The Whole Buffalo

ysth

Where's the analogue for the bowl of petunias?

I figure we can keep going till the next strip posts.

BobC

Is it too late to get in on this thread?

tamtheotter

Yeah, but do you eat leg and intestine?

I agree with Coleman. I also find it sad that the cow is treated as such a disposable commodity. It's not working for me either, and yes, I'm a vegan, spot the vegan etc. I'm not trying to preach but the anger towards a polite suggestion that something isn't working for a particular person, and bringing up ethical questions (which are usually welcomed in this forum), is upsetting if not unexpected.

Herbivore is not a bad gig. You get to hang out with the big kids, elephants, hippos, rhinos, water buffalo, bulls, and so on. The theory that humans are natural endurance hunters might be true, and puts many unique human traits in an interesting light, but there isn't actually any evidence for it. How could there be? It is notable that its major proponent, Bernd Heinrich, is a long-distance runner. Many of the same unique human traits are explained by Elaine Morgan's Beachcomber theory of human evolution, which is also interesting, and also unsupported. Cursory research shows that the average American's single largest source of calories is wheat based dessert foods: cakes, cookies, donuts, pies, crisps, cobblers, and granola bars. (<a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-eating/top-10-sources-of-calories-in-the-us-diet)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-eating/top-10-sources-of-calories-in-the-us-diet)</a> Alas, it appears that we are neither carnivores nor herbivores, but cookie monsters. Anyway, I am still bemused that everyone in this comic strip and in this thread is so casual about the poor damned cow.

Robert

Kiba, that is but one way we predate...we also did some pouncing, some short chasing, ambushing, as well as all the things that other primates do to obtain food, and of course, pack hunting! Not that endurance hunting isn't terrifying (at a walk, or trot, or whatever pace you can maintain until the prey falls over...likely at better than a walk, if I can, as a city person can maintain a brisk walk (3.5 mph) for 12 hours, someone whose life depends on it will surely do better)... But at the end of it, the human improvises a tool and puts out the deer's lights. But. Omnivore.

Charlotte Grubbs

geez Roko don't be a narc

jeff fearnow

simultaneous burstage methinks. It's like a spontaneous BBQ.

jeff fearnow

In the Vt/NH region the rule on moose and wandering cows is 'first there with a truck'. People scan the police band for large roadkill for that very reason.

Peter McDevitt

Shame. Buffalo meat is delicious.

BigKumaDM

chasing? pouncing? you realize humans dont hunt that way right? we aren't feline predators, rather we are something far more fearsome in the eyes of our prey. we are pursuit predators. imagine you are an antelope on the savannah, you see a human walking towards you so you run as fast and far as you can. then you lay down to rest because you are tired. but then you smell it. there is the human again. so you get up and run away again even though you are already tired. but still it's there when you stop. just walking. so you run and run some more, growing ever more tired. until you collapse out of sheer exhaustion. and as you lay there unable to move there once again is the human. just walking. it raises a stick and the world goes dark. that is who and what we are. it is how we evolved. we are the apex predators of this world because we are the smartest, not the strongest or fastest. Hell, we evolved our butt cheeks so we could run better. yes they actually have a purpose. so yes I am proud to be a omnivores human. we are glorious constructs of our deathworld of a mother earth. She has shaped us well and molded us to be the best.

Brian

&gt;greentext on Patreon

Brian

You’re not a vegetarian, you’re an herbivore apparently

Brian

I am struck with the mental image of a ford pinto colliding with a cow and the cow bursting into flame

You were perfectly civil, Nick. Hell, I would be a carnivore if it were practical. Who wouldn't want to be a carnivore? The fangs, the stalking, the chasing, the pouncing -- what's not to like? I just can't get them to consent to being eaten when I catch them, no matter how nice I ask. Possibly I am doing it wrong.

Am Queue

Yeah. It seems some people are offended at being called Carnivores? @Coleman, my condolences on being the target of people being twats. It does seem an interesting observation, about how one's background assumptions influence mass entertainment. And while Jeph isn't getting Mass Market Media levels of exposure, this is certainly enough people to qualify as mass entertainment.

Kuragari

Pretty sure Taco Bell uses incidentally harvested beef.

Valraven

They're like Ford Pintos, that way.

As someone who posted to the original comment, Didn't mean for a fight, just wanted to ask about it.

Thank you, Evgeniy. I don't mind especially, though I was hoping for conversation, seeing as the comic isn't working for me right now. Wrong room, evidently.

Evgeniy Semyonov

I am not vegan, not even a vegetarian, but I find it very disappointing that there are such rude and unprovoked attacks on a person who merely stated an observation. I really thought that here people are more polite and inclined to listen before resorting to name-calling.

Joe

Incidentally Harvested Beef is the name of my electroclash/reggae fusion cover band.

Joe

not to get overly serious in a web comic, but I'm hoping Jeph will dig into some of the physical ("ordinary" robot destroys ordinary cow, which takes some doing), ethical (did she at least tell the farmer and offer restitution??), and moral (there have been several discussions about AI responsibilities as arguably superior beings, and what are their responsibilities in this case?? to avoid causing damage?? to report it?? to avoid appearance of irresponsibility as rep of AI race??) ramifications of the situation.

BigKumaDM

Hey guys! I found the Vegan! This round of Spot the Vegan brought to you by the Shut the Heck Up You Pretentious Twat Foundation. Thank You for your participation. For more of our programming please tune into any of our social media platforms such as right here.

Ian Wolfe

Possibly faster. It normally takes something like a train impact to do that sort of damage to livestock. What's really scary is, for her to walk away from that hit with nothing more than a dislocated pinkie finger would mean she is probably at least as durable as Bubbles. In her armor.

An ideology is a set of beliefs that explain why one's current situation is not intolerable, that render it tolerable, or both. Examples would be accounts of why it it tolerable that some people are rich and others poor, why some people are punished and some not, and why some creatures are eaten and some not. Maintaining that a situation is the natural, normal state of affairs and requires no explanation is a powerful, popular ideology. Ideologies are not necessarily false, but they need not be true to function.

Lightsabr2

Cows not so much. Incidentally harvested venison is quite legal in many jurisdictions.

Maurice Kessler

I'm an omnivore. That doesn't require an ideology; it indicates the absence of one. But thank you for making a deep-ideology-derived assumption about my state of mind. I'm not shocked or offended. Merely disappointed with your presumption.

Ack

For that level of mess, she had to have been doing about Mach 1 when she impacted the cow.

Clifton Royston

Cows explode when you bump into 'em. Happens all the time.

Some do. We are not organized. "Meat-eater" does as well. I do not mean to say that absolutely everyone would respond differently if the joke wasn't about a meat animal, but rather that you would get substantially more objections and substantially less amusement. I have insulted no one, and so do not deserve insult. Everyone has some ideology or other.

So... Do vegetarians actually call us "Carnivore"? If it was a stray dog I think most of the jokes wouldn't offend or be weird except they would have to make a comment about "that Chinese place", or maybe I would be curious about the species of dog since one of the reasons it is "kind of a waste" is that people are paying for that kind of meat and also the fact that the animal is a good amount of meat per animal, as opposed to a dog that is much smaller per capita.

tamtheotter

Humans aren't carnivores, we're omnivores. Aside from that, what a pretentious ass you are.

Evgeniy Semyonov

I never thought that "needs more cowbell" trope applies to comics, but here we are.

Evgeniy Semyonov

These two last strips are really weird. Was the cow alive before the incident? Did it belong to this robot or to the company she works for? Was it just a traffic incident (which should probably be reported, along with property damage/theft), or some freak incident in the slaughter house (which also raises questions about their work conditions and security, OSHA may be really pissed). Characters' reactions, while amusing, really just reinforce the idea of QC-verse being very different from ours.

When you're a vegetarian, this sort of humor reads differently. It reads as it would to a carnivore if the strip were joking about carelessly killing a dog, cat, or deer. Carnivores are deeply ideologically wedded to the notion that cows don't count because they are intrinsically, essentially no more than potential hamburger. Joking about them being suddenly converted to meat seems perfectly appropriate. If you don't have to maintain that ideology, things look different. I'm not shocked or offended, nor do I think meat eaters are bad people. I am just saying that it is startling how much habits change perceptions.

Miyaa

Now I want to know if that robot was roller skating through a buffalo herd?

Allison Hastings

Seems an awful waste. With the price of meat what is is when you get it, if you get it

Daryl Sawyer

A dead cow, presumably.

Ian McDonald

I keep misreading the title as "The Whole Butthole."

Jon Guyer

Cannon Law is OK with it

Bagge

AT LEAST two completely different sets of laws. Probably more

Czarzhan

Literally beef of questionable content.

Mordaeus

For sale: beef of questionable origin

William Burns

Moo... ...ve get outta the way!

R L

&gt; Moo? I concur.

Chris Gallaty

For the less adventurous palate there is also Bessie's Cattle Retirement Resort and Hospice. "We'll Serve No Bovine Before It's Time".

Chris Gallaty

Incidental Meats introduces it's new involuntary slaughter house. Home of the world famous Brittney Burger "Opps, We Did It Again!"

Mitchell Sealy

They could probably just take it home and fry it if they really wanted to avoid waste. Might not be the best idea though. Who knows where this meat came from.

Paxxie

But... did they save the cow bell?