is limited in principle, whereas human stupidity asymptotically reaches infinity.

[vogon00]

Re: The RF nutters

> "ears nose, mouth and eyes"

May I suggest that ears, noses and eyes are optional, but it is mandatory to cover the mouth in such situations?

[Amentheist]

Re: The RF nutters

Hmm almost as if.. the issue is in the head of the complainee?

[Jimmy2Cows]

Re: The RF nutters

So... remove the head and the problem goes away... I like where you're going with this. Eagerly awaiting the Shaun of the Dead-style news announcements on how best to tackle this scourge.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: The RF nutters

I have a relative, Brit now living somewhere remote in USA (to get away from RFI). When she last visited she explained that she didn't have a mobile phone because she was allergic to the signals. She went on to explain that the same applied to the GPS signal and to WiFi. I refrained from disputing her wisdom on these topics although I'm not aware that there's anywhere on the globe untouched by the GPS signal. The little white box she was sitting 3ft from was a WiFi repeater and she was looking quite healthy (for a vegetarian). I was delighted to hear that she recently cured another relative of Covid-19 using her crystal healing powers despite being 5000 miles away. Why are governments not investing heavily in that solution? I find it slightly concerning that we must have a substantial chunk of our DNA in common.

[ibmalone]

Re: The RF nutters

To be fair, you've got a fair chunk of your DNA in common with bananas too. (Link before you ask.)

"Francis adds that humans likely share about 1 percent of their DNA with other fruits as well." More with some fruits than others of course...

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: The RF nutters

"To be fair, you've got a fair chunk of your DNA in common with bananas too. (Link before you ask.)"

Not forgetting, of course, that bananas are one of the most highly radioactive foods.

[Carl W]

Re: The RF nutters

These are the same people who will complain that there is no mobile phone signal in their house if you take the antenna away.

[AlbertH]

Re: The RF nutters

As part of a re-cabling job in a school, we were asked to install wi-fi throughout. Within days of starting work, we were confronted by all the teachers, complaining that they had headaches and tiredness, and even the milk in the Staff Room had been curdled by the "dangerous radiation". I took them down the main corridor to the equipment cupboard at the end, and opened it to reveal that all that had been installed at that point were the access points in each room and the cabling back to the cupboard.

Nothing had been powered up yet....

These "educators" persisted in complaining that the "aerials" were upsetting them.....

Loons. Every last one of them. I pity the children that they were supposed to teach!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: The RF nutters

Yes, well, one of my children was made to take part in an "experiment" where a qualified biology teacher cut an apple in half and passed one half around so that the class could shout abuse at it, before putting both halves on the window for a few days to see which one began to rot first.

This teacher also put perishable items under pyramids to see if they would last longer.

When the abused apple did show signs of deteriorating more quickly, the obvious conclusion - that it had been exposed to handling by and the exhalations of a dozen dirty schoolkids - was ignored because the reason was quite plainly that it had been hurt by the verbal abuse. Or at least, that is the way the story was related to me, and when we tackled the teacher about it at parents evening all we got was "it was a good experiment, the children enjoyed it".

[Kane]

Eamonn Holmes, Twat

See above.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Eamonn Holmes, Twat

The mast Operators should send the bill for repairs to the Twat and the TV company that makes the show.

Then get the networks to ban him from their networks for life.

The TV company really need to look at not broadcasting the show with him and the missus fronting it.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: Eamonn Holmes, Twat

A criminal charge of incitement might be a good alternative.

[whoseyourdaddy]

Idiots are probably knocking out 3G/4G service as they torch these.

Isn't 5G being deployed in the sub-5Ghz band, like 802.11A that everyone has in their homes already?

At SAR-friendly power levels, millimeter band wavelengths get absorbed by damn near everything. Humidity? Check.

Oops.

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't follow the link I'm posting!

Just don't.

https://thebasesproject.org/bases-54-seven-part-2-corona-to-5g-global-take-over/

But if you do scroll forward to 17 minutes in to the video and listen to what is being said.

I thought I was for free speech, turns out I might have a bit of a problem with it.

In case you were wondering how I came across that website, I used to work with the nutjob Miles who runs it.

He regularly used to talk to me about aliens and how the place we work was overrun by scutters (no, not the Red Dwarf variety) and krakon.

See this link for more info - or don't. This one is less dangerous, more of an inkling in to just how deranged the man is.

https://thebasesproject.org/mind-hacking/

Usually what he promotes amuses me, not so much when it is actively dangerous.

[vogon00]

Re: Don't follow the link I'm posting!

Bottom line IMO : 'Just don't' bother with the link as Foxglove suggests above. That's 60 seconds of viewing and a thoughtful 5 minutes of typing I won't get back :-)

However:-

@foxglove : Thanks for citing your sources.

That has enabled me to agree with you - the opinions expressed by this 'Seven' person (Actually a 'Zero') are bloody risky ("Go onto the website of the UK Government - they KNOW there is no deadly virus"), and probably 'reckless' (provided anyone listens, my bad here as I did, briefly) and almost certainly 'actively dangerous'.

Whilst we''re on the subject of free speech, I'm glad to be in the UK as 'Miles' and 'Seven' are so obviously able to enjoy their free speech - and NOT get charged with 'Reckless Endangerment' a-la USA statutes. Almost a shame we don't have that offence on the books here*.

People get slagged off for being Holocaust Deniers (And rightly so), so how about starting up something aimed at doxing 'Coronavirus Deniers'? This numpty is at least as bad.

The delicious irony is that targeting coronavirus deniers would go viral :-)

They say there is nothing like *knowing* what you are talking about. If so, then 'Seven' must be very happy as she obviously knows nothing about what she is talking about.

*IANAL and am happy to be corrected if we do.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Don't follow the link I'm posting!

Are you saying we have more free speech rights than Americans?

[Spanners]

Re: Don't follow the link I'm posting!

more free speech rights than Americans?

I have never been under the misapprehension that the US has more/better free speech than the UK. Not being people, however, our corporations may have less free speech than US ones. I'm fine with that...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Don't follow the link I'm posting!

My impression has always been that in practice, individual UK citizens have very similar freedom of speech to Americans. The actual written laws of the two countries are rather different from each other, as the US has specific constitutional protection for free speech, whereas we just have to rely on the UK government of the day not going completely totalitarian on us.

The big difference seems to be how government censorship applies to media outlets; UK media is much more controllable by government than the US media. Given how poorly the UK media has been at holding government to account recently* I'm beginning to think the US may have taken the better line here.

Amusingly, Americans often bleat about their free speech rights in the context of corporations censoring or deplatforming them on the private platforms run by said corporations (e.g. facebook, google etc.). The US constitution has nothing to do with that, as the first amendment is only about protection against censorship by the US government itself.

One thing that is common between the two jurisdictions is that while you are mostly free to say what you like, you are always fully responsible for the consequences of what you say. So if you incite others to commit crimes you can expect the authorities to be unhappy with you as well as the culprits of the crimes, or if you slander someone they can sue you. Or as I'm guessing happened here, if you say something really stupid on air, your employer can force you to apologise on threat of sacking you if you don't. It's not a "freedom of speech" issue if your employer is upset at something you've said as their de facto spokesman, it's just plain and simple accountability to your employer.

*Yes, I know the problem is more that the UK's news media is predominantly owned and run by a bunch of assholes, but I'm sure the category D notices aren't helping.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Don't follow the link I'm posting!

"if you slander someone they can sue you. "

That seems to depend on how much money you have and the UK judiciary seems to be the "go to" place do it, rather than the US. This can be the case when both side are not even resident in the UK if it the slander happened on the internet and "may have been seen" by people in the UK.

[AlbertH]

Re: Don't follow the link I'm posting!

Weird thing is that Miles used to be a very responsible senior engineer for a major broadcaster. I don't know what he's been drinking - mind bleach, possibly - but I certainly don't want any of it.

[John H Woods]

Illusory Truth

The problem with celebs opening their gobs about this is that they have a platform: and it has been known for decades that merely repeating false information tends to lend it a validity in the minds of those who experience it.

I made a formal complaint to the BBC about their news channel last night on precisely this basis, because they had a constant ticker display, probably 1/min, for literally hours. It read: "Spain and Italy begin to ease lockdown restrictions as case numbers drop."

My estimate is that anyone who had seen more than 1.5 hours of BBC news yesterday saw the factually incorrect clause "... as case numbers drop" displayed on the bottom of the screen approximately 100 times, a statement about which there is no argument - it is quite simply not true*

I just don't know how we counter the big voices, with bigger audiences, when they keep saying things that are false. It's depressing.

----

*Actually, the Spanish active caseload had decreased by 81 patients (less than 0.1%) against the previous day and that was the first decrease in active caseload since records began but, as anyone coud have predicted, it has now risen not just beyond the slight dip of the day before, but beyond the "peak" of the previous day. Italy had experienced 0 days drop in active caseload and, indeed, its caseload continues to grow, albeit more slowly.

[Pascal Monett]

"he used to be one"

Yes, and that seems to be the sad state of journalism today. They get their article fodder from Twitter and spin useless drivel that, somehow, still gets papers sold.

There's not one of them that could expose a Watergate today and frankly, it wouldn't make much of a difference since we all know about Echelon and the NSA and nobody gives a flying one about it.

But post an image about some celebrity secretly meeting some other celebrity and oh God, the Internet goes into meltdown.

And some people still ask me why I don't follow the news anymore.

[Martin an gof]

Re: "he used to be one"

And some people still ask me why I don't follow the news anymore

There are still some good journalists out there, it's just getting increasingly difficult to separate the signal from the noise. It pays to try however, because otherwise the only information you get will be hearsay from people you talk to (or whose Tweets you read) and that's never a good thing.

El Reg itself is always a good starting point :-)

In terms of the BBC, the World Service (European version available on DAB in the UK) is actually not half bad, some of the local radio stations still have local news teams, and the local sections of the news website are often more interesting than the front page. Living in Wales we have the benefit of a "National" local radio station (well, two - Radio Wales and Radio Cymru) and while they do still have a preponderance of "silly farmer" stories, I often find myself switching Today or PM off and turning to Radio Cymru in the car.

Other than that, you could try Private Eye. Plenty of good journalism still going on there, and available by subscription for not (in the grand scheme of things) an awful lot of money.

Shopping for food the other day I wanted also to collect an issue of New Scientist because if nothing else it does collect information from varied sources. I've been an occasional reader for nearly 40 years (a friend at school was bought a subscription when we were doing O-levels) but was shocked by the cover price for such a slim magazine last week - nearly eight quid!

M.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "he used to be one"

+1 for your comments on Private Eye; it's too often written off as just being satire. My one note of caution would be that the stuff it uncovers often amounts to little more than city or westminster gossip.

I also agree with your comments on New Scientist. Horribly overpriced (both in the newsstands and for a subscription), but my local library allow you to check out a digital copy for free - you might want to see if yours offers this too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Care for some “Harmless” non-ionising microwaves?

How ironic it would be if it turns out these 5G antennas had been melted with “harmless” beams of non-ionising microwaves.

How even more ironic it would be if it turns out the culprit wasn’t a single microwave source, but a complex interference pattern from many distant microwave emitters.... a kind of deniable weapon system in plain sight.

How super-ironic it would be if the best defence was lots of tinfoil...

You’d better not disagree with me now I have the master control, operating through a veil of software bugs in that network edge hardware of questionable foreign origin.

[Col_Panek]

Re: Care for some “Harmless” non-ionising microwaves?

Microwave Death Rays don't work like you think they do, due to 1/R^2. You'll have to use lethal powered lasers instead.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not enough punching going on

I would never nornally advocate violence, but for the people peddling the bullsh*t like this I think I could make an exception.

And definitely treat the morons actually setting fires like terrorists.

[Sam Therapy]

Re: Not enough punching going on

I'd be happy to punch Eamonn Holmes on general principle.

[Claverhouse]

British journalism exists for 2 purposes --- as does most countries' journalism:

To get right-wing nationalist governments elected. *

To increase their owner's bank accounts.

To placate the weak-minded with vapid celebrity culture.

To finger-wag and promote things that are 'good'; voting, [ since it makes little difference ], immigration, neo-liberalism, free markets etc.; and impose against things that are 'bad', smoking, drugs, welfare, Trump [ or whomever is public enemy de jour ] etc. etc..

.

* Right-wing nationalism includes not just Conservatives here, but whichever Party in each state which is establishment, neo-liberal, and non-marxist: it can be the SNP, Fine Gael, ‎La République En Marche‎, both the Republicans and Democrats in America etc. etc. --- just so long as they are democratic in ideology and agreeable to increasing their leaders' incomes through say paid speeches, and those of newspaper magnates.

..

Other 5G towers set on fire less reported are in Limassol, Cyprus and Donegal, Eire...

[clyde666]

RACIST BIGOT

I downvoted your post because you included the SNP in your group of "right-wing nationalism".

The SNP is a centre-left socially progressive party which leads a government mitigating the worst excesses of uber-Thatcherism. Often supported in parliament by the Greens.

Get your facts right.

[Claverhouse]

Re: RACIST BIGOT

Nationalist crap.

The SNP’s progressive credentials don’t, in any case, stand up to serious scrutiny. When Sturgeon was asked at her manifesto launch to name a redistributive policy enacted by the SNP in Holyrood, she was unable to cite a single example. There has been plenty of middle class welfarism, but no effective measures to reduce inequality or poverty. Indeed, the SNP in power has resembled nothing as much as New Labour in its pomp, combining the worst reflexes of authoritarian statism and market liberalism with a superior, “we know best” attitude that brooks no opposition.

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/04/if-you-think-snp-are-left-wing-force-think-again

.

Pretty obviously a nationalist party that relies on a definition of the Volk as the fount of legitimate power and the deciders of destiny through voting is right-wing.

[Jimmy2Cows]

Re: British journalism exists for 2 purposes...

Harder to take you seriously when you say "2 purposes", yet list 4.

That said, I tend to agree with the 2nd and 3rd of your 2 purposes.

[Claverhouse]

Re: British journalism exists for 2 purposes...

I meant to go back and fix it but had run out of time...

[Anonymous Coward]

He should have been put out to grass a long time ago, complete and utter waste of space!

[the Kris]

Don't they realise ...

... that destroying a 3G/4G tower means that their own cellphone will have to boost its output power to reach a tower further away?

Assuming they destroy a tower near themselves of course.

[Jamie Jones]

Re: Don't they realise ...

Don't be silly! Their cellphones don't have big scaffolding and pointing things with bits hanging off, and besides, whilst when they are surrounded by wifi / 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9g, unused phone masts etc., they get the headaches, but they are fine facebooking on their phone for hours on end.

It's almost as if the headaches only occur when the blame is on something they don't think they are using!

[Anonymous Coward]

paranoid

Is it paranoia to think that gullible idiots sabotaging their own infrastructure is exactly how Putin would like to bring down western governments?

If this is a dry run we're seriously in the shit.

[batfink]

Re: paranoid

Yes it is.

[batfink]

"I assume there was some backstage arm-twisting"

Personally, I think there was probably a lot of shouting of "Don't be so fucking stupid! Now get back out there and tell people how wrong you were!"

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: "I assume there was some backstage arm-twisting"

Or maybe "Here's your contract and here's a pair of scissors.".

[Jamie Jones]

Re: "I assume there was some backstage arm-twisting"

.... except he didn't say how wrong he was, he said how wrong the viewers were to misinterpret what he had said.

So he apologised on behave of the viewers and their stupidity.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "I assume there was some backstage arm-twisting"

"apologised on behave of the viewers and their stupidity"

Should we describe this as using the "Priti Manoeuvre"? Or just use the old fashioned "being an insincere sack of crap"?

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: "I assume there was some backstage arm-twisting"

Personally, I think there was probably a lot of shouting of "Don't be so fucking stupid! Now get back out there and tell people how wrong you were!"

Much as I'd like to agree with you, the technical people on a show like that are rarely in a position to be allowed near the "talent", never mind speak the truth to them. All the "important" people are media and arts graduates. I'd bet the order to apologise came from outside the immediate production crew or bosses.

[simonb_london]

Anyone know where I can get my hands on a portable 100GHz spectrum analyser and a calibrated antenna for it? I can only find up to 6GHz so far.

I want to go out and do some research on this for myself to settle this matter once and for all. I know that sunbathing and having a picnic is frowned upon, but as far as I know walking around with an electric shopping trolley and coat-hanger is OK. Right?

[Xalran]

Just a tiny correction

While there's no officially live 5G network in France. the 4 MNOs have deployed 5G to some extend in experimental or proof of concept networks.

I won't give exact locations, but lets say that every major city in France has some 5G network to some extend, depending on the MNO.

And since some of them have been live for more than a year now there's no way they can be tied to SARS-CoV-2... Especially as there's no 5G in Eastern France.

[Man inna barrel]

The Wednesday night "footbal club"

I had a very informative experience of the type of people that do this kind of mindless vandalism. My local pub had an upstairs room, that could be hired for functions. There was a "football club" meeting every Wednesday. Some of the supporters would turn up a bit early for a pint. I am not kidding, but the pudding head next to me could not even order a pint of lager.

"Pint of lager... Please"

"Would that be Foster's, or Carlsberg, Sir?"

"Ummm."

A bloke in a suit with a briefcase came later, and everybody went upstairs. The landlord had his suspicions, and called the police. It turns out that the "football club" was known to the police. Nasty neo-fascists of some kind. The police prevailed upon the landlord to let them meet at his pub, because that way, they knew where they were. The locals all had a good laugh when the loonies weren't there.

The point here is that there are people whose stupidity is beyond imagination. No amount of scientific argument will dissuade from their views. They just like an excuse for a bit of mayhem, hur hur.

[This Side Up]

No specific evidence

Type your comment here — advanced HTML and hotlinks allowed

"there's no scientific evidence to substantiate any of those 5G theories. I hope that clears that up."

There's no scientific evidence to substantiate any of those God theories. I hope that clears that up.

[Anonymous Coward]

Putin must be laughing really hard

Russia is behind this conspiracy theory: https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/5g-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-driven-coordinated-effort-200410182740380.html