9.5.10

Articles: Helen Keller, Miranda Kerr, Angela Merkel

Hellen Keller
Revolutionary women: Helen Keller
Wed, 31/03/2010 - 20:03

"Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought!" Here we look at the life of Helen Keller as part of our series on revolutionary women in history
Many people have heard of Helen Keller, the blind and deaf woman who learned to talk when her friends wrote sign language on her hands.
Films have been made about her and Christian charities all over the world claim her as their own.
But no-one mentions a key fact about Helen Keller: she was a communist who fought for workers’ revolution.
Well-known for her extraordinary strength in the face of her dual disability, Helen Keller began to attract criticism when her socialist views became known.
In her 1912 essay How I became a socialist, she told how she first came across anticapitalist ideas by reading books, socialist newspapers and the programme of the mass socialist party in Germany. Aware of this, the millionaire newspaper Brooklyn eagle launched a patronising attack on her, claiming her “mistakes spring out of the manifest limitations of her development.”
She replied with cold fury: “Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn Eagle! What an ungallant bird it is! Socially blind and deaf, it defends an intolerable system... The Eagle and I are at war.”
In 1913, campaigning for votes for women, Helen Keller was quick to point out that passive pleading would get nowhere and that the fight for women’s suffrage is a class battle, and added: “Nearly all the opportunities, educational and political, that woman has acquired have been gained by a march of conquest with a skirmish at every post.”
Within two years class war had transformed into imperialist war as Europe descended into fratricidal slaughter. Helen Keller was appalled at the shameful support the leaders of the official socialist parties gave to the war. Alongside the left wing of the movement, she called for active opposition from workers, to turn the war of brother against brother into a war of the whole working class against capitalism:
“Strike against all ordinances and laws and institutions that continue the slaughter of peace and the butcheries of war. Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought. Strike against manufacturing shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of murder. Strike against preparedness that means death and misery to millions of human being. Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction. Be heroes in an army of construction.”
When the First World war came to an end and the workers took power in Russia, Keller backed the revolution enthusiastically, and fought to rally opposition to the imperialist powers’ blockade of the Soviet Republic.On the death of Lenin, she pointed out that the lessons of the Russian Revolution are key to humanity’s future:
“I see the furrow Lenin left sown with the unshatterable seed of a new life for mankind, and cast deep below the rolling tides of storm and lightning, mighty crops for the ages to reap.”
http://www.fifthinternational.org/content/revolutionary-women-helen-keller



Strike Against War by Helen Keller
Share: by Erik Larson August 25, 2008 at 11:29 pm
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http://www.nowpublic.com/world/strike-against-war-helen-keller

Forbes World’s Highest Paid Models 2009

http://mirandakerrfan.net/forbes-worlds-highest-paid-models-2009/

Model Miranda Kerr in raunchiest-ever shoot

By JONATHON MORAN From: The Sunday Telegraph June 06, 2010 12:00AM 19 comments
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Numero shoot with Miranda Kerr
Behind the scenes of a hot Miranda Kerr photo shoot by Greg Kadel for the new issue of French...
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Numero shoot ... Miranda Kerr's photographs are getting raunchier. Pic: Greg Kadel/Numero. Source: The Daily Telegraph
MIRANDA Kerr's photographs are getting raunchier.

After going au naturel for the first time a year ago in Rolling Stone - in support of koalas - with her hands strategically placed to preserve her modesty, her latest shoot for French style and fashion magazine Numero turns up the heat.

In the most revealing shot, a bleached-haired Kerr, 27, is almost unrecognisable as she holds a lit cigarette and bares her chest in a public bathroom.

In another shot, the Gunnedah-born supermodel wears dominatrix-style underwear in a school gym. Another image shows Kerr embracing another model dressed as a nun.

It's a very different image to that of the girl next door we're used to seeing as the face of upmarket retailer David Jones, or as the sweet Victoria's Secret underwear model.

"What a shame," Australian deportment queen June Dally-Watkins said, disappointed by the model's latest photo shoot.

"It's a very bad influence on young girls who follow her lead. Miranda does it to attract attention. Sex sells, but it's ridiculous and she could decline what the client is asking for."

Since Rolling Stone, the model has posed in increasingly provocative shoots, including wearing just a trilby hat for the 2010 Pirelli calendar.

Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Kirstie Clements said the French shots perhaps indicated Kerr wanted to be taken seriously as a high-end fashion model, having just secured coveted advertising campaigns for Prada and Jill Sander.

Kerr, girlfriend of Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom, also recently walked in a parade for Balenciaga.

"They're quite raunchy, but I think it suits Miranda because she has that insane body," Clements said.

"It's risqu aac, like a naughty schoolgirl. It's provocative and

a little bit naughty.

"Miranda's got that very sweet side we've seen in Australia but, when you go overseas, they bring out that sexy side in her, which I think is the next part of her career."

ANGELA MERKEL

EUROPE SHUDDERS AS ANGELA MERKEL DECLARED MOST POWERFUL WOMAN

August 21 2009

Berlin, Germany – Of all the three old world continents there is perhaps none that has seen the level of bloodshed than Europe. Though conflicts in Africa and Western Asia reach back into antiquity, the development of modern weapons, machinery, and
multiple cultures crashing together has meant almost endless levels of violence and death throughout the European continent. From Alexander the Great running rampant across the continent to the modern day horrors in Kosovo, Europe has been built on the back of bloodshed.

Of all European nations there is perhaps none with as much blood on its hands as Germany. With imperialistic roots across the continent and the instigators of the two most brutal conflicts in human history, Germany’s history is defined by blood like no other country, something many fear may never truly end. It is into that history
that Angela Merkel has had to wade as the Chancellor of Germany for the last four years. Her success in that position, leading the country into one of the most powerful and influential countries has once again landed at the top of the Forbes list of most powerful women in the world. With a four reign on the list many across the continent are once again beginning to fear the rising power of Germany and its eminently powerful leader.

“Women in power are rising to leadership positions in business, government and philanthropy by making daring and unconventional moves. Gone are the days of women feeling they must stick with one employer and patiently wait for promotions,” wrote Forbes. “Highly ambitious women ... are moving across companies and industries, making big leaps with each change, and repositioning themselves for opportunities that allow them to gain a breadth of experience.”

Many are noting the striking similarity between the magazines continued praise of Merkel and the media attention granted to another German leader, Adolf Hitler, who was chosen as Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1938. Only three months after that Nazi Germany began the invasion of Poland which marked the start of World War II.

“There were a lot of factors that led to the events of World War II and the Holocaust but the most important aspect of Hitler’s power was the kind of idolatry that surrounded him. That has proven true over and over again in dictatorships and likely will continue into the future. That kind of worship puts drowns out the people asking questions and helps to usher in unadulterated power,” said Scrape TV Historical analyst Lars Luger. “It is very unlikely that we will see Merkel on the cover of Time anytime soon but if we do then Europe and the world would be right in fearing impending doom. Even this seemingly small honour could extend into dangerous territory and potentially bring further destruction to the continent that has seen so much blood already.”

Merkel has thus far shown little signs of the kind of power grab that Hitler engaged in upon taking power in 1934. His grip on the German government and ultimate dictatorial rule has often been viewed as a result of number of divergent factors colliding at the right time, specifically the dire economic status of the country.

“Germany was suffering under incredible economic strain in the 1930’s which was the
greatest factor in Hitler’s rise to power. Despite some economic trouble of late, Germany has the fourth largest economy in the world so the kind of desperation that Hitler was able to exploit simply doesn’t exist anymore,” continued Luger. “Merkel also suffers as a direct result of Hitler’s actions. By blaming the Jews for so many of the country’s problems he was able to ride a wave of hatred to success. He killed so many of them though that it will prove a lot more difficult for Merkel to exploit them in the same way, making her rise to power a little more difficult, though not impossible.”

Merkel reportedly shaves regularly but it believed that she can grow a mean mustache.

Emil Uliya, International Correspondent



Eyebrows raised as billboards of Angela Merkel's cleavage spring up across Germany with slogan: 'We have more to offer'
0diggsdiggBy Allan Hall In Berlin
Last updated at 11:06 AM on 13th August 2009
Comments (17) Add to My Stories Posters showing the ample decolletage of German chancellor Angela Merkel have been distributed ahead of the country's general election next month.

Mrs Merkel, 55, appears in a lowcut dress alongside Vera Lengsfeld, a parliamentary candidate and member of the chancellor's Christian Democratic Union party, whose cleavage is also on display.

Below is the slogan: 'We have more to offer.'

Lengsfeld is running in a left-wing district of Berlin for a parliamentary seat in the September 27 general election. She has distributed the posters as part of her election campaign.
Enlarge Merkel's 'weapons of mass destruction': The campaign poster showing lots of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vera Lengsfeld, a member of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU)
Lengsfeld, a former East German dissident, said she had not cleared the picture beforehand with Mrs Merkel.
She claimed: 'The chancellor could never have allowed me to do this, otherwise everyone would have wanted to do it.'
The 57-year-old candidate has hung 750 posters in her district and local media have reported a few stolen as souvenirs.
Lengsfeld said over 17,000 people had visited her election blog since she shot into the public eye.
'If only a tenth of them also look at the content of my policies, I will have reached many more people than I could have done with classic street canvassing.'
She will have her work cut out, however, to transform the limelight into success at the ballot box against a popular Green party veteran.
Meanwhile the women's arm of the CDU chided Lengsfeld for an outdated 'sex sells' campaign. 'We don't need to do things like this any more,' head, Maria Boehmer told a news conference.
CDU spokesman would only say the party's central office was 'not notified'.
On Lengsfeld's blog, opinion was sharply divided.
'Witty, cheeky and funny,' said 'Alex'.
But 'Lena' said the placards were 'embarrassing and shameful'.
'How deeply sad that a woman has to attract attention with her breasts because she is incapable of clever words and thoughts,' she said.
Lengsfeld said she did not understand the fuss.
'I find it amazing how little humour some people have shown over this placard. People always complain election posters are boring and then as soon as someone does something different, people get annoyed,' she said.
The famous photo of Merkel's cleavage used in the poster, which was taken at the opening of the Oslo Opera House in April 2008, prompted headlines such as 'Merkel's Weapons of Mass Destruction' from the Daily Mail and 'Deutschland boober alles' from media gossip website Gawker.
It was not the first time images of Merkel - named by Forbes magazine as the most powerful woman on the planet three years in a row - made waves.
In 2006, the Sun newspaper snapped her changing into a bathing suit while on holiday in Italy under the headline 'Big in the Bum-destag', a reference to the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament.
This April, the unusual sight of a giant mocked-up photo of Merkel in a matching purple bra and knickers greeted punters on Berlin's famous Ku'damm shopping street as part of an underwear advertising campaign.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1205844/Billboards-Angela-Merkels-cleavage-spring-Germany-slogan-We-offer.html#ixzz0nP58sTMN

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