USDA to Farmer: No You Can’t Test For Mad Cow Disease
Friday, May 30th, 2008
Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its animals for mad cow disease, in an effort to pacify its overseas customers. According to Creekstone, they’ve been losing business due to a fear of mad cow disease, and Creekstone simply wants to test every animal as a way of boosting confidence. This sounds like a good idea to me, but the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is fighting the effort, claiming that they have regulatory control over the test kits, and they have decided to not allow Creekstone to test every animal. Say what? This appears to be a basic food safety issue, and I really don’t understand what the USDA is thinking.
This story, having caused my jaw to drop in disbelief and my head to shake back and forth, all the while mumbling “That’s absurd,” officially wins the coveted Chad’s News Stamp of Absurdity. Other such items can be found in the “absurd” category
Link: http://www.cnn.com/…
(via The Consumerist)
Update: Slashdot has more information—the appeals court found that the USDA does have the right to restrict the use of mad cow disease testing kits. The case, however, was remanded to the U.S. District Court to determine whether or not the USDA’s refusal is arbitrary or capricious.
I don’t know if this photo is for real, but it’s obviously intended to be someone protesting the fact that China will be hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics. For those who don’t understand why the picture is so funny, I suggest the following 
I thought this was a joke when I first saw the headline, but I guess it’s for real. The New York Yankees are building a new stadium, and in an effort to curse the team, a construction worker dropped a Red Sox jersey into the concrete while they were pouring. The Yankees found out about it, were able to get an approximate location, and dug up the concrete with jackhammers until they found the shirt—which they promptly removed. Apparently they were quite upset.
Over a year ago, Walmart released a t-shirt displaying an 
A United Nations expert says that it’s a “crime against humanity” to create biofuels from food (such as sugar cane or corn). He has a point, but I think he’s abusing the term.
Here at the Chad’s News Command Center, we’ve heard quite a few stories about online lovers finally taking the plunge and meeting in person for the first time—usually to dismal results. And while the man in the linked article is an extreme case, it pays to be careful with any romantic prospect that you meet on the internet. I’ve heard of mothers sending pictures of their college-age daughters and claiming them to be their own pictures. And don’t believe anyone who says they’re a minor—most likely it will be some sort of law enforcement official working a sting operation to catch child molesters.
