Technology By Amanda Mitchell October 21, 2013
We are subjected to many things invisible to the naked eye. To name a few: viruses, bacteria, radiation, gravity, ….gnomes. Just kidding about the last one, they are very visible. Some of these tiny forces can help us and some can hurt us fast or leave their dirty work to be found later. Just because we don’t see these things does not mean we should ignore their presence. There has been an increasing awareness that our technology can greatly impact our bioelectric bodies. This is to include: sound waves, radio waves and electromagnetic waves. You can add your own to the list. The military has sonic weapons, police use stun guns, I have a cute little magnetic bracelet that helps with motion sickness and even many medical devices can send electric coursing through our bodies. Good and bad, our technology around us has the ability to track, incapacitate and rehabilitate. There was a study done by Yale that showed that an ultrasound on pregnant mice resulted in altered brain growth. A top Italian court ruled that one man’s brain tumor was a direct result of his cell phone use. Although, cell phone use is hotly debated, there is no debate about the potential for low intensity exposure of radiofrequency to actually have an effect on our bodies. If anything, look at how music from a radio makes some people spontaneously break out in spastic movements called dance. Seriously though, there are many studies that have shown negative effects. The Biointensity Initiative puts together a rather easy to read document that indicates a need for caution. There has been the suggestion of an increase in headaches, seizures, fatigue, leukemia, brain tumors, infertility, etc. One neurosurgeon reported on how the blood brain barrier became leaky. I would think that this is not good. A short clip posted by Stop Smart Meters (UK) showed after exposure to emissions of a ‘smart meter’ they found degradation of the blood cell walls. WiFi and Broadband routers have dangers too. We are talking about harming plants , affecting our marine life (look up whales and radiofrequency/sonar) and this is definitely against building a sustainable community. We live in a world where change has accelerated so fast that we do not reflect upon how these new inventions will impact our health, privacy, rights or our ecosystem. We are only stopping to think about how much money it will make, how convenient it will make our lives or how ‘cool’ something is (and granted some of this stuff is really, really, really cool and combining it would be positively exciting and frightening all at the same time). If the health issue does not concern you then perhaps the fact that wifi and the smart meters give others access to your personal information will concern you. Wifi allows for gesture recognition throughout the entire home. Not to mention, the use of a smart meter alone can interfere with your other electronic devices including pacemakers. Your moves in your home and everything that you do can be tracked with our current technology. This includes your intimate moments, guests in your home and how many live there, where you sleep, etc. I hang up the phone to go to the bathroom. I am not keen on allowing someone access to that part of my life, but given the fact a utility company can have the ability to figure out the unique signature of your appliances that you use and that the broadband router can give what your position and movements are…. might as well just knock down my walls to give color to their peep show. What is not funny and outright dangerous is handing this information over to some (not my toiletry habits per say, but anyone’s habits) would be exactly what a predator would need to stalk you, rob you or more. To be honest, how many of those that love you and want the best for you really need this information? The answer is they don’t and if it is shared it should be on a moment-by-moment basis with no one having assumed permission or guaranteed right to your life. The Smart (digital) meters obtain your information (page 7) on a constant basis and, just like what Google and many other corporations that http://donttrack.us/ make a profile about you have done, this information can be sold to third parties (like data mining corporations, insurance companies looking for ways to raise your rates and legally discriminate against you based on ‘risk’ factors or other companies looking to increase your internet shopping prices with cookies and based on your likes). Not many are aware of it, but there is nothing to stop your personal information from being sold by your utility company and it is already happening elsewhere in the pretense of ‘helping’ you to a fair market. So let’s pretend that someone is looking to scam you or even take your identity, these lovely data mining companies are making money off of selling who you are to others, without any repercussion to what happens to you or your information after the fact. Then there are hackers who can access your information and can have the same access as your power company such as: cut off your power, remotely control your ‘smart’ appliances/computers, just as hackers have the ability to hurt you through a medical device such as an insulin pump or pacemaker. Ok. So maybe you are ok with the health risks and you like your life to be a complete open book, how about the lack of transparency and unaccountability of your ‘said’ use and pricing of your bills? There is a correlation to increased profit and higher bills associated with smart meters. Perchance it is just peoples’ habits are changing as there is no need to the shut blinds any longer for privacy and the heat just escapes faster. However, I don’t think that is the position of those receiving the higher bills. Matter of fact, there has been several lawsuits and numerous more complaints about the skyrocketing utility bills. This comes with no surprise since your power company (hackers too) have the ability to ‘remotely activate’ your ‘smart’ appliances in your home, program your smart meter, shut your power off with a tap of a button and logically it takes energy to send out the frequent signals for tracking you with in the first place. For a basic understanding of the principal of this ‘smart grid’, look at how your ‘smart’ DVD player can turn on with just powering on your tv or how your DVD player will tell you of a needed update without the device being used for any internet purpose. This is information being relayed without your explicit action, foreknowledge or consent (though if someone actually bothered to read *add the corporation here: i.e. Apple, Microsoft, etc* disclaimer you would probably see some loophole for this). This could be some pretty scary stuff, as many of us have computers/ipads/etc with this technology and with cameras and microphones. If it is readily admitted that hackers can access videos and microphones to spy on you (or even the ability of carhacking causing your vehicle to crash), it is so ignorant to think that other entities are unable to access this or that they wouldn’t want to. What do you think is stopping them: their concern for us or our rights? The burden of proof is on us to show how our rights are being violated in an unseen world and there are those 40 page type disclaimers. Though for all fairness, this can go both ways and you supposedly don’t have to be too crafty to hack your smart meter and lower your bill . And let me add one other side note that may concern some, there is an increased risk of a home fire caused by the smart meter itself. I am not at all technology savvy, but I know without a doubt this capability is here. There is smart glass, solar windows that are transparent, real life cyborg bugs , nanobots that can swim in your body, target DNA , self-replicate , a computer that can live in your body and treat disease in real time, and there is now the ability to monitor (thus control) water consumption worldwide . There is even the Xbox One that allows others to track not just your gestures with amazing precision, but also your heart rate (scared, exercising, resting… Microsoft will know), and more. We have come so far that there is a brain chip that will enable some to control their surroundings with their thoughts and one day to communicate directly brain to brain (subject to tracking cookies, viruses, risky upgrades, hacking and huge privacy concerns ). One would have to wonder if we would still be ourselves with use of this technology. We have learned that our brains and bodies can be affected by magnets that affect our brain waves , too. This controls our moods and can lead to us into taking action. The medical benefits of meditation and prayer are thought to work by controlling our brain waves. I wanted point out some of the significant factors of what this technology could mean, but if this is not enough to convince you of a need to reevaluate the situation for what it means to you, hopefully it is enough for you to want to research on your own (even if it is only to figure out how to hack your own smart meter). So I come to the crux of what I would like to address for today. We live in Alaska. A place that most would think would be free of the typical city type of ‘wave’ pollution. I still think it is reasonable to expect others not to subject myself or family to unnecessary radiation or violate our privacy. While people all over the world are fighting to stop the installation of the smart meters and many are looking to convert back to safer and more accountable technology, we should be thankful as we should not have to worry about this. But as people are fighting for their health and rights, we our passing ours over to our utility company which has been slowly and quietly installing these meters on people’s homes and businesses. For those of you that have the smart meters already installed, I would invite you to research for yourself and make an informed decision that our utility company denied to you. For those that do not have the meter, I would recommend researching it as well. Your neighbors’ smart meter pollutes your space and can affect you, your family, your animals and your plants. Here’s to our ever changing future. Sincerely, Amanda Mitchell Here are some websites to start you on your quest for knowledge:
Received October 21, 2013 - Published October 21, 2013
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