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114 Whitwell Street, Quincy, MA 02169 617-773-6100
Quincy Medical Center (QMC) patients have access to some of the most advanced imaging equipment available, including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), advanced Positron Emission Tomography/Computer Tomography or PET/CT Scanning. In addition, our Vascular Laboratory is a multidisciplinary service offering leading edge, non-invasive diagnosis of vascular disorders.
These state-of-the-art imaging devices allow doctors to diagnose patients in a timely and effective manner.
Clinical oversight and reporting of diagnostic imaging services at QMC are performed by a team of medical professionals including members of Quincy Medical Center and the Boston University Radiology Associates. QMC's chief of radiology leads a team of board-certified, fellowship-trained radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians skilled in musculoskeletal imaging, PET/CT imaging, neuroradiology, interventional radiology and diagnostic angiography.
The Simon C. Fireman Imaging Center for Women
The Simon C. Fireman Imaging Center for Women provides another service for the community and was created to offer women a comfortable, private atmosphere in which to undergo testing such as mammography, ultrasound and bone densitometry. Mammograms are reviewed by board-certified radiologists who specialize in women's imaging studies, and in most cases results are provided before patients leave QMC.
Quincy Medical Center recently added Breast MRI to its full complement of breast imaging capabilities. Using a powerful but harmless magnetic field and radio waves, this state-of-the-art technology enables physicians to detect developing diseases or abnormalities earlier than ever. Breast MRI should be used to evaluate women who have been diagnosed with cancer, to provide clarity if there is a questionable mammogram or ultrasound, or to screen women who are at high risk (greater than 20 percent) of developing cancer. In addition, women who have previously had breast cancer are eligible and should have an annual MRI in addition to a yearly mammogram. MRI is used to evaluate silicone breast implants and ruptures.
Diagnostic Imaging/Radiology
Quincy Medical Center


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Seetha, Thiagarajan, Prashanth, Senthil, Radha Ravi, Suresh Krishna, Delhi Ganesh, TB Gajendran, T Rajendar, Thiyagu, Pandiarajan among others were present at Aroon and Pavittra's wedding.
Aroon, who tied the knot with Pavittra on April, is the son of Tamil actors Ramarajan and Nalini,
Click on, for exclusive snaps of Kollywood celebrities at Aroon's wedding.
Photos: South celebrity weddings of 2014

subset: commoncrawl


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We've all read about, maybe even experienced it ourselves, children being teased, harassed and bullied if they are overweight. The heavier the child, the more intense the negative trifecta becomes. This topic often comes up when discussing classmate and peer bullying, but a new study also looks at obese or overweight children who feel bullied by adults in authority (coaches, gym instructors, teachers,) and their own parents.
Researchers from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, gave 350 teens that had enrolled in two national weight loss camps, questionnaires to fill out. The teens were questioned about weight-based victimization including duration, location where the abuse occurred, who the perpetrators were and what kind of abuse they suffered.
Not surprisingly, results showed that a high percentage of bullying and teasing occurred at school (64%.) Most participants reported weight-based victimization for at least one year (78%) and 36% were teased and or bullied for 5 years.
The teens also noted who was responsible for the bullying. 92% said peers (classmates) and friends (70%.) Then the groups switched to the adults in their lives. PE teachers / sport coaches came in at 42%, followed by parents at 37% and teachers at 27%.
The types of teasing and or bullying were verbal teasing (75-88%), relational victimization (74-82%), cyber-bullying (59-61%) and physical aggression (33%-61%.)
Looking at these statistics, the saddest one of all is parents at 37 percent.
"What we see most often from parents is teasing in the form of verbal comments," says Rebecca M. Puhl PhD, the study's lead author.
Some of the remarks made to teens about their weight come from well-meaning parents who are actually trying to encourage their child to lose the extra pounds. But other studies have shown – and former teens who are now adults can verify – that teasing, harassing and bullying by parents and relatives can lead to eating disorders and psychological problems such as disordered eating (bulimia, anorexia), use of laxatives and other dangerous weight-control practices (extreme exercising), as well as depression.
Puhl advises adults to lend a supportive hand to overweight children, especially those who are already suffering from bullying at school and by friends.
She and other experts agree that overweight children need supportive, not punitive, guidance. "Don't blame your child for his weight. Dinner-table comments like, "Do you really need another piece of bread?" will make your child feel badly about himself, which will undermine his efforts toward health.
"Powerful biological forces maintain weight differentially in people," explains Dan Kirschenbaum, president of Wellspring, an organization that runs weight-loss camps and boarding schools. Some people find it more difficult to lose weight because of their genetics. This applies not only to adults, but children too. It is going to require more effort and a change in how weight loss is perceived. Losing weight to fit in or to try and copy an unrealistic body type is eventually doomed to fail. Losing weight to be healthier has a much better chance of succeeding.
Tying nutrition and health to weight is a more realistic approach. You may not achieve the current "ideal", but you will feel better and be able to be more active.
Puhl and several other experts offer parents an outline of dos and don'ts for helping their overweight or obese children in losing weight.
- Don't engage in "fat talk," complaining about weight and appearance, whether it's your own, your child's or a celebrity's. Saying "My thighs are so huge!" teaches your child it's acceptable to disparage herself or himself and puts way too much emphasis on appearance, says Puhl.
- Don't promise your child that if only he or she loses weight, the bullying or teasing will stop. Another published study showed that the stigma around obesity often persists even after someone loses weight.
- Don't treat your child as if he or she has — or is — a problem that needs remedying. "This will make him feel flawed and inferior," says Ellyn Satter, a dietitian and therapist in Madison, Wis., and author of "Your Child's Weight: Helping Without Harming." Do focus on a child's other good qualities, and encourage traits like common sense, character and problem-solving skills.
- Don't ignore or dismiss bullying. If you suspect or know your teen is being stigmatized, talk to her or him about it. "Questions as simple as 'Who did you sit with at lunch?' can open a dialogue and help determine if she has allies or support at school," says Puhl.
- Do explore your own biases around weight. "If parents can get past their own inner bigot and be accepting and supportive, they can be of great help to children," says Ms. Satter. "I've seen kids with that secure foundation come up with their own effective solutions to the teasing."
- Do focus on health, not weight. "Promote a healthy environment for everyone in the home," says Puhl, not just the child who is overweight. Serve delicious, well-balanced meals, and encourage everyone in the family to be active in ways they enjoy. Emphasize the value of healthy behaviors rather than looks.
- Do speak directly and matter-of-factly about your child's weight if he or she asks. Don't try to avoid the issue with euphemisms like stocky or solid, says Ms. Satter. Instead, she advises, tell the truth but re-frame the issue, saying something like "Yes, you do have fat on your body. Why, do people tease you about it?" Children are looking for information and guidance. "You can neutralize a message that's often meant in a derogatory way," she says.
Some parents may believe that "tough love" is the answer. They may have been overweight when they were young, or are overweight now, and do not want their child to experience what they've been through. So they "remind" their child constantly about their weight. Tough love is very subjective. What I may think is tough love, may be perceived as abuse by the person I practice it on. Adults are one thing, but children may simply not have the life experience to put it in perspective. Even teens – who often think they already know everything - are dependent on adults to guide them in the right direction.
Childhood obesity is a health problem that can be reduced through family understanding, healthy and nutritious meals and shared activities. Nagging, trickery and bullying doesn't accomplish anything positive.
The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.
Sources: Harriet Brown – New York Times
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/feeling-bullied-by-parents-about weight/?ref=health


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Utilizing modern American theater scripts and improvisational games, we will develop your ability to flow naturally with the English language through acting exercises and the memorization of lines that will drive themselves into the unconscious part of your mind, which, through natural processes will support your ability to think in English.
The ultimate goal of this class is to enable actors to confidently audition and perform in plays and films produced in countries where English is the de facto language, or in local productions where fluency in English is required.
It is also the intention of American Spirit to build an English language repertory theater company, for the production of modern and classic English language plays throughout Serbia and Europe.
Please see the Classes directory for pricing and scheduling.


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As of 2013, Guantanamo Bay Prison is still open. Of the 164 prisoners remaining, 86 are Yemeni. Many have been cleared for release since 2004. Their families are waiting in Yemen, with little to no communication with their sons. These are their stories.
Guantanamo Stories
On January 11, 2002, the first detainees were brought to Guantanamo Bay Prison.
In eleven years since Guantanamo opened, the prison and detention camp has risen in infamy as a fighting point between politicians and an obvious human rights violation to the general public.
Seven hundred and seventy-nine prisoners have passed through its doors in Guantanamo's eleven year history; 572 have thus far been released.
However, out of all the prisoners released, the most overlooked have been the Yemenis. Of the 164 men remaining in Guantanamo, 86 are Yemenis. Thirty-six have been cleared for release by President Obamas Guantanamo Task Force and many by the Bush administration as far back as 2004. Dozens more are waiting in "conditional detention" limbo.
Though closure of the prison may be on the horizon, no one is looking forward to it more than the families of the Yemenis themselves. Mothers and fathers have little to no communications with their sons, who have transformed from teenagers to men who could have families of their own. Besides the occasional monitored phone call or edited letter, most families have no communication with their sons, much less authorities, the government, or an advocate.
While Washington drags it's feet, families are waiting. Not to see a smaller number on the list of Guantanamo prisoners, but to see their sons to return home once again. These are their stories.
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This will take you to the Ozmo website where you can review the cost and license for the photographs in this exhibit.
You will need to create an account with both Amazon payments and with the Ozmo website as described on the Ozmo website.
Alex Kay Potter


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Patton Boggs, the once heralded D.C. lobbying firm, has been in trouble for more than a year now. It all started in March 2013 when the firm conducted significant layoffs, and things continued to spiral out of control from there. Additional layoffs followed, flanked by fleeing partners and the closure of the firm's Newark, New Jersey, office. Profits have plummeted, so much so that Patton Boggs hired the Dewey & LeBoeuf turnaround team of financial advisers Zolfo Cooper and bankruptcy attorney Al Togut. Things certainly aren't looking very good for the firm, even though managing partner Edward Newberry claims it's all lollipops and unicorns over there.
Admittedly, first Newberry was afraid, he was petrified. He thought Patton Boggs could never live without cash by its side. But then he spent so many nights thinking how his firm went wrong, and he grew strong. He learned how to get along. His firm will survive — "healthy and profitable" — the same way all floundering firms do: additional layoffs are making their way down the pipeline, and it's partners' heads that will roll.
How many partners will have to find new homes? Let's find out…
Continue reading "Nationwide Layoff Watch: Partners In Peril At Patton Boggs"


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Its actually awesome seeing Dan becoming a writer and having an awesome storyline rather than being pared with some new crazy bitch..
about time ppl will bow down to him. dont care about N & S reactions. he's off with his GodCuck, she was shoving Ben in Dan's face & fakechose him this season only to 'undecide' again. (rollseyes) He has every right to write whatever about them. Enough of sabotaging his carrer because of other ppl.
Dairota- I agree with you, Although Blair is my favorite character I feel that the writers are trying to ruin her, she used to be so strong and independent and look at her now. And one more thing that I don't get by reading the spoilers is that Chuck lets Blair go after SHE tells him that she wants him and not Louis, I mean Chuck has been fighting for Blair in the last couple of episodes and what? Is he just going to let her go after winning her back?? that sounds weird.. And I don't get Blair at all when Chuck will say "You deserve your own fairytale" to her, will she just say ok and go back to Louis even though she wants Chuck?? Ugh it doesn't make sense at all..
I really don't think any of this is real... Why would Blair say "we make our own fairytales?" if she goes back to the Prince? And why would they have Charlie in s5 if she's not even related to the vdws? They wouldn't just be like "hey let's keep the crazy poser bipolar girl" if she's not even family...
Apparently she's there with her "boring" banker husband and she's actually not up to anything, BUT when she sees that Serena and Vanessa are up to something, she get's really excited because she's been so bored with her life recently and she wants in. But nobody is telling her what's going on so she's really not a part of it until later on when she figures out that Charlie hasn't even been on any meds and that it's all an act. So she gives Charlie her number in case she wants to come back to the city. Georgina says the city has been "dull" recently.no no no no. this all is so fake. producers said in the sneak preview that georgina ends up having a lot to do with everything going on. they wouldn't bring her back for an episode for her to say everything is boring


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At last, the thing everyone's have been waiting for has finally arrived. Thanks for all ur hard work third age team!! Really can't wait to get this!!!!
Last edited by Jean=A=Luc; December 13, 2011 at 07:36 PM.
Just defended Moria, assualted Osgiliath... AWESOME!
OMG CAN'T BELIEVE IT's HERE
The Fuz in Werfer is HERE!!!
please visit the Tale of the Week forum at: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=802 for brilliant writing, people, and brownies. with nuts, if you prefer.
Last edited by Jean=A=Luc; December 13, 2011 at 07:49 PM.
Uhhh, i installed both parts to the same path, and i it pulls up the loading screen and then just crashes. Says it cant find kingdoms.exe when i try to run it as admin... any help?
What an excellent end of exam present! I can't tell you how awesome it is, that this was released just after I finished my last exam! WHOO! KILL ALL THE ORCS!
i just can't believe it! you said there would be preview first, i'm confused, downloading, but how..
can't be real, too good!
Thank you!!!
Is there a changelog?
C program files Sega Medieval 2 total war. In the Mods folder under Third Age Total War theres 3 folders (data, packs, preferences) and 4 files (icon, config, unit stats excel sheet, and a batch file). I am currently re running both installers to see if that will fix it.
Is this for real? Holy crap! I'll be downloading this asap! thank you guys so much!!
after the re-install attempt, it still crashes on the load screen after a short period of time.
I'm so glad, thanks guys !!!!
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- Mitch SMith
- Katoomba
- Australia
This conversation is closed.
Syria: What is the core principle?
I have a friend who is a Syrian ex-pat.
He runs a grocery store in my town and I meet him almost every day.
When the Syrian conflict started getting bad I asked him about it. He said:
"We have a saying - when elephants fight, the grass is killed".
He went on to say: "I have a brother in a town that is at risk .. I plan to go in through Turkey and get him out of there." .. He has not been able to do that yet. And he explained to me the factional power that most Syrians understand .. the Sunnis, the Shiites and the Alawi .. but there are also Druze, Coptics etc etc..
And now, the USA wants to throw bombs to destroy critical infrastructure - regardless of who gets killed in the process.
This is a subject that is so complex that no one can really know what is happening.
My question to the TED community is this:
What is the basic principle?
My friend alludes to elephants and grass .. that seems basic.
Is there any other reliable abstract to be had?
Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.
Sep 13 2013: I think I have an important fundamental:
Leaders are not part of the tribe they lead - they are of the tribe of leaders.
So if, for instance, your "nation" has 350 million "citizens", that represents:
1.75 million tribes .. which generates:
8.75 thousand warlords .. which generates
43.75 emperors .. lest call them 51 "states".
Each emperor (in this scenario) must manage 8 or 9 warlords.
The "national president" manages 43 - 51 emperors.
Let's look at the global stat:
7 billion people creates an extra level. But it constrains stable tribe-size to about 25 people.
The global uber-uber-emperor must manage the same number of uber-emperors - about 25 of them.
This is about 1/8 of human capacity.
But there are 5 levels of political power - each level has no membership in the one above ..
Given that hierarchical levels each inject adaptive delay - What does that mean for the adaptive range of the species?
Can we afford such deep hierarchies in our governance structures?
Can it be said that a nation is extremely sensitive to the population it serves?
What happens when a single child is born that causes the whole tower to become unstable?
Would it not be better to have no tower in the first place? A political economics that has tribes, conventions and no warlords? A network model?
Sep 13 2013: As you live in Australia, you might want to examine carefully whether your preferred model of same-size mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive tribes fits Australia well. Reliable model building may be more feasible by starting closer to home.
If it fits for the data with which you are intimately familiar, that would be the first interesting finding and a prerequisite, I would think, for trying to see if it fits a different place you know less well. There are questions to ask about other countries if you want to get beyond assumptions that may be more convenient than descriptive.
There are so many misconceptions about social organization, values, and everything else about places where we do not ourselves live.
I know this is a great interest of yours and I am trying only to offer a methodological suggestion.
Sep 14 2013: Thanks Fritzie,
I have the beginnings of the model coded up in netlogo.
The numbers I give here are speculative - it's just dividing 200 up and down and looking at possible structures that emerge.
The number 200 is a gross approximation, but serves the purpose: + or - 100 still yields the same structure. What is missing is entropic context - it assumes the same entropic potential across the board. That context will constrain the number. As you know, I like to bring all my analysis back to entropic gradient - I think this defines the limits of a "self" - and if a self exceeds those limits it will split - applies to bacteria, slime-mould, humans or tribes.
Australia is a good place to start - the native peoples did, in fact, form such non-hierarchical relationships between tribes of about the size I suggest. They were not exactly peaceful, but nothing like the violence that was brought to them from England.
So yes - it's hypothetical .. it suggests a dynamic that might be missing from other methods of dealing with political reality (if there is such a thing ;).
I only use the number 200 because that is what Desmond Morris estimated to be the largest human tribe-size at the advent of agriculture. He argued that agriculture halted default evolution.
It certainly modified the ecological evolutionary vector. I haven't seen any papers on the genetics before/after agriculture, and the Younger dryas must also be part of the mix.
Nevertheless, the initial hypothesis does seem to be casting a structural shadow worth following-up.
I appreciate your advice.
The challenge with a netlogo model is that, if the agents get too complex it crashes the system before you get large enough stats for analysis. SO far it does a lot of boom/bust before it tunes to follow seasonal entropy .. all of it non-linear.
Sep 14 2013: Bit of a glitch in the data:
There are multiple aggregation schemas in the existing data.
For instance, I can look at established town populations.
Or I can look at religious domination aggregations,
Or I can look at commercial operation aggregations
Or I can look at organised association aggregations
They all have formalized breakpoints in organisational hierarchy.
The problem is that my hypothesis challenges the formal breakpoints.
It is necessarily inductive - there is no formal data available to make deductive conclusions.
If I follow the inductive, I would say that, in the formal political boundaries, the USA has a fairly good tribal balance, but that Australia is supporting an under-utilized hierarchy (too many states).
But on top of that, the internet changes everything - tribes are formed that have no geographic constraint.
I will have to live with my artefacts and record how they behave.
Will take more than a few days. But if the concept takes hold, induction will do its work and prove itself(or not) over a few generations.
But not to despair - I have a good track record in the inductive.
Sep 14 2013: I thought what you are doing looks more like a deductve formulation in the sense that you are making deductions for societies at any time from tribal organization and then running simulations without matching up with rigorous contemporary observation..
Once you have done your work, I expect you will place it into the Netlogo modeling commons so anyone can look at it and see whether to them it seems to simulate something that approximates how things operate where they are?
Maybe a year ago, we had a participant who used to pose questions like "what will happen the day ____ happens?" He had an image of something he thought was realistically imminent in the United States and wanted to play out his scenario.
The problem was, his assumption from half the world away was not close to a realistic scenario, even as it matched something that seemed valid to him based on his assumptions and biases about America and Americans based on what his media conveyed to him and the information he gathered selectively from sources he chose to believe.
I am hoping your model will be something that can be tuned to real situations and therefore have some predictive power.
Sep 15 2013: Hi Fritzie,
What I am trying to do, in this case, is to determine - if formalisation of tribal dynamics can be improved - by identifying a computational factor that may have been missed. ("Computational" in the Wolfram sense - cellular automata). The hypothesis is that tribe-size is a fundamental aspect of the self-organising principles of community/society.
If an observation can be made in that space, we would be able to improve much of political economic thinking. The paradigms of communism, socialism, capitalism, democracy, anarchism etc will all atrophy and give rise to the next evolutionary period.
There is a problem with the rigour - I am not funded.
Of course, the netlogo models will pass to public domain for review.
I have one early model that looks at resource stratification affects on simple individual behaviour. It is over-abstract, but fun because I use music as one of the graphs (ran out of graph-space) - I can send it if you give me an email contact. It's not published because there's a long way to go, and the code is a bit unstructured. But I'm happy with the musical graph ;)
Sep 15 2013: Yes, this is part of the principle I wish to examine - the affects of formalisation. I suspect that formalisation is anti-evolutionary, and this is a time where we need to enhance our adaptability rather than constrain it.
Just as Abbad is almost certainly screwed - along with his entire tribe, so too will be all the reeds who do not bend in this wind.
What we forget is that human social organisation is self-organising - we tend to wreck it when we force extraneous structures on it.
Sep 15 2013: Hey John, gotta share this:
With all the contributions here, once I get over my own amygdala responses I have found this:
All policy is the description of a local minimum. Although it begins as a more-or-less accurate formalisation of reality, reality moves on - and policy becomes obsolete.
It's not that policy is bad, but that blind acceptance of it prevents accurate perception of reality.
A realistic policy dynamic will recognise and honour its own failure to evolve. It evolves through failure.
Sep 15 2013: It takes a special kind of silence to actually see what those 2 eyes are showing us.
I think that is called "surrender" in some philosophies.
I only engage in this discussion because I have a Syrian friend. My friend's issues are my issues.
You will know this - when we accept our people - we become what we are supposed to be.
I will tell my friend what I have learned. I hope it helps his brother.
Sep 15 2013: It is interesting how we all have friends from the Middle Eastern countries. I wonder how it is we have so many enemies that want to destroy us and our other Middle Eastern Friends. Or is it My Friends enemy is my friend -in the case of Israel and Lebanon.
It's interesting, when you read the History of Syria, that they found so much interest in invading their neighbors and assassinating their leaders (Lebanon, Jordan, etc.)
I think the Syrians have proven themselves to be disappointing as neighbors. I wouldn't want them living next to me. :)
Maybe if the Syrians were to accept their neighbors, they might become the people they are suppose to be.
Sep 16 2013: Hey John,
It is in my self interest to influence my environment in very specific ways:
1. towards peace
2. away from boredom.
we are not here to be bored or to suffer - we are here to have fun. The higher the quality of that fun the better.
I have had huge fun in this life - and it's only limited by those barriers placed in my way that prevent the party going further - and you know what, finding ways to wreck those barriers is huge fun!
Cop this - this guy is having fun:
It is in my interest to encourage massive revolution - but I will warn everyone that - all those who get blood on their hands are not having fun. So find the way to get that done .. and the fun will never end.
My interests? Great company along the way ;)
Sep 17 2013: Sometimes it's Real and sometimes it's fun, but it's not always real fun Mitch.
No matter how much fun we are having we have to sit on the toilet sometimes. We have to rinse the dirt off our bodies, brush our teeth and comb our hair. House keeping is as real as having fun. And probably, more important.
Sep 17 2013: If I grow some corn and sell it to people who dig up gold out of the ground, are they exploiting me?
I seek their business. They trade me gold for corn. That's capitalism "Trade".
But, I can't eat gold so I keep some corn for myself.
If this were the only business that existed, the gold diggers would soon die off because of hard times limiting the corn crop.
What we call value, changes with the environment. A man with a pocket full of gold, who is hungry, walking through a field of corn could die of starvation if it were not for the good will of the farmer. The farmer is more a valued class of individual in this respect. The gold digger is of little value.
Marx was a cool guy but a lousy house keeper.
Exploitation can only occur during times of hardship, during times of limited resources or productivity. It's active in a political climate, more so than a communal arrangement. The politics of ownership and price fixing determine who gets the beer license.
Sep 17 2013: I'm gradually getting some clarity on all that.
It certainly can be fun doing the mundane maintenance parts. In fact, when you do it right, the world joins in .. in surprising ways, it becomes the great company I mentioned.
That's one of the things I've been hunting for - what is our disconnection, our barrier to life's reality?
I have found one bit of it - we get lost in our autobiographical selves .. it's amazingly fundamental - and ancient. We are living in stories .. fictions.
It all depends on where your attention, your identity resides.
Most of our stories are miss-directions - sending us off into the past and future - there is no fun in those places.
It's been going on for millennia, so it's not easy to remember.
The instability of over-heated tribal congregation seems to be the fatal departure from fun into suffering and boredom.
A stable tribe requires no leader, no money, no law. Our totems are corrupted by religions and ideologies - all designed to extract military potential and servitude from the tribe - for the benefit of strangers.
it's pretty basic - and a thing that requires massive revolution.
But the funny bit is that the revolution is only very slight .. not much needs to change, and only strangers will resist it.
If it is done right, it will take them by surprise.
Sep 17 2013: What you need is a village of artists, with a strong, open-minded sense of self.
There are many blogs around that support this type of mind-set and they are very informative and interesting. Still, they tend to get lost in their own life-stories. I guess it's a human thing to be individual in thought and communal in need. Getting lost along the way, venturing from the straight path, it's all part of the fun of exploration.
I agree. A revolution that simply changes hands is a wast of time.
Speaking of being taken by surprise, have you ever wondered what the world would be like if the Athenians had lost the battle of Marathon?
Sep 17 2013: I enjoy hearing people's life-stories.
.. it's particularly good when they render it in poetic form. Specially when people talk about their parents.
I know the stories are embellished and skewed, but I'm gregarious.
Yes, the artisans are fun. They tell great stories too.
Last year I drove to a festival with a pair of bagpipe makers. It was like a day with the elves or damn hobbits .. gods or something.
The individual/communal is a thing that has occupied my curiosity for quite a while now.
"Self" seems to be layered in a shell structure - always questing outwards, from protein to cell to organism to animal to communal - and beyond.
With the communal, the experiments are still reaching for the stability required for a defined layer beyond the hunter/gatherer tribe.
Had Marathon fallen? Now there's an interesting thought-experiment. The details are far too complex to trace .. I think the city-state was inevitable ..
hmm .. seems the most significant turning point was the Younger Dryas. This was the last time that humans got pushed to the wall - they came out of their Eurasian enclaves with some serious trauma. We celebrate agriculture, but it caused tribal instability that is still playing out.
I suppose it would help humanity to realise what all the fuss is about.
The industrial revolution certainly caused the decline of slavery, and even that is incomplete.
The mechanisms of elite tribe formation needs resolving - and I think the world is sorting through that now. Syria may be an example of that as the Allawites are being displaced.
Perhaps if we can recognise that elites are simply tribes, we could grapple with it in a more cognitive way?
(edit: you know, I don't think that anything can change without an adjustment at the protein level - the DNA has to change, but it needs a clear signal to do so. Currently there is not enough stability for any clear adaptive pathway. A political signal might do it)
Sep 18 2013: "With the communal, the experiments are still reaching for the stability required for a defined layer beyond the hunter/gatherer tribe."
Yes I agree. To get stability we have to start over and let the technology go. I don't like that idea of letting it go.
So, how about Monks and Monasteries? Do you think they present a degree of stability in the pursuit of life on a communal level?
How about quiting the reproduction process? Would we finally find peace?
Sep 18 2013: We've drifted way beyond the Syrian question .. or have we?
WHen seeking fundamentals, it can go way deep.
Reproduction .. that is a fundamental of life. And as you suggest, life may be expressed at the super-organism level. So what that infers is the role of specialisation - can the superorganism afford individuals that specialise beyond their own self-reproduction?
Absolutely everything about life has a balance of specialisation - in neural science it's called "potentiation" and you can observe it from gene expression to neuron connections - and it happens in a step-wise manner.
I call it a balance of specialisation - because every specialisation is done at the expense of versatility - adaptation at the expense of adaptability: A turtle(highly adapted) cannot fly, but humans(highly adaptable) can fly.
A lot of our technology relies on un-balanced specialisation, I think it calls for trimming, not elimination. This idea is the true heart of the Luddite movement - most just assume they were against all technology - machine smashing loonies, but they were not. They saw the unbalanced nature of specialisation - they were opposed to the hidden exploit of industrial class stratification. The over-skilled are trapped in their specialty,
Obsolescence creates social exile.
Re-skilling becomes more difficult with the depth of specialisation
Acceleration of obsolescence makes the frequency of re-skilling exceed human capacity
Fundamental skills create unaccountable priesthoods.
So use the 200-member-tribe yardstick: how many specialist skills can a stable tribe sustain?
Can tribes themselves specialise without creating elites?
If a tribe was constrained to create it's own reproductive value, then elites could not form.
One really has to ask "which technologies are worth keeping?"
I don't like priesthoods - they are always beyond audit and are almost corrupt-by-definition.
We have amassed a vast body of knowledge - I think it should be preserved.
Sep 18 2013: In the military the squad is the basic form of grouping with a platoon being the simple village group. A platoon of soldiers can generate a lot of muscle power in addition to it's firepower.
A whole company can build and maintain a village. The only elites are the company officers.Who must, at all times maintain the moral and respect of their men.
While officers are trained, it doesn't take long for any enlisted man to master the techniques to replace an officer. The Sargent is, in most respects, a direct officer replacement, under battlefield conditions, within the platoon grouping.
In the military structure, elitism is due, in part, to a mastery of skill, experience, and training. Money can't buy you a place in that village.
We need to militarize the whole civilian population before it is too late. :) That way we get rid of fake elitism.
Sep 18 2013: Yes - the art of Ninjitsu is the art of what works - nothing else.
The highest skilled Ninja never sees battle - all battles are won in advance.
Battles are caused by the inept.
The military are a subsidised tribal group. It would be an interesting thing to see if a platoon could run a self-contained, self sufficient village - and if it did, whether it would have any time left over for warfare.
To Syria then.
Syria represents the result of an over-burdening elite. When the means of reproduction are denied to the populace, it will eat the elite or starve - no choice in the matter. The trigger supplied by the "Arab spring" was largely spurred by food shortages .. These countries are not poor by aggregate, but have large elite burdens - the food shortages were the evidence of over-subsidy of specialist tribes (elites).
I think the USA would be well advised to look at the parallels demonstrated here - USA is resilient because it is a big farm coast-to-coast, but that resilience is being pushed.
I note that Australia is not far behind - it is not a big farm, it's marginal.
We just elected the most extreme elite government in our history.
One spark and up she goes. And it will spread just as it did in the middle east.
The fundamental underpinning the Syrian conflict seems to be tribal specialisation. Exploitive specialist tribes have over-stepped the resilience of the inter-tribal network.
The remediation seems to be a re-organisation of political units to reflect proven military organisational metrics - plus a comprehensive set of laws to govern inter-tribal trade and crisis management. Tribal units must be constrained to provide their own means of reproduction, with appeal to the tribal network when the means is constrained by external aggression or environmental crisis.
The resulting global structure would be necessarily without hierarchy - with the constraint of self-sufficiency preventing power elites from developing exploitation skills.
Food for thought.
Sep 18 2013: OK - I'll conclude this with some observations:
(this is really hard to not get captured by the detail - so I'll make some over-simplified statements - happy to do the detail for anyone interested - my contact is in my profile)
1. Externalities can no longer be excluded from corporate responsibility.
2. Within corporations, the intangible benefit of business cases must take equal status to the tangible.
3. It's the environment stupid.
4. tribal exploitation is done by syphoning the surplus via the totem - purify your totem.
That's it - and I know what's going to go down in the next few years - I am not going to say, because I want it to happen - those who are watching know what I mean. The fuse is burning.
(edit: John - The Russians are watching? That's only the tip of it - and all these watchers .. they are humans ;)
Sep 18 2013: The Russian's are always watching. :)
I think the surplus thing is overrated. Surplus implies that which is left over after everyone is well fed. If it is surplus people wouldn't be hungry. Exploitation occurs when you take the food off the table as well. Over working a population is the killer. That combined with low wages.
We need more information about the investigation of the Gas attack. Not with standing the fact Syria is a nation of Assassins, We should have a fair trial on this issue. What if we were to learn the Rebels gassed their own people? How would that affect our feelings about the current conflict in that nation? Would we withdraw our aid from the Rebels?
This is one issue where we need absolute transparency.
Sep 19 2013: Hi John,
I have seen a few reports of the rebel gas involvement - one asserts that it happened because they were supplied it without any info on handling it, and it went off while they were moving it. There is some evidence of rebels training on chem-weapon deployment using mortars.
The evidence of Assad deploying it is from a spurious bit of Mossad intelligence.
But I can't believe any of it - the media is thoroughly gamed when it concerns ongoing war events. This is one reason why we have trials before convictions - there has been no trial, and there can be no trial while ever the war continues - so you nailed that one. To act as executioner is to destroy your own claim for justice .. so much for the rule-of-law.
Surplus is fundamental. What happens is that the system extracts the surplus whether there is one or not. That's where the poverty is forced to happen. If you are a job-slave, more than half the effort you do is surplus - to ensure the reproduction of the "job" and put profits into the pocket of the boss.
If you are being paid a poverty wage, your surplus is already taken, and absolutely takes food off your table. This is the essential heart and black soul of capitalism - those who think they are doing OK have not yet seen how badly they have been robbed.
When I was doing business cases, the labour component had to return 10 times the amount paid in wages - after tax, working-conditions, direct operating expenses, raw materials, and maintenance. A good project amortises one-off investment cost in one year, maximum 3, after which the 10-to-1 generation of surplus is on-going.
Part of that surplus is dedicated to future growth, some goes to management pay-increases and some goes to share-holders. None of it is earmarked for workers beyond a small training budget.
The desperation of the worker is ensured by removing his surplus, and therefore his capacity to choose.
Sep 19 2013: I'll go on a bit more about surplus.
The really horrific part of surplus-harvesting is that it is done in advance - by contract.
Labour and trade contracts tie-in the worker, or the poor country.
They are tied-in to promise their existing surplus as if there will always be the same, or more.
When anything happens to reduce the actual surplus, it comes out of the health and infrastructure of the contracted. Contract law favours the rich.
There is one saving grace to job-slavery - the investment dedicated to productivity increases - mandated by the employer's profit motive - means that the labour hours produce a lot more surplus than the individual can do alone.
And some of that that increased surplus finds its way back to the workers in negotiated wage increase, and through additional value filtering through the economy.
But skill demand will constrain wage negotiation - and as the technology improves, the skill requirement declines - therefore reducing the demand for human skill - therefore reduced wages.
There is another booger-bear - profit needs somewhere to go. The managers and directors can only consume so much and have to deploy their plunder somewhere - and that requires expansion. Right now, there's no profitable expansion to be had apart from gambling and buying politicians.
So that means that you don't need workers - so you just throw them away.
There's another aspect of surplus that no one seems to look at - it's the most important one:
Most human surplus is derived by groups conducting real-time networked task adaptation - think of a hunting team or a planting/harvesting team - each participant takes roles on-the-fly so that the whole task is done a lot quicker and at minimal expenditure.
This is the inherent social surplus that got us genetlically selected in the first place.
SO, for humans, surplus and adaptive specialisation-balance are everything.
We formalise and reduce this social surplus at our peril.
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By Robert K. Merton and Elinor Barber. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 2004, 328 pp., $29.95.
I was planning to review a different book but having trouble finding a theme for my review. I put the project aside during the August heat and visited my friend and colleague Bill Frosch (who also has a review on these pages). We belong to the same club, and he had just read a new book coauthored by a late member of the club, Robert Merton. I borrowed the book, liked it, and decided to review it. Thus this review is a product of, loosely speaking, serendipity.
Merton, the leading sociologist of science before his death in 2003 at age 91, defined "serendipity" as "the fairly common experience of observing an unanticipated, anomalous, and strategic datum which becomes the occasion for developing a new or extending an existing theory" (p. 260). However, in spite of such sentences, the book isn't simply a textbook of sociology; it is much more. It is the story of a word, its origin, its diffusion across cultures and disciplines, the evolution of its meaning, its recognition by dictionaries and their impact on its development, its enthusiastic adoption by scientists and students of science (such as Merton himself), and its emergence as a concept applied to scientists such as Roentgen, Fleming, Watson and Crick, Thomas Kuhn, and others. It is also a delightful collection of mini-essays on subjects that turn up along the way (serendipitously?), ranging from the difference between early and late Victorian culture through F.D.R.'s bank holiday to the history of dictionaries. Perhaps most of all, it is an opportunity to eavesdrop on a conversation that extends across centuries and involves participants such as Horace Walpole (who coined the term), Louis Pasteur, Walter Cannon, and Robert Merton himself.
The story begins with a letter that Walpole wrote to Sir Horace Mann (not the 19th-century American educator) on January 28, 1754, after receiving a Vasari portrait of Duchess Capello that Mann had sent to him. Walpole recounts a discovery he had made about the Capello arms, and adds,
This discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word, which as I have nothing better to tell you, I shall endeavour to explain to you: you will understand it better by the derivation than by the definition. I once read a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their Highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of: for instance, one of them discovered that a mule blind of the right eye had travelled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right—now do you understand Serendipity? (pp. 1–2)
Merton's fun begins immediately. He tracks down the story, explains that Serendip is an old name for Ceylon, corrects Walpole's account (it was a camel, not a mule) and traces its reception in Europe. A 16th-century Armenian visiting Venice wrote an Italian version of a 13th-century Persian tale by Amir Khosrau that became popular throughout Europe, was translated into French (which was read by Voltaire) and from French into English, and ultimately came to Walpole's attention.
Merton is a sociologist, not a psychologist or psychoanalyst, and he is strangely uninterested in a question that would seem central to me. Why Mann? What is the meaning of the person to whom the letter was written? All we learn is that Mann was a distant cousin, the British minister to the Court of Florence, whom Walpole had not seen for 13 years, since his visit to Florence at age 24. Merton seems to assume, probably correctly, that Walpole was really writing for eventual publication—that is, for posterity, for us—and that Mann was only an object of convenience.
The concept without the word appears in the world of 19th-century science (Louis Pasteur, in 1854, tells a group of students that "chance only favors the mind which is prepared" [p. 163]), while the word itself disappears until late in the 19th century. It resurfaces first in the world of letters and then enters the language of science in the 1930s when Walter Cannon, the great Harvard physiologist (after hearing it from Samuel Crothers, minister of the First Unitarian Church in Cambridge) embraces it as a description of an essential theme of scientific discovery.
Merton's doctoral thesis, in the 1930s, was on the unintended consequences of intended actions in social life. When he came upon the term, it was a natural. He developed the concept, going back to Walpole's first definition, pointing out that it required both an event and a mind able to exploit that event—in other words that it was at the boundary of sociology and psychology. In an extended afterword to the original manuscript, written just before his death, Merton tells us what led him to the book and talks about its publication so many years after it was written. The 1986 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) first expanded the definition to include the sociological as well as the psychological aspect of serendipity—that is, not only a "faculty, ability, gift, habit, aptitude or talent," but also "the fact or an instance." However, the OED didn't quote Merton, and he notes, "I freely confess to guilty recognition that the OED Supplement would probably have included that concept some 40 years after its first appearance had I not held off on publishing our book on The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity until now" (p. 261). Merton was distracted by the preparation of his most famous work, On the Shoulders of Giants(1). (I had always thought that the phrase was Newton's: "If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants," but Merton, characteristically, traces it back at least to the 12th-century philosopher Bernard of Chartres: "We are like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants and so are able to see more and see farther than the ancients" [p. 231]).
The OED's loss is our gain. Serendipity is a core concept in Merton's sociology of science, and the social structures that support serendipity are as crucial as the scientific minds that can exploit them. I never met Merton, but this, his final book, coauthored with Elinor Barber, the wife of his friend and colleague Bernard Barber, allows us a glimpse of his mind at work. Not all will enjoy this volume, but for those who like to watch a great man at play with words and ideas, it is a treat.
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I have known Jennifer for many years and was blessed to have known her Grandmother, one of my dearest Christian friends. This is a story of the power of prayer, and a strong heritage of God's Truth - the Truth that sets you free!. I would encourage anyone who needs help or freedom from addiction to seek this program out. It is life-changing!
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Dawn Gerrain; President, Milady; Schodack Landing, New York
Under Dawn Gerrain's leadership, Milady has become one of the most widely used providers of educational materials and continuing education across the globe for beauty and wellness students and salon and spa professionals. Dawn has been in publishing for 20 plus years, with a well-rounded background in the industry. She is currently making the development of cutting-edge technology and producing digital products a priority at Milady. Gerrain holds an MBA from the State University of New York at Albany, and she currently resides in Schodack Landing, New York, with her husband and two children.
Do you believe a woman in the professional beauty industry can "have it all?" And, what does that mean to you?
"The definition of having it all is relative to each of us individually, so my perspective as to what it means can be different than someone else's perspective. That being said, I don't think that any one person can truly "have it all." I believe that both men and women have to make certain sacrifices in order to maintain a positive work-life balance, whether that means missing a family member's event, not being able to get to the gym as frequently as you would like or having to compromise on a vacation date based on schedules. Certainly, how great those sacrifices are will vary from person to person, and what one considers as a sacrifice, another may not. From my perspective, being able to have a family that participates in many activities together, having a very rewarding career and finding time to fit in some things that I personally enjoy are my idea of having it all. My perfect week would consist of, achieving the work goals that I've set for that week, attending my kids sporting events, getting to exercise at least four times and sitting down to a few dinners together as a family. Some weeks this works out, others it doesn't."
In the pursuit of "having it all," what sacrifices have you had to make, if any?
"I have two children, a 14-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter. Missing out on some of their activities is a definite sacrifice. I love watching them play sports, and if I'm traveling, or have a work conflict, not being there is a disappointment. Growing up, I had the privilege of having both of my parents attend all of my sporting events. Their support at the games meant a great deal to me. However, I am very lucky in that I do have the opportunity to see many of their games although this means I tackle a number of Milady-related responsibilities once the sun goes down. In many instances my husband, in-laws, mother and sister also attend games so it takes some of the pressure off if I can't make it. My husband travels with his job, and juggling our schedules so that one of us is home with the kids can sometimes be challenging. For now, that's important for us, so even though we can be like two ships passing in the night, we are able to avoid a lot of travel conflicts. We also have a lot of support from family and friends, which makes a world of difference. That being said, I think the fact that both my husband and I have demanding careers has made us appreciate one another more. It also makes it more important that everyone in our family chips in to keep things running smoothly. In addition to having great support at home, I am lucky to have a great group of people at work. The team I'm privileged to lead at Milady is driven, focused on customer needs and always willing to help one another out. It takes a great deal of pressure off me knowing I can trust them to get the job done and get it done right."


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All suites include a queen size bed, mini bar, dressing room, separate bathroom, Italian style shower, hair dryer, bathrobes, WiFi, LCD TV, DVD player and full American breakfast daily .
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Operation FINALLY HOME was founded in 2005 as a non-partisan/non-profit organization with the mission to provide Americans the ability to honor and thank America's wounded and disabled veterans and the widows of the fallen who have sacrificed to defend our country in the global War on Terror. Severely wounded and disabled service members return home to confront extreme hardships, from physical and emotional disabilities to financial ruin, joblessness and homelessness. Dismayed by their plight, Operation FINALLY HOME addresses the most pressing need of our returning heroes -- a home to call their own!
Operation Finally Home maintains a system of internal accounting controls designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are properly executed and recorded in all material aspects. Assets are safeguarded and established policies and procedures are carefully followed. 990s are filed with the Internal Revenue Service and are available upon request. Contact Ashleigh Chesser at 806.441.5712 or by e-mail at email@example.com for more detailed financial information on our organization.


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Sunday morning we left the hotel and went to the cruise ship. This had to be the quickest and easiest embarkation of any of our cruises. We were able to board early and it took less than 15 minutes from when we got out of the cab to when we boarded the ship. The rooms were ready and the luggage was delivered within an hour. But we were slightly disappointed when we actually boarded the ship. It is a huge ship but you walk on and no one greets you or provides any instructions or guidance. The Epic is a nice ship but there is no "WOW" factor. You board right into the elevator banks and it just leaves you flat. Not making a good first impression is a big miss! This was a stark contrast to last year when we boarded RCL Allure of the Sea. The Allure enters into the Royal Promenade and there was so much to take in that all we could do was look around and say WOW! Plus there were people everywhere to help guide you. The elevators on the Epic are dark and there are not enough of them. Also there was no one explaining the difference between the red elevators or the blue elevators so you just hoped you entered the right ones for your cabin location. Much of the cruise was like that, there really was no one making you feel special or welcome and you had to find out things on your own.
But anyway back to the ship, there is really no promenade or grand common area on the entire ship. Not even good photo ops. The cabin was very nice, probably the best of our five cruises. We had a mini suite and it had plenty of room and more than enough storage. We didn't mind the bathroom arrangement because it was much bigger that a normal cruise ship bathroom and both the shower and toilet were private. The one thing we were not too happy about is having a bathtub instead of a walk in shower. The side of the tub was too high and it really was awkward getting in and out.
The food in the Garden Cafe left a lot to be desired. It didn't taste bad, but the menu was very limited and unimaginative. Even the food in the Manhattan was just okay. We think they are trying to push people to go to the Specialty Restaurants which cost extra. We did pay to go to Moderno and it was the best meal we had the entire cruise.
We choose the Epic for the itinerary and we were not disappointed. We loved Spain, Italy and Rome and for that experience alone it is a good value for the money.


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To this day my best friend insists I had a crush on Ricky Schroeder when I was little. Apparently I would watch "Silver Spoons' and talk about how someday I want to live with Ricky and grow old together or something. I think it's bullcrap but that house on the show was pretty awesome so I've always kind of had my doubts.
Remember Haley Joel Osment? The little bugger who sees dead people and has a heart of gold? Well the all grown up rugrat is back in a new film titled "I'll Follow You Down" which tells the story of a son trying to uncover the mystery of where his scientist father disappeared to after a business trip. I assume Osment will still play a young boy because, much like Leonardo DiCaprio, no matter how old he gets he still looks 11. Ya just want to pinch his cheeks don't you?
Why the hell not, huh? Dreamworks has apparently hired Steven Knight to pen a script for their upcoming remake of the Alfred Hitchcock film "Rebecca". The original 1940 film tells the story of a bride who finds her and her new husband are being haunted by the ghost of his first wife. No word yet on is the remake will stay true to the original but if I was a betting man I'd say someone named Rebecca will be in the film.
If you're like any normal American then you're probably a giant fan of "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane". Look it up kids, that pizon was bigger than Jesus. Renny Harlin, the film's director, is off to Russia now for a new film that tell the tale of the real life mystery around 9 experienced hikers that were found dead in the mountains in 1959 and the not so real life crew that's exploring the mountains to uncover the secret of their deaths. The guy directed "Die Hard 2" also. Get excited.
It's a fact, Morgan Freeman is the greatest person who has ever lived. So Tom Cruise should be be skipping around in his tiny little size 6 shoes now that the great one has agreed to join the cast of "Oblivion", a new Sci-Fi flick that stars Tommy as a soldier banished to a far away deserted planet after his court-martial. No word on what role Freeman will be playing but I expect it'll be Jesus or whatever weird alien god they worship in the film.
Purple Squirrel Found in Pennsylvania. I'll see you all in hell.
Now let me make it clear, I like rhinoceros'. They're so freakin giant and cool they could kill any of us. But when a anti-poaching demonstration in South Africa goes wrong and they accidentally kill one, you've got to chuckle a little.
According to a leaked memo from the good people at Paramount it sounds like a big screen adaption of Max Brooks' novel "World War Z" is even closer to finding its way to theaters. The memo also included a funny video of a monkey peeing in its mouth and a smoking baby. It was a hoot!
Even more pictures of the upcoming AMC zombie miniseries "The Walking Dead" have found their way online. Next week the last set of images will be released and we'll post an animated gif of the entire series. Stay tuned!
"Dracula: Year Zero" is confirmed to move forward and the entire cast will be heading down under to start filming shortly. The flick will school us all on the true origins on everyone's favorite blood sucker. I've already learned he was born the same year as Jesus!
Seth Rogen will reportedly play the role of head ghost in the new Dreamworks animated feature "Boo U". There's not much in the way of details yet on the project but my guess is he'll be lovable and doofy but still win the girl and I'll want to punch him in the face.
Apparently the good people of Lake Havasu, the small town in Arizona where the upcoming film "Piranha 3D" was filmed are worried that folks will recognize the vacation spot in the film and avoid it in fear of real piranhas. I love when idiots and the movies we watch come together in one giant tidal wave of stupid.
1955 - Severe flooding in the Northeast caused by the remnants of Hurricane Diane claimed some 200 lives.
CC's back, Joe's confused, and we hope you enjoy the new sound!
A movie that has the crew conflicted.


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Successive bouts of frigid temperatures are delivering a devastating knockout punch to car batteries across the region. As a result, the number of emergency roadside assistance service calls for battery troubles across the region to the switchboard at AAA Mid-Atlantic's nerve center has skyrocketed throughout the week.Dead or dying batteries are always the biggest reasons for the tremendous surge in roadside assistance calls during a cold snap. Adding to our battery woes this cold snap – those always-on electronic devices and smartphones plugged into the vehicle's cigarette lighter socket. Those plug-in devices are straining and draining our car batteries, warns the auto club.
"When temperatures plummet, automotive failures skyrocket. Calls for battery jump starts and assistance with frozen locks are the top ranked reasons for calls to AAA," said John B. Townsend II, or AAA Mid-Atlantic's Manager of Public and Government Affairs. "In frigid weather like this, weak car batteries are the first to go, so it's worth having your battery checked – and if you've postponed vehicle maintenance, now is the time to take care of it."
Cold weather is especially hard on car batteries. According to AAA's Automotive Research Center, at 0°F, a car's battery loses about 60 percent of its strength and at 32°F it loses 35 percent. During cold temperatures starting an engine can take up to twice as much current as needed under normal conditions. It is advisable to have your battery tested, as well as your starting and charging systems prior to the deep cold of winter.
"The life span of an automotive battery has historically been defined as 3-5 years. However, with the increase in electronics within vehicles the full life is moving a lot closer to 3 years," explained Jack Reynolds, AAA Mid-Atlantic's Battery Program Manager. "Surprisingly, although heat causes more damage to batteries than cold weather, starting a vehicle in cold weather puts more strain on it. The cumulative impact of various factors over time allows cold weather to ultimately end the useful life of a battery."
Warning signs that you are at risk for a battery related breakdown include the following:
- You hear a grinding or clicking sound when you turn on the ignition,
- Your vehicle cranks slowly when attempting to start.
- Your headlights dim when idling but brighten when the engine is revved.
- Your battery is more than three (3) years old.
Car batteries are an electro-chemical process so they have inherent limitations and are impacted by endless variables impacting their performance. For example, the life of a battery depends on the climate you live in, length of time electronic accessories are plugged into your vehicle, and how far and often you drive your vehicle.
While three to five years is a typical life span, various internal and environmental conditions impact a battery's long term health. Periodic inspection, testing, and cleaning are suggested and monitoring the use of accessories and electronic devices when your car is not running can help maximize its longevity. When your car is not running, the battery continues to supply power to the clock, the anti-theft system, and the other conveniences in modern cars. Accessories, like smartphones and tablets, can add to the drain.
"Unplug mobile phones, tablets, chargers and other electronic devices when you don't need them, especially when the car is turned off," says Reynolds. "While the car battery does not 'run down' immediately if a device is being charged while the engine is not running, it's capacity over time can decrease from the cumulative effect of multiple devices drawing current from it."
Why do car batteries die?
- It is a fact of life: cold weather is a battery killer. Make sure the battery terminals and cables are securely attached and free of corrosion. A load test performed by a qualified technician will help determine if a car's battery is strong enough for cold weather starts.
- At zero degrees, a car's battery loses about 60 percent of its strength, yet the engine needs about twice as much power to start!
- Add to the mix extra items we plug into our cars (cell phone chargers, upgraded audio, and GPS devices) and a battery's life can be drained even faster. Even at 32 degrees, a battery is 35 percent weaker.
AAA Mid-Atlantic offers battery replacement service through its roadside assistance operations and at select Approved Auto Repair (AAR) facilities throughout the region. To request service call 1-800-AAA-HELP or for a battery price quote visit https://midatlantic.aaa.com/Automotive/MobileBattery.
AAA Mid-Atlantic advocates on behalf of its nearly four million members in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. It provides a wide range of personal insurance, travel, financial and automotive services through its 50-plus retail branches, regional operations centers, and the Internet. For more information, please visit our web site at www.AAA.com.


text:
This is what I call a tracking shot. From the great cinematographer Seamus McGarvey and the set from Atonement.
This is what I call a tracking shot. From the great cinematographer Seamus McGarvey and the set from Atonement.
Dreaming of a Film Career
Have you ever wondered where to begin you film career?
Well here is a great inforgraphic to get you…
Steven Spielberg Reveals He Is Dyslexic
One of the biggest american filmmakers of all time, Steven Spielberg, was diagnosed with dyslexia…
Short List of Movie Resources
My big collection of movie resources, can be a bit heavy to jump right into, so I've also created…
shared via WordPress.com
This is a book about the work involved in making movies… I'll try to tell you best I can how movies are made. It's a complex technical and emotional process. It's art. It's commerce. It's heartbreaking and it's fun. It's a great way to live.
The first sentence in Lumet's bio actually made me gasp: "Sidney Lumet's films have received more than fifty Academy Award nominations." Fifty. And he made fifty years worth of movies: 12 Angry Men came out in 1957, and Before The Devil Knows You're Dead came out in 2007. What was his secret?
I don't think art changes anything… I do it because I like it and it's a wonderful way to spend your life.
Lumet was opposed to the concept of "the auteur"—he was very much more what Terry Gilliam calls "a filteur." He chose material and movies to make that he could make personally interesting to him, but he always emphasized filmmaking as a collaboration. "If all this sounds like hard work," he said, "Let me assure you that it is."
There are so many good bits in this book:
- "All good work requires self-revelation"
- "I don't want life reproduced up there on the screen. I want life created."
- "What we're doing matters. It needs concentration."
- "We're not out for consensus here. We're out for communication."
My favorites, which translate well to other art forms:
"What the movie is about [should] determine how it is to be made.
"Discussions of style as something totally detached from the content of the movie drive me mad." I'm a big fan of the "don't worry about style" school, believing that style emerges out of the things you're obsessed by. Lumet put it perfectly:
The question "What is this movie about?" will be asked over and over again throughout the book. For now, suffice it to say that the theme (the what of the movie) is going to determine the style (the how of the movie.) […] I work from the inside out. What the movie is about will determine how it will be cast, how it will look, how it will be edited, how it will be musically scored, how it will be mixed, how the titles will look, and, with a good studio, how it will be released.
But what of what Lumet calls, "The 'auteur' nonsense?"
So-and-so's "style" is present in all his pictures. Of course it is. He directed them. One of the reasons Hitchcock was so deservedly adored was that his personal style was strongly felt in every picture. But it's important to realize why: He always essentially made the same picture. The stories weren't the same, but the genre was…
"Creative work is very hard, and some sort of self-deception is necessary simply in order to start."
The truth is that nobody knows that that magic combination is that produces a first-rate piece of work… all we can do is prepare the groundwork that allows for the "lucky accidents" that make a first-rate movie happen.
But the self-deception has to be a balanced kind:
I think most of us feel like fakes. At some point "they" will get onto us and expose us for what we are: know-nothings, hustlers, and charlatans. It's not a totally destructive feeling. It tends to keep us honest. The other side of that coin, though, the feeling that we own the work, that is exists only because of us, that we are the vessel through which some divine message is being passed, is lunacy.
Don't let today's work hurt the way you evaluate yesterday's work.
[You] have to watch your inner state very carefully as you come into rushes. Perhaps today's shooting hasn't gone very well. You're tired and frustrated. So you take it out on yesterday's work, which you're watching now. Or perhaps you've overcome a major problem today, so in an exultant mood, you're giving yesterday's work too much credit.
If you have even a sliver of interest in how movies are (or were) made, this is a must-read.
Ryan Koo over at NoFilmSchool made me aware of the great and moving short film by Pietro Malegori, 'Birthday'. The filmmaker him self, describes the film like this:
Designed and animated by Martin Woutisseth:
site: martinwoutisseth.com
blog : finestblackdesign.blogspot.com
twitter: @mwoutisseth
mail : contact(at)martinwoutisseth(dot)com
Music, Romain Trouillet :
Animation made with mixing each Kubrick's movies. Typography, colors, patterns and symbols are re interprating. The old man is watching behind his life, nostalgic and the young one is thinking about his future to write.
Film Samples
The "debate" over 3D has become a polarized polemic, a one-dimensional (sorry) and mind numbingly boring exchange of "3D sucks" "no you suck" back and forths. It gives "film vs. digital" a good run for the title of "discussion I'd most rather chew my own foot off than get sucked into on twitter." So why am I writing about it? Because even as the debate has (sorry again) flattened, my feelings about stereoscopic photography have grown more complex and nuanced. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. I'm hardly an expert on the topic, technically or otherwise, but I'm setting down my current thoughts just to get them in order, and posting them for anyone who's interested. If even one foot chewing incident is prevented or delayed, I'll be happy.