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Monday, May 6, 2013

Hey, ALEC - Ag-Gag Is NOT about PERSONAL Privacy


This quote by ALEC's Poobah of PR has been bothering me ever since I saw it in print: 
In 2002, ALEC introduced a piece of mock legislation titled the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act, which labels people who interfere with any animal operations “terrorists” and made it illegal for anyone to enter “an animal or research facility to take pictures by photograph, video camera, or other means with the intent to commit criminal activities or defame the facility or its owner.” And ALEC continues to support these bills,
    “At the end of the day it’s about personal property rights or the individual right to privacy,” said spokesman Bill Meierling. “You wouldn’t want me coming into your home with a hidden camera.”
Meierling is becoming a pretty good ALEC-er.
Misleading the public through statements made to the press.

People consume the meat, eggs and milk from these factory farms 
– the very agribusinesses companies that fund ALEC.

Having noted that:

Campylobacter: This is the most common cause of foodborne diarrheal illness in the United States, causing an estimated 2 million cases each year.

MRSA: Staphylococcus aureus is a bacteria widely present in our environment and usually harmless, but in susceptible individuals it can cause life-threatening infections.    but these days, cases of MRSA are increasingly likely to be “community-acquired,” and evidence suggests that factory farms are a source

Salmonella: This is another bacteria causing frequent and sometimes serious foodborne illness, with an estimated 1.4 million U.S. cases each year    Salmonella can contaminate beef, poultry, eggs and even vegetables.

E. coli O157:H7: Most Escherichia coli bacteria are harmless, but a few strains, including the notorious O157:H7, can be deadly. The toxic strains are linked to conditions in beef feedlots.

Enterococcus: Enterococci are a widespread group of intestinal bacteria that can cause serious infections in other parts of the body.     where its emergence has been linked to agricultural use of avoparcin, an antibiotic closely related to vancomycin.    About 4 percent of VRE patients no longer respond to the antibiotic Synercid, a last-defense drug which is unfortunately related to virginiamycin, widely used in U.S. animal agriculture.
At the end of the day it’s NOT about  
personal property rights or the individual right to privacy

No it’s not 
– it is about the consumer’s right to safe food.
“You wouldn’t want me coming into your home with a hidden camera.”
Go right ahead – you wouldn’t DIE from taking a picture of what is in my house. I wouldn’t doubt it if TWO of ALEC’s funders are probably already coming into the homes of anti-ALEC writers, electronically. - and THAT is about the individual right to privacy.

The American Legislative Exchange Council, an extremist  “shadow government” destroying accepted regulations and eliminating consumer recourse against corporate malfeasance, using ALEC legislators to distribute legislation written by ALEC Corporate Profit Sector members.

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