Justice for Renee Nicole Good

When an ICE agent shot and killed poet, musician, and mother of three Renee Nicole Good  aged  37 on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, widely available evidence suggests that this level of deadly violence was uncalled for. ICE agents are not immune to prosecution for illegal actions. The evidence we have seen is strong, and it demands immediate action.  

The agent who shot Renee had options. He was not in the path of her vehicle, the wheels of which were turned away from him, and which was moving very slowly. Agents were shouting at her conflicting commands: to stop, to go, to get out (of here, or out of the car?) when the third agent abruptly pulled out his gun and fired at least three shots in her face at point blank range.  The officer could have stepped back – which he did, enough to fire the second and third shots into the driver’s side window at a 90 degree angle as the car slowly passed by. He could have shot out the tires to slow the car further. He did not need to use his gun at all. But he did, and now a 37 year old woman is dead and her children have lost their mother.  

Renee Nicole Good was a  mother, partner, and community member in the Twin Cities.Officials and family describe her as a kind, loving person who was not the target of any law‑enforcement investigation. She was a U.S. citizen born in Colorado and appears to never have been charged with anything involving law enforcement beyond a traffic ticket. 

In social media accounts, Macklin Good described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom.” She said she was currently “experiencing Minneapolis,” displaying a pride flag emoji on her Instagram account. A profile picture posted to Pinterest shows her smiling and holding a young child against her cheek, along with posts about tattoos, hairstyles and home decorating.  

Her ex-husband, who asked not to be named out of concern for the safety of their children, said Macklin Good had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school Wednesday and was driving home with her current partner when they encountered a group of ICE agents on a snowy street in Minneapolis, where they had moved last year from Kansas City.  

Video taken by bystanders posted to social media shows an officer approaching her car, demanding she open the door and grabbing the handle. When she begins to pull forward, a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range.  

In another video taken after the shooting, a distraught woman is seen sitting near the vehicle, wailing, “That’s my wife, I don’t know what to do!”  Calls and messages to Macklin Good’s current partner received no response.  

Trump administration officials painted Macklin Good as a domestic terrorist who had attempted to ram federal agents with her car. President Trump compounded the false narrative, claiming Good had “violently, willfully, and viciously” run over the officer. That claim was false on its face. The officer remained standing throughout the encounter, and video clearly shows space between his outstretched gun and the car window at the moments he fired. 

Her ex-husband said she was no activist and that he had never known her to participate in a protest of any kind. He described her as a devoted Christian who took part in youth mission trips to Northern Ireland when she was younger. She loved to sing, participating in a chorus in high school and studying vocal performance in college.  

She studied creative writing at Old Dominion University in Virginia and won a prize in 2020 for one of her works, according to a post on the school’s English department Facebook page. She also hosted a podcast with her second husband, who died in 2023. 

Macklin Good had a daughter and her son from her first marriage, who are now ages 15 and 12. Her 6-year-old son was from her second marriage. Her ex-husband said she had primarily been a stay-at-home mom in recent years but had previously worked as a dental assistant and at a credit union.  Donna Ganger, her mother, said the family was notified of the death late Wednesday morning. Her mother,  called her “one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” describing her as loving, forgiving, and affectionate.​ Renee’s story deserves to be heard. 

Marvel Cinematic Universe star Simu Liu posted her shock and outrage on X:  “beyond appalled at the murderous actions of ICE agents in minneapolis. dont be manipulated by rhetoric; there is a video, and it clearly shows the murder of an unarmed woman driving away. AWAY. immigration laws can be enforced in a dignified way. fuck ICE forever.”  

The video evidence does not support the need for lethal violence. But restraint requires training, and it requires intent. It requires seeing policing as essentially being about the protection of human beings, not the subjugation of animals. But trained in a partisan ideology that defines fellow citizens with differing views as “vermin,” ICE agents across the country are getting the message that they will be rewarded for using maximum violence.   

Sex in the City star Cynthia Nixon expresses her view clearly:  "Arrest that ICE agent and charge him with murder!!!"  

As does Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria:  "This is murder!... Arrest the shooter."  

The ICE agents’ criminal behavior went beyond the shooting itself. Immediately afterward, video shows ICE agents blocking a bystander who identified himself as a doctor from providing emergency aid as she lay dying. For more than 30 seconds, the agents prevented any medical assistance from being rendered, raising additional, serious questions about their conduct.  

Poor Things actor Mark Ruffalo:  “The beige brigades now roaming the streets like packs of coyotes… hide their faces for shame or fear of justice and stamp their boots… It will come back on you as well one day. You are pointing your guns in the wrong direction.”  

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, only a few blocks away from this scene, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison successfully prosecuted the officers who kneeled on Floyd’s neck as he told them he couldn’t breathe. Now, Ellison has announced an investigation into Renee’s killing as well – even as DHS Secretary Kristi Noem insists only Trump’s FBI will investigate.  

In homicide cases every day, suspects are arrested based on probable cause, the legal standard for arrest, which exists when facts and circumstances would lead a "reasonable person" to believe a crime has been committed, and that the suspect committed it. However much they may share his hubris, ICE agents do not share in Trump’s immunity.    

Singer and actress Reneé Rapp doesn’t mince her words:  “Fuck ICE fuck this administration fuck all of yall who are complicit in ensuring that this happened this is a fucking disgrace.”  

What Americans saw happen in Minneapolis is stunning. An ICE agent killed an unarmed 37-year-old US citizen , Renee Nicole Good , for no reason. Then, Donald Trump and Kristi Noem told us not to believe our own eyes.

Her  death has fueled protests nationwide and drawn criticism from civil rights groups and elected officials. A candlelight vigil for Renee Nicole Good outside the Abraham Ribicoff Federal Building in Hartford drew hundreds Thursday night calling for accountability and changes to federal immigration enforcement .The gathering was briefly disrupted by a confrontation behind the courthouse in which several protesters were pepper sprayed.

In Hartford, advocates, clergy, labor leaders and community members said Good’s death reflected what they described as a broader pattern of aggressive federal immigration enforcement. 

 “Her citizenship status does not tie to her life’s value, but serves as a symbol that no one is safe,” said Lynn, who was identified by her first name only and is an organizer with Hartford Deportation Defense. “This is an immediate and urgent call to action.”  Lynn said that since January 2025 there have been more than 30 deaths in ICE custody nationwide, including multiple shootings by immigration agents.  “There is no choice but to organize, educate and learn how to protect each other,” she said.  About 30 minutes into the vigil, organizers reported a disturbance behind the courthouse along South Prospect Street. Witnesses said vehicles leaving the building’s parking garage moved into a group gathered near the rear of the courthouse.  

According to accounts from those behind the courthouse, a gray sedan passed through the area, followed by a white van with New Hampshire license plates. A protester threw an object at the van, breaking a rear window, after which the vehicle stopped, and briefly reversed before continuing north on Prospect Street.  

The incident occurred at the back of the building, while speakers and most attendees remained at the front of the courthouse. Event marshals assigned to the vigil moved to assess the situation and relayed information to organizers, who paused the program briefly and urged the crowd to remain calm.  

“That’s not the approach we came here for tonight,” an organizer told the crowd over the public-address system. “We need to be in a place where we can use mass numbers to keep people safe.”

After several minutes, the program resumed.  A Hartford police official said the vehicles were driven by agents with either ICE or Federal Protective Services, a law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The official said the person who was knocked down declined medical treatment and that no arrests were made.  

As the vigil continued, speakers returned to calls for sustained organizing rather than a one-time protest. Other speakers connected immigration enforcement, surveillance and what they described as broader systems of state violence, while urging coordination and restraint at local actions.  

State lawmakers also criticized the killing. In a statement, Senate President Martin Looney, D- New Haven, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, and members of the Senate Democratic caucus condemned the killing and blamed the Trump administration’s immigration policies for escalating violence nationwide. The senators said they would explore ways to hold federal authorities accountable at the state level when the legislative session begins.  

In a post on X, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT wrote: “Renee Nicole Good was not obstructing ICE agents — she was not even a protestor. And yet, she is gone because of an excessive use of violence by ICE. Masked, armed ICE agents do not belong in our communities. Kristi Noem must be fired & ICE must leave our cities. The person who committed this crime must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”  The Hartford vigil was one of several demonstrations held across Connecticut in response to Good’s killing. Organizers said additional actions are planned and emphasized that Thursday’s gathering was intended as the beginning of longer-term organizing rather than an endpoint.  

The vigil was organized by a coalition that included the Connecticut Civil Liberties Defense Committee, the ACLU of Connecticut and Indivisible CT.  Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam released a statement late Thursday about both the shooting and the incident involving ICE vehicles at the rally.  “What happened at tonight’s vigil in Hartford is the direct result of the lawlessness and recklessness cultivated by the Trump administration over the past year, which culminated in the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis this week,” Arulampalam said. “It is imperative that anyone protesting do so peacefully and safely. We cannot give this administration the chaos it craves. But let no one mistake the cause of tonight’s conflict: federal agents have acted with impunity and a clear intent to antagonize local communities across our country. When you govern by brutality, you incite unrest.”  

He said he directed Hartford police to investigate the vehicle strike “as we would any incident where a driver strikes a pedestrian,” adding that his administration would work with police and have more information to share as it becomes available.  “Unlike the Trump administration, we believe in laws, facts, and due process,” Arulampalam said.

Protesters rally against ICE in Hartford for the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.

Renee Good should still be here. She had inherent value and infinite worth. She was murdered by her own government in broad daylight in what is supposed to be the greatest democracy on the planet.

It is time for the Minnesota legal system to intervene. If prosecutorial action is delayed, it can only be seen as a green light for further escalation by ICE agents, who are already heavily militarized in civilian neighborhoods.  

We must demand justice for Renee Nicole Good and  her family and an end to ICE’s reign of terror. The video evidence confirms this was a cold-blooded murder, and any claim that the ICE killer was acting in self-defense is an outrageous lie. 

The ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis is the latest in a string of deaths related to ICE raids, traffic stops, and detention facilities. Last year 32 people died in ICE custody―the most in more than two decades. Border Patrol agents have also shot, wounded, and killed civilians during Trump’s mass deportation raids.

The Minneapolis ICE agent responsible for the murder of Renee Nicole Good has been identified as Jonathan Ross. local authorities must press charges against Jonathan Ross immediately! It’s about justice for Renee Nicole Good, and it’s about drawing a line in the sand to prevent the next injustice. No one should live in fear due to the harms of unchecked power of state brutality. 

Justice means consequences. Renee Nicole Good was killed by ICE and those responsible must be held accountable: investigated, prosecuted and punished under the law. No cover‑ups. No excuses. No immunity for state violence. SAY HER NAME. Renee Nicole Good deserved to live. a family lost a mother, a son without a mom, a daughter without a mom. Justice for Renee!

Signage at a protest in Hartford on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, against ICE for the killing of Renee Nicole Good 

Remembering Roger Keith Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006)

 

Remembering   the  legendary Pink Floyd co-founder and early frontman / principal songwriter Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett on his heavenly  80th birthday, his music had  a  huge  impact  on me .A poster  of  him  hangs  in my  hallway. An unquestionably brilliant musician and  artist. 

"Syd" was  born 6 January 1946 in Cambridge, England. He acquired the nickname "Syd" at the age of fifteen, a reference to an old local Cambridge drummer, Sid Barrett. Syd changed the spelling in order to differentiate himself from his namesake. 

Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd underwent various line-up and name changes such as "The Abdabs", "The Screaming Abdabs", "Sigma 6", and "The Meggadeaths". 

In 1965, Barrett joined them as The Tea Set (sometimes spelled T-Set), and when they found themselves playing a concert with a band of the same name, Barrett came up with the name "The Pink Floyd Sound" (also known as "The Pink Floyd Blues Band", later "The Pink Floyd"), possibly after two obscure bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. 

Sadly, Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their wonderfil debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets, and several unreleased songs. 

Syd Barrett’s life came to be defined by withdrawal – a gradual slipping away from music, fame, and the self he once inhabited. By the late 1960s, heavy LSD use and an underlying mental fragility led to erratic behaviour, vacant absences, and moments where reality seemed to lose its coherence. 

He  nevertheless  recorded two charming  albums, The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett. They sold poorly at the time, though a devoted cult of believers has tended to his flame all the way to  this  day.)They  are  shamefully often overlooked by critics more concerned by the legend of Barrett’s drug-induced psychosis.

During the  period of  his  solo  records  Syd lived quietly in his sparsely-furnished London flat among his stereo equipment, piles of paintings and a heap of battered LPs. He took things easily, composing, writing and painting as inspiration came, and making some plans for the future.

In 1972, Syd formed a short-lived band called Stars with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass. Though the band was initially well-received, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge proved to be disastrous and Barrett decided to leave soon afterwards.

Syd had one noted reunion with Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here. Syd  attended the Abbey Road session unannounced and watched the band record Shine On You Crazy Diamond - coincidentally, a song about him. 

 In 1988, EMI Records released an album of Barrett's studio outtakes and previously unreleased material recorded from 1968 to 1970 under the title Opel. In 1993 it issued another release, Crazy Diamond, a box set of all three albums, each loaded with further out-takes from his solo sessions that illustrated vividly Barrett's inability or refusal to play a song the same way twice.   

His  tracks like "Astronomy Domine", "Bike", and "See Emily Play" carried a playful surface but hinted at something deeper and more fragile underneath. His lyrics bent language into new shapes while his guitar work refused to follow rules. It was experimental without trying to be clever. It was honest because it came straight from wherever his thoughts happened to be travelling that day.His guitar work shimmered with invention, bending noise, melody, and texture into something no one had heard before.

Syd Barrett is remembered not for what he lost but for what he gave. 

Syd  in  his  later  years  reverted to using his original name Roger, continued to live in his late mother’s semi-detached home, and had returned to painting, creating large abstract canvases. He was also said to have been an avid gardener. His main point of contact with the outside world was his sister, Rosemary, who lived nearby. He was reclusive,and strictly guarded his privacy until his death  while  his physical health declined, as he suffered from stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes. Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006, aged 60, from pancreatic cancer.  

His death was reported five days later. He was cremated at a funeral at Cambridge Crematorium on 18 July 2006; no Pink Floyd members attended. Dave  Gilmour said: "Do find time to play some of Syd's songs and to remember him as the madcap genius who made us all smile with his wonderfully eccentric songs about bikes, gnomes, and scarecrows. His career was painfully short, yet he touched more people than he could ever know."

NME produced a tribute issue to Barrett a week later with a photo of him on the cover. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Barrett's sister, Rosemary Breen, said that he had written an unpublished book about the history of art.

 A tribute concert, "Madcap's Last Laugh",was held at the Barbican Centre, London, on 10 May 2007 with Barrett's bandmates and Robyn Hitchcock, Captain Sensible, Damon Albarn, Chrissie Hynde and Kevin Ayers. Gilmour, Wright and Mason performed the Barrett compositions "Bike" and "Arnold Layne", and Waters performed a solo version of his song "Flickering Flame".

 In 2006, Barrett's home in St. Margaret's Square, Cambridge, was put on the market and attracted considerable interest.After over 100 showings, many to fans, it was sold to a French couple who knew nothing about Barrett. On 28 November 2006, Barrett's other possessions were sold at an auction at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, raising £120,000 for charity. Items sold included paintings, scrapbooks and everyday items that Barrett had decorated.

This fragile genius  didn’t just help invent British psychedelia – he embodied its most poetic possibilities. He reminded us that in music imagination matters, vulnerability can be powerful, and that sometimes the most lasting art comes from those who burn brightly with utter brilliance even if only for a moment.  

His legacy in psychedelic music will  live on forever.  His short but influential career left an indelible mark on music history, inspiring countless artists and shaping the direction of Pink Floyd's later, highly successful work  who showed wonder through his music, influential with and without Pink Floyd. A poetic soul, fearless creativity, and timeless influence.  "Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky."  Shine on you crazy diamond

In his honor, check out the mini-doc Understanding Syd Barrett as well as a  rather  fine  bootleg  of  some  of  his  amazing  songs.

 

'I don't think I'm easy to talk about. I've got a very irregular head. And I'm not anything that you think I am anyway. ' - Syd Barrett  

Understanding Syd Barrett

Syd Barrett - Melk Weg {Full album playback}

Desiderata - Max Ehrmann ( 26/9/1872 –9/9/45)

 

Bought a  wonderful LP of  Richard Burton  earlier today reading some poems  that held a special significance to him , that  has the following poem Desiderata" (Latin: 'things desired')  written  in 1927  by the American writer Max Ehrmann on it.

I know how dark it is currently. The ongoing conflicts in various countries obviously comes to mind.The poem Desiderata  however still resonates down the ages and reminds us to be kind , respectful, accepting, honest and never to  give up hope. 

It is a simple little poem, with a simple little message. But sometimes simple, little messages are the most important ones.A poem that highlights the significance of preserving inner tranquility despite the world's turmoil and the desperate  times  we live  in.

Desiderata -   Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Desiderata  read by Richard Burton

Feed Palestine

 

While we keep  warm in our homes and food keeping us alive, spare a thought for the  people in Gaza.  They  need  proper, balanced, nutritious meals made with fresh food, not hyper-processed, tinned food. While food staples are accessible in Gaza right now, fresh produce remains too expensive for most families. If you can spare some change …  please  help them. People in Gaza are living in freezing, flooded tents. Contributions are falling. 

Support is so desperately needed for the folks in Gaza living through the absolute worst of conditions. The situation is catastrophic. Happening at  a time  when Israel shamefully on new years day ordered 37 NGOs to cease aid operations in Gaza and West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The restrictions are totally unacceptable barriers to life-saving relief amid Gaza's ongoing crisis. 

Aid deliberately being used as a weapon is truly evil shit. Israel's blocking of foreign aid agencies is aimed very straightforwardly at facilitating genocide. Cutting off food, blocking aid, and punishing an entire population is collective punishment in its most brutal form.

1.6 million people in Gaza face extreme hunger and critical malnutrition risks. Sufficient food is not allowed to enter. UN agencies and NGOs reiterate that humanitarian access is not optional, conditional or political. It's a legal obligation under international humanitarian law, particularly in Gaza where Israel has failed to ensure the population is adequately supplied. 

International humanitarian organizations operating in the occupied Palestinian territory warn that Israel’s recent  measures threaten to halt operations at a time when civilians face acute and widespread humanitarian need, despite the ceasefire in Gaza.

Remember that most Palestinians are homeless and are freezing! Children and families are surviving on unsafe water and little food as malnutrition spreads. No one should be expected to live under these conditions.

The following  links are  a good way of  helping  the  people  there,  though  there  are ways  of  giving  directly. Their future depends on our continuous support. Amid hardship, your support helps deliver food packs, dignity, and hope to those in need. Donate now. Keep feeding Palestine. And make sure there not  forgotten. It can  make a huge difference in the lives of those worn down by hardship.   - 

http://muslimaid.org/palestine-emergency

https://www.dec.org.uk/      

https://www.map.org.uk/

 And If the British Government really cared about Gaza - and the occupied West Bank - then it would stop arming Israel; impose sanctions; back the ICC's arrest warrant for Israeli war criminals, including Benjamin Netanyahu; expel the Israeli Ambassador and close the Israeli embassy.

Could you  please write to the Foreign Secretary to demand that the government imposes sanctions on Israel, including a full arms embargo, in response to Israel's ban on 37 aid organisations from operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory:

https://palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/aidorgsban?fbclid=IwY2xjawPFNX5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeU6tCtPGpQtx4vMpYIq2Gltk9fKrdh696YJmQOZzig0is7SUxxgQ5332ThKI_aem_RD0tP3KgcNcy3BWpMG-1xg

Phone blockade for Teuta Hoxha's demands

Teuta Hoxha (29)  a Palestine Action  activist is  one  of the  anti genocide campaigners currently on hunger strike.One of the Filton 24 detained indefinitely under the UK's "Terrorism Act" imprisoned without trial since November 24. She  is alleged to have participated in the heroic dismantling of an Elbit Systems weapons factory, causing €1 million in damages.

She  hasn't even been convicted of an offence and yet is being treated worse than any dangerous criminal. Her only crime is standing with Palestine.

She has now  reached day 55 of her protest, with reports stating she can barely stand without blacking out and is experiencing severe cognitive difficulties.struggling to stand up without blacking out, and extremely fatigued.

Join  all-day phone blockade today (Friday 2nd January) to demand that Peterborough engages with T Hoxha to agree on her individual demands. Call HMP Peterborough on 01733 217500 and use the following script: 

Hi, I am calling regarding Teuta Hoxha who is currently being held on remand at this prison. She is on her ninth week of hunger strike and is in critical condition. I am demanding that:  

1.`Her and her codefendants are granted a meeting with Pete Wiggans (Jexu Officer) to remove non-association orders and ban on activities and jobs. 

2.The governor, Ralph Lubkowski, writes to David Lammy to ask him to meet with the hunger strikers' lawyers and recommend her for bail for her health. 

Ask for your call to be logged and insist on speaking with a manager or team leader as only they will have  authority in the matter. The prison must engage to ensure her safety. We must remind them that they are responsible for the lives of the hunger strikers.

Health updates of  the other hunger strikers

Heba Muraisi 31, Day 61  – has dangerously low thiamine levels, expressed an inability to formulate sentences as easily, has difficulty sleeping on her side as it hurts her face too much due to fragility. 

In October 2025, Heba was transferred to HMP New Hall having already spent almost a year on remand at HMP Bronzefield. 

The prison is hundreds of miles away from her family, friends and community in Brent, London. She has been left feeling isolated as the journey is too far for her family. 

Her mum, unable to travel the 178 miles from London to Wakefield due to health conditions, hasn’t seen her daughter in over four months. HMP Bronzefield is 17 miles away from Brent in comparison.

Kamran Ahmed 28 , Day 54 – suffering from intermittent hearing loss, experiencing dizzy spells when he stands up, has regular dips in his heart rate. 

Lewie Chiaramello 22,  Day 40  –  who  has  1 diabetes   is experiencing dips in his blood sugar and in energy.

Each one of them is accused of destroying the tools and weapons used to massacre the Palestinian people.

Medical experts and historical data from the 1981 Irish hunger strike indicate that the 60-day mark is a critical threshold where the risk of sudden death becomes imminent.

At this advanced stage of starvation, the body has typically depleted all fat reserves and is actively consuming its own vital organ and muscle tissue for energy.  

The heart muscle itself begins to break down, leading to a slow heart rate (bradycardia), heart arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac failure.  

By day 60, damage to the brain, liver, and kidneys is often permanent, even if the person resumes eating.  Strikers may experience "progressive confusion," loss of hearing or sight, and an inability to maintain speech or consciousness.

For context, this is an open-ended hunger strike, and the Northern Irish strikers – including Bobby  Sands – died after between 46 and 73 days on hunger strike. Most of the strikers have already been hospitalised; https://prisonersforpalestine.org/ an organisation representing all those detained under charges related to Palestinian liberation,  reports that some of the strikers are unable to stand. If the strikers’ demands are not met, some of the strikers seriously risk not seeing 2026. 

UN experts have expressed grave concern for the lives and fundamental rights of pro-Palestinian activists imprisoned in the United Kingdom, who have been on indefinite hunger strike since 2 November.  

Hunger strike is often a measure of last resort by people who believe that their rights to protest and effective remedy have been exhausted,” the experts said.  Read the full statement here https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/12/un-experts-urge-uk-protect-lives-and-rights-pro-palestinian-detainees-hunger?link_id=1&can_id=dc3a87c4b00455c28953a76b1b992301&source=email-kamran-ahmed-hospitalised-his-whereabouts-undisclosed-2&email_referrer=email_3037740&email_subject=free-them-all-in-2026&&

The reality of increasing political repression in Britain - led by the despicable Labour Party - has been brought into the stark light of day by the Palestine Action hunger strikers.    

In protest at having been locked up for over a year ‘awaiting trials’ that will not take place until at least June (when the average wait is 6 months), 8 of the 24 people arrested on charges of having been involved in sabotage of military facilities under the aegis of Palestine Action, put themselves on hunger strike with a view to gaining publicity  for the injustice of their plight, and  for the Palestinian cause. 

These  brave young people are being held unjustly and in ridiculous conditions – and they have taken the ultimate decision to express their views and most particularly on what’s happening to people in Palestine. We must demand that the courageous hunger strikers with Palestine Action be released from jail on bail, and that we repeal the acts and laws that criminalize dissidence. 

Provide bail for Palestinian hunger strikers - Sign the Petition! 

https://www.change.org/p/provide-bail-for-palestinian-hunger-strikers?recruiter=209936721&recruited_by_id=b62d1990-99ca-11e4-b2a0-916650828d0c&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_promote_or_share&utm_term=psf&utm_medium=twitter

For the latest updates, instructions, and set of demands, go to instagram.com/prisoners4palestine and x.com/Workshops4Gaza.

The Ancient Custom of Calennig

 

1st/ 13th January marks the tradition of the Calennig across  parts of Wales and  the Marches  to  celebrate and welcome in  the New Year. This  ancient custom of Calennig can trace it roots back to the middle ages and though still active in some areas of Wales today the custom has sadly almost died out.

Calennig is a Welsh word meaning "New Year celebration/gift", although it literally translates to "the first day of the month", deriving from the Latin word kalends. The English word "calendar" also has its root in this word.  And yet ‘calennig’ in Welsh, rather than denoting New Year’s Day itself, or the custom associated with it, instead points to the fruit at its heart.

'Old New Year', Hen Galan, is traditionally celebrated on January 13th, Cwm Gwaun, a Welsh villages near Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, still celebrates Hen Galan. The tradition dates back to 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted.according to the Julian Calendar.Traditionally this day was more important than Christmas with a large meal of goose and plum pudding.

Although we associate Christmas Day as the traditional day for gifts, New Year’s Day was also often associated with gift giving. This was more often associated with the idea of First footing . Across Britain, the practise of ‘first-footing’, passing between neighbours with a new year greeting, was common practice – and superstitions held that the person you saw first on January 1st (or the 13th in the Gwaun valley) – carried a portent for the remainder of the year. It still  survives albeit in a weakened form across England.

The practice of gift-giving during the Calennig celebrations is believed to have similarities with ancient Roman customs at the “kalends.”  While Rome celebrated the first day of each month, the Welsh adapted this to focus on New Year’s Day, fostering a unique cultural tradition.  

Calennig (New Year gift) was a popular New Year’s custom that brought joy and togetherness to communities in Wales.Calennig embodied the cultural essence of community and goodwill by promoting the exchange of well-wishes and small gifts to commence the New Year positively. This tradition underscored the value of social bonds and helped preserve Welsh cultural heritage.  

In some parts of Wales, traditionally groups of children (usually boys) would set about the village from dawn until dusk on the first of January and would come to  their neighbours doors singing rhymes and wishing the occupants a healthy and prosperous new year .in exchange for bread and cheese, sweets or money, while carrying a skewered apple/ Perllan  pierced with three sticks and adorned with a sprig of box and hazelnuts, and represents the festive gift.

In his book Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (2001), Ronald Hutton describes ‘an apple or an orange, resting on three sticks like a tripod, smeared with flour, stuck with nuts, oats or wheat, topped with thyme or another fragrant herb, and held by a skewer.’

These peculiar-looking items were seen as emblems of good luck; they were also often put in windows of houses, or given as good luck presents, as a consequence.Some would also carry jugs of water, used to splash householders in a ritual that in common with so many new year traditions across the world with  the intention to bring good luck to recipients.  

Every village had its own version of verses and melodies, full of local flavour and improvisation. It required no organisation beyond the shared understanding that doors would open and voices were heard. Calennig depended on community, proximity and familiarity.

While the specific origins are hard to pin down, the practice has been documented in Welsh literature and passed down through generations, maintaining its charm and importance in Welsh culture.

Newport writer and teacher Fred Hando, in his book The Pleasant Land of Gwent, 1944  Hando quoted his friend, the author and mystic, Arthur Machen, who was then in his final years, recalling the Calenning tradition as it played out in his Caerleon boyhood in the 1860s and 1870s.  ‘The town children got the biggest and bravest and gayest apple they could find in the loft,’ Machen recalled. ‘They put bits of gold leaf upon it. They stuck raisins into it. They inserted into the apple little sprigs of box, and they delicately slit the ends of hazelnuts, and so worked that the nuts appeared to grow from the ends of the holly leaves.’

As well as noting that the Calennig would then be ‘borne from house to house’ where ‘children got cakes and sweets’, he also says ‘these were wild days [with] small cups of ale’.  

The decline of the tradition is as scantily documented as its rise, with one notable piece of evidence featuring in an archive of documents collected by a local historian of Ceredigion, the late Donald Davies. In Those Were The Days (1936) it is noted that: ‘Lately the carrying of an apple has been discontinued and only the recitation of brief verses or greetings and the collection of new pennies mark the custom in those districts where it has survived.’  

Nevertheless following World War II, there was a renewed interest in Welsh folklore, including the Calennig tradition, leading to its documentation and the reinvigoration of New Year customs in rural communities.  

A blend of holiday cheer and ancient blessings. Calennig is the children’s version of the scary but friendly Y Fari Lwyd (Grey Mare) a hobby-horse with a horse’s skull decorated with ribbons,where  in some parts of Wales makes visits to homes around New Year. The Mari and its attendants traditionally engage in pwnco, a ritualized exchange of rhymes and challenges with the householders, before being granted entry. https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-tradition-of-mari-llwyd-y-fari-lwyd.html 

These traditions not only connect the present with the past but also contribute to the vibrant  tapestry of Wales’ cultural heritage. I find  it rather sad that traditions  like  this are  fading,  the  sign  of  our  times I  guess. Anyway Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! ❤️ Happy New Year ❤

 

This is Calennig, the song Welsh children sing to their neighbours’ doors on the first of January to bring luck and happiness . It  translates as :  

 

A Happy New Year to you 

And to everyone in the house 

This is my wish 

a Happy New Year to you  

Artist: Lizzie Spikes

Remembering the legendary Australian journalist filmmaker John Pilger (9 October 1939 – 30 December 2023)

The legendaryAustralian journalist filmmaker and relentless critic of Western foreign policy John Pilger  died two years  ago  on 30 December 2023 at age 84 from pulmonary fibrosis.  He was so brave and focussed his life on telling the world what many, particularly British journalists have failed at. He told the truth.  

Pilger was a   relentless critic of American, Australian, and British foreign policy, which he considered to be driven by an imperialist and colonialist agenda. He  also criticised his native country's treatment of Indigenous Australians. He first drew international attention for his reports on the Cambodian genocide.

I thank him for shining a light on  so many  injustices in the world. He helped shape my outlook on the world with his reporting and documentaries. From Palestine to Iraq, Australia and the Chagos Islands, I also had the privilege of meeting  him . 

He did what journalists should do - question and expose. A man of true integrity with an  immense legacy. His journalism changed the world, he called out the charlatans and functionaries. He  remains a moral beacon whose light  shines on. He will be remembered as one of the most important journalists of our time,  whose journalism and films took on power, uncovered hidden agendas and gave voice to the voiceless.

His writing and presentational style mark him out as a man who was interested in bringing stories of oppression and criminality committed by the ruling class to the attention of the masses. He interviewed without fear or favour and travelled everywhere in pursuit of stories. An outstanding seeker and contributor who made it his life's work to share some of the most difficult truths.

Pilger remained a tireless advocate for those affected by US criminality in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Unlike most journalists who are little more than self serving propagandists he remained committed to the people in the stories he covered over many years. 

John Pilger, who was among the most important journalistic voices in the West on the Palestinian question, died in the midst of Israel’s genocide against Gaza, his profound warnings having been ignored about where the crisis was headed. Always on the right side of history. Sorely missed.  A truly great man.

Let's not  forget  he was covertly monitored by a secret British propaganda unit as the UK government wanted to discredit his journalistic work.

The following quote was part of his final published piece before his death in December 2023.The full article is titled "We Are Spartacus". In the article, Pilger uses the famous scene from the 1960 film Spartacus as a metaphor for modern resistance and solidarity with those who expose injustice or stand up to powerful forces. 

 “Spartacus was the rebellious leader of Rome’s slaves in 71-73 BC. There is a thrilling moment in the Kirk Douglas movie Spartacus when the Romans call on Spartacus’s men to identify their leader and so be pardoned. Instead hundreds of his comrades stand and raise their fists in solidarity and shout, ‘I am Spartacus!’ The rebellion is under way. Julian and David are Spartacus. The Palestinians are Spartacus. People who fill the streets with flags and principle and solidarity are Spartacus. We are all Spartacus if we want to be”.

 The "Julian and David" mentioned in the quote refer to: Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who has faced legal battles and potential extradition to the US for publishing classified information. David McBride, an Australian military whistleblower who was prosecuted for leaking confidential documents about alleged war crimes committed by Australian troops in Afghanistan.  

Pilger used the metaphor to argue that showing solidarity with such individuals and with groups like the Palestinians, who he viewed as resisting oppression, is a shared responsibility for all who value freedom and decency. 

Let's keep fighting for social justice, a profoundly different future, where the human rights of all will be fully realized, a future of life and of decent lives for all. Highlighting injustices done to those fleeing persecution and war and those living in the UK who are denied means to protect their health.The victims of war deserve our solidarity and support, whoever they are, and wherever they happen to be.  

To honor John Pilger  here's a thread of clips from his 2010 documentary, The War You Don't See, about media's role in selling war. 

 and here is  his  entire film Palestine Is Still the Issue and the  discussion that followed between Pilger and the great Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, in 2021.

Ireland’s ‘University of Revolution’ in Wales: Fron-goch Internment Camp

The 23rd December  marked the anniversary of the release of hundreds of Irish prisoners from Frongoch internment camp in Bala, Merionethshire, North Wales, in 1916 having been incarcerated there following the Easter Rising the previous April. Few people are aware of the significance of the Frongoch Irish Prisoners, and their place in the future politics of Ireland and Great Britain. 

Before the First World War, the Irish were promised Home Rule after many decades of determined campaigning. ‘Home Rule’ was a form of devolution and fell far short of independence but mainstream Irish nationalists accepted it. Under Home Rule Ireland would have its own parliament but remain a part of the United Kingdom. Mainstream nationalists backed the war effort after 1914 to demonstrate that they could behave responsibly when eventually they were given self-government. Hundreds of thousands of Irishmen volunteered to fight in the British army and many died. 

But the events of Easter week in 1916 changed the relationship between the majority of the Irish and Britain.  An armed rebellion was organised by a small revolutionary organisation called the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood.

The Easter Rising was launched  in Dublin on Easter Monday April 24 1916 https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2018/04/easter-rising-chronology-of-rebellion.html that ultimately sought the freedom of the Irish republic ( though minus the six counties.) when revolutionary socialists and nationalists attempted to to spark a general uprising across Ireland against British  imperialism , beginning a process that would eventually lead to the Proclamation on behalf of the Provisional Government, proclaiming the whole of Ireland as a Sovereign Independent Republic.  

The background to the rebellion was the centuries of national oppression suffered and felt by Irish people by under British.domination and rule, and the intensification of the national question around the issue of home rule ( limited self-governmet for Ireland within the United Kingdom )

In the lead-up to the Rising, the different groups involved in the nationalist cause were highly disparate both in their social make-up and political perspectives. However, the shared experience of internment forged a strong sense of collective identity and radicalised even those who had been only peripherally involved in the conflict. 

The superior British forces in Ireland crushed the rebellion after six days of fighting and  in the aftermath  of the Easter Rising. the British authorities rounded up anyone suspected of taking part in the insurrection and executed 15 of the leaders of the rising, including Patrick Pearse and James Connolly. https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/05/james-connolly-working-class-hero.html

In the aftermath of the 1916 rising, roughly 2,000 Irish prisoners had been imprisoned in various Gaols and internment camps in Britain. Frongoch  internment camp was originally used during the early stages of the First World War to house German prisoners in this abandoned  whiskey distillery and the  prisoners were  contained in makeshift huts. 

In the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, the German prisoners were moved and it was used for the internment of 1,800  untried Irishmen  suspected of taking part in the Easter Rising.The Irish prisoners arrived in Frongoch on June 9th, 1916. Initially 1,836 Irishmen were sent to the camp at Frongoch, but some were released because they had been wrongly arrested and the number of detainees fell to five or six hundred. It was chosen because escape was all but impossible, with the nearest large town 20 miles away. 

Frongoch has a unique place in the history of these islands but was largely overlooked until recently. Names such as Long Kesh, Magilligan, Maghaberry,  Portlaoise, The Curragh and many others possess a resonance that has  inspired  many in the courage, determination and the triumphant human spirit shown by generations of prisoners during years of struggle. The very first such location was Frongoch.

Famously dubbed the  ollscoil na réabhlóide, the University of Revolution, the internment camp at Frongoch was the location where the IRA was formed and where significant figures in the subsequent War of Independence, notably Michael Collins,trained internees in the tactics of guerrilla warfare and.became a fertile training ground for organising against the British rule of Ireland. 

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2024/08/marking-rhe-anniversary-of-death-of.html 

Alongside Michael Collins,among the prisoners were key figures in the Irish revolutionary period, including Richard Mulcahy, WT Cosgrave, Arthur Griffith who founded and later led the political party Sinn Féin, Sean T O'Kelly, Dick Mulcahy, Terence McSwiney  and Tomas Mccurtain. as well as Volunteers from all over Ireland who had been party to the rebellion or preparations for revolt in their own counties. They were accorded the status of prisoners of war. 

The internees were not supposed to have prisoner of war status but they were very much organised on military lines. Discipline was strict and loyalty almost absolute. This was very much brought out when their captors were trying to isolate those internees who had previously lived in England with a view to conscripting them into the British Army. The internees refused absolutely to cooperate, to the point of refusing to identify themselves to their captors.

There were two camps, the South Camp and the North Camp. The South Camp was based in the old buildings of the former whisky distillery while the North Camp was higher up in the direction of Capel Celyn. Conditions at Frongoch were appalling, even by the standards of the day. The editor of the Cork Free Press, Frank Gallagher, was one of the first journalists to accuse the authorities of lying about the conditions in the camp buildings were bitterly cold and infestated with rats.Some of the Irish prisoners named the two camps “Purgatory” and “Siberia”.  

Wire fences enclosed the  two, and up to 400 guards were stationed there at any one time to prevent escape, which was very unlikely. Conditions were basic. Roll-call was at 5.30 am, lights out at 9.30 pm. Men lived, ate and slept in huts, always in close proximity to one another. There was space to walk and take exercise, but little to no privacy, and the weather was usually cold.  

It is difficult to read about the misery endured by the Irish prisoners in Frongoch, despite the abundance of water, conditions were unsanitary. Food quality was very poor, mainly frugal meals of bully beef, black bread and potatoes. The severe conditions were reflected in cases of scurvy, Sciatica, tuberculosis, a flu outbreak, and severe mental illness. To stave off ‘barbed-wire disease’, many turned to art.

Watercolour by Cathal MacDowell of a Frongoch South Camp dormitory

The camp medical doctors, local Welshmen Dr. David Peters and his nephew, Dr. R.J. Roberts, were caught between following camp rules and restrictions, and their duty to care for their patients. Dr. David Peters broke under the strain and drowned himself in a nearby river, leading to questions in the House of Commons

Aside from the roll-call’s, meals and a morning mass, the prisoners were largely left to their own devices by the guards for the remaining time, and it is in this that the legend of Frongoch was born. It took only a few days for the prisoners to elect a committee whose task it was to “run” the camp internally; very quickly, such government became dominated by militant nationalists, who would turn Frongoch into a “university of revolution”. 

It must be remembered that only a certain proportion of the Frongoch internees were committed nationalists, but the opportunity for what we would describe today as “radicalisation” was obvious, given the perceived injustice of their incarceration. Those members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Irish Volunteers who were in Frongoch leapt at the opportunity to use the place as a recruiting ground for the cause. And  the camp proved an excellent opportunity for networking and training for the republicans. Up until then they had been in small clandestine groups across Ireland. 

By concentrating the cream of the Irish Volunteers in Fron-goch the British had inadvertently advanced the cause of Irish republicanism. Men from Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht, who under normal circumstances would never have met in Ireland, were gathered in Wales, where they exchanged ideas and worked out the blueprint for revolution. The camp provided an ideal opportunity for them men to discuss their plans and hopes for a united Ireland in the future.  

Irish National Party M.P. Tim Healy rued the establishment of the concentration camp at Fron-goch, saying the Home Secretary had created a "Sinn Fein University" for the inmates, with their education paid for by the British.

The village of Frongoch and surrounding area were strongly Welsh speaking, the equivalent of an Irish Gaeltacht. Many locals worked within the camp and came into frequent contact with the Irishmen. They soon learned that they had much in common with the inmates, such as their love for the countryside and their native languages.And it is said that some of the prisioners, including Michael Collins, made attempts to learn Welsh whilst at Frongoch.

The prisoners were drawn from across the class divisions and included labourers, teachers, poets, artists and writers. Effectively, they ran the prison themselves, and in informal efforts to share and improve their education they quickly established Irish classes, organised classes in reading, writing, languages, crafts – and sports events and were permitted to exercise with route marches across the Welsh countryside, organise fancy dress competitions, seasonal games at Halloween and sporting challenge matches.A typical example was the athletics day, in which Collins won the 100 yard race in 10.8 seconds.

The region of Wales in which the Irish prisoners found themselves ironically bore many similarities to Ireland. The local population had also suffered from evictions and enforced emigration, and soon after, established a Land Commission modelled on the Land League which was instigated by Michael Davitt in Ireland, even inviting Davitt to address a meeting at Blaenau Ffestiniog.

One of the biggest mistakes the British government made was to bring them all together in Frongoch. Michael Collins said Frongoch was where the tactics which would lead to the War of Independence were first discussed “at English expense”. Collins wrote that at least a quarter of the men at Frongoch were completely ignorant of the Easter Rising. They simply got caught up in the British authority’s national sweep. Aged just 26 when he was held at Frongoch, Collins was better able to handle the conditions than older men who had families at home. Collins wrote in correspondence: “There is only one thing to do while the situation is what it is, (and that is to) make what I can of it.” And  there's  no  doubt  that  he  did.

In December 1916, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George ordered the release of all remaining republican prisoners from Frongoch.The prisoners were released gradually, with those deemed less culpable being released first. On 23rd December 1916  the camp  was shut  down  for good.

These untried prisoners returned to Ireland, following their internment and were greeted with  huge  crowds welcoming their return to Dublin as heroes,who had so many  reasons to look forwards to a merry Christmas. 

On December 26th, The Irish Times recorded: “Most, if not all of the young men who were arrested early last summer for having some connection, more or less, with the disastrous rebellion which has made last Easter week a landmark in the history of Ireland, have been released from the internment camps in which they were detained in England and Wales . . . they have been coming home in small parties, and it is hardly necessary to say that they are glad to be at liberty to return to their homes and friends for Christmas.” 

In the space of six months, they went from being spat upon and attacked as they were frog marched through Dublin on their way to Gaol to being welcomed home as heroes. On release, many of the men returned home determined to end British rule in Ireland,and  many  also went on to form the Irish Republican Army (the IRA) giving Fron-goch an unusual but critical role in Irish, Welsh and British history. In 1918, Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in the General Election in Ireland and in January 1919 formed a breakaway government.That in turn sparked the Irish War of Independence, the guerrilla conflict that eventually led to the treaty establishing the Irish Free State, and later what is today's independent Republic of Ireland.In total, at least 30 men held at the Frongoch went on to become MPs in the new Irish parliament in Dublin.

Today none of the prison camp remains,Ysgol Bro Tryweryn junior school now stands on the site of the former camp,  but a  local man and former local councillor, Alwyn Jones, a history enthusiast with a passion for preserving the memory of the story of Fron-goch, lovingly maintains a small museum in the corner of a field adjacent to ‘Croke Park’  and a .commemorative plaque stands nearby, with inscriptions in Irish, Welsh and English. It was unveiled in Frongoch in the summer of 2002. The project was undertaken by the Liverpool branch of Conradh na Gaeilge / The Gaelic League with the support of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg / The Welsh language Society. Each year on Easter Monday, a small ceremony is held at the plaque.

For further reading Lyn Ebenezer has written a great book on Frongoch called Fron-Goch Camp 1916 - and the Birth of the IRA. Lyn gives credit to Seán O'Mahony who had written an earlier book on the Camp and without which Lyn says his own book would not have been written. The book is a fascinating read and I strongly  recommend  it,  as it  offers a unique Welsh perspective on this "university of revolution" where future leaders were forged.The book gives a previously untold insight of both in and outside the camp. He also very much empathises with the Irish republican tradition.

Goodbye Brigitte Bardot ( 28 September 1934 – 28 December 2025)

Brigitte Bardot, the French actress who became a global sex symbol in the 1950s with films like And God Created Woman, passed away  peacefully  at her Saint-Tropez home at age 91.The death of the fêted La Vérité,  and Le Mepris star was announced in a statement by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation which reads as follows: "The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation." 

French media is reporting that Bardot died in the French Riviera port of Toulon following a brief illness and recent surgery, though a specific cause of death is currently unknown. 

Born in Paris, France on 28 September, 1934, Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot grew up in a luxurious seven-bedroom apartment in the French capital's 16th arrondissement where, from an early age, a young Bardot, affectionately known by many as B.B. showed a certain proclivity for the arts and visual media. As a child during World War II, Brigitte trained in ballet, and by the tender age of just 15, Bardot graced the cover of prestigious fashion magazine Elle for the first (and most certainly not last) time, marking the birth of a star who would soon be bound for the big screen

She would become one of the most iconic faces in cinema, starring in more than 50 films. At 39, Brigitte Bardot officially retired in 1973 and devoted her life to animal rights. In 1979, she campaigned against the killing of baby seals in Canada, telling consumers to stop buying sealskin coats. Though her campaigning caused Canadians to misunderstand which coats they were supposed to boycott, as they stopped buying brown coats made from adult seals but continued to buy white coats made from baby seals, activists believe her work helped dramatically change the public's opinion on fur coats.

Bardot created the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals in 1986 a global force for animal welfare. She then famously auctioned off several valuable assets, including jewelry, to help fund the foundation in its early years. When CNN asked Bardot in 2007 who she would like to work with if she were still acting, she demurred. "Oh la la! The page has turned," she said. "Cinema is finished for me."

A controversial  figure  who though devoted her life to making the world a better place for animals, she also  sadly in her later years  became a virulent islamphobe and was convicted of hate speech 6 times over comments on immigration, Islamism and for using racial slurs against Muslim communities and for inciting racial hatred.

Consequently, she received six fines, with the steepest coming in 2020 when she was ordered to pay €20,000 ($23,500) after calling the residents of Réunion island "degenerate savages" with "savage genes." In one case, a Paris court fined her €15,000 for describing Muslims as "this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts". Altogether, Brigitte shelled out between $59,000 to $65,000 in penalties for racist offenses.

She also  made homophobic slurs referring to gay men as "fairground freaks". She said of her own son: that he was a "cancerous tumor" and that she would have "preferred to give birth to a little dog". Her husband Bernard d'Ormale, was an adviser to Jean-Marie Le Pen. Her husband got full custody after the divorce in the early '70s - back when men almost never got full custody, so she had to be genuinely awful for that to happen. 

Yes she did good for animals, but she was extremely racist against anyone who was not white, hated most cultures that wasn't her own. Her public image is  now widely considered to be well  and truly tarnished by her repeated racist and homophobic comments. She additionally voiced xenophobic and Islamophobic sentiments in her book Un cri dans le silence (A Cry in the Silence). In political circles, she has frequently been labeled a "Neo-Nazi," owing to her previously mentioned perspectives and association with far-right ideology.

An  icon  who  turned  into  a  monster. A beautiful face can never hide a truly rotted heart. Obviously so many of us have burned into our brains the Bardot of the 1960s, so it’s inevitable that people are going to whitewash or outright ignore the last however many decades of her being an utter racist and xenophobic, homophobe, who supported a neo nazi party, the Front National (now known as the Rassemblement National or National Rally) backing  far right Marine Le Pen in 2012 and 2017 elections. 

Let's not forget Bardot was also against the Me Too movement, and was a defender of all male sexual abusers in the film industry and politics. So will spare her the Rest in peace, sometimes I'm a  bit  too generous. I shed no tears. Praising her would be comparable to praising Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump  or Tommy Robinson. I will remember her for her movies and animal rights activism, not her support for and connections with the Le Pen family and French fascism or for  her overt  racism.  

Remember Dr Abu Safiya The doctor who refused to leave his people behind.

 

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Northern Gaza, a Palestinian paediatrician and neonatologist, known for his unwavering courage and resilience during the ongoing military operation by the Israeli Army, was born on 21 November 1973 at Jabalia Refugee Camp in Gaza, his family having been kicked out from Hamama during the 1948 Nakba.   

With each passing month, the toll deepened. His son was killed, his hospital repeatedly struck, and his life threatened. Still, he remained at Kamal Adwan.  

Israelis kidnapped Dr Abu Safiya in Dec 2024 for refusing to leave his patients in Gaza: note: medics are protected by the Geneva Convention.  

Under bombardment, Dr. Abu Safiya stayed beside his patients and staff, maintaining operations with dwindling oxygen, power, and medicine a decision that saved the lives of premature infants who would not have survived evacuation. 

On 27 December 2024, israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital stormed the hospital, detaining 240 staff and patients, stripping them, and rendering the facility inoperable. Dr. Abu Safiya, who refused to abandon his post, was beaten and taken into custody under Israel’s “Unlawful Combatant Law,” with no charges or release date. 

The 52-year-old pediatrician remains in administrative detention without charges or trial. A case that has come to symbolize the systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers amid Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Colleagues describe him stepping up as an anesthesiologist during sieges, even as his family sheltered there and his son Ibrahim was killed in an October strike.  A few weeks before his detention, he said  “I will stay inside my hospital until the last moment.”

Lawyers report his health has deteriorated severely in Ofer Prison, with lost weight, heart issues, untreated wounds,  and accounts of torture like electric shocks, in inhumane living conditions and medical neglect, while rights groups decry the targeting of Gaza's health workers.

An Israeli court in Beersheba extended Hussam Abu Safiya’s detention for six months in March 2025 and again in October 2025, keeping him imprisoned despite no charges ever being brought against him.

The Red Ribbons Campaign has held a vigil in London outside the Israeli embassy one year after his abduction from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza Strip to demand the release of more than 9,100 Palestinians held in the Israeli occupation prisons, including Dr Hussam Abu Safiyaan and over 450 women and children. 

I think about the image  pictured often. Dr. Hussam walking over the rubble to a waiting Israeli tank.  He expected to discuss the situation and be treated with respect as a neutral medical professional.  Instead they took him prisoner. All because he refused to abandon his patients. This is Israel's cruelty. This is occupation. This is Israeli terrorism.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, is a hero, an icon of dedication, compassion and  professional ethics.He is the best of all of us.  Israel, who lacks all values, wilfully punishes those who embody them. Israel still holds 95 medics in its dungeons  their crime: trying to save Palestinian lives. These are the hostages Western media and officials ignore.A full year of injustice has passed. Please share his story to keep his voice alive.

Act now and call on Israeli authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all other arbitrarily detained Palestinian health workers.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/petition/release-dr-hussam-abu-safiya/