Opening Theory and Vegetarianism are both OVERRATED.

Skull - absolutely correct

Phil - totally lacking in humour

tell me, you think calling these comments "ignorant" is lack of humour? I suggest you comedians to talk to more vegetarians or read more about it, try to understand their point of view and show more respect and empathy.

Stevie65

I was a vegetarian for ten years. You should not jump to ill informed opinions.

I think that is not totally fair. I find it right in that, there might very well be selfish reasons for having a pet and the relationship might be symbiotic, but wishing to improve the living conditions of an animal might also be a cause. There is no single cause for any event, and if these two meet, I don't find that problematic. I for one know I feel happy to live with my cat and if I lose her, I would miss having a pet and probably get another one. So it would partly be an action based on my needs. But I also know I'll never have a pet that is not picked up from the streets (if in bad conditions) or a shelter.

re: not eating meat is hypocritical because this or that is also cruel/wrong/unfair etc: i'd rather be half right than consistently wrong

Are you saying that by eating meat you are half right? Bit difficult to work out what you mean.

My use of the word 'half' was confusing and inaccurate for which i apologize. i meant to say: by not eating meat i am at least doing the right thing in that regard.

I think it's a tough argument for a vegetarian to take the moral high ground.  I mean, c'mon, many vegetables that are eaten are the unborn that never even had a chance to spend a day in the sunshine.

i was wonderin why my 'Beef in Black Bean Sauce' was so tough to eat when a couple of years ago from the same chinese it used to melt in your mouth. i thought it was dog initially, but now i know it's horsemeat. it doesn't really fuss me, but it's not as good and they are breakin the law. but the last two years they have sent me a christmas card, so i'll see if they can up their game before i think about reporting them.

@ Rooperi: Yes, there are quite a few places that raise animals in what I would consider to be an inhumane way here. Big feed lots, giant chicken farms and the like.

But there are also plenty of choices for free range, grass fed, etc. in the grocery stores. People need to vote with their dollars since this has led to a lot of recent change in products offered, while government hasn't really done anything in this area recently as far as I know.

And looping back to philidor's pet discussion, people usually castrate their pets, microchip them, and sometimes put them down so if this is going to be used as an argument against eating meat, it should also be used as an argument against having pets. I used to work with a person who put her cat down just because she didn't want it anymore. I once rescued a baby guinea pig out of the street because its owner abandoned it. Some people treat pets pretty badly, just as some farms treat animals well and some don't. 

Zborg, I have a fairly good size spider living in my kitchen window.  He set up house there when he was small and I didn't have the heart to kick him ouside since it was winter. I don't know what variety he is, but I'm sure he isn't poisonous. It's been pretty fun to observe his web building. Since he grew up inside he gets very disturbed and hides in the corner if a breeze hits his web.

One final note before I head back to work. People are a species of animal. In the wild, we don't find it morally wrong for animals to eat other animals. I wouldn't expect a raccoon or a panther or any species of omnivorous or carnivorous animals to become vegetarian. 

I like your spider story, @Corrijean.    

Most women will call in the National Guard, when dealing with spiders in their house.

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral.  Used to know some jingles to sing about those.

But my memory is failing, probably from ingesting too many hormones, from meat.

I'm cool with spiders. They're pretty chill, they just do their own thing. I would have a beer with a spider if I could.

Seriously.

She and Lance Armstrong were on the front page of the Financial Times today.

Big Picture too.  He's still thin.  Looked a bit worried.  Must be that meat, again.

Maybe it would like to go get some chicken vindaloo after a drink.

That spider looks like he's from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Yikes.

And the poor devil didn't eat a carrot, turnip, or a head of cabbage the whole time did he?