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My 8 year old son wants to record his reading to help others learn Dutch. Which application is the best to use for synchronizing speech and text?

Here's a list of best text to speech software for eLearning that I stumble upon:1). Ivona: Ivona, constantly investing in research and development, remains one of the top text to speech software solutions available. It ensures maximum performance on every device, as the voices used are always optimized for your platform, offers technical support during every station of the implementation process, and offers a cloud service for recording.2). NaturalReader: This text to speech software comes in several versions, including a free one that converts Microsoft Word documents, PDF files, and emails into spoken words. The professional (paid) version offers more features and voices and is more suitable to eLearning and online training.3). Zabaware Text To Speech Reader: Zabaware also comes in a free version that offers generic voices, but the paid option provides high quality CereProc and AT&T Natural Voices. Text can be converted into wav audio files, which you can transfer to any portable device.4). iSpeech: iSpeech’s API allows you to create high quality speech audio in multiple formats such as mp3, wav, wma, mp4, and flac. It also offers a variety of other online services and apps, including the iSpeech Translator which translates speaking text in 7 languages and reads translated text in 18.5). Acapela Group Virtual Speaker: Multilingual (30 languages already available), easy integration, availability of voices in several sampling frequencies and qualities; all these and a lot more make the Acapela Group one of the top publishers for text to speech software ideal for eLearning. Moreover, the sound files are especially easy to access from any authoring tool you are using.6). TextSpeechPro: TextSpeechPro reads any kind of document (Microsoft Word, PDF, emails, etc.) aloud and includes AT&T Natural Voices. It also has an integrated internet browser that allows the software to read any web page straight from its interface, and it offers availability in voice quality, speed, and volume.7). AudioBookMaker: One of the highest quality free text to speech software available, AudioBookMaker converts text to audio quickly and includes adjustable speech parameters (i.e. speed, pitch, and volume). It also has a multilingual interface (including Russian and Chinese) and “remembers” each document settings (voice parameters, dictionaries set, colors, etc.) between reading sessions.8). TextAloud 3: TextAloud 3 is created by NextUp and offers a huge list of voices in different accents and more than 29 languages from major voice publishers, including AT&T Natural Voices, Acapela Group, Ivona, and Nuance Vocalizer. It also offers a pronunciation editor, which may be a lifesaver when it comes to eLearning translation.9). Read The Words: An online text to speech application that offers a free version including a variety of voices characters, 3 languages, and the ability to create audio files up to 30 seconds in length. The gold upgrade includes unlimited audio files up to 8 hours in length, and unlimited podcasting.10). Voice Reader: A product of Linguatec, Voice Reader converts any text to voice professionally using natural sounding voices in several languages with individual pronunciation adjustments. It supports a wide range of formats, including PDF, Doc, Docx, HTML, RTF, etc, and integrates directly in Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint.Explore these options and select the appropriate text to speech software for your son. Let me know if you need any other help! :)

Which is the best book for learning python for absolute beginners on their own?

Recently, I got so confused about deciding on the best book for learning python. There seem to be so many options available out there for the beginner that it’s almost impossible to decide on a particular one. From best python books for beginners to best python books for programmers, the list of options available and the task of narrowing them down leaves one bemused. As a beginner, trying to decide on the best book for learning python proved to be a difficult task.From Python programming for the absolute beginner, 3rd edition, best python book for beginners pdf, learning python to best python book for programmers, best book to python programming and Python programming for the absolute beginner, 3rd edition, I needed help deciding which one was most suitable for learning python for an absolute beginner and that’s when I stumbled on Stuvera. This website offers you a good collection of the best book for learning python for absolute beginner with a professional guide on the most suitable book for every beginners and seasoned programmers. Here are some of the books you’ll find there:There are others as well but I’m only able to mention this for the moment. Here are little details on the books mentioned here, you could just check up on the rest later on Stuvera.INVENT YOUR OWN COMPUTER GAMES WITH ANDROIDInvent Your Own Computer Games with Pythonwill teach you how to make computer games using the popular Python programming language--even if you've never programmed before!Begin by building classic games like Hangman, Guess the Number, and Tic-Tac-Toe, and then work your way up to more advanced games, like a text-based treasure hunting game and an animated collision-dodging game with sound effects. Along the way, you'll learn key programming and math concepts that will help you take your game programming to the next level.Learn how to:-Combine loops, variables, and flow control statements into real working programs-Choose the right data structures for the job, such as lists, dictionaries, and tuples-Add graphics and animation to your games with the pygame module-Handle keyboard and mouse input-Program simple artificial intelligence so you can play against the computer-Use cryptography to convert text messages into secret code-Debug your programs and find common errorsAs you work through each game, you'll build a solid foundation in Python and an understanding of computer science fundamentals.What new game will you create with the power of Python?The projects in this book are compatible with Python 3.(Culled from amazon. co. uk)Here’s more information on the book:Already in its 4th edition, Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python is pretty close to the ultimate how-to-learn python book. First, it combines an easy ramp up from expecting you to know virtually nothing to having you try out – and understand – Python. Second, it provides the code, the tools, and the explanations required for you build a number of increasingly sophisticated games and the know-how to branch out to creating games completely on your own.If you're not convinced, take it from me -- just making it to the 4th edition is a sign of a seriously good book.A. Invent Your Own Computer Games with Pythonshould appeal to three types of readers – those looking to learn to program, those who want to get started with the process of building games, and those who want to do both. If you're already a seasoned Python programmer, you'll probably glide through some of the early material, but you're likely to learn a lot of new programming “tricks” and have a lot of fun as you move further through the bookIt's a great introduction to Python and a great introduction to building fairly simple but interesting games. The author's not just a talented coder, but a Python maestro. And his programming techniques provide good lessons on how to approach programming tasks.It provides extremely good explanations of how code works generally and for specific example programs. And, as a plus, you can download and run all of the code (or type it in if you're anal) and the book tells you everything you need to do that – including how to install Python itself and the pygame module that's required for some of the later games, and how to load and run (i.e., play) the games.Invent Your Own Computer Games with Pythonis an excellent book on Python, on programming, and on coding techniques for building games – appropriate for pre-teens to adults. You're not going to build the next Minecraft, but you're bound to enjoy getting started with your game-making adventures. And what better motivation can you have to learn a new language than the promise of having a little fun in the process?(Culled from www.networkworld. com)Python Crash Courseis a fast-paced, thorough introduction to Python that will have you writing programs, solving problems, and making things that work in no time.In the first half of the book, you’ll learn about basic programming concepts, such as lists, dictionaries, classes, and loops, and practice writing clean and readable code with exercises for each topic. You’ll also learn how to make your programs interactive and how to test your code safely before adding it to a project. In the second half of the book, you’ll put your new knowledge into practice with three substantial projects: a Space Invaders–inspired arcade game, data visualizations with Python’s super-handy libraries, and a simple web app you can deploy online.As you work through Python Crash Course you’ll learn how to:Use powerful Python libraries and tools, including matplotlib, NumPy, and PygalMake 2D games that respond to keypresses and mouse clicks, and that grow more difficult as the game progressesWork with data to generate interactive visualizationsCreate and customize Web apps and deploy them safely onlineDeal with mistakes and errors so you can solve your own programming problemsIf you’ve been thinking seriously about digging into programming, Python Crash Course will get you up to speed and have you writing real programs fast. Why wait any longer? Start your engines and code!(culled from nostarch. com)THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO PYTHONThe Hitchhiker's Guide to Python takes the journeyman Pythonista to true expertise. More than any other language, Python was created with the philosophy of simplicity and parsimony. Now 25 years old, Python has become the primary or secondary language (after SQL) for many business users. With popularity comes diversity-and possibly dilution.This guide, collaboratively written by over a hundred members of the Python community, describes best practices currently used by package and application developers. Unlike other books for this audience, The Hitchhiker's Guide is light on reusable code and heavier on design philosophy, directing the reader to excellent sources that already exist.(culled from www.amazon .co. uk)PYTHON PROGRAMMING, 3RD EDITIONIf you are new to programming with Python and are looking for a solid introduction, this is the book for you. Developed by computer science instructors, books in the "for the absolute beginner" series teach the principles of programming through simple game creation. You will acquire the skills that you need for practical Python programming applications and will learn how these skills can be put to use in real-world scenarios. Throughout the chapters, you will find code samples that illustrate concepts presented. At the end of each chapter, you will find a complete game that demonstrates the key ideas in the chapter, a summary of the chapter, and a set of challenges that tests your newfound knowledge. By the time you finish this book, you’ll be well versed in Python and be able to apply the basic programming principles you’ve learned to the next programming language you tackle. (Low Prices in Electronics, Books, Sports Equipment & more)PYTHON MACHINE LEARNINGKey FeaturesSecond edition of the bestselling book on Machine LearningA practical approach to key frameworks in data science, machine learning, and deep learningUse the most powerful Python libraries to implement machine learning and deep learningGet to know the best practices to improve and optimize your machine learning systems and algorithmsBook DescriptionMachine learning is eating the software world, and now deep learning is extending machine learning. Understand and work at the cutting edge of machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning with this second edition of Sebastian Raschka's bestselling book, Python Machine Learning. Thoroughly updated using the latest Python open source libraries, this book offers the practical knowledge and techniques you need to create and contribute to machine learning, deep learning, and modern data analysis.Fully extended and modernized, Python Machine Learning Second Edition now includes the popular TensorFlow deep learning library. The scikit-learn code has also been fully updated to include recent improvements and additions to this versatile machine learning library.Sebastian Raschka and Vahid Mirjalili's unique insight and expertise introduce you to machine learning and deep learning algorithms from scratch, and show you how to apply them to practical industry challenges using realistic and interesting examples. By the end of the book, you'll be ready to meet the new data analysis opportunities in today's world.If you've read the first edition of this book, you'll be delighted to find a new balance of classical ideas and modern insights into machine learning. Every chapter has been critically updated, and there are new chapters on key technologies. You'll be able to learn and work with TensorFlow more deeply than ever before, and get essential coverage of the Keras neural network library, along with the most recent updates to scikit-learn.What you will learnUnderstand the key frameworks in data science, machine learning, and deep learningHarness the power of the latest Python open source libraries in machine learningExplore machine learning techniques using challenging real-world dataMaster deep neural network implementation using the TensorFlow libraryLearn the mechanics of classification algorithms to implement the best tool for the jobPredict continuous target outcomes using regression analysisUncover hidden patterns and structures in data with clusteringDelve deeper into textual and social media data using sentiment analysisTable of ContentsGiving Computers the Ability to Learn from DataTraining Simple Machine Learning Algorithms for ClassificationA Tour of Machine Learning Classifiers Using Scikit-LearnBuilding Good Training Sets - Data PreprocessingCompressing Data via Dimensionality ReductionLearning Best Practices for Model Evaluation and Hyperparameter TuningCombining Different Models for Ensemble LearningApplying Machine Learning to Sentiment AnalysisEmbedding a Machine Learning Model into a Web ApplicationPredicting Continuous Target Variables with Regression AnalysisWorking with Unlabeled Data - Clustering AnalysisImplementing a Multilayer Artificial Neural Network from ScratchParallelizing Neural Network Training with TensorFlowGoing Deeper - The Mechanics of TensorFlowClassifying Images with Deep Convolutional Neural NetworksModeling Sequential Data using Recurrent Neural Networks(www.amazon)MURACH’S PYTHON PROGRAMMINGIf you want to learn how to program but don’t know where to start, this is the right book and the right language for you. From the first page, our unique self-paced approach will help you build competence and confidence in your programming skills. And Python is the best language ever for learning how to program because of its simplicity and breadth…two features that are hard to find in a single language.But this isn’t just a book for newbies! Our self-paced approach also works for experienced programmers, helping you learn faster and better than you’ve ever learned a language before. By the time you’re through, you will have mastered all of the Python skills that are needed on the job, including those for object-oriented, database, and GUI programming.To make all of this possible, section 1 of this book presents an 8-chapter course that will get anyone off to a great start. Section 2 builds on that base by presenting the other essential skills that every Python programmer should have. Section 3 shows you how to develop object-oriented programs, a critical skill set in today’s world. And section 4 shows you how to apply all of the skills that you’ve already learned as you build database and GUI programs for the real world. (Amazon)Python Programming For BeginnersKnowing where to start when learning a new skill can be a challenge, especially when the topic seems so vast. There can be so much information available that you can't even decide where to start. Or worse, you start down the path of learning and quickly discover too many concepts, commands, and nuances that aren't explained. This kind of experience is frustrating and leaves you with more questions than answers.Python Programming for Beginners doesn't make any assumptions about your background or knowledge of Python or computer programming. You need no prior knowledge to benefit from this book. You will be guided step by step using a logical and systematic approach. As new concepts, commands, or jargon are encountered they are explained in plain language, making it easy for anyone to understand. (www.amazon)CODING FOR BEGINNERS USING SCRATCHAn introduction to coding for complete beginners, this friendly and accessible book teaches children the basics of Scratch (a free, online programme developed by MIT which is widely used in primary schools), allowing them to get inside the code of their computer and create simple games and animations on screen. This is a highly illustrated ebook that can only be read on the Kindle Fire or other tablet.(culled from amazon. co. uk)LEARN PYTHON IN ONE DAY AND LEARN IT WELLMaster Python Programming with a unique Hands-On ProjectHave you always wanted to learn computer programming but are afraid it'll be too difficult for you? Or perhaps you know other programming languages but are interested in learning the Python language fast?This book is for you. You no longer have to waste your time and money learning Python from lengthy books, expensive online courses or complicated Python tutorials.What this book offers...Python for BeginnersComplex concepts are broken down into simple steps to ensure that you can easily master the Python language even if you have never coded before.Carefully Chosen Python ExamplesExamples are carefully chosen to illustrate all concepts. In addition, the output for all examples are provided immediately so you do not have to wait till you have access to your computer to test the examples.Learn The Python Programming Language FastConcepts are presented in a "to-the-point" style to cater to the busy individual. With this book, you can learn Python in just one day and start coding immediately.How is this book different...The best way to learn Python is by doing. This book includes a complete project at the end of the book that requires the application of all the concepts taught previously. Working through the project will not only give you an immense sense of achievement, it’ll also help you retain the knowledge and master the language.K. PYTHON PROGRAMMING- The ultimate course to learning python programmingWhat you'll learn:- What is Python?- What software you need to code and run Python programs?- What are variables?- What mathematical operators are there in Python?- What are the common data types in Python?- What are Lists and Tuples?- How to format strings- How to accept user inputs and display outputs- How to make decisions with If statements- How to control the flow of program with loops- How to handle errors and exceptions- What are functions and modules?- How to define your own functions and modules- How to work with external files.. and more...Finally, you'll be guided through a hands-on project that requires the application of all the topics covered.(culled from amazon .co .uk)PROGRAMMING IN PYTHON 3Python 3 is the best version of the language yet: It is more powerful, convenient, consistent, and expressive than ever before. Now, leading Python programmer Mark Summerfield demonstrates how to write code that takes full advantage of Python 3’s features and idioms. The first book written from a completely “Python 3” viewpoint, Programming in Python 3 brings together all the knowledge you need to write any program, use any standard or third-party Python 3 library, and create new library modules of your own.Summerfield draws on his many years of Python experience to share deep insights into Python 3 development you won’t find anywhere else. He begins by illuminating Python’s “beautiful heart”: the eight key elements of Python you need to write robust, high-performance programs. Building on these core elements, he introduces new topics designed to strengthen your practical expertise–one concept and hands-on example at a time. This book’s coverage includes Developing in Python using procedural, object-oriented, and functional programming paradigms Creating custom packages and modulesWriting and reading binary, text, and XML files, including optional compression, random access, and text and XML parsing Leveraging advanced data types, collections, control structures, and functions Spreading program workloads across multiple processes and threads Programming SQL databases and key-value DBM files Utilizing Python’s regular expression mini-language and module Building usable, efficient, GUI-based applications Advanced programming techniques, including generators, function and class decorators, context managers, descriptors, abstract base classes, metaclasses, and moreProgramming in Python 3serves as both tutorial and language reference, and it is accompanied by extensive downloadable example code–all of it tested with the final version of Python 3 on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.(culled from amazon. co .uk)PYTHON IN A NUTSHELL, 3RD EDITIONUseful in many roles, from design and prototyping to testing, deployment, and maintenance, Python is consistently ranked among today’s most popular programming languages. The third edition of this practical book provides a quick reference to the language—including Python 3.5, 2.7, and highlights of 3.6—commonly used areas of its vast standard library, and some of the most useful third-party modules and packages.Ideal for programmers with some Python experience, and those coming to Python from other programming languages, this book covers a wide range of application areas, including web and network programming, XML handling, database interactions, and high-speed numeric computing. Discover how Python provides a unique mix of elegance, simplicity, practicality, and sheer power.This edition covers:Python syntax, Object-Oriented Python, standard library modules, and third-party Python packagesPython’s support for file and text operations, persistence and databases, concurrent execution, and numeric computationsNetworking basics, event-driven programming, and client-side network protocol modulesPython extension modules, and tools for packaging and distributing extensions, modules, and applications(www.shop.oreilly .com)PYTHON POWER: The comprehensive guide 1st editionPython, a powerful and flexible general purpose programming language is growing in popularity as more people become interested in programming using open source languages. "Python Power!: The Comprehensive Guide" shows readers how to use Python to run Web sites, write GUI interfaces, control number-crunching code, process large XML data sets, build test suites for C or Java code, and much more. Technical topics are explained clearly and concisely and end-of-chapter projects encourage the reader to program on their own. A detailed table of contents and a complete, well-organized index make this book a great reference tool. All code used in the book will be available for download on the companion website (culled from www.amazon .com)So, there you have it! I’ve tried my utmost best to list out as many as possible, the best book for learning pythons for absolute beginners. I hope this helps someone out there who needs this. You could check other sites for some of these books or better still, Stuvera(like I did) to gain unlimited access to a large number of these books. You can thank me later.

What is a strong argument why Donald Trump could not be suffering from mild schizophrenia like Howard Hughes?

The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a PresidentThe Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a PresidentJerome L. KrollJournal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online June 2018, 46 (2) 267-271; DOI: https://doi.org/10.29158/JAAPL.003750-18ArticleInfo & MetricsPDFEdited by Bandy X. Lee, MD, MDiv. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, 2017. 384 pp. $27.99 hardcover.Just between the time that an email request from the book review editor of the Journal arrived (November 28, 2017) to the time of sitting down to begin writing a first draft of this review (January 14, 2018), there was a flood of print and electronic media opinions on the interrelated topics of President Donald Trump's mental health and perceived dangerousness. Further, elucidated during this discussion has been the controversy about the American Psychiatric Association's (APA's) position on the Goldwater Rule, which declares unethical and forbids all public opinions by psychiatrists about diagnoses and mental health status of public figures whom the opining party has not directly examined according to accepted standards for psychiatric evaluation.1Keeping up with the media and print publications about President Trump seriously hampered writing this review, as events of each day threatened to overrun whatever I had written. This experience reminded me of occurrences during the presidential campaign. Mr. Trump the candidate presented himself as embodying several traits that many thought of as incompatible with the task of serving as the president of our country. All of this was brought out publicly and repeatedly during the long campaign. With each howler, liberals and moderates were convinced that surely this latest gaff would be the candidate's undoing; U.S. citizens would never stand for it. With each such attack, his supporters grew more certain that he was their man; even women supporters defended this man who demeaned and made nasty sexual comments about women. His base did not reject him as the liberals expected or hoped. In late January 2018, President Trump made some of his most offensive statements when referring to Haiti and other African nations in derogatory terms.2While nations around the world and many of us at home were outraged, his approval rating climbed to almost 40 percent on domestic polls, higher than it had been in months.To many psychiatrists, President Trump's statements and behaviors were patently symptomatic of one or several mental disorders. The facts of the case and the serious risks of erosion of our constitutional democracy and possible nuclear annihilation of the world demanded that psychiatrists warn the public. The analogy to the silence of Germany's educated and professional classes during Hitler's ascendancy to power was too obvious to ignore; but roughly 40 percent of the country does not agree that the president is evil or dangerous.Bandy Lee's edited book, a compilation stemming from the presentations at a similarly themed conference that took place in New Haven, CT, in April 2017, is a sincere act of conscience. The authors of the 28 chapters (including Prologue, Introduction, and Epilogue) are not in full agreement as to the details of what they believe ails President Trump, but all concur that he is mentally ill or dangerous (by virtue of being president) or both. There is discordance as to the nature or the diagnosis of the mental illness that makes him dangerous, and the various authors take their shots as to which descriptive terms and which diagnoses fit best. Along the way, the authors acknowledge the heavy presence of the Goldwater Rule and the intimidation to silence psychiatrists that the APA leadership and Ethics Committee have imposed.3,4I think that the critically important question taken up in this volume is Mr. Trump's fitness to serve as president and that the furor over the Goldwater Rule will become a footnote in the history of this presidency and this era.It is clear that the president's dangerousness is the most important concern to our country, especially to those poor and disenfranchised persons who will be most damaged by his policies5and to the global environment that may be irrevocably affected. I was also interested to see how deeply the authors would take on and debate the Goldwater Rule. One could assume that the authors' willingness to make public diagnostic, descriptive, or psychological statements about a public figure of whom they have not personally conducted a formal diagnostic assessment serves to challenge the APA's long-held principle. This notwithstanding, I was also hoping to read a thoughtful debate in which the Goldwater Rule was placed in broader social and intellectual context. I hoped to see a dissection of the arguments given by the APA considering the common experience that the community standard for doing psychiatric assessments in the trenches of a community health center, a homeless shelter or an emergency room differs substantially from the ideal of an extended personal interview: particularly as this idealized version is often complete with medical records and a rational subject who can provide a linear life history. Further, I hoped there would be discussion of why a personal psychiatric interview is considered more trustworthy than, say, watching hours of videotapes of a subject engaged in a range of activities.At this point, in the interest of transparency and declaration of possible conflict of interest, I have to say that I have serious misgivings about Donald Trump's fitness to serve as President of the United States and also that I have been strongly opposed to the Goldwater Rule since well before his candidacy and election. Claire Pouncey and I co-chaired a symposium at the 2008 APA meeting debating the Goldwater Rule6and subsequently published a related article in the Journal in June 2016 that did not have Mr. Trump in mind, but benefitted from the relevance that his campaign behavior lent to our article.7In reading the book, I hoped to find a process of reflection about the history and context of diagnostic practices in psychiatry, including the tentative nature of psychiatric diagnoses which are often considered a work in progress. Further, it is critical to consider the sociohistorical, political, and scientific contexts in which diagnostic systems are developed, discarded, or altered based on considerations less scientific than political, or opportunistic, or prejudicial, or accepted, pending the next rewriting of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The list of formal and informal diagnoses that have fallen by the wayside (homosexuality, pseudoneurotic schizophrenia, sluggish schizophrenia, inadequate personality, hysterical neurosis, and neurasthenia) or of those that have made belated appearances (posttraumatic stress disorder, tobacco use disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder) is sufficient to lend some humility to the diagnostic process or to diagnostic pronouncements in psychiatry. I also hoped to find discussion of various neurological and medicinal possibilities suggested by President Trump's apparently declining cognitive skills and lack of impulse control, although the latter may be less a case of frontal lobe disinhibition than lifelong asocial habits.Moreover, I hoped to find an in-depth discussion of the controversies attached to attempts by a governing board or administrative managers to regulate important moral positions that are core to one's personal identity and being in the world. Ethics-related matters should not be decided by a vote of our peers, let alone by committee members who, by virtue of their medical degrees or their election to important posts in a professional organization, have no special claims or expertise in moral theory. It seemed to me that the present Goldwater Rule controversy came about because the APA leadership misunderstood that an admonitory statement reflecting disapproval of offering diagnoses of a public figure in the absence of a personal interview is a technical rule, not an ethics-based one. It relates to the empirical question of the best method for making a valid diagnosis. Alasdair MacIntyre, in discussing the role in modern society of the “manager, the bureaucratic expert,” whose status is based upon a claim of effectiveness in controlling certain aspects of social reality, states that this claimed effectiveness is not a morally neutral value. The manager's claim of effectiveness is “inseparable from a mode of human existence in which the contrivance of means is in central part the manipulation of human beings into compliant patterns of behavior” (Ref. 8, p 74).The first thing one notices about the text itself is the title The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. It is ambiguous but not innocent. When a doctor speaks of a case, the term references a clinical case in which a person becomes a patient, with a history, symptoms, laboratory findings, medical conditions, and a life lived in a community, but here in the title of the book sits one of the key disputed points: the psychiatrist has to deny that Mr. Trump's case is one of a patient while simultaneously providing a diagnosis that is claimed not to be a diagnosis; otherwise, all the Hippocratic and legal, medical, and ethics-related problems arise: confidentiality, privacy, respect, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and some sort of mutual contract. So, if he is not a patient, which he is not, in what sense is he a “case,” and why is the term used in the title of the book? It is left unclear, purposely, I assume. If there was any doubt that convening a conference that assesses the mental health of a president and publishing a book of the papers given at the conference sticks a finger in the eye of the APA leadership, then the labeling of President Trump as a case throws down the gauntlet.There are three sections to this book. The first, entitled “The Trump Phenomenon,” takes up questions of diagnoses. The second section, entitled “The Trump Dilemma,” should really be titled “The Psychiatrists' Dilemma.” Trump has no dilemma; psychiatry does. This section discusses the problem that psychiatry has in deciding what stance to take about his dangerousness, especially in light of the Goldwater Rule. The third section, “The Trump Effect,” examines the impact of his personality and policies on various segments of the population (often white middle-class citizens in therapy) and on the psychiatric profession.The heart of the book is Section One, because it engages the descriptive and diagnostic issues head-on. In these chapters, the offerings are restricted to various combinations of narcissistic personality (sometimes combined with antisocial personality), malignant narcissism, bipolar disorder, paranoid personality and paranoid psychosis, and some form of cognitive impairment reflecting early dementia. Long behavioral lists of self-aggrandizing, lying, snarly criticizing, boasting, bullying, blaming others for troubles, and needing constant praise are paraded out to the readership. We are familiar with these lists; they have been exhibited in Mr. Trump's public rhetoric and are indicative of narcissistic personality traits if his public persona is to be taken at face value. In a few instances, authors of chapters create, in my view, a questionable link from narcissism to paranoia, not just to suspiciousness but to actual delusional thinking. This notion comes as close to junk science as I have seen and does not advance the credibility of the case for his mental illness or dangerousness.Section Two, “Trump's Dilemma,” which I have renamed “The Psychiatrists' Dilemma,” takes up the subject of dangerousness. The focus is less on arguing for a diagnosis and more on Mr. Trump's own provocative statements across a wide arena, statements that have undermined U.S. intelligence communities and incited assaults upon political opponents and journalists, casual comments about use of nuclear weapons, insults directed toward leaders of friendly nations, and juvenile challenging taunts of leaders of less friendly ones. Some of the psychiatrists in this book invoke the Tarasoff duty to warn as justification for speaking out, but this seems to misrepresent the wording of Tarasoff and is a legalistic argument that sidesteps a direct confrontation with the Goldwater Rule. I think the Goldwater Rule is poorly conceived and deleterious to psychiatry and that Tarasoff is largely irrelevant to the types of dangers that President Trump represents. Leonard Glass, in commenting on Tarasoff in his chapter in this book, states that “Our duty to warn is an expression of our concern as citizens possessed of a particular expertise; not as clinicians who are responsible for preventing predictable violence from someone under our care [italics his].” (p 153).Section Three, “The Trump Effect,” presents various chapters that discuss the effects of the president's rhetoric upon the collective psyche and individual psyches of those who are unhappy with him. Some of these chapters come very close to diagnosing half of the American population as victims of his hyperbolic and hectoring behaviors. I see this defeatist stance as very unfortunate, since the organized marches on Washington, DC, and state capitols are anything but the behavior of victims. Underlying some of these chapters are the unhappy attempts to explain or explain away Mr. Trump's election and the indigestible fact that a very vocal and sizable minority of Americans strongly supports his policies, including his anti-immigrant and racist stances. To this faction, he is the president who is doing what he promised to do in his campaign speeches and tweets.Interspersed within these chapters are direct references to and indirect awareness of the looming Yeti, a.k.a. the Goldwater Rule. The Goldwater Rule controversy should be placed in proper perspective as related but secondary to the Trump phenomenon. There are timeless principles involved in the APA's insistence that it is within its rights to establish rules prohibiting public commentary on public figures by its membership and to justify such rules by categorizing breaches as unethical, rather than merely imprudent or misguided. Even if psychiatric opinion on Mr. Trump is unlikely to change the public outcome in this international high-stakes moment, the basic question of whether a professional organization such as the APA should move to curtail free speech of its membership under the aegis of an ethics mandate deserves scrutiny and, for some, resistance. Furthermore, it was the APA itself, in adopting DSM-III in 1980,9that established a new standard for making diagnoses based primarily upon observable data (including speech content and patterns) rather than (unobservable) inner workings and psychodynamics. This emphasis on measurable and replicable behavioral observations downgrades the importance of the personal interview in making diagnoses. Now the APA seeks to resuscitate the legitimacy of looking inside the person for diagnostic purposes, but lacks the accompanying psychodynamic theory to support it.Dr. Lee is to be commended both for hosting the conference in which these papers were presented and for the hard work of turning conference papers into finished chapters for a book, all in a short amount of time. It is not easy to persuade presenters at a conference to do the disciplined work of taking the rough outline of a paper and converting it into proper sentences, paragraphs, and coherent thoughts. The ongoing controversies that the book engages and, in turn further generates, are important to understanding the context of the book historically and in the present moment, including my own being swept up as a participant–observer and, now, reviewer.However, our appreciation for the courage and effort to take on the APA ethics police and the Trump lobby should not cause us to overlook some of the weaknesses in arguments, logic, perspective, and evidence. I recognize the pressures to get this book out in a timely fashion, but an index would have been helpful. It is difficult to go back and forth and see what several of the authors had to say about narcissism or dangerousness or the Goldwater Rule. On a more substantial note, there is too often a lack of critical thinking about concepts and causality, which seriously weakens the credibility of what the authors wish to get across. For example, there are too many outdated and simplistic assumptions about the psychodynamics of narcissism. The reader is told that persons are narcissistic to hide their shame or overcompensate for their inadequacies; they stifle their conscience and their compassion. I do not know if any of these generalizations are true of Mr. Trump, nor do I have confidence that if I asked him directly, I would get a trustworthy answer. It does not help the advancement of our field to proffer rote explanations, and it certainly does not help to use such arguments in trying to persuade anyone to view the situation differently.Moving on, the lack of critical thinking and the presence of inexact comparisons are distressing. Is it helpful to call Presidents Clinton and Kennedy narcissists, because they are said by some to be womanizers? How many women does one have to be casually involved with to be a womanizer? Is it the number or quality of relationships that supports such a label? Would the APA come down on psychiatrists as heavily if they called a political figure they had not personally examined a womanizer rather than a narcissist? Are there reasons, other than narcissism, to consider why an individual might be a womanizer?On a different but related note, the 2006 article by Davidson et al.10on a survey of mental illnesses in U.S. presidents from 1776 to 1974 (George Washington began his first term in 1789) is cited without hesitation. However, when looking more closely, several concerns arise about its methodology, biases, historical context, the validity of secondary sources, and the pattern of using descriptions of character traits and stormy or moody incidents. Those concerns are related to establishing a firm basis for DSM diagnoses of illness. Davidson and colleagues are a little more circumspect in acknowledging levels of confidence in the jump from anecdote to diagnosis. However, by the time the reference appears in the tertiary literature (such as some chapters in the book under review), all nuances and subtleties are erased. We are left with the bald statistic that 49 percent of presidents met criteria for at least one mental illness. Based on my reading of the historical literature, I always thought Thomas Jefferson was shy and found public speaking difficult. He preferred the quiet of his study at Monticello to the raucous political environments of Philadelphia and Washington, DC (Ref. 11, pp 52–3). How does this morph into social phobia? Teddy Roosevelt was well known for extraordinary energy and stamina after a sickly childhood.12Certainly, high energy and high activity are seen in some manic individuals, but in many nonmanic ones as well. To move into diagnosis while ignoring the diagnostic criteria of “marked impairment” and much else makes me wonder whether the Goldwater Rule has a point or people are uncritical historians, but since the chapters under consideration here relate to making diagnoses of presidents, the 49 percent statistic spuriously serves to support the case in doing so for Mr. Trump.Finally, the lack of a scholarly discussion of the controversial relationship between personality disorders and major mental illnesses is noteworthy. As mentioned earlier, the quick slide from Mr. Trump's public displays of narcissism to a diagnosis of paranoia is almost a sleight of hand. There is some mention that he is a master of presentation management, a skilled presentation artist, such that one never quite knows what to make of any single outrageous or scary statement. This is not to scrub him of all psychiatric or psychological problems, but much of what he says is for public consumption. My point here is that he may be chameleon-like and therefore difficult to pigeonhole into a single category. The entire list of personality disorders is often hijacked as a way of expressing moral disapproval of a person. The noted German philosopher–psychiatrist Karl Jaspers, in discussing abnormal personalities, which he considers as variants of human nature and not indicative of sickness, describes one type of abnormal personality as craving “to appear, both to themselves and others, as more than they are and to experience more than they are ever capable of. The place of genuine experience and natural expression is usurped by a contrived stage-act, a forced kind of experience” (Ref. 13, p 443). Descriptive labels change over the decades, but the basic condition is recognizable.In summary, this book addresses two publicly noted deficits. One the lack of learned psychiatric commentary on the nature of Mr. Trump's dramatically unpresidential, mercurial, and troubling behaviors and his fitness to serve as president. The second is the lack of a substantial challenge to the APA's Goldwater Rule, which seems to stifle psychiatrists from publicly commenting on his mental state. There has been excellent and thoughtful commentary on Mr. Trump from a variety of journalists, public intellectuals both liberal and conservative, and others, but our profession has been largely silent as a result of the Goldwater Rule. Dr. Lee, in this edited book has moved psychiatry into the public forum and, in doing so, has issued a challenge to the APA to open these critically important questions to public debate.FootnotesDisclosures of financial or other potential conflicts of interest: None.© 2018 American Academy of Psychiatry and the LawReferences1.↵American Psychiatric Association: The Principles of Medical Ethics with Annotations Especially Applicable to Psychiatry. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2009 Revised EditionGoogle Scholar2.↵Davis JH, Stolberg SG, Kaplan T: Trump alarms lawmakers with disparaging words for Haiti and Africa.New York Times, Thursday January 11, 2018, p 1Google Scholar3.↵Lieberman J: The dangerous case of psychiatrists writing about the POTUS's mental health. Psychiatr News. November 15, 2017. Psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2017.11b13/. Accessed December 11, 2017Google Scholar4.↵Moran M: AMA goes beyond ‘Goldwater Rule’ in ethics guidelines on media interaction. Psychiatr NewsDecember 15, 2017Google Scholar5.↵Ahmed A: A ban by any other name. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 44:226–35, 2016Abstract/FREE Full TextGoogle Scholar6.↵Kroll J: APA's Goldwater Rule: Ethics of Speaking Publicly about Public Figures. Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Philosophy and Psychiatry. Washington, DC, May 3, 2008Google Scholar7.↵Kroll J, Pouncey C: The ethics of APA's Goldwater Rule. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 44:226–35, 2016Abstract/FREE Full TextGoogle Scholar8.↵MacIntyre A: After Virtue. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984Google Scholar9.↵American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Third Edition.Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1980Google Scholar10.↵Davidson JRT, Connor KM, Swartz M: Mental illness in US Presidents between 1776 and 1974: a review of biographical sources. J Nerv Ment Dis 194:47–51, 2006CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar11.↵Ellis JJ: American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson. New York, NY: Random House, 1997Google Scholar12.↵Morris E: Theodore Rex. New York, NY: Random House, 2002Google Scholar13.↵Max HamiltonJaspers K: General Psychopathology. Translated by Max Hamilton. Manchester, UK:Manchester University Press, 1913/1963Google Scholar

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