NoNAIS is my effort to spread the word of how harmful the USDA's National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is to small farmers, homesteaders, pet owners & consumers.
Use the comments of this post during this month if you have things you would like to bring to people’s attention and are not sure where else to post them. I’ll make a new Bulletin Board each month for free posting.
Have at it, communicate and keep up the good fight!
Cheers,
-WalterJ
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Just a reminder about the revolutionmarch.com to be held at Washington DC on July 12th at the Capitol. Check out their website;hit on “rally info” to see all the speakers and their topics; will be bands, etc. Ironically, when I contacted my congress person re: Rep. DeLauro’s attempt to tie Nais with the School lunch program, they were not aware of this march and rally, but are now going to send someone. Some of you may want to inform your congress people of it also. So far, there are 14,431+ people committed to attending. And, on another note, re: the NAU…I ran across this website.. kcsmartport.com Rep. Guest of Missouri will be talking at the revolutionmarch on the Kansas City Smart Port and the NAU, etc. Look at this website;hit on “trade corridors” at the top; you will then see two map sites on the left you can view. I find the second one, Continental Trade Corridor Map, interesting. You hit on this map: you get the U.S. map; then, at the top, you can add: the rail lines;then the hiways (corridors),the cities,etc. It is interesting, as you “fill in the picture”. You may want to see how it will impact where you live.
Comment The Phantom — July 1, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
Solar Fest in Tinmouth, Vermont is coming up. I believe the gates open Friday 7/11 at 3:00 pm and it runs Saturday 7/12 and Sunday 7/13 until 7:00 pm. Lots of cool stuff on alternative energy, low impact living workshops etc. Last year the author of Mad Sheep was there too. Probably be some fertile minds attending to tell about the evils of NAIS etc. GOOGLE Solar Fest to get the lowdown on music, exhibits, vendors etc. It’s a family atmosphere too.
Comment Bob Constantine — July 1, 2008 @ 5:15 pm
county fairs will be popping up all around this good old USofA in the next month or so and will give anti nais,anti nau,anti real id,anti whatever the chance to promote such groups as R-calf,vica ,farm to consumer,power house,ect.ect..we need to help build membership in these groups,this is the chance we need to get things done,lets get busy.
Comment nick — July 1, 2008 @ 10:02 pm
Ron Paul will be interviewed today (7/2)on revolutionbroadcasting.com at 9 p.m. eastern time on the upcoming revolution march and rally, etc.(notice is at campaignforliberty.com today) Also of interest, the great state of Oklahoma passed a “Joint Resolution claiming sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the U.S. over certain powers:serving notice to the federal government to “cease and desist” certain mandates…etc. This is Joint House Resolution 1089 …passed a few months back, and copies served to the President, Congress, etc…I found this at a website called readbtl.com/
Comment The Phantom — July 2, 2008 @ 6:00 am
text
this article about getting rid of all the wild horses in the USA would be a great opportunity to leave a comment about NAIS!!!
Comment esbee — July 2, 2008 @ 12:20 pm
Seems that an article against NAIS was published here “http://GraftonGazette.com/Current.pdf”
Modesty prevents me from declaring it a good article.
I hope I followed the linking instructions properly, if not google GraftonGazette.com/Current.pdf
The article is on page 9.
Comment Bob Constantine — July 2, 2008 @ 2:06 pm
In MN: Town hall meetings are being held across the state in MN where they are introducing the DRAFT recommendations of the MN Statewide Conservation and Preservation Plan (you can google by that name).
This is our states way of implementing Agenda 21.
It is BIG and it is PLANNED!
www.vtpi.org for where some of the idea originate.
Happy INDEPENDANCE DAY!
Comment LuAnn — July 3, 2008 @ 11:28 am
I haven’t explored the entire site yet so won’t speak for its overall integrity. However, I did hear the doctor and her husband both of whom started this site resource on Alex Jones.
They cover the impact of UN’s CODEX on food production world wide. It appears this plan is to work in favor of the medical ‘industry’ as human health deteriorates due to the ‘planned’ deterioration of food quality.
healthfreedom
Comment donna — July 3, 2008 @ 3:25 pm
Hey, Bob!
That was a great article. This is the perfect weekend for that to be available to readers. I hope the readership has plenty of opportunity to get a hold of one of those Grafton Gazettes while out and about & waiting for the parade and fireworks.
The interview I heard on Alex Jones today with the couple who started the healthfreedomusa site linked above reveals a whole other dimension to NAIS, GMO, doomsday seed banks, the medical health industry, and on and on…
Comment donna — July 3, 2008 @ 7:38 pm
With all the hot news this summer being about the “attack of the killer tomatoes” being infected by Sm and Ella, this would sure be a good time to find those articles and if they have a place to comment,
use it to explain NAIS and how NAIS would not stop something like this.
( The latest report is that it may NOT be tomatoes afterall
but something served with tomatoes like jalapeno peppers
this coming after many many acres of tomatoes were plowed under …My theory is the tomatoes came from Mexico where hygiene is not practiced or the tomatoes were spiked with samonella to start a scare.)
Comment esbee — July 5, 2008 @ 8:37 pm
a place to leave some comments about NAIS
text
Comment esbee — July 6, 2008 @ 10:45 am
Speaking of tomatoes. I watch the US Farm Report on TV every Sunday morning - 6 AM. John (not sure his last name) presented a very scary recap of the tomato situation last week and ended it with an emphatic “this is why we need the NAIS”. He is such a puppet. Of course most of the advertisers on this program are big ag. This morning his commentary was about ignorance leading to “conspiracy theories” and how far fetched it is to believe anyone has a hidden agenda and is manipulating food. He likened it to seeing a pony figure in a bunch of clouds which I thought was a really good analogy even if it is idiotic.
Comment Mary Beth — July 6, 2008 @ 11:22 am
I recommend that people may want to read this commentary:”Americans will be taxed for their carbon emissions” posted today, July 7th, at newswithviews.com . We need to become more aware about this “sustainable development” ….thing. I think it ties into Nais and Nass….While at this website, you may want to read Devvy Kidds, Tom Deweese’s and Frosty Wooldridge’s articles today.
Comment The Phantom — July 7, 2008 @ 8:05 am
Thanks Donna. The Grafton Gazette is the brain child of some freedom loving friends and me. We decided to “become” the media since we were not happy with the same old same old. The paper is depending on the audience, a small town paper heavy on editorials that promote freedom or a “libertarian rag”.
Not everybody can handle personal freedom I guess and they still prefer the Nanny State to run their lives…We may become a “real newspaper” sometime, but for now we are just having fun with informing people that freedom is not against the law (yet)…One of our favorite quotes from a fearful local was
“I don’t want them free staters coming here and cramming freedom down our throats”…Obviously we have our work cut out for us, I found that quote humerous, frightening and inspiring .
Glad you liked the article, alot of the idea behind it was shamelessly stolen from people like you and this website to promote NONAIS and the fight
to promote liberty. So thank you, Walter and so many others that “get it”.
Comment Bob Constantine — July 7, 2008 @ 9:41 am
speaking of tomatoes, last year it was spinach and also kroger’s meat recall going on….this is a good time to find those articles and if they have a place for comments to mention how NAIS will not work…why are farmers plowing under whole crops of tomatoes, how will that stop the infected tomatoes, as in when did they get the salmonella? certainly not in the field unless that is where the illegals pee and poo and then pick the crop without washing their hands.
Comment esbee — July 7, 2008 @ 10:18 am
#13 It doesn’t matter if this is tied into NAIS, People must fight this period. Remember Obama has a global poverty tax bill out that we need to keep an eye on and respond to when it is brought to our attention. People need to sign up to Downsize D.C. and to email alerts from other organizations and read it and respond being careful to read it closely.
Sustainable development is the term for Agenda 21, a United Nations mandate, if you have not read up on it I highly recommend you do. It is in play right now in all 50 states, it is a dictate to change your ways, sounds familiar doesn’t it?
The USA has paid allot of money to help developing nations, I would like to see where the accountability is for our money. I see no change in Africa, people are still staving, they are still facing droughts, aids is still rampant and they want more money from us via taxes.
Many people here in the USA believe that we are a problem with the environment, polluting everything, the air, the water, the land. Well CHINA is the biggest polluter and they are allowed to continue. Alaska use to have beautiful blue skies we now have the pollution from China and Russia blowing in, How nice that our mountains are in a haze and the air is filled with coal dust.
Downsize DC just sent out a new email and this caught my eyes.. issues aren’t settled just because Congress votes. We decide when an issue is settled, NOT Congress.
And that goes to our representatives at state level.
Comment Gisela — July 7, 2008 @ 11:14 am
What really scares the big corporate pseudo agriculture world is that consumers are seeing through their marlarky that big ag organic is not really organic and that the big corporate farms are feeding us disease. So they are trying to kill the small farms while they still have the chance. The share of small producers is growing. Buy from people you know!
Comment Daniel — July 7, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
Hi Gesela and I agree. The article I just suggested that people may want to read at newswithviews.com on “American’s will be taxed for their carbon emissions”, quotes Joan Veon…and references an article she wrote, at the bottom of their commentary. It would not come up for me, but she writes for newswithviews. Thus, go to the main page of NWV’s; find her name on the left sidebar; read her article of April 19, 2007 titled: “Capitalizing on Sustainable Development:Making Gold out of Green”…She concludes it with:”Call it green, call it gold, call it climate warming; the real description of Agenda 21’s capitalistic, global corporate fascism is….feudalism”. She is highly esteemed for her knowledge and “writings” and has a book titled: “The United Nation’s Global Strait Jacket”. Have not read it yet…thanks to all who share their wisdom and knowledge. I would not have had the first clue about all this global “stuff had it not been for others sharing….
[There was an article about this sort of thing here in Vermont. If they’re going to tax on carbon emissions I want payment for all the carbon my forests and fields are soaking up. I look forward to the government paying me for the 1,528.8 tons of carbon a year I’m sequestering. But no, of course, instead they have a real estate tax. Instead it should be a forestry and fields credit. -WJ]
Comment The Phantom — July 7, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
Congratulations, Bob! That is something a lot of us could be doing - creating our own newspapers, flyers, posters, handouts, etc. Most people are starved for information and do not know where to start looking for it.
And yes, Agenda 21 is the driving force for ’sustainable’ everything. ‘Sustainable’ meaning whatever the globalist decide is their definition of ’sustainable’.
The Wildlands Project is working to recreate vast wilderness areas which will essentially force the population into planned communities reliant on mass transportation. Family farms are not on the agenda.
Comment donna — July 7, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
Newbie Looking for some info about goats:
I have purchased some goats the past year that are registered with the ADGA. (American Dairy Goat Association) I live in KY, and they are pushing the Scrapie law/registration. For example, you now can not sell goats at the stockyards (effective 7-1-08) without scrapie id tags (which include premise id). I was wondering if there is concern that the ADGA would just hand over their membership list to the government for NAIS. Any thoughts? I didn’t sign up for the scrapie program-I choose to cut back so I have less to sell. Would you sign up for the scrapie program? I was afraid they would just transfer the scrapie premise id to NAIS. thanks, ann from KY
Comment Ann — July 7, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
Forestry and fields credit Walter? Good one.
Real Estate taxes? You never really “own” your property. Ever. Modern serfs? Some would say so.
Good air is a good thing. Government trying to control air is a bad thing…If 99% of all the bureacracies in Washington D.C. closed down that would get rid of alot of bad air right there.
Globalization is already under way, carbon credits are just one of the tools to be used to normalize certain things that are yet to come.
Comment Bob Constantine — July 8, 2008 @ 5:48 am
#20, Ann
Scrapie program enrollment is an automatic NAIS enrollment. That is the “mandatory” in voluntary. I wouldn’t do it, personally.
Comment Henwhisperer — July 8, 2008 @ 6:52 am
The article below shows why we should not buy produce from 3rd world countries, heck, they tell tourists not to drink the water yet they want us to eat the produce from countries where folks basically live in the stone age…I think those in power believe “sustainability” and “leaving a small carbon footprint means going back 100 years and living like those in 3rd world countries.
from msn…
It pays to go in an Indian public toilet
Program pays participants about $1 monthly to discourage public urination
NEW DELHI - It pays to use a toilet in southern India, as residents are earning close to a dollar a month by using public urinals, a scheme launched by authorities to promote hygiene and research in rural areas.
Dozens of people are queuing up to use toilets in Musiri, a remote town in Tamil Nadu state, where authorities have succeeded in keeping street corners clean with the new scheme, The Times of India newspaper said on Sunday.
“In fact, many of us started using toilets for urination only after the ecosan (ecological sanitation) toilets were constructed in the area,” said S. Rajasekaran, a truck cleaner.
The urine was also being collected and tested for its efficacy as a crop fertilizer, an official of the state’s agricultural university added.
People relieving themselves in the open is a common sight in India’s rural towns and villages, as basic sanitation still eludes millions.
Comment esbee — July 8, 2008 @ 9:28 am
Another use for RFID:
Link
Comment Ann N — July 8, 2008 @ 9:31 am
Also, Bob, I can’t quite figure out why the fact that non-commercial jet tankers spewing lingering particulate over America is absolutely ignored when the subjects of air quality, global warming, and fuel shortages are discussed by those seeking to make the earth safe from disease and pestilence.
Oh, and to insure democracy.
Comment donna — July 8, 2008 @ 10:52 am
#20 Ann
We switched from ADGA to the International Dairy Goat Registry who does not support NAIS in any way. In fact they have run ads in The Dairy Goat Journal against NAIS.
Call/Email Emily Yoder at the IDGR. Do a Google and it is easy to find.
Respectfully,
Sharon Sabo
Southern Coordinator
www.iicfa.org
——————–
Also:
MilkNHoney Nubians
Comment Mrs. Michael Sabo — July 8, 2008 @ 2:52 pm
text
Here is a story about NAIS and school lunch program just screaming for comments.
It’s at a website called slowfoodoncampus.
Comment esbee — July 10, 2008 @ 2:39 am
This looks interesting. “Secession:How Vermont and all the other states can save themselves from the Empire” by Thomas Naylor (just released; $9.60 at Amazon.) For a review today look at: lewrockwell.com/orig9/kreptul1.html At this review, Rockwell said:”Think of your local and state governments. They tax and spend. They manipulate and intervene. As with all governments from the beginning of time, they generally retard social progress and muck things up as much as possible. What they do not do, however, is wage massive global wars, run huge deficits, accumulate trillions in debt - reduce the value of money, bail out foreign governments, provide endless credits to failing enterprises and destructive social insurance schemes, or bring about immense swings in business activity”…Well, if we cannot beat Nais, we will all have to move to the future republic of Vermont….
Comment The Phantom — July 11, 2008 @ 5:07 am
Remember, the Revolution March and Rally is tomorrow, July 12th in Wash. DC…I encourage all to at least monitor the new website, campaignforliberty.com .It is for all “freedom” loving americans…I just checked out Ron Pauls congressional websiste: house.gov/paul/ and watched the video: (March 12th) on Ron Pauls’ speech on Budget and Monetary Policy…ties into the book I just referenced about this American Empire..At the new campaiginforliberty site, they put up a lot of videos…They gave the results on the FISA vote as soon as the information was known(it passed), and how all the congress people voted. CFL: Peace, Prosperity and Liberty….what is so wrong with that?
Comment The Phantom — July 11, 2008 @ 6:12 am
Phantom
I think we need to pick some where south. The sun has other ideas about Global Warming. can you say ICE AGE?
If Dr. Theodor Landscheidt(deceased) was correct, we now face the beginning of a new ice age. With the politicians in complete denial this will prove to be a very major catastrophe. Please checkout http://www.schulphysik.de/klima/landscheidt/iceage.htm. My husband, a physicist, says the information looks OK. Also check out http://www.iceagenow.com/Rising_Sea_Level_Claim_a_Total_Fraud.htm
and the rest of the articles on this site. If true we are in deep s*** (snow) and the American public needs to know NOW.
Still no sunspots….
The Yellowstone area is also looking a little iffy
Comment Snazy snezy — July 17, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
all clear given on tomatoes
Now that our all wise and knowing grabamint has declared it is once again safe to eat tomatoes, (but watch out for those peppers), it is a good time to comment on how NAIS would not have prevented this or other ways to segue into the evils of NAIS.
Comment esbee — July 17, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
flood this question with comments
This site asks about NAIS. I copied it below. I know we can come up with some good answers to it.
The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is being implemented across the United States and will be a mandatory program by January 2009. As a part of the NAIS, dairy and beef producers are being asked to register their premises. What is the process for doing this?
Comment esbee — July 18, 2008 @ 1:48 pm
Breaking news. rallyfortherepublic.com/ is a new website, just put up, for the forthcoming “convention” for August 31 to September 2 in Minneapolois, Minnesota sponsored by the campaignforliberty.com You have a message from Ron Paul at the main site. “The Campaign for liberty will be the largest organization for peace, freedom, the Constitution and sound money in American”. You do not have to be a republican or any thing else to join the CFL; just believe in the above.
Comment The Phantom — July 22, 2008 @ 5:38 am
Well, I just tried the new site and it must be just getting up, so go to campaignforliberty.com and todays main story is the “Letter from Ron Paul”…hit on the “red “x” in the box, and that takes you to the new website. They have rented the “Target Center; the largest arena in Minneapolis. We need to get a speaker on NAIS at this event.So,check it out.
Comment The Phantom — July 22, 2008 @ 6:01 am
I just received this announcement in an email from E-Calf. Go R-Calf!
R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America
“Fighting for the U.S. Cattle Producer”
For Immediate Release Contact: Shae Dodson, Communications Coordinator
July 23, 2008 Phone: 406-672-8969; e-mail: sdodson@r-calfusa.com
Groups Urge Congress to Immediately Halt Any Further Advancement of NAIS;
Also Request Oversight Hearing to Investigate NAIS Activities
Washington, D.C. – In formal correspondence sent today to the leaders of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, two national groups and nine others – all from different states – requested that Congress immediately halt any further advancement of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and to conduct an oversight hearing on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) NAIS activities to carefully and deliberately investigate the full ramifications of USDA’s NAIS-related actions and proposals.
“USDA’s procedures for advancing and implementing NAIS are improper, if not outright unlawful, and yet, Congress continues to appropriate funding for NAIS, subjecting U.S. farmers and ranchers to extraordinary pressure from USDA to assist the agency in its implementation of an unproven, questionable and potentially cost-prohibitive program that Congress itself has not seen fit to authorize,” said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry.
The groups – R-CALF USA, South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska, Independent Cattlemen of Iowa, Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming, Buckeye Quality Beef Association, Oregon Livestock Producers Association, Colorado Independent CattleGrowers (sic) Association, Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, Independent Beef Association of North Dakota and the Cornucopia Institute – assert that:
* USDA has misrepresented Privacy Act protections to U.S. livestock producers when as early as August 2006, former Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns assured producers their information was protected under the Privacy Act and could not and would not be released, which was false. USDA did not attempt to secure NAIS data under the Privacy Act system of records until April 30, 2008. Additionally, it remains uncertain as to whether such records are entitled to Privacy Act protections.
* USDA has improperly acquired premises registrations by registering premises without farmer or rancher consent. Evidence shows there are likely thousands of citizens whose premises were registered in the NAIS directory against their will or without their knowledge. In Idaho, for example, citizens’ information was obtained by tapping into the state’s brand database and summarily assigning numbers to brand owners. Also, improper tactics have been directed at minors involved in 4-H to secure NAIS registrations. Therefore, USDA cannot claim that NAIS is voluntary when its own cooperators and contractors are mandating NAIS participation.
* Several states have found it necessary to pass legislation to protect citizens from USDA’s NAIS-related advances that promote government-sanctioned animal identification systems. Nebraska passed a law that provides a formalized procedure for citizens to withdraw their premises registrations should the state establish an NAIS-type animal identification system. Kentucky passed a law to prevent release of its citizens’ confidential information for the purposes of NAIS. Arizona passed a law to prohibit the state from mandating, or otherwise forcing, participation in NAIS. Missouri passed a law to prohibit the state from mandating, or otherwise forcing, citizens to comply with NAIS premises registration and to authorize citizens to withdraw from NAIS at any time.
* USDA is proceeding without regard to stakeholder cost, liability and confidentiality concerns. Livestock producers already operate on extremely tight profit margins and there have been no studies to determine if NAIS is economically feasible for family farmers and ranchers. The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) predicts economic returns to producers will remain negative and could hit -$51.87 per cow by 2012. USDA also claims the sole purpose of NAIS is to have the information to trace an animal disease incident within 48 hours. However, in its Business Plan to Advance NAIS, USDA states it intends to assist meatpackers in transferring NAIS information to carcasses.
“This new purpose for NAIS bears the unmitigated potential to expose individual producers to liability for problems that occur after an animal leaves the farm, which could prove financially devastating to producers should meatpackers or others attempt to share fault along the entire chain of custody for problems they have created themselves,” Thornsberry warned.
* USDA’s ongoing NAIS activities usurp congressional authority and potentially violate Administrative Procedures Act rules.
“Though numerous bills have been introduced in Congress to authorize USDA to establish some sort of animal identification system, Congress has not acted to delegate any such authorization to USDA,” Thornsberry concluded. “R-CALF and many other groups have repeatedly appealed to Congress to cease any further advancement of NAIS, but our requests have gone unheeded. Now we are respectfully, but strongly, urging Congress to immediately halt further advancement of NAIS and to conduct an oversight hearing on USDA’s NAIS activities so that the full ramifications of USDA’s NAIS-related actions can be carefully and deliberately investigated.”
# # #
R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on trade and marketing issues. Members are located across 47 states and are primarily cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and/or feedlot owners. R-CALF USA has dozens of affiliate organizations and various main-street businesses are associate members. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
Comment Mary Beth — July 24, 2008 @ 6:06 am
sue is right,even if you own 1 chicken you need to be a member of R-CALF. even if you dont own a chicken ,but believe in small american farmers and ranchers you need to be a member of R-CALF.help the cattlemen to stop it,it stops every where.
Comment nick — July 24, 2008 @ 10:15 pm
somone sent this to me by email that they had got from someone else by email and i wanted to share as this is scary…………
I wanted to add this one piece that feels left off - Veneman’s direct connection to Monsanto. That alone should help to fry the idea because liberal do at least know who Monsanto is.
What is wrong with Obama? Sold out already? He has to know she was terrible for farmers and more craziness on globalization. I had thought Hightower was advising him.
Best,
Linn
P.S. Some articles on Veneman and Monsanto.
Monsanto’s High Level Connections to the Bush Administration …
The current secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman, was on the board of directors of Calgene Pharmaceuticals, an affiliate of Monsanto. …
link
New USDA Head, Ann Veneman, A Cheerleader for Biotech & Globalization
Ann Veneman, 51, no stranger to “free trade,” genetic engineered crops and … Policy Institute and former lobbyist for Monsanto, has praised the pick of …
link
Kerry and Monsanto: Sleeps With Wolves ROBERT COHEN / Notmilk 2feb04
Biogen was purchased by Monsanto [More on Monsanto] at a time when Ann Veneman was on its board of directors. Today, Ann Veneman is America’s Secretary of …
link
YouTube - Genetic Foods/Monsanto Revealed 2/3
Anne Veneman, Former US Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman …
10 min -link
On Jul 27, 2008, at 12:27 AM, Rudy Arredondo wrote:
Obama’s Uniquely Awful Veep Prospect 2 hours, 4 minutes ago
The Nation
July 26, 2008
The Nation — Barack Obama’s vice presidential search team had begun floating the name of former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, one of George Bush’s most loyal lieutenants, as a possible running-mate on the 2008 Democratic ticket.
What the Obama camp is doing is clear enough. They are signaling that the candidate might consider a bipartisan “unity” ticket. That’s reasonable, as long as the Republican has some record of taking stands that might by some reasonable stretch of the imagination be considered breaks with Republican orthodoxy. Of course, Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, an edgier critic of the Bush administration’s foreign policies than most Democrats who recently traveled with Obama to Afghanistan and Iraq, tops most lists of cross-over contenders.
Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, a determined internationalist who like Obama opposed attacking Iraq and generally served as a moderate (some would even say “liberal”) Republican, would fit the bill.
Maybe someone like former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee, a steadfast Iraq War foe who has endorsed Obama, would find a place on a list of possible running mates.
Perhaps former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Danforth, who was no liberal when he served as a senator from Missouri but who is universally recognized as an honorable and realistic political player, would fit the bill.
But Ann Veneman?
Veneman would be a uniquely awful choice.
All of her political roots are in California — where her father was a prominent ally of Ronald Reagan — a state Obama will win with or without her in November.
Veneman is not trusted by farm and rural folk, so it would be ridiculous to think that adding her to the ticket would help in Midwestern and Plains states that might be in play this fall. In fact, this uniquely un-charismatic bureaucrat who has never held elective office was booed on visits to farm country when she served as Bush’s Secretary of Agriculture.
And Veneman, whose background was as a corporate lawyer specializing in trade issues, was known to organized labor as one the most militant advocates for free trade in a militantly pro-free trade Bush administration.
In sum, it is hard to imagine a worse Republican to put on a Democratic ticket.
When Veneman first entered the national spotlight in 2001, I penned an assessment of her record for The Nation.
It was titled “No Friend of the Farmer” and read:
The fierce farm crisis that is ravaging rural America garnered scant attention during the 2000 presidential campaign, so it came as no surprise that President-elect George W. Bush’s nominaton of Ann Veneman for the post of Agriculture Secretary received far less attention than those of several others. Yet, because of the broad authority she would be handed and because of her extreme politics, Veneman merits every bit as much scrutiny as that directed at Bush’s more high-profile appointments. Veneman’s track record leaves little doubt that if confirmed she will use her position as head of a powerful agency with 100,000 employees, an $82 billion budget and responsibility for implementing federal farm policy, protecting food safety and defending public lands, to advance what farm activist Mark Ritchie describes as “strictly pro-agribusiness, pro-pesticide company, pro-pharmaceutical company positions.”
As a key member of the Reagan and Bush farm teams, as former California Governor Pete Wilson’s Food and Agriculture Department director, as an agribusiness lawyer and as a member of the national steering committee of Farmers and Ranchers for Bush, Veneman has rarely missed an opportunity to advance the interests of food-production and -processing conglomerates, to encourage policies that lead to the displacement of family farms by huge factory farms, to open public lands for mineral extraction and timbering, to support genetic modification of food and to defend biotech experimentation with agriculture. Indeed, Veneman served on the board of Calgene, the corporation that in 1994 launched the first genetically engineered food, and she declared last year that “we simply will not be able to feed the world without biotechnology.”
With Veneman’s encouragement, California developed an increasingly conglomerated, big-farm, chemically enhanced version of food production that Iowa Farmers Union president John Whitaker describes as “an entirely different face of agriculture” from that practiced or desired by most working farmers. “I don’t want to see that face transferred to Iowa,” says Whitaker. But with Veneman at the reins of the USDA as Congress prepares to rewrite the dismally flawed Freedom to Farm Act, the transfer would likely be unavoidable.
Veneman would not merely be hustling to deliver for Bush’s corporate contributors on domestic farm policy and public-land-use issues; she’d also be working for them on the international stage. A militant free-trader, Veneman helped negotiate the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (which led to the World Trade Organization) and NAFTA. Even as family farmers were marching in Seattle to protest WTO interference with agricultural supports and food-safety standards, Veneman was there to tell the WTO to be more aggressive in removing so-called technical barriers to trade. So determined is Veneman to advance the free-trade agenda that Bush transition-team aides briefly considered her as a candidate for the position of US Trade Representative.
Veneman “seems to be coming in with the notion that her job is to be as extreme as possible in parroting the agribusiness line,” says Ritchie, president of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. “The problem is that that line is completely out of sync with what farmers want, what consumers want and what we know to be scientifically, ecologically and economically right.”
I followed Ann Veneman’s tenure as Secretary of Agriculture closely — noting her frequent abandonment of her official duties to advocate for free-trade pacts that harmed the interests of working farmers in the U.S., undermined the ability of African farmers to feed their families and neighbors and generally tilted the balance in favor of the international corporate agribusiness interests for which she had always worked.
Nothing that Veneman did during her years in the service of George Bush and Dick Cheney led me to alter my opinion of her. Indeed, she confirmed the accuracy of the initial concerns expressed by farm and rural activists.
The selection of Ann Veneman as Barack Obama’s running-mate would not balance the Democratic ticket. Rather, the selection of Veneman would discredit that ticket in the eyes of Americans who want change — as opposed to the worst of the status quo.
[When posting articles please give a link back to the original. In this case, based on using Google on the title, the link would be link. Thank you, -WJ]
Comment Max — July 27, 2008 @ 3:38 am
“Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program” to require Premises ID.
link
“To qualify for the cost share, producers must have a Premise Identification Number and have their Beef Quality Assurance Certification.”
Sharon Sabo
Illinois Independent Consumers and Farmers Association
link
Comment Mrs. Michael Sabo — July 28, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
mrs sabo,a while back walter had on his site about the problem of eating the corn,i believe if you are willing to eat the corn then you must be willing to go through the gate.
Comment nick — July 28, 2008 @ 9:16 pm
This is all just one more way that the government is creaping up on us. They are predatory in nature. People are sheeple.
Comment Andy — July 29, 2008 @ 9:11 am
we got a call from the usda on a survey
didnt answer them
Comment Susan — July 29, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
It is discouraging how those people keep chipping away at our rights with regulations, zoning and the like. They want to factory farm people so we are good little production units.
Comment FrankF — July 30, 2008 @ 12:45 am
I figured out how to finally post, but lost my comment. Using Safari was the solution. I just has so much trouble with Microsoft s browser Explorer.
Comment Heather — July 30, 2008 @ 3:00 am
Walter thank you for making this site.
I have found it invaluable in educating myself and friends and family about the dangers of NAIS.
The government just wants you to know what good is NAIS but fails to mention the fine print.
You lose your Constitutional rights!!!
Comment Unaa — July 30, 2008 @ 5:12 am
Walter I just want to thank you for everything you do. This bulletin board idea at the start of echa and every month is a great idea!
Comment Viv — July 30, 2008 @ 10:20 am
What is the word on COOL and NAIS?
Is it being a back door entry for the USDA to force NAIS on us?
Comment Erica Hanson — July 30, 2008 @ 3:15 pm
July 30, 2008
There is a rebroadcast of Derry Brownfield’s Show at the following link. Go to Derry’s ON DEMAND link and choose your player.
He is interviewing an R-Calf board director on R-Calf’s efforts to address the issues impacting independent farmers.
Comment donna — July 30, 2008 @ 4:37 pm
For some reason the link doesn’t show up. I’ll try once more:
brownfield
Derry talks at length about consumer rights, farmer/rancher rights, the NAIS fiasco, meat imports, etc.
Comment donna — July 30, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
There is an update to the Montpelier vermont compost ban at the following page
link
Some of those city people in the capital just dont get it from what I read in the comments. I guess theyre lab rats. The pipe probably goes directly from anus to mouth.
Comment Arthur — July 31, 2008 @ 5:14 am
I just came across this and could not resist posting it.
Monsanto Receives Recognition for Commitment to Safety
“…ST. LOUIS, May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Monsanto has received the Dale
Randall Traveling Award from Chapter VII of the Voluntary Protection Program
Participants Association (VPPPA). Monsanto is the second recipient of the
award, which recognizes companies for their dedication to raising safety
awareness in the workplace.
The chapter’s board of directors selects the award recipient based on its
performance in occupational safety, health and environmental management…”
text
Comment Snazy snezy — August 1, 2008 @ 7:44 pm
Gee I didn’t know Organic Farming was BAD for the planet. Seems studies show Big Ag is MORE enivornmentally friendly than small organic farmers…Gee I wonder who paid for that study, Monsanto maybe..
mad cow facts
Comment Snazy snezy — August 11, 2008 @ 5:00 pm
RNC protester arrested in homes and private gathering places
I hope this does not effect the Ron Paul supporters.
This just makes me sick. So much for our Constitution. As a republican I refuse to vote for ANY republicans after this.
“They said if you don’t show us ID and get your picture taken, we will arrest you and take you away,” said Michelle Gross, resident of Communities United Against Police Brutality, who had arrived five or ten minutes before the raid began, planning to attend a meeting. “They never said what the basis for arrests would be. we were waiting for a meeting, for God’s sake! I cannot tell you how much like a police state that felt to me.”
“A trio of journalists who have a track record of documenting police abuse at political conventions were stopped during the early morning hours in Minneapolis. Police took their video equipment, cell phones, hard drive and notes about protests planned for next week’s Republican National Convention.”
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Comment Snazy snezy — August 31, 2008 @ 7:55 am
snazy,i dont like this kind of action either, but you need to think about your vote(it counts).it seems we dont get to vote FOR anyone anymore but just get to vote for the less of the two evils.we have a lot of gov.in our lives already,but a win for the mule will finish off.we all need to think about our vote and not vote stupid.your friend,nick
Comment nick — September 1, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
snazy,i made a mistake ,i said a win for the mule when it should have been a win for the donkey will finish us off.
Comment nick — September 3, 2008 @ 3:53 am
Nick,
You are thinking the way our Corporate masters want us to think. Obama is bought. Checkout the global Poverty Tax.
tax
This is giving Monsanto, Cargill and company the money and clout they need to ouest farmers from their land in other countries. If Obama was a true democrat he would have opposed the global poverty tax.
Obama said: “We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”
When Brzezinski was advising Pres. Carter he argued that the American standard of living wass still much too high. The American standard of living had been reduced by about 2/3 since the Kennedy assassination. But Brzezinski said: “No that’s still too much. They are opulent,” he said, “they are hedonistic, they have monstrous consumption.” And Brzezinski said: “This is a problem in the world because people are envious and resentful of this so we’re going to lower it even further.”
Brzezinski was teaching in the department Obama was majoring in at Columbia. Those are the years missing from Obama’s biography.
McCain is just as bad. He doesn’t try to hide the fact he is bought by the corporate masters. And the Police brutality at the RNC shows the future for farm law enforcement. Not a pretty picture.
Our only hope is to get rid of the rigged voting machines and vote third party. Those are the only REAL choices. Vote for the corporate masters or vote third party.
Even if a third party does not win a strong showing sents a signal that the SHEEPLE are waking up, and perhaps slowing the corporate agenda down. That is our best hope.
Comment Snazy snezy — September 8, 2008 @ 7:07 am
sanzy,ron paul has and is still my pick of the bunch,BUT he CANT win so dont waste your vote.pick the least of the two evils and that would be john mccain.the sheeple cant send a signal by voting someone that cant win.
Comment nick — September 10, 2008 @ 9:53 pm
Nick
Ron Paul is sending his supporters to FOUR different minor players, so there goes any hope of a cosolidated third party with some teeth.GRRrr
More Attacks on Small Farmers:
China:Organic food declared deadly
A working team at Nanjing University in China has published preliminary findings based on a three year study of the safety of organically grown vegetables and organically raised livestock.
The study alleges that the there is very substantial evidence that the very same chemicals and artificial substances that make produce less attractive to insects and pests protects the human body by making it less fertile for the growth of cancers and viruses.
The study noted that artificial additives, whether, flavour and particularly preservatives made the human body a less attractive place for the growth of all tumours. The reports sites the obvious and well publicised decline in cancer rates in countries like the U.S and Germany where highly modified foods are a big part of the diet.
Dr Shun Huang who presented the findings to a meeting of Chinese health organisation heads said he found the findings unsurprising. ‘Obviously the more organic the human body the more susceptible it is to age old disease. Proponents of organic food are quick to point out the downside of artificial ingredients but ignore the ironic fact that these very ingredients are somewhat ‘disliked’ by the various viral and cancerous growth that attack our organs’.
all news web
Comment Snazy snezy — September 11, 2008 @ 7:18 am