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BIG BROTHER IN THE CLOTHES DRYER city knows you just flushed your toilet.” For the privilege of involuntarily
The smart meter roll-out is only the first supplying such data to nameless overseers, the owner of the toilet must
phase of a federal master plan that will deeply endure invasive and continuous exposure to electromagnetic radiation. 21
penetrate American homes with smart radiation.
Some appliance manufacturers are now gear- A SYSTEM SMACKING OF HACKING
ing up to market antenna-embedded appliances There is a smart grid initiative in almost every industrialized nation.
capable of linking to the “smart” grid through The fact that AMI has been deployed worldwide makes the entire “smart”
the Internet. Such appliances can transmit and power grid especially vulnerable to cyber attacks. As AMI progresses, the
receive data to and from utilities. Such appliances vulnerability of the Internet is being transferred to entire national grids.
make people vulnerable to hackers. 19 In January 2014, two large utility companies in Massachusetts, known
Most upcoming smart appliances will be collectively as Northeast Utilities, informed their state Department of
using the Wi-Fi frequencies of 2.4 or 5 GHz. Public Utilities that there is no cost justification for implementing a one
They will create a wireless home access network billion dollar AMI system statewide. They said: “Many customers have
(HAN) similar to residential Wi-Fi systems. a deep aversion to technology that links them to the grid in a way that
Smart appliance HANs will broadcast micro- they perceive as an invasion of their privacy and/or detrimental to their
wave radiation 100 percent of the time. Within health.” Northeast Utilities also complained: “AMI introduces a brand new
a typical house full of radiating appliances, there portal into the companies’ information systems, significantly increasing
will be no location out of broadcast range. It is the cyber-security risk.” 22
anticipated that smart appliance turn-off will be Former CIA director James Woolsey agrees. He said in an interview:
available only at the circuit breaker. “They’re constructing what they call a 'Smart Grid.' And they’re going to
The EMF Safety Network says: “Smart me- make it easier for you and me to call our homes on our cell phones and turn
ters are a surveillance device. They are a search down our air conditioning. . . Great, but that may well mean that a hacker
without a warrant. They collect detailed energy in Shanghai with his cell phone could do the same thing or worse. And a
usage, for instance when you cook, watch TV, so-called Smart Grid that is as vulnerable as we've got—it's not smart at
whether you are at home or not, when you turn all, it’s a really, really stupid grid.” 23
on a light or when you have guests. This data Individual “smart” meters themselves are vulnerable to hacking
is valuable because it can reveal patterns about because the meters can easily be removed and re-programmed, or hacked
what you do and when. California utility com- into wirelessly from laptops. The Associated Press reports: “Computer
panies admitted they are providing smart meter security researchers say new smart meters that are designed to help deliver
data to the government and third parties.” 20 electricity more efficiently also have flaws that could let hackers tamper
Those with access to “smart” meter and with the power grid in previously impossible ways. At the very least, the
“smart” appliance data, including government vulnerabilities open the door for attackers to jack up a stranger’s utility
officials, law enforcement agents, and profes- bills. These flaws could also move hackers a key step closer to exploiting
sional hackers/thieves, can review a permanent one of the most dangerous capabilities of the new technology which is the
history of household activities, then complete ability to remotely turn someone else’s power on and off.” 24
a calendar with time-of-day metrics to gain a That scenario is grim enough. But since smart technology may open
highly invasive and detailed view of occupants' the door to malicious hacking and cyber-attacks on a national scale, it
lives. Because smart meters can individually becomes a critical issue of national security. Woolsey has disclosed that
identify electrical devices, personal information virtually no agency in the federal government has ultimate responsibility
made obvious to snoopers can include medical for survivability and protection of the U.S. electrical grid as a whole. He
conditions, sexual activities, the physical loca- says that if a foreign power ever attacks the grid, through either a physical
tion of persons within the house, and vacancy attack or cyber-terrorism, times will be tough: “. . . When it goes down,
patterns. we are not in the 1970s pre-web, we’re in the 1870s pre-grid, and we don’t
Even the new digitized “smart” water meters have enough plow horses or pump handles.” 25
can transmit surveillance information. Describ-
ing such meters installed in Minnesota, one re- ALTERNATIVE GREEN ENERGY
port notes: “If you stop using water for the night SYSTEMS SUPPRESSED?
at 10 p.m. the city will know because they will The documentary film Take Back Your Power introduces evidence
get signals during the night of no water usage. If that the vested interests coercing the AMI systems upon our nation are
the city gets a signal at 2 a.m. for 1.5 gallons, the the very same forces which are suppressing cleaner and more sustainable
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