quoted from the Edmonton Journal, Jan 4

"The first mad cow found in Alberta put the Canadian beef industry into death throes in May 2003. The second, found seven months later in Washington state but traced back to Canada, put a spadeful of dirt on the coffin.

But the confirmation Sunday of a third Canadian case of mad cow disease has elicited barely a whisper."

The article goes on to state that the discovery of a third case will likely not affect the reopening of the border to Canadian exports, and is simply proof that the system of testing animals works. Also, that no case of variant CJD has ever been linked to eating Canadian beef.

I think this is a strong indication that the whole ban on Canadian beef was not inspired by a desire to protect the health of the American public, but was a punishment for the Canadian government's refusal to support the invasion of Iraq.

Politics is strange.