peta’s beauty paegent

Peta periodically runs an event to decide who is the sexiest vegetarian alive. Actually two, male and female. It’s a pool of celebrities; there’s another event for the “sexiest vegetarian next door” for the common folk. My money would be on Siouxsie Sioux and Rob Zombie.

So… is the contest a good idea to recruit new vegetarians, or is it likely to cause teenagers to go vegetarian for a week and then give it up permanently as “too hard” because they lost interest? Obviously it’s not going to brainwash anyone very easily. Saying a celebrity is hot because they’re vegetarian is not quite the same as saying they’re hot because they’re 94 pounds at 6′2″.

Tuesday ~ June 9, 2009 by b

Posted in veg | No Comments | blog@goodtofu.org

Slowly fading blue

Here’s the speech Obama gave in Cairo:

My reaction was fairly much being stunned. I didn’t expect to hear an American president project say things like this in my lifetime. Hope? Sure. But not expect. This is precisely the sorts of thing we need to do, to stop causing the rest of the world to often be righteously angry at us. It’s not projecting moral authority. It’s creating moral authority that we sorely lack, something that’s absolutely critical for a democracy to have for accomplishing any international goals.

Also, it’s impressive that he did not look down at the podium a single time. I would not want to argue against him in a formal debate of any type.

Thursday ~ June 4, 2009 by b

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Dr. George Tiller

Any doctor shot for providing abortion services, who then goes back to it after, is already a civil rights hero. To be gunned down even after that - while fully expecting it - is much more.

Advocating or proclaiming the worthiness of anyone’s murder, for even a moment, is hardly “pro-life” and is simply anti-choice.

Condolences to Dr. Tiller’s family and friends, and many hopes that he rests in peace.

Monday ~ June 1, 2009 by b

Posted in news, poli | No Comments | blog@goodtofu.org

reasons I’m vegan

Some things I like about being vegan:

  1. 88 animals per year
  2. fresher food, especially when chefs cook special orders
  3. healthier, which is useful
  4. not contributing to the veal industry
  5. environmental impact of trading a low-mpg SUV in for something with fuel efficiency
  6. being a pacifist 24-7
  7. producing more food for people in need
  8. being a member of a secret society with arcane rituals, hell-bent on world domination by 2015
  9. bean burgers
  10. grilled vegetables aren’t just a side dish, so I can grow dinner.
  11. eating desert first. if there’s fruit.
  12. nearly no cross-contamination in the kitchen. cross-contamination is gross.
  13. milk stays fresher, longer, and stores in the pantry for months
  14. vegan products are frequently organic
  15. carbs
  16. naked peta fur protesters are on my side
  17. cool flair
  18. less pesticide in my diet
  19. pre-cooked food might be good to eat without cooking
  20. can afford the good snacks at the expensive hippy grocery stores
  21. convenient excuse to try out any new restaurants
  22. kitchen thermometers are only needed for candy
  23. the steak knives stay sharp, even though I use them
  24. Hollywood starlets are ever-so-slightly more likely to go out with me. Slightly.
  25. an international organization wants to run ads during Super Bowls, to convince the world that vegans are teh hottness
  26. desert and brunch are completely indistinguishable
  27. my own menu (or used to) at Disney World
  28. I use the word “juicy” to accurately describe my food
  29. soy lattes
  30. thinsulate works better than wool
  31. pleather is the new leather
  32. my car seats are never sticky or hot enough to burn skin on a hot day in the sub-tropics
  33. if my food were to ferment, it would be consumed at a party rather than threatening disease
  34. can say I’m committed with a fair amount of authority and credibility
  35. no danger of microwaved fish smell
  36. finding a place to eat dinner with someone on a restricted diet isn’t very difficult
  37. vegan sushi

Monday ~ June 1, 2009 by b

Posted in dining, environment, nature, veg | No Comments | blog@goodtofu.org

galaxy zoo

Galaxy Zoo is my latest internaut obsession. Basically, as a user you look at an image of a very distant object (far enough to almost certainly be a galaxy), and answer some simpler questions about what it looks like. There’s no right answer, because the idea to to get many people looking at each galaxy, and then look for the galaxies identified in an interesting way by the most people.

It turns out that experience has almost nothing to do with how accurately one labels a galaxy. Statistically, a PhD and a bored teenager are indistinguishable. Both, however, are far better than any image recognition software found on the market today. So anyone who can recognize a few basic shapes (circle, ellipse, cigar, spiral, line, ring, and random other thing) saves an astronomer an incredible amount of time. Which is important, because this categorizations needs to happen as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), which aims to thoroughly map a large portion of the sky. That actually hasn’t been done before, at the depth when one starts to see many galaxies that aren’t simple blurs. The survey has already made new discoveries based on the categorizing, and the researchers hope to make a few specific discoveries based on the current round.

Tuesday ~ May 26, 2009 by b

Posted in space | No Comments | blog@goodtofu.org

vegan grilling

Peta has a decent selection of grilling recipes. Many are meat-like, but far from all. They add choices to omnivorous and vegan eating patterns alike. However else they do it, making vegan food appealing to non-vegans is part of Peta’s mission as an outreach organization. That alone may make some of their recipes worth a try.

I’m often asked what, or why, a vegetarian grills. I think the answer is nearly common knowledge. Meats are often covered in or saturated with vegetables (for example, as marinades and sauces) to impart the real flavor of the finished dish. Veggies do things like caramelize, and vary in flavor with changes to temperature in a range of appetizing ways. Some easily-vegan dishes, like fajitas, traditionally require some sort of grilling surface. Also, restaurants frequently run stove tops hundreds of degrees hotter than in a home kitchen, basically grilling everything cooked on them to some extent… and I certainly can eat vegan at many restaurants.

Friday ~ May 22, 2009 by b

Posted in dining, garden, veg | No Comments | blog@goodtofu.org

Dark Skies

Dark Skies Awareness is a IYA (International Year of Astronomy) project to educate the public about light pollution and why dark skies matter. They’ve made a video that explains the problem of dark skies disappearing, and how individuals can reduce the light pollution they create.

Friday ~ May 15, 2009 by b

Posted in environment, nature, space | No Comments | blog@goodtofu.org

Star Trek

It’s awesome. Buy tickets in advance. Watch the trailers if you’re not sure whether to go to a theater, they match well.

Saturday ~ May 9, 2009 by b

Posted in geek, review, space | No Comments | blog@goodtofu.org

Tea Partying

Today is the day that the IRS wants their forms and money related to income for 2008.

To be blunt, I’m a pacifist, and if anyone says they support how our government spends money less than I do, I raise a very sceptical eyebrow. I still pay my taxes, because I think it’s the most fair thing to do as someone who benefits from the modern economy and uses government services and laws.

Recently, some people in the GOP have sponsored “teabagging” parties in which people throw teabags to show their disgust at the government spending based on allegedly unfair taxation. Presumably doing so is expressing rage at the Bush government with it’s budget-busting spending, as that’s the administration which ceased to balance the budget (thank Clinton for balancing it in the first place, in the similar aftermath of prior administrations). Apparently this is in imitation of the Boston Tea Party. I suggest there are some differences:

Admittedly, like the first Tea Party, today’s event was organized by some of the wealthiest people in the nation.

Wednesday ~ April 15, 2009 by b

Posted in news, poli | No Comments | blog@goodtofu.org

I do not think that word means what you think it means.

From NPR:

“I’m going to put people in my place, so when the history of this administration is written, at least there’s an authoritarian voice saying exactly what happened,” Bush said.

Tuesday ~ March 17, 2009 by b

Posted in poli | No Comments | blog@goodtofu.org

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