MAD COW, it's what's for dinner
 

that is a quote from this article .

It's about a single cow that tested positive for mad cow disease near Yakima Washington U_S_A.

WHAT THE FUCK!!!???

any of you live near there? eat beef? lately?

I don't think I'd want to eat a cow that couldn't move on it's own even if it were otherwise healthy. It makes me think really really hard about the standards we employ, to think that they butchered and shipped this fucking cow anyway.

this was a quote from earlier in the same article:


again, WHAT THE FUCK!!!???



http://imgfarm.com/images/ap/thumbna...1223190215.jpg
Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announces the first suspected case of mad cow...



almost as disturbing is the feeling I get that the writer of this article is much more concerned about the potential economic havoc that this could cause instead of the "safety of the food chain" .....I know the economy is important, but fuckin A.

I appreciate officials being vigilant about BSE, but I wonder if we're overreacting to it now. The incident in Canada earlier this year has almost killed their cattle industry...and is causing beef prices to spike here.

Anyone up for a $9 cheesesteak?

they shipped that cow!

Are you referring to the Canadian cow or the American cow?

It is to laugh. Seriously. This amuses me to no end.

As far as the beef industry, shit. The entire beef industry would be fucked if the government wasn't propping it up. Without subsidization a burger would cost you like twenty bucks. Seriously. It's a fucking joke.

Quzah.

I don't think I'd want to eat a cow that couldn't move on it's own even if it were otherwise healthy.

You know what they feed cows? Other cows. Specifically, the parts you don't eat, such as spinal cord, etc, mixed with grain.

Its yum-meh.

I live near there. I've eaten beef once. By accident.

We were at Chez Monique's burger stand. That place is 30 miles from civilization: the floor is sand, the walls are a transparent tarp, the structure is poles, and they get their supplies by Zodiac rafts (the same that they use in Neal Stephenson's Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller).

I ordered a cheeseburger, not realizing that it contained beef.

I think it's funny (and somewhat cool) that Mad Cow disease has struck America. There are some political and cultural lessons to be learned from it.

Now to pour gasoline on those fears:

1) Well less than one in ten cows that cannot walk are tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). This was simply one of few not walking cows that was tissue sampled, processed, and only later did preliminary lab results come back positive. It is not entirely sure where the meat has gone.

2) Although almost no one gets BSE, the related disease called Creutzfeldt--Jakob disease kills about 250 Americans a year. Reasons for CJ are unknown and may be directly traceable to same source as BSE.

3) Even though nerve tissues (brain, spinal cord) are removed from a slaughtered animal (and therefore BSE cannot be spread), what they forget to mention is the removal of that never tissue splatters the rest of the meat. It is not a clean removal process. Therefore can BSE spread by the violent removal of nervous tissue?

4) BSE appears to have an incubation period of 10 years or more. Just another reason why BSE research is so unproductive - since experiements take so long to yield results. That being the case, if BSE is in our food system, then we will find out many years later - long most readers have totally forgotten about this news story.

5) BSE and CJ are believed to be based upon something that is not a bateria and not a virus. This was posted many years ago here in the Cellar. Prions can be cooked for hours, radiated, boiled, deep fat fried, chlorinated, disinfected, mutilated, and frozen. Still they remain intact and deadly. How's that for scary sic fi gone reality.

6) Cannibalism is the primary reason that BSE and CJ type diseases spread. Britian suffered because unused parts of livestock were reprocessed, added to grains, and fed back to cattle, sheep, and chickens. Cannibal tribes suffered from BSE like diseases because a 'same species' diet spreads prions among humans.


Having said all this - to intentionally hype fears with honest facts - now put it all into perspective. BSE and CJ are not consider dangerous. They are extremely rare diseases that make an automobile ride to the grocery store far more dangerous. Funny how numbers can turn all those fears of points one thru six into one step above nothing. Demonstrated is how the Daily News, et al can turn an unimportant event (as made obvious by numbers) into a wholesale fear of beef (an emotional response based only on half truths). It is a simple news story, with important facts about a relatively unsafe food distribution system, but hyped by an all but non-existant threat.

One should be far more concerned about where TacoBell gets their meat - from a Pantry Pride plant outside Souderton PA whose FDA meat inspectors observed chicken on the dirty floor simply put into the 'clean and ready to ship' line. Listeria? That is where the diseased turkey meat shipped throughout the US was coming from. The delivery trucks to Taco Bell no longer have the Pilgrim's Pride labels on their side. You can sometimes see the glue from that Pantry / Pilgrim's Pride label as the same trucks deliver to Taco Bell - and probably other Pepsico retail food outlets.

Re: MAD COW, it's what's for dinner
 

Some people post honest facts. Others waste our time with silly emotions and unnecessary obscenities. It implies the poster's intelligence - and maybe from what he eats. Those with poor diets, poor intelligence, and irrelevant conclusions would waste good bandwidth using unnecessary obscenities. In the meantime, that meat could be anywhere in the country - not just the Washington region. Helps to first learn facts before posting hyped fears - and obscenities.

and some people are assholes.


who are you to try to dictate to me what type of material to post? If I see a news story and have an emotional reaction, and I want to see how other people feel about it, is it not my right to put it out there? what the fuck is this place for then? Maybe I don't know a lot about it. Maybe I WANT to and that's why i put it on.

I said "what the fuck!!!???" because that's what the fuck I meant. If you have issues with fucking obscenities, maybe you should go fuck yourself for a while. goddamn emotion cop. waste bandwidth! don't look now, we're running out of bandwidth! oh no! fuck!

merry christmas, dickhead.

More well used bandwidth - or is this masquarading as an intellectual response? Entertainment is setting off an explosive mind. So easy. Not one obscene word is even required as a detonator.

Still awaiting a word of wisdom on the Sec of Agriculture's statements. If her statements are so awe inspiring - then why not limit your vocabulary to one letter words such ! . Then no need to captialize all letters. No shouting obscenities to make a complete response.

Fact that makes it all better: BSE can't be transmitted via "muscle cuts" of meat such as... well... STEAKS.

Therefore, from here on out just eat STEAK, and avoid non-muscle beef such as LIVER.

This has been a public service announcement.

I'm wondering how long its been SOP to put down cows into the human food supply? I always thought around here down animals went to the rendering plant to end up in dog chow etc...

mmmmm.... grass fed bison

steak is the only beef i tend to eat other than roast beef lunchmeat, so I guess i'm not worried about getting mad cow's, but the things you find out on the side while lookin ginto this ...... there is a small natural foods store nearby that sells all natural grass fed beef.....think i'll stick to that....even if it costs more. I really don;t want to eat any canibal cows.

what the hell is wrong with people? we know canibalism is a bad thing, why is it ok for livestock!? money really twists people's minds.

tw,

It's a shame you're so pompous. It really is. Your first post was somewhat helpful and informative, the added info about taco bell was also useful. this was the kind of thing i was looking for.....more info. If i use "an obscenity" it is for flavor. As I said. "WHAT THE FUCK!!!???" conveys a whole different message than, "what the heck!!!???" does it not?

And i'm really not all that easy to aggrevate, but i make exceptions for you, given our brief, but glorious history . your post was intended to belittle and insult me without direct provocation. you question my intellect and my diet? why would i NOT react. You must still be sore about the vegetable comment. When someone is trying to be a jerk to you or to piss you off, even if they don't succeed, that is reason enough to let them know about it.

i thought you subscribed to the theory that you should ignore someone when they are being childish or ignorant. I was certainly being childish in my reply to your attack. I guess it's just a theory after all.

I don't believe in the ignore button, cougar. I can handle tw. plus, as i said, if i had ignored him from that last time, i would have missed the positive contribution that he made with his first post here.
I've read a few of his posts since our little spat, and simply overlooked his superior tones, as I'm sure everyone is already aware of how he is and there is no reason to point it out every time. The fact is that much of the information included in his posts is useful. it just sucks that it comes in such shitty wrappings. whattya gonna do?

in closing i'd just like to say this:

tw,

there is a sale on zucchini at Acme this week.....don't miss it.

I don't think BSE has been found in liver, either. Just brain and related parts. Ground beef is your biggest danger if you don't eat brains... you never know what was in that grinder first.

I'm not suprised they've found mad cow here. After all, there's been a "chronic wasting disease" endemic in wild ruminants for a long while now, and it's a spongiform encepholpathy as well. I suspect this isn't the British BSE but rather the domestic CWD having crossed the species barrier.

The zombie population has got to be pissed about this.

Brah-aaaaaaaiiiins, braaains!

I hope Oprah sues the fuck out of the beef industry! Looks like she was right. Man, I'd have a lawer on the phone so god damn fast their heads would spin.

Quzah.

What would be the grounds? Oprah's the way she is because she's Oprah, not because she's got BSE.

Anyway, maybe you can't get MAD COW from a carrot ('cause it has no brains), but you can get anthrax from it. And botulism from green beens.

On the fact that they sued the fuck out of her because she suggested that the USA might get it*? See the connection here? Or should I spell it out slower with smaller words?

Speaking of Anthrax, you can get that from a cow too, so what's your point? Trying to prove your machismo because you're a omnivore? Wow, I'm impressed.

Quzah.

[edit]
*It being Mad Cow, in case you aren't clever enough to discern "it" on your own. I figured I'd better clarify just for you. Didn't want you to think she could get "it" as in "carrots" or something...
[/edit]

You did the same thing to a 14 year old girl. At least she was man enough to let it go - to not respond with a chain of obscenities. You, on the other hand, get all pissy when one does to you exactly what you did to April. Its called a double standard.

Bottom line is that local feed providers have admitted to violating FDA guidelines by selling 'contaiminated' feed. Feed sold in 1997 may have resulted in the infected cow. How it was infected does not determine where else all this feed has gone. For that matter, it is not currently known from what herd this cow came from. IOW Korea, Japan, Australia, China, and Canada have good reason to ban American meat.

Currently, this is not a major problem from the perspective of consumers. However even the listeria shipped across America from Souderton PA demonstrates a fundamental problem with the food industry. FDA inspector can observe employees picking chickens off the floor and put them back on the 'clean' line - without cleaning. FDA inspector files a report. Nothing happens. No wonder livestock feed providers could do what the Brits were doing - without consequences. Public was even left uninformed.

Question is how widespread is the Mad Cow infection and how many more feed providers were selling 'contaminated' feed. For example, contaminated feed results in Mad Cow some four years later. Do we cull the entire herd? That is what the UK had to do.

oh? I submit to the jury exhibit A: April's last words:


12-05-2003 03:33 PM
tw, please just stick to posting the results of your obviously tireless research on quantifiable and provable topics that arise within these walls. Your editorial comments tend to make you look somewhat asshatian. (i want credit for that word) you said yourself that you did not take the time to read the thread you are referring to. i read each post as they came across. you are not better than anyone on here, so just let go of trying to sound as if you were. people will respect you for the content you ad, you don't have to take on tones.

and stop running up against me. you're no match.

Generally, you can't successfully sue somebody simply because they unsuccessfully sued you (the beef industry suits got tossed out on their ears).

Trying to deflate your misplaced sense of superiority for being a vegetarian.

Did I mention being "vegetarian" in this thread? No. And if you're going to mention it, at least get it correct. I am not a vegetarian. I am a vegan. Big difference.

But you're right. I mean, I should throw a pitty party for all you proud "meat eaters". Right? I mean shit, you might get sick from your steak. Boo-fucking-hoo.

Let's back up though, shall we? My being vegan has nothing to do with this thread. It wasn't mentioned or even referred to. In fact, had you not known the fact, you couldn't tell I was vegan from anything I've written here in this thread.

So your tooting your horn on how vegies can get you sick is just stupid.

You want to put the gloves on? Let's fucking go.
1) Heart disease / vascular disease.
2) Colon cancer, breast cancer, etc.
3) High blood pressure, high cholesterol.
4) Tapeworm diseases.
5) Salmonellosis*
6) Alzheimer's**
7) Diabetes.
8) Kidney stones and other kidney diseases.
9) Escherichia coli.
10) Campylobacter jejuni.
11) Arteriosclerosis.
12) Rheumatoid arthritis.
13) Gout.
14) Epilepsy*
15) Toxemia.
16) Food Poisoning.***

I'll stop there for now. Because I really don't give a shit what you eat. Feel free to make your own list. Bear in mind that for every study saying something, someone else will come up with a study saying the opposite.

I've read studies where meat is bad. I've read studies where they say it's wonderful. I really don't care. I liken it to the Tobacco Industry(TM) saying that Tobacco doesn't cause cancer. Hey, there are studies for it right? I mean, the beef industry wouldn't try and get their own studies ... It's all subjective.

As stated, eat whatever you like. I don't give a fuck. Just don't be surprised when I laugh my ass off at you when you get mad cow. You want to get defensive of your right to eat meat? Who cares. I don't. Shut the fuck up. Just don't expect me to sit on my hands when there's a thread titled "MAD COW, it's what's for dinner" and not be amused.

If you don't like my comments, fuck off. Ignore me. Because at the end of the day...

"My boy, I really don't care."

Quzah.


*Yes, you could piss on veggies in the field and if I didn't wash them, it could be transfered thusly. But all I have to do is wash them.
**Scroll down, it's there.
***Just read bullet points six and seven. Ignore the other reasons it's a generally healthy reason to be Vegan, because you don't care. Personally I don't care either. You can eat shit and die for all I care.

GOTTA RESPECT A VEGAN. unless they act superior because of it. eat what you want to eat. be who you want to be. hell, for that matter, eat WHO you want to eat!



"vegetarians" who eat fish and dairy make me chuckle.

a lot of what you SHOULD eat has to do with your blood type. I'm type O-. research I've read says beef is good for me. Wheat is bad.

Jinx is type A...veggies and fish are good for her. beef is not.

what i find interesting is that we both like those things (respectively) best.

I did a lot of reading on the blood type diet when my dad started on it this past year. It's really not based on any solid research. My dad says he eats meat now, after being vegetarian since 1969. I'm not sure if I believe him, though. (It's difficult to digest meat if your body isn't used to it.)

What really makes me angry is he got my aunt on the diet, and she's already had an angioplasty a few years back (she's in her 40s). Now she thinks, I can eat lots of beef! It's good for me! All I can say is, I hope she's watching her cholesterol.

We're all type O in my family. On my father's side, my grandfather died before 50 of a heart attack (before I was born), my uncle died of a stroke at age 47. I wouldn't blame it all on diet, but I don't think it helped any.

On my mother's side, my grandmother died at age 44 of a heart attack (way before I was born, when my mother was 10 years old). A couple of my aunts on my mother's side are into the Zone or Atkins diet now (similar to the Type O diet). They are losing some weight on these diets because they are restricting their food intake (just like any fad diet out there).

US traces diseased cow to Canada

"Blame Canada! Blame Canada..."

But seriously...notice the headline and read the story...the headline is a bit misleading.

CBC's version of the story

CBC also has a section on their site that looks at mad cow in greater detail, along with its effects on various countries thus far.

from what i understand, taco bell uses soy (for beef anyway) broke my heart to hear that. now, if you'll excuse me, i'm going to go crack open a beer, smoke a cigarette and light up my grill for a well marinated T-bone steak.

Here's one way to avoid the cow. Farm raised Elk, from MO.

Argh! :eek: Hurray for turkey!!!

I'll take my chances on the car ride, thanks. I look at it like this: I HAVE to drive my car to get to places. I don't HAVE to eat beef.

I believe my type is "O" as well, but it doesn't matter. My diet is pretty limited to this:

Renal Diabetic Food List

And in certain amounts too, along with fluid restrictions. :(

Why is cream cheese okay but all other cheese not ok? Why is whipped cream okay but every other dairy not ok?

And why peaches, pears and fruit cocktail that are canned but not fresh?

I think it has to do with the amount of phosphorus that's in dairy, and cream cheese and whipped cream are low in phosphorus (and I can only have a minimal amount anyway, like 2 Tbsp.) High phosphorus is verry bad for renal patients:

The Importance of Phosphorus Control

Not sure about that one. :(

Unless it has a bone in it. Nerve tissue around the bone can transmit it.

Oh and hamburger is suspect because various of the dangerous edge cuts get into the mix.