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Outcome of July Debate: Adoption of First UN Resolution on the Responsibility to Protect
4. GA PRESIDENT SAYS NOW TIME TO COMMIT TO RtoP IN CLOSING STATEMENT
United Nations General Assembly
14 September 2009
On the morning of Monday, September 14 2009, the UN General Assembly adopted the first resolution (A/RES/63/308) on the Responsibility to Protect.
This resolution is an outcome of the UN GA debate on RtoP in July 2009 in which governments discussed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's January 2009 Report, Implementing the Responsibility to Protect. In the opinion of the Coalition for RtoP, this debate can be considered a success due to Member States offering overwhelming support for the norm and concrete proposals on how to take the norm forward. These proposals included strengthening the UN's early warning capacity and the Peacebuilding Commission, building the capacity of regional and sub-regional organizations, and adopting criteria for the use of force to prevent misuse. See our latest report for more details.
Sponsors of the Resolution: Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Canada, Argentina, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Ukraine and Uruguay
Sixty-third session
Agenda items 44 and 107
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
[without reference to a Main Committee (A/63/L.80/Rev.1 and Add.1)]
63/308. The responsibility to protect
The General Assembly,
Reaffirming its respect for the principles and purposes of the Charter of the
United Nations,
Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome,1 especially paragraphs 138 and
139 thereof,
1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General2 and of the timely and
productive debate organized by the President of the General Assembly on the
responsibility to protect, held on 21, 23, 24 and 28 July 2009, 3 with full
participation by Member States;
2. Decides to continue its consideration of the responsibility to protect.
105th plenary meeting
14 September 2009
- Click here for the final text of the resolution
- View the UN webcast of the session at www.un.org/webcast/2009.html
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (www.globalr2p.org) has drafted an explanation of the discussion by Member States following the introduction of the resolution by Guatemala. See the following excerpts:
[…] Presenting the revised text of the document, Ambassador Gert Rosenthal of Guatemala noted an amendment to the draft that had been requested at the last minute by some, in order to secure agreement from all member states, namely that the words, in operative paragraph 1, "with appreciation," were to be removed from the sentence: "Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General…". He stated that the resolution's aim was to put forward three ideas: "Firstly, that we received the report of the Secretary-General, secondly that we held a very fruitful debate, and thirdly that we wish the debate to continue."
Following adoption of the vote, 9 countries took the floor having requested to explain their vote.
In what appeared to be a coordinated effort, seven of these - Venezuela, Cuba, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Ecuador, and Nicaragua sought to stress that the resolution was solely procedural, that it did not commit the Assembly to implementation of the responsibility to protect, that ongoing discussion was required, and to express, in varying ways, their opposition to the concept.
In its intervention, Venezuela referred back to questions posed by its President Hugo Chavez at the World Summit - asking who would protect and how it would be done - and asserted that if the General Assembly was going to consider this matter, it was necessary to convene a conference to revise the UN Charter to reform the Security Council and strengthen the General Assembly.
Syria lamented that, in its view, the Secretary-General's report had "drop the reference to a due protection for the population under foreign occupation," before expressing the common view that the responsibility to protect still needs much study, transparency, and deep study."
The Cuban representative articulated the shared view that the General Assembly, as "the most representative body of the entire international community" is the competent organ to guide the debate on R2P, adding that it, "trust that other organs of the system, including the Security Council shall respect the letter and the spirit of this resolution and refrain from acting on their own."
Venezuela and Cuba were joined by Sudan, Iran and Nicaragua in stressing that the responsibility to protect could be manipulated by the powerful to justify intervention in weaker states, running counter to the principles of the Charter, especially that of non-intervention, enshrined in Article 2 (4). Each evoked sovereignty as an absolute principle, not to be curtailed in any way. As the Cuban representative stated, "The principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in the affairs of other sovereign states must be defended because without these the UN cannot continue to exist, and poor and weak nations will be abandoned to the mercy of the powerful and strong."
Sudan claimed the majority of countries were apprehensive about the application of R2P and that, "There is still no consensus as to the applicability of R2P to our political realities."
In its intervention, Iran, having stated first that, "We are still far from a consensual understanding on the R2P concept, let alone the emergence of any such authoritative norm," stressed its view that inaction on the part of the United Nations in the face of grave mass atrocities in the last decade was not the result of an absence of concepts or normative framework. It was rather a consequence of failure of the Security Council to act when action was needed.
Ecuador called for ongoing discussion of R2P to be "comprehensive, careful and lengthy" and that should reflect the positions of "each and every one of member states." It added its particular concern that, "The elements and guidelines included in the report submitted by the Secretary-General last July to the GA do not meet all the concerns and questions that various member states amongst us had regarding the implementation and implications of the responsibility to protect," stating that these had been highlighted during the thematic debate convened by General Assembly President D'Escoto Brockmann.
This echoed the statements of Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, and Nicaragua, who also all stressed the importance of the thematic debate convened by the PGA and regretted that his concept note was not reflected in the resolution.
For its part, Bolivia adopted a more positive tone. Although it judged R2P to be controversial and requiring further discussion by the GA, it endorsed commitment to the responsibility to protect, stating "the importance for states to reiterate their obligation to protect its citizens in order to ensure its own longevity." Going a step further, the Bolivian Representative suggested sovereignty was a "conditional right," arguing that, "A state, if it does not have the will to provide protection and cannot do it, will lose the right to invoke this principle of sovereignty as an argument to avoid international intervention, including an intervention motivated by purposes of different nature, which might derive from the use of force."
Although nearly overlooked by the President of the General Assembly, the representative of Rwanda, Ambassador Eugene Gasana was given the last word and seized the opportunity to express something of the majority view within the General Assembly. Expressing appreciation "to the Delegation of Guatemala and to all the cosponsors of Resolution for bringing forward this item of pivotal importance in preventing the four crimes articulated in the Secretary General's excellent report on the responsibility to protect," he welcomed the General Assembly's continued consideration of the responsibility to protect, "in order to ensure the implementation of the mandate set out in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the World Summit Outcome Document." […]
Source: http://globalr2p.org/media/pdf/GCR2P_Summary_of_Statements_on_Adoption_of_Resolution_on_R2P.pdf
UN Department of Public Information
14 September 2009
This morning, the General Assembly adopted its first resolution on the responsibility to protect, taking note of my report on Implementing the Responsibility to Protect (A/63/677) and deciding to continue the Assembly's consideration. It is most significant that this resolution was adopted by consensus. I welcome it as an important step as we chart a common path towards meeting the commitment made at the 2005 World Summit to protect the world's peoples from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
I now look forward to further deepening our dialogue on how best to implement the responsibility to protect, building on the important debate the General Assembly held in late July. It was heartening to hear so many Member States, from every part of the world, reaffirm in a constructive and forward-looking debate the commitment made in 2005. I found the statements by Member States that had suffered such traumas to be particularly meaningful
I have asked my Special Adviser, Professor Edward Luck, together with the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Professor Francis Deng, to continue their wide-ranging consultations with Member States, relevant departments and agencies, regional and sub-regional organizations, and civil society on the many implementation questions still before us. In all our efforts, we should be guided and united by the ultimate purpose of the responsibility to protect: to save lives by preventing the most egregious mass violations of human rights.
4. Departing General Assembly President Discusses Responsibility to Protect in Closing Statements at 63rd Session
UN Department of Public Information
14 September 2009
(…)The Assembly held two meetings to wrap up its work ahead of the opening tomorrow of its sixty-forth session. Mr. d'Escoto's wide-ranging address capped a day when delegations took action on a number of outstanding issues and adopted key resolutions on matters related to system-wide coherence, "the responsibility to protect", cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union and Assembly revitalization.
(…) He expressed satisfaction that during his tenure the Assembly had been able to carry out its agenda and remain attuned to events of international relevance not on its work programme, such as the financial and economic crisis, the recent coup d'état in Honduras, and "the Israeli aggression against Gaza", at the beginning of the year. At the same time, inertia on the Palestinian issue had been "my greatest frustration this year", he said. Indeed, the Security Council's apparent indifference to Israel's ongoing blockade of Gaza had been "disgraceful". With the humanitarian situation in Gaza threatening to deteriorate even further, now was the time to demonstrate "with action and not words, a true commitment to the responsibility to protect".


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Speaking at Sony's developer DevStation conference in London last week, Sony Europe president David Reeves admitted that there was a global piracy issue on PSP, but admitted that it was helping the machine to sell.
"There is a piracy problem on PSP," the UK PlayStation boss commented. "We know about it, we certainly know how it's done. It sometimes fuels the growth of hardware sales, but on balance we are not happy about it."
Reeves added that Sony is soon to unveil a new clampdown on piracy, which some took to refer to today's slightly disappointing Firmware 4.00 update.
With the opinion of many being that piracy is killing the PSP's development as a gaming format, an announcement of Sony's plans in this department can't come soon enough.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Following up his critically acclaimed , director Marc Forster took on this biography of playwright James Matthew Barrie, the scribe who penned the children's classic Peter Pan. Johnny Depp stars as the turn-of-the-century writer as the film follows Barrie as he struggles to write and have his play produced while he cares for his down-on-their-luck neighbors who inspired the story in the first place. J.M. Barrie's Neverland also stars Dustin Hoffman, Kate Winslet, and Julie Christie. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2020 FANDANGO MOVIES.


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When I go to upload to library from my computer the button for uploading signal is not available on my screen. For a while I could get it to work by clicking feedback but today that won't work.
Unless I'm missing something, there's a new Upload From Computer interface and I think it really blows. I'm in a mad hurry and this just sucks.
I used to be able to upload anything from my computer. This new change is terrible. I can't upload my pictures anymore! What's up with this? :(
I have a .docx file that failed to upload, so I converted it to a .pdf. I have been repeatedly trying to upload it for about 15 minutes. I even exited the email and came back in to try again, and it still will not upload. The file is 143kb.
I clicked on upload from my computer, but an X just appears in the window, does not go my computer files. Same problem with uploading from social media
I cannot find on image page "browse your computer to upload" option. Help.
can not load an image from my computer
P.S. I did actually try to follow your directions but unfortunately, the directions say:
To upload an image from your computer to your Image library:
And when I go to do it, "On the Images page, click "browse your computer to upload" - isn't there - All I see is "drag and drop your image" - which isn't doable on my computer
My computer for some reason has a really hard time with me picking up a photo and moving it to your Uload From Computer area. The traditional option of "browse computer" only shows up as an option every few times. Frustrating.
no way to browse to file.
Bring back browsing NOW
Hi Frank, To pull an image by the URL you will want to be in your email. Click Image on the left under the insert menu and then click "Image URL" at the top of the window.
It says "We had trouble processing your request. Try again later." that's it.
Hi JenniferH640 and CatherineM45,
Are you missing the "browser your computer to upload" link in the Image window? Please try zooming out of your screen (CTRL -) and check the resolution of the screen as well. If that doesn't resolve the issue, please let us know.
Thank you.
where has the upload link gone?
Hey Bill!
Sorry for this frustration! The most common reason why images wont upload is if their file size is too large. I would recommend making sure that the file is less than 350KB and also around 600PX in width. If the file meets these requirements, most of the time it helps to open the JPG with paint and then save it as another JPG from there. File created through paint at this point should upload just fine. Let us know if this still does not work for you!
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Should President Obama give up golf for the duration of the "sequester"? That's what some irritated conservative GOP lawmakers believe. They're not mad at presidential sports per se as much as annoyed at what they consider to be Mr. Obama's grandstanding on spending cuts mandated by sequestration. In particular, they're peeved that the administration, with blaring trumpets, has announced that public tours of the White House have been cancelled pending further notice.
So on Tuesday, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R) of Texas offered an amendment to the omnibus spending bill that the House is currently considering. None of the money authorized by this continuing resolution "may be used to transport the President to or from a golf course until public tours of the White House resume," read Representative Gohmert's amendment.
In a Tuesday floor speech, Gohmert said he hoped this prodding would make the White House rethink tour cancellations. The Texas lawmaker noted that spring break is coming up and tourists of all political persuasions have already made plans for tours of D.C.
"They'll get their tour of the White House, and all it will cost is one or two golf trips less," said Gohmert.
Nope. This isn't happening. House Republican leaders ruled the amendment not relevant to the spending bill, and blocked it from getting a vote on the chamber floor.
But we think Gohmert's effort was nevertheless indicative. For one thing, it shows that the conservative wing of the GOP remains unhappy with their leadership's approach to the sequester standoff.
They want more confrontation with the White House, not less. In particular, they want to use the continuing resolution as a club to try to force through even deeper spending reductions, such as cutting money for implementation of some aspects of the Affordable Care Act, aka "Obamacare."
Influential conservative pundit Erick Erickson makes this point Wednesday at RedState. He bemoaned the demise of Gohmert's amendment and urged GOP conservatives to vote against allowing the continuing resolution to proceed, in the name of trying to force deeper cuts.
"Conservative groups must set a new standard," Mr. Erickson writes, but he holds out little hope they'll actually block the bill.
For another thing, the golf-versus-building-tour dust-up shows how the White House has shifted from making big claims about the sequester's alleged dire effects to implementing small, yet pointed reductions.
ABC's Rick Klein makes this point Wednesday in the morning political newsletter The Note.
"Inside week one of the sequester, we went from workplace deaths and forest fires and airport chaos to ... no more White House self-guided tours? The Obama administration has gone from very big to very small in sequester messaging, brushed back by the fact some early claims turned out to be less than truthful, and that, well, big things aren't happening yet," Mr. Klein writes.
The fact is White House tours are popular with voters. Both Republican and Democratic House members are more than happy to procure tour tickets for traveling constituents. But because of security concerns and sheer popularity, this has to be done well in advance – so tourists with spring break tour times are not going to be happy. They'll have to hit the Smithsonian instead.
Do the tours really have to be cut? That's another question entirely. Given their visibility, it's quite possible that the administration is just engaging in a variant of the time-honored Washington Monument budget ploy.
That's named after an apocryphal story of a Parks Service chief offering to close the Washington Monument as a contribution to budget austerity. The point is to highlight the effect of reductions by doing away with the most visible and well-liked government services.
But the Obama administration can't close the Washington Monument this time around. It's already shut to visitors due to repairs needed to fix the effects of the 2011 D.C.-area earthquake.


text: California based Vans has been producing quality footwear for years. Popular in surfing, skate, punk, and urban communities; Vans continues to be a top asset in shoe sales. Slip-On Vans are practically the epitome of a casual shoe. The low profile design, paired with the timeless design, and of course the Waffle sole. Although Vans has been popular for years, ever since The Packs single referring to Vans supremacy to other shoes; sales have skyrocketed. Reason is more than of that however. Aesthetics are simple and can be enjoyed by anybody. Super affordability makes Slip-On Classics another example of basic essentials every Sneakerhead should own. You can wear them to school, the mall, or even just to get the newspaper. Either way, Vans sneakers have, and will continue to change the footwear scene. With an ever increasing fan base, quality construction, and trendy-ness; these slip on Vans are a shoe that is fun to wear, and will continue to be for quite some time.


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On Narrative
The Prologue
When hockey comes into your life, there are other things that come along with it. These complementary customs and rituals vary from place to place depending on regional culture, but everywhere has them, and they tend to involve beer.
In Taipei, the ritual was the 7-11. Taipei arena had no dressing rooms and no showers, so there was no question of anyone hauling their sweaty, stinky bodies and sweaty, stinky bags to any respectable pub for post-game socialization, but fortunately Taiwan has a much more progressive attitude towards public drinking than Canada does. So when it got 'round one AM and the weary employees shut off the lights over the ice, we would pick our way carefully downstairs in the dark and outside, across the street, to the Sevvie. We would loiter there like a cocktail party that had lost it's way, a great heard of people broken into chunks of three and four and five, loitering on the pavement in the fluorescent glow, drinking Kirin and snacking on dehydrated seafood products until the aqua light of dawn broke over the city and the commuters drove us home with disapproving glares.
The 7 was a place for many things. A great deal of League business was informally negotiated there, from draft rules to supplementary discipline. The night's games were rehashed, dissected, and debated in excruciating detail. Friendships were made, broken and patched up again. But mostly, people told stories. News, gossip, legends and lore, personal histories, elegies and lamentations, fables and fictions, daydreams, regrets. I heard stories of funerary pyres and cow's tongues, Ayers Rock and Ayn Rand. Stories about family and children, sickness and death, love and sex. And hockey. Oh Lordy, you would not believe the range of hockey stories. Minor hockey, junior hockey, beer league hockey, NCAA hockey, ECHL hockey, NHL of course. Hockey in Finland, Thailand, Mongolia, Australia. Hockey game stories, hockey team stories, hockey equipment stories. Some of the stories were intensely emotional and others dispassionately informative, some were funny and some were filthy and many were sad. Almost all had an element of parable in them. Most are not fit to be repeated in polite company. But they were overwhelmingly good stories, in that they were worth telling, worth hearing, and worth repeating.
If you asked me what I know for certain about this game, I would tell you I don't know much but of this I am sure: Hockey culture is an oral culture and, aside from clichés and profanity, its most natural medium is the story. Not the written story, mind you, not the novel or the anthology, but the story told by one person to another. I have met a lot of hockey people these past five years, and they have differed widely in age and education, ideology and temperament. But I never met a single one who told me no tales.
The Exposition
Hockey journalism began with stories. In the early days of the game every team needed a human relay to translate their deeds into words. Reporters, who were among the privileged few able to see every match, took hockey in through their eyes and put it out again with their mouths and fingers, and thus were essential in the distribution of the product to its intended audience. At that time, the single most important characteristic of a hockey journalist was that he be an evocative storyteller, and the old-time game reports are filled with rapturous hyperbole and shameless melodrama, their verbiage cheerfully verging on the Shakespearian.
To this day, hockey journalists retain a strong affection for stories, inherited from their forbears and sustained very naturally by the warm fuzzies that all hockey people feel towards the oral tradition. To sit around with a group of fellow obsessives and hear a new hockey story, or a particularly evocative retelling of a classic, is a great pleasure, and it seems to me that many journalists historically have envisioned themselves as elevated and educated versions of the sages of the barstool, the great silent masses of fans grinning into their coffee as they peruse the latest column.
But the world has changed somewhat in the past eighty years and those changes have distinct implications for sportswriters. As the game becomes more accessible to all, the role of the professional hockey reporter becomes less clear. There is still a storytelling component, yes, but there is also pressure to analyze and dissect, to research and investigate, to comment and criticize, to be both partisan and objective, funny and serious. The sports page exists in a sort of journalistic limbo which, for a time, was great for the profession, because a writer was free to switch gears from reportage to analysis to humor to soap-box oratory, whatever best suited his mood and moment. This freedom undoubtedly made the job more fun, but it also left the obligations of the profession a bit ill-defined, until "professional hockey writer" became very nearly a tautology: a professional hockey writer is a professional hockey writer because he is paid a living wage to write about hockey, not because he abides by any particular rules or has any particular qualifications.
In the past decade, the unprecedented access the contemporary fan has to the game has given rise to a new class of hockey writers who don't consider themselves the heirs of the storytelling newspapermen of old. Like much of the internet, the hockey blogosphere began in chaos but time and attrition are pushing it towards a tenuous consensus, and that consensus is extremely suspicious of narrative. Many bloggers- and here I am not speaking of blogspot rabble such as myself but the quasi-professional kind, who have corporate dollars behind their names- increasingly delineate a clear border between objective analysis on the one hand and subjective storytelling on the other. The former is the province of data and evidence, the latter of narrative and feeling. The former is hard truth; the latter, pretty lies.
This cadre bloggers take a certain contrarian glee in pointing out the places where journalistic narratives go awry, and obviously this puts certain journalists in a difficult position. The ostensible difference between a journalist and a blogger is ethical standards- journalists supposedly write and work according to a code that bloggers lack- but when sportswriters define themselves as storytellers while bloggers become data-crunchers, that distinction is turned upside-down. In this inverted world, we have a radio debate wherein the paper-published sportswriter- the 'journalist'- defends his right to put out columns based on gossip and suspicion, while the blogger argues that it is unethical to tell stories without a stronger evidentiary basis. We have serious journalists who write ostensibly analytical columns that, when challenged by bloggers, they claim were intended as nothing more than light humor. Hockey journalists are falling back on narrative and narrative logic as a defense for being wrong, and increasingly it seems like a large portion of the blogosphere has concluded that narrative is the primary cause of being wrong.
The Rising Action
It is not a universal truth, but it is a fairly safe assumption that anybody who uses the word 'narrative' takes a rather dim view of narrative. People who like narratives call them stories or tell them without calling them anything at all. The term 'narrative' is a technical term that distances the speaker from the object. It's like a big neon sign advertising its own immanent deconstruction.
Pretty much any time you encounter the term 'narrative' on a hockey blog, it is meant pejoratively. Narratives are often described as lazy, self-serving, and formulaic, cheap and easy alternatives to critical thinking and analysis. A narrative is a pre-packaged thought pattern into which fans and journalists drop selected bits of evidence in order to confirm their preexisting beliefs. The mission of real analysis is to challenge, upset, and even destroy narratives, so that people can finally think about hockey objectively.
This way of thinking about narrative is not limited to the hockey world, or even the sports world. It has been gaining popularity across the internet (and probably across real life too, although it is notoriously difficult to accurately sample real life) since 2007, when a dude by the name of Nassim Talib came out with a book about randomness called The Black Swan, which popularized the idea of the so-called 'narrative fallacy'. The narrative fallacy is not a 'hard' cognitive fallacy, in that it's not something that's been heavily researched or documented by professional psychologists or sociologists. You're not going to find any detailed studies of what exactly it is or how it works, the way you will with confirmation bias or outgroup homogeneity bias or the halo effect.
Nevertheless, it's one of those ideas that's intuitively persuasive. Somebody tells you that there's this fallacy in which your brain tends to make up story-like explanations for why things happen in the order they do, and you're like, shit, you know, my brain DOES do that. And other people's brains do it even more. Especially people I disagree with.
Taleb's narrative fallacy is a much like Hume's skepticism of causation. We see things happen, but we do not see why they happen, so we make up a why that seems satisfying. We see a puddle on the kitchen counter, we imagine the ice-cube. We see an autistic child, we imagine the toxic vaccine. We see the drop-off in scoring, we imagine the steroid use. Often, we give these imagined explanations weight because we find the story they imply to be satisfying: That dude is always leaving a mess. Big Pharma is poisoning our children. Superstar athletes are all dopers. Hence, narrative fallacy.
Google around the finance and probability blogs for a few hours; you'll find a lot of suppositions about how the narrative fallacy works (nobody really knows for sure, remember, there's very little research on it) and a lot of hand-wringing about how to overcome it. The most common conclusion seems to be the same one many of the hockey blogs flirt with, which is to suggest that we all avoid telling or believing stories as much as possible. Stories are fallacies. Stories are lies. Think only of the facts, infer no causes, attribute no explanations, and you will never be wrong.
The Climax
Culture is a repetitious thing. We are always restating the same ideas in accordance with different idioms. It was nigh on 33 years ago that Hayden White pointed out that historical narratives are fictions, and in fact coined the very useful term 'emplotment' to describe the process by which historical data is arranged into narrative forms. He was speaking to the discipline at a time when working historians thought of their job in much the way hockey journalists do now: as a process of finding or uncovering true stories, stories that exist in the rough like diamonds under the earth, needing only to be dug up and polished to a high shine.
White says there are no "true" stories. History is dead and gone and has left us only bits and scraps, a date here and a monument there, and these things neither represent nor participate in any narrative until someone comes along and curates them. The historian picks and chooses relevant facts, orders them, endows them with tone and purpose, and so makes up a story about the past. It is a fiction that makes use of facts, but it is still a fiction. History is not the finding of stories. It's the making up of stories.
But White, being one of those provocative academics who get off on making people feel as though their entire life's work might possibly have been in vain, goes further than anyone in the blogosphere (to my knowledge) ever has. It's not enough for him to say the entire work of history to date has been fiction. He's gotta go on and say that all history writing is necessarily fiction. Most bloggers hold out hope that there the pure truth beneath the cloud of narrative is real and accessible. White argues that there is no pure truth, period, because every human intervention creates a narrative, and the difference between narratives is not degree of truth but merely degree of overt fantasy.
Every presentation of data is narrative. Every chart, every list, every chronology. To convey information one must choose between this and that, because it is impossible to convey all information at once, and every choice creates a narrative. He isn't just saying that people make narratives because they're lazy, he's saying that without narratives people cannot understand anything. The truth beyond the narrative is inaccessible to us. All we have are competing stories.
Even the most narrative-critical blogs in the hockey world are full of implicit narratives. Even Moneyball, a work that explicitly advocated for the virtues of hard data as an antidote to the evils of pretty stories was, itself, a very pretty story indeed. It's a different variety of narratives and allusions- a David/Galileo/Clarence Darrow kinda thing- but nevertheless an emploted, constructed, fictive version of events.
Narrative is essential, in this formulation, because without some kind of implicit narrative there is no comprehension. A Fatimid mihrab or a PDO number makes no difference, neither is anything to you unless someone comes along with context and explanations and tells you a bit of a story about what it is and how it came to be and why you ought to care. When we do as the narrative-fallacy paranoiacs suggest and try to understand raw data with no explanatory or causative links whatsoever, all we do is drive our narratives further down into the unspoken and even subconscious realm. We are still playing out a story, otherwise we would have no idea what the information is or what to do with it, but it is exactly when we think we are most free from emplotment that we are, in fact, most susceptible to it. It is the people of the world who are most committed to a narrative of themselves as literalistic, materialistic, common-sense no-fancy-shit folk who are the most easily caught in inescapable narratives. If I write history as a story, you will read it as a story and bring to it the kind of skepticism one generally brings to stories. If I write the same history as list of dates and events, you are more likely to assume it is a 'simple truth' and take it as such, although it is just as easy to lie and distort with the latter as the former.
The Falling Action
There is a scene in World of Wonders where an old sideshow fortuneteller explains to a young man how her act works. Everyone thinks they are unique, she says, but the fact is that there are only so many things that happen to people in life. There are only so many types of relationship we can have to one another, only so many sorts of problems we encounter. Look at a person coming into the tent, observe their age and class and gender, and it is not so very difficult to discern what their trouble is and what they want to hear. There are many paths a human life can take, but nevertheless all of them have been trodden millions of times before. You already know their story, it's just a question of observing enough to see it.
Similarly, the range of things that can happen in hockey is not all that great. Hockey time has two facets, the linear and the cyclical, and of the two the cyclical is the more powerful. In fact, it is most appropriate that we refer to the game happening in 'seasons', because like the seasons hockey proceeds through a prescribed arc according to a necessary sequence, and then starts over at the same point from which it left off. Seen from the perspective of an individual player or team, hockey seasons might have very different textures and flavors, just as a winter when you're eight is a totally different thing from a winter at twenty-five, but viewed abstractly, as a process, every season of hockey is much like the others.
There are only so many things that can happen to a career. It can rise, it can fall, it can sustain. It can be broken by injury or mauled by misfortune. It can peak or flame out. It can end. There are only so many things that can happen to a team. It can win or lose in greater or lesser percentages, at varying rates. It can be tweaked or blown up. It can be sold, moved, or redesigned. One cannot know, in advance, exactly what will happen to whom, but no matter how it plays out it will be nothing entirely new. All of it has happened before. All of it will happen again.
It is the cyclical nature of hockey time that makes it so susceptible to particular forms of emplotment. A hockey journalist or fan who has been around a few decades will have seen dozens of marginally different versions of the same overarching pattern of events. Everything new is old again, every breaking trade an allusion to a yellowed clipping, every rising star just the latest incarnation of a previously fallen one. Hockey time throws out so many similar patterns that one hardly needs a historian or a storyteller to come along and make a narrative. It looks like a narrative immediately, no processing necessary.
It makes it extraordinarily easy for hockey thought to fall into tropes, stock characters and fixed set pieces. The Lazy Russian, the Soft European, the Genial Goon, the Stoic Leader- players are cast into parts so early, and in many cases take to them so readily, that it's impossible to tell where the human being ends and the role begins. Managers don't just make moves, they make storylines- Act I: New Rookie Sensation! Act II: Dressing Room Melodrama! Act III: Coach on the Chopping Block! The fans know the script so well that they can anticipate the big twists before they come, and spend more time speculating about the when than the what.
Hockey narratives, then, differ from historical narratives in that they are not composed after the fact. Journalists do not take finished, completed acts and make up stories about them, they make it up as they go along, and so indeed does everyone, player, manager, or spectator. The sport is emplotted at the exact same speed as it is played, and everyone is complicit in the performance. The building of narratives has become so fundamental to hockey that without them, people would not only struggle to describe the past but they would struggle to define the present and decide the future as well. The varied stories are only the set of possible explanations, they are the set of possible actions.
We make up stories about the things we are doing while we are doing them. We make up stories about the things we have not yet done, things that have not yet happened and might never happen. Our emplotment does not just reflect and structure the world, it participates in the creation of it.
The Resolution
We retain a sort of contempt for narrative that comes from our belief that narrative = fiction = not real. Anything that is 'made up' (fiction, from the Latin facere, "to make") is at best a distortion and at worst an outright lie. But if narrative is as universal, instinctive, and inescapable as it certainly seems to be, then narrative is more medium than message. It is not in itself either true or false, good or bad, real or unreal. It could be any of those things, or none, or a bit of both. It is a method, a strategy, a structure through which information can be conveyed. A narrative is no more inherently false than a chart, or a television broadcast, or a piece of paper.
More than that, it is an extraordinarily effective and highly adaptive medium. As the journalists like to point out, it is entertaining. As the bloggers like to point out, it is easy. As the armchair psychologists like to point out, it is efficient, and as White points out, it is satisfying. Whatever that thing is that we all are inside, call it brain or soul or human nature, it is bad at a lot of things (assessing risk, appreciating probability) but it kicks all sorts of ass at narrative. It is so good at narrative that it remember hundreds, maybe thousands of them in great detail, so good it can create them on the spot and adapt them in an instant and spin them out to incredible lengths without it even feeling like work.
It is very natural to be attracted to what I think of as 'panda-media'- modes and methods of communication which are rare, particular, and difficult to propagate. The philosophical treatise, the differential equation, and interpretive dance are all examples: things that take a lot of dedicated work to understand and even more dedicated work to use. They're satisfying exactly because their difficult, and one tends to associate difficulty with reward: the harder won the knowledge, the better it must be. Pigeon-media- tough, durable, effective means of mass communication, things like television and Wikipedia- people generally hold in less high esteem, under the assumption that nothing can be both popular and deep. And nothing, of course, is more popular than narrative.
But while that might be true that information gets more accurate as it becomes more complex, that is not necessarily true of the means of communicating said information Anything you can say in a philosophical treatise, I can put in a story. Anything idea that can be conveyed in interpretive dance could be worked into episode of CSI. There is no equation so obtuse that its overarching meaning could not be emploted. The only reason to insist that people understand the things they understand through panda-methods is to keep knowledge esoteric and privileged. If you want the whole world to understand something, put it in a good story.
We live in a web of stories. We are a web of stories. We play a dozen characters a day in a dozen different tales dramatic, tragic, and comedic, leading roles and walk-on cameos. We are constantly casting and recasting ourselves and others, and far from being dogmatically committed to a single narrative, we are happy to pick up and put down different ones all the time. I have never known a person who did not as a matter of course look at the world through the lenses of different narratives- hell, that's why we spend so much time creating and consuming various fictions, so that we might have different lenses through which to see the world.
It is an illusion of the twentieth century's brief flirtation with unidirectional mass media that makes us think of narratives as something handed down from on high, produced by the oligarchs and consumed by the masses. Narrative is rarely, if ever, a monologue, it is not something that people tell us and we unthinkingly accept, it is not something that we make up once and commit to forever.
Go back to the 7, or wherever it is that you most commonly talk with people about hockey, where you tell stories and hear stories and learn about the game. Have you ever, in your entire hockey-life, just sat there, listening quietly and nodding approval, and left thinking that the speaker told you God's own gospel truth? Hell no. When people get together to tell hockey stories, it is very nearly a social obligation incumbent upon the audience to heckle the speaker. We interrupt, we ask questions, we roll our eyes, we snark. We argue. We tell our own countervailing or supporting stories. In the oral culture of hockey, no story is ever just accepted. The transmission process is, in fact, highly critical and deeply dialogic. One never persuades everyone there to think exactly as you do, to do whatever the story implies. Rather, each speaker presents their experience/ideology in the terms that they find most convincing and each listener adds it to their own preexisting stockpile, where it will likely be reevaluated any number of times, every time a relevant topic comes up and the story is recalled. Our brains love stories, yes, but they are not powerless before them, and in fact are often extremely sophisticated at analyzing and deconstructing them, especially in the light of competing narratives.
Nothing you ever know is a pure and unmitigated truth, and everything you think you understand has some kind of narrative logic behind it, and there is no principle yet discovered that is sure proof against error. The world is full of lies, and no matter how rigorous your methodology you will hear many of them and tell quite a few yourself. But if you treat all of it as though it were just some shit you heard from some guy outside a 7-11 at 4 am… well, you might not be right, but you'll be less wrong and you'll hear some awesome stories in the process.
The Epilogue
At girl-hockey, there is not much time for stories. The law of the rink states that all groups must vacate the dressing rooms within 30 minutes of the end of their ice time, and most of the women have children at home and work in the morning and no time to just hang out after the game. They still tell stories of a kind, but they're more allusions to stories there is no time to tell, brief references to other ice times in other places and girlhood experiences of the game. It is understandable, of course, but deeply unsatisfying. My hockey experience in Toronto is the opposite of what it was in Taipei: I learn a lot on the ice but very little off of it.
End of the penultimate class, the instructor is filling us in on the plan for the last week. We will do no drills during the last class, only play, she explains, so we might want to make sure we get a bit of skating in earlier in the week or it will go hard on our unpracticed lungs. And, she says, since we are hockey players now, perhaps we should go out for a beer after, because that is often what hockey players do.


text:
AQ Monitoring Results: Wilmington: Benzene
This page last reviewed September 28, 2010
One of the important contributors to health risk from air pollution, benzene is a clear, colorless liquid with a sickly, sweet odor. Volatile organic compounds are readily released from this liquid into the air. Benzene can cause central nervous system depression and increased incidences of leukemia. California has determined under Assembly Bill 1807 and Proposition 65 that benzene is a cancer-causing compound. The ARB has taken regulatory actions to reduce benzene emissions.
The predominant sources of benzene emissions in the atmosphere are gasoline evaporation and gasoline motor vehicle exhaust. Mobile sources contribute 85% and industry-related stationary sources contribute 15% of the statewide emissions. Approximately 70% of mobile source benzene emissions are from on-road motor vehicles, with the remainder from non-road mobile sources, such as industrial processes to make resin and synthetic fibers. Indoor benzene sources include tobacco smoke, heating and cooking systems, evaporation from various products used in the home or work area, and drift from outdoor automobile exhaust. Benzene is also emitted naturally from volcanoes and forest fires, and occurs as a natural constituent of crude oil and plant volatiles.
The Air Resources Board (ARB) adopted a benzene control measure in 1987, which requires many gasoline stations to install vapor recovery systems. In 1990s, the ambient benzene levels showed a steady downward trend, based on the statewide annual average. The 2000 statewide ambient benzene concentration was approximately 72% lower than that in 1990.
Ambient Monitoring Results
Ambient levels of benzene are routinely monitored at approximately twenty sites in the California air toxics monitoring network. The statewide average concentration of benzene during 1998-2000 was 0.8 ppb (parts per billion), based on values ranging from 0.1 ppb to 9.9 ppb. Relative to the statewide average, the Los Angeles County region was 63% higher, with an average concentration of 1.3 ppb for the same time period.
The ambient monitoring results at Wilmington are provided here:
- A graph comparing the monthly summaries of benzene in the community with historical statewide and regional levels
- A table of summary statistics
- Raw data in Excel format
Cancer Risk
Cancer risk is the number of excess cancer cases among a million people if the people are exposed to levels of a toxic air pollutant over 70 years. Benzene represents approximately 25% of the potential cancer risk of the nine measured compounds, excluding diesel particulate matter. Benzene represents approximately 7% of the potential cancer risk of the nine measured compounds and the estimated diesel particulate matter.


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Herd posts win on PawSox
Nelson Figueroa continued to shine on the hill with eight innings of work on Tuesday, leading Buffalo to a 2-1 win over Pawtucket. Figueroa matched his season highs with innings pitched and nine strikeouts en route to his seventh win in the last eight starts.
Buffalo and Pawtucket square off on Wednesday night at 7:05.


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Get help with your Graflex questions here
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Joined: 01 Oct 2001
Posts: 1
Location: Western U.S.
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2001 5:35 am
Post subject:
I recently purchased a Crown Graphic at an estate sale. It has the Graflite flash attachment and I also inherited a whole bunch of flash bulbs. My question is how do I power the solenoid? Are there special batteries that fit in there?
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Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 853
Location: Alabama
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2001 5:07 pm
Post subject:
"In there"? No, the power for the solenoid comes from the battery case for the flash by way of a cord from that case plugged directly into the bottom of the solenoid. See those holes? It's a very useful accessory. I love to use mine for remote shutter release with a long release cord plugged into the battery case. You need to review a Graflite Flash Manual. See John Craig books for copies.
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Joined: 04 Sep 2001
Posts: 83
Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2001 4:24 pm
Post subject:
Hi I am still learning about Graflite flash attachments. I got my copy of the Graflite Instruction Manual via the Large Format photo section on eBay. Later I was able to win an auction on eBay for an original manual for $7.25 (bid + shipping). Thanks Alec, now I know that those male plugs on some flash cords are for solenoids with female outlets. All my solenoids are HR and with male outlets. What brand are those solenoids with female outlets? Harry
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Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI
Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2001 7:51 pm
Post subject:
Graflex has female outlets, Heiland Research (HR) put the pin on the solenoid.
Graflex made two models most will say Graflex 2 or Graflex 3, the number referring to the number of batteries it was designed for.
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Joined: 12 Oct 2001
Posts: 20
Location: long Island NY
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2001 6:09 am
Post subject:
Is their any way to get a little more power out of the flash solenoid? Mine can't pull the shutter hard enough to release it. You can hit the flash button 4 or 5 times before the shutter fires. I tried adjusting the screw at the end of the solenoid but it didn't help
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Joined: 04 Sep 2001
Posts: 83
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2001 6:32 am
Post subject:
Hi Greg
You can add up to three extension tubes (6 D batteries-total) or maybe even more to your battery case. (Catalog No. 2774) I bought mine on eBay.
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Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2001 2:41 pm
Post subject:
Alas there is no [help] for solenoids and these things just don't perform as well now that they are in their 60s as they did when they were in their prime.
The best thing you can to is to keep all of the contacts as clean as possible--the spring in the bottom of the case the contact at the top of the case, points of contact between batteries, there are even contacts from the spring to the case and the case to the plastic "comman center" in the top of the flash that should be cleaned.
32-600 sand paper works, Radio shack sells a fiberglass contact cleaning brush that works well too. Steel wool is a no no as the broken fibers can cause a short.
Check the number on the solenoid if its a Graflex (should be a 2 or 3) and stay with that number of batteries or they synchronizing may suffer.
Also don't screw that threaded top down so it keeps the linkage snug. The theory these work on is that the plunger is free to gain momentum before it hits the linkage. This is also where you get the 20 millisecond delay.
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Joined: 12 Oct 2001
Posts: 20
Location: long Island NY
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2001 9:31 pm
Post subject:
I checked the solenoid and it's a King Sol which is the same as the flash. Are replacement solenoids available? I took the lens out and put a minute amount of fine oil on the sear for the shutter. At least now it fires on the second push of the button. It just needs a little more force to work.
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Joined: 04 Sep 2001
Posts: 83
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2001 2:21 am
Post subject:
If you look on the back of your KING SOL solenoid you should see a small HR. If you are interested, checkout my Tilt-A-Mite post Reply tomorrow. It will cover field testing flashbulbs using a 22.5 volt driven 'B-C Cartridge' in combination with a HR solenoid.
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Joined: 12 Oct 2001
Posts: 20
Location: long Island NY
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2001 5:24 am
Post subject:
Harry, I took the solenoid apart and lost the little screw that holds the 2 halves together. I just stuck a Kalart Speed Flash with a syncronizer on it till I can find the screw or get another.
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Joined: 04 Sep 2001
Posts: 83
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2001 5:00 pm
Post subject:
I know it is too late now, but don't be so quick in tearing the solenoid apart. It may only need to be adjusted or relocated slightly!
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Friends In Need
This story appears in the January 1998 issue of . Subscribe »
Have your friends or neighbors ever asked you to help out by accepting packages or checking on their latchkey kids since you're home all day? How do you let them know, nicely, that you're not a mail center or a babysitter?
Jose Herrera, co-owner of Comptec Inc., a West New York, New Jersey, software design and computer consulting company, discovered you have to stand firm to avoid wasting time on friendly favors. "I had offered to help a friend set up his computer. This individual proceeded to hound me for the next two days. When I finally had some free time and called him to come over, he actually sounded upset because I hadn't done it sooner," he says.
"Since this experience, I put no one ahead of my business. I charge both friends and family for time I spend doing things for them--not at my usual $75 per hour rate, but I still charge them. Now I don't get hounded nearly as much."
Here are a few additional ways to deal with the issue:
1. Acknowledge that no one can force you to take care of their problems unless you allow them to.
2. Post regular work hours, and let everyone know when you will be available for personal projects.
3. Use any free time you allow yourself during the day to recharge, not to do favors for others.
4. Screen your calls. Return nonbusiness calls after business hours.
Lynn H. Colwell is a business writer in Post Falls, Idaho.
Home Remedies
When the pain started in Jean West's hands, she did what most hardworking entrepreneurs do: She ignored it.
"I was doing a lot of medical transcription," says West, who owns Type Right Secretarial Services in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. "Because there were too many interruptions during the day, I'd bang away in the evening in four- or five-hour stints. There were times when the pain got so bad, I couldn't work one more minute."
Today, more people are spending hours at the keyboard, and that means more cases of injuries like tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. These problems result when repetitive motions damage nerves, joints, tendons, ligaments and other soft tissue.
West was fortunate; a split keyboard, coupled with less time spent doing intensive typing, led to freedom from the pain in a few months. But the best advice is to avoid these injuries in the first place. Here are some suggestions:
- Warm up by doing simple stretches before starting any intensive activity. For useful stretches, read Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries, by Sharon J. Butler (New Harbinger Publications, $17.95, 800-909-9795).
- Take lots of breaks; five-minute breathers every hour should help.
- Use the correct equipment. Seek chairs, desks and lighting with which you're comfortable. Many people now swear by the split keyboards that helped West.
- Maintain good posture. If you work at a desk, rest your feet flat on the floor and face straight forward. When using a computer, the desk height should allow you to maintain level, flat wrists, hands and an upright posture. Thighs and forearms should be parallel to the floor.
Write It Off
Last summer's federal budget agreement included a major change for homebased businesses. Those who perform a good portion of their work away from home will now be able to take a home-office deduction, providing they meet two criteria:
1. The home must be used for administrative and management activities.
2. There can be no other fixed location for this business where substantial administrative and management activities are performed. Whatever proportion of nonadministrative and nonmanagerial work you do at another site is irrelevant.
"While the change doesn't go into effect until January 1, 1999," says Sherry Stringer, a CPA and partner in Jones & Co. Ltd. in Jonesboro, Arkansas, "I think there's a good chance the IRS will probably ease up on restrictions until the change is in place."
Contact Sources
Jones & Co. Ltd., (870) 935-2871, http://www/jonescpa.com
Type Right Secretarial Services, (813) 596-2534, firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Recipe from Stephanie Lebow of Richmond, Va.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hours
1 lb. ground beef
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 bread ends, soaked in milk
2 tbs. toasted pine nuts, chopped
2 tbs. chopped parsley
1 tsp. Italian seasoning salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup gorgonzola crumbles
1/2 cup Pizza Tonight marinara sauce – or make/buy one of your choosing!
Assemble the first 8 ingredients, and mix to combine.
Form a loaf – I like to do mine free form because I like the way the ends crust up when there's more air circulating around.
Top with marinara sauce and cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes.
Allow to rest for a couple of minutes before slicing and serving.
Servings: 4
Comments: Check out http://www.onioncloute.com - for pictures and more recipes!
*DISCLAIMER*: The information contained in or provided through this site section is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be and is not a substitute for professional advice. Use of this site section and any information contained on or provided through this site section is at your own risk and any information contained on or provided through this site section is provided on an "as is" basis without any representations or warranties.


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Chris and the boys are huge football fans and during football season, one of our favorite family traditions is "football food"! On game day, we bust out a smorgasbord of typical football grub: cheese and crackers, tangy meatballs, wings, snacks, appetizers, dips, veggies or fruit. We nibble while watching the games (who am I kidding, I eat and then browse Pinterest or craft, ha ha!), nibble after lazy afternoon naps and nibble for dinner. One of my favorite game day dishes to prepare is creamy pizza dip!
YUM! This dip comes together quickly (in the microwave!) and tastes just like an ooey gooey cheese pizza!! It would make the perfect addition to your game day party or even a pizza themed birthday party!
Creamy Pizza Dip
One 14 oz. jar of pizza sauce
One 12 oz. tub of whipped cream cheese
1/2 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
2 cups of finely shredded cheese – I love the six cheese Italian blend or mozzarella
In a microwaveable bowl, stir the first three ingredients together until smooth and then stir in the shredded cheese. Cover bowl with a paper towel (to prevent a microwave mess!) and heat until the cheese is melty and the dip is nice and hot – it took about 3 1/2 minutes in our microwave. Stir dip to re-combine and pour into serving dish.
You can also combine the ingredients in your crock pot and set it to low. Stir to combine once everything starts to heat up!
Serve with tortilla chips, Fritos or your favorite crackers.
This dip warms up well and you can keep it warm in a small crock pot and tastes just like pizza! It is perfect for a potluck and is kid tested and hubby approved!


text: Tried constantly over the past 3 days (I'm a noob) with no luck. I know that the Captcha is case-sensitive so I don't think that's not the issue. I keep getting the "Too many login attempts" message, despite the fact that I sometimes try up to 8 hours later. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.


text:
GM and Nissan have electrified not only their cars but visions of the automotive future with this year's release of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf. But prices of these and other plug-in electric vehicles may give some buyers electric sticker shock. The Leaf starts at nearly $33,000 and the Volt, which has a backup gas engine, tops $40,000, both higher than the average new car price of roughly $29,000. Other, lesser-known plug-ins are even pricier.
And prices aren't likely to drop for years, because the biggest component of cost in plug-ins is the battery pack, a technology that's in its infancy for use in cars.
Although manufacturers do not discuss the cost of the packs, the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium — a research group that includes car and battery manufacturers and research institutions — has a long-term goal of $250 per kilowatt hour of battery power. (The Leaf, for example, has a 24-kWh battery pack.)
Estimates of current prices run considerably higher than that, and Mark Verbrugge, a management committee member with the consortium, readily conceded the $250 number is an aggressive target.
"We set it so that if somebody achieves the goal, you'll have something of consumer value," he said.
In terms of when that might happen, Verbrugge said his hope is that cheaper battery packs will be available for the next generation of plug-ins, due out in five to six years.
"But to get it into those cars, we'd have to have it available in the next couple of years. It could be 10 years before you see it on the street," he said.
Mike Omotoso, senior manager for global powertrain at J.D. Power and Associates, also predicted that it would take at least 10 years.
"It's going to take two or three generations for price to come down," he said.
Though several experts suggested that manufacturers are looking to save costs by experimenting with different materials in the lithium-ion family, Verbrugge said much of the research being done right now is in enhancing the performance of existing materials, to coax more power out of a battery without adding to the cost of materials.
The task of matching the power and efficiency of gasoline for energy delivery is daunting. One gallon of gasoline produces on average 132 megajoules of energy; one kilowatt hour is equivalent to 3.6 megajoules. In practical terms, the Leaf's 24-kWh battery pack lasts up to 100 miles; by comparison, a similarly-sized Nissan Versa's 13-gallon tank might give a driver more than 300 miles in real-world driving.
"There's a very rational reason why we have gasoline-powered cars," said Jack Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book.
All of this adds up to a current-day scenario in which plug-in electrics are being sold to early adopters, not to mainstream buyers.
"Really the target market early on for these vehicles is the environmentalist, the heavily green person who wants to showcase that, or the high-tech person," Nerad said.
Industry sources, however, note that other breakthrough products also carried a high-cost premium when first introduced to the market, yet got past the early adopter curve.
"The high prices are a challenge at the early stages, but not an unmanageable challenge. What did your first flat-screen cost you? What did your first cellphone cost you?" said Brian Wynne, president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association, a Washington-based advocacy group.
And manufacturers are quick to point out that the prices are mitigated by a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for buyers of plug-in electric cars.
Omotoso noted one wild card — gasoline prices — that could drive demand. The national average as of April 11 was $3.77 a gallon and rising. That's within the "tipping point," which Omotoso put at $3.50 to $4 a gallon.
"Then more people would be willing to save on the cost of gas in the case of the Volt or not pay for gas at all in the case of the Leaf," he said.
Meanwhile, if you want a Volt or a Leaf, you might not be able to get one. Neither is available nationwide yet, and production numbers are so limited that the niche market demand isn't an issue. "They are being sold almost as soon as they get off the truck," Rob Peterson, Chevrolet Volt spokesman, said of the car. He also said the car is being built in low numbers intentionally, with only 10,000 scheduled in the 2011 model year and another 45,000 for 2012.
Nissan also is ramping up the Leaf slowly, with plans for initial sales of 50,000 a year globally, eventually building to 150,000 to 200,000 units a year, spokesman Brian Brockman said.
As people get into the cars, several experts expect the quiet and smooth operation to turn people on to plug-in electrics.
"People have a different experience when they get in these cars," Wynne said. "They're really dynamic; they're fun to drive. At the end of the day, that's a factor."
GM and Nissan have electrified not only their cars but visions of the automotive future with this year's release of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf. But prices of these and other plug-in electric vehicles may give some buyers electric sticker shock. The Leaf starts at nearly $33,000 and the Volt, which has a backup gas engine, tops $40,000, both higher than the average new car price of roughly $29,000. Other, lesser-known plug-ins are even pricier.


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Lolita subculture originated in Japan in 1970s and the different brands in the West have started manufacturing women's apparels for fashionable individuals who like to follow and embrace the Japanese subculture.
USA, 14th June
Mylolitashop.com, an online fashion store that sells tailor-made fashion apparels and accessories for fashionable women recently included the top Lolita brands that their creations to their product catalogue. The owners of the online store said that they are committed to meet the demands of fashionable women who like to build a strong cultural resistance and celebrate their fairytale femininity. The owners also added that the Lolita dresses that come with the trademark of the big brands are directly inspired from Gothic art and literature.
While speaking to the press about the Lolita dresses, the owners said that the champions of Lolita subculture easily stand out in any crowd or gathering for their unique dressing and fashion sense. They said that being a Lolita essentially means solidarity, but there's a larger subculture behind these dresses.
At present, Mylolitashop.com sells products from all the big brands including Infanta, Magic Tea Party, Miss Point, Chess Story, Classical Puppets, Hmhm, Neverland, Strawberry Witch and Surface Spell. The owners indicated that they will add more Lolita products and brands in the coming days to their online store, underlining their business objective of reaching out a very specific and niche group of customers. However, the online store also sells dresses, footwear and accessories that do not directly fall in the category of Lolita dresses.
"We know that the Japanese pop culture has become popular in the West too and there are many fashionable women here who like to celebrate their neuter innocence, which is the reason why they often look for Lolita dresses. In our e-store, our customers can now find a whole new variety of Lolita dresses, all of which are coming from the houses of some of biggest brands in this sector", said a sales executive.
"We have also kept the prices of the Lolita dresses low so that people who follow this subculture here in the West can now try new dresses without shelling out top dollars. Also, we offer size guide for each of the Lolita dresses we sell", he added.
About the Company
To know more, visit https://www.mylolitashop.com/


text: Welcome to the warm and friendly Residence Inn Branson, MO. As the premier choice among Branson hotels, our extended stay hotel is designed for the marathon business traveler, family or traveling group. Appreciate versatile accommodations with quality guest service. Guests will find many attractions, restaurants and shopping nearby, including the Silver Dollar City theme park set in the 1880's, and a great variety of live shows to choose from. Each of our suites boasts a full kitchen, living and dining areas and select rooms feature a fireplace. Quickly discover that we surpass other Branson hotels with fine amenities, including our RI Mix (Monday-Wednesday), a grill for use and a relaxing fire pit. Challenge your family on the SportCourt before unwinding with a dip in the indoor pool. Indulge in a complimentary hot breakfast each morning. Residence Inn Branson is one of the few pet-friendly hotels in Branson, with a one-time $100 non-refundable fee. We look forward to welcoming you.


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As Joe Carnahan's latest directorial effort, The Grey, is poised to be the number one film at the box this weekend, the director has now landed another high-profile project. Carnahan is being hired to write and direct a remake of the 1974 action pic Death Wish. The original served as the breakout film for star Charles Bronson, and kicked off a wave of action movies. The story was loosely based on a novel of the same name and centers on a liberal architect who sets out for vengeance after his wife and daughter are attacked. It's basically a one-man revenge tale, and Carnahan seems an absolute perfect fit for the material. Hit the jump for more. [Update: Carnahan recently commented on his vision for the project. His thoughts are included after the jump]
Carnahan recently spoke with Steve at-length about his future plans, and he said that if The Grey does well enough, he'd love to next make the Pablo Escobar pic Killing Pablo. The Grey is currently enjoying positive reviews and a solid box office, so I'd say things are looking good for the director. 24 Frames' report on the matter doesn't specify how soon the Death Wish remake would go into production. The original spawned four sequels, so MGM and Paramount are no doubt thinking franchise potential.
A remake of Death Wish has been kicking around for a while, as Sylvester Stallone had planned on directing and starring in the update back in 2006. He subsequently left the project, and I can't help but think Carnahan's a better fit. As for who would take over the morally conflicted badass role that Bronson inhabited, does Liam Neeson not immediately come to mind? During his interview with Steve, Carnahan said that while working with Neeson on The Grey and The A-Team, the director couldn't help but think about the actor for parts in other projects he was developing. I would absolutely be first in line to see a Death Wish remake from the Carnahan/Neeson team, so here's hoping the director brings Neeson on.
Update: Carnahan recently took to Twitter to talk a bit about his vision for the project. Here's what he had to say:
"Guys. I'm doing Death Wish. But this version is a re-imagining of the book and set in present day Los Angeles. The L.A. of Collateral… It's on buses, cabs, metro trains. I want to show an unseen version of L.A. L.A. on foot. Prowling. Hunting. The vast emptiness of downtown… [Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn] did a phenomenal job shooting L.A. It took on a different dimension. That's the key."
To that, I say hell yes. Additionally, Carnahan said he's writing a role in the film for Frank Grillo. The director went on to assure fans that Killing Pablo is basically greenlit and nothing is postponed because of Death Wish. I'm assuming that means he still plans on doing Killing Pablo next, but time will tell.
Here's the trailer for the 1974 film Death Wish:


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When the Range Rover hit the road in 1970, it put a very different spin on the traditional utility vehicle. Rather than picking up on Land Rover's focused and even obsessive utility, the Range Rover brought a smattering of luxury and comfort to go along with its off-road ability. Subsequent editions ramped up the niceties without losing sight of its intent — originally, it was embraced by the horsey set because of its ability to amble through a muddy field and tow a horse trailer. Now comes the Range Rover Evoque, a vehicle that's more on-road ute than off-road brute.
The styling is the first clue that things are a little different — this is the first Range Rover where I have ever been able to look down on the roof without standing on tiptoe. This and the taller ride height pinches the body, which stretches the side profile to the point where it actually looks rather sporty. This initial impression touches the other aspects of design.
Consider the source of motivation. Where Range Rovers have long embraced thirsty V8s, the Evoque uses a direct-injected turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It manages to wring 240 horsepower and 251 pound-feet of torque out of just two litres. It is a smooth operator that has the desired effect — the Evoque canters to 100 kilometres an hour in 7.6 seconds and delivers a speedy 80-to-120-km/h passing time of six seconds. This sort of performance usually demands at least six cylinders. My lone beef is with the rather peaky nature of the power delivery. Initially, the engine feels a tad lazy, then, all of a sudden, it catches fire. It's not turbo lag; it's the way the throttle is calibrated.
It also delivers much better fuel economy numbers than Range Rovers of old. The Evoque delivers a posted highway rating of 7.1 litres per 100 kilometres and a city figure of 10.7 L/100 km. Mind you, if you are in the habit of flexing the gas pedal, the engine does get thirsty — my test average of 12.4 L/100 km confirms that.
Power is put to pavement through a six-speed manumatic transmission and all four wheels. The slick transmission brings well-coordinated shifts and a willing kickdown whenever called upon. There are paddles shifters. They proved to be redundant on-road, but they worked very nicely off-road, allowing the driver to select and hold the right gear for the conditions.
The all-wheel-drive system features Land Rover's Terrain Response multi-mode system. It uses a host of electronic aids to get the power to the right wheel(s) with minimal fuss. The regular mode is the setting that will see most use, as it caters to on-road driving as well as modest off-roading. When the going gets more challenging, there are grass/gravel/snow, mud/rut and sand modes — the programs really do change the driving characteristics. In all cases, the system is quick to reapportion the power -— it certainly had the desired effect on an off-road rumble. For the braver sorts who will actually take a $50,000 ute out into the boonies, there's hill descent control — it controls the speed of the descent without the driver having to ride the brakes.
When it comes to ride and handling, the Evoque is best described as comfortably lithe. The ride comfort is excellent, and it accomplishes this without sacrificing in the least the handling side. In spite of its off-road ability, the Evoque carves a corner with the sort of precision one demands of a BMW. There is surprisingly little body lean and the electrically assisted steering has some real feel to it across a broad range of speeds. In short, it takes quite a lot to get the Evoque to put a tire wrong.
Inside, the creature comforts are all one has come to expect of a Range Rover. The materials are rich, the colour scheme is eye-catching and there is a host of equipment, including power front seats that are finished in a leather/faux suede combination. The 380-watt Meridian audio system is also worthy of note — it was obviously tuned to suit the Evoque's interior, such is the clarity. The lone oddity is the gearshift lever — or lack thereof. In place of the regular lever is a rotary knob that rises up out of the centre console when the Evoque is started. As such one switches between the gears by rotating the knob. It's less than intuitive at first, but time is a good teacher — it works. That stated, I'm not a fan. Space-wise, there is plenty of head- and legroom up front, along with enough seat travel to accommodate a driver with longer legs. The rear seat delivers decent space, the caveat being that the front seats are not fully rearward. Behind that, the cargo capacity starts at 20.3 cubic feet and tops out at 51 cu.-ft. with the seats folded flat.
The Evoque has a ton of good things going for it — great road presence, accomplished on-road manners, surprising off-road ability and the luxury demanded of a high-end ute. The oddity is the quintessential quirkiness that has defined British automobiles for years, and it goes beyond the rotary shifter to touch many other parts of the Evoque's makeup — an 18-inch temporary spare tie being the other defining quirk. I'm convinced that if the Evoque could speak it would do so with a mouth full of marbles.
Type of vehicle: All-wheel-drive compact sport-utility vehicle
Engine: Turbocharged 2.0L four-cylinder
Power: 240 hp @ 5,500 rpm; 251 lb-ft of torque @ 4,000 rpm
Transmission: Six-speed manumatic
Brakes: Four-wheel disc with ABS
Tires: P235/55R19 (optional)
Price: base/as tested: $46,995/$49,245
Destination charge: $1,765
Transport Canada fuel economy L/100 km: 7.1 city, 10.7 hwy.
Standard features: Dual-zone automatic climate control, power locks, windows, heated mirrors, power and heated six-way driver/four-way passenger seats, tilt and telescopic steering, 380-watt AM/FM/CD Meridian sound system with five-inch touchscreen, USB inputs and Bluetooth, keyless entry push-button start, heated windshield, rain-sensing wipers, rear wiper/washer, Terrain Response with hill start and hill descent systems
Options: City Package ($2,250), includes 19-inch wheels, front/rear parking assistants with backup camera, power tailgate


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Sarah Silverman's Obituary for Her Dog May Leave You in Tears
Sarah Silverman leaves the funny business behind with a touching tribute to her dog.
The comedian penned an emotional obituary for her dog, Duck, who she put to sleep earlier this week. Silverman, who owned Duck for 14 years, will tug on your heart strings while she relives what the pooch meant to her, especially with the end of the obit:
14 years.
My longest relationship.
My only experience of maternal love.
My constant companion.
My best friend.
It's probably the most poignant tribute given to a dog by a celebrity since the late Jimmy Stewart discussed his dog, Beau, on 'The Tonight Show.' Check it out below:


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Yes, Georgia Tech would prefer not to see the ball in the air while it's on offense. Still, when they are forced to trade a handoff for a forward pass, they'll do so without a pair of players in the opener.
On his Tweeter feed of all things, head coach Paul Johnson announced that wide receivers Darren Waller and Travin Henry have been suspended for Saturday's game against FCS-level Elon. "Violation of team rules" was, obviously, the only reason given.
As a result, per a subsequent Tech release, the Yellow Jackets will head into the opener without a receiver with a career reception at the collegiate level. And, yes, for the snide ones in the audience, that could very well be the case exiting the game as well. Tech's release went on to state that "it's quite possible that the two starters could be making their college football debut – r-Fr. Micheal Summers and former baseball player DeAndre Smelter."
Of the two, though, the loss of Waller is the more significant one. While Waller had just eight receptions in 2012 — good for fifth on the team, incidentally — he had 162 yards, a 20.3 average that was second among receivers with at least five catches.
Henry took a redshirt as a true freshman last season.


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Kevin S. Murphy, chief executive officer and owner of Baldor Specialty Foods headquartered in the Hunts Point section of New York City, died Jan. 31 at the New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan following a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 58.
Mr. Murphy began his food career in the 1980s at Balducci's in Greenwich Village when he married Ria Balducci, daughter of the gourmet retail store's owner, Andrew Balducci. He was trained in every department, learning the food business from the ground up.He expanded and finally took over Balducci's small wholesale division called "Baldor" in 1991.
Mr. Murphy moved the company to a tiny warehouse in the Long Island City section of Queens, NY, and ran the operation with one van and a couple of delivery trucks. The company grew incrementally from there. Soon after, it moved to a larger facility in Maspeth, NY, where more staff and trucks were added.
In 2000, Mr. Murphy took over a large facility on Barry Street in the Bronx, NY, near the Hunts Point Market. In 2007 an opportunity arose for Mr. Murphy to take occupancy of an abandoned city-owned warehouse in the South Bronx. The 188,000-square-foot facility sits on seven acres on the Hunts Point peninsula. He had the building gutted and redesigned, and he added dozens of trucks to service the tri-state area with Baldor's line of fine specialty foods.
In 2006 Baldor opened a facility in Chelsea, MA, naming it Baldor Boston.
In October 2012, Michael Muzyk, president of Baldor Specialty Foods, told The Produce News that the company was making some major changes at its Boston facility.
"We are demolishing a portion of a building in Boston that is just around the corner in Chelsea, about a block away from our existing facility," said Mr. Muzyk. "When it is completed, we'll be moving our entire Boston operation to it. Our existing landlord is building the new facility out for us. He came to the table and said he didn't want to lose us as a client."
The company plans to have the new facility operational in March.
In 2012 Baldor also opened a branch just outside Washington, DC. Mr. Muzyk said that the company sends a trailer to the location every day primarily to service restaurants, noting, "It is cross-dock operation. These foodservice operators now have the pleasure of being serviced with our wide selection of products, including our processed items."
Today Baldor delivers throughout most of New England, all of the tri-state area and the mid-Atlantic region. The company currently employs over 800 employees and operates a fleet of over 200 delivery trucks.
A Feb. 2 press release issued by Baldor called Mr. Murphy "a true visionary with a life philosophy of hard work and caring for people that was felt by all whom he touched."
Mr. Murphy is survived by his mother Marilyn Murphy; brothers, Thomas D. Murphy Jr. and Patrick Murphy; a sister, Sharon Triolo; a son, TJ Murphy, and a daughter-in-law, Christine Murphy.
Donations in Mr. Murphy's memory can be made to The Robert L. Fine Cancer Research Fund, 650 West 168th Street, BB20-05. New York, NY 10032, with checks or money orders made payable to the New York Presbyterian Home; memo line: 'Dr Fine's Research Fund; or the Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer, 111 Stewart Avenue, Bethpage, NY 11714, with checks or money orders made to Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer.