To Enter or Not to Enter Thoughts on Fee-Based Wr
Recent Pulitzer debacle aside, this May’s Poets and Writers magazine feature about writing contests got me thinking about the advice I give my own students about literary competitions. Poets and Writers offers a number of valid reasons why a writer might become a “professional writing contest entrant”: that doing so is one way, especially for poets (whose prospects with commercial houses are especially limited), to break into publishing through smaller houses when the big houses dominate the market with more commercial fare, and that paying contest fees amounts to a kind of literary citizenship wherein we all pay a sort of “dues” to keep these small houses and literary magazines going. I don’t disagree; in fact, I just sent a $30 reading fee for my novel off to a contest today. So yes, even I occasionally succumb to the hope that my novel might get plucked from the contest slush.
But can you really beat the odds? Poets and Writers seemed to imply that simply by submitting to a large number of contests, a writer with a high-quality manuscript would eventually prevail. Based on my experience as a judge for some of these competitions, I’m not so sure.
It was my first experience as a screening judge for the Deep South Writer’s Conference that really opened my eyes. Now, let me be clear, this contest and the others I have since been a part of, are fair, ethical competitions, nothing like those that Foetry and Poets and Writers “The Contester” column exposed some years back as heavily weighted toward students and/or friends of the final judges. But contests can be more of the crapshoot than one might think and not always one I’m willing to pay for.
Twenty years ago, in the conference room of the English Department at the University of Louisina-Lafayette, I gathered with nine other graduate student screeners to receive my first stack of fiction entries. Each of us would bring home ten manuscripts and return a few days later with the one manuscript from our pile we believed should go forward to the final “celebrity” judge. This way said judge, who must not have been too much of a celebrity because I can’t remember who it was, would only have to choose from among ten of presumably the “best” manuscripts.
I took my job very seriously, as did the other first round judges I’m sure, carefully studying each manuscript and comparing it to the others. More than half of the stories had issues that eliminated them from the race early on but ultimately Server 2003 Key, it came down to two or three quality manuscripts. As I recall, the final decision was agonizing.
And, it dawned on me, once we reassembled in that conference room, redolent of the department chair’s cigarette smoke and the sweat of many a nervous student writer who’d once been on the workshop hot seat, it was highly subjective. I felt pretty good about my choice until I looked around at my fellow grad student judges and realized that, while we all might have narrowed it down to the same two or three, some of them would have made a different selection from my pile.
We were as disparate as a roomful of people could be, with markedly diverse aesthetic tastes. Some of us were in a punk band. Others would never be cool enough to be in a punk band (that would be me). Some were going through a magic realism phase. Others worshipped Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and had begun to believe the government was tapping their phone. I wondered, “How would a manuscript of mine [at the time I was and still am a fairly mainstream literary realist] fare in this room?”
Since then, I’ve never been able to enter a writing contest without imagining that motley star chamber. Sure, whenever you submit something, it’s going have to pass through one or two graduate students or editorial assistants at the gate. But at least when I submit to a journal, I’ve researched the publication well enough to know if my work is at least in the ballpark of what they tend to publish.
Sometimes I write the check anyway, deciding that supporting the contest, the press or the journal is more important. But I keep my eye out for free contests. Allison Joseph, who runs the go-to creative writing opportunities listserv, CRWROPPS, makes it easy by putting “no fee contest” in the subject line. When I asked her why, she explained: “Someone was unhappy that I was posting contests that had fees, so I started making it a point to show which ones didn’t have fees. I don’t mind fees, have entered many contests myself, and since we have both no-fee and fee contests connected with Crab Orchard Review, I think a balance is always good.”
Yes, balance is important and so is supporting the arts, which is why our household subscribes to more than our fair share of literary magazines (in part because, between my husband and me, it contains more than its fair share of writers). I recommend my students do the same. If you’re going to submit to literary magazines, you owe it to them to subscribe to some, even in your salad days. Besides, it’s the only way to truly immerse yourself in the literary culture of your generation. But when it comes to contests Windows 7 oem key, be judicious. If you enter a fee-based contest, do it as much as because you want to support that particular literary endeavor as anything else. And when you find a no-fee contest jump on it. After all Windows 7 Activation Key, you have nothing to lose.
May 17, 2012
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U.N. observers held by rebels ‘for protection’
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Rebel fighters said they were holding U.N. monitors for their own safety in the central Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday after their car was damaged in what one of the monitors said was an explosion.
The seven-strong team, part of a U.N. monitoring mission overseeing a ceasefire agreement in Syria replica watches, was visiting the rebel stronghold at midday (0900 GMT) when violence broke out at a funeral.
Rebels said Syrian forces at a nearby checkpoint fired at the funeral, either with rocket-propelled grenades or from armored personnel carriers, killing at least 21 people and damaging one of the four U.N. cars.
Syria’s Addounya television blamed the violence on gunmen who it said then kidnapped the observers.
The United Nations office in Damascus declined to comment on the incident, but one of the observers in Khan Sheikhoun said none of the team members were hurt and said they were with Free Syrian Army rebels.
“We went to observe and after a while shooting occurred,” he told Reuters by telephone, adding the shooting was followed by the blast which damaged the car.
The team was trying to organize a safe return to their base, he said, without giving details.
Internet footage, which activists said was filmed in Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday, showed a white car of the type used by U.N. monitors with damage to its front which could have been caused by a blast or a collision.
“We are safe with the Free Army and we are waiting for a (U.N.) group to pick us up,” a second monitor said.
It was not immediately clear why they were still in Khan Sheikhoun several hours after the violence, when the United Nations has teams in the nearby cities of Hama and Idlib.
Sami al-Kurdi replica watches, a spokesman for the rebel military council replica watches, said the rebels were working on a safe exit for the observers.
“They are now with the Free Army which is protecting them. If they leave, the regime will terminate them because they have witnessed one of its crimes and it does not want them to tell the truth,” he told Reuters.
Another FSA rebel said the observers had been moved to a safer place in the town and were being served food.
(Editing by Janet Lawrence)
World Syria
May 17, 2012
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Murdoch Apologizes for Handling of Scandal
News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch on Thursday said he should have more quickly addressed allegations of unlawful newsgathering practices at the company’s now-closed News of the World tabloid Tattoo Kits On Sale, a statement that came during a public grilling that focused on whether the company had been cavalier in its handling of the scandal.
During a second day of questioning under oath by a judge-led public inquiry examining British media practices Tattoo Ink For Cheap, Mr. Murdoch repeatedly sought to draw a sharp contrast between News of the World — which he called an “aberration” — and the company’s other newspapers. Moments of contrition over News of the World’s problems alternated with others in which he lashed out at rivals What Is In Tattoo Ink, critics and others who “love attacking me.”
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May 17, 2012
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White House Downplays GAO Report on Questionable B
The White House Monday downplayed a Government Accountability Office report calling into question the effectiveness of bonuses distributed in a $8.3 billion demonstration program for Medicare Advantage.
The bonuses are part of a scaled structure which is supposed encourage “larger and faster annual quality improvement,” the report says. One of the problems, GAO says, is that because of its poor design Tattoo Starter Kits, most of the bonuses go not to excelling plans but to satisfactory ones. The size of this demonstration project is considerable; the GAO recommended that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cancel this bonus payment system.
Asked about the report Tattoo Stencil Machine, White House press secretary Jay Carney immediately changed the subject to the $200 billion in projected savings from eliminating improper payments under the health care law. While briefly addressing “the temporary demonstration program” as one way “to improve the quality of care in Medicare Advantage,” Carney said it was important to put the $8.3 billion “in context …And in fact we’re phasing out over $200 billion in overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans on schedule.”
The GAO report said that the bonus plan in the Medicare Advantage demonstration program undermines deficit reduction goals. The “reliance on predemonstration performance data, the absence of an appropriate comparison group of MA plans, and design features that are inconsistent with its research goal make it unlikely that the demonstration will produce meaningful results,” the report says.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who requested the GAO study Tattoo Steel Machines, said that the “timing of this demonstration program raises serious questions about the Obama Administration’s use of taxpayer dollars for political purposes. According to the GAO report, ‘The largest annual offset will occur in 2012-71 percent-followed by 32 percent in 2013 and 16 percent in 2014.’ Given that Medicare’s open enrollment season begins in October, this report raises serious questions about whether the purpose of this demonstration was to mask the health spending law’s cuts to seniors’ Medicare benefits for political purposes.”
Asked about the failure of the health care law to shore up Medicare, Carney said “part of why it hasn’t worked yet is because Republicans in Congress refuse to accept the basic premise that we need to take a balanced approach to our deficit and debt reduction. They are out there telling the American people, through the Ryan Republican budget, that we need to dramatically cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans – dramatically, and we will pay for that in large part by gutting discretionary spending programs, investments in education and innovation and basic research, in infrastructure, and by ending… Medicare as we know it.”
-Jake Tapper
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May 17, 2012
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Secretary Hillary Clinton Mixes Hollywood and Poli
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was “thrilled” to introduce the screening of “The Lady Cheap Karen Millen Dresses,” a Hollywood movie based on the life of Burma democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.
Clinton thanked the film’s star Michelle Yeoh and director Luc Besson Monday for managing to get her a copy of the movie to watch ahead of her historic trip to Myanmar last December, where she met Suu Kyi. Secretary Clinton’s trip to the Asian country was the first for a U.S. Secretary of State in 56 years.
“This is a terrific movie, ” said Clinton. ” This film portrays a woman whose story needs to be in theaters and living rooms across the world.”
Yeoh, best known for her performance in “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” was on a panel along with the film’s director and U.S. Special Representative for Burma, Derek Mitchell. The award-winning actress called the secretary’s endorsement of the film her “proudest moment.” Yeoh spent nearly a year preparing to play the human rights icon, including learning Burmese.
The screening, hosted by the Motion Picture Association of America, was not just a film premier – it provided and opportunity to reflect on the current state of politics in Myanmar. Mitchell, who is expected to be named as the new Ambassador to the formally rogue nation, noted that while the movie focuses on Suu Kyi’s decades of detention fighting for democracy, today the Nobel Peace Laureate took her place as an elected official in Myanmar’s Parliament.
Both Mitchell and Secretary Clinton acknowledged that the country continues to have human rights issues that will need to be addressed before Myanmar will truly be a democracy Cheap BCBG Dresses, but they praised the progress that’s already been made.
Secretary Clinton joked that she told Suu Kyi that “she’s moving from an icon to an elected official. Having made sort of the same journey to some extent I know that that’s not easy,” she said. ”Now you go to parliament and you start compromising. That is what democracy is all about.”
May 16, 2012
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Another GT-R bites the dust
Click above for more pics of this bashed up Nissan GT-R
This isn’t the first Nissan GT-R to find itself looking like an accordion. We brought you another shattered GT-R in Hong Kong in early January, and a GT-R fender bender a few days later in Shibuya (Tokyo). An Autoblog tipster just sent us a link to yet another bashed-up GT-R in Malaysia. As a purely objective observation, the latest incident does a decent job of demonstrating the integrity of the Nissan GT-R’s safety cage. Too bad it’s at the expense of supercar carnage. Are we the only ones who think this Nissan GT-R bloodshed is getting out of hand? Thanks for the tip, Eric Tattoo Supplies!
Related GalleryWrecked Nissan GT-R
[Source: NAGTROC]
May 15, 2012
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Finding the Exit
John Dickerson chatted online with readers about this article. Read the transcript.
Hillary Clinton
At some point in the next weeks or months, either Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama is going to face a lonely moment. Standing at the bathroom sink with a toothbrush or huddling with aides at campaign headquarters or collapsed on a couch at home with his or her spouse, one of them will decide that it’s over.
This will happen—honest. The campaign may seem interminable, but at some point, it’s going to end. The voters will cast ballots, and the superdelegates will scheme, but for Clinton (or, less likely for the moment Discount BCBG Dresses, Obama), the contest will come down to this simple, stark moment of recognition.
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But how does it happen? How does a presidential candidate decide to switch off his or her frantic determination to win every news cycle, shake every hand, and rebut every charge and instead end a quest that for many candidates has been the driving force of their adult lives? “Nobody can make the decision except you DKNY Clothing sale,” says Tony Coelho, who managed the early portion of Al Gore’s race in 2000 and was a confidant to Rep. Richard Gephardt during his 1988 campaign. “And you have to make the decision in a way that you don’t second-guess yourself the rest of your life.”
Heaven help the staffer who tries to get in front of a candidate who is not ready to get out of the race. “They know that the second they start thinking they’re not going to win, they crack,” says Joe Trippi, who also worked on Gephardt’s 1988 run. After Gephardt’s disastrous Super Tuesday showing, Trippi says he broached the idea of throwing in the towel with the former House majority leader and got a stirring rebuke. “I’m not getting out until they cut my head off and hand it to me,” Trippi remembers Gephardt roaring. “His neck was red, and you could see the veins.”
Usually, candidates get ushered to the threshold of departure: The voters spurn them Discount Christian Audigier Clothing, the press stops covering them, and they run out of money. “It’s like the seven stages of denial at hyperspeed,” says Mary Matalin, a veteran GOP operative who advised former Sen. Fred Thompson (remember him?) this time around. In 1996, Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, spent record sums only to place fifth in the Iowa caucuses; he still had cash aplenty in the bank, but the voters clearly just didn’t want him, so he folded up shop. In 1976, when former Sen. Fred Harris of Oklahoma ran for the Democratic nomination, his campaign plane was full of reporters—until he lost Iowa and New Hampshire. “Hell, I had ‘em with me one day, and the next day I didn’t,” he says of the press. “That’s how you know.”
The biggest blow for any candidate, though, is the day the money disappears. “What gets them out is not that lightning strikes,” says Bob Beckel, who managed Walter F. Mondale’s 1984 campaign, “but when their treasurer arrives and says, ‘We’re a million bucks in debt.’ ” In conversations with campaign veterans and candidates, the scene they paint is always the same: stern men in shirt sleeves in a drab hotel room talking about the hard numbers and the folly of plunging into deep personal debt.
Clinton won’t experience that quick of a death. She has the money Cheap Missoni Dresses, votes Cheap DKNY Clothes, and media attention to continue until the convention. (So does Obama, for that matter DKNY Dresses sale, if he were suddenly to become the underdog.) Undecided superdelegates could rally to her, but this doesn’t look likely to happen anytime soon. The voters could show an overwhelming preference in the remaining 10 contests or deliver a big upset in a single, crucial one, but they’ve been no help so far in bringing the race to a close. “I don’t think it’s going to be a 3 a.m. phone call,” says Democratic stalwart Robert Shrum of the final moment that will persuade one of the candidates to get out of the race. “I think it will gradually dawn.”
The Obama forces tried to bring on the early dawn for Clinton, and it backfired. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., suggested recently that superdelegates should embrace Obama as the nominee before the primary voting ended. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., went further last weekend, saying that Clinton should drop out of the race immediately because she can never overcome Obama’s lead among elected delegates.
But if Clinton had even been flirting with leaving the race, her male colleagues gave her fine reasons not to. A ruling from a few white-haired white men from the most exclusive club in America was just what Clinton needed to energize her supporters, many of whom see deep sexism in the calls for her to drop out. Supporters now show up at Clinton rallies with signs that read, “Don’t Quit.” Clinton sent out two different fundraising appeals prompted by the calls for her exit. “They couldn’t have done anything more helpful to her,” says James Carville, the Clintons’ resident janissary.
All presidential candidates are ambitious, of course, but the decision to throw in the towel goes beyond one contender’s personal desires. Candidates keenly feel the weight of disappointing all those people at the rope lines and in the living rooms who have told them they’re pulling for them. “A lot of people invested time and money and effort into my campaign when I ran,” says Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination in 1996 and 2000. “One of my feelings was that I let them down. I haven’t done as well as I should have.”
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May 14, 2012
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KBB 2012 Best Resale Value awards dominated by Toy
Kelley Blue Book has announced the company’s 2012 Best Resale Value Awards. The honors are handed out based on projections crafted by the KBB staff of automotive analysts for cars and trucks expected to retain the largest percentage of their original list price after five years.
For 2012 DKNY Clothing sale, KBB has named Toyota as the best resale brand with Lexus taking the top honor in the luxury brand category. There aren’t any surprises there Replica Marc Jacobs Dresses, and the list of individual winners isn’t likely to shake anyone’s tree either. Toyota brands earned five category awards, while Honda alone took four categories Discount Chloe Dresses, including sub-compact car, compact car Christian Audigier Clothing sale, hybrid and van.
The Ford F-150, meanwhile Cheap White Herve leger, took home the full-size pickup nod and the only award for the Blue Ovals brands Cheap Emilio Pucci Dresses, while the Chevrolet Camaro V6 and SS snagged the sports car and high-performance car categories, respectively. There were a few surprises in the mix, however. The Jeep Wrangler brought home the only win in the compact SUV category and the only nod for Chrysler this year. The Audi A5 snagged the gold in the luxury car category and the Chevy Volt beat out the Nissan Leaf in the electric car category.
Kelly Blue Book says that residual value should be at the top of car buyers concerns when it comes time to bringing home a new model as depreciation represents the largest potential new-car expense. Hit the jump for the full press release.
May 14, 2012
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Kia recalls nearly 8,000 Sorrento models over inco
2011 Kia Sorento – Click above for high-res image gallery
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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Cheap BCBG Dresses, certain 2011 Kia Sorento models were fitted with rear brake calipers that were improperly machined.
Says NHTSA: “As a result, brake fluid will leak Discount Herve Leger v neck, followed by illumination of the malfunction indicator light indicating the brake fluid level is low and should be checked Cheap DKNY Clothes, then a soft or spongy brake pedal feel, and if not serviced Replica Marc Jacobs Dresses, reduced braking power which could increase the risk of a crash.”
Naturally, the owner’s preferred Kia dealership will inspect and replace the rear calipers if necessary at no charge. For more information Buy White Herve leger, check out the official statement from NHTSA after the break.
Related Gallery2011 Kia Sorento
[Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]
May 14, 2012
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LA 2009Luna and Toby model the 2010 Honda Element
Luna, left Replica Romain Jerome Watches, and Toby, model the Honda Element Dog Friendly edition – Click above for high-res image gallery
Honda certainly can’t be accused of running a dog and pony show here at the LA Auto Show, because there were no ponies. They did, however Replica Chopard Watches, have the adorable Luna and Toby on hand to demonstrate their clever Dog Friendly system on this Honda Element. It’s essentially a collapsible ramp and pup tent (couldn’t resist) with tethers that keeps dogs secure in back while protecting the interior of your vehicle from stains and pet hair.
We’ve shown you this Dog Friendly setup before, but couldn’t resist snapping a few pics of the system in action Fake Chronoswiss Watches for sale, especially now that it’s available. The Dog Friendly package is available on any 2010 Honda Element model for an extra $995. besides the nylon kennel and ramp Replica Titoni Watches, the system includes a cushioned bed Fake Omega Watches for sale, a spill-proof water dish, a small 12-volt ventilation fan Sinn Replica Watches, seat covers for the second row, and rubber floor mats with a bone motif. Seems like a reasonable price for keeping one’s pets safe and secure, especially considering it’s a custom fit package from the people who actually build the vehicle itself. There’s a full press release after the jump and some more pics of Toby and Luna in our high-res gallery below.
Related GalleryLA 2009: Dog Friendly Honda Element
Photos copyright ©2009 Frank Filipponio/Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Honda]
May 13, 2012
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