After her divorce, Lessing became more involved with members of the Left Book Club. She had joined this communist book club the year before. She met her second husband, Gottfried Lessing there. They married soon after she joined the group, and had a child named Peter. This marriage ended in divorce in 1949. Gottfried Lessing later became the East German ambassador to Uganda. He was murdered in the 1979 rebellion against Idi Amin Dada.
She went to London to pursue her writing career and communist ideals. Lessing left two young children with their father in South Africa. Peter, from her second marriage, went with her. She later said that she thought she had no choice at that time. She felt she had done the best she could and that she was not the best person to raise the children. She would have been very frustrated like her mother had been because it was diificult for an intelligent woman to spend all of her time with young children.
The largest collection of Lessing's writing is at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, at the University of Texas at Austin. There are 45 boxes of Lessing's materials at the Ransom Center that contain nearly all of her available manuscripts and typescripts up to 1999. Lessing kept none of the originals of her early manuscripts. Other institutions, including the McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa, hold smaller collections.
During the late 1990s, Lessing suffered a stroke which stopped her from travelling during her later years and focused her mind on death. Lessing died on 17 November 2013 at her home in London, aged 94.
An Najaf
Najaf (Arabic:النجف; Transliterated: An Najaf; Persian:نجف) is a city in Iraq. It is about 160 km south of Baghdad. In 2008, about 900.583 people lived there. The city is the capital of Najaf province. It is one of the seven holy cities of Shia Islām. It is the center of Shia political power in Iraq.
The city is home to the Imam Ali Mosque, where Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, the fourth caliph is buried. Shia Muslims consider the mosque to be the third holiest Islamic site.
Hārūn ar-Rashīd founded the city on the site of Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib's grave in the 8th century.
Najaf was badly damaged during the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War. In 1991, there was a Shiite uprising in Najaf, which was suppressed by Saddam Hussein. This conflict caused many deaths, there are mass graves around the city. In 2003, a suicide bombing caused widespread damage. 120 people died, including the moderate imam Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim.
In April 2004, forces of Muqtada as-Sadr captured the city, as well as the city of Kut. Before the 2004 elections, a part of the occupying forces left the city.
This mosque is the most important Shi'a mosque in Iraq. The city is now a great center of pilgrimage from throughout the Shi'a Islamic world. It is estimated that only Mecca and Medina receive more Muslim pilgrims. Shia Islam's second most important figure is buried in Najaf. the Imam Ali Mosque is considered by Shias as the third holiest Islamic site.
The Imam Ali Mosque is housed in a grand structure with a gold gilded dome and many precious objects in the walls. Nearby is the Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery, reputed to be the largest in the world. It contains the tombs of several prophets and many of the devout from around the world aspire to be buried there, to be raised from the dead with Imām Alī on Judgement Day. Over the centuries, numerous hospices, schools, libraries and Sufi convents were built around the shrine to make the city the centre of Shīʻa learning and theology.
The Najaf seminary is one of the most important teaching centres in the Islamic world. Ayatollah Khomeini lectured there from 1964 to1978.
Many of the leading figures of the new Islamic movement that emerged in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon in the 1970s studied at Najaf.
Karbala
Karbala (Arabic:كربلاء; Transliterated:Al Karbala; also known as Karbala al-Muqaddasah, in the West, sometimes spelled Kerbela) is a city in Iraq. It is about 100 km southwest of Baghdad. It is the capital of Karbala Province. For Shi'a Muslims the city is one of the holiest cities, after Mekka,Medina, Jerusalem, and An Najaf.
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? is a television game show based on asking grade-school level questions to adults. The format started with the United States version, which first aired on FOX in February 2007. The show was created by Mark Burnett, the same person behind the hit show "Survivor". The show has since been made in many other countries; some use the same title, and some use different titles.
In Australia, the show is on the Ten Network. The top prize is AU$500,000.
A syndicated version of the show aired in the United States from September 2009 to March 2011. Contestants answer eight questions (ten in Season 1), and can answer a 5th grade bonus question for ten times the amount they earned from those questions. Unlike other versions of the show, the game does not end after a wrong answer. Instead, the contestant loses their earnings up to that point.
Washington State University
Washington State University is a university in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a land-grant university in Pullman. It is also the original and largest land-grant university in the state. The university was founded on March 28, 1890. Their team is the Washington State Cougars.
Land-grant university
A land-grant university is a college or university first built on land the United States government owned. They were made so that more people could go to college, and to do research that helps farmers. Every state has at least one.
Pullman, Washington
Pullman is a city in Whitman County, on the eastern border of Washington. The town's population was measured in 2000 as 24,675.
The main campus of Washington State University is located in Pullman, along with primary and secondary schools.
Vought F-8 Crusader
The F-8 Crusader was an American fighter plane made by Vought. It first flew in 1955, and went into the Navy and Marine corps in 1957. It was the only fighter plane in the Vietnam War to have both guns and missiles on it. It was slowly replaced by the F-4 Phantom II and was retired in 1999. There was also a different type of it called the RF-8 Crusader, meant for spying. It also took the pictures of Soviet missiles during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
LTV A-7 Corsair II
The A-7 Corsair II was an attack plane like the F-8 Crusader. It was made by Ling-Temco-Vought. It first flew in 1965, and went into militaries in 1967. It can take off from aircraft carriers, and can carry bombs meant to destroy enemies on the ground.
Note that it is called the "Corsair II" because there was an airplane called the F4U Corsair.
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
The F-4 Phantom II was an American fighter-bomber. It was mainly used during the Vietnam War. It was first flown in 1958 and was shown in 1960. The plane could carry four AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and four long range AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, but it did not have a gun. Later, the E model had a cannon mounted on it. After the F-15 Eagle replaced it, it was used as a bomber and the G model was used as a Wild Weasel.
Kappa (folklore)
The Kappa (also called Kawatarou, Kawako, Kawaranbe, Gatarō) is a character in Japanese folklore. It is water spirit ("yōkai") that is responsible for mischief. The Kappa is said to be the size of a 6 to 10 year old boy. It has the body of a tortoise and an ape-like head. The most notable thing about its body is a hole in its head that holds the kappa's strength giving water. They are said to live off of blood and to drain the life out of people. They are known for innocent pranks such as theft, but it is also said that they will rape women and eat children. The only things kappas enjoy more than children are cucumbers. To write a name on a cucumber and to throw it into a river is said to save that person from being eaten by the kappa.