Me Eat Meat, by John Ostrander
So there I was, in my car, tooling along, headed towards my eye doctor appointment, listening to my public radio station, WNYC, and one of their talk shows – the Brian Leherer Show. The segment was referred to as “Can Meat Be Ethical?” The guests were Joan Gussow, professor emeritus of Nutrition and Education at Teachers College Columbia University, and Gidon Eshel, Bard Center Fellow and a geophysicist at Simon’s Rock College.
I could already tell we weren’t going to be on the same wavelength for this segment.
Here are my basic ethics about meat: if it hasn’t eaten me, I can eat it.
Professor Gussow seemed relatively reasonable. She said grass fed cows are eminently preferable to grain fed and that one should shop locally for everything – meats, grains, fruits, vegetables – as that reduces the amount of fossil fuel for transport. And that we should reduce the amount of meat that we consume and treat it more like a flavoring or a condiment as many cultures do around the world. That would be healthier.
Professor Eshel would have none of it. I should probably try to separate his snide, patronizing tone from his message. The tone probably comes with his turf; Simon’s Rock, up in the Berskshires in Maine, is – according to its website – “a small, selective, supportive, intensive college of the liberal arts and sciences” whose “400 students come to us after 10th or 11th grade in high school.” The few, the proud, the elite.
Professor Eshel maintained that grass fed beef is worse than grain fed beef. Why? Because, as bad as cow shit and cow farts may be for the environment, cow belching is worse not only in volume but in kinds of gases being released into the atmosphere. (more…)
A variety of "Doctor Who" news hit the ‘Net recently, so here’s a quick wrap-up of some stories "Who" fans might want to keep on their radar:
The ShockTillYouDrop crew has posted an 
The subject of Marvel.com’s weekly interview this time around is Peter David, co-writer of last year’s Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born and its upcoming sequel, Dark Tower: The Long Road Home.
Daniel James Cox, a concept artist for the "Justice League" film, recently commented on the project’s delay over on his blog:
In all of the comic book conventions you’ve ever attended, did you ever wonder what it felt like to be a struggling creator?
Actor Heath Ledger, who was found dead in a Manhattan apartment on Jan. 22, died due to a lethal combination of various painkillers, anti-anxiety medication and sleeping aids, according to the New York City Medical Examiner.
