By Kate Kheel from Safe Tech International

Sitting here at home tonight, internet service down, time expands. And so does my appreciation for this stunning home I have been blessed with. This home speaks to my heart and to the heart of almost all who visit. It’s an answer in the form of a dwelling place to the yearning that is welling up inside so many of us for simplicity, nature, harmony, and peace.

The “smart world” with its tech-buzzing homes insists on faster, evermore connected, AI, and “convenience”. Life is reduced to services delivered through buttons and buzzes, devices and data. But much of humanity is saturated to the point of indigestion. The thought of even one more “byte” is repugnant.

Many people don’t realize they’re over-consuming. It’s the norm, what everyone does. But when people enter this home, my sanctuary, I sense in them a palpable sigh of relief. Time slows down, and they begin to see once again: Irregular shapes and textures, the varied forms of nature, replace insistent angular forms and synthetic materials of mass-produced homes. Heavy stones reminiscent of times long gone, reclaimed wood, and boards from fallen trees, each one conveying a unique life story, all meld together to form a tapestry inside that reflects the varied textures, colors, and forms of the exquisite and open surrounding landscape. This home feels different, strangely different, yet so familiar. Entering this home is not stepping out of nature but rather transitioning to an enclosed nest that is nature.

Designed around the natural sunlight of the seasons, the passive solar orientation with a wall full of windows on the south side of the home provides sunlight in the winter throughout the day. And in the summer, when the sun is high in the sky, an overhang above the windows ensures the home stays temperate. So, the energy required to heat and cool this home are but the finishing touches. The bulk of the “work” has been accomplished by nature — a stark contrast to “smart” homes, which ignore the natural world and superimpose draconian measures to replace what has heedlessly been discarded.

The workmanship of this home is exquisite. It’s difficult to find words for the perfection of the imperfections. Edges and corners are seamlessly and intentionally woven together without harsh, machine-generated definition. Colors that mimic nature blend, complementing one another with no single one claiming sovereignty.

In typical homes, the dulling of our senses is only surpassed by the assault on our health from toxic materials, not to mention the embodied energy needed to manufacture all the so-called “smart” features of newer homes. But with this home, enormous care has been taken to ensure that all materials (to the degree possible) are free of toxins and ethically sourced. Solid oak doors reclaimed from an estate in Connecticut lend beauty while escaping early retirement to a landfill. Kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities give seasoned barn wood a new lease on life.

Thankfully Satiety Cove is situated far from cell towers and for the time being has not been targeted by Telecom for a 5G “small cell”. Minimalistic but wise use of technology untethers this home from the energy grid, smart meters, and the attendant electrical pollution. No dimmer switches, internet of things appliances, or other such gadgets that proffer far more than they offer. 

Outside, chirping birds replace the incoherent sounds and electromagnetic frequencies so unavoidable in urban living. A tree, brimming with activity and life, lovingly offers herself as a dwelling place for squirrels and other little critters. Why on earth are humans trading these treasures of nature for radiating antennas outside of homes?

We all consume…it’s a reality of being alive. The only question is how to do so causing the least harm to other beings and to our shared planet. Though certainly not perfect, this has been the aim in building Satiety Cove. It is a precious and cherished “understatement” that embodies the sweet point of satiation – thus its name, Satiety Cove. I feel blessed and truly satiated, and I pray that our civilization comes to value the preciousness of “less”, simpler, and so-called “dumb,” so Earth can regenerate and we humans can once again experience the beauty of being fully alive.   

Moss Landing Image credit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/652815133743333
https://neveragainmosslanding.org

Moss Landing, California:  Did you know a huge environmental disaster is unfolding in Northern California which may impact our food supply and wildlife, and is poisoning locals? 

Dubbed by Forbes magazine Tech’s “Three-Mile Island” moment, Moss Landing Lithium Power Plant caught on fire January 16, 2025. Moss Landing, which houses the world’s largest battery storage facility, burned for five days leaving a toxic plume that reached into agricultural and farmland in Monterey and into two other counties.

After the fire, Dr. Ivano Aiello, Department Chair at San Jose State University, home of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, discovered at Elkhorn Slough (two miles from the plant) heavy metal toxins at levels 100 to 1,000 times greater than normal soil levels.  

80 Percent of 100,000 Batteries Ignited – Not a “Little Fire”

“These fires are not done yet that they keep reigniting, even just the smallest one can still put toxins in the air,” – warns one local.

 When lithium batteries burned for a week, smoldered for a month, and then reignited, many began questioning why the world’s largest lithium battery power plant was approved near Elkhorn Slough State Marine Conservation area, an area with the highest marine biodiversity in California (see San Jose State blog) and home of 150 endangered sea otters­­­­­­. What will be the impacts of this contamination given these sea otters, when healthy, birth a single pup every other year?

Heather Higgens, who kayaks at Elkhorn, stated in an interview with Tina Berg from Status Coup News:  

“50 sea otters gather in rafters at a time and hold hands, and you have sea lions to the entrance, we were all in shock, we couldn’t believe this [the fire] would happen.”

Filming Sea Otters at Moss Landing

Is Moss Landing Fire the Result of Unexamined and Reckless Sustainability Measures?

“If you can’t easily extinguish one battery, how are you expected to extinguish tens of thousands?  You can’t. You have to let the batteries burn themselves out” – Comment at the Monterey Board Meeting

The Battery storage at Moss Landing with frequent toxic fires is in violation of California Environmental Quality ACT (CEQA) §30240.

Locals didn’t know:

• These fires cannot be controlled, thermal runaway is a “phenomenon in which lithium-ion cells start uncontrollably heating up.“ Bay Nature Magazine
• Battery fires can severely impact human health from toxic corrosive gasses: hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide (a toxic compound), and heavy metals, all of which require a respirator when in proximity.
• Prior to the January 2025, Vistra Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) fire, both agencies and the public were not informed how often BESS facilities catch on fire – nor were they alerted to the potential for hazardous toxins to be released after a thermal runaway event.
• There are 93 reported BESS failures worldwide, a veritable ticking time bomb.

Batteries Continue To Smolder, Risk of Another Fire Remains High as Moss Landing has Remaining Batteries Yet To Be Disconnected

Fallout from Moss Landing fires on January 16 and February 18 flare-up, included worsened symptom for locals residents: metallic taste, skin rashes, burns, bloody noses, difficulty breathing, severe headaches and more. Salinas Valley, known as the “salad bowl” of America, is situated a mere twelve miles from the power plant. It’s common sense not to consume vegetables or fruit that potentially have been affected by heavy metal fallout including impacts to the soil and water?

“These heavy metals will chemically transform as they move through the environments and potentially through the food web, affecting local aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems,” according to San Jose University  

Salinas Valley in Monterey County produces 70 percent of the United States lettuce as well as artichokes, strawberries, broccoli, wine grapes, cauliflower, celery, and spinach. Monterey County supplies our nation’s school lunches, and supermarkets such as Sprouts, Trader Joes and Whole Foods. With locals and animals in the area getting sick, people are now questioning the quality of local produce despite Monterey County assurances of safety.

The Erin Brockovich Lawsuit

Renown environmental activist, Erin Brockovich, is a spokesperson for the Moss Landing lawsuit against PG&E, Vistra, and LG.

“I am concerned with lithium power storage facilities so close to farmland and …communities because these accidents happen.  There didn’t seem to be any preparedness. People were going to the emergency room, having respiratory problems, sore throats and getting no answers. Every single situation seems to start like this. What concerns me is that it just feels like somebody knew. They did. They’ve got infrastructure inside there. Did they jerry rig something? Did they allow it to happen? The truth’s not coming out. So, my concern is that information is being concealed.”

– Erin Brockovich, Mercury News 

Knut Johnson, an attorney from Singleton Schreiber who is suing Moss Landing, reported seeing pictures of people with “horrible rashes and clients with toxic substances on their property.” 

While local scientists are checking the soil and finding toxic pollutants, and Hunterbrook New Data shows elevated heavy metal exposure 20 miles from Moss Landing including agricultural land, the EPA is minimizing the impacts assuring locals and farmers there is no problem for humans or wildlife,see report here and here. 

Vistra issued a statement in response to Erin Brockovich’s comments:

 “Air quality monitoring, which has been ongoing since the start of the fire and continues today, has been conducted by the U.S. EPA, Monterey Bay Air Resources District, and others and has not detected risks to public health at any time. Additionally, soil and water testing conducted by Cal EPA/Department of Toxic Substances Control, Monterey County, and Santa Cruz County have not detected risks to public water supplies or soil in the community.”

Norm Groot with Monterey County Farm Bureau has assured constituents that Moss Landing “product” didn’t enter the food supply, (see letter here), yet this position differs from scientifically validated heavy metal toxicity which includes Hunterbrook results of 150 surface wipe samples of the area.

Image credit: Hunterbrook New Data

Locals are calling for further real time, transparent testing, of air, water, and agricultural products across the Monterey Bay, including Santa Cruz, and inland – and to be informed of battery pile conditions, flare-ups and off-gassing.  As of March 8, local residents shared multiple reports of the same sulfur and chlorine tastes/smells once again and noticed the Slough devoid of birds. 

Sick and Dead Banana Slugs the California State Icon?

“I collected a couple of sick or dead banana slugs up here which is quite unusual. So the impacts are very real far and wide, wherever the wind pattern, fog pattern takes the blend of particulates and they are part of the atmosphere. So much worse than CO2 emissions as even the trees can’t absorb the chemicals in the air.”
– local reporting on Moss Landing Fire from Moss Landing Environmental FB group. 

Never Again Moss Landing

“Never Again Moss Landing is a fast-response grass-roots all-volunteer resident group which advocates for our community’s voice and interests in response to the Moss Landing BESS Fire.”
See Moss Landing News:

Image credit: https://neveragainmosslanding.org/news/#local

Brian Roeder from Never Again Moss Landing shares that a lot of folks are reporting terrible symptoms since the reignited fire from Feb 18^th.  However this KSBW News report does not acknowledge people’s symptoms nor the testing that showed elevated heavy metals in Elkhorn slough and surrounding communities.

Following are some of what locals are sharing on the Moss Landing Vistra Power Plant/Fire Symptoms Facebook page:

“The last couple days have been extremely bad with coughing up blood and the metallic taste in my mouth and my tongue being numb hard to talk.”

 “I was out at Elkhorn Slough reserve for 10 minutes – so impacted that my sinus flared up, my eyes are burning.”  

According to Dr. Calvin Luther Martin, those who live and work near Moss Landing could have been inhaling caustic hydrofluoric acid and hydrochloric acid.Locals comfort each other offering advice on first aid such as eye drops or suggesting the use of blood pressure cuffs, as many are experiencing eye and blood pressure issues from long-term continual exposure. 

The following image is a map of 647 individuals who reported unusual and often severe symptoms from the Vistra fire.

N.B.: The location of individuals reporting symptoms extends from Santa Cruz to Carmel.  Locals are asking for oversight: for the California Coastal Commission to be involved in overseeing demolition and cleanup at Moss Landing, an analysis of the burn pile, and for Agricultural Inspectors to share knowledge and to be fully transparent on what is happening in the fields. 

Following is additional information from Brian Roeder of Never Again Moss Landing.

Thousands within 10 miles of this battery fire disaster need help. The Moss Landing Power Plan/Vistra Fire Symptoms Facebook page has hundreds of personal entries testifying to injuries, fear, and broken lives.  (20+) Moss Landing Power Plant/Vistra Fire Symptoms | Facebook

Few are listening. Patients and in particular women are being dismissed as hysterical when they go to their doctors.

The critical next step is to call State Senator John Laird’s three offices. Laird is a huge proponent of BESS plants.  He has a direct line to the Governor’s office.  Laird can request critical state resources that have not been on the ground.  Testing. Toxicology.  Financial assistance for families.  Medical and environmental guidance.  Help for the agricultural community and school district.  Fire mitigation strategies and wildlife impacts.

What is so tragic is that families have been and are continuing to be injured after (February’s) follow-on fire. The county authorities have gotten very little direction or resources from the State. The state toxicologist has dismissed the attached scientifically validated data and has stated publicly that he has not even looked at it. 

Please call Senator Laird and demand that he get involved:  Capital Office: (916) 651-4017, or Monterey District: (831) 657-6315, San Luis Obispo District: (805) 549-3784, Santa Cruz District: (831) 425-0401

Website: www.neveragainmosslanding.org. 

In our present day, we have a Federation of Scientists who warn about averting environmental risks in the new space age, they believe we face an existential crisis created by the launch of so many new ‘mega constellations’ of thousands of satellites in the part of space near Earth called ‘Low Earth Orbit’ (LEO). 

What would Captain Kirk say? Even if we were a civilization capable of space travel, would we even be considered for ‘United Federation of Planet’ membership if we couldn’t even safeguard our planet? 

60 Starlink v0.9 satellites stacked together before deployment on 24 May 2019
Attribution: Official SpaceX Photos, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Interstellar governments (fictional or otherwise) may not want unfettered and unregulated commercial pollution for Starlink. We may violate the prime directive which states non-interference for other worlds: if we can’t control our own satellite pollution, there is no guarantee we may have discretion on other planets.

If there even was a present day Starfleet, would a Galactic Federation rescue us and interfere with our potential destruction of our magnetosphere from all the satellite launches?  “The Prime Directive prohibits Starfleet personnel from interfering with the natural development of a society for good or bad, and that has often meant that crews must stand by as an entire civilization is wiped away by natural disasters or technological folly.” according to Screen Rant.

There may be no Galactic Federation to save the day, let alone UFOs, if we have too many rocket launches.

Real life facts: International Astronomical Union has a conference on light pollution and radio interference caused by satellites: https://astrobites.org/2024/10/01/iau-dark-and-quiet-skies//

The United Nations recognizes light pollution as detrimental (https://www.un.org/e…migratory-birds). 

Timelapse of recently deployed satellites (vertical lines)
M. Lewinsky/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Common

International Astronomical Union (IAU-CPS), a worldwide institution focuses on mitigation of sky glow from satellites.

“Protecting the Sky is the Core Mission of the IAU because without the sky, there is no science of astronomy.” –  IAU

Do We Need to Worry More About Rocket Emissions Than Airplanes?

Unlike airplanes, rocket emissions from space affect every layer of the atmosphere with toxins and aren’t washed away according to  Scientific American. “Jet engines…burn very clean compared with rocket engines. Some types of hydrocarbon-fueled rocket engines emit hundreds of times more soot for each kilogram of fuel burned than do their jet engine cousins. And jets only occasionally fly in the stratosphere; rockets fly there every launch.”

Is Starlink Bridging the Digital Divide?

Starlink was denied 900 billion dollar broadband subsidies by the FCC for failing to meet its criteria of providing cheap internet to rural poor, according to Forbes.

“Gene Roddenberry always wanted Star Trek to depict a future of humanity without war, without hunger, without disease and without poverty: When she asks how much the ship has cost, Picard tells Lily: “The economics of the future is somewhat different. You see, money doesn’t exist in the 24th century… The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.” (‘Star Trek: First Contact’); see this fascinating blog. 

Is Starlink embracing the Star Trek vision to eliminate poverty? Starlink did provide Hurricane Helene internet relief, and yet “The FCC previously found that Starlink had trouble meeting basic upload and download speeds and that rural subscribers would have had to pay an upfront fee of $600 at the time for a dish,” according to the New York Times.  

“Although hundreds of free Starlinks were donated to North Carolina after Hurricane Helene…the free internet service is temporary. On the company’s website, Starlink said it would provide 30 days of service for the devices in affected areas, before a standard residential subscription would be charged.”

Space Junk May Prevent Us From Belonging To A Future Galactic Federation?

Although SpaceX has a distinct incentive to make sure any faulty Starlink satellites don’t end up in the future path of its own rockets and spacecraft, Starlink satellites are expected to come into the atmosphere to eventually burn up starting five or six years after they are launched and deployed, according to BCSatelllite.net, which states:

“Everything going into space must pass through the region that is largely inhabited by Starlink. What are the implications of the Starlink constellation on space junk at this critical altitude at which they operate? As it turns out the situation does not look good. Currently most space junk is located in between the Starlink and OneWeb altitudes.”

SpaceX Debris Lands on a Farm in Australia!

The International Astronomical Union Urges Action In Its first paper: https://www.iau.org/news/announcements/detail/ann24008/

If you want to hold ‘Space, the final frontier,’ sacred we need your help! One small step for all, one giant leap for all lifekind starts with a US Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG) grassroots petition:

Tell the FCC: Satellite mega-constellations need environmental review.  We’re in a short window of time when we can prevent making a mess of space and our atmosphere – US PIRG

Please feel free to share the petition with anyone you think might be interested! 

For a two part Persian translation of this blog see, Part 1 and Part 2, courtesy of Farhad Khelghati from Iran,

In a thought-provoking essay, The Simple Story of Civilization, author Tom Murphy condenses the approximately 2.5 million years we humans have been here on Earth into an average life span of 75 years. In this model, the first 70 years represent the period during which different species of humans evolved. The last five years correlate to the age of Homo Sapiens (starting c. 200,000 years ago) where we lived and evolved in a kind of ecological homeostasis with the rest of the natural world. 

The last 15 weeks (beginning c.10,000 years ago real time) represents the beginnings of agriculture where we set ourselves apart from, and above the rest of the natural world, and when we began to view Earth as a mere repository of resources for human endeavors. With the advent of agriculture came cities, property, surplus, storage, enslavement of both animals and humans­, armies, and hierarchy. 

In the last 36 hours, a mere blip in time, we dialed things up with the discovery of fossil fuels imagining we now had unlimited powers and could manifest all manner of creature comforts. 

The remaining 12 hours (representing the last 50 years in real time) bring us to the present day of “global ecological devastation” in Murphy’s own words.

Most recently, with the exponential proliferation of technology and AI, our hubristic notions of super-power have been amplified adding fuel to the already expansionary fires of unchecked growth and resource extraction. 

Implications of the technological Tsunami for 21^st century warfighting

War too has morphed over time from person-to-person combat, perhaps atop horses or on war elephants, to the current battlefield of AI-controlled systems that weave together Earth, sea, air, space, and cyber space. Invisible electromagnetic battles now take place through the airwaves, with cyber warfare a click away. Remote-controlled nuclear warheads boast speeds up to 20 times that of sound, and nuclear Armageddon is precariously locked in a global stalemate of mutually assured destruction – which, according to the Doomsday Clock, is currently 90 seconds before midnight.

The world’s military is a major contributor to our global ecological devastation. In 2022 it accounted for an estimated 5.5% of global CO2 emissions, although likely that figure is higher as militaries are quite secretive and not required to report emissions. The US military alone is the world’s largest institutional consumer of hydrocarbons “…belching out more emissions than industrialised nations like Portugal and Denmark” in the words of Lorraine Mallinder from Aljazeera. 

Mallinder goes on to say that military expansion has also impacted air quality, ecosystems, biodiversity, and the health of people living near bases. 

Outer space has become pivotal for warfighting and is now being decked out with thousands of satellites to weave together, coordinate, and manage the deluge of data flowing in from all branches of the military as well as from civilian sources. 

Transmitters include cell towers, satellites, underwater sensors, surveillance cameras, cell phones, smart cities, facial recognition technology and other biometric markers, robots, the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT) consisting of networked helmets, combat gear and other wearables, etc. 

AI algorithms sort through and make sense of these vast streams of data and provide actionable items to militaries. 

In addition, electromagnetic radiation has significantly upped the ante in three new domains of warfighting: 

• Cyber Warfare – attacks on computer systems and connected infrastructure 
• Electronic Warfare – battles in the electromagnetic spectrum; electromagnetic pulse attacks potentially downing a nations entire electrical grid; or directed energy weapons used to fry components. 
• Cognitive Warfare – manipulation of how people think, feel, and act. 

Other means of expansion being used to recklessly hurtle us all from 5G to 6G, FutureG, and beyond include: 

• Dual use technology where militaries join forces with industry to speed innovation.
• Proliferation – whereby satellites and other systems scale to thousands or tens of thousands, so the loss of a few won’t affect the overall viability of the system. 
• Lethal Autonomous Weapons (LAWs) where warfighting is increasingly handed over to AI-controlled weapons and systems that make decisions at blistering speeds, while relegating humans to mere bystanders attempting to stay in the loop if at all possible. 

With the US and China vying for first mover advantage, over seventy countries sporting government space agencies, and many satellite programs springing up from the private sector as well, we are fast depleting Earth’s “resources,” turbo-charging warfighting, while clogging up the Heavens with ever more debris

Reflections

If the notion of digital technology as a testament to human ingenuity seems a bit grim, and techno-optimism – technology’s power to “save mankind” – is beginning to sound lame…. well, you’re not alone. Many of us are grieving deeply as we bear witness to the harms being inflicted on all Life.  

Personally, I find some solace and inspiration in the following phrase from the Hebrew blessing recited after a meal: V’achalta, v’savata, ou v’rachta – And you shall eat, and be satiated, and you shall bless. 

And you shall eat – in Hebrew v-achalta – refers to more than just consuming food. It means taking in or experiencing something from “outside” of ourselves and allowing it to inform or transform us as it is “digested” into our mind, heart, and body – e.g., smelling a flower, listening to a song, or navigating a life challenge.

And you shall be satiated – v’savata – refers to the sweet point of satiation where we have just enough but not one drop too much. When we ingest food deplete of nutrients or partake of experiences devoid of meaning, we are left feeling unsatisfied and prone to over consume. But when we partake of the substance of real life – not the illusory and frivolous distractions of for-sale and for-profit substitutes – then enough is truly and generously enough.

Ou’verachta — and you shall bless. We lend our unique signature to what we “consume” as we send it back out into the world via our thoughts, intentions, words, and deeds – hopefully, in the form of blessings to all living beings and to Earth herself. 

If we can find our eco-niche – our unique place in the web of life – we will interrelate with one another with respect, restraint, and love…  and our actions – both individual and collective – will bring blessing, not war.    

During this vanishingly small moment in evolutionary time brought about by the confluence of 

• separating ourselves from the web of life
• the desire for dominion
• the discovery of fossil fuels
•  and more recently supercharged by digital technology and AI, 

… we humans seem to have lost our way and have become a threat to all living beings. 

But there’s an undertow growing stronger by the day beneath the tidal waves of consumerism and war: A powerful movement of people dedicating every fiber of their being to help shift our global consciousness to one of inter-being, and to rekindle greater reverence and care for all Life. The movement isn’t new but thankfully is growing by leaps and bounds, fueled by our collective grief and our inherent reverence for Life. 

Many wonderful authors, visionaries, speakers etc. are contributing to the movement, each with their own unique flavor. Following is a small sampling of a few I have found particularly inspiring. 

Bill Plotkin from the Animas Institute has developed a program for guiding soul initiation and assisting people in becoming Visionary Artisans of Cultural Evolution. Author and visionary Jeremy Lent invites people to join Deep Transformation Network, a growing group of people feeling their way into a more eco-conscious future. In the podcast series, The Great Simplification, Nate Hagen interviews an extraordinary array of people from diverse fields each addressing the Metacrisis in their own way. Author and translator, David Hinten recalls past civilizations that were able to sustain and nurture the land they were on for thousands of years due to a profound understanding of their niche in the web of Life. And finally, Iain McGilchrist who explains how, in our 21^st century civilization, the more strategic goal-oriented left hemisphere of the brain has gained dominance over the right hemisphere that sees more holistically, and that intuits our interconnectedness with all Life. 

At this pivotal and critical moment in time the powerful forces driving expansion and war coupled with exponential technology and AI are a Cosmic Invitation – indeed a plea and a prayer – for us to find and savor our individual and collective ecological niche here on Earth where enough is truly and generously enough. 

Would Vincent Van Gogh been able to paint “The Starry Night” Milky Way if he could no longer see the night sky due to light pollution which includes Starlink?

Vincent van Gogh painted “The Starry Night” in France in 1889; according to International Dark-Sky, “Now, the Milky Way can no longer be seen from there.”

According to International Dark-Sky Association: “Less than 100 years ago, everyone could look up and see a spectacular starry night sky. Now, millions of children across the globe will never experience the Milky Way where they live.”

Vincent Van Gogh loved the night sky

“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream,” the Dutch painter wrote in a letter to his brother, Theo, in 1888,” according to DarkSky.org.

What would Vincent Van Gogh have painted if Starlink filled the sky a hundred years ago?

Would Vincent Van Gogh have painted space waste and called it ‘Starry Starry Satellite?’ Would our ‘wishing upon a star’ verse have a different rhyme?

Star light, star bright
First star I see, I wish tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Oh stars? It’s just a satellite.

“The new space race doesn’t need to create massive space waste,” experts warn, states ABC News. Many satellites have a lifespan of five years and then de-orbit. Sierra Solter-Hunt, Physicist, released a paper in 2023 warning about incinerated satellites in the atmosphere.

Scientists warn why we must keep our sky dark

“Dark skies are (important) for the well-being of humans, plants, and animals, and for opening a window to the observable universe,” states the Dark Sky Center.

“The natural world evolved with the rhythms of day and night, and light pollution disrupts that. Artificial light lures sea turtles away from the sea and toward the cities after they hatch; light pollution affects migratory and breeding patterns in animals,” according to Itemonline.

Space researchers urge regulatory agency to “press pause” on new satellite launches in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission.

If you want to see the Milky Way galaxy, we need your help! The US Public Interest Research Group has a grassroots petition that members of the public can support.

Tell the FCC: Satellite mega-constellations need environmental review. We’re in a short window of time when we can prevent making a mess of space and our atmosphere – US PIRG

Please feel free to share the petition with anyone you think might be interested!
Also sign Sierra Club’s petition to safeguard the night sky:

https://addup.sierraclub.org/campaigns/protect-the-night/petition

What would the three wise men say if we could no longer see the Star of Bethlehem because Starlink satellites blinds us from seeing the stars in the night sky?

“For centuries, scholars have suggested the Star of Bethlehem may have actually been a ‘great conjunction’ of bright planets. Jupiter and Saturn came together in a ‘Great Conjunction’ in 2020 that was unlike any seen in nearly 800 years,” according to this article in Astronomy.com.

In the 17th century, Kepler suggested that a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BCE could be the astronomical origin of the Star of Bethlehem.

Why Starlink satellites blinds us from seeing the stars in the night sky

Starlink satellites are positioned in low-Earth orbit, so appear particularly bright and move rapidly across the night sky. Sky gazers fear that Starlink satellites may outnumber the stars there are to see. Starlink satellites appear as a trail of lights several days after launch and easily visible to the naked eye. What would the three wise men say if Starlink was in place thousands of years ago?

During this holiday season, you too can check for satellites in your night sky, in addition to the Bethlehem star:

“Astronomers warn bright light and electromagnetic radiation from thousands of Starlink satellites could be interfering with ground-based telescopes … limiting our study of the universe.“

“We’ve had satellites ever since Sputnik 1 launched in 1957. But today, the numbers are mind-boggling. In 1958, eight satellites were launched. By 1967, that number rose to 159. After that, roughly 40 to 150 satellites were launched annually. Fast forward to 2023, and more than 2,600 satellites were launched,” – CBC News

What would the three wise men see with SpaceX ‘mega constellation’ of 42,000 satellites in the sky – a train of lights instead? Would we have the same holiday stories if in ancient times there was an appropriation of our night sky by private entities such as SpaceX?

Credit: Victoria Girgis/Lowell Observatory Trails made by Starlink satellites

SpaceX is set to be even brighter with cell tower in space!

SpaceX’s new Starlink satellites that connect directly to phones are nearly five times brighter than traditional Starlink cites recent study. “SpaceX plans to form what it calls ‘a cellphone tower in space’ with thousands of direct-to-cell (DTC) satellites around Earth that offer service straight to unmodified smartphones ‘wherever you can see the sky.’ The higher luminosity of these DTCs compared to regular Starlinks is partly because they circle Earth at just 217 miles,” according to Space.com.

How do ‘mega constellations’ of thousands of satellites damage our earth atmosphere? Andrew Bacon of Space Forge and Jonathan McDowell, Astronomer at Harvard speak out about satellites burning up the atmosphere with aluminum ash in this Space.com expose: “There is now a Starlink reentry almost every day,” McDowell told Space.com. “Sometimes multiple.”

Satellite launches create ozone “mini holes”

“NASA aircraft showed that (Solid-rocket motor (SRM) oxidizer) …plumes create dramatic ozone “mini holes” that persist for several days after a launch,” according to Scientific American.

Next steps!

If you want to hold the legacy of three wise men seeing the Star of Bethlehem, or our ability to view our Milky Way, the starry sky needs our help! US Public Interest Research Group has a grassroots petition that members of the public can support.

“Tell the FCC: Satellite mega-constellations need environmental review. We’re in a short window of time when we can prevent making a mess of space and our atmosphere.”
– US PIRG

Please feel free to share the petition with anyone you think might be interested!

When a cybertruck is imported to Europe, it has to be modified in order to adhere with safety regulations not in force in the United States.

From an energy medicine perspective, allowing intimidating vehicles on the roads, and instinct-injured piercing devoid of recognition of the body’s energy anatomy, are related issues.

When we don’t understand the risks of ‘overcharge’ in ourselves and others, and we don’t understand when and how our subtle energies are being exploited, or how to protect ourselves, we are flying blind.”

I recently read a quote by Substack author Tijn Tjoelker of The Mycelium in his post Lessons from Zen and The Art of Saving The Planet.

This article is about his quote.

We are at the point where every mundane choice that we make throughout the day and night – about what we do with our time and attention, and whether or not we invoke a machine or device, large and small – either does or does not regenerate life.

Unexamined choices via our technology use and consumer habits have taken us beyond the edge of reason. We need a new roadmap,

A Short Historical Narrative of Feedback Loops: The Startle Response vs. Desensitization

I remember when cars were first outfitted with remote door locks. Car lights would blink and the horn would beep loudly, so that the driver could confirm that they had locked the vehicle – from across the street.

Initially, I jumped out of my skin on more than one occasion in parking lots, startled by the unexpected noise from an empty vehicle. How did we come to change our expectations and behavior regarding when and where and how we lock our vehicles – creating the demand for more sensors and expensive key fobs, with cars generating data? Should we celebrate that Meta’s glasses will remember for us where we parked the car? Or should we question that we would need the assist, because we have been empowered to not pay attention to what we are doing?

Mindless or Mindful?

Over time, the horn honking volume was adjusted. My energetic immune system and nervous system adapted to the sound, and now I rarely experience that startle response. I am desensitized.

We have not considered that in many cases, our desensitization not an adaptation. It is degenerative, especially regarding our relationships with technology, with the built environment, with authoritarian structures, and with each other.

We could instead be paying more attention to what the European Environmental Agency has coined, “Late Lessons from Early Warnings” by heeding more of our own physicality, as well as reports of harm being experienced by others.

This extends far beyond overuse injuries and postural problems caused by tech; by screen blue light harm; by epidemic myopia, including in children; and including unacknowledged damage to nature. The harm is preventable, and caused by failure to course correct in the face of evidence of maladaptation to misguided social norms.

Trauma expert Peter Levine noted, “In a herd of deer, we need some super-sensitive ones. They are the ones that will hear that teeniest little crack or smell the one or two molecules of scent from the mountain lion that’s stalking them. Their job is to use their hyper-sensitivity to alert the whole group.”

If we are going to address any of the current challenges facing humanity, we need to recognize and recover our relationship with our own independent sensory feedback systems. We need to hold ourselves accountable for ensuring that our man-made inventions, including AI, do not destroy our biology, or each other, or the nature environment with which we have co-evolved for thousands of years.

Tech is enabling us to adopt mindlessness and disconnect, when we need to be going in the opposite direction. We are treating the planet and ourselves – frivolously, while outsourcing harm from the Global North to the South, including mining and waste.

Some antidotes include self-awareness, simplicity, mindfulness, wonder, presence, community, compassion for others, reverence, and openness to accumulated wisdom from other cultures.

We have access to maps that can guide us back to an integrated, healthy and balanced relationship with one another and with our own energy fields, via energy intelligence, much of which has been codified by Eastern traditions, thousands of years ago. Many Westerners are already reaping benefits of Eastern teachings; we could incorporate much more wisdom regarding balance, and embodiment. We don’t have to continue traveling this road. We can change the GPS coordinates to conscious awareness.

A Short Comparision Study of an Energetic Exchange: Shopping

Here are 3 different scenarios describing a cashier processing a customer’s purchases in a store, relative to studying energy anatomy.

1. In the first scenario, the cashier displays basic social skills and interacts courteously with staff and the customers. Friendly smiles are exchanged. The cashier is ‘present.’

2. In the second scenario, the cashier is wearing revealing clothing, with a phone visibly tucked in her bra. She does not make eye contact with anyone. She is sending mixed signals indicating that she is distracted with her mind elsewhere, while at the same time drawing attention to her appearance.

3. In the third scenario, the cashier has pasty unhealthy-looking skin, wearing clothing that obscures her physicality, with extreme prominent piercings on her face. She avoids eye contact. Again, the unconscious messaging is that while acting like she doesn’t care, she desperately wants to draw attention to herself.

If we could perceive the energetic dynamics occurring in each exchange, before we became desensitized, what would we see?

What does this have to do with a cybertruck? Everything.

Strange Flows, Radiant Circuits, and The Penetrating Flow

Thousands of years ago, Chinese seers mapped out the electromagnetic pathways that sustain the invisible subtle energy field. This includes both Meridians and ‘Strange Flows.’

Some surmise that the name ‘Strange Flow’ may have been sourced from the idea that the behavior of these energies appeared unusual and unpredictable, until their functions were understood. For example, if we were to suddenly fall through ice into freezing water, the Strange Flows responsible for managing body temperature would take the helm and re-organize our physiology to help insure survival, faster than the process of conscious thought. This would include the Regulator Flow.

Energy Medicine teacher and author Donna Eden, who can ‘see energy’, describes the Strange Flows as “Radiant Circuits” because of the way they appear to her, as they flash “on” when needed, illuminating like Christmas lights. This contrasts with the action of Meridians, which are choreographed in a constant flow by the changing frequencies of the sun, over the course of the day and night.

Eden Energy Medicine explains, “The radiant circuits function to ensure that all the other energy systems are working for the common good. They redistribute energies to where they are most needed, responding to any health challenge the body might encounter. In terms of evolution, the radiant circuits have been around longer than the meridians. Primitive organisms such as insects move their energies via the radiant circuits rather than through a meridian system, and the radiant circuits can be seen in the embryo before the meridians develop. As in the way that riverbeds are formed, it is as if radiant energies that habitually followed the same course became meridians. Where the meridians are tied to fixed pathways and specific organs, the radiant energies operate as fluid fields, embodying a distinct spontaneous intelligence. Like hyperlinks on a website, they jump instantly to wherever they are needed, bringing revitalization, joy, and spiritual connection. If triple warmer mobilizes your inner militia, the radiant circuits mobilize your inner mom, showering you with healing energy, providing life-sustaining resources, and lifting your morale.” – Eden Energy Medicine

The Chinese seers and Indian sages devoted themselves to understanding and cultivating their electromagnetic energies through simple, eloquent, sustainable practices including mindfulness, exercise, herbs, meditation, visualization, and massage, as the foundation for a healthy, conscious life.

The Penetrating Flow is one of the “Strange Flows” of Oriental Medicine. The Penetrating Flow has a number of functions, and one is to rewire the body for reproduction. It is partly responsible for the re-distribution of circulation to the sexual zones of the body. Its action has been described as the gentle feeling of butterflies in the stomach associated with falling in love, which can evolve to a warm feeling in the vicinity of the underwear, (but humans can attach many diverse emotional expressions and experiences to physical intimacy, including violence.)

In a remarkable irony, the same deeply internal energy field that wires humans for intimacy also manifests the survival strategy of disgust and repulsion, for example, when we smell rotten meat.

The body literally reorganizes its energy to prevent us from ingesting something harmful. This aspect of the Penetrating Flow can also be activated in cases of overwhelming shock and emotional upset, for example, witnessing a gruesome accident, or hearing emotionally traumatic news that overwhelms our ability to integrate and assimilate. We lose our appetite, literally.

The Penetrating Flow should not be actively engaged all the time. We do not want to be in a constant state of either disgust or sexual arousal, because in either state, the body’s energetic, spatial, mechanical, and bio-chemical constitution has been altered, intelligently, for a reason, but not for prolonged application.

Seeking to Impact the Audience – Social Media, Telecommunications, and Politics as an Unprecedented Force Multiplier of Arousal, Disgust, and/or Disharmony

When disgust, shock, stress or arousal is running the show, other capacities are diminished.

For example, we need to be able to digest food.

But we are living in an age where the advertising industry, media, and entertainment industry are constantly attempting to activate and direct energies of either arousal or disgust within us, and/or to get us to eat or buy something – often at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and for the wrong reasons.

Divisiveness was stoked during the pandemic and fueled a misunderstood sense of power. Intolerance and hatred is not power. The dynamic can be re-assessed and addressed as a lower interfering energy, rather than sustained and amplified. Without question, our current political process is being driven by disgust towards those who don’t agree with us, from both sides of the political aisle, in different ways.

The underlying economic and political paradigm is one of exploitation, and “taking” from another, including subtle energy, data, self-governance, and the right to ‘the Commons,” now including space and the health of the oceans.

Who is Minding the Store?

The passage through adolescence and into adulthood can be viewed as learning to manage one’s own sense of personal power and self-mastery including one’s sexual energy, which includes the Penetrating Flow. The three scenarios above describing a cashier in a store can be interpreted via the dynamics of the Penetrating Flow.

The first transaction with an attentive cashier is neutral and does not seek to draw energy from one party to the other.

The second example of the cashier with the phone visible in the bra is less neutral. While seeking to appear not to be interested in others, dressing provocatively relative to cultural norms generally seeks attention from “the audience.”

Technology, social media, the internet, and ‘likes’ have exponentially amplified the negatives of seeking attention from ‘an audience,’ and the dangers inherent in an economic system and mass culture cultivating imbalance, energy illiteracy, and addiction.

Instinct Injured Power Dynamics vs. Intention

The third dynamic of piercing the face is more complex, and this is where we find the link to the cybertruck and displays of power.

Many cultures, past and present, have incorporated body piercing and tattooing for any number of reasons, including beauty, and preparing for war. For example, it has been reported that some Native American cultures tattooed Stomach 36, recognizing that activating and massaging the electromagnetic point known as 3-mile leg on the Stomach Meridian would increase endurance.

This is not a commentary on all manifestations of tattooing and piercing, throughout time.

This is about unconscious and unskilled manipulation and alteration of bioenergy, including non-benefiting and non-consensual impacts on others.

Discernment regarding tattooing and piercing has to do with intention, and with literacy (or lack of literacy) regarding the body’s energy fields.

When we don’t know what we are doing relative to these energies, we are lost in space and time, with unanticipated results, including the possibility of long-term health damage.

A ‘witness’ with a strong intuitional body will recoil with an inborn aversion to harmful piercings on the face, for example, those that activate the start and endpoints of the Meridians, even without any formal training in energy medicine. This is because our intuitional bodies carry intelligences far beyond the conscious mind.

One teacher calls this his “spiny sense” of heightened alert, when we need to pay more attention to our gut instincts.

When our inborn energy intelligence is operational and not desensitized, we cringe and recoil at the sight of a painful-looking metal stake impaling the face because the resulting overcharged energy field in an individual or group subconsciously transmits risks. The intuitional body registers danger.

The practice of activating ‘overcharge’ in the military in order to drive them into battle has been practiced in many cultures. One of the most horrific examples of loss of control occurred with the My Lai massacre, during the Vietnam War. (There may have been others, including in 2002, when four wives were slain by their soldier husbands in 6 weeks at Fort Bragg.)

Back at the store, the instinct-injured individual with the pierced eyebrows may experience the recoil of the observer’s aura as ‘power over another.’ This dynamic unconsciously feeds the ego of the individual with the piercings. The energy exchange between the two individuals is distorted and polluted by power dynamics, (although there are energy medicine strategies available for protection from metabolizing unwanted energies, including ‘zipping up’ the Central Meridian.)

This dynamic may be why the piercing was done in the first place – for attention. We will never be able to figure out if piercing and tattooing can be used for healing, until we look.

When we give a wide berth to the metal cybertruck with its blackened windows, we experience the same invasive expression of power-over-another.

We know why a Chechen warlord was driving a gun-mounted Tesla cybertruck.

We also know that Europeans have taken steps to make their roads safer. In a recent letter, the European Transport Safety Council, Eurocities, Clean Cities, Transport & Environment, POLIS – Cities and Regions for Transport Innovation, International Federation of Pedestrians, and the European Cyclists’ Federation opposed the approval of a cybertruck on the roads in the Czech Republic.

Carscoops reported, “Despite the required modifications, they sent a letter to the local government expressing serious concerns about the electric truck’s shape, weight, and size. Apparently, they believe that having a vehicle shaped like a giant, unyielding wedge might not be the safest choice on the roads. [] To gain approval as a privately imported vehicle, the Cybertruck’s infamous sharp edges were reluctantly dressed with rubber moldings, an attempt to make it slightly less dangerous for pedestrians—though one wonders if anyone actually feels safer. Additionally, the LED headlights and taillights were tweaked with yellow indicators to align with European regulations. [] Campaigners argue that even at this seemingly deflated weight, the truck fails to meet regulations for the N1 category when fully loaded. European laws require heavy vehicles to be fitted with speed limiters, a rule that seems to have been overlooked in this case. The letter doesn’t stop there. It highlights the truck’s enormous footprint, expansive blind spots, lack of crumple zones, and extreme acceleration, all of which they say pose a real danger to pedestrians and other road users. For these reasons, campaigners argue that the Tesla Cybertrucks currently on European roads should be de-registered and removed from public streets.Even With Rubber Edges, Critics Want Tesla’s Cybertruck Off Europe’s Roads (msn.com)

What we don’t know is why America ignores the implications of these armored cars,

Is it possible that the quest for self-mastery could eclipse monetizing – beyond the planet’s limits – the need for power imbalances? Can self-esteem be expressed as a force for good?

The Iceman’s Medicinal Herbs and Genetics

The story of Ötzi implies that 5,300 years ago, the practice of tattooing certain acupuncture points was linked to sophisticated, individualized health care.

Image Courtesy Flo Freshman

In 1991 “a spectacularly preserved mummy of a man who was murdered about 5,300 years ago” was unearthed. “The iceman, the oldest glacier-bound mummy ever discovered, was found by hikers in Italy’s Ötztal Alps in 1991, and since then, scientists have scrutinized almost every aspect of the man’s life,” as reported by Live Science. “Genetic analysis revealed that the iceman had a host of ailments at the time of his murder (by a blow to the head). For instance, Ötzi was a heart attack waiting to happen, with narrowed arteries, and he had arthritic knees and rotten teeth, a likely case of Lyme disease, and signs of stomach ulcers.” – Live Science

Possible evidence for care and treatment in the Tyrolean Iceman was published in the International Journal of Paleopathology Volume 25, June 2019, Pages 110-117. The article discussed findings about what he had eaten, and outlined genetic findings.

The Mummy and the Meridians: “Ötzi the Iceman’s Tattoos May Have Been a Primitive Form of Acupuncture”

One of the most fascinating aspects of the story is that the international community was able to discern that “Ötzi the Iceman’s Tattoos May Have Been a Primitive Form of Acupuncture.” “In addition, the iceman was inked; Ötzi was covered in 61 tattoos. The tattoos were all simple stripes with two crosses, so they didn’t seem to be decorative. Given the look and location of these tattoos, the researchers think the markings were a form of medical treatment.” “The tattoos are all located at body regions where the iceman had some health issues and probably experienced periods of pain. For example, he had degenerative diseases of his hip, knee, ankle joints and lower back. Most of the tattoos are located [on] the legs and the lower back,” Zink said.”[] “chest tattoos may have been used to soothe belly discomfort; he had intestinal parasites and a Helicobacter pylori infection. And some of the inked spots corresponded to traditional acupuncture “pressure points,” suggesting to some researchers that the iceman underwent a form of acupuncture, Zink said. (Most scientists believe acupuncture first arose in China, and the first written description of it derives from 2,200 years ago, but it could have arisen earlier in some other location, like Europe, Zink said.) At the time of his death, the iceman had a “medicinal mushroom” known as birch polypore in his digestive system. Birch polypore is thought to have anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing properties, Zink said. Ötzi had also consumed ferns, which could have been either a primitive food wrapper that Ötzi mistakenly ate or a treatment to kill off the parasitic worms that plagued the iceman, Zink said.” – Live Science

Smithsonian Magazine reported “What Ötzi the Iceman’s Tattoos Reveal About Copper Age Medical Practices. New study argues that the 5,300-year-old Iceman’s community boasted surprisingly advanced health care techniques.” The article’s lead photo caption reads, “The Iceman’s tattoos align with classic acupuncture points, and the plants found amongst his belongings have well-known medical applications.”

Science Magazine also stated,” 5000-year-old ‘Iceman’ may have benefited from a sophisticated health care system, New look at Ötzi’s tattoos and medicines suggest complex medical culture,” also linking to locations of his 61 tattoos to the healing science of acupuncture.

“Previous studies have found that Ötzi carried a number of suspected medicines either on him or in him. Fastened to leather bands in his equipment, researchers found the birch polypore fungus, which the Iceman may have used to calm inflammation or as an antibiotic. Scientists also found bracken fern in his stomach, which can be used to treat intestinal parasites such as tapeworm. And Ötzi was covered with 61 tattoos [] including dotlike points around joints, which some researchers believe may have been used as pain treatment akin to an early form of acupuncture.

In the new study, scientists took a closer look at Ötzi’s tattoos. Some lines and dots were directly over his wrist and ankles which suffered from degenerative diseases, and many correspond to traditional acupuncture points, they report in the International Journal of Paleopathology. The markings would have taken a long time to produce, and this sophisticated practice—along with the variety of herbs and medicines—would have likely been developed through a dedicated, systematic trial-and-error approach that was passed down through generations in the society in which Ötzi lived, the team concludes. All of this—combined with the sophisticated use of plants and fungi to treat ailments—suggests Ötzi was part of a culture with some knowledge of anatomy, how diseases arise, and how to treat them, the scientists say. What they don’t know is whether any of these treatments actually worked.” – Science.org

“What they don’t know is whether any of these treatments actually worked” Reflects that Our Current Mass Consumer Culture and For-profit Medical Culture is Sustained by Our ‘Not Knowing’ and Our Unwillingness to Look

Scientists were able to examine a 5,300-year-old corpse and recognize the direct connection with acupuncture maps. But “Science.org” reported that “we don’t know whether any of these treatments worked.” It wasn’t because the Western mainstream medical industry is not aware that Chinese medicine has mapped out the electromagnetic pathways in the body, as the foundation of both self-care and healing, designed to harmonize the organism with the Cosmic Current that choreographs all of life on Earth.

It also was not because scientists had no idea where the points or pathways are, or what capacities they might carry. A simple search online will offer links to images of the Meridian pathways and their point applications, available to all.

It is related to the fact that we do not want to evaluate the effects of our wireless devices and technologies on our electromagnetic energies, because if we did, we would have to address the harm. The centralized power structure does not want to let go of the top-down power, control, and concentrated wealth enabled by data, and the consumers do not want to let go of the convenience, sense of personal power and control, and the 24/7 dopamine drip.

The dismissive conclusion by Science.org is related to entrenched economic interests that foster insidious intellectual arrogance.

For example, in 2021, Psychology Today published, “Believing Acupuncture Works Doesn’t Mean It Actually Does, Acupuncture is alluring pseudoscience.’ In 2024, No, Washington Post, Acupuncture Still Doesn’t Work, was published by Forbes. In July of 2024, Science-Based Medicine published “Acupuncture and Evidence Based Medicine” The plausibility of acupuncture is very low, because there is no known mechanism, and outside of short-term pain and nausea reduction, for any medical application of acupuncture there is no plausible even theoretical mechanism.

We can assume that none of these organizations humbled themselves to attempt to understand the science that underlies Chinese Medicine. Recognition is power.

Albert Eistein observed, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

Piercing the Energy Pathways

When we overlay piercings with available maps of the Meridian pathways and electromagnetic energies, we can see that the woman with the metal embedded in the inside corner of her eyes may be causing harm to her Bladder Meridian and the associated resonant field. The woman with the piercing on the outer edges of the Eyebrow may be adversely impacting the Gall Bladder and Triple Heater meridian energies. Indiscriminately activating these Yang meridians is most likely not without consequence.

Understanding and balancing these energies could instead become the basis of a healing and self-care renaissance.

When Things Don’t Look the Way They Should

My friend’s dog is miserable each October when the neighborhood is decorated for Halloween and monsters and goblins are flapping in the wind. His inborn alarm system is registering risk, because things don’t look the way that they should.

There are too many things in our environment that don’t look the way that they should look, that have been normalized by our unrelenting exposures and desensitization, as well as addictions.

One of the most alarming issues is the inescapable transmission of ubiquitous layers of artificial manmade EMF/RF/5G frequencies into the airwaves, juxtaposed with the practice of instinct-injured metal piercings, because metal acts as an antenna. Piercings can become unintentional antennas for harmful internalized exposures

International RF regulations regarding exposures do not account for metal in the body, including implants.

There should be an open debate about the safety of radio frequency and microwave radiation. – Home – RFInfo

Confronting ‘Overcharge’

Warriors have used various strategies to place themselves into a state of frenzied overdrive in order to inflict pain on others in battle, and our Penetrating Flows understand this mechanism. Our energy intelligence recognizes the risks and the imbalance, even if we do not possess conscious awareness.

We can’t come to understand or even study the actions of the Radiant Circuits by examining cadavers, or by studying laboratory animals under controlled conditions.

Our current science paradigm can’t support the level of integration that is needed to return each individual to self-mastery and self-sovereignty.

Insight and change can come from the choices of individuals, everywhere, to stop riding an unexamined, distorted technology wave.

We need to re-sensitize ourselves to our inborn wisdom; and to use our energetic capacities as good medicine for one another and our home planet. For example, the physical body has the ability to provide individual feedback about a particular food or medication. Our ‘scientific’ method of conducting double blind testing drugs against a placebo on groups is a gamble at best, and manslaughter in far too many cases.

Energy Intelligence in Action

We can redirect our focus to the still quiet sensory system inside that recoils at the sight of the unexamined juxtapositions of technology and biology… including earbuds near the brain, a person eating GMO altered industrialized junk food, a cellphone held against the head, a transmitter on a whale, a rocket laden with weapons and antennas heading into space, a cell tower next to a home or nursery school, a teen with low self-esteem encountering pornography or bullying on the internet, a child in the Congo mining cobalt, a connected vehicle spewing RF; a cell phone carried over the heart in a shirt pocket, tucked in a bra, or near the reproductive organs; a child throwing a tantrum and being soothed by a device, thousands of satellites filling the Low Earth atmosphere for which we have no trash pick-up.

Meta-studies by compromised experts and industry will not give us the right answers.

Many of these technologies have unleashed unspeakable harm on those who are more sensitive to artificial frequencies, especially women and children.

We need a new litmus test to determine whether a new invention, technology, or consumer product is designed to serve the greater good.

For example, the clean energy community indicted itself when it ignored the profound suffering and disability caused by wireless smart utility meters, installed under the guise of sustainability while enabling massive surveillance. If a manufacturer or government does not conduct appropriate pre-market testing, and does not address reported harm, claims regarding benefits are not legitimate. When those experiencing damage are on the receiving end of the disgust, marginalization, and ridicule that is powered by the Penetrating Flow and the manipulation of the media, dual use technologies causing harm don’t receive appropriate scrutiny.

Like the helix that represents our DNA, our inventiveness has been traveling away from the laws that govern our biology and our internal and external environment. We are at the bending, the point of tension where we need to shift our trajectory.

When we hit the sharp turn, we need to slow down. If you are at the fork in the road choosing between mastering more tech or learning from nature, chose nature.

“You, whose day it is, get out your rainbow colors and make it beautiful.” – Traditional Nootra Song

Resources:

Tracing Meridians with Donna Eden! YOUTUBE 7 1/2 MINUTES

Donna’s Daily Energy Routine “This is a quick and easy routine that you can do in just a few minutes to build your immune system, gain energy, feel younger, and relieve pain.”

Learn to Trace the Radiant Circuits: Tracing the Radiant Circuits with Prune Harris 6-minute video

Learn about The Need for Synthetic EMF Exposure Guidelines by Keith Cutter of EMF Remedy

Learn About Sensitivity to Electromagnetic Fields: Dr. Courtney Snyder: Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity in Children & Adults Symptoms, Brain Impacts, Factors That Increase Vulnerability, Diagnosis, Treatment, MTHFR, COMT, & Why Children Are Especially Susceptible (24-minute audio) (Biomarkers that have been used: Blood pressure and heart rate (to assess change in the autonomic nervous system) are also expected to increase; Salivary cortisol levels are expected to increase after exposure; Blood glucose levels are expected to increase after exposure. 

Learn About Sensitivity to Electromagnetic Fields from a Chinese Medicine Perspective: In May of 2002, “TCM Treatments for EMF Sensitivity | Acupuncture CEU Course” was taught by Wisconsin acupuncturist and functional medicine practitioner Michelle Meramour, Dipl.Ac. An introductory overview (1 hour 18 minutes) of the interactive day-long professional CEU training is available free online here. Michele created a body feedback system rooted in TCM acupuncture that uses Six Level Theory to diagnose and treat EHS.From Michele’s feedback system, in the first stage, EMF infiltrates the body via two meridian pathways: Small Intestine, and Urinary Bladder.   In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Small Intestine is associated with the entire enteric nervous system, ie the ‘gut. Michelle Meramour explains “In the Body-Feedback system, the tai yang meridians (Small intestine and Urinary Bladder) correspond with the hypothalamus, which determines how information is processed through the autonomic nervous system. The hypothalamus then creates hormones via the pituitary gland and endocrine system connection. Symptoms of EMFs affecting tai yang include poor quality sleep, general hypersensitivity, ANS dysfunction, weak immune function, and moodiness.” As she addresses the other five levels of disharmony associated with the five additional meridian pairs, she discusses histamines, allergies, MAST cell activation, chronic inflammation, and manifestations of deeper levels of imbalance that are very familiar to the EHS patient and practitioner population, including cardiac conditions.

Fact Checking Endnotes:

The origins of acupuncture are implied to have been derived from “trial and error” by the Science.org. However, it is known there are individuals who have the ability to “see energy.” An alternative history indicates that the sages could ‘see’ energy and codified the knowledge for all. The alternative narrative also implies that many indigenous groups had/have the capability to ‘see’ energy, providing the ability to identify beneficial herbs, etc. even without use of the written word, but were reluctant to explain to conquerors how they accessed their expertise. His-story is his story…interpreted by the dominator culture, and subject to further evolution. Yours, mine, everyone’s.

Introduction:

Sensing the Zeitgeist of the times, our team at Safe Tech International felt perhaps a renewed and internationally coordinated initiative focusing on local communities might be timely.

The idea was to invite people around the world to simultaneously send a letter to their local officials communicating strong dissent to the proliferation of EMFs in their community or city.  

We considered two possibilities: A Notice of Liability (NOL), or perhaps a more cordial but firm awareness raising letter. 

What emerged, while still a “letter” so to speak, could more aptly be called an ode to a simpler and saner way of life, with a special emphasis on the role of technology in our lives. A kind of invitation for ourselves, elected reps, and others to hold in our mind’s eye and heart the innate desire we humans share:

A desire for a life of health, well-being, wholesome relationships, a humble place to call home, a modest livelihood, and a way to contribute to the local and global family of life…and of course, all to the backdrop of world peace.   

The letter, or ode, has a very different style from how we usually communicate with our elected reps. This was intentional as for our civilization to open to the changes that life seems to be thirsting for, we must be authentic. No pretenses, role playing, or hierarchy. Just honest and open connections. 

The letter offers specific suggestions, many about technology, but also about education, the commons, healthy food, the skies, the ocean, and peace. Suggestions that emanate from common sense and a life centric perspective. 

If the letter resonates with you, please consider sending it as is, or edited, to your local officials or to anyone else you think may be interested. A link to both a PDF and Word version of the letter are provided at the end. An audio and video reading of the letter are provided as well.

I would like to acknowledge some of the many authors, podcasters, and speakers who have deeply informed my thinking: These include Nate Hagens, Vanessa Andreotti, Iain McGilchrist, Daniel Christian Wahl, Jeremy Lent, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Daniel Schmachtenberger, and Charles Eisenstein, among many others.  

And now…the letter. (To read, click on Page 2 directly below.)

Audio only – (Recommended as it’s far less energy and data consumptive than video) 
Video – 12:58 

Here’s our Complaint letter from Safe Tech Advocates

To hot springs community:

We love this sacred healing place with its legacy dating back hundreds of years.  All members of this region’s Native people went to the hot springs for safety, to enjoy the waters, and abide in peace. This area used to be a Victorian resort, a hunting lodge, and more. In modern times, the hot springs has taken on a sacred trust to be the guardians of the land, and have agreed to honor the legacy of the ancient native protectors.

Then came the wildfires, and it took years to rebuild this paradise.  This summer, we saw an EV charger in the middle of the forest in an area with burnt out trees from the last wildfire. People love your place but share, “The one thing that certainly is transparent about EVs is the fire hazard.” Please relocate the EV charger to a safer place given any fire can spread like wildfire. Please provide guests with a low Electromagnetic Radiation (EMF) option for fire safety. Please consider the responsible thing and investigate EVs, charging concerns and smart meters.

The hot springs wrote back only few words –  they take our concerns seriously. The EV charger in the forest haunts me, as if there is no escaping the fire controversies of tech, even in the wilderness, KCRA reported on Sierra Nevada’s latest EV fire in August, 2024: Hazmat teams stood by during a Tesla Semi fire.

Reinette Senum, former Nevada City mayor, wrote: “Tesla big rig recently crashed into a tree on Interstate 80 close to my hometown, Nevada City, sparking a fire that closed the highway for over 15 hours. Yes, you heard that right—an electric truck… turned into a flaming beacon of what could go wrong. Hazmat teams stood by, helpless, as the battery burned, emitting toxic smoke… Fortunately, this incident didn’t spark a cataclysmic forest fire like the one currently raging near Chico, known as the  Park Fire- the fourth largest wildfire in California, which has already consumed nearly 500,000 acres and continues to burn.”

EVs are up to 30% more likely to catch on fire while charging. What would ancestors hundreds of years ago have said?

Are EVs really clean, free, safe, and sustainable? Annie Leonard, in the Story of Electronics, talks about increased mining, industrial manufacturing, habitat destruction, and the creation of toxic waste.  These externalities are especially true for EVs.

EV charger fires command attention worldwide:
• 25 buses destroyed at a bus depot in Germany.
• EV fires at US charging stations: California, Colorado, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, Florida, and Nashville Tennessee.

“NFL wide receiver Randall Cobb and his family survived a house fire that apparently started with their Tesla charger in their garage.”

NY Post

“A Mercedes EV caught on fire recently,” Katie Singer shares. “Two and a half days after its owner parked a Mercedes EV in an underground parking lot, it caught fire, injured 23 people with toxic smoke inhalation and destroyed 140 other cars.” 

The list of fires goes on and on. Just google: “why do EV chargers fail”, or “why EV charging stations are bad”. According to research, “The number of EV battery fires that occur while connected to EV charging sits in the range of 18% to 30%.

EV fires are less frequent than gas cars according to Consumer Reports, yet insurers claim Hybrid fires come in number one. Autocar UK explains EV fires as “incredibly difficult to put out.”

The sustainability numbers don’t add up. 

• If 40,000 water gallons are needed for EV fires, how are EVs considered sustainable? 
• Fire fighters remain on the scene in New Jersey more than seven hours to make sure the battery doesn’t reignite and go into thermal runaway (you think the battery fire is out, but it isn’t).
• Lithium battery may reignite hours, days or weeks later (Tesla in a junkyard),
• Fires in electric vehicles… can reach 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with 1,500 degrees in a gas-powered car fire.”

Downtown LA Lawyers are among many lawyers that put on their Physicist hat to explain about EV batteries: “thermal runaway are fires from defective failing batteries, it can release a large amount of noxious and toxic gasses, catch on fire, jet out flames or even explode on the spot. These injuries can be serious and even fatal, causing death to the person using the charging station.”

Why do we need lawyers to unpack the science so we can understand the dangers we were not told about by industry scientists or our regulatory agencies? “An electric car can be a high hazard when it is charging. Many factors can make it a ticking time bomb that will catch fire quite easily,” i.e., not charging the battery enough or over charging it, not keeping the car in the shade, here’s a complete list of many potential battery problems of what can go wrong:

EVs are the largest source of demand for lithium, and lithium mining means dire consequences for water, food supplies, biodiversity, and Indigenous rights. How will the electrical grid, already at capacity, be able to handle millions more EVs? The more EVs that require electricity, the more we dedicate land use to power generation devices.

The dirty secret behind EVs are the tens of thousands of children in the Congo, knee-deep, mining for cobalt used for EV batteries, toxic to touch, toxic to breathe, the ore can have traces of radioactive uranium. The demand is so great, companies can’t dig it out fast enough. What would the ancient natives, say about children mining?  Natives understood that all parts of an ecosystem connect – children, animals, and rock are dependent on each other in the ecological niche. Eco-philosopher John Muir stated:

“Indians walk softly and hurt the landscape hardly more than birds or squirrels.”

Leave no trace, preserve for seven generations, don’t ask why this land is out of balance, ask why are we out of balance? Our letter to the hot springs cites: The smart meters on cottages, are yet another fire/safety concern that could have been avoided with analog meters. Is it true smart electrical meters can cause fires? Yes. Fires have been reported after smart meter installations, along with shorting or burning-out of appliances and electronics. Are commercial establishments required to have smart meters? Please help us understand, given smart meter residential opt-outs. Smart digital meters lack adequate surge arrestors and circuit breakers to protect electronics from extreme voltage surges. Surge arrestors prevent fires and electrical equipment damage.

See Katie Singer’s substack for a deep dive – why all things smart are not necessarily environmentally safe. “Electrical technician Sean Polacik explains to Keith Cutter that smart meters aren’t meters. They’re data-collecting computers. Contrast this to traditional analog meters that measured electricity use, worked as surge protectors, and did not generate dirty electricity.”

Research shows, “Analog meters are safer, do not emit RF, and do not contain any flammable electronic parts, nor do they have a switching mode power supply (that will create RF frequencies that enter the electrical wiring of the house/electrical. More on the science around smart meter fires can be found here, here and here.

Its not hard to provide a low EMF cottage, here’s how:

Many people want to avoid exposure to artificial radiation, and we applaud the no electronics rule. No doubt this hot spring is in alignment with providing a low electromagnetic radiation (EMF) cottage, please consider retrofitting cottages with analog meters, or Bill Bathgate’s DE Filter Iron Maiden to reduce pulsed radio frequency? We are curious how many hot springs guests were EMF-disabled prior to the smart meter rollout? Many hope for a safe cottage, especially with mobility issues. Under the ADA, analog meters would likely be allowed. Please do the right thing.

Signed by water/forest protectors, activists and community change agents, the leaders of safe tech organizations, and ancestral guardians of the land – (we are also signing on their behalf)

Great Salt Lake is the largest saline lake in North America. The lake and its wetlands form a
keystone ecosystem that supports biodiversity and human economy throughout the Western Hemisphere. – Source

Framing Others

In Massachusetts and beyond, the Karen Reed murder trial is a made-for-reality-television- story that has divided a town and captivated the public’s attention CNN reported, “Her defense has accused off-duty police inside that Canton home of killing O’Keefe and framing Read.” The prosecution’s case [] has been hampered by a series of missteps and unusual investigative practices. Rita Lombardi, a local Read supporter outside the court, told CNN [] “This woman was framed, and there is overwhelming evidence, overwhelming scientific evidence that she was framed for murder by the very people we trust to protect us.”  Central to the trial is the question of how the police department conducted its investigation, and whether Karen Reed has been framed. The case is on-going.       

This article is not as titillating of a story as the Karen Reed trial – but asks a few questions.

Regarding the disappearing Great Salt Lake in Utah, what if the farmers and ‘climate’ are being framed, by the very people we trust to protect us? Are we unwittingly relying on ‘unusual investigation practices’?

My colleague Kate Kheel recently sent me an email. “On the way to Baltimore today, I listened to NPR’s coverage of The Great Salt Lake that is projected to be completely dry within 5 years. The reasons given included global warming and agriculture.

But surprisingly (not), the huge NSA data center erected in 2014 for surveillance purposes, and Facebook’s META were not mentioned. That got me to researching.”

Do we have an incomplete picture of what is driving what we call climate change?

“By computing the water usage rate, one could ultimately determine the computing power and capabilities of the Utah Data Center,” wrote the NSA’s associate director for policy and records, David Sherman, in an undated letter filed with Bluffdale in response to the Tribune’s public records request. “Armed with this information, one could then deduce how much intelligence NSA is collecting and maintaining.”

Who Counts What, – Counts

In November2023, in the article Military emissions – the weak point in the war on climate change? Army Technology reported that international climate accords do not take into account military emissions. ‘As the largest institutional consumer of energy in the US, the Department of Defense (DoD) has faced criticism for not instigating change on military emissions reporting.'[] “The US has a larger military expenditure than any other country, amounting to $877bn in 2022, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.” [] Scientists and academics from universities including Oxford, Columbia, Harvard, Lancaster, Stanford, Durham and Queens Mary have released numerous studies outlining the hundreds of millions of tonnes of military carbon emissions that have gone unaccounted for in the stocktake.”– SOURCE

Likewise, when we look at “farmers” and water consumption, are we also factoring in water-guzzling data farms?

In addition to ‘not counting’ military carbon emissions, how does the planet’s hydrological cycle respond when accurate data about data centers is not factored into consideration? Are we causing avoidable planetary desertification by not accurately counting technology’s footprint?

In reverse chronological order, some of the resources that Kate uncovered point to a possible scenario; the excessive water consumption of data centers via evaporation differs from farming consumption patterns and may be changing the climate and contributing to or causing drought, and not just in Utah,

AI’s Outrageous Environmental Toll: July 2024 (Futurism and Wired)

On July 14, 2024 in the Substack News Summary for Safe Tech International , we highlighted an article by Frank Landymore published by Futurism:  AI’s Outrageous Environmental Toll Is Probably Worse Than You Think 

He wrote, “Consider the obscene amounts of water that’s needed just to cool the data centers that train and host generative AI models, which is somewhere in the millions of gallons per year. Internal estimates from Microsoft about its data facility in Goodyear, Arizona, for example, show that it’s set to annually consume 56 million gallons of drinking water — which is more than a drop in the ocean for such a water-scarce region.

But as Wired reports, the way data centers waste water is even worse than how households would waste it by leaving the tap running. “The water that is available for people to use is very limited,” Shaolei Ren, a responsible AI researcher at UC Riverside, told the magazine. “It’s just the fresh surface water and groundwater. Those data centers, they’re just evaporating water into the air.” “When we get the water from the utility, and then we discharge the water back to the sewage immediately, we are just withdrawing water — we’re not consuming water,” Ren continued. “A data center takes the water from this utility, and they evaporate the water into the sky, into the atmosphere.” And once evaporated, that water doesn’t come back to Earth for another year. 

“For basic services, those were very light in terms of the amount of data that needed to go back and forth between the processors,” he said, estimating that these generative AI applications are 100 to 1,000 more times intensive. Other estimates put Google’s AI search in the ballpark of consuming ten times as much energy than a regular one.“ To re-iterate:

Those data centers, they’re just evaporating water into the air.” “A data center takes the water from this utility, and they evaporate the water into the sky, into the atmosphere.” And once evaporated, that water doesn’t come back to Earth for another year.

The quote is sourced from a July 11th Wired article. AI’s Energy Demands Are Out of Control, Welcome to the Internet’s Hyper-consumption Era. Generative Artificial Intelligence tools, now part of everyday user experience online, are causing stress on local power grids and mass water evaporation, by Reece Rogers.

March 2024, Great Salt Lake Utah, (NPR)

Farmers accused of drying up the imperiled Great Salt Lake say they can help save it In a lawsuit filed last year against the state, Deed’s group (Center for Biological Diversity) and others went on to call the drying Great Salt Lake — the American West’s largest and one of the world’s few remaining giant saline lakes — a looming ecological collapse.

That suit came on the heels of a report by Brigham Young University scientists that set off alarm bells for many in the state saying the lake could dry up within five years if no action is taken. The lawsuit seeks to force state leaders to drastically cut how much water farmers use and let it flow into the lake.

But as Spring planting time approaches, many farmers say fears about the lake drying up are being overblown. Environmentalists want to stop alfalfa farming in the desert. The Great Salt Lake’s shrinking is already killing the brine shrimp that feed migratory birds. []

Seed says Utah leaders just aren’t making the tough political choice to cut water to alfalfa farms and dairies north of the lake. “We can’t afford to continue to do that with our water in the West,” she says. “Those farmers need to be compensated so they can retire from farming.” This is a popular refrain right now from California to Utah where precious river water channeled through irrigation canals is used to grow thirsty feed crops, some for export, even as droughts in the West are getting worse with climate change. Utah is the second driest state in the country yet it also has the highest water use per capita. But farmers say they’re being unfairly maligned in the fight over the imperiled lake. []

January 2023, Brigham Young University

The NPR article links to the BYU study Emergency measures needed to rescue
Great Salt Lake from ongoing collapse (Download available, 34 pages) The BYU study states “Causes of decline After millennia of natural fluctuations, human water use has pushed Great Salt Lake into structural decline.

Since 2020, the lake has lost just over one million acre-feet of water each year [], much more than predicted by current hydrographic models [] If this rate of water loss continues, the lake would be on track to disappear in the next five years. The lake is now 10 feet and 6.9 million acre-feet below its minimum healthy level, which has only been attained once since 2002[]

Saline lakes are highly vulnerable to water overuse because they depend on a delicate balance between streamflow and evaporation. Consequently, there is a strong relationship between the area of irrigated agriculture in a saline lake’s watershed and the severity of its shrinkage Agriculture began affecting Great Salt Lake levels in the mid 1800s. However, it wasn’t until the 1900s that humans became the dominant force controlling the lake. Federal and state construction of dams, canals, and pipelines in the 1900s allowed more of the watershed’s natural runoff to be diverted for agricultural, industrial, and municipal use. These subsidized water projects led to unsustainable water consumption and plummeting lake levels through the 1960s.

Over the last three years, the lake has received less than a third of its natural streamflow because of excessive water diversions. In 2022, the lake dropped to a record elevation of 4188’—the lowest level on the state’s contingency charts10,18,64. The depletion of water is even more severe than it appears because groundwater is not included in these estimates. Approximately 26 million acre-feet have been lost from the lake itself, but twice that amount may have been lost from the aquifers around the lake due to water table drop. These empty aquifers could slow the rate of rebound after runoff is increased.” –BYU Study

February 2024: AI, West Des Moines, Iowa (Hyperscaler)

In February, HyperScaler published, Water Consumption of AI, How Tech Giants are Draining the Planet 2024.

The Extent of Water Usage by AI According to a recent study in Nature, the water consumption of AI is projected to reach between 4.2 billion and 6.6 billion cubic meters by 2027. This is equivalent to nearly half of the UK’s annual water consumption. The primary reason for this high water usage is the need to cool the servers that run complex AI models, especially those utilizing generative AI for processing and generating text, data, and other forms of information. These AI models operate in massive data centers, where chilled water systems absorb the heat generated by the servers. While some of this water can be recycled, a significant amount evaporates, leading to substantial water consumption.

Additionally, the production of electricity required to power these data centers indirectly contributes to water usage through energy production methods such as thermal power plants and hydroelectric dams. The growing water consumption by AI data centers has several negative repercussions on both the environment and society.

Environmental Impact The excessive use of water by data centers exacerbates the global water crisis, which already affects over two billion people who lack access to safe drinking water. Furthermore, it intensifies the effects of climate change, contributing to severe droughts, floods, and wildfires that jeopardize ecosystems and human communities.  Social and Economic Impact The strain on water resources can lead to conflicts and inequalities, particularly in regions where water is already scarce. For instance, in West Des Moines, Iowa, a cluster of data centers hosting OpenAI significantly depleted the local aquifer, reducing water pressure and impacting residents’ quality of life and property values. Additionally, popular AI services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are heavy water users. Research indicates that generating responses from ChatGPT could consume as much water as a 500ml bottle for every 10 to 50 prompts, depending on various factors. Newer, more powerful models like GPT-4 are likely to consume even more water, though exact figures are not yet available. –Hyperscaler

The growing water consumption by AI data centers has several negative repercussions on both the environment and society. The excessive use of water by data centers exacerbates the global water crisis, which already affects over two billion people who lack access to safe drinking water. Furthermore, it intensifies the effects of climate change, contributing to severe droughts, floods, and wildfires that jeopardize ecosystems and human communities.

July 2022 Utah (Standard Examiner)

Yes, data centers use a lot of water. One Utah company shows it doesn’t have to be that way.

“The United States accounts for about 40% of the world’s large cloud and internet data sites. Utah is home to at least 25 “colocation” data centers, according to a Data Center Map estimate, most of them near Salt Lake City. Those sites, like Novva, rent servers to a variety of customers, from gas stations to medical companies. The figure doesn’t include big centers run by single entities, like the U.S. National Security Agency’s operation in Bluffdale or Facebook’s facility in Eagle Mountain.

And most data centers, regardless of their operators, rely on evaporative cooling to keep their servers at optimal temperatures. Some gulp down millions of gallons each month. “It’s a worse story than you can imagine,” Swenson said. “They’re using culinary water, not irrigation [water], so it’s been treated by the city. … It’s a complete waste of a resource.” [] Data centers further treat their water with chemicals to prevent things like scale buildup and Legionnaires’ disease. Some of the water is lost through the evaporative process, while the rest can be reused only a few times before it has to be flushed from the system. Unfortunately, Swenson said, “the places where evaporative cooling works the best are the places where there is the least amount of water.”

As climate change fuels drier conditions and the West’s current “megadrought” shows no signs of ending, some of those arid communities are protesting water-guzzling data facilities. In the early 2010s, Utahns worried so much about the NSA data center’s water consumption — along with Edward Snowden’s revelations that the agency was illegally spying on U.S. citizens — that a Republican legislator proposed shutting off its supply. [] Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has adopted sustainability goals for its own data centers. Still, it consumed 13.5 million gallons in the year between June and May at its 970,000-square-foot Utah site, according to information provided by Eagle Mountain.

The C7/DataBank center in Bluffdale — which is a tenth the size of the NSA and Facebook campuses — used 6.9 million gallons in the past year. Novva, meanwhile, has consumed about 1.1 million gallons since its servers went on line in January, according to West Jordan. In May, it used 585,000 gallons — its highest monthly rate of consumption to date. By comparison, Facebook used 1.3 million that month and the NSA chugged nearly 13 million gallons. [] Why some say data centers are worth their weight in water Beyond water consumption, data centers don’t create many jobs. They also eat up a lot of energy [] Still, the Utah cities that welcome the facilities say they offer a lot of benefits. [] In a statement, an NSA spokesperson said the agency is working to limit water use and be a responsible member of the community. [] What about data centers’ high energy demands? Water improvements aside, data centers devour a lot of electricity. – SOURCE

June 2017 Mesa, Arizona (NBC news)

Drought-stricken communities push back against data centers

As cash-strapped cities welcome Big Tech to build hundreds of million-dollar data centers in their backyards, critics question the environmental cost. But keeping the rows of powerful computers inside the data center from overheating will require up to 1.25 million gallons of water each day, a price that Vice Mayor Jenn Duff believes is too high. “This has been the driest 12 months in 126 years,” she said, citing data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “We are on red alert, and I think data centers are an irresponsible use of our water.”

The spike in use of data-intensive cloud services such as video conferencing tools, video streaming sites like Netflix and YouTube and online gaming, particularly as people quarantined during the pandemic, has increased demand for the computing power offered by data centers globally. And this means more data centers are being built every day by some of America’s largest technology companies, including Amazon, Microsoft and Google and used by millions of customers. According to the Synergy Research Group, there were about 600 “hyperscale” data centers, massive operations designed and operated by a single company that then rents access to cloud services, globally by the end of 2020. That’s double the number there were in 2015. Almost 40 percent of them are in the United States, and Amazon, Google and Microsoft account for more than half of the total. – NBC news

The spike in use of data-intensive cloud services such as video conferencing tools, video streaming sites like Netflix and YouTube and online gaming, particularly as people quarantined during the pandemic, has increased demand for the computing power offered by data centers globally. And this means more data centers are being built every day.

July 2015: Utah (Sage Journals)

From Data flows and water woes: The Utah Data Center

“Using a new materialist line of questioning that looks at the agential potentialities of water and its entanglements with Big Data and surveillance, this article explores how the recent Snowden revelations about the National Security Agency (NSA) have reignited media scholars to engage with the infrastructures that enable intercepting, hosting, and processing immeasurable amounts of data. []

Specifically, I explore the NSA’s infrastructure and the million of gallons of water it requires daily to cool its servers, while located in one of the driest states in the U S [] this article questions the emplacement and impact of corporate data centers more generally, and the changes they are causing to the landscape and local economies. I look at how water is an intriguing and politically relevant part of the surveillance infrastructure and how it has been constructed as the main tool for activism in this case, and how it may eventually help transform the public’s conceptualization of Big Data, as deeply material.”

[] during the Obama Administration, the NSA has created a colossal network of backup hard drives ensuring that failure at one facility is easily recovered from another. The NSA spreads and duplicates storage across multiple locales, including in Georgia, Texas, Colorado, and Hawaii, with a sizeable expansion at its headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland (scheduled to open in 2016). This $860 million 70,000 square feet of datacenter space in Fort Meade is estimated to require 60 MW of energy to run and makes huge demands on water; up to five millions gallons a day. This location would then detour wastewater (“gray waters”) from the Little Patuxent River, for the purposes of cooling its servers. – Sage Journals

March 2014 (Wired)

Why Does the NSA Want to Keep Its Water Usage a Secret?  The National Security Agency has many secrets, but here’s a new one: the agency is refusing to say how much water it’s pumping into the brand new data center it operates in Bluffdale, Utah.  According to the NSA, its water usage is a matter of national security. If it revealed how much water it’s using in Bluffdale, the agency believes, outsiders could get a good idea of the scope of NSA surveillance. “By computing the water usage rate, one could ultimately determine the computing power and capabilities of the Utah Data Center,” wrote the NSA’s associate director for policy and records, David Sherman, in an undated letter filed with Bluffdale in response to the Tribune’s public records request. “Armed with this information, one could then deduce how much intelligence NSA is collecting and maintaining.” But, oddly enough, water usage has become a very contentious issue for the NSA. An anti-government group called the Tenth Amendment Center is calling for Utah to simply cut off the NSA’s water supply, saying that water is the $1.5 billion data center’s “Achilles Heel.” And last month, a state Republican lawmaker named Marc Roberts said he would introduce a bill that would do such a thing. – Wired

2014: Victory! NSA water records to be released in Utah This month, the Utah State Records Committee ruled that the City of Bluffdale must release water records pertaining to the massive NSA data center located there.  Salt Lake City Tribune reporter Nate Carlisle pursued the information, and his success shows how a series of small, seemingly insignificant actions can lead to a major victory. The committee voted unanimously to require the city to make details of the NSA’s water use public last week. “We felt the law was on our side,” Carlisle told KUTV News. “We also felt there was a public interest in knowing how much water the NSA is using in Utah, so Utahns are informed about the role of the NSA in their state.”  The city of Bluffdale and the NSA were both initially unwilling to give up the details about their arrangement. Water usage estimates range between 1.2 and 1.7 million gallons of water per day, but the NSA was very ambiguous regarding the specific figure, insisting it was a matter of “national security.”  See Short I minute video:  No Water = No NSA Data Center. #NullifyNSA campaign from OffNow.org, https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ANUo8BnYoo

July 2024 Politico Did You Know? The Politics of Reclaiming “Safety“

In the July 25th Safe Tech International News and Notes we included an article from Politico: AI and POLITICS: What voters want on AI from Trump But what would voters actually want, if Trump won? 

The article indicates that many Americans are questioning the wisdom of lax regulation, while re-thinking safety. Questioning the explosion of surveillance of U.S. citizens, fueling the demand for more data centers and more water and energy consumption, may be emerging more quickly from the right than the left.

“The Artificial Intelligence Polling Institute asked nearly 1,000 respondents last week, sharing the results exclusively with Digital Future Daily. The online poll asked them to rate the sometimes conflicting views that Trump allies and the man himself have expressed on AI. What they found might give pause to open-source acolytes and out-there accelerationists alike — and, perhaps unexpectedly, to the Republicans who are ready to line up behind Trump’s desire to repeal President Joe Biden’s sweeping AI agenda. 

Those who responded to the poll, while often conflicted, have serious concerns about the safety of the technology itself. [] The poll also tackled an AI-adjacent issue that has become a key GOP talking point: AI’s thirst for energy. Trump recently suggested that Biden-era environmental regulations would stymie the technology’s development. A mere 33 percent of Trump voters agreed that “regulations should be eased on power generation” for AI, with 37 percent opposing such a move and 30 percent saying they weren’t sure. [] Asked whether Trump in a second term should prioritize keeping the U.S. ahead of China on AI or keeping Americans safe from it, they prioritized safety by a margin of 15 points. HERE

The Case Against Water Metering Infrastructure

In the 2023 report Emergency measures needed to rescue Great Salt Lake from ongoing collapse, researchers at Brigham Young University included a list of things NOT TO DO. The list includes the call not to: Build more infrastructure. There continue to be calls to build more reservoirs and pipelines as a response to the ongoing drought. However, our current situation is not caused by inadequate surface-water storage. In fact, reservoirs represent a major source of consumptive water use. We don’t have enough water to keep current full, and most suitable reservoir sites have already been developed.

In addition, policies to control water consumption via the use of RFR (radio frequency radiation) powering wireless smart meters are examples of poorly conceived tech infrastructure solutions that will

a) create more data and the demand for more data processing and data centers

b) increase surveillance

c) create a built-in cycle of obsolescence and increased e-waste for meters and infrastructure

d) discriminate against certain classes of customers on the basis of health

e) consume resources unnecessarily

See more here:

Smartmeters Health and Safety FAQs – Environmental Health Trust (ehtrust.org)

Physicians for Safe Technology | Smart Meter Radiation Health Effects (mdsafetech.org)

(In addition, scrutiny of the impact of microwaves on the structure of water, for example from installing antennas on water towers, increasing the ambient RFR exposures, and installing wireless meters and banks of meters, is inadequate, despite reported harm. )

Previously, fire alarms only sent a signal when there was a fire. We are now creating over-lapping mesh networks that continuously send signals, unnecessarily, and without regard for safety or for the environment. Smart meters are often promoted for their ability to detect leaks. They do not have to transmit continuously in order to address this need.

Closing Thoughts:

1. When we don’t account for all forms of energy and water consumption, we do not have accurate data, despite the enormous growth and grotesque water and energy consumption of data farms.
2. When we give military and security NSA interests a free pass for planetary environmental impacts, our data and decision making is corrupted.
3. When we attribute blame to farmers and climate, it seems like someone else’s distant problem, and responsibility.
4. The decision to diminish water access for farming and to ignore water use by data farms will have consequences.
5. Our consumption of data is being insidiously increased, without our conscious awareness, including by the introduction of AI.
6. Our unexamined, increased demand for data, (activated by the lockdowns and trauma) offers one avenue for personal decision-making and empowerment. We can begin to embrace digital sobriety, needed in nearly all ways, nearly everywhere, and needed now. Rather than blanketing the planet and its atmosphere with wi-fi, we need a tsunami of awareness that recognizes the Rights of Nature, including the Great Salt Lake’s rights.

Highly Recommended:

Financial Sense Newshour’s Jim Puplava speaks with Mark Mills, Executive Director of the National Center for Energy Analytics about the collision between policy goals and economic realities when it comes to green energy, growing electricity demand from AI, data centers, and onshoring of semiconductor manufacturing. Mark explains how the US is not building enough electrical plants to keep up with demand, let alone enough wind and solar, so it will have to be provided by natural gas and coal, which is also seeing exploding demand globally. Mark also discusses the role of nuclear power, small modular reactors, and why places like Germany and California are seeing outright deindustrialization due to their aggressive green energy policies by not factoring in the difficulty, if not near impossibility, of switching away from the use of hydrocarbons and nuclear for electricity production. This is an eye-opening interview packed full of economic and financial market insights that you won’t want to miss with one of the smartest and brightest minds when it comes to understanding the current conflict between policy, energy, and reality.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/financial-sense-r-newshour/id306759846?i=1000655229628 (1 hour 13 minutes)

(National Center for Energy Analytics Fact-based Perspectives on Energy “NCEA’s scholars are devoted to data-driven analyses of policies, plans, and technologies surrounding the supply and use of energy essential for human flourishing.”)

Related Article:

When Politics and Physics Collide The belief that mandates and massive subsidies can summon a world without fossil fuels is magical thinking. – Mark P. Mills

There’s another category error in analogizing energy tech to computer tech. Consider the IMF’s musings on smartphone substitution and energy substitution. Unshackling the personal phone from wired connections didn’t doom wires and cables for communications—instead, it created an enormous expansion in communications traffic that, collaterally, drove greater need for wires and cables. 

[] neither political rhetoric nor financial largesse can make the impossible possible. 

Be on the right side of history.