The SmartMeter™ Comes (updated)

George Rebane

The sheeple are quiet and compliant.  But this old gray fox is furious and helpless.  We just got our notice from PG&E saying they are “excited to inform (us) that we’ll soon be installing SmartMeter™ technology” in our neighborhood.  This small piece of hardware will “empower you to take greater control of your energy consumption, use less energy, and save money.”

It will do nothing of the sort.  Using our old meter, we can save or spend as much as we will from the published time-of-day rate tables.  But the SmartMeter™ will prepare the way for Big Brother to reach into our home to control every ‘chipped’ appliance that we will soon be buying, including without limitation the ability to monitor ALL electrical activity in the privacy of our homes, impose address specific brown-outs, and/or completely turn off power to our home.  All of this will be done under government imprimatur and algorithmically without a human in the loop thank you.

The green chorus is already singing its hosannas to yet another level of state control, while the rest of us mumble in our beer and do nothing.  Long ago Orwell tried to warn us of life under a technologically steroidal tyranny (here and here).  We did not listen and instead have been taught to be happy on our path to this new world.  Unfortunately, my education has been faulty.

[update]  Friend and fellow ‘knuckledragger’ (the libs love us) Russ Steele (NC MediaWatch) alerted us to the onset of this phase of Big Brother in Nevada County with his own posts on NCMW and CABPRO Report.  For more detail on the technology and additional implications, please visit here, here, and here.

Comments

[Mikey McD]

George, ours was installed 2 weeks ago. No option of selecting "no thanks our existing meter is fine" on the letter. When you have a government created monopoly on essential services you pay in $ and liberty.

[Steve Enos]

Maybe instead of doing yet another story on Smartmeters George will put his energy into getting Stan and Mark Meckler to respond to the important issues being raised about the Meckler's scamming the Tea Party.

And while your at it George ask Stan to confirm or deny the incident of him trespassing onto private property to tear down the campaign sign of a local candidate that he opposed. Trespassing onto private property to violate another’s free speech is wrong, it's a clear violation of the rights provided for each American and protected by the Constitution.

Maybe Mikey McD could also respond about the issues being raised about the Meckler's and thet Tea Party or will Mikey McD just sit back and hide on this?

[Dixon Cruickshank]

When Russ posted his notice my BS Meter went off the chart - no less than 5 times was it mentioned how you were gonna save money - anything by the Gov or a monopoly that tries that hard is BIG trouble

I'm back after some puter problems

[Mikey McD]

Enos, your ability to thrive in the hateful schoolyard bully attack mode is exactly why I fear big government. Planners (read slave drivers) like you are the enemy. Your obsessive disdain for personal liberty is treasonous.
This petty TP drama does not concern me (or you)- it is nothing more than a bunch of egos run amok. FOCUS: WE need solutions (*which I've offered consistently), not drama.

Unfortunately the clock does not stop ticking due to petty drama: http://www.usdebtclock.org/

*solutions: income tax overhaul (fairtax, halt employer tax collector role, etc), lobbyist reform, labor union reform, campaign finance reform, privatization of education, option to opt-out of SS and Medicare...

[Steve Enos]

Mikey McD...Mandy Morello, Laura Boatright, Larry Naritelli and Dave Kern are raising real, important issues about the Meckler's and how the Meckler's have been using the Tea Party for profit and to gain power while attacking others that have been working for the cause. Can't you grasp that?

The response from Mikey McD and Dixon... they don't address the issues, they make personal attacks and let the personal insults fly.

How can you discount, ignore and attack Mandy Morello, Laura Boatright, Larry Naritelli and Dave Kern instead of addressing the issues they raise? How about you start by addressing these two issues:

How do you feel about the misuse of the Tea Party membership email database by Mark Meckler to seek donations from the Tea Party members for his “personal” use vs. the Tea Party. Seems that some laws, much less the trust of the Tea Party members might have been violated by this. Can you address this?

And what about Mark Meckler getting paid a lot of money from the Lincoln Club of Orange County PAC?

It was Laura Boatright that posted about the Meckler's that... "What they "appear to be" and what they ARE are two different things".

Try to discount, ignore and disparage Mandy Morello, Laura Boatright, Larry Naritelli, Dave Kern and the others that are bringing forward the real information about the Meckler's... the truth is now getting out and seems you and a few others can't deal with the truth and can't address these issues.

It's real clear whom the real hypocrites are.

[Todd Juvinall]

Mikey, don't pay attention to him. Anyone that belongs to the ACLU and Rural Quality Coalition, SYRCL and other leftwing nut groups is not worth spending time on.

[Steve Enos]

Sorry Todd... once again you are WRONG.

I'm not a member of any of the groups you claim I am. But I am a member of the NRA,I really like the Calguns group and I shoot every week at the range. I am former Deputy Sheriff and former Federal Drug Enforcement officer.... and you?

[Todd Juvinall]

Inever mentioned you. Sensitive eh? Scan your credentials so we can all see your claims as true.

[Steve Enos]

Todd... your such a funny little man. I am former Deputy Sheriff and former Federal Drug Enforcement officer.... and you?

Ask George and Russ about seeing me at the range and Miwall and my past posts and comments about gun rights. I'm a big guns rights supporter.

Todd, the only thing I'll scan and send you is a photcopy of my ass so you can make a hat out of it to wear on your head vs. the tin foil you now use.

[Russ Steele]

George,

My July CABPRO is about SmartMeter issues here. My August CABPRO News Column also discusses the security of SmartMeters networks, which is vulnerable to hacking according to experts. The best part is your meter is not connected to the network yet, but will be in 6-8 Months, then the fun begins. By then PG&E will have lulled us all in to submission, and they will continue to collect information about our power use, and once the smart chips that are several purchases in the future are installed, PG&E can control your appliances.

[Russ Steele]

Steve,

Are you aware that Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of TPP, and her husband lost their jobs and their house while they focused on leading the Tea Party. They spend their own savings to support the Tea Party Patriots.

Other Tea Party members came to their support, but not until after they lost the house. The Mecklers have also spent their own savings to support the Tea Party, and they ask for some support. Why was it wrong for the Mecklers and not for the other Tea Party leaders to accept member support?

If you spent your own funds to help create a vital national orgaization, and were unable to pay your bills, would you accept help from your fellow organizations members? Why not?

The Nevada County Tea Party has submited their non-profit paperwork requesting status in two categories. They have established a board of directors and according to Stan Meckler they are complying with current financial regulations. Once they have filed their financial statements the documents will be public information, until then you will just have to wait.

One other thought, with our specific evidence to support the claims of Mandy Morello, Laura Boatright, Larry Naritelli and Dave Kern could it be we are just dealing with some bruised egos. They all claimed to have e-mails, screen shots and photos evidence of wrong doing, but we have not seen this evidence posted to web sites were the data can be observed and evaluated by third parties. Why? You are accepting their side of the story with our doing any critical thinking. Why?

[Steve Enos]

Russ... be careful what you ask for!

[Dixon Cruickshank]

The response from Mikey McD and Dixon... they don't address the issues, they make personal attacks and let the personal insults fly.

excuse me, but this thread is about Smartmeters I think, so thats what I posted about

I could call you a knucklehead just for general principles, if your disappointed in any way

[Steve Enos]

Dixon... you gotta say this part of my reply to Todd was funny!

"Todd, the only thing I'll scan and send you is a photcopy of my ass so you can make a hat out of it to wear on your head vs. the tin foil you now use".

[George Rebane]

Russ, I tried to find your online CABPRO articles so I could link to them, but no joy. The link in your comment seems to be dead. If you send me the appropriate URLs, I'll update my post and point to your articles on the SmartMeter.

[Todd Juvinall]

It looks like Enos is hiding something. He makes threats about using his gun. What do we know about him? Is he stable? He seems to have diverted people from smart meters to the TPP. Hmmm. Well, since he won't prove he was a cop or whatever, Iwe have to assume he is not or he was booted.

[Dixon Cruickshank]

Dixon... you gotta say this part of my reply to Todd was funny!

"Todd, the only thing I'll scan and send you is a photcopy of my ass so you can make a hat out of it to wear on your head vs. the tin foil you now use".

not so much - actually very lame but cops have an odd sense of humor in any case

[Steve Enos]

Come on Dixon... it was funny!

Todd... no threats as you claim but you "assume" what ever you want and enjoy wearing my ass for your hat. Enjoy your new "assume" ass-hat Todd.

[Michael R. Kesti]

I'll address a couple of your questions, Steve Enos.

I think that if Mark Meckler broke the law by using the TPP mailing list to solicit personal contributions then he should be indicted and prosecuted, and suffer the consequences if found guilty. Otherwise, this issue is a matter of concern only to the TPP and its members.

Despite being a popular matter with Meckler's detractors, earning $7,500 for services rendered from The Lincoln Club of Orange County is of little to no import. First, $7,500 is chump change in the realm of large scale political activism. Also, it was neither subsidy nor grant but payment for services rendered. Finally, it in no way establishes an ongoing relationship between Meckler and the LCofOC or the GOP.

In short, both of these matters are obviously overblown attempts to smear Meckler by detractors who lack sufficient evidence to accomplish their goals.

[Steve Enos]

Michael Kesti... you should check the Lincoln Club to Meckler money numbers again... it's a lot more than $7,500. Check the info and get back with the correct amount.

[Todd Juvinall]

Looks like Enos is dodging again. It appears he just makes things up so no one believes him anymore.

[George Rebane]

Dear People - some of the TPP debate and comments from 'Stan Meckler Responds' have leaked into this post which has nothing to do with the TPP subject matter. Before posting your comment, please read the new comment policy described here -
http://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2010/08/new-comment-policy-on-ruminations.html

[Kim Pruett]

we came home from vacation with a notice on our door that they had installed our "smartmeter"..... why do we not have a choice in the matter? we are worried that our energy bills are going to skyrocket, I hope I am wrong. the current economy is bad and a lot of folks will not be able to afford higher costs of electricity, I am also concerned about the privacy issue of this whole thing.