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.

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.

Hundreds of people gathered in Plano for two rallies; a morning one and an afternoon one. We protest the continuing evil, stupidity and graft of Trump, the Republican Party, MAGA, and anyone who supports them. It is critical that this evil man and his accomplices in crime be voted out of office come November. Vote and stop this wanna-be dictator and his fascist party once and for all.

ARARA-VERMELHA-GRANDE ou ARARA-PIRANGA

Nome em inglês: Red and Green Macaw

Nome científico: Ara chloroptera

Família: Psittacidae

Peso:600 a 1000 g

Tamanho: 0,80 a 1 m

Who guarantees the feeding of the female and of the younglings is the male,

that in this species is faithful, keeping the same friend the life all.

Ahhhh if the so intelligent "man" followed the example of the macaws male-female,

the world would be another one…With ALLEGIANCE AND LOVE, more health,

more joy, more humanity, more justice, more peace, more decency, more union,

more wisdom, plus everything! We have much that to learn with the animals and

with the nature! My Moments of dream & illusion...

As araras vivem em bandos, sempre aos pares. Possuem bico fortíssimo, capaz de quebrar os frutos mais duros. Emitem um som “a-ra-ra”, de onde originou seu nome.

Seus filhotes crescem com muita rapidez, com 2 anos de vida já abandonarão a família e já irão formais casais. As araras chegam a viver até 70 anos se viverem em lugares adequados. A arara vermelha tinha uma grande área de distribuição, pois era encontrada do Panamá ao Paraguai, e no Brasil existia até o Rio de Janeiro e no Paraná, mas hoje só sobrevive em quantidade na Amazônia, pois nas demais áreas está se tornando bastante rara. O ninho da arara vermelha é feito em ocos de árvores, mas também se aproveita de buracos em paredões rochosos para colocar seus ovos, os quais são chocados apenas pela fêmea, que fica no ninho numa incubação que demora 29 dias.

Quem cuida de garantir a alimentação tanto da fêmea como dos filhotes é o macho, que nessa espécie é fiel, mantendo a mesma companheira a vida inteira.

Ahhhh se o tão inteligente "homem" seguisse o exemplo das araras macho-fêmea,

o mundo seria outro...Teríamos FIDELIDADE E AMOR, mais saúde, mais alegria,

mais humanidade, mais justiça, mais paz, mais decência, mais união, mais sabedoria, mais tudo!!!!!!!!!!

Humhummm como temos muito que aprender com os animais e com a natureza afora!!!!!!!!!! Momentos de devaneio.........Utopia!!!!

After the shock of Donald Trump’s inauguration day, when millions of Americans (and visiting foreigners like me) felt understandably distraught, bereft, dismayed, as the grotesque, narcissistic, predatory, corrupt fraud that is Donald Trump delivered a bleak and graceless inauguration speech, it was nothing short of a delight on Saturday, Jan. 21, Day 2 of the aberrant Trump presidency, when, across the country and around the world, millions of women (plus large numbers of supportive men) marched in protest against Trump and all he and his administration stand for — his disdain for women, his racism, his xenophobia, his adherence to intolerant white Christian fundamentalism, and, last but not least, his opaque, but very obviously corrupt business practices. Two US academics have estimated that between 3.3m and 4.6m people marched in total across the US, with New York’s turnout estimated at between 400,000 and 500,000 people.

Stepping out of Grand Central Station into a river of protest, with more clever, witty and insightful handmade posters than you could imagine, and with chants and cheers punctuating the general hubbub at regular intervals was to feel that perhaps this dystopian vision of America can indeed be overthrown before it wreaks untold havoc at home and abroad. And with no beginning or end of the protest in sight, it was easy to believe that the number marching was much larger than even the academics’ estimate. This photo shows the crowd on Fifth Avenue joining in one of the chants.

It will take more than one day, of course, as the people of America need to unite like never before — everyone who didn’t vote for Trump, everyone threatened by Trump, everyone appalled by Trump, including, of course, those who voted for him but might already be having second thoughts. This could be a disastrous presidency, or it could be even worse than that, but people need to put aside any notions of complacency, and work out how to resist. This was a great start, and a historic moment that everyone there will remember, but now there needs to be much more action and organizing.

As you look at these photos, however, I hope they are a reminder of a day of hope across the US and around the world, when ordinary people demonstrated that fundamental decency will not be silenced, and that a tolerant, multi-racial society, featuring, at its heart, equality between women and men, and between people whatever their race, creed or color, has humour, intelligence and compassion that throw into even sharper relief how troublingly miserable, negative and ungenerous Donald Trump and his advisors are.

For an article by US Uncut about the numbers attending the protests, see: usuncut.com/news/womens-march-largest-protest-us-history/

For the turnout estimates, see: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xa0iLqYKz8x9Yc_rfhtmSOJQ2...

For an article in New York Daily News, which ran a front page devoted to the protests, under the headline, “See them roar,” see: www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/women-march-washington-...

For my website, see: www.andyworthington.co.uk

For my Facebook posts after Trump’s inauguration, see:

www.facebook.com/andyworthingtonUK/posts/1015497574252380...

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154975238073804&set...

For my most interesting photos, see: www.flickriver.com/photos/andyworthington/popular-interes...

I started the morning, online, by looking at the idea of self-isolation, and its connection with depression, but this wasn’t, and isn’t, quite apropos. It doesn’t fit. The thing is that I don’t think I am depressed, but then this could be delusional, but I don't think so. But then if you can delude yourself into the feeling that you are not depressed, surely this is a good thing. I feel that I cope well most of the time. Then I glancingly looked at couples isolating themselves together, especially with growing older, what the online ‘experts’ say, and the documented 'problems' generated there. We are doing this, that chosen 'isolation', but I can’t really see any problem. So, is it a problem then?

OK, I recognise that the writing is becoming a little strange, perhaps, whacky, even. But this might be the way, that no longer depending, or depending less, on feedback, on the other to stimulate me. It is part of the letting go, and I don’t think it’s premature either. There is an ‘about timeness' about it, about bloody time, even. I have said forever that I wanted to somehow incorporate images and words, and I appear to be eventually doing it, so it might just be time to soldier on. I wouldn’t want to not have this, not to feel that drive to communicate, beyond that communication which manifests as immediate human interaction. I feel a slight panic at it becoming the only outlet, the only means of communication, the only anti-isolation device in my armoury. But I am not panicked enough to stop.

armoury

noun

1.

a place where weapons are kept.

2.

an array of resources available for a particular purpose.

"his armoury of comic routines"

I like that, one’s armoury of comic routines. Spellcheck wants to change this to armory, but we ain’t in Kansas anymore.

There is a suspicion that one would go on weaving forever if one could. That’s just how it is. This might be what writers and artist are compelled to do, to continue describing for as long as this remains an option. The body rebels, of course, inevitably. This might manifest as depression if there wasn’t this possibility, that chance of adding to the warp and weft, of somehow insinuating some strands through the fabric. The inevitability of slowing down can generate strange bedfellows, bots and artists are a good example.

It’s a strange choice to make, at any age, that one of attempting to be a witness, and even stranger when you consider that at its core it has to be embraced without acknowledgement, other than a tendency to self-congratulate, something that you have to keep constantly in check. (I fail).

What joy there is has to be generated by the weaving itself, and that is a solitary pursuit. There is also that ‘Penelope’ aspect too, that unravelling, that gordian-knot picking apart, to discover the threads essential to that weave. Mixing mythologies there, but then I could also throw in Sisyphus, and even my beloved ‘Moontoad’ from Chinese lore. They all, more or less tell that same story, the relentlessness of describing, and the transcendental release to be found there.

I hate cute, I cringe at it, but I am foregoing the tendency to impose ‘taste’. Letting the bots decide, from an entanglement of words, combining depression, transcendental joy, Moontoads and Penelope might seem like a gamble. It is, it’s a type of roulette. Sometimes ‘cute’ comes to the fore.

But then I can always make her/him/them gender-neutral, with a well-placed turquoise decency strip, and thereby make them mine.

Don’t you just love now? I know that I do.

I particularly like this grumpy old man/woman/or couple stage, and can only encourage everyone to look forward to it.

1912 postmarked postcard photograph of the RFD (Rural Free Delivery) Route No. 8 mail carrier at Plymouth, Indiana. The carrier was posing in his horse-drawn vehicle for a photo that he used as a Christmas card for the patrons on his route. This copy was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Eli Silvius.

The carrier didn’t identify himself, but an undated document at the Indiana Genealogy Trails website provides information about the Marshall County post offices. That document includes a list of the rural route carriers for Plymouth as of 1908 and identified Roller Kleckner as the carrier for Route No. 8. The postcard owner has also found additional documentation showing Mr. Kleckner was still the carrier on Route No. 8 in 1910. Although the carrier in this photograph was probably Mr. Kleckner, that remains to be confirmed.

Postmasters were political appointees in those days and, prior to Mr. Kleckner’s appointment, there was some controversy regarding the examination and employee selection process at Plymouth. In 1905, F. M. McCrory had resigned as a Plymouth rural route carrier. In a November 15, 1906, letter to the editor of the Plymouth Tribune newspaper, Mr. McCrory took issue with Postmaster Yockey’s handling of the selection process for the new RFD carrier for Route No. 8.

“I desire to call attention at this time to a condition existing in rural route matters, to make a few predictions and the dear people can figure out the balance. A year ago Oct. 1st I resigned as carrier on rural route No. 1 and an examination was held of applicants for the place at which the postmasters prospective son-in-law was given highest grade and the place from which I had resigned. Roller I. Kleckner won second place and Ora Jacox fifth place there being nine applicants. This year Mr. John Nye decided to withdraw from the service and purchased the restaurant of Mr. Cripe taking possession Oct. 10th. Mr. Kleckner wrote the department stating the facts, making formal demand for his rightful place.

“At this time another letter was sent the department stating the facts more fully than Mr. Kleckner felt warranted in doing and reply was received that ‘there was no vacancy on route No. 8 and as soon as a vacancy occurred, if the Civil Service Commission recommended Mr. Kleckner, he would be appointed at once.’

“Now instead of sending his resignation to the department, Mr. Nye placed it in the hands of Mr. Yockey, who held it up until the department was notified by outsiders and demanded it at once, and it was sent in about Oct. 17, so we are credibly informed. Now why all this jockeying? First Mr. Kleckner is a Democrat. Second the mother and brother of Mr. Jacox we are informed are sureties on Mr. Yockey's bond and Mr. Yockey asked' permission for Mr. Jacox to drive the route from Oct. 10 on instead of sending in the resignation of Mr. Nye and asking that his successor be appointed at once. A notice is pasted in the lobby of the postoffice for examination for rural route carriers, since the commissions of those examined a year ago expire Nov. 16. Now we predict Mr. Jacox will be given first place and the route, at once after the examination, for which we will wait and see. Now let us moralize a little. When those men took that competitive examination a year ago Mr. Jacox virtually agreed to take his place according to what he won. If he entered into such machinations as above stated, is he the party the people on route 8 desire to trust to carry their mail? What do you think of a postmaster who will be a party to such scullduggery which amounts almost to a crime. My dear people this is the class of political scavengers and their methods against which Mr. Hendricks and his friends have waged war during the past ten months and will continue, if they so continue, for the next ten years. People who will lend themselves to such work would enter an orphan asylum and rob the baby of its nursing bottle and jaw the nurse for having allowed it to drink some of the milk. Nothing remains of h6nor and common decency but the grinning skeleton and they envy even that the little space it occupies. F. M. McCrory."

The following individuals served as Plymouth postmasters during those years.

Joseph A. Yockey, appointed June 6, 1901 and reappointed December 16, 1905

Monroe Steiner, appointed January 19, 1910

Francis E. Garn, appointed August 19, 1911

L. G. Hurley, appointed July 23, 1915

From a private collection.

A close-up section of this postcard can be seen here.

www.flickr.com/photos/hoosier_recollections/5419181794/in...

The message on the back side of this postcard can be seen here.

www.flickr.com/photos/hoosier_recollections/5418578783/in...

Copyright 2008-2018 Hoosier Recollections. All rights reserved. This creative JPG file package is an original compilation of materials and data. The package is unique, consisting of a wide variety of related and integrated components. Neither this package in its entirety nor any of the individual components may be downloaded, transmitted or reproduced without the prior written permission of Hoosier Recollections.

„No, I don't mind the photo at all, just go ahead. And you know why? Because you have the decency of asking. Other people just snap a photo. Whenever I see that, I turn around, so they end up with a photo of the back of my head.“

---

After finishing my 100 Strangers Project, I continue to photograph strangers based on the principles of the Project. Find out more about the project at the group page 100 Strangers.

View On White

Last night I saw a movie titled : Sophie Scholl, the final days.

If anything, it is a testament to courage and decency in the

face of evil. Sophie was a member of The White Rose, a group

of German students who sacrificed much as they rebelled against

the oppression of their leaders during WWII. She was executed

at the age of 21, along with her brother Hans, aged 24, and a young

medical student Cristoph Probst, aged 22, for exercising a basic human right: freedom of expression. This is a thought provoking movie because current events seem to be leading us into the dark once more.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose

15 MAR 13

Really all, I am sorry about all these sort of lame uninspired pictures as of late. I'm working with a bottle of mojo that is really low right now. It's strange because I can't seem to juggle my two sort of talents at the same time. When I am really inspired to write, I don't do that well in the photography realm, but when I am really inspired with photography, my writing brain sort of shuts down....strange...

Anywhoozal doozal. Today I transferred and staked my roma tomato plant out an onto the patio. The main stem is tied to the pvc with kitchen twine, and I hilariously duct taped the two polls together to give them more stability in the wind (its clear that I know what I'm doing here...*laughs*). The thing has definitely outgrown the window sill, so I thought I'd let it be outside where it needs to be soaking in the rays. I had to put a plastic bag into the pot to discourage squirrels from digging the pot up. They are going crazy underneath the sunflowers. Every morning I find fresh holes and new tracks. They will dig through the roots of this plant and destroy it to bury their pecans, if I don't cover it. I have now officially learned that lesson.

Let's talk about equality between the sexes. Just out of brain curiosity, I went online to see why it is women are not allowed to fight in the infantry. I knew this was going to be a slippery and insulting slope to slide down, but I went in feet first anyway. A lot of the pages and reason I found were written by clear bigots whom I often wondered if they had mother's and sisters the way they spoke of women in the military. Thankfully, though, my first exposure to this research was a page I found that was written by a male soldier from what I could tell, with decency. He wrote that it was more due to the fact that the equipment is largely much too heavy (he said this, and said, I'm not being an a-hole here, the sh-- is heavy!!!) and he explained that there have been various trials (some of which I later looked up) to see if women actually wanted to be on the front lines, and for all the hoopla in the media, the truth is, they weren't exactly chomping at the bit to get on in there. The ones that did want to join where usually career female officers looking for higher ranks (apparently the higher ranks tend to go to those that have done infantry) but the majority weren't really looking to get into that field.

Now believe you me, I like to fight for my sisters. I want to stand up for them and push equality any way I can, but this is one rare case where...I'm sorry...what would I be fighting for here...the right for you to go onto a field and possibly die? Hey, if you are a woman and you want to be out there, then by all means, sign the skull and bones contract and get out there and prove you're the same as everyone else, but I guess what I'm saying is I don't see a point beyond putting these women on the field. It's not like an office president, where a female running the company has growth potential, can foster positive changes in the workplace and can potentially get more women in the door with equal or greater pay...this is risking your life...and for what I'm not quite sure. To be fair, I'm probably the worst person to speak on anything related to the military. I generally abhor its practices and policies, but then again, part of the reason I have the freedoms I do, are because soldiers fought a long time ago so that I could stand and be free here today. This is one of those cases of, am I truly part of the solution here, or part of the problem. We like to say we can do anything just as well as men and largely that is true, but, and this is a big but...the same issue of heavy equiptment has been brought up in terms of female fire fighters. They exist, yes, but there certainly aren't' as many because to test in, you have to be able to pass rigorous physical fitness tests based on the equipment and various scenarios that do occur in the field. We are talking about your life, and the lives of others. If I am trapped in a burning building with my friends and family and you are struggling or can't lift whatever is necessary to save us, that is a real problem that has nothing to do with your sex. This is life and death and that's no joke, that's not about your pride or your ego, that's about being in a situation that you can physically handle in order to make a really messed up situation, better. Now again, if they can handle the physical bit of it, and want to deal with the whole host of other issues that come along with it, then go out there and do it by all means, I'm not going to stop you, but for now at least, that, I think is going to be a man's world out there in infantry.

In the uttering of Napolian Dynamite: Gaaaaaaaaaa!

Showing the neat conversion job, and matched seating. Note that whoever converted these ones has removed both decency screens around the rear door, fitted a wider window and removed the door control panel. Looks like detail spotters could be kept busy with these conversions.

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...

Taken during our August 2011 photoshoot. I am posting this image for two reasons, one of them serious, the other anything but serious.

First, the serious reason. A few days ago I posted this, which was taken during the same shoot. To the photo itself, I added the text of the same Dante sonnet used here. My reasons for doing so today are essentially the same as indicated in my description for the first version, except that I believe this portrait more effectively captures Lisa's warmth, kindness, and decency, as well as her inner serenity that I mentioned in the earlier post. (Additionally, I prefer this version because I used Italic script for the text, which seems more appropriate for a poem in Italian and written by Dante.) At the risk of sounding like a variation on a time-worn cliche, I believe that about 70% of female beauty comes from within, with the other 30% supplied by such externals as makeup, clothing, and so forth. With that in mind, Lisa is beautiful all the way through.

Now for the not-so-serious reason, which I here explain while wearing an impish grin on my face. Lisa might be disappointed in me for revealing this here, but she was in fact fully clothed throughout the shoot, including for this shot. It was literally at the last moment of postprocessing that I decided to crop the image as you see it here, and in fact I will probably still post the full-length version of it at some point. But today the spirit of mischief descended upon me, so I post this version to make my viewers ask themselves, "Is she, or isn't she?"

During a shoot with Lisa back in December, I took this, of which Lisa later ordered a print for her mother. I have never met her mom, but I do know that she, like Lisa herself, is religious and a regular churchgoer; and I also suspect that she, again like her daughter, has a mischievous streak in her nature. Lisa told me that her mom did a double-take when she saw the picture, wondering for a moment if Lisa was wearing any clothes. When I was told this story, I responded that I only had one regret about the photo, which is that we didn't send it to her mom anonymously, in a brown envelope with no return address. I can only imagine how she would have reacted to that!

The story doesn't quite end there, however. Not long ago, Lisa went to visit her mother in Texas. That photograph, which Lisa now refers to simply as "The Picture," is prominently displayed in her mom's living room, where her visitors can see it -- including the ladies from her Southern Baptist congregation, who apparently drop by regularly. Mother and daughter thought of putting a sign under the photo to let viewers know that, yes, Lisa was in fact wearing clothes, but they decided against it. Lisa told me she prefers to keep people guessing, which I imagine she would like to do in this case as well. (For the earlier photo, she was wearing a red evening gown, but lowered the shoulder strap while posing in front of that abstract painting. The inscrutable expression on her face adds something to the mystery as well. Man, have she and I had fun with that picture, mostly since it was taken!)

(Update: The full-length version of this image can be found here.)

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.

West German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. AX 4832.

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 established herself as an animal rights activist. In the coming weeks, we will 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 a modelling career and found herself in May 1949 on the cover of the French magazine Elle. 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 shooting 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 that 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 195,7 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.

It's a common thing in Serbia that the most educated and the most creative persons emmigrate from their fatherland by the age of 30 (or so), seeking better future for themselves. It has become something like a tradition.

That's the reason why this country is one really fucked up place - there's no brains and no spirit to pave the way to some decency we could all live in. I don't feel angry about NATO bombing our country in 1999 - I'm angry on them for not doing that job well, they should have diminished this shithole called Serbia and should have diminish this ignorant cattle.

My best friend just called me to say he packed his bags and is leaving tomorrow noon, finally. Few days ago I gave him nice book from Mile Dupor - for the road, I'm sure he'll like it.

Pentacon Six TL, Carl Zeiss Jena 120/2.8 Biometar, ORWO NP22 pushed to 200ASA.

Enjoy This 20 Years Old Film Large On Black

I arrive in a taxi

a black cab

Picked up from The Old Kent Road

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

The Session of the Committee of Ministers, to be held at Finlandia Hall on 17 May 2019, will mark the end of Finland’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. At the meeting, Finland will hand over the Presidency to France. More than 30 ministers from the member States of the Council of Europe will attend the meeting. The meeting will be chaired by Foreign Minister Timo Soini.

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.

Sikhism originated in the 15th century, in the Punjab region by Guru Nanak, who preached ideas that were radical for his age: he denounced Hinduism's oppressive caste system and Islam's gender discrimination, preaching that all people can commune with the divine equally, without the intervention of rituals or priests. The Sikh faith is a monotheistic religion, meaning Sikhs worship one God. The three core pillars of Sikhism are: vaṇḍ chakkō (sharing with others, helping those in need, as well as participating as part of a community), kirat karō (earning/making a living honestly, without exploitation or fraud, and speaking the truth at all times) and naam japna (meditating on God’s name to live a life of decency and humility).

The temporary distractions of the material world are seen as an illusion. The qualities of ego, anger, greed, attachment and lust are known as the Five Thieves that rob a person of their ability to realize their oneness with God and creation. Sikhs work to counteract the temptations of these qualities through the values of service, equality, and seeking justice for all. Sikhs also believe that one’s form on Earth is only a temporary vessel for the eternal soul. Thus, the death of the physical body is a natural part of the life cycle, while the soul remains. Death is not an end, but merely the progression of the soul on its journey toward God.

Nine more gurus succeeded Guru Nanak (Angad, Amar Das, Ram Das, Arjan, Har Gobind, Har Rai, Har Krishan, Tegh Bahadur, and Gobind Singh), and continued to spread his teachings across the world.

The last guru, Guru Gobind Singh, named the Sikh sacred text, the Guru Granth Sahib, to be the eternal Guru that would guide the Sikhs going forward. It consists of 1,430 Anks, or pages, and 6,000 Sabads, or line compositions, all are written in poetic verse and are aligning to the rhythmic forms of ancient north Indian classical music. At the core of the Guru Granth Sahib is a yearning for a world governed by divine justice, without oppression of any kind.

The final living guru, Gobind Singh, also established the Khalsa, or order of Sikh soldier-saints. They are recognizable by "The 5 k's," their physical articles of faith: Kesh (unshorn hair and beard), Kirpan (ceremonial sword), Kangha (comb), Kara (steel bracelet) and Kachha (drawers). The Dastar, or turban, is considered a spiritual crown, a token of remembrance of the Sikh principles.

Subathu, Himachal Pradesh, India

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite, Freedom, Self Expression, All, Inclusive, Acceptance, Acknowledge, Parade, Charlotte, Downtown, Girl, Backside, Young, Different, Rainbow, Colors, Skirt, Tutu, Walk, Legs, Topless, Cover, Decency, Legal, Normal, Diversity

I made a Blip.tv account as a side to my Youtube account, I decided that my first video would be on how to get on Facebook when a proxy is blocking it. Within 48 hours of uploading the video I received an email saying that my account had been removed for uploading a promotional video, thus violating their terms of service (TOS).

Please read all of this so that I may have your opinions.

So I replied to their email:

Blip.tv's original message:

"I'm sorry, but we've removed your account from blip.tv because it looked to us like you were posting videos to our service that had as a primary purpose the advertisement of a particular business, product or service. Blip is a site for original Web shows and our Terms of Service prohibit content that's primarily an advertisement.

In addition to agreeing to our general terms of service, you also checked a box upon signup stating: "I understand that I may not upload copyrighted third-party content, pornography, advertising, network marketing and MLM schemes, video game recordings or other prohibited content."

Here's the applicable section of our TOS for your reference:

"Our goal is to promote the free-flowing exchange of expression relating to members interests, activities and hobbies while maintaining high standards of respect and decency. In order to attain this goal, and in addition to the other content and/or action restrictions set forth in these Terms of Use and elsewhere on the Blip.tv website, the following content is prohibited on Blip.tv:

* Content that has as its sole or primary purpose to advertise a particular product or service that, in the sole judgment of Blip.tv, does not otherwise have redeeming value to the community.

If you believe we made a mistake in removing your account, please e-mail support@blip.tv with your account name, the types of videos you uploaded and the reason you believe your content does not violate the above mentioned section of our TOS.

If you are looking for a video hosting solution for your business, we recommend Brightcove, as they specialize in business video hosting.

Thank you,

blip.tv Support"

My first message back:

"Hi my account "patrickm129" was removed from blip.tv about a day after I posted my first video. The email I received says I was supporting a business, but my video was how to get onto websites blocked by a proxy, in my instance I used Facebook as an example. Can you please clarify why I was removed, and if at all possible undo the remove?

-Thanks,

Patrick'

Blip.tv's reply:

"Our terms of service prohibit content that has promotion of a product or service as its primary purpose. From our review of your content, it appeared that it was primarily promotional in nature, and was therefore removed."

My reply:

"It is not meant to be a promotional video, it can be used with any site and thus this is just one example. I think that this is outrageous how your TOS considers and terminates an account that mentions another company, getting no monitory reward, or product without first contacting me or giving me a warning on a possible issue. I switched to blip.tv from youtube and withing the first 48 hours I've already had problems and been removed for a video that has had no problems with youtube and its TOS.

I also don't consider using the word Facebook to be advertising because it is easily recognized by the public, and does not need a description to tell someone what it is, the word is almost public domain. Does this one video on blip.tv mentioning Facebook have a substantial impact on Facebook's 500 million users? I am dissatisfied I am having this problem with blip.tv but I would still like to use your services, now how could I get my account back?"

West German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 221. Photo: Archiv Filmpress Zürich.

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 established herself as an animal rights activist and made vegetarianism sexy. In the coming weeks, we will 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 a modelling career and found herself in May 1949 on the cover of the French magazine Elle. 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 shooting 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 that 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 195,7 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.

THE WOOP WOOP MARCH - WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT

LETTER FROM MICK FRANKLIN

To whom it may concern,

My name is Michael Franklin (Turtle or Swampy). My parents, grandparents, and great grandparents have been breeding horses, logging and farming in the Grafton area since the 1800s.

We have a great love for the land and everything has been done with consideration to the future viability of our property to sustain a decent lifestyle. I worked in Queensland after going to TOCAL Agricultural College. I started as a Jackaroo and went through to Head Stockman for AA Company. I loved the way of life up there, the attitude was, do what you wanted as long as it wasn't at someone else's expense.

I have just returned from the CSG Gasfields around Tara/Chinchilla on a fact-finding tour. I went to peoples properties, whose bores were contaminated. Not drinkable, and no idea of if, or when the water will ever be drinkable. They have admittance from the company to interfering with the Aquatard, not the Aquifer so no responsibility taken. They have now had to build dams and if you know Queensland, you would realise that dams are there in the good years but when it comes dry, its all bore water. What happens then? It is not just one farm, there are numerous and any farmer worth his salt knows that clean water is our most valuable resource.

I went to the Wiembiella Estate where the blockies live. This is a motley crew of people, who have bought a piece of Australia to live and raise their families in peace and quiet, only to have it shattered by being turned into an Energy Hub. Thousands of vehicles a week, hundreds of trucks, I mean this is in your face 24/7, it just never goes to sleep. Its total disregard for your fellow man, the land and the water. We drove 15km around a dam just being built to fill up with toxic water to be cleaned and pumped back into the river that feeds the Chinchilla water supply. All they are taking out is the salts, not the radioactive materials or the heavy metal elements. The water is also used to irrigate crops and to water feedlots. I have done my Quality Assurance, Training and Assessment course for Beef Cattle Production and I am concerned about the quality of what the Australian consumer may be eating or drinking. I have never considered fertilising my paddocks with lead, yet The Land newspaper have reported that up to 90kg/ha annually is going onto the fields irrigated with produced water. I expect that the meat will be sold on the domestic/local market due to stringent export quality standards. You are what you eat.

I think that reusing emissions and renewable is the answer to our power problem. Septics/sewage, piggeries, dairies, sawmills, and rubbish tips and biofuel can all produce power. Then there is solar, solar-thermal, wind and tidal energies. Its more than enough and the proof is out there.

I am riding to Canberra against CSG. I believe in respecting thy neighbour. Even if you don't like your neighbour, I don't believe that poisoning them is justifiable. Common decency says that you do not have the right to interfere with or threaten the wellbeing your neighbours. I will also be promoting Australian Owned, Australian Made and Australian Grown because I believe that we should be supporting Australian business and farming as a sustainable future rather than the inevitable bust that will follow the mining boom. I would rather see Australia as a food bowl than a gravel pit.

Mick Franklin

Glenugie

NSW

AUSTRALIA

Arriving Algeciras 8th October 2022

This picture needs some explanation:

I was walking on the beach in north Mumbai early one morning. Many tourists and locals were jogging and exercising on the beach - fairly normal. As seen in other photos, there are many stray dogs around... so I was looking out for piles of dog crap as I walked.

I walked for about 15-20 minutes and I noticed a fairly large pile of *poo*. And I thought, "Man, that's one big dog." I kept walking and five feet down, yet another pile, same thought. I walked down another ten feet and yes... another pile of equal size and consistency.

I knew something was awry. I looked up and I saw a guy squatting, letting it go right on the beach. I was in shock. I'd never seen anything like it. Or at least on the beach.

I looked around some more and I noticed something even more alarming. In the area about the size of a football field, I saw about 100 people squatting on the beach. With a steady flow of people coming in and out. It was very surreal - I couldn't believe my eyes. I wondered - does this happen daily? If so, where does it all go? And I figured that high tide would wash it all away each night.

The tourists/locals jogging would all run up to a point on the beach, stop on a dime, turn around and run back the other way. I presume that many are low-caste, poor street people with no where else to go. I did notice that it was only men and boys - no women - there is some semblance of decency.

I was frozen for about 10 minutes, taking it all in: sights and smells. It was a physical example of the living paradox that is India. I hear often from different people that India is a cultural paradox - which deserves another post altogether. But it was yet another reminder that the culture I was trying to understand was way more complex than I imagined.

The next image is a wider view of the beach. This pic is the side of the beach where the more affluent locals and tourists hang out. This all being on one span of beach.

"On November 17th, 1972 a squad of the Dead Donkey Eaters gang was taking a daytime shortcut through the old subway tunnels under Roosevelt Park when they came upon an unseasonal (it was summer at the time) formation of icicles suspended from the ceiling. The air in the tunnel was temperate save for the area nearest the ice, where Dead Donkey Eater Cedric Bell reported that the smell of hot chocolate penetrated his frozen nose hairs. . . . Using one of Swenson and Sing's maps of the area, the gang determined that the source of the moisture and cold must be located on the 1400 block of West Stewart Street--location of the Rostov Ice Plant, which had stood abandoned since shortly after the Exile. The entirety of Roosevelt Park had fallen off the (rapidly shrinking) power grid two years before, and yet in the warehouse cellar the Dead Donkey Eaters found a cold storage chamber which appeared to be working. Not only that, but its outer door was frozen shut; it took the gang the better part of a day to chip away the three inches of ice on its surface, and even after that they were unable to get it open. In the end the entire gang assembled in the warehouse, some fifty of them, aided by a half-dozen members of the Roosevelt Park branch of the Gemini Society. They were forced to remove the door entirely in order to gain access to the chamber. . . . Inside, they found the frozen corpse of one Robert Priest, an exile from the former suburbs. (This was only determined days afterward, when the body was sufficiently thawed for identification to be retrieved.) In addition, they found the work which had apparently consumed Mr. Priest's final days, and which he must have completed only shortly before his death: a miniature reproduction, in ice, of a landscape which in all likelihood existed only in the mind of its creator. Gleaming in the light from the Dead Donkey Eaters' helmets, the ice reflected streets of cozy little houses, candy shops, and human figures which were so lifelike that some described them as 'unnatural.' . . . 'There was a pond, with a hockey game being played on it,' Cedric Bell said. 'I kept looking back at it, because out of the corner of my eye it seemed like they were moving. So I kept my eyes on it for a little while, to convince myself I was imagining it; but instead I started to hear the sound of the skates, and the sticks hitting the ice, and boys shouting. I never played hockey--never even watched it, really--and all of a sudden I missed it something terrible. I realized that pond might not even exist anymore, and if it did, there was no way for me to get to it. . . . One of the guys started shaking me, then, and asked me why I was crying.' . . . The reactions of the Dead Donkey Eaters and Gemini Society members fell entirely into two camps. Most were overwhelmed by a flood of nostalgia and loss so severe that afterwards some of them spent days huddled beneath blankets, shivering, amid 80-degree temperatures; but a few were angered by the carvings, calling them dishonest and manipulative. 'It was the work of a delusional personality,' said Manuel Charcot, the noted 'Mathmagician' whose theories of dimensional-parabolic travel were popular until his apparent disintegration in 1988. 'The past which he had tried to reproduce, regardless of its technical merit, was a bourgeouis fantasy of a time when existence was simple and safe and free of suffering; a time which never existed. It was a child's vision. Had Mr. Priest dared to depict the interiors of those safe and warm little houses, the picture would have been quite different indeed.' . . . Cedric Bell maintains that Charcot was complicating the matter. 'This was just a guy who was homesick. I like to think that maybe he'd never carved anything before that--that he was just some guy who worked in an office, and one day he couldn't get home. So he found a way to bring home to him. What he made, it made me feel something. I don't think I'll ever forget it.' . . . Shortly after what Charcot referred to as 'the Bobbsey Twins' postcard world' was exposed to the open air, it began to melt--whatever magic had sustained the cold storage chamber seemed to have dissipated, and within two days Priest's work was lost forever. . . . The melted remains play a part in the stories of traveling children's entertainer Diana Kurlansky and her family; the magic water is supposed to have been the origin of the Salamander Cops, who police the sewers to promote safety and decency. 'Maybe the magic in that ice was made of dreams, and maybe it was made of memories,' the story goes. 'Either way, when Sergeant Olm drank the cool water, he became possessed with the need to clean up Salamander City.' . . . Other, more cynical storytellers have speculated that Priest's undisciplined magic, once unlocked from the ice, was responsible for the rise of the 'crocfather' Mad Green and his ilk." (p.372-4)

Leading up to the International Women’s Day celebration and as a continuation of the awareness raising sessions among journalists on the issues related to women’s rights and women’s empowerment, UNO Baku – Department of Public Information office in Azerbaijan (UN DPI) teamed up with its sister agencies to kick start an early observation of 8 March. The date commemorated at the United Nations and in so many countries around the globe is designated as a national holiday in Azerbaijan.

This was just one more reason for 30 Azerbaijani journalists to gather on a bright 5 March morning, some of them entering the UN House for the first time. They were genuinely pleased to be greeted by the UN Resident Coordinator and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative along with the representative of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN DPI team that organized the gathering under the motto -- 'Help vulnerable women in achieving their dreams and you will achieve yours'.

“I have started my work in Azerbaijan several months ago and just wanted to reassure you that our door is wide open for the cooperation,” said UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, Mr. Antonius Broek. “We hope to partner with the press as often as possible and jointly put into spotlight areas in which the country is very advanced, and also to highlight issues where we should seek improvement together.” This particular session with journalists was devoted to the internally displaced women (IDPs) who make up 50 per cent of the 600,000 Azerbaijanis internally displaced due to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabkh nearly two decades ago and also to media reporting on domestic violence.

With their identity and individuality reduced to being generally perceived as a non-subject, many IDP- women have had to forge new roles for themselves and find a modus of survival. Uncovering the truth about domestic violence or gender based violence within these newly formed, closely knit IDP communities is not an easy task since discussing such issues outside of family remains a strong taboo, and not only among IDPs.

Speaking in line with the 2013 Women’s Day theme - 'A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women,' Mr. Dag Sigurdson, the head of UNHCR office, reiterated the readiness of his organization, which has been operating in Azerbaijan for 20 years already, to further assist and make every day women’s day. “For us who work closely with and for those vulnerable groups, it is truly important to work towards women’s empowerment, their advancement and welfare, which will lead to a better future for the whole country,” said Sigurdson.

The evidence-based data suggests that the efforts to combat diverse forms of violence against women are doomed to be ineffective unless all concerned actors, including the media, take an active part in the process,” says Ms. Bahija Aliyeva, UNFPA Programme Analyst.

She further highlighted the role of the media in achieving a violence free world for women and girls. “Media representatives should understand their shared responsibility in this process and should put more emphasis on treating these cases as serious violations of the human rights of women and girls instead of contributing to further victimization of women through a sensational reporting style without any attempts to explore the root causes of the related issues,” she stated.

While wrapping up discussion on the challenges and opportunities of women for women, Ms. Envera Selimovic, UN DPI Representative in Azerbaijan said, “Each of us has a role to play in fighting discrimination, abuse and prejudice and in helping women’s voices to be heard loud and clear.” She added that the media could play one of those most important roles in encouraging women to raise their voices and stand up for their rights. “You should be the one that opens the window of change, puts the spotlight on violence, examine the roots and call for more attention and action from all layers of society.”

Followed by a live Q&A session, which stressed the importance of having more female voices in the decision making, journalist Ulviyye Tahirqizi from the Popular Front Newspaper highlighted the need for more females in power structures that will serve as good role models.

Expressing her gratitude to the UN agencies, and UNDPI in particular, Yelena Sidorenko from Khazar TV said that her “only regret was that women are still not supporting each other; however, we should do our best, pay attention and work towards this worthy goal on this long way to real progress.” For Almaz Mahmud from Region Plus magazine the main question was – will the media accept and adopt a code of conduct and ethics that specifically addresses gender-fair reporting? She said that it is not enough to rely on broad guidelines that deal with morality, good taste, and decency. We need professional guidelines regarding coverage of women and women's issues, which will not only help upgrade women's status, but also help raise the quality of journalism in general. "The session was specific and focused - I think this is one of those very useful workshops that open another venue for a follow up,” says Anakhanym Hidayatova from APA News Agency.

The event was concluded with a briefing about the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, launched in 2008, which is based on the simple but powerful premise that all women and girls have a fundamental human right to live free of violence.

” To those women we say: the United Nations stands with you. As Secretary-General, I insist that the welfare of all victims of sexual violence in conflict must be at the forefront of our activities. And I instruct my senior advisors to make our response to sexual violence a priority in all of our peace-making, peacekeeping and peace building activities.”

***

+++ MORE DETAILS OF ARTWORKS :

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

La Tomba di Dante fu costruita tra il 1780 e il 1782 per volontà del cardinal legato Luigi Valenti Gonzaga e su progetto dell'architetto ravennate Camillo Morigia, secondo i contemporanei dettami neoclassici, nell'intento di restituire nobiltà e decoro alla sepoltura dantesca, fino ad allora ospitata all'interno di una semplice cappellina, più volte ristrutturata nel corso dei secoli. Le spoglie del poeta, dopo essere state a lungo nascoste dai frati francescani, per essere sottratte ai Fiorentini che le avevano richieste, furono rinvenute nel 1865 e da quel momento riposano nella Tomba.

L'interno fu rivestito di marmi policromi per il Centenario dantesco del 1921: sulla parete di fronte all'entrata è collocato il bel bassorilievo con il ritratto di Dante, scolpito da Pietro Lombardo nel 1483; ai piedi dell’arca sepolcrale è posta una ghirlanda in bronzo e argento offerta nel 1921 dall’esercito vittorioso nella Prima Guerra Mondiale e sul lato destro si trova la raffinata ampolla realizzata da Giovanni Mayer e donata dalle città giuliano-dalmate nel 1908.

Built between 1780 and 1782, Dante's Tomb was commissioned by the cardinal Luigi Valenti Gonzaga, from a project by the architect Camillo Morigia from Ravenna, who followed the neoclassical norms of that time. The cardinal's aim was to restore the nobility and decency of Dante's burial. Up until then, the remains of the poet had been preserved in a little chapel that underwent several restorations over the centuries. After being kept hidden by the Franciscan friars for a long time, in order to protect them from the Florentines who had claimed them, Dante's remains were found in 1865 and they have been resting in the new tomb ever since.

In occasion of the 600th anniversary (Centenario dantesco) of Dante's death in 1921, the interior was covered with polichrome marbles; a beautiful low relief portraying the poet was carved in 1483 by Pietro Lombardo and placed onto the wall in front of the tomb's entrance; a bronze and silver wreath lies at the foot of the sepulchral ark, it was donated to Ravenna by the victorious army after the First World War; on the right side you find the refined ampoule by Giovanni Mayer, donated by the Istrian cities in 1908.

(Fonte: www.turismo.ra.it)

I am sad by nature,

or by condition,

as those made me

too weak,

too aware,

too natural

for the world of people.

Those roaming balls of noise

plucking and sucking

with millions of other pink and tan spheres of undue influence

in the perverted consumer romance.

A tachyon to escape them!

or a potent cone of lead,

or the decency of trees on slices of land ten degrees—

that is where I lose my last hope.

Between the crushing crash of people

in their obscenely public machine,

I can never make myself unseen.

But to be a tree on that slope,

knowing nothing but the air

and particles of light and green,

alive in the harmony of the chemical affair—

Monument to Yevgeny Primakov unveiled in Moscow

Vladimir Putin took part in the unveiling of a monument to Yevgeny Primakov in the park square near the Foreign Ministry.

October 29, 201915:00Moscow

A ceremony to unveil a monument to Yevgeny Primakov.

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A ceremony to unveil a monument to Yevgeny Primakov. Photo: Mikhail Metzel, TASS

The unveiling ceremony was attended by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Yevgeny Primakov’s widow Irina Primakova. Special Presidential Envoy for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoi conducted the ceremony.

The monument was created by a team of sculptors led by National Artist Georgy Frangulyan. October 29, 2019 is the 90th birth anniversary of outstanding statesman, scholar and politician Yevgeny Primakov.

Yevgeny Primakov was one of Russia’s leading experts in oriental studies and a prominent scholar in the fields of the global economy and international relations. Mr Primakov was Prime Minister (1998–1999), Foreign Minister (1996–1998), and Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (1991–1996).

* * *

Speech at the unveiling ceremony

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, Mrs Primakova, ladies and gentlemen,

Today, we are unveiling a monument to Yevgeny Primakov, a scholar, diplomat, statesman, a man of immense scale and inexhaustible inner strength.

Many people in Russia and around the world remember Yevgeny Primakov and think about him with great respect, warmth and heart-felt gratitude. They are aware of the uniqueness and singularity of his personality, his mind, his versatile talent, knowledge and wisdom and invariably great human dignity.

Personally, I often recall my meetings with Yevgeny Primakov and our frank conversations. He was and remains for me an example of deep, responsible and proactive love of the homeland, an example of generosity, reliability and decency.

In each period of his full, active life he gave priority to the interests of his country. He never tried to please anyone, and he was not afraid of challenging problems, trying to resolve them professionally, calmly and convincingly. He would soldier on and, when necessary, found an acceptable balance. He unfailingly pinpointed the essence of events, going into detail, comprehensively analysing difficult problems and seeing the perspective. The “Primakov method” helped to improve forecasts many times and in a variety of fields, to look ahead, find a non-standard strategy and choose the best possible response.

He has done a great deal to strengthen the prestige of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. Although he was not an intelligence professional, he helped to win respect for the Foreign Intelligence Service and to maintain and strengthen its best traditions. As the Prime Minister in a very difficult, highly complicated and even dramatic period in Russian history, he managed to bring about political and economic stabilisation.

Yevgeny Primakov’s tenure as the Foreign Minister of Russia was a special page in his life. It was largely thanks to his efforts that respect for Russia was revived in international diplomacy and the Foreign Ministry fully affirmed the unconditional priority of national interests and the efforts to uphold them firmly and consistently.

An Oriental and Arab scholar, Yevgeny Primakov knew that the world is more complicated than any cliché or stereotype. He had a strategic vision and worked hard to promote the idea of multipolarity. In fact, it was Yevgeny Primakov who clearly formulated the key principles of the modern world development. We see that multipolarity is no longer a trend but a reality today.

In my opinion, it is symbolic that a monument to Yevgeny Primakov has been erected near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is our common duty to preserve his legacy and to keep listening to Yevgeny Primakov’s voice.

I hope that this wonderful monument will help to immortalise this great citizen of Russia.

Thank you.

Irina Primakova: Mr President, friends,

On behalf of our big family, let me thank you for the lofty and kind words you said about Yevgeny Primakov.

Many thanks to Mr Lavrov for his idea to install this monument. I thank talented sculptor Georgy Frangulyan, who has implemented this idea. I thank Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, all architects, builders, and all those involved in the creation of this memorial.

You know, it is very difficult to picture a loved one in bronze. But our family is proud that from now on the memory of Yevgeny Primakov and his deeds will be eternal.

Thank you.

Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 3647. Spanjersberg was the Dutch licensee holder of Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof. Photo: Ufa. Sent by mail in 1961.

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 established herself as an animal rights activist and made vegetarianism sexy. In the coming weeks, we will 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 a modelling career and found herself in May 1949 on the cover of the French magazine Elle. 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 shooting 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 that 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 195,7 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.

The "cat in a bag" entry (term originated from our comp secty Brad) is one where you say "to hell with what a judge might think", or could be experimental or just put up for a stir or joke (common decency and the laws of defamation considered) ~ G-Dig at Goolwa allows 12 entries (SCCC only 5) ~

Here's one such "cat in a bag' entry I'm trying out this Wed 11th at Goolwa ....the title as seen on the image is SURFACE TENSIONS ~ simply it shows a young couple coming to terms with "something" with an embrace using skin surfaces and in the background, seemingly oblivious to this, is a younger brother or other on a water board enjoying the tension of the water surface ....

French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, no. Star 138. Photo: Air France / Distribution VU. Caption: Brigitte Bardot, 6 April 1958..

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.

www.politico.com/news/2022/05/26/janet-yellen-biden-debt-...

Yellen, Biden's not-so-secret weapon, sees clout diminished - POLITICO

Janet Yellen, the first woman to serve as Treasury secretary, is seen as a technocrat, a widely respected, above-the-fray leader rather than a flame thrower in a political messaging war.

When Janet Yellen was tapped to join the Biden administration as Treasury secretary, she came with celebrity status — one of the world’s preeminent economists and the first woman to have led the Federal Reserve.

More than a year later, as Democrats are grappling with decades-high inflation, stock market turmoil and rising recession fears, Yellen is rarely on center stage. She has surprised supporters by wielding less influence in the West Wing than her recent predecessors did in the job, which is often considered an administration’s chief economic policymaking post, say people familiar with the matter.

Yellen was overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate, then was instrumental in pushing Congress to approve $1.9 trillion in Covid relief spending, on top of the historic $4 trillion the government had already authorized.

But in key areas where the Treasury Department typically drives decisions — domestic tax policy, financial appointments, the debt ceiling, China — Yellen and Treasury have often taken a back seat to the National Economic Council or been overruled by the White House, according to nearly two dozen people, including current and former administration officials, those close to the White House and others who know her.

Among the cases they cite: She was rebuffed in her objection to Biden’s choice of a progressive law professor to be the top banking regulator within her own department. The White House failed to consult Treasury on remarks Biden was preparing to give on the debt limit and tasked another Cabinet official with reaching out to CEOs. And when Democrats were deliberating over how to finance the president’s signature Build Back Better proposal, White House officials led the discussions with Congress, not Yellen or another senior Treasury official.

“You’d think on questions of macroeconomics that the president would want to hear from her and be influenced by her on every decision,” said David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution, where Yellen was a distinguished fellow in residence before joining the administration. “It doesn’t look like that’s the case.”

Yellen is hardly out of the loop — she’s the only Cabinet secretary who always attends the daily White House senior staff briefing. But even in an administration where power is centralized in the West Wing, her low profile has puzzled those inside and outside the administration. It has also frustrated others who say the White House lacks a credible, confidence-building message on the biggest challenges facing the economy as a possible recession looms, including the No. 1 issue — inflation.

Yellen, the first woman to serve as Treasury secretary, is seen as a technocrat, a widely respected, above-the-fray leader rather than a flame thrower in a political messaging war. Some Democrats are yearning for more as they see their political fortunes crumble.

One administration official said she is an obvious candidate to spearhead a policy or communications response to the extraordinary spike in prices on behalf of the White House.

“Janet Yellen seems like this not-so-secret weapon,” said the official, who, like most of those interviewed for this story, asked not to be identified by name so they could speak candidly. “If we haven’t used her yet, are we ever going to utilize her?”

Yellen, through a Treasury spokesperson, declined to comment for this story.

Policy center

Treasury sits at the center of some of the country’s most critical functions, from collecting tax revenue and financing government operations to monitoring risks to the financial system and promoting economic stability at home and abroad.

People close to the White House and Yellen point to several reasons why she hasn’t been a larger force in the West Wing. Some chalked it up to Biden’s tendency to defer to his longtime, close circle of advisers, including chief of staff Ron Klain. Others say Yellen’s team at Treasury hasn’t done enough to help stake out her territory.

She also has a different style and background than some of her predecessors — her elbows aren’t as sharp nor her ego as large — and she has faced difficulty joining an administration in which she had few close relationships in the middle of a pandemic, the people said. On top of that, she has long eschewed the kind of political strategizing that is an important part of the job.

Senior White House officials say Yellen is an indispensable member of the president’s team. She plays a bigger role in the policy process than her peers in other departments, they say.

“She’s not the person who says the most in any given meeting; she’s not the person who’s as flashy and out there,” said National Economic Council Director Brian Deese. “But when she speaks, whether it’s around the Situation Room table, around the NSC, or with the chief of staff, with the president, her words and her perspective carry enormous weight.”

Klain called her “an integral and invaluable member” of the administration. In a statement to POLITICO, he said she’s “a leading force behind our economic agenda.”

Yellen’s defenders credit her with reviving negotiations around a major international tax agreement last year — the talks had stalled under Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — though the deal hasn’t yet been approved by the European Union and its fate in Congress is uncertain. And she was an important advocate for Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom Biden reappointed for a second term in November.

She has led the implementation of last year’s massive Covid relief package, reinvigorated the council of regulators that monitors risks to the financial system and rebuilt alliances with global economic policymakers.

But current and former administration officials, including several who have worked for other Democratic administrations, said she isn’t leading policy initiatives or getting out front publicly as much as her predecessors, and she avoids political fights. Instead, the White House has taken the lead even in areas where the Treasury would ordinarily play the bigger part.

Previous secretaries have taken a central role in advising the president on financial nominations. But when it came time to decide last year on a nominee to run the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a powerful national bank supervisor within Treasury, the White House chose Cornell Law professor Saule Omarova — a favorite of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — despite Yellen’s objections, according to two people close to the process.

“She wasn’t involved in the discussion; she was informed about the decision” to pick Omarova, who had previously advocated for a vast expansion of the government’s role in banking, one of the people said. Yellen made her misgivings known both to Biden and Klain, according to the person.

Omarova was later forced to withdraw her nomination after a messy and contentious confirmation fight, amid opposition from several moderate Democrats as well as Republicans, who objected to what they called her “radical” ideas.

The Treasury secretary is also the administration’s point person on the federal debt limit, which Congress must periodically raise to keep paying the government’s bills.

Department officials were stunned last October when the White House informed them on short notice that the president would be speaking publicly about the debt ceiling. They hadn’t been consulted and had no idea what he planned to say, said one current Treasury official.

Treasury would normally advise the White House on what message to deliver and would always be looped in well in advance, said the official, who also worked in previous administrations.

Around the same time, the White House asked Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to make calls to top CEOs to offer reassurance on a potential deal in Congress to raise the limit, according to the current official and one former Treasury official.

“That is 100 percent a Treasury Department piece of business,” said the former official, who also was at Treasury during previous administrations. “The notion that the Commerce secretary was asked by the West Wing to make calls because of her influence, her relationships, her stature — we would have been like, ‘Excuse me?’”

Yellen also spoke with executives before the deadline last fall, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf, according to her public calendars. The White House confirmed that Raimondo helped make calls and was part of a White House debt limit task force that included Yellen as a leading member.

That pattern has emerged in her dealings with Congress.

When Democratic lawmakers and the administration were hashing out how to pay for the president’s Build Back Better proposal last year, it was Deese and White House Office of Legislative Affairs Director Louisa Terrell, not Yellen or another senior Treasury official, who led the discussions with Capitol Hill.

While Treasury played a visible role on the bill’s international and tax enforcement provisions, “all of the rest of the pieces very much seemed to be White House-driven,” according to a Democratic congressional aide close to the process. That dynamic has frustrated senior Treasury officials responsible for tax policy, said another person close to the administration.

Different skills

Every Treasury secretary comes to the job with different skills in different circumstances.

President George W. Bush deferred almost exclusively to Secretary Hank Paulson, the former Goldman Sachs chief executive with deep ties to Wall Street who ran the agency during the 2008 financial crisis. Tim Geithner, who took over in early 2009 under President Barack Obama, spent hours in the West Wing every day, conferring with White House officials.

Secretary Jacob Lew, who had served as Obama’s chief of staff, had close relationships on Capitol Hill that helped him navigate the fiscal battles with Republicans that dominated the president’s second term. And Mnuchin, who had been Donald Trump’s presidential campaign finance chief, was one of the only people in that administration able to serve as an interlocutor between congressional Democrats and the president, helping to hammer out the early Covid-relief packages.

Yellen, who served as chair of President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, was well-known and highly regarded within the Biden administration, but didn’t have those same personal relationships when the president picked her to be Treasury secretary.

Some of the differences in her role in this administration are attributable to her preferences, people who know her say.

She likes to be thoroughly prepared for anything she’s involved in, which means focusing on a smaller set of issues and deferring to others elsewhere.

She goes home each night with a thick briefing book, which she prefers to an abbreviated memo. Her deliberate approach, honed over years working at the Fed, stands in contrast to the fast-break mentality in the West Wing, people close to the White House said.

“I think she has something that few in Washington have,” former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said. “There’s no one in the world who doesn’t trust her. There’s no one who doesn’t think that she’s got huge and fundamental integrity, a lot of intelligence and a ton of decency. Those are very powerful assets and it would be a mistake for anyone to underestimate their staying power.”

Randal Quarles, a former Republican Treasury official who served as one of the Fed’s vice chairs from 2017 to 2021, suggested those assets could serve as a bridge to Republicans, who have slammed Biden’s handling of the economy.

“If you have somebody with that sort of mental horsepower, and the respect of a lot of people on my side of the aisle, you ought to use that,” he said.

To be certain, Yellen is forthright and forceful when it comes to expressing her policy views. And she has little interest in being the mouthpiece for political messaging on macroeconomic issues like inflation, hewing closely instead to what she believes to be true.

“It’s understood within the White House that Janet Yellen is going to say what she’s going to say,” one administration official said. “Good luck with making her say anything she’s not completely comfortable with.”

For example, she argued that the administration’s Build Back Better plan wouldn’t add to inflation pressures over the next decade. But she has avoided the administration talking point that the plan is a remedy for elevated inflation now — something many economists have disputed.

She has also defended the administration’s $1.9 trillion rescue plan, enacted in March 2021, and was among many officials — including Fed economists — who wrongly suggested that inflation would quickly abate by the end of last year. But people who know her say she was worried about more persistent price pressures sooner than other administration officials. And she hasn’t repeated Biden’s suggestion that the infusion of money has not contributed to inflation. Many Republicans — and even Democrats like Summers — have said they believe the funds have fueled price pressures.

Yellen has also said publicly that rolling back some of the tariffs imposed during the Trump administration would help ease inflation. But those efforts have run up against opposition from the agency that spearheads tariff policy — the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Its chief, Katherine Tai, is one of the administration’s toughest trade skeptics, and she has pushed back on the idea that lifting tariffs will meaningfully bring down inflation, saying it would also cost her leverage at the negotiating table with Beijing.

Those dueling public comments are indicative of a behind-the-scenes disagreement between USTR, which wants tariffs retained, and Treasury and the Commerce Department, which want them lifted, said two former national security officials with knowledge of the dynamics.

Ultimately, Yellen is already at the apex of her career — she is the only person to have ever served as the president’s chief economist, Fed chair and Treasury secretary. That means she doesn’t feel the need to have as high a profile, administration officials and people who know her say.

“She knows about the importance of making sure that she’s working in collaboration and coordination with her colleagues and partners, and she’s made sure the rest of us are doing the same,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.

Yet her penchant for a more technocratic, less political style has rankled progressives who feel that it’s holding back important priorities. “I think they expected this above-the-fray-ness to help carry forward policy proposals,” one advocate for tougher financial regulations said of the administration. “Washington is a place where you need fighters.”

The former Treasury official laid some blame on Yellen’s team, saying they hadn’t done enough to help shore up relationships, inside and outside the administration, and assert her position as the leading voice on economic policy.

Said the official: “If you want the White House’s attention and you want a seat at the table and you want to maintain that profile and stature and influence, you have to work at it.”

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.

Throughout the 21st Century lots of airlines seemed to be celebrating significant anniversaries, and the go-to celebration was to paint a plane in a retro livery of days gone by.

I was delighted to see that Arriva NW have done the same here, trimming this 2014 Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 in the classic MPTE livery of my youth, in celebration of 50 years since the formation of the MPTE itself.

I saw this on Sheil Road but I was driving and was hoping that I might see it again while out on foot so that I might get a snap. Here, it even had the decency to stop at a red light for me! :)

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.

A student caught urinating on a war memorial was spared jail today by a judge who renewed his attack on organised mass drinking sessions at universities.

Philip Laing, 19, was told that prison had been a serious option but the judge had "never seen anyone before him who was more contrite".

Laing, who started a sports technology degree at Sheffield Hallam University this year, was given 250 hours' community service for outraging public decency.

He was caught on camera targeting a poppy wreath at the city's main memorial shortly before Remembrance Sunday, while hopelessly drunk after a pub crawl laid on by the firm Carnage.

At an earlier hearing, district judge Anthony Browne suggested that organisers of the event should have been in the dock beside Laing, who admitted the offence as soon as he was arrested. The judge told today's hearing that measures needed to be taken to curb a drink culture targeted at young people.

Drinks for participants had cost only £1 and Laing had been left almost insensible, with no memory of what happened during the evening. He had also shared a bottle of whisky with a friend before joining the Carnage party, where he drank "vast quantities of alcohol."

The judge told him: "Let me make this perfectly clear. No one forced you to take all this drink, or forced it down you, or persuaded you to commit a criminal offence. You did that all by yourself and you must take responsibility.

"But all this is set against a backdrop, as your solicitor has also said, of a culture of drinking far too much. In my view something does need to be done to change this culture."

Laing sat on his own in the glass-fronted dock wearing a grey suit, pink shirt and a blue-and-red striped military style tie. He was allowed to enter and leave court privately through the neighbouring police station.

His solicitor Tim Hughes told the court that social networking sites on the internet, including one on Facebook called Scum of the Earth, had directed a wave of "revulsion" at him.

Hughes asked the judge to avoid a jail sentence, saying that Laing was "terrified" of the prospect which would "utterly destroy what could otherwise be a good, hard-working, tax-paying life."

The court heard that Laing had been mortified by the shame brought on himself and his family, especially as both his grandfathers had fought in the second world war and he had done work experience with the army. The CCTV images caused national outrage, and the judge said that he had been sent many letters about the case before sentencing.

"I said to you when you last appeared that the image of your urinating over the wreath of poppies at the city war memorial was a truly shocking one. That was no understatement," he said. "There you are, a young man of 19, urinating on the war memorial erected to honour the memory of so many other young men.

"You have understandably had the wrath and indignation of the public heaped upon you and your family, but I am required to decide your sentence on the basis of the facts of the case and principles of law alone."

His parents left through the public exit and his mother said: "He's sorry. He's very, very sorry."

Laing, the son of a computer programmer and an optician in Macclesfield, Cheshire, where he studied at the independent King's school, faces disciplinary proceedings by Sheffield Hallam. The judge said the university had not yet decided on his future, but noted: "I have never seen anyone more contrite for what has happened nor one who regrets more the hurt and distress he has caused."

War veterans' organisations at the time also recognised Laing's immediate apology and the scale of drinking involved. Varsity Leisure Group, which owns Carnage, denied encouraging irresponsible drinking at the events, which are accompanied by medical staff.

There are countries in our world who still administer flogging. I have no doubt that many Canadian vets as well as other citizens would gladly volunteer themselves to administer such a punishment to this disrespectful idiot. I met and talked at length with the last man who administered such punishments in Ontario and I respect his strength of character and his service to Canada.

Dutch multi-view postcard by NV. v.h. Weenenk & Snel, Baarn, no. 662. Photos: Brigitte Bardot, mid-under. The other stars are from upper left: Peter Krauss, Heidi Brühl, Nina & Frederik, Sabine Sinjen, Caterina Valente, Frankie Avalon, Cliff Richard, Connie Froboess, The Blue Diamonds, Rocco Granata and Elvis Presley.

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.

Actor-artist Andrew Koenig's father, Walter, was part of a movement. As a member of the cast of the seminal 60s television series "Star Trek", Walter "Pavel Chekov" Koenig was part of a crew of explorers who had set aside their differences as they searched the universe for truth, knowledge and peace.

Tragically, Andrew Koenig's real-life search for the same things was not as successful. Late last month, the actor, known for his recurring role "Richard 'Boner' Stabone" in the sitcom "Growing Pains", was found dead in Vancouver, British Columbia. "My son took his own life," Andrew's father - with his wife and Andrew's mother Judith at his side - announced to the world.

Andrew was 41. He and I were just a few years apart in age, suffered from the same disease that is depression, have both caused tremendous pain to people who love us and have experienced tremendous pain ourselves. So the first thing I want you to see in the image I have posted (which shows you part of my support mechanism) is also represented in Walter's later words: If you need help, FIND AND GET HELP.

But that's not the end of the message. You see, that "movement" Walter joined didn't only exist on TV. It is OUR movement; it is something REAL. It even was Andrew's movement; and it is still a part of mine. Not everyone battles with a diagnosed mental illness each and every day. BUT WE ALL HAVE EXPERIENCED AND WILL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE PAIN.

The question becomes what are we, as part of the movement, going to do about it? Just when you think you've run out, can you find ONE MORE WAY to ease your pain? Just because you can do so - because maybe you feel you've been wronged - can you AVOID THE TEMPTATION TO INFLICT PAIN ON SOMEONE ELSE?

The answer, at least every time you visit THIS stream, to both questions is YES. There are people on and off Flickr whom I love who are in pain; there are others whose pain I don't even know about. I live my life fighting against the belief that I am an abject FAILURE.

But THIS is a different stream now. It is Andrew and Mo's Place. It's a place where the talk may be brisk, salty, funny, serious and even controversial - but where the people are always GOOD. Check your pains at the door, if only for a few seconds. Bring your thick skin to protect those raw nerves and feelings. And speak the language of love and human decency. Speak your mind without doing the unspeakable. Exercise your right to disagree without being disagreeable.

Today, right here in this tiny corner of the Internet, I am building a memorial to my blood brother Andrew Koenig. And if you still want to be a part of this stream after this long and scary rant - and I hope you do - I want you to join me. Not in making this a place where fake kindness, fake love are on display. Instead, I want you to join me in making this a stream where respect abounds, where differing people all indulge in common courtesy, where the chips on our shoulders are placed together to form bridges that unite us.

Make this a stream where PEACEFUL WATERS FLOW - and each of us can abide by our movement's credo (as illustrated in the hand gesture in my photo) to "Live Long And Prosper".

For Brother Andrew and my fellow brothers and sisters throughout the world.

Where Peaceful Waters Flow

as performed by Gladys Knight And The Pips

[Come and walk with me]

[We can go where peaceful waters flow]

If loneliness surrounds you

And rain clouds always hang around you

And wakin up each day gets you down [Gets you down, gets you down]

And if the life that youre leading

Seems hollow, then maybe what youre needing

Is someone to turn your world around

[Take my hand] Come take my hand and walk with me [And walk awhile]

[Let me teach you how to smile] Let me teach you how to smile

[And Ill show you skies ] And Ill show you skies where gentle breezes blow

[Where breezes, gentle breezes blow] Yeah, hey

And Ill take you where peaceful waters flow [Peaceful waters flow]

If you let me Ill take you where peaceful waters flow

[Come and walk with me] Mmm, hmm

[We can go where peaceful waters flow]

Now if the sunshine hurts your eyes, boy

Then its time for you to realize, boy

Beyond this moment theres

A better day [Better day], mmm, hmm [Better day]

And if you let me

Ill guide you, mmm

Ill always be there, right there beside you

Reaching every step of your way

[Come take my hand and walk] Come take my hand and walk with me awhile

[And walk awhile] Yeah, hey, hey

[Let me teach you how to smile ] Let me teach you how to smile

And Ill show you skies [Ill show you skies ] where gentle breezes blow

[Where breezes, gentle breezes blow] Hey, yeah, hey, hey, hey

And Ill take you where peaceful waters flow [Peaceful waters flow]

Hey, hey, if you trust me, Ill take you there where peaceful waters flow

[Come and walk with me] Mmm...hmm...

[We can go where peaceful waters flow]

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.

Edward Barkham 1633 , Lord Mayor of London, who bought the manor in 1621 lies in the north mortuary chapel he built before his death. He lies with wife Jane Crowche who died 16 Jun 1661, and some of his children on a monument completed c 1654

"My will and mynd is that my bodie shall bee buried within the chappell of the Church of Southacre in the Countie of Norfolk within the vault of the North side of the chancell there which I lately made for that purpose without any name pomp or great solemnitie onely with decency and upon buriall lying as shall seeme best to my Executors"

He was the son of Edward Barkham 1599 & Elizabeth daughter of Henry Rolfe of White Parish Wilts and Agnes Boteler

He was Lord Mayor of London in 1621/ 1622 & knighted in June 1623

He m Jane daughter of John Crowch / Crouch 1605 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/79QMcP of Cornbury & Layston Herts (a cloth merchant) & Joan 1583 heiress of John Scot & Elizabeth Pickard

Her elder sister Eiizabeth Flyer Freman is at Aspenden Herts www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/kA3uG8 widow of William Freman www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/6693KP

Children www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/166591 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/Uw5WFy www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/119GJs

1. Elizabeth 1593-1632 m 1611 Sir John Garrard, 1st Bart 1590-1637 of Dorney Bucks, (buried at Wheathampstead www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/mB6uvN ) son of Sir John Garrard, Mayor of London & Jane daughter of Richard Patrick / Partridge

2. Edward 1595-1667 m 1622 Frances daughter of Sir Thomas Berney of Park Hall in Reedham & Juliana daughter of Sir Thomas Gawdy of Redenhall & Frances Richers (died at Tottenham, buried here)

3. Susan 1596-.1622 m 1619 Robert Walpole 1593-1663 of Houghton son of Calibut Walpole & Elizabeth daughter of Edmund Bacon Esq and Elizabeth Cornwallis

4. John b/d 1597

5.Robert 1599-1661 m Mary daughter of Richard Wilcox

6 Jane 1602- 1661 <https://flic.kr/p/8gS5Zo www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw136315/Jane-... m 1626 (2nd wife ) Charles Caesar 1643 flic.kr/p/8gS5Zf of Benington Herts, Master of the Rolls; Son of Julius Caesar Adelmare 1636 & Dorcas Martin; Widower of Anne 1625 flic.kr/p/8gS5Z3 daughter of Peter Vanlore &Jacoba Teighbott / Thibault

7. Margaret 1602 - 1603

8. Margaret 1603-1640 m (3rd wife) Anthony Irby 1605-82 flic.kr/p/hjG5U9 son of Sir Anthony Irby 1610 of Irby Hall Whaplode & Elizabeth flic.kr/p/hjJpJr third daughter of Sir John Peyton 1616 www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/10740503164/ of Isleham by Alice daughter of Edward Osborne, Lord Mayor of London

9. John b1604

10. Thomas b/d 1606

11. Hugh d 1628

At the top are the arms of Barkham & Crouch between figures of victory and death with winged hourglasses

His Will

"In the name of god Amen

Edward Barkam of Southacre in the county of Norfolk yeoman being in p(er)fect minde & memory the xxnl (18) daye of ffebruary in the xly(?) year of the reaigne of our sovereigne Lady Elizabeth by the grace of god of England ffrance & Ireland Queene

First he committed his soule to god Allmighty and his body to the earth

Item he gave towards the rep(ar)ations(?) of the p(ar)ish church in Southacre XXs(20s)

Item he gave to the poore (there xx’s (20s) ) there Xs (10s)

Item he gave to the other poore people dwelling neere there abouts to be delt at his funerall XX’s(20s)

Item he gave to my^or^(4?) poore men that shall carry him to church my’s (4s)

Item he gave to the ringers at his funeral my’s (4s)

Item he gave to two of his mayde servannts dwelling with him at his decease XXs (20s)

Item he also gave to my men servannt my’s (4s)

Item he gave to Elizabeth Rolfe Xs (10s) & to Mrs Smith his daught’r being goddaught’s to the same Edward X’s (10s) of lawfull money of England

Item he gave to his grandchildren the some of xx1’lb (£21) of like mony to be paid evenly x’ted amongst them at their severall ages of xx1 (21) years

Item he gave to his sonne Barkam of London his children the some of my’lb (£4) to be x’ted equally amongst them at their severall ages of xx1 (21) year

The residue of his goods & chattells what soend he gave to his daughter Margaret Gallard(?)

Witness: Thomas Barkam, Robt Barkam"

- Church of St George, South Acre, Norfolk

Picture with thanks - copyright Evelyn Simak CCL www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1813331

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.