The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Katie Halper:

Brigitte Bardot Fine: Top 5 Bardotisms That Got Hot Sex Symbol In Hot Water

Obama Pound: In Historic Moment, White People Exposed To “Fist Bump” For First Time

* * *
Nicole Hughes:

Get a Job: Top 10 Guides to Finding the Perfect Eco Career

Schwarzenegger Declares Drought in California

* * *

Andy Kondrat:

Barcelona Fines Citizens for Using Drinking Water in Pools and Gardens

Coal Power Plants Waste Two-Thirds of Energy Input

* * *

Jon Popham:

Megabus Expanding to the East Coast

Egyptian Blogger Freed from Prison

* * *

Giulia Rozzi:

Diamonds In The Rough: A Ugandan Hip Hop Revolution

Cluster Bomb Ban

* * *

Gina Telaroli:

Interview with Nina Davenport, Director of Operation Filmmaker

KidZui : Internet for Kids (and Those Young at Heart)

For Brigitte Bardot, the whole getting fined for making anti-Muslim remarks is soooo pasee. Been there, done that.  Her repeat offender behavior has led the prosecutor to say, “I’m a bit tired of trying Madame Bardot.”

The former actress and model was famous for her sex symbol status and roles in films like “And God Created Woman” by Roger Vadim in 1956 and “Contempt” by Jean-Luc Godard in 1963. But it’s no longer her sex appeal or her films that gets the 73 into the headlines and into the blog posts of  Gina Telaroli. Bardot has been a long-time a champion of animal rights, which she takes so seriously, she had a neighbor’s donkey castrated because he was sexually harassing her mare. But Bardot is not as fond of the Muslims as she is critters, and today was sentenced, for the FIFTH time, under a French law against for inciting hatred and discrimination on racial or religious or racial grounds. The equivalent of $23,325, this was the heaviest fine so far. So here are the five racism-inciting statements Bardot has made and paid for– literally– since 1997

1. “…my country, France, my homeland, my land is again invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims.” - published in 1997 Open Letter to My Lost France Le Figaro.

2. “I am against the Islamisation of France. For centuries our forefathers…our fathers gave their lives to chase all successive invaders from France,” her book, A Cry in the Silence, 2003.

3. “Our lovely, kind street-walkers have been replaced by girls from the east, Nigerians, travellers, transsexuals, drag-queens, bearers of Aids and other friendly gifts… Not even French prostitutes are what they used to be.” A Cry in the Silence, 2003.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ron Jeremy, one of the hardest working hedgehogs in the adult entertainment business, has kicked the bucket – the KFC bucket, that is. Ron is working with PETA again, and this time he’s speaking out against Kentucky Fried Chicken in a new video about their animal cruelty practices.

The chill in the air still says “winter,” but NYC’s Union Square Greenmarket was ablaze today with the happy harbingers of spring: daffodils, pansies, tulips, ranunculus, all blooming their vibrantly hued little heads off. I couldn’t resist taking out my iPhone to snap some shots of all the flower-filled flats.

My floral euphoria was short-lived; I reflexively checked my e-mails, and my heart  sank when I saw one from our friend Jen with the subject heading “Our Dear Lloyd…”:

It is with a very heavy heart that I’m telling you that our dear Lloyd passed away yesterday.  I am too tearful to talk on the phone, so please accept this e-mail note instead.

Our precious marmalade cat would have been 18 next month.  I know many people feel their pets are special, but Lloyd was truly unique.  He was meant to be with us.  He literally reached out and poked us at the animal shelter in New York City many years ago — “hey, pick me!”…

 

Read the rest of this entry »

Australia’s Merino sheep are famous for their fine wool, but there’s no way to put a good spin on the infamous way that some of that wool is harvested; many Merino sheep farmers routinely make cuts in their sheeps’ hind quarters without benefit of an anesthetic, as a preventative measure against a sometimes fatal insect infestation called flystrike, according to Reuters.

The practice, known as “mulesing,” is needlessly cruel, and the Australian sheep industry’s vowed to phase it out by the year 2010, but that’s not fast enough for H & M. The Swedish fashion retailer announced today that “H&M does not accept mulesing:”

“The company has decided to direct its buying towards other countries of origin and other suppliers in Australia that can guarantee mulesing-free merino wool.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Safeway has adopted new policies to improve its animal welfare standards. This gigantic California-based grocery chain, with 1,743 stores in the U.S. and Canada, is bowing to some firm but gentle arm twisting from those friends to farm animals everywhere, The Humane Society of the United States:

“Safeway’s new policies represent important progress on basic animal welfare issues and will positively affect many thousands of animals,” said Paul Shapiro, senior director of The HSUS’s factory farming campaign. “Safeway’s move also sends a strong message to the agribusiness industry that it must rapidly move away from the worst factory farming abuses, such as intensive confinement systems and the conventional poultry slaughter method.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Fifteen government agencies unveiled a five year plan yesterday “to reduce, refine and replace the use of animals in research and regulatory testing,” according to Environment News Service.

Animals have been routinely used to test chemicals, consumer products, medical devices and new drugs for toxicity on humans, but new technological advances offer researchers the option of utilizing alternative test methods “that either reduce the number of animals used in testing, or refine procedures so animals experience less pain and distress, or replace animals with non-animal systems,” as ENS reports.

Read the rest of this entry »

Anne Frank famously wrote “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.” Of course, she went on to die of typhus in a concentration camp, which may seem to undermine her benign view of mankind.

I bring all this up because, like Anne Frank, I want to believe that people are essentially good. That’s why I’d like to think that encouraging everyone to watch a new video from the Humane Society, “Overlooked: The Lives of Animals Raised For Food” will make a dent in the rampant animal abuse that’s standard operating procedure in American meat, poultry, dairy and egg production.

Read the rest of this entry »

Eva Mendes is the latest poster girl for PETA’s “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign. The story of how the star of “We Own the Night” decided to bare her skin in the name of sparing our furry friends is a great example of the powers of gentle persuasion.

A stylist gave Mendes a fur to wear to her very first movie premiere, and Mendes didn’t hesitate to wear it. But she had second thoughts when PETA sent Mendes a “beautiful letter to comment on my less-than-educated choice.”

Mendes was so moved she vowed to never wear fur again. She shared her new compassion for critters in an interview with PETA:

Personally I think wearing a baby chinchilla says, “I’m ignorant,” vs. saying “I’m a badass.” I don’t think you can force people to change their attitudes, but you can help to educate them and to lead by example. … There are way too many amazing faux fur options out there for people to still be wearing real fur. I want people to know that there are options; that killing a poor animal and wearing it isn’t cool. But respecting all life forms is cool. Very cool.