OT: Census

[Jim Thompson]

I just got a follow-up call for the census form I filled out.

The caller had an Indian (continent) accent.

That's pathetic!

...Jim Thompson

 

[Don Bowey]

I just got a follow-up call for the census form I filled out.

The caller had an Indian (continent) accent.

That's pathetic!

...Jim Thompson

bigot

 

[Adam Stouffer]

bigot

Should have asked him what part of the country hes from and then start
in with specifics like what the local sports teams are. Chances are
he'll say something like Michigan and that will be it.


Adam

 

[richard mullens]

I just got a follow-up call for the census form I filled out.

The caller had an Indian (continent) accent.

That's pathetic!

...Jim Thompson

I guess that they speak better English than the mexicans.

ntlworld helpdesk sounded Indian too.

 

[Dave]

I just got a follow-up call for the census form I filled out.

The caller had an Indian (continent) accent.

That's pathetic!

From who's view-point?

 

[Jim Thompson]

From who's view-point?

Our own government is using a call center in India :-(

...Jim Thompson

 

[Jim Thompson]

I guess that they speak better English than the mexicans.

ntlworld helpdesk sounded Indian too.

Dell's "support" is in the Philippines :-(

...Jim Thompson

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Our own government is using a call center in India :-(

...Jim Thompson

Yep, another smart move by your beloved Republicans, Jim.

 

[Michael]

I just got a follow-up call for the census form I filled out.

The caller had an Indian (continent) accent.

That's pathetic!

...Jim Thompson
--

These days just about everything is outsourced, from programming to support to
x-ray reading.
Bangalore is where it's at.

 

[Paul Burridge]

These days just about everything is outsourced, from programming to support to
x-ray reading.
Bangalore is where it's at.

Yeah, but they're scraping the barrel with some of those call centre
staff these days. When they first started this stunt, the staff were
all really good English speakers, like graduate types who were
schooled in colloquial English, the weather, sports teams and such
like so you would never suspect they were in India. Lately, however, I
can hardly understand a word they're talking about. So I just hang up
without saying a word. Maybe in time they'll get the picture.

 

[Richard the Dreaded Libertarian]

Our own government is using a call center in India :-(

It hasn't occurred to you that it might just be a guy with an accent?

They _do_ let them into the country, you know. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Jim Thompson]

Bill wrote...

I just got a follow-up call for the census form I filled out.

I never filled out my census form. They asked too many
questions not related to the census.

Are you a Citizen of the US ?
When did you come to live in the US?
What is your ethnic origin?
Do you speak a language other than English? [snip]
Do you have other income such as dividends,
social security, etc.
etc..

Obviously the information gleaned from the detailed questions
on the fraction of the forms that have them is very valuable
for creating an accurate image of the U.S. residents. That's
information we need and can all benefit from. The important
question is if this information is 100.000% truly confidential,
or if it can be compromised and used against us in some way in
the future. It becomes a matter of carefully evaluating one's
trust in the government. I still fill out the forms in detail,
but I'm getting closer and closer to thinking more carefully
about my decision. I can say boldly, I certainly do NOT trust
the lying sneaky Bush administration. They have placed devious
tentacles deep into various government agencies, and the census
bureau may well be a part of this dastardly process by now.

I guess I need to amend... PARANOID tree-hugging leftist... ;-)

...Jim Thompson

 

[[email protected]]

Bill wrote...

Obviously the information gleaned from the detailed questions
on the fraction of the forms that have them is very valuable
for creating an accurate image of the U.S. residents. That's
information we need and can all benefit from.

a) It's rather pitiful the Census Bureau is needed to figure out
who's getting Food Stamps & other benefits. One has to ask "Are the
purse-strings so loose that the issuing agencies don't know even where
they've sent their checks?" But, yes, it seems they are, and they
don't, respectively.

b) Number of flushing toilets in my residence ? (one of the
questions) Yes, I know why they ask, but they're asking--no,
begging--for potty humor, methinks.

The important
question is if this information is 100.000% truly confidential,
or if it can be compromised and used against us in some way in
the future. It becomes a matter of carefully evaluating one's
trust in the government. I still fill out the forms in detail,
but I'm getting closer and closer to thinking more carefully
about my decision.

The United States Census Bureau site assures that your information is
held strictly private, and that you're never identified individually:
http://www.census.gov/epct/mso/related_information/004013.html

Their Data Protection and Privacy Policy site affirms:
http://www.census.gov/privacy/files/data_protection/002775.html

"Your Information Is CONFIDENTIAL
We never identify you individually."

That isn't strictly true. Title 13 of the United States Code, Sec.
8(a),
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+13USC8
gives you, your successors, heirs, and agents the right to verbatim
transcripts of any information you furnish.

That implies, of course, that such information must be collected and
maintained in perpetuity. Accessing such reports is one technique
favored by genealogy buffs.

Don't worry though, your information is safe and secure -- the
Government's watching it for you.

Cheers,
James Arthur

 

[Mark Fergerson]

Yep, another smart move by your beloved Republicans, Jim.

Um, the current AZ governor is Democrat Janet Napolitano.


Mark L. Fergerson

 

[[email protected]]

welfare office. Now people will have to apply by using a computer at one
of their offices if you need their help. From what I've heard they
couldn't even keep their office telephone system working so people could

Bet you a stack of cash the back-end software is a contract job that
was outsourced to the software hives of India.

 

[Tim Wescott]

Um, the current AZ governor is Democrat Janet Napolitano.


Mark L. Fergerson

Um, the US census bureau is federal, under George Bush, Republican
(unfortunately).

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

a) It's rather pitiful the Census Bureau is needed to figure out
who's getting Food Stamps & other benefits. One has to ask "Are the
purse-strings so loose that the issuing agencies don't know even where
they've sent their checks?" But, yes, it seems they are, and they
don't, respectively.

b) Number of flushing toilets in my residence ? (one of the
questions) Yes, I know why they ask, but they're asking--no,
begging--for potty humor, methinks.

The Census Bureau is a federal agency, while welfare and food stamps
is run by each state and territory.

I don't know about other states, but I do know from some disabled
members of my church that they have to re qualify for there few dollars
of food stamps every three months in the state of Florida.

Instead of the usually 20 page means test from the VA I got a
statement this year telling me what I "earned" from my disability
pension, so its obvious that some departments do talk to each other. I
am glad because the means test is about 20 pages to prove my need to use
the VA clinics and hospital. It took half a day to complete, and there
were no changes from year to year, but I wasn't allowed to photocopy the
completed form and submit the copy the next year.

 

[Richard the Dreaded Libertarian]

Um, the US census bureau is federal, under George Bush, Republican
(unfortunately).

True, but there have been a lot of administrations to screw it up in the
years since it was established.

George Bush is a liar or a fool, but I don't think the census can really
be blamed on him, unlike the Iraq fiasco and the rape of the Constitution
known as "The Patriot Act".

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Keith Williams]

Bill wrote...

I just got a follow-up call for the census form I filled out.

I never filled out my census form. They asked too many
questions not related to the census.

Are you a Citizen of the US ?
When did you come to live in the US?
What is your ethnic origin?
Do you speak a language other than English? [snip]
Do you have other income such as dividends,
social security, etc.
etc..

Obviously the information gleaned from the detailed questions
on the fraction of the forms that have them is very valuable
for creating an accurate image of the U.S. residents. That's
information we need and can all benefit from. The important
question is if this information is 100.000% truly confidential,
or if it can be compromised and used against us in some way in
the future. It becomes a matter of carefully evaluating one's
trust in the government. I still fill out the forms in detail,
but I'm getting closer and closer to thinking more carefully
about my decision. I can say boldly, I certainly do NOT trust
the lying sneaky Bush administration. They have placed devious
tentacles deep into various government agencies, and the census
bureau may well be a part of this dastardly process by now.

I guess I need to amend... PARANOID tree-hugging leftist... ;-)

Gee, wasn't it Clinton who *illegally* had possession of FBI files?

 

[Mark Fergerson]

Um, the US census bureau is federal, under George Bush, Republican
(unfortunately).

Sorry, cross-subject confusion on my part:

http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/JDNewsArchive/2004/2004-09-07 Lost to India.txt

Note that she's talked a lot about stopping outsourcing but done
little, and the talk came only after the stink was raised. Gotta
keep that budget surplus, no matter what.

Dems, Reps, they're all the same.

And as Rich said, the US Census Bureau is one of those entrenched
things that answers to no party. They do seem to have a strange
agenda of their own though; a couple years back my household got the
"long form" and we filled out the "race" boxes as "human". A couple
weeks after we mailed it in we got an actual human from them
knocking on our door _insisting_ we pigeonhole ourselves. After we
explained that we refused to participate in any kind of racism(1)
especially Governmental racism, the guy scratched his head and said
he'd pass it upstairs. I occasionally wonder what some bureaucratic
coin-tosser decided we were.

(1) Some years ago I challenged the operator of a NeoNazi website to
define what "white" meant, and did I qualify, since my mother'a
ancestry was German and my father's Portuguese. Since Himmler (IIRC)
defined the Portuguese as "one of those Mediterranean mud races" I
figured I'd be in the "up against the wall" category, but get this:
he replied "If you look White and act White, as far as we're
concerned you are White" (his caps). Talk about books and covers- I
may be excessively cynical but I'm guessing he was trying to find
more disposable recruits (or income) with that phrasing.

Mark L. Fergerson