Last week, vegetarian Carmen Cusack walked into the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles looking to change her license plate to read "ILVTOFU."

Dreaming of kung pao tofu, barbecue tofu sandwiches, and tofu tacos, Carmen was ready to educate everyone she shares the road with about the benefits of a vegetarian diet.

Well, it seems that the guys over at the DMV had a rather naughty interpretation of Carmen's message ("I-LV-TO-F-U").

Florida is the second state this year to reject an "ILVTOFU" license plate. Instead of risking rejection here in Virginia, we've taken a different tack.

northernvirginiamag / CC

If we can get 350 people to prepay just $10 for one of these stylish new "vegetarian" license plates, they'll be put into circulation in April of 2011!

If you live in Virginia, what are you waiting for? Let others know about how much you love tofu by sending your application to the Virginia DMV today.

Written by Liz Graffeo

examiner / CC

Funny: Cartoons about cats on a lazy Sunday.

Not funny: Making jokes about barbecuing cats when you're supposed to be working.

We're relieved that the Federal Aviation Administration apparently agrees that making jokes at a dead animal's expense is inappropriate. It has removed the "jokester" from duty.

Written by Karin Bennett

e6townhall / CC

Considering how factory farms (mis)treat pigs—cramming them into filthy pens and confining mothers to gestation crates—it's not hard to see farms as porcine prisons.

So, naturally, when we heard that a prison in McLeansville, North Carolina, was slated for closure, we quickly dispatched a letter to Governor Bev Purdue to ask for her help in turning the soon-to-be-mothballed slammer into the world's first pig empathy museum.

The new museum would be a win-win: It would provide much-needed jobs, plus it would help people better understand pigs and the suffering that factory farms cause them. Visitors could then put what they've learned into practice by enjoying meatless "riblets" or other vegetarian fare, and the kids would take home one of our "Animals Are My Friends" T-shirts.

We think that once people get to know pigs—when people see that pigs are smart, sensitive, and generally adorable—they won't stand idly by when innocent oinkers are treated like hardened criminals.

Written by Jeff Mackey