Paranoia Will Destroy Ya

I guess the "Big Brother Paranoia" crowd has something else to worry about now--water meters.  Two Fond du Lac couples recently had their water shut off because they refused to allow the city to install new "smart" meters in their homes--which would allow for remote readings.  The couples believe that the water utility is going to use the meters to track their every movement inside their house--knowing when they turn on the sink, when they take a shower, when the flush the toilet.  They also fear that the transmitters on the meters will make them sick.

I had to laugh at the assertion that somewhere in Fond du Lac there is a "Potty Police" monitoring when everyone is flushing their toilets.  Could you imagine getting a knock on the door one night....

"Excuse me Mr Krause, I'm Agent Number 1 and this is Agent Number 2.  We're here because we have noticed increased activity on the toilet in your main bathroom this week.  Care to tell us what is going on?"

"Well I've been eating a lot of corn on the cob and fresh fruits recently--that might have something to do with it."

"Alright Mr. Krause, we're going to issue you just a warning this time.  I'd also advise you to mix in more large cuts of red meat so we don't have to come back here again."

As far as the concerns about the transmitter causing sickness, I sure hope those couples don't have cell phones, or wireless phones in the house.  They should probably get rid of their wi-fi router and remote controls as well.  And just to be safe, I'd recommend they build a giant steel and concrete sarcophagus over their homes to protect them from satellite, TV and radio signals from penetrating the walls and killing them.

The ridiculousness of the paranoia got ramped up even further last week when State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt of Fond du Lac announced that he would introduce a bill that would allow people to opt out of "smart meter" programs and not have their water shut off.  Thiesfeldt sites "real concern from people" about the issue.  I wonder how many more people are "concerned" about the increased cost to the water utility when they have to hire meter readers again--to visit sporadic locations around the city to garner the same exact information that the smart meters send back automatically.  He might also want to alert Alliant Energy, Wisconsin Public Service and We Energies about the added expense as well--since they have been using smart meters for years.

And when is Representative Thiesfeldt (or any other conservative, Constitution-thumping lawmaker) going to introduce a bill banning the Government from obtaining our cellphone records without probable cause or a warrant?  That is the kind of Big Brother government action we actually do have to worry about.