As Scandinavian countries go, Finland is actually pretty awesome. They've got some kickass modernist architecture, the world's finest sauna technology, and—if you're into bands that play Metallica covers on the cello (which, honestly, who isn’t?)—an unbeatable music scene. Unfortunately, Finland also kills more foxes for their fur than almost any other nation, and we'd really, really like for them to go ahead and just stop doing that. Enter the wonderful Pamela Anderson, who's going to be visiting the country for the annual Rauma festival this year (Pam's ancestry is Finnish), and who took the opportunity to raise the issue with Finland's president, Tarja Halonen. You can read Pam's letter here, and I'll keep you posted on Tarja's response. Thank you, Pamela, for everything that you do. Don't forget to bring me back a souvenir.

Inexplicably, Hooters says, 'No Pam' Creative Commons

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Hooters restaurants, because, in addition to being such a wholesome, tasteful place to go to with the family, they make these truly amazing fried pickles. OK, the “wholesome, tasteful” stuff is a bit of a stretch, but those pickles are seriously out of this world. Anyway, my feelings towards the place have cooled a little bit since PETA VP Dan Mathews told me what went down this week when he tried to book a Hooters in New York for a private party to launch his new book, Committed: A Rabble Rouser’s Memoir. The plan was to have Pamela Anderson host the party, where they were going to serve veggie Buffalo wings to the guests. But Hooters execs refused to allow the event, because, evidently, "PETA mobilizes strong feelings on both sides of the fence. It wouldn't make good business sense for us." How hilarious is it that a place called Hooters (for God’s sake) is getting all holier than thou at the prospect of having Pamela Anderson eating veggie burgers in one of their restaurants? I guess they’re afraid they won’t be able to measure up. Anyway, there was a great piece about it in the New York Post today, which you can read here.

I’m not mad at you, Hooters, just disappointed. I don’t want to suggest that I’m an expert on how to run a business, but if you’re the Marketing Department at Hooters, it just seems like such a lousy idea to go out of your way to keep Pamela Anderson out of your restaurants. And, as Dan pointed out, "Hosting the book party would have showed that Hooters is well rounded in more ways than one. We're always looking for ways to keep the 'T' and 'A' in PETA."

Julien MacDonald, a fashion designer who is as notorious for his cruel use of fur as he is for a recent run-in with flour-wielding animal lovers (that's Julien on the right, next to Paris Hilton, also in white), recently extended an invitation to our dear friend Pamela Anderson to attend his Fashion Week show in London. In keeping with her character, Pamela—who could have responded in a number of ways—chose the classy route, politely declining the offer and recommending a few useful resources for Julien to educate himself about the fur issue.

As my mother always told me, "When pelting someone with flour fails, some gentle coaxing from a beautiful blonde will often do the trick." OK, my mother never said that. But it seems very apt in this case. Here's Pam's letter:

February 9, 2007

Julien Macdonald

1 page via fax: +44 207-439-9887

Dear Julian,

Unfortunately I won't be in London for Fashion Week, but I truly appreciate the invitation to your show and your kind offer of creating an outfit for me. I'm hoping you can extend your kindness to include animals. If you stop using fur, I'd be thrilled to attend a show of yours in the future. Please watch my video about the fur trade on peta.org.uk.

You're such a wonderful, talented designer, and I know you can come up with killer fashions that don't kill anything. My friends at PETA and I would love to hear from you should you decide to go fur-free.

Best of luck at Fashion Week, and kindest regards,

Pamela

The lovely Pamela Anderson has a thing or two to say about a new postal stamp under consideration by the US Postal Service that would feature famed chicken torturer Colonel Harland Sanders. After a little detective work, it becomes pretty clear that the evil masterminds behind the projected stamp are none other than KFC themselves, but Pam's letter to the Postmaster has put a dent in their scheme. She writes,

Honoring a man whose legacy involves breaking animals’ bones and scalding animals to death in defeathering tanks is contrary to the values of most compassionate citizens, and I hope that you’ll deny KFC’s request. How about another Elvis stamp instead?

Anyway, as is so often the case, hooray for Pamela Anderson—I couldn't have said it better myself. MSNBC reported on the story, and you can read Pamela's letter in its entirety here.

In related news, KFC already has some battery-cage egg on their faces this week after Yum Brands (KFC's parent corporation) put a bid on a warehouse in PETA's hometown of Norfolk for a million dollars. What they didn't realize was that the property was owned by the PETA Foundation, a nonprofit group that provides support services for PETA. We responded with what we felt was an extremely reasonable counter offer—that we'd give them the warehouse for free if they'd listen to their own advisors and make a few small improvements in their animal welfare standards. Unfortunately, they suddenly lost interest and decided that maybe they didn't want a warehouse after all. Weird. The New York Times ran that story, which you can read here.

Up until a couple of months ago, I had never heard of POM Wonderful, but apparently they're this big company that sells pomegranate juice for like three times what any sane person should pay for a beverage that has no known alcoholic effects. If I'm going to pay five bucks for a drink, I want some kind of assurance that I'll be blathering incoherently or trying to breakdance by the time I'm finished with it, but all POM does is turn your mouth red.

Anyway, the reason POM is on my radar all of a sudden (despite the fact that I'm clearly not part of its target market) is that—in a twisted attempt to hide the fact that their juice is just some kind of glorified Grape Drink in a fancy bottle, the fine folks at POM have been asphyxiating mice and torturing rabbits so they can make claims about the juice's health properties.

Pam vs. Pom

Cue Pamela Anderson, who is really pissed off about the whole thing: Pam just put up a statement on her website, encouraging people to boycott POM until the company "enters the 21st century and stops killing animals in these cruel experiments." If you agree with Pam that the world can probably do without giving rabbits erectile dysfunction and then feeding them pomegranate juice to see what happens, click here to let the company know how you feel. Then, next time you feel the urge to blow a paycheck on a bottle of juice, spring for something like Naked Juice, so you can know that your money will simply be used to make more expensive juice, not to kill rabbits.

Pamela in the Stella McCartney store window in July

Pamela Anderson is unstoppable. This time, she’s going out on a limb to help the turtles who were slated to be used in her upcoming movie Blonde and Blonder. Animal suppliers and breeders are often super-shady, and Pam told PETA Vice President Dan Mathews that she won’t participate in a film that uses real animals who may have been mistreated. Here’s what she sent him on her Blackberry from the set of the movie:

"These guys keep trying to put animals in the movie.
Anyway. Car hits a hay ride. Instead of using a horse, they used a tractor
I have an animatronic turtle- awesome with a puppeteer.� I said I wouldn't start an animal orphanage because I don't want someone bringing a cruel petting zoo in....

But I just want you to know I have not allowed any animal on this movie. Because I don't want any cheesy handlers etc (who may be cruel) on this set.....

It's a full time job!"

I love this woman.