Mad Sheep Disease

Update, 12/08: Here’s how history will record this whole ridiculous episode.

It is an inviolable rule of today’s South Korea that all social movements will eventually become violent and anti-American.  So inevitably, a movement  that was, at first,  ostensibly about food safety has descended into a violent anti-American riot, with protestors ransacking the offices of newspapers that don’t  echo the street’s bleat.   I’d love to know a little more about who  the shepherds are:

Junior Naver, the children’s site of the country’s largest web portal, is a prime example. When typing in the search term “mad cow disease,” users connected to the Juniver Knowledge Section, which is full of preposterous questions and answers posted by young children and students. Claims include that Americans import safe beef from grass-fed Australian cattle while exporting beef “even beggars don’t eat.” The situation is similar at Yahoo Kids, where one post says all American cattle older than 20 months have BSE. Children are actively spreading the information they obtain from web portals via text messages, Internet postings, web community sites, e-mail or online chatrooms. [Chosun Ilbo]

So apparently, Mad Sheep Disease differs from  Mad  Cow in that it  starts manifesting symptoms at about 14 years.   Unlike Mad Cow, Mad Sheep  quickly spreads through entire herds and has powerful degenerative effects  on entire  nations and economies:

Montana Senator Max Baucus said in a statement the additional meetings violate the April 18 bilateral trade agreement for Korea to import all cuts of U.S. beef. Senator Baucus says there’s no scientific proof for Korea’s claim that beef from older cattle pose a health risk, citing the world organization for animal health has said it is safe to eat. He says both sides should abide by the agreement reached earlier and that the outcome of the free trade agreement signed between Korea and the U.S. is in Seoul’s hands. Other senators echoed his words with some adding that the latest moves could bring difficulties to passing the bilateral free trade deal. [Arirang News, via Chosun Ilbo]

Here is a list of nations in strategic locations with growing economies, with which we don’t have an FTA and a large military presence, but with which we have friendly relations:  Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.  I think you see my point.