Written by PETA
Not to be outdone by PETA's annual Sexiest Vegetarian Alive contest, Eater.com has launched its own Hottest Chef in America challenge, and one of the finalists could potentially medal in both contests—vegan chef Wes Hannah.
Hannah, the chef and co-owner of acclaimed vegan restaurant Blossoming Lotus in Portland, Oregon, reportedly made it into the final round by beating another Portland-area chef/hunk by a single vote. You can help give Hannah an edge in the final showdown by casting your vote at Eater.com. But you'll have to act quickly—the polls close tomorrow morning.
C'mon, we all know that vegans make better lovers. And what could possibly be hotter than a guy who cooks—and who cares about animals?
Written by Alisa Mullins
We've told you about some of the best iPhone apps for animals, such as guides to cruelty-free shopping and vegetarian dining. Now there's an app for those times when you just don't feel like speaking "vegan-ese" to your nonvegan friends: the vegan soundboard from quarrygirl.com. And the bonus? It's free!
Some of these vegan sound bites are simultaneously hilarious and embarrassing—it's good to know, for example, that just by pushing a "button" I can let people know about my obsessions with the PPK and the vegan mecca that is Portland (there's a vegan mini-mall, for goodness' sake!). But I shudder to think that I've ever demanded, "Do you have a separate fryer for your French fries?" (Seriously. Don't be that guy.)
iPhone devotees can download the app for free. For those of you who still carry flip phones, no worries. You can still play with the soundboard here.
If you were going to create your own vegan soundboard, what would you put on it?
Written by Amanda Schinke
You may remember that the good people over at Schumacher Furs saw fit to sue PETA when their store in downtown Portland was closed following regular protests by local activists and concerned citizens. There were a number of good reasons why the Schumachers didn’t have a leg to stand on with their lawsuit, such as the fact that the protests against the furriers weren’t even PETA demonstrations (not to mention that whole first amendment thing).
Well, last week, the judge in the case ordered Schumacher Furs to pay PETA more than $40,000 as reimbursement for legal fees incurred fighting the lawsuit (which he called "an extraordinary abuse of the litigation process"), and his statement in the ruling just about says it all:
"I find that awarding fees in this case will properly serve to deter putative plaintiffs from filing multimillion-dollar suits against nonprofit groups and private citizens engaged in First Amendment activities ...."
So there you have it—a victory for animals and for free speech all in one go. The cash is a nice bonus, too.
I don’t know if they’re trying to put me out of business or what, but PETA Europe have just launched their very own blog, dedicated to all things animal rights, except, like, from a British perspective. So you can expect a lot of references to Eastenders and veggie bangers and mash. But they have brought in some real talent in the form of my friend Alexia Weeks to write the thing, and it’s off to a great start. So be sure to head over there and let Alexia know what you think.
In a fantastic victory for animals, Schumacher Furs suffered quite a blow last year when the downtown Portland store decided to close after years of protests by concerned Portland residents. But, much as I'd love to take credit for the great protests, PETA really didn't have an awful lot to do with them—a fact which had our lawyers more baffled than concerned when ol' Gregg and Linda filed suit against us for more than $2 million in damages. Fortunately for everyone (and as Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher learned the hard way this week), being really sad and grumpy because your unethical business got shut down isn't enough by itself to convince a court of law that someone owes you over $2 million. The claims against PETA were thrown out as being frivolous earlier this week, and Schumacher Furs will, more than likely, be paying PETA's legal fees. As PETA Counsel Bonnie Robson puts it:
“The court's decision is a victory for the First Amendment—and for animals, who must rely on human voices to protest their torture and slaughter for fur. The court did not give in to the fur industry's desire to keep the public in the dark about how animals are turned into fur coats and collars."
Well guys, now that you've failed at making your living through hurting animals and suing charities, what's next on the agenda? I'm not sure I even really want to know.
OK, so a few days ago, I posted this little entry about a video for a song called Mommy Kills Animals. I thought that was going to be the end of it, until I started hearing from my colleagues about a certain “lack of enthusiasm” they had detected in that particular post. Apparently, the music video has made an impression so deep on the employees of this Virginia office that they are willing to turn on their humble blog-writing coworker with an almost insane fury when he fails to recognize its full brilliance. Truth be told, this thing kind of freaked me out, but I wouldn’t be doing my duty as a blogger if I didn’t give the people what they want—so here it is again. Brace yourselves.
And in other completely (and I mean completely) unrelated news, there’s this federal bill up for a vote right now that is about to seriously jeopardize some turtles. If you could take a moment to help by clicking here, I would be very grateful.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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