It's the birthday of the novelist Doris Lessing, born in Kermanshah, Persia, which is now Iran (1919). Her father was a captain in the British army. Her mother was a nurse.

She grew up in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and then moved to South Africa. She supported herself working in a dress shop writing advertising, where she started to read Virginia Woolf, Proust, and D.H. Lawrence, and she began to write. She emigrated to England after World War II.

Doris Lessing said, "I was a communist for some years from which I learned a great deal, chiefly about the nature of political power, how groups of people operate, I think, according to specific but little-understood laws and the force of self-delusion. I am still leftwing in politics, though pessimistic about the human condition and more interested in philosophy and religion than I expected to be. Yeats said that a writer must work a way inwards, into self-knowledge. I am always surprised at what I find in myself and this to me is the most rewarding part of being a writer."

Doris Lessing is best known for her novel The Golden Notebook (1962) and her most recent book The Sweetest Dream.

(from Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" on NPR--National Public Radio--in the U.S.)

Barry Manilow: "I've always wanted to marry Elton John"
(Reuters)

Barry Manilow had a confession to make at the October 10 Society of Singers' annual Ella Awards. "I've always wanted to marry Elton John," he announced to the crowd as he paid tribute to the evening's honoree. The event, held at Los Angeles's Beverly Hilton, raised money for the SOS, which provides emergency funds for singers in need. According to SOS president Jerry Sharell, the evening broke an SOS fund-raising record previously set in 1990, when Frank Sinatra was honored.

John was visibly moved by many artists' renditions of some of his and Bernie Taupin's compositions, including Smokey Robinson's soul-drenched "Tiny Dancer"; k.d. lang's stripped-down, sublime version of "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"; and Michael McDonald's muscular cover of "Take Me to the Pilot." In his acceptance speech, John recalled a youth spent listening to such singers as Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald (for whom the awards are named), Sarah Vaughan, Dean Martin, and Bing Crosby. But he admitted that he would have to turn down Manilow's proposal: "I couldn't have married you, Barry. There would have been too much fuss in front of the mirror."

This fits into the "yes-but-is-it-art?" category:

Gallery patrons line up to ask 'What time is it?

Fri, 21 Oct 2005 13:07:33 EDT CBC Arts

London's Tate Gallery has paid 20,000 British pounds for a performance piece that involves gallery patrons standing in a line and asking each other the time.

It was one of 14 pieces bought for the gallery from the Frieze Art Fair, an exhibit of work from contemporary galleries around the world.

The performance piece, called Time, is by Buenos Aires artist David Lamelas, a pioneer of conceptual art known for his short film and video installations.

Lamelas is fascinated with the concept of time and is quoted as saying that, "Time is a fiction." His performance piece is meant to give participants a new perspective on "the environment of the museum and static objects."

Time involves members of the public being invited to stand along a line placed in a gallery or other performance space. Each participant is asked what the time is and replies in their own language.

The piece was performed during the Frieze fair, which is held every October in Regent's Park in London.

The Tate acquired pieces from the fair through the Frieze Art Fair Special Acquisitions Fund, valued at 150,000 pounds in 2005. The fund is organized by a group of gallery patrons and donors who want to help the Tate acquire international contemporary art.

A Tate spokeswoman defended Time in a statement to the BBC.

"Part of the appeal of the work is that it can be performed in any number of locations," she said. "Yesterday it was performed at the art fair."

Among the other works acquired: a filing drawer full of blank index cards by Dutch artist Stanley Brouwn, another seminal conceptual artist; sculpture by California artist Matthew Monahan; and a film by Lithuanian artist Deimantas Narkevicius.

The Tate also bought five photographs by New York photographer Zoe Leonard and two ceiling fans made of skateboards and colanders by Brazilian artist Alexandre da Cunha, who specializes in reproducing functional devices out of found objects.

The pieces remain on display at the Frieze Art Fair, which is exhibiting 160 works by contemporary artists from around the world. It runs Oct. 21 to 24. The Frieze Art Fair is associated with the cultural magazine, Frieze.

Here's a reminder of why I hate China's government:

Chinese Communists dash hopes of democratic reform

· No move to elections or greater media freedom · White paper labelled rehash of previous policy

Jonathan Watts in Beijing
Friday October 21, 2005 The Guardian

Hopes for political reform in China have suffered a setback with the publication of the government's first white paper on democracy - a document that despite its name reaffirmed the Communist party's determination to cling to power and postpone the introduction of elections.
The white paper was issued by the cabinet amid rising tensions in the countryside and calls from western leaders for Beijing to adjust its archaic system of governance so that it keeps pace with the spectacular changes in the economy.

But initial optimism that President Hu Jintao and the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, might be any more willing than their predecessors to implement political reform were dashed by the 12-part document, which defined China as a "democratic dictatorship" in which the Communist party had been chosen by history to play a leading role. [DON'S NOTE: I almost laughed out loud when I read "democratic dictatorship" ! ]

The paper acknowledged that the system is "not yet perfect", highlighting the problems of corruption and the failure sometimes to implement laws and punish lawbreakers.

But it offered no specific policy proposals nor a timetable for change. There was no mention of media freedom, despite the increasingly apparent need for democratic checks and balances on abuse of authority.

Electoral reform was also pushed into the background. Last month Mr Wen told Tony Blair that China was moving to permit township-level elections, which would for the first time allow voters to choose policymakers responsible for budget issues such as education. But there was nothing in the paper to suggest that this would happen soon.

"This is simply a rehash of previous policy statements," said a western political analyst in Beijing, who asked to remain nameless. "It's a declaration that the Communist party intends to stay very firmly in control."

Political and legal reforms have slowed even as the economy surges ahead. New figures yesterday showed that China's gross domestic product grew by 9.4% between January and September.

Rising lifestyle expectations, better public understanding of human rights and the spread of internet and mobile phone technology have fuelled a grassroots movement for bureaucrats to be more accountable for their decisions.

But the Communist party has made social stability its overriding concern, conscious of the chaos that followed political reform in Russia. Critical newspaper editors have been arrested, dissidents are frequently put under house arrest and censorship of the internet has been stepped up.

Local governments, who often face challenges from their residents, appear to have been given a free hand to use extra-legal means to put down disputes.

In one of the highest profile cases an impeachment campaign by residents in Taishi village, Guangdong province, was broken up by hired thugs, who have beaten up residents, civil rights campaigners and journalists. According to a new report on the attacks by the South China Morning Post, one member of almost every household in Taishi was arrested and told they would be imprisoned for at least three years until their families gave up the challenge against the village chief.

The newspaper said the central government had declared Taishi an "important political incident" - making it the same level of concern as the SARS outbreak and the Falun Gong movement.

Chinese policymakers argue that stability is the basis for gradual reform. "We need time," said Wu Jianmin, president of the Foreign Affairs University and a former ambassador. "At some point, things will move on."

"By charity, goodness, restraint, and self-control men and woman alike can store up a well-hidden treasure -- a treasure which cannot be given to others and which robbers cannot steal. A wise person should do good -- that is the treasure which will not leave one."

-"Khuddhaka Patha"
From Teachings of the Buddha, edited by Jack Kornfield, 1993.
Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston,
www.shambhala.com .

It's TOMMY DOUGLAS DAY in Saskatchewan!

"Born on October 20, 1904, Tommy Douglas grew up in Saskatchewan and, as a clergyman schooled in the social gospel, realized that he could do more to help the unemployed, the poor and the sick if he became a politician.

In 1935 he was elected federally under the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). By the end of the 1930s, the depression and World War II had created an opening of popular support towards the CCF and its progressive ideas. Canada had financed its participation in the war but wouldn't apparently fight against poverty. "Surely ", said Douglas, "if we can produce such abundance in order to destroy our enemies, we can produce equal abundance to provide food, clothing and shelter for our children."

In 1944, the CCF under Douglas won the Saskatchewan election to become the first social democratic government in North America. The CCF election slogan was "Humanity First" and 70% of this government's first budget was spent on health, welfare and education.

Subsequently, the Douglas government paid off the provincial debt, created a province wide hospitalization plan, paved the roads and provided electric power to unserviced rural areas.

In 1961, the NDP (New Democratic Party) was created with Douglas as leader. His top priority project was the development of Medicare. Douglas with some difficulty was able to overcome the opposition of physicians and implemented a government health care system that was universal, pre-paid, publicly administered and provided high quality care including measures for prevention - the first in Canada and North America. [DON'S NOTE: Douglas had returned to federal politics and Woodrow Lloyd was the NDP premier when many Saskatchewan doctors went on strike in 1962 to oppose the introduction of Medicare.]

Encouraged by the widespread support for Saskatchewan's Medicare experience, the Federal Liberal government began to study the possibility of creating such a plan for all Canadian Citizens. In 1964, the report from the Royal Commission on Health Services recommended a joint Federal/Provincial system that would cover the cost of preventative health care and hospitalization for all Canadians."

"GAZUMP" (Verb) from www.yourdictionary.com

Pronunciation: [gê-'zêmp]

Definition 1: "John gazumped Martha" = "John rejected the price for his house offered by Martha, a would-be buyer, despite having originally accepted her offer, because he decided to accept a subsequent higher offer."

Usage 1: Often used in the passive: "I had been looking forward to moving to Kensington, but I was gazumped at the last moment." This word presupposes a legal framework for house purchase, such as obtains in England, where the seller's acceptance of the purchaser's offer price is not binding on the seller until the 'exchange of contracts', usually 30 days before completion of the sale.

Suggested usage: "I had arranged to help Andrea with her algebra homework, but that nerd Norman, who is always top in math, has gazumped me." "We were in negotiation with a famous pianist to play at to our local musical festival next October, but now we've been gazumped by Carnegie Hall—he's got an engagement there instead."

Etymology: From Yiddish gezumph ("overcharge"). It was adapted to real estate dealings in London in the 1970s, at a time of rapidly rising house prices.

—Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy, University of Canterbury

It's the birthday of the playwright Wendy Wasserstein, born in Brooklyn, New York (1950). She's best known for her play "The Heidi Chronicles". She said, "I loved the theater. I just didn't think you could do it as a profession. I thought that I would marry a lawyer or be one and do productions of 'Guys and Dolls' at my local suburban playhouse."

But she took a playwrighting course in college and struggled to make it as a playwright in New York City. During her years of struggle, she was watching as most of her friends and siblings got married and had children. She thought a lot about what she'd sacrificed by devoting herself to theater, and that became the subject of "The Heidi Chronicles".

(from Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" on National Public Radio--NPR--in the U.S.)

China dissident attacks Yahoo over jailing

By Mure Dickie in Beijing
Published: October 18, 2005 01:50

A leading Chinese advocate of internet freedoms has issued a scathing denunciation of the US portal Yahoo for its role in helping Communist authorities to prosecute an independent-minded local journalist, jailed for 10 years for “leaking state secrets”.

Veteran dissident Liu Xiaobo, in an open letter to Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, accuses the US company of betraying its customers and supporting dictatorship by providing information on journalist Shi Tao to Chinese authorities.

“Major foreign companies should not be helping the Chinese government to limit freedom of speech on the internet,” Mr Liu told the Financial Times. “This is shameless.”
Mr Yang, who recently sealed a $1bn (€830m, £570m) link-up with the Chinese commerce website Alibaba, confirmed last month Yahoo had assisted the action against Mr Shi, but said it had no choice but to provide information about him as part of a “legal process”.

Yahoo yesterday refused to comment on the contents of the letter. A company spokeswoman at its base in Silicon Valley said it only released information to the authorities “when legally compelled to do so, and then only in a way that complies with both local laws and our privacy policy”.

Mr Shi was jailed for 10 years in April, apparently for revealing information about a media crackdown by party propaganda officials.

Some commentators have defended Yahoo, saying companies doing business in China cannot defy the government, but that their operations encourage greater openness and improve the lives of ordinary Chinese.

Mr Liu dismisses such arguments in his letter, however. The author, who has spent years in jail for his criticism of the Communist party, says Yahoo has enough market clout not to need to toady to authorities.

International companies are ignoring basic human rights in return for business opportunity, while the Communist party is offering profits in return for continued control of the internet and the ability to intimidate dissidents, Mr Liu writes.

“The collusion of these two kinds of ugliness means that there is no way for western investment to promote freedom of speech in China, and that in fact it greatly increases the ability of the Communist party to blockade and control the internet,” he writes.

“You are helping the Communist party maintain an evil system of control over freedom of information and speech,” he writes.

Google has excluded sites blocked by the state from its Chinese news service, while MSN banned the words “freedom” and “democracy” from parts of its new Chinese website.
In his letter, Mr Liu calls on internet users to boycott Yahoo services until the company apologises to Mr Shi, compensates his family and “ceases close co-operation” with China's censors.

Mr Liu also challenges Yahoo to explain the legal basis of the apparent decision by its Hong Kong business to provide information on Mr Shi, even though the former British colony has an independent judiciary.

"If we divide into two camps--even into violent and the nonviolent--and stand in one camp while attacking the other, the world will never have peace. We will always blame and condemn those we feel are responsible for wars and social injustice, without recognizing the degree of violence within ourselves. We must work on ourselves and also with those we condemn if we want to have a real impact."

-Ayya Khema, Be An Island
Copyright Wisdom Publications 2001.
Reprinted from Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist Inspirations
edited by Josh Bartok, with permission of Wisdom Publications,
199 Elm St., Somerville MA 02144 U.S.A,
www.wisdompubs.org