Well, for one thing, the source of the 94% statistic suggests that Japanese and Koreans differ in incidence of the MM allele frequency. Not sure if it’s true, whether the sample is large enough, but is it worth arguing with someone who hadn’t even read the abstract?

And yes, if there are fewer Koreans than Americans, it means fewer Koreans than Americans will get CJD in the long run. That only makes sense, doesn’t it? I’m not arguing more Americans have CJD than Korean-Americans or Asian Americans, I’m arguing nobody knows how many Americans (and Korean-Americans, and so on) will have it in 2020 or 2030. Governments can be painfully short-sighted when it comes to long-term health and safety issues, especially those who want to boost trade big now at any cost.

(If you have any doubt, look at 20th century environmental and science policy across the world.)

But it takes a long time for prionic diseases to show up, so the analogy with British agriculture is worth looking at. Was anyone in Britain in 1990 freaking out about CJD and mad cow disease? In 1985? In 1980? Yet now, the very kind of agriculture you’re arguing is “safe” is illegal in Britain.

(Some people insist on not learning from others’ mistakes. Believe it or not, caution can sometimes be the wisest policy.)

Anyway, Baedol’s right: it’s the total lack of restrictions that is disturbing. Hell, in the wake of finding out that they’ve been sold mandu containing rotten vegetables washed in raw sewage and trash rice in so much of their kimbap, it’s understandable how sensitive to food issues people are: it’s not like food safety and quality inspections have a good, or even a passable, track record here.

Which is the funny thing: this isn’t really a partisan issue; to think of public health and safety that way is a distortion. (Well, unless you’re so far right-wing that you believe anyone who isn’t rich enough to safeguard himself and his loved ones is disposable trash, I suppose.) Then again, I suppose AIDS prevention is a leftist issue too.

It’s telling that one of the arguments out there — “Okay, President Lee: we’ll eat this beef… just you do it first. Make over-30 month old at-risk beef a part of you diet, and of all your loved ones’ diet, for a year, and we’ll be willing to follow suit.”

Baedol,

Take it from me, there’s no point in trying to have rational discussion: as soon as it starts, mockery kicks in. Too many people are too busy working out their racial/cultural anxieties to actually discuss anything rationally. You’ll sooner get comments about your butt than you will a rebuttal, unfortunately.

Maybe there is only a tiny chance of infection, but why risk it?

I’ll be shying away from beef.

No wait…they are doing it through the kids.

Fucking pinkos.

Hell, let’s expand it. This so called “M” gene. I’m sure Japanese Americans, Mongolian Americans and Chinese Americans with a northern heritage probably have it also, right? That probably raises the sample to 6 or 7 million. None of them have mad cow either.