Burningbird
The Memory Hole just posted links to thousands of inspection reports. They’re research facility inspections for 2000 through 2007.
Trump and his minions just don’t understand the way the internet works. If they build a wall, we’ll put a hole into it.
Guaranteed.
When I get any new info from the FOIA request or HSUS’s action, I’ll post an update. If I find more documents, I’ll post a link to this post.
Today, HSUS filed a Notice of Violation of Court Order with the Department of Justice because of the USDA pulling the APHIS records.
I did not know that the HSUS had filed a lawsuit years ago forcing the USDA to provide access to its inspection records for universities and research labs. By pulling these records, the USDA is in violation of the court settlement.
As noted in the letter, pulling these records also runs counter to government transparency requirements established by Congress. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the impetus for this action was the short-sighted, mean-spirited actions of Trump’s transition team.
In addition, the HSUS noted in its story on the filing that the USDA finally did pull the license of several breeders in Missouri…including Rabbit Ridge. Rabbit Ridge is finally done.
The Humane Society is one of the groups we need to donate to, to protect animals and the environment during a Trump administration.
Delcianna Winders posted a folder containing several USDA APHIS enforcement actions. I was surprised to see an enforcement action against Donald Schrage of the infamous Rabbit Ridge kennel.
The violations listed in the enforcement action aren’t unusual for Schrage. This is just a normal year’s worth of writeups for him. It’s good to see that the USDA finally yanked his chain. I’ll be filing a FOIA to find out what happened in this case, and if he’s still licensed. Normally, a quick visit to a web site and a bit of search would have returned the information. Not anymore.
After writing yesterday’s post, I’m less sure that the Farmer’s Bureau et al court case triggered the USDA APHIS to pull the AWA database. The USDA APHIS just invested in a new system that was only rolled out in August. They have been redacting private information from the inspection reports. They could continue and upload new inspection reports as they finish.
This action has Trump written all over it. Trump had appointed Brian Klippenstein to his agriculture transition team. Klippenstein is a compatriot of Forrest Lucas, who funded the effort to gut Proposition B, the anti-puppy mill bill, in Missouri. As of January 17, Klippenstein was the only person on Trump’s transition team for the Department of Agriculture.
I’m anxious to read the documents turned up by Delcianna’s FOIA request for communications related to this decision.
For many years I and many others have had free and open access to USDA APHIS Animal Welfare Act inspection reports. The Humane Society of the US uses the data to compile its list of the 100 worst puppy mills in the United States. I’ve used the records to highlight the atrocities of one of the worst puppy millers in the US: Donald Schrage’s Rabbit Ridge Kennel.
Yesterday, without any warning, the USDA pulled down the database. In its place is a message that says, in part:
APHIS, during the past year, has conducted a comprehensive review of the information it posts on its website for the general public to view. As a result of the comprehensive review, APHIS has implemented actions to remove certain personal information from documents it posts on APHIS’ website involving the Horse Protection Act and the Animal Welfare Act. Going forward, APHIS will remove from its website inspection reports, regulatory correspondence, research facility annual reports, and enforcement records that have not received final adjudication. APHIS will also review and redact, as necessary, the lists of licensees and registrants under the AWA, as well as lists of designated qualified persons (DQPs) licensed by USDA-certified horse industry organizations.
During the past year…
It’s long past time for me to return to technical writing, if only because I need a respite from the battle against Trump and his evil minions.
It helps that there is a lot to be excited about—in a good way—in the tech world. The Node community seems to be moving beyond its early growing pains and is starting to stabilize. There’s still occasional drama, but not enough to make you scream in horror and run away.
My beloved SVG is really coming into its own with widespread support. I’ve been waiting years for this. There are great libraries to make it easier to build applications, but for me, the holdup has always been browser support. Now, I can party.
CSS! Can you believe what you can do with CSS now? Not to mention that the W3C has really its act together when it comes to documenting what’s happening with specs.
Speaking of specs…HTML is no longer held hostage by a tin-plated dictator. I’m sorry, did I say that out loud? I did notice that the working group mailing list is extremely quiet nowadays. This is because all the action has moved to GitHub. Probably more efficient. Not as fun.
Excellent news about the W3C and IDPF merging their efforts.
The vision to align Publishing and Web technologies and create a new roadmap for the future of publishing became official today with the announcement that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) have combined organizations.