Three years ago, posting as Bookman, I created GNI BOOK CLUB. The response was encouraging.

Following Bookman's self-exile in late 2011, however, the book club faded into the netherworld.

Today I'm pleased to launch GNI BOOK CLUB [2]. All members are invited to share information about books they're reading and discuss book-related matters.

********************************************************************

I just finished reading "MY LIFE WITH CHE: The Making of a Revolutionary" by Hilda Gadea. She was the first wife of the legendary revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara. This book was first published in 1972, five years after Che was assassinated in Bolivia. Hilda Gadea died of cancer in 1974.

Last week I also read another memoir by Che's second wife, Aleida March. That book, "REMEMBERING CHE:My Life With Che Guevara", was first published in 2008.

Together, these two books open windows into the personal and professional aspects of a larger-than-life character who made a mark in history and died at the youthful age of 39, fighting for a more humane world.

How one retired janitor became a multi-millionaire

A quiet, frugal Vermont man shocked locals when he gifted $6 million to a library and a hospital. What was his secret?

 

<cite class="byline vcard top-line"> </cite>

Who said "The State has no business in the bedrooms of the nation"?

Tek yuh time.

I'll check back tomorrow. Mañana.

...... live it well.

Our GNI family js definitely hurting with the passing of so many member loved ones and over the years some members as well.

Today we mourn with Amral, a person that I have never met in real life. However with our interaction here on GNI he has certainly won my respect. Chameli late husband and I spoke on the phone but the same as Amral we e never met but he was always pleasant. The same with the late   GNIers CLiff and LB, never met but had long phone conversations. Bottom line is let's try to be nice and live peaceful with everyone we come into contact with, life is short.

As one of my old Imaams used to say" Everyone has a ticket but the flight is not confirmed."

Wifey and I are on vacation but when Cham contacted me about the passing of Amral's wife, I felt very sad.

lOVE YOU MY GNI FAMILY!

The cheese we were used to in Guyana, the round red one, was it Gouda or Edam?

We also seemed to have some nice white cheese, any idea what that was?

Tomorrow, I plan on visiting the Highland Farm store at Kennedy they carry a large selection. Anyone wanna meet up and have a cheese selecting party?

You better bite your tongue when you visit Middleboro, Mass. Last week, residents voted in a town meeting to impose a $20 fine on any publicly uttered swear words.

While this may catch some travelers to the community by surprise, it’s not the only place the uttering of curse words is illegal. Here are some of the wackiest local laws that visitors should be aware of before venturing out.

1. Be careful what you wear

Laws governing clothing are common and should always be checked before traveling abroad. Qatar forbids indecent or revealing clothes, defined as “not covering shoulders and knees, tight or transparent clothes.” The Vatican City requires shoulder coverings and skirts or shorts to the knee in order to enter museums and churches. And, Castellammare di Stabia, south of Naples, has outlawed mini-skirts, low-cut jeans and too much cleavage, with violators risking a 300-euro fine.

Thailand has a law demanding that you wear underwear at all times – also a good idea in general.

In Italy, where foreign beach-goers can offend the local sensibility, laws often require cover-ups over swimsuits. In Lerici, on the Italian Riviera, you’re not allowed to walk the streets in just a swimsuit. That’s also true on the island of Capri, which has gone further to protect the serenity of the vacation spot by banning noisy shoes, such as clogs or wooden-soled sandals.

2. The shoes on your feet

Carmel, Ca., where Clint Eastwood was mayor, has a famous historic ban on woman wearing high heels. Though the law isn’t enforced, tourists can purchase a commemorative permit allowing them to wear the shoes.

But, you won’t get away with that in the historic sites around Greece. After many of the country’s landmarks, like the Acropolis, were damaged in recent years by visitors, the government banned people from wearing high heels at the ancient locations.

Urban legend also has it that the city of Blythe, Calif., bans people from wearing cowboy boots unless they own at least two cows. However, even the city manager of Blythe has never heard of that rule being enforced, so you’re probably safe in those boots.


3. Pull up your pants

While fashions change, one thing hasn’t. People wearing their pants sagged below the top of their boxers has had public officials up in arms for years. Five metro cities around Atlanta have banned saggy pants, skirts and shorts – specifically those more than three inches below the wearer’s hips. In Forest Park, Ga., violators can even face a $1,000 fine.

Montgomery County in Alabama levies a $100 fine against juveniles and $150 fine against adults with the slogan: “Raise your pants, raise your image.”

Delcambre, La., was the first town to make it a crime to “show your underwear in public.” There you can face six months in jail for a violation.

4. No confetti or Silly String or Barbies

Gum isn’t the only thing you can get in trouble for owning. It is illegal to possess or use confetti in Mobile, Ala. The party fun has been found to be damaging to the environment and hard to clean up.

Mobile and our original law-happy Middlebourough, Mass., have also joined Ridgewood, N.J., Southington, Conn., and Huntington, N.Y., in banning Silly String. In Los Angeles, Silly String is banned – with a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail – but just on Halloween.

5.  Watch your language

Virginia Beach, known as a family vacation destination, banned profanity in the early 1990s. Swearing can earn you a $250 fine and up to ten days community service.

The Australian states of Queensland and Victoria passed similar bans last year, which impose fines of $100AUD and $240AUD, respectively. Guess you’ll have to learn some Australian swear words just to make sure you don’t say them.

In Long Beach, Calif., public officials limited the swearing ban to a location known to cause more than a few curses: mini-golf courses. So, throw that golf club in silence.

6. Don’t spit

It’s more than just common courtesy not to spit in public, it’s illegal in many places. Face a fine and possible jail time if you spit on the public streets in Barcelona, Singapore, Vancouver, or Dodge City, Kan.

The best compromise, however, comes from Burlingame, Calif. In that West Coast town spitting is illegal, except, understandably, in its natural habitat: on the baseball diamond.

7. Or chew gum, or litter, or forget to flush the toilet

Singapore has a lot of laws. It’s known for its orderly, clean city, but that’s no accident. Littering will cost you $1,000 and not flushing a public toilet could cost $500. Don’t smoke in public. In fact, selling gum is illegal as well. Caning is still a form of punishment, so be careful to follow all local laws.

Thailand and the UK followed Singapore’s orderly example when it comes to gum. In these two countries, you can be fined for littering gum, but not for chewing it. Still, $600 is a steep price for bubble gum.

8. Seriously, don’t shoot the cactus

When visiting Arizona, resist the temptation to shoot or manhandle the cactus. The Saguaro cactus has become so endangered by people shooting holes in the plants, that damaging or cutting down a cactus can earn you up to 25 years in jail.

Of course, there are other reasons not to shoot the cactus. In 1982, a man in southern Arizona shot so many holes in the trunk of a giant 28-foot cactus that it fell on him and killed him.

9.  No playing pranks

Many towns and states have no patience for your foolery, so before you start prank-calling people, know that you could face steep fines.

In Louisiana, ordering a good or service for someone else without them knowing can earn you a $500 fine or six months in jail. So, no ordering pizza to a friend’s house without their consent.

However, in Canada, as long as you don’t threaten anyone (which you shouldn’t be doing anyway!), there are no laws against prank calls.

10. Don’t hunt Bigfoot

If you’re planning a trip to find Bigfoot, also called Sasquatch, know that you won’t be able to hunt the elusive creature in some of its alleged natural habitat.

Skamania County in Washington enacted the Sasquatch Protection Ordinance in 1969, while nearby Whatcom County declared itself a Sasquatch Refuge and Protection Area in 1992. The law is primarily aimed at preventing eager Bigfoot hunters from accidentally shooting other people, who can be mistaken for the ape-like creature. However, if you did shoot a Sasquatch, you could face $1,000 fine or five years in prison.

That’s not true in Texas. The Lone Star state found itself in the news in May after decreeing that, because Bigfoot was not explicitly on the list of protected animals, it is legal to hunt a Sasquatch. Keep that in mind as you plan your next Finding Bigfoot trip.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, APRIL 19. STORIES BY MICHELLE GONSALVES AND CLAUDETTE EARLE ---

SHAKIRA CAINE was born Shakira Baksh on February 23, 1947 to a Guyanese Muslim family. The daughter of a dressmaker, she aimed to follow in the footsteps of her mother and become a fashion designer. It was while working as a secretary that Shakira was urged by her boss to participate in the 1967 Miss Guyana contest which she won.

Shakira went on to compete at the Miss World contest in London, and finished in third place.

The year 1967 was the only one in any grand slam pageant in which three South American countries made it as the final three – Shakira Baksh, Madeleine Hartog Bell (Miss World 1967), and Maria del Carmen Sabaliuskas. Afterwards, Shakira made a permanent move to England to work as a model and actress.

Shakira made her acting debut in “Carry on Again Doctor,” a British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring Kenneth Williams, Sid James and Charles Hawtrey. There she had an unaccredited role as Scrubba. She resurfaced in 1970 cast as Karl Chambers’ friend on the UK/American comedy/musical film “Tomorrow” which was directed and written by Val Guest and starred Olivia Newton-John, Benny Thomas and Vic Cooper. From 1970 to 1973, Shakira appeared as SHADO Operative on the short lived action/science fiction television series “UFO,” starring Ed Bishop, Mel Oxley and Dolores Mantez.

On January 8, 1973, Shakira wedded British actor Sir Michael Caine in a quiet ceremony in Las Vegas. They met after Caine saw her appearing in a “Maxwell House” coffee commercial and a friend gave him her telephone number. The couple has a daughter, Natasha Haleema.

Always interested in fashion, and drawing on her mother’s career as a dressmaker, Shakira began to design clothing and jewellery which are sold in major department stores throughout the UK and USA. Shakira’s creativity has expanded to include painting, and her work has been auctioned for charity.

She also appeared with her husband in John Huston’s “The Man Who Would Be King”, playing the part of Roxanne.
The following is an original Guyana Chronicle article following Shakira Baksh’s win in 1967, which was reprinted in the Guyana Chronicle’s Christmas Annual of that year.

Tall, stately Guyanese beauty Shakira Baksh made world headlines in November this year when she was judged the third most beautiful girl in the world at the Miss World 1967 contest held in London.

The first girl to place Guyana on the map at an international beauty pageant, 20-year old Shakira had months earlier captured the hearts of her compatriots when she claimed the crown easily in the Miss Guyana contest, sponsored by the Jaycees of Guyana.
On the night of the Guyana finals, Shakira made a striking appearance on stage in a scintillating gown of gold sequins. It featured a cold shoulder effect and a train which draped gracefully from her other shoulder.

She was stunning, the rich gold material set off her dusky complexion superbly. The Governor-General Sir David Rose and his wife, members of the diplomatic corps and their wives were among the large audience which cheered Shakira to victory that night.

But this was not the first stage victory for Shakira. She was chosen out of nine other young lovelies to be Miss Deepavali, 1966.

Yet Shakira, is not only endowed with beauty, she has brains as well. It is a common sight to see her promenading the short distance from her home in King Street to the Public Free Library in the afternoons.

She is an avid student of languages, and though she hates admitting it, she reads Philosophy for pleasure. “I would like to study languages at a good university abroad”, she keeps saying.

And now I think her dream has come through. Shakira intends to spend the next few months in England reading languages.

Her success in London has helped her greatly. She was thrilled to bits, as any girl would be, to place third in such a fabulous contest. Although she was tipped to be among the first five, Shakira was excited and overwhelmed to be placed third. “I am happy to win, and I know that my success will do a lot for tourism in Guyana.” With success came floods of congratulations from every quarter. She was caught up in a heady whirlwind of special engagements, film and television tests, and swank interviews. Little wonder that, in a letter to her mother, Mrs. Saab Baksh, Shakira confessed that she was becoming a little tired of all the activity. Shakira’s success has gone further than just making Guyana feel proud. It has made us realise, however late that might be, that the Guyanese beauty is as good as any at international contests. It has made us confident of sending other beauties to future world pageants.
We hope that the day will not be too distant when we will open the annals of our history (and see) the name of the Guyanese who will have captured the title of Miss World.
Well done, Shakira!