December 30, 2011 by THE VOICE.

Anthem VOICE was founded in part upon some fundamental concerns that Nevada HOA laws, rules and regulations appeared to contain serious violations of US and NV Constitutional provisions for citizen property owners, and that certain SCA directors were being shielded by government officials from being held personally accountable for financial misconduct.

Our initial concerns have been validated.  Some HOA statutes and regulations clearly deny constitutional rights to property owners/share holder members of homeowner associations.  The evidence suggests that such violations and statute defects have been crafted by the state and local government agencies and trade association to enable both the government agencies and the HOA business interests to obscenely benefit from their controls of HOA boards. 

As a result, there are no “fair dispute resolution” processes available from the NV Judicial Branch.  The HOA situation is a case of a decade of truly shameful actions by the Executive and Legislative Branches, and shameful neglect by the Judicial Branch.

Anthem VOICE has documented many examples of such misconduct over the years, and more cases will be reported on in the near future. 

Meanwhile, the following article by George Staropoli in AZ is one of many available at his site showing how tens of millions of trusting and apathetic HOA members have been allowing themselves to be “farmed/milked” of their hard-earned savings, retirement funds and American freedoms.

Evan McKenzie is another nationally-recognized author reporting on the shocking losses of constitutional rights and democratic practices due to unfair/dictatorial HOA laws and regulations.  (http://www.evanmckenzie.com/)   His list of current major HOA problems and necessary actions are quoted here:   Dr Evan McKenzie Quote

———-QUOTE———

Link to this Article & Website:  http://pvtgov.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/2783/

“HOA-Land — the failure to democratize

QUOTE

Note: The following is an excerpt from my paper, “Are the American people rejecting democracy at the local level?”

HOA-Land — the failure to democratize

Will the acceptance of authoritarian private local governments in the US result in a weakening of democracy in America, and destroy “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”?  

“Democratization” describes the processes underlying “the emergence, the deepening, and survival of democracy” in a society.  Democratization is also concerned with the forces that affect the sustainability of a democracy.  And that’s the issue before us:  Has the First American Experiment with representative democracy succumbed to the “emergence and acceptance of a quiet innovation in housing,” the Second American Experiment? This New America of HOA-Land?[i] 

In his “Theories of Democratization”,[ii] Christian Welzel presents a case well applicable to HOA societies.  Welzel believes that, “Democratization is sustainable to the extent to which it advances in response to pressures from within a society.”  It appears that HOA-Land dwellers feel no need to pressure for change, just like Mayer discovered with his interviews after WW II.

People power is institutionalized through civic freedoms that entitle people to govern their lives, allowing them to follow their personal preferences in governing their private lives and to make their political preferences count in governing public life.

Since democracy is about people power, it originates in conditions that place resources of power in the hands of wider parts of the populace, such that authorities cannot access these resources without making concessions to their beholders. But when rulers gain access to a source of revenue they can bring under their control without anyone’s consent, they have the means to finance tools of coercion.

 The above amply defines the dynamics of political machines and power cliques that operate, more or less, within all HOAs from benevolent dictatorships to rogue boards. And with respect to voting as the sole indicator of a democracy, it is well known that HOAs are woefully deficient in fair and just elections, with no “fair elections” laws in effect. Welzel goes on to say,

Many new democracies have successfully installed competitive electoral regimes but their elites are corrupt and lack a commitment to the rule of law that is needed to enforce the civic freedoms that define democracy. These deficiencies render democracy ineffective. The installation of electoral democracy can be triggered by external forces and incentives. But whether electoral democracy becomes effective in respecting and protecting people’s civic freedoms depends on domestic factors. Democracies have become effective only where the masses put the elites under pressure to respect their freedoms.

 Once again we are told that there’s a need for pressure from within, from those living in HOAs, to uphold their Constitutional protections.  Even if state governments decide to enforce constitutional protections and the equal application of state laws, it remains with the HOA-Land residents to defend our system of government.  Welzel reaffirms this essential requirement, “It is only when people come to find appeal in the freedoms that define democracy that they begin to consider dictatorial powers as illegitimate.”

 Welzel offers a path to victory to stop this erosion of democracy within America that is highly applicable to the social movement for HOA reforms.

 As social movement research has shown, powerful mass movements do not simply emerge from growing resources among the population. Social movements must be inspired by a common cause that motivates their supporters to take costly and risky actions. This requires ideological ‘frames’ that create meaning and grant legitimacy to a common cause so that people follow it with inner conviction.

This is why values are important. To advance democracy, people have not only to be capable to struggle for its advancement; they also have to be willing to do so. And for this to happen, they must value the freedoms that define democracy. This is not always a given, and is subject to changes in the process of value transformation.

 And what about our elected officials?

However, although Welzel writes that “elites [those in power, the cliques] concede democracy even in the absence of mass pressures”, it is only “when these elites depend on the will of external powers and when these powers are pushing for democracy.”   But, with respect to HOA regimes, Americans cannot accept this state of affairs by state legislatures, especially not with respect to these fundamental issues of democratic governance — the very soul of this country.  The absence of legislative support, sua sponte (on their own), for HOA reforms throughout the country is inexcusable! 

UNQUOTE

Posted in SCA Board, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations, News! | Print | No Comments »

December 19, 2011 by admin.

If you thought that some of our NV residents were over-the-top with their aggressive opposition to the NV smart meter program, wait till you see some of what is being said and done in California!  Californians have had to deal with the outrageous behavior of its Public Utilities Commission and various power companies for a few more years than Nevada.

Here is the leading graphic for this web article.   See quote below concerning why this writer accuses the power companies and PUC of “extortion”.   Since this article has been up since October 2011, the very serious allegations made must ring true or he would have had to remove it.  Here is a link to the entire (copyrighted) article from which some excerpts and the graphic are quoted below.
http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/cpuc-and-pge-misinformation-misrepresentation-and-attempted-extortion/

So, if you have been ignoring what is happening in the world concerning smart meters, then you might want to think again. Massive backlashes against smart meters is a global phenomenon.   Nevada is just late to the “party” and most of our citizens are just too trusting of those in power.  Searches about “smart meters” reveal thousands of very useful articles.  Here is one that summarized the whole situation.
http://morphcity.com/home/104-smart-meter-slavery

For example, see this Canada Free Press article reporting on Nevada public testimony in opposition to smart meters.  See the included quote from Anthem VOICE’s Bob Frank that was ignored by the Nevada media.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/43248

Here is a report on members of the Maine Legislature who are championing the removal of the “mandatory” claims by Maine’s power companies.  The word “extortion” also is mentioned in Maine.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111113/NEWS/111130338/-1/NEWSMAP

And, in case you  missed it, recently there was a near-riot in CA when a group of elderly women paid to have their “mandatory” smart meters replaced with the old analog meters and PG&E cut off the power to the participants.
http://stopsmartmeters.org/2011/12/13/pge-shuts-off-power-to-sickened-families-2-weeks-before-christmas/

And, finally for today, here is what conservative talk radio host Dr. Mark Levin had to say about “smart meters”…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_XG25YKRGc

Posted in Truth Squad, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, News! | Print | No Comments »

December 19, 2011 by admin.

The following post was contributed by Mike Hazard–a NV leader in fighting the PUCN/Nevada Energy “Smart Meter” program disaster.

———————-

Mike Hazard

Posted in Outside Politics, Truth Squad, Community Affairs | Print | No Comments »

December 11, 2011 by THE VOICE.

The Ray Grant Show

on KDWN, AM 720, Sunday evenings from 7:30 to 8 PM has continued to feature HOA Issues and Solutions Program as moderated by Anthem VOICE’s Bob Frank during the past few months.

The December program will be tonight, December 11, 2011 at 7:30 to 8 PM.  Ray Grant and Bob Frank will be interviewing
Nevada Assemblyman Lynn Stewart (District 22) 

and Nevada State Director of  Business and Industry Terry Johnson

Assemblyman Stewart has earned great respect from Nevada homeowners as a champion in support of legislation and services to help protect HOA unit owner property rights.

Director Johnson was appointed by Governor Sandoval to lead the Business and Industry Department.  One of his major responsibilities is to directs the activities of the Real Estate Division, led by Administrator Gail Anderson, where all NV Homeowner Association policies, procedures and justice processes are managed.

During tonight’s December 11th program, the focus will be on matters of concern to Nevada HOA unit owners and what improvements can be envisioned for the future.   Discussions will focus on the increasing numbers of HOA board abuses of authority and the many concerns raised by the FBI’s 4-year investigations into Nevada HOA fraud and abuse.

KDWN is at AM 720 and live streams over the Internet at this link:
http://www.kdwn.com/streamer/

Sound clips of the December 11 program will be mounted on this site in the near future.

————–previous info—————-

The October 9, 2011 program featured Sun City Anthem HOA unit owner Tim Stebbins and Calico Ridge HOA unit owner Dr. Gary Soloman, PhD.   

Tim Stebbins responded to questions about critical HOA management problems and reported on his experiences with Nevada Real Estate Division failures to provide fair and balanced support services to both HOA unit owners and HOA board members.

Dr.  Soloman reported on his professional research and experiences concerning health problems caused by abusive, dictatorial HOA Boards and explained his rationale for putting up billboards on the freeways around Las Vegas such as illustrated below.

See the previous Anthem VOICE article for more details.
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/31/could-living-in-an-hoa-be-hazadorus-to-your-health/

In November, Bruce Baxter from a HOA North of Las Vegas and Bob Frank were interviewed by Ray Grant on topics that elaborated on the points made during the October program.   11 sound clips in MP3 format from the November 13, 2011 program are attached at the end of this article.

—————-

Here are the sound clips in MP3 format from the November 13th program.

1-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
2-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
3-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
4-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
5-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
6-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
7-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
8-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
9-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
10-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
11-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3

Posted in Truth Squad, Community Questions, SCA Board, Laws & Rules, Lifestyle, Operations, News! | Print | No Comments »

December 10, 2011 by admin.

In case you have not been able to fully appreciate the whole story of why the FBI is ripping into so many of the Southern Nevada HOAs and their corrupt boards, attorneys, management companies, industry trade association and government agency employees, the following link and attached PDF article will tell the whole story and bring you up to date.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-king-of-all-vegas-real-estate-scams-12082011.html

In the meantime, it remains a mystery why so many Sun City Anthem unit owners continue to ignore the signals of our board and sub-contractor misconduct.  How many times have you heard a resident say “Oh, I can’t believe any of our board members or community managers could be involved in crimes!  They seem like SUCH nice people….”

Of course they do–seeming like a “nice person” is a key characteristic of a confidence artist.  See this link:  http://money.howstuffworks.com/con-artist.htm

“You might think you can spot a con artist because he’s someone you instinctively “don’t trust.” But the term con artist is short for confidence artist — they gain your confidence just long enough to get their hands on your money. They can be very charming and persuasive. A good con artist can even make you believe he is really an old friend you haven’t seen in years.”

Has Sun City Anthem been bilked by fellow homeowners and the commercial partners?  What do you think of the following list of apparent losses of millions of dollars by SCA boards since 2005?

1.  Developer non-payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars due to rejected reserve studies in 2006, and developer refusals to pay for reserve study shortages identified by the board’s “look back” reserve study in 2008.  Why has the association attorney failed to protect the financial interests of the association while the developer profits from not having to pay its obligations?

2.  Board failure to collect over $250,000 due from the Trumpets Lease in 2006 and 2007?  Why did certain former SCA board members assist the failed lessee escape having to pay for unpaid lease funds and repair of the heavily damaged  SCA restaurant facilities after being evicted in 2008?

3.  Why did the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 boards fail to collect the $1.3 Million owed by the developer for the 2002 Co-Gen Contract Deal?

4.  Why did the boards accept the association attorney’s advice (originally appointed by the developer) to wait until the statute of limitations had almost expired before filing a claim for about $13 Million?  How much has the developer saved in interest and cash flows since 2005 by being allowed to endlessly delay the very large payments for missing reserve funds and construction defects obligations?

5.  Why did the boards and the association attorney allow the developer to deliver an incomplete facility for Recreation Center #3?   How many hundreds of thousands of dollars have SCA members been bilked out of while the board spent member assessments to finish the building?

6.  How much was added to the developer’s profits as result of not having to pay for the unneeded “Green” features and not having to deliver a completed facility?   How much was added to the sale prices of thousands of SCA homes built after the 2002 change in the Anthem Master Plan to pay for the 3rd Recreation Center that the developer failed to spend on its construction?  Why did the boards, association attorney and community management company allow SCA members to seem to get bilked in this way?

7.  Why have the SCA boards, Finance Committees, and Tax Preparer/Auditor played high risk games with the Internal Revenue Service by failing to return millions of dollars of member surplus assessments each year as they claimed to have been doing?

While there are many more signals that something is very wrong with how our association has been managed since 2005, the biggest mystery is why so many members ignore the obvious?  Tolerating such apparent gross negligence and mismanagement has only emboldened the leaders to become more open in their apparent misconduct.

However, it must be remembered that:
(1) the IRS delivered an audit in 2010 claiming SCA Directors had violated federal income tax regulations in 2007 (and possibly since that time) and about $1.3 Million was owed in back taxes and penalties; and
(2) a former SCA Community Manager employed for over 20 years by Del Webb/Pulte/RMI was recently convicted of willfully and knowingly violating State Laws. 

Both cases indicate that State and Federal criminal charges might eventually be filed against certain individuals for what appears to be serious law violations. 

Although new SCA Directors have been consistently advised by the attorney and community management company to never look back at past board failures, it is becoming increasingly clear that waiting for the FBI to look into some of these matters is the worst possible strategy for the individual directors as well as our homeowners. 

Where the FBI has gone into HOAs, the property values have tended to sink below average.  It is our member’s fault if we sit by and allow that to happen in this “paradise”.

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Operations, News! | Print | No Comments »

December 4, 2011 by admin.

See:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug75diEyiA0

Our AnthemVOICE article dated March 7, 2011 reminded Sun City Anthem members that the SCA Board’s 2009 Federal Tax Returns had reported $4.8 Million of untaxed and un-refunded surplus member dues held in a working capital (slush fund) account.  

Here is the page from Sun City Anthem’s 2009 budget planning presentation reporting the $4.8 Mil. surplus.
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/__oneclick_uploads/2010/07/surplus-build-up-2002-2009.pdf

But, when Finance Committee Chair Candance Karrow was asked during the November 2011 Annual Membership Meeting why assessments were being increased by $714,400 in 2012 when there was such a large accumulated surplus account balance, she stated that all of the surplus had been spent. 

When asked “what for” she just shrugged her shoulders, and claimed she did not have the details!  Even worse, not a single board member was willing to answer the obvious questions about the missing millions of surplus funds.

Imagine a corporate board and its finance committee responsible for the assessments, collections, accounting and spending of a 2-year total of $16 Million of member assessments plus an additional $4.8 Million for expenditures of unidentified “stuff” and they have refused to explain such outrageous over-expenditures!

Imagine that all seven board members, all community managers, and the association attorney  just sat there and said nothing to help Ms. Karrow explain where the missing $4.8 Million had gone! 

And, imagine that the former board member and disgraced attorney tried to misdirect the audience from the hard questions during member comment period by reminding people of the 4th quarter 2008 “$100 dues holiday”. 

Anyone who can use simple math can readily see that such a $100 reduction in the 2008-mandated $160 increase in annual assessments had absolutely nothing to do with the reported $4.8 Million surpluses carried over and declared during the 2009 budget year.  In fact, one has to wonder how in spite of the $714,400 “dues holiday”cut in 2008 assessments it was possible to report an increased total of $4.8 Million accumulated assessments a year later in August 2009!

Come to think of it, one has to wonder what kind of serious conflicts of interest that man might have for so often seeming to work to cover up the mismanagement of past and present board members?  Year after year, on advice of counsel and RMI, the boards have refused to clean up the past financial disasters while the former VP creates smoke screens and misdirections to keep members confused about the essential facts.  As many say, follow the money through independent forensic audits, and we will find the truth.

So, where’s the “beef” (missing surplus funds)?   Since embezzlement has been found so often in national HOAs and during the current Nevada FBI investigations of HOAs, prudent/ethical people will not allow such major questions involving apparently missing millions of dollars to go unanswered.  Honorable directors cannot continue to tolerate such obvious signals of past and current financial mismanagement.

Even if the boards can eventually prove they legally and properly spent all those millions in such a short time in such secret ways, how will they explain away the apparent waste and abuse of funds that were required by federal and state laws to be refunded to our members?  It is absolutely required that the boards return those millions of surpluses or ask the members to vote via formal ballots to authorize the boards to pay the income taxes and spend the resulting funds on clearly identified capital improvement projects.

Considering the FBI’s ongoing investigations, this matter would seem to be an extremely high priority for the board to resolve.  Each serving director in recent years could face criminal allegations if nothing is done.  It will be truly painful for all directors and SCA members if we wait to act until the FBI announces an interest in SCA’s financial and board election affairs.  Out of self-interest, our members must stop ignoring the obvious signals of serious problems.

———————-

FYI:   For those who have not been following the “over-charged dues/slush-funds–working capital funds/False Income Tax Reports” fiasco since it was first identified in 2007, the following links contain some details.   

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/02/irs-report-released-boardauditor-has-no-more-excuses/

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/02/19/reject-the-boards-shell-game-on-income-taxes/

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/02/11/irs-audit-finds-sca-owes-1345-million-in-back-taxes-for-07/

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2010/09/18/dues-holiday-is-bogus-tell-the-board-you-know-the-truth/

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations, Lifestyle | Print | No Comments »

December 2, 2011 by admin.

After over 3 and 1/2 years of unexplained delays, the first of dozens of allegations of illegal acts submitted against (former and current)  Sun City Anthem Community Managers employed by RMI has finally reached the point of a public disciplinary hearing.

The accused person is long-time Del Webb, Pulte and RMI employee, Terri Da Silva.

The Nevada Commission for Common Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels (CICCH) will hear the formal prosecution by the Deputy Attorney General during a session scheduled at 9 AM for December  6-8, 2011. 

The PDF case report is attached at this link:   Da Silva Prosecution by Attorney General

This hearing/trial for alleged law violations in 2008 follows by only a few weeks the previously scheduled prosecution against certain 2008 SCA Directors (led by 2007 and 2008 Board Presidents Mike Dixon and Roz Berman) where the individuals were excused from trial due to a surprise technical error in the State’s paperwork. 

But, because the facts of the previous case were never heard by the Commission, AnthemVOICE hears that the State is considering resubmitting revised charges in 2012. 

That case was reported on in the previous AnthemVOICE and LV Review Journal articles at these links:

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/06/18/attorney-general-office-removed-bob-frank-from-sca-board-indictment/
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/09/01/did-defrocked-attorney-berman-mean-to-disclose-the-truth/

http://www.lvrj.com/business/2008-case-tossed-in-sun-city-anthem-hoa-dispute-128659613.html

Coming so soon after the IRS issued its 2011 audit findings against the 2007-2008 SCA Boards claiming SCA owed $1.3 Million in back taxes and penalties, 2012 looks like it could be a hard year for some former SCA board members, auditor, attorneys and collaborating community managers.  Link to one of the reports on IRS Audit:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/02/irs-report-released-boardauditor-has-no-more-excuses/
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/12/what-are-the-odds-of-success/

Finally, since there have been dozens of extremely well-documented State Law violation complaints filed by SCA members against SCA Boards and RMI Community Managers since 2008, perhaps there could be some distant hope for homeowner justice, after all?  

At this point, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg of potential State prosecutions against the SCA Boards and contractors.  Meanwhile, the FBI criminal cases of HOA fraud, abuse and racketeering are reaching an ever-wider group of involved board members, community management company employees, and public officials.  

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Operations, Lifestyle, News! | Print | No Comments »

December 1, 2011 by admin.

As most Sun City Anthem members know, we have 4 different members running 4 completely different web sites with blogging capabilities and a wide variety of community services available for free to our residents.

Besides this AnthemVOICE (blog and archival sites) operated by a group of residents, there are 3 other forums/blogs operated at no cost to residents by Ron Johnson (the original SCA community web site), Rana Goodman, and David Berman.

All 4 services have been running successfully for many years without any help by the SCA Board and without commercial support.

But, in spite of having an $8,000,000.00 annual budget with dozens of contracted staff, dozens of volunteers on various committees, a highly competent SCA Computer Club with hundreds of members, and numerous full time RMI staff assigned to this function, none of the SCA Boards of Directors since 2005 have launched a community web site with all of the needed services required by our 7,144 households.

Why not?   Some people describe this abysmal record as “tragic incompetence”.  Others call it “GROSS negligence”.  Still others call it “fraud and abuse of authority”.   Finally, some members consider the board’s annual demand for dues increases without delivering the web services promised to be a case of “theft”.

What ever you call it, after 6 years of total failure, members have to be considered stupid and lazy for putting up with this ridiculous game!  No wonder we seniors are considered senile when they see this sort of scam being tolerated–for years!

Evan a unity-apologist for the board has to admit that no organization has ever spent more time and more money to accomplish less in terms of SCA web services than our Boards and the RMI Community Management staff.  Maybe this fiasco qualifies for the Guinness Book of Records–or at least a mention in the Channel 13 Hall of Shame?

Why have the boards failed so consistently?  Board excuses for failing, year after year, has not yet included “the dog ate their plans”, but the crappy excuses we have heard from the boards and RMI are no less juvenile and insulting.  Nothing they have said makes any sense when you look at what the rest of the world is doing with web services.  A start-up business can launch a really professional web site within a few weeks and only spend a few thousand dollars.  Clearly we have the wrong people with the wrong plans billing time against SCA!

Contrary to their lame excuses, it is clear the SCA boards, RMI and professional consultants have no interest and no intent in using web services to keep all SCA members informed on policies, procedures, activities or  lifestyle matters.   It is clear the board is practicing the “mushroom” strategy of keeping members in the dark and covered with dung.  The boards want members to be uninformed and afraid of being personally attacked to make it easy to get away with their mismanagement and deceptions.

So, our community will have to continue to depend on private, free web services to serve the community unless or until we finally get mad as hell and demand the community management company be replaced, force there be a large reduction in dues, and/or fire the board members for such failures of their fiduciary duties.

But, maybe you have had enough of the board insults with having to tolerate the lousy web services they are providing?  Ready for a petition drive and public demonstrations to force the boards to deliver?

If not now, when?  Just as in the case of the constantly failing restaurant operations,  we know that nothing will get better until the failed board members and their failed contractors are fired, and we get competent people elected and appointed to our leadership positions.  At least, that is how we see it.

Posted in SCA Board, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations, Lifestyle | Print | No Comments »

December 1, 2011 by admin.

Nevada Energy’s massive program to install digital “Smart Meters” in every home and every business is an outrageous waste of our money, an unacceptable attack on our constitutionsal rights to privacy and freedom of unreasonable search, and a potentially serious health risk to many citizens. 

See these links if you are not familar with the background on that situation.
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/09/26/should-you-refuse-smartmeter-installation/
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/10/20/ca-counties-cities-prohibit-installations-of-smart-meters-why-is-henderson-refusing-to-act/

And, here is are parts of our citizen member filings with the PUCN representing 2 of over 50 official objections to Nevada Energy’s/PUCN smart meter programs:

mike-hazzard-complaint-to-pucn.doc

ltr-for-docket-11-10007.pdf   
exhibit-a-overall-comments-on-docket-11-10007.pdf
exhibit-b-safety-concerns.pdf
exhibit-c-health-concerns.pdf
exhibit-d-privacy-legal-concerns.pdf
exhibit-e-smart-meter-silent-killer.pdf
exhibit-f-smart-meter-prog-conflicts-with-arra-eo.pdf
exhibit-g-privacy-issues-convert-to-opt-in-policy.pdf

But, “smart meters” and the “smart grid” are only the latest attack on our privacy and health.  The so-called “progressive” agenda to eliminate our privacy and bankrup our nation by massively increasing utility costs, government fees and taxes is just the latest outrage.

The following article fills in some facts on many other similar actions to give the govenment total control over ever aspect of our lives.In case we have not noticed it, this is a civil war to 

“Every Breath You Take, Every Move You Make –

14 New Ways That the Government Is Watching You

End of the American Dream

If you live in the United States today, you need to understand that your privacy is being constantly eroded. Our world is going crazy, government paranoia is off the charts and law enforcement authorities have become absolutely obsessed with watching us, listening to us, tracking us, recording us, compiling information on all of us and getting us all to spy on one another. If you doubt that we are rapidly getting to the point where the government will monitor every breath you take and every move you make, just read the rest of this article. The truth is that the government is watching you more closely than ever, and they are spending billions upon billions of dollars to enhance their surveillance capabilities even further. If our society stays on this current path, we will eventually have zero privacy left. At this point, it is not too hard to imagine a society where we will not be able to say anything, buy anything, sell anything, assemble with others or even leave our homes without government permission. We truly are descending into a dystopian nightmare and the American people had better wake up.

Sadly, most people living in the United States and in Europe do not realize what is happening. Most of them think that everything is just fine. The “Big Brother control grid” that is being constructed all over the western world squeezes all of us just a little bit tighter every single day, and most people don’t even feel it.

But when you step back and take a look at the big picture, it truly is horrifying.

The following are 14 new ways that the government is watching you….

#1 In many areas of the United States today, you will be arrested if you do not produce proper identification for the police. In the old days, “your papers please” was a phrase that we used to use to mock the tyranny of Nazi Germany. But now all of us are being required to be able to produce “our papers” for law enforcement authorities at any time. For example, a 21-year-old college student named Samantha Zucker was recently arrested and put in a New York City jail for 36 hours just because she could not produce any identification for police.

#2 The federal government has decided that what you and I share with one another on Facebook and on Twitter could be a threat to national security. According to a recent Associated Press article, the Department of Homeland Security will soon be “gleaning information from sites such as Twitter and Facebook for law enforcement purposes”.

Other law enforcement agencies are getting into the act as well. For example, the NYPD recently created a special “social media” unit dedicated to looking for criminals on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

#3 New high-tech street lights that are being funded by the federal government and that are being installed all over the nation can also be used as surveillance cameras, can be used by the DHS to make “security announcements” and can even be used to record personal conversations. The following is from a recent article by Paul Joseph Watson for Infowars.com….

Federally-funded high-tech street lights now being installed in American cities are not only set to aid the DHS in making “security announcements” and acting as talking surveillance cameras, they are also capable of “recording conversations,” bringing the potential privacy threat posed by ‘Intellistreets’ to a whole new level.

#4 More than a million hotel television sets all over America are now broadcasting propaganda messages from the Department of Homeland Security promoting the “See Something, Say Something” campaign. In essence, the federal government wants all of us to become “informants” and to start spying on one another constantly. The following comes from an article posted by USA Today….

Starting today, the welcome screens on 1.2 million hotel television sets in Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Holiday Inn and other hotels in the USA will show a short public service announcement from DHS. The 15-second spot encourages viewers to be vigilant and call law enforcement if they witness something suspicious during their travels.

#5 The FBI is now admittedly recording Internet talk radio programs all over the United States. The following comes from a recent article by Mark Weaver of WMAL.com….

If you call a radio talk show and get on the air, you might be recorded by the FBI.

The FBI has awarded a $524,927 contract to a Virginia company to record as much radio news and talk programming as it can find on the Internet.

The FBI says it is not playing big brother by policing the airwaves, but rather seeking access to what airs as potential evidence.

Potential evidence of what?

This is very creepy. Why is the FBI so interested in what is being said during Internet talk radio programs?

#6 TSA VIPR teams are now conducting random inspections at bus stations and on interstate highways all over the United States. For example, the following comes from a local news report down in Tennessee….

You’re probably used to seeing TSA’s signature blue uniforms at the airport, but now agents are hitting the interstates to fight terrorism with Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR).

“Where is a terrorist more apt to be found? Not these days on an airplane more likely on the interstate,” said Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons.

Tuesday Tennessee was first to deploy VIPR simultaneously at five weigh stations and two bus stations across the state.

#7 Thermal imaging face scanners are becoming much more sophisticated. Law enforcement authorities in the western world are getting very excited about “pre-crime” tools such as this that will enable them to “prevent crimes” before they happen. The following is from a recent BBC News article….

A sophisticated new camera system can detect lies just by watching our faces as we talk, experts say.

The computerised system uses a simple video camera, a high-resolution thermal imaging sensor and a suite of algorithms.

Researchers say the system could be a powerful aid to security services.

But face scanners are not just a tool that will be used in the future. The truth is that face scanners are being used all over the United States right now. The following comes from an article posted on Singularity Hub….

Law enforcement continues to adopt new technologies in an effort to make their jobs easier and keep us safer. The latest gizmo attaches to officers’ iPhones and turns them into biometric face scanners. The scanners have already been street tested in Massachusetts. Pretty soon cops all across the US will be using them to ID suspects.

Before long, technology like this will be all over America. In fact, the FBI has announced that it will be activating a “nationwide facial recognition service” in January.

#8 Another “pre-crime” technology currently being tested by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) program. The following description of this new program comes from an article in the London Telegraph….

Using cameras and sensors the “pre-crime” system measures and tracks changes in a person’s body movements, the pitch of their voice and the rhythm of their speech.

It also monitors breathing patterns, eye movements, blink rate and alterations in body heat, which are used to assess an individual’s likelihood to commit a crime.

The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) programme is already being tested on a group of government employees who volunteered to act as guinea pigs.

Do you want government officials to pull you aside and interrogate you just because you are feeling a little bit nervous one particular day?

#9 Sadly, “pre-crime” technology is even being used on our children. The Florida State Department of Juvenile Justice has announced that it will begin using analysis software to predict crime by young delinquents and will place “potential offenders” in specific prevention and education programs.

How soon will it be before this type of things is applied to adults?

#10 Our children are being programmed to accept the fact that they will be watched and monitored constantly. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending large amounts of money to install surveillance cameras in the cafeterias of public schools all across the nation so that government control freaks can closely monitor what our children are eating.

#11 The U.S. government is also increasingly using “polls” and “surveys” as tools to gather information about all of us. In previous articles, I have noted how government authorities seems particularly interested in our children. According to Mike Adams of Natural News, the CDC is starting to call parents all over the U.S. to question them about the vaccination status of their children….

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which has been comprehensively exposed as a vaccine propaganda organization promoting the interests of drug companies, is now engaged in a household surveillance program that involves calling U.S. households and intimidating parents into producing child immunization records. As part of what it deems a National Immunization Survey(NIS), the CDC is sending letters to U.S. households, alerting them that they will be called by “NORC at the University of Chicago” and that households should “have your child’s immunization records handy when answering our questions.”

You can see a copy of the letter that the CDC has been sending out to selected parents right here.

#12 As I have written about previously, a very disturbing document that Oath Keepers has obtained shows that the FBI is now instructing store owners to report many new forms of “suspicious activity” to them. According to the document, “suspicious activity” now includes the following….

• paying with cash
• missing a hand or fingers
  
• “strange odors”
• making “extreme religious statements”
• “radical theology”
• purchasing weatherproofed ammunition or match containers
• purchasing meals ready to eat
• purchasing night vision devices, night flashlights or gas masks

Do any of those “signs of suspicious activity” apply to you?

According to a report on WorldNetDaily, this document is part of a “series of brochures” that will be distributed “to farm supply stores, gun shops, military surplus stores and even hotels and motels.”

#13 In some areas of the country, law enforcement authorities are pulling data out of cell phones for no reason whatsoever. According to the ACLU, state police in Michigan are now using “extraction devices” to download data from the cell phones of motorists that they pull over. This is taking happening even if the motorists that are pulled over are not accused of doing anything wrong.

The following is how a recent article on CNET News described the capabilities of these “extraction devices”….

The devices, sold by a company called Cellebrite, can download text messages, photos, video, and even GPS data from most brands of cell phones. The handheld machines have various interfaces to work with different models and can even bypass security passwords and access some information.

#14 The government can spy on us and record our conversations seemingly without any limitation, but in many areas of the country it has become illegal to watch them or record them in public. For example, one 21-year-old man down in Florida was recently arrested for trying to document a confrontation that he was having with police on his iPhone. But if we can’t record them, how can we prove our side of the story in court?

America is becoming a much different place.

Our privacy is being eroded in thousands of different ways.

National governments and big corporations know far more about you than you probably ever would imagine.

Yes, there will always be “security threats”, but we should not have to throw away any of our rights in order to be “safe”.

America is supposed to be about liberty and freedom.

America is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

If given the choice between living in “1984″ and living in “1776″, I know what my choice would be.

I would choose 1776.

I would choose liberty and freedom even if it meant that the world around me was a little bit less “safe”.

What about you?

What would you choose?

Reprinted with permission from End of the American Dream.

November 7, 2011

Copyright © 2011 End of the American Dream” 

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