Random: December 2003 Archives

Did you know that

The 1997 ban on cattle byproducts in cattle feed ... has loopholes.

It exempts products such as cattle blood and gelatin, and allows "rendered" or slaughtered byproducts such as brain and spinal tissue to be placed in feed for pigs, chicken and other animals. Critics of the system say those animals could end up as feed for cattle.

and

USDA veterinarians... don't necessarily inspect downer animals for BSE. The New York Times on Sunday quoted a federal inspector who said of the 600 downers he saw tested at a Midwestern plant the past two years, only one was tested for BSE.

Pass the tofu, please. Mmm. Tasty tofu.

--> "Rehberg, Burns split on sick cattle", Mike Dennison, Great Falls Tribune, December 30, 2003, www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/ 20031230/localnews/133986.html

So, a single cow in a herd in Washington state that could not stand or walk properly is making headlines and causing countries around the world to slam their doors shut to American beef exports. The U.S. government is rushing to reassure us that it's not a big deal and that the American food supply is safe. Besides, they told us initially, the cow never made it into the food production chain, anyway. (Oh, whoops, folks, yes it did!)

People who love their meat will shrug this one off. Aren't animal-rights activists and vegetarians always going on about this kind of thing? And the chances of any one person getting mad cow disease are pretty darn low. "You can't worry all the time about the things that might kill you — that's no way to live!" they might tell you. And that's true.

But what if there's more than one cow infected? And what about other food-borne illnesses? What if there were proven ways to reduce the incidence of illness from what you eat — and we were collectively choosing to ignore them?

Passed a bus earlier today with an ad on its side for McDonalds' Chicken Nuggets. The tagline said, "Now with white meat!"

What on earth were they putting in the nuggets before?

I'm so ashamed of myself. To think I, a grown woman, raised in Berkeley, lifelong Democrat and fervent opponent of the Bush administration...

I just spent 10 minutes watching the "Barney Reloaded" video. Yep. Uh-huh. I know it's just mindless propaganda, but... that dog is just so darn cute I can't stand it! I guess it's proof that Bush isn't all bad. Obviously, he has excellent taste in dogs. He's got the small cute terrier-loving vote all locked up. (That sounds dirty, doesn't it?)

I want to try to visit this gallery and see the Morandi show they have right now. Giorgio Morandi isn't terribly well known, I think, but I found out about him when my advisor in the art department at UCSC turned me on to his crosshatched still-lifes, which are just beautiful. The show is only running through December 20th, so if anybody reading this needs a good excuse to go to North Beach, you should check it out!

Michael's friend Jason sent a bunch of folks an email today — it seems that his new company's first board game, Who? What? Where? is getting rave reviews! The Chronicle gave it a little man falling out of his chair (which in Chronicle-speak is a very very good thing indeed. Who? What? Where? is like a distant cousin of Pictionary — you get three cards of somebody doing something somewhere, and you have to draw it and your fellow players have to guess what it is you drew. Michael and I got a chance to test-play it a while back, and while I normally totally suck at games, I quite enjoyed this one, both because of the drawing and the total silliness factor. (I think I got "Dolly Parton on a rollercoaster singing kareoke" or something like that.

Anyway, it's kinda neat that somebody I know did something like this! Oh yeah, and I'm supposed to tell anybody who is reading this — check it out! :-)

Spam received today with the subject heading: "I have to say the girl is very aware of the camera at all times. fvcl"

I must have received about five emails about Paris Hilton in the last 7 hours. Damn the woman. Stuff her inbox all you like, people, just leave mine alone, please!