Not strictly a Finsec event, but here's a few photos of the Service and Food Workers' Union Nga Ringa Tota rally in Wellington on International Cleaners Day.

The 'Fair Deal for Cleaners' campaign that this rally is part of aims to provide a voice to the low-waged largely immigrant female workforce, in cities across Australia and New Zealand, who are calling on big property owners to support decency in their workplaces.

Sometimes I feel so low-down and disgusted

Can't help but wonder what's happenin' to my companions

Are they lost or are they found, have they counted the cost it'll take to bring down

All their earthly principles they're gonna have to abandon?

And there's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend

I had a woman down in Alabama

She was a backwoods girl, but she sure was realistic

She said, "Boy, without a doubt have to quit your mess and straighten out

You could die down here be just another accident statistic"

All that foreign oil controlling American soil

Look around you, it's just bound to make you embarrassed

Sheiks walkin' around like kings, wearing fancy jewels and nose rings

Deciding America's future from Amsterdam and to Paris

Man's ego is inflated, his laws are outdated, they don't apply no more

You can't rely no more to be standin' around waitin'

In the home of the brave, Jefferson turnin' over in his grave

Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan

Big-time negotiators, false healers and woman haters

Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition

But the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency

All non-believers and men stealers talkin' in the name of religion

People starving and thirsting, grain elevators are bursting

You know it costs more to store the food than it does to give it

They say lose your inhibitions, follow your own ambitions

They talk about a life of brotherly love, show me someone who knows how to live it

Well, my baby went to Illinois with some bad-talkin' boy she could destroy

A real suicide case, but there was nothin' I could do to stop it

I don't care about economy, I don't care about astronomy

But it's sure to bother me to see my loved ones turning into puppets

* Dylan

Train - New Orleans, Louisiana

(Please note there have been a few cast revisions in this episode).

Captain Tim: Right Sargent Willis, call the men around.

Chorus of suffragette voices: And the women.

Capt. Tim: Yes, yes let’s not go through all that again. Just get everyone around Willis.

Sarg. Willis: I say, it would be awfully nice if you could just all gather around the captain quick as you can, that’s right, nice and close, let’s all cosy together, thank you so much, that’s awfully nice of you.

Corporal Shepherd: Right you lot, you heard what the fine officer said, cosy round, cosy round get cosyed in, smartly does it now, smartly does it, that’s right, that’s right. Permission to speak sir, the men and women all are cosying around just like what you said sir. Shall I cosy with them?

Capt. Tim: Of course, I shouldn’t have to tell you that corporal.

Corp. Shepherd: Right sir, thank you sir, cosying in now sir. Permission to speak sir, we are all cosy together sir.

Capt. Tim: Where’s Sargent Willis?

Private McMercer: Aye he’s absent on parade, that’s a criminal offence, he should be shot, shot I tell ye.

Capt. Tim: Oh don’t be so melodramatic McMercer. Willis, Willis what are you doing? You’re supposed to be cosying, er gathering around, with the rest of the men.

Pte. Bevins: And women!

Sarg. Willis: I thought as it was such a nice morning I’d just have a wander around, you know Sir, just a little wander and look at all the lovely countryside. After all it’s not as if we’ve not heard what you’ve got to say before.

Capt. Tim: That’s not the sort of attitude I expect from my junior officers. You’re supposed to support me up to the hilt, the hilt. Do you understand? We’re not out here to enjoy the countryside, we’ve got a very important job of work to do. Just what do you think would happen if everyone went about enjoying the countryside? The country would be ruined in no time.

Sarg. Willis: Oh very well.

Capt. Tim: Right, now then..

Pte. Jones: Excuse me captain, I was wondering if I might be excused?

Capt. Tim: Not now Steven, I’m just about to explain what we’re going to do.

Pte. Jones: Oh dear.

Capt. Tim: Now today we’ve been appointed to do a very important task helping our brave farmers, reaping and gathering in the sheaves.

Corp. Shepherd: Permission to indegest Sir. I would like to be the person what does the reaping and gathering.

Capt. Tim: We’re all in this together corporal, there’s plenty of work for all of us.

Pte. McMercer: Aside; Aye, and plenty for someone to order the rest of us about while he looks on.

Pte. Moffatt: Excuse me Mr. Spencer, what do we do when we’ve gathered in the sheaves?

Capt. Tim: It’s Captain, how many times do you have to be told?

Pte Moffatt: Sorry Mr. Spencer, what do we do with the sheaves Captain?

Capt. Tim: We burn them.

Pte. Miller: Ah, now then, it just so happens I know where to lay my hands on some firelighters they’re very hard to come by these days. I could let you have say half a dozen at five quid each.

Capt. Tim: Five pounds? Five pounds? Oh no, no, no. Thank you but we have our very own fire lighter in the form of private Breed.

Pte. Miller: Suit yourself.

Pte. Jones: I’ve just done a first aid course and we covered burns. You have to pour cold water on them for ten minutes. Oh dear, I’ve got a bottle of water in my first aid bag but I don’t think it will last for ten minutes.

Pte Miller: Funny you should mention bottled water, now I know where I can lay my hands on a crate..

Capt. Tim: We shall not be needing any water for the simple reason no one will get burnt. I won’t allow it. Now let’s get going, I need to unload the mowing machine and..

Pte. Moffatt: Please Mr. I mean Captain Tim, can I do the mowing, I know how to do it, I saw it in a film once with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.

Capt. Tim: No it’s far too dangerous for an inexperienced person from the ranks. This takes leadership.

Pte. McMercer: Aye and it’s easier than raking.

Pte. Moffatt: Oh it’s not fair, he never lets me have any fun.

Capt. Tim: No talking in the ranks. Let’s to it, we haven’t got all day, looks like rain later on.

Pte. Jones: Talking of rain, I wonder if I might be excused for a moment?

Later that morning;

Capt. Tim: Now remember men,

Pte. Bevins: And women!

Capt. Tim: Careful near the ditch, it’s covered in reeds, so we don’t want anyone falling in.

Pte. Shepherd: Excuse me Capt. Tim, I’d like to volunteer to work by the ditch what isn’t there on account of it being covered in reeds then if anyone should fall in it will be me and not you or any of our other brave lads. I remember once when we was at...

Capt. Tim: Not now corporal, Not now.

Pte. McMercer: I was wondering how strong these wooden rakes are? I’ll just lean on one to see if it takes my weight.

Lunchtime;

Pte. McMercer: Aye, it seems to be holding up okay. Look Captain Tim, isn’t that captains Raven and Pratt coming over yonder Hill?

Capt. Tim: What? Oh yes, pay no attention to them, Captain Pratt has probably only come to show off the latest set of gaudy ribbons spread across her chest. No sense of decency, if I had any medals I wouldn’t go displaying them like that for all the world to see. She looks like a walking rainbow with all those decorations. Still better than the things she usually wears.

Sarg Willis: What did she get them for do you suppose?

Capt. Tim: Pond dipping I shouldn’t wonder, not proper work like we do.

Capts. Raven and Pratt: Greetings Captain Tim, just in time for a spot of lunch we see. Any cake?

Several pieces of bread pudding and tiffin later

Capts. Raven and Pratt: Well bye all.

Pte. Miller: Now before we get started again, I just happen to have some very nice calendars for sale. Going cheap, lovely pictures of birds on them. Get it, cheap, birds?

Suddenly everyone finishes lunch and starts working again.

Pte Miller: Please yourselves. Charmed I’m sure.

Early afternoon;

Capt. Tim: Well that’s another job well done. I think we can all be proud of ourselves, don’t you Sargent Willis?

Sarg. Willis: What? Oh yes, yes, very proud. I was just looking at those very pretty birds..

Capt. Tim: Not those damn calendars again?

Sarg. Willis: No Sir, those charming little birds on all that bare ground that we’ve laid to waste.

Capt. Tim: Oh we’ve no time for that now. We need to collect all our gear together before everybody slopes off. I’m still missing a rake!

Sarg. Willis: I think you’ll find private McMercer is still leaning on it.

(Any resemblance to the truth is purely accidental).

Enough already. Thanks to everyone and we missed those of you who weren’t able to join us on what was a very pleasant day. I’m sure Mr. Pitts photos will say it all.

Anon.

Financing the Rutenberg Plan, 11 August, #1922Live, The American Jewish World, Timeline of British Mandatory Palestine

By JUDGE JULIAN MACK, CHAIRMAN, PALESTINE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

(The coming to the Twin Cities this month of Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, chairman of the Central Committee Palestine Development League, on behalf of the financing of the Rutenberg Plan, makes timely the publication of the address of Judge Mack delivered before a group of a Jewish financiers last June in New York’s at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Mr Rutenberg’s Room. All interested in the upbuilding of Palestine will find it informative to give this address a careful reading – Editor’s Note.)

Jews from Eastern Europe and Jews from Central Europe and Jews from other parts of the world are going to Palestine. They are going to Palestine because they want to go in part; they are going to Palestine because they cannot with safety in life and limb, or to peace of soul stay at home; and they are going to Palestine partly because they prefer to go to Palestine rather than any other place and partly because there isn’t any other place on earth to which they can go. We have closed the doors in America. In the last ten months some 45,000 Jews have come to America. There have been times when a million immigrants came in a year. The probabilities of even lowering the present quota are great. Canada the same; Western Europe the same; South America doesn’t offer the opportunities. Some people are talking about Mexico , Cuba. That is in the distant future. And the nations of the world have said, the opportunity shall be given to the Jews in Palestine, under Great Britain’s mandate on behalf of the League of Nations. Now, it does not make any difference what the ultimate future in Palestine is to be so far as we are concerned. We, as an organization are concerned only with this – there is the land of our fathers; there are our brethren going and wanting to go there by the hundreds of thousands – there is land which, if developed, if fully developed so that it may be no only brought to its highest powers agriculturally, but also industrially, is capable, according to the best experts, of maintain in decency anywhere from three to six million people.

Let us assume that it is not the solution of the Jewish problem at all. Opinions differ. Let us assume that the minimum that I have given you is wrong; that it is only a million Jews that can go there. Even if there be only that many – it is the one ray of hope offered our brethren who are in the blackest of despair in Eastern Europe. And that is the basis of our activities. That is the reason why we believe there is a duty on the part of prosperous Jewry all over the world, but primarily in America, of course, to help lay the foundations on which that million or two million or five million Jews can build, and can build for themselves, a home and life and civilization and industry and agriculture, that will make them self-supporting, that will not bring fortunes to the individual, but what we trust will keep whatever million there may be there, from slum life or from overcrowded conditions that prevail in the Jewish centers of Easter Europe and even this country.

Charity Work

There is much that is to be done, and will continue to be necessary in the way of charity. For some time to come, assistance must be given both to the present population and those new immigrants. They have their orphans, widows and aged; they need some help in the schools and sanitation. But you cannot build up a land on charity. You cannot make the Jews over there self-sustaining or self-respecting on charity. And the finest thing about the generation of pioneers and they have been pioneers for forty odd years, both the present and new generation of pioneers, young men and women, university bred, trained to be physicians, engineers, lawyers, architects, and what not, who are tramping down through Eastern Europe seeking Palestine, and despite all hardships and suffering, rejoicing when they get there – these Chalazim – I say the finest thing about the old and new, is that they do not want charity. What they do want, what they ask the Jews of the world, is that we who can afford it, have some stake with them in Palestine, that we who are not going there, evidence our kinship and our feeling towards them and recognize our duty both to our ancestry and our descendants by doing something that will enable the Jews who go to Palestine to be the kind of Jews of whom we can all be proud. Because the world has decided – it is not open to question any more – they are going to be held up as the typical Jews, these Jews of Palestine, and we in a measure are going to be judged by them. We always are judges as a people seldom individually.

The P.D.C

Now, there are organizations that are attending to the charity end of the work. We who started the Palestine Development Council, started it because we believed that in the nature of things, any charity work must be clearly and absolutely differentiated from constructive investment business – that the two cannot be intermingled in any sense whatever, that the differentiation ought to be marked as we have come to believe in the course of the last year, by an entirely different organization, that marks in itself more clearly than anything else the distinction between the two things, and between the two we believe the business upbuilding of that land is the more important. And because of that, a year ago, on the 4th of July, when some of us gathered together to make concrete these thoughts, we decided to create a business organization. We started a million dollar Delaware corporation for the purpose of giving credits in Palestine because that at the time, was thought by Sir Herbert Samuel and others to be the most essential thing, and to give credits first in the way of helping the Credit Unions, because we all believe that in a little land like that, it was more essential to foster the spirit of cooperation by cooperative enterprise than to do anything else. And then as a second business undertaking, the next most essential thing was credits for building of homes. When we set out on the first undertaking we found immediately that other organizations interested in Jewish work like the Reconstruction Committee of the Joint Distribution Committee and the I.C.A (Jewish Colonization Association) of Paris, which spends Baron Rothschild’s money in Palestine and composed primarily of non-Zionists, like the London Economic Board of which Sir Alfred Mond and Sir Robert Waley-Cohen are at the head, which has on its directorate some of the wealthiest Jews of Great Britain, and mostly non-Zionists – agreed with us on these fundamental questions and were ready to join hands with us in establishing this first Credit Union Bank. We have gotten together; we have selected a manager, and Mr Sol Rosenbloom who has been out there for the last 5 months in our interest, has cabled letting us know that the thing is going – work has begun.

The Rutenberg Concession

And now, in the last two months, Mr Rutenberg has come. And Mr Rutenberg has brought with him what you see on the walls here which is the concrete expression of his fundamental ideas. That fundamental idea is that Palestine, a land without coal and as yet without developed oil, has in the falls of the river Jordan and its tributary streams the power essential to build up industries in the land, the power essential to supply the light and heat necessary, to be developed from these waters. For two years he has been working out a great hydro-electric development scheme which has met with approval of the present government of Palestine, the High Commissioner, who submitted it to British engineers, the Colonial Office which is in the charge of Palestine, Baron Rothschild who submitted it to French engineers and ourselves, the Palestine Development Council, who have on our board of trustees an eminent hydro-electric engineer, one of the vice-presidents of great General Electric Company of America, who has personally gone over the whole matter and all the documents with Mr Rutenberg and called in the leading engineers of the General Electric. I refer, of course, to Dr Loewenstein.

Who is Pinchus Rutenberg?

Let me say a word or two about Mr Rutenberg. He is a romantic figure in Jewish life. He was a revolutionist in Russia. He had to get out in 1905 when the revolution failed. He then went to Milan and there he was a hydro-electric engineer, and when the war broke out he came to America. And he thought that the only way to help the Jews was to get the Jews of America united to speak to the nations of the world as to the way in which the Jews in Eastern Europe should be treated and what should be done in Palestine. And as a result of his efforts and others, there was created an American Jewish Congress which did send a delegation to Europe and did succeed in doing a good many things in behalf of the Jews of Eastern Europe for the securing of their rights and for the settlement of the Palestinian problem.

But then came the great revolution in Russia and with that he immediately went back. He saw liberty for the whole Russian people and he got there while Kerensky was still at the head of things. And he became assistant commander in chief under the command of Kerensky. And when the Bolsheviks came, they put him in the Peter and Paul prison for six months until he managed to get out. And then he got to Palestine. He had been dreaming all these things all these years and the moment he got to Palestine, with that tremendous energy which is characteristic of him and so many of the Russians, he set to work and he has been working day and night not only on the engineering scheme but on the practical business scheme because he has secured the concession from the government, approved by the Colonial Office, a concession which is broad, liberal, but which is fair and just. It is a 70-year concession. It gives him an option dependent upon his creation of a company within a limited time with a million pounds paid capital and 200,000 pounds paid in and the commencement of work within a limited time.

Taking these concessions in his name, he takes them for the Jews of the world, takes them for this company in which he has no personal interest at all – no personal financial profit. This concession permits of a profit to the corporation of 10 per cent on all the invested capital. In addition to most liberal provisions for amortization, for depreciation, and for reserve, After 10 per cent is earned it can still earn up to 15 per cent, sharing half and half with the government. After 15 per cent, the government gets the profits, but the government is to devote all its profits towards the reduction of the price to consumers.

I won’t go into the details. Rutenberg is being attacked right now by the anti-Semites led by the Morning Post, for having obtained this concession. That fight illustrates the real value of the concession – the importance of it for the Jews, not as a money making thing but as a means of building up Palestine in the proper way.

Financing the Plan

Baron Rothschild and the Jewish Colonial Trust of England have been putting up the money necessary for all the preliminary work for the past two years and they are ready to put up not less than 100,000 pounds each towards the million pound corporation. The Economic Board for Palestine, this English body which is, as I said, composed primarily of non-Zionists – wealthy Jews – is going to put up 100,000 pounds. The J.D.C. the Reconstruction Committee, under certain conditions is ready to put up $200,000. Jewish communities all over the world will be appealed to to put up the rest, but, of course, the bulk will have to come from America, and the Palestine Development Council, which is a non-profit organization, a membership corporation of New York, which has a Board of Trustees whose sole purpose is to stimulate and to further projects that will be beneficial to Palestine, has undertaken to help raise this money primarily among Jews in America. It is starting out to raise one and a half million dollars, and starting out to raise it on a business basis, as an investment enterprise. Of course, there won’t be returns for some time to come. Of course, Palestine may be swallowed up by the sea and everything lost, but don’t count on that. Of course, Palestine may have all sorts of troubles, but we don’t believe that it will. Located as it is, between Asia, Africa and Europe, with the nations of the world pledged to assist in its growth and development and with England as the mandatory power keenly interested because of the Suez Canal and routes to India, there is no reason to fear that it has not a great future.

All experts have told us about the possibilities. It is a second California, one twentieth the size. And its topography, the climate and the conditions of climate are similar to California, only in a little area. It has the possibilities that California had 50 years ago and because of location even greater possibilities. We believe therefore in view of the experts’ report to us as to the present demand and the probable demand of the future as the country grows, that the Rutenberg plan is what the British Government believes it to be, what the engineers in Europe and here say in their judgement it is – a sound undertaking. We believe, but we offer no guarantee, that it is an investment where returns may be deferred, but a real investment. We know that they carrying out is absolutely essential to a real upbuilding of Palestine and for that reason, even though returns be deferred, even though we be disappointed in the getting of returns, we feel that we are offering an opportunity to the Jews of America to do a fundamental thing, vital in the life of the Jewish people.

As to the financial phase, our present plan is this; The Palestine Development Council, of which the trustees in addition to myself, are, Mr Sol Rosenbloom, multi-millionaire, now in Palestine, and our Treasurer, Mrs Mary Fels; Lewis Straus, Jr., of Kuhn Loeb & Company; F. Julius Fohs, geological expert; Dr Loewenstein, Leon Kamaiky and Senator Nathan Straus, Jr., is asking that subscriptions be made to it and trust certificates issues by it and that it be entrusted as trustee to determine when and how the thing should be done. We state in the document we are issuing that our idea is this; That the company to be formed shall have preferred stock and common stock and the common stock not less than 20 per cent of the whole., shall be taken out of the funds owned by the public bodies and controlled by them. And we ourselves, the P.D.C. have funds of that kind, because in all of our enterprises there are some people who, while they want to further investments, nevertheless want also to make a donation of their investment for the benefit of Palestinian Jewry.

And funds that come to us in that way are completely within our control, and we would invest those in common stock. We are saying in this prospectus that we are offering preferred and common stock, and the preferred stock is to be sold to private investors and that the preferred stock will bear interest up to 8 per cent, non-cumulative, with the right to share in the surplus profits up to 12 per cent, and the common stock shall be enabled to get up to 15 per cent. What we are offering now is the trust certificates of the P.D.C. as trustee.

As to the expenses for all this work of getting in subscriptions, in the declaration of trust we say that out of the funds subscribed there shall be used for these expenses not exceeding 4 per cent. We want the investor to feel that he is getting a real investment and that not more than that is being taken, and we have to rely on private donations to meet administration fund in order to meet our additional expenses. In our million dollar corporation, not one penny has been taken for expenses and we got up among ourselves a private administration fund to pay for our work, so that every penny that is given to us as trustee, with the deduction of not exceeding 4 per cent for the general expense of doing this work, will be used for the purpose of the corporation itself when it is formed.

A Newlec Hand drier in the Friary Hall, Crawley. It may not look like much, but it's reasonably quiet, moderately powerful, and actually dries your hands without fuss before switching off. A friendly - if somewhat highly principled - hand dryer.

Not strictly a Finsec event, but here's a few photos of the Service and Food Workers' Union Nga Ringa Tota rally in Wellington on International Cleaners Day.

The 'Fair Deal for Cleaners' campaign that this rally is part of aims to provide a voice to the low-waged largely immigrant female workforce, in cities across Australia and New Zealand, who are calling on big property owners to support decency in their workplaces.

In England, this should literally be her knickers, but I went with the USA version for decency and a little more room :)

Statue of K'ung Fu-Tse on the campus of Shanghai University. Confucius (the Latinized name that westerners use), was born in the year 551 B.C. and was a conservator of ancient Chinese truth and ceremonial propriety. He did not address theology or metaphysics, but his teachings and exemplary personal conduct led to a moral and cultural renaissance among the people of China. Despite the many foreign influences and internal political conflicts, his influence on Chinese civilization has been more or less permanent. A great figure of Asian philosophy, he was a contemporary of Pythagoras. Confucius taught his students through conversational lessons about propriety in moral and political conduct. He promulgated an ideal conduct of life, the basis of which was learning, wisdom, moral perfection, and decency in behavior.

Early16th century stained glass in a north nave aisle window at St Maria im Kapitol, Cologne. The window is complete ecept for the tops of the main lights and traceries, presumably left in place during the war when the rest was removed and thus destroyed.

The Crucifixion is spread across the full extent of the window, allowing the artist full reign to include as many secondary players as he wished (contrast this with the previous window, where only the prinicipla three figures are squeezed solely, and somewhat claustrophobically into the central light!)

The donors appear at first sight to be more discreet, being woven into the main scene rather than the usual seperate compartments, but this is no act of modesty, since they now take centre stage alongside the main dramatis personae (though at least had the decency to be shown on a reduced scale!) Certain saints are also added to the scene in the flanking lights.

Not strictly a Finsec event, but here's a few photos of the Service and Food Workers' Union Nga Ringa Tota rally in Wellington on International Cleaners Day.

The 'Fair Deal for Cleaners' campaign that this rally is part of aims to provide a voice to the low-waged largely immigrant female workforce, in cities across Australia and New Zealand, who are calling on big property owners to support decency in their workplaces.

Ten (yes, ten more) things.

1. My hat cost $1.99 and it took all the energy I had not to buy one in every colour they had available. I did get one more though. ;)

2. Yes, I wear hats inside as well.

3. I often have cold hands. But they say "cold hands, warm heart" so... :)

4. I cannot stand the sound of snoring. I always sleep alone or with earplugs if I must. I'm the same way with loud ticking clocks.

5. If I find things I like, I tend to send them to people in the mail. So if you get a variety of items....I probably enjoy the same ones as well. :)

6. The funniest things in the world to me are not typical jokes but the completely perfect timing when something outrageously random is said or done. It may not even be all that funny but it's the timing that does it. I'm still laughing years later at things that mean nothing to anyone else but the people involved in those moments.

7. I'm not a fan of sticky small children. I tend to go after them with massive wash cloths of soapy warm water.

8. Other than music, I don't like loud noise. As evidence with fact #4.

9. I hate the terms "just like a man" or "just like a woman" to describe something negative. If a person does something stupid then that single person is the idiot not the entire gender. My parents taught me to treat people (male or female) with respect and decency. So the quickest way to lose my attention is to used those expressions around me.

10. I'm currently in love with "Stella" perfume and Pacfica's Egyptian Bergamot Rose perfume. I smell like a rose garden. :)

I'm just not going to tag anyone. Play if you want to. :)

to the State of the Union - they are an insult to decency. So lost and out of touch. Don't they read papers? Watch news? Or have a job and responsibilities? So very sad that so many people drink the Kool-aid.

Sorry Ive not been around commenting lately I will catch up soon I hope. Spending lots of time in the sunshine.

www.seanslastwish.org/

This package of Sunflower seeds was given to me at the LGBT Pride festival last year by the mother of Sean Kennedy. He was murdered in a hate crime against him because his sexual orientation. I spoke at length with this courageous woman, Elke Kennedy who spends most of her time now spreading her sons tragic story and educating people about hate crimes. She gives out the sunflower seed packets as a tangible symbol of hope for a future free of hate. It is my wish that she doesnt have to crusade for what I would consider "common decency" anymore.

On our arrival, our rep greeted us with the news that a 'German athletics team' was staying in the hotel - and he'd been enjoying their antics.

We didn't realise at that point that it was a mixed team.

Decency - or, more likely, availability of a camera - prevented me from snapping the young ladies bouncing up and down with their skipping ropes.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs produces photo material for media representatives. Please feel free to use the photos for journalistic purposes, considering the following restrictions: One-time picture publishing right, no archiving or reselling. Editorial use only. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organisation shall be mentioned as a source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. The publisher is not entitled to transfer rights to a third party. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall also obtain the permissions needed for any names, persons, works of art, trademarks, and proprietary rights shown in the pictures. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity. Photo: Atte Kajova

Kumi: “YURI! YOUR HUSBAND IS THE MOST….URGH! I cannot even think of words bad enough for what he is, but when I do, trust me, I’ll let you know!”

Yuri: “What hap…”

Kumi: “LOOK AT HIM! HE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO LOOK SORRY!”

Lukas: “It’s because I’m not sorry, Kumi. Not even a little.”

Kumi: “WHY YOU SON-OF-A…”

Yuri: “Keep a civil tongue in your head, Kumi! You may not call Lukas names!”

Lukas: “Its okay, babe. Let her get it out of her system. She’ll be fine once she works her temper out.”

Fashion Credits:

Little Red Riding Hood Yuri (blonde)

Blouse – Cangaway

Slacks – Fashion Royalty

Shoes – Mattel

Pin – Randall Craig

Bracelets – Me

Wild Wolf Kumi (redhead)

I cannot take credit for styling this one. It goes to Suzanne (Pixie). I just added the boots, belt, and necklace.

Skirt, poncho, shirt, belt, hat – Volks: Who’s that Girl?

Boots – Jennifer Sue

Necklace – Me

Rock Ringmaster Lukas

Jeans – Distressed and modified - Mattel James Dean

Shirt – Fashion Royalty

Belt – Kelsie of Mutant Goldfish Designs

Boots – Volks: Who’s that Girl? – Selfish line

Necklace - Me

The Hilton Washington, 1919 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.

Built in 1965 and designed by architect William Tabler, the Washington Hilton is nothing if not exuberant in its plastic form, something of a departure for an architect who usually designed boxy buildings. His Statler Hotel in Dallas was a precursor to this design in certain respects, though several years earlier and not nearly as adventurous in form. The hotel is possibly best known as the place where Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. on the 30th of March, 1981. The hotel is now owned by Magic Johnson and other investors who have recently given it a makeover. Given its rigid security protocol and enormous ballrooms, the hotel is popular for major events.

On another note, the site was to have been used by Frank Lloyd Wright for his ambitious Crystal Heights proposal in the late 1930s. His plans were thwarted by an architectural establishment not yet ready for him or his ideas. "Wright said that the trouble with Washington was that its architectural decisions were made "by a bunch of Beaux-Arts graduates and g--d-mn fairies". His words " Wright rarely shielded his words and didn't care what anyone thought of him. Brilliance does not always guarantee decency.

Quotation source: Connecticut Avenue.com

Session Americana playing at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA.

www.facebook.com/pages/Session-Americana/53199003969

www.sessionamericana.com

www.myspace.com/sessionamericana

www.hi-n-dry.com/session_americana

www.exploitboston.com/music-musings/grab-new-music-from-s...

Session Americana - from www.sessionamericana.com

This ad hoc acoustic supergroup started around a table at a small pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ry Cavanaugh, Billy Conway, Sean Staples, Dinty Child, Jim Fitting and other friends gathered to swap songs and stories. Their lively performances and inspired versions of tunes from the dusty backroads of America's past were such a hit with fans that they decided to take their musical conversation into the studio. The two-CD debut Tabletop People ups the ante with stellar appearances by folksinger Rose Polenzani, Twinemen's Laurie Sargent, Dennis Brennan, Asa Brebner, Merrie Amsterburg, Dan Kellar, Presidents of the United States' Chris Ballew, Jabe Beyer, Tim Gearon and other luminaries. And the 18 gritty, funny, soulful performances included span a gamut of emotions and tastes that should please both adult and younger listeners.

"Genius ... Jaw-dropping vocals ... Session Americana is blessed in this regard:...musicianship that sets the standard for the genre in Boston

and vocals that do the same"

— Performer Magazine

Session Americana sit tightly around a small cafe table, ambient mics tuned to catch the whole sound of the voices and instruments. A suit-case drum kit, an old electric bass, a bunch of acoustic instruments, a field organ: This format feels very theatrical and though the musicians face each other, the audience feels drawn into the circle by the warmth, joy and camaraderie that emanate outwards by the all star cast of characters seated around the table. What keeps you coming back show after show is the same thing that any audience member longs for, great songs performed by a great band. The six core members of the band have brought enviable careers worth of experience to the “table”, featuring (current and former) members of Treat Her Right, Patty Griffin, Lori McKenna, The The, Dennis Brennan, Kris Delmhorst. The group has grown from a rag tag jam at a local pub to a regional institution, playing gigs from church coee houses to urban nightclubs to regional festival tents to large halls.

Band: Ry Cavanaugh, Billy Beard, Dinty Child, Jim Fitting, Sean Staples and Jon Bistline.

*Winner “2005 Best Folk Act” - The Boston Music Awards

*Winner “Best Roots Act 2006” - Improper Bostonian “Best of Boston” Issue

*Winner “Best CD” 2007 - Improper Bostonian

*Nominated “Best Roots Act” 2007 - WFNX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll

*Nominated "Best Live Act" 2007 - The Boston Music Awards

*Nominated "Best Americana Act" 2008 - The Boston Music Awards

“Genius ... Jaw-dropping vocals ... Session Americana is blessed in this regard: ...musicianship that sets the standard for the genre in Boston and vocals that do the same”

— NE Performer Magazine

“No egos, no big production, just some great songs stripped down to their bare essentials and performed with a real genuineness of spirit and emotional authenticity... it’s beautiful.” (Brian Mosher)

— The Noise

“An eclectic, swinging tour de force” — The Boston Globe

“[This] local country-folk megagroup’s double CD is one of the most loose, spontaneous, warm, and homespun acts of community and decency since the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

— The Boston Phoenix

“the cream of the Somerville/Cambridge community" - No Depression

How many times have you walked by a dead person and just wished the killers would have had the decency to properly hide the body ? My family's kids know etiquette and here they are burying the body in the sand near the Long Island Sound in Bayville, NY.

It looks like the kids buried quite a few bodies; must have been a gang hit !

Seen on Inle Lake, Myanmar, the Kayan women did not seem happy at all. They were sewing traditional clothes in a small hut on the lake, where we stopped during our sightseeing trip. Tourists were perched around the outer walls of the hut, pointing and taking pictures, raining down constant flashes on the poor women. At least some of them had the decency to take interest in their work rather than their brass rings. Before leaving, i left a small donation, hoping they would receive it in the end.

Death penalty for spammers

I really hate spam. Not the lunchmeat, because I've really never tried it, but the junk mail thing.

Today, my MSN account was hacked - WHILE I WAS CHECKING MY E-MAIL! I watched as dozens of "Postmaster Status Unknown" messages flooded my inbox returned from bad addresses in my contacts list. I checked my sent mail and saw hundreds of e-mails with the subject line "Hey checK this out - it relly wokrs for me!" Anyone who knows me knows that I am a spelling fiend and always spell things correctly. I think that's what pisses me off the most is that someone was sending spam mail from my account and didn't have the decency to spell things correctly!

Well, after finally changing my password (after the hackers had changed it for me) via a text to my mobile phone, I got it to stop. Then the flood of e-mails and texts from friends started telling me to "change my e-mail password, I'd been hacked." I'm guilty of sending the same e-mails and texts informing my contacts of their accounts being hacked, so I expected them.

Anyway, it's all sorted out now. But I really think hackers and spammers and while we're at it, Nigerian Lottery scammers, should all be put to death. Or at least subjected to eating Spam for the rest of their lives...

Oh - any how convenient that this goes with this week's theme for "Song Lyrics:"

Spam Spam Spam Spam

French postcard in the series 'Les acteurs Français vus par Solo' by Carterie Occitane, Toulouse, no. 7. Illustration: Solo.

French actress Brigitte Bardot (1934) died on 28 December 2025, at the age of 91. In the 1950s, she was the sex kitten of the European film industry. BB starred in 48 films, performed in numerous musical shows, and recorded 80 songs. After her retirement in 1973, she became an animal rights activist. In the coming weeks, we will continue to post a BB postcard every day to remember her as she once was.

Brigitte Bardot was born in Paris in 1934. Her father, Louis Bardot, had an engineering degree and worked with his father in the family business. Her mother, Ann-Marie Mucel, was 14 years younger than Brigitte's father, and they married in 1933. Brigitte's mother encouraged her daughter to take up music and dance. At the age of 13, she entered the Conservatoire Nationale de Danse to study ballet. By the time she was 15, Brigitte was trying to launch a modelling career and found herself on the cover of the French magazine Elle in May 1949. Her incredible beauty was readily apparent, and Brigitte was noticed by Roger Vadim, then an assistant to the film director Marc Allegrét. Vadim was infatuated with Bardot and encouraged her to start working as a film actress. BB was 18 when she debuted in the comedy Le Trou Normand / Crazy for Love (Jean Boyer, 1952). In the same year, she married Vadim. Brigitte wanted to marry him when she was 17, but her parents quashed any marriage plans until she turned 18. In April 1953, she attended the Cannes Film Festival, where she received massive media attention. She soon was every man's idea of the girl he'd like to meet in Paris. From 1952 to 1956, she appeared in seventeen films. Her films were generally lightweight romantic dramas in which she was cast as an ingénue or siren, often with an element of undress. In 1953, she made her first US production, Un acte d'amour / Act of Love (Anatole Litvak, 1953) with Kirk Douglas, but she continued to make films in France.

Roger Vadim was not content with the light fare his wife was offered. He felt Brigitte Bardot was being undersold. Looking for something more like an art film to push her as a serious actress, he showcased her in Et Dieu créa la femme / ...And God Created Woman (Roger Vadim, 1956). This film, about an immoral teenager in a respectable small-town setting, was a smash success on both sides of the Atlantic. Craig Butler at AllMovie: "It's easy enough to say that ...And God Created Woman is much more important for its historical significance than for its actual quality as a film, and that's true to an extent. The immense popularity, due to its willingness to directly embrace an exploration of sex as well as its willingness to show a degree of nudity that was remarkably daring for its day, demonstrated that audiences were willing to view subject matter that was considered too racy for the average moviegoer. This had both positive (freedom to explore, especially for the French filmmakers of the time) and negative (freedom to exploit) consequences, but its impact is undeniable. It's also true that Woman is not a great work of art, not with a story that is ultimately rather thin, some painful dialogue, and an attitude toward its characters and their sexuality that is unclear and inconsistent. Yet Woman is still fascinating, due in no small part to the presence of Brigitte Bardot in the role that made her an international star and sex symbol. She's not demonstrating great acting here, although her performance is actually good and much better than necessary, and her legendary mambo scene at the climax is nothing short of sensational." During the filming of Et Dieu créa la femme / And God Created Woman (Roger Vadim, 1956), directed by her husband, Brigitte Bardot had an affair with her co-star, Jean-Louis Trintignant, who at the time was married to French actress Stéphane Audran. Her divorce from Vadim followed, but they remained friends and collaborated in later work.

Et Dieu créa la femme / ...And God Created Woman (Roger Vadim, 1956) helped Brigitte Bardot's international status. The film took the USA by storm, her explosive sexuality being unlike anything seen in the States since the days of the 'flapper' in the 1920s. It gave rise to the phrase 'sex kitten', and fascination with her in America consisted of magazine photographs and dubbed over French films - good, bad or indifferent, her films drew audiences - mainly men - into theatres like lemmings. BB appeared in light comedies like Doctor at Large (Ralph Thomas, 1957) - the third of the British 'Doctor' series starring Dirk Bogarde - and Une Parisienne / La Parisienne (Michel Boisrond, 1957), which suited her acting skills best. However, she was a sensation in the crime drama En cas de malheur / Love is My Profession (Claude Autant-Lara, 1958). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "This Brigitte Bardot vehicle ran into stiff opposition from the Catholic Legion of Decency, severely limiting its U.S. distribution. Bardot plays a nubile small-time thief named Yvette, who becomes the mistress of influential defence attorney Andre (Jean Gabin). Though Andre can shower Yvette with jewels and furs, he cannot "buy" her heart, and thus it is that it belongs to handsome young student Mazzetti (Franco Interlenghi). Alas, Yvette is no judge of human nature: attractive though Mazzetti can be, he has a dangerous and deadly side. En Cas de Malheur contains a nude scene that has since been reprinted in freeze-frame form innumerable times by both film-history books and girlie magazines." Photographer Sam Lévin's photos contributed considerably to her image of sensuality and slight immorality. One of Lévin's pictures shows Brigitte, dressed in a white corset. It is said that around 1960, postcards with this photograph outsold in Paris those of the Eiffel Tower.

Brigitte Bardot divorced Vadim in 1957, and in 1959 she married actor Jacques Charrier, with whom she starred in Babette s'en va-t-en guerre / Babette Goes to War (Christian-Jaque, 1959). The paparazzi preyed upon her marriage, while she and her husband clashed over the direction of her career

Her films became more substantial, but this brought a heavy pressure of dual celebrity as she sought critical acclaim while remaining a glamour model for most of the world. Vie privée / Private Life (1962), directed by Louis Malle, has more than an element of autobiography in it. James Travers at French Films: "Brigitte Bardot hadn’t quite reached the high point of her career when she agreed to make this film with high-profile New Wave film director Louis Malle. Even so, the pressure of being a living icon was obviously beginning to get to France’s sex goddess, and Vie privée is as much an attempt by Bardot to come to terms with her celebrity as anything else. Malle is clearly fascinated by Bardot, and the documentary approach he adopts for this film reinforces the impression that it is more a biography of the actress than a work of fiction. Of course, it’s not entirely biographical, but the story is remarkably close to Bardot’s own life and comes pretty close to predicting how her career would end." The scene in which, returning to her apartment, Bardot's character is harangued in the elevator by a middle-aged cleaning lady calling her offensive names was based on an actual incident, and is a resonant image of celebrity in the mid-20th century. Soon afterwards, Bardot withdrew to the seclusion of Southern France.

Brigitte Bardot's other husbands were German millionaire Playboy Gunter Sachs and right-wing politician Bernard d'Ormale. She is reputed to have had relationships with many other men, including Samy Frey, her co-star in La Vérité / The Truth (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1960), and musicians Serge Gainsbourg and Sacha Distel. In 1963, Brigitte Bardot starred in Jean-Luc Godard's critically acclaimed film Le Mépris / Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) opposite Michel Piccoli. She was also featured along with such notable actors as Alain Delon in Amours célèbres / Famous Love Affairs (Michel Boisrond, 1961) and Histoires extraordinaires /Tales of Mystery (Louis Malle, 1968), Jeanne Moreau in Viva Maria! (Louis Malle, 1965), Sean Connery in Shalako (Edward Dmytryk, 1968), and Claudia Cardinale in Les Pétroleuses / Petroleum Girls (Christian-Jaque, 1971). She participated in various musical shows and recorded many popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly in collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg, Bob Zagury and Sacha Distel, including 'Harley Davidson', 'Le Soleil De Ma Vie' (the cover of Stevie Wonder's 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life') and the notorious 'Je t'aime... moi non plus'.

Brigitte Bardot’s film career showed a steady decline in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1973, just before her fortieth birthday, she announced her retirement. She chose to use her fame to promote animal rights. In 1976, she established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals. She became a vegetarian and raised three million French francs to fund the foundation by auctioning off jewellery and many personal belongings. For this work, she was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1984. During the 1990s, she was also outspoken in her criticism of immigration, interracial relationships, Islam in France and homosexuality. Her husband Bernard d'Ormal was a former adviser of the far-right Front National party. Bardot has been convicted five times for 'inciting racial hatred'. More fun is that Bardot is recognised for popularising bikini swimwear, in such early films as Manina / Woman without a Veil (Willy Rozier, 1952), in her appearances at Cannes and in many photo shoots. Bardot also brought into fashion the 'choucroute' ('Sauerkraut') hairstyle (a sort of beehive hairstyle) and gingham clothes after wearing a checkered pink dress, designed by Jacques Esterel, at her wedding to Charrier. The fashions of the 1960s looked effortlessly right and spontaneous on her. Time Magazine: "She is the princess of pout, the countess of come hither. Brigitte Bardot exuded a carefree, naïve sexuality that brought a whole new audience to French films."

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Craig Butler (AllMovie), James Travers (French Films), French Films, Wikipedia and IMDb.

And please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

We build upon what those before us leave behind. Hopefully those before us have the decency to leave things nice and tidy, and hopefully we can all remember that there are those who come after us, and keep them in our minds as we go about our activities.

Catching up on some back shots from the beginning of the year

On a walk around the Addington Cemetery with a wonderful Flickr friend. February 13, 2016 Christchurch New Zealand.

There is so much damaged in the cemetery because of the earthquake we have had. It is such a pity as I don' think it will ever be fully repaired.

The Addington Cemetery was established in 1858 when the Scottish Presbyterians of St Andrew’s Church purchased land for a cemetery in Selwyn Street. Although not the first cemetery in Christchurch, Addington was in fact the first “public” cemetery, “being open to all persons of any religious community” and allowing the performance of any religious service “not contrary to public decency”.

The first burial took place on the 10th of November 1858. The cemetery has several persons of note buried within its grounds including activist Kate Sheppard, Christchurch Mayor Tommy Taylor and members of the pioneer family, the Deans.

For More Info:http://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/addington-cemetery/

From a recent "jaunt" to Tokyo - I have been waiting to see the Arcade Fire play for a few years now, but either exams or leaving the country got in my way. Finally, in Tokyo, I saw them and it was everything I had hoped for. Pure energy with affecting songs that feel as if only you can understand their significance until you see that another thousand people around you are similarly locked in their own personal revelations.

The crowd was comprised of roughly half Japanese and half "Gaijin", and compared to other gigs I have been to here, the attitude of the crowd was pretty sour. There was not that pure respect and decency that I have found before. But the music made it easy to ignore.

from the stage at Roskilde

p.s. if you are gonna post my copyrighted images elsewhere on the internet at least have the decency to credit me with them or link them back to here, or i'll probably stop posting them or at least start putting big watermarks on them.

Not strictly a Finsec event, but here's a few photos of the Service and Food Workers' Union Nga Ringa Tota rally in Wellington on International Cleaners Day.

The 'Fair Deal for Cleaners' campaign that this rally is part of aims to provide a voice to the low-waged largely immigrant female workforce, in cities across Australia and New Zealand, who are calling on big property owners to support decency in their workplaces.

*****These charts are not to be used or reposted elsewhere without permission and reference back to the source. I am so beyond tired of seeing my stuff ending up in random places and people not having the decency to simply ask before taking something. Please do not repost these on your blogs, twitter, tumblr, instagram, facebook orca pages, etc...****

I also have some Behavior charts that i made for another friend, and i might put those up at somepoint, but if i do, those will be for friends and family only.

All of the individual photos have my copyright on them. The only ones that don't are photos belonging to www.flickr.com/photos/joyousorca/

If you seek to understand collective behaviour, you must first study individuals. Years ago, if two blokes fell out about something, they recruited their respective mates and took the matter outside to be decided among the dustbins in the alley at the back of the pub. Similarly, if some dynastic or territorial quarrel developed between sovereign states, the kings mustered their armies and faught a battle somewhere out in the country ...Sedgemoor say, or Waterloo. It was simple good manners; you tried to keep damage to a minimum and not to involve non-participants in the unpleasantness.

A less civilised age arrived. Kings, dynasties and common decency were at an end. Instead we had totalitarian dictatorships and total war without mercy. The ruination of your enemy's economy and infrastructure and the fire-bombing of civilians to weaken morale, came to be thought legitimate means of achieving victory.

This bit of road surface, now forming an entrance between two unlovely postwar office buildings is, I think, the relic of Mary-le-Port Street, perhaps ...I can judge only from photographs... the most beautiful of Bristol's medieval (or Saxon?) streets. The narrow roadway was lined with jettied, timber-framed shops. It was destroyed in an air raid on 24th November 1940.

Ordinary English people find it deeply embarrassing to pronounce foreign, especially French, words correctly, and I always wondered how Bristolians carried off the Frenchified name of this street. Then, one day, I heard my mother (actually an adoptive Bristolian) speak of it. She said, "Mary Lea-Port", giving equal value to the second and third elements in the name. I offer this contribution to historico-philological studies entirely free of charge.

I used to hear that expression 'the world is getting smaller'.......... People used to say it when I was a kid........... I thought it was madness......... just a crazy thing that adults said ............... But now I have much more of a concept of what it might mean .......... the world gets smaller, so much so, sometimes I even feel claustrophobic ........... stuff happens that presses on me even from a distance............... The Pakistani Taliban attempt to assassinate a 14 year old girl on her way home from school .............. they boarded her school bus ask for her by name then shoot her in the head ......... it happened in a remote part of Pakistan............ and yet in a smaller world I know this child ....... I have heard her voice on the radio speaking passionately about wanting to go to school and have an education even in defiance of a Taliban edict to end all education for girls ................. now she is fighting for her life in hospital having a bullet removed from her head just because of her spirit, intelligence, decency and bravery .............. and primarily because of the ignorance and self righteousness of disgusting people who claim their own violent acts are somehow the work of God........... disgusting zealots and fanatics have probably done things like this without our knowledge over the years ........ now in a smaller world we absolutely cannot pretend we did not know.......... in a world this small we owe it to our neighbors....... some of whom are amazing 14 year old girls like Malala Yousufzai living in Pakistan ....... to try and help them be protected in their stand against ignorance, violence, fear and oppression and all its motivating superstition. The world could never be large enough for us to just turn away from crimes like this. In a shrinking planet there should never be space for crimes against children like this , crimes against women like this , crimes against humanity like this ......... there should never be a space where these crimes can just pass as ordinary.

Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXX

www.jezblog.com

Baclayon Church

Bohol, Philippines

We consider human life sacred, right up to the moment of birth.

We can’t do anything about the guns, of course, so our solution will be to harden the entrances of our schools. And our churches. And our grocery stores. And our playgrounds. And our parks. And our shopping malls. And our front lawns.

Oh, and of course we’ll offer our thoughts and prayers. So many thoughts and prayers. God must be sick to death of hearing them by now.

“…. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

Joseph Nye Welch, 1954

Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov signing the Rovaniemi Joint Ministerial Statement at the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Rovaniemi.

Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Kingdom of Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs Anders Samuels ensigning the Rovaniemi Joint Ministerial Statement at the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Rovaniemi.

Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Queens Of The Stone Age, Make It Wit Chu video shoot, Joshua Tree, California

p.s. if you are gonna post my copyrighted images elsewhere on the internet at least have the decency to credit me with them or link them back to here, or i'll probably stop posting them or at least start putting big watermarks on them.

Elvis in Tbilisi / Alternative : Erol Büyükburç in Tbilisi

WALKING in MY SHOES - DEPECHE MODE

I would tell you about the things

They put me through

The pain I've been subjected to

But the Lord himself would blush

The countless feasts laid at my feet

Forbidden fruits for me to eat

But I think your pulse would start to rush

Now I'm not looking for absolution

Forgiveness for the things I do

But before you come to any conclusions

Try walking in my shoes

Try walking in my shoes

You'll stumble in my footsteps

Keep the same appointments I kept

If you try walking in my shoes

If you try walking in my shoes

Morality would frown upon

Decency look down upon

The scapegoat fate's made of me

But I promise now, my judge and jurors

My intentions couldn't have been purer

My case is easy to see

I'm not looking for a clearer conscience

Peace of mind after what I've been through

And before we talk of any repentance

Try walking in my shoes

Try walking in my shoes

You'll stumble in my footsteps

Keep the same appointments I kept

If you try walking in my shoes

If you try walking in my shoes

Try walking in my shoes

Now I'm not looking for absolution

Forgiveness for the things I do

But before you come to any conclusions

Try walking in my shoes

Try walking in my shoes

You'll stumble in my footsteps

Keep the same appointments I kept

If you try walking in my shoes

You'll stumble in my footsteps

Keep the same appointments I kept

If you try walking in my shoes

Try walking in my shoes

If you try walking in my shoes

Try walking in my shoes

" I gave everything that I could give...

You don't know how it feels to be loved,

to be touched by an angel, be swept away,

You never know just what it means

when you make me believe that love is real...

You'll never know,

HOW IT FEELS TO LOVE."

[Regine Velasquez' "You Don't Know" Music video shoot

-Society Lounge (French Fashion Food), Makati City]

* ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

** TO THOSE WHO GRAB MY PHOTOS THROUGH 'PRINTSCREEN' OPTION, PLEASE DO HAVE THE DECENCY TO AT LEAST CREDIT ME PROPERLY OR ASK MY PERMISSION (I suddenly find my pictures of celebrities on various sites, NOT COOL)

*** I HATE USING WATERMARK, SO DON'T BE SUCH ASSHOLES, AND IF U EARN FROM BLOGGING OR POSTING MY PHOTOS IN ANYWAY, I WILL KILL YOU (BE GRATEFUL I CAN'T BE TOO LITERAL ON THIS)

via Instagram ift.tt/2n3Q8Z2

+++ MORE DETAILS OF ARTWORKS :

www.flickr.com/photos/144232185@N03/collections/721576745...

I noticed this sign in a restaurant on the coast.

People, real people not tourists- in Catalonia have been quite vocal about tourists dressing- or not dressing in towns and restaurants.

The sight of practically naked tourists, looking like old Homey in his underwear, in restaurants in towns and stores is not a feast for the eyes.... why would anybody want to walk down the Ramblas in Barcelona in a bikini , shorts no shirt in flip flops...?.visit a church? Sit in a restaurant with a white tablecloth and prices to match? Would they do it in downtown New York, Tokio, London- I think not!

As a resident I find this a real turn-off.

Beachwear belongs on the beach. You have a beach holiday-?

Show off your flab on the beach- not in town.

It looks like some tourists totally loose their sense of decorum and decency once they leave their own country.

And that's the way I see it!

NORTHERN DECENCY

Container Ship IMO 9253296 built 2003 Liberia flag

Algeciras port

Spain

Funeral Home along MLK Blvd in Augusta, GA

Williams Funeral Home Inc.

1765 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

Augusta, GA

30901-4094

706-722-5551

706-722-8999 (FAX)

wmsfh1@yahoo.com

www.wmsfh.net

maps.google.com/maps?q=1765+Martin+Luther+King+Blvd.+++Au...

This is one of the photos from a Power Point presentation explaining a study in Augusta, Georgia about a street named for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The “Claiming A Street Named King” Project is the brainchild of Rev. Terence A. Dicks of Augusta, Georgia.

These photos depict homes, building and abandoned structures along Martin Lutheran King, Jr. Boulevard in Augusta, Georgia.

It began with research in Athens and Augusta (Georgia) through the University Of Georgia School Of Environmental Design.

Research was led by Dr. Mary Anne Akers in collaboration with Georgia Legal Services Program, Georgia State Trade Association of Non-profit Developers (G-STAND) and Neighborhood Works America, INC.

“Claiming A Street Named King” Project study in Augusta, Georgia – conducted along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard - shows areas that need economic assistance – and that’s the same issue in many American cities that have streets named for civil rights leaders

For more information:

claimingastreetnamedking.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/Claimin...

Josh Homme, Queens Of The Stone Age @ Gasometer, Vienna, Austria

p.s. if you are gonna post my copyrighted images elsewhere on the internet at least have the decency to credit me with them or link them back to here, or i'll probably stop posting them or at least start putting big watermarks on them.

Not strictly a Finsec event, but here's a few photos of the Service and Food Workers' Union Nga Ringa Tota rally in Wellington on International Cleaners Day.

The 'Fair Deal for Cleaners' campaign that this rally is part of aims to provide a voice to the low-waged largely immigrant female workforce, in cities across Australia and New Zealand, who are calling on big property owners to support decency in their workplaces.

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

Kuvat: Petri Krook/ Ulkoministeriö

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Men, kilts, bar, lack of pants. What more could a girl ask for?

Iceland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson signing the Rovaniemi Joint Ministerial Statement at the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Rovaniemi.

Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Session Americana playing at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA.

www.facebook.com/pages/Session-Americana/53199003969

www.sessionamericana.com

www.myspace.com/sessionamericana

www.hi-n-dry.com/session_americana

www.exploitboston.com/music-musings/grab-new-music-from-s...

Session Americana - from www.sessionamericana.com

This ad hoc acoustic supergroup started around a table at a small pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ry Cavanaugh, Billy Conway, Sean Staples, Dinty Child, Jim Fitting and other friends gathered to swap songs and stories. Their lively performances and inspired versions of tunes from the dusty backroads of America's past were such a hit with fans that they decided to take their musical conversation into the studio. The two-CD debut Tabletop People ups the ante with stellar appearances by folksinger Rose Polenzani, Twinemen's Laurie Sargent, Dennis Brennan, Asa Brebner, Merrie Amsterburg, Dan Kellar, Presidents of the United States' Chris Ballew, Jabe Beyer, Tim Gearon and other luminaries. And the 18 gritty, funny, soulful performances included span a gamut of emotions and tastes that should please both adult and younger listeners.

"Genius ... Jaw-dropping vocals ... Session Americana is blessed in this regard:...musicianship that sets the standard for the genre in Boston

and vocals that do the same"

— Performer Magazine

Session Americana sit tightly around a small cafe table, ambient mics tuned to catch the whole sound of the voices and instruments. A suit-case drum kit, an old electric bass, a bunch of acoustic instruments, a field organ: This format feels very theatrical and though the musicians face each other, the audience feels drawn into the circle by the warmth, joy and camaraderie that emanate outwards by the all star cast of characters seated around the table. What keeps you coming back show after show is the same thing that any audience member longs for, great songs performed by a great band. The six core members of the band have brought enviable careers worth of experience to the “table”, featuring (current and former) members of Treat Her Right, Patty Griffin, Lori McKenna, The The, Dennis Brennan, Kris Delmhorst. The group has grown from a rag tag jam at a local pub to a regional institution, playing gigs from church coee houses to urban nightclubs to regional festival tents to large halls.

Band: Ry Cavanaugh, Billy Beard, Dinty Child, Jim Fitting, Sean Staples and Jon Bistline.

*Winner “2005 Best Folk Act” - The Boston Music Awards

*Winner “Best Roots Act 2006” - Improper Bostonian “Best of Boston” Issue

*Winner “Best CD” 2007 - Improper Bostonian

*Nominated “Best Roots Act” 2007 - WFNX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll

*Nominated "Best Live Act" 2007 - The Boston Music Awards

*Nominated "Best Americana Act" 2008 - The Boston Music Awards

“Genius ... Jaw-dropping vocals ... Session Americana is blessed in this regard: ...musicianship that sets the standard for the genre in Boston and vocals that do the same”

— NE Performer Magazine

“No egos, no big production, just some great songs stripped down to their bare essentials and performed with a real genuineness of spirit and emotional authenticity... it’s beautiful.” (Brian Mosher)

— The Noise

“An eclectic, swinging tour de force” — The Boston Globe

“[This] local country-folk megagroup’s double CD is one of the most loose, spontaneous, warm, and homespun acts of community and decency since the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

— The Boston Phoenix

“the cream of the Somerville/Cambridge community" - No Depression (read less)