Canary In The Coal Mine: lawsuits

Showing posts with label lawsuits. Show all posts

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Censorship & Signs

Total Solar Eclipse seen in Belitung, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 9, 2016 (AP Photo)

Following are my comments given during the Wednesday, March 9, 2016 Battle Creek, Michigan, City Commission meeting...

Consent Agenda Comment

The minutes (of the previous City Commission meeting) state in three places, simply, "Public comment took place." Nowhere in the minutes was it recorded who spoke, or what they spoke about.

I feel this is a gross lack of transparency and a form of censorship.

Perhaps that was not your intention, but it is what it is.

With no information in the minutes about who spoke and what they spoke about, the only public record there is of who spoke and what they spoke about, is in the AccessVision video (recording of the City Commission meeting), which is not always reliable. Sometimes the meeting doesn't record, which means there would be absolutely no public record of public comments.

Proposed Ordinance 03-2016 Comment

Currently the public is allowed eleven minutes total to comment on City business. Now you want to reduce that by 27%.

You say you welcome public comment, but it is deeds, not words.

The proposed Ordinance states, "...very few comment on the consent agenda, so they do not anticipate that these changes will infringe upon public participation."

How can you anticipate when the public is going to participate?

Recent history may show that few comment, but those who do comment, sometimes fill the allotted time and could even use more!

When you reduce public comment time from eleven minutes to eight minutes, you reduce it by 27%. How does that not infringe upon public participation?

Passing this Ordinance will most definitely infringe upon public participation, because the public will have only eight minutes total to comment, as opposed to eleven (which is a 27% reduction in Public Comment time).

If you say you welcome public comment, show it in your deeds, not just your words.

General Public Comment

We truly are on a new frontier. Never before in our history have civilians used the level of wireless technology that is commonplace today.

Is it not a sign, that smart meters are involved in numerous lawsuits in Michigan, throughout the United States, and the world?

Never. Before smart meters. Had I heard of customers suing utility companies over their equipment. Had you? Yet it's becoming more and more commonplace today with smart meters.

Even the City of Battle Creek has even been threatened recently with a smart meter lawsuit.

The precautionary principle or approach states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or environment, and if scientific consensus is in conflict, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking an action, which is you in regards to your smart meters.

You have totally ignored the precautionary approach in regards to smart meters. Not only did you tell me that you did not have independent proof of safety of these meters before you started forcing them upon some customers, but now we know that scientific consensus is mixed at best, and points to most definite harm at worst.

I've read a number of the scientific studies that show that smart meters harm us. But I didn't have to read the studies to know the truth of it. I am one who can feel non-ionizing radiation, the type of pulsed radiation emitted by smart meters, unlike most people.

Are you going to continue ignoring the tens-of -thousands of more recent non-industry funded studies showing the harmful effects of smart meter pulsed radiation?

And are you going to continue ignoring the call from 1000's of professionals worldwide for revised wireless safety standards, including the end of smart meters?

Or, are you going to exercise the precautionary principle, and do something like what Marysville, Michigan has done? (Marysville, Michigan, recently passed a resolution for a no-fee smart meter opt-out, enabling utility customers to keep their analog utility meters without having to pay extra to do so.)

Thank you for listening. May you all truly be blessed.

Some after thoughts...

Within the last 30 or so years, we've had nearly a 100% increase in "civilian" use of wireless technology. When I was growing up, no one had cell phones, not even parents. It seems like there were a few adults who had pagers, but it wasn't common.

Not only have we seen nearly a 100% increase in cell phone use in the last 30 or so years, but along with cell phones came cell towers, antenna, WiFi, wireless home phones, baby monitors, tablets, lap tops, other wireless devices, and now smart meters.

We've jumped into this wireless world head-first.

Literally.

The number one form of cancer in adolescents in the United States today is brain cancer.

And today's adolescents are the ones who've grown up with this nearly 100% increase in wireless technology use: Cell phones, lap tops, WiFi, cell towers, antennas, baby monitors, and now smart meters...

Thank you for reading ~ May YOU truly be blessed!

Information:

Thursday, November 26, 2015

If We Are To Error...

Is it not best that we error on the side of caution?

It has been proven that when we hear something repeated so many times, we begin to believe it as the truth, whether it is true or not. Advertisers know that, and use it as a strategy. And that's what the utility companies have been doing with this whole smart meter agenda, telling the public about all the so-called benefits of this smart meter/smart home/smart grid program, yet they've done little research on the actual health impacts all this wireless technology has. Truth be told, it's really the utility companies that will benefit from these smart meters, not the consumers, as explained here.

Those who are hypersensitive to electromagnetic fields, like myself, know there are issues with this new smart meter/smart home/smart grid technology because we can feel it. Our reactions are not always immediate, because there is a cumulative effect, however sometimes the "symptoms" are instantaneous.

Human live blood analysis shows that our blood does react almost instantly to the pulsed radiation generated by smart meters:

The minutes to the Battle Creek City Commission meeting are available online after the meeting. Details of public comments are usually shortened down to one or two simple sentences, such as, "Jeanine Deal spoke on the Water Divisions smart meters." What City Commissioners and city employees say is sometimes recorded in much more detail. The November 10, 2015 City Commission meeting minutes give a detailed synopsis of what city employees said about the Water Department's new smart meters, and what the city is calling an "opt-out choice."

The Battle Creek City Commission minutes state (in blue):

"...smart meters have been challenged in Michigan courts and that the challenges have not been upheld."

While that statement may be true, it is not the whole truth about what is going on in regards to smart meters and litigation in Michigan. There's at least three currently open and unsettled lawsuits going on in Michigan right now involving smart meters that could be upheld. So the statement that smart meters have been challenged in Michigan courts but not upheld is actually quite premature.

And just the fact that smart meters have been and are involved in litigation in Michigan, and all over the world, is a huge red flag in itself, wouldn't you say?! Would you make a large investment into something that had several open lawsuits against it? Would you continue to expose others to a product that has been and is currently being challenged in a court of law in regards to health, safety, privacy, and Constitutional Rights, among other things? Perhaps you would, if you wanted to "feed" the legal system, or had lots and lots of money (as the utility companies do) and more to gain than to loose, at least at the moment. But if you were a small business owner, you would probably drop the whole smart meter idea like a hot potato and not look back. Cut your losses, apologize to your customers, and move on.

The minutes further state:

"...approximately 30% are using radio reading technology (in Michigan)..."

What that means is that for every 10% of smart meter installations in Michigan, at least one of those utility customers has taken someone to court about it.

"Mr. Hart (who is the City of Battle Creek Utility Administrator) stated the read system transmits at 902-928 mhz frequency, similar to baby monitors or garage door openers."

A utility company in Illinois did that also, compared smart meters to baby monitors. You can read about that here, and what was said about that. Perhaps all utility companies are saying that to the customers who question the amount of microwave radiation coming from smart meters. Perhaps that is part of the propaganda they were given in order to buy into this whole smart meter program. The fact is, we haven't gone one generation with baby monitors or smart meters. I don't know about baby monitors, but smart meters have not been subject to independent long-term testing for safety.

Dr. Daniel Hirsch, UCSC Senior Lecturer and radiation expert informs us in his Abstract that the radiation from one smart meter is 50 to 160 times the radiation from one cell phone. Dr. Hirsch takes into account cumulative whole-body radiation exposure, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, something no one else seems to have taken into account. When a radiation expert says that being exposed to one smart meter has the cumulative whole-body effect of being exposed to 50 or more cell phones, is that not cause for concern?

The Battle Creek Water Department has been installing Neptune R900 water meters, similar to the one in the following video. This video shows how frequently this "smart" water meter pulses microwave radiation:

And it is this pulsed radiation that is wrecking havoc with our health. It's important to note that just because you can not feel it, does not mean that it is not also affecting you. What does not affect you today, could affect you tomorrow.

"Mr. Hart confirmed the City has relied upon their vendor's research of the safety of the device..."

The City of Battle Creek has no independent proof of safety of these devices and are relying upon propaganda from the manufacturer that these devices are safe and do not harm us. The tobacco industry used to deny any harm would be caused by cigarettes also. And we all know how that ended up...

The minutes further state:

"...the American Cancer Society has also stated it has not been proven there are cancer causing carcinogens in low frequency radio waves..."

The key words here are, "it has not been proven." Just because it has not been proven harmful does not mean that it is not harmful! The American Cancer Society wasn't warning people about cigarettes at first either because it took a while for the evidence of harm to surface. And if you read the American Cancer Society's page about smart meters here, you will see that they are very vague about the whole thing. They compare smart meters with cell phones and WiFi devices, and state that radio frequency radiation is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as:

"possibly carcinogenic to humans."

"Because RF (radio frequency) radiation is a possible carcinogen, and smart meters give off RF radiation, it is possible that smart meters could increase cancer risk."

So the American Cancer Society actually states on their website that smart meters "could increase cancer risk," yet utility companies are not telling us this. Is that not grossly negligent?

The Battle Creek City Commission minutes further say:

"Mr. Hart stated it is very difficult to identify the source of radio waves that may be causing health problems."

While that may be true, it is also true that many people, myself included, were perfectly healthy before a smart meter was installed. Though after installation, that changed. I explain more about my symptoms of electromagnetic hypersensitivity here, and how they were gone for about two years until SEMCO Energy, our gas company, installed two AMR ERT meters.

One independent smart meter study concludes:

"...smart meters may have unique characteristics that lower people's threshold for symptom development."

Which means that some people who've never had issues with cell phones or WiFi or any other wireless devices may begin to experience symptoms after a smart meter is installed. At least one other resident in Battle Creek who was forced to take a wireless smart water meter, who did not have any sensitivity to wireless prior to the smart meter installation, does now. That story here.

"Mr. Hart also stated the World Health Organization has documentation on their website stating they have not been able to identify what is causing any perceived damage due to the numerous sources of radio waves in our environment today."

Is that still not cause for concern and caution as well, that there are already "numerous sources" of radio waves in our environment today, so much so that we can not determine what is causing adverse effects? It's kind of like driving through an area where there's already a lot of litter and thinking that it's okay to add to the litter because there's already a lot there and who would know that it was you that littered anyway!

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) since 2005. Like the American Cancer Society's page on electromagnetic hypersensitivity, the WHO's page is a little vague about the subject also, though they do state that more research is needed and:

"The symptoms are real and can vary widely in their severity."

It is very important to note that we are in changing times in regards to wireless technology, and recently there has been an Appeal sent to the World Health Organization, signed by over 200 scientist, calling for increased protection from non-ionizing electromagnetic field exposure, the same type of radiation emitted from a smart meter. This Appeal is based upon over 2,000 peer-reviewed papers on the biological or health effects of non-ionizing radiation, the type of radiation emitted by smart meters. Current standards are out-dated given "the numerous sources of (microwave radiation) radio waves in our environment today."

Mr. Hart and the minutes were very unclear about the "opt-out" charges:

"Comm. Sherzer inquired as to how City staff determined the $60 fee."

So at the next city commission meeting, I clarified that it was $20 per month. The minutes further state:

"Mr. Hart stated the charge is based upon the amount of staff time needed to manually read the meters... along with staff time to estimate the read..."

A flawed argument. We weren't being charged an extra $20 per month to have actual or estimated reads on the old analog water meters in the past. Meter reading was included in the water and sewer charges already. And since water bills are not going down with smart meter installation, as confirmed by the Water Department, they will supposedly already be saving money on meter readers for those who don't "opt-out." Those who do "opt-out" just wont be saving them as much money. This is savings they already plan on pocketing, and never intended to pass those savings on to their customers. So in actuality "opt-out" fees are not covering an added expense (because it was there already). "Opt-out" fees are an attempt to recover lost savings that perhaps they were counting on in order to make this whole smart meter fiasco worth it, because smart meters cost about double that of the old analog meters, yet don't even last half as long. So their reason and logic is flawed. The bottom line is the opt-out charge means water customers will be paying more money for less service because they will only be reading the meters four times a year, yet they want to charge us $20 per month more to do that.

When you are electromagnetically hypersensitive,
agreeing to pay an opt-out fee is agreeing

to pay someone to NOT harm you.

Is that an agreement you want to become involved with?

And how do you explain giving customers an "opt-out choice" when they were never given the "opt-in choice," as many of us woefully experienced, in the first place?

In summary, the new "smart" water meters are:

unproven safe by independent research
showing they damage live blood cells
involved in numerous open and unsettled lawsuits
pulsing microwave radiation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
possibly carcinogenic per the American Cancer Society

If we are to error in regards to smart meters,

is it not best that we error on the side of caution?

~ Thank you for reading ~ May We All Truly Be Blessed ~

References and more information:

***

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity

Electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or EHS, is described as a variety of non-specific reactions to electromagnetic frequency exposure.

Currently, people like me, who are having adverse reactions to electromagnetic fields, are being considered the proverbial canaries in the coal mine; an early warning sign that something is amiss. Some of us "canaries" have immediate severe reactions to electromagnetic fields, while for others the effects are more cumulative, getting worse over time.

The woman in this video moved into a condo and immediately reacted to a bank of 26 smart meters outside her kitchen wall:

"I never thought utility meters could actually make me sick."

My first "canary" reaction was not quite as dramatic as the woman in the above video. In December 2012/January of 2013 I purchased my first cell phone. After about six months my "phone ear" started burning, then constantly hurting, every time I put the phone to my ear. I did make the correlation, and stopped putting the cell phone to my ear, and the pain went away for about two years. At that time, I did not consider myself as one of the "canaries," and I don't think I even knew what a smart meter was either.

In May of 2014 I went down a healing path for multiple food sensitivities, using mostly organic, mostly local food, following a very traditional diet, (the GAPS diet), to heal myself of over 50 food sensitivities, and then enjoyed pretty radiant health and clear skin for about a year. I describe the beginning of that journey here.

My health started taking a turn for the worse about six months after our gas company (SEMCO Energy) installed two new AMR meters here. They insisted that the new meters were "not smart meters" and that they only transmitted "once a month," when the meter reader drove by.

Either two different installers and the Regional Operations Manager were gravely misinformed, or they all flat-out lied, because upon further questioning, I received different information about the two new AMR meters from David Williams, SEMCO's Regional Operations Manager. I've written about that correspondence here.

The bottom line is,

the new AMR meters pulse non-ionizing wireless
microwave radiofrequency radiation

10.67 times per MINUTE.

With an AMR meter, the utility companies make the distinction that the communication is only "one way," and therefore does not fall under the definition of a smart meter. But they still expose us to unnecessary radiation 24/7/365.

This is the list of "symptoms" I am experiencing, or have experienced, and I've tried to list them in their order of occurrence:

Pain in my "phone ear" is becoming more constant
High pitch ringing in ears, back of throat, and brain stem area
Muscle twitches and sudden weakness
Jaw pain and tension
Post-menopausal vaginal bleeding
Heart palpitation
Pulse racing up to 120 bpm for over 30 minutes while relaxing
Dizziness, vertigo
Achy joints, especially in my hands
Inability to type like I used to just a month or so ago
Inability to read out-loud like I used to just a month or so ago
Sleeplessness: waking up after only 2 hours of sleep with heart pounding, then inability to fall back asleep for about 2 hours, followed by the same cycle of sleep and wakefulness
Rashes
Pain and pressure in my head and eyes

The woman in this video describes her's and her husband's reactions to smart meters and cell towers:

"I realized that for the last year that me and my husband had been suffering, all these terrible illnesses, all these terrible conditions and symptoms,

was from this thing (the smart meter)."

Three other people describe their reactions to smart meters in this video:

"I fled Idaho because I was harmed tremendously."

And a father shows the radiation from a smart meter in his child's second floor bedroom in this video:

"Many scientists, physicians, and health care practitioners
around the world, in the United States, Canada, Europe,
are sounding the alarm that this stuff isn't as safe
as the people who are making money off of it
are claiming it is."

Here is a long, yet very informative video by Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt on the effects of smart meters and electromagnetic radiation:

"The only thing that parallels
the exponential increase in chronic neurological illness...
is the increased exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields."

And Dr. Darren Schmidt explains, "How Smart Meters Affect Your Body":

"The point is here, there is no safe levels of radio frequencies."

We've been trying different ways of blocking the radiation; we wrapped a sheet of lead around the back of the one AMR smart meter nearest to the bedroom, along with wire screen behind it, adding more wire screening behind the bed. Though these efforts seem to have a small effect on my symptoms at first, the improvement seems to last only about 24 hours, and then I'm back to where I was, if not worse. That may be due to the cumulative effect of electromagnetic radiation, because I doubt that we've been able to block it all. Plus the City of Battle Creek Water Department has installed three of their smart meter devices on the property as well, and even though we've requested their removal, so far the Water Department has done nothing about our request.

We are now considering removing all of our natural gas service in order to remove the two AMR smart meters from the property.

During sleepless nights, prayer and meditation usually calms my nervous system down to the point where I can fall asleep for another two hours or so. Wireless radiation, like that which comes from AMR smart meters, is explained here. It puts the body into a "fight or flight" mode, and then the body is not able to heal and repair while in that mode. Waking up to my heart pounding sounds like I'm in that fight or flight mode, so it's no wonder I'm having new symptoms arise almost daily.

David Williams, SEMCO Energy's Regional Operations Manager, has begun ignoring me, so we've located a heating/cooling person who will remove and replace the AMR smart meters with 100% analog gas meters, however we have not yet located 100% analog gas meters. If you are reading this and know of a source for 100% analog gas meters, please let me know.

I just want the unnecessary radiation to stop, and to have the AMR utility meters removed, and 100% analog meters, that have withstood the test of time for safety and reliability, returned.

May We All Be Blessed!