The phenomenally popular and all-around All-American hot dog has been targeted by the Cancer Project in a series of TV attack ads. The commercial’s pro-vegetarian creators attempt to draw links between eating processed meats and disease by depicting a boy in a school cafeteria waxing morose about how he was “dumbfounded when the doctor told me I have late-stage colon cancer.” My two cents? If you want to get people permanently off the dogs, show them a clip of the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest:

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Your Sunday Afternoon Awesome Vegetarian post today (last week’s Sunday Morning Awesome Vegetarian post (though not announced as such) was Ted Leo) is a gentleman by the name of Ian MacKaye. Anyone who knows anything about the hardcore scene knows MacKaye as one of the guitarists/singers/songwriters of Fugazi, who can be seen here rocking very hard to “Furniture” (he’s the one singing, hence choosing this song).

MacKaye and the rest of Fugazi do (or did - they’re on “hiatus”) all the right things when it comes to being in a band - they created their own label instead of signing to one. They don’t merchandise with shirts, posters, or anything like that. They only play all-ages shows, and they refuse to charge more than six bucks a ticket and ten bucks a CD. MacKaye and company feel that everyone should be able to enjoy the music.

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Today’s Sunday morning entertainment comes to you courtesy of Ted Leo, who you may know as one of the best songwriters around. He also, and this is the important bit to tie him into this website, is a vegan. His songs are often socially-minded, and one such instance is “Me and Mia,” in which Leo tackles the issues of bulimia and anorexia. Super fun, I know, but watch this and tell me it’s not the catchiest thing you’ve heard this month.

Another reason Leo has gained some popularity in the past, let’s say, year or so is his acoustic cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone.” Clarkson recently went vegetarian (maybe…the Google searching wasn’t completely conclusive), and in the middle of Leo’s cover, he jumps into “Maps” by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the lead singer of which is also a vegan. See how this all works out?

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Fuel, and what fuel to use, has been the issue of the day for quite a few days now. With campaign ads about rising gas prices and offshore drilling plus new debates over whether biofuels are good because they help the environment or bad because they take food away from people, new solutions are no doubt in need.

Over at The Nation, Frances Cerra Whittelsey has an idea, one that I think is swell - people should eat less meat! It all comes down to one simple fact:

While there are daily references in the media to the diversion of corn to fuel-making, there’s hardly ever a mention of the fact that feeding our livestock uses 50 percent to 60 percent of the American corn crop. [The Nation]

More than that, the meat industry plays a pretty big role in global warming:

The shocking fact is that production of beef, pork and poultry is a bigger part of the climate problem than the cars and trucks we drive, indeed of the whole transportation sector. [The Nation]

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The former Mötley Crüe drummer and Pamela Anderson paramour has gone green.

TreeHugger has an interview and video:

The results for PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity of 2008 are in! And the winners, who will be given a lifetime supply of tempeh and tremendous amounts of smugness, are Anthony Kiedis and Leona Lewis! Hooray!!!

Now, when I reported on this contest three or four weeks ago, I made mention that I had no idea who Leona Lewis is. Of all the people on the list, I had to go and single her out, and now she’s won, and I have been shamed.

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Voting is going on right now (yes, NOW!) to decide which man and woman will be crowned PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity of 2008 (Oprah not an option)!!!  HUGE news here.  Here’s your chance to tell the world which vegetarians really rev your biodiesel engine.  From the website:

Being “green,” living healthy, embracing compassion, and looking fabulous are all the rage in Tinseltown right now, and more and more celebrities are figuring out that the best way to make all these things a part of their daily lives is to go vegetarian!

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Mother’s Day is this Sunday (don’t forget!), so be sure to take a look at some of the great posts we’ve put together in celebration of moms everywhere! Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Katie Halper:

Top 10 Mother’s Day E-Cards

Hillary Andrews Will Not Lick Bob Stokes’ Swizzle Stick

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Nicole Hughes:

Top 10 Green Gift Wrap Ideas For Mothers Day

Peak Oil Strip Tease

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Andy Kondrat:

Tornado Devestated Town Rebuilds As Green Model Community

Radiohead Attempts An Eco-Friendly World Tour

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Jon Popham:

Nepalese Art Photography: Rubin Museum of Art

America’s First Wind-Powered City

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Giulia Rozzi:

Women For Women International Celebrates Mothers Day

Even More on the Kentucky Derby

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Gina Telaroli:

Video Blog: The Week In Social Action

The War Now Tomorrow and Forever

We all know sex sells - bikini car washes for cancer, vegan strip clubs, and of course PETA loves throwing around a little (human) flesh for a good cause. Now peak oil is getting some sultry attention from Oily Cassandra, who is pretty confident that her oil-conservation-inspired strip tease will get you worked up and ready to take action:

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PETA, in conjunction with their new veggie testimonials site, has announced a video contest! The contest asks folks to make their own “veggie testimonial” or video that explains why they are a vegetarian. Here’s an example:

Think you can make a better one?

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