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 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” 

Posted in Outside Politics, SCA Board, Operations, Lifestyle, News! | Print | No Comments »

October 20, 2011 by admin.

 AV Blog previously reported on the “smart meter” fiasco at this link:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/09/26/should-you-refuse-smartmeter-installation/

Some SCA members (led by Retired USN Commander Nelson Orth) have asked the Henderson City Council to intervene on behalf of our citizens, but the City claimed to have no authority to act.

But, how is it that California Counties and Cities appear to have the authority to protect their citizens?  Are Nevada cities and counties truly powerless to protect our citizens or is this yet another example of government misconduct?

See these web sites for more information:

1.  FAQ:  http://stopsmartmeters.org/2011/10/18/announcing-stop-smart-meters-faq/

2.  Blocked:  http://stopsmartmeters.org/how-you-can-stop-smart-meters/sample-letter-to-local-government/ca-local-governments-on-board/

“The following is a list of local governments within California who are opposed to the mandatory wireless  ‘smart’ meter program.

Names of cities and counties are linked t0 news coverage or official council minutes that substantiate each city or county’s inclusion.

Those local governments in red have passed ordinances that have made ‘smart’ meter installations illegal within their jurisdictions:

Counties (10)

Humboldt County (pdf)

Lake County

Marin County

Mendocino County

City and County of San Francisco

San Luis Obispo County

Santa Barbara County

Santa Cruz County

Sonoma County — AB 37 Support Letter (pdf)

Tehama County

Cities and Towns (36)

Arcata

Belvedere

Berkeley (pdf)

Blue Lake

Bolinas

Buellton

Camp Meeker (pdf)

Capitola

Clearlake

Cotati (pdf)

Fairfax (pdf)

Fort Bragg

Grover Beach

Lakeport

Marina

Mill Valley

Monterey (pdf)

Monte Sereno (pdf)

Morro Bay (pdf)

Novato

Pacific Grove

Piedmont (pdf)

Richmond (pdf)

Rio Dell

Ross

San Anselmo

San Rafael (pdf)

San Luis Obispo (pdf)

Santa Cruz

Sausalito

Scotts Valley

Seaside

Sebastopol (pdf)

Solvang

Watsonville (pdf)

Willits

Other Jurisdictions (1)

Big Valley Rancheria/Tribal Community of Pomo Indians

Total CA population represented:  2,695,947

Missing anyone?  Please e-mail us at info@stopsmartmeters.org”

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

October 11, 2011 by bobfrank.

By Colonel Robert Frank, USAF (Ret.)–Former Board Member, Sun City Anthem HOA, Henderson, NV 89052

(Revised on Oct 10)  On Sunday, October 9, 2011, at 7:30 PM the weekly KDWN - AM 720 Radio Program by conservative talk show host RAY GRANT launched the first of a planned series of programs about HomeOwner Association (HOA) matters.

This show was the first action by a new “HomeOwnerCoalition.org” (HOC) organization to be fully launched in November 2011.

Many homeowners in US HOAs are working on many other initiatives, and HOC will work to try to help the combination of individual efforts to result in the maximum effectiveness on behalf of homeowners.  The common goals including ensuring that the property and citizen rights for HOA owners as being no less than those who do not own property in HOAs.

HOA unit owners are citizens, pay the same property taxes, and are entitled to equal personal and property rights protections and government services under the US and NV Constitutions.

But, Nevada HOA laws and regulations fail to fully implement all of the protections guaranteed under the Constitutions.  And, even when the laws are written to protect unit owners, the Nevada Real Estate Division and its subordinate Ombudsman Office for Homeowners often fail to comply with laws.

This is a bipartisan problem created in part from campaign financing influence by developers and related businesses interests that profit from being able to control homeowner association boards, funds and business decisions.  The HomeOwnerCoalition.org will try to balance the power and help citizens organize and act more effectively by knowing how to use the power of their votes to obtain equal justice under the laws.

Ray Grant has been on the radio and TV in CA and NV for over 20 years.  Ray is also a former professional baseball catcher for Detroit and a Christian Pastor for decades.  According to independent radio listener ratings systems, Ray Grant’s talk show has about 14,000 local listeners and a 13-State listener base.

Ray and his wife, Natalie, and son own their own shows and operate Diamond G Sports & Entertainment companies. They buy their time and sell the advertisements that run on Las Vegas KDWN–AM 720 every Sunday evening from 7 to 8 PM.

Ray’s show is focused on political issues, and it airs Sundays from 7:30 to 8 PM.  This 30-minute radio program is limited to special guest interviews and does not support call-ins.

The new HOA Problems-Solutions-oriented shows will be every 2nd Sunday evening for the foreseeable future.  (Attached below are 8 MP3 program segments from the initial, October 9th show.)

For this first show, Ray and I invited Dr. Gary Solomon and Mr. Tim Stebbins to be interviewed.  Dr. Solomon was asked about his “Warning! HOA Living Can be Hazardous To Your Health” billboard campaign and about his concerns over unchecked mental abuse of homeowners by bully boards and NV government agencies.

Listen to the below sound clips and hear that Dr. Solomon did not pull any punches.  He expressed his great concerns about past and potential future violence in reaction to unfair and  illegal actions by bully board members, the frequent fraud and abuse by board sub-contractors, and failures of government managers to enforce the statutes.

Tim Stebbins was asked about his experiences in recent years with government failures. Tim was also asked by Host Ray Grant about the failed NV HOA Ombudsman program and its failed NV Real Estate Division management.  When you listen to the clips below, you will hear Tim’s courageous reports and clear recommendations for homeowner actions.

Live (streaming) web broadcasts will be available on the KDWN web site.  Recording of the programs (MP3 format) will available the week after each show at various sites.   The new, HomeOwnerCoalition.org web site to be launched in November 2011 will maintain a long-term archive of the HOA programs.

Our future HomeOwnerCoalition.Org (HOC) site will be featured monthly by Ray Grant’s Program, and HOC will provide links to other related web sites as well–to provide access to documents and media files. This way everyone can benefit from this new media channel, and others will be encouraged to challenge other radio and TV shows to expand their offerings.  Ray is also expecting that businesses who sell products and services directly to homeowners will find it useful to advertise on his program.

Ray has had some of his own unfortunate past experiences with bully HOA boards, and he left the HOA market to live on a small ranch in the LV area. He warmly responded to my request to consider doing a series of radio shows that highlight NV government and regulatory failures, and what must be done to solve the problems.

Ray Grant wants to be sure to give due credit to those individuals and media sources like Ch13 who are helping to expose individuals and boards who are flagrantly abusing homeowners.  He intends to focus on “solutions” on his show and to inform homeowner-citizens about what they must do to protect themselves through better knowledge and activist support of honorable government management and pro-homeowner legislative reforms.

Please contact me for more information about this program in the future. Regards, Bob Frank bobfrank@cox.net  702-505-9959.

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The October 9th show was very popular.  It produced a rating of over 30,000 listeners and resulted in over 3,000 web site hits during the first 24 hours. 

MP3  sound clips of the 8 program segments from the October 9th Show featuring Sun City Anthem Homeowner Tim Stebbins and Calico Ridge Homeowner Dr. Gary Solomon can be played and/or download from the following links.

1.  Segment 1

2.  Segment 2

3.  Segment 3

4.  Segment 4

5.  Segment 5

6.  Segment 6

7.   Segment 7

8.   Segment 8 (final)

Posted in Bob Frank-2011, Outside Politics, Truth Squad, SCA Board, News! | Print | No Comments »

February 8, 2011 by admin.

This is a first-person, opinion article from Victor Davis Hansen, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.  Some have described what has been described by Mr. Hansen as “Californication”.  Since NV has so many former residents of California, this opinion is published as a public service and to stimulate comments.  Please consider posting your opinion (pro and con).  How CA deals with its issues will affect everyone in this Nation.

                “The last three weeks I have traveled about, taking the pulse of the more  forgotten areas of central California. I wanted to witness, even if  superficially, what is happening to a state that has the highest sales and  income taxes, the most lavish entitlements, the near-worst public schools (based  on federal test scores), and the largest number of illegal aliens in the nation,  along with an overregulated private sector, a stagnant and shrinking  manufacturing base, and an elite environmental ethos that restricts commerce and  productivity without curbing consumption.

              During  this unscientific experiment, three times a week I rode a bike on a 20-mile trip  over various rural roads in southwestern Fresno County . I also drove my car  over to the coast to work, on various routes through towns like San Joaquin ,  Mendota, and Firebaugh. And near my home I have been driving, shopping, and  touring by intent the rather segregated and impoverished areas of Caruthers,  Fowler, Laton, Orange Cove, Parlier, and Selma . My own farmhouse is now in an  area of abject poverty and almost no ethnic diversity; the closest elementary  school (my alma mater, two miles away) is 94 percent Hispanic and 1 percent  white, and well below federal testing norms in math and English.

              Here  are some general observations about what I saw (other than that the rural roads  of California are fast turning into rubble, poorly maintained and reverting to  what I remember seeing long ago in the rural South). First, remember that these  areas are the ground zero, so to speak, of 20 years of illegal immigration.  There has been a general depression in farming - to such an extent that the 20-  to-100-acre tree and vine farmer, the erstwhile backbone of the old rural  California , for all practical purposes has ceased to exist.

              On the  western side of the Central Valley , the effects of arbitrary cutoffs in federal  irrigation water have idled tens of thousands of acres of prime agricultural  land, leaving thousands unemployed. Manufacturing plants in the towns in these  areas - which used to make harvesters, hydraulic lifts, trailers,  food-processing equipment - have largely shut down; their production has been  shipped off overseas or south of the border. Agriculture itself - from almonds  to raisins - has increasingly become corporatized and mechanized, cutting by  half the number of farm workers needed. So unemployment runs somewhere between  15 and 20 percent. 

              Many of  the rural trailer-house compounds I saw appear to the naked eye no different  from what I have seen in the Third World . There is a Caribbean look to the  junked cars, electric wires crisscrossing between various outbuildings, plastic  tarps substituting for replacement shingles, lean-tos cobbled together as  auxiliary housing, pit bulls unleashed, and geese, goats, and chickens roaming  around the yards. The public hears about all sorts of tough California  regulations that stymie business - rigid zoning laws, strict building codes,  constant inspections - but apparently none of that applies out here.

              It is  almost as if the more California regulates, the more it does not regulate. Its  public employees prefer to go after misdemeanors in the upscale areas to justify  our expensive oversight industry, while ignoring the felonies in the downtrodden  areas, which are becoming feral and beyond the ability of any inspector to do  anything but feel irrelevant. But in the regulators’ defense, where would one  get the money to redo an ad hoc trailer park with a spider web of illegal bare  wires?

              Many of  the rented-out rural shacks and stationary Winnebagos are on former small farms  - the vineyards overgrown with weeds, or torn out with the ground lying fallow.  I pass on the cultural consequences to communities from  the loss of  thousands of small farming families. I don’t think I can remember another time  when so many acres in the eastern part of the valley have gone out of  production, even though farm prices have recently rebounded. Apparently it is  simply not worth the gamble of investing $7,000 to $10,000 an acre in a new  orchard or vineyard. What an anomaly - with suddenly soaring farm prices, still  we have thousands of acres in the world’s richest agricultural belt, with  available water on the east side of the valley and plentiful labor, gone idle or  in disuse. Is credit frozen? Are there simply no more farmers? Are the schools  so bad as to scare away potential agricultural entrepreneurs? Or are we all  terrified by the national debt and uncertain future?

               California coastal elites may worry about the oxygen content of water available  to a three-inch smelt in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, but they seem  to have no interest in the epidemic dumping of trash, furniture, and often toxic  substances throughout California ’s rural hinterland. Yesterday, for example, I  rode my bike by a stopped van just as the occupants tossed seven plastic bags of  raw refuse onto the side of the road. I rode up near their bumper and said in my  broken Spanish not to throw garbage onto the public road. But there were three  of them, and one of me. So I was lucky to be sworn at only. I note in passing  that I would not drive into Mexico and, as a guest, dare to pull over and throw  seven bags of trash into the environment of my host.

              In  fact, trash piles are commonplace out here - composed of everything from  half-empty paint cans and children’s plastic toys to diapers and moldy food. I  have never seen a rural sheriff cite a litterer, or witnessed state EPA workers  cleaning up these unauthorized wastelands. So I would suggest to Bay Area  scientists that the environment is taking a much harder beating down here in  central California than it is in the Delta. Perhaps before we cut off more  irrigation water to the west side of the valley, we might invest some green  dollars into cleaning up the unsightly and sometimes dangerous garbage that now  litters the outskirts of our rural communities.

              We hear  about the tough small-business regulations that have driven residents out of the  state, at the rate of 2,000 to 3,000 a week. But from my unscientific  observations these past weeks, it seems rather easy to open a small business in  California without any oversight at all, or at least what I might call a  “counter business.” I counted eleven mobile hot-kitchen trucks that simply park  by the side of the road, spread about some plastic chairs, pull down a tarp  canopy, and, presto, become mini-restaurants. There are no “facilities” such as  toilets or washrooms. But I do frequently see lard trails on the isolated roads  I bike on, where trucks apparently have simply opened their draining tanks and  sped on, leaving a slick of cooking fats and oils. Crows and ground squirrels  love them; they can be seen from a distance mysteriously occupied in the middle  of the road.

              At  crossroads, peddlers in a counter-California economy sell almost anything. Here  is what I noticed at an intersection on the west side last week: shovels, rakes,  hoes, gas pumps, lawnmowers, edgers, blowers, jackets, gloves, and caps. The  merchandise was all new. I doubt whether in high-tax California sales taxes or  income taxes were paid on any of these stop-and-go transactions.

              In two  supermarkets 50 miles apart, I was the only one in line who did not pay with a  social-service plastic card (gone are the days when “food stamps” were  embarrassing bulky coupons). But I did not see any relationship between the use  of the card and poverty as we once knew it: The electrical appurtenances owned  by the user and the car into which the groceries were loaded were  indistinguishable from those of the upper middle class.

              By that  I mean that most consumers drove late-model Camrys, Accords, or Tauruses, had  iPhones, Bluetooths, or BlackBerries, and bought everything in the store with  public-assistance credit. This seemed a world apart from the trailers I had just  ridden by the day before. I don’t editorialize here on the logic or morality of  any of this, but I note only that there are vast numbers of people who  apparently are not working, are on public food assistance, and enjoy the  technological veneer of the middle class. California has a consumer market  surely, but often no apparent source of income. Does the $40 million a day  supplement to unemployment benefits from Washington explain some of this?

              Do  diversity concerns, as in lack of diversity, work both ways? Over a hundred-mile  stretch, when I stopped in San Joaquin for a bottled water, or drove through  Orange Cove, or got gas in Parlier, or went to a corner market in southwestern  Selma, my home town, I was the only non-Hispanic - there were no Asians, no  blacks, no other whites. We may speak of the richness of “diversity,” but those  who cherish that ideal simply have no idea that there are now countless inland  communities that have become near-apartheid societies, where Spanish is the  first language, the schools are not at all diverse, and the federal and state  governments are either the main employers or at least the chief sources of  income - whether through emergency rooms, rural health clinics, public schools,  or social-service offices. An observer from Mars might conclude that our elites  and masses have given up on the ideal of integration and assimilation, perhaps  in the wake of the arrival of 11 to 15 million illegal aliens.

              Again,  I do not editorialize, but I note these vast transformations over the last 20  years that are the paradoxical wages of unchecked illegal immigration from  Mexico, a vast expansion of California’s entitlements and taxes, the flight of  the upper middle class out of state, the deliberate effort not to tap natural  resources, the downsizing in manufacturing and agriculture, and the departure of  whites, blacks, and Asians from many of these small towns to more racially  diverse and upscale areas of California.

              Fresno  ’s California State University campus is embroiled in controversy over the  student body president’s announcing that he is an illegal alien, with all the  requisite protests in favor of the DREAM Act. I won’t comment on the legislation  per se, but again only note the anomaly. I taught at CSUF for 21 years. I think  it fair to say that the predominant theme of the Chicano and Latin American  Studies program’s sizable curriculum was a fuzzy American culpability. By that I  mean that students in those classes heard of the sins of America more often than  its attractions. In my home town, Mexican flag decals on car windows are far  more common than their American counterparts.

              I note  this because hundreds of students here illegally are now terrified of being  deported to Mexico . I can understand that, given the chaos in Mexico and their  own long residency in the United States . But here is what still confuses me: If  one were to consider the classes that deal with Mexico at the university, or the  visible displays of national chauvinism, then one might conclude that Mexico is  a far more attractive and moral place than the United States..

              So  there is a surreal nature to these protests: something like, “Please do not send  me back to the culture I nostalgically praise; please let me stay in the culture  that I ignore or deprecate.” I think the DREAM Act protesters might have been  far more successful in winning public opinion had they stopped blaming the U.S.  for suggesting that they might have to leave at some point, and instead  explained why, in fact, they want to stay. What it is about America that makes a  youth of 21 go on a hunger strike or demonstrate to be allowed to remain in this  country rather than return to the place of his birth? 

              I think  I know the answer to this paradox. Missing entirely in the above description is  the attitude of the host, which by any historical standard can only be termed  “indifferent.” California does not care whether one broke the law to arrive here  or continues to break it by staying. It asks nothing of the illegal immigrant - no proficiency in English, no acquaintance with American history and values, no  proof of income, no record of education or skills. It does provide all the  public assistance that it can afford (and more that it borrows for), and  apparently waives enforcement of most of California ’s burdensome regulations  and civic statutes that increasingly have plagued productive citizens to the  point of driving them out.. How odd that we overregulate those who are citizens  and have capital to the point of banishing them from the state, but do not  regulate those who are aliens and without capital to the point of encouraging  millions more to follow in their footsteps. How odd - to paraphrase what Critias once said of ancient Sparta - that California is at once both the nation’s most unfree and most free state, the most repressed and the wildest.

               Hundreds of thousands sense all that and vote accordingly with their feet, both  into and out of California - and the result is a sort of social, cultural,  economic, and political time-bomb, whose ticks are getting louder.”

————–
Author Victor Davis Hanson is  a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, the editor of Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome, and the author of “The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern”.

Posted in Outside Politics, Community Affairs | Print | 1 Comment »

October 9, 2010 by bobfrank.

A question was asked of the candidates at the SCA Current Events Club debate this week about reported NV Secretary of State failures in 2010 to provide absentee ballot voting opportunities to all overseas NV registered military members and families, but none of the candidates were able to respond.   Here is a link summarizing some of the national military voting problems in 2010:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/29/exclusive-law-suit-protect-maryland-military-voters-just-tip-iceberg/

Here is an extract of that article concerning NV:
“County election officials in Elko and White Pine Counties in Nevada indicated that ballots would be sent out on Sept. 22 or Sept. 23, days after the Sept. 18 deadline. Matt Griffin, Deputy for Elections, Nevada Secretary of State, admitted that Elko County had not been able to get their absentee ballots out before the deadline, but he said White Pine County had no problems whatsoever. A printing problem slowed down the mailing process, Griffin said, but contingency plans were being made to ensure that all ballots will be counted.”

A later report from the Secretary of State stated that DOJ permission had been received to allow Elko County military absentee ballots to receive special handling so they would be counted if mailed on or before November 2, 2010 and received within one week.

In addition, many SCA members at the debate event seemed to be unaware of the very long national history of problems of denying overseas military members the same opportunities to vote as other American Citizens.  Both political parties have been grossly negligent in this area.

Here are links to some history on this issue.
http://www.speroforum.com/a/20029/Reenfranchising-the-US-military-vote
http://www.vote.caltech.edu/drupal/files/journal_article/military_voting_law.pdf

Posted in Outside Politics, Community Affairs, News! | Print | 1 Comment »

September 21, 2010 by admin.

Angle’s reform ideas would give ownership to retirees

Geoffrey Lawrence

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

“Imagine for a second that your dreams of financial security in retirement are entirely within your reach. Now imagine that the government forces you to participate in its poorly designed retirement system, depriving you of those dreams.

Now you’re beginning to understand how the Social Security system works.

Regardless of any altruistic motives that may have existed when the Social Security Act became law in 1935, it’s hard to imagine a less effective means of providing for seniors during retirement than through the current Social Security system.

This goes far beyond concerns over the system’s pending insolvency. Sure, the Social Security system will experience a negative cash flow this year and will do so permanently after 2014. Under optimistic assumptions, the system will be insolvent by 2037.

Even aside from that, and even at full solvency, the system yields an inordinately small rate of return for beneficiaries. Social security payments are calculated based on wages. As the Cato Institute’s William Shipman points out, wages increase by only about 1.5 percent per annum, on average, and so Social Security benefits increase at a roughly similar rate.

At such low rates of return, workers are deprived of the quality of retirement that they otherwise could enjoy if permitted to invest their retirement savings in the capital markets. If Social Security administrators were the financial planners for your personal retirement account and earned only a 1.5 percent rate of return, you would fire them!

The bigger problem with Social Security, however, is that your claim to retirement benefits is not a right. For all the contributions you pay into the system, you own nothing. Should you die before receiving any benefits, you have no heritable assets to pass on to your loved ones. The Supreme Court has declared that Congress can arbitrarily downgrade your benefits payments at will — meaning you have no enforceable property rights over your claim to retirement income.

Recognition of this problem has led to calls for partial privatization, which would divert a portion of the 12.4 percent Social Security payroll tax into individual accounts. Out of those accounts, workers could invest in tangible assets such as stocks or bonds. Chile instituted such a reform to its national pension system in 1981 that has since become an international model for pension reform. In addition to producing higher living standards for retirees, Chile’s pension reform also led to increases in capital formation — particularly among lower- and middle-income workers. As a result, total economic productivity increased as personal savings were channeled toward investments yielding market-driven interest rates.

Without a doubt, Chilean-style pension reform in the United States could lead to higher living standards for seniors and faster overall economic growth. It would also provide workers with the security of owning tangible, heritable assets that are not subject to political winds in Washington.

Opponents of Social Security reform, such as Senator Harry Reid, have little intellectual ground to stand upon and so have resorted to scaremongering.

“I believe that retirement security for Main Street should be guaranteed, not trusted to Wall Street,” Reid said recently. The pending insolvency of the Social Security system means those benefits are anything but guaranteed. However, it is reasonable to have concerns about temporary fluctuations in the stock market — at least until one considers the dismal rates of return offered by the Social Security system itself.

Andrew Biggs of the American Enterprise Institute has shown that, if a worker had been allowed to divert only 4 percent out of the 12.4 percent payroll tax into an individual account earning a market interest rate from 1965 to 2008 — retiring immediately after the 2008 stock market crash — that worker would have received benefits payments 15 percent higher than a worker with a traditional Social Security account.

Social Security is simply a bad deal, independent of one’s political persuasion. Almost no one would participate in the system if he or she had a choice. In fact, it’s telling that state and local government workers in Nevada and most other states opt out of the system in favor of the state’s Public Employees’ Retirement System. Social Security is a government program so good that government workers won’t even participate in it!

In Nevada, Harry Reid has ruthlessly attacked his opponent, Sharron Angle, for supporting Chilean-style pension reform. Yet Angle’s plan would move Social Security toward sound footing while allowing workers to acquire assets and realize higher rates of return.

Reid is defending an insolvent status quo that will inexorably lead to benefits reductions, massive tax increases — or both.

Geoffrey Lawrence is a fiscal policy analyst at the Nevada Policy Research Institute. For more information visit http://npri.org.”

Here is what Senator Reid’s deceptive ad says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBuI655UzRc

Here is the truth about what Sharron Angle wants to do about Social Security:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZBkHSnE1B4

Posted in Outside Politics | Print | 2 Comments »

September 19, 2010 by admin.

Since there are so many unit owners in Sun City Anthem from other parts of the United States and other countries, it is natural to discover great confusion over the Nevada Congressional District boundaries and the various candidates.

In response to many questions, the following links are provided to help clear up the confusion.  Even long-term residents of Nevada can be stunned by the bizarre boundaries of the three NV Congressional Districts and the need for updated info on the candidates.

District 1:  Incumbent: Shelly Berkley (D)
Challenger:  Ken Wegner (R)
Area Map:   District 1

District 2:  Incumbent:  Dean Heller (R)
Challenger:  Nancy Price (D)
Area Map:   District 2

District 3:  Incumbent:  Dina Titus (D)
Challenger:  Dr. Joe Heck (R)
Area Map:   District 3

Posted in Outside Politics, Operations | Print | No Comments »

September 16, 2010 by admin.

(Updated on Saturday, Sept 18)
In case you missed it last night, here is a YouTube clip of the O’Reilly interview for your convenience.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=sharronangle&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_760491#p/u/6/kHQtaXRoBxc

Harry Reid is scheduled on O’Reilly tonight (September 16).  We will link to his clip as soon as it is up to allow you to compare and contrast the two candidates for Senate.

UPDATE:  We understand that Senator Reid canceled his commitment for an O’Reilly interview on FoxNews on September 17, and he has not agreed to a future interview. 

Other Sharron Angle video clips can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMgBdYyFmOw

We could not find an equivalent website for Harry Reid, but a Google search for “Senator Harry Reid” will produce hundreds of articles.
An interesting one from July 2010 talks about “Senator Harry Reid’s Campaign Forced to Take Down Deceptive Website”.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/25042

Posted in Outside Politics | Print | No Comments »

September 3, 2010 by THE VOICE.

Since other blogs are discouraging political comments about the local, state and national government elections, Anthem VOICE Blog has elected to encourage such partisan and non-partisan exchanges among Sun City Anthem members.

The initial rules will be:

1. Anonymous posting will not be permitted.
2. Any Sun City Anthem homeowner can post–after registering using their real name and related “nickname”.  Each  registration will be validated for accuracy of name and email before an original post is released to the blog.
3. The focus will be on the facts and individual opinions about local, state and national issues and candidates.
4. Comments about SCA and other HOA political issues and board candidates will be moved to other categories.
5. Vulgar, obscene, defamatory language, unsubstantiated allegations, and personal attacks will not be released for viewing.
6. Verbatim re-posting of other persons opinions and obvious copyright violations will be blocked, but open links to supporting web site materials will be allowed.

These rules will be updated as needed in the future.

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

September 3, 2010 by kayfrank.

Rana Goodman posted on AnthemToday:  “The Southern Hills Republican Women are bringing Sharron Angle to our neighborhood so you can hear the full and complete thought of what was said and ask your questions before voting day.”  …  “LOCATION: Buckman’s Grill, 2600 Hampton Road, Henderson, NV 89052.   Come early and meet your friends, the Guest Speaker and other candidates. Lunch is served (September 28) at 11:30.  Make your $22.00 check payable to SHRW and mail it to: Donna Lakers, 1817 Tarrant City Drive Henderson, NV 89052 616-0056.  Or, drop off your check in the mail box by the door at: 2001 Di Pinto Avenue, at the corner of Hampton and Di Pinto.  Deadline for reservations is Sept 22nd.”

————————————–

AV agrees that citizens should go see Candidate Angle in person–when ever you can.  Forget about the political party positions.  Ask Sharon Angle the hardest questions you can, and listen to her replies. Women in particular need to filter out the partisan, chauvinist, progressive spinning heard and seen everywhere you turn.  Make up your own mind about what you think is the truth.

Angle won her primary in a big surprise to party leaders.  Her fundamental honesty, ethics and Judeo-Christian principles helped her rise above the dirty politics and reach the rank and file voters.   She overcame the power brokers and massive media bias and won the trust of those she personally contacted during her grassroots campaigning all over Nevada. Even large numbers of registered Democrats were supporting her primary efforts.  That same grass roots style will serve her well in the future.

Sharron reminds us of “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington”, but she is the real thing. She shows Americans who are seeking honest, ethical representation in Washington that she is worthy of our trust.  And, after you have taken your own measure of this honorable woman (wife, mother, teacher and civic volunteer) make a list of the issues you can agree with.

Do the same for our national progressive leader from NV–Mr. Reid. Your list favoring Sharron Angle is highly likely to be many times longer, and you are likely to agree that our State will lose nothing by replacing Mr. Reid with someone who is not apparently corrupted by decades of tainted money and global power brokering.

Looking back 12 years, most citizens in N V could agree that NV was MUCH better off before Reid became Senate Majority Leader.  Only he seems to have benefited from his Senate leadership position.   As Sharron has said, “we can’t stand any more of Harry Reid’s help!”  I believe that Harry Reid is a losing bet for the future of our families and our Nation.

Don’t miss the chance to see and hear Sharron Angle on Tuesday, Sept. 28@1130. Due to the very limited space, reservations are absolutely essential.  And, no other venue offers the easy access and relaxed environment provided by the Southern Nevada Republican Women’s Club Luncheons in Buckman’s.

Posted in Outside Politics, Operations | Print | No Comments »