Animal rights crop up in weird places

'The list of things we do to animals before we eat them is constrained only by the limits of human hunger and ingenuity, which means it is not constrained by much. Trapping, hooking, netting, plucking, bleeding, butterflying, beheading, gutting - the search for delicious knows few bounds or qualms. That's why it is surprising that a prominent chef, of all people - Charlie Trotter, the TV celebrity and author from Chicago - would decide to draw the line at a practice as old and esteemed as the force-feeding of ducks and geese to give them fatty, luscious livers. That's right: Chef Trotter has renounced foie gras, on ethical grounds.' Animal rights march on. Let me make a prediction. In another decade, vegetarianism will become rampant, not only because it's one way to fend off obesity, but because it's the moral thing to do. Plus, it's the environment-friendly thing to do. Once we stop breeding cattle to slaughter them for Big Macs, we'll save our ozone layer big-time, since what most destroys that layer are all those beefy cattle farts. The gas produced by cattle contributes more to global warming than the gas out of your car exhaust.