Be Prepared

NoNAIS.org ^ | April 19, 2006 | Walter Jeffries

[pubwvj]

Before it was terrorism. Then it was mad cow disease. Now the government is using fears of Avian Influenza (H5N1 or bird flu) to scare people into accepting reductions in their freedoms and more government control over our lives. The latest trampling of our constitutional rights is in the form of Premise ID and the USDA's proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Maryland has bill HB709 to register all domestic birds including pet birds. Vermont is pushing Premise ID for bird flu prevention. ABC plans to do a TV movie about Avian Flu. Everyone wants in on the fear mongering. The problem is they aren't thinking big enough.

Avian Flu may or may not be the next big one but it is highly likely that there will be a pandemic in some form within our lifetime. The government does not understand the scale of the problem - Avian Influenza may well mutate into a form that could kill billions of people, not just mere millions. Between worldwide travel bringing disease from far away lands, invasive alien species, overuse of low doses of antibiotics, free trade, genetic engineering, nano-tech and terrorism we are likely to see something as bad or worse than the 1918 Flu or the Black Plague. The death toll could easily reach 1 in 4 worldwide and virtually depopulate some countries and urban areas. Maybe this year, maybe next year, maybe next decade, maybe next century. That is realistic.

The things the governments are doing to 'prepare' are not particularly useful. Tamiflu is not effective enough nor available for enough people. Only the elite will get it. The vaccines won't be here in time. They'll rush the vaccine so badly they'll very likely make mistakes - remember the swine flue scare and vaccine that killed people. Rushing the research and testing will needlessly kill people. NAIS and Premise ID will not protect us either. Chickens are a terminal host and not a problem for people except in the worst conditions. Backyard flocks are small, diverse and dispersed. They don't represent a threat to society or even their owners. All the government is doing with their fear mongering is demonizing small farms and rural folk who raise their own food.

Factory farms are a far higher risk to society with their huge numbers of birds in crowded conditions that provide an ideal culturing facility for mutated forms of deadly viruses. They provide the ideal conditions for mutation and incubation of enormous cultures of viruses.

Another threat that has gotten some recent press is pet cats which are susceptible to bird flu. Cats far more likely to transmit Avian Influenza to humans than chickens. Cats roam about, kill and eat infected wild birds, even in urban areas, and then come home to their owners to pass on the virus through saliva, scratches, bites, coughing and exhalation. Cats are ubiquitous. But the proposed government policies make no mention of dealing with this issue. As usual, the government is doing the wrong things at the wrong time in the wrong way.

Be prepared to take care of yourself, your family, your neighbors, your community. Expanding circles of diminishing responsibility. Read this excellent document from the FluWiki specific to Avian Influenza. Quarantine is the single best protection you have in the case of a pandemic. Here in rural Vermont most people are always prepared to be isolated because of severe winter storms. Dealing with quarantine is an extension of that. People in cities should arrange with family or friends in the country where they they can flee to for sanctuary and be prepared to provide labor and supplies to survive the duration. This will not be a vacation in the country - be prepared to work for room & board, to contribute to the country cousins and be ready for a very different lifestyle than you are used to in the urban areas. Incoming fleeing families should rest in quarantine from the country cousins for a period of days to weeks to assure they don't bring disease with them. Whatever you do, plan early, not late.

What the government could do that would be useful is to provide education. Teach people disaster preparedness and survival. This is the opposite of what our government's are doing with their continued focus on making people more and more dependant on the Mother Land. This should not be a mandatory, heavy handed forced approach but an enabling of independence. If people choose to ignore it that is their choice but when disaster strikes they will be more likely to suffer. Better yet, take responsibility for yourself and start preparing now. Preparedness is not learned in an instant. It must be integrated into the process of growing up and living life. There is a great deal that people can do to help themselves to survive for three days, for three weeks, for three months, three years...

Disaster will strike. It may be local, regional or worldwide. A hurricane, a tornado, an earthquake, a pandemic, a terrorist strike, a nuclear war. It is our responsibility as individuals and families to be ready to take care of ourselves, to get through it. The government does not have the ability to care for us all nor do we really want a Nanny State that would have that power. Government has bigger fish to fry than watching out for every single individual.

Remember the Scout motto: Be prepared.

[Jeremydmccann]

This NAIS tagging is frightening. It is clearly in violation of the IVth Ammendment and potentially the Vth and XIVth.

USDA officials will not need a warrant to enter a premise to inspect animals; they will be able to enter private property whenever they deem it 'necessary." The draft strategic program standards also indicate that the identification will include the GPS coordinates of the premises where the animals are kept.

As with the Vth and XIVth ammendments, which state that no one can be deprived of property without due process of law, the USDA claims the right to remove animals from a premise, and it makes no mention of remuneration to the farmer or rancher.

This program has nothing to do with "disease, terrorism, and market competetiveness" as they claim. We already have a feed ban that greatly reduces the risk that BSE would ever spread from sick cattle to other cattle through feed. None of the cows that have been found to have BSE never entered the food supply.

As for terrorism, why couldn't someone sneak into an auction barn and replace a clean cows tag on an infected cow?

This whole program is meant to increase profits for the large meat packers. The cost of this is going to put a lot of small family farms out of business due to all the fees, equipment needed (The tag, the reader, data accumulator, software, internet access, subscriptions and upgrades) and required paperwork. I bet that it is going to cost about $25 per head of cattle. If this crap is enacted, we are going to witness the end of the small family run farm. I find it quite disturbing, that the federal government seems to be trying to control the food supply. I realize that they have been doing that for years, but this is at a whole new level. They don't have the authority to do any of this.

Now for the wonderful Model State Energency Health Powers Act.

The Model State Emergency Health Powers act. It is not law yet, but I am sure soon will be. It was prepared by the public law and health at Georgetown and John Hopkins Universities for the center of disease control and prevention. It is very similiar to what Hillary had proposed before. The main auther is Lawerence O. Gostin who was a member of Clinton's task force on health care reform.

You will have a mandatory vaccination or be charged with a crime.

You will get a mandatory medical exam or be charged with a crime.

Your property can be seized if there is reasonable cause to believe if your property may pose a public health hazard.

Puts everyting in the hand of the Governor.
-declare a public health emergency (whatever that would be) without consultation.
-Suspend any regulatory statutes or rules of any state agency if they would delay or hinder any necessary action.
-Can commandeer any private facility. "immediate posession thereof"
-May compel a health care facility to provide services. Any physician or health care provider who refuses to perform a medical examination or testing will be liable for a misdemeanor.
-May destroy any material or property of which there is reasonable cause that it may endanger the public health. Compensation will not be provided for facilities or materials that are closed, evacuated, contaminated or destroyed when there is reasonable cause to believe that they may be endangering the public health.

I have a PDF of this act, but I don't know how to post it or if there is even a way to.?