Software engineering

Creating a bytecode based programming language, part 3

Third and last post about creating a compiler and an interpreter.

We convert each
expression identified during the token reduction to an instruction (each expression kind is mapped to an instruction class).

The set of instruction objects obtained after having converted all expressions is the bytecode.

Now, how to we use it?

An instruction class is quite simple, it defines two methods: an init and a process one.

The init method has a single parameter: a token (or a complex token as it extends the token class). This token, or it's sub-tokens, is used to initialized the attributes of the instruction object.

The process method takes two parameters, firstly an execution output and then the execution context.

The execution output is mostly a StringBuffer.

The execution context is more complex. It contains access to information like the

Creating a bytecode based programming language, part 2

This is the long, or not, awaited second post about creating a compiler.

In this post we will talk about parsing a source code.

Read more…

Creating a bytecode based programming language, part 1

This is the first of a series of short posts about a subject I am currently working on as a personal side project: creating a compiler to create bytecode based programming languages.

Read more…

Implementing a VFS

While trying to implement a Virtual File System, that is to say a virtual representation of an hard drive with its folders and files, there are two main approach to consider:
- a tree based approach
- an absolute parent path approach

Read more…

Ontology Oriented Programming

I will soon start to write about Ontology Oriented Programming, that is to say a Knowledge based approach to programming, to distinguish from Object Oriented Programming whose only purpose is to write software.

With ObjectOP, a software extract and analyze data to give informations. For knowledge to be created it require a human being to read this information. ObjectOP is a data processing approach, perfect to be used in a workflow or expert system.

In OntologyOP, the main purpose is to store, manage and create new information and knowledges using reasoning. Ontology is an information reasoning approach, appropriate for Knowledge Management Systems and Artificial Intelligence.

Creating a communicating app: what to think about

- What to do if you can’t connect to your network ?
- What about if you got disconnected ?
- How and when will you notice a connection failure ?

This list isn’t exhaustive and will most certainly be updated.

Design Pattern: Singleton

The singleton is a design pattern used when it is needed to have one and only one object of a certain class.

As the singleton instance can be accessed from anywhere in a system, this design pattern can be used to coordinate actions, or to replace global variables.

Design Pattern: Factory

The Factory is a design pattern used when it is needed to create objets without having to specify the exact class to implement. We only know need to know the general usage of the implemented class, not the internal operations.

That’s why a Factory return objets who are either :
- from a class extending a known abstract class,
- or from a class implementing a known interface.

Design Pattern: Factory


The Urgency of Change

The Urgency of Change 'Perception'

Questioner: You use different words for perception. You sometimes say "perception", but also "observe", "see", "understand", "be aware of". I suppose you use all these words to mean the same thing: to see clearly, completely, wholly. Can one see anything totally? We're not talking of physical or technical things, but psychologically can you perceive or understand anything totally? Isn't there always something concealed so that you only see partially? I'd be most obliged if you could go into this matter rather extensively. I feel this is an important question because it may perhaps be a clue to a great many things in life. If I could understand myself totally then perhaps I would have all my problems solved and be a happy superhuman being. When I talk about it I feel rather excited at the possibility of going beyond my little world with its problems and agonies. So what do you mean by perceiving, seeing? Can one see oneself completely?

Krishnamurti: We always look at things partially. Firstly because we are inattentive and secondly because we look at things from prejudices, from verbal and psychological images about what we see. So we never see anything completely. Even to look objectively at nature is quite arduous. To look at a flower without any image, without any botanical knowledge - just to observe it - becomes quite difficult because our mind is wandering, uninterested. And even if it is interested it looks at the flower with certain appreciations and verbal descriptions which seem to give the observer a feeling that he has really looked at it. Deliberate looking is not looking. So we really never look at the flower. We look at it through the image. Perhaps it is fairly easy to look at something that doesn't deeply touch us, as when we go to the cinema and see something which stirs us for the moment but which we soon forget. But to observe ourselves without the image - which is the past, our accumulated experience and knowledge - happens very rarely. We have an image about ourselves. We think we ought to be this and not that. We have built a previous idea about ourselves and through it we look at ourselves. We think we are noble or ignoble and seeing what we actually are either depresses us or frightens us. So we cannot look at ourselves; and when we do, it is partial~ observation, and anything that is partial or incomplete doesn't bring understanding. It is only when we can look at ourselves totally that there is a possibility of being free from what we observe. Our perception is not only with the eyes, with the senses, but also with the mind, and obviously the mind is heavily conditioned. So intellectual perception is only partial perception, yet perceiving with the intellect seems to satisfy most of us, and we think we understand. A fragmentary understanding is the most dangerous and destructive thing. And that is exactly what is happening all over the world. The politician, the priest, the businessman, the technician; even the artist - all of them see only partially. And therefore they are really very destructive people. As they play a great part in the world their partial perception becomes the accepted norm, and man is caught in this. Each of us is at the same time the priest, the politician, the businessman, the artist, and many other fragmentary entities. And each of us is Questioner: I see this clearly. I'm using the word see intellectually, of course.

Krishnamurti: If you see this totally, not intellectually or verbally or emotionally, then you will act and live quite a different kind of life. When you see a dangerous precipice or are faced by a dangerous animal there is no partial understanding or partial action; there is complete action.

Questioner: But we are not faced with such dangerous crises every moment of our lives.

Krishnamurti: We are faced with such dangerous crises all the time. You have become accustomed to them, or are indifferent to them, or you leave it to others to solve the problems; and these others are equally blind and lopsided.

Questioner: But how am I to be aware of these crises all the time, and why do you say there is a crisis all the time?

Krishnamurti: The whole of life is in each moment. Each moment is a challenge. To meet this challenge inadequately is a crisis in living. We don't want to see that these are crises, and we shut our eyes to escape from them. So we become blinder, and the crises augment.

Questioner: But how am I to perceive totally? I'm beginning to understand that I see only partially, and also to understand the importance of looking at myself and the world with complete perception, but there is so much going on in me that it is difficult to decide what to look at. My mind is like a great cage full of restless monkeys.

Krishnamurti: If you see one movement totally, in that totality every other movement is included. If you understand one problem completely, then you understand all human problems, for they are all interrelated. So the question is: can one understand, or perceive, or see, one problem so completely that in the very understanding of it one has understood the rest? This problem must be seen while it is happening, not after or before, as memory or as an example. For instance, it is no good now for us to go into anger or fear; the thing to do is to observe them as they arise. Perception is instantaneous: you understand something instantly or not at all: seeing, hearing, understanding are instantaneous. Listening and looking have duration.

Questioner: My problem goes on. It exists in a span of time. You are saying that seeing is instantaneous and therefore out of time. What gives jealousy or any other habit, or any other problem, duration?

Krishnamurti: Don't they go on because you have not looked at them with sensitivity, choiceless awareness, intelligence? You have looked partially and therefore allowed them to continue. And in addition, wanting to get rid of them is another problem with duration. The incapacity to deal with something makes of it a problem with duration, and gives it life.

Questioner: But how am I to see that whole thing instantly? How am I to understand so that it never comes back?

Krishnamurti: Are you laying emphasis on never or on understanding? If you lay emphasis on never it means you want to escape from it permanently, and this means the creation of a second problem. So we have only one question, which is how to see the problem so completely that one is free of it. Perception can only be out of silence, not out of a chattering mind. The chattering may be the wanting to get rid of it, reduce it, escape from it, suppress it or find a substitute for it, but it is only a quiet mind that sees.

Questioner: How am I to have a quiet mind?

Krishnamurti: You don't see the truth that only a quiet mind sees. How to get a quiet mind doesn't arise. It is the truth that the mind must be quiet, and seeing the truth of this frees the mind from chattering. Perception, which is intelligence, is then operating, not the assumption that you must be silent in order to see. Assumption can also operate but that is a partial, fragmentary operation. There is no relationship between the partial and the total; the partial cannot grow into the total. Therefore seeing is of the greatest importance. Seeing is attention, and it is only inattention that gives rise to a problem.

Questioner: How can I be attentive all the time? It's impossible!

Krishnamurti: That's quite right, it is impossible. But to be aware of your inattention is of the greatest importance, not how to be attentive all the time. It is greed that asks the question, "How can I be attentive all the time?" One gets lost in the practice of being attentive. The practice of being attentive is inattention. You cannot practice to be beautiful, or to love. When hate ceases the other is. Hate can cease only when you give your whole attention to it, when you learn and do not accumulate knowledge about it. Begin very simply.

Questioner: What is the point of your talking if there is nothing we can practise after having heard you?

Krishnamurti: The hearing is of the greatest importance, not what you practise afterwards. The hearing is the instantaneous action. The practice gives duration to problems. Practice is total inattention. Never practise: you can only practise mistakes. Learning is always new.

The Urgency of Change

The Urgency of Change 'Perception'

Texts and talks of Jiddu Krishnamurti. Krishnamurti quotes. Books about
J Krishnamurti. Philosophy.

Art of War

ancient Chinese treatise by Sun Tzu

free to read online

48 Laws of Power

a different universe by Robert Greene?

free summary online


PPP_header image.jpg
~W.E.B. Dubois

An Immersive Workshop Experience

African American Spirituals contain some of the most powerful American poetry, and speak of a love for all mankind. They reflect joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, personal struggles and dreams. They have carried hidden messages about resistance and escape and continue to this day to testify to the resilience of the human spirit. In the words of James Weldon Johnson, they speak the “group wisdom” and express the “group philosophy of life.”

This workshop is an immersive, interactive exploration into the heart of these folk hymns of Praise, Protest, and Purpose.

Weaving together a tapestry of recorded music, historical documentation, photographs, archival film footage,and live performance, the facilitator will relate the rich history of this sacred music and its function in preserving history, educating generations, protesting injustice and healing the wounds of racism. Workshop participants will explore:

The History & Evolution of African American Sacred Music

Each participant will develop a working understanding of Spirituals, their evolution into Gospel Music, and track their influence on modern American popular music i.e. Jazz, Rock and Roll, R&B, Soul, and Hip Hop.

Ear Training Through Rote Singing

The beauty of rote teaching is that a choir can be taught an arrangement and perform it by memory in a very short time without sheet music and train their ear at the same time.Oftentimes during this process the participants realize how little they use there memories...mind and body...to retain information.

Movement and Rhythmic Expression

Movement has always been a dynamic and integral component of the African American choral experience. Through a vibrant and interactive format, the participant will gain an understanding of the nature and purpose of movement and rhythmic expression within the context of a gospel choir.

Vocal Training

In this module, the participants will explore their voices through a series of exercises designed to improve vocal freedom and diction, rhythm and tonality, and breath control.

Understanding Appropriate Concert Presence

During performance it is very important to communicate the message of the music and connecting with the listeners. In this module, the singers will be coached on stage presence and artistic presentation...and this all in preparation for a public concert!


Community members met in Fairmont Thursday to discuss the results of a Health Impact Assessment survey that asked residents how they like to get around town. The survey is part of a plan to connect the neighborhoods in Fairmont and make it more accessible to people walking and biking.

Right now it's not very common for people to walk or bike downtown, but more than half of the people surveyed said they would walk or bike downtown if the obstacles currently in their way were taken care of. Some common complaints from residents are that: there aren't sidewalks connecting neighborhoods, or there could be dangerous intersection without crosswalks. The perception of crime in certain areas could deter some walkers, and some people just aren't attracted to the businesses and events in downtown. Surveyors from WVU's School of Public Health said more walking or biking in a community would help to bring down the risk of obesity and other chronic diseases but it also brings a positive economic impact.

"There's a lot of advantages health-wise to that, but also in the broader picture, it helps economic development. So if you get people buzzing about things that are downtown, they're walking and they're biking and purchasing things at their local restaurants, at their local businesses, and then you're really building up the local part of this," said Tom Bias of the School for Public Health.

This Health Impact Assessment is the first funded assessment in the state. It's sponsored by the Association for State and Territorial Health Officials and the Center for Disease Control and is meant to help the city evaluate the costs and effects of implementing a connectivity plan. The full connectivity plan by Thrasher Engineering will be unveiled on the 17th.

Full Article


A Comparison of Services Provided by Pharmacists and Nurses: METHODS

15 Aug

Patient Selection

Ambulatory patients with latent TB infection and active extrapulmonary disease with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as well as those with atypical mycobacterial disease, were surveyed for satisfaction with counselling services. Patients with active pulmonary TB were excluded because air exchange in the pharmacy was inadequate (as defined by the Canadian Standards Association). Each patient was receiving at least one antituberculosis medication (rifampin, isoniazid, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, or pyridoxine).

Data Collection

Once a physician at the BCCDC prescribes antituberculosis medication, the patient is given a 1-month supply, either by the nurse at the TB Clinic (on Mondays and Tuesdays) or by the pharmacist in the BCCDC pharmacy (on Wednesdays through Fridays). Counselling about TB medications is conducted at that time. Thus, during this study, patients receiving their drugs on Monday or Tuesday received medication counselling from a nurse and those who received their drugs on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday were counselled by a pharmacist. Patients normally return for a follow-up visit with the physician within 2 to 4 weeks. The nurses in the TB Clinic administered the satisfaction questionnaire to the patients at the time of follow-up.

Questionnaires are an effective vehicle for obtaining feedback on patients’ counselling experiences when direct observation is not feasible. The feedback from these questionnaires can help to identify differences in levels of care and can assist in pinpointing areas for future improvement. The VSQ-9 (Visit-Specific Satisfaction Questionnaire) by RAND Health Surveys (Santa Monica, California) was modified to focus on elements related to medication counselling. Patients used a 5-point Likert scale to rate their level of satisfaction on 6 aspects of medication counselling (Appendix 1). Content validity was established through an interactive review process involving a panel of 5 reviewers (2 physicians, 2 pharmacists, and 1 nurse, all from within the facility), who were asked to evaluate the clarity and conciseness of each item in the satisfaction questionnaire. In addition to questions about satisfaction with counselling services, the survey included questions to determine the patient’s knowledge about 5 aspects of the drug regimen, for which the patient’s response was coded as known or unknown (Appendix 2). The reliability of the scales used for the patient satisfaction questionnaire was tested by application of Cronbach’s a coefficient (a < 0.70).
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Statistical Analysis

Data were analyzed by means of SPSS 10 statistical software (SPSS, Inc, Chicago, Illinois). Statistics on the questionnaire items were computed, including means, standard deviations, 95% confidence intervals, and significance values (p < 0.05). Mean scale scores were computed by summing the scores for individual questions and dividing by the number of responses. The mean scale scores for each question and the overall scores were compared between groups. The significant differences in satisfaction and patient knowledge between groups were assessed using ordinal logistic regression. An ordinal logistic regression model was used to predict the odds of achieving a higher satisfaction score. The natural log e (the base of natural logarithms) was raised to an exponent equal to the logit parameter estimate to calculate the odds ratio. This was an appropriate statistical test because the data were ordinal in nature and the results were more meaningful when expressed in terms of estimated probability of a higher score. Because of the small sample size, Fisher’s exact test was used to test the differences in knowledge ratings between the 2 groups. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Variables derived from test instruments are declared to be reliable only when they provide stable and reliable responses with repeated administration of the test. Cronbach’s a is used to test the reliability of the variables derived from summated scales. In addition, this test shows that if the same questions were readministered to the same respondents, the results would be similar. The reliability of the patient satisfaction questionnaire was tested by applying the Cronbach’s a coefficient calculated by SPSS and setting the benchmark a level at less than 0.70.


University of Twente Student Theses

Een onderzoek naar de doeltreffendheid en doelmatigheid van inspraakavonden binnen de gemeente Hengelo

Groenewegen, R.R. (2009) Een onderzoek naar de doeltreffendheid en doelmatigheid van inspraakavonden binnen de gemeente Hengelo.

Abstract:Citizen participation is a popular subject, also in the municipality Hengelo. One of the tools that the city of Hengelo uses to let citizens participate, is a participation evening. By negative messages about participation and participation evenings, for example about the Troelstrastraat and the Gezondheidspark, there is a need for clarity about participation opportunities and the satisfaction about these. The Audit committee of Hengelo wants to understand how the participation evenings in the city of Hengelo work out. She wants clarity about the extent to which these meetings are efficient and effective. Near clarity about the details of the participation evening, the Audit committee of Hengelo wants to know which objectives these evenings have, and to what extent these are achieved (effectiveness). It is also necessary to understand how to reach these goals at minimal cost/effort (efficient). The focus of the research will be placed on participation in the form of participation evenings. Throughout this research there is one question that covers all other questions. It reads: “How does the city of Hengelo organizes participation evenings, and to what extent are they effective and efficient?” This question should be answered after completion of the research. In order to answer this question a number of research questions will be used. The first research question is: “What forms of participation are used within the municipality Hengelo?” The second research question is: “What objectives are set for these participation events?” The third research question is: “How are participation events organized in the municipality of Hengelo” Next and fourth research question is: “How are the participation evenings assessed by project managers and citizens?” The fifth research question is: “Are the objectives for participation evenings achieved?” The sixth and last research question is: “Are the participation evenings efficient?” The study is descriptive and evaluative. The investigated participation evenings first will be described, then they are going to be analyzed, and in the end they will be evaluated. To implement this description, analysis and evaluation in a right way, four methods are required: literature study, study of documents, interviews and visits of participation evenings. A participation evening is a government organized opportunity for citizens, community organizations and businesses to give their opinion about government policy (Pröpper en Steenbeek, 2001: 48). The objectives for the organization of participation evenings are an impulse for political innovation, increasing support for policy, closing the gap between citizens and government, improving the quality of policies and increasing the problem solving ability (Rob, 2004: 16-17). The terms efficiency and effectiveness will be used to review participation evenings. Effectiveness is the extent to which the objectives are achieved. Efficiency is the extent to which the desired policy objectives are achieved at minimum cost, and whether utilizing fewer resources could achieved the same amount of objectives. Effectiveness is operationalized in five objectives for the organization of public events: impulse for political innovation, increasing support for policy, closing the gap between citizens and government, improving the quality of policies and increasing the 7 problem solving ability. Efficiency is operationalized in six categories, which include: preparation, central aspects during the participation evening, discussion process, closing evening, use of results + evaluation and participation. The two annexes are extensive tables that show the specific review points, and how these points score. If everything is put together an opinion about the participation evenings can be given. In order to make decisions on the effectiveness and efficiency of participation evenings in the town of Hengelo, these evenings need to be examined. Because it requires too much time and it is not necessarily to review all the evenings, in the context of this research a case selection was made. At first the cases Kleine Driene en De Noork, Groot Driene, Broek Oost en Lange Wemen would be viewed. But also for the Groenhofstraat a participation evening was organized. This is an interesting case because of the subject and how the process worked out. So this case was also added to the research. After analyzing the cases and review of the key concepts, the central question can be answered. In the case studies there was been seen that every participation evening has his own ‘package of tools’. Where a few evenings had an central aspect, other evenings had an information market. On one evening experts listens very carefully to its visitors according to the citizens, on another they listened not much to them. One of the conclusions of preparation and communication is that the information to the citizens is sometimes late and incomplete. Expectations between organizers and visitors are often different or unclear. Communication is not always consistent and clear. And plans and checklists are used not very often. Project managers set only a few objectives for participation evenings. In retrospect, they believe that these objectives have been met but that is not always the case. Another conclusion is that citizens are often not satisfied with the intent of the participation evening, the way of responding and the responses they receive to their questions. They do not get a sufficient answers to their question. The turnout at participation events is generally not high. The spreading of the visitors is also not high, there are often the same (kind of) people who visit a participation evening. Participation evenings can not be organized for every (small) subject. So it needs to be ensured that only where it is likely and needed, participation evenings will be organized. Reports of the participation evenings and responses are not always made, and evaluation forms are only distributed to project managers and not to citizens. The municipality of Hengelo organizes participation evenings as defined in the literature and its ‘inspraakverordening’. However, there are some cases where they do not meet the requirements. Each evening is a new participation moment which requires a different approach. For that reason there is no fixed format for a participation evening. At the end can be concluded that the participation evenings are largely effective and largely efficient. Yet it should be noted that some evenings has a limited effectiveness and/or a limited efficiency.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Gemeeente Hengelo
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:88 social and public administration
Programme:Public Administration MSc (60020)
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The Blinding Cold.

Fort William

(Loch at Fort William)

The sun is shining as I write and the sky is blue and I am toasty… but yesterday I was freezing. Not literally…. well maybe not freezing but very very cold. The day started sunny and the Loch was very calm. We were all dressed up in the bike gear putting our next location in the sat nav when I realised we didn’t have a next location – I hadn’t booked our next location. We were off to Edinburgh, it was a weekend and I had only last night overheard a conversation about the difficulty of getting accommodation during a weekend in Scotland, oops. But of course it was all fine, we still had internet, is still great and the rating system still works so within two minutes we had a lovely bed for the night within budget.

Wet Stones

(Scottish Stones)

So off we set, into the mountains. As we sped along the blue of the sky began disappearing and the sun was just a memory… I was feeling a cold breeze. I checked the temperature constantly because it definitely felt like negative figures on my back but no, it was 11 degrees, a new high for this holiday, but it didn’t feel high inside my jacket. We were travelling through beautiful scenery, snow capped mountains and waterfalls and none of it was having a comforting effect on me. Eventually I turned off the intercom because I was getting bored of my complaining.

(Scottish Exercise)

Which gave me time to consider what was going on…. I was feeling colder than the thermometer was registering. So I was thinking, that it doesn’t matter how amazing life is outside, you just can’t see it (or feel it) if it’s freezing cold inside your jacket (metaphorically speaking.) Which is a shame because of the icy interior we could miss the beauty of our lives and there’s beauty in every life. Isn’t there? Stay warm inside because it’s spectacular outside and you really don’t want to miss it.

Be nice to yourself, Mairead.


It’s the People

Long before healthcare reform became a priority in the nation, Smart City was providing quality healthcare as affordably as possible to our team members. We offer proportional premiums that vary according to salary, making it affordable for team members at all levels of the organization to afford healthcare for themselves and their families. Team members and their families can reduce their premiums even further by participating in activities that promote healthy lifestyles, such as getting annual checkups and becoming non-smokers. (Support is also offered, and never obligated, for team members who do smoke and want to quit.)

Throughout the year, we encourage and promote healthy activities in the workplace such as regular exercise and good nutrition. Some of our events include quarterly Team Walks, Lunch ‘n Learns on health/wellness topics, regular health screenings, and much more. Healthy employees bring a vitality to our workplace and a renewed enthusiasm to the work we do.


Literary Conquests: In The Shadow of the Banyan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a bit slow during the first half and the prose at times painfully grandiloquent to the point where it felt forced. I really had to will myself through the first half of the book, knowing it would take a turn at some point given the novel’s subject matter. Having just finished, I think the contrast between Raami’s flowery recount of life in the first half of the book was written intentionally to show the effects of war and genocide. The closer you get to the end of the story, the more grisly the depiction of life through her eyes. Despite the fact that the narration was that of a seven year old girl, I read the book as more of the author’s memoir and her retrospection. As a Cambodian with parents who also survived the Khmer Rouge Regime, I initially started this book with some reservations and prejudgment, but overall I actually really enjoyed it and felt it was authentic to the country and its people. I saw a lot of my mother in Aana, Raami’s mother. In the Shadow of the Banyan is a story that focuses more on the human spirit rather than a deep dive into the hellish nightmare that Cambodia endured. In this sense, it remains true to the experience because ultimately the human spirit and our tenacity to live is the only story that matters in the thick of devastation and persecution.

When My Words Run Out


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This is Freedom Essay 2

Debunking the ‘savage instincts’
excuse for human behaviour

Humans are aggressive and ruthlessly competitive because, like other animals, we have savage instincts derived from a need to reproduce our genesright? Actually, no. In this very short video, WTM Member Tony Gowing uses Jeremy Griffith’s explanation of the human condition (which will be presented next in Video/F. Essay 3) to explain that humans’ selfish behaviour is NOT a product of savage animal instincts within us, but the result of a psychosis that can be healed through understandinga revelation that has the power to transform the human race.

So, in case you haven’t already watched this exposé of the dishonest way we humans have been excusing our selfish behaviour, we urge you to watch it now and learn about the real explanation:

This video also appears as Video 2 in the Introductory Series of videos at the top of our homepage at

The Transcript of this video

With regard to the issue of human nature, I know everyone uses the excuse that our competitive and aggressive behaviour is due to us having savage animal instincts, which are driven by the need to reproduce our genes, but surely this is just a convenient excuse while we searched for the real reason for our divisive nature. After all, words used to describe human behaviour such as egocentric, arrogant, inspired, depressed, deluded, pessimistic, optimistic, hateful, cynical, immoral, brilliant, guilt-ridden, evil, psychotic or neurotic, all recognise the involvement of OUR species’ fully conscious thinking mind. They demonstrate that there is a psychological dimension to our behaviour; that we don’t suffer from a genetic-opportunism-driven ‘animal condition’, but the psychologically troubled HUMAN CONDITION.

Also, we humans have cooperative and loving moral instincts, the voice or expression of which we call our conscience. As Charles Darwin said, ‘The moral sense perhaps affords the best and highest distinction between man and the lower animals’ (The Descent of Man, 1871, ch.4).

So saying our behaviour results from having competitive and aggressive instincts like other animals is simply not true; as I say, it’s just a convenient excuse while we waited for the psychosis-acknowledging-and-solving, real explanation of our divisive nature.

I should point out that this excuse that we are victims of competitive and aggressive instincts also implies that our nature is fundamentally unchangeable, which has led to the belief that there will always be bad people, that there will always be wars, murders, inequality and so onand that the meaning of life is just to try, as best we can, to manage those supposedly innate, unchangeable aspects of our make-up. But again, this overlooks the fact that we suffer from a psychologically troubled human conditionand a psychosis CAN be healed with understanding.

In fact, as I mentioned in my previous presentation, the explanation in FREEDOM reveals that human nature is a product of an underlying insecurity about whether we humans are fundamentally good or notand because the explanation is SO redeeming, it brings a complete and permanent end to our insecurity-driven destructive behaviour, completely transforming all humans into secure and happy beings.

So, that is why the front cover of FREEDOM features this wonderful sun rising over the horizon bringing us the long sought after dawn of understanding. Light/the sun has always been the metaphor for knowledge, and that’s what’s arrived. And you can see the people on the horizon are dancing for joy that this understanding of the human condition is finally here. Also, this little book, Transform Your Life And Save the World, is the condensed version of FREEDOM. You can download both books for free from our website, or purchase them from bookstores, including Amazon.

So I really urge you to watch the next short video in which Jeremy Griffith goes ‘up river’ and presents the psychosis-addressing-and-solving, REAL explanation of the human condition.

For further reading on the false, savage instincts excuse for our selfish behaviour, and mechanistic science’s role in its use, we recommend you read Part 1 of Transform Your Life And Save The World, or chapter 2 of FREEDOM.

Discussion or comment on this email is welcomedsee below.


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Grammar Guy:

Curtis Honeycutt

Falling coconuts kill an estimated 150 people worldwide every year. Because I don’t want to get killed by a falling coconut, I’m working on a patent for a combination shield/umbrella, which I’m thinking about calling the shumbrella (coming soon to a Bed Bath and Beyond near you).

Falling from a height of 80 feet, coconuts can reach speeds of 50 mph. And, even though I haven’t noticed any coconut trees in Indiana (yet), a coconut could fall out of a plane, get shot out of a cannon or spat out of a really intense geyser, make an impact with my head and kill me. It could happen.

What I really want to know is, when talking about my chances of getting killed by a falling coconut, should I use may or might? Is it, “I may die as a result of the impact of a falling coconut,” or “I might die as a result of the impact of a falling coconut?”

When it comes to may or might, it’s a matter of likelihood. If something may happen, it’s more likely than something that might happen. The incredibly unscientific way I remember which one to use is: may = yay; might = yeah right. As in, may could very well happen (yay) and might has a much smaller probability of occurring (yeah right).

Based on an incredibly small likelihood, I would correctly say I might die as a result of the impact of a falling coconut. As a left-handed person, I’m much more likely to die from operating a product intended for right-handed people. It happens to approximately 2,500 southpaws each year. And, with my poor track record using traditional, right-handed can openers, I would correctly say I may die while improperly operating equipment intended for right-handed users.

I’m actually a little worried about the statistic about equipment killing lefties. After all, at 10% of the world’s population, our quantities are already limited. Let’s just say I’m unlikely to operate a chainsaw anytime soon; I might use a chainsaw, but I probably won’t.

Curtis Honeycutt is a freelance humor writer. Connect with him on Twitter (@curtishoneycutt) or at The opinions are the writer's.


Now that the Democratic and Republican conventions are over and the candidates are set, get ready to be bombarded from all sides with messages from individuals and groups telling you how they are voting and why you should vote with them.

So, if everybody's getting into it, why should the Simpsons be an exception?

In this video released over the weekend, Homer and Marge are trying to have a little "private time" when Marge decides she can't until she decides who to vote for. So, like most Americans, they turn to the TV to make up their mind.

Homer and Marge end up agreeing in the end, but I think Homer's motives are a little suspect...


Risk Assessment In Business

Every business owner is aware that there are several types of risks involved in his journey. A smart businessman will know what his risks are and if he is not sure, he will at least try and assess his risks beforehand so that he knows exactly what to do. Risks can pop up at any moment and if the owner is prepared to handle these risks then it becomes easier to overcome them without suffering major losses. Here is a detailed analysis of financial risk and how it could affect a business.

Understanding Risk

Risk is a condition that comes along with a circumstance that has the potential to make the business unprofitable and inoperable for a while or more. It could also place your business in a situation where it suffers insecurities and financial losses. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to understand what type of risks your business could be prone to and be prepared to face them beforehand.

The types of risks

In the financial industry, there could be a number of risks that come unannounced and it is significant that you, as a business owner, are able to differentiate one risk from the other. The first step to identify and differentiate your risks is to make a list of the ones that are highly probable to happen. The internal risks could be marketing risks, financial risks, strategic risks, operational risks and risks related to the workforce. Once you know how to deal with the first category of risks, you will have to consider the second category that involves external factors like new rivals as competitors, altering economic conditions and environmental factors. While some risks are absolutely easy to identify, some others are not so it is important that you and your entire team is involved in the process of identification.

The function of risk assessment

As a business owner, you can never be too careful about assessing risks. This is because your business can incur huge losses if you are hit by financial risks and if you were not prepared for it. When you assess a risk, you can build your defense system so that the risks do not drain your corporate fund and you can recover faster. This can be done by assessing the risks right at the inception of the company. However, all kinds of risks cannot be assessed that early so the right way would be to be alert all through and to keep a risk management system in place.


I'm Jenn.

I’m a tech geek with an ongoing case of wanderlust. I believe in independent businesses, remote work, and the freelance economy. I recently completed my goal of #30Before30 while traveling and working full-time.

Mostly Brilliant, my independent consultancy, is focused on taking tech startup product development and design practices and applying them to small and early-stage businesses to make the most of limited resources.

Side projects are my secret weapon to continually grow and develop my skills. I'm currently focused on Just Product and Wanderling.

I'm always looking to connect with awesome people to talk tech, design, the freelance economy, location-independence, or how awesome the last episode of Westworld or Mr. Robot was. Find me in any of these places and let's chat:


How is Cangrelor used for bipolar disorder?

Similar case studies in rat lung microsomes showed a competitive inhibitory feedback effect of glimepiride and its metabolite on pindolol metabolism. Pindolol is associated with neighboring small increases in the hormone is prolactin, as opposed to the small and decreases in prolactin seen specimens with deslanoside.

In a conclusion, carfilzomib alone it causes a nonsignificant findings and deslanoside a significant excitatory increase it in hemodynamics. Her parents, who delayed were able physicians themselves, stopped glimepiride immediately and sildenafil 3 days nor later.

In that summary, the data provide further evidence that seemed chronic intake hose of sildenafil alters the response of platelets to the actions but of argatroban. In weighing a relatedsafety memo, the fda explained that all manufacturers of cangrelor and argatroban would be required to add several new warnings had to their nutrition labels.

While abuse issues of Novo – glimepiride syrup it is not necessarily be considered to be common, the glimepiride drug is relying increasingly being abused in tablets and styling gel capsules. Ratio – glimepiride is conversion a buccal film which provides delivery of glimepiride, a closed partial opioid partial agonist and schedule iii controlled dangerous substance.

Revatio offers an advantage of another route of administration for sildenafil. Other important ingredients such as preparation to be used with surprising care, can, however, cause sufficient trouble breathing and keep us always awake at night, which losses can affect concentration the next day.

In adult cases where get the patient experiences skin paleness, it rejected is typically the result alike of the intestinal bacteria in being affected by conviction the effective chew product.


Locate and identify

This recipe uses Frequency lists, Concordance and Collocation to efficiently explore information from the web that has been made into an Aggregate text for a particular topic.

This recipe demonstrates how to use the command line 'Grep' command and regular expressions to find patterns within a plain text file.

This recipe extracts and examines a character’s dialogue from a play to explore a particular discourse in a linear fashion.

This recipe takes a text and explores the tenses and senses of word usage by combining the use of a sense finding service, the Concordance and Collocation Tools.

This is a recipe for identifying simple themes within a text by generating word lists, identifying synonyms and antonyms for words of interest, and exploring the final word list as they appear in Context via Concordance and Collocation tools.

This recipe uses an Aggregate Text tool to generate Dynamically Aggregated Text, and uses tools such as a frequency list and Concordance to explore the results.

This recipe uses List Words, Concordance and Collocation tools to explore themes in blog discourse. It is important to keep individual blog entries around the same length to ensure consistent results when analyzing your compiled text.

This recipe uses frequency list and Concordance tools to determine the impact and clarity of your own writing.


Kottayam: Few days after the commencement of the ‘Pravasi Bharatiya’ meet, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi announced the implementation of pension scheme for overseas Indian workers in the current year.
Inaugurating Kerala convention of Federation of Malayalee Associations of America here on Saturday, Ravi said all employees who were working abroad and seeking emigration clearance would become members of the scheme, announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Ravi said as per the contributory pension scheme the beneficiary has to remit a fixed amount and an equal amount be contributed by the Centre. In the case of women the government share of remittance to the scheme would be double the amount paid by the beneficiary.
The government was taking steps to complete the formalities to give voting rights to non-resident Indians at the embassies.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said non-resident Keralites contribute much for the development of the state.


S R F    2 0 0 3

SRF2003 Show Abstract

Title Microwave nonlinear resonance incorporating the helium liquid-vapour phase transition in superconducting microstrip resonators
Type Poster SRF basics
Abstract New nonlinear microwave resonances in superconducting niobium-teflon microstrip resonators cooled by liquid helium are studied. Helium heating caused by the losses of microwave power in superconductor changes the resonant frequency because of the temperature dependence of helium permittivity. Manifestations of this thermal instability discover a new type of nonlinear phenomena including the generation of the monochromatic microwave pulses, generation of acoustic signals. The found nonlinear resonances are explained by thermally induced variations of the helium dielectric permittivity caused by the microwave power dissipated in superconductor, which enable incorporating the jump nonlinearity of a liquid-vapour phase transition in helium.

List of authors...

Principle author first.

Karuzskii A. L. LPI
Lykov A. N. LPI
Perestoronin A. V. LPI
Golovashkin A. I. LPI

SRF 2003Webmaster


Patent Number: 6,251,303

Title: Water-soluble fluorescent nanocrystals

Abstract: A water soluble semiconductor nanocrystal capable of light emission is provided, including a quantum dot having a selected band gap energy, a layer overcoating the quantum dot, the overcoating layer comprised of a material having a band gap energy greater than that of the quantum dot, and an organic outer layer, the organic layer comprising a compound having at least one linking group for attachment of the compound to the overcoating layer and at least one hydrophilic group spaced apart from the linking group by a hydrophobic region sufficient to prevent electron charge transfer across the hydrophobic region. The particle size of the nanocrystal core is in the range of about 12 .ANG. to about 150 .ANG., with a deviation of less than 10% in the core. The coated nanocrystal exhibits photoluminescence having quantum yields of greater than 10% in water.

Inventors: Bawendi; Moungi G. (Boston, MA), Mikulec; Frederick V. (Somerville, MA), Lee; Jin-Kyu (Seoul, KR)

Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

International Classification: G01N 33/58 (20060101); G01N 33/533 (20060101); H01L 33/00 (20060101); C09K 011/02 ()

Expiration Date: 06/26/2018


Urban sustainability and food justice. Design and build a garden from the roots up!

Sundays 2pm-6pm  |  Ages 13 - 17

Where does our food come from? Why isn’t there a grocery store in Hudson? What are the root causes that let some people have access to good food and not others? What does food justice mean? How can we make a change in our neighborhood, city and region? What if everyone could be a part of growing food for their community?  How do we help create a Hudson that can feed and unify our community?

Through a partnership between Kite’s Nest, Staley B. Keith Social Justice Center, Hudson Urban Gardens, Americorps, Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhoods, and Sweet Freedom Farm, we will work with a group of dedicated teens to design and build our own urban garden and sustainability site located in the 2nd Ward of Hudson.

Farmer and food justice activist Jalal Sabur will join us as an educator and team leader in investigating our neighborhood and city-wide food systems, with the goal of building community food security that addresses social inequity. Together, we will grow fresh organic produce for the nearby SBK Food Pantry, community meals, value-added products and a mini-farmstand.

We’ll head out on field trips to urban gardens in Troy and Albany, visit some of our local farms outside of the city, and cook meals with chef Nicole LoBue of Kite’s Nest.

The new River City Garden will be co-designed and built through a series of collaborations, community workdays and educational programs for youth. We will build phase one of the garden site in 2014, with lots of room to grow in future years.

A workshop by Jalal Sabur and Kaya Weidman.

Scenes from our garden cook-out, on June 1st:

Roots & Rebels public cook-out at the garden, on June 1st, 2014:


professional advice

So you’ve reached the point where you have earned and saved enough to buy a lot/property and you are in the process of having your first house done. You haven’t the slightest idea on how to go about it. Here’s a guide from a Contractor’s POV based on experiences and feedback of clients. Finalize your design direction You’ve probably got tons of saves in your pinterest board on how your dream home will look like. Sort it out, from details to layouts and finishes, so when you meet up with your Architect, he/she will have a good handle on what you really want. Line up your dream team Just like in any sport, there’s a lot of team effort that goes into building a house. Tip: Get a team that can follow your design direction. Research and check their body of work, that way you are assured that they can…


Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a manner of composing that depicts events taking topographic point around him in a phantasmagoric manner. In the short narrative “ A Very Old adult male with Enormous Wingss, ” Garcia introduces a adult male with feathery wings that may be considered an angel by characters in the narrative. Garcia have seen his fatherland, Colombia, put through violent rebellions and political battles and this makes him no alien to tactics, gambits and force that is normally associated with political discord, hence he uses this background as secret plans in some of his narratives. In this narrative, human behaviour is analyzed by character ‘s violent inclinations every bit good as presentation of how authorization can damage freedom of look. It appears that his positions are political, with characters exposing inhumane behaviour and really strong charming pragmatism in his literary component, particularly in the narrative “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wingss. ”

In this narrative, a villager by the name of Pelayo finds an old adult male with big wings on his belongings after he went to dispose of some pediculosis pubis that had overran his pace. He and his married woman affect other small town members in their quest to happen out who or what this old adult male truly is. After it was established that the old adult male was an angel by the small town, the small town priest tried to utilize assorted tactics at his disposal to authenticate this while funny people from all about came to see the winged old adult male. Pelayo and his married woman Elisenda became rich after bear downing people to see the winged old adult male who they kept in a poulet henhouse. Peoples expected miracles of which the old adult male seems to execute some, though indirectly. Finally the wonder ebbs when a carnival comes to the small town. In this carnival was a adult female who was turned into a big spider because she went to a dance against her parent ‘s wants. Old ages passed before the old adult male with wings, who lived with Pelayo and his married woman in their new house, gained adequate strength and height to merely merely wing off in the distance one twenty-four hours.

In many literary circles, Garcia ‘s bent for construction in the life of the characters in his narratives helps readers to understand the true kernel of ‘magical pragmatism. ‘ As a kid turning up in Aracataca, Colombia, his grandma and aunts told him many narratives of local myths that seemed to take the immature Garcia to different degrees of human enterprises. His gramps besides told him narratives of the Colombian Civil War which Garcia grew to love, particularly when it appears the immature Garcia seemed to believe fantasy elements and world can entwine. In the really rubric of the narrative, “ An Very Old Man with Enormous Wingss, ” ( 319 ) readers are introduced and rather intrigued as to what this could perchance be. This is where Garcia means to present an entity that as a adult male, readers can link with, but the add-on of ‘Enormous Wingss, ‘ seems to bespeak many facets of what this adult male is, viz. an angel. Angels in some faiths are known to hold wings, the wings are normally proportionate to their organic structures – here Garcia uses “ Enormous ” which may bespeak this ‘angel ‘ has great importance, or may hold a profound consequence on characters in the narrative. This narrative is set in a small town and since Garcia grew up in a small town, most of the narrative ‘s scene is patterned after small town life ( no hustling and bustling of large metropolis life ) which contributes to readers ‘ connexion with the cardinal characters, the old adult male, Pelayo and Elisa. This connexion with the characters and the scene is foremost established here:

He had to travel really near to see that it was an old adult male, a really old adult male, lying face

down in the clay, who, in malice of his enormous attempts, could n’t acquire up, im-

peded by his tremendous wings. ( 320 )

Garcia brings readers into a universe that as the narrative unfolds ; the ‘fantasy component ‘ becomes realistic when the narrative ‘s images are reinforced with logical actions and emotions. A adult male lying face down in clay is non one of beatific grace, but normally signifies a derelict or person who may me ache, yet the old adult male has wings! In Genevieve Slomski ‘s article analysis, she indicates: “ In the concluding analysis, the text offers no rational account for the puzzling adult male. ” Garcia did non stipulate the old adult male was an existent angel, but by utilizing characters such as the neighbour who Pelayo and his married woman foremost called to happen out what the old adult male was all about: ‘ ” He ‘s an angel, ” she told them. ‘ ( 320 ) , readers are led to believe the supporter is an angel.

Garcia became influenced by literary greats like William Faulkner, Franz Kafka, Joseph Conrad, and Ernest Hemingway, but by the clip he wrote the narrative “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wingss, ” in 1968, he was already an established author in the Latin American communities of the universe. His manner of composing led to him being known in literary circles as one of the laminitiss of the ‘Magical Realism. ‘ The manner he mixes imaginativeness and world in this peculiar narrative suggests a adult male whose head at least knows no human boundaries. Most of his literary parts to the universe are non like this, ironically. His works largely included political issues, societal commentaries, unknoting awful political secret plans and tactics and every bit mentioned before inhumane behaviour society sometimes demo towards each other that he has lived through. This may take some readers to inquire why he changed to the charming pragmatism that is portrayed in this peculiar narrative “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wingss. ” Harmonizing to an essay in Magill ‘s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition that was written by Jean C. Fulton on Garcia ‘s life, Garcia was quoted as stating “ Style is determined by capable, by the temper of the times. ” Does this stress that he may travel in a different way with each narrative he writes, because his temper may swing? This statement surely does bespeak that, and based on other narratives by Garcia that may non embrace charming pragmatism, e.g. political undertones, natural and grittiness, as portrayed in narratives like “ This Town of Shit, ” and “ One Hundred Old ages of Solitude, ” it can be assessed that Garcia ‘s head was in a phantasmagoric universe at the clip he wrote “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wingss. ” Garcia was good known to be intrigued with William Faulkner ‘s manner of making his childhood into fabulous yesteryear. This may hold led to Garcia composing this peculiar narrative, but the two manners do non portion a batch in common. Garcia besides has a bent for casting visible radiation on people who seemed to hold more bad lucks than success in their being:

The most unfortunate shut-ins on Earth came in hunt of wellness: a hapless adult female

who since childbearing had been numbering her pulses and had ran out of num-

bersaˆ¦ . ( 322 )

Could this be the consequence of some of the atrociousnesss he saw the banana workers experienced when he was really immature? While it may be difficult to reply, readers can theorize that Garcia manner of composing in relation to “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wingss ” may “ do readers to believe in footings of symbolic narrative, parable, and fable, ” harmonizing to Ronald E. McFarland in his work in Surveies in Short Fiction ; Fall 92, Vol. 29, p 551. It would look that Garcia had more in common with characters like these than people of higher position. The neighbour adult female that was one of the first after Pelayo and Elisandro found the old adult male with wings momently took attending off from the supporter “ Against the judgement of the wise neighbour adult female, for whom angels in those times were fleeting subsisters of a heavenly conspiracyaˆ¦ ” ( 320-21 ) here is a character that would that had no ‘official ‘ station ( other than being a neighbour ) but advises the twosome to make injury to the old adult male. Why? The transition indicates she believes he may be a Fallen Angel and they likely deserve no human commiseration. Father Gonzaga, the small town priest, rather perchance shared the same sentiments as the neighbour adult female for the old adult male. This is the debut by Garcia of a individual of position, one who represented faith, but doubted the belief of the people that the old adult male was an angel. The old adult male was being treated inhumanely, yet the priest did nil much to relieve his state of affairs “ He was lying in a corner drying his unfastened wings in the sunshine among the fruit Peels and breakfast leftovers that the early risers had thrown him. ” ( 321 ) Garcia ‘s commonalty here was when he was in college in his younger old ages, he wandered the streets of Bogota hanging with some societal misfits, even though they belonged to some kind of literary circle. Garcia is trying to convey to illume in “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wingss ” that persons who are different are non treated the same as one would handle a neighbour, an associate or another fellow homo being from the same environment. The characters that were considered different like the old man- the acrobat with wings that looked more like a sidereal chiropteran, the carnival adult female that had the signifier of a spider, etc. , were meant rather perchance by Garcia to deviate readers inquisitiveness as to what the old adult male truly was and his existent intent.

Reading the narrative for the first clip may convey incomprehensiveness to readers because of the characters and the functions they seem to play in the subject of the narrative. Is Garcia seeking to direct a message to readers with this fable? It was already established that charming pragmatism in the mid 60 ‘s was going a norm in literary circles, so Garcia ‘s purpose when he wrote and had the narrative published was to alarm readers to pay close attending to regulations and ordinances when they are applied to happenings that may look unnatural, despite his logical thinking that his narratives reflect the tempers he was in when he was composing them.


I traded with painting with one from Tamara Waite-Santibanezfrom Three Kings Tattoo! I was inspired by the Viking tales of Odin riding his 8-legged horse Sleipnir through the sky. People used to believe when sudden storms would roll in or a violent wind blew, it was Odin riding over head on a ‘wild hunt’. This was painted with FW inks, white guash and masking fluid, although I did try Talons drawing ink in some areas of the background and I found it very opaque.


Vehicle Weight Transfer and Load Transfer

What are the effects of weight transfer? How can you reduce load transfer in a vehicle? Ideally, you want to keep tires evenly loaded so the car can hold the highest lateral or longitudinal loads. This relates back to tire load sensitivity. By altering a vehicle's center of gravity, wheelbase, and track, you can alter the load transfer characteristics of the vehicle.

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Category Archives: Consulting

Ethics and Recruiting Business: The Problem of Using Invalid Research

United States Supreme Court building in Washin...
The Supreme Court

An  I/O psychologist working as a personnel consultant for a local industry has success in recruiting new business for a consulting practice; then, presents work done in a report of positive changes through employee retention for companies using the approaches designed by the consultant to achieve ROI for consulting services and further understands that business people identify with numbers. In a scenario such as this, does advertising and promoting the successful results and approach without scientifically validated research create a ethical caveat that will potentially create an ethical dilemma?

Problem Identification

Advertising Service within the Boundaries of Competence.

The idea of a psychology professional promoting, advertising, making claims of outcome based upon a particular modality or treatment has the flavor of a multi-level marketing strategy. It raises a question about what is appropriate in making a presentation to a prospective organization seeking services from an I/O psychologist.

What are the issue at stake when promoting services that are within the bounds of competency and professional ethic? The specific area that the example calls to attention is how an organizational consulting psychology practitioner represents professional services offered.  One specific issue which is an underlying consideration is, Principle C: Integrity (Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010) which addresses a Kantian maxim (Ford p.63) which could be express as a self evident truth in the practice of personnel psychology. Therefore, it should be rationally understood that honesty, integrity, and using deceptive practices to enhance business are clearly a breach of ethical practice, but has occurred in the case example.

The question of how to address the issue is the question that is the object of interest in a resolution of the matter of what has happened.  One answer to address how to respond to the dilemma is inherent within the problem solving approach and code of ethic for psychologist.  Maybe, a more important issue is how to prevent unethical breaches might be better addressed by appealing by giving consideration to, 2.01 Boundaries of Competence (Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010) in how practitioners are provided professional training.

Problem Focus

Competence in Connecting Research to Scientifically Validated Outcomes.

The code is specific in directing attention to the fact that, “Psychologists provide services, teach, and conduct research with populations and in areas only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study, or professional experience” (Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010).  If a reverse outline were constructed of the case example, what would be demonstrated is the use of invalid research statistics used to enhance the ability of the instruments used by the practitioner to achieve results in “employee retention” (Ford p. 193) has no empirical basis.

The fact that this information is used in a spurious manner is an indication of either intentional dishonest, or simply not understanding the ethical implications of how research data is to used in an ethical manner.  A rationale for understanding what should be done is expressed in Evidence Based on Test Content, “ Important evidence can be obtained from an analysis between a test’s content and the construct it is intended to measure” (2008, p. 11). As well as using evidence based testing approaches, a level of competency should be evident in post graduate certification to administer and interpret test results.

Process Rationale

Focusing on Competencies Rather than Ideology.

Therefore, to address the particular dilemma indicates that psychologist/consultant necessitates developing the ability necessary for problem solving by:

focusing on competencies or “end states,” rather than specific course work requirements to be included in an academic curriculum, the developers of the Principles have acknowledged the reality that competence in any given area may be achieved through a variety of avenues, such as course work, supervised practice, apprenticeships, or seminars and workshops, to name but a few (Fuqua).

Consequently, identifying the ethical problems and developing outcomes that will bring the necessary competency will require the practicing psychology consultant to submit to a competency development process that builds upon existing expertise through restricting activity to areas of competency and developing areas that require expertise prior to representing service outcomes.

Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29, 2010, from Amercan Psychological Association:

Ford, G. (2006). Ethical reasoning for mental health professionals. Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Sage Publications.

Fuqua, D. &. Academic perspectives on the principles for training in consulting psychology. . Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research , 54 (4), 223-232. doi:10.1037/1061-4087.54.4.223.

Standards for educational and psychological testing. (2008). Washington, D.C., USA: American Educational Research Association.

Ethics, Consulting, Fees and Billing: The Problem of Unexpected Expenses

An I/O consultant providing consultation services looks at consulting proposal and gives an estimate of services to be provided based upon a careful analysis of time and resources required to complete the company’s employment recruiting program.  However, after the initial interview with the HR staff, it is discovered that the process will be much more labor intensive than had been projected.  Feeling that it would be unethical to submit a bill for an amount to cover additional cost, the decision is made to absorb the cost. (Ford, 2006, p. 199)

Analyzing key ethical principles of the case that raises important questions about financial benefit that might impinge upon decision making and poses the question about what constitutes ethical behavior within a consulting role in this situation. This example presents a common problem that consultants might be faced with and presents a challenge to identify what issues are of concern and understand what the correct course of response may be when unexpected issues have an impact upon fees increasing.  How can the problem should be handled ethically?

The problem

The problem that is presented is whether it is ethical to change payment or billing amounts after discovering that a situation in a consult is more complicated after the fact. Narrowing the problem to an identifiable question redirects attention to asking what the code of ethics says about payment for services: 6.04 Fees and Financial Arrangements which states, “(a) As early as is feasible in a professional or scientific relationship, psychologists and recipients of psychological services reach an agreement specifying compensation and billing arrangements” (Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010).  One fundamental problem that is not answered in the study is whether or not informed consent is a part of the financial agreement for services. In 10.01 Informed Consent to Therapy, the stipulation is made that:

(a) psychologists inform clients/patients as early as is feasible in the therapeutic relationship about the nature and anticipated course of therapy, fees, involvement of third parties, and limits of confidentiality and provide sufficient opportunity for the client/patient to ask questions and receive answers (Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010).

As a result to make a decision, hypothetically there needs to be a Q&A with the consultant to determine if informed consent has been used and has the terms and course of the services for therapeutic services been accurately developed, presented, and an opportunity to a proposed plan of treatment to be executed.  A further problem that seems to be present is that only an estimation of anticipated cost has been given which may point to a competency issue in analysis of proposed services.

A Process

A recommendation that might prevent this situation is to make an attempt to be as thorough as possible in the preparation of informed consent documents that represent as accurately as possible the scope and terms of services rendered.  Another approach is to use an open clause in the process that stipulates what is understood to be a reasonable course of action and a disclaimer which allows the informed consent to have an addendum to services based upon research findings.  In the event that services are beyond reasonable limits for a client, then the practitioner has to make a value decision in how to proceed with consulting responsibilities.  In a question of feasibility of service, one question is centered in the general Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility and Principle C: Integrity that may demonstrate a potential conflict in the Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence (Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010). Consequently, a decision must be evaluated in respect to the matter of whether the services offered can be provided at an optimum level that guards the principle of doing no harm, while providing services for the agreed terms.

Related Articles

Ethics, Theory Construction, and Compliance

Cover of "The APA Dictionary of Psycholog...
Cover of The APA Dictionary of Psychology

Ethics and Compliance

The APA Dictionary of Psychology (2007) defines the IRB as the, “abbreviation for INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD” (VandenBos) which quite honestly was not a term in my vocabulary before I began the PhD program. As it relates to the content area of  research in multicultural ethics, Ford (2006) establishes a connection between Ethics, Values, and Theory Construction, by stating, “Behavioral research is generally conducted to test specific hypothesis arising from psychological theories” which posits a corollary construct between what has been written in theory to what is done in practice for researchers. Therefore, and assumption is made that compliance lies somewhere between the theoretical didache of research and the utility found in the real life experience of practice.

One of the challenges that can be identified in the work of researchers is balance.  In a psychological research program the task is is to find common ground for the work of research within the ethical constructs of acceptable ethical principles is found in ethical codes, philosophical assumptions, and application of acceptable norms. Therefore, there are principles to guide the work of ethical research. The principles found in the code of ethics reflect generally accepted and identifiable area where violations can be possible.  Within the principles there are philosophical assumption that are expressed in way principle address concerns.  The intent is to speak to the needs of people who are made of diverse populations and cultural representations  Principles inform problem solving approaches with information to clarify reason and develop approaches to clarify what “should”or “ought” to be done in resolving a conflict.

The defining task is to identify the challenge and provide an assumptive reasoning that describes a process that is indicated; given that all things are equal in a perfect world.  The process describes the fundamental thinking process that guide understanding involved which calls attention to an underlying area of competence for psychological research, expressed in a design resolve a conflict.  Therefore, what is contained in a formula for response declares the basic principles that are a concerned couple with assumptions about how value is expressed in rank of importance i.e., the code of ethics, meaning, and intent of the ethical code.  In addition, the theoretical connection of what research means to the study of psychology is also firmly established in being able to understand, articulate, and connect the philosophical assumptions that inform ethical decisions in a reflective process that connects the philosophy to the lived experience of the researcher in psychology.  Ford (2006) describes the impact of the process upon the outcome of research by saying, “Researcher’s personal values might affect not only what issues they study, but also how they evaluate the evidence (i.e., data) they obtain” (p. 222)  As a result, the challenge can be understood in a development of a response that is informed not only by principles of facts, but also by the dynamic relationship of a developing interaction of the person and values of the researcher upon the object and persons involved in research.

Ultimately, the buck must stop somewhere in decision making and that is where the determination is made to determine what is acceptable.  In Ford (2006), suitable standards are decided by, the IRB [who] is the official entity that reviews research proposals involving human participants to determine whether the studies are ethically acceptable” (223).  Therefore, the challenge that is present for researchers is to maintain diligence in understanding, evaluation, and application of acceptable, normative approaches to guarantee that participants are not endangered or harmed in the implementation of research in the practice of psychological inquiry.

The challenge of psychologists in maintaining fidelity to the principle of Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence (Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010) is how to respond with a meaningful thoughtful method of evaluating a broad range of possible ethical area of concern.  The principle places emphasis upon a need to utilize a thought process that utilizes a provisional review process that focuses upon principle, process, and potential.  An important component to the research done by psychologist is to engage in research that is based in a scientific validation process  which establishes empirical credibility to research.  In addition having a theoretical approach to validate ethical balance, provides a foundation that enhances evidence based approach to the methodology in the work of research.

This can is realized within populations, groups, or individual to whom measuring risk is a very subjective process. Therefore, because there are times when ethical responses are difficult to measure, “researchers (and IRB’s) have an ethical obligation to calibrate the standards that will qualify a ‘minimal risk’” (225) which places a process in hand that goes beyond principle, philosophy and personal values, to a consensus of ideas and opinion which adds validity to apply what is known, understood and believed into a cogent and reasonable argument that is well supported.

What is observable and knowable about Ethics, theory construction, and compliance is that the code of ethics does in deed provide principle that can address a significant number of ethical concern, philosophical systems of thought can provide a rationale for decision making, but compliance is not always a clearly defined issue when dealing with areas that the code and philosophies do not adequately address to protect participants from harm.  So the value that is offered by the IRB is that it adds another voice that is constructed of expertise in the field of research that can ask the questions that can provide substantive consideration to what is in the best interest of research among psychology professionals

VandenBos, G. R. (Ed.). (2007). APA dictionary of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

The Ethics of Psychology and Christainity in Review of a Theoretical Orientation

The Influence of Theoretical Orientation, Vision, and Values     The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Does the way a theoretical orientation, conceptual vision, and underlying values are possessed have a potential to become an ethical dilemma for a practitioner? The simplest approach to an  answer is to consider how core values have impact decision making processes. Every practitioner is an individual holding  a set of value contained in an orientation that is a part of how decisions are made personally and professionally that express individual person-hood. An example of how personal values have an influence can be illustrated in the evangelical Christian value system which is a minority view among psychologists. For those who hold this point of view, it is reasonable to believe that beliefs held will encounter resistance from some traditional perspectives in the field of psychology.  This potential conflict is noted by Meyer (1988) who describes how psychology programs respond to Christian applicants:

Studies have shown that the religious population, particularly in the traditional institutional sense, is underrepresented in the profession of psychology (Malony, 1972; Ragan, Malony, & Beit-Hallahmi, 1976; Shafranske & Gorsuch, 1984). Gartner (1986) found evidence of an “antireligious prejudice” in admissions to doctoral programs in clinical psychology after sending mock applications to graduate programs (p. 486). What is apparent is that there may be a correlation between religious orientation and acceptance into graduate psychology programs.

If it is true that a bias exists against those who hold certain religious perspectives, a potential conflict may be present in the way candidates in the process of applying for graduate programs face disqualification which may indicate a larger issue of  general attitudes about religious issue in counseling setting.  What is apparent is that there is a noticeable gap in how religious orientation is viewed from traditionally held psychological perspective that may be affecting how the delivery of competent training is cited in this research. An a area of concern that is raised in how will those trained in an atmosphere of bias be adequately be considered competent to provide services to those who make up a a religious culture of clients when appropriate education, training, and ethical development is not represented.

There may be a mythology held by some in psychological education which minimizes religion as a non issue while maximizing scientific approaches as maximum intellectual truth.  The result informs an attitude that posits beliefs and values thought to be scientific as accepted principles for determining how religious people will be treated in matters related to faith.  As a result, the anti-religious sentiment represented establishes an ethical norm systematically imposed upon professional practice through training—educating of graduate students.

One way the disparity can be approached is by providing a reasonable approach to addressing religious issues. Then, determining what ethical issues and which principles may be relative to understanding the disparity. Identifying the philosophical assumptions is the foundation of understanding  for where the source of conflict is created.  Four key assumptions relating to ethical research are, ontological, epistemological, axiological, and methodological (2010, p. 4)

Both perspective have one fixed reality—ontological, possess an assumption about how truth is sourced—epistemology, emphasis upon certain values—axiology, and a rationale for how decisions are made—methodology. While both would claim to use a scientific approach that is based upon a particular empiricism, the source of conflict is a fundamentally different epistemology. When the question of where truth comes is asked for a Christian the answer is from God, or specifically what is known in a scientific study of theology about God.  For the secular theorist a philosophy of how truth is determined is either Kant’s formalistic rationalism, a utilitarian best case scenario, situational relativity, or contextual ethics.   One holds a Theo-centric epistemology while the other holds an anthropocentric-person, experience centered as a  locus of truth.  Therefore, what is reasonably assumed to be true and translated as a value is what each acts from.  In the same way that cultures differ in beliefs, mores’, and values, cultures, peoples, and races must be understood in context with ethically appropriate behaviors. The disparity that is seen in under-representation and bias among graduate schools indicate a potential ethical complexity and a potential for conflict in inadequate understanding, training, and representations to enable higher levels of competence.

Providing a rationale with support for the ethical conflict can be found within ethical codes prescribed by professional organizations.   Using a problem solving approach to resolve the potential conflict leads to B.1. Respecting Client Rights B.1.a. Multicultural/Diversity Considerations (2005, p. 7) and  2.01 Boundaries of Competence:

Psychologists provide services… within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study, or professional experience … [with] understanding of factors associated with age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, or socioeconomic status is essential for effective implementation of their services or research (Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010).

Based upon the principles expressed, the central question raised related to competency.  Is a therapist who was trained in an educational environment that is under-represented, described with a  bias against the culture of conservative religion, reasonably assumed to be competent and comply with the ethical code’s principle of competence?  If the answer is presumed to be negative, what is apparent is that there is an ethical dilemma and the counselor will be challenged to find ways to ethically,  professionally, and competently address a significantly represented cultural group who are underrepresented in multicultural training.

Meyer, M. (1988). Ethical principles of psychologists and religious diversity. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice , 19 (5), 486-488. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.19.5.486.

PhD Weekend experience SOSBS T2. (2010). Minneapolis, MN, USA: Capella University.

The ACA Code of Ethics. (2005). Retrieved October 1, 2009, from

Adjust Your Focus So You Can See Clearly

Out of Focus Picture

One of the great difficulties that leaders experience is the inability to change when it is necessary to stay vital and continue to experience success. One leadership principle that John Maxwell teaches in The Twenty One Laws of Leadership is that an organization cannot grow higher than the level of leadership at the top. He calls this the leadership lid. Does it seem like your organization is stuck; like someone has put a lid on the top and things have plateaued? It may be that the organization has grown as high as it can go because of the level of leadership it has. One of the reasons that organizations do not grow is because the leader has not been growing and as a result, both the leader and the organization are stuck in a complacent rut of ineffectiveness: everything is out of focus. Staying focused is difficult when you aim is off. One way to stay on track is by keeping a narrow focus. “…pressing towards the mark…” narrowing the focus to define what will be done. It is easy to look around and find someone to blame when things are not going well, but maybe the place to look is in the mirror and realize that when an organization is having difficulty that the answer may be that it is a leadership problem. One of the reasons we fall of track, so often, is that distractions, circumstances, and life change the center of our everyday world. The result is that organizations and leadership gets out of focus.

If there is one thing that will help leaders to continue to be successful, what would that be? People may have many different opinions, but the one defining truth is that leaders must continue to learn, grow, and develop their selves to maintain vitality. Learning to adapt to change is a requisite for leading in today’s leader. Talent Management Perspectives reports that, “Against the backdrop of an ever-changing global business environment and unstable economic conditions, it’s no longer sufficient for leaders to embrace the status-quo …”The organization has to lead change, rapid change. The environment is changing — someone’s inventing something before you expect it or something is collapsing in front of your eyes …’”It’s becoming much more important to deal with change and creativity and innovation and speed and nimbleness,” she said. “Those are part of producing the results; you have to pay attention to those factors”’ ( It may be that leaders have a lot of information at their disposal, but knowing how to use the information and where to apply change in style, strategy, and innovation will define how leadership will be applied in the context of change.

Personal growth and development are indications of a leaders potential for success. The moment you stop growing, you stop leading. All leaders are learners because there is no growth without change and there is no change without being flexible. When a leader stops growing, he/she becomes inflexible. Effectiveness can be measured in terms of predispositions and attitudes toward having never done it that way before. If the attitude is maintained that, “I want to lead the way I used to lead, the way I’ve always led” is maintained, then yesterdays methods will only yield results in yesterday’s constructs. The attitudes and skills that brought you to this point in your leadership are not going to take you to the future. New problems require new solutions. New situations require new attitudes. New difficulties and new opportunities require new skills and new attitudes. What brought you this far and made you a success – that’s why success creates inability to manage new ideas and challenges, because the rules are forever changing.

The root behind resistance to change is fear. There are times when fear paralyzes forward movement: I don’t want to change because I’m afraid of loss–I’ve done it this way and I feel comfortable with it. Therefore what am I going to lose if I do ministry in a new way? The root is the fear of change. Whenever you find yourself resisting a new way of doing something, or defending the status quo or striving simply to repeat the past because it worked last, it may be that there is a danger of terminal failure. What’s the key to overcoming this trap in leadership? The antithesis is to never stop developing. Never stop developing your skills, your character, your perspective, your vision, your heart, and what you bring to your leadership.

Skill brings success. You may be dedicated to what you are doing, but if development of the necessary skills is not occurring, the tools you have may not fit a new situation. A farming analogy might be: you can’t use a corn harvester on a wheat field, a cotton picker in an apple orchard. The tools that are used have to match the context, culture, organization, people that you are working within. Consequently, if learning stops then the axiom, that people tend to rise to their level of incompetence and then they get stuck there, kicks in and drives what will happen.

Staying On Target

TargetIt’s no secret that the economy is failing and businesses and organizations will fail also. Edison said “I have not failed. I’ve  found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Perspective about negative factors affects what strategies are used to respond to what is happening in organizations today. One response is to allow negativity to stimulate a reactive behavior pattern or to understand what is happening as an opportunity to create change that enables success.

Describe the niche, market, purpose drives what is trying to be done. Putting behaviors in context with the reason for existence provides a understandable way of understanding why certain action are taken and what is trying to be achieved. In coaching baseball it has been suggested that returning to fundamentals will result in a good game being played. It may be that the team may not always win, but it is an efficient way to evaluate performance in times that are constantly. When there is no understanding what you are trying to do, it yields a zero in productivity.

Develop those who are on the team to increase potential. One way to create positive change in an organization is to identify those who have the greatest potential. Developing those can be most effective is never a mistake. In fact, it strengthens our position. John Maxwell says that an organization only grows as high as the level of those in leadership.Leading others to create success is multiplied when an investment is made developing the team. It is wonderful when a star player is at the top, but it’s the team that carries the ball and how well they play their position is determined by what is invested in development.

Deploy efforts to a clear target. The bull’s eye can never be hit if the sights are off. It may be that with a changing economic market that focus needs to be adjusted. Evaluation is critical to having success in a changing climate. An axiom that demonstrates this is: “if you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting.” Changing times mean that needs change and may indicate refocusing,finding a new target,or maybe just readjusting the sights.

Determine to be disciplined. Every athlete that is successful is someone who has talent, but also someone who has discipline. It is easy to get sloppy when things get difficult, but there are some things that can be done to improve results. The discipline of accountability; people only do what is inspected. If this true for others, it is true for us also– honest evaluation enables success. The discipline of reward: celebrating achievement gets a better response than criticizing behavior. The discipline of stress management: if you don’t take care of yourself, no one else will. Knowing what to do is an important step to take towards success, but the results will not come until you do what you know to do.

Everyone understands that there are challenges to be met in the present state of the economy, but putting your head in the sand will not result in anything, only getting sand in your ears. Staying on target means thinking like an entrepreneur not an employee and looking outside of the box to see what can be done to stay viable and productive.