They seem to be, in terms of actions and policies, taking a lot more seriously the concerns of the cattle industry than the concerns of consumers. It's really hard to know what it takes to get this administration to take action to protect the public.

So what's the point of having this animal ID system? This is one fact you actually really need to know when it comes to mad cow.

We shouldn't wait for a major outbreak of mad cow disease to take greater preventive action. There is no question that we should not be feeding the remains of any mammals to food animals, and by not closing this dangerous loophole, we are exposing the American public to unnecessary risk.

Safety and health regulations should not be second-guessed by trade officials.

This would be a tenth of a percent of all animals slaughtered. This starts to be so small that in our opinion, it approaches a policy of don't look, don't find.

All human actions are equivalent and all are on principle doomed to failure.