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Editor's Note: This feature was originally published in our January 1992 issue. We are posting it because of recent discussions of the connections between chaos and quantum mechanics.
In 1917 Albert Einstein wrote a paper that was completely ignored for 40 years. In it he raised a question that physicists have only, recently begun asking themselves: What would classical chaos, which lurks everywhere in our world, do to quantum mechanics, the theory describing the atomic and subatomic worlds? The effects of classical chaos, of course, have long been observed-Kepler knew about the motion of the moon around the earth and Newton complained bitterly about the phenomenon. At the end of the 19th century the American astronomer William Hill demonstrated that the irregularity is the result entirely of the gravitational pull of the sun. So thereafter, the great French mathematician-astronomer-physicist Henri Poincaré surmised that the moon's motion is only mild case of a congenital disease affecting nearly everything. In the long run Poincaré realized, most dynamic systems show no discernible regularity or repetitive pattern. The behavior of even a simple system can depend so sensitively on its initial conditions that the final outcome is uncertain.
At about the time of Poincaré's seminal work on classical chaos, Max Planck started another revolution, which would lead to the modern theory of quantum mechanics. The simple systems that Newton had studied were investigated again, but this time on the atomic scale. The quantum analogue of the humble pendulum is the laser; the flying cannonballs of the atomic world consist of beams of protons or electrons, and the rotating wheel is the spinning electron (the basis of magnetic tapes). Even the solar system itself is mirrored in each of the atoms found in the periodic table of the elements.
Perhaps the single most outstanding feature of the quantum world is its smooth and wavelike nature. This feature leads to the question of how chaos makes itself felt when moving from the classical world to the quantum world. How can the extremely irregular character of classical chaos be reconciled with the smooth and wavelike nature of phenomena on the atomic scale? Does chaos exist in the quantum world'? Preliminary work seems to show that it does. Chaos is found in the distribution of energy levels of certain atomic systems; it even appears to sneak into the wave patterns associated with those levels. Chaos is also found when electrons scatter from small molecules. I must emphasize, however, that the term "quantum chaos" serves more to describe a conundrum than to define a well-posed problem.
Considering the following interpretation of the bigger picture may be helpful in coming to grips with quantum chaos. All our theoretical discussions of mechanics can be somewhat artificially divided into three compartments [see illustration] although nature recognizes none of these divisions.
Elementary classical mechanics falls in the first compartment. This box contains all the nice, clean systems exhibiting simple and regular behavior, and so I shall call it R, for regular. .Also contained in R is an elaborate mathematical tool called perturbation theory which is used to calculate the effects of small interactions and extraneous disturbances, such as the influence of the sun on the moon's motion around the earth. With the help of perturbation theory, a large part of physics is understood nowadays as making relatively mild modifications of regular systems. Reality though, is much more complicated; chaotic systems lie outside the range of perturbation theory and they constitute the second compartment.
Since the first detailed analyses of the systems of the second compartment were done by Poincaré, I shall name this box P in his honor. It is stuffed with the chaotic dynamic systems that are the bread and butter of science. Among these systems are all the fundamental problems of mechanics, starting with three, rather than only two bodies interacting with one another, such as the earth, moon and sun, or the three atoms in the water molecule, or the three quarks in the proton.
Quantum mechanics, as it has been practiced for about 90 years, belongs in the third compartment, called Q. After the pioneering work of Planck, Einstein and Niels Bohr, quantum mechanics was given its definitive form in four short years, starting in 1924. The seminal work of Louis de Broglie, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Max Born, Wolfgang Pauli and Paul Dirac has stood the test of the laboratory without the slightest lapse. Miraculously. it provides physics with a mathematical framework that, according to Dirac, has yielded a deep understanding of "most of physics and all of chemistry" Nevertheless, even though most physicists and chemists have learned how to solve special problems in quantum mechanics, they have yet to come to terms with the incredible subtleties of the field. These subtleties are quite separate from the difficult, conceptual issues having to do with the interpretation of quantum mechanics.
The three boxes R (classic, simple systems), P (classic chaotic systems) and Q (quantum systems) are linked by several connections. The connection between R and Q is known as Bohr's correspondence principle. The correspondence principle claims, quite reasonably, that classical mechanics must be contained in quantum mechanics in the limit where objects become much larger than the size of atoms. The main connection between R and P is the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) theorem. The KAM theorem provides a powerful tool for calculating how much of the structure of a regular system survives when a small perturbation is introduced, and the theorem can thus identify perturbations that cause a regular system to undergo chaotic behavior.
Quantum chaos is concerned with establishing the relation between boxes P (chaotic systems) and Q (quantum systems). In establishing this relation, it is useful to introduce a concept called phase space. Quite amazingly this concept, which is now so widely exploited by experts in the field of dynamic systems, dates back to Newton.
The notion of phase space can be found in Newton's mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy published in 1687. In the second definition of the first chapter, entitled "Definitions", Newton states (as translated from the original Latin in 1729): "The quantity of motion is the measure of the same, arising from the velocity and quantity of matter conjointly." In modern English this means that for every object there is a quantity, called momentum, which is the product of the mass and velocity of the object.
Newton gives his laws of motion in the second chapter, entitled "Axioms, or Laws of motion." The second law says that the change of motion is proportional to the motive force impressed. Newton relates the force to the change of momentum (not to the acceleration as most textbooks do).
Momentum is actually one of two quantities that, taken together, yield the complete information about a dynamic system at any instant. The other quantity is simply position, which determines the strength and direction of the force. Newton's insight into the dual nature of momentum and position was put on firmer ground some 130 years later by two mathematicians, William Rowan Hamilton and Karl Gustav-Jacob Jacobi. The pairing of momentum and position is no longer viewed in the good old Euclidean space or three dimensions; instead it is viewed in phase space, which has six dimensions, three dimensions for position and three for momentum.
The introduction of phase space was a powerful step from a mathematical point of view, but it represents a serious setback from the standpoint of human intuition. Who can visualize six dimensions? In some cases fortunately phase space can be reduced to three or even better, two dimensions. Such a reduction is possible in examining the behavior of a hydrogen atom in a strong magnetic field. The hydrogen atom has long been a highly desirable system because of its simplicity. A lone electron moves around a lone proton. And yet the classical motion of the electron becomes chaotic when the magnetic field is turned on. How can we claim to understand physics if we cannot explain this basic problem?
Under normal conditions, the electron of a hydrogen atom is tightly bound to the proton. The behavior of the atom is governed by quantum mechanics. The atom is not free to take on any arbitrary energy, it can take on only discrete, or quantized, energies. At low energies, the allowed values are spread relatively far apart. As the energy of the atom is increased, the atom grows bigger, because the electron moves farther from the proton, and the allowed energies get closer together. At high enough energies (but not too high, or the atom will be stripped of its electron!), the allowed energies get very close together into what is effectively a continuum, and it now, becomes fair to apply the rules of classical mechanics.
Such a highly excited atom is called a Rydberg atom. Rydberg atoms inhabit the middle ground between the quantum and the classical worlds, and they are therefore ideal candidates for exploring Bohr's correspondence principle which connects boxes Q (quantum phenomena) and R (classic phenomenal). If a Rydberg atom could be made to exhibit chaotic behavior in the classical sense, it might provide a clue as to the nature of quantum chaos and thereby shed light on the middle ground between boxes Q and P (chaotic phenomena).
A Rydberg atom exhibits chaotic behavior in a strong magnetic field, but to see this behavior we must reduce the dimension of the phase space. "The first step is to note that the applied magnetic field defines an axis of symmetry through the atom. The motion of the electron takes place effectively in a two-dimensional plane, and the motion around the axis can be separated out; only the distances along the axis and from the axis matter. The symmetry of motion reduces the dimension of the phase space from six to four.
Additional help comes from the fact that no outside force does any work on the electron. As a consequence, the total energy does not change with time. By focusing attention on a particular value of the energy, one can take a three-dimensional slice-called an energy shell-out of the four-dimensional phase space. The energy shell allows one to watch the twists and turns of the electron, and one can actually see something resembling a tangled wire sculpture. The resulting picture can be simplified even further through a simple idea that occurred to Poincaré. He suggested taking a fixed two-dimensional plane (called a Poincaré section, or a surface of section) through the energy shell and watching the points at which the trajectory intersects the surface. The Poincaré section reduces the tangled wire sculpture to a sequence of points in an ordinary plane.
A Poincaré section for a highly excited hydrogen atom in a strong magnetic field is shown on the opposite page. The regions of the phase space where the points are badly scattered indicate chaotic behavior. Such scattering is a clear symptom of classical chaos, and it allows one to separate systems into either box P or box R.
What does the Rydberg atom reveal about the relation between boxes P and Q? I have mentioned that one of the trademarks of a quantum mechanical system is its quantized energy levels, and in fact the energy levels are the first place to look for quantum chaos. Chaos does not make itself felt at any particular energy level, however; rather its presence is seen in the spectrum, or distribution, of the levels. Perhaps somewhat paradoxically in a nonchaotic quantum system the energy levels are distributed randomly and without correlation, whereas the energy levels of a chaotic quantum system exhibit strong correlations [see illustration]. The levels of the regular system are often close to one another, because a regular system is composed of smaller subsystems that are completely decoupled. The energy levels of the chaotic system, however, almost seem to be aware of one another and try to keep a safe distance. A chaotic system cannot be decomposed; the motion along one coordinate axis is always coupled to what happens along the other axis.
The spectrum of a chaotic quantum system was first suggested by Eugene P. Wigner, another early master of quantum mechanics. Wigner observed, as had many others, that nuclear physics does not possess the safe underpinnings of atomic and molecular physics: the origin of the nuclear force is still not clearly understood. He therefore asked whether the statistical properties of nuclear spectra could be derived from the assumption that many parameters in the problem have definite, but unknown values. This rather vague starting point allowed him to find the most probable formula for the distribution. Oriol Bohigas and Marie-Joya Giannoni of the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Orsay, France, first pointed out that Wigner's distribution happens is be exactly what is found for the spectrum of a chaotic dynamic system.
Chaos does not seem to limit itself to the distribution of quantum energy levels, however, it even appears to work its way into the wavelike nature of the quantum world. The position of the electron in the hydrogen atom is described by a wave pattern. The electron cannot be pinpointed in space; it is a cloudlike smear hovering near the proton. Associated with each allowed energy level is a stationary state, which is a wave pattern that does not change with time. A stationary state corresponds quite closely to the vibrational pattern of a membrane that is stretched over a rigid frame, such as a drum.
The stationary states of a chaotic system have surprisingly interesting structure, as demonstrated in the early 1980s by Eric Heller of the University of Washington. He and his students calculated a series of stationary states for a two-dimensional cavity in the shape of a stadium. The corresponding problem in classical mechanics was known to be chaotic, for a typical trajectory quickly covers most of the available ground quite evenly. Such behavior suggests that the stationary states might also look random, as if they had been designed without rhyme or reason. In contrast. Heller discovered that most stationary states are concentrated around narrow channels that form simple shapes inside the stadium, and he called these channels "scars" [see illustration]. Similar structure can also be found in the stationary states of a hydrogen atom in a strong magnetic field [see illustration]. The smoothness of the quantum wave forms is preserved from point to point, but when one steps back to view the whole picture, the fingerprint of chaos emerges.
It is possible to connect the chaotic signature of the energy spectrum to ordinary classical mechanics. A clue to the prescription is provided in Einstein's 1917 paper, He examined the phase space of a regular system from box R and described it geometrically as filled with surfaces in the shape of a donut; the motion of the system corresponds to the trajectory of a point over the surface of a particular donut. The trajectory winds its way around the surface of the donut in a regular manner, but it does not necessarily close on itself.
In Einstein's picture, the application of Bohr's correspondence principle to find the energy levels of the analogous quantum mechanical system is simple. The only trajectories that can occur in nature are those in which the cross section of the donut encloses an area equal to an integral multiple of Planck's constant, h (2π times the fundamental quantum of angular momentum having the units of momentum multiplied by length). It turns out that the integral multiple is precisely the number that specifies the corresponding energy level in the quantum system.
Unfortunately as Einstein clearly saw, his method cannot be applied if the system is chaotic, for the trajectory does not lie on a donut and there is no natural area to enclose an integral multiple of Planck's constant. A new approach must be sought to explain the distribution of quantum mechanical energy levels in terms of the chaotic orbits of classical mechanics.
Which features of the trajectory of classical mechanics help us to understand quantum chaos? Hill's discussion of the moon's irregular orbit because of the presence of the sun provides a clue. His work represented the first instance where a particular periodic orbit is found to be at the bottom of a difficult mechanical problem. (A periodic orbit is tike a closed track on which the system is made to run: there are many of them, although they are isolated and unstable.) Inspiration can also be drawn from Poincaré, who emphasized the general importance of periodic orbits. In the beginning of his three-volume work, "The New Methods of Celestial Mechanics" which appeared in 1892, he expresses the belief that periodic orbits "offer the only opening through which we might penetrate into the fortress that has the reputation of being impregnable." Phase space for a chaotic system can be organized, at least partially around periodic orbits, even though they are sometimes quite difficult to find.
In 1970 I discovered a very general way to extract information about the quantum mechanical spectrum from a complete enumeration of the classical periodic orbits. The mathematics of the approach is too difficult to delve into here, but the main result of the method is a relatively simple expression called a trace formula. The approach has now been used by a number of investigators, including Michael V. Berry of the University of Bristol, who has used the formula to derive the statistical properties of the spectrum.
I have applied the trace formula to compute the lowest two dozen energy levels for an electron in a semiconductor lattice, near one of the carefully controlled impurities. (the semiconductor, of course, is the basis of the marvelous devices on which modern life depends; because of its impurities, the electrical conductivity of the material is half-way between that of an insulator, such as plastic, and that of a conductor, such as copper.) The trajectory of the electron can be uniquely characterized by a string of symbols, which has a straightforward interpretation. The string is produced by defining an axis through the semiconductor and simply noting when the trajectory crosses the axis. A crossing to the "positive" side of the axis gets the symbol +, and a crossing to the "negative" side gets the symbol -.
A trajectory then looks exactly like the record of a coin toss. Even if the past is known in all detail even if all the crossings have been recorded-the future is still wide open. The sequence of crossings can be chosen arbitrarily. Now, a periodic orbit consists of a binary sequence that repeats itself; the simplest such sequence is (+ -), the next is (+ -), and so on (Two crossings in a row having the same sign indicate that the electron has been trapped temporarily.) All periodic orbits are thereby enumerated, and it is possible to calculate an appropriate spectrum with the help of the trace formula. In other words, the quantum mechanical energy levels are obtained in an approximation that relies on quantities from classical mechanics only.
The classical periodic orbits and the quantum mechanical spectrum are closely bound together through the mathematical process called Fourier analysis. The hidden regularities in one set, and the frequencies with which they show up, are exactly given by the other set. This idea was used by John B. Delos of the College of William and Mary and Dieter Wintgen of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg to interpret the spectrum of the hydrogen atom m a strong magnetic field.
Experimental work on such spectra has been done by Karl H. Welge and his colleagues at the University of Bielefeld, who have excited hydrogen atoms nearly to the point of ionization where the electron tears itself free of the proton. The energies at which the atoms absorb radiation appear to be quite random [see illustration], but a Fourier analysis converts the jumble of peaks into a set of well-separated peaks. The important feature here is that each of the well-separated peaks corresponds precisely to one of several standard classical periodic orbits. Poincaré's insistence on the importance of periodic orbits now takes on a new meaning. Not only does the classical organization of phase space depend critically on the classical periodic orbits, but so too does the understanding of a chaotic quantum spectrum.
So far I have talked only about quantum systems in which an S electron is trapped or spatially confined. Chaotic effects are also present in atomic systems where an electron can roam freely, as it does when it is scattered from the atoms in a molecule. Here energy is no longer quantized, and the electron can take on any value, but the effectiveness of the scattering depends on the energy.
Chaos shows up in quantum scattering as variations in the amount of time the electron is temporarily caught inside the molecule during the scattering process. For simplicity the problem can be examined in two dimensions. To the electron, a molecule consisting of four atoms looks like a small maze. When the electron approaches one of the atoms, it has two choices: it can turn left or right. Each possible trajectory of the electron through the molecule can be recorded as a series of left and right turns around the atom until the particle finally emerges. All of the trajectories are unstable: even a minute change in the energy or the initial direction of the approach will cause a large change in the direction in which the electron eventually leaves molecule.
The chaos in the scattering process comes from the fact that the number of trajectories increases rapidly with path length. Only an interpretation From the quantum mechanical point of view gives reasonable results; a purely classical calculation yields nonsensical results. In quantum mechanics each classical trajectory is used to define a little wavelet that finds its way through the molecule. The quantum mechanical result follows from simply adding up all such wavelets.
Recently I have done a calculation of the scattering process for a special case in which the sum of the wavelets is exact An electron of known momentum hits a and emerges with the same momentum. The arrival time for the electron to reach a fixed monitoring station varies as a function of the momentum and the way in which it varies is so fascinating about this problem. The arrival time fluctuates over small changes in the momentum but over large changes a chaotic imprint emerges which never settles down to any simple pattern.
A particularly tantalizing aspect of the chaotic scattering process is that it may connect the mysteries of quantum chaos with the mysteries of number theory. The calculation of the time delay leads straight into what is probably the most enigmatic object in mathematics, Riemann's zeta function. Actually it was first employed by Leonhard Euler in the middle of the 18th century to show the existence of an infinite number of prime numbers (integers that cannot be divided by any smaller integer other than one). About a century later Bernhard Riemann, one of the founders of modem mathematics, employed the function to delve into the distribution of the primes. In his only paper on the subject, he called the function by the Greek letter zeta.
The zeta function is a function of two variables, x and y which exist in the complex plane). To understand the distribution of prime numbers, Riemann needed to know when the zeta function has the value of zero. Without giving a valid argument, he stated that it is zero only when x is set equal to 1/2. Vast calculations have shown that he was right without exception for the first billion zeros, but no mathematician has come even close to providing a proof. If Riemann's conjecture is correct, all kinds of interesting properties of prime numbers could be proved.
The values of y for which the zeta function is zero form a set of numbers that is much like the spectrum of energies of an atom. Just as one can study the distribution of energy levels in the spectrum so can one study the distribution of zeros for the zeta function. Here the prime numbers play the same role as the classical closed orbits of the hydrogen atom in a magnetic field: the primes indicate some of the hidden correlations among the zeros of the zeta function.
In the scattering problem the zeros of the zeta function give the values of the momentum where the time delay changes strongly. The chaos of the Riemann zeta function is particularly apparent in a theorem that has only recently been proved: the zeta function fits locally any smooth function. The theorem suggests that the function may describe all the chaotic behavior a quantum system can exhibit. If the mathematics of quantum mechanics could be handled more skillfully, many examples of locally smooth, yet globally chaotic, phenomena might be found.


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National Influence
When John Stott began his ordained ministry, evangelicals had little influence in the Anglican Church hierarchy. Through personal initiatives such as the revived Eclectic Society (originally founded in 1793), Dr. Stott sought to raise the profile and morale of young evangelical clergy. From an initial membership of 22 of his friends, the society grew to over 1,000 members by the mid 1960s. Out of this movement grew many initiatives, most notably the two National Evangelical Anglican Congresses of 1967 and 1977, which Dr. Stott chaired.
John Stott has played important roles in three areas of Christian life in England, serving the church, the university, and the crown. He served as chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council (www.ceec.info) from 1967 to 1984 and as president of two influential Christian organizations: the British Scripture Union (www.scriptureunion.org.uk) from 1965 to 1974 and the British Evangelical Alliance (www.eauk.org) from 1973 to 1974. Dr. Stott has also served four terms as president of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (www.uccf.org.uk) between the years 1961 and 1982. He was also an honorary chaplain to the queen from 1959 to 1991 and received the rare distinction of being appointed an Extra Chaplain in 1991.
John Stott was displeased by the anti-intellectualism of some Christians. In contrast, he stressed the need "to relate the ancient Word to the modern world." This conviction led to his founding of The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (www.licc.org.uk) in 1982. This Institute "offer[s] courses in the inter-relations between faith, life and mission to thinking Christian lay people." Stott served as its first director and then as its president from 1986 onward. He claims,
The key words in my thinking are "integration" and "penetration." I think evangelical Christians, if one can generalize, have not been integrated; there is a tendency among us to exclude certain areas of our life from the lordship of Jesus, whether it be our business life and our work, or our political persuasion. That sort of integration is crucial to the Institute's vision; the second is the penetration of the secular world by integrated Christians, whose gospel will be a more integrated gospel. (3)
In light of this work, David Edwards has claimed that, apart from William Temple, John Stott was "the most influential clergyman in the Church of England" during the twentieth century. Likewise, Alister McGrath has suggested that the growth of post-war English evangelicalism is attributable more to John Stott than any other person.

subset: commoncrawl


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John Rose Battley was never a well man. As a conscientious objector in the First World War, he was sentenced to work in a market garden. On a cold day in February, whilst he was putting 2,000 cauliflowers under cloches, he noticed that his toes were turning black. Despite having never been to the trenches, John Battley was getting trench foot.
With his brother, he started his own printing firm in 1897, working out of a room above their father's shop. He built the business up, it survived his brother leaving, its proprietor not being able to work at it during the First World War, the Great Depression and at least one extended nervous breakdown, which lasted many months in 1933. That printing firm, although its name has changed, is still around today.
Battley was in his 50s by the time he married in 1933, and that seemed to redouble his activity. He was already an active member of his church and local choir, a leading light of the Temperance Society and the Rotary Club, and in 1938 he was elected to the London County Council, as a Labour member for Clapham.
During the war he worked on the Housing Committee on the LCC, even as his own house was bombed in the V1 attacks. In 1945 he stood for parliament, and became the first ever Labour MP for Clapham. He wasn't a vocal MP. Although he made notes, he never made a speech in the House of Commons, but he was an ardent worker on behalf of his constituents. He voted with the government most of the time, the only exception being the National Service Act. 30 years after his pacifism had forced him to give up his business, he still believed that no Christian should ever have to (or, indeed, could) perform military service, and so he rebelled against the government once, in 1947.
Whilst he was an MP he also stayed on as a member of the LCC, an active Rotarian, church member, choir member, and managing director of his own business. By 1950 the stresses had got the better of him, and he did not stand for re-election. Indeed, he had another breakdown shortly thereafter, and stayed in a hospital until he died in 1952.
Without knowing it, on 5th July 1948 this quiet, dedicated man saved the life of his grand-daughter and great grand-daughter, neither of whom he was ever to meet.
By voting for the National Health Act, John Battley made sure that when, almost 60 years later, 29 hours into labour, his great grand-daughter – my daughter – Eleanor decided to get into severe distress as she tried to enter the world sideways, her life was saved. Both she and Zoe, Zoe Battley, received the instant care of two paediatricians, two midwives, and at least three nurses (I lost count, I was busy worrying, and wondering if I could sneak out with the gas and air canister).
Over the 34 hours that labour took we had (I say we, Zoe selfishly used most of the drugs herself): heart monitors, midwives, gas and air, an epidural, a room to ourselves, three trips to the maternity ward (three painful trips home), a ventouse (don't ask), synthetic hormones that accelerate contractions, pethedine for slowing contractions right down. And in between all of the worry about how much pain my wife was in, whether or not I'd packed any of the right things, whether I was going to be a good dad, or, as things got more serious, whether I was going to get to be one at all, the one thing I never had to worry about was how much the whole thing was going to cost. As a self-employed comedian of variable success, I didn't have to worry whether or not I could afford the things and people that kept my wife an child alive.
Some people, of course, will argue that this presents a moral hazard. If I am never aware of the costs of treatment, I won't behave in a way that avoids unnecessary treatments; that health care free at the point of delivery encourages poor decision-making. What that means in this situation I'm not sure I understand. Perhaps I should have impregnated my wife with a more sensible-sperm, which would have seen the birth canal as an opportunity for emerging normally rather than doing somersaults. Perhaps I should have severed the nerves in Zoe's spinal cord myself as the contractions started, because epidurals don't grow on trees. Perhaps I should have had to choose which of the two, my wife or my daughter, we could actually afford to treat. Perhaps that would have taught me not to be so feckless. Doesn't take more than a funeral or two before people start making better life choices, right?
62% of bankruptcies in the USA are down to health care bills. People lose their houses because they get ill. And they aren't uninsured people. 78% of those people had insurance. Insurance that didn't, actually, insure them in any meaningful way at all.
It will confuse some people, I know, that someone so vehemently anti-government, a left-libertarian, someone who some days – whisper it – is probably an anarchist should have gone onto a bridge to defend a monopolistic state health provider. Those people are confused as to what Andrew Lansley's Health & Social Care Bill is. The choice isn't between a state provider and a free market. The choice is between a state provider of health run for the general welfare of the people it serves, or a state monopoly provider of health that is run to best produce profits for private healthcare companies. It would be bizarre to bemoan politicians plundering the public purse, but to cheer when corporations do it.
I'm not saying Andrew Lansley is a shill for private healthcare companies. That's his wife's job. I'm not saying that the £21,000 he received from John Nash, chairman of Care UK and founder of Sovereign Capital which owns several private healthcare companies would have in any way influenced his opinions on the issue of whether private companies should be able to profit at the expense of the NHS. I'm not saying it. But he is. In a speech in 2005, he said: "Demanding uniformity will negate the benefits of competition. How can competition work, whether on prices or quality, if it does not lead to variation and divergent outcomes?" Or, in other words, different people will get different levels of treatment under the NHS, otherwise competition would not work. His vision is an ideological one in which 'competition', rather than the needs of patients, is paramount.
And this isn't a move towards a free market, or towards real competition. It is simply a move that allows private companies to cherry-pick profitable services. Services that are already provided. There is no guarantee that they will provide them better (the responsibility for the Health Service is to be turned over to a quango who are not answerable to Parliament, so out politicans can't be to blame for however bad it gets in the future), the only guarantee is that money that once would have flowed through the NHS will now flow to shareholders in private health companies. Because 'competition' is the aim, not patient welfare.
This is pure kleptocracy. Assets that have been built with the public purse, maintained at the taxpayers' expense, are to be auctioned off. And what's worse, private health care companies aren't even going to have to act like, you know, businesses to get in on the act. They won't be competing in any meaningful sense, under the umbrella of the NHS, they will simply be pocketing our cash without having to guarantee standards in the way the NHS currently does.
The fact that the local health authority sees no conflict of interest for the practice in Yorkshire that recently started charging for minor skin surgeries highlights the bizarre situations that we must nod through in the name of 'competition'. The fact that the same GPs at the same surgery will be in charge of deciding if funds are spent on a procedure, and in charge of performing the same procedure privately if they decide it isn't is outrageous. That's a moral hazard. You can tell, because it contains a moral element. Eating too many chips is not.
And don't let them tell you these are cuts. That we need to make these cuts. This plan makes the NHS more expensive. It will cost £1.2 billion more to implement these changes than to not do it, and there are no cost savings at the other end. So we will end up with a service closer to France's or America's in that it will cost much more than the one we have at the moment.
And what is so clearly, arse-breakingly frustrating about the whole thing is that it received any Lib Dem support at all in the House of Commons. It's like they don't remember the clause in the Coalition Agreement, the line in the sand which, if crossed, would lead to the dissolution of the Coalition, the one about "no more top down reorganisations of the NHS". Of course, by the time the policy documents for the Coalition emerged a couple of weeks later it was hedged with many qualifiers. The Lib Dems cannot have any serious claim to be a restraining influence on the Tories if they roll over at the disembowelling of one of the nation's most loved institutions.
And fuck the Labour Party, too. A supine, spineless, useless thin drizzle of urine that leaks down your face and calls itself champagne. Without the NHS reforms of 2000 and 2008, this Bill would have been impossible. As it is, it is only an extension of the 'competition' ethos introduced into the NHS by none other than Tony Blair. You remember, it was when he was telling us that anyone who objected was a 'force of conservatism' and that he had 'no reverse gear'. Vehicles without reverse gears are terrible vehicles, Tony. Most people buy ones which have reverse gears. (Oh, and equally, George Osborne, Plan Bs are a good thing. Doing contingency planning is just sensible, yes? God, I hate them all…)
The ground was prepared for all of this by the Labour Party. They put the ideological argument for it years ago. Some might rail against this now, but what are they doing about it? Sally Bercow accidentally ended up at #blockthebridge because she was having a walk with her children. I saw John McDonnell there, but no other Labour MPs. They are a disgrace, and I'd suggest that they hang their tiny heads in shame, although it's quite clear they have none.
And so I was proud to stand on that bridge. Proud to stand between what used to be the LCC building, and the Houses of Parliament. Proud to stand with a couple of thousand people in front of St Thomas Hospital, where Zoe was born. Proud to speak to, and on behalf of people who believed in a better future.
So, it's too late to lobby your MP now. It's too late to have come down on Sunday (you missed Josie Long, Mark Thomas, Nick Revell, Chris Coltrane, Tiernan Douieb, Grace Petrie, Lisa Egan and Nadia Kamil. You are a fool.) It's too late to adopt a peer, although you could try faxing them something this morning. In a few hours we will know one way or another, whether or not John Battley's printing business will outlast the greatest achievement of the 1945 Labour government.
The one thing you could do, right now, stop reading and do it, is to sign this petition. 115,000 people did it yesterday, but it's not enough. Sign it, send it to your friends, tweet about it, talk about it on Facebook, argue with Tories about it (not that I've met a single real-life Tory who thinks it's a good idea). For these last few hours, write and jump up and down and do whatever you can to make a noise about this. The only thing that might sway the crossbench lords (and don't think I don't find it utterly galling to have to go grovelling to someone who earned their place in the legislature by popping out of the right mimsy) is if they are left in no doubt that hundreds of thousands, millions of people are angry, worried, dismayed by this.
John Rose Battley was never a well man, but he left behind him something to take care of us all. Let's do our bit to take care of it for the next couple of hours.


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The other day, my six-year-old daughter was bopping around the living room, singing and dancing to the music on a Nickelodeon kids's show. "Oh my God!" I exclaimed. "That's Clyde Stubblefield." She stopped dancing and looked at me as if I had two heads. "Clyde whatshisname?" she said. "That's Clyde Stubblefield. You know - the funky drummer." I don't know why I added that last part, for I was clearly forgetting who I was talking to. Again, she gave me that look, then resumed dancing.
Poor Clyde, I thought. It happened again.
You might not know it, but you're a big fan of Clyde Stubblefield - if you've listened to, I don't know, anything (and I do mean anything) in the last 38 years. Clyde Stubblefield, you see, was not only the drummer for James Brown from 1965-1970, during which time he performed famously on tracks such as Cold Sweat, Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud, I Got A Feelin', and a whole lot more, but he is also the most-heard drummer in history. He probably beats out Ringo Starr for this distinction. The reason for this, quite simply, is his performance on the 1970 James Brown song Funky Drummer.
As groove-based James Brown songs go, it's a sturdy jam based around the interplay between a fluid bass, stabbing horns, an in-the-pocket rhythm guitar, a sprinkling of electric piano, and Brown himself, who improvises with his usual brio. But around five minutes into the seven-minute long cut, Brown gives the band the following direction: "When I count to four I want everybody to lay out and let the drummer go; and when I count to four I want you to come back in. Huh!" (That "Huh!" is of course crucial.) The band obeys, and after Brown gives the count, at 5:35 in the song, Cylde Stubblefield lets loose with roughly 20 seconds of top-notch solo drumming. It's not flashy, but it's very, very funky - so much so that Brown named the song accordingly.
That 20 or so seconds of top-notch solo drumming has, over the years, become the basis (although, in some cases, the flavoring) of songs by the likes of Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, Prince, and even Nine Inch Nails. Oh, and there's a whole lot more. To this day, nobody has come forth with a list that is near complete, but if you want to boggle your mind, here's a pretty good one. Pour yourself a cup of something - it might take you a while to get through.
Along with his band mates, Clyde walked out on James Brown in 1970. The biggest reason given for the collective tendering of resignation was "lack of payment." Apparently, Brown loved his band, but not so much that he felt he had to pay them. Imagine, however, if Clyde had a writer's credit on the song. More important, imagine if a contract existed in 1970 that stipulated royalty payment for such a thing called "sampling." Good ol' Clyde would be living pretty fat these days.
My daughter, of course, still wouldn't know who he is. But millions of other people just might.
By Joe Bosso


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The battle for the technological car dashboard of the future is about to heat up. Following demos from Android and from Apple, Microsoft is also developing a platform –
– that will put the company's smartphones, content and apps front and center of the driving experience. But hopefully in a way that isn't too distracting. First demonstrated at one of the sessions at its
, Windows for the Car would use the same customizable tile interface that will be familiar to anyone who owns a Nokia Lumia handset or has recently upgraded to Windows 8/8.1 on their PC. Just like
Google's Open Automotive Alliance or OAA
(essentially Android for the car), Microsoft's system would offer drivers access to their music libraries, turn-by-turn directions via Here and Bing maps and search, voice calls and text messaging. Although it is very much a work in progress, Microsoft doesn't really need to play catch up. Until this year, Microsoft was the brains behind the
– the company's in-car informatics and telematics system that offered a selection of mirrored 'car-safe' versions of smartphone apps and responded to voice commands. For those worried that competing mobile operating systems are going to become an issue when choosing their next car, there is some good news. The Microsoft system uses MirrorLink to connect to a car's screen and for pushing information between connected devices. MirrorLink is an existing technology and one already supported by a host of car companies, from the aforementioned Ford to BMW. That means that if Microsoft does bring its system to market, it could work with older vehicles, and new cars would be able to support it as well as either Apple or Google's platform too.


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From Eric Dezenhall, BusinessWeek
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Meow it's Joy's turn: Last of Sandy stray kittens adopted
- Joy was found as a kitten%2C skinny and skittish in Brooklyn after Superstorm Sandy
- She wasn%27t put up for adoption initially because she was scared of people
- Robert Curran%2C whose home and business was damaged by Sandy%2C has adopted Joy
NEW YORK (AP) — They're two of a kind.
A stray kitten that spent a year recuperating with an animal rescue group after getting plucked from the streets of a flood-ravaged section of Brooklyn has finally been adopted — by a fellow Superstorm Sandy refugee.
The little white cat, named Joy, was the last of nearly 300 stray and displaced pets that wound up in an American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter after the storm.
This week, she was getting used to her new home with Robert Curran, whose home and family business on New York City's Rockaway Peninsula were also partially destroyed.
Curran said he reached out to the ASPCA after The Associated Press wrote about the group's attempt to find Joy a permanent home.
"She looked like she just needed some love and affection and a happy place to be," said Curran. "I said, 'You know what? I'm rebuilding my life. This cat needs help too,'"
Joy was probably about 6-months-old when she was found, skinny and skittish, on the streets of Brooklyn's Gravesend section last November. After the emergency shelter closed, she lived at the ASPCA's offices in Manhattan. The organization didn't initially put her up for adoption because she was initially terrified around people. By the storm's anniversary last month, she was playful and eating treats out of people's hands.
Meanwhile, Curran relocated from the Queens seashore to Brooklyn after Sandy's tidal surge pushed several feet of water into the P.J. Curran Bar & Grill, which his family has owned for decades. His apartment, above the bar, lost its heating and electrical systems. The place still hasn't reopened, and Curran said he doesn't know if it ever will.
"We're dealing with insurance issues. We're dealing with the future of the block," he said. "Remember, you're talking about putting an entertainment business back in an area where everyone lost their life savings … Who has money to go out on a Friday night?"
Still, Curran's a survivor. And, so far, Joy has proven to be one, too.
"She's adorable," he said, adding that the transition has gone smoother than expected. "I expected not to see her for two weeks. But she's been fine."


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An exciting way to spend your vacation is to take a road trip. Many of us are in love with our cars, washing, waxing, and polishing them until they are gleaming bright. Well, for a road trip, they need to run as hassle free as possible.
To do so, you need to give your car a good over all inspection. How are the tires, the depth of the tread, the tire pressure? Is it time to have the tires rotated? What condition is the spare tire in? You don't want to wait until you get a flat tire and then find out the spare tire is missing or needs air. Also, before you head out on the road for your vacation you need the check the battery, look over the timing belt for cracks and signs of wear and tare. Check the oil and change it along with the oil filter, check the air cleaner and filter, along with other fluids as well. Fluids like coolant, brake fluid, windshield wiper fluid and the wiper blades. Inside the car you should run the air conditioner and heater too.
After you car is operating at peak performance, there are other safety options to consider. Do you have jumper cables, a blanket, flashlight, road flares and a working jack? Plus, a basic toolbox is nice to have as well, with wrenches, screwdrivers, and maybe a breaker bar. All of these will ensure a safe worry free road trip vacation.
Now you need to determine what your vacation destination is and the length of stay. Are you going on a day trip, for the weekend, a week, or longer? Who will be driving? Do you have one or multiple drivers? What are the age ranges of the passengers accompanying you? Are they all adult or are you taking children as well? Prepare for stops along the way to stretch, eat and fuel up. Don't to forget to think of some games to play and bring water and snacks. A pillow or two may be welcomed as well. Something else to have on hand is spare change for Toll Roads. There is nothing worse than facing a Toll Booth with no change on hand, although most have an attendant on duty in at least one lane.
Taking a road trip can be a fun relaxing vacation experience, if it is thoughtfully planned out. It has also become easier than ever to stay on course with the help of navigation equipment that can be bought or most likely factory installed in modern cars. So, if it's a drive to Grandma's, an amusement park, or an educational adventure that awaits. The road trip vacation, can bean enjoyable inexpensive way to achieve a refreshing change of scenery.


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You Say 'Durezol,' I Say 'Duresal' - FDA Warns of Drug Mix-Ups
If you want the prescription eye drops called Durezol, make sure your pharmacist doesn't hand you a bottle of the salicylic acid-containing wart remedy Duresal.
At least one patient has been seriously injured in just such a mix-up, according to a warning to pharmacists and health care professionals the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued Wednesday. And according to the FDA, several other cases of confusion between the two drugs have been reported, likely as a consequence of the similarities between the names of the two very different drugs.
It's far from the first time similar names have led to confusion and drug mix-ups, and it's unlikely to be the last. After all, in the sea of drugs available to treat everything from your anemia to your zygomycosis, there are bound to be some names that resemble each other. The FDA, as part of the drug approval process, screens the names of these medications in an effort to ensure that they don't sound too much like an existing medicine.
In this case, however, Durasal was never required to undergo the FDA's drug approval process; subsequently, its name was never vetted. To make matters worse, Durasal entered the market shortly after the FDA had already approved Durezol.
It may also be worth noting that the packaging for Durasal, displayed on the National Institute of Health's DailyMed site, includes the warning "NOT FOR USE IN EYES" in its design.
As of Wednesday, Elorac, Inc. - the Vernon Hills, Ill.,-based distributor of Durasal - had not yet responded to inquiries from the FDA regarding the removal of the product from the marketplace or its recall. A message left with Elorac on Thursday afternoon requesting comment was not immediately answered.
It's safe to say that similar-name issues have dogged regulators for years. In 2002, the FDA issued a report detailing six cases of children who were prescribed methylphenidate, a drug to treat attention-deficit disorder, receiving methadone, a drug to treat narcotic addiction, instead.
In 2004, the FDA issued a similar report after four patients who were supposed to receive the anti-seizure pill Keppra instead received the HIV drug Kaletra.
And in 2010, manufacturers of the popular antacid medication Kapidex renamed their product at the FDA's request, in light of its confusion with the prostate cancer drug Casodex. This name change was part of an FDA crackdown that began last year on the long list of drugs with similar-sounding names.
Past FDA efforts include the agency's 2001 launch of the Name Differentiation Project, during which the manufacturers of 16 drugs were encouraged to add "Tall Man" lettering to labels for the syllables that differentiated one drug from another. Pretty important, if you happen to be taking MethylPREDNISolone for your allergies and your pharmacist hands you MethylTESTOSTERone, an anabolic steroid instead.


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St. Patrick's Cathedral
This is an interior of the St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. It was founded in 1191. It is one of two cathedrals in Dublin, but currently it is not the seat of the Archbishop of Dublin.
When visiting the cathedral you can take pictures including the use of flash, but only when there is no service in progress. It is definitely worth visiting and while taking pictures, take also some time to just enjoy the beauty of the interior.
I am talking to you!
Open door to the cemetery on Rock of Cashel
O'Scully Monument
The top of the cross fell off when struck by a lightening. It still lies behind the monument broken into a few pieces.
Hore Abbey
Path leading to Hore Abbey
Bend by the wind
Time to make some blackberry pie! There were blackberries on the side of the road everywhere. And they tasted amazing!
Tree by the lake
Torc Waterfall
A short walk from the road is Torc Waterfall, a definite must to see. You will need a tripod to take a nice picture as it is pretty dark there.
Cliffs of Moher
Colorful side of the Sky Road
Sky Road is a beautiful loop drive west of Clifden. The road is narrow but the views are spectacular. It is worth visiting, just be aware of cars, trucks and cattle on the road.
Copyright©2010-2020, Agnes Caruso. All rights reserved.


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Silver iodide has been used in attempts to seed clouds to produce rain. Silver iodide is often used in cloud seeding. A pound of silver iodide is enough to seed many cubic miles of clouds.
#jewelleryfacts365 158/365 Silver fact
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Posted by Natalia at 10:00 AM
Labels: jewellery facts, silver facts
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Dr. Murray Feingold: Do childhood woes continue?
If you were allergic to eggs or peanuts as a child, or had asthma, will these conditions persist into adulthood?
Allergies to eggs is not a rare condition. Symptoms usually occur shortly after ingesting an egg. The egg white is the usual culprit.
The respiratory and gastrointestinal systems, and the skin are usually affected. Symptoms include wheezing, shortness of breath, a rash, hives, swelling, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, itchy eyes and a runny nose. The diagnosis can be confirmed by a blood test that shows an elevation in the body's Immunoglobulin E, a type of antibody.
A study was done to determine if allergies to eggs in childhood continue into adulthood. Children who were diagnosed as having egg allergies - 880 of them - were studied to determine if they remained allergic as they entered adulthood.
By age 18, 80 percent to 89 percent of these patients did not have elevated IgE levels, indicating they were no longer allergic to eggs.
Individuals who as children had high levels of IgE were more likely to continue to be allergic to eggs.
In contrast to egg allergies, a much higher percentage of children with peanut allergy will continue to have symptoms as adults.
At one time it was believed that peanut allergies remained for life, but recent studies have shown this is not always true. However, a large percentage of individuals allergic to peanuts remain so in adult life.
Peanut allergies usually occur early in life and this is why it is recommended that infants and young children should not be exposed to peanuts or products containing peanuts.
What about asthma? Studies have shown that about 50 percent of children with asthma continue to have symptoms as adults. Those with more severe and prolonged symptoms as children were more likely have adult asthma.
Many adults with asthma did not have asthma as children but developed it in their adult years. There are various situations such as air pollution or the presence of a respiratory infection that can precipitate the onset of adult asthma.
Dr. Murray Feingold is the physician in chief of the National Birth Defects Center, medical editor of WBZ-TV and WBZ radio, and president of the Genesis Fund. The Genesis Fund is a nonprofit organization that funds the care of children born with birth defects, mental retardation and genetic diseases.


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Facebook has just launched a new feature: Suggested Events. It scrabbles through your account history to find events you might like to attend in real life. But is that a great idea, or will it generate a bunch of irritating spam?
According to TechCrunch , the tool uses information from your Facebook check-in history, brand page activity, and the RSVPs of your online friends to compile a list of events. It also makes suggestions based on the music you listen to through Open Graph apps — presumably meaning that you'll see concert tips in the list, too.
The service seems similar to Foursquare's discovery tool Radar — but given the sheer weight of Facebook users, this will no doubt attract far more users. The feature is already live, and you can see your Suggested Events page here.
On the surface of things, it seems like a positive addition for users: knowing about interesting stuff that's happening is a good thing. But there's no obvious way to remove events from the list — you can either join the event or say maybe — so I do wonder just how much spam will accumulate.
And when it does, how useful will the service be? Throw into the mix Facebook's increasing emphasis on advertising, and you may likely end up with a bunch of corporate crap in your list, too. Let's see how good Facebook's software is. [TechCrunch via The Verge; Image: west.m]


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I came across something midway through Murdered: Soul Suspect that summed up the majority of my experience playing this game. I was strolling through a police station as Ronan O'Connor, a detective so hard-boiled that his own death could not stop him from hunting down the notorious murderer as The Bell Killer. The game begins with O'Connor being killed by that very serial killer, so the hunt has taken a turn for the personal by the time the player steps into Ronan's shoes.
During a trip downstairs at the station, I happened upon my own corpse. This was an opportunity for real emotional drama in a game that first opens with the untimely and tragic death of Ronan's wife before showing O'Connor himself getting the axe a moment later. Not only that, it posed an introspective, almost philosophical dilemma about who or what you're playing as in a video game about the burden of immortality.
Most games let you behave as if you're immortal. Few are bold enough to turn this into a dramatic conceit. So how did Murdered: Soul Suspect have Ronan respond to witnessing his own nonbeing? He said nothing.
Actually, that's not entirely true. Ronan doesn't "say" anything, but he technically writes something. I just had to dig for it in the notes after an alert popped up telling me that I'd seen my own physical remains.
"Nothing can prepare you for that," Ronan wrote there. "For seeing your own corpse. It never felt so much like an empty shell until now. God, I look like a criminal."
Murdered is a game with strong inspirations in film noire and horror movies of all shapes and sizes, so there are plenty of cinematic cutaways here. I imagine in an alternate version, Ronan's encounter with his own flesh and blood might have been handled differently. Maybe the camera would be pulled away from the player's control to focus on his ghostly visage as he stared aghast at what lay before him.
Instead, the actual, lived moment in the morgue delivers nothing close to that emotional tone. When you encounter the body, his body, Ronan remains entirely impassive. You can linger over your...self as long as you want, but the orderlies attending to the corpses in the police station's dead person wing won't say anything either. Eventually, if you want to finish Soul Suspect, you'll have to walk back upstairs, where a good percentage of the computers in the same police station are illuminated with loading screens for Deus Ex: Human Revolution for some reason.
If I were a middle school English teacher, I'd call this a textbook example of "show, don't tell." I'm not, and we're not talking about a book here anyways. But it's the same basic problem, and the one that plagues all of the mysteries—murder-themed or otherwise—in Soul Suspect. The game offers up oodles of traumatic scenarios. But it almost never lets you play through them in any provocative or meaningful way. By the end of the game's relatively short single player campaign, I felt like Ronan says he did in that moment in the police station: staring down at the empty shell of something that could have turned out much better.
I'm not really sure what to call Murdered: Soul Suspect genre-wise, so I'll just say it's an adventure game. A serial killer plot set in a modern-day-ish version of Salem, Massachusetts, the game mixes occult phenomenon with procedural police drama in manner akin to Seven or True Detective—the main difference being the ghosts are real in this story.
It's similar in tone and style to a game like LA Noire or Heavy Rain if one or both of those was thrown into a blender with Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. The game centers around Ronan's mission to uncover the true identity of the Bell Killer, the twist being that you're dead so you can't indulge in the same interrogation tactics as Cole Phelps does in LA Noire or the fast-paced fighting and fleeing in Heavy Rain.
You still have to do a similar kind of environment-based puzzle solving as seen in both those games, however. Ronan's ghostly status just gives him access to a different set of abilities and limitations. He's invisible to most people, and can walk through physical barriers such as walls and furniture. The majority of humans in the game can be possessed, giving you an ability to eavesdrop on their conversations or their innermost thoughts. You can also manipulate the people you're inhabiting to trigger relevant memories or sometimes make them do things—but never anything more significant than, say, moving a pile of papers so you can analyze a photograph for clues.
Oh, and you can possess cats too. That's probably my favorite part of the game. Because, I mean, they're cats. Just look at the kitty go!
The sad part about that is: I'm not actually joking. The feline-centric levels in this game honestly stand out as of its most dynamic sections. Partly that's because the cat is a more nimble beast than a human being—living or otherwise. But it's also a sign of just how restrictive most of Soul Suspect's world feels.
Murdered's gameplay is broken up into a few separate chunks. The first involves walking around the world. This is a harder process than you might think—and not really in a good way. Ronan is a restless soul, which means he's tasty prey for gangs of roving demons that pop up from time to time. These are toothy, caped beasts that suck the life out of Ronan in short order once they see him. If you sneak up behind them, however, you can give them the same treatment.
That's obstacle number one. Number two is another demonic scourge: this one in the form of little volcanic mounds that occasionally block your way. If you try to walk over one, a series of ash-colored arms will clutch at your legs and drag you down towards hell. I called these "floor demons" for no better reason than the fact that they're demons coming out the floor. They're usually deposited in neat little squares right in front of some place you're trying to go, which gives a good opportunity for some puzzle solving.
This leads to the third obstacle. They're called "dusk objects," and they're essentially an undead version of the same walls and furniture that populate modern-day Salem. Only difference is, you can't pass through them.
I take it that these threes types of barriers were put into the game to make traversing the world more challenging, and thus more interesting. The problem is, none of them are all that difficult—at least in any compelling way. From the beginning of the game, for instance, you can toggle a sort of stealth-vision mode that lets you see exactly where demons are and in what direction their cone of vision is pointing. As far as I could tell, they never get stronger or more formidable as Soul Suspect progresses either.
I realized within seconds of encountering my first demon, therefore, that all I had to do was stand behind a wall and wait for them to turn the other direction. Once they did, I could walk through that same wall and kill them. Or whatever the hell you're doing to them is called. Either way, it's very easy to make the bad guys in this game go away.
Similarly, every time I saw a floor demon, there was always—always—an immediately apparent way bypass it. Usually, the solution involved using a "poltergeist" action to set off some electronic device, make a living person standing on the other side cross over the floor demon to, say, turn off the vacuum cleaner you just switched on with your otherworldly powers, and possess them so they can transport you across the noxious bit of floor unharmed.
A good puzzle is meant to present itself to you gradually, making the act of discovering its solution the fun part. The levels in Murdered: Soul Suspect aren't like this. They feel less like intriguing mazes to be wound through cautiously, and more like mousetraps you want to get out of as soon as possible.
This just gets worse in the mystery-solving portion of Soul Suspect, which is the other main chunk of its gameplay. Once you manage to find your way to one of the game's many crime scenes in need of investigating, you're challenged with walking Ronan around a tiny space in search of clues. Since many of these are full-blown crime scenes with real-life policemen milling around, the clues for which you have to search are often highlighted with police tape or little yellow evidence markers.
Once you've found enough, you press a button (triangle for the DualShock 4) to go into a sort of analysis mode where you have to sift through all the available clues and select the ones that are most relevant to the question at hand. Unlike a game like Heavy Rain or LA Noire, however, there's no real consequence for failing to do so effectively or efficiently. If you don't get it right on the first try, your score for the puzzle goes down (it's rated on a one-to-three scale marked with little detective shields that disappear when you get a wrong answer). But it also crosses out the wrong answer definitively each time you mess up, meaning you're always eventually going to end up with the "right" choice.
Again, this ends up feeling more like an endurance test than an actual intellectual challenge. Or an emotional one, because this is a horror game after all. But at its worst moments, these puzzles are something worse than repetitive or easy. Oftentimes, Soul Suspect prompted me with questions that left me thinking: "Wow, this game really doesn't respect my intelligence."
During one crime scene late in the game, for instance, I walked up to inspect a mangled corpse that was stuck underneath a giant rock. Looking down at the body and pressing the "investigate" button, I was greeted with an onscreen message asking how I thought the person died. I really, really don't know how one would end up choosing anything other than "crushed by a giant rock."
Ok, maybe saying that the game doesn't respect the intelligence of its players isn't fair. But no matter how I look at it, there's something disquieting to the blandness of Murdered: Soul Suspect. It's a game about ghosts, demons, and the Salem witch trials. For a story that's on some level interested in scaring its players, it never has the courage to let those same players make their own mistakes.
This is frustrating, because there are some intriguing ideas at play here. Ronan's life as a ghost is one of the most frank attempts I've seen from a game developer to take the ability to pass through walls from its origin as a cheat code in early first-person games and turn it into a viable type of gameplay of its own.
The social dynamics at play between Ronan and the game's other characters—most of whom are still alive—are also interesting. There's a real potential for terror in scenes where O'Connor is stuck powerless to intervene in the events of the living that unfold before him.
The game doesn't do much with any of this potential, however. So if you're in the mood for a tense, murder-driven adventure game, I would just recommend dusting off a copy of something like Heavy Rain instead.
Actually, now that I think about it, I'm sort of jealous of all the people in Salem's police station who had copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution installed on their desktops. Maybe I'll go play that instead.
I couldn't walk through walls in that game, I guess. But contorting myself through the the vents in that game was a lot more fun anyway.
To contact the author of this post, write to firstname.lastname@example.com or find him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq.


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One more way that TV won't stop being crap
Colour, High Definition, widescreen and now 3D. All lipstick on the proverbial pig.
Sky subscribers could be treated to 3D TV this coming Christmas, the broadcaster has said. The firm's Chief Engineer, Chris Johns, said that there's the possibility that homes could "see 3D" by the end of the year and it's aiming to "build a content library over the coming year". Sky's already claimed to have successfully …
The current Sky HD stb won't be able to display 3D as they are limited by their use of early version of HDMI -- so you'll need a new stb too.
Although the entire HDMI spec needs an update to properly handle 3D-HD, HDMI 1.3 could be heath-robinsoned into first-generation stereoscopic material ... maybe ... but the HDMI format really needs to support 120Hz rates for 3D-HD and that is a long way off.
Who's going to want to sit down in front of the telly and have to don a pair of sexy specs just to watch Eastenders 3D?
Its OK for the occasional movie or sports, but how quickly with those specs break, are they going to provided enough of them for 7 or 8 people to all sit down and watch together, and will they be available free?
Paris, because I'd like to see her star in a remake of Twin Peaks in 3d.
"Early adopters will have to fork out extra for a new telly capable of displaying the stereoscopic images and special specs to separate out the left- and right-eye views."
So, I need a special TV *and* shuttered glasses for each viewer. Something tells me that this, along with a lack of content (two cameras for each shot?) makes this plan a non-starter.
What are those folks at Sky smoking, and where can I get some?
//mine's the one with the red/blue cardboard glasses in the pocket
So having forked out for an HD TV and the premium Sky HD Service, they expect us to fork out for another TV - one which you need those silly cardboard glasses to watch? Not on your life.
They've had these 3D experiments before on analogue TV. They do not look particularly 3D and make doing other things at the same time quite difficult (contrary to what Sky seem to believe I'm not about to devote large chunks of my life to staring exclusively at the TV.. I have other things to do).
Just a shame the current HD service is utterly pants. 1080i? come on Sky, wheres the 1080p. And where's all the content? finding a show in HD is like finding an Apple product playing WMA's :P
No one in there right mind would want 3D, short of a few moments of craziness no one should bother with Sky's HD service with it lacking so badly in actual content. Forget the fluff Sky, get the content on HD, and get FullHD available!
Just like VHS, unless the porn industry adopt 3D it'll never take off. Forget broadcast, are there any 3D Blu Ray movies out there ? If there was public demand, there would have been more 3D DVDs produced.
Sky are SCARED of FreeSat. Yes, those interested in sport will still stump up lots of cash for Sky and even more for their HD from Sky. Those who want HD for BBC news and documentaries will get FreeSat. This marketing stunt isn't going to help Sky's cause much.
Firstly, 1080i vs 1080p is simply a difference in transport mechanism for 25 frames per second content -- which includes movies, drama, and pretty much everything HD except sport. 1080p/25 takes exactly the same bandwidth as 1080i/50 which the odd and even lines of the 25p picture are split into two fields. Any half decent deinterlacer in any tele bought in the last couple of years can pull the two fields together to recreate the 25p frames.
Don't drink the "Full HD" marketing kool-aid, and then try and sound like you know what you're talking about.
Secondly, not being a BSkyB apologist but there is tonnes of stuff in HD: loads of great BBC programmes; as well as likes of Channel 4's flagship US shows like Desperate Housewives; BBC's US shows like Heroes and Damages; Sky 1's US shows like Lost, 24, Battlestar Galactica, Bones, Simpsons, and many more as well as Sky's own tat like Gladiators; there are 16 dedicated entertainment HD channels. There are also 10 HD movie channels including Disney as well as 2 ppv HD movie channels, and 4 HD sports channels.
"Badly lacking in content" doesn't really seem a realistic comment considering all that.
Paris, coz she knows a good thing when she sees it.
Sounds fine in theory, but the technicalities have way, way to go in getting an image that works well.
For instance, in a 2D image the focus is on the main protagonist on a standard TV. If our eyes roam the screen then its not too distracting or visually disturbing. But when you go to 3D we naturally move our concentration elsewhere and expect the focus to adjust accordingly...... The result so far? - A blurred area ( bad depth of field) and not a re-adjusted focus as we would see in the real world ...... Vomit comet or what!
Still, I look forward to Paris Hilton in 3D - actually, come to think of it, no thanks ;-)
...not on your nelly.
We're still watching a 10 year old 14" CRT Bush TV with the audio running through a modest but decent enough Cambridge amp to a pair of modest but decent enough JVC speakers.
Admittedly 14" is on the small side and I've not got the /greatest/ audio setup, but the overall viewing experience is infinitely more enjoyable than watching an oversized supermarket special "HD" TV pixellating the picture as soon as anything moves on-screen, whilst the brag-tastic and shiny piece of chav-tech squeezes out a tinny approximation of the intended sound through the built in speakers.
Outside, on the footpath in front of the house containing the proud owners of said new telly, next to the bins, is a Toshiba/Philips/Hitachi CRT TV that was perfectly functional piece of kit until it became rain-damaged and had it's screen kicked in.
Actually, scratch my first line. It'll no doubt sell like hotcakes once Tesco and Asda have the no-name brand versions in stock.
Am I the only one on the planet who cannot see what's so great about HD? I have seen Sky's HD offerungs played out on a relative's 50" monstrosity and quite frankly for the amount it cost set up, I was severely disappointed!
So onto the next gimmick to try to keep the masses paying out for their Sky subs. Much like computers, Average Joe will only buy one large device every couple of years, so unless Sky are going to offer cut-price sponsership deals so you only pay 20% list for one of these 3D-HD TV's can't see this being anything more than a gimmick to appease Sky's shareholders.
All hype to get separate fools and their money, just like HD TV broadcasts!
Having to wear stupid looking 3D glasses is a no-no for regular watching. It's OK occasionally when you go out to an IMAX or something.
Also, you have to bear in mind that a large proportion of the population that wear glasses. Wearing 3D specs over your glasses is a PITA. Not all of us glasses wearers can wear or want to wear contacts and people such as my wife who only need glasses for watching telly will not want to put contacts in just to watch 3D TV.
They ought to give up on the idea of 3D until they can get rid of the silly specs requirement.
If you buy cheap supermarket rubbish lcd's then of course you'll get a rubbish pixelated picture and tinny sound. same as anything, buy a cheap £4.5K new car and you'll get a plastic dashboard that falls off and a car that sounds like a set of roadworks above 40mph.
Stick to a decent brand of LCD TV , and avoid stupid sizes like 50" and you will get something that gives a noticible and enjoyable improvement in picture quality. I found the difference between my old 26" crt and my new 32" 1080p the same as the improvement between watching SD and Extra Long Play recorded VHS. (and before anyone mouths off on whats the point in 32" 1080p , I have a small room and am close to the tv so yes it make difference over 720p)
When I was a lad (1980's) they showed a few films on the box that had been created for 3d & TVTimes/Radio Times (the only TV guide magazines back then) for that week included cardboard specs for viewing the 3d effect.
There was no need to change from your 24" colour CRT fat telly fed purely through analogue aerial signal with a super lo-def signal. So why the need for new telly & HD set-top box AND cardboard glasses?
Has 3d technology really "developed" over nearly 30 years if the stupidly uncomfortable shades are still required?
Sounds like the telly salesman's wet dream... another format to sell. I'll be keeping my money to spend in the real world where real world experiences are in 3d for free.
You won't need to fork out for a new TV. The people stuck with older CRTs can use shutterglasses, and you can guarantee that once it gets mainstream there'll be a low-flicker version to be used with plasmas and LCDs.
Plus if they go frame-sequential it'll work with the head-mounted displays some people have (for iPods, for gaming, etc).
And if you're a bit cheap there'll be a box for converting the frame-sequential into red/blue anaglyph.
And for the ultra-cutting-edge types the glassesless auto-stereoscopic displays would be able to interpret the frame sequential images.
Looking at the longer term view, this could be a good driver for tech- okay, you might not want it now but what if your next TV in, say, 5 or 10 years came with it built in- essentially for free? Would you mind that? Plus it'll improve the refresh rate of LCDs and Plasmas (and whatever comes next), meaning that people like me won't get headaches from poor update rates).
Saying that, it's Sky so it'll be anaglyph Disney movies twice a day and a claim that they're world-leading...
@"The current Sky HD stb won't be able to display 3D as they are limited by their use of early version of HDMI -- so you'll need a new stb too.
Although the entire HDMI spec needs an update to properly handle 3D-HD, HDMI 1.3 could be heath-robinsoned into first-generation stereoscopic material ... maybe ... but the HDMI format really needs to support 120Hz rates for 3D-HD and that is a long way off.
" ----- ?? you seem to have not understood. all they do is show stereoscopic images. also, on the gadget show they demoed sky HD 3d on a normal sky box (allegidly) so why do you think this is needed?
and to the rest of you? wtf??!?!?! 3d tv is great (i remember being blown away years ago at universal studios... and that was with the silly green/red glasses) - the new glasses look like see through fake glasses.
i think films and sports will be amazing in 3d. but then again this website is full of people who cream over the new linux distro but cant see the difference between SD and HD tv so i guess linux wrecks your eyes??? :)
@"Who's going to want to sit down in front of the telly and have to don a pair of sexy specs just to watch Eastenders 3D?" ----- erm, many people DO wear glasses already. i guess i would just need to put some film over my TV glasses? or maybe an overlay of some kind... like the asians seem to do on glasses to make them sunglasses.
also, the gadget show said sky have no plans to broadcast commercially. so i wonder who is talking rubbish here? sky already do broadcast in 3d but privately, they showed some working in the studio.
they also showed an interesting nvidia usb device that tweaks your pc monitor to show 3d! all you need is the clear glasses. and they said it looked pretty good too. and was only £140, but did rely on cpecific games apparently... but there was over 140 to choose from they said.
i must admit though, after buying a massive good quality TV last xmas im not considering shelling out for a new tv for quite some time, but i do find the prospect of 3d movies and footy an interesting new direction.
@"We're still watching a 10 year old 14" CRT Bush TV with the audio running through a modest but decent enough Cambridge amp to a pair of modest but decent enough JVC speakers.
Admittedly 14" is on the small side and I've not got the /greatest/ audio setup, but the overall viewing experience is infinitely more enjoyable than watching an oversized supermarket special "HD" TV pixellating the picture as soon as anything moves on-screen, whilst the brag-tastic and shiny piece of chav-tech squeezes out a tinny approximation of the intended sound through the built in speakers." ----- oh come on.... you are just jelous and bitter... 14" wtf??? i couldnt even cope with a monitor that small.... and not all of us watch on cheap big TVs... you get what you pay for i think sums it up well! my tv only pixelates REALLY poor broadcasts (like some european football from the arse-end of nowhere), which you can easily see on a small tv too.
@"Am I the only one on the planet who cannot see what's so great about HD? I have seen Sky's HD offerungs played out on a relative's 50" monstrosity and quite frankly for the amount it cost set up, I was severely disappointed!" ----- probably another one of those 'HD ready' 720i shitty tvs... on a decent TV programs like blue planet and BR disks are amazing (dont watch casino royale BR its terrible! check out iron-man or the new batman films for some seriously good HD action)! seriously, go and find someone who has it all setup right with a nice AV amp and you can see/hear the difference! nature programs look amazing!
and btw "All hype to get separate fools and their money, just like HD TV broadcasts!" if you are going to insult the people who are pushing technology please do it in a manner than makes sense. if it was all down to people like you we would all still be watching a 10" tv in mono... but i guess stereo doesnt make any difference to you either does it?
im shocked by some of the luddites on a tech website to be honest.
sounds like your relatives fell for the "biggest is best" school of thought. For these flat panel tellies you have an optimum viewing distance, roughlly 4:1, so for every diagnal inch on screen, you need to be sat 4 inches away from the screen. That means that that huge 50" monster would need a viewing position around 17ft away to get the best picture, and sitting any close things will be heavily pixilated and very gash.
I guess I'm missing something here. What is the point of HD Simpsons? Or does it allow you to see even more of the low quality animation?
I did see the IMAX 3D with the 30 foot high 3D Homer and that was pretty impressive, but that was computer generated.
As Sky don't seem to have the current bandwidth to actually deliver really good images in standard def what the hell is this mad rush to HD and now 3DHD all about. Apart from Sky getting worried about not having any new "product" to sell?
Hmm.. all I can say is.. are you blind ??
Don't base your judegements on what you see in comet FFS.. I mean you wouldn't go there to hear how good your cambridge amp sounded would you ?
Decent blueray + decent (even 720p) large modern plasma or LCD and it looks MASSIVELY better than DVD.
Now, fair enough some HD content is going to be bandwidth squished, and to be honest some stuff doesn't really benefit from HD anyhoo (QI in HD.. so what?)
But your basic argument is akin to 'why does anyone need more that 640x480 resolution on their PC' from 15 years ago..... personally I'll stick with my 50" HD plasma, HD projector in the bedroom, and 42" HD plasma in the conservatory.... :-)
I still use an old telly, but plugged into a Windows Media Center (which may well soon become a Mtyh box...) and the 7.1 surround sound system it drives. OK, 7.1 is over-kill and it's just a crappy CreativeLabs system...but wow. What a difference.
I would go far as to say that the sound is more important than the picture. So when will I get 5.1 surround broadcast over the air, huh? That's what I want, not more lines on the screen.
All the negative comments on here seem to have missed something crucial here. Yes, no-one's going to buy it and no-one's going to wear the specs and no-one's going to fork out for another telly and no-one's going to watch the invariably crap programs that are produced (i'm excluding the real hardcore gadget freaks here).
The crucial bit you've all missed is - yet.
So it looks stupid now but call me a 'my-glass-is-empty-but-I-know-it'll-get-filled-soon-optimist' if you will but given that the world around is 3D why shouldn't our entertainment be 3D too?
The technological aspects will be solved. The initially microscopic market will expand. And 10 or 15 years from now the next generation that may come across these comments will wonder what the fuck all the fuss was about and just how or why we put up with 2D for so long.
Yes it's shit at the moment but you could say that about any emergent tech. Give it a chance peeps and you never know, mofo holodecks may not be too far away.
Why are Sky wasting money on this? 3D was a fad in the 60s and is still a fad today. Just who do they think is going to be interested in this? The market will be limited to handful surely!
Nuts. Why not concentrate that money on making the Sky+ and Sky+ HD EPG actually decent, i.e. with proper series links that actually link *all* series and across channels, ability to have wish list / keyword / metatag recording, and something infinitely better than Anytime (e.g. like Suggestions on TiVo which is based on your viewing likes and dislikes, not what Sky want to force on you and then find you can't watch because you don't subscribe to the relevant channel, but it'll eat disc space for it anyway) ?
Better still, add support for online content, iPlayer etc.
And why not also concentrate on making Sky+ HD boxes reliable. Stop putting dodgy components in the boxes to save money for a start!
3D! Pah. They're as nuts as Lucas.
@"I still use an old telly, but plugged into a Windows Media Center (which may well soon become a Mtyh box...) and the 7.1 surround sound system it drives. OK, 7.1 is over-kill and it's just a crappy CreativeLabs system...but wow. What a difference.
I would go far as to say that the sound is more important than the picture. So when will I get 5.1 surround broadcast over the air, huh? That's what I want, not more lines on the screen."
nah - 7.1 is good if the room can handle it. i have a long narrow lounge so my surrounds are behind me and to the side and my 2 surround rears (the 6.1 and 7.1 elements) are at the back of the room. they add a nice depth. not to mention if you have a good amp it will do 7.1 stereo for music... which sounds amazing! (2 walls of stereo, with the center speaker taking the majority of the vocals etc). and as you say, 'wow, what a difference' that is because you are listening to 3d sound.... not just sound coming from 'over there'. the sound is around you. and no, those TVs that claim to give surround sound from a set of stereo speakers dont sound anywhere near as good as the proper thing.... trust me (ok, i havent tried the bose £3,000 ones but my TV has top end speakers built in and sounds nowhere near as good as the separates and speakers)
i would say if you can afford it get rid of that creative laps kit and get some proper speakers and a decent amp. i went with a 5.1 (little sony AV system) first but slowly upgraded to 7.1 yamaha amp and mordaunt short speakers... the difference is as good again from stereo to the sony 5.1 setup. also you find that amps and separates dont make the bloody hum of a PC! and btw - BBC HD channel does 5.1 when it can - so things like blue planet etc are (i think) in 5.1. some stuff definately is (heroes for example) and there was even cat stevens live on at xmas - in 5.1 - it sounded awesome! i just wish i'd waited another year to get the dolbyTRUEHD amps... uncompressed sound... lovely. although im more than happy with my current setup.
remember that 7.1 isnt really used on many films - there are some 6.1 (blade 2 for example) but not many that i have found. i would rather go for a decent amp as mine does lots of config with a mic and it adjusts the reverb etc for your particular room... very impessive!
"buy a cheap £4.5K new car and you'll get a plastic dashboard that falls off and a car that sounds like a set of roadworks above 40mph."
I know this is kinda off topic, but if you shop around you can get a new Citroen C1 for little more than that, and that is a well built little motor, and I've never had any problems with it above 40 thats for sure. I have nothing against rants, but rants need to be factually correct :)


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ISLAMABAD: Ahead of their crucial World Cup semi-final against India, Pakistani cricketers have been warned not to indulge in any match-fixing by Interior Minister Rehman Malik who said he was keeping a "close watch" on their activities.
"I gave a warning that there should be no match-fixing. I am keeping a close watch. If any such thing happens, we are going to take action," Malik said two days ahead of the game in Mohali that will showcase one of the world's most intense sporting rivalries.
Malik said that though he was "sure the team has very clean members", intelligence is being gathered on the Pakistani cricketers, including "who are meeting them and the position of their telephones".
"This is necessary because we can't take a chance after what happened in London," he said, in a reference to a recent match-fixing controversy in Britain involving three Pakistani players.
Malik, who made the remarks during an interaction with the media in the port city of Karachi, also had some advice for the Pakistani players.
"Do your practice, sleep early at night and wake at the proper time. They should dedicate themselves to Pakistan for the match," he said.
There is a lot of excitement about the India-Pakistan clash in the World Cup semifinal, he said.
"There is a lot of love for the cricketers and we hope they will win the game for us. We expect they will not disappoint the people," he said.
Malik also welcomed his Indian counterpart P Chidambaram's remarks about adequate security being provided to the Pakistani team while in India in light of possible threats to the players.
He noted that Chidambaram had said special arrangements would be made for the game in Mohali, including the deploying of some 1,000 commandos.
"I am sure of his (Chidambaram's) capability. He is a man of wisdom and authority and has the capability to handle things well," Malik said.(PTI)


text:
Editor's note: Freelance writer and breast cancer survivor Amanda Enayati contributes regularly to CNNHealth.com.
(CNN) -- The first thing I did after receiving what is surely one of the top two or three most terrifying medical diagnoses was pick up the telephone to call my husband to tell him to come home, and my brother to ask him to call my parents, because I couldn't bear their grief as well as my own.
The second thing I did was open a document in Word and name it: The Second Half of My Life.
And these are the words I wrote in those first few minutes:
You probably wouldn't believe my life. In a certain light it would read like an encyclopedia of tragedy: revolution, disease, isolation, dysfunction, terrorism, failure and withdrawal. Before you check out, let me also tell you that if you were to meet me, you may think a sunnier person never lived.
I would repeat those two sentences again a few years later, when I began writing a blog about the surreal turns my youngish life had taken. I wrote every day for a year for whoever cared to log on to read about it. And I tried to make sense of it all.
The writing was automatic, intuitive and almost unconscious for me. But as time passed I felt certain that it somehow had helped save my life, though I dared not articulate it for fear of sounding irrational.
I was about halfway through the Aspen Words literary festival last week when I noticed that writer after writer spoke of a basic human need to tell a story, using words like "primal," "fundamental," "necessary."
"What is therapy but a form of storytelling?" observed National Book Award winner Colum McCann. Later, McCann told me: "Storytelling is the great democracy. We all want to -- need to -- tell our stories. There is a certain catharsis in being able to tell your story, in confronting your demons."
Intrigued by the idea of a fundamental human need for self-expression, I began to research. It was not long before I came upon Dr. James Pennebaker and his work.
Early in his career, Pennebaker, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, stumbled across a correlation between people who had had traumatic experiences and an increased number of health problems. He became fascinated with the nature of secrets and holding back important aspects of one's life.
"Major stressors in life influence physical health," said Pennebaker when I reached him by telephone a few days ago. "There is absolutely no doubt that having a serious upheaval in your life is associated with potentially devastating biological changes: increased cardiovascular activity, lowered immune function, an increased risk of heart attacks. What secrets do is turn the pressure up that much more."
Pennebaker wondered early on what would happen if he brought people into the lab and asked them to reveal the traumas they had kept secret. In his first study, published in 1986, he randomly assigned a group to either write about major upheavals or superficial topics. In the six months that followed, those who had written about trauma visited doctors at much lower rates those who had written about random topics.
In another study in the 1990s of people with AIDS, those who wrote about their diagnosis and how it had affected their lives experienced a beneficial increase in white blood cell counts and a drop in their viral loads.
Study after study bore out Pennebaker's thesis that putting negative experiences into words seems to have positive physical and psychological effects.
And eventually he began to see nuances in the way writing helps us heal. One was that those people who are able to make a positive slant in their writing -- by using words like "love," "care," "happy" and "joy" -- appear to benefit more than others. "Even if the person is saying 'no one cares about me' or 'I don't love anyone,' that still means they're thinking about a dimension of happiness. It's better to say you're not happy than to say you're sad."
Another important factor was an element of self-reflection in the writing, often manifested through the use of causal words like "because," "cause," "effect," "reason," "rationale," or any other word that suggests the writer is trying to make sense of what happened to him or her. "If you're telling the same story over and over again, you won't benefit and your friends will go crazy," notes Pennebaker. "It's putting things together, the cause and effect, the self-reflection that makes a difference."
The ability to shift perspective is also key. Standing back and seeing trauma from different points of view -- your own and through the eyes of others -- is a marker of a better psychological state.
Nancy Morgan's research findings at Georgetown's Lombardi Cancer Center mirror Pennebaker's. By the time she created the expressive writing program at Lombardi in 2001, she had lost both her mother and husband to cancer. Through the program she conducts writing workshops for patients, chaplains, nurses, social workers and medical students -- "really anyone who might need a unique coping tool that is expressive and private."
"I'm operating in a cancer clinic," said Morgan, "and so my work has to be fairly solid and evidence-based. And being in a research hospital, I was asked to do research." Morgan's studies showed a significant correlation between self-expression and the way cancer patients thought about their illness, as well as specific physical improvements in their health. "What struck me was the similarity in the writing. Almost everyone described a trajectory from the shock of diagnosis to some level of acceptance to a form of gratitude to some specific transformation in their lives. The sense that 'cancer is no gift; it just taught me what the gifts in my life are.' The patients seemed to find their way out of the darkness and I believe the writing helped them do that."
While doing expressive writing on your own is as easy as finding a quiet moment and putting pen to paper, Morgan provided the following guidelines for those who may need them:
• Expressive writing involves describing thoughts and feelings about life experiences.
• When something happens, how do you feel about it? What do you think about it?
• Choose a topic that is familiar: Write about a memorable summer, a turning point in your life, a mentor who helped you through a crisis.
• Once you begin, the feelings that need to be expressed will find their way to the paper. Your writing may be a few sentences, or go on at length.
• Later in the day, reflect on your writing experience. How did the writing make you feel?