WILL DEPARDIEU AND BARDOT ABANDON FRANCE?

Gerard Depardieu shows unhappiness above.  At the age of 64 he has become fat and, well...here he is to the right in his relative youth.  He has paid nearly $200 million in taxes over 45 years, or around $440,000/year.  The Socialist government of Francois Hollande, however, wants a lot more--to 75% for those earning $1.4 million or more per year.  So he moved to Belgium, incurring the wrath of the French nation.  Unfortunately, before leaving, after a minor scooter accident, he did not pass a breathalyzer test--three times the legal limit, for which he plead guilty--on 29November12.  He could be fined around $6000 and spend two years in prison.  He has no desire to face the magistrate.  No wonder he wants to leave the country.  Oh, he owns several vineyards and has admitted to drinking SIX bottles of wine/day.

Russian president, Vladimir Putin, then got into the act, by offering Gerard citizenship.  Mordovia gave him an apartment.  Chances are he won't live there because this is where they had the Stalin-era gulag prison camps, but he showed up anyway, waving his Russian passport (left), but has said he will retain his French citizen status.

Now, it appears that French actress Brigette Bardot might defect.

Well, that was when she was in her prime.  Today, at the age of 78, she is an animal rights campaigner:

In her case, she requested Russian citizenship and threatened to leave if elephants Baby and Nepal were not spared.  They are 42 and in a Lyon zoo.  The problem is that they have tuberculosis, which can be spread to other elephants and humans.  Her ploy worked, for President Hollande has stepped into the matter.  So she won't be abandoning her country.

The moral of these stories:  DON'T GET OLD!!!

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There is a tropical storm without a name yet at 40 MPH that is projected to become a very powerful cyclone and approach Western Australia:



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