[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: LONG! Press Release on NAIS for TAHC Meeting in Austion on Feb. 16th
- From: "Ginger Cleary" <cleary1414@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pmick@xxxxxxxxx>, <RihadinK9@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 00:12:50 -0500
Sorry about that! I THOUGHT I had done that.... for anyone else that had
similar problems I have reposted this notice. This is IMPORTANT. Do not
for a minute think it is not "our problem"!!
Ginger Cleary, Rome, GA
http://www.rihadin.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pet-law/
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics
won't take an interest in you. -Pericles (430 B.C.)
-----Original Message-----
From: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf
Of Peggy
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 11:56 PM
To: RihadinK9@xxxxxxx
Cc: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: LONG! Press Release on NAIS for TAHC Meeting
in Austion on Feb. 16th
Ginger, you forgot to fix the html thingie...this email is full of symbols!
Peggy
==========================================
Y'all are welcome to use this to fight NAIS.
Randy Givens
================
Feel free to send this to any newspaper, TV, radio station, etc.
Feel free to copy, cross-post, or use this as your own in order to stop the
NAIS.
Thanks
Randy Givens
Please consider publishing this as a Letter to the Editor or Op-ed, or lead
for a reporter to follow up.
I can back up everything I say with plenty of facts, URL's, etc.
I have talked to TAHC staff, Legislative Staff, and USDA staff. There are
several web sites dedicated to stopping this program (URL's at end of
message).
If you have any questions, I can be reached via my cell phone at: (512)
825-7221, or my home phone at (512) 253-0263.
You have my permission to print my name, town, and email address with this
article.
Thanks for your consideration of this issue.
Randy Givens
aka COL George R. Givens, U.S. Army (Retired)
2162 FM2104 Unit B
Paige, TX 78659
Thanks
Randy Givens
Paige, TX
cell: (512) 825-7221
TEXAS TO REQUIRE PET OWNERS TO REGISTER WITH STATE
In a little-noticed move last year, the Texas Animal Health Commission
(TAHC) got the Legislature to approve a measure (HB1361) which is intended
to require ALL owners of ANY kind of bird (Parakeet, Cockatiel, Parrot,
Chicken, Goose, etc.), horse, cow, goat, sheep, pig, llama, etc. to register
the location where they keep the animal with the State. Animal owners will
be required to register their homes, acreage, farms, or ranches even if they
own just ONE of any of these animals. That ranges from Granny's 20th floor
condominium, where she keeps one parakeet, to the family that has a couple
of horses they like to take on trail rides.
After an intial "free" period, everybody who owns one of the targeted
animals will be required to have a "Premises Registration Certificate," for
as long as they own the animal. At first, the Premises Registration cost
will "only" be $20.00 every two years. However, the price is sure to rise,
as the Legislature has mandated that TAHC generate income to cover the
"services" it provides. For instance, the Legislature cut TAHC's budget by
$500,000 last year. In return, TAHC got the Legislature to allow it to
raise the price of some blank forms, used when kids (and others) take their
animals to Livestock Shows. Given the Legislative Green Light, TAHC
promptly increased the cost of one blank form TWENTY times the previous
cost, from a quarter to $5.00.
IF the animal is born on the "premises" and never leaves the "premises" for
ANY reason, then the animal itself will not have to be registered with the
State. However, if the animal leaves the registered premises, such as to go
to the Veterinarian, a livestock show, a trail ride, rodeo, or parade, then
the animal must be registered with a 15 digit Animal Identification Number
(AIN). Some animals may have ear tags, others will probably be required to
have Radio Frequency Identification Numbers (RFID) computer chips inserted
under their skin. Large producers of flocks of birds or herds of sheep or
pigs may be able to manage those groups of animals with just one AIN.
However, the pet owner and small farmer or rancher will probably have to
have individual numbers for each of their animals.
The idea behind this animal identification system is touted to be an ability
to "trace back" any diseased animal, and identify EVERY animal it has ever
come in contact with - within 48 hours of finding the disease. To do this
will require an enormous amount of record keeping and reporting, which TAHC
has grossly underestimated.
The cost of all this bureaucratic registering of premises and animals, and
the required record keeping and reporting, will be born entirely by the
owners of the animals. This is already causing some animal owners to sell
their animals. It will surely drive many small farmers and ranchers out of
business -- all for the gain of the giants of Agribusiness and their world
market share.
The program behind all this was proposed by Globalist Industrial
Agribusiness, to protect their ability to sell mass produced meat on the
world market. Huge Agribusinesses lobbied the USDA to implement the plan,
which it did. USDA touts the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)
as a "Government-Industry Partnership." The one important piece they left
out was the millions of private citizen who own one or two animals, and the
small farmer and rancher. To protect Industrial Agriculture's investments,
the "Partnership" decided to impose these regulations, record-keeping,
bureaucratic nonsense, and costs on millions of people who are not involved
in the Agriculture Industry.
TAHC soft-pedaled this monstrosity through the Legislature with neutral
terms, never telling our elected representatives the true intent of the
legislation. The Legislators went along with the story provided by TAHC,
and surrendered the sovereignty of Texas to unelected bureaucrats at USDA.
HB1361 says that TAHC is to devise an animal identification system
consistent with the USDA NAIS. One "small" problem is that the USDA NAIS
is a project that has still not been finalized. Therefore, our legislators
told TAHC to do whatever the bureaucrats at USDA tell them to do.
The Texas Legislature passed the law. Now TAHC is in the process of
implementing the "rules" to impose this system on the citizens of Texas.
TAHC will hold a hearing, this Thursday, February 16th, starting at 8:00
A.M., at the Red Lion Hotel, 6121 N. I-35 at Highway 290 Austin, TX 78752.
According to TAHC, they "estimate" that the agenda item on NAIS will start
"approximately at 10:00 AM." This may be the last chance you have to speak
out against this unconstitutional invasion of our privacy and property
rights. I encourage everyone to come to the meeting and speak out. It is
important that we all contact our state and federal Representatives and
Senators and demand that this program be stopped.
============ AUTHOR'S COMMENTS & CONTACT INFORMATION:
Editor: I can back up everything I say with plenty of facts, URL's, etc.
I have talked to TAHC staff, Legislative Staff, and USDA staff. There are
several web sites dedicated to stopping this program.
If you have any questions, I can be reached via my cell phone at: (512)
825-7221, or my home phone at (512) 253-0263.
You have my permission to print my name, town, and email address with this
article.
Thanks for your consideration of this issue.
Randy Givens
aka COL George R. Givens, U.S. Army (Retired)
2162 FM2104 Unit B
Paige, TX 78659
==========
SEE:
http://www.noanimalid.com/
http://www.stopanimalid.org/
http://www.unitedanimalownersalliance.com
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/ and
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=1394 (scroll down for
proposals put to Texas Legislature and very telling comments)
http://www.newswithviews.com/Morrison/joyce23.htm
Henry Lamb's excellent article The Mark of the Beast
The entire text of the rule proposal may be found at:
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/sos/PROPOSED/4.AGRICULTURE.html
Fines of up to $1,000 per day in Texas:
"Although the TAHC commissioners always urge voluntary compliance with
agency regulations, the proposals include penalties for noncompliance.
The Texas Agriculture Code (law) may be found on the TAHC website at
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us, by selecting the "Statutes and Regulations"
link on the front page."
National Animal Identification website
Even USDA appears to question its ability to impose this mandatory program.
See:
http://www.unitedanimalownersalliance.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=5&t=63
Additional NAIS information and links can be found on the TAHC web site at:
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_id/index.shtml
============================================================================
=========================
MORE DETAILS
The Real Deal: Tagging Terrorist Chickens
Wednesday, 9 November 2005, 3:55 pm
Opinion: Catherine Austin Fitts
A Special To Catherine Austin Fitts' Mapping The Real Deal
The Latest Tyranny: Tagging Terrorist Chickens
By Justin & Franklin Sanders
The Money Changer
APPENDICES:
Hard Questions About The National Animal Id System (NAIS)
National Animal Identification System (NAIS) - Fact Sheet
Have you heard about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)? The
radio ads feature a "farmer" telling us how hard it is to make a living
farming today - harder than it was for Momma and Daddy. Worse yet, now we've
got the risks of all these new diseases. But - golly, golly, gee -- the
government is going to help. They've come up with a voluntary program to
register our farms and animals to protect us and our animals from diseases.
All good Americans will sign up.
Characteristically, the radio propaganda-speak beareth no likeness to the
truth. To prove that for yourself, visit www.usda.gov/nais and click on the
"Draft Strategic Plan" on the upper right hand side.
FOOD SECURITY
We all know that there is no pandemic or epidemic now sweeping through the
livestock population would demand such drastic measures. If so, government's
first act wouldn't be punching an ear tag into every chicken they could
catch. Any eighteen-year-old mother who knows to hand testing a forehead for
fever can tell you that tagging ears to fight disease is ridiculous. No,
during epidemics government agents kill the infected animals and all animals
in the herd. Then they spread out and test neighbouring herds and destroy
those that test positive.
IF THEY'RE NOT FIGHTING DISEASE, THEN WHY NAIS?
Follow the money. Ask, Cui bono? Who benefits?
Agribusiness lobbied the USDA to create a system to protect them from legal
liability if an epidemic does break out. More, NAIS would protect
agribusiness market share, forestalling a public revulsion against their
product by "confirming" that only a few animals were sick, rather than not
thousands. NAIS enables huge agribusiness conglomerates that concentrate
thousands of animals (and so concentrate the chance for spreading diseases)
to point their finger at someone else.
Here's the scenario:
People in Sheboygan get sick from something they ate.
It's determined the meat came from a local fast food joint.
That fast food joint gets its meat from ABC cow factory.
ABC cow factory buys cows from XYZ feedlots.
Those feedlots had cows numbered 1q10 through 1q500 in their possession and
those cows came from 15 small farms in suburban Tempe.
Goodbye 15 small farms in suburban Tempe.
Hello scapegoat for fast food joint, slaughterhouse, and feedlots.
To protect themselves these large corporations will effectively to put small
farmers out of business. Not only the program costs (which fall on the
farmer), but also the threat of fines and jail time for not complying will
drive small farmers off the land. At the same time, NAIS sets up the same
corporations as the only entities granted the 'privilege' to raise animals,
since they, of course are the only ones who can be trusted to follow such a
plan to protect the "national herd."
EXEMPTIONS?
But I've just got a few chickens and a horse. Not me, right?
Wrong. The NAIS plans provide no exemptions whatever. One chicken, one
horse, one cow, one sheep, one goat, one bison, one llama, one alpaca, one
turkey, one duck -- all must register, premises & animals.
GOODBYE PROPERTY RIGHTS
The NAIS abolishes private property rights in farms and in animals. The
NAIS, run by a branch of the USDA, considers "your" animals to be not yours,
but part of "the national herd." Plainly, they are right. If they can force
you to register your farm and your animals, you do not own them. They own
them because they control them. You are only inventorying property & animals
for their true owner, the federal government.
MANDATORY MEANS MANDATORY
The NAIS's schedule fixes January 2008 for "mandatory" enforcement.
Mandatory means "forced" and "enforcement" means "putting into force." Not
of your own free will. The government will fine you, put you in jail, or
seize your animals for raising animals without registering them with the
government -- "raising animals without a licence," I reckon they'll call it.
That's right, 6,500 years of historical right will be abolished. From now
on, you'll be breaking the law for being a farmer without government
permission.
What's more, "The Department does not plan to issue 'alerts' to inform
livestock owners of the requirements until April 2007, only eight months
prior to the date when it will be mandatory to submit the GPS co-ordinates
of one's home and the RFID of one's animal[s] to the USDA database."
(Zanoni, 3)
MORE GOOD NEWS
Who will pay for NAIS? You will. It does not favour the small farmer, but
corporations with huge budgets. These conglomerates get to write off
government registration fees, etc., but the write off means almost nothing
to small farmers, who must first come up with the money to comply. The NAIS
is free now, but will not be in the future. On their website, the NAIS
states, "Even with public funding, there will be costs to producers." There'
s a time tax, too. States, tribes, producers, managers of livestock shows
and events, market operators, processing plants, service providers and third
parties will all have to provide labour for this system.
AND TAXES?
By registering with the NAIS you open yourself for future taxes. By
registering your car, you pay taxes. By registering yourself as the owner of
your home, you pay taxes. By registering yourself with a social security
number, you pay taxes. Taxes for being a farmer and taxes on your animals
will come, too.
THOSE FOR AND THOSE AGAINST
Tennessee (and probably your state, too) is now implementing the voluntary
premises identification section of this plan. In your state you'll see the
Farm Bureau, the cattlemen's association, and the extension agents lining
up. With new government programs comes new government money. They'll push
NAIS compliance by holding out carrots of new money available only to those
who register.
CAN WE DEFEAT NAIS?
You bet. There's still hope we can defeat NAIS.
Dr. Mary Zanoni, a lawyer from New York, has filed official comments with
the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) decrying the NAIS.
She has also founded an organisation - Farm for Life. In her brilliantly
argued statement filed in June 2005, she put this whole scheme in
perspective.
"The security of America's food supply and the resilience of livestock in
the face of diseases are best served by decentralising and dispersing food
production and processing, and breeding and maintaining livestock. If more
citizens could depend on food raised and processed within, say, 100 miles of
their homes, the danger of large-scale disruptions would be minimised, the
costs of transport would be less affected by volatile fuel prices, and any
food-borne diseases . would be contained by the system's natural geographic
limits. Similarly, if animals, such as cattle, for example, are kept in
small herds of, say, ten to a hundred animals, infectious diseases will have
much more difficulty in spreading beyond a discrete geographical area.
WHAT TO DO?
State cattlemen's associations may be backing this idea, but chances are
their members won't. Chances are, the members have no idea what's going on.
How many farmers -- not "agribusinessmen" -- have you ever met that would
think registering a chicken with the government is a good idea? Talk to
them. Encourage them not to sign up their premises. "The USDA is using
farmers' supposed willingness to enter a 'voluntary' program as a
justification for making the program mandatory," says Zanoni.
This is the old government game where a pitiful, haggard, selfless
government employee pleas to the camera, "Look, all these other farmers have
signed up on their own because they're good Americans and it's just a few
renegades ( read the majority of the population) holding out. If we're gonna
be safe, we've got to make this mandatory because we just can't talk sense
to these people who, after all, we're only trying to protect. It's for their
own good"
Write Dr. Mary Zanoni at mlz@xxxxxxxx and support her efforts by signing up
for her $25/year newsletter to keep you informed about this program and
those fighting it.
Contact your state veterinary office and complain.
Call your state senators and representatives and tell them you oppose NAIS.
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
Organise a public meeting.
But first, educate yourself. Go to www.usda.gov/nais. Click on "Draft
Strategic Plan" on the right side of the page under the "What's New" heading
and read the 24 page implementation plan for yourself. (NOTE: A Summary
follows in Appendix 2 below.)
-- Justin Sanders
*************
Justin Sanders lives amongst the terrorist chickens, lambs, cows, and
proletarian pigs on the Top of the World Farm He is raising three sons, none
of whom yet has a government-approved tag.
Justin & Franklin Sanders are farmers and precious metals dealers with The
Moneychanger in West Point, Tennessee, USA. They can be reached at
moneychanger@xxxxxxxxxxxx
APPENDICES
*****************
APPENDIX 1 - HARD QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ANIMAL ID SYSTEM (NAIS)
1. What is the NAIS? A scheme hatched by the federal government and
corporate agribusiness to tag every animal in the US with an identity number
and to track every animal through processing. The excuse for it is the
discovery of two cases of mad cow disease (BSE or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy).
2. What does it require? It requires every farm in the country to register
as a "premises." Each registered premises will then have to register & tag
every alpaca, bison, cow, emu, goat, horse, llama, sheep, swine, and all
poultry. (As far as we know right now, catfish and goldfish are exempted.)
It provides no exemptions. If you have as much as one chicken, you must
register.
3. What does it mean? This is not about controlling disease, it's about
controlling farmers. When social security was first introduced, the
government promised the people that the number would never be used for
"identification purposes." But today you can't get health care, insurance, a
bank account, an apartment, a job, or your tooth pulled without giving a
social security number.
4. Isn't it voluntary? Only for now. The present USDA "Draft Strategic Plan"
calls for making it mandatory by January 2008. "Mandatory" means that they
will fine, arrest, or jail you if you refuse to comply. For the system to
work, the government obviously must force every farm and every farmer to
register every animal, and no one will be able to seek veterinary care,
transport, sell, or process animals without registry. In other words, the
freedom to farm that has belonged to mankind since Creation will be
abolished.
5. Who and what is behind the NAIS? According to the USDA National Animal
Identification System (NAIS) Draft Strategic Plan 2005 to 2009, page 3,
paragraph 1, at
http://animalagriculture.org/aboutNIAA/members/memberdirectory.asp, "In
2002, the National Institute of Animal Agriculture (NIAA) initiated meetings
that led to the development of the U.S. Animal Identification Plan (USAIP)."
"Driving force - The strongest driving force for developing the NAIS is the
risk of an outbreak of a foreign animal disease (FAD). There is broad
support for NAIS among government, industry, and public stakeholders."
("Stakeholders are defined as those individuals and groups in the public and
private sectors who are interested in and/or affected by the Department's
activities and decisions." http://www.ci.doe.gov/cigapol.htm.)
6. Who is the National Institute of Animal Agriculture? NIAA website states,
"The mission of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture is to provide
a forum for building consensus and advancing solutions for animal
agriculture and to provide continuing education and communication linkages
to animal agriculture professionals."
http://animalagriculture.org/aboutNIAA/facts/factsheet.asp. In fact, the
NIAA is a national agribusiness organization whose purpose appears to be
lobbying government for laws and policies that favour agribusiness. A brief
glance at the board of directors seems to confirm that, since all are drawn
from agribusiness companies, industry groups, or schools of agriculture
(which notoriously favour corporate agribusiness over small farmers and
sustainable agriculture).
http://animalagriculture.org/aboutNIAA/leadersstaff/BOD.asp. A list of
members leads to the same conclusion.
http://animalagriculture.org/aboutNIAA/members/memberdirectory.asp.
7. Who will bear the burden of NAIS? Small farmers, and especially those
engaged in the New Agriculture ("permaculture" or "sustainable
agriculture"). First, they will be forced to pay for NAIS, at least in
part. Second, they will be forced to work for NAIS. In the words of the NAIS
Draft Strategic Plan, page 14, paragraph 3, "All groups will need to provide
labour." NAIS will add yet another cost disadvantage to small farmers and
the New Agriculture, and will make local agriculture less competitive with
agribusiness.
http://animalagriculture.org/aboutNIAA/members/memberdirectory.asp.
8. Won't NAIS help prevent and control disease? No, NAIS isn't about
preventing or controlling disease, it's about marketing. When a case of mad
cow disease (or any other disease) surfaces, NAIS aims to protect meat
producers' markets by tracking animals through processing to "prove" that
only a few animals are affected and so prevent a public revulsion against
their meat. The most effective way to control disease is to produce meat and
milk for local instead of national markets and "closed herd" techniques.
*****************
National Animal Identification System (NAIS)
Fact Sheet
The National Animal Identification System is being put into place "to enable
48 hour traceback of the movements of any diseased or exposed animal."
The NAIS consists of three components:
Premises registration
Animal identification
Animal tracking
Those putting this into place do not consider you the owner of your animals.
Their approach to this is "We must ensure the participation requirements of
the NAIS not only provide the results necessary to maintain the health of
the national herd .
The government is already encouraging voluntary registration on the radio.
"The USDA.will enact regulations by early 2008, requiring stakeholders to
identify their premises and animals. At that time, all animals leaving their
current premises must be identified with the AIN or Group/Lot ID.
" Even with public funding, there will be costs to producers. Both public
and private funding will be required for the NAIS to become fully
operational. The Federal government is providing the standards, national
databases, and basic infrastructure.
States and Tribes will register premises within their areas. They will also
support the administration of animal identification and tracking systems
that will feed information into the national database.
Producers will identify their animals and provide necessary records to the
databases.
Managers of shows and events will report a record of participating animals.
Market operators and processing plants will provide animal location records.
Service providers and third parties will assist by providing animal
identification and movement records to the NAIS on behalf of their producer
clients.
All groups will need to provide labour."
The Timetable
2005:
. Premises registration: July 2005: All States operational
. Animal identification: August 2005: Initiate "840" number with AIN tag
manufacturers and AIN tag managers
. Animal tracking: January-December 2005: Test identification and automated
data collection technologies
2006:
. Premises Registration: April 2006: Performance measure: 25% of all
premises registered
. Animal identification: April 2006: AIN Management System fully operational
. Animal tracking:
- July 2006: Interstate Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (ICVI)
operational in all States
- Focus on integration of management systems to forward animal
locations/sightings
2007
. Premises registration: April 2007: Premises registration "alert" (scaled
up communication campaign to create awareness of January 2008 requirements
for premises registration).
. Animal identification: April 2007: Animal identification alert (scaled up
communication campaign to create awareness of January 2008 requirements for
animal identification).
. Animal tracking:
- April 2007: Incentives to report interstate movements using ICVI or
electronic movement permit system.
- October 2007: Infrastructure established to collect animal termination
records at high capacity abattoirs.
- Initiate collection of animal movements at concentration points (markets,
feedlots, etc.).
- Expand the integration of management systems to forward animal
locations/sightings.
NAIS Strategic Plan - DRAFT Lines of Action
2008:
. Premises registration: January 2008: All premises registered with
enforcement (regardless of livestock movements).
. Animal Identification: January 2008: Animal identification required with
enforcement.
. Animal tracking:
- July 2008: Collect high percentage of animal termination
records at abattoirs (processing plants).
- July 2008: Collection and reporting all defined
movements.
2009:
- January 2009: Enforcement for the reporting of animal
movements.
- NAIS fully implemented and all components are mandatory.
Compiled from www.usda.gov/nais click on "Draft Strategic Plan" on right
side of the page under "What's New" heading.
*************
Catherine Austin Fitts is the President of Solari, Inc.
http://www.solari.com/. Ms. Fitts is the former Assistant Secretary of
Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner during the first Bush Administration, a
former managing director and member of the board of directors of Dillon Read
& Co. Inc. and President of The Hamilton Securities Group, Inc.
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