Archive for April, 2008

My Timeline with the American Community Survey

April 25, 2008 · Filed under The American Community Survey Drama · Tagged , ,

This is just a time-line as to what we are dealing with, and what we recieve in regards to not responding to the ACS survey. I will update it as more happens.

March 19th 2008 – received notice that we were selected to participate

March 26th 2008 – received American Community Survey

March 31st 2008 – received reminder notice (post card) in the mail telling us that we need to return the completed survey

April 19th 2008 - received notice that we needed to send in our survey, with a new copy of the survey and a letter explaining that it is mandatory and that I must comply, that we may have employees follow up and come to our home and/or call us.

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Opened Mail, an ongoing saga.

April 5, 2008 · Filed under The Post Office opens mail?

Does anyone else’s mail come like this on a regular basis? I mean is it normal for 1/3 – 1/2 of someone’s mail to come partially opened every day of the week?

Before we started taking pictures, there were times that presents that my children’s Great Grandmother sent them were falling out of the box to the point where our mail carrier was apologizing. Every item she sends my children is opened completely, and often not taped shut afterwards. There is no notice that it has been searched or any indication that something happened.

I am sure it is not our particular carrier b/c we have had 2 carriers in the last 2 years, and it is happening with both.

This started right after we went to our state senator about a tax refund that was owed to us from 2002, which we are still fighting for.

Here are photographs of the front and back of each item from this week, only addresses have been blurred.

Open Mail 3-29-08

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Why is questioning things = to paranoia?

April 1, 2008 · Filed under The American Community Survey Drama · Tagged , , ,

Why isn’t there more of an outcry about the ACS?

After reading so much online and getting myself all worked up, I posted my dilemma with the ACS to a local YAHOO mom’s group yesterday.

I had to explain some things a few times, but a lot of the moms were in support of not doing it and appalled at the questions and invasion of privacy, and at how so many were just freely giving away their freedoms by answering the questions.

Well today there are a lot of posts about how I am paranoid and that living a paranoid life is “worse that a ‘big brother’ government that doesn’t exist”.

I am incredibly confused at the reactions. I did respond to her on list, and now apparently my response was so incredibly negative and “brings so many others down” that people are leaving our list… I hate to see people leave, our list is an awesome resource to moms, but I am not about to ask people to stay and apologize for “enlightening” someone to something. Not everyone is going to be happy with everything going on at any particular time. I’m not happy with this damn survey, and I can talk to other people about it right? I mean if they can ask/complain about a doctor, why not me and the government in this case?

I just can’t believe that people are just so blind and upset that someone questions something that our government does… 

Here was my response to the email I received on the group list (I am choosing not to include the emails from the other moms it since it is a semi private group, but you can get the gist that I was being negative and paranoid):

I really am not being negative about this. I asked for others opinions and I respect them all, including yours.

I just want to say that the things that I am “paranoid” about, and that other on this list seem to agree about are things that our founding fathers warned us about. They foresaw people losing their liberties, and took the steps to make sure it didn’t happen with the constitution. If you read their respective writings, it is very interesting that our rights are being taken from us in ways that the founding fathers warned us not to give in about.

Guns being taken from homes, intrusion into our homes by government officials without warrants, protesters being places under surveillance…. all things that the Constitution of the United States was set up to protect us from.

Do I honestly think that the government is going to use this survey to put me under surveillance? It honestly might be used against us with the IRS. But for most people given the survey, not useless the answers raise flags. Do I feel that I should HAVE to fill it out? No. And I won’t. In the wrong hands the answers to these questions can be quite detrimental.

My husband and I have been “tagged” by the IRS b/c we are still fighting over a refund from 2002. They have now tried to get the NC Revenue Service after us, even though we were not married, didn’t live in NC, and didn’t work here. T he Husband is now on a “pull aside” list when flying, and so am I, neither of us are able to board a plane without a full search of us and our belongings. My mail now comes opened most days. My children don’t even get to open their own packages from their great grandmother b/c the post office does it for them. My business packages come opened and often dirtied and I have to sell them at a discount.

Until we started fighting the IRS and writing our congressmen and senator about it and the real ID act, I never gave what our government did a second thought. It was what it was and we had little say and it was here to protect us. I mean, they know best, right?

I have since decided that isn’t right. We are targets now b/c we wrote that letter and because we have stood up to fight. I honestly believe that and so does my husband. It happens to a lot of Americans who stand up to the IRS. It was really eye opening for me when it started happening. I grew up in an upper middle class family in the suburbs of Washington DC. My mother is a republican to the core. I was raised with those same values and never questioned anything that our government said and did. Heck, until college, I thought Regan was the best president ever………….. (I have figured that one out ;o) ) But my point is, not everything they are doing is right or legal, and something has to happen to open our eyes to it.

This survey is an intrusion. The government does not need that information from me. I will gladly tell them how many people live in my house, and the rest, if they truly need it, they can find on their own.

‘Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither’ – Benjamin Franklin.

I believe, as did our founding fathers, that if we don’t stand up and protect our freedoms, we don’t deserve them.

Don’t worry, I will stand up for my personal freedoms, and yours. That way someone is fighting for them.

Just because I am “paranoid” doesn’t mean they aren’t after me ;)

I am up early this morning, so it’s my turn to ramble and hopefully make sense.

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