# Census Worker Found Hanged in Kentucky



## Bill Mattocks (Sep 24, 2009)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8274065.stm



> US census worker hanging probed
> US police are investigating the death of a man who was found hanged from a tree in rural Kentucky with the word "Fed" scrawled on his chest.



I am shocked at this.  The divide and distrust between the people and the government is growing wider day by day.  Scary times.


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## celtic_crippler (Sep 25, 2009)

Yup.

And whose fault is that? Not being sarcastic, but really...who is to blame or is it shared?


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## elder999 (Sep 25, 2009)

Bill Mattocks said:


> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8274065.stm
> 
> 
> 
> I am shocked at this. The divide and distrust between the people and the government is growing wider day by day. Scary times.


 

Actually, that particular part of the country has a history of many decades of distrust of the government-it's Appalachia, after all....

I had to run off a census worker not to long ago myself-they have no business collecting GPS data on my front door, and I told him so. Of course, the dog wasn't going to let him anywhere near the door, which is how we wound up having the conversation in the first place: 

_Mister, mister-could you bring your dog inside?_ 
*No.*_He's where he belongs, and you *are not.*_ :lfao:

Took GPS at the foot of my drive....:lol:


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## MA-Caver (Sep 25, 2009)

elder999 said:


> Actually, that particular part of the country has a history of many decades of distrust of the government-it's Appalachia, after all....
> 
> I had to run off a census worker not to long ago myself-they have no business collecting GPS data on my front door, and I told him so. Of course, the dog wasn't going to let him anywhere near the door, which is how we wound up having the conversation in the first place:
> 
> ...


THAT is more scary than finding a dead census worker... the fact that he was stubborn to collect the data that the end of your drive way had to do rather the front door.  Good for your dog and good for you to chase him off your front door. 
some data I don't mind letting the government have and all that... but _precise _locations? Hmm when are the microchips being inserted?? How many of our cars have been secretly tagged? 
Knowing who someone is and a few stats is alright to get a demographic of a people in a given area but exactly _where_ they live?? Uhh, no comrade I'm not up for that. 

As for the Census worker... tragic indeed. Just a guy doing a temporary job. More of a paid volunteer than anything else. 

Wonder if any fava beans were found nearby?


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## CoryKS (Sep 25, 2009)

When has there not been a distrust of the government? This country was founded on it. Our constitution, which enumerates the things that the government _cannot_ do, is based largely on distrust for the government.

Like Elder said, that area is not known for their love of government employees.


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## MBuzzy (Sep 25, 2009)

celtic_crippler said:


> Yup.
> 
> And whose fault is that? Not being sarcastic, but really...who is to blame or is it shared?



Boy, that's an easy question.  Whoever did this needs to go to jail for life.  100% responsibility on the closed minded ignorant, hateful individual who did this.

Census' have been happening for thousands of years all over the world and in almost all cultures.  At least 74 countries currently take census.

Seriously - are people REALLY this paranoid?


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## Bill Mattocks (Sep 25, 2009)

celtic_crippler said:


> Yup.
> 
> And whose fault is that? Not being sarcastic, but really...who is to blame or is it shared?



Ultimately, the person or persons who did this are to blame.

As to the culture that spawned this kind of response, I would suggest that any government that has engendered that kind of hatred and fear needs to take a good look at itself.  And I am not being partisan in this - I believe it has been a long way from the Reagan years to where we are now.  Each successive president and administration has added bricks to the wall between government and citizen, taken away more and more civil liberties in the name of 'protecting us', and given us more cause to hate and fear them.


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## celtic_crippler (Sep 25, 2009)

elder999 said:


> Actually, that particular part of the country has a history of many decades of distrust of the government-it's Appalachia, after all....


 
That explains it... my family has roots there. My grandfather was a Bluegrass musician actually... no wonder I hate the government! LOL 



MBuzzy said:


> Boy, that's an easy question. Whoever did this needs to go to jail for life. 100% responsibility on the closed minded ignorant, hateful individual who did this.
> 
> Census' have been happening for thousands of years all over the world and in almost all cultures. At least 74 countries currently take census.
> 
> Seriously - are people REALLY this paranoid?


 
No. They are not. They just don't like the government poking their noses where it doesn't belong. 

Yeah, yeah...I'm familiar with all the arguments... they need the data for schools and taxes and blah and more blah... Any excuse to exerpt more control over our lives. The very idea conflicts with the American spirit of independance.


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## Grenadier (Sep 25, 2009)

We shouldn't rush to conclusions, regarding who would have done it, until the facts are out.  

There are any number of possibilities.  For example, he could have unwittingly stumbled upon a meth lab, and encountered some rather...  hostile...  individuals.


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## Bill Mattocks (Sep 25, 2009)

celtic_crippler said:


> Yeah, yeah...I'm familiar with all the arguments... they need the data for schools and taxes and blah and more blah... Any excuse to exerpt more control over our lives. The very idea conflicts with the American spirit of independance.



Technically, the census is well-described in the Constitution itself, specifically. So it is very clear, and has been since the beginning of our nation, that the census is legal and part and parcel of our American independence.



> Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.



Unlike typical federal intrusion through 'creative' interpretation of such clauses as the Interstate Commerce Clause, the census is a basic part of the fundamental document that created our nation.

I used to see it as an unwarranted intrusion into my privacy too, and then someone pointed the above out to me.  I still see it as an intrusion into my privacy, but not unwarranted.  The founders intended it, and there you go.


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## celtic_crippler (Sep 25, 2009)

Bill Mattocks said:


> Technically, the census is well-described in the Constitution itself, specifically. So it is very clear, and has been since the beginning of our nation, that the census is legal and part and parcel of our American independence.
> 
> Unlike typical federal intrusion through 'creative' interpretation of such clauses as the Interstate Commerce Clause, the census is a basic part of the fundamental document that created our nation.
> 
> I used to see it as an unwarranted intrusion into my privacy too, and then someone pointed the above out to me. I still see it as an intrusion into my privacy, but not unwarranted. The founders intended it, and there you go.


 
I don't think they intended it to be as intrusive as it is. 

It's one thing to monitor the population it's quite another to dig into my personal life.


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## Bill Mattocks (Sep 25, 2009)

celtic_crippler said:


> I don't think they intended it to be as intrusive as it is.
> 
> It's one thing to monitor the population it's quite another to dig into my personal life.



The census has changed over the years:

http://www.censusfinder.com/census-questions.htm
http://www.censusfinder.com/1790-census.htm



> Questions Asked on the 1790 Census
> 
> *      Name of the head of each household.
> *      How many free white males age 16 and older.
> ...



But by 1930, it had become quite familiar-looking:



> Questions Asked on the 1930 Census
> 
> *      Name of street, road, avenue etc.
> *      House numbers for city dwellers.
> ...



Since that time, the census questions have gone through changes, and there is now a short form and long form, with a subset of households chosen to fill out the long form (which obviously asks more questions).

More info here:

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/


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## Carol (Nov 24, 2009)

And....this turned out to be not what it appeared to be.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/11/census_worker_killing_probe_ne.html

Death was ruled a suicide, staged to look like a homicide.  At play were two life insurance policies, worth a total of 600K, that would not be paid out if the insured had committed suicide.


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