ANOTHER MAD COW

Three's a charm for Canada - Canadian officials have found a third animal infected with mad cow disease -- an almost 7-year-old beef cow with no known connection to the other infected cattle, reports the Washington Post. And note that "the cow was born after Canada banned the use of cattle feed that includes animal parts to try to keep the deadly infection from spreading. But officials of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said use of contaminated feed was the most likely source of infection." Gee, how would that work? If the feed was banned, how could... ? Mystifying, huh? And comically, the USDA is still standing firm in its plan to reopen the border to hihg-risk Canadian beef. Wonder how many confirmed Mad Cows would change that decision. Five? Twenty? A thousand?

CRUELTY ON THE FARM

I don't highlight each of these stories, but I've noticed they're growing more common, and it's indicatative of a general shift in perception: "Officials in Barren County are working to save the lives of more than 200 cattle today as they gather and move animals from farms owned by Tom Holmes Sr." This is the second time that Holmes has been charged with cruelty to animals relating to the condition of his cattle. What's noteworthy is that farming animals inherently involves cruelty to them, yet food animals have routinely been seen as exempt from concern, at least up to the moment they're killed. More and more, even if on a case-by-case basis, this wall of apathy is being dismantled.

RATS CAN TELL HUMAN LANGUAGES APART

A piece in New Scientist tells how rats showed they could distinguish between Dutch and Japanese. "Toro's team trained rats to recognise either Dutch or Japanese - by pressing a lever in response to a short sentence - and then exposed them to sentences they had not heard before, in both languages." Not to belabor the point, but I'm certain there are literally millions of human beings who would be unable to succeed at this task.

A COW-TIONARY TALE

Malcolm Gladwell has a book review in The New Yorker that talks about how cultures kill themselves off through short-sightedness. And what's the signal example? The Vikings in Greenland, who refused to change from their "traditional" beef-centered diet and wound up destroying themselves by burning through all their resources with animal agriculture. One entertaining quote: "The Norse needed to reduce their reliance on livestock-particularly cows, which consumed an enormous amount of agricultural resources. But cows were a sign of high status; to northern Europeans, beef was a prized food." And: "Right up until they starved to death, the Norse never lost sight of what they stood for." Boy, good thing we learned the lesson from their mistake, huh?

WANNA FEEL BETTER? GO VEGETARIAN!

That's what England's The Independent says, anyway. In the paper's frothy "100 ways to feel better" feature, under LIVE LONGER, is this item:"2. Be a vegetarian: Being vegetarian for 20 years or more adds four years to the average lifespan, according to a study based on 7,100 Adventists, who largely do not eat meat. A UK report also shows lower mortality rates among vegetarians." Also, of their ten items to add to your diet, 100% are plant foods.

HANG ON, BABY - FRIDAY'S COMIN'

Canada to Detail Mad Cow Investigation on Friday, blares this article, making the point clear in the lede (my emphasis): "Canadian officials will wait until Friday to provide an update on their search for cattle related to the country's second home-grown case of mad cow disease, a senior veterinarian said on Wednesday." Hmmmm. Why's that? "Things are changing day by day, so it becomes a little bit difficult, until the investigation is completed, to be able to come back and say, 'This is what we found'," the vet said. Anybody else find it odd that things are so fluid that they can't stop to say where things are at, yet somehow they know that on Friday they'll be at exactly the right point to provide an update?

Meanwhile: A farm in Alberta - that of Allan Degner - has been identified as the home of Canada's most recent mad cow. And back here at home, in Legislation introduced to keep ban on Canadian cattle, we hear that Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) called the USDA's decision "outrageous," and said it demonstrates that the Agency "cares more about the interests of mega feed lots and processors than the interests of farmers, ranchers, and consumers." And Congressman Ron Kind sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, blasting the decision to reopen the doors just after the Canadians announced another case of Mad Cow Disease.

CHRISTMAS TURKEY STUFFED WITH RODENT

What's the big deal? When John Madden eats a Turkey with a Duck stuffed inside it, it's hilarious. But if it's a different kind of animal stuffing the bird, all of a sudden people get skeeved. "Valorie J. Macy had just removed the neck and giblets and was giving the bird a second rinse when a furry little rat or mouse plopped out into the sink."

There are plenty of choice quotes in this oddball article. "Norbest [the Turkey company] bills itself as the one of the leading turkey distributors in the world. The company motto, according to its Web site, is 'Perfect turkey every time.' Not every time, Macy would argue." Heh. And though the woman ditched the turkey and thawed out a ham for the holiday dinner, she wouldn't even eat that. "I had vegetables," she said. "I don't think I'll ever eat turkey again," she said. "I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian."

Then the piece goes over the top, as well it should. "She imagined what would have happened if the rodent was found later, say after the turkey was cooked. The discovery of a little tail sticking out of the stuffing bowl would ruin the most picture-perfect Norman Rockwell moment, she said." Yep, I guess it would do that.

VEGETABLES SAVE LIVES IN NUMEROUS WAYS

Copley News Service notes that "The same plant-rich diet that helps prevent cancer, it has been shown, also will limit your chances of obesity, heart disease and diabetes, [dietician Kim] Dalzell said. And it's also healthy for children." Not a lot of new news here, but one interesting study result: "When men in the Cancer Treatment study ate more broccoli and cauliflower -- three servings versus one -- they lowered their risk of prostate cancer by 41 percent."

KOSHER KRISIS STILL NOT OVER

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told federal meat inspectors that they should immediately shut down any slaughterhouse where they observe acts of cruelty similar to those surreptitiously videotaped by an animal rights group at a kosher meat plant in Iowa."

I always enjoy the willful blindness that allows officials to believe that animal cruelty isn't happening unless and until it shows up on videotape.

IT'S OFFICIAL: HUNTING CAUSES DEER-CAR COLLISIONS

This is common knowledge among many of us, but it's usually not said so clearly or authoritatively: in an article headlined, "Hunting season leads to more deer on roadways," we hear that "When the hunters go into the woods the deer come out." And Mississippi Highway Patrol Staff Sergeant Charlie Case is quoted on the causal relationship: "[T]here is more activity in the woods, with hunters, that disturbs them." Additionally, "The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports November as the start of the fall deer activity season, increasing the number of crashes." So... what might be one realistic solution to this problem, instead of annihilating the deer? "Case tells his driving students that there are no rules to avoid deer, but some precautions can help. 'People could slow down a little bit,' he said."

ANOTHER NORTH AMERICAN MAD COW

Late to the party on this one, of course. I'll have more as this progresses, but just wanted to point out the humor of the situation, in which the Mad Cow is discovered just as the US is about to re-open the border, declaring Canadian beef safe from Mad Cow. And since that was a purely political concern, the actuality of the Mad Cow can't change that decision.

WELCOME BACK AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

All I can say about my time away is this: If you're traveling on USAir, do whatever you can to carry-on, rather than check, your bags. OK, now back to our regular subject matter.

HOLIDAY BREAK

Here's a cheery Christmas Eve story about a family having turkey for Christmas dinner, or more precisely... wait for it... that's right, having the turkeys as their guests for dinner.

I'll be away from computers for a week, back in early 2005. Have yourselves a merry little calendar-flip, and we'll catch up with all the goings-on then.

E.COLI WINGS ITS WAY INTO YOUR HOUSE

Scientists in December's Applied and Environmental Microbiology say that if you live on or near a cattle farm, it's likely that the houseflies in your house are spreading E.Coli to you and yours. "One of the potential modes of dissemination of this pathogen in the environment is by insects that are associated with animal feces and manure, primarily houseflies," say the researchers. That's right, you don't have to be a cattle farmer, or eat meat, or even go to a petting zoo, but if you live near one of these farms, your very life could be threatened by their insistence on generating huge amounts of animal feces every day. Yeeee-haw!

DEATH FOR 'SAUSAGE KING'

I don't wish death on anybody. For one thing, it's not a very vegan attitude, and for another, it's not a pleasant thing to wish. But given the number of people being executed already in our death-crazy country, if Stuart Alexander had gotten off without a death sentence, it would have been a miscarriage of justice. Why? Because this is the most extreme cut-and-dried case imaginable: A merchant of death and proven thug, whose main product is already killing people left and right through its patent unhealthiness, lards on top of that fecal contamination to kill even more people, then when told to stop that, he kills those multiple people directly with his own hand, while captured on his own surveillance camera and attested to by another person he attempted to kill. If this dumbass were spared death penalty, it would show that we really have no sense whatsoever as to what justice is in this country. As it is, it's sometimes hard to tell, but that would've sealed the deal.

NEWEST WORD FOR PLANT-BASED DIET: POLYMEALS

In the headline, they're actually called "supermeals." Whatever - it's all yet another way of telling people that certain foods have incredible disease-fighting and longevity-promoting powers. And once again, it's all plants - except fish, which is also the only food on the list that the experts say should not be eaten daily. Hmmmmm, wonder why that is?

U.S. BSE STILL A MAJOR PROBLEM

It's funny, isn't it, how just before election day the news was that Japan was ready to lift their Mad-Cow-inspired ban on U.S. beef any day now, helping to create an impression that things were on the upswing and Bush's USDA team was doing a terrific, proactive job. But as of December... "No end is in sight to Japan's ban on imports of a U.S. beef, the head of a U.S. beef industry delegation said on Tuesday after a two-day visit to Japan aimed at speeding efforts to ease the ban." Huh. Boy, that's strange.

Maybe some of the Japanese negotiators got wind of the charges from federal meat inspectors that "U.S. meat plants are allowing brains and spinal cord from older cattle to enter the food supply, violating strict government regulations aimed at preventing the spread of mad cow disease." Note that this is similar to, but a whole separate problem from, the FDA refusing to keep rendered cow parts out of animal feed - which, no surprise, is also a problem (although more thoroughly documented) in Canada. No, this is the human food supply we're talking about, with BSE-high-risk material going directly into people's mouths. "We are seeing little to no change at these plants," said Stan Painter, the federal meat inspectors union's chairman.

FRUITS FIGHT LEUKEMIA

A new study in December's American Journal of Epidemiology found that children who ate oranges and bananas or drank orange juice most days of the week before age 2 were significantly less likely than other children to be diagnosed with leukemia before age 14. As this article mentions, "Previous research has suggested that diet may influence the risk of certain cancers, including colorectal, prostate, lung and breast cancers." Add leukemia to the laundry list of reasons for a plant-based diet.

HOG FARMS CAUSE ASTHMA

"A newly published University of Iowa study suggests that parents living on hog farms should protect their children from asthma by limiting exposure to dust from hog operations. James Merchant, dean of the U of I's College of Public Health, said the study published in the online Environmental Health Perspectives this week showed that children living on hog farms had a higher prevalence of asthma than did those living on farms with no hogs." Specifically, the study found indicators of asthma in 46 percent of those living on hog farms with more than 500 pigs, and even higher - 55.8 percent - for those on farms that added antibiotics to feed. This is compared to non-hog-farm asthma prevalence of 33.6 percent. "Many studies have shown rural children to have lower numbers of asthma cases than their city counterparts, Merchant said. This is a significant study showing the opposite to be true in the case of children living on hog farms, he added. The study controlled for other factors that might cause asthma."

NC E.COLI OUTBREAK SOLVED

Once again, animal agriculture manages to threaten children's very lives: "A State Fair petting zoo was the likely source of the E.coli bacteria that gave 15 children a life-threatening kidney ailment earlier this fall, state health officials said Thursday. The final report by investigators with the North Carolina Division of Public Health said North Carolina's largest outbreak of E. coli in three years, involving 108 cases, apparently originated at the Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo exhibition at the October fair. Though most people suffered milder symptoms, including diarrhea, 15 children suffered serious reactions to toxins that collected in their kidneys. The complication can lead to kidney failure and possible death. Four of the 15 children continue to receive dialysis, said Debbie Crane, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services. The report said more than half of the 108 people infected with E. coli were 5 years old or younger; two-thirds were under 18. Most had come into contact with animal manure, Crane said." Uh, yeah. "Most" had. In other words, "all of them" had. "Most" of them could remember and pinpoint exactly how.