Census Antics A Little Weird
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary [email protected]
A couple of weeks ago there was a little SUV parked in the EMS lane in front of my house. There was a woman walking around the neighborhood with a device that looked like one of those inventory control things UPS or FedEx drivers carry around.
She looked lost.
I poked my head out the front door and asked, "Can I help you? I've lived here a long time, are you looking for someone?"
She said, "No, I'm just verifying addresses for the census."
I said, "OK, cool, have a good day." She was there quite awhile, canvassing all the homes in the neighborhood while poking at her electronic device.
I said to myself, "Self, that's a little weird. The census isn't until 2010." I also thought it was a little strange because I never heard anything about it. I am totally immersed in news. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Associated Press, the Internet. I watch the news shows on Sunday.
I thought it was odd that I had no idea that the Census Bureau was coming to my neighborhood.
So I went on census.gov and tromped around for a while. Lo and behold, I found a news release, dated March 25, that said this:
"The Census Bureau will launch a massive operation on March 30 to verify and update more than 145 million addresses as it prepares to conduct the 2010 Census.
"Nationwide, more than 140,000 census workers will participate in the address canvassing operation, a critically important first step in assuring that every housing unit receives a census questionnaire in March 2010.
"The operation will use new hand-held computers equipped with GPS to increase geographic accuracy. The ability to capture GPS coordinates for most of the nation's housing units will greatly reduce the number of geographic coding errors caused by using paper maps in previous counts."
So there you have it.
The government now has - in addition to my address and satellite imagery of my house - the exact GPS coordinates of my front door.
The census people hired 140,000 people to pull off the GPS canvassing in 90 days - a monumental, costly undertaking a full year before the actual census takes place.
That seemed odd, so I started digging around a little more.
I found some interesting census tomfoolery, but only through local newspapers reporting on the actions U.S. Representatives or fringy papers like the Washington Times. Not so much in the "mainstream" media.
For instance, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is being recruited as a Census Partner. Sure, the census needs lots of volunteers, but ACORN? Those are the guys facing all the election fraud allegations.
This article Thursday from the Lincoln Tribune in North Carolina sums it up pretty well:
WASHINGTON - Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, offered four questions today to be asked of Robert M. Groves, President Obama's nominee to be Director of the U.S. Census Bureau. Mr. Groves' confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will be held on Tuesday.
The conduct of the 2010 Decennial Census has been a point of controversy for the Obama Administration. Attempts by the White House to exert operational authority over the Census led Senator Judd Gregg to withdraw his name from consideration for Commerce Secretary.
The potential for the political manipulation of Census data has been a concern for those seeking a non-partisan and accurate Census. At his confirmation hearing, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke stated that there were "no plans" to use statistical adjustment for the 2010 Census.
However, the nomination of Mr. Groves raises fresh concerns about the White House's desire to manipulate Census data for partisan advantage. As an Associate Director at the Bureau, Mr. Groves' attempts at "political tampering" with 1990 Census results were well-documented and rightly rejected.
So here are the four questions the Congressman is going to ask:
1. How would you respond to efforts by the White House to exert political influence over the conduct of the 2010 Census?
2. Commerce Secretary Locke has testified that the Census Bureau has "no plans" to use statistical adjustment in the 2010 Census. In compliance with federal law, will you rule out statistical adjustment under any circumstances? If not, describe a scenario that would merit adjustment.
3. Given its pattern of criminal misconduct, why is ACORN's role as a Census Partner so essential that the integrity of the 2010 Census should be jeopardized by their involvement?
4. As Census Director, how will you communicate to Congress any program changes affecting the actual enumeration of the 2010 Census?
Let me recap.
The White House tries to wrest control of the census from the Commerce Department, nominates a known political tamperer as census director, hires serial election law violator ACORN as a census partner and hurriedly GPS marks the front door of my and everybody else's house in America.
Hey, wait a minute. What's that sound overhead? Is that a helicopter?
Bicycle Month Update
Riding days - 3 (1 rainout.)
Miles - 93.
Pain (scale of 10) - 6.
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A couple of weeks ago there was a little SUV parked in the EMS lane in front of my house. There was a woman walking around the neighborhood with a device that looked like one of those inventory control things UPS or FedEx drivers carry around.
She looked lost.
I poked my head out the front door and asked, "Can I help you? I've lived here a long time, are you looking for someone?"
She said, "No, I'm just verifying addresses for the census."
I said, "OK, cool, have a good day." She was there quite awhile, canvassing all the homes in the neighborhood while poking at her electronic device.
I said to myself, "Self, that's a little weird. The census isn't until 2010." I also thought it was a little strange because I never heard anything about it. I am totally immersed in news. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Associated Press, the Internet. I watch the news shows on Sunday.
I thought it was odd that I had no idea that the Census Bureau was coming to my neighborhood.
So I went on census.gov and tromped around for a while. Lo and behold, I found a news release, dated March 25, that said this:
"The Census Bureau will launch a massive operation on March 30 to verify and update more than 145 million addresses as it prepares to conduct the 2010 Census.
"Nationwide, more than 140,000 census workers will participate in the address canvassing operation, a critically important first step in assuring that every housing unit receives a census questionnaire in March 2010.
"The operation will use new hand-held computers equipped with GPS to increase geographic accuracy. The ability to capture GPS coordinates for most of the nation's housing units will greatly reduce the number of geographic coding errors caused by using paper maps in previous counts."
So there you have it.
The government now has - in addition to my address and satellite imagery of my house - the exact GPS coordinates of my front door.
The census people hired 140,000 people to pull off the GPS canvassing in 90 days - a monumental, costly undertaking a full year before the actual census takes place.
That seemed odd, so I started digging around a little more.
I found some interesting census tomfoolery, but only through local newspapers reporting on the actions U.S. Representatives or fringy papers like the Washington Times. Not so much in the "mainstream" media.
For instance, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is being recruited as a Census Partner. Sure, the census needs lots of volunteers, but ACORN? Those are the guys facing all the election fraud allegations.
This article Thursday from the Lincoln Tribune in North Carolina sums it up pretty well:
WASHINGTON - Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, offered four questions today to be asked of Robert M. Groves, President Obama's nominee to be Director of the U.S. Census Bureau. Mr. Groves' confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will be held on Tuesday.
The conduct of the 2010 Decennial Census has been a point of controversy for the Obama Administration. Attempts by the White House to exert operational authority over the Census led Senator Judd Gregg to withdraw his name from consideration for Commerce Secretary.
The potential for the political manipulation of Census data has been a concern for those seeking a non-partisan and accurate Census. At his confirmation hearing, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke stated that there were "no plans" to use statistical adjustment for the 2010 Census.
However, the nomination of Mr. Groves raises fresh concerns about the White House's desire to manipulate Census data for partisan advantage. As an Associate Director at the Bureau, Mr. Groves' attempts at "political tampering" with 1990 Census results were well-documented and rightly rejected.
So here are the four questions the Congressman is going to ask:
1. How would you respond to efforts by the White House to exert political influence over the conduct of the 2010 Census?
2. Commerce Secretary Locke has testified that the Census Bureau has "no plans" to use statistical adjustment in the 2010 Census. In compliance with federal law, will you rule out statistical adjustment under any circumstances? If not, describe a scenario that would merit adjustment.
3. Given its pattern of criminal misconduct, why is ACORN's role as a Census Partner so essential that the integrity of the 2010 Census should be jeopardized by their involvement?
4. As Census Director, how will you communicate to Congress any program changes affecting the actual enumeration of the 2010 Census?
Let me recap.
The White House tries to wrest control of the census from the Commerce Department, nominates a known political tamperer as census director, hires serial election law violator ACORN as a census partner and hurriedly GPS marks the front door of my and everybody else's house in America.
Hey, wait a minute. What's that sound overhead? Is that a helicopter?
Bicycle Month Update
Riding days - 3 (1 rainout.)
Miles - 93.
Pain (scale of 10) - 6.
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