If we have the right to bear arms then surely we should have the right to keep our farms…
A federal appeals court in Washington today struck down on Second Amendment grounds a gun control law in the District of Columbia that bars residents from keeping handguns in their homes.
The court relied on a constitutional interpretation that has been rejected by nine federal appeals courts around the nation. The decision was the first from a federal appeals court to hold a gun-control law unconstitutional on the ground that the Second Amendment protects the rights of individuals, as opposed to a collective right of state militias.
-NYTimes
We need protection for our traditional rights to farm without government interferences, without enumeration, without requirements for mandatory premises registration as is being pushed for by the the USDA and the National Pork Producers Council:
In its ongoing effort to implement a national swine identification system, the National Pork Producers Council said Wednesday it will ask marketplace players, including meat packers, and swine breed registries, to require premises identification numbers from pork producers.
During the NPPC’s annual business meeting held in Anaheim, Calif., last week, delegates approved a resolution calling for packers to require premises ID numbers as a condition of sale and for breed registries to do it as part of the registration process, the NPPC said in a press release. Delegates also passed a resolution stating that producers continue to support a mandatory national ID system.
The NPPC and the National Pork Board agreed in 2005 to form a task force, made up of industry stake-holders, to implement a national swine ID system based on one that the pork industry has had in place since 1988. That system was used to successfully eradicate pseudorabies, NPPC said.
Supported by previously approved delegate resolutions, the task force has called for mandatory premises registration, which includes owner and location data, by Dec. 31, 2007, and mandatory animal IDs for all relevant species by Dec. 31, 2008.
According to an analysis conducted by the National Pork Board, more than 50% of pork producers nationwide already have registered their premises.
-CattleNetwork
First of all, their goal is unrealistic, they’ll never get 100%, and their estimate of current compliance is way off - no way do they already have 50%. But, reread that. They want to make it so that if you raise a pig you can’t take it to butcher without a premise ID. Remember the USDA said Premises ID will now only be voluntary (at the federal level)? Well they’re giving big money grants to groups like NPPC to make NAIS mandatory by shutting down the markets, shutting down transportation, shutting down sources of new livestock, etc. And the NPPC directors bought into it - bunch of hogs.
If they’ll do that to pork producers, to pig farmers, to swine herders, then they’ll do it to you. And I am not just talking about your chickens. Never forget that this nation was founded by a rebellious group of founding farmers. We may have to fight in the courts, or beyond, to maintain our rights to bear farms.
Hat tip to Mary & Tom
The old addage is true “Money is the root of all evil”.
The USDA knows how to get what they want and who to approach with it to get their dirty work done.
They have been paying Oklahoma public school Ag teachers $15 to get their FFA kids to sign up for premise IDS of their parents farms. When you try to contact your local Ag departments about it they say they know nothing about it and tell you to contact some career place that they may could give you more information.
How do you fight lies and deceits?
Comment Jan Lytle — March 14, 2007 @ 4:34 pm
Founding fathers ? Angry farmers ? Right to bear arms ?
All good. All important parts of this country’s history.
I don’t need the New York Times or A federal court to tell me what I already know, we as individuals have the right to bear arms…no I’m not a gun toting red neck, but I do have two bumper stickers, the one on the left is a Nonais sticker, the one on the right concerns the 2nd amendment.
If “they” don’t hear the left sticker, well I’ve still got the right one! If “they” don’t let us keep our rights to raise animals we have two choices…bend over and take it
or consider using all means available to keep our rights, including those guaranteed by the 2nd amendment and many state constitutions.
If angry farmers made a point 200 + years ago, I think we may have to consider all of our options in the present day.
History repeats itself? I think so…they had a King George then too! :)
Comment Bob Constantine — March 14, 2007 @ 8:11 pm
jan, money is not the root of all evil,but it is the love of money. making money in its self is not wrong ,only if you make it at someone elses expense, and this happens with forced compliance of any form. when things become mandatory they have heavy price tags.
[I agree with Nick on this - it is an important distinction. It is greed that is the problem, the evil. It could be greed for anything, money is but one abstraction. -WJ]
Comment nick lecompte — March 15, 2007 @ 6:22 am
Ya now, if NAIS is indeed part and parcel of the WTO, then it only seems to make sense that eventually, every single person who eats in the whole world will have to file reports when they eat an animal, such as a shark caught in Japanese waters, a lizard in Borneo or a monkey in the Amazon rain forest! Those animals can have and spread diseases, too! I am sure chipmakers have their idea people working on this one; kill monkey, insert chip, file report, roast and enjoy!
How are they going to keep track of all those little ants or other bugs that some tribes feast on?
Comment SUSAN — March 15, 2007 @ 7:35 am
My family fought to bear arms…and we do.. We will absolutely fight to bear FARMS…..And Beyond……..
Comment Lin Gendron — March 15, 2007 @ 8:46 am
Sober thought. ALL related to …life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness seem to be under attack to either eradicate or privatize them to individual or state control.
Comment Jack — March 15, 2007 @ 9:10 am
Ya know ole King George had a plan to put the screws to those rebel farmers and folks,
breath threats down their necks, fine them ,tax them belittle and degrade them and put the fear of the govicorp into them,make them see that they needed them to protect them
after all, his cronies, the shipping companies and traders(read Monsanto,ADM,Cargill ect) had spent and lost alot of money fighting those french and Indians,(inventing/researching new ways and technologies in order to absolutely destroy real farming)they had to recoup some losses,(are you seeing any paralels yet?
He had to make them afraid to stand up, or to speak out against him or his loyal campaign contributors ,to isolate them and to make them bow to the power of the state,(and to corporate power)and by God he would make them bow to his power,you could take it to the bank,
but as often happens in these matters, a funny thing happened on the way to the bank that day………:)
Comment LEE — March 15, 2007 @ 9:11 pm
“the National Pork Producers Council said Wednesday it will ask marketplace players, including meat packers, and swine breed registries, to require premises identification numbers from pork producers”
Wisconsin is already doing this.
Vets are telling farmers that they have to show their premise ID or give them the number to perform services.
Goat shows are requiring proof of premise ID, to enter your animals (open shows, not just 4H). They have a line on the entry forms for it.
Now I ask you, what happened to “this information will remain confidential and be given out only in the event of an emergency”????
Now something I will point out from my own personal experience, when you confront these people (vets, clubs) and refuse to do it, they have backed down. Which tells me that they know they are on slippery legal slope.
When I demanded that my vet show me the proof of this “requirement” he couldn’t and months later still has not done so.
Stand your ground folks and don’t let them intimidate you!!
Comment Lois Jordan — March 15, 2007 @ 10:20 pm
NH’s Real ID battle is still on going. Hopeful that this time real id will be killed.
Real ID article, Union Leader
There is a comment box at the bottom of this article. Use it!
Comment Sue F — March 16, 2007 @ 3:35 am
Interesting timing??
VT’s AG just spouted the dangers of raw milk. This weeks NH market bulletin has an article about how dangerous raw milk is.
NH has been trying to hire a second state vet for the north country. There has been a series of articles in various newspapers about how hard it is to get a large animal vet to a farm. Now I’m seeing the same tactic in Maine.
Point? I don’t know if there is any point to anything I’m thinking at 5 a.m. Except that Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are tiny little states without great amounts of money or population. Like it it or not our fortunes are connected. As one falls so do the others. We need to go back to the old way of paying attention to our neighbors and helping them. Might be as little as a comment box in a newspaper article, could be a letter or phone call to the various legislatures. Every little bit helps.
Comment Sue F — March 16, 2007 @ 3:57 am
As soon as the term “stake holders” appeared it was clear which side their bread is butter on. UN speak is a dead giveaway every time.
Comment Patricia Hampton — March 16, 2007 @ 8:49 am
Just a thought, not only is it a good idea to question and stand firm against folks like vets and meatcutters and others who push NAIS,with holding sevices(or parroting the party line)
it is that folks need to learn to doctor their own animals,cut their own meat,teach your self any skill you can learn for which you are forced to depend on outsiders for.
I know this is not practical for everyone and in every situation, but I believe many more folks could learn some more of these self-suffecient skills which are nessesary to run a farm or homestead should the service become unavailable.
We need to establish networks of folks to work with and to trade with, folks we can work with and support on a day to day basis.
Now would be the time to begin to establish these relationships because even if we stop this NAIS madness we face other threats to this way of life and not the least is the “disconnect” from each other.
I know a bit whereof I speak as I am not a “people” person ,there is a reason I live out here in the sticks, and I am talking to me as much as anyone else,
but I do realize that we must have some interaction with likeminded folks to talk to and to share ideas and such,
most folks have a circle of friends who they share ideas and things with, but it may be a good idea to expand that circle,
searching out folks who have skills or goods that you may need access to in the event of a problem. Thanks!
Comment LEE — March 16, 2007 @ 6:19 pm