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God, of course :)
Don't worry, Market, God likes his share of booze, broads, and gambling too--in moderation, of course.
Speaking of Stoll, I guess the 'pig' is alright (Chtp had some good news today):
I say, to hell with Michael Brown, Stoll/Varney, you guys are doing a heck of a job!
From the archives:
<<<In July 2007, the Neurology Division removed the dosing restrictions, and allowed us to resume our clinical trial with CX717 in Alzheimer’s disease at all dose levels requested prior to the hold being placed on the compound.>>>
This may be the defining moment which catapulted this company into their 'Four years of Failure'. This feels like it did in 2004 under Bush. Please, not another four years! Or one more for that matter...
management's resourcefulness and tenacious refusal to give up
That's ridiculous. But...that's entertainment (at least I hope it is, for your sake, otherwise, your 'perspective' needs some serious enlightenment) :)
Let me let you in on a little secret, g. Carefully read the definition of artifact below:
<<<A structure or finding in an experiment or investigation that is not a true feature of the object under observation, but is a result of external action, the test arrangement, or an experimental error.>>>
I rest my case. You should rest yours, also.
Pfizer Teams With Harvard in $100 Million Drug Research Deal
By Robert Langreth and John Lauerman - Jun 8, 2011 4:18 PM ET
Pfizer Inc. (PFE), the world’s largest drug company, will join with Harvard University-affiliated hospitals in a $100 million project that will bring together university and industry researchers to speed drug discovery.
As part of the deal, Pfizer will lease laboratory space in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, allowing its scientists to work with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and other Boston-area academic institutions, the New York-based company said.
The move expands Pfizer’s effort to work with academic experts to invent new drugs, something it calls the Centers for Therapeutic Innovation. Last November, Pfizer formed the first such partnership with the University of California, San Francisco, and, in January, it started working with seven New York-area hospitals. The partnerships create “jointly staffed” laboratories that are on or near campuses, so academic researchers can have access to Pfizer compound libraries, according to the company’s website.
“Our ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and the delivery of promising candidates to the pipeline,” Jose Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos, a Pfizer senior vice president, said in a statement.
The partnership announced today includes Harvard University; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Children’s Hospital Boston; and Partners HealthCare, whose founding members are Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s. It also includes Tufts Medical School, Tufts University, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.
Rapid Access
Many basic research findings that may lead to new treatments don’t get followed up for years, Pfizer’s Gutierrez- Ramos said in an interview. The collaboration will give scientists at Harvard and the other institutions a rapid way to confirm whether their new ideas have merit for treating diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
“This is not about basic research, this is not about late- stage clinical trials,” he said. “This is about translating science into early proof of mechanism in humans.”
The center will support the development of promising ideas that may not get government funding in today’s tight budgetary times, William Chin, executive dean for research at Harvard Medical School, said in an interview.
New Ideas
The initiative might help develop ideas in the same way that the lymphoma treatment, Rituxan, from Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG (ROG) and Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) in Weston, Massachusetts, grew from research at Harvard and other institutions, he said. The precise amount of money that may flow from the agreement, which will focus on biotechnology drugs, is yet to be seen, he said.
“It’s a matter of how many good ideas there are,” he said.
Pfizer said it will invest $100 million over five years in the Boston collaboration, including support for 40 scientists from Pfizer and its academic partners, potential milestone payments to the collaborators for projects that pan out, and the cost of the lease.
To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Langreth in New York at rlangreth@bloomberg.net; John Lauerman in Boston at jlauerman@bloomberg.net
That's something that you have been citing Neuro
Of course. eom
the artifact was the torpedo that sunk the ship
the end result will be confined to one of [the varying levels] on a scale of patheticness
When you boil it down, it was the artifact that did in Cortex, not bad management
How much was the deal worth with Servier when Stoll came aboard? $3-$5M? Why wouldn't they just buy Corx and put them/us out of our misery? Oh, the poison pill. They would have to pay much more to satisfy the contracts of the milkers, then we are left holding the eight cent bag (and Stoll/Varney/Messier etc. would live happily ever after in exotic locations, originally to run away and de-stress, then to overindulge their senses and bury their failures). No, Servier wouldn't feel the need to overpay, because, frankly, they don't see anyone else interested in the assets/IP. Plus, they operate very...patiently--kind of like Cortex, except without the suffering and dying components.
No matter what the future holds, the end result will be confined to one of [the varying levels] on a scale of patheticness. Using treg jargon, that's what 'getting corx-screwed' means.
I do think the CORX pipeline will be acquired in time, but at a much lower S.P......I'll consider re-entering CORX, since at that point all avenues of escape will have been exhausted, and we'll be looking at a S.P. well below .10 share. As I've said before, I'm a trader who looks to maximize profits and minimize losses. It looks like for right now, we're going to grind down further before we get an opportunity for some profit. Therefore, the sidelines seem a comfortable place to reside
You're right, sparky, I can't take credit for that one. It must have been embedded in my head from your post not that long ago. Well, if I enhanced your idea, then I'm humbled...
Kids need home after mom charged with trying to kill them in Coral Springs crash
>>>Surveillance shows Coral Springs mom accused of trying to kill children<<<
>>>A neighbor's security camera filmed Tuesday's crash. In an interview on Thursday, Kevin Linn said he was working at home when he heard a loud crash.<<<
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/videobeta/6cdcfdf3-c085-4b3e-907b-a3f8b104ead9/News/Coral-Springs-mom-accused-of-trying-to-kill-children-appears-in-court?track=ss-mark-promo-news-coral-springs-mom
By Danielle A. Alvarez and Sofia Santana, Sun Sentinel
6:48 p.m. EDT, June 2, 2011
CORAL SPRINGS — Their mother is accused of trying to kill them and herself by ramming the family car into a nearby garage.
Now a young boy and girl wait in government care while officials determine their future.
A judge ordered the children's mother, Jane Gonzalez, 46, to have no contact with them. They were not seriously hurt on Tuesday, though a witness described them as hysterical after the car hit the garage.
Their father, Hector Gonzalez, is not in jail. But he was charged with domestic violence battery after a May 26 incident involving both parents.
Authorities are working to figure out whether the boy, 7, and girl, 10, will live with other relatives or be placed in the foster care system. Judge Dale Cohen ordered that the children be sheltered away from their mother and father, said Mark Riordan, director of communications for the Florida Department of Children & Families.
Relatives will be interviewed and evaluated to determine if they are capable of caring for the siblings, Riordan said.
"Our intention is never to separate a family," he said, "but the first thing we do is remove the children to ensure safety."
With the two youngsters in the back seat of her Ford Mustang, Gonzalez told them to unbuckle their seatbelts before she hit the accelerator, according to a Coral Springs police affidavit. Then she slammed into the concrete structure and garage door of a house in the 10100 block of Northwest Second Street, the affidavit said.
The children told authorities they believe their mother drove the car into the garage on purpose, the document said.
The boy was cut on his upper lip. The girl's chest was bruised.
According to the affidavit, Gonzalez attacked a responding Coral Springs police officer and tried to remove his gun from its holster. She was taken to Coral Springs Medical Center, then booked into jail.
Gonzalez has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of cruelty toward a child, battery on a law enforcement officer and depriving an officer of a means of protection.
At a first appearance court hearing on Wednesday, Broward County Judge John "Jay" Hurley, dismissed a public defender's reasoning that Gonzalez should be granted bond because her children were not seriously hurt.
"Maybe she was not a good judge of how to get rid of her kids, but she tried, you can argue she was trying," he said. He said her telling the children to take off their seat belts "changes it from perhaps being destructive or malicious, to an attempted murder."
A neighbor's security camera filmed Tuesday's crash. In an interview on Thursday, Kevin Linn said he was working at home when he heard a loud crash.
"I heard a commotion, kids crying, screaming. The kids were just hysterical. I heard the boy saying, 'I don't want to die,' " Linn said.
"I have kids about that age. I don't know what was going through her mind."
He said Gonzalez lives in the neighborhood but has no apparent connection with the house where she crashed the car. The Gonzalez residence is about a half-mile away, according to records.
Why Gonzalez may have tried to harm her children was unclear, but court records indicate recent domestic problems.
On May 26, police answered a call at the Gonzalez home. Jane Gonzalez said her husband, Hector, came home drunk and argumentative. She said he pushed her against a wall and punched her in the back of the head, according to a complaint affidavit.
Hector Gonzalez told police he pushed his wife to get her away from him. He was arrested and charged with domestic violence battery, the affidavit said. That case is pending.
Jane Gonzalez was working as a secretary at Deerfield Park Elementary School, according to Broward School District spokeswoman Marsy Smith.
"When she is released from custody, she is going to be administratively reassigned to a position somewhere in the district, away from students," Smith said.
Copyright © 2011, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Deputy under investigation after woman says he stole her cellphone, made racial slurs
By Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel
5:03 p.m. EDT, June 4, 2011
PLANTATION—
A Broward Sheriff's deputy is under investigation and on paid administrative leave after a woman accused him of pulling her over, stealing her cellphone and driver's license, giving her the finger and making racial slurs.
Deputy Paul Pletcher, 37, was not arrested but is under investigation for possible charges of armed burglary and robbery by sudden snatching.
The Pompano Beach deputy was not on duty during the May 23 incident, but was wearing a gun and gun belt and driving his patrol car. On May 24 he was suspended with pay by the Sheriff's Office, where he has worked since October 2004.
"There is more to this story," said his attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, who declined to discuss details. "There are two sides to every story. We believe that my client did not commit any crime or do anything wrong."
Fort Lauderdale resident Neyda Osorio, 37, told Plantation police she was in her F-150 truck sitting at a light on Broward Boulevard near State Road 7 around noon on May 23 when her friend noticed a deputy yelling at them.
"She sees this cop waving crazily," said one of her attorneys, Edward McGee. "He's yelling ethnic slurs and telling her to go back where she came from. That's when he shoots her the bird. She shoots one back."
Right away, the deputy activated his flashing lights and told her to pull into the turn lane, Osorio told police.
Worried, Osorio told her friend, Selvin Guerra, 25, to start recording the incident on Osorio's BlackBerry cellphone.
The deputy walked up to her door and asked Osorio for her green card, McGee said. She handed it over.
"He looks at it and flicks it back and it hits her in the face," McGee said.
She then handed over her driver's license, McGee said, and that's when the deputy noticed he was being recorded.
Pletcher "demanded they turn over the phone and said they would be under arrest if they did not turn it over," according to a Plantation Police search warrant.
Osorio quickly placed her phone in her purse, she told police.
Pletcher put his arm across Osorio's neck and restrained her hands to grab the phone from her purse on the center console, she told police. She says her wrist was injured in the struggle.
After grabbing the phone, Pletcher told her to pull into a bank parking lot, police records show. As Osorio pulled in, she saw him driving off with her phone and ID.
"She is shaking," McGee said. "She is now petrified."
Osorio asked a security guard to call 911.
Plantation officers arrived and searched for her phone in the 3800 block of West Broward Boulevard. They found it in two pieces.
After the phone's data was downloaded onto a DVD, two supervisors at the Sheriff's Office identified Pletcher as the man in the video.
"This is George Orwell 1984 frightening," McGee said. "It's an outrage. It's an abuse of power. Now she has a 500-pound butterfly anytime she sees a cop car anywhere because she does not know what kind of police officer is behind the wheel."
Plantation Police will not release the video until the investigation is complete, said Detective Robert Rettig, spokesman for the department.
The department's findings will be forwarded to the Broward State Attorney's Office, Rettig said. Prosecutors then will decide whether to file charges.
"If the officer violated the law, he will be treated like anyone else in our city," Rettig said. "If you're a police officer and you broke the law, you're going to have to pay the consequences for that."
Pletcher never made contact with dispatch during the traffic stop, the search warrant says.
Osorio's driver's license is still missing.
Cortex has ended development of High and Low Impacts to advance a new class of drugs: No Impact. In theory, they've been working hard on these new compounds for many years. They serendipitously stumbled on No Impacts, after secretly testing their previously confidential class of molecules, the Negative Impacts, on unknowing, long-term shareholders. Who'd have thought it would have been as simple as a '+ and -' charges. "Silver Bullet," is what Stoll was heard mumbling from his lazy chair.
Easy. They are no longer, or not presently, relevant.
Sparky, sparky, sparky, come on now. What good will a conservative do? He/she will implement laissez faire policy, and the large businesses will act lawlessly (and some small businesses will follow) to fatten their pockets at the expense of responsible business practice and altruistic intent. I guess it isn't much different than now, except that most politicians are complicitous in this process.
Stoll's new gig (lyrics by Ombow :)):
For those of you who sold at .10c:
A DIME IN MY POCKET
JAMES NUNALLY
A DIME IN MY POCKET, HOLES IN BOTH OF MY SHOES
AN ACHIN' IN MY HEART DEAR CAUSE I'M NOT OVER YOU
NOW YOU'RE GONE AND I'M ALONE
AND I'LL NEVER TAKE YOU BACK AGAIN
I USED TO DREAM DEAR ABOUT YOU ALL THE TIME
NOW I CAN'T SLEEP AT ALL WITH YOU ON MY MIND
CAUSE YOU'RE GONE AND I'M ALONE
AND I'LL NEVER TAKE YOU BACK AGAIN
MAYBE I'LL WALK TO ARKANSAS, MAYBE TENNESSEE
ANY WHERE AWAY FROM HERE WOULD BE JUST FINE FOR ME
CAUSE YOU'RE GONE AND I'M ALONE
AND I'LL NEVER TAKE YOU BACK AGAIN
HEAR THAT PRETTY LITTLE BIRD, SINGING THAT LONESOME TUNE
IT MUST BE THINKING ABOUT ME AND YOU
CAUSE YOU'RE GONE AND I'M ALONE
AND I'LL NEVER TAKE YOU BACK AGAIN
A DIME IN MY POCKET, HOLES IN BOTH OF MY SHOES
AN ACHIN' IN MY HEART DEAR CAUSE I'M NOT OVER YOU
NOW YOU'RE GONE AND I'M ALONE
AND I'LL NEVER TAKE YOU BACK AGAIN
NOW THAT YOU'RE GONE AND I'M ALONE
AND I'LL NEVER TAKE YOU BACK AGAIN
© 2007 thejaybirds.com
If it goes down, will you reimburse them 10% also? Fair is fair...
Ps. Following your logic, I think you owe Aiming some money for NIV.
There are many ways to come out a winner with Polymedix
Speaking of swinging, or more precisely, striking out, here is a post from the recent past, which I can only describe as full of...wisdom?:
cormeansheart
Monday, February 28, 2011 8:30:41 AM
Re: Market_Fest4 post# 36040 Post # of 37087
I think we are at the nadir of the stock. It might not move up soon but you can see from the action that we are as low as can go with it. Anybody who has it is not selling except for crazy people who sell a few hundred or thousand shares for peanuts.
Management needs a deal as much as we do. What many of these posters do not understand is that people who take on the position of CEO of a company like Cortex are not swinging for 100k for themselves. This may seem like great money to many, and it is in a worldwide or even middle class America scheme of things.
However, I have been around these people most of my adult life. They swing for the big hit. The desire for gold runs in their veins. They want the huge return. It is not just money, but ego, sense of being, place in the world, etc. You can bet that Varney et al are looking for the big hit. Whether or not they find it is another thing. However, those who waste time on this post board about them getting paid xxxK have no idea.
This dog may not hunt because Varney et al do not have the leadership ability to sell this company to a pharma. IMHO, this company is worth about 100,000,000 for its intellectual property. To buy this in a pure stock deal would be easy for many, many companies. I think that is our best hope. Varney does know many of these players. The Cortex pipeline has one attribute that is truly fantastic, its products either work or do not work without any toxic side effects. That is a huge plus.
It is a waiting game and the cash flow is low. I still think that the delay in the release of Apnea was due to the need to enroll some other(s) after they thought they had it done or near done becuase some enrollees did not make it through. I would love to see the report that gave a historical timeline of the study.
Sorry, Davidal, I meant better days lie ahead for well-intended shareholders after this carcass has been buried (or less realistically, raised from the dead). Those who weren't too naive in the end should make better investing choices in the future, or at least better allocation decisions. For mgmt, I find it difficult to believe they can move past this long-term trauma without permanent damage of some sort. I hope they face the mirror and purge to regain some internal strength, but certainly part of them will never recover. Not that they can't overcompensate and provide some exceptional benefit to people or humanity in other ways...it's always possible.
Good one, Treg. Cortex mgmt could have used some of that imagination, or something other than the same old, if only to just go down swinging. Unfortunately, the last time (and really, only time) Stoll swung was when he told us the CX-717 Electron Microscopy pointed overwhelmingly to 'artifact'. Ahhh, the good old days, sort of. I guess it is true: You can't teach an old Stoll new tricks...pigs get slaughtered...feed a stray, they will stay--pick your fave.
Doesn't hurt to have a sense of humor through this ordeal, or any other, even if it is a little dark-sided. At least it is honest, which is more than I can say about the self-aggrandizing, mgmt promoting or ignoring (depending on the news, so mostly ignoring), ilk.
Better days for mislead and hopeful shareholders lie ahead. Mgmt...not so good, that is, unless they open up.
At this point, Davidal, they have been running this thing with their heads so far up their asses, all they can see is shit.
Ps. Strategy and [Cortex mgmt] decision-making are effectively polar opposites--I think we are still in expect the worse mode. The BOD--that joke doesn't even show up on radar, except to skim from the pot once a year...
With R&R interest again, we may see .30c after all. How ironic is that?
At least this time, it would infer a buy recommendation, which is all that matters.
Major panel: Drug war failed; legalize marijuana
By JONATHAN M. KATZ
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The global war on drugs has failed with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world, argues a new report to be released Thursday.
Compiled by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former heads of state, a former U.N. secretary-general and a business mogul, the report calls on governments to end the criminalization of marijuana and other controlled substances.
"Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won," the report said.
The 19-member commission includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former U.S. official George P. Schultz, who held cabinet posts under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Others include former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, former presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa, U.K. business mogul Richard Branson and the current prime minister of Greece.
Instead of punishing users who the report says "do no harm to others," the commission argues that governments should end criminalization of drug use, experiment with legal models that would undermine organized crime syndicates and offer health and treatment services for drug-users in need.
The commission called for drug policies based on methods empirically proven to reduce crime, lead to better health and promote economic and social development.
The commission is especially critical of the United States, which its members say must lead changing its anti-drug policies from being guided by anti-crime approaches to ones rooted in health care and human rights.
"We hope this country (the U.S.) at least starts to think there are alternatives," former Colombian president Cesar Gaviria told The Associated Press by phone. "We don't see the U.S. evolving in a way that is compatible with our (countries') long-term interests."
The office of White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said the report was misguided.
"Drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated. Making drugs more available — as this report suggests — will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe," Office of National Drug Control Policy spokesman Rafael Lemaitre said.
That office cites statistics showing declines in U.S. drug use compared to 30 years ago, along with a more recent 46 percent drop in current cocaine use among young adults over the last five years.
The report cited U.N. estimates that opiate use increased 34.5 percent worldwide and cocaine 27 percent from 1998 to 2008, while the use of cannabis, or marijuana, was up 8.5 percent.
Hmmm, Two six-foot boxes sent to the FDA a few years back. Do you think Stoll/Varney can get them back (empty)? If so, I figure all they have to do is buy some nails (after the bridge financing of course), have Samyang (or R&R) pound the last one in, and we could start over. Maybe we could use the proceeds from the orderly liquidation, buy some PYMX.OB, and get extremely lucky. Ombow isn't always wrong, and even if he isn't close to God, he may be close to the Devil (OmBeast). And we know the Devil is richer...
Ps. I like his stuff, but I blow Crease out of the f'in water! :)
It's very blissful knowing that I can walk outside, breathe in the fresh air, and exhale comfortably, and not have to worry about Mother Nature, Industry, and Gov't, triple teaming my people (by chance/fate) to poison the shit out of us rapidly, with very little ability to escape the damage and suffering.
However, it pains me to think that it could very well have happened here (in some form), or will happen here, or we could have been them, living there, now. I feel for the survivors, their future generations, their land, their waters. Life goes on, but it is never the same. The ground they walk on is no longer very secure, yet they are forced to remain grounded. The power (ironically), the sheer force inflicted on a people and the earth is oozing of destruction, but still they will go on. And yet, there are others, who feel it will be no worse than 3 Mile Island. Yeah, and Cortex is the next Intuitive Surgical, or PYMX.OB is the next Corx.OB after Corx becomes the next ISRG.
into the Bliss
I know where management has been hiding...in the default-mode network:
Division of duty is the name of the brain game
Crisis management takes a village — a skull-centric, multi-tasking village called the default-mode network.
Making sure your vacation planning is free of stress too can make the results even happier. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
By Karen Ravn, Special to the Los Angeles Times
May 30, 2011
You may be lazing by the pool after a visit or two to the swim-up bar {booze and broads-lol}, but parts of your brain are always on duty — ready to leap into action should a stressful event require attention.
This skeleton crew of sorts is called the default-mode network.
It includes one of the busiest and most important structures in the entire brain, the hippocampus, which is responsible for processing memories. "Whenever you have to look something up or file something away, you ask your hippocampus to do it," says Jens Pruessner, an associate professor in the departments of psychology, psychiatry, neurology and neurosurgery at McGill University in Montreal.
It also includes the medial orbitofrontal cortex, an area involved with self-referential thoughts, and the anterior cingulate, which Pruessner calls an "error monitor.... Its job is to stay on guard for mismatches between what you expect to happen and what actually happens."
So, for example, suppose it's the first night of your vacation and you're at a karaoke bar, and your medial orbitofrontal cortex is busy thinking that maybe you should get up and sing a little. But then your killjoy hippocampus dredges up some memories of the last time you sang karaoke, causing your medial orbitofrontal cortex to start having second thoughts.
But then, before anything gets decided about your performing career, a stranger passing by trips over your chair and spills his drink on your head. Your anterior cingulate was not expecting that! So it quickly files an error report with your stress-response system and turns itself off temporarily so all your brainpower can concentrate on this critical situation. And your medial orbitofrontal cortex realizes that your brain has better things to do right now than to think about your musical talents, or lack thereof, so it turns itself off temporarily too.
Meanwhile, your hippocampus, as part of its endless job of filing away new information, stores the information that something wet has just fallen on your head. But because this is a little out of the ordinary and your hippocampus recognizes it as a possible source of stress, it puts on another of its many hats. "It's the secretary for all things memory," Pruessner says, "but it also has its hand on the button to turn on your stress response."
As soon as it pushes that button, the hippocampus also shuts itself down and waits while the response system arranges for your adrenal glands to release some cortisol. "The cortisol gives you additional energy to withstand this new stress," Pruessner says. As soon as there's enough of the hormone in circulation, the hippocampus turns itself back on.
Still, for the short time that it's offline, from seconds to minutes, you may not be quite as clever as usual. Which is why, although the perfect witty remark to make to the drink-spiller will surely come to you, that may not happen until you're back in your hotel room.
health@latimes.com
I don't dispute that the science is advanced over traditional type or other novel approaches, but in terms of it coming to market, it is like Cortex...probably 12 years ago. UPenn is Ivy League, so I don't doubt the potential. But as an investment, watch out, especially if you are/were in Corx. It looks more like Corx: Part Deux.
I'll bet you $50 they put out a PR next week for something. lol
Gfp-For now, I think I will exercise my right to 'blissful ingorance.' :) Raising a family and working full-time does not lend itself to getting caught up in certain movements/philosophies (like anarchy, or national/global conspiracy theory). I'm fairly confident that Tarpley makes plenty of claims which are unproven. Not that they aren't feasibly true, just that the evidential 'connecting of dots,' isn't seamless. I believe if it were, there would be greater appreciation of his views. I believe Glenn Beck's arguments take a giant leap of faith sometimes also (he is a religious nutjob, so that is not surprising). He isn't totally discredible though, either: he can be endearing and brilliant in his prose.
I fully expect to live my life on the fence, and not get caught up too heavily on either side. Moderation is key. If I do find myself following the light with a wicked sense of clarity, then I'll be scared (and dangerous) :)
Gfp-Let the evaluation begin:
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
On May 17, 2011, in Book Reviews, Nonfiction, by Wilfried F. Voss
The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson’s exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world’s top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. And so Ronson, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, enters the corridors of power. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud in Coxsackie, New York; a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about in the press; and a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he’s sane and certainly not a psychopath.
Ronson not only solves the mystery of the hoax but also discovers, disturbingly, that sometimes the personalities at the helm of the madness industry are, with their drives and obsessions, as mad in their own way as those they study. And that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their maddest edges.
About the Author
Jon Ronson is a writer and documentary filmmaker. His books Them: Adventures with Extremists and The Men Who Stare at Goats were both international bestsellers. The Men Who Stare at Goats was released as a major motion picture in 2009, starring George Clooney. Ronson lives in London.
Review
‘People who are psychopathic prey ruthlessly on others using charm, deceit, violence or other methods that allow them to get what they want. The symptoms of psychopathy include: lack of a conscience or sense of guilt, lack of empathy, egocentricity, pathological lying, repeated violations of social norms, disregard for the law, shallow emotions, and a history of victimizing others.’
- Robert Hare, Ph.D
I’ve been hooked on Jon Ronson’s writing since ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ was first published. Ronson cuts right to the heart of important topics by having the guts to ask the difficult questions. His literary style is equal parts journalistic rigour, deep compassion and incisive observational humour that often shines the light of ridicule on darker human behaviours. ‘The Psychopath Test’ explores psychiatry, psychopathology, medication and incarceration of ‘dangerous’ individuals. The book reads like a mystery novel, which – driven by Ronson’s compelling prose – makes it difficult to put down.
The story begins with a meeting between Ronson and a history student who has received a cryptic book called ‘Being or Nothingness’ in the mail. The same book has been received by several individuals around the globe, most of whom work in the field of psychiatry. The book contains 42 pages, every second one blank. (This made me wonder…in ‘The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, the ultimate answer to life, the Universe and Everything was 42. Was this relevant? Was the mysterious author of ‘Being or Nothingness’ implying that his cryptic messages, if decoded, could lead to enlightenment?)
Ronson’s journey leads him to ‘Tony’ in Broadmoor, who – when charged with GBH and facing prison 12 years earlier – had faked insanity in the hope of being sent to a comfortable psychiatric hospital. Instead, he had been sent to Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital (home to Britain’s most dangerous psychotic prisoners), where he was being held indefinitely. Tony explains that he had picked characteristics of various movie lunatics then pieced them together into his ‘insane’ persona. Getting into Broadmoor had been easy, but getting out was proving immeasurably harder. A senior psychiatrist admits to knowing that Tony isn’t insane, as a truly insane person wouldn’t manufacture a new personality in the hope of avoiding prison…but a manipulative psychopath would.
Ronson meets Bob Hare, creator of the PCL-R Test, a 20-step Psychopath Checklist which gives individuals scores between zero and forty; the higher the score, the more psychopathic the person. Hare reveals that inmates at prisons and psychiatric institutions aren’t the only ones who score highly on his ‘psychopath test’: many CEOs and directors of corporations qualify as psychopaths too. This prompts Ronson to wonder ‘if sometimes the difference between a psychopath in Broadmoor and a psychopath on Wall Street was the luck of being born into a stable, rich family.’
Al Dunlap closed Shubuta’s Sunbeam factory (the economic heart of that community), showing no empathy while firing workers and effectively killing the town. While laying off employees, he even spouted jokes such as, “You may have a sports car, but I’ll tell you what you don’t have. A job!” Bob Hare flags Dunlap as a psychopath, so Ronson sets out to meet the man. When Ronson asks probing questions based on the PCL-R checklist, Dunlap’s responses mark him as a textbook psychopath.
Hare explains the science of psychopathology: a part of the brain called the amygdala doesn’t function in psychopaths as it does in other human beings. When a regular person experiences extreme violence or carnage (or even photographs of such scenes), his amygdala becomes overstimulated, provoking an extreme anxiety response in the central nervous system. When a psychopath experiences the same stimuli, his amygdala does not respond: no anxiety response occurs. This explains the psychopath’s lack of empathy.
‘The Psychopath Test’ is a compelling read. Ronson’s fluid style is the perfect balance of rigorous research, keen observation, poignancy and humour. Congratulations to Jon Ronson on another phenomenal achievement. – Monty Archibald, Amazon.Com Customer Review
A Psychopath Walks Into A Room. Can You Tell?
NPR Book Review – May 21, 2011 (Excerpt)
Some psychologists have a theory that many of the world’s ills can be blamed on psychopaths in high places.
“Robert Hare, the eminent Canadian psychologist who invented the psychopath checklist, … recently announced that you’re four times more likely to find a psychopath at the top of the corporate ladder than you are walking around in the janitor’s office,” journalist Jon Ronson tells Guy Raz, host of weekends on All Things Considered.
Ronson is the author of a new book, The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry. The titular test is called the PCL-R. Invented by Hare, it’s a checklist of characteristics common to psychopaths: things like glib and superficial charm, grandiosity, manipulative behavior and lack of remorse.
Picture a psychopath and you might think of Norman Bates. But Ronson says successful businessmen can also score high on the checklist. While researching his book, Ronson visited the Florida home of Al Dunlap — known as “Chainsaw Al” — who as CEO of appliance maker Sunbeam was notorious for his gleeful fondness for firing people and shutting down factories.
I could only listen/watch about 4 choppy minutes of the first video (my family was interrupting me). Coincidentally, that was about all I could digest of his deluded and diluted rehashing of history. Not that I think it is all fantasy, but the way he ties things together in his head, I can only compare to Glenn Beck. My conclusion: They are both brilliant and crazy :)