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May 27, 2008
Public Wi-Fi Violates Americans with Disabilities Act
We are still only just beginning to learn how awful an idea it was to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, a trial lawyers' bonanza that allows anyone who can claim to be in some way defective to sue anybody over anything. The ADA's latest application: forcing public buildings not to offer Wi-Fi.
A group in Santa Fe says the city is discriminating against them because they say that they're allergic to the wireless Internet signal. And now they want Wi-Fi banned from public buildings.
Arthur Firstenberg says he is highly sensitive to certain types of electric fields, including wireless Internet and cell phones.
"I get chest pain and it doesn't go away right away," he said.
Firstenberg and dozens of other electro-sensitive people in Santa Fe claim that putting up Wi-Fi in public places is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I get nausea every time I'm exposed to liberal politics. Maybe I should lawyer up.
On a tip from Lyle.
Posted by Van Helsing at May 27, 2008 6:20 PM
Comments
The solution here is very simple. Give these folks an aluminum foil "helmet" to protect them from "stray electro-magnetic fields" and "radio signals beamed into their heads" and they will be all set.
Ever notice that all these "sensitive" people live in the S.F. Bay area, Sedona AZ, Santa Fe NM, Seattle...NONE of them come from The Bronx, Pittsburgh, Compton, Sheboygan, Peoria...bet they're all vegan, too...
Posted by: matt at May 27, 2008 7:22 PM
The whole friggin' planet is awash in electric fields. Typical wi-fi transmits at less than 1/10th of a watt, if I remember rightly. Add to that the fact that most wi-fi antennas are omnidirectional, and you get a whole lot less power than that in any particular direction.
People like this guy Firstenberg frost my shorts. Judges who seriously entertain their BS frost them more.
Posted by: Strat at May 27, 2008 7:58 PM
Moronic liberals will never take responsibility for their own health and well being. They expect the world to cater to them - just like illegal mexicans - you will speak mexican to them and give them all rights of membership PLUS a free health card or they will sue.
I have three words for "a group in Santa Fe" and every like-minded idiot (liberal):
Kiss my ass.
Narcissistic dipshits.
Posted by: Jimbo at May 27, 2008 8:45 PM
They are just setting the stage for a big class action lawsuit. The MoonBat way. The Google Guys will have them offed. Goes against the Google Business Plan.
Ot -
On the scary side of MoonBattery:
Guilting Kids in Australia to plan their own death date based on a personal carbon footprint
On the 'Ass Hat' side of MoonBattery:
Germany unveils memorial to gay victims of Holocaust
Posted by: Oiao at May 27, 2008 9:03 PM
Oiao,
I did the death date based on my carbon footprint thing. It said I should die at age 3. I'm 52 now. I'm going to see if I can change my lifestyle so I should die before I was born.
Posted by: steven at May 27, 2008 10:01 PM
Yo Steven -
Your are a Carbon Pig......LOL
Posted by: Oiao at May 27, 2008 10:07 PM
I get what these guys feel. However, I wouldn't sue anyone. I do get horrible headaches whenever I'm near a computer or router emitting or receiving wifi. But I deal with it. I just don't use Wifi. As long as it's not in my dormitory I'm fine.
Posted by: AC at May 28, 2008 2:28 AM
Actually, legal precedent and the ADA are on the side of the whiners.
It's already been established that AIDS is a disability, even when it is self-inflicted. The language of the ADA is so broad that even a psychosomatic illness qualifies as a disability. Furthermore, there is no cost-benefit analysis in ADA, so even a person with an imaginary illness has to be accommodated regardless of the cost.
Thanks Congress...
Posted by: V the K at May 28, 2008 4:09 AM
This stuff with radio waves is a complete load of crap. Like Strat said, we've been constantly exposed to all manner of radio waves since before any of us were born. And many of the sources are high power - like TV and radio stations. It really is constant too - for every second with the possible exception of some cave exploration or time spent hanging out in a lead box.
Posted by: forest at May 28, 2008 6:29 AM
AC, you seem like a reasonable person. I must tell you that something else is giving you the headaches. The RF emitted by a WiFi is so low and diffuse that it would be totally nominal unless you had the antenna strapped to your head. Even then, I see no way you'd "feel" anything.
If RF fields of that strength were giving you problems, so would TV and radio transmissions, microwave ovens, the EMF generated by virtually everything electrical in your house and car...
Whatever the source of your headaches, I don't know of any science that would suggest WiFi could possibly be it.
Posted by: matt at May 28, 2008 10:41 AM
heard some digbat lawyer on fox saying that even if the problem is purely psychosomatic, it is still covered under ADA. I personally do not believe it; i have migraine/cluster headaches which are set off by all sorts of things and sometimes by nothing at all. have not noticed any problem from wifi.
Posted by: maxnnr at May 28, 2008 4:31 PM
I stood too close to my microwave once; now, when I get angry, my skin turns green and I grow into an 800 lb. behemoth. Same thing happens when I walk into a Starbucks with wi-fi.
Hulk... just... want... to... file... LAWSUIT!!!
Posted by: PabloD at May 28, 2008 6:49 PM
Thebestwaytoprovethattheyarehypochrondriacs would be to set up a Wi-fi field in the courtroom, and switchit on and off to see if the 'sensitive' notices.
Posted by: James F McEnanly at May 28, 2008 7:23 PM
"The solution here is very simple. Give these folks an aluminum foil "helmet" to protect them from "stray electro-magnetic fields" and "radio signals beamed into their heads" and they will be all set."
LOL@matt, THAT is exactly what I was thinking when I saw the post! God, what planet are these morons from and why have the been "dropped off here" anyway?
Posted by: HoosierArmyMom at May 29, 2008 5:00 AM
