Short Thoughts On Mad Cows

1) BSE is spread by bad feed procedures (grinding up dead animals and mixing the goo into the live animal's feed).

2) Bad feed procedures persist because its a cheap way to get protein into the animals.

3) A "don't do that" directive from Ottawa will never be followed by an Alberta farmer unless the farmer can make an immediate and obvious connection that it's in his best interest. Remember, these are the same people who, after a hail storm has wiped out their crops, will shake their fist at the heavens and shout "Damn you Ottawa".

4) Better than half of the feed tested (in a recent check) was in violation of the standards. Thus proving point #3.

5) R-CALF, the American rancher association, will be able to keep the border closed as long as they can convince people that Canadian cattle is unsafe.

What does all this mean? It means that we have to test every single head of cattle. This will keep the farmers honest and it's a great stick to beat R-CALF (and their counterparts in other countries) with.

"Canadian cattle isn't safe."
"Yes it is. here's proof."

Yeah, the ranchers are going to hate it (they have to change their feed practices) and yeah, the packers are going to hate it (they're going to have to administer the tests) and yeah it's going to be expensive. Suck it up, it's better than not selling any cattle at all.

The Fraser Institute Explained

The Fraser Institute is in the news again here in Alberta with their annual rating of schools. This is a largely useless exercise because the numbers they produce every year simply confirm what is already known. Namely that academic achievement correlates directly with socioeconomic class. Rich schools produce kids with better marks basically.

FI doesn't provide this service out of altruism. They have a very obvious agenda that includes getting the Alberta government to move to school vouchers. I have no problem with people sending their children to private schools (I would do it myself if I had children and sufficient wealth). However, I don't think I have the right to steal from other people's children to be able to do it. Vouchers are basically stealing from the public schools to pay for private ones.

It's like saying "I buy books at the bookstore and I have a health club membership, so my taxes shouldn't go towards libraries and swimming pools."

How does rating schools promote vouchers? By conditioning people to think of the schools as being a consumer product that can and should be exposed to market forces. I think the free market is an excellent tool, but it is not a universal one. Some things shouldn't be market driven, just like not all things can be fixed with a hammer.

The Fraser Institute has an agenda of making everything - absolutely everything - into something that is owned. In their universe, the water we drink, the air we breath, the space we take up, would be owned by someone. Watch The Corporation sometime and you will see a Fraser Institute spokesman say just that.

I don't know why the media still pays attention to these guys. Every report and recommendation they will ever make can be summed it in the following way:

1) If a government policy is good for business, we're for it.
2) If a government policy is bad for business, we're against it.
3) If a government policy has nothing to do with business, we're against it because it wastes resources that could be used towards doing things that are good for business.

To see why this is bad, simply observe that in countries where minors can smoke cigarettes, tobacco companies make a point of marketting to them. Age limiting tobacco sales are bad for business.