The United States Government is spying on our e-mails and telephone calls. A lot of us certainly suspected it, but now it has been confirmed thanks to the brave actions of Edward Snowden, a former CIA operative who revealed the extent of the US National Security Agency’s monitoring of US and foreign citizens through an extensive interview with the UK Guardian Newspaper last week from his hotel room in Hong Kong.
Some might say, “who cares, I don’t do anything wrong.” But when you have state sanctioned surveillance of ordinary people’s communications, combined with store loyalty cards, shopping records and other records, and this information is kept for years, the potential for misuse of this data is vast. Maybe you clicked on a link someone’s hacked e-mail account sent you. You could be instantly labeled a child porn collector. Maybe you said something critical about the police. Evidence that you are a terrorist. These examples might seem extreme, but governments have done much worse in the past. What makes us think that our present day governments are immune to these abuses?
Constant vigilance is required. Along these lines, a reader of StopSmartMeters.Org wrote to us yesterday:
“Could smart meters be an NSA program?? Is this the reason it’s been kept under wraps by the media, etc…..why the government has subsidized the “deployment”….and that the utilities seem to have been given free reign? Is this the missing link as to the true WHY of smart meters….and who is behind it all?”
It’s a very good question, especially in light of the revelations made by Snowden. We can’t say for sure of course whether the smart meter is a pet project of the NSA (with the public footing the bill) but it would not surprise us. What we can say is that the detailed monitoring of home utility usage records– when combined with internet and phone records- provides a remarkably complete picture of your private life. And there does seem to be a secret driving force behind the relentless roll out. Clearly some people in power badly want to have smart meters on every home. For profit certainly. And for data collection. But how far up does the impetus for this program go? How will data gathered now be used in the future?
Hopefully some brave individual with answers will come forward- someone who loves their country more than their paycheck. Someone with the answers who refuses to stand by while their country devolves into tyranny.
Whatever the case it is becoming more clear every day that the US government, working with major corporations, is spinning out of control and undertaking criminal espionage activity against its own people. People in numbers can stop renegade governments before they become truly dangerous. The question is- will we?
Last week at a Woodland Hills City Council meeting, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) presented information about their Smart Meter deployment plans, while environmental consultant Cindy Sage, co-editor of the BioInitiative Report, presented information warning of the deployment risks.
Marcelo Di Paolo, manager of the LADWP Smart Grid project said they received a $60 million dollar federal grant and that the research institutes of USC, UCLA and Cal Tech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) doubled the project funding for a total of $120 million dollars. Hmmm… what does a Jet Propulsion Lab have to do with smart meters?
Di Paolo stated this is a demonstration project and would be in three areas around UCLA, USC, and Chatsworth. LADWP is planning to deploy 52,000 Itron smart meters. Hmmm, 52,000 meters is a demonstration project?
He also said the meters only transmit 3 times a day! Hmmm….Haven’t we heard that before? PG&E used to say their meters only transmitted 6 times a day. Then they admitted up to 190,000 times a day, per meter.
Di Paolo also said that the project is “purely a volunteer optional program” and that the community can “pick and actually choose whether or not to participate.”
In stark contrast to Di Paolo’s optimism was Cindy Sage who warned about the evidence for health problems from the pulsed radiation Smart Meters emit. She stated, “Those wireless impacts are biologically very similar to the impacts you would have from a cell tower.” She wisely urged them to learn from the mistakes the Investor Owned Utilities have made. She asks, “Is this a smart business model, to provide a device for energy conservation…if there are going to be unintended consequences in terms of health impacts for people?”
Di Paolo said the deployment would start in a couple weeks, but two LADWP customers said they already had Smart Meters on their home, that they were sick from the exposure and that when they complained, LADWP refused to remove it!
Meanwhile, although the manager claims LADWP sent out letters stating at the bottom of the letter that participation was voluntary, nowhere in the Smart Grid L.A. Letter does it say the meters are optional. At the end of the meeting Di Paolo guaranteed the meters were optional and provided his direct line for people to call: 213-367-1388.
Deploying Smart Meters at a time when multitudes of people worldwide are complaining about the health and safety impacts is beyond super dumb, and reckless endangerment of innocent lives. Our children are the most vulnerable. Chronic exposure to pulsed radiation is harming everyone’s health.
Thanks to Ecological Options Network for providing the videos of the event. Here’s Part 2 of the meeting:
Shari Anker begins her comments to the Port St. Lucie Florida city council by stating, “In the book, Diary of Anne Frank, is Anne’s famous entry that reads, Despite everything I still believe that people are good in their hearts.”Not long after that she was killed in a concentration camp. Anne Frank was right that at least some people have good hearts. But for her, at that time and in that place there weren’t enough good people in her life.”
Shari states, “The pulsed modulated radiation emissions from the Neptune R900 water meters the city is installing causes injuries to my health. I need a zone of safety around my home where I am free of these emissions.” Sheri’s letters and requests to the city are ignored. She asks, “WHY NO RESPONSE?”
Lisa Lacoparra had a seizure 3 weeks after the “smart” water meter was installed by the City of Port St Lucie Utility Dept this year. She also had a seizure last year one week after Florida Power and Light (FPL) installed smart meters on her neighbors homes. Although FPL removed the smart meters from Lisa neighbors’ homes the Cities “smart” water meters for neighbors, at the end of her driveway are making her very ill.
Lisa’s doctor is requesting for all transmitting meters to be removed within a 300-600 m radius of her home. The City and the utility dept are refusing — even though it is a life threatening situation.
Call to demand that the city remove the transmitting radiation meters and provide a zone of safety for Lisa, and Sheri and everyone who requests it!
City of Port St Lucie Utilities dept director Jesus A. Merejo 772-873-6400
USE OF THIS SITE DEPENDS ON AGREEMENT WITH OUR DISCLAIMER: This website is intended to help advance knowledge and contribute to public awareness. While all reasonable precautions have been taken to ensure the validity of the information given, no warranty is given of its accuracy. It is not intended to substitute for medical or legal advice nor as a final statement with regard to possible prevention and avoidance recommendations or potential biological effects. No liability is accepted by the authors for damages arising from its use or misuse and interpretation by others. All references to smart meters refer to digital, wireless and powerline carrier (PLC) devices, which may vary in their emissions and frequencies. All content on this site is copyrighted by StopSmartMeters.org unless otherwise indicated. Brief (max 3 sentences) excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to StopSmartMeters.org with appropriate and specific links to the original content. All other uses are prohibited, unless specific and written permission from StopSmartMeters.org is provided.
