Comments on: Silver Spring Networks IPO: Predatory Capitalism in Action https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/ Fighting for health, privacy, and safety Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:22:28 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5 By: Mr. Bubbles https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-35956 Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:22:28 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-35956 In reply to Stop Minnesota Meters.

Well, plenty of activity here.

I have problems sleeping because my room sometimes gets too hot at night when I turn on the heater and forget to turn it down. I open a window and turn off the heater.

I have tinnitus from a life of not using enough ear protection. Time to see an audiologist and protect what hearing I have left.

I have eye fatigue from working with small fonts even since I was 6 years old. Good prescription glasses and not wearing contacts while working with a computer help a great deal, and so does making the fonts larger.

I have headaches when I drink too much, when my hat shrinks or my head gets fat from not exercising enough. I stop drinking booze, drink more water, retire the worn out hat, and keep on top of my exercises.

Now I feel great! I’m probably in the best shape of my life.

Thanks for asking…

]]>
By: Jim https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-35106 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:41:17 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-35106 Here’s the lawsuit. False commercial speech. False advertising. Privacy violations (long list).

“Private Memoirs of a Smart Meter” University of Massachusetts Amherst
https://stopsmartmeters.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Private-Memiors-of-Smart-Meter.pdf

Shows how data can be extracted from the “smart” meter to tell what is going on in your house.

The power companies have said this isn’t possible for years now, and have sent out pamphlets explaining how they keep your data private and the “smart” meter isn’t spying on you. Don’t forget it’s completely re-programmable AT ANY TIME from remote, so just because they say it won’t do this or that now doesn’t mean it can’t do that in the future, like make the data reports contain more data etc…

GET ON IT!! Where’s all the lawyers?

]]>
By: Mia Nony https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-35079 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:19:34 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-35079 In reply to Rusty.

So then can one surmise that contravention of multiple national, state and provincial laws does not pose any kind of ethical or even just any fiscal problem? Presumably not for grid groupie advocates in thrall to all things green washed and labelled “smart? Any con can be conned by a better con. And any corporation can be stopped by a bigger one with something to lose. That is why insurance corporations have “recovery” departments.
Read Andrew Michrowski. The not so smart grid gang may be delusional enough to operate inside its own compartmentalized smart grid bubble economy, it fans may think they can continue to operate in some parallel Enron model of a corporate universe where corporate scofflaws are the standard issue and recessions deepening into depressions don’t exist.
However, as the corporate parasite devours the host, back here in the real world inhabited by what are euphemistically referred to as “customers”, the universe in which flesh and blood lives is rapidly becoming uninhabitable.
What the hit-&-run short term thinking of the corporate mentality fails to grasp is that no economy can survive, let alone thrive, when short term greed erodes, impoverishes and disables the better part of an entire current and future customer base.
These frequencies give new meaning to the term “brain drain”. An EMF drained brain does not earn nor spend.
Just as no dope or pharmaceutical dealer can survive without drug junkies, likewise no energy corporation can sustain any goal without electricity users able to afford the use. What is the game plan when predatory capitalism is faced with slow motion economic collapse of the buyer sector? How do private medical corporations deal with the impact of a growing societal disease burden unable any longer to support these corporations? How to investors skirt the issue of structural destabilization as each metal component in everything from electrical systems to support beams to amalgam fillings bionic replacement parts begins to give out “prematurely” from harmonics induced deconstruction.
What is the game plan beyond the short term once frequency weapons of mass energy distribution reveal themselves to frequency weapons of mass destruction?
There really is no difference between demolition from EMPs and EMFs, except the rate of speed.
Ask the military. they don’t sit around “wondering” if ultra low frequencies are harmful, they KNOW they are, that is why they use them.
These low frequencies contravene building code LAWS on the books right now, laws re vibrations that have not been factored in, which loosen all contacts, electrical code laws re harmonics which it has long been known corrode metal, 20 years worth of corrosion in a matter of a few months.
Sure, a materialistic culture may place little value on damage to children’s developing brains or the disappearance of pollinators of our food supply.
But even corporate hacks who love hostile takeovers tend to sit up and pay attention fast when one giant corporation goes after another.
THAT is when predatory capitalism gets interesting.
Imagine the impact on investors and developers when engineers who are reminded of the laws concerning the illegality of harmonics refuse to approve structures. Maybe those engineers get taken to court but then case law precedent establishes that national building codes are indeed backing their decisions for refusal of occupancy permits for billion dollar investments. You think they will write a white paper opinion piece about that?
Visualize how all this will play out when the really big predators such as insurance corporations flat out refuse any kind of insurance for buildings which fail to meet laws or inspections, due to destabilized specs.
Consider that when firewall separations corrode, firemen are not going to be willing to facing the risk.
The phrase currently to explain away wireless frequency induced accelerated corrosion which is surfacing everywhere these days in the industry is “premature failure”.
How will these predators keep off shore accounts overflowing once unpredictable destabilization of buildings, bridges, hip implants becomes the new standard and ready prey is nowhere to be found?

]]>
By: Soapbox Jill https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-34923 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:39:13 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-34923 In reply to onthelevelblog.

Look at Michigan, too. They’ve now got a BILL to end and pull out these smart meter weeds!

]]>
By: Soapbox Jill https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-34922 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:35:57 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-34922 In reply to Paul H.

Paul, the rush to stop global warming, or climate change, or the coming ice age (some say this is actually what is coming) – have created a frenzied rush to stop it by forcing products not well-researched or thought-out, including cfl light bulbs (can cause seizures, skin problems, and contain lethal mercury, toxic to people and waste dumps, where many still end up); smart meters (installed in order to monitor top-down our energy use and push people to use less and pay more); and electric cars. Yes, I said electric cars, which will cost electrical use energy, and create amazing amounts of dirty electricity, plus will be IMPOSSIBLE for people with electro-sensitivity to use or be near.
When creating products, start with safety. Build on that. You can’t do this if you are too rushed to think it through.

]]>
By: ShucksTheExplorer https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-34905 Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:13:24 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-34905 In reply to Mr. Bubbles.

Did you know that gasoline causes cancer? So does the sun. For your family’s health I hope you never fly in a airplane and don’t drive.

Ah yes, the false equivalency argument, used when your position is beginning to deteriorate in the hope that you can pull a few back over to your side.

But you see, Bubbles, all of those other sources of cancer that you quote can be limited by choice, and choice just happens to be missing from your SmartMeter form of cancer.

BTW, thanks for admitting that your meters do cause cancer. I’m not sure if everyone caught your faux pas, but I did.

]]>
By: Ron https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-34894 Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:45:03 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-34894 Pressured by mounting ratepayer revolt, PG$E in collusion with the CPUC finally conceded recently to an ostensibly corrective action for their increasingly unpopular Smart Grid Program–simultaneously capitalizing on yet another superb opportunity to aggrandize the old bottom line. They arbitrarily reversed their own policy by “allowing” ratepayers to “opt out” of a program they were never given a choice to opt into.

The single most overwhelming complaint has been the acute health detriments experienced by a significantly large number of people newly exposed to ubiquitous key components of the program, Smart Meters. Until the decision to “offer” opt out, PG$E’s position was essentially one of denial, i.e. that these new high tech meters with wireless capability are perfectly safe only because they comply with limited FCC standards for RF radiation–standards that deal only with thermal effects. Now we know that even the compliance with these inadequate standards turned out to be a lie.
See: eon3emfblog. net /?p=1724 [remove spaces]

Furthermore, FCC safety stipulations for installation of the meters were violated wholesale. See: stopsmartmeters. org/2011/09/19/smart-meters-violate-fcc-regulations-period/ [remove spaces]
When this fact was brought to the attention of the FCC, they refused to enforce the conditions made explicit in their own Grant of Equipment Authorization for Smart meter rollout. PG$E’s response to the high number of complaints about adverse health effects was in essence to implore people to quit their whining and find a different cause for their ailments. From a legal standpoint, this blunt “go-away” policy sufficed handsomely. Their attitude was: Your problem is not our problem, but your money will soon be ours.

Until now, the only reported instances when PG$E actually replaced smart meters with analog ones was because of complaints that crucial household electrical equipment had either performed erratically or failed altogether. Now with opt-out, PG$E is suddenly concerned about possible medical sensitivity. On their written Smart Meter Opt-Out Form, there is a box for us to “check here if you operate life support or other sensitive medical equipment in your home.” The operative word here is “sensitive”. To be sure, our very bodies qualify as “medical equipment” that automatically “operate life support” 24-7. Inconveniently, our bodies are also biologically “sensitive”–often symptomatically so–to EMF high-intensity pulsed radiation.

Why do they want to know about our medical status? Why do they care? Their question ostensibly limits their concern to “sensitive medical equipment” such as pacemakers and dialysis machines, while conspicuously ignoring physical sensitivity to EMF. Might their concern have anything to do with CPUC code section 453(b)?

“No public utility shall prejudice, disadvantage, or require different rates or deposit amounts from a person because of ancestry, medical condition, marital status or change in marital status, occupation, or any characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the Government Code. A person who has exhausted all administrative remedies with the commission may institute a suit for injunctive relief and reasonable attorney’s fees in cases of an alleged violation of this subdivision. If successful in litigation, the prevailing party shall be awarded attorney’s fees.”

How will PG$E deal with this pesky little CPUC clause? For the majority of us who have not yet developed noticeable pathological “medical conditions”, they are off the hook. But for those of us physically unable to endure prolonged proximity to these demonic devices, their specious, convoluted, patronizing, posturing newspeak legalese might run like this:

If you fail to reveal to us that you are medically sensitive, then we have no way of knowing your condition, and therefore certainly cannot be held responsible for discriminating against you under CPUC code section 453 (b).

If on the other hand you declare to us that you are medically/EMF sensitive, then we both know that you are aware of your condition. (By the way, you’ll need physician-certified proof of your condition.) To “remedy” your problem, we “offer” you a “choice” to have a different meter that would hopefully, but not assuredly, cause you less adverse reaction. And because you take the bait by making that “choice” fully cognizant of your medical sensitivity, we cannot be held liable for discrimination against you. After all, we never compelled you to have a Smart meter, at least not lately.
(Incidentally, beware that this “choice” is undeniably the more expensive one, for reasons we conjure up to justify the higher cost. And by the way, if you have both gas AND electric “service”, the real cost will actually amount to twice as much as what we already said it would be.) In any case, rest assured that the “choice” is “yours”, which we wholeheartedly and “fully support”. Paper or plastic?

As you can see, whether you do or don’t declare medical sensitivity, we shall not be held liable for discrimination. We have (arguably) indemnified ourselves. So don’t bother suing us. We asked about your medical sensitivity only out of due diligence in compliance with CPUC code section 453 (b).

Now, regarding those meter access issues and your Pit Bulls:
Additional surcharges will apply for canine power surges.
However, power surges induced by energy-sucking Smart meters like the ones pictured at the links below, come at no extra cost
See: emfsafetynetwork. org/?page_id=1280
And: emfsafetynetwork. org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/160-SantaRosa-SM-fire-3.jpg
[remove spaces]

Incidentally, to help save money and the planet, we’re recycling some of our old meter readers by offering a Special Fire & Close-out Sale on Smart-tasting Dog Food. It’s part of our new Customer Mollification/Energy Mastication Program.

_______________________________________________
For anyone compelled to sign a Smart Meter Opt-Out Form, good advice bears repeating: Do so only with qualifiers like “Under Duress”, “In Protest.”

]]>
By: ShucksTheExplorer https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-34889 Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:03:14 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-34889 The Silver Springs folks must be in a panic given all the posts they’ve made to this thread. To no avail either, SmartMeters are a losing proposition in the long run.

]]>
By: Redi Kilowatt https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-34888 Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:53:09 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-34888 Smart meters may keep track of how much and when a customer uses electricity, but that information is not very important compared to all the rest of the Next Generation Intelligence (NGI) systems put into place. And it is important to note that not all people will ever have smart meters in this country, most do not as a whole, and with the powerful resistance to smart meters happening now all over the world, smart meters are not the problem at all.
What we should be very concerned about are the intelligence systems that keep track of individual persons, not just electrical meters on buildings that serve many people not listed on the account information data.
Some examples of advanced intelligence gathering on individuals are the Electronic Medical Records Database. Obama gave $19 billion to the medical insurance industry in 2009 to start creating the most complete record system on every individual in the United States. This EMR database is to benefit the private medical insurance industry in keeping track of individuals who file claims. And it is expected that Medicare will eventually be privatized, so this gift will benefit the insurance industry immensely in the future.
The EMR database will have a very intimate record of everyone, which can be used by the myriad of private and public agencies for criminal investigations, insurance fraud investigations, employers seeking background information, marketing of pharmaceutical drugs and general tracking of individuals from birth to death.
Of course, there are also phone records and wiretaps that track individuals, and now the internet and also the use of smart phones are a very rich source of information about individuals.
And there are the surveillance cameras in the cities in public spaces and private security cameras, the GPS systems being offered in most new cars now, but soon will be installed on all new vehicles.
For those who want to do something about protecting their privacy, there are many things one can do to get control, but it may not be possible for everyone to do so in the future.
I have a long list of things that I do to reduce my electronic footprint and traceability.

]]>
By: Bruce Tanner https://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/02/13/silver-spring-networks-ipo-predatory-capitalism-in-action/#comment-34834 Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:00:03 +0000 https://stopsmartmeters.org/?p=3818#comment-34834 Hi Josh,

I’m including a link to what is a sort of review of a YouTube video I wrote – “The Cloud Mystery.” In the light of this research, which was recently confirmed by work of scientists at CERN, and the correlated research, it no longer makes any sense, in my opinion, to speak of carbon footprints and often-draconian green house gas mitigations.

http://berealtruth.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/the-cloud-mystery/

I would urge you to do some research into U.N. Agenda 21 – “Sustainable Development” and, among other things, on its self-expressed goals of developing massive data files on everyone under the administrative jurisdiction of what is rapidly taking shape as global governance. The Smart Meters are an essential part of this information-control system. It is spoken of, unequivocally in such sources as Zbigniew Brzezinski’s “Between Two Ages – America in the Technotronic Era” where he says bureaucrats will have instant access to detailed files of the common citizens.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with ICLEI – International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives – “Local Governments for Sustainability,” which Santa Cruz City and County were charter members of, having joined under contract something like fifteen years ago. ICLEI’s principle activities with their hundreds of member cities and counties in the U.S. involve helping them with “green house gas inventories,” and with planning for reducing carbon emissions. It’s now mandatory under federal programs that cities, counties and “regions” in possibly most of the U.S. have these kinds of initiatives, in order to receive federal funding at a minimum.

ICLEI works with numerous associated NGO’s, which are accredited with the U.N., for which Agenda 21 is official policy since it’s highly manipulated “adoption” at the Rio Summit in 1992. Incidentally, there was a co-conference to the Rio Summit attended by government and corporate representatives, including among them PG&E.

You may want to consider the possibility that not only corporations and corrupt governments, but the United Nations are part of an increasingly seamless system of administration and control that is hidden from the average human-being, is not subject to any transparency to us, and is certainly not accountable to our input. Much of the information given out by main-stream and even by often NGO-influenced alternative media is driven by strategies that promote the largely obscured objectives promoted through the U.N., which is often extolled as a democratically responsive force for peace.

Sincerely,
Bruce

]]>