These pictures kind of tell their own story, which, as I interpret it, is that a lot of MPs are pretty hacked off with the MoD for being so bleeding stroppy about the Queen's Guards' kit, innit? Or, translated into American, dozens of British politicians gathered outside parliament yesterday to call on the Ministry of Defence to ban the use of bear fur in making the well-known caps worn by the palace guards. Either way you look at it, it's pretty damn wonderful—and it's a big coup for PETA Europe in its quest to save Canadian black bears from a horrible fate. Great to see so many politicians getting involved in an issue on behalf of the British public, which—like most reasonable publics—is overwhelmingly against turning bears into hats without a bloody good reason.

Glenda Jackson, Mike Hancock, George Galloway, and dozens of other cross-party MPs protest the use of bear fur in The Queen's Guards' caps outside the Houses of Parliament

Mike Hancock, David Lepper, and David Taylor standing up for bears

Oscar winner turned MP Glenda Jackson with a Canadian black teddy bear

Victory! Raley's has discontinued the sale of live lobsters.

Update: After Thousands of Complaints From Customers, Raley's Has Agreed to Discontinue the Sale of Live Lobsters in Its Stores!

Earlier this week, a customer of Raley's—which is a popular grocery chain in Nevada, New Mexico, and California—sent PETA disturbing pictures of live lobsters kept in tiny plastic containers barely larger than the lobsters' bodies in a Raley's store. After PETA put an action alert up on our site last night, thousands of people wrote to the company to ask that they abandon this cruel practice immediately and consider following in the footsteps of chains like Safeway and Whole Foods and discontinue the sale of live lobsters entirely.

This morning, we received an e-mail from Raley's announcing that the company would do just that! Raley's Spokesperson Nicole Townsend gave PETA the following statement:

It goes without saying that this is a massive victory for lobsters everywhere, who suffer immeasurably in grocery-store lobster tanks before being boiled alive. Raley's compassionate decision—along with the example of Safeway and Whole Foods—sends a strong message to supermarkets everywhere that cruelty of this sort simply will not be tolerated. A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to write to Raley's about this issue! Thanks to your kindness, countless lobsters will be saved from a horrific fate.

Today is my birthday, which—for those of you not familiar with birthday rules—means I can do anything I want. And what I want to do today is post this video that my friend Joel and I made a while ago for a song I wrote, which happens to be about birthdays. What does this have to with animals, you ask? Plenty. Apart from being a brilliant reflection on the alienating effects of ingrained cultural phenomena on the postmodern man, it’s also a step-by-step instructional video on how to make a delicious vegan birthday cake! E.g., use apple sauce instead of eggs. The chickens will thank you. Happy Birthday me!

P.S. Today is also Richard Nixon's birthday, but whatever.