Author:

Organs for transplant are in short supply in British Columbia, in part because the Canadian province has a good road safety record and far fewer deaths from gunshot wounds than the U.S. Writing for The Georgia Straight, Gail Johnson compares various countries' approaches to identifying transplant donors—some assume consent unless the person opted out earlier. British Columbia's registry program requires potential donors to take more initiative they did under a driver's license decal program, and not even 15 percent of residents have signed up.

Will a Catholic legislator who backs same-sex marriage now burn in hell for it later? The most hard-line opponents seem to want lawmakers to think so. Some Catholics are conducting a vociferous campaign in the hope of thwarting a Massachusetts high court ruling that it's unconstitutional to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying. Kristen Lombardi reports for The Boston Phoenix that the church's behind-the-scene lobbying efforts have left at least 10 legislators feeling denounced and harassed.

Think you're too fat? You can always blame Richard M. Nixon. By expanding farm subsidies and loosening regulations while he was president, Nixon "sowed the seeds that would end humanity's long war against hunger, making food cheap and plentiful to all Americans," Jim Duncan writes. "For that we now lay upon his grave the blame for the nation's epidemic obesity." The Pointblank cover story includes interviews with two women back in prison for using meth to lose the weight gained during a previous incarceration.

Making a micro-budget horror movie isn't easy. Sometimes it involves sexual acts with goats. Sometimes it involves rancid pig intestines. But most of all, it involves a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Chris Haire of MetroBEAT meets with the men behind "Wiseguys vs. Zombies," a gory little flick that cost only $5,000 to make and which Troma Entertainment just picked up for worldwide distribution. In a related article, movie critic Matt Brunson discusses the best and worst elements of zombie films over the years.

The St. Louis weekly's editors and writers were saddened when the Rev. Al Sharpton abandoned his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination. "Sure, he didn't win many votes, but out on the hustings he stole the show," they write. Not only did the candidate from Queens speak the hard, bitter truth, he got off some really good one-liners—and that's why he'd make a great mayor of St. Louis. To help residents reimagine their troubled city, the Times offers a slide show featuring Sharpton inserted into various local scenes.