U.K. Lab Confirms Mad Cow Case in U.S.

[thebaghwan]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20031225/ap_on_he_me/mad_cow

Check this out: They were warned!!!

"Dr. Stanley Prusiner, a neurologist at the University of California at San Francisco who discovered the proteins that cause mad cow disease, said he warned Veneman recently that it was "just a matter of time" before the disease was found in the United States.

He said he told her the United States should immediately start testing every cow that shows signs of illness and eventually every single cow upon slaughter, The New York Times reported in Thursday's editions.

Prusiner, a Nobel laureate, told the Times that fast, accurate and inexpensive tests are available, including one that he has patented through his university that he says could add 2 or 3 cents a pound to the cost of beef.

The scientist said Veneman is getting poor advice from USDA scientists and did not seem to share his sense of urgency when he met with her six weeks ago, after several months of seeking a meeting."

[madrchsod]

1. sounds like our

stupid fuking republicans ,doesn`t it ..science to them is against the word of god,i guess the roast is going back to the store. also someone better start looking at the chickens to see if they are being fed beef powders.officials in europe busted chicken suppliers for using beef by-products......

[Sapphocrat]

9. You can blame the Repukes for this...

...as recently as last month:

GOP Congress Scuttled Meat Protection Measure
AP, December 24, 2003

Legislation to keep meat from downed animals off American kitchen tables was scuttled - for the second time in as many years - as Congress labored unsuccessfully earlier this month to pass a catchall agency spending bill. ...

The massive, $373 billion spending bill covering several government agencies is still pending in the Senate. ...

The provision dealing with downed cattle didn't even make it into the compromise version of the legislation that House and Senate conferees brought before Congress late in the year. ...

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., a negotiator who voted for the measure in the House, said Democratic negotiators never had a chance to fight for the proposal. "The Republicans, the leadership, shut off the conference, they closed it down, and this is one of a number of provisions which were handled in a backroom deal without the Democrats there and with only the Republican leadership," said Hinchey. ...

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1224-09.htm

[candy331]

2. Will she take the

much hailed excuse for this? Why not? Everything this administration says blames 911 and Clinton. The buc stops where?

[joanski01]

3. We sure have a bunch

of extremely dangerous incompetents running our government. Will it ever end?

[pinto]

4. Request for Denial of All Import Applications for Edible Ruminant

Request for Denial of All Import Applications for Edible Ruminant
Products Pending Scientific Reviews in the U.S. and Canada,

August 19, 2003

The Honorable Ann Veneman
Secretary
United States Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250

Sent Via Facsimile and e-mail
<snip>

On behalf of thousands of individual cattle producing members and 50 state and local cattle association affiliates of R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), I am writing to encourage you to implement four preconditions prior to approving any import applications from importers of any edible ruminant products
from Canada:

<snip>
Of all the lessons learned from the BSE epidemic in the UK, one in particular stands out: BSE is a threat that must be taken seriously by all. . . Countries with no detected case of BSE should not become complacent in the face of a potential global epidemic. The extremely low initial incidence and the low within-herd incidence of BSE cases, long incubation period, and non-specific nature of the early clinical signs can delay the detection of the first cases of disease and mask epidemic spread.6

<snip>

Leo McDonnell Jr.
President
R-CALF USA

Cc: Members of Congress

http://www.r-calfusa.com/BSE-FMD/The%20Honorable%20Ann%20Veneman,%20Border,%208-19-03.pdf

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Shoe... foot...

[TreasonousBastard]

5. The Kiss of Death...

"We have met with many experts in this area, including Dr. Prusiner," Julie Quick, a spokesman for Veneman told the Times. "We welcome as much scientific input and insight as we can get on this very important issue. We want to make sure that our actions are based on the best available science."

Just how many years is that going to take?

[young_at_heart]

7. He sought a meeting for several months?

So a very prominent and learned person with a Nobel prize is ignored for several months even though he has important and life-saving information? It seems this sort of mindset of ignoring advice and expoerts is in virtually ALL of Bush's cabinet.

[barbaraann]

8. I used to think the BFEE just wanted to control us.

Now I think they want to reduce the number of humans on the planet because they only need a certain number of slaves. (Warren Buffett and Bill Gates both donated heavily to international birth control.)

Also, in order to control us better, they must traumatize us.

So, allowing BSE to come to the USA serves their purposes. Now I understand why Bush travels with his own chefs and DIDN'T EAT THANKSGIVING DINNER WITH THE TROOPS. And didn't he take his own chefs to England when he visited the queen?

I'll bet that the top-level members of the BFEE get their beef from a safe sources and not from the same places the rest of us do.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. No this is a side effect

Look sooner or later people may realize that the best way to avoid
this mess is to go BACK to the farm, and I mean the small farm where cows were free ranged and fed alfalfa and hay... chickes are fed
seeds you know the drill... what they ate for thousands of years

Now here is the problem, when and if we do this, those animals are FAR LESS productive in every sense of the word, and we will NOT be
able to produce enough food to feed 6+ billion human beings, aka the carrying capacity of the planet will truly finally affect us

At that point we may see a great die out like you have never seen
in human history as the planet may be able to carry 1 to 2 billion people.

Now when and if that happens, the BFEE will become insignificant as food riots will affect us world wide, and it does not matter how much money you have, hungry people are very hard to control or predict.

No this is not something they want.

[barbaraann]

11. It's good to get another perspective. Thanks.

If your point of view is correct, it's not going to be easy for them to manage the dangers of the current food system.

Whatever they want, it's evil. That I do know.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Its not only the food system

We need insane ammounts of oil to manage our way of life

Anywhere from Pesticides to plastics to well our whole system

Peak Oil is here.

They seem to have realized it, hence why the war in Iraq.

They are trying to delay the imevitable and with this will come the
fall of capitalism as we know it... and that is what they are trying to prevent.

You'd think alternate fuels would be tops in their priority, but they are not... because they cannot think outside this box.

[barbaraann]

13. I think you're right about peak oil.

And they are still using the same old paradigm--that's what fuel cells are all about. They don't pollute as much but consumers are still dependent on the energy companies.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Correct

We are looking into buying a hybrid, yes still uses fuel

but I am hoping that will buy us a little time to find a new
paradign.

That is if enough of us buy them

Oh and yes we are looking at two out of three in the market

The Honda Civic and the Ford Escape, the Toyota Prius lacks power, which is a safety issue.

[barbaraann]

15. It's not easy being green.

:-)

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Well this is an issue of saving some cash too

the truck which is old, guzzles 120 a month, the honda, the one bieng replaced, guzzles sixty, I am hoping that getting this vehicle will let me save enough cash to replace the truck as well...

[barbaraann]

17. Good luck!

I hope you get it all worked out. My husband and I are always trying to do what we can to conserve, but it really does take a lot of head-scratching and experimenting.

[4dog]

26. Prius is peppy enough for me.

I've had both models; the new one is a little more powerful. Better than my old '72 VW Beetle.

[SayitAintSo]

18. This is really serious shit folks ....

Just read up on how long it took the UK to deal with this what they have been through. I've just become a vegetarion <again>. Although from what I read, it may not matter at this point. How our government responds to this could be a campaign issue. I wonder if the good doctor has a position on this yet. It may turn the tide to having a "doctor in the house" being a real plus. Anybody know Dean's position ?

[J B]

19. Driving to the supermarket is much more dangerous than beef.

Eating beef, that is.

Have some perspective, people. This is mainly an economic war issue. The actual health implications are marginal and tiny, though that doesn't mean modern governments should ignore them.

[KoKo]

20. You have your point....but, "downer cattle & other animals" are a factor

that I thought we were being protected against. Actually when I was a DU Newbie there was a post that McDonalds had been working to protect the meat supply from sick animals who arrived at the slaughter houses unable to stand or take care of themselves. McDonalds was working with a "humanitarian group" to see that these animals got veterinary attention and did NOT get into the food supply. Somehow we were "hoodwinked" and this obviously wasn't the case at all. Must have been a Micky D's Press release. I'm not going into DU -1 Archives to find it, but trust me, I've been here for a long while. That article gave me hope. Now, I learn it was all "LIES!"

I think about if I was sick and down and went to the hospital and was slaughtered for my organs for "transplant." That's how I look on these poor defenseless animals. I'm not PETA nor a Vegan, but there has to be some "humanity" for "humanity."

This stuff is too dreadful to really deal with. It's the "stuff of nightmares" for many of us. I have to give up eating meat soon, because this has me so sick to my stomach. And, YES, I understand that our "food supply" has to have "slaughter" to give protein. But, Lying about the whole thing only causes cruel death, slow death, and misery to us all as a member of our Planet and as a Christian who feels that we are charged with taking care of the animals who were created with us on this Earth.

22. Channelling Dale Gribble...

My name is Rusty Shackelford and I don't exist!...

Think about it... the initials of Mad Cow Disease... the first three letters in MCDonald's... I propose from now on the chain be spelled M.C.D.onalds in memoriam!

Dale Grib..OOPS, I mean Rusty Shackelford, over and out. AAAAGGGGHHHH!

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Corect

but what if you win this lottery?

No thank you

Also the science is quite not there yet

[ConcernedCanuk]

23. "actual health implications are marginal and tiny," - - NOT

. ."“The studies
show that when pathologists actually did autopsies and examined brain tissue
from patients with Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders, they uncovered
hidden cases of CJD, anywhere from about 1% to 13%. These preliminary findings
suggest a public health problem is being overlooked. If larger autopsy
studies at more hospitals in this country confirmed that even 1% of Alzheimer’s
patients had CJD, that would mean 40,000 cases, and each undetected case is
significant because, unlike Alzheimer’s, CJD is infectious.”
The math is obvious, and the potential ramifications are disturbing. If the
true number of CJD cases in the United States turns out to be 40,000 instead
of 250, the implications for human health would be severe. It could mean that
a deadly infectious dementia akin to Britain’s problem has already entered the
U.S. population. And since CJD has an invisible latency period of up to 40
years in humans, 40,000 cases could be just the beginning of something much
larger.

/snip/ http://www.prwatch.org/books/mcusa.pdf

Now that ain't marginal OR tiny,

and that's an estimate from pre-1997

It's out in the open now, expect alot more supposed Alzheimer patients and deaths to be eyeing the CJD connection

- after all, Beef is a BIG part of the American diet, and odn't that "invisible latency period of up to 40 years" give you some concern ??

Sure does me - a medical time-bomb - and THEY KNEW !!

[TexasPatriot]

24. i'll never forget the time...

i was in Whole Foods in Austin (Whole Foods was just a local joint at the time) and was waiting at the meat counter and there was Jim Hightower - Texas Ag commissioner - talking to the guy behind the counter and he said 'i know what they do to the meat - thats why i only buy meat here'

scared the crap out of me

only bought meat from whole foods for years... but now i live out in bfe - and i know the meat out here is pretty reasonable. if you're in a big city - at LEAST find a kosher butcher if you cant find certified hormone-free quality meat. it doesnt cost that much more

[flatlandr]

25. 'Privatized' public health decisions managed by

serial miserable failures. It's a toxic mix.

MICHIGAN BRAIN-DISEASE DEATHS 'UNUSUAL, DISTURBING'
Two young men, ages 26 and 28, died last fall in the same Michigan hospital of a
rare brain disease that occurs mainly in elderly people. The incident, which raised
fears that the human form of mad cow disease, or something similar, had emerged
in the USA, prompted a swift investigation by federal health officials, but doctors
familiar with the cases say there is no evidence to support that fear. They say
autopsies and other tests indicate the victims died from so-called 'classic' forms
of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020429/4066573s.htm

[NYC]

27. Very interesting article.

Well worth reading. Thanks for posting this.