Thursday morning roundup and ramble-rant

Teaching reading comprehension is harder than teaching math.

Where the atheists live.

There's faith without belief.

Carolyn Hax points out that church is like cupcakes.

Speaking of cupcakes, this New Yorker cartoon says it all.

McDonald's struggles to sell salads.

Yup:

We can debate the relative safety of GMOs, but what's beyond dispute is that Monsanto is a deeply creepy company.
— Vegan (@vegan) May 29, 2013

***
Actually, let's talk about salads for a minute. In the context of the most annoying things you can say to a vegetarian/vegan. One of those things being--forgive me if we've been over this before--"I'm sure there will at least be a salad you could order."

Why is this annoying? First and foremost, because it's obvious. The vegetarian/vegan who has just pointed out that the restaurant under consideration does not have good options for her has probably figured or assessed that there are salads. She does not need you to point out to her that there are salads. The point is, those salads are not satisfactory to her. They are either not vegan or not substantive (or won't be substantive once you veganize them). A salad that consists exclusively of vegetables is not, in and of itself, a meal. Vegetables do not have a lot of calories (or protein or carbs or fat). They usually have a small amount of carbs, unless you throw in corn or roasted potatoes or wheat berries. Then they may have enough carbs, but still not enough protein or fat. If you throw in an avocado or some nuts, you get fat and some protein. But this still isn't enough food. We are not ethereal beings; we need calories just like everyone else. Not only that, but if we're going out to eat, there's no point in going out to eat to get just a salad.

I have been over all of this with one of my coworkers. Nonetheless, we often end up having the same conversation: he recommends a restaurant, I point out the lack of vegan options, he points out there is a salad, I point out that that's not enough food. The last time we had this conversation, he then pointed out that I could get two salads. I mean, yes, I could... but why should I? I would if I were taking part in someone else's social occasion--a celebratory lunch, say--and then I'd just eat y own lunch beforehand--but I'm not going to seek out a restaurant that an omnivore deems to be good based on its non-plant options, on the basis that there is a salad there.

So please stop telling your vegan friends that they should try a restaurant because it has salad.