Thanks for the links vm, unfortunately al gore the messenger has not joined the ranks of us vegetarians. Reminds me of our overweight local whole? foods butcher (who smokes but drives a prius)

From WPTZ.com, today.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling on Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont to raise health insurance premiums for people who eat meat, and lower the premiums for vegetarians. In a letter sent Monday to Bill Milnes Jr., president of Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Vermont, PETA's Executive Director Tracy Reiman urged Blue Cross to raise rates on meat eaters because -- she claims -- heart disease, diabetes and other leading killer diseases have been conclusively linked to the consumption of meat and other animal products.

But not Cats.

Yes, I would avoid most meat and dairy products, but it isn't necessarily so...

What is harmful is injecting cattle and chickens with hormones and antibiotics, feeding them crap, penning them up, and then slaughtering them and expecting their meat to be nutricious.

What is harmful is leading a sedentary life and not breathing properly/breathing fume-filled air.

What is harmful is taking asprin every time you fill a bit under the weather, eating a lot of preprocessed food and refined sugars, and growing crops sprayed with pesticides and grown in dead soil.

Meat itself is not harmful in reasonable quantities, but in our usual agro-business, couch-potato, city-dewlling lives, it tends to be a very poor source of nourishment and can be a health risk... not everyone lives this sort of life though.