January 5th 1999: Pharmers Reign of Terror Reaches 35.

During 1998 the media rarely mentioned the bse-cjd death toll. The last major interest shown by the media was pamela beyless's death in october 1998. She was deemed to be the 28th victim. However, at the start of 1999 the cjd monitoring unit in edinburgh gave a break-down of the fatalities occurring from bse-cjd, "The probable death toll from human bse has risen to 35 - with the total of deaths in 1998 up on previous years, the unit monitoring the disease said yesterday. Twelve people died in the first 11 months of last year, compared with 10 in each of the previous years and three in 1995, before the likelihood that people had been fatally infected by contaminated beef was officially acknowledged in March 1996. Advisers to the Government have repeatedly warned that it is still too early to predict the eventual scale of the epidemic." [1]

January 6th 1999: Pharmers concoct Crisis as an excuse for getting more Subsidies.

Pharmers are currently receiving vast subsidies .. "EU subsidies which currently amount to £3 billion a year, including anti-bse measures." [2] However, these subsidies don't appear to be sufficient so they've had to be given even more, "The Government responded to the worst farming crisis since the 1930s with rescue packages of £85 million and £120 million in the last year, but says long-term reform is inevitable." [3] It would be far cheaper to give each pharmer a million quid and tell them to go and live in an urban area.

January 7th 1999: 23rd Victim of Pharmers' attacks on Urbanites.

It wis reported that, "A woman who had new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease diagnosed 15 months ago died on New Year's Eve. Donna Mellowship, 34, of Tottenham, North London, is the 23rd person to have died from the new variant, believed to be caused by eating bse-infected beef." [4] It is not known why she is regarded as the 23rd victim. It is probably because the reporter hasn't bothered to check up on the most recent figures.

January 22nd 1999: Scientists Oppose Calls for the Lifting of the Bse-on the-Bone Ban.

"The chief medical officer has sent a report to the government warning that beef on the bone could still transmit the human form of bse to people, it emerged last night. The report deals a heavy blow to government hopes that the beef-on-the-bone ban will soon be lifted. Liam Donaldson, the CMO since September, has told Nick Brown, Minister of Agriculture, there should be no early lifting of the ban. In his report, Professor Donaldson warns there is still a danger of transmission of bse from cow to calf. He believes that although the risk from eating unboned beef is near zero, it is one he is unprepared to take. The decision to end the beef-on-the-bone ban rests with Mr Brown, after the European Union ended its ban on British beef in November. The Government has pledged to put the health of consumers before the interests of the food industry, but Prof Donaldson's advice puts ministers in a difficult position. Lifting the ban would lead to accusations they were ignoring inconvenient advice and jeopardising public safety; but keeping it will anger farmers and lead to accusations that consumers are being treated like children. The human form of bse, Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, has killed 35 Britons in the last three years. The beef-on-the-bone ban came in December 1997 after the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (Seac) found a small risk of infection through dorsal root ganglia found in the spinal columns of deboned beef. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said: ``Nick Brown will be making an announcement about the advice in the near future.''" [5]

January 26th 1999: Coroner's Verdict on First Bse Victim.

Stephen Churchill's Death.

"A fit and healthy schoolboy who dreamed of becoming an RAF pilot plunged into depression, memory loss and hallucinations after contracting the human form of mad cow disease, an inquest heard yesterday. Stephen Williams, from Devizes, Wiltshire, had successfully passed 12 gcses and was tipped for a bright future. He was 19 when he died in May 1995, Britain's first teenage victim of new variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. Yesterday Stephen's parents told an inquest in Chippenham, Wiltshire, how he became depressed, confused and a virtual recluse, convinced that nobody liked him. As the illness progressed he began to lose hand-to-eye co-ordination and balance until he had to be moved around in a wheelchair. Stephen's sister, Helen, said he had hallucinations when watching television, convinced that what he saw on screen was happening to him. ''It was very frightening for him. It started off when he couldn't remember things, then he had hallucinations.'' The inquest heard that Stephen, who first became ill in 1994, was diagnosed as suffering from an unidentified, neurological disorder in January the following year. His mother, Dot, told the hearing that when he was admitted to the University of London's Institute of Neurology for a biopsy, ''We were at his bedside and we looked at the notes. There was a little box which said 'Reason for operation - CJD?' That was the first time we saw those initials. We noticed when he was in hospital he was starting to stagger.'' She said the family had had a varied diet. Stephen had liked all foods, one of his favourites being sausages. ''He did have beefburgers and spaghetti bolognese - all the usual foods everybody ate during the 1980s.''" [6]

One Bite of a Beefburger and you're Dead.

"Britain's first victim of mad cow disease could have died after eating just one infected sausage, an inquest heard yesterday. World expert on bse, james ironside, said stephen churchill, 19, caught an unnatural form of cjd from meat. He said the infection could occur from "random consumption". Stephen's parent's hailed the finding nearly four years after his death was put down to natural causes." [7] ; "Recording a verdict of misadventure, Wiltshire coroner David Masters ruled that the teenager did not die from natural causes. He said it was likely that Stephen was infected by the bse agent in an isolated and random meal involving contaminated meat." [8]

February 2nd 1999: Ban on Bse-on-the-Bone Stays.

Fat chops's first attempt to bounce scientists into accepting his junk scientific view that bse-on-the-bone is safe to eat has failed - at least for the moment, "Agriculture minister nick brown confirmed T-bone steaks wouldn't be back in the butchers for at least six months. His anouncement came after the chief medical officer said there was a theoretical risk of people catching "human bse" from unboned beef. National farmers union president ben gill said the risk was "absolutely miniscule"."[9]

Tory mps 'Denounce Scientific Evidence showing Bse is a Risk but support the unprovable scientific proposition that beef is Safe to eat.'

At the same time as they're denouncing people for not accepting the scientifically unprovable statement that beef is safe to eat, pharmer-tory mps are dismissing scientists who say there is evidence that beef-on-the-bone is a risk. Tory mps denounce scientific evidence about the risk of bse in favour of a scientific phantasy that beef is safe, "Nick Brown, the Agriculture Minister, announced that - on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer - he would not be lifting the beef on the bone ban for at least six months. The Tories were furious. Even as Mr Brown stood up, they were handing out leaflets to the press pointing out that the advisory committee on bse estimated there was only a 5 per cent chance of a single British person getting cjd from beef on the bone in any one year. ''This means that the risk of an individual dying of new variant cjd from transmission via the Dorsal Root Ganglia in 1998 could be one in one billion,'' the Tory press release said. The Conservatives added more statistics to put all this in context. ''Other risks of an individual dying in any one year: smoking 10 cigarettes a day - one in 200. ''Salmonella poisoning due to poultry meat - one in five million. ''Hit by lightning - one in 10 million. Mr Brown replied to the Conservative taunts with dignity. The CMO had said there was a risk - admittedly a small risk. ''The Honourable Member is inviting me to reject that view, and I am afraid I cannot do that.''" [10]

Pharmers 'Accept Science Fantasy when it says bse is Safe to eat but ignore Scientific evidence of a risk.'

"Farmers leaders last night blasted the government's nonsensical decision to keep the beef-on-the-bone ban. Agriculture minister nick brown confirmed t-bone steaks wouldn't be back in the butchers for at least six months. His announcement came after the chief medical officer said there was a theoretical risk of people catching 'human bse' from unboned beef." [11] ; "Farmers and butchers yesterday attacked the Government's decision to continue the beef on the bone ban for at least another six months. Meat traders accused ministers of ''nannying'' the public by accepting the advice of their chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson, who considered the possibility of people unknowingly eating bse-infected meat was still too great. Nick Brown, the Agriculture Minister, decided he could not overrule professor Donaldson, who did not believe the Government could allow a food hazard banned in December 1997 to pose a renewed, albeit very small, risk. The Conservatives and the meat industry have campaigned for a return of dishes such as T-bone steaks and ox-tails since the ban was introduced. But ministers want nothing to jeopardise confidence in British beef, now strict controls are in place. Ben Gill, president of the National Farmers' Union, said all the scientific evidence concluded the risk was miniscule. Richard Stevenson, executive officer of the National Federation of Meat and Food Traders, said: ''It is very, very disappointing. The public knows the risk but are fed up with the nanny state.'' Mr Brown told MPs yesterday: ''It is absolutely right to err, if err we do, on the precautionary side. As soon as it is the responsible thing to do, I will lift the ban.'' Prof Donaldson has promised to review the evidence later this year. But the lack of detailed knowledge of how the cattle disease appears to have spread to humans as new variant cjd, which has so far killed 35 people, continues to frustate both politicians and scientists."[12] It is believed that tory politicians also want to legalize drugs under the same principle that people are mature enough to assess the risks involved. The chances of anyone dying as a result of smoking a joint are believed to be one billion, billion to one but nevertheless tory mps and other bse loving loons believe this is far too high to warrant the decriminalization of this weed.

March 11th 1999: Rare mention of Bse Fatalities.

Hugo young mentions bse fatalities .. "32 people have died." [13] This is one of his most comprehensive analyzes of a disease which threatens half the population.

April 13th 1999: Bse Continues to Spread Through Europe.

"Karel pinkten, the belgium agriculture minister, said a new case of 'mad cow' disease had been found in belgium, the first of 1999, bringing the country's total to 8. A Cow at a dairy in lontzen, in southern belgium, was confirmed last thursday to be infected with bse. The infected cow and 161 others at the dairy were destroyed."[14]

May 30th 1999: Bse-cjd may have infected Drugs/Vaccines.

Antony barnett reports, "The department of health approved the use of thousands of human vaccines for diseases such as tetanus and whooping cough made with material likely to have come from bse-infected cattle. This was despite warnings in 1989 from one of the Government's key scientific advisers that injecting such material potentially posed 'the greatest risk' of transmitting bse to humans. Parents have never been told their children may have been in danger. Before the bse scare in 1988, vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough used bovine serum taken from British cows. When the scare broke, the Government asked Sir Richard Southwood, professor of zoology at Oxford University, to investigate the risk of infection from pharmaceutical products. Southwood was so concerned about the vaccines that he wrote three times to the Department of Health's Committee on the Safety of Medicines demanding 'urgent action'. In 1989, the then-confidential Southwood committee report concluded that 'the greatest risk in theory would be from the injection of material derived from bovine brain or lymphoid tissue'. He later described the risk as 'moderately high'. As a result, in 1989, the Committee on Safety of Medicines issued guidelines that vaccine materials should come from safe herds in countries with no reported cases of bse. Yet this left a stockpile of vaccines already made using material from British cattle likely to have been infected. The vaccines had lifespans of up to five years and could have been used on children as recently as 1993. Until now, the Department of Health has not disclosed what happened to the stockpile of vaccines. In a recent parliamentary answer, Health Minister Tessa Jowell merely confirmed they were not 'disposed of or discontinued'. But Dr Richard Kimberlin, a bse expert who acts as a consultant to drug companies and also advised the Committee on Safety of Medicines at the time of the scare, told The Observer: 'The risks associated with the stockpiled vaccines were not perceived great enough to have them destroyed . . . so yes, these continued to be used.' He said the stockpile would have amounted to 'thousands of doses'. Speaking to The Observer this weekend, Southwood said: 'Studies clearly showed that the greatest risk of infection from bse was not from eating foods but from injection. The highest risk was injecting into the brain, then there was injecting into the body and then through cuts or lacerations.' A source from Lord Phillips's bse inquiry, which last week announced that it would not be reporting until next March, said it was taking the issue of vaccinations 'very seriously'. New variant cjd - the human form of bse - has claimed 40 victims so far, but no hard evidence has yet linked it to eating beef. Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker is demanding that the government reveal what happened to the vaccines after learning of Southwood's concerns in Private Eye. He said: 'This is the first time somebody has admitted these vaccines were used on the public. We now need to know what type of vaccines and how many people might be affected. The government cannot continue to sweep this issue under the carpet.' At the time of the scare, the largest vaccine producers in the UK were SmithKline Beecham, Evans Medevea and Pasteur Merieux MCD. Mike Watson, medical director of Pasteur Merieux, said: 'All our bovine materials are now sourced outside the UK. At the time of the bse scare, we sourced some vaccines from the US and some from Spain, although some did come from the UK. But the risk of bse transmitted in this way is practically zero.' A Department of Health spokeswoman said: 'The Committee on the Safey of Medicines defined the risk to public health from using bovine material in medicinal products as remote and theoretical . . . A judgment was made by the committee that existing supplies should not be withdrawn because, in their view, the risk to public health through loss of confidence in the vaccine programme was greater than the remote theoretical risk associated with the use of bovine materials in vaccine.' She said she could not give details of vaccine use because this information has only been collated centrally since 1992."[15]

Barnett mentions 40 bse victims. This figure is different from that quoted above. It seems as if some reporters are just making up the figures as they go along. Notice that barnet states about bse that .. "no hard evidence has yet linked it to eating beef." It is not clear what he means by this statement. It could mean either that bse-cjd comes from vaccinations or that there is still the possibility that it is caused by insecticides.

A Quick Summary of Kimberlin's Contributiuon to the Bse Crisis.

It has just been noted above that richard kimberlin is a member of seac who condones the use of vaccines made from what are almost certainly bse-infected Cattle. If there was one point that southwood could be commended for it is his unambiguous warnings about the possibility of spreading bse through vaccinations, "In fact food was not southwood's main concern. The commitee was much more worried about people getting the disease direct into the blood either accidentally on farms or abattoirs or through medicinal injections and vaccinations. This they said was the greatest risk, in theory. The reason - pharmaceutical companies used bovine serum to make vaccines." (The pharmaceutical companies turned to australia and new zealand for their serum but only after their plentiful brutish stocks had been used up)." [16] This provides a good opportunity to outline kimberlin's views. This will give a good idea of the sort of people the tory government wanted on its committee to protect pharmers', sorry i mean consumers', health.

Kimberlin does not believe in the existence of prions, "I am afraid i am a heretic in that i am one of those very few dreadful people that doesn't believe in prions, but i don't think that should worry you too much, because actually we don't know enough about the chemical nature of these agents for it to be particularly helpful in the debate, at least not chemically." [17] He conjectures that bse is a virino. He also believes that bse would not afflict oomans .. "Bse and scrapie were one and the same (and thus bse) would not infect humans." [18] He promoted the hypothesis that bse exists only in specific offals .. "Richard kimberlin had advised the uk government that the removal of specific offals would be adequate to avoid any human risk." [19]

Kimberlin is regarded by the Animal exploitation industry as a safe pair of hands .. "Richard kimberlin had spent many years as adviser to the drug companies and food trades telling them that bse was not a risk and would go away." [20] The tory government did not believe that kimberlin's views posed any impediment to his contribution to its bse committee. The last thing the tory government wanted when it created this committee were experts who might know what they are talking about and who might have a plan to stop the spread of bse.

June 12th 1999: Another Bse-Cjd Victim murdered by Pharmers.

"A man died from the new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after eating minced beef every day, an inquest was told yesterday. David Bowman, 41, from Bramley, Leeds, changed from a hard working caretaker at Leeds civic theatre to a frail man who could not recognise his family or remember when he was born. The West Yorkshire coroner, Roger Whittaker, accepted that bse-infected minced beef was to blame for his death, and recorded a verdict of misadventure." [21] His death is not mentioned on television news programmes because of the media's bias towards pharmers.

June 24th 1999: Restrictions may be placed on Opticians to stop the Spread of Bse-Cjd.

The government is continuing the tory's policy of taking belated, incremental, action to prevent the spread of bse-cjd, "Opticians and other contact lens suppliers may be banned from giving test lenses to more than one patient, because they may spread human bse. The government's scientific advisers were amazed to be told it was `not uncommon'' for lenses to be reused, and called for the practice to stop. They have no evidence that the practice has spread fatal condition, formally known as variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, but other forms of cjd have been spread through corneal implants. The advisers also say there are other health and social reasons for not reusing lenses, including lesser infections such as conjunctivitis. John Pattison, chairman of the spongiform encephalopathy advisory committee, said yesterday that putting something in the eye risked giving it an infection - `although the risk is probably very small indeed'. Michael Painter, consultant in communicable disease control in Manchester, agreed there was risk, and pointed out that `anatomically, the eye is an extension of the brain''. It also emerged yesterday that government agencies are considering using landfill sites to bury meat and bone meal from slaughtered cows over 30 months old. Huge stockpiles have built up in stores, and there are few incinerators to burn the remains of cattle that have been banned from the food chain." [22]

June 24th 1999: Bse is getting Everywhere - Now it's in Wine.

"Tens of thousands of bottles of wine on sale in britain could contain blood from bse-infected cows, it was revealed yesterday. French health officials have seized 10,000 bottles of rhone valley table wine which they believe has been mixed with dried blood to make it clearer and remove dregs. The suspect bottles are all cheaper table wines."[23]

July 8th 1999: Food Scandal in Europe.

A pharm scandal erupts in europe after the discovery that pharmers are feeding muck to incarcerated Animals, "Britain's biggest food retailer, tesco, was last night at the centre of a european food scare .. We found the supermarket's own-brand lard was supplied by a dutch firm which illegally used condemned meat and bovine offal at its processing plant. Experts say there is a "probable" link between eating contaminated meat by-products like lard and cjd .. which has claimed 41 lives in britain." [24]

July 10th 1999: Eu to allow Brutland to Export Bse Infected Beef.

"EU chiefs are poised to lift the three year export ban from august 1st." [25]

August 4th 1999: Germany Decides to Continue the Ban on Bse.

"British beef will continue to be banned in germany - despite being declared safe to eat."[26]

August 5th 1999: Russia Confirms Ban on Bse.

"Russian agriculture officials last night said they were keeping a ban on british beef."[27]

August 18th 1999: America Reinforces its Blockade of Bse Infected Products - 35 Dead.

Far from showing any signs of softening its attitude toward bse-cjd, the american government decides to tighten its regulations to prevent more of the disease from getting into the country, "America yesterday banned blood donations from people who lived in britain at the height of the mad cow disease outbreak. No one has been shown to have contracted cjd from blood or blood products. But experts fear that the brain rotting disease, which has a long incubation period, could be passed on in blood. More than 35 people have died from it in britain."[28]

August 19th 1999: Taxpayers having to Fork out to Protect Rural Thugs.

"The mad cow crisis will have cost the taxpayer £4.2 billion by march 2001, shock new figures reveal."[29] Most of this in tax hand-outs to the thugs responsible for the disease.

September 4th 1999: Another Bse-Cjd Victim.

Another victim, "Donna mcgivern, 17, died in her parents' arms after a two-year battle against cjd."[30] This article doesn't mention the current number of bse fatalities.

September 21st 1999: More, More, More, More, More, Subsidies for subsidy-loaded Pharmers.

The labour party annual conference is to be held next week and pharmers are planning to demonstrate outside the conference centre for yet more subsidies. Many of them are worried that people dying from the disease may be given subsidies that would otherwise have gone to pharmers. Pharmers have never shown any sympathy for the people they have murdered and many privately would like to shove those suffering from the disease into the gas ovens along with old aged Cattle. The mirror predicts there could be as many as 16,000 econazis at the demo. The government wants to avoid any bad publicity during the conference and seeks to placate these rural scroungers by offering them yet more subsidies, "A £150 million aid package to bail out farmers hit by the mad cow beef crisis was unveiled by the government yesterday. A £7 per head "passport" plan for exported cattle is to be waived for two years to boost overseas sales. It follows a delay in lifting the T-bone steak ban." [31] The government is considering a 'write your own subsidy cheque' system for pharmers sick of having to fill in dozens of forms for multiple welfare benefit payments.

September 22nd 1999: Scientific Warnings about Future Bse-Cjd Fatalities.

The threat posed by bse has rarely been mentioned in the media this year but, quite unexpectedly, the chief medical officer announces the disease still poses a danger. It seems as if no matter what the nfu, maffia, and pharmers, try to do to shove the disease into oblivion, it just won't disappear, "Millions of britains could still die from the human form of mad cow disease, a medical chief warned yesterday. He told the nation not to assume that the main danger is over. There should be no let up in the battle to stop the spread of cjd. The grim warning came in a report to the government by chief medical officer, professor liam donaldson."[32]

September 22nd 1999: Scientists still Opposed to the Lifting of the Bse-on-the-Bone ban.

"Britain's medical chiefs are still against lifting the bse-on-the-bone ban. But donaldson said the risk from it was "tiny and unquantifiable in any meaningful way."[33] If this is the case then the same is true for the ban on other Cattle organs. When it is not known how serious the bse epidemic is going to be and when it is not known how many bse prions are needed to trigger bse-cjd in oomans then such a statement is gross scientific irresponsibility.

October 2nd 1999: Trade War Looms over Bse Infected Pharmers.

So far this year, the bse crisis has been fading into oblivion but france's refusal to lift its ban on the importation of brutish beef pushes the issue in the public spotlight. Despite the ec's decision to lift the ban, the french decide to join the americans, russians, south africans, germans, etc in refusing to eat bse flavoured beef, "Furious tony blair yesterday blasted france for refusing to lift the ban on british beef - as the eu threatened legal action to force them into line."[34] He wasn't quite so forthcoming in his denunciations about america, russia, or south africa. Whereas blair can tap into national prejudices by depecting the french as bloody minded ignoramuses who are too stupid to realize how safe brutish beef is, he can't do this with america. Challenging the americans would lead many people to give far more serious thought to this issue and the americans might even present evidence showing why they believe that bse is a threat to ooman health. The last thing that blair wants is for people to appreciate that there is evidence about the threat posed by bse.

The french decision leads brutish pharmers to demand that the government takes retaliatory action against french products. Fat chops brown points out that he is refusing to buy french products and seems to be urging the public to do the same. The media gives pharmers a huge amount of publicity for their campaign on bse-safety. Most of the public has long since lost its fear of bse-cjd, and are increasingly rallying behind their wonderful pharmers against the irrational and intransigent french. They regard the french refusal to import bse-infected beef as a trade issue rather than a health matter. [35] In this increasingly jingoistic atmosphere it has to be wondered whether the publicity that many countries still believe brutish beef is infected with bse is likely to have any impact on bse consumers.

October 9th 1999: Germany stalls on ending ban on Poisoned Beef.

"Farmers were hit by a new blow yesterday as germany stalled on ending its ban on british beef. The move comes a week after france flouted an eu order to allow sales of our beef to resume."[36]

October 11th 99: Nick Brown's Annual Xmas Pressure on Scientists to Rescind the Beef on the Bone Ban.

Just as happened around this time last year, beefy, beef loving, brown issues another press release suggesting that the bse-on-the-bone ban might be lifted before xmas. Once again this is no message of hope to the public that there is now scientific evidence that beef is no longer infected by bse. It is blatant exertion of political pressure on scientists to lift the ban despite the likelihood that brutish beef remains infected by bse, "The beef on the bone ban could be lifted across the uk by xmas agriculture minister nick brown said yesterday. Mr brown, prepared to approve sales in england, is awaiting a go-ahead from the new scottish and welsh administrations." [37] The ban was introduced only two years ago so the evidence can't have changed between then and now. The only difference is that whilst cunningham was willing to stand up to the subsidy-loving pharmers, nick brown's remit is to lift the ban so that tony blair can woo rural voters and win a second election victory.

October 16th 1999: No Explanations for France's Refusal to Lift the Ban on Bse-Infected Beef.

Media ignores French Reasons for Banning Brutish Bse.

The media has been preoccupied with the french refusal to rescind their ban on brutish beef for the last couple of weeks. There is virtually no discussion in the media as to the reasons for the french government's refusal to lift the ban. The last thing the pharming loving media want to do is present a balanced report from both sides of this dispute. The reason for this is that doing so would be seen as being tantamount to treachery to brutish pharmers i.e. the people who have imperilled the lives of tens of millions of people in this country. The media presents the french decision as either a typical bit of gallic bloodymindedness, gallic jealousy of our wonderful brutish beef, or gallic protectionism.

It can be suggested the french have three main objections to lifting their ban. Firstly, the high number of bse cases; secondly, the endemic nature of bse in brutish herds; and, thirdly, the increasing numbers of bse-cjd victims.

Scientific Predictions about a Fall in the Number of Bse Infected Cattle are off the mark.

Various brutish statisticians have tried to calculate the fall in the numbers of bse cases and the date when the disease would disappear - see Addenda section 1. All of them have grossly over-estimated the rapidity with which the disease will disappear. In 1998 .. "3178 british cows have contracted bse .." [38] If northern ireland, isle of man, jersey and guernsey are included the figure is 3235. In 1999 the figures were 1771 in brutland and 1789 including northern ireland, isle of man, jersey and guernsey. [39]

The number of brutish Cattle dying of bse is far higher than was predicted a few years ago. If brutish scientists' predictions are so far off the mark this must mean their understanding of the disease is also faulty. The longer the disease persists the more likely it is that the disease has become endemic in brutish herds and that it will never die out. There are many fears that the number of bse fatalities is far greater than those represented in the official figures. A sunday times report at the end of this year states that over 90,000 Cattle have gone missing from the government's Cattle passport scheme which seems to suggest something is going seriously wrong, see section dated December 19th 1999.

No wonder french scientists believe they have a case for being cautious about importing brutish beef when so many of the brutish government's scientific predictions about the disappearance of bse have been so wide of the mark and when huge numbers of Cattle are going missing in the Cattle passport scheme. French scientists fear that the brutish government's insistence that brutish herds are virtually bse-free is just a fantasy, "A french government source said, "if there is a scientific case that british beef is unsafe what choice do we have but to plead that case in court."[40]

Scientific Predictions about Mad Pharmer Fatalities.

The french are also worried about the increasing numbers of people dying from bse-cjd. This makes them suspect the disease is far more virulent than had previously been thought which suggests they need to be even more cautious than they have been so far.

October 21st 1999: Informal Trade War gathers Momentum.

Tory Supermarket Owners support Pharmers.

The media pours out more and more propaganda against the french. Public opinion swings increasingly behind the pharmers. The more abuse can be heaped upon the french the more it seems that brutish beef is safe to eat. It is amazing that jingoism can overcome people's concerns for their own health. More and more people are taking up fat chops's personal boycott of french goods. The tory party, still suffering badly in the opinion polls after its trouncing at the general election, quickly leaps on the bandwagon to win back public approval. A couple of tory mps who own large supermarket chains help to boost the boycott campaign by banning french products from their stores. "A supermarket took french produce off its shelves yesterday to retaliate against france's ban on british beef. The move by budgens - which has 116 stores - came as leading retailers reported consumers were imposing their own boycott." [41] The media neglects to mention that tory supermarket owners have been making a bomb out of brutish pharmers over the last few years.

11 Loony Tory Pharmer Meps bellowing their way down the Champs Elysees.

In paris a group of bse-loving tory meps go on a demonstration. "Traffic around the arc de triomphe was stopped as the 11 began a protest march down the champs elysees."[42]

Tory Party Tactics.

The tories can't believe their luck. Fat chops's boycott against the french has presented them with a juicy campaign combining so many of their favourite, most populist, causes:

* playing the nationalistic card and waving the union jack;

* discrediting the european community;

* embarrassing the government for failing to force the french into line; and

* embarrassing tony blair for encouraging a closer affinity with the e.c.

The tories try to regurgitate john major's summer of 1996 campaign against the ban on the export of brutish beef. That campaign had helped to boost the tories' popularity and win back some of their disenchanted supporters, so hague hopes the new campaign will do the same. Once again, the tory party, the nfu and pharmers, insist they have science on their side which shows that brutish beef is safe - even though there is no such scientific proof. The huge numbers of anti-euro loons in the tory party start to use the dispute to argue that brutland should leave the common market altogether - a proposition which has rarely been mentioned in political life since brutland joined in the 1970s. On bbc1's breakfast news, ben gill hints that the dispute with the french was rapidly reaching the stage where people should consider their membership in a club where people do not abide by the rules of that club. [43]

Labour Government's Tactics.

Since the countryside march, the labour government has allied itself more and more with pharmers' interests. The government continually insists that scientific evidence shows that brutish Cattle are free of bse and that there is no scientific evidence to continue the ban on brutish beef. Once labour began to ally themselves with pharmers and support their preposterous bse propaganda, it was only a matter of time before this tactic would come back to haunt them. Thus, when the controversy over the french ban erupted, the labour party found itself with no room to manoeuvre - it had to support the pharmers even when it was undermining its hopes for closer european co-operation. Fat chops's personal consumer boycott blew up in the labour party's face when the tories hijacked the idea and won increasing political support for their hardline against the french. The government's desire for closer co-operation with the european community is increasingly being undermined by the tory-pharmers' campaign against the french.

It is difficult working out whether this collective political madness amongst brutish politicians is the result of bse slowly spreading through the population or is just the consequence of a group of self interested people who use their open access to the media to say anything they want to save their industry. Insisting that people around the world should eat beef when there is evidence that it is still infected with bse is just plain insanity.

The Great Brutish Public.

It is amazing the brutish public is so willing to give so much sympathy to pharmers even after pharmers have murdered over 40 people from bse-cjd, and with the possibility of many more deaths to come. How could the planks give so much support to those who, in effect, are treating them like livestock and culling them? Still brutish carnivores are nothing if not masochistic.

October 23rd 1999: Fat Chops Drops Propaganda Bombshell about Sewage in French Cattle.

Fat Chops's Propaganda Bombshell.

Fat chops ignites the propaganda war against the french by leaking the news that some french pharmers have been feeding their Cattle with sewage, "France is using SEWAGE in animal feed while banning safe british beef, it was revealed yesterday. The french hypocrisy was exposed in an ec report showing the country has illegally used animal and probably human waste in fodder." [44] .

This leak is utterly hypocritical. As dealler pointed out in july last year, brutish pharmers are still feeding Cattle with Chicken faeces. Fat chops seems completely ignorant about what is going on amongst brutish pharmers. He also seems to have fallen off his trolley. Either he's not aware of the way that the tories are taking over this campaign and winning back public support or he's got so carried away with his own rhetoric that he doesn't care what political damage it is doing to his own party.

Brutish pharmers echo the outrage and multiply the hypocrisies. For many years brutish pharmers fed their livestock with meat and bone meal made from sewage, diseased Cattle, plastic bags, dead Dogs, road kill, "The use of black polythene plastic bags for holding offal for rendering. These were often simply thrown into the rendering plant mix and the offal not removed. This was simply because in the rendering system, the material was cut into small fragments for a continuous process and the bags disappeared. It was suggested that the bags, being of polythene would act as a hydrophobic surface and hence protect prions." [45] Having reared their beef on sewage and diseased Cattle it's a bit rich for brutish pharmers to condemn the french for such a practice. Even worse is that brutish pharmers insist that their Cattle are free from bse even though they refuse to test this proposition. Hypocrisy and stupidity have always been the defining characteristics of the nfu, "Nfu president Ben gill said, "We are outraged that such an unsafe and illegal practice shuld have been carried out."[46] He didn't say very much when brutish farmers were doing the same thing.

The media of course does not make any attempt to point out that brutish Cattle are still being fed on Chicken faeces or that it took the bse disaster to force farmers to stop such practices in this country. No part of the mainstream brutish media ever reported such practices in brutland at any time over the last fifty years. Virtually all the main news reporters on tv pretend they're outraged about french pharmers but are far too cowardly to ask brutish farmers why they are still involved in such a practice.

The informal trade war has become a pantomime with brutish farmers pretending they have the safest Cattle on the planet whilst denouncing their french counterparts for practices that brutish pharmers have indulged in for the last half centrury. Meanwhile tory politicians denounce labour for not doing enough to promote sales of bse infected beef.

Tories' demand a Ban on French Beef.

The tories seek to capitalize even further on fat chops's political blunder by demanding a ban on french beef, "As france was given a two-week ultimatum to clean up its act, tories demanded a ban on french meat "on public health grounds." And more british supermarket chains joined somerfield and budgen in the bitter backlash to the french ban on our beef." [47]

Pharmers Wholesale Access to the Media - How can such a Piddling Industry drive the Country into a Trade war?

The amount of publicity being given to pharmers over this issue is considerable. Even more frightening is the bias displayed towards brutish pharmers by the media. Pharmers seem to have open access to the media to promote their campaigns. They get front page articles in newspapers; leading articles in many television news broadcasts; and are the main topic of debate in many discussion programmes - even though the industry is irrelevant to the vast majority of people in this country. Large numbers of journalists have been writing highly favourable articles in newspapers in a bid to do their bit to save the beef industry. It has to be wondered how it is possible for such a small industry to obtain such a torrent of publicity. Its exports amount to no more than £16 million a year, and are possible only because they are so heavily subsidized by taxpayers, and yet it gets more publicity for its campaigns than any other industry in this country. How is it possible for such a piddling industry to herd so many livestock into a trade war that could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs? The tories seem to be willing to embark on a trade war with europe which could make large numbers of people unemployed just to save thousand tory Pharmers.

October 25th 1999: Fat Chops continues stirring up Anti European Feelings.

"Nick brown renewed his attack on france over the revelation that sewage sludge could have been fed to livestock there. Mr brown said: "It is a pretty disgusting thing to pad out the animal feed with human excrement and animal excrement."[48] The agriculture secretary makes no mention of the decades of appalling practices engaged in by brutish pharmers. Fat chops seems totally oblivious of how much his campaign is contributing to the revival of the tory party's fortunes.

October 27th 1999: French Pharmers Retaliate.

The increasingly mad pitch of brutish propaganda against the french, and the growing, informal, trade boycott of french goods, leads french pharmers to take retaliatory action against the importation of brutish goods, "French farmers yesterday blockaded the channel tunnel as the beef war threatened to run out of control. They warned action would spread if british shops did not drop their boycott of french food. The tory leader william hague fuelled the trade row yesterday by calling for a ban on french livestock fed sewage. He said, "I don't know how many scientists you need to tell you that eating food that has been prepared in this way is not a good idea."[49] (But eating bse-infected beef is alright). The tory leader refuses, like all his predecessors, to condemn brutish pharmers for such practices. The hysteria against the french continues to build up even though it started only at the beginning of the month. If people can be whipped up to such an extent, in such a short period of time, over such an irrelevant issue, this does not bode well for the future.

October 27th 1999: The Media doesn't like to mention it but Bse is still Rife. Maffia's Scientific Predictions Wrong.

Polly toynbee is one of the few commentators willing to risk political flak by pointing out some of the reasons for the french ban on brutish beef. She condemns the recent outbreak of mad english disease, "The lethal blend of food panic, hyper-patriotism and euroscepticaemia seem to have infected british brains. In the last year 3178 british cows have contracted bse, compared to virtually none abroad. It may be diminishing but that is still a lot; 43 people have died of cjd ... Instead of splitting the department (of agriculture) into separate farmers' and consumers' interests, brown is now the captive voice of agri-business, shamelessly joining in the general frog-bashing." [50] The following morning bernard manning, a former thatcher aide, a director of macdonald's beef emporium, and one of the country's most regressive, beef loving, throat-slitting, blood-sucking, car-driving, rural, red-necks, pointedly warns toynbee she ought to watch herself for making such comments - a threat issued from bbc television's breakfast news!!

October 28th 1999: Fat Chops's Political Strategy coming to the Political Rescue of the Tories.

Rumour has it that fat chops's handling of the beef war is not going down well with the prime minister. His tactics have handed the political initiative back to the tories, focussed the public's attention on an issue over which the tories can wave the union jack, and given them a boost in public opinion polls. He's also making it increasingly difficult for the prime minister to persuade the public about the merits of brutland joining the european community, "Agriculture minister nick brown was publicly humiliated by tony blair over his personal stance on the beef crisis. Facing commons questions the pm was challenged three times to back mr brown's private boycott of french goods. He did not do so."[51] For the previous few months blair had been successfully painting the tories as a party of political extremists and then along comes fat chops and provides them with a perfect opportunity to show what a bunch of decent, reasonable people they are.

One commentator feels the propaganda war has been hijacked by the tories to such an extent that it has virtually escaped the labour party's control, "The beef crisis looks like overwhelming this government - as it did the last one - unless tony blair takes control of the sitation. British farmers were supposed to be free to sell beef in europe three months ago. Apart from token roasts served up for propaganda purposes, none has been eaten because of german and french objections. It is outrageous ..."[52]

October 30th 1999: Eu Scientists agree Bse is safe to eat.

A meeting of europe's fake scientists has concluded that bse is now safe to eat, "Britain won a huge victory yesterday as eu scientists ruled france was wrong to ban british beef. Sixteen experts, including two french scientists, rejected france's claim that there is still a health risk from the meat. Their unanimous decision is a huge blow for the french government." [53] The political pressure that brutland is exerting over its eu partners to force their scientists into agreeing that they can prove a negative - the scientific version of walking on your head - must be immense.

November 1st 1999: Germans Refuse to be Infected by Mad Pharmer Disease

Thankfully the germans ride in to the rescue, "Britain is facing a new beef crisis last night with germany poised to defy EU orders to lift its import ban. Seven powerful regional states, which can veto government policy on health and agricultural policy, vowed to risk heavy fines rather than allow british beef to be sold."[54]

November 13th 1999: The French Case Against Bse Infected Beef.

French Government Challenging Brutish Bogus Science.

The media is at long last mentioning the french campaign against the importation of bse. It is a three pronged attack. Firstly, publicizing the fact that france is only one of many countries which doesn't want to eat diseased brutish corpses. Secondly, pointing out that the french government supports the resumption of beef exports from scotland. This is a clever tactic designed to driving a wedge between scottish and english pharmers because the maffia refuses to allow scotland to export beef until england can do so too. Thirdly, insisting that brutland carries out a random test of the Cattle going into brutish abattoirs - as the french government is doing in french abattoirs. This is a perfectly legitimate demand but it also has tactical advantages for the french government which realizes that this policy is opposed by the brutish maffia because it knows the results would mean the end of the beef industry in brutland.

French ask why they are Being Victimized over Banning Diseased Meat?

"French agriculture minister jean glavany yesterday launched an astonishing attack on britain as the beef war exploded in new bitterness. Mr glavany demanded, "Why do they direct their hatred at us and not at the germans or the other 16 countries around the world who still won't lift the beef embargo? The united states, who are supposed to be britain's best friends, as well as many members of their own commonwealth like australia, new zealand and south africa are maintaining the embargo but they haven't been criticized for it." [55] The thugs in the brutish media perceive the french government's perfectly reasonable question as an "astonishing attack". The blair government focusses its animosity on france rather than other governments which ban bse because if it tries to take on the whole world it won't get anywhere. If it mentions the large number of countries currently banning brutish beef then the public might start to get suspicious about the bogus scientific claims that bse-infected brutish beef is safe to eat.

Permit a resumption of Scottish Beef Exports

See the section dated December 15th 1999.

Random Testing of Cattle in Abattoirs.

The french government wants the random testing of Cattle in abattoirs. It is already carrying out its own testing, see the sections dated February 29th 2000 and March 30th 2000.

November 25th 1999: Pharmers infect 13 Year Old Girl with Bse-cjd.

Thirteen year old girl diagnosed with bse-cjd.

November 25th 1999: Anglo-French Summit: Blair Confident the French will Lift Bse Ban.

Blair announces he is close to persuading the french government to lift its ban on bse. This would enable the labour government to recover some of its recent political losses to the tories, "Tony blair claimed last night he was "confident" the french beef ban would be over within days. His optimism followed reports france's food safety agency is ready to give british beef the all-clear." [56] The following day the news is even better, "French president jacques chirac is keen to get british beef back on his menu. He gave the assurance after yesterday's anglo-french summit in downing street."[57]

November 29th 1999: Fat Chops Lifts the Bse-on-the-Bone Ban.

The brutish public's increasing support for pharmers finally enables fat chops to force the government's bse scientists into lifting their ban on sales of bse. Isn't it a coincidence the ban is lifted just a month before xmas? The run-up to xmas seems like just the right sort of time for an impartial scientific decision over the safety of brutish food. The decision helps to take some of the pressure off the labour government after the tories recent rise in the opinion polls because of their support for the beef war.

Dealler's view on the bse-on-the-bone ban is that scientists had given the go-ahead for an end to the ban but that it was politicians who refused to take up the offer, "What is interesting is that stocks are now a danger. SEAC had advised the government at year ago that the risk from beef on the bone was 'vanishingly small' and hence it was left up to the Government whether or not to lift the ban then. Cunningham had decided to keep the ban. (Ed - in the newspapers today is a rather misleading pile of information that looks as if it has come directly from the official announcement. In fact although Liam Donaldson CMO had recommended that the ban be lifted in September, he did in fact say that this should only apply to non-manufactured goods i.e. that it it was still a risk in the making of stocks, gravies and soups etc." [58]

December 1st 1999: Hopes are High the Germans will Lift Bse Ban.

It is announced that, "British beef is to be sold in germany again - but not for three months. The german government's announcement last night came just hours after the beef on the bone ban in britain was lifted. Meat lovers will be able to buy it again from december 17th. Hopes are high that the french will overturn its ban by the weekend.": [59] The lifting of the european commission's ban on bse, the end of the ban on sales of bse-infected bones, and now the germans promising to lift their ban, means that suddenly, after years of misery, the prospects for the beef industry are starting to look bloody again.

December 1999: Government annouces an increase in the Price of Ooman Passports.

At first glance it might not seem in the least bit relevant to the subject of bse but the government has just decided to increase the cost of ooman passports. What is of relevance here, however, is that in september the government announced it would waive the cost of Cattle passports for pharmers, "A £7 per head "passport" plan for exported cattle is to be waived for two years to boost overseas sales."[60] Is it possible the rise in the cost of ooman passports is being used to pay for the abolition of charges for pharmers' Cattle passports?

December 1st 1999: Paul Routledge promotes Consumption of Illegal Substances.

The beefy paul routledge, a journalist with the daily furrier, boasts he has been engaging in criminal activities over the last couple of years, "What's all the fuss about? I never stopped eating beef on the bone." [61] A mirror editorial seems to condone such criminality, "Lifting the ban on beef on the bone is the final move in one of the mosty appalling episodes in britain's recent history." [62] The types of people demanding an end to the bse-on-the-bone ban are usually the same people who decry young people's consumption of illegal drugs. Only someone suffering from a brain-rotting disease could possibly believe that the consumption of cannabis is far more of a threat to ooman health than the consumption of bse-on-the-bone. Some young people even believe that now that they have been infected by eating brutish beef, the least that tory-pharming mps should do is allow them to consume as many drugs as they wish so that they can enjoy their last few years of sanity. At the very least, the refusal of the country's rural, redneck carnivores to abide by the bae-on-the-bone ban gives young people the justification they seek to keep taking whatever drugs they want. After all no drug is as deadly as bse.

December 2nd 1999: Labour Spin Doctors out to scupper the Bse Inquiry.

Jack cunningham supported an inquiry into bse because he believed there were valuable lessons to be learnt from the bse crisis. However, the labour government is now a pharmer loving party and is beginning to get worried about phillips's comprehensive analysis of pharmers' brutality towards its customers. The following quote indicates the government's attempt to undermine the inquiry and prevent it from reaching embarrassing conclusions, "Taxpayers face a bill of £30 million for the massive mad cow disease enquiry. But whitehall officials say .. "We don't really need to get involved in such fine detail of the history of bse." The huge bill was revealed as tony blair held a beef summit yesterday to rebuild the industry which was a £600 million business in 1995 is now worth just £12 million."[63] There is little reason to doubt that if the labour government had its current attitude when it first came into office then it would not have established this inquiry.

December 2nd 1999: Blair using Taxpayers Money to Spread Bse.

The labour government is going all out to flog bse-infected beef around the world. Blair announces that a series of sales teams, centred on 'ambassadors' in each of the countries that accepts uk beef, will try and boost the consumption of bse. Joyce quin leads one of these sales teams. Blair also confirms that the £7 million planned charges for the Meat Hygiene Service would not be imposed. [64]

December 2nd 1999: Bse Criminals Let off the Hook.

"The institute of trading standards officers announced last night that they would not be pursuing any prosecutions on the beef on the bone regulations."[65] Why is it that none of the people who have been illegally selling bse-on-the-bone have been prosecuted and yet people carrying tiny amounts of dope in their pockets are ending up in prison? There's no law for the beef loving carnivores only for those who like a joint. When considering the drugs issue it has to be remembered that both tory and labour governments have gone out of their way to lie and cheat about bse in order to boost sales of bse-infected beef so it is likely they are treating Cannabis in the same way.

December 10th 1999: French Decide to Keep the Beef Ban: Mirror Launches its own Trade War against the French.

The french government suddenly decides it is not going to lift its ban on bse, "Prime minister lionel jospin announced the ban would stay, despite scientists saying that our beef is safe."[66] The labour government decides to take the french government to the european court to force french people to eat bse-infected beef. The mirror, one of the most pro-european newspapers in brutland, tries to head off suicidal tory demands for an all-encompassing boycott of french goods and limit the damage that an indiscriminate trade war could cause, by launching a consumer boycott of french apples.

December 15th 1999: Bse-Infected Tory Loons on Pro-Bse Demonstrations.

"British euro-mps yesterday snubbed france's president jacques chirac over his refusal to lift the beef ban. Over 80 meps walked out of the opening of the £250 million european parliament building in strasbourg, france. France's pm lionel jospin tried to undermine the action by saying he had given scotland the chance to resume beef sales. But scotland office minister brian wilson dismissed the move as a bid to "drive a wedge" into a united british position" [67] There could hardly be a better demonstration of the terrible effect bse is having on political life in brutland.

December 17th 1999: Second case of Bse-Cjd announced in France.

In france a second person has been diagnosed as having bse-cjd. The result was obtained from a biopsy since the victim is still alive. It is the second victim after the lyon case discovered in 1996. [68] This, of course, makes it even more likely that france will try even harder to keep out bse-infected beef.

December 17th 1999: Closure of the Phillips Inquiry into Bse; Pharmers have now Massacred 48 in Brutland.

It is ironic that the day phillips winds up his bse inquiry, the ban on bse-infected beef is lifted - after a mere two years on the statute book. It is far from clear who is trying to undermine whom here. Did the government know when the inquiry was due to close and then set the same date for the lifting of the ban in the hope of distracting the media' away from the inquiry's closing statements? Or did phillips set the same date as that for the lifting of the ban in the hope of reminding the public that bse still poses a threat to public health? Phillips ends on a precautionary tone, "The number of people killed by the human form of mad cow disease may be "the tip of the iceberg", the chairman of the bse inquiry said yesterday. Lord Phillips said the extent of its affect may not become clear for many years. He said, "When we started, 24 families had seen a loved one struck down by the new variant of cjd. Today that number has doubled.""[69]

In comparison to the lawrence inquiry which has received huge amounts of publicity, the phillips inquiry has been reported only occasionally in the media. A lot of this has to do with the fact that many left wingers and women in the media are more concerned with black issues than they are with protecting the public from the profit mad pharming industry.

December 18th 1999: Counting the Cost of Subsidizing Pharmers.

A study is currently under way to assess the costs of pharming in brutland. It's rather strange that pharming has never been subjected to a cost-benefit analysis before considering its lavish subsidies. Even after producing a preliminary report, it is already beginning to look as if the direct subsidies being given to brutland's aristocratic scroungers in the pharming community are peanuts in comparison to the indirect subsidies they are getting. The cost of cleaning up the mess caused by the pharming community is astronomical .. and the costs counted in the analysis don't even include the vast sums of money that might have to be paid out as a result of bse-cjd hospitalizations, "Farming costs britain more than £2.3 billion each year, according to the most detailed study yet of the industry's wider balance sheet. This bill, which includes the cost of cleaning up pollution, repairing habitats and coping with sickness caused by farming, almost equals the industry's income (sic - you mean subsidies). The study puts figues on the external costs of farming - the costs that farmers themselves don't have to pay for. It comes up with a cost of £208 per hectare, which is double the amount suggested by previous, less detailed, studies of the costs in germany and the united states. But the survey's chief author jules pretty of the centre for environment and society at the university of essex, still describes this figure as "very conservative." The figures in the study have been compiled from many different sources. In 1996, water companies spent £214 million removing pesticides, nitrates, and farm pathogens from drinking water. The bill of £1.1 billion for air pollution and greenhouse emissions includes, for example, the cost of flood protection as a result of rising sea levels. "We have been explicitly conservative" says pretty. He says that lack of reliable data forced him to leave out some costs, such as the health impact on farmers of using pesticides. He also ignored the damage farmers do to their own land, and more intangible costs such as the value of spoilt landscapes. "The study has only estimated externalities that give rise to actual financial costs," says pretty. Pretty sees the figures as a strong argument for redirecting agricultural subsidies, which currently run at £3 billion a year. He says the lion's share of the subsidy should go to farms that do not damage the environment whilst dirty farms should lose their subsidy. (According to jim dixon of english nature) "The government looks at farm incomes and subsidies, but not at the external costs of modern farming on the environment or consumers."[70]

December 19th 1999: 10 more Bse-cjd Victims - 90,000 Cattle gone Missing from Cattle Passport Scheme.

The sunday times produces a major article on bse. This article confirms the information revealed by dealler (december 17th) of 10 more bse-cjd suspects, "Up to 10 more people are believed to be suffering from bse-cjd, the killer brain disorder thought (sic) to be caused by eating beef infected with bse .. The victims are all still alive and mostly young, including at least one child, a 13 year old girl. Bse-cjd has already claimed 48 lives in britain, but the appearance of new cases is particularly serious. Richard knight, a clinical neurologist at the cjdsu confirmed that the unit is dealing with a further 7-10 suspected cases. [71] It is also points out new cases of bse-cjd outside brutland, "Three more people, one in ireland and two in france, have also died from the disease. It emerged last week that a 36 year old french woman has the disease but is still alive."[72] The fatality list so far then is 48 dead in brutland; 4 dead elsewhere; and 10 suspected cases in brutland. Dealler's response to this is interesting, "If these (the 10 suspected cases of bse) enter the data for 1999 then the figures would have risen a lot since 1998. " [73]

The sunday times article also points out that pharmers are systemmatically flouting the Cattle passport scheme. This means that Cattle dying of the disease are disappearing and that Cattle over 30 months of age are being sold for beef, "The sunday times has established that meat banned because it could be infected with bse is still being sold for human consumption. (After march 1996 the government started a cull of Cattle over 30 months). Last week, however, an official involved with the cull claimed that it has been open to systematic fraud. "It has not been monitored properly and not nearly enough has been done to stop dishonest practices," said graham bell, who worked at the intervention board, a government body. He sent a file detailing his evidence to the french authorities. British investigators have confirmed that they are examining more than 50 cases where farmers and cattle dealers used bogus identity documents to conceal cows' ages in order to sell them for human consumption. Last week the agriculture ministry admitted that 90,000 Cattle have gone missing from its surveillance scheme. About 1,600 cows a year are still being diagnozed with bse. Trading standards officers at several county councils, including gloucestershire, shropshire and somerset, said last week that they are involved in dozens of investigations, "There is a hard core of people who are trying to get animals over 30 months into the human food chain," said nigel durnford, an animal health inspector in gloucestershire.[74] Dealler comments on this that, "There is other evidence that bse cases are not being reported that was put over at the Iceland conference in 1998.[75]

December 20th 1999: Shock new Revelations about Bse.

We never suspected it before but Bse and Bse-Cjd are shown to be the Same.

A number of Animal experiments have recently been conducted by the cjd unit in edinburgh and by michael scott working in stanley prusiner's lab in california. [76] The scientists believe these experiments show that bse is the same disease as bse-cjd. This leads a number of scientists to voice their fears about the possible spread of bse-cjd.

The Shock of the Old.

What is so shocking about these experiments is that the Animals murdered in these experiments have not revealed a vital, previously unknown truth but simply confirmed what has been blatantly obvious for five years. The reason these experiments have been done is because the tory government, the house of lords, the nfu, and the pharmers, have dismissed every hypothesis about bse in order to protect the beef industry. This has meant that years have had to be spent in scientifically testing and checking even the most obvious statements - and even when evidence is acquired they still ignore it. Yet again this shows that Animal tests are just a political device to delay conclusions which should have been reached years ago and to delay the introduction of measures which should have been implemented years ago. If this was such a critical issue the eco-nazis would have insisted the experiments should have been done as soon as the first bse-cjd victims became known. The five years taken to do these irrelevant experiments were simply a time-wasting tactic to protect pharmers' interests.

The Artificiality of Mouse Experiments.

One way in which those who support Animal experiments justify these experiments is by creating test conditions which suggest that infectious diseases are far more deadly than they actually are. The following quote suggests that bse can be passed on to oomans as easily as it can be passed on to Mice. This implies there is no species barrier between oomans, Mice and Cows. If this was true it would be political dynamite for it would mean the death of most of the tens of millions of people who'd eaten brutish beef. It is only later in the quote that it is mentioned the reason there is no species barrier in these experiments between oomans and Mice is because the Mice have had their resistance to bse removed so what sounds like a horrifying conclusion, all oomans are liable to get bse, is just utter nonsense, "The researchers discovered, not unexpectedly, that there was no 'species barrier' between the mice and cows. Diseased brain tissue injected into the mice produced symptoms in 250 days, the same incubation period experienced by cattle with bse. A second group of mice given prions from the first group became sick in virtually the same period of time. The big surprise came when human brain tissue infected with the prions that cause new variant cjd was injected into mice. Again there was no sign of a species barrier. New variant cjd had the same incubation period in the mice as bse, and produced an identical pattern of brain damage. The results suggested that bse and nvcjd were interchangeable. [77] If this is the case then such experiments seem to reveal a bombshell. Of course, they have not, "The experiments do not indicate how many people are at risk because the mice were modified to eliminate the species barrier which, in practice, does exist between cows and humans." [78]

The Implications of these Experiments.

The news about these bse-cjd experiments has virtually no impact on the brutish public. Most people have lost interest in the issue and their fear of the disease. They are far more concerned with supporting pharmers' rights to export the disease - perhaps people believe that since they have been contaminated by the disease then why shouldn't everyone else? However, the news of these irrelevant tests will surely finish off any chance of france rescinding its ban on brutish beef. But then again what sane person would allow this deadly diseased muck into their country?

It looked at one point as if the maffia, nfu, and the country's pharmers, were going to have a bumper yuletide after the abolition of the bse-on-the-bone ban and the prospect of resuming exports to france and germany, but their hopes have been quickly dashed by the sombre ending of the phillips inquiry and by the bad publicity from the recent bse experiments. If, five years ago, they'd accepted that bse was a deadly disease and rebuilt their industry they wouldn't be suffering from all the problems they are now - and thank goodness for that.

Prusiner Recants on Stupid remarks Made Last Year.

Last year stanley prusiner denied that bse was a prion disease. But, as a result of working on these experiments, he has changed his mind, "An american nobel prize winner today publishes new evidence of the link between bse and the fatal human brain degeneration caused by cjd, disclosing that he was wrong last year to cast doubt on the pioneering british research that had first made the connection. Today, in a paper .. prusiner publishes evidence from studies concluded in his laboratory that shows prions from cattle with bse have indeed infected humans "[79]

Scientists United over Threats posed by Bse.

These experiments trigger off a couple of warnings from scientists about the spread of bse-cjd.

Robert Will.

"The most compelling evidence yet that mad cow disease can affect humans was published by scientists yesterday. Experiments with mice found that bse and its human variant cjd are almost certainly caused by the same infectious agent. Robert will, from the cjd surveillance unit in edinburgh, said, "Our investigations raise greater concern that a large section of the uk population may be at considerable risk.""[80]

Stanley Prusiner.

"Today, in a paper .. prusiner publishes evidence from studies concluded in his laboratory that shows prions from cattle with bse have indeed infected humans and that "a large section of the uk population may be at considerable risk." [81]

December 20th 1999: Channel Four New's Values.

The values possessed by channel four's news team were transparent in this evening's news. The opening article was a piece on the venezualan floods, "A terrible natural disaster" according to john 'i wouldn't want to mislead you' snow. There's no attempt to explore the possibility that this disaster was produced by global burning let alone that the biggest contributor to the destabilization of the Earth's climate is the deforestation carried out by the livestock industry - in particular the beef industry. Channel four news mentions the latest 'scientific discovery' about bse in a fifteen second news summary - as if news that a substantial part of the brutish public might die a horrifying death like mad pharmers' disease is so unimportant it's hardly worth mentioning. The meat loving john snow seems far more concerned with other issues.

December 21st 1999: France still Holding out against the Nazis Spin Doctors.

"France will be taken to court on monday after again refusing to lift its illegal blockade on British beef. Fighting back, the country said it would launch its own legal action against the EC for failing to protect public health. A spokesman for premier lionel jospin retorted that "serious doubts" still existed over beef health risks."[82]

December 21st 1999: Channel Four New's Values.

Channel four's news' values could also be seen this evening. The lead article concerned hamilton's libel trial against mohammed fayed. This was followed by an update on the venezualan floods - this time, however, the programme explores the possibility that the flood was caused by global burning. There is no mention of bse-cjd. The rest of the news in the first half of the programme is all about an old bailey trial in which two men were convicted of the murder of michael menson. This is a truly awful case but is it actually more important than the prospect of global burning and/or the prospect of large numbers of people dying from bse-cjd? If john snow and his team are interested in righting personal injustices and doing something to ensure that murderers do not escape their crimes then why aren't they taking more interest in the murder of Animal rights activists? Because this would intrude too far into the pro-pharming mentality dominating this supposedly professional news team.

December 21st 1999: Civil Servant Quits before the Corpses start Piling up.

The maffia announce that richard packer, the civil service head of maff during some of the critical years of the bse outbreak would be quitting government service.[83] Dealler goes on to state that .. "this article did not state if this was because of what some considered his unacceptable action concerning bse, which involved the misleading of e.c. officials, and possibly mps."[84]

Aitken, Archer and Hamilton - A trio of Beef Loving, Liars who insist there is no evidence that Cattle are infected by Bse.

The tory party's jubilation at the informal trade war with france which has dramatically boosted their political popularity for the last couple of months, comes crashing down to Earth when a jury finds hamilton guilty of accepting cash for questions from mohammed fayed. The public is suddenly reminded of those awful years of continual sleaze in the tory government. The trial verdict is quite a surprise. Everything seemed to be going so well for hamilton. In his summing up the judge seemed to be reading the notes he'd made earlier for fayed's punishment, "Mr justice morland said, "You may think that mr al fayed's appreciation of what is fact and what is fiction is warped. Therefore i strongly advice you that it would be very dangerous to accept even those parts of mr al fayed's evidence you find credible." [85] ; he cast serious aspersions on one of the witnesses who'd handed hamilton cash in an envelope; and concluded by almost telling the jury to support hamilton's version of the events, "Former tory mp neil hamilton should not get more than £150,000 damages if he wins his "cash for questions" libel case, the judge suggested to the jury yesterday." [86] It is shocking the way that rural, tory judges in this country do their best to protect the interests of their fellow tories.

So great was the expectation that hamilton would win that fayed wasn't even in court when the jury's decision was read out. The decision was a shock to everyone. However, hamilton's defeat didn't mean he was at long last about to admit his guilt. On the contrary, totally unwilling to face up to the facts, he continues to protest his innocence, "Outside the court mr hamilton defiantly declared, "I continue to deny that I acted corruptly. I would never have embarked on this action had I been guilty of the charges against me. I do not regret bringing the case because I could not have gone through life without straining every sinew to do everything possible to bring out the truth."" [87] The guardian, having exposed one tory liar, now exposes another. Hamilton is, "A greedy, corrupt liar." [88] Edwina curry states on channel four news, "At the time he was doing it (stuffing his pockets with cash) he was boastful, proud and arrogant about it."[89]

It's bad enough that tories lie incessantly but what is worse is that they do it so spectacularly and in complete defiance of the truth. The sheer, utter gall of aitken, hamilton, and archer, is striking and is clearly not merely an individualistic trait. Their defiance of facts, their belief that it is possible to lie and get away with it, with the added bonus of forcing other people to pay the price for exposing the truth, is a trait that all tory politicians acquired during the bse crisis. The gall of tory, and now labour, politicians in continuing to uphold the nonsense that Cattle and Sheep are free from bse, despite all the evidence to the contrary, is staggering. People like aitken, hamilton, and archer, aren't basically any different from the rest of the pharmer-loving, shit currently inhabiting the house of commons and the house of lords.

December 1999: The Political Fallout for the Labour Government of the Trade War.

The political fall out for the labour government of the informal trade war with france is considerable. Firstly, the dispute means there is even less likelihood of the government controlling the maffia. If the labour party can't abolish the maffia after a scandal costing £4 billion and the murder of 48 people then what chance is there of protecting public health? Secondly, the government has seriously undermined its position in scotland by refusing to allow the lifting of the ban on scottish beef exports for the sake of protecting english pharmers. This was the same mistake made by the major government which suffered severe electoral losses as a consequence. Thirdly, the chances of brutland becoming a fully participating member of the european community have receded significantly over the last three months given the level of public hostility towards france for not consuming bse-infected shit.