text:
FGM: stop this mutilation now!
Today (6th February) is International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM. To mark this important occasion, and to support the aims of anti-FGM campaigners throughout the world, Shiraz Socialist republishes the following:
Patriarchal oppression is the bedrock of female genital mutilation (FGM) and related harmful traditional practices.
The aim of this Statement is to gather support, from concerned citizens and from people directly working to abolish FGM, for research, dialogue and activism which derives from such an understanding. To that end we insist, for instance, that FGM be correctly named – as specifically 'mutilation' and not, in formal discourse, by any evasive or softening euphemism.
1. Female genital mutilation (FGM) in all its forms is cruelty and abuse. The United Nations has decreed it a fundamental violation of human rights [a].
2. FGM is practised in many parts of the world. The World Health Organisation estimates that some 140 million girls and women now alive have undergone this mutilation, with around 3 million more experiencing it every year [b].
140 million is however a very conservative figure and the total including e.g. Indonesia [c], the Middle East and diaspora destinations is likely to be much higher.
3. FGM, like other traditional practices which harm women and girls [d], is done from fear in many guises, at the instigation behind the scenes of powerful people who stand to benefit from it, for themselves [e].
4. The proper, and necessary, response to FGM is to treat it, wherever it occurs, as a very serious, sometimes deadly, crime. There is substantive evidence to suggest this approach, allied with appropriate education and support, is the most effective way of stopping FGM [f].
5. It is essential to acknowledge that African women leaders themselves, in joint statements [g], have decreed that FGM should in all formal discussion be called 'mutilation', and not by any other euphemistic term. It is deeply disrespectful of those brave women – and also extremely unhelpful – to ignore their judgement and advice.
6. We are concerned simply and solely with the essential protection from FGM, everywhere, of defenceless children, irrespective of whether the intended FGM operators are traditional practitioners or, in the modern contemporary sense, medically trained [h] .
(NB Necessarily, our concern further extends, in some communities, to the protection of women subject to involuntary FGM, e.g. when their marriages are arranged, after childbirth or after criminal abduction.)
7. We believe that all women and girls who have experienced FGM are entitled, as and if or when they wish, to skilled reconstructive or other surgery and /or additional medical and personal support, free of charge, as part of reparation for this crime.
8. There are many people with different skills and insights who can and should contribute to the work of abolishing / eliminating / eradicating FGM; each of us has a part to play.
It is however fundamentally important to recognise unreservedly, and to hear, the centrally critical contribution of women with direct experience of this harmful traditional practice who are seeking to eliminate FGM.
28 August 2013
[a] United Nations (2012): Intensifying global efforts for the elimination of female genital mutilations (24 September), United Nations bans female genital mutilation (20 December) & Sources of international human rights law on Female Genital Mutilation
[b] World Health Organisation (2013): Factsheet 241: Female Genital Mutilation and UNICEF (23 July, 2013) Despite overwhelming opposition, millions of girls at risk of genital mutilation
[c] See for example this Research Report: Female Circumcision in Indonesia – Extent, Implications and Possible Interventions to Uphold Women's Health Rights (Jakarta, 2003)
[d] Which must also be abolished, see e.g. World Health Organisation website page: Female genital mutilation (FGM) and harmful practices
[e] Feminist Europa. Review of Books. Vol. 9, No 1, 2009 / Vol. 10, No 1, 2010 (Tobe Levin, p.69) and To Stop Female Genital Mutilation In The UK, Follow (And Invest) The Money (Hilary Burrage, 28 Feb., 2013)
[f] Thomson Reuters Foundation (22 July 2013), Thirty million girls at risk of FGM despite decline in support – UN
[g] Regional Conference on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children in Africa organised by the Inter-African Committee (IAC) on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, 19-24 November 1990, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and later reaffirmed in Mali in 2005 .
[h] World Health Organisation (2010): Global strategy to stop health-care providers from performing female genital mutilation
~ ~ ~
Now please add your name and thoughts via Support The Statement On FGM .
The instigators and authors of this Statement are listed here.
For information on the reasons and rationale for this Statement please see Statement Background. An account of how it came about can be found here.
We welcome support from everyone, women and men, black and white, academics, activists in the field, professional practitioners, political representatives, policy makers or simply concerned citizens of the world.
Please choose as many as you wish of the options which follow to let us know about your engagement with our Statement, and why it is important to you.
1. SUPPORT the Statement publicly, via the Change.org e-petition:
FGM researchers and policy makers across the international community: Support the Feminist Statement on Female Genital Mutilation – and also forward the e-petition elsewhere if you can, please;
and / or
2. JOIN THE DISCUSSION on this website, here about how to move the FGM agenda forward – feel free to also add your website / Twitter etc info for all to see, if you'd like to publicize them as well; everyone is invited to do this!
and / or
3. REGISTER YOUR INTEREST in future involvement privately, here.
This is for activists, researchers etc: your name will not be made public if you choose only to do this, but we will know you are supportive and that we may contact you again.
Please note that
1. all posts on this website are moderated, and only posters who we believe give their real names will have their support published;
2. whilst we recognise and are also opposed to male genital harm, this Statement concerns specifically gender-related harm to women and girls. We will therefore publish only Comments which are directly on-topic (but if your website or Twitter handle also reflects male-gendered concerns, :-) that's probably not a problem).
The names of some initial supporters of the Statement can be seen on the Statement Signatories Page.
Many thanks indeed for your support and engagement; we look forward to hearing from you!
_ _ _
See also: Hilary Burrage : author of
Eradicating Female Genital Mutilation: A UK Perspective (Ashgate, 2015)
> Hilary Burrage has written the most definitive book ever on FGM. An invaluable tool to help eradicate it worldwide. A personal triumph. (The Guardian)
A Mad World, My Mistresses
Following the post below on Maryam Namazie's encounter with the cry-bullies at Goldsmith.
It's not hard to guess whose side the Goldsmith Feminist Society was on.
On one side, a solitary female, feminist, Iranian, fighter for human rights, atheist.
On the other side, a bunch of aggressive males from a patriarchal religion who did their best to intimidate the solitary female.
No need to ask. Of course the Goldsmith Feminist Society took the side of the males.
Y'know, women have an instinctive protectiveness towards other women menaced by men – women who may not even have heard of the concept of feminism (as illustrated in this story A Jury of her Peers). There is such a thing as natural female solidarity which finds comfort in a hospital ward together and which will shelter an abused woman.
What the hell has happened that a body that calls itself the Feminist Society leaps to the defence of the misogynists? .
For a little of what is deemed to be acceptable discourse in ISOC's own safe space have a look at what stirs Muhammed Patel's juices. (He's the President of Goldsmiths Islamic society (ISOC)). He describes an event as "amazing" where the speakers "have made statements advocating the execution of ex-Muslims and blasphemers, advised Muslims to boycott women who marry outside of Islam, said that non-Muslim women will be taken as slaves in the future (of course it is permissible to have sex with these women), creepily remarked that six and seven year old girls are 'pretty' and 'desired', warned of the dangers when leaving Muslim children with non-Muslims, insisted that women should remain in the house and not venture outside unless it's a necessity, advocated punishments for Muslims who do not pray, and said that homosexuals are worse than animals. " (From a post by Harry Matz).
Under the linked post you can find a stream of foully abusive comments, of a gross sexual nature, which is typical of Islamists who love filthy invective.
So mad has feminism become even if the thugs had sexually assaulted Namazie they no doubt would have found excuses for them.
Unbelievable shit from Goldsmith LBGT as well.
Following recent events on- and offline, we would like to state and show our solidarity with the sisters and brothers of our Goldsmiths ISOC
We condemn AHS and online supporters for their islamophobic remarks and attitudes. If they feel intimidated, we urge them to look at the underpinnings of their ideology. We find that personal and social harm enacted in the name of 'free speech' is foul, and detrimental to the wellbeing of students and staff on campus.
In our experiences, members of ISOC have been nothing but charming, patient, kind, and peaceful as individuals and as an organization.
We hope this series of events prompts reflection in all parties involved, but also onlookers. Allyship consists of apologies, bearing with and deconstructing discomfort, respecting the necessary privacy of safer spaces, and opening our hearts to humans unlike ourselves.
We can all stand to improve in this area- which ideally is a daily, humbling practice and not a label.
For all I know Goldsmith Feminist Society and LBGT Society contain about 8 members a piece. But Jeez, their support for an ideology which in its ideal society would keep the women segregated and second-class and execute the gays is absolutely barmy, even for student activists.
No Platforming by the female eunuchs
Germaine Greer has said some unforgivable things in the past eg about FGM. But she is a great woman, a splendid writer, a courageous human being and in her time was an inspiring feminist. Trans activists' attacks on her are gross.
Here's an excellent piece on the issue.
Pop feminism has willfully abandoned political analysis for the feel-good factor of disposable aphorisms. See for example Laurie Penny (@pennyred) who recently performed the ultimate no risk "coming-out" of announcing she's a femme-presenting, female-assigned at birth, no-transition "genderqueer" . . . which is the LGBT equivalent of claiming one retroactively looooved punk rock before it was mainstream.
And to prove her gendercred to her fans, she's been eager to defend Caitlyn Jenner's perpetual womanhood — that Bruce was female when winning the decathlon. Egregiously, Penny backs this up with the usual cut-and-paste misinterpretation of Simone de Beauvoir.
I'll say it again: Beauvoir is spinning in her tomb over the intellectually dishonest, quote-mined appropriation of her life's work. It is simply wrong that Beauvoir means "one … becomes a woman" as an endorsement of gender/femininity as empowering to female persons. It is embarrassingly clear that Penny, and her cadre of retweeters, hasn't actually bothered to give Beauvoir the decency of a good read.
Laurie Penny, always modish, always wrong. It's startling to be told you are "a femme-presenting, female-assigned at birth, no-transition" creature when you'd always described yourself as a "girl" or "woman".
Interview with Kirill Medvedev, Russian socialist, poet and musician
From LeftEast:
Yevgeniy Zhuravel interviews Kirill Medvedev (above), a Moscow-based poet, translator, and activist. He is the founder of the Arkady Kots band.
YZ: Can you tell a bit about yourself and how did you became a leftist? It seems that in Russia till recently it was not a common political choice.
KM: I became a self-conscious leftist at the beginning of the 2000s. There is a rather typical scenario for that generation of the Russian left, which emerged mostly from the Soviet intelligentsia of different levels of prosperity. Many of us were still able to spend our childhood under still rather comfortable conditions, so we were able to absorb the humanistic code of the Soviet intelligentsia, and then suddenly found ourselves in the historical hole of the 90s, when this code turned out to be not only redundant, but simply made survival difficult. Some of our parents had believed that shock therapy and total privatisation are the necessary stages on the way to democracy, others voted for the failed Communist Party, and some became quickly disappointed and depoliticised. The new left emerged from this trauma, but not out of a desire for revanche, but with the feeling that both nostalgia for Soviet times and jolly anti-Sovietism, which brought most of the intelligentsia to support Putin, are dead ends; that if one wants to be a citizen and a political subject, some hard work is required in order to build a new political culture and environment. Sometime during 2003-2004, I started getting an idea that maybe this thankless job—being part of the left—is not the worst way to spend the next decade or two.
YZ: The band that you are a part of is called Arkadiy Kots, after the Russian translator of "The Internationale". Who are the people in the band, why this particular name was chosen and what musical and political traditions do you follow?
KM: The name seemed to be appropriate because Kots was simultaneously a poet, a translator, an activist and a sociologist; he wrote a study on the Belgian unions from the beginning of the 20th century. Such synthesis is interesting to us. Oleg Zhuravlev, with whom we founded the group, is a well-known young sociologist, member of the "Public Sociology Lab" collective, which does research on the recent protests in Russia and Ukraine. They just published a book in Russia, which will be released in Holland soon. Nikolay Oleynikov is a member of the renowned art-group "What has to be done?"(Chto Delat?). His work is related to antifascism and gender problems. In fact, in the Free Marxist Press, we published his collection "Sex of the Oppressed", the discussions of sex and politics. If Oleg brings to the group the spirit of research, Nikolaj the spirit of militant queer carnival. Anya Petrovich and Misha Griboedov are more professionally connected to music: they are practically the musical directors of the group, fighting, for example, with my horrible unprofessionalism. Gosha Komarov, an activist of the Worker's Platforms, which unites the most workerist (proletarian) part of the left radicals, is a multi-instrumentalist. This is the backbone of the group, we are all convinced communists, but, as it happens, we occasionally end up playing with people who do not share our views, which gives us some openness and a chance not to turn into a sect.
We translate a lot to Russian – from Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger to old Italian anarchist songs. We write songs based on poems of Russian poets and write our own: "Be Involved in Political Struggle", "It is not shameful to be a worker" etc., which hide uneasy reflections about our own political subjectivity.
Overall we try to juxtapose maximised aesthetic openness with a clear political message, to get out of the boundaries of the radical left, subcultural milieu. Right now we are working on an album devoted to the history of the worker's movements, from Luddites to Zhanaozen, with a support of Confederation of Labour of Russia, whose congress we recently opened with our Russian versions of songs "Bread and Roses" and "Power in a Union", and gave a concert after the end of it.
YZ:You started the Free Marxist Press publishing house back in 2008. How did it evolve? What did you print recently and what are the plans?
KM: It all had started with samizdat (DIY?) books – "Why I am a Marxist?" by Ernest Mandel, Pasolini's "Communist Party – to the Youth", "Marxism and Feminism" by Marcuse etc. Later on we started making small press runs at print shops. Producing a book from A to Z—translation, formatting, cover design, printing, binding, distribution – for me personally was an important experience, though a little bit exotic, mixing the spirit of completely unalienated creative work a la William Morris, on the one hand, and the productionism of the 20s, on the other. Being engaged in the material production of a book one gets into a very special relationships with a text which it contains. Read the rest of this entry »
Socialism, feminism, secularism and Islam: interview with Marieme Helie Lucas
Interview with Marieme Helie Lucas
In 1984, she founded the international solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and served as its international coordinator for 18 years. WLUML linked women fighting for their rights in Muslim contexts, throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. WLUML focused on research and grassroots solidarity work aimed at reinforcing local struggles. In 2004, she founded the international Secularism Is A Women's Issue (SIAWI) network, and serves at its international coordinator. She is currently based in India.
Earlier this year she spoke to the AWL's paper, Solidarity, about the struggles of women, workers, and other democratic and progressive forces against the Muslim far-right in Algeria and elsewhere.
Solidarity: For many years, large parts of the global left have regarded political Islam as essentially progressive against the dominant (US) imperialism; what do you think about this analysis? What are its roots?
We can incriminate several factors. The left's traditional focus on the state impeded its ability to decode in time the warning signs of supposedly religious non-state forces rising as powerful extreme-right political actors. Human rights organisations – sorry, comrades, for this unholy comparison but I must make it – also have trouble delinking from an exclusive focus on the state and considering these new players for what they really are. I situate this difficulty at the same level as that of re-identifying and re-defining classes today. One badly feels the need for innovative, intellectually fearless, communist thinkers and theorists to account for the many changes in the world in the last century.
Allow me a digression about the state. The question of "less state" or "more state" is at the heart of the dealings with the Muslim far-right in Europe. Interestingly, in France, the once-grassroots organisation Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS, Neither Whores Nor Submissives), led by women from Muslim migrant descent, was the first one to call on the state to fulfill its obligations vis a vis citizens. The suburbs of big cities had slowly been abandoned by French authorities (police patrols, which were stoned as soon as they set foot in it, did not dare enter these locations, but neither did the fire brigade, or emergency doctors, not to mention garbage collectors or postmen). As a result, these areas were governed by Muslim fundamentalist groups and organisations who did the social work the state was not doing any more; in the process, among other things, they imposed dress codes and behaviours on the girls. NPNS was set up in response to one of these odious crimes, in which a girl aged 17, whose behaviour was not considered "proper" enough, was burnt alive in the garbage dump of the building where she lived.
In Algeria, we witnessed a similar approach, with Muslim fundamentalist groups taking over and politicising social work: they slowly replaced the state when it abandoned areas to their fate – and, in the process, were imposing their rules, laws, and "justice", terrorising the population, which subsequently also wished for the state to be back in their areas.
Not that the state was ever seen as any good – people loathe our successive governments – but fundamentalists' rule was much worse. After the slaughtering of the population by non-state, far-right armed groups in the 1990s, this reaction increased: people despise President Bouteflika [Algerian president since 1999] (who, in order to stay in power, made all sorts of compromises with the religious far-right and traded with corrupt politicians), but they vote for him in order, they hope, to keep direct far-right theocratic rule at bay.
The terms "political Islam" or "Islamists" are misleading: both suggest religious movements, while they should in fact be characterised in political terms. The left (and far-left) in Europe did not take the trouble of going through a thorough analysis of the political nature of Muslim fundamentalist movements; it mostly saw them as popular movements (which indeed they are, and populist too, but that did not ring any bells, it seems) opposing… you name it: colonisation, capitalism, imperialism, undemocratic governments, etc. The European left only looked at what it thought (often mistakenly, for example when it presumes the Muslim right is anti-capitalist) fundamentalist movements stood against, never at what they wanted to promote. Yes, they stood against our undemocratic governments, but from a far-right perspective. In Algeria, since the nineties, we have been calling them "green-fascists" (green being here the colour of Islam) or "Islamo-fascists".
Many historians in Europe dismiss us when we use the term "fascism". However, their ideologies (if not their historical and economic circumstances) are scarily comparable: it is not the superior Aryan race, but the superior Islamic creed that is the pillar on which they base their superiority, a superiority they infer from a mythical past (the glorious past of Ancient Rome, the Golden Age of Islam, etc.), a superiority which grants them the right and duty to physically eliminate the untermensch (on the one hand: Jews, communists, Gypsies, gays, physically and/or mentally disabled, on the other: kafir, communists, Jews, gays, etc.). Nazis, fascists, and the Muslim far-right all want women in their place, "church/mosque, kitchen, and cradle", and all of them are pro-capitalists: the Muslim right calls on the rich to performing the Islamic duty of zakkat (charity), which leaves untouched the power structure, and the "poor" in their place too, which is god's will.
Overlooking the political nature of the armed Muslim far-right had terrible consequences for us, anti-fundamentalists from Muslim countries. What Cheikh Anta Diop, the famous Senegalese historian, used to call, in another context, "leftist laziness", needs to be blamed and exposed.
If we agree that Muslim fundamentalism is a far-right movement, the question then becomes: can the left support far-right, fascist-type movements in the name of anti-imperialism? And an additional question is: is there still, in this day and age, only one imperialism (i.e., US imperialism)? Or are there emerging imperialisms, for example in oil-rich countries, which should now be taken into account? Is the promotion of the religious far-right, in various forms, one of the elements in the global strategy of these emerging powers?
A simplistic approach, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", supplemented the old dichotomy between the "main" enemy and the "secondary" enemy that so very few thinkers on the left and far-left have questioned in relation to Muslim fundamentalist movements. As women, we experienced the "main enemy" theory being been used against movements for women's rights: it was never the right time to demand these rights; they should be postponed until after decolonisation; until after the liberation struggle; until after the reconstruction of the country; until we gain some political stability…
Let me pay tribute here to Daniel Bensaïd, one of the lone voices on the left with a better perspective on this issue. In La Republique Imaginaire (2005), he writes (my own translation from French): "The control of capital over bodies, its strong will to reveal their market value, does not at all reduce their control by religious law and the theological will to make them disappear…The poor dialectic of main and secondary contradictions, forever revolving, already played too many bad tricks. And the 'secondary enemy', too often underestimated, because the fight against the main enemy was claimed to be a priority, has sometimes been deadly".
Bensaïd goes on to quote Erich Fried's poem: "Totally caught into my struggle against the main enemy / I was shot by my secondary enemy / Not from the back, treacherously, as his main enemies claim / But directly, from the position it has long been occupying / And in keeping with his declared intentions that I did not bother about, thinking they were insignificant".
So-called "political Islam" is treated by the left in a way which is very different from its treatment of any other popular far-right movement working under the guise of religion. In fact, I should say that "Islam" is treated differently from any other religion. Jewish fundamentalism or Christian fundamentalism, even in oppressed groups, would not be met with such patronising benignity; they would be analysed, in terms of class for instance, and of ideology, of political program. Nothing of the sort is even attempted for supposedly Muslim groups: no research is done on those who plant bombs and organise attacks in Europe or North America, for instance – it is assumed that they are lumpen, while the evidence is that they are from lower-middle-class and educated backgrounds, mostly middle-range engineers or technicians. "Leftist laziness" again…
Imagine for one second what would be the reaction of the left if even working-class or lower-middle-class Jews in France had been attacking Muslim schools and killing pupils, or the customers of "Arab" groceries; how come that when it is "Muslims" doing it to "Jews", the left starts looking for good reasons they may have had for doing so? I cannot help feeling there is hidden racism at work here, against "Muslims" who are seen as such inferior people that barbaric behaviour is naturally to be expected from them.
To a situation of oppression there is no "automatic" response: there are several possible responses: one from the far-right, but – also ! – one from the left, a revolutionary one. Accepting – even implicitly – the idea that joining fascist groups is the only possible response to a situation of oppression, or to racism, exclusion, and economic hardship, etc., seems like an incredible twist of fate coming from the left!
More on Galloway's damaging rubbish about forced marriage
Here's a sober rebuttal of the nonsensical and totally irresponsible remarks George Galloway made about forced marriage.
It's from the Muslim Women Network.
Muslim Women's Network UK (MWNUK) is a charitable organisation with the aims of promoting equality, diversity, social inclusion and racial/religious harmony, and does not support, nor is affiliated to any political party. However in order to defend and strengthen women's rights and in particular to promote the empowerment of Muslim women and girls, we regularly engage with, and if required challenge, politicians, political candidates, public servants and any other body or organisation where considered necessary.
It is for this reason that MWNUK deems it necessary to challenge certain insinuations made about forced marriage and domestic violence victims by George Galloway, currently the Respect Party's PPC for Bradford West, when he commented on Labour candidate Naz Shah's forced marriage and domestic violence experience. Given his influence, we consider Mr. Galloway's insinuations to be irresponsible and which will have a wider, counter productive impact on victims of forced marriage and domestic violence or those at risk.
When Ms. Shah shared her story publicly, she explained that she was married at the age of 15 and suffered from domestic violence. Many women tend to remain in abusive relationships and suffer in silence. Cultural concepts of honour and shame often prevent women from articulating their experiences openly even when they have escaped their situations. We therefore commend Ms. Shah's courage in sharing her very personal experiences. It is important that when survivors share their stories, which is often very difficult, that they are heard. Only with open discussion will more victims or those at risk come forward and ask for help.
Although we cannot comment on the details of Ms. Shah's personal experiences, we are very concerned about the misleading information regarding forced marriage and domestic violence being alluded to in the statements made by Mr. Galloway and his officials. MWNUK challenges the assertions that have been made as follows:
¥ It has been alleged that Ms. Shah could not have been married as a minor at the age of 15 because her official marriage certificate registered with the authorities in Pakistan states her age as 16 and a half.
It is not uncommon for victims of child marriage to have an unregistered Islamic (nikah) ceremony while they are under age and to later register the marriage officially once the child is over 16 especially if documents are needed to make an application for a spousal visa. It is important to recognise this can happen to children. In fact we have come across victim stories where this has indeed happened.
¥ It has been alleged that Ms. Shah's marriage could not have been forced because her mother was present at the marriage.
Parents are often the instigators of forced marriage, coercing their children to marry against their will and therefore present at the marriage ceremony. In fact parents themselves can be pressured by members of the extended family to accept marriage proposals for their children and feel they cannot back out due to dishonor.
¥ Ms Shah has been questioned as to why she did not (as a British citizen) simply get on a plane and come back to the UK if she had been forced into marriage.
Girls are more aware of their rights now due to forced marriage campaigns, yet the crime continues to be under reported. Twenty-five years ago victims faced even greater barriers to disclosing. The Forced Marriage Unit did not exist then and there were far fewer women's rights organisations. To imply that it is easy to escape a forced marriage suggests that victims are at fault for not leaving abusive situations.
¥ Ms. Shah has been questioned about why she had not gone to the police, social services or an imam if her husband had subjected her to violence.
This indirectly suggests that women who do not report their abuse cannot be suffering from domestic violence. Such assertions are very dangerous. Women from all communities find it difficult to come forward and report abuse and the reasons can vary such as: fear of consequences; women blaming themselves; women not realizing they are victims; lack of awareness of the help available; being isolated from family and friends and not being able to reach help; being worried about finances; and hoping the partner may change. Asian women face additional cultural barriers that prevent them from seeking help such as, fear of dishonouring family, shame, stigma, taboo and being rejected by the community. Also women in these communities are expected to suffer in silence. They are also usually blamed for any problem within the family including the violence and abuse to which they are subjected. This fear of blame can also prevent women from coming forward and getting the help they need. Not surprisingly domestic violence is therefore under reported in Asian / Muslim communities.
¥ Ms. Shah was questioned about her domestic violence and child marriage because her first husband has denied the abuse. [WELL HE WOULD, WOULDN'T HE?]
Denial by the alleged perpetrator should never be used as evidence to determine whether abuse has occurred or not.
Socialist Resistance takes down article on feminism and transgender issues: where is this madness going to stop?
Dave Osland wrote:
The website of Socialist Resistance – a organisation of which I was once a member – is currently running two articles on the transphobia debate [JD adds: Dave wrote this before SR took down the article by 'Author A']
Author A, a radical feminist, sets out her position. Author B, a trans woman, subjects it to critique.
The first writer does not stoop to Julie Burchill-style cheap shot invective aimed at 'chicks with dicks' but simply sets out her stall in entirely reasonable terms.
This is what most people would consider a rational exchange of opinion, a process whereby both camps can potentially gain, if only by better understanding their opponent's case.
But for its pains, SR is now subject to an online petition, in which dozens of activists – including some big names in the bubble politics of the far left – have signed up in protest against 'the hosting of transphobes'.
In its small way, this affair encapsulates much of the mindset that relegates revolutionary socialism to the margins of the margins.
It is as if to say: "We have the correct line, comrades; no other line can even be permitted the ephemeral existence of a posting on a small readership website."
This is an attempt at petty cyber-Stalinist bullying on the part of people who believe that they are in the business of politics to work towards a fundamentally more democratic society.
If they cannot handle debate now, at this level, than how would they handle it in the event that they actually exercised some degree of real influence in society?
By all means take on Bugs Brennan and her ilk. But freedom of speech is as vital on the radical left as it is within society as a whole.
As far as I know, this is something of first. But now the precedent has been set, I wonder where this madness is going to stop.
Here is the 'offending' article, with an introduction, written by the author (Victoria Smith, aka 'Author A') since the piece was taken down; it comes from Victoria's blog glosswatch – a feminist blog. We reproduce it here at Shiraz not because we necessarily agree with it, but because we think it is a serious contribution to a serious debate, and should not have been suppressed:
I originally wrote this piece for Socialist Resistance – in response to an idea that came from them, not me – but asked to have it withdrawn in light of this editorial announcement. I think it's important for women's work to be represented fairly and I don't consent to my work being presented in contexts which don't reflect the actual commission. The insistence that women's voices in particular – particularly when women are describing their lives and needs – require "trigger warnings" is patriarchal to the core. When people are offended by women speaking or writing, it's rarely women who are the problem.
In this particular instance I think Socialist Resistance need to be honest about their editorial policies and their political principles. There is a word for people for whom discussions of female bodies, female labour and male violence cause "offence and distress." That word is not "trans", "queer", "marginalised" or "oppressed," but "misogynist" (it's been around for quite some time). If that is a publication's desired readership, fine, but it is frankly bizarre for it to then use the term "socialist" when any analysis of the means of production expressly excludes the exploitation of female bodies and the experiences of female people as a labour class.
Moreover, if an editor believes it is contentious to claim that the exploitation of women is something which benefits a more powerful group (as opposed to something based on a random, free-floating "phobia"); if he or she thinks it is triggering to suggest male violence should be named; if he or she is unconcerned about the age-old exclusion of female bodies from understandings of what human bodies are, then that editor should say so. It's not okay to make glib statements about not "supporting the exclusion of transwomen from women's spaces" when that is not what is being debated. If you're going to slap a trigger warning on someone's writing and make dog-whistle references to phobias, you need to give precise reasons why. And if your "socialism" is actually "redistribution amongst male people while female people carry on cleaning up everyone's shit," you need to be clear about this. Because selling your publication on the back of moral principles you don't have simply isn't fair.
I am wondering if an alternative title for this piece should be "why are some feminists so mean?" After all, this is the assumption made by many upon hearing that when it comes to trans inclusion, many feminists still want to talk about difference. "But trans women are women!" we are told, as though this will make everything alright. But it doesn't. The impression is that we are cruel. Surely what is at stake matters a great deal to trans women but very little to us? Why can't we just loosen up and let everyone join the "being oppressed as a woman" party on the same terms? Shouldn't the excluding be left to the men?
Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that, at least not if feminism is to mean anything as a political theory which analyses how and why women are oppressed, with a view to dismantling the structures which dehumanise, objectify and exploit. This is no more an abstract discussion for feminists than it is for trans people. It is not a matter of discomfort with particular words. It's about real, flesh-and-blood suffering. If we cannot talk about how patriarchy arises, how it functions and who benefits from it, then we cannot help ourselves, let alone each other. We might as well go home.
In a 2014 piece for the Guardian, the trans journalist Fred McConnell describes gender as "one's innate sense of self." This is not a definition that many feminists would use. To us, gender is a hierarchical system aimed at enforcing women's subservience. It is neither natural nor innate. As the philosopher Janet Radcliffe Richards writes, "much of what is believed about women stems from what is wanted of women." If you decide that woman = innately predisposed to meet the needs of men (and dress it up in fancy wording which suggests womanhood is actually to do with being pretty, nurturing, communicative etc.), you have a ready-made justification for abuses which have endured for millennia and are going on to this day. That is what gender means to us.
I am conscious the feminist definition of gender sounds a little depressing compared to the trans one. Maybe so, but it is a description of what is. Forced marriage, unpaid wifework, reproductive coercion, sexual slavery, educational exclusion … all of these things continue to be justified by the insistence that women are "naturally" subservient, caring, decorative etc. Moreover, the women to whom these things happen do not have the opportunity to identify out of their oppression because this oppression remains material in basis. Saying "I'm not a woman – my innate sense of self tells me I'm not THAT!" does not work (I write this as a pregnant woman and believe me, no amount of insisting "I'm a pregnant PERSON!" grants me an exemption from laws which were written on the assumption that women, as a reproductive class, should not have full bodily autonomy at all times in the same way that men do).
So what is the solution? Feminists propose that we abolish gender and accept that both male and female people are human, free to express themselves however they choose regardless of their sex. Trans activists propose that we abolish sex difference (as if one could) and accept that whether one is male or female depends upon how one identifies, using gender as a guide. Quite how the latter option deals with the material exploitation of sexed bodies under patriarchy – beyond making it unmentionable – isn't very clear. Nor does it tell us how we might confront male violence (over 90% of all violent crime is committed by male people, regardless of how they identify). Are we therefore to assume that a predisposition to violence is merely a part of someone's innate sense of self? And is it now up to perpetrators to say whether their violence really counts as "male violence," dependent on how "male" they feel? Indeed, under the rules of trans politics, can we identify any forms of material oppression and dominance at all?
When feminists point out that trans women are not biologically female, we are not, as some would have it, behaving like "knuckle-dragging bigots." We're saying our bodies exist and matter, too. This isn't a minor point. The idea that male bodies are the default bodies is patriarchy 101. Eve is constructed from Adam's rib; Freud clocks our lack of penis and comments drily that "a hole is a hole"; modern medical research is still biased towards using male bodies. Denying sex difference by making male bodies the only "real" bodies is not some modern stroke of genius; it is conservative to the core. Moreover, it is directly contrary to the feminist objective of ensuring that biology is not destiny.
Many people find this hard to understand, thinking that to associate being female with having a female reproductive system is akin to "reducing women to their genitalia." It's a non-argument that's rather akin to saying anti-capitalists "reduce people to their earnings" or anti-racism campaigners are "obsessed with skin colour." If we don't talk about biology – and hence never demand the structural changes which ensure the world is built to suit the needs of all bodies – then for female people, biology always will be destiny. For instance, it's highly unlikely that company bosses ever sat down and decided to actively discriminate against people who look like they might have the potential to get pregnant; they just built the rules on the assumption that the default employee is someone who definitely can't. This then leads to enormous inequalities, forcing women into lower-paid, part-time work or excluding them from employment altogether (while allowing male people to continue to benefit from the disproportionate share of unpaid caring work undertaken by female people; unfortunately males who see "woman" as an identity rarely seem to identify with the floor scrubbing and arse-wiping aspect of the whole experience).
In all this it's worth asking who really gains the most from trans politics in its current anti-feminist guise. Female people don't and if we're honest, neither do most gender non-conforming males. Whereas feminism seeks to dismantle male dominance, trans politics reinforces traditional masculinity by insisting that any quality that is considered insufficiently manly is shoved into the "woman/not man/other" box. Not only does this offer no challenge whatsoever to the global epidemic of male violence, but it ensures that women can continue to be blamed for it (If women were only more accommodating, men wouldn't have to beat anyone up, as said by every single misogynist since the beginning of time). Moreover, this is entirely in keeping with a feminist analysis of gender as a hierarchy. When self-styled cis men order feminists to accept that "trans women are women," what they're really saying is "accept that my dominance is natural" (any admission that male people might freely identify with so-called feminine qualities without having to declare themselves female would be far too unsettling; it might show that patriarchy is a house built on sand after all).
A recent poster campaign asking feminists to be "more inclusive" showed a trans person trying to decide which toilets to use. On the door of the ladies' were the words "get yelled at"; on the men's, "get beaten up." That's patriarchy for you; men learn violence, the most women can do is seek to raise our voices. The trans solution? Demand entry into the "get yelled at" space, even if this also means granting entry to potential beaters as well as yellers. Accept male violence, but not female dissent, as a fact of life. The feminist solution? The opposite: no to male violence, yes to raising our voices. Confront the system that enables the beaters. Do so even if it means you get yelled at and called a TERF and told to die on a daily basis. Do it because you know male violence is wrong, that no one deserves to be beaten and that all people should be free to express themselves how they wish, regardless of sex.
I know which option I'd choose. Other people can make their own choices, but let's be honest: this is not about identity and inclusion. It's about power. Think about who and what you're propping up.
The Girls In The Band
A wonderful, short (less than ten minutes) documentary about women in jazz, starting with the fabulous 'International Sweethearts Of Rhythm', who in 1940's America, were not only an all-female big band, but also racially integrated. The interviews with (then) surviving members (the film's about 20 years old) are tremendously uplifting and moving. The late Marian McPartland also features:
Hope lies with the youth!
While much of the media is entranced by Nigel Farage (The Times even naming him "Briton of the Year"), it seems that young people in the UK have seen through his unpleasant charlatan and his ultra-reactionary party.
According to a poll by 'Opinium', commissioned by The Observer, Farage is the least popular political leader among those who will be able to vote for the first time in the forthcoming general election.
Young people aged between 17 and 23 are overwhelmingly pro-European, socially liberal (eg in favour of gay marriage and retaining the Human Rights Act), and much more likely to call themselves "feminist" (40% of both genders) than older voters (25%). Nearly half (48%) regard immigration as a good thing. Only 3% would vote for Ukip, with the Lib Dems on 6%, the Greens on 19%, the Tories on 26% and Labour in a clear lead at 41%.
Sadly, 65% would retain the monarchy, but us old lefties can't have everything our own way, can we? Hopefully, the youngsters will learn on that one.
And, it must be noted, things look much less encouraging in Scotland, where Labour's election of the craven Blairite Jim Murphy has proved to be the gift to the SNP that many of us warned it would be: as things stand (according to a Guardian/ICM online poll) Sturgeon's nationalist fake-leftists stand to take 45 of Scotland's 59 Westminster constituencies reducing Scottish Labour to a parliamentary rump of just 10 MPs (presently it's 41). With Murphy at the helm, it's difficult to work up much enthusiasm for a Labour vote in Scotland, and we're reduced to making the (true, but uninspiring) point that every seat won by the SNP will make it less likely that Labour will win a majority, and more likely that the Tories will be able to hang on in there.
Depressing eh? So let's comfort ourselves, for now, with the knowledge that, on most issues at least, the nation's youth are pro-European, socially liberal, have no time for Farage and are likely to vote Labour in May.
So there are some grounds for hope for 2015, and beyond, comrades!
The politics of privilege-checking
This article is republished from the website of the American International Socialist Organisation, a group once associated with the British SWP, but who broke their links with them some years ago. I think it's an important contribution to the debate around identity politics, 'intersectionality' postmodernism and the relationship between class and oppression. It's a longish piece, but quite accessible and well worth taking the trouble to read – JD:
Sharon Smith is author of the forthcoming Women and Socialism: Marxism, Feminism and Women's Liberation [1] and Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States [2]. At the Socialism 2014 conference last June, she spoke at a session that took up the discussion about the politics of privilege theory and the practice of privilege-checking.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
I THINK it's important to make clear at the outset of this presentation that recognizing and appreciating the degree of gross inequality in capitalist society–which is a necessary feature not only of exploitation, but also of oppression–is much more important than the term you use to describe it. That is, whether you call it "privilege," or "benefits" or "advantages" is not the main issue.
The only way we can hope to build a movement that fights oppression in all its forms, and also includes all oppressed people within it, is not by minimizing the degree of oppression that exists, but by recognizing its many manifestations–no matter which oppressed group you are discussing.
It is also the case that a solid proportion of people, especially young people, who have become radicalized in recent years have done so precisely because of their recognition of and opposition to oppression–be it racism, sexism, LGBTQ oppression, disability oppression or any number of other forms of oppression that exist today.
This makes sense. On the one hand, the dramatic growth in class inequality since 2008 has led to a sharp rise in class-consciousness–most recently demonstrated by the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011. But this class-consciousness is mostly limited to anger at class and social inequality–without an obvious connection to a working-class strategy to transform society.
This is completely understandable, since anyone in the U.S. who became politically aware after the mid-1970s will have had little to no opportunity to experience firsthand the solidarity that is palpable among workers who are fighting shoulder to shoulder in an open-ended mass strike. So while the misery caused by the system is obvious to all those who are radicalizing today, the potential power of the working class is not.
Recent generations of young radicals have often gotten their first introduction to the issue of combatting oppression through reading the very influential Peggy McIntosh essay of 1989, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack."
The best thing about this essay is that it forces its white readers to appreciate the many manifestations of racism in everyday life. But the essay itself primarily focuses on individual awareness, rather than putting forward a particular strategy for ending racism. I also find that it tends to conflate the meaning of "white" people with white middle-class people, without actually integrating a class analysis.
For its intended purposes, though, this essay raises awareness and does some good–mainly arguing that white people looking at themselves in the mirror should realize the many ways that people of color are victimized in ways that white people do not experience. And McIntosh certainly doesn't call for privilege-checking as a strategy for social change. This strategy arrived to the radical left much later on. Read the rest of this entry »


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Biography of Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976 (birth time source: Astrodatabank, accuracy in question)) is a Canadian actor. He became known for starring in the sitcom Two Guys and a Girl and has since established a career as a Hollywood actor, having starred in both comedic and dramatic roles. Early life Reynolds was born in Vancouver, British Columbia to Tammy, a salesperson and career student, and Jim Reynolds, a Vancouver food wholesaler and former semi-professional boxer. He is the youngest of four brothers; one of them currently employed as a police officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. His father was also in the police force for a short time. Reynolds graduated from Kitsilano Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1994. He also attended Kwantlen Un...
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Biography of Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, KBE (born October 23th 1940 in Três Corações, Brazil), best known by his nickname Pelé, is a former Brazilian football player. In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero for his accomplishments and contribution to the game, in addition to being officially declared the football ambassador of the world by FIFA and a national treasure by the Brazilian government. He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil). During his career, he became known as "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol) or simply "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé). He was given the title of Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee. ...
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Biography of Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (October 23, 1844 (birth time source: Astrodatabank) March 26, 1923) was a stage actress born in Paris. Often referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world," she made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the United States. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the nickname "The Divine Sarah." She was born in Paris as Rosine Bernardt, the daughter of Dutch Julie Bernardt and a father of unknown nationality. She was named after her mother, and in fact of Dutch nationality. Most likely, her father was not French. She added the letter h to both her first and last name, and used the name of Edouard Bernardt, her mothers brother, as the name of her father. This was probably to hi...
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Biography of Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson (October 23, 1925 January 23, 2005) was an American actor, comedian and writer best known for his iconic status as the host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years. Height: 5' 10½" (1.79 m) Before The Tonight Show Carson was born in Corning, Iowa, to parents Homer "Kit" Lloyd Carson, a power company manager, and Ruth Hook Carson. Johnny Carson grew up in Norfolk, Nebraska, where he learned to perform magic tricks, debuting as "The Great Carsoni" at age 14. He attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he received V-12 officer training, and then served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946. Carson then attended the University of Nebraska where he joined Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1949. The ne...
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Biography of Weird Al Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (IPA pronunciation: ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, satirist, parodist, songwriter, accordionist, and television producer. Yankovic is known in particular for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts. Since receiving his first accordion lesson a day before his seventh birthday, he has sold more than 12 million albums (more than any comedy act in history), recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and has performed more than 1,000 live shows. His works have earned him three Grammy Awards among nine nominations, four gold records, and six platinum records in the United States. Yankovic's first top ten Billboard album and single were both released...
Biography of Nancy Grace
Nancy Ann Grace (born October 23, 1959) is an American legal commentator, television host, and former prosecutor. She frequently discusses issues from what she describes as a victims' rights standpoint, with an outspoken style that has won her both praise and condemnation. She is the host of Nancy Grace, a nightly current affairs show on CNN's Headline News, and she was the host of Court TV's Closing Arguments. She also co-wrote the book Objection! -- How High-Priced Defense Attorneys, Celebrity Defendants, and a 24/7 Media Have Hijacked Our Criminal Justice System. Early life Grace was born in Macon, Georgia to a working-class family. As a student, Grace was a fan of Shakespearean literature, and intended to become an English professor after graduating from college. However, after the...
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Biography of Miguel (singer)
Miguel Jontel Pimentel (born October 23, 1985), who performs under the name Miguel, is an American recording artist, rapper, songwriter and producer. Signed to Jive Records in 2007, Miguel released his debut album, All I Want Is You, in November 2010. Although it was underpromoted and performed poorly upon its release, the album became a sleeper hit and helped Miguel garner commercial standing. After Jive's dissolution in 2011, he moved to RCA Records and released his second album Kaleidoscope Dream in 2012 to critical acclaim. Early life Miguel was born and raised in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California. He is one of two sons born to a Mexican father and an African American mother. Miguel's parents divorced when he was eight years old. At a young age, Miguel was introduced to the older ...
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Biography of Dolly Buster
Katja-Nora Baumberger (née Kateřina Nora Bochníčková, born 23 October 1969 in Prague, Czechoslovakia), better known as Dolly Buster, is a film producer and director, actress, author, and a former porn star. Buster has starred in hundreds of X-rated European movies, and had gained a name for herself as one of the biggest in the industry. In 2004 she attempted to obtain a seat in European parliament as candidate of a fringe Czech political party. The party got 0.71% of votes. She appeared in the German version of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!. She currently lives with her husband in Wesel, Germany....
Biography of Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame (born October 23, 1957) is the current President of Rwanda. He came to prominence as the leader of the guerrilla Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) army, whose invasion of Rwanda is often cited as the primary reason the Rwandan Genocide came to a close. The RPF's victory over the incumbent government in July 1994 effectively ended the genocide. In 2003, he became the first democratically elected President of Rwanda. Early life Kagame was born to a Tutsi family in Ruhango, Rwanda in October 1957 to Deogratius and Asteria Rutagambwa. In November 1959, an increasingly restive Hutu population, encouraged by the Belgian Military, sparked a revolt, eventually resulting in the overthrow of Mwami Kigeri V Ndahindurwa in 1961. During the 1959 revolt and its aftermath, more than 150,000 p...
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Biography of Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton, M.D. pronounced /ˈkraɪtən/ , (October 23, 1942 November 4, 2008) was an American author, film producer, film director, medical doctor, and television producer best known for his science fiction and techno-thriller novels, films, and television programs. His books have sold over 150 million copies worldwide. His works were usually based on the action genre and heavily feature technology. Many of his future history novels have medical or scientific underpinnings, reflecting his medical training and science background. He was the author of The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Disclosure, Timeline, State of Fear, Prey, and Next. He was also the creator of ER, but most famous for being the author of Jurassic Park, and its sequel The Lost World, both adapted in...
Biography of Cat Deeley
Catherine Elizabeth "Cat" Deeley (born October 23, 1976) is a popular English disc jockey, television personality and former fashion glamour model, who rose to fame at the age of 21, co-hosting the well-known children's series SMTV Live, alongside Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, and for hosting So You Think You Can Dance. Height 5' 9" (1.75 m) Early life The elder of two children, born in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England, Deeley attended Grove Vale Infant School in Great Barr followed by Dartmouth High School, where she played clarinet in the Sandwell Youth Concert Band. She then continued her education at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School's Sixth Form. After achieving nine A grade GCSEs and four A-levels at school, Deeley became a full time fashion model. She occasionally...
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Raymond Réant, born October 23, 1928 in Liévin, Pas-de-Calais, died in 1997, was a French parapsychologist, author, psychic, medium and thaumaturge....
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Biography of Robert Trujillo
Roberto Trujillo (full name: Roberto Agustín Miguel Santiago Samuel Trujillo Veracruz) (born on October 23, 1964) is a bassist who played in Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Black Label Society, Jerry Cantrell, and Ozzy Osbourne's band before joining Metallica in 2003. Early Life He was born on October 23, 1964 as Roberto Agustín Miguel Santiago Samuel Trujillo Veracruz; grew up in Culver City, California where his father was a teacher at the local high school (Culver City High School). Career He played in a few local bands before joining Suicidal Tendencies (in 1989) and fellow Culver City native, Rocky George, the guitarist for the band at the time. Robert replaced the band's second bassist Bob Heathcote. He is responsible for adding in funk influences to the band see...
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Biography of Ang Lee
Ang Lee (Chinese: 李安; pinyin: Lǐ Ān) (born October 23, 1954) is an Academy Awardwinning film director from Taiwan. Height: 5' 7" (1.70 m) Career overview Many of Ang Lee's films have focused on the interactions between modernity and tradition. Some of his films have also had a light-hearted comic tone which marks a break from the tragic historical realism which characterized Taiwanese filmmaking after the end of the martial law period in 1987. Lee's films also tend to draw on deep secrets and internal torment that come to the surface, such as in the gay-themed films The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Brokeback Mountain (2005) (won the Academy Award for Best Director), the martial arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) (nominated for Academy Award for Be...
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Biography of Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. Height: 6' (1.83 m) Yoakam was born in Pikeville, Kentucky, and raised in Columbus, Ohio, growing up with his mother and step-father, who had a white-collar job in the automotive industry. He graduated from Columbus' Northland High School on June 9, 1974. During his high school years, he excelled in both music and drama, regularly securing the lead role in school plays, such as "Charlie" in the stage version of Flowers for Algernon, honing his skills under the guidance of teacher-mentors Jerry McAfee (music) and Charles Lewis (drama). Outside of school, Yoakam sang and played guitar with local garage bands, and frequently entertained his friends and classmates as an amateur comedia...
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Biography of Diana Dors
Diana Dors (October 23, 1931 May 4, 1984) was an English actress and sex symbol. She was born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon, England. She was considered the English equivalent of the blonde bombshells of Hollywood. She also had significant acting ability, which was destined never to be fully utilised (most of her later work is made up of sex-themed comedies that featured scenes near to soft-core pornography). Her success was such that, aged 20, she was the youngest registered owner of a Rolls Royce in the UK. According to film buffs, her best work as an actress may have been when she played a murderess in the 1956 film Yield to the Night. She was also willing to play repulsive characters in such films as The Amazing Mr. Blunden and Timon of Athens. Dors never had quite the same fo...
Biography of Fabrice Burgaud
Fabrice Burgaud, is a French judge born October 23, 1971 in Niort. As an investigative judge he falsely imprisoned several people on paedophilia charges....
Biography of Arielle Boulin-Prat
Arielle Boulin-Prat, born on October 23, 1953 in Saint-Germain en Laye, is a French former arts professor and TV host. She hosts Des chiffres et des lettres with Laurent Romejko and Bertrand Renard, a French television program. It was created by Armand Jammot and tests the numeracy skills and vocabulary of two contestants. The original version of Channel 4's Countdown, it is the oldest TV programme still broadcast on French Television and one of the longest-running game shows in the world. The game has its debut in 1965, with letters only, and reached its present format in 1972. It is broadcast, currently on France 3 after 39 years on Antenne 2 and then France 2, has been hosted since 1992 by Laurent Romejko, Arielle Boulin-Prat and Bertrand Renard (the latter two check words proposed b...
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Biography of Jessica Stroup
Jessica Stroup (born October 23, 1986) is an American actress and model. Stroup is better known for her role as Erin Silver on the Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off, 90210. Personal life Jessica Stroup was born on October 23, 1986 in Anderson, South Carolina. She spent her childhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. A friend's mother was a former Miss North Carolina and encouraged Jessica to pursue modeling. She has an older brother, Dave Stroup. She has previously stated that her parents were quite strict but still supported her aspirations. She graduated from Providence High School in 2004. At age 17 Stroup was offered a scholarship to attend the University of Georgia, but turned it down in order to pursue an acting career. She then moved to Los Angeles, California, where she currently resid...
Biography of Marthe Mercadier
Marthe Mercadié-Meyrat, best known as Marthe Mercadier, born October 23, 1928 in Paris, is a French actress and comedian. SelectedfFilmography 1951 : Identité judiciaire dHervé Bromberger : la prostituée Rose Muchet 1951 : La nuit est mon royaume de Georges Lacombe : Simone 1951 : Chacun son tour dAndré Berthomieu : Ketty 1951 : La Maison Bonnadieu de Carlo Rim : Mademoiselle Clorinde 1951 : Ouvert contre X de Richard Pottier : la détenue-manucure 1952 : Rendez-vous à Grenade de Richard Pottier : Annette 1952 : Un caprice de Caroline chérie de Jean Devaivre : Ida 1953 : Un acte d'amour (Act of Love) d'Anatole Litvak : la jeune femme à la terrasse 1954 : Obsession de Jean Delannoy : Arlette Bernardin 1954 : Scènes de ménage dAndré Berthomieu : Ernestine Boulingrin...
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Biography of Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi (born October 23, 1959) is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing the classic cult-horror film The Evil Dead, and the blockbuster Spider-Man films. He is also very known for producing the Ju-On Movies. He has also done packaging for Ju-on: The Grudge. Early life Raimi, the fourth of five children, was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of Celia Barbara (née Abrams), who owned lingerie shops, and Leonard Ronald Raimi, who owned home furnishing stores. Raimi was raised in Conservative Judaism; his ancestors immigrated from Russia and Hungary. Raimi's eldest sibling, Sander, died in a swimming accident in 1970 at age fifteen. His elder brother, Ivan Raimi, is an emergency room doctor and screenwriter who sometime...
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Biography of Izabel Goulart
Maria Izabel Goulart Dourado (born October 23, 1984 (birth time source: http://msn.lilianpacce.com.br/moda/horoscopo-das-modelos-escorpiao-pizabel-goulart/ gives her an Ascendant in Pisces)), better known as Izabel Goulart, is a Brazilian model. She is best known as one of the Victoria's Secret Angels from 2005 to 2008 and for her work with Armani Exchange. Early life and career Goulart was born on October 23, 1984, in São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil. She is of Italian descent and has four brothers and one sister. Goulart once said, "the hardest part about being is I spend time away from my mom's food and away from my home with my five brothers and sister". School was a particularly rough time for Goulart, as she was made fun of for her skinny build and was called names such as "giraf...
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Biography of Briana Evigan
Briana Barbara-Jane Evigan (born October 23, 1986) is an American actress and dancer, best known for her leading roles in Step Up 2: The Streets and Sorority Row. Early life Evigan was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Pamela C. Serpe, a dancer, model, and actress, and actor Greg Evigan. She is the youngest of three siblings, with brother Jason and sister Vanessa Lee. She has studied dance for nine years. She is also undertaking a speech and communication degree at Los Angeles Valley College. Career A professional dancer, Evigan has appeared in music videos for Linkin Park, Flo Rida, T-Pain and Enrique Iglesias. She has also had small roles in television series and films such as Bottom's Up, Something Sweet and Fear Itself. In 2008 she won the breakout role of ...
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Biography of Amandla Stenberg
Amandla Stenberg (born October 23, 1998) is an American actress. Early life Amandla (which means "power" in Zulu) Stenberg was born in Los Angeles, California to an African-American mother and a Danish father. At the age of four, Stenberg started doing catalog modeling shoots for Disney. She has appeared in national commercials for McDonald's, Kmart, and more. Acting career In 2011, she appeared in her first feature film Colombiana, alongside Zoe Saldana. Stenberg's career breakthrough came when she was cast as Rue in Gary Ross's film, The Hunger Games, based on Suzanne Collins's book. On April 13, 2011, it was announced that Stenberg had received the role alongside Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence. The film was released on March 23, 2012. Charitable work ...
Biography of Anita Roddick
Dame Anita Lucia Roddick, DBE (23 October 1942 10 September 2007) was the founder of The Body Shop, a British cosmetics company producing and retailing beauty products that shaped ethical consumerism. The company was one of the first to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals and one of the first to promote fair trade with third world countries. Roddick was also involved in activism and campaigning for environmental and social issues including involvement with Greenpeace and The Big Issue. In 1990 Roddick founded Children On The Edge, a charitable organization which helps disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe and Asia. Roddick was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis due to long standing hepatitis C in 2004, and after she revealed this to the media in February 2007 she promo...
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Biography of Pierre Larousse
Pierre Athanase Larousse (October 23, 1817-January 3, 1875) was a French grammarian and lexicographer born in Toucy. At the age of sixteen he won a scholarship at the teaching school in Versailles. Four years later, he returned to Toucy to teach in a primary school, but became frustrated by the archaic and rigid teaching methods. In 1840 he moved to Paris to improve his own education by taking free courses. From 1848 to 1851 he taught at a private boarding school, where he met his future wife, Suzanne Caubel (although they would not marry until 1872). Together, in 1849, they published a French language course for children. In 1851 he met Augustin Boyer, another disillusioned ex-teacher, and together they founded the Librairie Larousse et Boyer (Larousse and Boyer Bookshop). They publish...
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Biography of Jil Caplan
Jil Caplan (born Valentine, on October 23, 1965 (birth time source: email on 10/31/2014, her family)) is a French singer and songwriter. She studied modern literature at the Sorbonne and theatre at the Cours Florent, where she met Jay Alanski, producer and composer of the most influential pop songs of the 1980s. In August 1986, she met her friends Les Innocents, then unknown by the general public, in a recording studio, where the group recorded their first single "Jodie", under the leadership of Alanski. Immediately, Alanski was charmed by the girl and then offered her to sing. Caplan accepted, and that was what leads her first album À peine 21. They produced three albums together. They realized most of the videoclips, as well as CDs covers, drew a world very singular and faithful to...
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Biography of Jasmin St. Claire
Jasmin St. Claire is a former pornographic actress who is best known for starring in "gang bang" pornographic movies, in which she has sex with large numbers of men continuously without stopping. She has made appearances in the world of professional wrestling and such motion pictures as the Richard O'Sullivan-directed Communication Breakdown and the Lionsgate-released National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2. Currently, she works as a heavy metal VJ for Los Angeles and Metal's Darkside webshow & dvdzine. Film career Among her porn films, St. Claire is known for her appearance in World's Biggest Gang Bang 2, a 1996 sequel to World's Biggest Gang Bang, in which she is advertised as performing a record-breaking 300 sex acts with 300 men in a 24-hour period. St. Claire was interviewed on The Howard...
Biography of Pierre Vassiliu
Pierre Vassiliu (23 October 1937 in Villecresnes (birth time source: Didier Geslain), died on 17 August 2014 in Sète, France) was a French singer and songwriter. His first record, "Armand", co-written with his brother Michel, appeared in 1962. It was an enormous success, selling 150,000 copies. This opened the doors of the Olympia in Paris to him, where he opened for the Beatles in 1964. He went on to a two-month stand with Françoise Hardy, Jacques Dutronc, and Johnny Hallyday. He had a string of hits, including "Charlotte", "Ivanhoe", and "La femme du sergent", censored because of the Algerian War. His 1973 song "Qui c'est celui-là?" was done partido alto by Chico Buarque; it sold more than 300,000 copies and secured for him a place in the memories of the teenagers of the time. With...
Biography of Gérard Blain
Gérard Blain, born October 23, 1930 in Paris, died December 17, 2000 in Paris, was a French actor, director and screenwriter. Filmography Actor 1943 : Le Carrefour des enfants perdus 1956 : Voici le temps des assassins 1957 : Les Jeunes Maris 1957 : Les Mistons 1958 : Le Beau Serge Serge 1959 : Les Cousins Charles 1960 : Le Bossu de Rome Le Bossu 1962 : Hatari Chips Chalmoy 1963 : La Bonne soupe Le peintre 1964 : Les Vierges Xavier de Brétevielle 1966 : Un homme de trop Thomas 1977 : L'Ami américain 1980 : La Flambeuse 1981 : Un dimanche de flic Emilio 1986 : Poussière d'ange Broz, l'avocat 1987 : Natalia Claude 1989 : Jour après jour 1992 : Chasse gardée Pierre Bufières 1995 : Jusqu'au bout de la nuit 2000 : Bandits d'amour le prêtre ...
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Biography of Nelson Angélil Dion
Nelson Angélil Dion and Eddy Angélil Dion, born October 23, 2010 in West Palm Beach, Florida, are the twin brothers and sons of singer Céline Dion and her husband René Angélil....
Biography of Alex Zanardi
Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (born October 23, 1966 in Bologna, Italy) is an Italian racing driver. He won two CART championship titles in North America during the late 1990s. He also had a less successful career as a Formula One driver. More recently, he has attracted widespread praise for his return to competition in the aftermath of a crash in 2001 that resulted in the amputation of his legs. As of 2008, he competes in the FIA World Touring Car Championship for BMW Team Italy-Spain. Biography Early years Alex Zanardi was born in Bologna. His sister was a promising swimmer until her death in an automobile collision. Zanardi began racing karts at the age of 13. In 1988, he joined the Italian Formula 3 series, becoming a championship contender by 1990. In 1991, he moved up to the ...
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Biography of Princess Mako of Akishino
Princess Mako Akishino of Japan (born 23 October 1991) the elder daughter of Prince Akishino (Fumuhito) and his wife, the former Kawashima Kiko, is a member of the Japanese imperial family. She is the first-born granddaughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko and is currently a second-year student at Gakushuin Girls' Senior High School in Tokyo. Princess Mako has one younger sister Princess Kako, and a younger brother, Prince Hisahito....
Biography of Philippe Poupon
Philippe Poupon, born October 23, 1954 in Quimper (birth time source: Didier Geslain), is a French navigator and skipper....
Biography of Eddy Angélil Dion
Eddy Angélil Dion and Nelson Angélil Dion, born October 23, 2010 in West Palm Beach, Florida, are the twin brothers and sons of singer Céline Dion and her husband René Angélil....
Biography of René Metge
René Metge, born October 23, 1941 in Montrouge, is a French pilot....
Biography of Hélène Labarriere
Héléne Labarrière, born October 23, 1963 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, is a French jazz musician and double bassist....
Biography of Jean Absil
Jean Absil (October 23, 1893 (source: Steinbrecher) February 2, 1974) was a Belgian modernist music composer, organist, and professor at the Brussels Conservatory. Absil was born in Hainaut, Belgium. He originally studied organ and harmony at the Brussels Conservatory , but upon graduating, decided to concentrate on composition instead. In 1934, Absil won the Prix Rubens, which allowed him to travel to Paris, France. Here, he met fellow contemporary composers Ibert, Milhaud, and Honneger. Absil gained international prominence with the premiere of his first piano concerto (op. 30). In 1930, Absil began teaching harmony at the Brussels Conservatory, becoming a professor of Fugue 6 years later. He also taught at Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth and the Etterbeek Music School. In 1955, ...
Biography of Danièle Pourtaud
Danièle Pourtaud, born October 23, 1951 in Châteaudun, is a French politician, member of PS (Parti socialiste)....
Biography of Gaël Touya
Gaël Touya (born in Metz, France, on October 23, 1973) is a French fencer. He won the Gold Medal in the Summer Olympics in Athens. His team won the Gold Medal at the 1997 fencing world championship....
Biography of Abdel Rahman El Bacha
Abdel Rahman El Bacha (born October 23, 1958) is a Lebanese pianist and composer. His repertory includes over fifty concertos and is largely based on the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Ravel and Prokofiev . El Bacha was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1958 to a family of musicians - his father was a well-known composer and his mother was a singer . He remarked in an interview that his mother possessed a sharp ear for music without the ability to read it in written form, and that this taught him the importance of learning music by ear. He began his piano schooling in 1967 at the age of nine, with Zvart Sarkissian (a pupil of Marguerite Long and Jacques Février). At the age of ten, he gave his first concert with an orchestra. He was offered ...
Biography of Luc Girerd
Luc Girerd, born October 23, 1960 in Paris (birth time source: email on September 26, 2014, his family), is a French author, playwright and theater director....
Biography of Doug Flutie
Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is a retired American football and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League. He first rose to prominence during his career at Boston College, where he received the prestigious Heisman Trophy and the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award in 1984. His "Hail Mary" touchdown pass in a Boston College v. Miami game on November 23, 1984 (dubbed "Hail Flutie") is considered among the greatest moments in college football and American sports history. Selected late in the 1985 NFL Draft, Flutie played that year for the New Jersey Generals of the upstart United States Football League. In 1986 he ...
Biography of Gordon Korman
Gordon Korman (born October 23, 1963) is a Canadian American author, primarily of novels for children and young adults. He lives in Long Island's Great Neck, New York with his wife and three children. Korman was born in Montreal, but grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario. For Korman, this resulted in the manuscript for This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall, the first book in his Bruno and Boots series. It was published a year and a half later by Scholastic Press when Korman was only fifteen years old. Korman then went on to publish many more books, including No Coins, Please, Go Jump in the Pool, and The War with Mr. Wizzle. Bibliography Non-series books * Who is Bugs Potter? (1980) * I Want to Go Home (1981) * Our man Weston (1982) * Bugs Potter LIVE at Nic...
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Biography of Ireland Baldwin
Ireland Eliesse Baldwin (born October 23, 1995 (birth time source: Astrodatabank)) is an American fashion model. She is the daughter of actors Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin. She is noted for her height of around 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) and known for her frequent use of social-networking site Twitter. Personal life Ireland Baldwin was born in Los Angeles, California, as the only child of actress Kim Basinger and first child and daughter of actor Alec Baldwin. Through her father she is also the niece of Stephen, Daniel, and William Baldwin. Her half-sister, Carmen Gabriela Baldwin, was born on August 23, 2013. At age 11 in 2007, she gained recognition in the news after her father Alec Baldwin left her an angry voicemail message which became publicized. His subsequent public apology and a d...
Biography of Keith van Horn
Keith Adam Van Horn (born October 23, 1975(1975-10-23) in Fullerton, California) is a retired American basketball player. Van Horn graduated from Diamond Bar High School and played for the University of Utah. In his professional career, he played for the New Jersey Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Dallas Mavericks. College career Among Van Horn's collegiate accomplishments is being the first player in the Western Athletic Conference to be named Player of the Year three times (1995, '96, '97), being the second player in WAC history to make first-team all-WAC four years, and being the leading career scorer in Utah and WAC history with 2,542 points. In February 2008, he was among 16 players named to the University of Utah's "All-Century" bas...
Biography of Isabelle Aboulker
Isabelle ABOULKER, born in Boulogne-Billancourt on October 23 in 1938, is a French female composer....
Biography of Meghan McCain
Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American, columnist, blogger, and the daughter of U.S. Senator John McCain and Cindy Hensley McCain. McCain began to receive media attention in 2007 for her blog, McCain Blogette, on which she documented life on the campaign trail and mused about fashion, music, and pop culture. In January 2009, she became a contributing author with The Daily Beast. Early life Meghan is the oldest of the four children of John and Cindy Hensley McCain. She has been a public figure for most of her life, appearing at the 1996 Republican National Convention. She was raised in Phoenix, Arizona and attended Phoenix Country Day School and Xavier College Preparatory, an all-girl Catholic high school. She attended Columbia University, where she earned he...
Biography of Linda M. Georgian
Linda M. Georgian, born October 23, 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio, is an American clairvoyant and author....
Biography of Frédéric Andréi
Frédéric Andréi, born October 23, 1959 in Paris, is a French actor, comédian, screenwriter and film director. Filmography (source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0029268/ ) La tête haute (2005) (TV) .... Le cadre Grandmarché ... aka Un foutu caractère (France: copyright title) Vénus beauté (institut) (1999) .... Le client finitions ... aka Venus Beauty Institute (USA: literal English title) ... aka Venus Beauty Salon (UK) Port Djema (1997) Come stanno bene insieme (1989) (TV) "Una vittoria" (1988) TV mini-series "La voglia di vincere" (1987) TV mini-series .... Stefano Besson Paris minuit (1986) .... Serge Cartan "Quelques hommes de bonne volonté" (1983) TV mini-series .... Wazemmes "La chambre des dames" (1983) TV mini-series .... Philippe The Facts of Life Goes to...
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Sometimes I think I'm the only one in Amarillo who cares about the old trees in our downtown area, although Amarillo city Planner Laurie Thomas and Assistant City Manager Allen Taylor did save the 100-year-old Arizona cypress which is the crowning glory of the new fire station.
I thought it was about the worst possible thing that could happen when the Salvation Army, in building its "pink palace," cut down the only honey locust tree left on West Fifth Avenue.
Just recently, I almost fell out of my car when I saw that a long straight line of huge trees had been cut down on the 500 block of South Harrison Street. I spoke with a workman who laughed and said, "What good are they?" To me, it was not a laughing matter. He said I was a silly old woman.
I still do not understand why the trees were cut down. They had been there for more than 50 years. The trees were located between two vacant lots; one is now a parking lot.
Also, the city sprayed Roundup on West Fifth Avenue, killing all the wildflowers. There are no weeds on West Fifth - it was like spraying Polk Street.
Though we have very few people downtown, it seems to me that it is still our city and we should care a little about old trees and wildflowers. Cutting down this line of old and very large trees is a disgrace.
Regina McMullan
USPS workers deserve better treatment
I have heard rumors about how bad things are getting to be for employees at the U.S. Postal Service, about how poor management has squeezed people to the point of "going postal."
I had heard others complain about mail being delivered at ungodly hours. I paid it no mind until one evening recently, when I realized someone was actually delivering my mail at 8 p.m. I met the unfortunate employee at my door. He had been delivering mail since 7:30 that morning. The poor fellow was using a flashlight to read the address.
This is insane! Why are USPS employees being abused this way? What has happened to our postal service? Are those at the top so greedy for profit that they are going to get away with abusing employees this way?
It seems that it would be more cost-efficient and humane to hire more employees instead of working the ones they have to death. I have always been for USPS until now. I disagree with the way management is handling things; it's not right. What's going to happen during the upcoming Christmas rush?
Take heed, postal officials. Do something good for your employees before the American public is forced to turn against you.
Employees are not to blame for what is going on with poor service; those at the top are. They are the ones making the bad decisions. I am going to start writing letters to my legislators demanding that they be held responsible.
Stacy L. Weills
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Fun and adventure is the goal with Big Bear Tours. Enjoy the great outdoors with its many breathtaking views, beautiful lakes and bountiful wild life with your experienced and fun loving guide. Camaraderie and good humor will keep you smiling.
Wine tours,custom tours and transportation services throughout the Okanagan Valley. Our fun and knowledgeable tour guides create memorable experiences.
Condo-1 Bdm: King w/Sofa bed in living room + 1 cot; bathroom; full kitchen. 2 TVs w/cable/VCR/DVD, alarm clock, telephone, Washer/Dryer, iron, gas fireplace, stereo w/cd player. Outdoor hot tub. Ski in/approx. 4 min walk out. 600 sq. ft. Non-Smoking
Ski-In / Ski-Out Luxury Accomodations Stunning Mountain & Village Views 2 - Private Hot Tubs Pool Table / Foosball Table 5 min. walk to Village & Golf Course 2 - Full Kitchens, outdoor BBQ's Heated Driveway 2-Private Ski Lockers
Vacation House in Penticton Rents Weekly! This 2 bedroom, is fully equipped,linens, dishes and BBQ. sleeps 6, and just a 3 minute walk to Okanagan lake Public Beach! Bring something to eat, sunscreen n trunks. IN our 8th. year. "Great for Families"
Sunday afternoon hands-on gourmet cooking workshops. Unique setting in the beautiful Okanagan Valleye in Kelowna BC. Maximum 8 students.
Quiet location, lake - and mountain view. Private bath, q/s beds, gourmet/vegetarian breakfast. 15min.to beaches/golf/hiking/mt.biking/ paragliding/skiing (Silver Star Mt.Resort) Rates: (S)$45.00-75.00 (D)$ 65.00-95.00 No smoking, no pe
Lumby, British Columbia visitors guide to accommodations, adventure travel, unique tours and rentals. Check out top Lumby, British Columbia getaways & destinations. Lumby, British Columbia vacations, packages & travel spots. Visit Lumby, British Columbia !.


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/ NEWS: More Gear Testers Needed: 6 Osprey Mutant packs
For many people the mountains and an outdoor life are all encompassing, embracing training and ambition with community and... Read more
In the strong sunlight of high altitude you need decent category 4 sunglasses. But what about when it's overcast at lower levels?... Read more
This year's British Lead and Speed Climbing Championships and a round of the Paraclimbing Cup took place at Awesome Walls,... Read more


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Cialis professionals. This online drug store is doing the best to make its clients feel safe and comfortable No prescription online pharmacy
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The dolls are geared towards a funkier sort of style and have become quite popular with young girls today. Similarly, commenters cited examples of providers encountering unanticipated contractual, technical, or other limitations on their ability to implement and use certified health IT capabilities in the manner they anticipated when they purchased or licensed the technology. With this lipid panel results, I will move my dosage back up. Bon je vais vous parler des jeux maintenant. Eastside Medical Center has been a healthcare leader for more than 35 years providing quality care to patients in Gwinnett and surrounding counties. The first two ships, Gettysburg and Cowpens, will enter modernization this year. In the genome, repetitive elements correspond to 500. Click here to show it. Loan term This is the length of time you choose to pay off your loan (e. Jackie Rothmeier, a sophomore, sees students still on their toes about lastminute cancellations. Sure, sending shares down 1. Sends Aircraft to Turkey Briefing: Press Secretary Updates Operations in Turkey Cook: Russian Actions in Syria Counterproductive Army Task Force Leader Briefs Reporters on Deployment to Iraq Coalition Continues Campaign Against ISIL Coalition Airstrikes in Iraq Disrupt Enemy Forces Inherent Resolve Spokesman Briefs Press Iraqi Security Forces Continue Campaign To Retake Ramadi Inherent Resolve Spokesman Briefs Reporters It is, of course, up to you what you choose to do with your time and your energy but whatever it is you must do it BIG.
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Best route map between Warrenton, VA and Fredericksburg, VA. This route take about 38 Miles.
The distance and estimated time is placed on the right depending on the status of the road.
, 09:44
* You can see Warrenton, VA and Fredericksburg, VA photos above. We provide this photos from Google Panoramio service.
* Warrenton, VA weather as celsius: °C
* Fredericksburg, VA weather as celsius: °C
* Weather information on route, provide by Open Weather Map.
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