“His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama at the White House - Whitehouse.gov (press release)” plus 3 more |
- His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama at the White House - Whitehouse.gov (press release)
- Russian ice dancers coy about routine - ninemsn
- Cultural Factors Affect Consumer Satisfaction - Redorbit.com
- China summons US ambassador after Obama, Dalai meet - YAHOO!
| His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama at the White House - Whitehouse.gov (press release) Posted: 18 Feb 2010 01:33 PM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.
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| Russian ice dancers coy about routine - ninemsn Posted: 17 Feb 2010 05:52 PM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Russian world champion ice dancers Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin aren't saying if they've made any changes to the Aboriginal-themed original dance that has angered some Australian leaders. Asked on Wednesday about rumours the Russians have changed their costumes and music, Shabalin was coy. "Maybe, maybe," he said after practice. "You will hear, you will see on the day of the original dance." Some Australian Aboriginal leaders have claimed Domnina and Shabalin's original dance is offensive cultural theft, with inauthentic steps and gaudy costumes. The music includes a didgeridoo riff, and Domnina and Shabalin wear brown-toned costumes adorned with leaves and white Aboriginal-style markings. In the original dance, couples can create any kind of dance that falls within an assigned theme. This year's theme is country-folk, and skaters are doing routines to everything from Indian music to country and western to a Japanese fan dance. "Two years ago, when we had the folk dance, 70 per cent did it to Russian or Ukrainian music. It was like a competition of Russian dance or Ukrainian dance," Shabalin said. "We thought (the Aboriginal theme) would be interesting, and we like this. We like the way they dance, and their costumes." Shabalin said he and Domnina and their coaches did a lot of research before creating the dance. They were surprised when it caused such a furore, and Shabalin said they went back and did more research, including talking with specialists in Aboriginal dance. The dance was never intended to only represent the Aboriginal culture, Shabalin added. It also was to include elements of Southeast Asian culture. "It's not possible to do a 100 per cent authentic folk dance on skates. We have required elements and we have some restrictions for our costumes, too," Shabalin said. "We are very respectful to all our competitors and all cultures. We're open to discuss it." Domnina and Shabalin visited with members of Canada's Four Host First Nations after arriving on Monday. That group had also expressed concerns about the Russians' original dance, but Shabalin said it was a "very warm, very friendly" meeting. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Cultural Factors Affect Consumer Satisfaction - Redorbit.com Posted: 17 Feb 2010 11:54 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Posted on: Wednesday, 17 February 2010, 13:59 CST If you believe in karma, you're more likely to have higher expectations, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. Some consumers strategically lower their expectations in order to try to increase their satisfaction with a product or experience, write authors Praveen K. Kopalle (Dartmouth College), Donald R. Lehmann (Columbia University), and John U. Farley (Dartmouth College). But people who believe in karma tend to have a more long-term orientation, which decreases the importance of momentary happiness. The authors describe the doctrine of karma as having three main tenets. First, is the notion of rebirth where actions in a particular life may bear fruit either in the current life or in the next. Second, actions can be broadly classified into appropriate (good) or inappropriate (bad). Finally, good actions in the present lead to good outcomes in the future. "The doctrine of karma links current conduct to future consequences either in this life or the next," write the authors. "Thus, a belief in karma entails, among other things, a focus on long-run consequences." "Individuals with a long-term orientation are likely to be less inclined to lower expectations in the hope of temporarily feeling better," write the authors. "With a long-term orientation, even those individuals who are most unhappy when a product fails to live up to their expectations of it have a limited incentive to artificially lower their expectations and hence have higher (and more accurate/realistic) expectations." The authors compared results in China with those in India and found that a significantly higher percentage of people in India believed in karma (64 percent versus 10.5 percent). It is important for companies to understand these types of cultural differences if they wish to reach consumers in a globalized marketplace, the authors write. "Perhaps most importantly, the findings are also encouraging concerning the feasibility of explicitly measuring cultural factors and assessing their impact on consumer behavior." --- On the Net: Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| China summons US ambassador after Obama, Dalai meet - YAHOO! Posted: 18 Feb 2010 07:31 PM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. WASHINGTON (AFP) – Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai summoned the US ambassador in Beijing on Friday to protest President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama, the official Xinhua news agency said. Cui "lodged solemn representations" to Ambassador Jon Huntsman after the Tibetan spiritual leader held talks with Obama at the White House, despite repeated Chinese warnings against the meeting. The summons comes as US President Barack Obama vowed support for Tibetans' identity and rights during a meeting with the Dalai Lama, angering China which accused him of reneging on previous understandings. The White House meticulously planned the encounter in hopes of containing Chinese protests, inviting the exiled Tibetan leader to a private area of the executive mansion rather than the Oval Office and not allowing cameras inside. But the 74-year-old monk took the unusual step of walking out of the White House residence to mingle with reporters, telling them he was "very happy" with Obama's support and even engaging in a playful snowball fight. The White House later put out a picture of the two Nobel Peace Prize laureates conversing in the 45-minute meeting and issued a statement in the name of spokesman Robert Gibbs backing the Dalai Lama's goals. "The president stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People's Republic of China," Gibbs said. "The president commended the Dalai Lama's 'middle way' approach, his commitment to nonviolence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government," Gibbs said. Related article: Dalai Lama likes 'energetic, tall' Obama The Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland for India in 1959, advocates a "middle way" of seeking greater rights for Tibetans while accepting Chinese rule. But Beijing insists that the Dalai Lama is insincere and accuses the Buddhist monk, who has built a global following through his spiritual lectures, of plotting to split up China. In a pre-dawn response, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu demanded that the United States take immediate steps to "eliminate the pernicious impact" of the White House meeting. "The US act grossly violated basic norms of international relations and the principles" set out in joint statements under which the United States pledged to respect Chinese sovereignty, Ma said in a statement. The meeting "also went against the US government's repeated acknowledgement that Tibet is part of China and that it does not support Tibet independence," he said. But some US-based analysts believe China's protests may be geared more for domestic consumption and that its leaders see the benefits of cooperation between the world's largest developed and developing nations. Just hours before the meeting with the Dalai Lama, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier arrived for a visit in Hong Kong. China had vowed to cut off military ties after the Obama administration last month agreed to sell 6.4 billion dollars in weapons to nationalist-ruled Taiwan. Obama had put off key steps that would anger China in his first year in office, hoping to start off on the right foot and work together on issues ranging from reviving the global economy to fighting climate change. Obama did not meet with the Dalai Lama last year ahead of the president's first trip to Beijing. With Thursday's encounter, the Dalai Lama has now met every sitting US president since George H. W. Bush in 1991. Timeline: Sino-US ties since 2001 The Dalai Lama also met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and was greeted across Washington by hundreds of flag-waving Tibetans who chanted, "Long live the Dalai Lama!" and "Thank you, President Obama!" Meeting reporters after his meetings, the Dalai Lama reiterated his stance that Tibet is part of China. "We are fully committed to remain within the People's Republic of China, for our own interest," he said. "Tibet is a landlocked country and, materially, very, very backwards." Asked how China would react to his meeting with Obama, the Dalai Lama said in English with a hearty laugh: "I can almost be certain some negative, some criticism, some scold." Timeline: Meetings between Dalai Lama and US presidents The Dalai Lama supported efforts by the United States to seek friendly relations with the emerging power, voicing understanding for Obama's decision not to see him last year. "It is wrong when some say, contain China. It is wrong," he said. But the Dalai Lama said it was important to encourage the billion-plus nation to become more open and to curb censorship. "China eventually should be such a superpower, which brings happiness, satisfaction, calm," he said. He did not specify how he expected Obama to support Tibetans, saying: "I think time will tell." "Fifty years have passed. We have never given up hope," he said. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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