New Year's morning roundup

Was the first Gulf War the unvarnished success it came to be in legend?

Minimum wage laws may lower costs for businesses by reducing turnover.

The Times goes ironic with a lame trend story about trend stories.

A recipe that combines three of my favorite things: lentils, butternut squash, and balsamic vinegar.

I have very mixed feelings--resulting from conflicting convictions--about sexy PETA ads. Most of the ads are about fur, some about food, and we can have other conversations about how compelling they are (does it surprise anyone that Holly Madison would rather go naked than wear fur? wouldn't she rather go naked than wear anything?). But I digress, let's get back to food. Consuming fewer animal products is good for everyone, but do the ends justify the means if the means are based in unnecessary body ideals? I'm not interested in taking sides between the ethical and health bases for plant-based eating, because both are valid--and both reinforce each other, since there is a questionable but reasonable argument that ethical-only vegans are more likely to quit because they don't consider nutritional realities. There's a middle ground (and also a double standard: non-vegans can fail to thrive as well): mostly whole foods is the way to go. When I first started out, I went for macrobiotic because that was my way of not falling into the junk-food vegan trap. I still prefer to eat unprocessed food most of the time, but I've come to abandon some of the key tenants of macrobiotics (for example, I embrace fruit, chocolate, and wine). Point is, it's not all brown rice, all the time vs. all Boca burgers and oreos; make it at least 85 percent real food, and you're good.

On that topic: Your guide to vegan booze, and Dr. Barnard's TED speech.