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

This week at the summit of North American leaders, President Obama discussed his stimulus plan, which is aimed at improving the U.S. economy. It includes a "buy American" clause that requires projects funded with stimulus money to use only American goods.

Guess who's up in arms?

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Prime Minister Harper is concerned that if America switches to products made in the US of A instead of buying those made in Canada, his country will suffer a significant financial blow.

That's exactly what we've been saying!

By boycotting Canadian maple syrup—one of Canada's major revenue sources—consumers can help pressure the government to end the annual seal slaughter.

You heard the prime minister—buy American! But before you head out to the supermarket, check out these pictures from our latest demonstration outside the Canadian Consulate in Denver, Colorado:

Written by Liz Graffeo

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on this Win It Wednesday. The winner of the To-Fu Kubricks is g.murphy. Congratulations!

I've always proudly displayed my vast snow globe collection, never mind that my husband calls it "junk." But ever since I discovered To-Fu Kubricks by Devil Robots, my snow globe collection is starting to seem a bit ho-hum.

dpmhi / CC

Who can resist these adorable, movable To-Fu Kubricks figures? Certainly not this tofu lover.

We've got one set of five of the smiling collectibles from Series 7 to give to the person who submits the most appealing tofu recipe in the comments section below.

The contest ends on August 5, 2009, and we'll choose one comment as the winner on August 7, 2009. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Good luck!

Written by Karin Bennett

elephantjournal / CC

To pass the time on long, boring drives, I often stare at passing license plates and rack my brain to decipher the messages. There are definitely some hilarious ones, but I'm most stoked when I see a plate with a compassionate message.

Unfortunately, no one driving through Colorado will be seeing the personalized license plate "ILVTOFU" anytime soon, thanks to the DMV's rejection of the message as "possibly offensive to the general public."

Wait, what? How is loving tofu offensive? (Aside from this video, of course.)

As it turns out, the license-plate approver had an entirely different interpretation of the message, as in I-LV-TO-eff-you.

While it's a creative interpretation, it's not exactly what the Colorado mother of three vegetarian kids had in mind. Hopefully, with a little explanation and maybe even a tasty sample of the jiggly white stuff, the rejection will be overturned and her car can become the vegetarian-message-on-wheels that it was meant to be.

How about you? Do you have a personalized plate with an animal rights message? Spill the details below.

Written by Jennifer Cierlitsky

babble / CC

We just received possibly one of our oddest donation offers to date: George Clooney's sweat, apparently soaked up by a towel taken from a Washington, D.C., gym. I'll give you a moment to take that in.

We must admit that George is a handsome man, so it was hard for me to overcome the temptation to just sit in a corner and fondle the towel until the end of time, but we learned that there is technology that can convert perspiration into a flavoring! Now, we're always looking out for new ways to spice up our tofu, so we decided we'd see about mixing up a little George Clooney–flavored tofu—"CloFu"—for supper. We wrote to Clooney to see if he finds this idea as amusing as I do.

How does this work? Well, it involves gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, but here's one easy way: Researchers have used a panel of trained individuals with sensitive noses to pinpoint unique components in any individual's odor. Once the odors have been identified, the right combination of flavors can be synthetically replicated, infused in bean curd, and voilà! CloFu.

Some people don't try tofu because they expect it to taste bland, but we know it can absorb any taste—so CloFu could make your taste buds and your heart melt. Of course, what's even better is that after everyone gets a piece of George and realizes how delicious tofu truly is, diets will be revolutionized.

Written by Liz Graffeo

But everybody had a good time in the end. Ben Franklin himself—who once suggested that the turkey should be America’s national bird instead of the bald eagle—tried some of the delicious faux turkey sandwiches distributed by PETA’s lettuce ladies at his birthday bash in Philadelphia, and commented that he was the person who first brought tofu to the U.S. Thanks for that, Ben. Seriously. Here are some pics: