Seriously! What is wrong with these people? Do they already have mad cow?

[20score]

I'll never understand this mindset.

Do they not have families themselves? This really is asinine, but typical of the Bush administration mindset.

But, people really need to know about this.

From the AP:

Court: US can block mad cow testing

By MATT APUZZO – 8 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration can prohibit meat packers from testing their animals for mad cow disease, a federal appeals court said Friday.

The dispute pits the Agriculture Department, which tests about 1 percent of cows for the potentially deadly disease, against a Kansas meat packer that wants to test all its animals.

Larger meat packers opposed such testing. If Creekstone Farms Premium Beef began advertising that its cows have all been tested, other companies fear they too will have to conduct the expensive tests.

The Bush administration says the low level of testing reflects the rareness of the disease. Mad cow disease has been linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Great Britain. Only three cases have been reported in the U.S., all involving cows, not humans.

A federal judge ruled last year that Creekstone must be allowed to conduct the test because the Agriculture Department can only regulate disease "treatment." Since there is no cure for mad cow disease and the test is performed on dead animals, the judge ruled, the test is not a treatment.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned that ruling, saying diagnosis can be considered part of treatment.

"And we owe USDA a considerable degree of deference in its interpretation of the term," Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson wrote.

The case was sent back to the district court, where Creekstone can make other argument

[valerief]

1. Give up eating cow meat, soup, Jello. It's the only thing to do. nt

[20score]

6. I completely forgot about Jello.

[valerief]

11. Packets of prions. nt

[undergroundpanther]

17. Made with

prion filled tap water..
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=771549
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/05/040526064629.htm
http://waterfutures.blogspot.com/2006/04/sales-of-bottled-water-and-meaning-of.html
and you know bottled water is tap water
http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2002/402_h2o.html

those bottles pile up..
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279230/
And it all comes out of the overworked,polluted earth...consumed to death.

[valerief]

18. We're totally fucked. nt

[undergroundpanther]

24. Live life like your gonna die because you're gonna..

You'll have Time...
(William Shatner/Ben Folds)

Live life
Live life like you're gonna die
Because you're gonna
I hate to be the bearer of bad news
But you're gonna die

Maybe not today or even next year
But before you know it you'll be saying
"Is this all there was?
What was all the fuss?
Why did I bother?"

Now, maybe you won't
suffer maybe it's quick
But you'll have time to think
Why did I waste it?
Why didn't I taste it?
You'll have time
Because you're gonna die.

Yes it's gonna happen
because it's happened to a
lot of people I know
My mother, my father, my loves
The president, the kings and the pope
They all had hope

And they muttered just before they went
Maybe, I won't let go
Live life like you're gonna die
Because you are

Maybe you won't suffer maybe it's quick
But you'll have time to think
Why did I waste it?
Why didn't I taste it?
You'll have time
'Cause you're gonna die

I tell you who else left us
Passed on down to heaven
no longer with us
Johnny Cash, JFK, that
guy in the Stones
Lou Gehrig, Einstein, and Joey Ramone
Have I convinced you?
Do you read my lips?
This may come as news but it's time
You're gonna die
You're gonna die

By the time you hear this
I may well be dead
And you my friend might be next
'Cause we're all gonna die

Yeah, oh maybe you won't suffer
and maybe it's quick
But you'll have time to think
Why did I waste it?
Why didn't I taste it?
You'll have time
You'll have time cause you're gonna die
Yes, you're gonna die
You're gonna die, I tell you
You're gonna die
You are gonna die

'Cause maybe you won't
suffer maybe it's quick
But you have time to think
Why did I waste it?
Why didn't I taste it?
You'll have time 'cause
you're gonna die

Live Life
Life life like you're gonna die
Because you're going to
Oh yes
I hate to be the bearer of bad news
But you're gonna die

Maybe not today or even next year
But before you know it you'll be saying
"Is this all there was?
What was all the fuss?
Why did I bother?
Why did I waste it?
Why didn't I taste it?"
You'll have time, baby
You'll have time
'Cause you're gonna die
You are gonna die
Oh yeah

(the sung part in the background)
Y-O-U-apostrophe-R-E-G-O-d
ouble-N-A-DIE Die!
You are gonna diiiiiie
Lung cancer, heart attack,
diabetes, drug overdose
Choke on a chicken bone
Hit by a lightning bolt
Heart attack
Airplane crash
Car wreck
Fucked up in your aaaaa---s-s-s-s!


The contamination is so bad,from what I have learned,
black humor is how I cope with all this.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. My older son lives on hot dogs. I really fear the whole Mad Cow thing :^(

[Codeine]

23. Veggie dogs.

Honestly, they taste almost identical to meat dogs and are a billion times healthier. I have meat-eating friends who buy them simply because they don't trust low-quality beef.

[GreenPartyVoter]

25. I'll try it but he has a sensory issue and is really weird about what he will

and will not eat. (I'd give up the hot dogs altogether, but hubby does the shopping and isn't at all concerned about mad cow.)

[undergroundpanther]

26. Don't cook them in tap water.

See my post # 17

[GreenPartyVoter]

27. He'll only eat them grilled or fried, so no worries there :^)

[undergroundpanther]

31. what kind of oils do you use?

Vegetable, prions are in there and contaminants ,lard definately prions,margerine who knows what the fuck that stuff is, butter? prions...rapeseed? poisionous .http://www.realmacaw.com/pages/canola.html
.soy? prions.. the ,corn,veggies ALL of it gets fertilized with cow ,animal shit sludge ya know,animals that have eaten animals they shouldn't be eating..If it's in the tap you can bet it's in the cooking oil.

There is more of a market for used cooking oil than fuel, a market most posters here seem unaware of, though as we localize, it will likely return in importance.

'Valley Proteins renders slaughterhouse and other meat processing byproducts to produce protein meal and fat for use as poultry and hog feed.' - from
http://yosemite.epa.gov/r3/press.nsf/7f3f954af9cce39b882563fd0063a09c/2e09685bf7c00fd185256a07006b7344!OpenDocument

The company keeps a low profile, it seems, though its trucks use to make regular collection runs in Fairfax throughout the entire time I lived there. They are based in Winchester, VA essentially, though they now seem to have operations in 10 states -

'The discarded animals are trucked to a facility like Valley Protein's rendering plant located on 500 rural acres outside Winchester. The remote site is deliberate: rendering 2,000 tons of product there each week gives off an odor that makes rendering operations unwelcome neighbors, even in farming communities used to strange smells.

During rendering, hides are stripped off the animals and kept for leather production and the animal parts are cut up and boiled down in huge vats for recycling into fats and a reddish-brown protein that has the consistency of wet sand.

Lester Crawford, administrator of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a veterinarian, admits he never knew how much cattle parts are used in other industries until he weighed regulations that would further control their use.

Fats produced by the rendering industry are used to make diesel fuel, fabric softeners, perfumes, cosmetics, textiles, plastic, inks, cleaners, solvents and rubber compounds for tires. The proteins from rendering plants once served as a fertilizer, but American farmers today favor cheaper artificial fertilizers.

The protein parts are mixed with corn or soybean meal and used to make animal feed. After British veterinarians linked the spread of mad cow disease in England to the presence of cattle parts in feed, the FDA in 1996 ordered an end to the practice of feeding cattle parts back to cattle, but did not prohibit their use in other animal feeds.

All of the proteins Valley Proteins produces are labeled as unfit for cattle feed because Smith said there's no way he can guarantee the proteins his plant produces are free of cattle products. The proteins are largely used to make feed for East Coast poultry and turkey farmers.'
http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=RENDERERS-09-30-04&cat=AN

In my somewhat hazy recollection, they used to take away used oil - possibly tallow, in the sense of being beef fat.

'Valley Proteins, Inc. is one of the largest independent recyclers and renderers of food processing by-products in the U.S. and operates its fleet of collection vehicles on a B-20 blend of bio-diesel. Valley Proteins is also considering entering the bio-diesel production market, having received permits for plant construction.'
http://www.cisat.jmu.edu/biodiesel/speakers.html



http://local.theoildrum.com/node/2297

[GreenPartyVoter]

32. It is sounding more and more like prions are unavoidable

[undergroundpanther]

34. you are correct.

It's a risk on surgical tools
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060820195413.htm
The dentist..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1351154/Warning-for-dentists-on-mad-cow.html?mobile=true
It's really everywhere.
But people are trying to beat the disease.They haven't found a cure yet tho.

[lligrd]

3. Insane! nt

[TwilightGardener]

4. BushCo is trying to protect the big cattle producers and meat packers, at the

expense of consumer safety interests. Some people might actually like all their beef certified free of mad-cow, which would give this one company an unfair advantage, and then all the packers and producers would be forced to adapt.

[Mind_your_head]

7. It wouldn't really be an "unfair advantage"

Creekstone's beef would most likely command a higher price for the added costs of the testing, as well as it being certified free of mad cow. Some consumers would pay it - some wouldn't - just like "organic produce".

I think you hit the nail on the head though, that all the other packers and producers would be forced to adapt ultimately....AND, more importantly, MIGHT BE FORCED TO PUT DOWN A LOT OF DISEASED CATTLE AT NO PROFIT. I believe that's their biggest fear.

[TwilightGardener]

8. I should have put "unfair" in quotes, because I don't think it's unfair--

it's a way to attract consumers, especially important for small operations.

[Mind_your_head]

16. Exactly! It's a way to attract customers/consumers

especially important for small operations....like Creekstone. I really have to admire Creekstone's tenacity on this. It's not cheap/easy being a smallish producer, running an operation, and fighting the FDA and the courts 'in your spare time'.

I sincerely hope that Barack Obama was referring to people/operations such as Creekstone in his acceptance speech, when he said something to the effect that, 'people with a better idea' would be allowed to follow their good ideas and flourish.

The public at large will willingly embrace Creekstone's testing/certification of it's animals. Gub'mint, under the control of special interests, has to stop tripping all the good ideas and practices that USA was known/admired for.

M_Y_H

P.S. GOBAMA! :hi:

[TwilightGardener]

21. I hope they succeed as well--I'd buy from them if they weren't

out of my budget.

[Mind_your_head]

28. Creekstone would probably be out of my budget as well....

but as you and I both stated earlier, Creekstone's vindication on this issue would ultimately cause all the other packers/producers to test as well....and that's the goal that I see here.

I'm sorry that a lot of diseased cattle would most likely have to be put down at no profit. Perhaps there could be some sort of one-time special tax allowance/credit for that? :shrug:

Cleaning up our systems is good for everyPERSON, everyANIMAL, the environment, and everyBUSINESS. No shortcuts.

[undergroundpanther]

35. What you don't understand

is most business is terribly shortsighted. It is run by greedy people without conscience in a psychopathic system in a culture that rewards psychopathic behaviors.The corporations see us like expendable worker ants. A bunch of us ants die off what do they care it's all abstract to them.They are not like us.They do not care about us our lives or our well being .They don't have to anymore. just like McCain thinks an ER visit is adequate health insurance that should give you a clue to what is fucked about the kind of people we let be in control of too much wealth.You have to understand this issue on many levels than the insanity is at least explainable, even if it is not manageable..yet..

Your boss, your boyfriend, your mother could be what Hare calls a "sub clinical" psychopath, someone who leaves a path of destruction and pain without a single pang of conscience. Even more worrisome is the fact that, at this stage, no one -- not even Bob Hare -- is quite sure what to do about it.
http://www.hare.org/links/saturday.html
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s1158704.htm
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/08/26/corporate.psychopaths/

[Mind_your_head]

36. Undergroundpanther, I REALLY admire your posts.....

and have for a long time.

I've bookmarked this thread to read some of your (most likely excellent) links over the weekend.

Thank you for your diligence in gathering these links.
M_Y_H

[Catherine Vincent]

37. Same here.

I mentioned this to her a while back. Everytime I see a post from her, I make sure to read it because I know it's goanna be informative. :hi:

[RC]

5. I stopped eating beef in this country shortly after the USDA refused to allow testing.

Another 3 to 5 years and the cases of dementia should start to sky rocket.
We know Mad Cows have enter the human food chain. What we don't know is how many and where because the bu$h administration tools refuse to allow any but the most perfunctory testing. Also 30 month old cows can have it but not show obvious symptoms yet.
Beef by-products are in so many of our foods, also.

[valerief]

12. Absolutely. Sometimes I think mad cow is why our jobs are offshored.

[spanone]

9. they have fought regulation of any kind since day one. and dismantled much of the regulation system

[undergroundpanther]

10. everything's contaminated

maybe that's why?
Prions are in the water supply..
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=771549
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/bse
http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1995Q3/sludge.html
I'm gonna die anyway,I do avoid things that make me sick or trigger an allergy but really the level of pollution and prions in everything on this planet is beyond the scope most people can emotionally handle.
http://tafsupdate.blogspot.com/
http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Long_Term_Effects_of_Soil_Pollution
http://books.google.com/books?id=zqLLa-MI8k0C&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=mad+cow+prions++and+pollutants+contaminated+the+worlds+food+supply&source=web&ots=5w6zpHkoN_&sig=uIUehU0LEglAlVFrniYSeFH3aDg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0423/p09s02-coop.html
http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10066.cfm
http://www.dbc.uci.edu/~sustain/suscoasts/krismin.html
http://www.mindfully.org/Farm/Food-Supply-Satellite.htm

I can't afford organic everything besides the organic label and"free range" means nothing now..except the same shit repackaged and costing more.
http://www.upc-online.org/organic/meaninglessterm.htm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/840613/what_the_labels_mean_on_organic_natural.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/naturally-raised-beef-standards.php

So..I say live life, live life, like your'e gonna die...
because your gonna...
unless you are a cow..http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15320720.300-will-cloned-cows-rise-from-the-dead.html

http://www.unknownnews.org/051209a-Panther.html

[Alameda]

15. Wow...you have really been following this issue

thanks for all the links. I try the best I can, but it's pretty frightening to look at this problem. It's everyplace!

[undergroundpanther]

20. Yeah I have

I know every things contaminated.Genetically modified pollen has escaped Monsanto's fields..it is everywhere, this Earth is being used to it's limits to support humans,and she can't keep up with our demands.

My sister is a person who worked in a food testing lab.The stuff she knows would freak most people out,for me it got me interested into finding out more what is happening to our food.She has a very ocd thing with food now and health it's killing her.The stress of avoiding everything..
At least I can die knowing I didn't play make believe about it and waste my time fighting a futile fight,buying organic I can't afford.
If we all put pressure on corporations invaded their 'privacy' took away their person hood and forced them to turn over all their assets to clean up their mess we may have a chance, but people are so obedient I dunno if they will ever realize how bad things have gotten or will be emotionally capable of it until it is too late.Maybe it is already too late.I dunno.

[20score]

41. Thanks Undergroundpanther, I'm going to read this information.

[jgraz]

13. Bush: The free market is for peasants.

[undergroundpanther]

14. When a human slave can be bought for 18 bucks or less

We ARE expendable to them.

[nankerphelge]

19. Go veg...

it's easy and simple and things like this are no longer a concern:

http://www.goveg.com/

[undergroundpanther]

22. I can't go veg

My body does not digest beans or soy.I am allergic.They come back out 15 minutes later.


Going veg won't save you.sorry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRX-158dZ0U&feature=PlayList&p=F2552B214E31B5B3&index=27
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/ov/archive/2008/08/19/of-sludge-and-salad-waste-water-greens-the-world-s-gardens.aspx
You can get it from the dentist
http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v195/n6/full/4810542a.html
and tap water..
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=771549

[farmboxer]

29. I eat Buffalo meat, it's much better for your health, no hormones,

hard any fat and no mad cow. Bush is an idiot.

www.awolbush.com

[magellan]

30. Buffalo/bison meat is DEEE-lish

It takes less time to cook than a similar cut of beef, and hesitant as I was about a gamey taste, it was virtually indistinguishable from beef. Actually it was tastier and more tender.

[undergroundpanther]

33. are they tested for it?

They drink from the contaminated earth right?
What are they fed? How do you know what they eat do you go to the farm to get the meat? Or just trust the company?
Yeah buffalo is deelish and fucking too expensive for me. SSI is below the poverty line hun I can't AFFORD gucchi food unless it is paid for like on my birthday or something.. But I think buffalo in some instances could very well be contaminated.Especially if you buy the meat at grocery stores or butcher shops. You know those shops reuse the bone saws they use to cut carcasses up .They are washed in hot tap water and soap(made with animal fats)those saws they use may have been used to cut beef,before it cut your buffalo So the meat may still be contaminated.

[Kickin_Donkey]

38. Gotta keep that beef flowing at all costs ...

Never mind if some people die, corporations must not suffer any economic consequences.
<sarcasm>

[farmboxer]

39. Farm is close to where I live. Can visit any time I want

there are no hormones in the meat I eat.

[undergroundpanther]

45. you are luckier than 99% of us

Be thankful.

[oldskool]

40. Maybe they will irradiate it

like fruits and vegetables. Sounds about as safe as mad cow
disease.

[LeftishBrit]

42. Wow

Criminally irresponsible. And this will harm the industry in the long run, as people will avoid eating beef - as happened in the UK in the 90s.

[20score]

43. Yes, and it has been happening for years now, but they've

never had the backing of the courts. It makes no legal or moral sense.

[Blarch]

44. I haven't touched beef in over a decade.

For reasons just like this.

[Lorien]

46. Me either. And I really don't miss it

especially when reading stuff like this :puke:.

[HillbillyBob]

47. This is what we have done,

We grew our own garden, very much limit what processed meats we eat.
We found local farms that sell grass fed Charolais and Angus type beef.
I have been to the farms and cutting rooms. Aside from not having rabbis to
do the slaughter and pray over it its close to kosher.
It is a bit more expensive, but the meat is cleaner and denser and goes further.
We do eat meat no arguing that, at least we know what goes into it, where its been
and how the cows are treated.
It seems like they don't care only that bottom line, like most corporates, the soul of a psychopathic and
and profit is the only motive.
I grew up with cows, my grand parents had a farm we ate the veggies from the garden and
had a milk cow, some times pigs to make hams and sausage.
Someone mentions Rendering plants, I used to be a commercial electrician and did work
at various meat processing plants. The worst was the rendering plant for a pet food company
I still gag at the mere thought and that was nearly 30 years ago.
The cleanest was the Kosher plant, not pleasant, but tolerable, clean and as humane as you
can be.
We put up a summer garden and now partner is putting up a winter garden.
I don't buy produce at the market much at all unless its something i just have to have now otherwise
i go to a little local farmers market. We also feed Wellness brand for dogs, human grade food
and not stuff unknown to nature.
It got to where I was developing allergies and I am already hiv poz, I think we can skip the
chances of mad cow in my kitchen..youi might gain a few pounds though.