When is a Census not a Census?
by Diane, Denizen of Dromonig.
The answer is probably known to most of you, but you have been too afraid to say it! A census is not a census when it is simply intelligence gathering, especially when the company ‘contracted’ by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), happens to be CACI UK. The US parent company, CACI International, has been employed in Iraq in ‘intelligence gathering operations’ some of which, by all accounts, and a Class Action by four former detainees at the Abu Graib complex, involved torture and the most heinous human rights abuses since World War II- ref:-
www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=10828It seems that there is a trend both here and in the UK to employ military intelligence gathering contractors to provide systems and software used in National Census. Here CACI has been ‘contracted’, in the UK its Lockheed Martin, the weapons manufacturer ( who by the way manufacture REAL weapons of mass destruction ).
Why are military contractors being employed to gather census information? The census, which used to be a simple ‘head count’ of the State’s chattel, has now become an invasive tool of the growing totalitarian State, against this backdrop, it becomes obvious why these military contractors are being used both here and in the UK, by the way CACI took the contract for the Scottish census as well-we can see a pattern, can’t we?
I have written to the CSO raising several points with them only to receive the usual bland assurances about ‘security of the information provided’ and the usual threats for noncompliance, which was described by the CSO as a ‘deterrent’, a government body would never threaten us-would they? As to the security of information gathered, we only have to look at security breaches within other State Bodies, in the not too distant past. Only last year the HSE was rocked by a security breach on 1,500 patient records, if medical records can not be kept safe, it would not inspire trust in the Public Service to keep other data safe.
Alas, this is the direction we see our country being dragged in, where the Government and State bodies have no accountability to the people they allege they serve.
It is quite clear that the Census has gone much further than the simple head count it used to be, respondents are asked a number of very probing questions about living conditions and life style which seem to be an invasion of privacy and indeed might be in breach of every citizen’s Constitutional Right to Privacy. This is before we take into account the CACI dimension in all of this!
Why does the government want to know where we get our water from, so they know who is getting their daily dose of pacifying fluoride? Why does the government want to know the state of our general health? Isn’t that the remit of the HSE? Why do they want to know our income, so that they can get a better estimation of THEIR tax take? Of course, all census forms have the personal details removed, so why do we have to put our names to them? It is easy to see how this information might be misused, it is also easy to understand why faith in government and the State is wearing thin with so many people.
Also I have to question the stated powers the Census Act 1993 claims to confer on Census Enumerators. According to Section 22 para c, an enumerator can ‘enter any premises’. This is in clear violation of the Constitution, Section 40 :5. ‘The dwelling of every citizen is inviolable and shall not be forcibly entered save in accordance with law’. This suggests that an enumerator can enter your home without a Lawful Warrant, Doubtful!
The point is with any Act or Statute, it is our agreement to it that makes it Law, we are within our rights to simply say No. This simple rule has been forgotten by most people who believe that when the government legislates we must comply, we do not. Statute Law and Criminal Law have two very different ‘weights’, a point often missed by most of us, it is therefore important that we aquaint ourselves with the difference. If you wish to learn more please take a look at this site http://irishcensusscandal.org/ and please do not forget to sign the petition!
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Miscellaneous
http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0328/census.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CACI
Comment on WAC Eire Facebook page by M. V.:
The last census took place five years ago.
The census is important because it gives a thorough picture of the social and living conditions of people in Ireland.
Among other uses, the information is essential to plan for the provision of health care, education, and social services.
According to the Constitution, census information is also used to determine how many TDs are required, and where the constituencies should be.
Now if this is in fact the case then the information has not been used at all over the last 5 years since the last census. A thorough picture of Irish social and living condidions can be seen on the faces of the Irish people presently, and no thanks to any previous census. If the census information is really to be used to plan for health care education and social services, then why is our country in the state it’s in today. As for the constitutional determination as to where and how many TD’s are required, it appears that it matters not one jot how many there are and from whence they came because while in elected posts they are incapable of making any determination based on census data. Surely if they did we would not be in the shit as we are now. IGNORE THE CENSUS and see how they manage with none of our data. I think there will be no change in the everyday life on any Irish person.
There are no constitutional rules that make it compulsory to fill out the paperwork. All statutes and acts of government are and can only be enforced by consent. If you do not consent there is no contract with the government body responsibl…e for the act. You the people have the power, not your government. I think it would be a great time to let the elected representatives of the public at large know where their power has come from. It is difficult to understand why a British subsidiary of a US defence contractor is being used to collect private citizens data, are there no companies in Ireland capable of doing the same work. Perhaps it’s a case of the Irish not being able to count themselves. As for the possibility of “doing time”, it would be an outrage to every man and woman in Ireland to have to watch some of their countrymen or women be incarcerated for failing to comply with the information gathering processes of an out of state company that has links to slaughter and genocide on a grand scale. If there were any convictions for failing to comply with the census, I personally believe that the spark of real revolution would be lit and would not be so easily estinguished.
In the case of the census, it seems that increasingly large numbers of people are reluctant to cooperate – something acknowledged by census officials themselves. This year, the census has been the subject of unprecedented controversy, as ma…ny citizens have begun to question their relationship with the state, and whether the state needs to collect so much information about them. Rather than try to win the argument, to gain trust and cooperation, government has replied with threats of greater coercion.
Nowhere is this indifference to public opinion more clearly seen than in the choice of contractors to organise the census: – controversial US military-security corporations, with questions about their record on civil rights. In England and Wales, the census is organised by Lockheed Martin, a US contractor previously involved in “Total Information Awareness” and which recruited interrogators for Abu Ghraib. In Scotland and Ireland, the contractor is CACI, which also supplied “interrogators” who tortured inmates at Abu Ghraib. Government awarded these contracts over extensive protests, yet now they want unqualified public cooperation…: Source. http://info-wars.org/category/activism/
So, again, why do we need a foreign company guilty of war crimes and torture collecting personal information on us? Does the government need it? Do they use it to improve the country? Has this ever happened? Are the government to be trusted? Are they even in charge anymore? Are CACI to be trusted? Excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor. Of course they are not to be trusted, any of them. And, vitally, are we compelled to fill in this census? we are told we are and that if we don’t we will get fined €25,000. Thats quite excessive. One would wonder why the big threat? One would also wonder how it is lawful. As has been pointed out, Acts such as the one governing the census, require our consent. No consent = no contract = no liability = The Government are full of it and cannot do a thing if we simply say NO! Unless there is injury or less caused there is no crime, and no fine. And if it comes to a question of injury or loss, well, can anyone say ‘Abu Ghraib’?
A Census is not a Census when it bears not the Sovereign Seal Harp. It is neith lawful,legal ,valid or bone fide.