Posted on 01/18/2008 11:41:34 AM PST by BGHater
A federal database of animals to fight disease outbreaks is a threat to privacy and family operations, critics say.
WASHINGTON — After days of parading around her beefy black steer in the dung-scented August heat at the Colorado State Fair, Brandi Calderwood made the final competition. For months, the 16-year-old worked from dawn well past dusk, fitting in the work around school, to feed, train and clean her steer. But just before the last round, when the animals are sold, fair officials disqualified her.
They alleged that Brandi had not properly followed a new and controversial rule that required children to register their farms with a federal animal tracking system. After heated words, the Calderwoods were told to leave. A security guard trailed Brandi and her mother, even to the restroom.
"Emotionally she went through the wringer and didn't get the honor of showing in the sale. For a 16-year-old, that's a big deal," said Cathy Calderwood, Brandi's mother.
A Bush administration initiative, the National Animal Identification System is meant to provide a modern tool for tracking disease outbreaks within 48 hours, whether natural or the work of a bioterrorist. Most farm animals, even exotic ones such as llamas, will eventually be registered. Information will be kept on every farm, ranch or stable. And databases will record every animal movement from birth to slaughterhouse, including trips to the vet and county fairs.
But the system is spawning a grass-roots revolt.
Family farmers see it as an assault on their way of life by a federal bureaucracy with close ties to industrial agriculture. They point out that they will have to track every animal while vast commercial operations will be allowed to track whole herds.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Exactly. Nothing the government does is ever voluntary for long.
It’s all about control and maximizing their fiefdom and budgets.
Big city people are being counted. You have to register pets too under PAWS. PAWS is NAIS’s ugly step sister.
And so ?
As a previous poster said, destroy orders existed long before NAIS.
I still contend, based on experience, that people will voluntarily destroy if the vet tells them there is no choice.
What small farmers object to, by and large, is the manner in which this systems was adopted and the relatively severe nature of the burden upon small producers viv-a-vis factory operations...especially considering that the benefirt of the program accrues almost entirely to the latge packers.
(But, because the benefit accrues to large packers, they will compell some sort of tracking system sooner or later anyway)
And yes, the government will reimburse them for their loss with tax money extorted from other people.
There. It's complete and correct now.
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There is already an added loop hole to this too. Farms and ranches now qualify as superfund sites. Therefore, the farmer/rancher/homestead can be handed a bill for the clean up while losing their property.
But it is for the children!
/social engineering
Domestic Animal Bump
Particularly before the Mad Cow scare, unless you bury it in your backyard when it died, you could assume that any dead farm animal ended up in the food chain...as food for other animals.
Funny thing about that farm. There was never any confirmation of scrapies.
Excerpt:
This is really just the pilot run to develop the software and infrastructure for the identical type system to be used to track people. Wait awhile, folks, it's coming.
They can pry my llamas from my cold, dead hands.
Next thing you know, they’ll want to be testing my sheep for AIDS and inspecting my hip waders for leaks.
Yup.
Here is the companies' press release.
GLOBAL VERICHIP SUBSCRIBER (GVS) REGISTRY READY FOR FIRST-EVER VERICHIP "CHIPPING" PROCEDURE ON MAY 10TH AND LAUNCH OF VERICHIP INTO U.S. MARKET
Secure database and 24/7 operations center will support VeriChip subscribers, affiliates and authorized centers.
PALM BEACH, FL �May 2, 2002 -- Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSX), an advanced technology development company, announced today that its Global VeriChip Subscriber (GVS) Registry service is ready for the first-ever VeriChip "chipping" procedure on May 10, 2002 and VeriChip's official market launch in the United States.
The GVS Registry service, first announced April 9, 2002, supports VeriChip subscribers, authorized VeriChip centers and VeriChip System Affiliates (such as hospitals, EMTs, search and rescue units, and urgent care clinics) by providing immediate access to vital subscriber information in an emergency.
Full-scale marketplace operation of the GVS Registry service will begin with the historic Jacobs family "chipping" procedure on May 10, 2002. The procedure will be followed by a press conference and an invitation-only brunch for business partners and community leaders.
During the press conference and the business brunch, Applied Digital executives will unveil more details about VeriChip's rollout plans.
VeriChip is a miniaturized, implantable, radio frequency identification device (RFID) that can be used in a variety of security, emergency and healthcare applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip is composed of FDA-accepted materials and contains a unique verification number that can seamlessly integrate to the GVS Registry via a proprietary VeriChip scanner. Instant access to such vital information as allergies to medications, medical device implants, pre-existing medical conditions and emergency contact numbers could save lives in an emergency and enhance the peace of mind of subscribers and their loved ones.
The new GVS Registry Service is hosted and maintained by Digital Angel Corporation's (Amex: DOC) state-of-the-art, FDA-compliant operations centers in Riverside, California and Owings, Maryland. Complementary, 24/7 call-center services are provided by a physician-supervised staff of support associates in Owings, Maryland.
The GVS Registry service will initially support VeriChip subscribers in South Florida who will be "chipped" during the company's initial product rollout beginning with the Jacobs family on May 10, 2002.
Performed under the supervision of the company's first Authorized VeriChip Center in Palm Beach County, the rollout will feature the use of the first ChipMobile� � a state of the art, medically equipped mobile unit that will deliver VeriChip to initial target markets such as elder care centers, critical care facilities and Generation Y events. The Palm Beach County rollout will last until June 30, 2002, at which time the company expects to move into other geographic markets and initiate nationwide distributor alliance programs.
Commenting on this announcement, Scott R. Silverman, President of Applied Digital Solutions, said: "As promised, the GVS Registry is now fully operational and is prepared to securely house subscriber information so it can be accessed by Authorized VeriChip Affiliates such as hospitals and EMS units. We're confident the GVS Registry's secure software and database will integrate seamlessly with the VeriChip product and proprietary scanners to provide our subscribers with instant access to potentially life-saving, accurate, complete emergency healthcare information stored in the Registry."
About VeriChip� VeriChip, first announced on December 19, 2001, is a miniaturized, implantable, radio frequency identification device (RFID) that can be used in a variety of security, emergency and healthcare applications.
On April 4, 2002, the company announced that it had received written guidance that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not consider VeriChip's personal verification device to be a regulated medical device, enabling the company to begin sales, marketing and distribution of VeriChip in the United States. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip is composed of FDA-accepted materials and contains a unique verification number. That number is captured by briefly passing a proprietary, external scanner over the VeriChip. A small amount of radio frequency energy passes through the skin energizing the dormant VeriChip, which then emits a radio frequency signal transmitting the verification number. The company believes its first-mover advantage will enable it to gain significant market share in the emergency information and verification market that is estimated to exceed $15 billion. VeriChip Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions.
About Digital Angel Corporation Digital Angel Corporation (Amex: DOC) was formed on March 27, 2002, in a merger between Digital Angel Corporation and Medical Advisory Systems, a global leader in telemedicine that has operated a 24/7, physician-staffed call center in Owings, Maryland, for two decades.
Prior to the merger, Digital Angel Corporation was a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions. Applied Digital Solutions is the beneficial owner of 19.6 million shares of Digital Angel Corporation. Digital Angel� technology represents the first-ever combination of advanced biosensors and Web-enabled wireless telecommunications linked to the Global Positioning System (GPS). By utilizing advanced biosensor capabilities, Digital Angel will be able to monitor key body functions � such as temperature and pulse � and transmit that data, along with accurate emergency location information, to a ground station or monitoring facility. For more information about Digital Angel, visit www.digitalangel.net.
About Applied Digital Solutions Applied Digital Solutions (Nasdaq: ADSX) is an advanced technology development company that focuses on a range of early warning alert, miniaturized power sources and security monitoring systems combined with the comprehensive data management services required to support them. Through its Advanced Technology Group, the company specializes in security-related data collection, value-added data intelligence and complex data delivery systems for a wide variety of end users including commercial operations, government agencies and consumers.
For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.adsx.com.
Statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, and the Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.
Investor Contact---------------------------Media Contact Lynn Anderson-------------------------Matthew Cossolotto Phone: 561-805-8007------------------Phone: 914-245-9721
BS!!!!!!!!
There is a hugh difference between building a nuclear power plant, and the effects it can have, and a private farmer raising a cow, and possible effects that could have.
In fact comparing building a nuke to raising a cow really makes no sense in the article.
Excuse me, but bullshit. Anybody who knows anything about the laws of chemistry knows that a simple protein folding is a relatively low energy binding. Sufficient heat WILL "de-nature" the protein, as it will ANY protein.
I don't know where this fantasy-land idea comes from, but it's damned bad science.
Well, the other things is, most of the small-timers and hobbyists have a much better handle on where their animals come from and/or are going, simply due to the scale of operations.
Biosecurity is indeed an issue due to the potential of bioterrorism, and that is part of what NAIS is trying to address. However, NAIS is indeed overkill, especially for small producers (or subsistence types) because they are unlikely to be very inviting or effective targets.
I agree that a better, more cooperative (and less high-handed) process would bring about more participation.
I read a posting here at FR months ago. Someones farm was registered mistakenly. When the owners realized what had happened, they tried to rescind it. They were told there was no way to unregister a farm once its registered, and that it transfers from one owner to another.
NAIS ping
Yes, you are correct. What happens is that prions will survive cooking which would destroy normal bacteria (article), but yes if you heat it way beyond the boiling point of water (like in a hot fire), the protein will be destroyed
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