Ranchers Have Beef With USDA Program To ID Cattle

slashdot ^

[newbie2008]

Ponca City, We Love You writes "The NY Times reports that farmers and ranchers oppose a government program to identify livestock with microchip tags that would allow the computerized recording of livestock movements from birth to the slaughterhouse. Proponents of the USDA's National Animal Identification System say that computer records of cattle movements mean that when a cow is discovered with bovine tuberculosis or mad cow disease, its prior contacts can be swiftly traced. Ranchers say the extra cost of the electronic tags places an onerous burden on a teetering industry. Small groups of cattle are often rounded up in distant spots and herded into a truck by a single person who could not simultaneously wield the hand-held scanner needed to record individual animal identities. The ranchers also note that there is no Internet connection on many ranches for filing to a regional database. 'Lobbyists from corporate mega-agribusiness designed this program to destroy traditional small sustainable agriculture,' says Genell Pridgen, an owner of Rainbow Meadow Farms. The notion of centralized data banks, even for animals, has also set off alarms among libertarians who oppose NAIS. One group has issued a bumper sticker that reads, 'Tracking cattle now, tracking you soon.' 'They can't comprehend the vastness of a ranch like this,' says Jay Platt, the third-generation owner of a 22,000 acre New Mexico ranch. 'This plan is expensive, it's intrusive, and there's no need for it.'"

[Jagdgewehr]

Today it’s cattle. Tomorrow it’s sheeple.

[borntobeagle]

This may sound way off base and not very politically correct, but why was this not done to the infected when the AIDS epidemic broke out?

Just how do you think those poor cows are going to feel..better contact PETA!

Hmmm, Roast beef sounds good for dinner tonight.

[RebelTXRose]

My relatives in South Texas used to BRAND their cattle - what more ID do you need? It’s worked for quite some time now.

[yldstrk]

this is bull on the ranchers part part. can you say mad cow

[borntobeagle]

All my family does the same. Branding is a little hard to hide. But my understanding is that they are trying to track each cow from birth to slaughter.

It’s another burden to place on an already hard business to be in.

(kind of sounds like a back door tax)

[sam_paine]

can you say mad cow

Yeah. "Mad Cow" pandemic...the original BS global cooling, global warming, bird flu, swine flu-type scare.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

Give each illegal immigrant a cow when they cross our border, so we can keep track of them.

Note the irony. We want to track cattle from birth to death, but we don’t know how many illegal immigrants are in the US. Congress should be fired.

[Calpernia]

Baa, baaa

In 1940, J.W. Schotte, IBM's general manager for Europe, in a memo to IBM NY, was proud of the company's ability to count "animals: a record of each horse, mule, etc".

Spring 1940, cow census in occupied Belgium, also monitored by British Intelligence, reflected an equal feat of livestock counting. After the count, each animal was required to wear an identity card.

WOW, sound familiar!!??

Citing: "Confidential Report on Our Dealings with War Ministries of Europe", J.W. Schotte to L.H. La Motte, circa spring 1940, Attachment, Department of Justice, War Division, Economic Warfare Section, NA RG60

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4040930009676933149
IBM and the Holocaust

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/index.html
Research is all there for the reading.

Only after Jews were identified -- a massive and complex task that Hitler wanted done immediately -- could they be targeted for efficient asset confiscation, ghettoization, deportation, enslaved labor, and, ultimately, annihilation. It was a cross-tabulation and organizational challenge so monumental, it called for a computer. Of course, in the 1930s no computer existed.

But IBM's Hollerith punch card technology did exist. Aided by the company's custom-designed and constantly updated Hollerith systems, Hitler was able to automate his persecution of the Jews. Historians have always been amazed at the speed and accuracy with which the Nazis were able to identify and locate European Jewry. Until now, the pieces of this puzzle have never been fully assembled. The fact is, IBM technology was used to organize nearly everything in Germany and then Nazi Europe, from the identification of the Jews in censuses, registrations, and ancestral tracing programs to the running of railroads and organizing of concentration camp slave labor.

IBM and its German subsidiary custom-designed complex solutions, one by one, anticipating the Reich's needs. They did not merely sell the machines and walk away. Instead, IBM leased these machines for high fees and became the sole source of the billions of punch cards Hitler needed.

IBM's Hollerith punch card IBM's subsidiary, Dehomag in Berlin, Germany

-------------------------------------------------------

Today's Identification brought to you by IBM and Verichip:

Press Release

VeriChip Corporation's VeriMed(TM) Medical Solution Is Now Integrated Into the Hospital Demonstration Area of the IBM Solutions Experience Lab Located in Austin, Texas

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 2005--VeriChip Corporation, a subsidiary of Applied Digital (NASDAQ: ADSX), a leading provider of identification and security technology, announced today that its implantable RFID healthcare system, VeriMed(TM), is now a component of the Hospital demonstration area of the IBM Solutions Experience Lab located in Austin, Texas. The IBM Solutions Experience Lab conducts approximately 260 tours annually for corporations and government agencies wishing to see demonstrations of functional, integrated hardware and software solutions for specific market sectors. The Hospital area demonstrates currently available technologies compatible with IBM healthcare solutions that provide integrated, state-of-the-art capabilities in the healthcare environment.

The Hospital demonstration area illustrates the potential of VeriMed to enhance the IBM Aligned Clinical Environment Solution. This is an integrated solution designed to connect disparate healthcare information sources while also reducing costs. The solution enables data collection and manages integration and analysis of patient information. VeriChip Corporation Chief Executive Officer Kevin McLaughlin noted, "When integrated with IBM's Aligned Clinical Environment Solutions and systems provided by other IBM healthcare business partners, the VeriMed implantable RFID microchip and its related infrastructure provides the 'front-end' that practitioners need for automated, secure, accurate and rapid access to vital clinical information."

About VeriChip - "The First RFID Company for People" VeriChip is a subsidiary of Applied Digital and the only company to provide both implantable and wearable RFID identification and security solutions for people, their assets, and their environments. From the world's first and only FDA-cleared, human-implantable RFID microchip to the only patented active RFID tag with skin-sensing capabilities, VeriChip leads the way in next-generation RFID technologies. Today, over 4,000 installations worldwide in healthcare, security, industrial, and government markets benefit from both the protection and efficiencies provided by VeriChip systems. For more information on VeriChip, please visit www.verichipcorp.com.

About Applied Digital - "The Power of Identification Technology" Applied Digital develops innovative identification and security products for consumer, commercial, and government sectors worldwide.

The Company's unique and often proprietary products provide identification and security systems for people, animals, the food supply, government/military arena, and commercial assets. Included in this diversified product line are RFID applications, end-to-end food safety systems, GPS/Satellite communications, and telecomm and security infrastructure, positioning Applied Digital as the leader in identification technology. Applied Digital is the owner of a majority position in Digital Angel Corporation (AMEX: DOC).

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.

Contact: CEOcast, Inc. Investors: Ken Sgro, 212-732-4300 Direct Communications Group Media: John O. Procter, 202-772-2179
Source: VeriChip Corporation

[Calpernia]

I thought the original was that rock/planet x that was suppose to hit the earth.

Just can’t keep track of them all.

[Sig Sauer P220]

The mark of the beast.

[savedbygrace]

LOL.

[Oatka]

'Lobbyists from corporate mega-agribusiness designed this program to destroy traditional small sustainable agriculture,'

The money quote. Corporate ranches only have to tag the HERD, not each animal.

Big Agriculture is trying to do the same thing with HR 2749 - The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009

There's talk of using GPS to track your vehicle's mileage, so that just leaves an RFID under your skin to complete the setup.

And I thought "Brave New World" was fiction.