Dear Editor,

From his picture, Matthew Claxton appears to be a fairly young individual, and his column [Of black cats and smart meters, Aug. 10 Painful Truth, Langley Advance] appears to me to come from someone not yet well-seasoned by experience.

I found the column to be flippant, derogatory, and insulting to those individuals involved in a struggle against the very real dark aspects of this program while reporters like yours skim the surface of the stories and exercise their creative writing fantasies. Fires caused by smart meters are a minor issue, greatly overshadowed by health and privacy aspects.

The smart meter will send information to BC Hydro that right now only the police could obtain through a court-approved wiretap. BC Hydro can do whatever it wants with this information.

It's ironic that the young people of today don't realize that they are the last generation of free Canadians. While they play with their video games and text their friends, forces around us are quickly moving to enslave us through technology.

There is an enormous wealth of real news to be reported on regarding the sordid mess that the smart meter program represents, from political corruption to very real health dangers that will affect all of us, including Mr. Claxton. Instead, we get pablum, industry advertorials, and snotty, meaningless columns.

Una St. Clair of Citizens for Safe Technology, who was a Langley resident until very recently, has been a tireless worker, bringing the truth about wireless radiation to citizens under adverse conditions, including the type of cheap shots and indirect ridicule in articles like yours.

An assignment for Mr. Claxton should be to interview her at length, and learn the real truth about what is happening with this project.

I believe that you should be assigning reporters to appropriate stories that their intellect, maturity, and experience enables them to report on competently.

More reading for Mr. Claxton before he ventures near this topic again:

Dr. David Carpenter, University at Albany

Daniel Hirsch, UCSC

Dr. Magda Havas, Trent University

Dr. Henry Lai, University of Washington

There are no health standards in Canada for the type of chronic, low-level radiation emitted by the smart meter and the myriad other add-on devices that will be required for it in the future. That's a dirty little industry secret and something that you should be reporting on.

This radiation will adversely affect us all, including Mr. Claxton, whether or not he has the intellect or comprehension to understand that.

I have no objection to him hiding from the truth, but I do object to your paper being used as a tool to disparage those individuals willing to look at it.

Ron Eland, via email