Steve, though Andy may be an ass and is certainly enormous, and I don't always agree with him, what he has to say about George Norris' conviction is entirely correct. Leaving personalities aside, this court action has caused irreparable harm to all 'serious orchid growers' involved in the importation and exportation of orchid species. If you have any experience in what is involved in renewing a nursery CITES you would understand the increased difficulty in securing government certification. The mere fact that Norris has proven to the Government that there is certainly an illegal trade in orchids will cloud all future commercial transactions in international trade. Why do you think that some of the well known species nurseries have no CITES. Could it be that their orchids are as legal as George's. You are very wrong to think that Andy is only speaking for KB or Matsui. Nurseries of this type have much less difficulty than species importers such as myself and many others. The pot plant business today does not import vast quantities of species as they did in the past. It gives me great pleasure to know that George's customers are afraid of Fish and Wildlife knocking at their doors. If they had only dealt with reputable nurseries then they would have no worries. It reminds me of the story of the stolen TV. When the man was arrested for possession of stolen goods, he said to the policeman "Wait, I gave my friend a $100.00 for the TV." In the eyes of the law, all parties were guilty. One more thing. What does the AOS have to do with this? I believe that Andy was speaking in the commercial sense and not serious orchid growing hobbyists. Specifically, membership should be more understanding of the pressures put upon commercial growers and maybe more so as to their involvement in illegal importation. James
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