Concerned w/ 2010 Census & have question

[Guest jos2f]

I think for me the bottom line is: If they're doing their job then so be it. I don't get all up in arms (literally) if a meter-reader comes by*

However, if the meter-reader were to come by and start wandering in my backyard I'd have a few words for him. Same with Census.. if all they're doing is looking for other dwellings and GPS tagging, so be it. If they're looking under my deck, going through my trash or something crazy, words will be had.

*I think even the utilities district around here even does their meter-reading digitally, I haven't seen an actual reader stop by in a coons age. Surely the federal government could do as well..

[Guest Old goat]

They came to my house a couple of weeks ago, man and woman, late 50's I guess. Ask if this was a single family dwelling, verified the address, then if anyone was living in the RV parked in the side yard. They were polite, so was I.

[TripleDigitRide]

I've lived in an apartment or condo for the last several years. Never had one knock on my door.

[Titansfan]

I am going to chime in since I feel I have vast experience with GPS. I have been a geocacher since 2005 and have logged over 2,000 finds. Go to www.geocaching.com for information of the GPS game. I currently use a Garmin 60csx.

I read one report the ACORN/Census worker when asked why he/she had a GPS in their hand was to verify the correct location, while outside the front door. That is a load of crap! GPS software such as Garmin will get someone to an address by simply typing in the address. I have learned to accept a distance error. Sometimes I have been able to autoroute to the driveway and sometimes, it's up to .5 mile off. I have learned to accept this and use other tools such as Google Streetview, aerial photos from mapquest and other sites. With my DCS job, I have to make home visits and use aerial photos to find the correct location.

The handheld GPS is used to mark the location. When holding the GPS receiver, I hit mark and then average. I let if average for about 2 minutes to obtain the best coordinates. I do this when placing a geocache.

As yet, no one has come to my door and previous census, I was mailed a packet that we filled out and returned. I do agree that questions like "What time I leave for work?" and other personal questions are not their business.

[Guest canynracer]

While that may be true, somehow I doubt that they are going to bother with an LEO since the worst thing they can do is fine you $100. The Constitution says that the feds can do a census every 10 years. I'm sorry, but it's not 2010 and therefore they don't have the right to come on to my property yet. They can also confirm my address by looking at the mailbox at the start of my driveway. All you need to answer is how many people live at the address. If you look up the word definition of "census" (census - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary ) you'll find all it is a count. The other questions, I believe, are unconstitutional, and I will refuse to answer them (I think I saw a number tonight that only 68% of the people in the US actually responds--so that means they ain't going to bother with a $100 fine because it would cost more to collect that from 128 million people than the fine!)

The GPS thing is also very annoying. I really don't see how that data can be used for anything good.

-CITE-

13 USC Sec. 223 01/03/2007

-EXPCITE-

TITLE 13 - CENSUS

CHAPTER 7 - OFFENSES AND PENALTIES

SUBCHAPTER II - OTHER PERSONS

-HEAD-

Sec. 223. Refusal, by owners, proprietors, etc., to assist census

employees

-STATUTE-

Whoever, being the owner, proprietor, manager, superintendent, or

agent of any hotel, apartment house, boarding or lodging house,

tenement, or other building, refuses or willfully neglects, when

requested by the Secretary or by any other officer or employee of

the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof, acting

under the instructions of the Secretary, to furnish the names of

the occupants of such premises, or to give free ingress thereto and

egress therefrom to any duly accredited representative of such

Department or bureau or agency thereof, so as to permit the

collection of statistics with respect to any census provided for in

subchapters I and II of chapter 5 of this title, or any survey

authorized by subchapter IV or V of such chapter insofar as such

survey relates to any of the subjects for which censuses are

provided by such subchapters I and II, including, when relevant to

the census or survey being taken or made, the proper and correct

enumeration of all persons having their usual place of abode in

such premises, shall be fined not more than $500.

-SOURCE-

(Aug. 31, 1954, ch. 1158, 68 Stat. 1023; Pub. L. 85-207, Sec. 17,

Aug. 28, 1957, 71 Stat. 484.)

wow...y'all are paranoid.

I havent seen them yet, but my german shepherd barking in the backyard will probably deter them from going back there unannounced.

if they have proper ID/Credentials, I will escort them in the back, if they need.

otherwise, I will answer the questions that are pertinent, I havent seen them yet, but I probably will not be giving them my daily work schedules/routines.

no tin foil hattery about it, I wouldnt tell any stranger my routines/schedules.

but I have no issues saying that 5 people live there, me, my wife, 3 kids.

[Guest jos2f]

Canyn, for some reason the document I'm reading is different. Mine is from WAIS Document Retrieval

TITLE 13--CENSUS

CHAPTER 7--OFFENSES AND PENALTIES

SUBCHAPTER II--OTHER PERSONS

Sec. 221. Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers

(a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or willfully

neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized

officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency

thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized

officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions

on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey

provided for by subchapters I, II, IV, and V of chapter 5 of this title,

applying to himself or to the family to which he belongs or is related,

or to the farm or farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall

be fined not more than $100.

(Whoever, when answering questions described in subsection (a) of

this section, and under the conditions or circumstances described in

such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is false, shall be

fined not more than $500.

© Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no person

shall be compelled to disclose information relative to his religious

beliefs or to membership in a religious body.

(Aug. 31, 1954, ch. 1158, 68 Stat. 1023; Pub. L. 85-207, Sec. 15, Aug.

28, 1957, 71 Stat. 484; Pub. L. 94-521, Sec. 13, Oct. 17, 1976, 90 Stat.

2465.)

So it seems like the one I'm reading is describing a false answer versus no answer, with 2 different penalties for that

[NuTcAsE]

The G.P.S. thing so an RTT-CQB team can come straight to your door, Good To Go. Get in on the primary, High Speed, Low Drag, G.T.G. TapTap, TapTap, slaying bodies, G.T.G.

You could hang a couple of these around the house... http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8758

Edited May 5, 2009 by NuTcAsE

[Guest db99wj]

While that may be true, somehow I doubt that they are going to bother with an LEO since the worst thing they can do is fine you $100. The Constitution says that the feds can do a census every 10 years. I'm sorry, but it's not 2010 and therefore they don't have the right to come on to my property yet. They can also confirm my address by looking at the mailbox at the start of my driveway. All you need to answer is how many people live at the address. If you look up the word definition of "census" (census - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary ) you'll find all it is a count. The other questions, I believe, are unconstitutional, and I will refuse to answer them (I think I saw a number tonight that only 68% of the people in the US actually responds--so that means they ain't going to bother with a $100 fine because it would cost more to collect that from 128 million people than the fine!)

The GPS thing is also very annoying. I really don't see how that data can be used for anything good.

The census will be done every 10 years doesn't mean that they can't start working on it before hand, logistically this is a major undertaking, which I am sure you understand, and that they can't, won't, or should not be expected to only do all of it during the 10th year. I would go as far and say that they are starting on the next census immediately after they finish the one they are on, even while the number nerds are counting away.

Dang. Paranoia it appears. Lady came by my house, verified my numbers in her GPS (I guess) unit and went on down the street. So what. And of course, if caught in my backyard, they are going to have problems with their supervisor or LEO if it were to get to that point, that is with anyone that forcefully opens my gates to get into my fence back yard.

Someone mentioned the meter reader, I believe there are either laws, or it might be done on the local level ordinances, that allows the utilitiy department to enter your property in order to conduct their business. If you look at a survey of your property, there are going to be a couple of easements along some of the edges. Along these utility easements you can't build a structure on or impede access, other than fence or something you don't mind removing in order for them to gain access. The Meter on the house is part of utilities and access is granted to them, whether they have to go onto your property, into your backyard due to a fence being erected. Many times, they will peer over it and read it, they have scanners that can read them, they also will use a pair of binoculars as well.

[Guest tnmale46]

i found this sample census if it like this its not bad

http://http://2010.census.gov/2010census/pdf/InfoCopy_Mailback_May_1_2008.pdf

[Guest bkelm18]

I swear, some of you people think that every time the gov't farts the stormtroopers are coming to get you. Loosen the tin-foil and chill.

[Mike.357]

just because we are paranoid does not mean they aren't out to get us.

[Guest smithandwesson]

My friend had them at his house today, asking how many guns, how much ammo, how much he makes yearly, how many hours he works, when he works, all kinds of questions and was using a GPS, he got mad and told the guy to leave. The thing was I had just emailed him yesterday about all this from where I had read it on this site and a bunch of other links about it and then they showed up at his house today.

[Guest db99wj]

[mcurrier]

just because we are paranoid does not mean they aren't out to get us.

True. Not everything is a conspiracy theory, but they've given us many reasons not to trust them.

Some people don't realize the need to look just a hair beneath the surface of things. While many things may be taken at face value, everything is not always that way. It is up to reasonable people to examine things to be able to discern when something passes the smell test and when something doesn't.

When they flat out tell you that they're going to come to your house and do this or take that...it's a bit too late to do anything about it. They're not going to do that. That's not how they operate.

The government works like the devil. Like a termite. Like an embezzler. A little bit at a time. Tiny increments. They whittle away. That way you don't notice it until it's too late.

As they are doing this, 98% of the people say to the other 2% at each step, "oh, what they're doing is no big deal. stop whining. stop being so paranoid. you're over reacting."

If they do this enough times consistently, eventually things are radically different from the beginning, but it didn't happen overnight to where it was obviously noticeable.

Just remember, Vegas works the same way. They guarantee a 98% return! Do it enough times and there's nothing left.

[G27]

Just remember, Vegas works the same way. They guarantee a 98% return! Do it enough times and there's nothing left.

As I absolutely thrive upon being pedantic, I'll throw in that as long as you get a return >0.0 you will always have something left.

But yeah, you're totally right - they whittle away at our rights a little bit at a time until there isn't enough left to protect ourselves. We have to fight them every step of the way...

[Guest Swamprunner]

....Came to my house last week. Gave me a note printed in Spanish to explain what he was doing. I guess 'ol Einstein didn't notice my blond hair and blue eyes. Says me, "I can't read this, I'm an amurican". Says he, "sorry, here is the English version. That one was fer the other folks we have around here". LOL

[Guest 70below]

You have Spaniards in your neighborhood? I'm somewhat of a hermit, I don't even like friends knocking on my door without letting me know they're coming, let alone Mormons, neighbors, delivery people, or census workers. So, my apologies to any census workers that roust me in my boxers and find me a bit peeved that they have some questions that I really don't have an interest in answering.

[Guest medic66]

we got a letter in the mail stating that we had been chosen for an economic census, and a census person would be contacting us in the next week or so. i had forgot about it and on a sunday afternoon around 4 pm i hear my dogs barking. i go outside and around the front of the house and my dogs have a census person trapped in her car. i asked her if she needed help and she told me who she was. we had been out and didn't close the gate. our driveway is 1/2 mile long. i told her we weren't interested in participating and she got a little snippy with me. she told me she could come on our farm basically anytime she needed to. i pointed at my catahoula and told her i hoped she was faster than he is. he ain't very friendly. i followed her out and locked my gate. haven't heard from her since.

[Guest jos2f]

she told me she could come on our farm basically anytime she needed to.

If she were cute would have been a nice time to wink and say "so, you need to come to my farm Friday around 6 for dinner?"

Otherwise, hope she doesn't think your talk of your dog being mean was threatening. We know how some LEO are with "threatening dogs"

[Guest medic66]

If she were cute would have been a nice time to wink and say "so, you need to come to my farm Friday around 6 for dinner?"

Otherwise, hope she doesn't think your talk of your dog being mean was threatening. We know how some LEO are with "threatening dogs"

trust me, she wasn't cute. i am not too worried about cops coming to the house. it is a 1/2 mile hilly walk from the gate to the house. cops around here would consider it entirely too much work to have to walk to the house. no cell service either, so he would probably tell the census person she is own her own!

[mcurrier]

You have Spaniards in your neighborhood? I'm somewhat of a hermit, I don't even like friends knocking on my door without letting me know they're coming, let alone Mormons, neighbors, delivery people, or census workers. So, my apologies to any census workers that roust me in my boxers and find me a bit peeved that they have some questions that I really don't have an interest in answering.

Amen Brother! I get a bit ticked when my friends show up unannounced as well. I may be in the middle of something. And they seem to always come to the back door. And they knock and just ignore the doorbell button. Must be a born-and-raised-in-TN thing.

[Guest Whiskers]

Do you remember this? I question the wisdom of anyone who walks into my back yard. As far as I am concerned, they are up to no good.

From May 27, 2000 Chattanooga News Free Press

Census Worker Charged With Rhea County Rape

"DAYTON, Tenn. -- A Dayton man hired by the U.S. Census Bureau to follow with census nonfilers in Rhea

County has been charged with raping a woman on his assigned route. . ."

Edited May 7, 2009 by Whiskers
d

[Guest Swamprunner]

Do you remember this? I question the wisdom of anyone who walks into my back yard. As far as I am concerned, they are up to no good.

From May 27, 2000 Chattanooga News Free Press

Census Worker Charged With Rhea County Rape

"DAYTON, Tenn. -- A Dayton man hired by the U.S. Census Bureau to follow with census nonfilers in Rhea

County has been charged with raping a woman on his assigned route. . ."

Well, that's purty sceery. The wife has a .32 gun in her pocket for fun, and he name aint Leroy Brown.

[mcurrier]

UNCLE SAM'S WAY-TOO-NOSY SURVEY - New York Post

"Recently nearly 3 million Americans were sent the American Community Survey. An annual supplement to the decennial Census, the 28-page survey pursues obnoxious nanny-state details such as whether your home has a flush toilet, what kind of fuel you use for heat and how much you spend on everything from electricity and flood insurance to your mortgage and property taxes."

"Then come the really nosy questions, ranging from your college major and your health insurance to how you spend each day at the office. The survey even asks what time you leave for work, down to the hour and minute."

[Guest justme]

deleted....

Edited May 28, 2009 by justme