Fourth and Two...scatter shots..

To all of you who were circling the moon; are from another planet; or a football widow, apologies for this tiny thread...Bill Belichick made me smile Sunday night. Sorry, Big John. I'm the biggest Manning groupie, Peyton and Eli, in the world, and when the Pats did not make the 1st down, I knew my man was going to win that game. It's ego, baby. Gotta check that at the door.

'Eating Animals.' I'd like to first state that my sister is a vegetarian. And I, at one point, had a girlfriend that was a vegetarian too. In other words, guilt by association probably bumped up against my dark side. But, before that when I was a smoking bra-less hippie, I decided that I would not eat anything that I couldn't kill. This cast a semi-wide net. Out were bovine, Wilbur, and rabbit. In were fish (I did catch fish) and chickens. Chickens were on the edge but fell into a murky category of the what if's: if I was lost in the woods and starving and came across a hen house, could I wring a feathered neck?' Fortunately, that never happened. But convinced that I could take care of business, chickens went on the 'what's for dinner' list. Over the years, I've lapsed into both semi veggie and altered veggie state. I've met people who make statements like: 'I don't eat anything with a face.' Or, 'I want to eat lower on the food chain.' Or, 'Eating meat will clog my arteries.' Then along came 'Fast Food Nation.' And if the chapters on the slaughter houses, and the meat packing plants didn't tweak your sensibility then, nothing will now, not even this latest commentary by Jonathan Safran Foer. Graphic. Sensational. Pukingly realistic. Who exactly is Mr Foer's audience? Who is listening to this disturbing, extreme account? Not the inner city families. Not the mid-western conservatives. Not the people on food stamps who dream about pot roast dinners. Watch dogs are the guardians of civilizations. But until the organics and the 'Upton Sinclairs' can further their out-reach and educate beyond the educated, we're all in this swill together. Pass the mashed potatoes and gravy please.