Fuel From Dead Cats Somewhat Less Appealing That Fuel From Turkey Guts

from the just-saying... dept

Well known travel/adventure writer Tim Cahill, loves to discuss the concept of "Fubsy." He's used it a few times in various columns over the years. It's actually an old, mostly out of use English word that means "chubby." But Cahill uses it the way some of his biologist friends use it: as a "cuteness" factor for animals. Animals that have features more similar to a human baby are generally considered more "fubsy," and therefore more friendly or enjoyable to be around. It also explains why (some) people have less problems with certain types of animals dying than others. And, clearly, somewhere near the top of the fubsy food chain are kittens. Perhaps that's why people seem to be reacting so negatively to the news that some guy is using dead cats to make organic diesel fuel. The concept isn't new. There are plenty of attempts under way to make fuel out of organic things like wasted turkey guts. However, when it's turkey guts people seem to talk about how exciting this is. When it's roadkill cats... they're not as enthusiastic. Update: The story sounded too bizarre to be directly true and it was. The guy wasn't specifically using dead cats, but was pointing out how just about anything could be turned to fuel. That's not a new idea at all. It's just that one newspaper picked up on the possible example of dead cats, and then the story got blown out of proportion from there, thanks to people who wanted to defend a bunch of dead cats that don't exist. Too bad, though, as we could use some cheaper fuel these days.