The VonFrederick 

Tempus             

April 2007  Volume 4 Issue 4

  Feature Article:

How Axiomatic Is Workplace Violence? Part II

Dr. Lionel C.M. von Frederick Rawlins, President & CEO, The VonFrederick Group

For the last decade or so, sociologists, criminologists, and psychologists have employed a general profile of a workplace killer. This profile is used for overall identification purposes and does not necessarily indicate that the person who fits the profile is a murderer in sheep’s clothing. Moreover, this profile describes a person who directs violence toward his employer and has a known relationship with co-workers, supervisors, and customers. The usual perpetrator would be:

• A thirty-five year old white male who perceives an injustice has been done to him
• A loner with a romantic interest in a co-worker
• In a state of despair over personal, financial, or job matters
• Usually paranoid
• Aggressive
• Grudgeful
• Threatening (verbally)
• Fascinated with weapons
• Someone who has access to weapons

Thomas Harpley, clinical director of National Trauma Services in San Diego, has worked extensively with verbally threatening employees. He recalls one case where an employee, infuriated by his job situation, was on his way to work with a gun laid across his car’s passenger seat. Somehow, by the time he got to the end of the drive way, he realized that what he was about to do was wrong. He drove back up to his house and called his employee assistance representative, who sought help for him.

Workplace violence perpetrators are crying out for help, and employers as well as other employees have to hear it. Employers have to recognize that violence can happen anywhere at anytime, and should be trained in behavioral patterns. One of the most important signs of a violent employee is a significant change in behavior and attitude. At-risk employees do not get along well with their co-workers and may display evidence of personal problems. If you notice this in a co-worker, report it immediately to a supervisor. This places the liability squarely on management.

Employees who kill at the job are often transient. They are most likely to live in Southern and Western states, where the weather is warmer. When a worker goes from job-to-job, he sometimes has to live in his car. It would not be pleasant to sleep in your car in regions where the weather is often cold. This does not mean, however, that decent and respectable God-fearing employees could not be murderers in sheep’s clothing. We call those kinds, sociopaths and there is one lurking in a cubicle near you.

Employers are now being held criminally and civilly liable for workplace violence under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The federal government can fine a company out of business if an employer fails to implement training programs and proper emergency plans, or if violence erupts in the workplace. No matter who is held responsible, one fact remains: Murder in the workplace is definitely on the rise, and the highest price is paid by the victims, no matter who is determined negligent.

Now, look around at the upset person working in the cubicle right behind you...hhhhmmmmm.

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Cognition, Psychology, and Philosophy: Part II

Elka Svensson Bjork, M.D., Ph.D, surgeon and researcher, The VonFrederick Group

Continuing from Part 1 of last month’s newsletter, this is where my passion exhales. Cognitive neuroscience examines how the structure and function of the brain explain cognitive processes. The field began to flourish in the 1980s, when cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists began to use brain imaging techniques to record brain activity during cognitive tasks. In recent years, researchers have increased their efforts to build a bridge between cognitive psychology and the neurosciences.
However, neurological explanations for complex higher mental processes are often elusive. As Gardner (1985) notes, it is a cognitive challenge to build explanatory bridges between the level of the neuron and the level of the cognitive concept. Furthermore, the neuroscience approach is more likely to determine where a process takes place, rather than how that process works.

I will examine some neuroscience techniques that have provided particularly useful information for cognitive psychologists. I will begin with a method that examines individuals who have experienced brain damage, next, consider three methods used with normal humans, and then examine one methods used with animals.

Brain Lesions: Brain lesions involve the destruction of tissue, most often by strokes, tumors, or accidents. The study of lesions is one of the oldest techniques that neuroscientists have used to examine cognitive processes, with research first beginning in the 1860s. Some major advances were made following World War II, because many people with war-related injuries showed very specific language disorders. The laboratory researchers in New York, Oxford, Paris, Berlin, and Moscow began to share their findings with one another. These researchers noticed similar cognitive disorders, even though the victims came from different cultures and spoke different languages.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET Scan): At any particular moment, the brain has the greatest energy demands in the regions where it is most active. As a consequence, the blood flow to one of these active regions increases dramatically. Neuroscientists can obtain a picture of brain activity by measuring this blood flow pattern with a technique called positron emission tomography, or PET scan. A research participant can be asked to perform a cognitive task for about 40 seconds – for example, to read a specific word naming an item and to think of a use for that item. The researchers note a correspondence between the cognitive activity and the blood flow pattern. PET scans can be used to study such cognitive processes as attention, mental imagery, and reading.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): When using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, techniques, researchers pass a strong (but harmless) magnetic field through a person’s head. The MRI scanner picks up radiation from certain molecules, which are present in different concentrations in different tissues. The technique provides detailed images of brain anatomy.
Event-Related Potential: PET scans and the MRI technique provide maps of brain activity, but they are still too slow to provide precise information about the timing of brain activity. In contrast, the event-related potential technique (ERP) records the tiny fluctuations (lasting less than one second) in the electrical activity of the brain in response to a stimulus. The technique is also called the evoked-response potential technique.

Single-Cell Recording Technique: So far, I have examined four techniques that neuroscientists can use to study humans. In the single0cellrecording technique – a technique that cannot safely be used on humans – researchers study characteristics of the brain and nervous system in animals by inserting a tiny electrode next to (or even into) a single neuron, the basic cell in the nervous system. For example, inserting an electrode into a neuron of a cat’s visual cortex. Clearly, this research has important implications for visual pattern recognition, because the cell provides a mechanism for recognizing specific patterns, such as letters of the alphabet.

A detailed investigation of cognitive neuroscience techniques is beyond the scope of this article. However, by you delving into this prolific scientific area, you might be able to uncover and understand the behavior and thinking of the people closest to you. You may even be able to understand why people do what they do. Give it a try.

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Recent research conducted indicates 95% of Fortune 1000 company employees are uninformed of the intentions and consequences of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.…. Unfortunately, these are the people who could identify fraudulent activity first if properly educated

TRAINING MIDDLE MANAGEMENT IS CRITICAL!

Training all levels of an organization on the identification process of corporate malfeasance and fraudulent activity to protect the corporate chieftains and public shareholders is essential. A 21st Century organization educates employees, investigates wrongdoing, provides a neutral complaint center for fraudulent activity, conducts extensive research on the intricacies of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, and recruits knowledgeable professionals on the requirements of compliance.

Management should be trained to identify the following problems:

• Employee fraudulent awareness
• Safeguarding internal controls
• Changing the organizational culture
• IT fraudulent identification
• The legal process of corporate malfeasance
• Corporate corruption
• White-collar crime prevention
• Criminal investigation
• Safeguarding corporate executives
• Shareholder protection

Furthermore, a neutral complaint center for all employees in an organization should be implemented for clean controls for fraudulent activity complaints. The filer should be granted the opportunity to state the course of alleged fraudulent activity, in which they are granted the opportunity to remain anonymous. The reporting agency should be a neutral party, in which the proper corporate executives within the organization will be notified to investigate the initial complaint, as well as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT 100 PERCENT OF THE ORGANIZATIONS EMPLOYEES UNDERSTAND HOW TO IDENTIFY FRADULENT ACTIVITY! 

EDUCATION THROUGH ALL LEVELS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE IS A MUST!

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“If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help out that of the other...” George Orwell.

History as shown that seldom does the end of a war occur at one moment but are a series of capitulations culminating with an official surrender. A review of a few conflicts illustrates this fact. The American Revolutionary War did not officially end with the surrender of British General Cornwallis at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. The war officially ended when the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783

The surrender of Confederate General Lee to Union General Grant at the Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, is commonly considered as the end of the American Civil War. However, the war continued until Confederate General Johnston surrendered to Union General Sherman on April 26, 1865, and Confederate General Stand Watie surrendered at Fort Towson, Oklahoma Territory on June 23, 1865, becoming the last Confederate general in the field to stand down.

In World War I the hostilities ended on the Western Front with the signing of the armistice with Germany on November 11, 1918. The hostilities ended in a series of events in the other fronts with WWI officially ending with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.

In World War II the Germans in Berlin surrendered to Russian troops on May 2, 1945, to allies in Northern Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands on May 4, 1945 and all remaining German forces surrendered on May 7, 1945. In the Pacific Theatre the Japanese surrendered on August 14, 1945 and WWII officially ended with the Japanese signing the Instrument of Surrender on September 2, 1945

On January 27, 1973, the United States officially ended direct involvement in the Vietnam War with the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement. This was a military victory but a political draw. However, when North Vietnam violated the treaty and invaded South Vietnam the liberal Democrats prevented the U.S. from honoring the terms of the treaty, which resulted in the fall of Saigon, South Vietnam to the North Vietnamese forces on April 30, 1975. History has defined this as an American defeat. 

One might ask, so what is the point to this little history lesson. The point is that certain events are significant in victory and defeat. Victory brings strength and peace, defeat brings weakness and attack. America grew in strength and prestige after each war it fought and won. But, with the defeat orchestrated by the liberal democrats in Vietnam the prestige and strength of the U.S. was greatly diminished. In the eyes of our allies and enemies America was seen as weak “Paper Tiger”. The defeat of America in Vietnam was followed with Iran seizing the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 and holding American citizen hostage for more than a year. Then during the 1980’s and 1990’s the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah and other and Islamic terrorist waged war on America culminating with the terrorist attacks against America on September 11, 2001. 

Now, another significant date in the annals of American history has been offered by weak Liberal Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi and John Murtha. That date is August 31, 2008. The first date in the liberal democrats planned American defeat.

As Jihad Jaara, of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said, "Of course Americans should vote Democrat… an American withdrawal would mark the beginning of the collapse of this tyrant empire. Therefore, a victory in Iraq would be a greater defeat for America than in Vietnam." 

True to the observations of Jaara, Liberal democrats have allied themselves with al-Qeada and Islamic terrorist and have listened to the demands of their new constituency. House democrats have set the first surrender date as August 31, 2008. Islamic Senators representing Islamic terrorist are at this writing debating their own date for a terrorist victory. Liberal democrats enact resolutions and legislation calling for a series of American capitulations leading to surrender.

Liberals are repeating their Vietnam War defeat and are hell bent on engineering another American Defeat, unconcerned with the disastrous effects. Blind to the realities of the world they will create and driven by self power, they are willing to sell out America to its enemies and their new allies and constituents, the Islamic Fascist. 

A rose by any other name is still a rose. Treason by any other name is still Treason.

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A couple of Juvenile males spray-painted their face in bright red, and also sprayed their bald skulls black along with a fake painted beard, mustache and eyebrows before going to their local DMV to renew their driver’s license. They got the licenses all right with their clown faces on them. To top it up, plastic oversized teeth completed the look for a videotaped joke that ended up on www.youtube.com. The immediate success of the online video got back to DMV officials that forced the kids to come back for a new license or see the old one revoked. DMV ‘s spokesperson stated that nothing illegal had been done but that trying to modify your appearances for a driver’s license could result in some problems. When asked how come nobody at that specific DMV office challenged the look of the young men, the reply was, I quote; “I don’t think it is up to DMV employee to tell a cancer patient that is wig is not looking right, or an acne ridden girl if that is what she wants to look like on a picture”

Therefore, I guess it is OK to be unchallenged with a spray painted face, a spray painted beard and hair, and plastic teeth. That is what nice people do, right?
What a bunch of stupid wimps we have turned into, just good enough to look for the closest and highest bridge….AND JUMP FROM IT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOFf_KB3lI

Now I understand why millions cross the border every year, completely unchallenged, stay here and start a new life. Now I understand why some of the most wanted persons of the nation are mortgage scammers that travel around from state to state, get themselves a new ID at the closest DMV and rip people off, again and again. Now I understand why ID theft is the fastest growing crime in the country.

I am sure today that the fat-headed guy from Carl’s Junior and the Mac Donald’s Clown also have a valid picture ID….and vote!

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Tempus Virtuous

(good), adj., morally excellent, kind, beneficent; honorable or worthy

Early child educators (ECE) often wonder if their teaching and role modeling will provide the imprint for a socially responsible child to transition into a socially responsible adult. The early child educator understands his/her responsibility with serious thought and intentional planning. Moreover, they realize parents are the first teachers, the most important role models in the lives of their children. And a concern among early child educators is if they have also educated the parents: do these parents understand their social and moral responsibilities to society? 
In the late 1990’s, research was collected by the Search Institute, in Minneapolis, MN, to discover why some children were more resilient and successful in society than other children. In its findings, there were 40 developmental assets a child (birth to 9 years old) needs to possess to become a productive citizen. The assets were split in to two categories: external influences—parents, institutional leaders (religious and/or secular), mentors, teachers, et al; and internal assets: values, attitudes, mores the child assimilated, emotionally and cognitively. 
It was discovered that for the early child to be developmentally productive and later, to be a successful citizen would need at least 31 to 40 positive assets. A child having these assets would have the least chance of being an alcoholic or substance abuser (4%); becoming violent (6%); dropping out of school (2%). Whereas, children who possessed 0 to 10 of these assets would likely become substance abusers (47%); resorting to violence (41%); having behavioral problems (46%); becoming sexually active in early teens (41%); and very likely to be unsuccessful in school (51%).


“They are how you made them.”—Shannon, director in youth ministry


After the Columbine (Colorado) high school massacre perpetrated by two teenage youth in 1999, there was a media blitz asking why or how did it come to this in an upper-middle class American community: youth capable of gunning down their peers in a place parents & society at large deemed safe. Many psychiatrists had their fifteen minutes of fame inferring several points: generally, there was a lack of strong parental relationships more so between fathers and sons; permissive and excessive access to material goods in an unstructured home environment existed; and there was a backlash occurring among baby boomers of the 1960’s and ‘70s wanting their children to have the best. Specifically, though these two youth were considered highly intelligent, their uniqueness did not “fit” in with their peers’ image; and they were being bullied for their differences.

Inasmuch as one might conclude that children having too much-- where there is excessive materialism at an early age may be a sticking point—excessiveness in all areas is not good in any society. Northern Americans, especially in the United States, have been blamed for excessive buying behavior and an attitude of entitlement, and this same behavior can be found around the world, and is not unique to only the USA populace.

And, let’s hope we all agree bullying is negative behavior and socially unacceptable in any situation, school and the work place. It is also not an acceptable behavior in most societies.

So, I have rehashed some old news, blah, blah, blah. But I wonder if we have progressed since 1999? Are we better global citizens by way of our current events—have we made strides in our social maturity? Have we become better at tolerating others? To bring my point finally home, consider this: I have been a participant & observer in several societies where poverty is the norm. I am not theorizing living in poverty one finds less homicides or bullying, it happens. My point is of greater scope regarding the resilient and socially maturing child despite socio-economic conditions.

Many months ago, I was participating in an hour-long activity which required children for the most part to sit and listen. The activity was geared more for adults than children, so one can imagine there was much shuffling and swaying of feet, and chatting among the children. There were several other visitors like me and the children were all the more busy trying to engage our attention rather than sitting quietly. Every once and awhile, a young adult would walk by and quietly remind the children they were becoming too loud or disrupting the adults. I observed these children acting like normal yet bored children, anticipating the activity to come to an end, so that their energy could be put to better use. The children were interspersed among adults of whom I assumed were their parents or an older relative. Much to my surprise I later became cognizant of the fact none of these children’s parents were in attendance. Their parents were at that moment making a living recycling trash at the city dump. These were “dump” children. Well-groomed and clean, they had hiked approximately ¾’s of a mile up hill to attend this weekly gathering because the young adults became intentional mentors. They, the teen & twenty-something’s shouldered the responsibility to model positive behavior for the dump children not because of irresponsible parents, but rather responsible parents who understood the need for their children to be exposed to good, socially acceptable behavior. 

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Tempus Consultus

Received from Dr. Rudy Westerman, Colorado

I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service 
Technician (could also be Telus) who was conducting a test on the telephone lines. He stated that to 
complete the test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#), and then hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused.

Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your home phone number.

I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many local jails/prisons

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can 
actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it: 

FIRST Emergency. The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

SECOND. Have you locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you.

Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk). Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!"

THIRD; Hidden Battery Power. Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell next time .

FOURTH. How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone? To check your Mobile phone's serial 
number, key in the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 # A 15 digit code will appear on the 
screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. When 
your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then 
be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally 
useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't 
use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

And Finally....FIFTH. Free Directory Service for Cells. Cell phone companies are charging us 
$1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800) FREE 411, or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now. (This information is not an endorsement from The VonFrederick Group).

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Did You Know? Michelle Glisan Blevins         

• That Andorra is the last surviving independent nation of the March states created by Charlemagne- it was granted sovereignty in 1278

• That Andorra has no income taxes, a 100% literacy rate, and no unemployment 

• That Andorra has the highest life expectancy at birth of any country in the world- 83.51 years

• That only 33% of the population of Andorra are Andorrans- 43% are Spaniards and Portuguese, French and others comprise the remainder

• That around 80% of Andorra’s GDP is made through tourism- primarily skiing 

Andorra’s flag consists of three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red with the national coat of arms centered in the yellow band; the coat of arms features a quartered shield. The colors red and blue symbolize Andorra’s ties to France, while the colors red and yellow its ties to Spain.

“RED” ADAIR

Paul Neal Adair

June 18, 1915 to August 7, 2004

Born in Houston, Texas to Charles and Mary Adair, Paul “Red” Adair quit high school to work in order to help support his family. Adair found work in a drug store, the rail road, for the MM Kinley Company (an oil firefighting company), as well as serving in WWII with the 139th Bomb Disposal Squadron. Red founded his own company, Red Adair Co., Inc in 1959. In 1962 Adair became known around the world after successfully extinguishing an oil field fire, nicknamed the Devil’s Cigarette Lighter, which had been burning in Algeria for several months. In 1988 he and his crew put out the Piper Alpha oil rig in the North Sea and in 1991 they extinguished 117 wells in Kuwait which had been set ablaze by the retreating Iraqi soldiers. Red Adair died of natural causes in the same city he was born.

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How To Lose Someone Who Is Following You

IF YOU ARE IN A CAR

1. Determine if you are actually being followed.
   If you suspect a tail, observe the car as you continue to drive. If the car remains behind you, make three to four turns in a row to see if it continues to follow you. Then signal a turn in one direction but turn quickly in the other direction. See if the other car turns as well.

2. Once you are certain you are being followed, get on a highway, or drive to a populous and active area.
   Do not drive home, to a deserted place, or down an alley. You are more likely to shake your tail in a crowd than in a deserted area.

3. Drive at the speed limit, or a bit slower.
   Soon, another car (not that of your pursuer) will attempt to pass you. Speed up slightly so the car pulls in behind you. Repeat, but don’t go so slowly that an innocent car behind you is able to pass you.

4. Slow down at a busy intersection with a traffic light, then accelerate through the intersection just after the light changes.
   The car following you may get stuck at the red light. If you attract the attention of the police for running a red light, your pursuer will most likely leave the scene.

5. When you have several cars around you, speed up, get off the highway (if you are on one), and make several quick turns to further elude your pursuer.
   Your pursuer should be too far back to follow closely. 
   Once you are out of sight of your pursuer, pull into a parking lot, a garage, or a shopping center with lots of other cars.. 

6. If you still have not lost your tail at this point, drive to a police station and get help.

IF YOU ARE ON FOOT

1. Determine if you are being followed, and identify your tail.
   Take a random path: Make unexpected changes in direction at intersections and retrace your steps, effectively making a U-turn. Do not, however, get yourself disoriented or lost. Note any identifying characteristics of your tail (dress, gait, heights, and weight).

2. Keep an eye on your pursuer, but do not look back at him/her.
   Use reflective surfaces such as shop windows to see behind you. If you have a makeup case with a mirror, use that. 

3. Stay in crowds.
   Do not head for home, to a deserted place, or down alleys.

4. Once you are certain that you are being followed, use these methods to shake your tail:
   • Enter the front of a store, shop, or restaurant and go out through the back entrance—most restaurants have exits in the kitchen. 
   • Buy a ticket for a movie, enter after it has started, and leave through an emergency exit before your pursuer enters the theater.
   • Use mass transit, and exit or enter the train or bus just before the doors close.

5. If you have not shaken your tail, walk to a police station or call the police from a public place. 
   Never head for home unless you are certain you are no longer being followed.

BE AWARE

• If you are certain your tail is not dangerous, you may want to confront your pursuer in a public place with many people around. Say that you know you are being followed and ask your pursuer why. Use this method only if you feel the person is not dangerous.

(Piven and Borgenicht)

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The VonFrederick Group

Phone: (877) 207-1300
Fax:     (916) 488-7531
Email:

Dr. Lionel C.M. VonFrederick Rawlins
Lionel@VonFrederick.com

Dr. Melissa K. Luke
Melissa@VonFrederick.com

George A. Torres, MBA
George@VonFrederick.com

Eric Chevreuil
Eric@VonFrederick.com

Pat McLane
Pat@VonFrederick.com

Albert Globus, MD
Al@VonFrederick.com

General Clifford L. Stanely, Ph.D.
Cliff@VonFrederick.com

Check out our Information
Page for Recommended 
reading at VonFrederick.com

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