Yesterday I received a reply from Senator Leahy. It is aways hard to tell with him if it is just a canned response, a form letter or perhaps a real live personal letter. I did note a change in attitude, a little softening of his previously hard stance supporting the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). This is important as our dear Senator Leahy from Vermont, along with Arlen Spector of PA, was one of the enabling supporters of legislation that allowed the USDA to create the monster of NAIS. Below is my letter replying to Senator Leahy followed by his letter. I post this as an overview and review of the issues.
Dear Senator Leahy,
It is good to see that you are starting to realize that there are problems with the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) but I do not think you understand the true burden that NAIS will put on small farmers and folks raising their own food. I also do not think you realize how outraged people are about NAIS invading their privacy and trampling on their Constitutional rights. There is no need for the Premise ID, Animal ID or tracking of these people. On top of all that, NAIS will not be an effective system of disease control. Disease prevention could be accomplished with much simpler and less intrusive methods such as educating people in proper bio-security and health practices. We do not need Big Brother micromanaging our lives.
On a related note, right now you are on my “Naughty” list in the right hand sidebar of my web site http://NoNAIS.org because of your support for NAIS and for your part in creating this monstrosity. While I like that you are modifying your stance about NAIS I am still not at all pleased with your representation of Vermonters in Washington. You supporting the big moneyed interests at the loss to common Vermonters. We voted for you, not the big lobbyists.
I speak to you as someone who has supported you in the past, a Vermonter and small farmer. We do not need NAIS in the slightest. Our pastured pork customers know exactly where their food comes from - it was bred, born and raised on our farm. Customers can come by and see their food in our fields any day of the week. If someone wants to know where their food comes from, they should Buy Local which supports their local farmers, preserves open spaces and puts money into their local economy rather than the pockets of big Agri-Biz in distant corporate offices. If they want trace-back then they should pay a premium in a voluntary, market driven system so that the farmers get paid something extra for providing the service which will cost them time and money.
Our secondary sales are piglets, mostly to the many hundreds of rural folk who want to raise a summer pig for themselves, family and friends in order to put meat on the table. They do not need any government bureaucracy to tell them where the pig came from. Those people came to our farm, picked up the piglet and took it home to raise. They know exactly where their pig came from, they know what they fed it and how it was cared for to produce quality home-grown pork. Homesteaders don’t need the government intrusion in raising healthy food. NAIS will burden them with about $500 a year in added expense with no benefit. This amounts to hidden tax on food they have raised themselves. Not only is that unfair, since food is not normally taxed, but you are putting this burden on poorer, rural folk who can least afford to pay out more money each year from their meager incomes.
Perhaps NAIS might be a good idea for the large factory farms and feed lots selling into the anonymous commercial food stream of big stores. Maybe NAIS will help the big beef exporters sell to foreign markets, like Japan, which is the original reason for NAIS. It will certainly make the RFID industry rich with selling 12,000,000,000 mandatory tags a year at $3 a pop. NAIS will put money into the states’ coffers as a hidden tax at 2,000,000 “farm premises” at $10 each for Premise ID - taxing us on something we have always done with no benefit. What NAIS will not do is help small farms, the rural poor or consumers who will ultimately pay the price through less choice and higher prices as the national food supply is consolidated into the hands of fewer and fewer large corporations. NAIS only benefits the rich.
NAIS is not necessary or beneficial to small family farms, homesteaders or pet livestock owners. NAIS will cost us time and money in the form of increased taxes, fees, fines, tags, equipment and wasted time filling out more government forms. Imagine doing your own taxes every week of the year. NAIS is so complex that a great many people will get it wrong and be assessed enormous, onerous fines for simple mistakes making criminals out of honest people.
NAIS started out as a way of opening foreign markets for the few big beef exporters. That justification is still the real reason for NAIS but it is not a politically correct reason so the USDA had to come up with some other excuse. Disease prevention is the new justification for NAIS. At first they said BSE claim that NAIS is not necessary for BSE prevention (Testimony by Steve Kerr, VT Ag Comm.) which is simply caused by feeding cows to cows - imagine that! Now they are claiming we need NAIS to prevent Avian Influenza. NAIS won’t prevent Avian Flu. Migratory wild birds and human travelers are the vectors for avian flu. NAIS will do nothing for either of those and knowing where all the domestic birds are located will also do nothing good as they are merely terminal hosts.
Moreover, NAIS does not track domestic pet cats, who are a host of Bird Flu and NAIS and Premise ID does nothing about the exotic bird trade and pet stores [per VT Ag Com Kerr 3/22/06 hearing] which is a much more likely source of problems than bio-diverse heritage breeds of backyard poultry. Why doesn’t the USDA and Vermont Agriculture Department want to include these species? Because the American people would virtually all be directly affected. If everyone were the targeted they would strongly oppose NAIS. Instead the USDA is picking on a small minority group who lacks powerful lobbyists to protect them - the last remaining family farmers. NAIS is not about disease, it is about profits and power for a select few rich and powerful corporations.
If the government really wants to do something about Avian Flu then they should be educating the public on how to take care of themselves, how to always keep on hand a three month supply of food, how to do basic first aid, how to survive, not just a pandemic, but all sorts of disasters from earth quakes to hurricanes to floods and more. After all, it has been repeatedly proven that we can not depend on the government for help in times of crisis. If you want to help people, teach them to safely raise their own food so that more people might actually have a chance of surviving troubled times. But no, that is not something we’ll see the government do because people living independently does not sell RFID tags, factory farmed chicken nuggets, feedlot stuffed beef, drive the economy or generate more taxes and fees for the state & federal coffers. Our government has fallen into a rut of co-dependence that is producing a weaker and weaker country. Lets see you get a spine and stand up — fight for a stronger, more independent America.
Lastly, the USDA’s proposed NAIS is unconstitutional. Specifically it violates the 1st, 4th, 5th, 14th and possibly the 13th Amendments to the United States Constitution. The foundation of our country, our Bill of Rights, is already under gross assaults from many sides. We do not need more tyrannical Nanny State regulations passed down from the USDA that will give them invasive powers to violate our privacy, circumvent due process of law and do warrant-less searches. As ex-Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor recently observed, our country is slipping towards dictatorship. The government should not be in the fascist business of micromanaging Americans’ lives - we are supposed to be the land of the free. You are our representative in the Senate for Vermont and I expect you to stand up for the common folks’ rights, to protect our independence from overreaching government bureaucracy and big corporate greed.
If we are to have trace-back, a stated purpose of NAIS, then it should be a completely voluntary system that is totally market driven. Frankly, there is not even a need for the USDA, or the government in any form, to be involved. If buyers like McDonald’s want it, let them pay farmers something extra to provide that service. With NAIS being mandatory there will be no premium for the added cost of providing trace-back. Small farmers will be deprived of income by a mandatory program that would make them work harder to earn the same wage. NAIS hurts farmers coming and going. Keeping NAIS 100% voluntary will benefit farmers, homesteaders, rural folk and ultimately consumers. It will leave the burden off of those of use who do not need it and should not have to bear this cost just for the benefit of a few rich corporations.
Thank you,
Walter Jeffries
A Pretty Pissed Off Pig Producer
Sugar Mountain Farm
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://NoNAIS.org
Senator Leahy’s Letter that prompted my letter above:
Dear Mr. Jeffries:
Thank you for contacting me about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). I appreciate hearing from you.
Since 1998, I have been proud to work with the Holstein Association in Brattleboro to create an animal identification pilot program. The Holstein Association’s program, partially funded with assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is a precursor to the NAIS that electronically identifies individual animals and tracks their movements from birth to slaughter within 48 hours. To date, the Holstein Association’s pilot program has proven its electronic tracking capabilities with over a million bovines enrolled from over 7,000 farms in 42 states.
While the USDA has laid the groundwork of a national system through the work of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture and through their work with the Holstein Association, they have delayed full implementation of individual animal identification until this year. I am concerned with the USDA’s lack of a plan to fund the program. Unfortunately, the USDA does not intend to assist producers with the costs of a national identification program nor has USDA proposed any assistance for meat processors. I believe this cost will be a burden on many small farmers and should be funded in part through the USDA budget. Furthermore, the USDA has issued contradictory statements regarding their intention to make this system mandatory or voluntary.
As a member of the Agriculture Committee, I will continue to urge the USDA to implement this plan keeping in mind its purpose to project animal health and avoid the spread of animal disease. Thank you again for contacting me on this important issue.
Patrick Leahy
UNITED STATES SENATOR
Please visit my website at:
http://leahy.senate.gov/
You stated:
“does nothing about the exotic bird trade and pet stores which is a much more likely source of problems than bio-diverse heritage breeds of backyard poultry. Why doesn’t the USDA and Vermont Agriculture Department want to include these species? Because the American people would virtually all be directly affected. If everyone were the targeted they would strongly oppose NAIS.”
Unfortunately, this will not be the case. Take a close look at what Texas is doing. They have stated that they are requiring exotics birds to be tracked if they are being sold, bartered or exchanged. They will require pet birds to be tracked if they fall in an eradication zone even if the birds has not and will not be leaving the home. It is only a small leap from there to tracking dogs and cats they just will not mention that until they sneak all the laws in place. This issue should be a concern for every American citizen, we will all be affected.
Quote from Texas: . http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_id/QA-Prem-Reg-Texas.pdf
“I have only a parakeet. Does this mean I have to register my apartment?
Premises registration may not be required if a person has only caged exotic fowl (such as, but not limited to parakeets,
budgies, finches, canaries, cockatiels, parrots and other caged birds) and these animals are housed in the person’s
Residence and are not used for sale, barter or exchange.
However, in the event of an avian disease outbreak, the commission may require the premises to be registered, if the
site is within a quarantine, surveillance or eradication zone established by the TAHC for controlling or eradicating the
disease.”
Comment Melanie Petren — March 31, 2006 @ 8:53 am
Dear Walter,
I noticed that you have the PDCA under your Nice list.
We sent an anti NAIS e-mail to the secretary and registrar of the PDCA a while ago, and in the last newsletter the president of the PDCA Wes Patton states “Do we need to protect our markets by adopting a national identification system? Yes. So, although we are not happy with several aspects of the proposed program, we need to realize that it will happen and it will happen for an important reason.”
As a member of the PDCA I am pretty pissed off that they are endorsing NAIS.
So, you ought to put them on the NASTY list, not the Nice list.
Comment Ricki — March 31, 2006 @ 10:37 am
This link here is why they were in the Nice list.
I will contact them again. Can you also send me a copy of what you got from them?
Comment walterj — March 31, 2006 @ 12:00 pm
I got a carbon copy of the Senator’s letter in response to one I wrote him almost a month ago. I don’t think it was personally written. It does show that they have recieved enough emails on the subject that they needed to come up with a canned response. Even if his response does not contain anything constructive, the fact that they feel they need to respond is encouraging.
Afella in VT
Comment Afella in VT — March 31, 2006 @ 12:38 pm
Just thought of something today…do the Amish have to participate in this program if it goes through?
[Yes. As the draft of NAIS is written there are no exceptions. -WJ]
Comment Katziel Kennedy — March 31, 2006 @ 12:43 pm
More of a general comment, but Vermont Public Radio had a quicky segmemt this morning about Avian Flu. They mentioned Premise ID (not by name) and after blindly repeating Kerr’s justifications, mentioned some farmers are against it….
Maybe we should be blitzing John Dillon of VPR with the Farmer’s side of this as he does not sound informed.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/vpr/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=896385
“(Dillon) The state is preparing on a number of fronts. The Health Department is working with hospitals and health care workers. And the Agriculture Agency wants to require mandatory identification of all places where animals are kept.
That will allow a rapid response so the state can kill infected birds and quarantine poultry operations.
That proposal is controversial. Some farmers feel it’s an intrusion into their lives.
But Agriculture Secretary Steve Kerr says the identification system is critical.”
There are some quotes from Kerr in the article as well as another legislator.
Comment Afella in VT — March 31, 2006 @ 1:28 pm
Walter,
By an incredible coincidence, the reply you received from Senator Leahy yesterday is exactly the same as the reply I received from him five weeks ago. I am stunned.
Paul Horton
Comment Paul Horton — March 31, 2006 @ 6:47 pm
too long………
those people in congress have touched earth since childhood’
they see us as figures on paper.
get tougher you can’t impress them with
knowledge.we know more about their bills tan they do.
Get to know your state rep and
work through him or her.
It’s their job and if everyone
did this we would not get scattered.my ar rep has schdualled
for me to attend a meeting of
the ag committee in ar.I am
preparing a letter to read in person.everyone can do this.
it’s educational.do you knoe who
your rep is?find out
Comment sid sargent — March 31, 2006 @ 7:15 pm
To All Good Iowans and Good People of the U.S.A.,
I wrote IOWA’s Governor THOMAS J. VILSACK, and Lt.Governor SALLY J. PEDERSON, State Capitol, Des Moines, Iowa 50319, telephone: 515-281-5211, FAX: 515-281-6611. I told the Governor and Lt. Governor about all my personal concerns about NAIS, and the USDA, specifically noting the violations or our constittional and religious rights of freedom. I was very courtious in my letter, as I have great respect for Our Governor and Lt. Governor, and I spoke with sincere and truthful passion regarding these serious issues of invasion or our freedoms by NAIS.
Just today I recieved a personally signed letter from Governor VILSACK and suprisingly, also personally co-signed by Lt. Governor PEDERSON, in the same personal letter to me.. This letter is on, Official Water-Marked paper, Office of the Governor stationary, and is personally addressed to me, and the Governor and his Lt. spoke personally to me in the letter regarding NAIS as follows: I will “Quote” the paragraph regarding NAIS in the letter as follows:
QUOTE:
Dear Dean:
Thank you for contacting our office regarding NAIS. We apprecieate hearing your comments and concerns regarding this important policy issue, and our policy staff is working diligently to address your concerns. In this, our final year in office, we will continue to ask the legislature to take innovative and creative measures to make Iowa’s communities even stronger.
UNQUOTE:
Additionally, the Governor and Lt. Goveror, went on to address specific initative’s they have addressed in Iowa with the legislature. This also seemed on a personal level not just political rederick.
The Goveror and Lt. Governor finished the personal letter to me as follows:
QUOTE:
We encourage you to share your comments with your legislators as well. Your legislators’ contact information is available at www.legis.state.is.us or through the Legislative Information Office at (515) 281-5129. Again, thank you for contacting our office.
Sincerely,
Thomas. J. Vilsack, Goveror
Sally J. Pererson, Lieutenant Governor
UNQUOTE:
2. COMMENTS BY ( DeanAFOSI@aol.com ) as follows:
I am deeply grateful and hold great respect for My Governor and Lt. Governor, in the State of Iowa.
WE THE PEOPLE, of Iowa, are now “ON THE RADAR SCREEN” regarding NoNAIS.org and the Iowans Against NAIS, at the Office of the Governor, State of Iowa………………..
The Governor’s remarks give me insight that their office IS concerned about NAIS and the policy issues at hand…I assess the Governor’s comments to be genuine, and (in My opinion) the policy issues are extrodinarily complicated, in that, the U.S.D.A., a Federal Agency, is dictating future mandatory regulations to the State of Iowa.
Fellow IOWANs, and People of the U.S.A., the Governor and Lt. Governor, are also letting me (US) know that WE THE PEOPLE, need to continue putting this matter on the RADAR SCREEN, by contacting our Legislators.
My Final Comment to ALL AMERICANS is:
I say:
“Now is the time, for all good people of the United States, to rise up and be heard, for our Just and Rightous cause, to retian Our Constitutional and religous freedoms to freely own our Animals, pets, etc. without Governmental intrusion and violation. I call upon ALL Citizens, male and female, to come forward and be heard in IOWA and protect Our Great Constitution and her principles from the rogue Department’s of our United States Government to ensnare it’s people against their will.”
Go Forth and be heard…………………………
Dean Ayers
DeanAFOSI@aol.com
Iowa
Comment DeanAFOSI (IOWA) — March 31, 2006 @ 8:22 pm
Interestingly enough, Senator Bayh (Indiana) sent a letter almost word for word as your VT senator. Change a few sentences here, word it a little differently here and it is the same darn letter. In fact, the same exact thing “bothers” our senator.
I just sent out a reply to his letter.
Comment GIna — March 31, 2006 @ 9:29 pm
Just for the Record Good People, if you are Curious! Why Iowa? Here? My brother, was Active Duty, United States Air Force, and stationed at
King Salmon Air Station, ALASKA, years ago…He used to send me tape
recordings and send me photos of your “blessed” lands…
I respected my Brother and dreamed of also reaching ALASKA, to touch
the Frontier and Freedom of God’s Earth, in a FREE society. So years
ago when I got older, I also joined the United States Air Force, and
eventually became a Special Agent, Air Force Office of Special
Investigations (AFOSI), but I didn’t quite get to the Promised Lands.
I eventually went some years later to San Antonio, Texas, and became a
“Ranger” at Freedom’s door…..”The Alamo.” Loved it there and felt
honored to be protecting another Promised Land of this Great Country..
I even had one occassion to “save The Alamo” from severe damnage, by a
disturbed individual, who dumped numerous flammable liquids all over
the side gate entrance, and ried to light it… I stopped him…Got my
first Letter of Appreciation, from The Alamo, for that one.. Even made
5 minutes of fame all over the news media.
But alas, the old “home roots” of another Promised Land (IOWA) called
out to me, to return to where I was born,and raised, IOWA…
So, if you were curious why, Iowa,is talking to Alaska? About NoNAIS?
United, “We” Stand…………………..
Now, it’s time to tell the United States Government Rogue Agencies,
what this Country and it’s People, like you and I, and all of us, are
REALLY ABOUT! FREEDOM and GOING to……….
“Stay that Way.”
Comment DeanAFOSI (IOWA) — April 1, 2006 @ 3:39 pm
At least your Senator sent a form letter that was on topic. I got no response from Spector and here’s what I got from Santorum. (I knew writing to him was a waste of time, but I wanted to go on record).
Thank you for contacting me regarding the proposed National Animal Identification System. I appreciate hearing from you and having the benefit of your views.
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me, and I will be sure to keep them in mind as I undertake my responsibilities as your United States Senator. During the 109th Congress, a multitude of diverse issues will be considered and debated by the Senate. I look forward to continuing to work on issues of importance to our Commonwealth.
Thank you again for contacting me. If I can be of further assistance with this or any other matter, please feel free to call on me again.
Sincerely,
Rick Santorum
United States Senate
Comment Barbara — April 1, 2006 @ 4:12 pm
Walter,
Excellent letter. Can we
parts or all of it as our own?
Comment Darla Cox — April 2, 2006 @ 3:11 pm
Darla, Everything on http://NoNAIS.org is available for use in the battle against NAIS. In addition to articles, fliers, handouts, posters and such there is also a directory of artwork at that you can use if you need them.
Comment walterj — April 2, 2006 @ 3:47 pm
Leahy? Help from Leahy!?
1) We have the inalienable right to survival. That means, bottom line, growing our own food, unimpeded by Leahy’s true constituency: Big Ag.
2) The poutry registration is a scam that is meant to last. It is a means of contolling our livelyhood. Look what they did to cider. They put 100s of cider producers out of business across the country for a small market share that the big producers wanted. That was a scam. Mad cow in sheep was a scam. We must educate people fast.
Comment Jim Hogue — April 2, 2006 @ 4:57 pm
perfect form
Thank you for contacting me regarding the proposed National Animal Identification System. I appreciate hearing from you and having the benefit of your views.
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me, and I will be sure to keep them in mind as I undertake my responsibilities as your United States Senator. During the 109th Congress, a multitude of diverse issues will be considered and debated by the Senate. I look forward to continuing to work on issues of importance to our Commonwealth.
Thank you again for contacting me. If I can be of further assistance with this or any other matter, please feel free to call on me again.
read it and weep
Comment sid sargent — April 2, 2006 @ 5:01 pm
The PDCA is a membership based cattle association. The President, as well as myself as one of the Vice Presidents, role is to assist in providing members information pro and con but ultimately the official position is that of the members. You’ll note on the front page of the official PDCA website - a link to the National ID APHIS USDA website as well as a link to NoNais.org. Most of the PDCA members that I’ve talked with I would say are nice and supportive of yours and others efforts.
Comment Richard Henry, PDCA - VP2 — April 2, 2006 @ 9:16 pm
Richard, thank you for dropping by. I’ve gotten mixed comments from individuals some who think the Purebread Dexter Cattle Association (PDCA) is against NAIS and others who think PDCA supports NAIS. They all want PDCA to be anti-NAIS. It would be great if PDCA were to come out with a strong position statement that the PDCA supports NAIS being kept as a strictly voluntary program. That would solve almost all of the problems with NAIS, let those members who want NAIS participate and let those who don’t want NAIS not participate. This is the position that some other organizations are taking and which I believe is the correct position in a free society.
Comment walterj — April 3, 2006 @ 6:46 am
This comment is for Barbara, regarding Rick Santorum. He has introduced a bill in the senate that would remove the requirement to put SSNs on hunting licenses, and the NRA is thrilled with him. Maybe you could point out to him that chipping your horse or tagging your milk goat is an equal or greater invasion of your privacy. Edna
Comment Edna — April 3, 2006 @ 12:40 pm
How dare them I thought for sure we lived in a free country! This way is not the way I choose to live. Us ladies ride 3 - 4 times a week. Show on week ends. 50 head of cattle. People from down the road ride to our house and us theres. Lets not loose this freedom.
Comment kline — April 4, 2006 @ 7:53 pm
letter to congress in arkansas
I have written this letter a million times.It always comes out too long.
I got sucked into politics against my will. I’d rather be farming, but here I am
because somebody’s gotta do it and nobody else would.
As representatives you want to know what we think,right? At least that’s
what we elected you for.
And as nobody else would come I had to elect myself to represent my neighbors
who either don’t care or don’t believe in the government. They are busy trying
to be farmers.
Farming as we knew it is no longer possible in Arkansas or anywhere else for that
matter. Arkansas is losing her rural base.Corporate factory farming and government
regulations are driving us out of business.
Developers,taking advantage of our plight are buying up good farmland and
turning it into urban sprawl.which is a blight upon the landscape and a waste
of our precious soil.
The monster that is agi-biz swallows up people and spits out slaves as food
production becomes concentrated into fewer and fewer hands.
This is bad for Arkansas ,’not only economically,but morally as well. We are less
happy..
Now the government wants the N.A.I.S. to add insult to injury. It wants to
label us and our livestock as though we were nothing more than dollars and cents.
Well we don’t like it…period ! It stinks of corporate greed and insensitivity to
to both people and animals. It is excessive intrusion into our private lives and
our right to farm as we see fit on our own land..
It is unfair to make us pay for the mismanagemeents of globalized corporate
agriculture.
Factory farming is unnatural and wrong.High concentrations of animals in
cramped conditions harbor and spread disease. Humans could never
survive under these conditions but these animals have no choice but to
suffer in silence.
Factory farms generate huge concentrations of waste which pollute our
water supplies and pollute our air. We are all breathing chicken dust..
Natural farming does not pose this threat to the environment. Responsible
farmers respect the land and the dignity of each individual animal.
When we farm the land as God intends we don’t need the government to
tell us how to do it.
We do however need some serious laws to protect us from the abuses of
unfair competition and you ,our reprsentatives are the only ones who can
do it.
Let’s not wait for Washington to lay down the laws. They don’t have a clue about
what farmers need.
The spirit of arkansas is independance. Let’s keep it that way.siddartha@care2.com
Comment sid sargent — April 5, 2006 @ 7:32 am
Now that we’ve discovered how to make the small farm profitable through direct marketing and pasture raised products, enabling us to keep farming in our family (6 generations now), I discover our own gov’t is trying to put us out of business through stupidity. Factory farms must be taking a hit in the pocket book for this to arise. Keep up the good work, we’ll be contacting our legislators.
Comment Steve Rodgers — May 31, 2006 @ 2:24 pm
Yous had better fight this law because other wise they are going to strangle you with it. This happend here in our country which I can not name but we are in Africa and it has killed off the small farmers and the people who just have a few cattle. It is the big multiplex national coumpanies that are doing this so that they can take up all of the market to themselves for selling all of the food. Very bad this is.
Comment david washington — August 12, 2006 @ 3:50 am
our beasts belong to God
god’s creatures shall not
be marked
while yet we have the will
to fight
for truth and freedom
and the light
Comment sid sargent — August 12, 2006 @ 8:28 pm
Sid I hope you do not mind but I copied what you wrote and change Arkansas with Alaska.
Comment Gisela — August 14, 2006 @ 11:55 am