Brenda Ann, we seem to have posted the same thing at the same time ;^)

-- Stinger

"Stinger" wrote in message
.. .
I see that the Dept. of Agriculture just invoked new rules affecting beef
processing to address the "mad cow" disease problem.

No more "downer cows" (cows that can't make it to slaughter under their
own
power due to injury or sickness), and no more processing brains, spinal
tissue, eyes, and intestines for use in food.

-- Stinger

"Doctor Artaud" wrote in message
...
"Maximus" wrote in
link.net:

Yes, but therein lies the rub, the causative agent isn't an organism, it
appears to be some form of deranged protein.

Apparently the cremation of the animal carcasses in England was
insufficient to render the protein safe for exposure. Cooking it out
will definitely not work.

Though I offer my condolence in the passing of your Father, I do not
believe that the two diseases should be compared.

As devastating as Parkinsons was to you, (and your Father), the
progression of the CJD is so rapid (after the latency period), the agent
is so little understood, and with the possibility of a multitude of
cases occurring simultaneously in the future, CJD deserves immediate
attention. I believe that the government will have us eating tainted
meat rather than risk the negative impact that Mad Cow Disease will have
on the economy. If CJD has an average latency period of 40 years, what
would the current politicians care, since they will likely have
naturally expired by the time the full impact of CJD would manifest.

Although we may be inconvenienced by higher meat prices, henceforth
higher McDonalds et al. prices, the salvation of people's lives and
health outweigh the need for an expedited economic recovery. The
assurance that the meat is genuinely free from the Prion said to cause
CJD is absolutely necessary, not an assurance based on speculation of
the cow's country of purchase. Behold your grandchildren, you would not
wish that fast food hamburger (or pepperoni, etc.) to be their death
warrant when they reach 40 years old.

Parkinsons needs federal money for medical research, CJD, at least at
this point, needs prevention through diligent processing of food.

Dr. Artaud



Perhaps they need to unravel the mystery of the organism that causes
the problem so they can find a means of defeating it. Meanwhile, it
needs to be put in the laboratory and out of the political arena,
because they will otherwise make no progress against the disease. My
father died from complications of Parkinson's Disease. One of the
causes that are suspected in that disease are chemical exposure. I
guess keeping things like steroids and antibiotics and chemicals out
of the food supply would be helpful, but it is going to be an uphill
battle as long as money plays such a prominent role things. You are
what you eat - I don't want to eat downer cows etc.


--
To know and to be, this is not even a question, there is no alternative.
You see it clearly in the loneliest little avenues between particles and
waves, shunned even by the gregarious quark and unknown by the various
strands of time, so big it cannot be seen, yet so little it is
immovable, lies the fabric of the ultimate reality gripped in the tiny
fist of the all or nothing."