Steven Wright~Home Real Estate~720-989-5283

Putting all politics aside, I am curious to know if reading the article below bothers you? Whether you agree with the anti abortion movement, 3rd part supporters or militia members. Read this if you would like to see the real link. Does this outrage any of you? Does this cause you to have concerns about how far the government is reaching to supress civil liberties? It may be easy for you to write me off as a "conspiracy theorist" (which I am not) but I encourage you to consider this article and the comment accordingly. How much will the government have to reach before you start to get worried. Even still when it gets to that point, is it to late?

I fear for the country that I love so much, that we are starting to move toward the thing we use to fear most. I appreciate any thoughts you may have on this topic.

If you're an anti-abortion activist, or if you display political paraphernalia supporting a third-party candidate or a certain Republican member of Congress, if you possess subversive literature, you very well might be a member of a domestic paramilitary group.

That's according to "The Modern Militia Movement," a report by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), a government collective that identifies the warning signs of potential domestic terrorists for law enforcement communities.

"Due to the current economical and political situation, a lush environment for militia activity has been created," the Feb. 20 report reads. "Unemployment rates are high, as well as costs of living expenses. Additionally, President Elect Barrack [sic] Obama is seen as tight on gun control and many extremists fear that he will enact firearms confiscations."

MIAC is one of 58 so-called "fusion centers" nationwide that were created by the Department of Homeland Security, in part, to collect local intelligence that authorities can use to combat terrorism and related criminal activities. More than $254 million from fiscal years 2004-2007 went to state and local governments to support the fusion centers, according to the DHS Web site.

During a press conference last week in Kansas City, Mo., DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano called fusion centers the "centerpiece of state, local, federal intelligence-sharing" in the future.

"Let us not forget the reason we are here, the reason we have the Department of Homeland Security and the reason we now have fusion centers, which is a relatively new concept, is because we did not have the capacity as a country to connect the dots on isolated bits of intelligence prior to 9/11," Napolitano said, according to a DHS transcript.

"That’s why we started this.... Now we know that it's not just the 9/11-type incidents but many, many other types of incidents that we can benefit from having fusion centers that share information and product and analysis upwards and horizontally."

But some say the fusion centers are going too far in whom they identify as potential threats to American security.

People who supported former third-party presidential candidates like Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr are cited in the report, in addition to anti-abortion activists and conspiracy theorists who believe the United States, Mexico and Canada will someday form a North American Union.

"Militia members most commonly associate with 3rd party political groups," the report reads. "It is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitutional Party, Campaign for Liberty or Libertarian material."

Other potential signals of militia involvement, according to the report, are possession of the Gagsden "Don't Tread on Me" flag or the widely available anti-income tax film "America: Freedom to Fascism."

Barr, the 2008 Libertarian Party presidential nominee, told FOXNews.com that he's taking steps to get his name removed from the report, which he said could actually "dilute the effectiveness" of law enforcement agencies.

"It can subject people to unwarranted and inappropriate monitoring by the government," he said. "If I were the governor of Missouri, I'd be concerned that law enforcement agencies are wasting their time and effort on such nonsense."

Barr said his office has received "several dozen" complaints related to the report.

Mary Starrett, communications director for the Constitution Party, said Baldwin, the party's 2008 presidential candidate, was "outraged" that his name was included in the report.

"We were so astounded by it we couldn't believe it was real," Starrett told FOXNews.com. "It's painting such a large number of people with a broad brush in a dangerous light."

Michael German, national security policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the report "crosses the line" and shows a disregard for civil liberties.

"It seems to implicate people who are engaging in First Amendment protected activities and suggest that something as innocuous as supporting a political candidate for office would mean that you're harboring some ill-intent," German told FOXNews.com. "It's completely inappropriate."

German — who claims the number of fusion centers nationwide is closer to 70 — said the centers present several troubling concerns, including their excessive secrecy, ambiguous lines of authority, the use of data mining and military participation.

"No two are alike," German said. "And these things are expanding rapidly."

But MIAC officials defended their report, saying it's not a basis for officers to take enforcement action.

"These reports sometimes mention groups or individuals who are not the subject of the document, but may be relevant to describing tendencies or trends concerning the subject of the document," MIAC said in a statement.

"For example, a criminal group may use a particular wire service to transfer funds, but the mention of that wire service does not imply that it is part of that group, or a criminal enterprise. Nor does it imply that all individuals who use that service are engaged in criminal activity."

The statement continues, "We are concerned about the mischaracterizations of a document following its recent unauthorized release and we regret that any citizens were unintentionally offended by the content of the document."

Donny Ferguson, a spokesman for the Libertarian Party, said he was concerned by the report's "poor choice of words," among other things.

"Unfortunately it is so broadly worded it could be interpreted as saying millions of peaceful, law-abiding Americans are involved in dangerous activities. These mistakes happen and we hope Missouri officials will correct the report," Ferguson wrote in an e-mail. "The Libertarian Party promotes the common-sense policies of fiscal responsibility and social tolerance. We are the only party in America who makes opposition to initiating violence a condition of membership."

Bob McCarty, a St. Louis resident who blogged about the MIAC report, said he's afraid he may be targeted, since he's previously sold Ron Paul-related merchandise.

"[The report] described me, so maybe I need to get a gun and build a shack out in the woods," McCarty said facetiously. "It's certainly an attempt to stifle political thought, especially in Missouri. It definitely makes me pause, if nothing else … Maybe Missouri is just a test bed for squelching political thought."

ACLU officials blasted a Texas fusion center last month for distributing a "Prevention Awareness Bulletin" that called on law enforcement officers to report activities of local lobbying groups, Muslim civil rights organizations and anti-war protest groups.

All the best,

Steven Wright

My Real Estate Website ( I recently made some interesting changes, tell me what you think)

Class warfare seems to be an interesting topic for dicussion. Why do people hate the rich and feel that they should pay more than their fare share? I am in no way rich, but I have no bitter feelings toward those who are more successful than I am.

Interestingly enough, from what I gather from observing various interviews with the "common" man on the street. There seems to be this strange thirst for the government to solve all of our problems. When they are asked who should fit the bill, they respond with the rich should. What would happen if those who paid a significant portion of the tax bill in this country, decided that it was time to leave? I wonder what we would do then? You could tax and tax,

I would like to leave those of you who support bigger government with the following bumper sticker.

This week in Market Leader seemed a bit slower than others, but that was because I only received 5 leads to follow up on. It is very interesting to hear myself say that, some people don't have any leads to follow up on and now I have 5 for this week. It seems that Market Leader is starting to spoil me with all of the lead generation that they are producing. Not every week is going to be a live lead week, but the fact that I have activity is a wonderful thing. For those of you that do not use any type of directed Lead Generation, how many leads do you have to follow up on a week that are thrown in your direction? My guess is that it isn't very many, but I could be wrong. I highly recommend you talking with Jennifer Lew at Market Leader and seeing how they can help increase your business. Their coaching and training is second to none in the lead generation world. You can leave a comment on this post expressing an interest and I can almost guarantee that you will have some information very quickly. Market Leader is very responsive and they will give you all of the facts. You do not get as big as them without proven success. Talk to the agents that have used them consistently and followed their methods. Ask them what their business is like now. Hope you have a great week, Steven Wright

Today was a sad day because I had to fire a client. I spent a lot of time working with him to help save his house from foreclosure and he decided to kill a deal because he didn't want anyone to make money off of his house. You see there was a cash investor who made a fair offer on the property that would have been accepted by the bank as it was close to the Bank ordered BPO and my seller killed it.

He was being a bit unreasonable about the whole thing and said that he was having second thoughts and decided he only wanted a person who was going to live in the property to buy it. I told him that was novel, but when you have a foreclosure sale date on your house, you may want to consider all offers. On top of that he accused me and the investor that I was working with of being predatory. That was the last straw for me, I will not allow someone to attack my character, no matter what their circumstances are. All we have as Realtors is our reputation and we need to guard that with our all. My reputation is far more valuable than gold to me.

He called me today and asked if I would be willing to help him because he changed his mind and wants to try and sell it now. The kicker is that he says that he spoke with another Realtor that said she had a buyer (there are a few ethical issues there but I won't go there). I told him that he is released from our agreement and may pursue a real estate relationship with the other Realtor. I can no longer work with him because I have some trust issues now that I cannot overcome. I value my time and I cannot afford to waste it with someone who is playing games. I work with a lot of distressed homeowners so I know how to deal with them. Typically I am very sensitive and accommodate them whenever I can, this time was not that time. I spent a lot of time explaining the process and answering his questions so that he was not in the blue. He appeared to be very clear about what his role is and what needed to take place in order for his house to sell.

You see, one of the pitfalls we Realtors fall into is the pitfall of not having enough self respect to only work with people who fit our business model. You can't work with everyone, there are time constraints, we sometimes don't have time and sometimes the people are not prequalified. There are a host of other reasons, but my main point is that we are not here to be whipping boys and girls for the public. I know that some of them don't think we do much, but that is probably more our fault for not going into more detail of the countless hours we spend for each of our clients. If you divide our commission by the number of hours spent on any given deal, they quickly see that the more time we spend the less we make in Corporate America terms.

This technology age is wonderful and it will drive some of us out of business if we don't get up to speed. But it will not take the place of a seasoned Realtor. A website can provide you with lots of helpful information and lots of book knowledge, but it won't help you navigate a sticky deal. There is a lot of psychology in the game that we play and it is a game. A game that requires us to be very savvy and on our toes. Some are better at it than others, but we all have to play. Personally, I find the game to be very satisfying and I enjoy it immensely. It is not for the inexperienced or the week of heart.

I would be interested in hearing your responses to this post. Do you agree or disagree with me? What would you have done?

Steven Wright
My Website (I just did a lot of work on my website, I would be interested in getting your input)
720-989-5283

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