'MAD COW' HITS NORTH AMERICA

As if by divine irony, on the same day scientists scaled back predictions of BSE deaths in Britain to more hopeful levels, Mad Cow Disease was found in Canada, sending meat-related stocks in the U.S. tumbling as it torpedoed our "can't happen here" mentality. But don't worry, folks - there's a firewall between the disease and our citizenry - the USDA!