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Published October 5, 2006 in issue 0540 of the HooK.
By LISA PROVENCE
The government calls it "depopulation," an effort to stop a potentially deadly livestock disease. But to the Henshaws and some independent farmers, what happened was a horror, an overreaction, and-- with nearly 80 hogs taken by 12-gauge shotguns-- overkill. And now the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating whether its own procedures were followed in the depopulation.
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Friday September 1, 2006
By BUD CHAMBERSStaff Reporter
More than 200 persons attended a Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance meeting Thursday night, its lead operative Judith McGeary suggesting the U.S. Department of Agriculture will develop a program that she considers “oppressive to the small farmer/rancher” in putting together a National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
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Area farmers oppose plan
Friday September 1, 2006
By Jean Laquidara Hill TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
The USDA has asked that animals wear the numbers, without specifying the means. The proposal was drafted in concert with big meat agribusinesses and high-tech companies, Ben T. Grosscup of NOFA Mass told the audience.
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August 6, 2006 Gun owners don't have to do it. Pedophiles don't have to do it. AIDS carriers don't have to do it. But, apparently, my chickens and sheep are dangerous and will be subject to constant surveillance once the National Animal Identification System becomes mandatory.
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STRAYHORN Calls for A Halt to the National Animal Identification System and Perry’s Mandated Participation of this New Fee—or as most Texans call it a Tax STRAYHORN WANTS IT ADDED TO SPECIAL SESSION
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Derry Brownfield July 6, 2006 NewsWithViews.com

The players involved in the National Identification System (NAIS) are varied. The world Trade Organization (WTO) reached an agreement among participating countries several years ago in Uruguay called the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) agreements. The SPS agrees that each member country can make regulations that must be met by other member countries in order to TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL GOODS with each other.
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Letter to the Editor----By Jason Page Vice President, International Texas Longhorn Assn. Kingwood, Texas Ph. 281 852 8869

A group of intercity teenagers were touring a rural farm and the owner was providing some facts of life with real on-site demonstrations. An old milk cow was used to demonstrate the origin of milk. As the farmer squeezed one of the four vertical appendages a huge white stream of milk squirted in a rainbow arc to the ground, right in front of the big eyed viewers’ feet. In shocked amazement, one boy turned ash white and fainted straight forward, flat on the ground. This young man demonstrated the early signs of becoming a Senator and creating legislation to govern rural livestock producers.
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Ron Paul, May 29, 2006

NAIS means more government, more regulations, more fees, more federal spending, less privacy, and diminished property rights. It’s exactly the kind of federal program every conservative, civil libertarian, animal lover, businessman, farmer, and rancher should oppose. The House has already acted, but there’s still time to tell the Senate to dump NAIS. Please call your Senators and tell them you oppose spending even one dime on the NAIS program in the 2007 agriculture appropriations bill. Congressman Ron Paul, a Republican, represents the 14th Congressional District of Texas, which encompasses the Gulf Coast region south and west of Houston.

The Very Few vs. Freedom

Nancy Levant May 25, 2006

I don’t know about you, but I won’t fair well under the dictates and mastership of the super-rich and pathologically arrogant. How do you think you, your children, parents, and grandparents will do in a chipped dictatorship?
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Henry Lamb Friday, May 26, 2006

Moreover, proponents claim that Wal Mart and McDonalds, the largest domestic markets, are demanding an identification program. If this is, indeed, the case, then let the market develop a program, but not one imposed by government on every farm, and farm animal, in the nation.
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Written by Jedd Kettler Wednesday, 03 May 2006

MONTPELIER: Following a well-attended public hearing in April, Senate and House Agriculture Committee members continued to look at a proposal to make livestock premises registration mandatory in Vermont.
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Friday, May 19, 2006

A national animal identification program has some small farmers and ranchers worried about their future. "It would probably end up putting me out of business," Burnet County farmer Michael McEvoy said.
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MAY 17, 2006

It is a basic point that is being totally missed by the United States Department of Agriculture and large producers. The National Animal Identification System does not fit small producers. Even worse, NAIS is a total disaster for homesteaders.
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KANSAS CITY (Dow Jones)

Those opposed to a U.S. national animal identification system are beginning to make more noise about a plan they see as intrusive and unnecessarily costly at best and unconstitutional at worst. The animal ID system is designed to identify and allow government veterinary officials to trace animals or poultry in the event of an illness. The idea is to have a system in place so the lifetime movements of animals or birds that turn up sick or dead can be discovered to aid in disease eradication.
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PHILLIP RAWLS Associated Press

"I am opposed to mandatory animal identification with no flexibility," Lipscomb said. The candidate said he's concerned the requirements and the costs will damage small farmers. In Lipscomb's view, the federal government should being doing more to make sure diseased animals don't enter the United States from other countries.
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2006-04-02 by Darren Dunlap of The Daily Times Staff

Rep. Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains), the measure's sponsor, said Tuesday that electronic tracking is too expensive and that tags containing microchips could be manipulated for fraudulent purposes. He supports no-tech metal tags that are "cheap, dependable (and) can't be monkeyed with,'' according to The Associated Press.
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By: pubwvj · Section: Diaries

Yesterday I got 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
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