This has been making the blog rounds - watch it or BE BEHIND THE TIMES. What a frightening prospect.

When did Elijah Wood become so absolutely adorable? I have to admit: I swoon over hipster work casual.

Al Roker Face

I've seen this before, but it was just now brought back to my attention and therefore must be posted. The video combines cats, children and voiceovers and therefore is the Captain Planet of internet cat videos.

Haikus sent to Glenn Beck Blog

Warning: they are from a variety of background, so there are actually some rather conservative, Beck-loving haikus in the mix.

1. Haha at the misspelling in this lolzdog picture.

2. Dog Leaps in Front of Bullet, Saves Owner, Vanishes, then Reappears (Presumably After Recuperation Stint at the Fortress of Howlitude)

This is just one of many reasons why dogs are amazing and cats are of no use, except when they are being made fun of in homemade internet videos.

The cat videos never cease to delight.

Slate is running a somewhat ridiculous column this morning written by a quasi-vegan who makes the dubious argument that oysters are a vegan-friendly food.

The author makes a few good points: oyster farms have almost no impact on the environment, the mollusks thrive when farmed, and (she argues) they do not feel pain. He even goes so far as to claim that oysters are more akin to plants that animals - though this argument is completely bogus, as oysters (1) move, (2) eat other living things and (3) have internal organs. I admit that I do not know where the line between animal and plant is drawn, but I have a general rule that things that poop are animals. And oysters poop.

I think this article misses the point that most people are vegans. Admittedly yes, oysters might not feel pain, they may enjoy living in oyster farms, and their farming may very well create no negative environmental effects. However, Cox forgets a big point on most vegans plate when it comes to skipping animals: animals, we assume, can appreciate and understand their existence - and plants do not. To eat an oyster is to end an existence that it appreciates. And that is just not within veganism.

I am not a vegetarian and never will be. I find an inherent flaw in the argument above: there is no particular reason to value animals' right to existence over plants'. Animals and plants are alive. For all we know, both can feel pain. I assure you that plants, just like animals, do not want to be hurt or eaten or killed - plants exhibit plenty of behaviors suggesting this very fact. I think the author of this article is struggling with a fact that many vegetarians and vegans choose not to address: it is inherently hypocritical to morally reject eating animals but to devour plants at will. The author goes in the opposite (and incorrect) direction, trying to justify eating an animal because "it is like a plant." This is bullshit, and the article rings false because of it. The fact is, there is no real difference between plants and animals. In turn, living beings can only exist by eating other living beings. You can't live without killing something else to do so; this is an unfortunate fact of life, but also the very foundation ensuring our continued existence.

I fully support vegetarians and vegans who reject eating meat because of the inhumane treatment of animals currently going on in most meat production plants. However, rejecting meat because it's alive while still eating plants is like stealing from the rich because the government is over-taxing the poor. You're just as guilty, but you've managed to convince yourself that the party you're wronging will not feel it.

Oh Noes! of the Week:

Elian Gonzalez Spotted at Young Communist Union Congress Meeting; Janet Reno Slightly More Relevant Than Yesterday

Honestly, though, could he look less invested? The drooping eyelids, the limp grip on the flag...I didn't know Communist Union Congress was Spanish for high school biology lecture.

I posted a couple weeks ago about a glorious recipe blog called TasteSpotting. Not only does that blog contain a seemingly unending collection of recipes, but it shares them in such an aesthetically pleasing format that you can't help but appreciate the blog itself, beyond the food.

Almost identical in form (but not in function) is Liqurious, a recipe blog sharing directions for preparing that most glorious of elixirs, the mixed alcohol beverage.

Perhaps not as drool-worthy as TasteSpotting, but equally interesting to look through. I can't imagine I'll every use the blog, though: I limit my alcohol mixing to the meeting of rum with coke.

"This, therefore, is a faded dream of the time when I went down into the dust and noise of the Eastern market-place, and with my brain and muscles, with sweat and constant thinking, made others see my visions coming true. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible."

- T.E. Lawrence