THEY HUNT ON YOUR DIME

There's not much that's actually surprising in this story. It turns out that "wealthy hunters to go on big-game expeditions essentially at taxpayers' expense - an arrangement so blatant that one animal trophy appraiser advertises his services under the headline: 'Hunt for Free.'" That's because they get a huge tax write-off for donating the severed heads of their animal victims to non-profits such as natural history museums. And of course, this arrangement encourages hunters "to track down and shoot the largest, fittest and rarest of the world's animals."
Here's the hilarious part, though, carrying the "educational zoo" argument to its logical extreme: "The public benefits, hunting advocates say, because visitors get to see animals they would otherwise never encounter." So, see, your money is well spent!

ANOTHER CANCER RISK FROM MEAT

The one thing meat has plenty of, as its defenders remind us, is iron - which turns out to be a cancer risk for some: "Researchers estimate that up to 10 percent of Americans have iron stores high enough that, when coupled with excessive iron intake, could increase their likelihood of developing cancer," reports Reuters. The article continues that the problem arises when some people take in "higher-than-recommended levels of iron," which it notes is found in foods like red meat and liver. It concludes: "[T]his study suggests that people should be cautious about substantially boosting their iron intake - whether by taking supplements or going on an 'extreme diet' that's heavy in red meat, for example." Hmmmmm. Wonder what "extreme diet" that might be?

UPDATE: And before the "at least Atkins takes off the pounds" chorus chimes in, yeah maybe, but so does this. Perhaps Michael Moore could take a cue from this guy.

GOT PARKINSON'S?

If you're a middle-aged man, drinking just a glass of milk a day could raise your risk of Parkinson's disease, according to new research. "The latest study focused on 7,504 men aged 45 to 68, who were enrolled in a heart study in Hawaii. During the course of the 30-year study, 128 developed Parkinson's. The researchers found those men who consumed more than 16oz (454g) of milk a day were 2.3 times more likely to develop Parkinson's than those who drank no milk at all."

(This is, of course, not news to those of us who have been paying attention, but it is a stronger and more definite correlation than ever.)

CWD-RIDDEN MEAT SERVED AT BANQUET

Let's hope the provisional stance that eating meat from animals with Chronic Wasting Disease is safe holds true, because meat from one of the two New York deer found to have the disease was recently served at the Verona Fire Department's sportsman's banquet. In Oneida County, "Health officials want people to know the disease hasn't been found to affect humans. But they still want to hear from people who may have eaten venison at the banquet." Just, you know, to see how they liked the taste and so forth.

SHUT ALL PETTING ZOOS NOW

Yes, children love being able to pet docile animals. They don't, however, love suffering an absolutely horrific kidney disease from E. coli. Of course not all children get infected, and of those, some recover without being traumatized for life. Regardless, the benefit, namely the first sentence of this post, is simply not worth the suffering, or death, of one more child. And that's not even mentioning whether the animals think it's a good idea.

YET ANOTHER CANCER THAT PLANT FOODS FIGHT

"New research from Canada suggests that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may help prevent pancreatic cancer, a particularly deadly type of tumor. The findings, based on a comparison of 585 pancreatic cancer patients and about 4,779 adults without the disease, suggest that the risk of the cancer declines as fruit and vegetable intake increases.

The findings, published in the International Journal of Cancer, add to a growing body of evidence on the role of diet in pancreatic cancer risk. Some research has tied higher consumption of fruits, vegetables and fiber to a lower risk of the disease, while other studies have suggested that diets heavy in" ...wait for it... "saturated fat, salted meats or dairy products may raise the risk."