Czar Nicolau II e sua filha Olga

Nicolau e sua filha Olga em 1896

Um pouco da História: Sua Majestade Imperial Nicolau II (Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov), O Czar e Autocrata de Todas as Rússias e sua filha mais velha, Sua Alteza Imperial Olga (Olga Nikoláyevna Románova), Grã-Duquesa da Rússia, em 1896. Toda a família imperial foi assassinada em 1918 e canonizada em 2000, pela Igreja Ortodoxa Russa, portanto são agora São Nicolau Romanov e Santa Olga Romanova, Portadores da Paixão. 

Família Imperial Russa - Os Romanov.

Casa Imperial dos Romanov

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How urban legends work

   In 1994, the Las Vegas police reported a disturbing series of crimes along the Vegas strip. The first victim in this wave was an Ohio man in town for a sales convention. At the bar in his hotel, the man happened to strike up a conversation with an attractive young woman. According to the man, the two hit it off, sharing several drinks over the course of a couple hours. At some point, the man blacked out, and when he came to, he found himself lying in a hotel bathtub, covered in ice. There was a phone resting on the floor beside the tub, with an attached note that said, "Call 911or you will die." He called an ambulance and was rushed to the hospital, where the doctors informed him that he had undergone massive surgery. One of his kidneys had been removed, apparently by a gang selling human organs on the black market. Following this occurrence, many similar crimes were reported, leading Las Vegas police to issue warnings to travellers visiting the city.

   There is a good chance that you have heard this story, or some variation of it. News of the Vegas "organ harvesters" has been passed on by thousands and thousands of people over the course of 10 years. It has been relayed by word of mouth, e-mail and even printed fliers. But there is absolutely no evidence that any such thing ever occurred, in Las Vegas or anywhere else. This fictional story is a quintessential urban legend, an incredible tale passed from one person to another as truth.

   In this article, we'll look at urban legends to see what they are, where they come from and why they spread so quickly. We'll also explore some ideas regarding the social significance of urban legends, as well as take a look at how the stories have changed over the years.

   Generally speaking, an urban legend is any modern, fictional story, told as truth, that reaches a wide audience by being passed from person to person. Urban legends are often false, but not always. A few turn out to be largely true, and a lot of them were inspired by an actual event but evolved into something different in their passage from person to person. More often than not, it is not possible to trace an urban legend back to its original source -- they seem to come from nowhere.

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The Secret Language

   More than half of what we communicate is communicated not through words but through body language. This includes our posture, facial expressions, and gestures. Because body language is so important, you’ll want to know what yours is saying and how to interpret other people’s, too. Here are some examples of body language and its meaning. (Note: These meanings are for North America. Interpretations may differ a bit in other cultures.) If your posture is slumped and your head is down, this could mean that you are sad or lack confidence. If your posture is straight, but relaxed, you are expressing confidence and friendliness.

   A smile is a sign of friendliness and interest. But people sometimes smile just to be polite. To get another clue from people’s faces, notice their eyes. Friendliness and interest are expressed when a person’s eyes meet yours (especially when you’re the one who’s talking) and then look away and meet yours again. A person who doesn’t look away is expressing challenge. A person who doesn’t look at you is expressing lack of interest or is shy. Hand gestures can mean a person is interested in the conversation. But repeated movements – like a pencil or tapping a foot – often mean the person is either impatient or nervous. Stay away from someone who points at you while talking with you: that person might be angry at you or feel surprised to you.

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Why Brazil loved him

To many Brazilians, Senna communicated a vulnerability that they appreciated all the more because they knew he had to set his fears aside whenever he climbed into the cockpit. What sealed the love affair the country had with Senna was his willingness, or perhaps his need, to share the glory: after every win he would reach for a Brazilian flag and hoist it high above his head for the victory lap. His popularity was magnified by the contrast with his country’s sense of collective demise. As his career revvep up in the ‘80s, Brazil was headed the other way, descending into economic and political disarray, frustration and self-doubt. Senna, presidential adviser Augusto Marzagão said last week, "was the luminous flip side of the negative state in which lay the Brazilian soul." In short, his success was seen as proof that despite a 45%-a-month inflation rate, growing poverty and never-ending corruption scandals, Brazil could still come out a winner.

For seven frustrating years, though, Senna’s dream of a victory at home, in the Brazilian Grand Prix, eluded him. He finally won the race in 1991, but only after a cliff-hanger finish and typical heroics. He was leading comfortably, with only a few kilometres to go, when the gearbox of his car jammed. By the last lap only one gear was functioning, but Senna wrestled his McLaren-Honda to the checkered flag. So exhausted he could barely lift his arms, grimacing from the pain, he hoisted the trophy and the flag. Senna won in Brazil again in 1993 in equally dramatic fashion – this time against his archrival, the Frenchman Alain Prost. (Over the years, Senna’s flat-out duels with Prost, including several dangerous collisions, had fostered an enmity that Prost says did not ease until just before Senna’s death.) Prost and his teammate Damon Hill had been much faster in practice, and the fans knew that only a race-day downpour would give Senna, the acknowledged master of wet-track driving, a chance. Brazil prayed for rain. The next day, with Prost in the lead, the heavens opened. The Frenchman promptly crashed; Senna catapulted into first place and stayed there. As the race ended, the sun came out.

[Time International, Nº 20 (May 16, 1994), p. 36.