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ORONTO, Jan 20th, 2005 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- The human food chain may not be as well protected from BSE as everyone hopes, scientists admitted Thursday in the wake of publication of new research showing the malformed proteins that cause the brain-wasting disease can be found in more tissues than previously thought. Experts admit the findings are worrisome, but note the additional risk, if confirmed, may still be low because it is believed there is very little bovine spongiform encephalopathy - mad cow disease - in current cattle herds. "I don't want to provoke hysteria here," senior author...

My friend, the artist Libby Hague, is an intellectual vegetarian, by which I mean she won't eat beings she regards as sentient. Chickens became safe from Libby's table the day she discovered they could play tic-tac-toe. Beings that can't pass the tic-tac-toe test are, however, fair game. Fish, for instance, are out of luck. My friend follows a beaten path. Using intellectual accomplishment to distinguish life forms that are worthy of preservation from life forms that aren't is quite traditional. The law used to make such distinction even between human beings. For instance, the original meaning of the phrase "benefit...

No matter how you cut it up, eating people is simply wrong - By Barbara Amiel (Filed: 08/12/2003) Not a few modern cannibals in the West have been German and it would be tempting to say, after reading the testimony of self-confessed cannibal Armin Meiwes, now on trial in Kassel, that eating people is a peculiarly German thing to do. But there have been some American and British cannibals, with the odd Russian as well. What may be an EU speciality is that apparently cannibalism is not a crime - though using wooden chopping boards may be. Somehow, one would...

International squabbles have stopped a once-mighty chicken foot trade. Why China and America Fight Over Chicken Feet A large amount of ChinaÂ’s imported chicken consists of paws. All photos Kristi AllenAmericans eat a lot of chicken, clocking in at almost 100 pounds per person per year. However, thereÂ’s one part of the bird many overlook: the chewy, clawed feet.Chicken feet are a favorite treat around the world. Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and many other countries all have their own classic preparations of chicken feet. If thereÂ’s one place where theyÂ’re most popular, itÂ’s China. Across the country, chicken feet are...

A deadly disease that has affected the deer population in an estimated 24 states and two Canadian provinces could eventually spread to and infect humans, experts warn. Experts from the University of Minnesota told lawmakers of the dangers of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), or what the U.S. Geological Survey describes as a “ fatal, neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family), including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose.” Currently, there are no vaccines or treatments available for the disease, which scientists say spreads directly through animal-to-animal contact but also indirectly through contaminated drinking water...

Would you eat venison if there was a chance it could slowly eat away at your brain? If there's a slight possibility, it doesn't bother Patrick States. On the menu this evening for his wife and two daughters at their Northglenn, Colo., home are pan-seared venison steaks with mashed potatoes and a whiskey cream sauce. "We each have our specialty, actually," says States as the steak sizzles. "The girls made elk tamales this morning, but we use [venison or elk] in spaghetti, chili, soup, whatever." The States take pride in skipping the butcher counter at the grocery store. The red...

After ex-comedian Rosie O’Donnell’s meltdown on Twitter before the Senate’s big tax vote Tuesday night, President Donald Trump can reasonably direct federal authorities to lock her up Even after another Twitter user, Louise Mensch, replied that O’Donnell was irresponsibly advocating bribery, O’Donnell doubled down. Federal law addresses O’Donnell’s actions. 18 U.S. Code § 201 criminalizes the attempted bribery of federal officials by whoever “directly or indirectly, corruptly gives, offers or promises anything of value to any public official … with intent to influence any official act.” The penalty? For Rosie, she could spend up to 15 years in jail

A leading member of the liberal media is trying to link Donald Trump‘s presidential campaign to an outrageous murder allegedly committed by an illegal immigrant. Raven-Symoné Pearman of ABC’s “The View” showed her conspiratorial side when she told her co-hosts that the murder of Kate Steinle, 32, by an illegal alien in San Francisco might have been connected to, if not orchestrated by, Trump’s campaign. According to The Wrap, the newest co-host of ABC’s daytime talk show started explaining her theory by weighing in on why she thinks Trump is running for president. Apparently it’s all a vast conspiracy to...

It began with anxiety and depression. A few months later, hallucinations appeared. Then the Texas man, in his 40s, couldn't feel or move the left side of his face. He thought the symptoms were because of a recent car accident. But the psychiatric problems got worse. And some doctors thought the man might have bipolar disorder. Cattle feeding practices have been changed in an effort to halt the spread of mad cow disease. THE SALT Mad Cow Disease: What You Need To Know Now Eventually, he couldn't walk or speak. He was hospitalized. And about 18 months after symptoms began,...

When Rosie O’Donnell made her triumphant return to “The View” in September, she promised a calmer version of the host who previously fled the program in 2007 after a single season. But O’Donnell’s unhappiness at “The View” led her to announce on Friday, via a story in the New York Post’s Page Six section, that she was exiting the show after five months. ABC executives agreed to release her early from a 11-month contract, estimated to be worth $5 million. In a brief interview with “Entertainment Tonight” over the weekend, O’Donnell attributed her departure to a desire to focus on...

Ireland says the United States will permit imports of beef from the country—the first European Union state allowed to resume sales since the mad cow disease scare over 15 years ago. Simon Coveney, Ireland’s minister for agriculture, food and the marine, issued a statement Monday announcing that access to the lucrative U.S. market came after American authorities inspected Ireland’s beef production systems. Authorities estimate annual exports could be worth at least €25 million ($30 million). …

A poster on Twitter, upon seeing what he thought were very similar posts referencing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow's show, did some searching and found out that Maddow has been using phony twitter accounts to boost her "mentions" on the popular website. As can be seen by screenshots collected by a tweeter named @LeftyBollocks, Maddow has massive amount of accounts posting the exact same claim that "Confession: I yell at my TV while watching Rachel #Maddow talk about filibuster reform in the same way most people do during football." With so many supposedly unique accounts mentioning her name, the term #Maddow...

When not misfolded, prions lend a hand in forming neuronal connections. Prions are best known as the infectious agents that cause ‘mad cow’ disease and the human versions of it, such as variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease. But the proteins also have at least one known useful function, in the cells that insulate nerves, and are suspected to have more. Now researchers have provided the first direct evidence that the proteins play an important role in neurons themselves. The team reports in the Journal of Neuroscience1 that prions are involved in developmental plasticity, the process by which the structure and function of...

The Department of Agriculture today confirmed a case of mad cow disease found in a dairy cow in central California. In a press briefing today, John Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinary officer, said the cow's meat did not enter the food supply and the carcass will be destroyed. The animal was found at a rendering facility run by Baker Commodities in Hanford, Calif. The disease was discovered when the company selected the cow for random sampling, Baker Commodities executive vice president Dennis Luckey told The Associated Press. The Agriculture Department confirmed today that the cow is the fourth discovered in...

As if it weren't bad enough that deadly prions can survive boiling and radiation, now comes word that aerosolized forms of the pathogen can enter the nose and find their way to the brain, with fatal consequences. Prions, you may recall, were the reason you avoided beef in Europe in the 1990s. They triggered the infamous mad cow disease epidemic in the U.K., which spread to the rest of Europe and other parts of the world. Prions are proteins that all animals produce, but sometimes, toxic mutant versions are made. These malformed versions can cause ..."

THE importation of beef from countries that have had outbreaks of mad cow disease will be delayed by at least two years following a backdown by the Rudd government. Agriculture Minister Tony Burke yesterday bowed to community pressure and ordered a full risk analysis of beef imports from countries where bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, had been reported. The review comes eight days after the lifting of a ban on beef imports from countries that have had the disease. That decision followed a threat by meat exporters, including Canada, to go to the World Trade Organisation over unfair...

(CNSNews.com) – MSNBC news host Rachel Maddow corrected the record for misquoting Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) on her Feb. 9 broadcast -- when she incorrectly claimed that the senator had praised federal economic stimulus spending. But she apparently has misquoted the senator again and, as Inhofe’s office told CNSNews.com, “We appreciate that Rachel is a proud liberal defending the massive government spending bills now flowing out of Washington, but hope she will consider making another correction.” Maddow, host of “The Rachel Maddow Show,” a political news and commentary program on MSNBC, said on Feb. 9, “Senator Jim Inhofe of denying...

Spanish vultures are hungry, even starving — and the regional government in Madrid plans to do something about it. EU laws aimed at halting the spread of mad cow disease require the countryside to be kept clear of dead livestock even if they died of natural causes. But Juan Carlos Atienza of the Spanish Ornithological Organization says the lack of animal corpses since the law was introduced in Spain in 2002 has hit certain vultures very hard. Esperanza Aguirre, president of Madrid's regional government, said Monday the capital aims to ease the vultures' hunger by allowing some dead animals to...

Enlarge ImagePotent protein. The normal version of a pathological prion protein (in green) is expressed in the cells that make up the olfactory system, fine-tuning the mouse's sense of smell.Credit: Claire Le Pichon and Matt Valley Talk about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Misfolded proteins known as prions cause mad cow disease and other fatal neurodegenerative illnesses. But in their properly folded form, the proteins may be important to survival, helping mice and other animals keep their sniffing skills sharp, new research shows. Prions get the bad reputation--and the lion's share of research attention--but interest in the normal form...

Mad Cow Rules Hit Sperm Banks' Patrons By Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, August 13, 2008; Page A01 When Julie Peterson decided to have a baby on her own two years ago, she picked a tall, blond, blue-eyed Danish engineer as a sperm donor to match her own Scandinavian heritage. But when she went back to the sperm bank to use the same donor to have another child, she was stunned to discover that the federal government had made it impossible. "I just cried," said Peterson, 43, who lives in North Carolina. "I was in complete shock. I...