The Meat of It

Adherents of strictly vegetarian diets (at least the Hindus) are arguably amongst the most finicky people one can ever meet. It is not just that they refuse to eat meat, but they are also pretty adamant about other people refusing meat. It is not just that they subsist exclusively on vegetables but that they require that there be no signs of meat within a 2 mile-radius of where their food are made and where they dine. Maybe not 2 mile-radius. More like 4.

Some vegetarians, though most of them are fast becoming extinct, do not insist on other people's adopting a similar lifestyle on the grounds that a similar exhortation on the part of meat-eaters will not be very much appreciated: Why do you insist that I eat only vegies? I do not require you to eat any of my chicken. Indeed, why can't you pray to your God while I'll to mine own without either of us converting?

But for others, they find it is worth their time to impose on others a lifestyle they prefer. Some attach a sort of advocacy interest in that they do it in recognition of the latent rights of animal to life. After all, if they are giving up something gastronomically significant, it might as well be for the salvation of the "lesser" creatures. Others do it because this was how they were brought up and moralized the whole practice as an afterthought. In most cases, they do so without ever knowing what they are excluding.

Admittedly, there are dishes that challenge the whole morality of killing animals for sustenance. A roasted pig on a stick, which for the most part, still looked as it were before it died but crispy and golden brown. A steamed fish on a platter the eyes of which are glassily staring into nothingness. An array of death served on a table for a feast sounds morbid if not for the promise of a gastronomic delight.

However, as for any preferences, meat-eating or otherwise is grounded on a particular bias. It is therefore hard to moralize an eating preference in favor of adopting a particular one. Majority of Hindu vegetarians are strictly vegetarians because of a bias reinforced by habit not because they value the morality of it. They were fed nothing but beans, bread, root crops and vegetables as kids and are surrounded by people who do the same. Their environment likewise mirrors their preferences that even famously meaty fast-food restaurants such as McDonald's and Pizza Hut have robust vegetarian selections. Their food-markets are mostly free of any meat and sell copious supply of what vegetarians patronize.

Which explains why some of these strict vegetarians, when after being transplanted from India, start to eat meat. Because when exposed to an influence and environment that do not espouse vegetarianism, the bias and habit of eating pure vegetables are less and less reinforced the longer one stays transplanted. Some would claim that it was a matter of convenience that they gave up being pure vegetarians. They had a hard time finding sources of the usual dishes that they eat and decided to include those dishes that are more readily accessible, never mind if these new dishes contain meat. If in favor of convenience one gives up something, can morality be very much a factor in it?

Just as most of the strict Hindu vegetarians are born into their vegetarianism, so are these meat-eaters who were raised by generations and generations of meat-lovers and who have not known of another lifestyle. They were surrounded mostly by people whom they share a love of meat-eating with. The environment and influence they grew up in sustain this preference and reinforce this habit.

So if you, being a strict vegetarian, find it very hard to give up this lifestyle, why can't you understand that these meat-eaters will feel the same?

cellphones annonymous

The evolution of mobile phones seemed to have picked up in the last five years. It seems it was only yesterday that we had mobile phones the size of a phone booth, and which required a ten-foot pole to finagle a signal. The fact that a part of the phone can be "flipped" at one point had us very excited, and when a version came out which allowed us to customize our phones with different covers we lost our minds.

Nowadays, even a phone with video and camera capabilities does not satisfy us. It just does not have to be small and thin, it has to be an iPhone or Blackberry. Consequently, relatively new phones are discarded despite the fact that they are functioning well and are serving their purpose. Because how else will one sleep peacefully at night without the most hep phone at one's fingertips?

Without the touch-screen and all the applications that are embedded in it, how can anybody make a phone call? How can I possibly expect anybody to send an sms using a phone that does not even have a qwerty? These are sacrifices that no one is allowed to ask of anybody.

How to Become $1,000 Poorer and Have Nothing to Show for It

Step 1. Think of buying a car-this includes researching on the current value of the car/s you are looking at and their corresponding residual value. The latter is a crucial information in deciding whether to lease or finance. Analyze the subtle and the differentiating merits between one model and the next. Aesthetic considerations such as color and accessories to be included are deliberated at this stage.

Step 2. Test drive cars that made it to your short-list-all research, and analysis cease at this point. The important thing to iron out at this stage is to decide when to go for test-drives. It will not hurt to wait for imminent holiday sales or for the end of the month. The former is for obvious reasons the latter is because dealership scramble to meet sales quota per month and is therefore desperate to make a sale.

Step 3. Neglect to research on which dealership to buy from- Go to any dealership with the assumption that they will kiss your feet and treat you like kings in order to make a sale.

Step 4. Wander innocently over to Toyota Huntington Station, NY-this is regardless of the fact that you are not interested in purchasing or leasing a Toyota. This dealership in particular is the catalyst of the series of unfortunate events that will haunt you after making a deal at this place.

Step 5. Prepare to be sales pitched for all the cars except for the one that you are interested in-You are interested in the 2009 Camry? Why don't you look at our second-hand 2005 Camry owned by an affable grand pa? Sure you want a V6? But why do you when V4 is practically the same except the engine is subtly inferior? If you want to lease, do not be surprised if they talk to you about financing. If you are convinced about leasing, you will be told of their great financing deals and rates. At this point, you try to remain firm and display restraint. Because this is the easy part.

Step 6. Settle on the price of the car and not on the monthly installment price-prepare to be dazzled with attractive numbers that suggests affordability and be snapped at when you ask for the interest rate and the base price from which these attractive figures come from. Following their arithmetic, there is no fundamental difference between paying $500/mo for 60 months and paying $450/mo for 72 months. At this point, you will realize that they do not and will not kiss your feet regardless of what day of the month it is and that they do not hesitate to use intimidation and condescension in order to close a deal. And also, regardless of what they say (500 * 60) < (450 * 72).

Step 7. Delude yourself into thinking that such is the case everywhere else-sit there and tolerate these indignities and focus on the end result: a car of your own.

Step 8. Pay $1,000 down payment to reserve the car-leave the dealership assuming that you will drive your own car the very next day.

Step 9. Prepare to have an argument with the dealer on what exactly was agreed upon-You'll pick up the car today?!? I didn't tell you you can pick up your car today.

Step 10. Five days, four seizures, three heated arguments, and two years shaved off from your life later-Congratulations! You are now $1,000 poorer and have no car to speak of.

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If you wish to become $1,000 poorer and have something to show for it, make sure that you skip step 3. To say the least, it is a good idea to research on the car dealerships you have in your area. Otherwise you will miss out on valuable background info such as this. Doing your homework on the car and snagging a good deal for it is not a guarantee that you will drive home the car. Toyota Huntington Station, NY made sure that we realize as much.