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I spend a lot of time talking about BIG wins (like salary negotiation) instead of incremental cutbacks on lattes or paper towels. The "big win" mentality is how hundreds of my students have landed their dream jobs, dug out of debt, and outperformed their peers in countless situations.
But big wins aren't always easy—especially when you use an unconventional approach. Sometimes we get criticized by our peers or even find ourselves at odds with cultural traditions. What do you do then? How do you stay focused when people expect you to fail?
Jay Cross, creator of the Do-It-Yourself Degree (and my former editor at IWT) has written a guest post about putting effectiveness before ego. He offers a powerful framework for dealing with haters, staying motivated, and using contrarian methods to achieve your goals.
Notice the key points Jay makes below:
- He doesn't tell you how to AVOID criticism. (That's easy: Say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.) Instead, he tells you to EXPECT criticism, ignore it, and focus on the results.
- Criticism creates opportunity: Because so many people avoid the unfamiliar, pioneers are often richly rewarded. (Another example of the Craigslist Penis Effect in action.)
- You need to test your assumptions instead of letting others think for you.
Jay has a keen insight into what motivates people, and I think you'll enjoy his post below.
We love to romanticize contrarians: people who do things differently and accomplish what no one believed was possible.
It's why we cherish Galileo and Charles Darwin, who advocated controversial ideas that society did not want to accept. It's why we celebrate the Founding Fathers, who overthrew an oppressive government instead of obeying it. It's even why we admire risk-takers in our own lives, like a gutsy co-worker who calls out the boss when he's wrong.
We get an emotional rush just hearing these stories, and with good reason.
Contrarians are life's change agents, the social jackhammers who challenge stale traditions with fresh thinking. While others mimic Niedermeyer from Animal House (taking whatever life gives them with "thank you sir, may I have another?" passivity), contrarians refuse to stay silent when they discover a better way.
We often wish we had the courage to do that…but it's not easy, is it?
Even when we're sure we're right, the moment of truth comes, and we fold—often because we fear criticism. Social psychology experiments have shown that we will change a test answer we know is correct…simply because the people sitting next to us changed their answers.
We are instinctively afraid of going against the grain…and the greater the stakes, the greater the fear.
Most people believe contrarians (especially famous ones like Steve Jobs) are simply born without this fear. They use phrases like "ice in their veins" to describe the cold, bulletproof personalities contrarians supposedly have.
Awakening your inner contrarian
For most of us, though, contrarianism is something we can cultivate. Just as a muscle grows stronger with exercise, your willingness to break from social norms and test new approaches will expand with practice. It just takes a new emotional framework to fall back on.
Today, I want to show you that framework. Instead of simply applauding you for revering contrarians, I am going to encourage you to BE one—to actually try the "radical" or "crazy" things you've long believed would work—by revealing the fascinating inner psychology of anyone who ever dared to think differently.
I call it "The Contrarian's Cycle of Criticism, Acceptance, and Awe." And it's about putting effectiveness before ego.
Once you understand the emotional trials every risk-taker experiences, you will push straight past your fears, driven by the amazing results waiting for you at the end.
Allow me to tell you a personal story of my own struggle with the Contrarian's Cycle, and then deconstruct it using the cycle itself.
My own struggle to do things differently
I ran straight into these fears when I discovered the Do-It-Yourself Degree approach to graduating. Rather than taking years of classes and racking up massive student loans (like 90% of students do) I learned that I could finish my bachelor's degree by taking tests instead. Classes cost $3,000 and up—often much more—but the tests cost just $80-$100 apiece.
Result: you can earn a bachelor's degree in 1 year or less for under $5,000 in testing fees. The best part? It's a totally self-managed approach. You graduate as fast as you are willing to work.
I was fascinated by this. Not only would it solve a major problem in my life (I had been frustrated with the class schedules at my school for years) it also seemed like an incredible opportunity for students like me, who felt "locked out" of the traditional college system by time or money.
But one of my friends saw it differently. The one drawback of the DIY Degree approach was that I'd have to leave the University of Connecticut and transfer to a less prestigious school. Once she knew this, my friend (we'll call her "Chloe") tore into me:
- "You're the smartest person I know. Why would you settle for a lesser school on your resume?"
- "This seems like taking the easy way out. You're above that."
- "This upsets me. I expect better from you."
I knew these criticisms were irrelevant on an intellectual level. As a writer and entrepreneur, no one cared where I went to school. I had already landed incredible positions—including working for Ramit—while I was still in college. Today, I manage data visualization projects for companies like Intuit and Cisco.
(Top performers care about results, not resumes.)
The DIY Degree approach isn't "the easy way out", either. It actually takes even more dedication, because you are totally on your own and each test covers a full semester in 3 hours.
And she only "expected better from me" because she thinks big-name universities are essential to top performance. (I think big-name universities accept top performers and take credit for their success.)
Yet, even though I knew all of this…those comments still cut pretty deeply. It's easy to ignore harsh critiques from a stranger, but not from someone you respect. It was enough to make me second-guess my plan…briefly.
In the end, I decided that Chloe was dead wrong. True, the DIY Degree approach wasn't the best way for everyone to graduate. But I wasn't everyone. I was a self-motivated producer who had done more without a degree than most did ten years after graduating. And either way, having the word "UConn" on my resume did not justify a mortgage-sized loan to me. All I cared about was my degree being legitimate and respectable.
(If anything, I was willing to bet that my unique, time-and-money saving graduation strategy would impress future employers, who want to work with problem-solvers.)
So, instead of folding, I pressed on and earned my DIY Degree as planned. Once she saw that I was serious, Chloe's criticism quieted down, and soon after I graduated she reversed her position completely.
"I can't believe you're doing this" became "I wish I didn't have student debt either."
What happened here? Is there a predictable pattern that nearly all similar situations follow?
The Contrarian's Cycle of Criticism, Acceptance, and Awe
What I went through was a version of The Contrarian's Cycle of Criticism, Acceptance, and Awe.
Stage 1: Criticism
"It's human nature to stick with traditional beliefs long after they outlast any conceivable utility." – Jim Pinkerton
First, Chloe criticized my decision, pushing every emotional button she could to talk me out of it. This happens to virtually everyone who tries a new approach to an old problem.
No matter how sound your logic, no matter how persuasive your arguments, no matter how successful you've been in the past, something about new approaches just makes people uneasy. They are emotionally invested in "the usual way" and, in some cases, have based their very sense of self on it.
To restore equilibrium, they say things like:
- "Why don't you just do [THE USUAL WAY] like everyone else?
- "Only a [PEJORATIVE NAME] would do/think [THE CONTRARIAN WAY]"
- "Sure, it sounds good, but that's not how the "real world" works.
Stage 2: Acceptance
"After an argument, silence may mean acceptance or the continuation of resistance by other means." – Mason Cooley
Then, once she realized I was doing this no matter what, she accepted it. Acceptance is not support, though. She still (as will most at this stage) fully expected me to fail. She just knew vocally opposing it was pointless now.
What people say during this stage:
- "I don't want to talk about [WHAT YOU'RE DOING]
- "Don't say I didn't warn you."
- "So you still think you're going to [GET THE RESULTS YOU EXPECT]?"
Stage 3: Awe
"What the wise man does in the beginning, the fool does in the end." – Warren Buffett
Finally, once I received my degree and proved there was nothing shady or weird about it—and that all I had done was graduate faster—Chloe was awed by my results.
You will notice this, too. After the benefits of your "crazy" plan begin to materialize, the whole game changes.
What people say during this stage:
- "How did you do that?"
- "That's not fair – I want your [UNIQUE RESULTS!]"
- "Some people catch all the lucky breaks."
3 top-performing contrarians who put effectiveness before ego
I want to share three inspiring examples of famous risk-takers who made this cycle work for them instead of against them.
Billy Beane, GM of MLB's Oakland Athletics
What His Peers Did: Spent every dime competing for the same flashy superstars every other team wanted.
What He Did Differently: Used statistical analysis to identify boring, "no-name" players with massively undervalued skills.
What The Critics Said: Rivals told Beane he "couldn't build a baseball team with a computer" and to "enjoy telling your daughter why you work at Dick's Sporting Goods after this disaster of a season unfolds."
The Results: Beane's teams made the playoffs 5 times between 2000-2006, despite losing star players to richer teams and spending less per victory than any team in Major League Baseball from 1998-2008.
When co-workers mocked Beane's new players for not looking athletic, he asked: "are we looking for baseball players or selling jeans?"
John Carlton, world-famous advertising copywriter
What His Peers Did: Wrote the same lifeless, boring advertisements as everyone else in order to "sound professional."
What He Did Differently: Crafted emotionally charged, attention-grabbing stories (like his famous "One-Legged Golfer" ad) to hypnotically drive sales.
What The Critics Said: "We can't publish advertising like this! We'll look like amateurs. Our customers will be offended. Our competitors will mock us. We'll get sued!"
The Results: Today, John is known as "the most ripped-off writer on the web" and charges fees that cause unprepared clients to choke.
His secret? Finding clients who could withstand the Contrarian's Cycle:
"The best thing that ever happened in my career was to meet The Boys — those clients who lured me into working with them by promising to run everything I wrote, as I wrote it. No whining, no tears, and they took all the heat from outraged audiences and pissed-off talent. They stood their ground with me for over 20 years, because I only used solid fundamentals when I wrote for them… including, of course, the fundamentals of killer hooks and jaw-dropping storytelling… and it worked like crazy. Over and over and over again.
Without them "taking the leash off me", most of my now-infamous ads would never have seen print, or gotten mailed or been posted online. They swallowed their fear, because the fluttery green bales of money coming in proved the case."
I worked with John for over a year, and he confronts every client with one question: "are you trying to impress your customers or your colleagues?"
Tim Tebow, quarterback for NFL's New York Jets
What His Peers Did: Ran the same predictable, pass-heavy offense as every other NFL team.
What He Did Differently: Used a different offense called the "run-pass option" that was much tougher to defend.
What The Critics Said: Football pundits used Tebow's below-average passing skills to conclude that he would "never succeed in a passing-dominated league" and was not a "real NFL quarterback"…even as he kept winning.
The Results: Kerry J. Byne devised a new statistic (Real Quarterback Rating) to measure ALL aspects of QB play: not just passing, but also rushing, sacks, fumbles, and other metrics under QB control.
Beneath this new lens, a fascinating picture emerged. Tim Tebow, dismissed as a misfit with no hope of lasting in the NFL, was winning with a decidedly contrarian playing style:
"…Tebow is no statistical circus freak winning in spite of himself. Tebow's [teams] are winning because he consistently outperforms the opposing quarterback […] In fact, he consistently outperforms them by a wide margin."
Asked to explain his improbable 2011 success (which included taking a 1-4 team into round two of the playoffs) Tebow said "I care about winning games, not passing yards."
What is the common trait? Each of these trailblazers decided that effectiveness (the long-term RESULTS of their unconventional plans) mattered more than their egos. And they were vindicated in the end.
Pushing yourself through the cycle
We all need motivation to achieve our goals. The difference is that most people derive their motivation from safety in numbers: the encouragement of friends and family who believe in what they are doing (or even just the implicit social sanction of going with the flow.)
Contrarians need motivation, too—often much more, in fact. But their motivation comes solely from themselves and the results they are after. Not only do they create their own motivation, they frequently do so amidst harsh criticism and a complete absence of outside support.
Followers are innocent until proven guilty: cheered on from beginning to end. Contrarians are guilty until proven innocent: cheered for only when their plans work.
Does this make it difficult to keep moving? Of course! It's easy to feel motivated when you're an engineering student, lining up a secure project management job like your father. It's a lot tougher when you're an aspiring musician, painfully aware your parents wish you were doing something else.
But if you want to achieve extraordinary results, you need to put effectiveness before ego.
The reason I followed through with the DIY Degree is that I saw Stage 3 before starting Stage 1. Instead of crumbling under criticism, I made a calculated bet that my plan would work. Most importantly, I decided my plan working was the only thing that mattered.
Achieving breakthrough results by asking The Naive Question
What also empowered me to push through the cycle is The Naive Question, which says:
"If we weren't already doing it this way, is this the way we would start?"
The beauty of this question is that it forces you to ignore everything other than results. If you discover a better way to do something (earn more money, land a dream job, graduate college) then "but we've always done X" should not stop you. The Naive Question establishes a Darwinian selection process where only the best ideas survive.
This leads to some provocative questions, such as:
- "Why is the workday 9-5?"
- "Why do we settle for any job instead of identifying our dream jobs?"
- "Why did colleges stop being a place for devoted students and become mandatory for anyone who wants a better career?"
Again: sometimes the answer to The Naive Question is a resounding "yes!" As Tim Ferriss wrote in The 4-Hour Work Week, "I don't walk down the street on my hands because everyone else walks on their feet." Contrarianism only works when your way is demonstrably better than the norm. Frequently, however, it is.
Consider the age-old "renting vs. buying" debate. We love telling ourselves that home ownership is an investment and that renters are just "throwing their money away." Yet we almost never run the numbers! When we do, we discover that home ownership is anything but a good investment. Indeed, it parasitically drains your net worth with "invisible costs" like maintenance, property taxes, and homeowner's insurance.
The invisible scripts of American culture tell us to buy…but renting vs. buying is actually an "effectiveness or ego" question. Do you simply want a cost-effective place to live? Or are you more concerned with social status? If you've never run the numbers (like comparing home price appreciation to stock market returns) ask yourself what the answer is.
Results and happiness prove everything
Contrarianism is not simply about "sticking it to the man." You need not be rude, disrespectful, or insensitive. It's actually about living a better life—whatever that means to you.
Think about the strategies Ramit teaches: they are all contrarian. Most people are not ambitiously creating side incomes, or setting up automated financial systems to grow their wealth, or using advanced research, networking, and psychology to land their dream jobs.
They certainly are not using the DIY Degree to graduate in ¼ of the time, like I teach my readers.
But the people who do get massive results —because they were willing to put effectiveness before ego.
Learn more about the power of taking action — watch my video here.
What about you? Please leave a detailed comment with:
- One example of how you have achieved great results by putting effectiveness before ego (or, if you have not done so yet, one example of how you could.)
- What are the one or two biggest "contrarian changes" that, if implemented, could have the biggest impact on your life?
Do you know your earning potential?
Take my earning potential quiz and get a custom report based on your unique strengths, and discover how to start making extra money — in as little as an hour.


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The UK has seen announcements worth £4.7 billion into renewables, supporting 15,000, in the period April 2011 to February 2012, and more is underway.
27 April, 2012
Renewable energy development on farmland is not easy money, and there are many examples where farmers have got it horribly wrong - leading to hugely inflated construction costs - because they did not do their homework.
23 April, 2012

subset: commoncrawl


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Ava Thursday: Ms. Beck's Card
Ava created three cards for her kindergarten teachers when they ended the school year last month. I showed you one earlier, for Ms. Williams. The one you see here was for her main teacher, Ms. Beck, a sweet, caring woman who just adored Ava. We were very happy for Ava to have such a wonderful woman for her kindergarten teacher.
Like the first card, this one also had a "cool sneak-peek" bonus: hidden behind the glued-on green feather you see here is a little drawing. I think it's of a heart, but I'm not sure. But I love the creativity that went into the excecution of these cards. Ava had a great time making them.
DON'T FORGET: The Animation Extravaganza TONIGHT! 7pm and 9:45pm at Lefont Garden Hills Cinema, on Peachtree Road. Hope to see you all there!
Posted by Ward Jenkins at 7:33 AM
Labels: Ava, Ava Thursday
3 comments:
This card is adorable!! Children's arts is always full of joy and sincerity!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 22, 2006 11:45 PM
this is such a sweet card!!! (^__^)ReplyDelete
super cute!ReplyDelete
the purest and most imaginative creations of arts in this massive world are from children's works!
their arts are always full of happy, joyful and eager emotion with their curious eyes towards the complicated world...
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Discover for free which first names would suit you or your baby !
Meaning of name Faas
Etymology : Dutch short form of BONIFAAS or SERVAAS.
Saint :
Origin : Dutch
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Gender : boy
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Numbers :
Meaning of those numbers?
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Who are they?
These highly sensitive men are by the same token, perceptive, intuitive and particularly emotional, as they are heavily influenced by the number 2. Even so, they successfully manage to keep their volatile emotions under control, to the point of appearing calm and reserved. Nevertheless, they are characterized by a certain dualism, between sociability, extraversion and altruism (more pronounced if they were born on the 3rd, 12th, 21st or 30th, in March or December, or if they have a life Path Number of 3), and introversion and egocentricity (especially if they were born on the 4th, 7th, 13th, 16th, 22nd, 25th or 31st, in April or July, or if they have a life Path Number 4 or 7). Indeed, on the one hand, they need other people - as much in order to feel that they exist as for the emotional exchanges and emulation that they crave, satisfying a certain narcissism. On the other hand, they also require time alone in order to recharge their batteries and maintain their privacy. Socially, they are eager to impress, but if they can´t claim the first place, they may compensate by acting eccentric and exuberant, a sense of humor being one of their finer talents (especially if they were born on the 11th, or in February or November). Faas , Kichenin and Josselin are a curious mix of independence (notably mental: they reject accepted "truths" and prefer to think for themselves) and dependence (notably emotional), meaning that their development is determined - to a certain extent - by their environment. In childhood, they are inclined to be introverted. They can be shy and vulnerable, requiring attention, encouragement and comfort, but if the home environment is conducive, their original and innovative nature will be able to bloom. Without a doubt, their amazing memory is a great asset in their education, although they could need some extra motivation... While they are more or less tolerant and diplomatic, passion could lead them - without prior warning - onto the road to fanaticism. Faas , Kichenin and Josselin can be thin-skinned, rancorous and of somewhat nervous disposition, but by contrast, they have a profound understanding of friendship and would benefit enormously from a supportive platonic relationship.
What does he like?
Faas , Kichenin and Josselin like to join forces with others, to unite and cooperate, and relax easily into an emotionally intimate and friendly environment where they are able to communicate their ideals and broader views on life. They are interested in other people, and the field of humanities doesn´t leave them indifferent. Emotionally, they are secure, possessive, affectionate and protective, unless they haven´t completely cut the figurative umbilical cord, in which case they may have become complaisant, and appear to need mothering themselves.
Get your free Personality test card now !!
What do they do?
If the tendency to be introverted is predominant, they are likely to be specifically attracted to careers in research (geologist, architect, statistician or librarian), more secure jobs (public servant) or related to the earth, nature and animals. Otherwise, they are likely to choose an occupation involving communication and contact with the public. If they live in harmony with the vibrations of the master number 11 instead of the 2, they could even hope to stand out in the field of humanities or engage in social or political activities.
Discover others boys first names : Faas Fábián Fabiano
*To note: :
It sometimes happens that two different first names have the same meaning. This has nothing surprising: both first names have the same figures of numerology. It is as in astrology: two persons belonging to the same sign present the same characteristic...
Names compatibility
Test the compatibility of your names to know if your love relation is lucky to succeed. Friendship, love or passion?
Discover fast what waits for you...
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Your Name Horoscope !
Thanks to the numerology, we propose you daily a horoscope personalized for your first name. Love, money , Shape: discover what waits for you for today. In Bonus every day find your daily lucky figure .. Horoscope of the first names
Love :Couples: Harmony will once again reign between the two of you. Singles: Make the most of your own company, you are unlikely to meet "the one" today.
Money :Today is a perfect day to clarify your financial objectives.
Health:You're lacking in calcium and vitamin D Faas . Get enough sunshine and eat plenty of brocolli to keep your bones healthy!
Your Lucky number : 49


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Concerns grow about Waggaman ammonia plant
Officials for proposed plant promise millions in economic development
A proposed ammonia plant outside Waggaman promises to bring new jobs to the region, but some are concerned after an explosion and a fire at a fertilizer plant in Texas on Wednesday.
"I don't want them to take their investment somewhere else, but I just want to make sure it's done with safety being put to the forefront," Jefferson Parish Councilman Mark Spears said. "It's that balancing act that has to take place between safety, quality of life that's already in place and bringing jobs."
The facility will bring 750 jobs and millions in annual tax revenue, but many have questioned placing an ammonia plant so close to homes and a levee.
"The idea that you're going to put a highly explosive, dangerous facility right next to our levee is no kind of planning," Louisiana Bucket Brigade representative Anne Rolfes said. "We plan Mardi Gras parades more than we plan major industrial facilities, and it's really time for that to change."
As with many large chemical companies, Dyno Nobel has had its share of incidents. There were several in just the past few years.
In 2011, Dyno Nobel paid a six-figure fine after federal inspectors reported safety violations at a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Cheyenne, Wyo.
In 2012, the company was at the center of a criminal Environmental Protection Agency investigation stemming from a 2010 ammonia leak at a facility on Deer Island near Portland, Ore.
The same plant was the site of another significant leak in 2008 for which the company was also fined.
In Canada, regulators also fined the company $35,000 for a discharge violation in Ottawa, $110,000 for improper wastewater disposal in Sudbury, and $175,000 for a chemical spill in the St. Lawrence River near Maitland, Ont.
"What it should do is bring up larger questions of our approach to economic development," Rolfes said. "We go after the dirtiest industries possible. It's the 21st century. We really should have a new vision."
The company promised to set a new standard in clean efficient ammonia production.
Local leaders hope the community is included every step of the way.
"What chemicals are going to be there? What precautions are going to be taken? They should come to the civic association," Spears said.
Officials hope to get the plant operational by late 2016.
A representative from the Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission, which helped to bring the plant there, said Dyno Nobel is a multinational company with many facilities around the globe and a good safety record.


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It's a fair day; a soothing combination of breeze, sun and cloud that welcomes a stroll outside. The normally wearisome heat has parted company, inviting a parade of colorful gowns to saunter on the arms of dapper gentlemen. Parasols bloom in the sunshine and afternoon tea is casually served on picnic blankets in the shade of mature trees. Good weather has brought the main thoroughfare of Meryton, England alive with pleasant, convivial chatter as a shopkeeper offers a mirror to a young lady purchasing a cameo locket. She debates blithely with her gentlemen escort between a red and a black ribbon before casually asking the merchant: "Do you take Visa?" Wait…what?
This past weekend found Louisville's Locust Grove buzzing with an array of readers, history buffs, craftsmen and merrymakers of all sorts as the fifth annual Jane Austen Festival transformed the historic grounds of William and Lucy Clark Croghan's 18th Century Georgian home into a vibrant recreation of Regency England. Sponsored by the Greater Louisville chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America, the festivities featured a wide collection of entertainment, discussions, shop vendors, demonstrations and, of course, plenty of creamy tea to celebrate both the classic novels of Austen's pen and the life of the author herself.
$10 of general admission bought a full day of events for festival-goers, including tours of the restored Locust Grove mansion and grounds, a Regency-style fashion show featuring the creations of Betsy Bashore, side saddle demonstrations with traveling horsefellows Bill and Deborah Glidden, a live action display of proper fencing techniques, a duel to the death between gentlemen, as well as the discussions "Dressing Mr. Darcy" with Brian Cushing and "Austen-it is: Sickness and Health in the novels of Jane Austen" with Dr. Cheryl Kinney presented in the Big Tent. Deeper pockets (or handbags) afforded attractions such as the performance Shame the Devil acted by Fanny Kemble, tea workshops provided by the Bingley Tea Company, fan painting with artist Jenni Miller and a four-course afternoon tea complete with fine china and polite conversation.


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What does 'See the light' mean?
When someone sees the light, they realise the truth.
- Category: General
Idioms similar to 'See the light'
Buy our lists of British English, American English and Animal idioms in PDF format. They're perfect to use offline for reference or for use in class!
See also:
- View examples in Google: See the light
- Discussion Forum: English Idioms and Sayings
- Idiom Definition
- Idiom Quizzes


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To cut costs for investors, Vanguard plans to transition 22 funds, many of which have an ETF share class, to new indexes starting in 2013, the fund giant said in early October. The changes entail moving six international stock index funds and 16 U.S. stock and balanced index funds with about $537 billion in assets from MSCI benchmarks to those constructed by FTSE and the University of Chicago's Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP).
"The indexes from FTSE and CRSP are well constructed, offer comprehensive coverage of their respective markets, and meet Vanguard's 'best practice' standards for market benchmarks," said Vanguard Chief Investment Officer Gus Sauter, in a press release. "Equally important, and with our clients' best interests in mind, we negotiated licensing agreements for these benchmarks that we expect will enable us to deliver significant value to our index fund and ETF shareholders and lower expense ratios over time."
According to the fund giant, index licensing fees have represented a growing portion of expenses paid by investors to own index funds and ETFs. Vanguard's long-term agreements with FTSE and CRSP should "provide cost certainty going forward with these two index providers," Sauter says.
The move makes sense for both investors and for Vanguard, experts note. "Vanguard is the third-largest ETF provider, after iShares and State Street," said Todd Rosenbluth, and ETF analyst with S&P Capital IQ, in an interview. "It is gaining market share this year–and it is the cheapest of the three. By getting even cheaper, it has the potential to gain more market share."
(In September, Charles Schwab announced it was cutting operating expense ratios on its proprietary ETFs.)
Six Vanguard international index funds with total assets of $170 billion will transition to benchmarks in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, including the $67 billion Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund. This fund's ETF shares (VWO) are currently the world's largest emerging markets ETF.
Sixteen Vanguard stock and balanced index funds, with total assets of $367 billion, will move to the CRSP benchmarks, including Vanguard's largest index fund, the $197-billion Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, which has ETF shares (VTI).
No changes are planned for Vanguard U.S. stock index funds that track Russell and Standard and Poor's benchmarks, or the 11 Vanguard sector equity funds that have MSCI benchmarks.
The benchmarks for Vanguard's Target Retirement, LifeStrategy, and Managed Payout Funds and other funds of funds will also change, the company says, thought the asset allocations of the funds will not. The MSCI All Country World ex USA Investable Market Index and MSCI US Broad Market Index components will be replaced by the FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index and CRSP US Total Market Index.
The transition to new benchmarks is not expected to result in capital gains, but it will require some turnover of holdings and result in transaction cost, which Vanguard says it will seek to "minimize."
"Vanguard is the mutual fund industry's only client-owned firm that manages its funds and ETFs at cost," said Sauter, who is retiring at year end. "Our structure, along with our ongoing commitment to keep operating costs at the lowest reasonable levels, leads to low expenses that are enduring in nature."
According to Rosenbluth, the changes should bring down expense ratios. However, the impact of new benchmarks to portfolio holdings and performance is unknown.
"We could see lower risk or higher risk stocks get added to the portfolios," the analyst noted. CRSP, for instance, has different rules about growth vs. value stocks and small-, mid- and large-cap stocks from MSCI. "We won't know what the resulting portfolios will look like until the changes are implemented," explained Rosenbluth.


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Icahn, eBay Kiss and Make Up - for Now
Apr 11, 2014 9:38 AM PT
eBay and corporate raider Carl Icahn on Thursday ended their months-long acrimonious battle with metaphorical hugs and kisses.
eBay's board accepted an Icahn nominee -- CVS Caremark Chairman David Dorman -- as one of its 10 independent directors, and the disputants sang each other's praises.
"Extremely pleased about agreement," Icahn tweeted. "Believe it's a win-win for all shareholders."
However, the battle isn't over yet -- Icahn, who had wanted eBay to spin off PayPal, intends to pursue that idea.
All Sizzle and No Steak
The papering over of the dispute between the two parties does not tackle the real problem -- the conflict-of-interest issues raised by the presence of Intuit cofounder Scott Cook and Andreessen Horowitz cofounder Marc Andreessen -- contended Trip Chowdhry, managing director of equity research at Global Equities Research.
"Icahn isn't relevant to the story," Chowdhry told the E-Commerce Times. "The only thing that's relevant is who will resolve the conflict of interest."
Until that problem is solved, "shareholders will not gain confidence in either eBay's stock or its CEO or its board of directors," he continued. "It's critical for eBay to [tackle this issue]. The fact that eBay and Icahn have shaken hands and are glorifying each other is irrelevant."
Icahn and eBay did not respond to our request for further details.
Icahn't Give You Anything But Love, Baby
"I respect Carl [Icahn's] willingness to work together to drive sustainable shareholder value today and into the future," said eBay President and CEO John Donahoe. "We are also honored to have Dave Dorman join our board as our tenth independent director."
Dorman said he has "tremendous admiration for eBay and what the company has accomplished under John's leadership," and plans to help drive growth for PayPal and eBay together.
However, Icahn struck a warning note, describing the settlement as a "détente," thus leaving the door open for a possible resumption of hostilities.
Icahn continues to believe that eBay "would benefit from the separation of PayPal at some point in the near future," and intends to keep arguing for that through confidential discussions with Donahoe, he said.
A Brief History of the Hostilities
The dispute arose with Icahn firing off a series of letters charging eBay directors with cronyism, conflict of interest and mismanagement.
In February, he said the disregard for accountability at eBay was "the most blatant we have ever seen."
eBay responded that Icahn had "cherry-picked old news clips and anecdotes out of context."
On March 10, Icahn charged that Donahoe's "inexcusable incompetence" in selling Skype prematurely cost eBay stockholders more than US$4 billion.
On March 19, Icahn called on eBay to conduct an IPO for PayPal.
On March 26, he compared eBay board meetings to secret Politburo meetings and accused Andreessen and board nominee Fred Anderson of, at the least, misconduct.
After a bit of squirming, eBay this week caved to Icahn's demand for a seat on the board, and Icahn retracted his claws.
Icahn't Get No Satisfaction
Icahn's withdrawal of his proposal for the hiving off of PayPal and reduction of his original demand for two appointees to eBay's board "is at best a truce," Andreas Scherer, managing partner at Salto Partners, told the E-Commerce Times.
Getting Dorman on eBay's board "makes sure [Icahn's] voice is heard," Scherer said. For Donahoe, meanwhile, the settlement "is about proving that there is clear strategic advantage to keeping PayPal in [eBay]."
Icahn "will make sure that this question remains on the front burner," Scherer averred. "If Donahoe can't make this case in a relatively short time, Icahn will knock on his door louder than ever before."


text:
Rose Ottoman – RMDV39
creator Maison de Vacances
collection Brushed Limewash Paint – Stretched effect
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text:
Thinking Critically teaches the fundamental thinking, reasoning, reading, and writing abilities that students need for success. The text begins with basic skills related to personal experience and then carefully progresses to the more sophisticated reasoning skills required for abstract, academic contexts. The Ninth Edition maintains the hallmarks that make Thinking Critically an effective tool for both instructors and students. Each chapter provides an overview of an aspect of critical thinking, such as problem-solving, perception, and the nature of beliefs--all of which are reinforced by provocative readings and Thinking Activities for student review and practice. Visual Thinking features provide images for evaluation and discussion, while Thinking Passages present readings and questions for analysis. Exercises, discussion topics, and writing assignments encourage active participation and prompt students to critically examine others' thinking, as well as their own.John Chaffee is the author of 'Thinking Critically', published 2007 under ISBN 9780618947195 and ISBN 0618947191.[read more]
You can find lots of answers to common customer questions in our FAQs
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text:
U of I Activates Call Center Following Campus Attacks
A string of campus assaults and robberies in recent weeks has led the University of Illinois to activate its campus call center for the first time.
The latest incident involved a U of I freshman who was sexually abused Monday morning in a dormitory shower. University police Chief Barbara O'Connor said just in the last day, the university has been flooded with about a hundred e-mail and phone messages regarding that attack.
"You know, whenever we get parent calls and or e-mails, we attempt to take an individualized approach to responding to those, but at some point, the volume becomes so significant that you can't keep doing that any longer," O'Connor said. "We're at that point."
She said the call center will allow the university to give plenty of attention to each caller, and give university police more time to investigate criminal activity.
"We can get inundated so much so that the work of doing the investigation can get bogged down in responding to e-mails and phone calls," O'Connor explained.
University spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the 60 volunteers who have agreed to help out at the call center work in student affairs, and have extensive experience handling privacy issues. They were each required to go through a 90-minute training session before they could start working the phones.
The U of I community is encouraged to forward all messages regarding crime and safety on campus to 217-333-0050.


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written by
Charles Baily and
Noah D. Finkelstein
Introductory courses in classical physics are promoting in students a realist perspective, made up in part by the belief that all physical properties of a system can be simultaneously specified, and thus determined at all future times. Such a perspective can be problematic for introductory quantum physics students, who must develop new framings of epistemic and ontological resources in order to properly interpret what it means to have knowledge of quantum systems. We document this evolution in student thinking in part through pre/post instruction evaluations using the CLASS attitude survey. We further characterize variations in student epistemic and ontological commitments by examining responses to an essay question, coupled with responses to supplemental quantum attitude statements. We find that, after instruction in modern physics, many students are still exhibiting a realist perspective in contexts where a quantum perspective is needed. We also find that this effect can be significantly influenced by instruction, where we observe variations for courses with differing learning goals.
Published October 20, 2008
Last Modified May 21, 2009
This file is included in the full-text index.
This file has previous versions.


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national day of prayer
How to pray extraordinary prayers
Today a new article appeared on the website of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. As we approach May 4, the National Day of Prayer, I had the opportunity to write a brief blog post on prayer. Hope it encourages you to take the initiative to become bolder and more imaginative in how to trust the Lord in your prayer life!
Click on the title or image below to be linked to the article. Thanks!


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Center for Health Organization Transformation Symposium
The Penn State Center for Health Organization Transformation (CHOT), formerly known as the Center for Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems within the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, is hosting a symposium on September 7 from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Nittany Lion Inn, Alumni Lounge.
The purpose of this meeting is to explain the changes the center underwent over the summer and to introduce Penn State faculty members to some of the exciting opportunities and research projects that are underway.
Register for the symposium and find more information — including the seminar agenda — on the CHOT website at http://chot.psu.edu/2016/08/18/register-now-for-the-fall-2016-chot-symposium/.
Questions should be directed to Liz Welker at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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MINNEAPOLIS - Adrian Peterson has become the seventh running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
Peterson rushed into history in the third quarter with a 20-yard run, giving him 2,009 on the season.
The Minnesota Vikings running back entered the game against the rival Green Bay Packers on Sunday needing 102 yards to join O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Jamal Lewis and Chris Johnson in the 200-yard club. Peterson is the only one to do it after having reconstructive knee surgery.
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL


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65:48 minutes (30.12 MB)
Join the SEEDLINGS as we interview Wes Fryer and his daughter Sarah. Towards the middle of the show, Sarah steals the show and turns the tables on us and the entire chat room. This girl is going to change, transform all educators who are withing listening distance.


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Lawmaker: Iran dissident ends her hunger strike
A lawmaker says a jailed Iranian dissident has ended a hunger strike to protest prison conditions and a ban on visits by her family.
Lawmaker Mohammad Reza Tabesh was quoted by the semiofficial ISNA news agency Wednesday as saying that Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist, ended her hunger strike after intervention from top government officials and Sotoudeh's husband.
Sotoudeh was sentenced to six years in prison on security charges after representing imprisoned Iranian opposition activists in court.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged Iran on Tuesday to improve conditions for Sotoudeh. She reportedly began her hunger strike in mid-October.
The European Parliament awarded the 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Sotoudeh and dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi.


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Acta literaria
On-line version ISSN 0717-6848
Acta lit. no.43 Concepción 2011
Acta Literaria N° 43, II Sem. (119-126), 2011
Notas / Notes
Guillermo Verdecchia and the frontera in contemporary Canadian diasporic writing
Guillermo Verdecchia y la frontera en la literatura contemporánea canadiense de la diáspora
Darja Zorc-Maver*, Igor Maver **
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. firstname.lastname@example.com
Contemporary diasporic literary authors in Canada are today mostly seen as transcultural authors in the global cross-border English-speaking cultural collage space and in the Canadian multiethnic society. The socalled minority literature has in effect become part of the mainstream and no longer merely a veneer of the much coveted and publicly proclaimed, albeit not always practically effectual multiculturalism. Canadian diasporic writing thus has to be considered anew within the context of a new inter-American transborder integration, which has substantially changed the field of identity politics, the very concept of ethnicity and the need for its redefinition, as well as the various cultural/literary practices of a collective and individual dynamic identity construction. Canada has come a long way from the model of the Canadian cultural mosaic, a concept used to express the much sought unity through diversity, and it is today proud of its selfimage as a multicultural country. While some writers and critics are clearly supportive of the policy of multiculturalism, others again find it reached its limits in fostering some sort of selfimposed ghettoization and refer to the multicultural fallacy, which may, in fact, fragment Canadian society rather than create and solidify a Canadian nation in the global world. There is also the question of the exotic ethnic Other which, according to some critics, emerges when the marginalized minority ethnic writers emphasize their exoticism to create a certain ethnic stereotype to fit the definition of a certain expected ethnic group upon which state funding frequently depends.
Diasporic writing generally asserts a sense of belonging to the locality in which the transplaced people have grown up, and, at the same time, expresses the specificity of the actual historical experience of being 'ethnic' in a particular immigration society. Diasporic writers, who had migrated voluntarily or involuntarily, use literature to broker, affiliate and translate the places, peoples, cultures and languages to work through the ethical, political and affective ambivalences of diasporic identities and subjectivities. At the beginning of the new millenium a new phase of mass movements of people creating new diasporas, border(land)s, transcultural and transnational identities has been emerging globally: these new displacements and border crossings have created new diasporic literary discourses. Diasporas today in the contested in-between spaces are part of the process of the construction of Us vs. the Others, but the problem lies in the question as how to identify the former and the latter, since binary constructions clearly no longer seem to work. The lived experience of the locality of Home, combined with that of cultural memory of remembering and therefore 'belonging', is however very different from that of an imaginary or, better still, imagined homeland. The innovative and groundbreaking analyses of Chicano/a intellectuals in the USA (Gutiérrez-Jones) gave rise to the theorists of the border with Gloria Anzaldua at the forefront. In her seminal book Borderlands/La frontera: The New Mestiza (1987) she examined the suppressed and often violent aspects of the Texas and México border and introduced the spatial metaphor of the frontera or borderlands. Frontera is thus in her view the border space which enables to essentially accept the various contradictions per se and to refuse the impossible attempt to unify and synthesize them, hence it turns all the existing social, racial, ethnic and gender contradictions into a source of strength and unity. The concept of the frontera has since enabled many writers, in Canada as well, to see their own culture not as a dominant narrative but rather from the point of view of heterogeneity and messiness, subalternity and hybridity: it enabled to focus on the conceptual possibilities related to borders, border-crossings, and borderlands, frequently not even a geographical but an imaginary space of contact.
A major representative contemporary Canadian author regarding diasporic/borderland subjectivity, originally from Argentina in South America who came to Canada as a small child, is Guillermo Verdecchia especially, albeit clearly not exclusively, with his monodrama Fronteras Americanas/American Borders, which won a Chalmers Award and the 1993 Governor General's Award for Drama. In the play a displaced diasporic subject struggles to de- and re-construct a home between two cultures, while with great humour exploding the images and renegotiating clichés built up around Latinos and Latin America not only in Canada but the USA as well. The protagonist is split in two personas, 'Wideload' McKennah/ Verdecchia, 'Anglo' vs. 'Latino', wittily ponders 'Saxonian' attitudes as well as the cultural shock he experiences upon his return to South America, crossing the frontera yet again, only to come to the paradoxical conclusion in his poetic imagination that it is really the border within himself that must be crossed and embraced, for maps are really always just metaphors and not the territory: "And you? Did you change your name somewhere along the way? Does a part of you live hundreds or thousands of kilometers away? Do you have two countries, two memories? Do you have a border zone?" (Verdecchia, 1997: 78). Verdecchia uses stereotyping in order to reduce cultural differences and even resorts to a simplistic caricature of the Canadian Latino identity, which he subsequently tries to deconstruct. This instance of borderzone Canadian literature and his innovative use of 'Hispanish', as a language of resistance, reveals the fact that he is lost, which began "in France, Paris, France, the Moveable Feast, the City of light, where I lived for a couple of years. En France ou mes étudiants me disaient que je parlais le français comme une vache Catalan(e). En France ou j'étais etranger, un anglais, un Argentin-Canadien, un faux touriste. Paris, France where I lived and worked illegally, where I would produce my transit pass whenever policemen asked for my papers. In France, where I was undocumented, extralegal, marginal and where for some reason, known perhaps only by Carlos Gardel and Julio Cortázar, I felt almost at home" (Ibid., 28). When the speaker in the play (Verdecchia) eventually comes back to Calgary in Canada, "this Noah's ark of a nation" from his one-time home, South America, the Other America, as he calls it, it suddenly revealingly strikes him as in an epiphany: "I am not in Canada; I am not in Argentina. I am on the Border. I am Home. Mais zoot alors, je comprends maintenant, mais oui, merde! Je suis Argentin-Canadien! I am a post-Porteno neo-Latino Canadian! I am the Pan-American highway!" (Ibid., 75).
Act Two of the monodrama Fronteras Americanas/American Borders significantly addresses the tango as the quintessential South American/Argentinian contribution to the world that crossed the borders of the Americas as well. Throughout the whole play important auditory colour imagery of music, which is perceived by the sense of hearing rather than sight, from a host of South American authors and performers (Mano Negra, Los Mariachi, Los Lobos, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Astor Piazzolla and Kronos Quartet, Ramiro's Latin Orchestra, Carlos Santana, Steve Jordan, Milladoiro, Plácido Domingo, Dino Saluzzi, Aníbal Troilo). Tango, however, perhaps born of the gaucho's crude attempts to waltz, is
music for exile, for the preparations, the significations of departure, for the symptoms of migration. It is the languishing music of picking through your belongings and deciding what to take. Music for men and women thin as bones. Music for your invisibility...
Music for a day in the fall when you buy a new coat and think perhaps you will live here for the rest of your life, perhaps it will be possible, you have changed so much, would they recognize you? Would you recognize your country? Would you recognize yourself?
Wideload: Basically, tango is music for fucked up people... (Ibid., 59-60).
The author concludes that the tango was only reluctantly accepted in Europe, but that it has not been entirely domesticated outside of Argentina, that it is namely impossible to shop or aerobicize to tango "porque el tango es un sentimiento que se baila" (Ibidem.).
Verdecchia's monodrama ends on a prophetic note (somos todos Americanos), directly addressing the audience, his fellow Canadians, who all live in the border zone of the Americas, where the border line between Canada and the US is not perceived as so radical as the one with Latin America that begins at the Mexican border:
Every North American, before this century is over, will find that he or she
This is a living frontier, which can be nourished by information but, above
Or it can be starved by suspicion, ghost stories, arrogance,
The movement forward is no longer a movement towards the centre, but rather a future trajectory towards the border, which has in fact overnight become the centre, so that in this case it is the border that 'strikes back': "Ladies and gentlemen, please reset your watches. It is now almost ten o'clock on a Friday night we still have time. We can go forward. Towards the centre, towards the border" (Ibid., 78). Crossing borders (people, capital, information) challenge the notion that a national community is necessarily bounded by its geographic borders, which of course also applies to its culture and literature discussed here, for some people's lives unfold in essentially diasporic settings, where class, race and citizenship play an extremely important role. Borders have acquired an increased mobility and multiplicity and there has been their continual dislocation, one that is closely linked with a differential regulation of migration and citizenship. The recent migratory diasporic spaces that the new diasporic Canadians inhabit and lend them their distinctive voice and vision mark deterritorialization and increasingly also reterritorialization, which blurs the borders of nations and nation-states, as it can be seen in Fronteras Americanas. At the same time these reterritorializations (somos todos Americanos) and transnational/ borderland diasporic movements seem dangerously close to and are indeed inextricable from the (neocolonialist) reterritorializations of global capital, division of labour, production and profit. Guillermo Verdecchia, a Canadian of Argentinian provenance, only a few after the success of his play Fronteras Americanas/American Borders for the first time tried his hand at short stories which came out under the title Citizen Suárez (1998): the stories are, like his early play, essentially about people lost between countries and languages, in their complex citizenship caught between desire to run away and to belong. He wrote and starred in a short film adaptation of Fronteras Americanas called Crucero/Crossroads, which was shown at international film festivals and received several awards.
Canada has long been searching for its own national identity and this Sysiphian search was compared to "a dog chasing its own tail" (Atwood, 1995: 8). The concept of the ethnic mosaic within the multicultural paradigm in Canada has resulted in artists of various ethnic backgrounds promoting their own -and thus Canadian culture of the country- as in a kind of Grand Hotel Canada (this includes such internationally renowned authors and Man Booker Prize winners as Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, and Yann Martel). Neil Bissoondath, who arrived in Canada from Trinidad only in the early 1970s has always struggled against the label of a Trinidadian (Indian) Canadian writer. His views on multiculturalism in Canada are much debated and controversial for some people (Bissoondath, 1994). In his essays he claims that the policy of multiculturalism (mosaic) has been downright disastrous for the country and for immigrants themselves and that it has now reached a point when it has to be seriously reexamined. Some degree of integration is today necessary and legitimate to expect, for ethnic/migrant groups have tended to isolate themselves, in one way or another, too much from the majority population in the midst of which they live. Bissoondath writes that Canadians encounter each other's multicultural mosaic tiles mainly at festivals, which are reduced to the simplest theatre at the level of "a folkloric Disneyland". In most of the multicultural literature, he continues, ethnic stereotypes are only reinforced:
There are those who find pleasure in playing to the theme, those whose ethnicity ripens with the years. Yet to play the ethnic, deracinated and costumed, is to play the stereotype. It is to abdicate one's full humanity in one of its exotic features. To accept the role of ethnic is also to accept a gentle marginalization. It is to accept that one will never be just a part of the landscape but always a little apart from it, not quite belonging. In exoticizing and trivializing cultures, often thousands of years old, by sanctifying the mentality of the mosaictile, we have succeeded in creating mental ghettos for the various communities (Bissoondath, 2006).
In describing the position ofracial minority Canadian writers, some critical voices have denounced multiculturalism as not being adequate enough. Multiculturalism should and indeed to a large extent has become more all-inclusive as regards the Native, Black and Asian peoples in Canada and in the recent years it has come a long way. The concept of multiculturalism, of course, greatly varies regarding its deployment in individual national contexts. If in countries like Canada and Australia (since the 1970s) it refers to government programmes designed to equalize and empower minority ethnicities, in México it means the official encouragement of the identities of individual indigenous groups in the country, while in Brazil it is treated with suspicion and an ambivalent attitude. In France social critics attack it as either "a recycling of 1960s third worldist radicalism", for the Center/ Right and for the left it represents "a cunningly disguised form of American imperialism" (Stam and Shohat, 1995: 296). Regardless of how one sees multiculturalism in terms of the perception of the value of non-mainstream literatures of the ethnicised body, it is clearly today a hybrid between the actual practice and policy and the idealised view of a tolerant ethnic plurality within a national framework, thus a 'desired' discourse. Multiculturalism should not be dismissed as an entirely unworkable, utopian concept, although it is today a greatly problematic issue in need of some not only cosmetic revision with a view of transculturalism and transnationalism.
Contemporary Canadian writing by diasporic authors from a wide variety of diasporic communities traces their connections to various locales in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, South America or Eastern Europe, etc. and perceives Home as several locales, which is, however, at the same time deeply embedded in the collective cultural memory of a migrant and her/his own personal biography (or that of their parents or grandparents). Indeed, contemporary Canadian diasporic literary production is becoming pluralized and globalized by transcending individual traditional categories of Canadianness especially as regards the Canadian locale as well as the volatility of cultural memory. There has recently emerged a pronounced shift of emphasis in contemporary Canadian diasporic writing, for many new texts are set outside Canada and feature reversed migration back to a home place by a Westernized/Canadianized protagonist, who does not so much want to return home as to write back home (e.g. Anita Rau Badami, Michael Ondaatje, Janice Kulyk Keefer, Rohinton Mistry, M. G. Vassanji, etc). This points to the fact that there is no unitary national narrative tradition in Canadian fiction and that Canada today, as a culture-in-process, as another diasporic switching-point (Appadurai, 1996: 171), largely expresses itself today in literary texts as an imagined community. Displacement and the fluid transnational and borderland post-ethnic diasporic identity, identity being at the very heart of the concept of Home, show a dynamic and shifting global view of some of the best Canadian new diasporic authors. This includes the literary Latino frontera world of Guillermo Verdecchia, where his pronounced auditory sound colouring of South and Central American music serves as a linking element on his spiritual journey and identity search between his two 'homes', Argentina and Canada, respectively, from say "La Bamba" to Plácido Domingo, with music serving as one of the characters in the play.
* Darja Zorc-Maver is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana. Along with social pedagogy she also researches multiculturalism and transculturalism.
** Igor Maver is a Professor of English at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. He has taught in the USA, Germany and Australia and has published in the field of post-colonial literatures and diasporic literatures.
Anzaldua, Gloria. 1987. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Spinsters/Aunt Lute. 1999, Rev. ed., New York: Aunt Lute Books. [ Links ]
Appadurai, Arjun. 1996. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [ Links ]
Atwood, Margaret. 1995. Strange Things. London: Clarendon Press. [ Links ]
Bissoondath, Neil. 1994. Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada. Markham, Ont.: Penguin. [ Links ]
_____ 2006. "No Place like Home", 18 October de 2006. (On line) Disponible en: http://www.newint.orgissue305/multiculturalism.html. Consulta: 28.09.2011. [ Links ]
Fuentes, Carlos. 1985. Latin America: At War with the Past. CBC Massey Lectures. Toronto: CBC Enterprises. [ Links ]
Stam, Robert and Ella Shohat. 2005. "Traveling Multiculturalism: A Trinational Debate in Translation". En Ania Loomba et. al (eds). Postcolonial Studies and Beyond. Durham NC and London: Duke University Press, pp. 293-316. [ Links ]
Verdecchia, Guillermo. 1997. Fronteras Americanas/American Borders. Vancouver: Talon Books. [ Links ]
_____ 1998. Citizen Suárez. Vancouver: Talonbooks. [ Links ]


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Hi! I wanted to say thank you for Gridrunner on Android which is really pretty good, and also let you know of some small niggly problems I had.
I'm using an Asus TF-101 (Eeepad Transformer, running the latest (4.0.3) official system image) and I usually have it docked with its keyboard; I tend to use it more like a small laptop or netbook with a touchscreen. One consequence is that I played several games of old-style Gridrunner without even discovering there was a newer version available by turning the device. I think I only read somewhere later that you could rotate to get the "classic version" and then it twigged. Rotated to portrait way, got new version! Some little indication on the title screen(s) that there's another version available by rotating the device might be worthwhile! Presumably it's not a problem on phone-style devices as they are normally used portrait-way. I suspect most tablet use is landscape-way though so it's probably only us tablet folks who would have this problem...
I've seen it seize up a few times when resuming or rotating; sometimes hitting the "home" soft-button in the system bar then re-starting Gridrunner results in the game locking up and needing a force-stop before it'll work again. This might be something to do with the game resuming in portrait when it was previously in landscape or vice-versa; I noticed it's often showing a part of the last screen it displayed, but rotated. Also I tend to have auto-rotation turned off; I wonder if that makes the problem more likely to trigger as the screen rotates as the program resumes.
The back button (soft button in the system bar on this tablet) doesn't seem to do anything; I would have expected it to quit or pause the game. Only the "home" button or switching app some other way seems to work. However, if I do that mid-game, going back to Gridrunner then gives me a "paws" menu which doesn't seem to be accessible any other way!
Sorry if this seems a bit of a laundry list. I do like the game, it's rather fun (and I only just managed to get past the first save point and onto level 5; I'm not used to so much stuff on screen at once!), but I thought I ought to give a bit of feedback on these things so it can be made better. I hope this helps!
Android Gridrunner on Eeepad
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NASCAR driver Paulie Harraka slammed into the back of Alex Kennedy today while attempting to leave the pit lane for the start of the race today at Sonoma. That's right, he didn't even make the green flag.
Both drivers were about to make their Sprint Cup debuts.
Don't text and drive, kids.


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Saints 38, Raiders 17: Drew Brees threw for 219 yards and three touchdowns as visiting New Orleans won for the fifth time in its last six games to pull to .500.
Mark Ingram rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown and Malcolm Jenkins returned an interception 55 yards for a score for New Orleans (5-5), which began the season 0-4. The Saints have won three straight overall.
Carson Palmer threw for 312 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and Marcel Reece piled up 193 yards from scrimmage for Oakland (3-7), which has allowed a total of 135 points in dropping three straight games.
Brees marched New Orleans 80 yards on its opening drive, hitting Jimmy Graham with a 1-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead. Jenkins made it a 14-0 gap later in the first quarter and the Saints took a 21-7 lead into the locker room when Brees hit Lance Moore for a 38-yard touchdown with 57 seconds left in the second quarter.
New Orleans would not give Oakland a chance to get back into it in the second half, as Travaris Cadet returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter 75 yards and Ingram broke through for a 27-yard touchdown on the first play. Moore and Brees connected again on a 15-yard score to push it to 35-10 with 3:31 left in the third.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Brees extended his NFL record to 53 straight games with a TD pass and improved to 7-0 with 16 TDs and no interceptions in his last seven starts against the Raiders. ⦠The Saints have won 14 straight games in November. ⦠Oakland was without RB Darren McFadden (ankle) and RB Mike Goodson (ankle).


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Search by tag «audiovisual»Entries found: 1
Would you like to help the UK's creative, cultural and audiovisual sectors access funding and opportunities from Creative Europe?
25 mai 2017 Sites amis
We are currently recruiting for three roles in Manchester, Belfast and London: Culture Coordinator (Manchester), Manager, Northern Ireland (Belfast), Promotions Coordinator (London)Culture Coordinator, Creative Europe Desk UK – England. Role: Provide project application advice and administrative support to the team working to promote Creative Europe's Culture sub-programme in England. Location: British Council in Manchester. Deadline: 31 May 2017. Lire cet Article


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The 1st International Motion Festival (IMF) will be hosted by the Department of Arts of the European University Cyprus in March 2012 in Nicosia, Cyprus, and it will be the first of its kind both in Cyprus and the broader Mediterranean and Middle East region. It aims to bring together film-makers, video artists, computer animators, graphic designers and their audience and to familiarize the public with what has traditionally remained as the "invisible art": motion graphics.
The open call for motion work is based on the following categories:
Motion Graphics/ Broadcast Design
Video Art
2D / 3D Animation
For more informations please check :http://www.motionfestivalcyprus.com
Motion Festival Cyprus 2011
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Duck is one of my favorite foods. No matter how you make it — roasted, braised, the legs confitted, the wings fried, the breasts grilled like a steak — it's just plain scrumptious.
I'm a particular fan of whole slow-roasted duck, a recipe I've been perfecting ever since I was a restaurant chef. But that's hardly a dish to dash off most weeknights, so I save it for special occasions. Duck breasts, however, are a very different story; we probably eat them for dinner once a week at home.
Why? There's the simplicity. They're so delicious all by themselves, they require almost no dressing up. There's the health aspects. Eaten without the skin, duck breasts are as lean as white meat chicken or turkey. They also contain more iron per serving than most other poultry, and even some cuts of beef. There's also the ease. Duck breasts are as easy to cook as steak and can be prepared in 15 to 20 minutes.
Duck often is sauced with fruit; humans long ago realized that the acid in fruit acts as a great counterbalance to the richness of the duck. A classic of French cuisine, canard a l'orange (duck with orange sauce) employs bitter oranges, which are not readily available in this country.
So for this recipe, I added orange slices to the juice in the sauce. The white pith in the peel provides a bitter edge. The sherry wine vinegar and Dijon mustard are there to offset the sweetness of the orange juice.
One whole duck breast — two halves — can feed two to three people. (Each breast weighs from 1 to 1 1/4 pounds.) Cooking it is so simple that my teenaged son learned how to do it the first time I showed him. After it is cooked, while it rests, the duck will give off a delicious liquid that you can either add to the sauce, as in this recipe, or pour over the plain sliced duck breast, if you don't make a sauce.
Whether or not you end up eating the skin, I recommend cooking the breasts with the skin still on, which guarantees better flavor and prevents the breasts from drying out. If you want to avoid the extra fat, just remove the skin before serving. The fat is in the skin, not in the duck meat.
By the way, here's something counterintuitive but true — duck fat has properties similar to olive oil, with a good combination of poly- and monounsaturated fats. Duck contains some saturated fat as well, so you don't want to go duck fat wild. But it's so flavorful that a little goes a long way. You might want to scoop up the duck fat generated by the making of this recipe and pop it into the freezer for future use. It will perk up your vegetables, potatoes in particular, in ways you never imagined.
Start to finish: 40 minutes (15 minutes active)
Servings: 6
2 whole Peking duck breasts, (4 halves, about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds total)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 medium shallot, minced (about 1/4 cup)
3 small oranges
1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 teaspoons water
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Chopped fresh chives, to garnish
Using a very sharp knife, lightly score the skin on each duck breast half in a crisscross pattern. Sprinkle them lightly on all sides with salt and pepper.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high until hot. Reduce the heat to medium and place the duck breasts, skin side down, in the skillet. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the skin looks very crispy. Do not pour off the fat; the liquid fat in the pan helps to render out the fat in the skin.
When the duck skin is crisp, transfer the breasts to a plate. Pour off all but 2 teaspoons of the fat from the pan (reserve it for another use, such as sauteing vegetables). Return the duck to the skillet, skin side up, and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer the duck to a clean plate, skin side up. Cover it loosely with foil and let it rest while you make the sauce.
Juice 2 1/2 of the oranges (you need about 1/2 cup of juice). Thinly slice the remaining half.
Without cleaning the skillet, return it to medium heat and add the shallots. Saute until they are golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the orange juice and simmer until reduced by half. Add the sherry vinegar and simmer 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and the orange slices and simmer until slightly syrupy, or reduced by about 1/3.
Whisk the cornstarch mixture to make sure the cornstarch is dissolved, then whisk it into the sauce. Simmer, whisking for 1 minute. Add the mustard and any juices that have collected in the plate the ducks breasts are on. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove and discard the skin from the duck, if desired (separating it by slicing off the skin with a paring knife). Thinly slice the duck and arrange on 6 plates. Spoon some of the sauce with the orange slices over each portion, then sprinkle with chives.
Nutrition information per serving: 450 calories; 70 calories from fat (16 percent of total calories); 8 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 430 mg cholesterol; 6 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 84 g protein; 530 mg sodium.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Sara Moulton was executive chef at Gourmet magazine for nearly 25 years, and spent a decade hosting several Food Network shows. She currently stars in public television's "Sara's Weeknight Meals" and has written three cookbooks, including "Sara Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners."
Fatty duck? Not so fast. A healthy, delicious duck
Duck is one of my favorite foods. No matter how you make it — roasted, braised, the legs confitted, the wings fried, the breasts grilled like a steak — it's just plain scrumptious.


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Welcome to out our monthly photo contest.
The current contest runs from - . Get your entries in early to increase your odds. Voting will end on the last day of and the month's vote leader determine. We welcome you to join and share your photographic works captured on the grounds of the Webster Arboretum.


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Look, I know there's a very vocal segment of our readership that doesn't appreciate the warmth and humor of My Little Pony. What if we changed them to something else? Something a bit more... Final Fantastic?
What, those obviously aren't ponies. That was the problem, right? Cute animals outside of the context of a video game are insidious and possibly evil! Well these are cute animals from a video game. Not only a video game, but one of the most beloved role-playing game franchises of all time.
That's why I picked up a pair of $11 shirts featuring the colorful work of artist Kari Fry, self-professed video game lover. It certainly had nothing to do with the My Little Pony collection my wife-creature and I do not have, or the fact that the artist included not only the Mane 6, but fan-favorite Derpy as well.
See? That's not Spike the Dragon, whose breath magically transports correspondence between Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia. I do not even know who those people are. That's a Moogle, from Final Fantasy, possibly one of those mail Moogles.
This is definitely not a My Little Pony shirts. It's a Final Fantasy shirt, and it's only on sale through the end of the day. Who could possibly pass this up? No pony could.
My Little Chocobo T-Shirts [TheYetee]


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Mercer and Focus Financial Partners have joined in a deal that will provide Mercer's investment research to Focus' partner firms, the companies announced Wednesday.
The agreement allows Focus Financial's partner firms to tap the expertise of Mercer, one of the world's largest investment and human resources consulting firms in both the institutional and wealth management markets. With offices in New York, London and other cities worldwide, Mercer employs 20,000 and is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies. The firm designs and helps manage health, retirement and other benefit programs.
Focus Financial Partners, based in New York and San Francisco, is a large partnership of independent fiduciary wealth management firms with more than $50 billion in assets and 750 employees.
Cara Williams, Mercer's global leader of wealth management, said the larger firm brings its vast experience servicing sophisticated institutional and wealth management clients to the clients of Focus Financial's partner firms.
"The past five years alone have proven the importance of access to information on investment managers and market conditions, and the need for investment advisors to have an in-depth understanding of where they are placing client assets," Williams said in a statement.
Focus partner firm CapGroup Advisors is the initial adopter of the capability.
"We are excited to have access to Mercer's research," said Richard Smith of CapGroup Advisors in a statement. "It provides our internal research team access to a wider array of strategies. As we looked at other providers, we realized that Mercer's research provided us with a key competitive advantage in serving our clients and expanding our firm. Having access to Mercer's research is a key differentiator."


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Barker Ark loves Pet grooming and taking care of your dogs. That is why Barker Ark try their best to use natural shampoos, conditioners and detergents when possible.
Not only is our pet grooming good for our furry best friend but also for our planet.
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Does anybody seriously follow this crap any more? With all of the recruiting violations, booster/agent player payoffs, teams jumping from league to league, is there a bigger cess pool than college football. Need more proof? Look at some of these week top 25 week 12 matchups:
Alabama vs Western Carolina
Florida vs Jacksonville State
South Carolina vs Wofford
Georgia vs Georgia Southern
What a disgrace. And we haven't even gotten into the area of PEDs. Anyone want to offer a guess as to what percent of SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, Big 12, wrc players are one them? Way north of 50% I'd guess.
It's a big payday for the smaller schools, but you probably already know that.


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UnNews:Nobody cares the world ends in two weeks
|Truth doesn't "live here" — It's just camping out
|Monday, October 26, 2020, 04:56:59 (UTC)
|Nobody cares the world ends in two weeks
7 December 2012
Everywhere, Earth, Milky Way, Infinity and Beyond
Two weeks. Two weeks! Remember when we started worrying just a couple years ago? And our parents before that? The reasons? The possibility? Well how come you don't care? Well, you know what? I still do!
So before you try to explain why the world isn't ending in two weeks, let me finish packing my survival equipment. What is this, you might ask? It is a zombie-zapper because I don't know if the whole entire world will go I Am Legend on my ass, so I might need to give you zombies a little zap to get you to stop following me. Trust me, besides, my brains taste like spinach. Nobody likes spinach. No, I will not tell you how I know my brains taste like spinach.
So, you don't care still? Well, guess what, I won't feel sorry when you're dead! You ain't coming with me! I might, just might, visit back next week sometime just to see if you kind of might wanna consider joining me in my quest to survive. Salvation is free, just like your mom!
Aww! See! Corny your mom jokes, this world is gonna end in two weeks.
But before I go, I just wanna get it in with my ELA teacher, because if I am correct on my estimation on how much weeks I can go as a criminal before we die, I can't get arrested for rape.
P.S., I've already burned down my house and sold my stocks. My Camaro was sold too, and I've also received no money for it because I told them I believe we are all going to die at the climax of two weeks.
No ELA teachers were raped in the making of this UnNews
|This article features first-hand journalism by an UnNews correspondent.


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A pale blue underwater photo print, taken the moment a gentle wave starts to curl. Taken at world famous Noosa beach, in Queensland Australia, this print is a slice of tropical ocean paradise for your walls.
Title - Unfolding
Size - choose from the drop down menu above
Photo finishes - choose either Print or Wood Block Mount from the drop down menu above.
NOTE - Wooden block mounts area available for orders within Australia and NZ only.
PRINTS - select print from the drop down menu above to receive a photograph professionally printed on Lustre photo paper. Note photos are not framed or matted.
WOOD BLOCK MOUNT (Aus and NZ only)- select this option to receive a rustic white washed wooden photo block mount
~ 12mm thick
~ Arrive ready to hang with string attached to the back
~ A lightly textured laminate applied to help protect the photo
~ Edges are white washed
~ The back of block is wood colour
~ 2 small felt dots are attached to the bottom corners to assist with the block placing, and to protect from marking.
All work is original. Some colour variations may differ to the printed photo you receive as all monitors display colour differently. Prints are true to colour on my professional monitor.
If you live in Australia or NZ your order will be printed in my professional lab here in Australia and will ship from my sunny Queensland studio. Please allow 5-10 days production time before your order ships. Shipping is calculated based on product weight, in line with Australia Post. If you order a combination of prints and wood block mounts, your order may arrive in separate packages to keep each product safe. If this is the case I will advise you by email at the time of order so you know what to expect.
If you live in the USA, your photo print order will be professionally printed at a USA lab, and shipped directly to you to save on shipping costs.
If you live in the rest of the world and would like to order, please send me a message and I can advise if shipping is possible to your location, and advise on shipping costs.
Please choose carefully as all sales are final, returns are unable to be received/processed.
Copyright Susannah Tucker 2020
Unfolding - ocean underwater photography print
Please choose carefully as I am unable to process returns or exchanges due to change of mind.
If your item arrives damaged (eek!) Oh no! Please email me ASAP (within 1 week of the order arriving). I will arrange replacement products to be sent to you. I will need you to take clear photos of the damage so I can lodge a claim with the postal service. Without the photos I am unable to arrange a replacement.


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Home > Gifts for Dog Lovers > Dog Lover Clothing
Made to order
These stunning women's fitted dog lover t-shirts feature amazing photographs by the critically acclaimed dog photographer Christian Vieler. You've probably already seen and admired his work. Now you can wear it! This t-shirt features a beautiful Rottweiler concentrating very hard on getting that treat. So if you are the proud parent of a Rottweiler or you simply love the pure joy of the photographer's work, this is the t-shirt for you!
Christian's emotive and hilarious photographs of dogs catching treats went viral across the world and it is easy to see why. They are all totally captivating. These t-shirts make the perfect gift for a dog loving friend or why not treat yourself.
The latest digital technology is used to print the photographs onto the garments with breath-taking results. Vieler says "In the snapshot we experience our best friends as we rarely can in everyday life. In their faces we recognize panic, joy, fear of loss, sheer desire and the peak of pleasure."
This garment is a fitted (ladies fitted silhouette), short sleeve women's t-shirt from the Gildan Softstyle® range. The fabric is 100% Ring Spun Cotton (weight 150gsm) which has been pre-shrunk to retain its shape.
This Rottie design is also available as a unisex hoodie, sweatshirt or t-shirt or a women's vest top.
Each garment is digitally printed using the latest Hexa-chrome digital print technology to a superb quality.
Please note - Ladies slim fit garments are generally a snug fit compared to unfitted unisex styles. If you are referring to the dress size guide we recommend you buy a size larger than you would usually wear.
* This is a guide only.
Machine wash at 30° inside out with like colours. Iron inside out at a low heat. Do not iron directly onto design. Do not bleach. Do not tumble dry. Do not dry clean.
Official Christian Vieler merchandise with Vieler garment label. Our supplier has secured the licence to use Christian Vieler's images. The photographic work is copyright and the use or reproduction of any of these images is strictly prohibited.
Women's Dog Lover Vest Top - Rottweiler£15.95
Unisex Dog Lover T-shirt - Rottweiler£15.95
Unisex Dog Lover Hoodie - Rottweiler£29.95
Unisex Dog Lover Sweatshirt - Rottweiler£26.95
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The Church Times has reported the Bishop of London's recent pastoral letter about Anglicans using the Roman rite in its new translation, and you can read the article here.
I have already commented on this matter, so forgive me if I return to it. What I find particularly interesting about this report is the contrasting reactions to the bishop's letter. One vicar, the Rev Paul Bagott, of Holy Redeemer, Clerkenwell, and St Mark's, Myddleton Square, has decided to do exactly what the Bishop has asked of him, namely switch to Common Worship, which he says will involve very little substantial change for his congregation.
But then there is this:
The priest of another Anglo-Catholic parish in the London diocese, however, who asked not to be named, said that it would adopt the new Roman rite. "The PCC feel we have always done this [used the Roman rite] and it is part of the church's tradition; in that sense we are being very Anglican. . . The Bishop occasionally has to speak ex cathedra, and there is a formality to that, but on the ground we don't operate always within rigid protocol."
He might well think that, but I could not possibly comment, and being a non-Anglican, it is probably best that I say nothing at all on this. But then he goes on:
The priest said that many Roman Catholics worshipped at his church, some of whom were from Continental Europe, "and they recognise it [the Roman rite] immediately."
This last statement does require comment. If a Roman Catholic from France or Italy visits this unidentified church and sees that the Roman rite is seemingly in progress, they would not unnaturally assume that the church was a Roman Catholic Church, in communion with the Holy Father, wouldn't they? But they would be mistaken. Such a church uses the Roman Missal, but is not a Roman Catholic church, and is not authorised to use the Roman Missal by the Bishop of the diocese (the Catholic bishop, I mean; the Anglican bishop has also forbidden it). Moreover the persons attempting to celebrate Mass are not recognised as priests by the Roman Catholic Church. In short, the visitor from France or Italy may see what looks like the Mass, but what is in fact not the Mass.
Now, a question: they would clearly be deceived in thinking that what is going on before them is a Roman Catholic Mass. But is this because they have deceived themselves, or is it because the vicar has deceived them? Does the vicar tell them that they are in an Anglican church? Or does he leave them to assume that the church is, somehow or another, "Catholic"?
Let us be clear about this: when we Roman Catholics in communion with the Pope use the word Catholic, we intend something very specific; when Anglicans use the word "Catholic" they are not using the word in the same sense. The Anglo-Catholic vicar in the Church Times report may claim to be "Catholic", but from the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church, he is not.
I realise that suggesting that people are practising deception is a serious matter, but the fact is that the Ordinariate is now in existence, and if you want to live the Anglican Patrimony and be in communion with the Pope, you can. I welcome that. The vicar of the unidentified church has received the offer to enter the Ordinariate and he has declined it. He has refused the offer of communion from the Pope. Ergo, he cannot and must not claim to be in communion with the Pope in any sense whatever. His claim to be "Catholic" strikes me as bogus. Or am I wrong about this?
Incidentally, I have seen churches in America which call themselves "Protestant Episcopal" on their notice boards, but which also carry notices in Spanish that proclaim themselves to be " Iglesia Episcopal Catolica". If that isn't deception, what is? Visiting the website of one of the churches in question, I see that they are having "Misa" (that is, Mass) on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Spanish. Are the Spanish-speakers who are warmly invited to such a service aware that it is not the Mass?
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Climate and Evolution
Today, Venus is a hellish place of high temperatures and crushing air pressure. Venus Express is showing that this was not always the case. Instead, some time in the past, Venus was probably much more Earth-like and contained large quantities of water.
Planetary scientists have long wondered just how Earth-like Venus is or might have been. Until the 1960s, astronomers speculated that Venus might be a tropical forest planet. This view changed when microwave observations began to suggest an extremely hot surface. The Russian and American spacecraft of the 1960s and 70s confirmed that Venus possesses surface temperatures of over 400°C and surface pressure a hundred times that of Earth.
The winds in Venus's atmosphere are severe, blowing at speeds of up to, and over, a 100 m/s. Yet, as fierce as they are, not even the winds from the giant south polar vortex extend all the way down to the planet's surface.
Venus Express can see down to about 45-50 km above the surface in the south polar region. Feeding this data into computer models suggests that the vortex cannot penetrate into the lower atmosphere because of the great density of gas there. "It is difficult to move around such a heavy mass of atmosphere. We do not expect big winds at the surface of Venus," says Giuseppe Piccioni, IASF-Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy.
How did Venus turn out like this?
Geologists say that the present is a clue to the past and the same is true for atmospheric physics. Venus Express has revealed an atmospheric process that points to a catastrophic event in Venus's history.
"Venus has suffered a radical climate disaster but we don't yet know how, why and when," says David Grinspoon, a Venus Express interdisciplinary scientist from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Colorado, USA.
The disaster was the loss of Venus's water. If you could condense all of the water vapour in Venus's atmosphere, it would create a thin covering of water just 3-cm thick. For comparison, if Earth were a smooth ball, all of the water in the oceans and atmosphere would create a covering 3-km deep.
Venus may once have had this much water as well but it has been gradually stripped off into space by the collision of energetic particles from the Sun. Today, Venus Express has shown that the last remnants of the process are still taking place with the escape of hydrogen and oxygen from the top of the atmosphere.
"We now know that Venus was once more Earth-like," says Grinspoon, "We cannot tell the full story yet, but the data we are getting shows that Venus Express will reveal the history of water on Venus.
Venus has no seasons because its rotation axis is already perpendicular to its orbit. It rotates just once in 243 Earth days and has a very massive atmosphere. This is chiefly composed of carbon dioxide with clouds primarily of sulphuric acid droplets.
It sounds nothing like Earth, and yet, thanks to Venus Express, planetary scientists now know that it can be explained in the same framework, but with Venus being driven in a different direction.
"The three most important parameters that determine a planet's 'behaviour' are its distance from the Sun, its surface pressure and its rotation rate," says Fred Taylor, a Venus Express interdisciplinary scientist from the University of Oxford, UK. So, although Venus is similar in size to Earth, it is drastically different in the three parameters that drive its behaviour.
"There may be as much lightning on Venus as there is on Earth," says Chris Russell at the University of California at Los Angeles, who was part of the magnetometer team that searched for, and found, lightning on Venus.
Throughout its extended mission, Venus Express will continue collecting vital data to better understand the evolution of this fascinating planet.
Notes for editors:
This article is making reference to the following papers, appearing in the 29 November 2007 issue of the scientific journal Nature:
'A warm layer in Venus' cryosphere and high-altitude measurements of HF, HCL, H2O and HDO, by J-L.Bertaux et al.
'Venus loses its water through the plasma wake', by S.Barabash et al.
'South-polar features on Venus similar to those near the north pole', by G.Piccioni et al.
'Lightning on Venus inferred from whistler-mode waves in the ionosphere', by C.T.Russell et al.
For more information
David Grinspoon, Venus Express Interdisciplinary Scientist, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Colorado, US
Email: David.Grinspoon @ dmns.org
Chris Russel, MAG co-Investigator, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Univ. of California, US
Email: Ctrussel @ igpp.ucla.edu
Fred Taylor, Venus Express interdisciplinary scientist, University of Oxford, UK
Email: Fwt @ atm.ox.ac.uk
Jean-Loup Bertaux, SPICAV/SOIR Principal Investigator, Service d'Aéronomie du CNRS
Email : Jean-Loup.Bertaux @ aerov.jussieu.fr
Giuseppe Piccioni, VIRTIS co-Principal Investigator, IASF-Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy
Email: Giuseppe.Piccioni @ iasf-roma.inaf.it
Stanislav Barabash, ASPERA Principal Investigator, Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden
Email: Stas @ irf.se
Håkan Svedhem, ESA's Venus Express Project Scientist
Email: Hakan.Svedhem @ esa.int


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At LARP I mostly see people who focus on Sword and Board (or Sword and shield as it's sometimes known) holding their shield in their left arm, sword in the right.
I'm sure I've heard some historical text, and sound reasoning that you want your strongest arm to stop yourself from getting killed by using a shield. Any attack you make is a bonus.
- Is this at all historical?
- Is there a precedent or reason to take this logic (flawed or not) over to a LARP system?