SEE YOU NEXT YEAR

Over the next couple days I will be too busy to blog, and then for a little over a week I will be nowhere near a computer. I'll check back in with more meat-bashing goodness in 2006. Be safe and be great! See ya...

THOSE DANGEROUS GREENS

So it turns out spying on PETA is not just for Ringling anymore, as the ACLU establishes that the FBI has been tracking not just the loudmouth AR organization but other vegans and environmentalists. Of course this is not news to those of us who have been following the story, but now other people are noticing, and with the recent news that the president can spy on anyone anywhere for any reason without asking permission of anybody, it takes on a special resonance. Now, there are of course individuals in AR and environmentalism who stoop to terroristic tactics, and again, those should be loudly and clearly condemned at every opportunity by those of us who can think straight. But it's also clear that this level of surveillance is far beyond a natural response to those elements and represents the concern of the establishment that ideas of peace, justice and holism may catch on if nothing's done to stop it.

So I'm probably tarring myself as an undesirable for baldly wishing for something so anti-American, but I gotta say it:

Peace on Earth.

SHARON 'SLIPS ON THE ICE'

Ariel Sharon was released from the hospital yesterday after suffering a stroke over the weekend. While Meat Facts wishes him a speedy recovery, that may be undercut by the Israeli prime minister's massive appetite - and his stubbornness. This AP story depicts him as unfazed by doctors' insistence that he alter his eating habits. And what are these dangerous, high-risk habits? You guessed it: 'his favorite meal is "meat in every way,"' according to this story. The day before he had the stroke, his menu for one meal was:

HAMBURGERS

STEAK in chimichurri sauce

LAMB CHOPS

SHISH KABOB

SALADS

CHOCOLATE CAKE (2 servings)

Gee, other than the chocolate cake, sounds like a perfect Atkins meal. I guess it must be dangerous to mix different "food plans," huh?

VEGCAST HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA

A heapin' helpin' of holiday cheer on this Vegcast includes two music tracks, one from Kyle Vincent and the Summerfest kids and another from Bah and the Humbugs, plus a science fact and a remote report from San Jose. There's news about Erik's Diner and about the Vegcast promo on Adam Curry's podcast. Our featured interview is with Vegetarian Hall of Famer Richard Schwartz, who discusses why not only Judaism, but all religions, point the faithful to vegetarianism. Check it out, and have a happy holiday of your choice!

HOSPITAL CORNED BEEF KILLS PATIENT

Royal Adelaide Hospital patient Richard Formosa was receiving treatment for diabetes and was fed corned beef, which the Health Department's communicable disease control branch director, Rod Givney, has admitted was "a mistake" as he was in a "high-risk group." The corned beef was contaminated with listeria and it killed him. An inspection of the plant confirmed that the listeria came from the meat company itself, even as joint managing director Pat Conroy tried to evade responsibility by suggesting it was the hospital kitchen's fault.

The point is: BOZOS, why does anyone in a freakin' hospital need corned beef, or beef of any kind? What they need above all is nutritious, healhy food that will help them get the hell out of the hospital, not something they might hanker for that will kill them, later if not sooner. Hopefully this incident will wake up a few hospital administrators around the world to the irrational practice of regularly feeding meat to hospital patients.