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bring it, jackApril 11, 2010 by chriscollins
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YOU HAD BETTER KNOW GIRLTAURMarch 23, 2010 by Slippery Jack
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I would like to have net warz with chris collinsMarch 20, 2010 by Slippery Jack
but I cannot find the post comment button.
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i know its hard to believe, but even more words about art came out of my brain just now, its like a rushing torrent of insight and i cant stop itMarch 4, 2010 by jbaij
Charles Broskoski is working on a very real interest in painterly abstraction and the legacy of this type of work.
However, he is not blind to the fact that in employing digitally automated "painterly" tools on a computer, he radically re-orients the launching-off point for a consideration of these works.
The negotiation of these tensions—abstraction and automation—is, one could say, where the work occurs.
In the current design of Broskoski's personal website, the artist displays his most recent painting—in this case, a layering of long, wide, generally vertical "brushstrokes" in the airy style of the late de Kooning into the form of a primordial "ball"—a locus of energy, both budding and dying, aggressive and nervous, which calls to mind Philip Guston's early abstractions (as well as a muddied take on the reds, greens, blues and blacks from Guston's palette in these abstractions).
The bottom edges of this "ball" seem to "put the brakes on" in an act of inertia, curling in against a threat of pure formlessness.
And, at the top, the brushstrokes seem to be shooting upward (as in transcendence), but—in a reversal of the physics occurring at the bottom—suffer a smooshing down (as in gravity).
The result is a stormy mass of energy simultaneously expanding away from its self and contracting into its self.
It has a kick.
But—as a painting—it also lacks a kick.
First of all, the painting is created on a computer with a mouse and a suite of digital "effects" rather than paint and canvas.
This is just to say that, despite the work's painting references, Broskoski is not moving his body around the computer as if it were "an arena in which to act."
Rather, he's staring into a screen, moving his wrist and fingers around a bit.
I suppose one could call this action, but it lacks the erotic, spiritual (not to mention macho) associations one conjures up in considerations of expressionist painting.
Additionally, Broskoski's paint is not paint—it's pixels.
And if it's printed on paper, it's still not paint—it's ink "painted" automatically by a machine—a printer.
So, where does this leave one?
Is Broskoski either (a.) a "fake" painter trying to pass for "real," or (b.) a smart ass?
Or is there is there something else going on here?
A clue may be found in the caption to the work (the title to the work?)—a sort of clock reading "7 days ago…"
"7 days ago…" refers to the amount of time past since Broskoski uploaded the painting to his site.
Yesterday it read "6 days ago…"
The day before "5 days ago…"
Tomorrow it will read "8 days ago…" or perhaps "1 week ago…"
And so on until Broskoski uploads another work, thus resetting the clock.
What this counter adds to the work is a whole new type of anxiety—and a whole new type of way to think of Broskoski's paintings as possessing meaning.
Like Josh Smith, Broskoski and artists such as Harm van den Dorpel are re-examining the possibility of a certain sincerity in painterly expression, but doing so not in the individual painting (well, not primarily in the individual painting), but as a performance—in time.
The deeper kick of the work, the kick that makes one remember why they care about art, is in Broskoski's on-going struggle with the possibility of meaningful creation in painting and in the computer and in painting on the computer.
As one returns to the site again and again and again and again, watching him upload new work, trying things out, performing his creation, one begins to see it.
It turns out that what the computer shows me is not space, but time; not the digital painting, but digital painting.
By: Jeff Baij
oh man i wrote some more words about art with my brain and thinking and stuffby jbaij
Showreel is a video by Harm van den Dorpel depicting his own "version" or accounting-for of a collaboratively performed potlatch of screen captures shared-in-dialogue between himself as well as a group of artist friends–Charles Broskoski, Constant Dullaart, Martijn Hendriks, Pascual Sisto, and Ola Vasiljeva.
Van den Dorpel's version of these events consists of an edited (and chronologically preserved) string of images filtered through the automatic effects of an intensified Ken Burns slideshow tool, ultimately resulting in an idiosyncratic, multi-layered representation of the time in which the images were collected and shared in the first place.
Through the continuous application of three automated functions in the slideshow software:
(1.) A slow dissolve into and out of a palimpsest of three to four (or more) image layers composed entirely of imagery appropriated from digital image archives.
(2.) A slow lateral movement over the majority of these image layers in both varying directions as well as varying rates of speed.
(3.) A slow zoom both into as well as out of approximately half of these image layers.
the video (or the extract of the video available on-line anyway) shows its viewer a reel of collaboratively endured time as, on the one hand, ineffable–a continuous flux of image layers merging with memories of image layers merging with emerging image layers—and, on the other hand, because ineffable, un-re(e)(a)l—always already just outside of one's grasp.
Van den Dorpel's version shows me the way, beginning with what—to my mind anyway—reads as:
A transparent layer of vertical lines and an orange flame flicker moving to the bottom left corner of the yellow-tinted photo of a quaint bedroom layout.
This image layer collision might strike one as what has been called an "intellectual montage"—image layer A + image layer B=image layer C (the synthesis)—in which, in short, the representation of stability (the vertical lines, the photographic representation of a bedroom) is rendered as unstable (the flame flicker).
But, that's "in short."
"In time," this intellectual montage is, as the flame itself suggests (in an act of short circuiting), already (a thing of the) past—a memory crystal fighting against previous memory crystals, emergent memory crystals, and the ever-present threat of future memory crystals.
As soon as one feels the zap of the intellectual montage, its power—it's "truth"—is just as quickly zapped out of one's mind by emergent image layers such as:
(1.) A computer keyboard inverted 90 degrees.
(2.) Interconnecting plastic tubes forming a storage unit set against a black void.
(3.) A plane of refracted light in swimming pool water set against a black void.
(4.) Two vertical white lines set against a black void intersected by both a white ring as well as a pattern of white lines and arcs resembling the shape of a dish rack.
(5.) Hans Holbein the Younger's The Ambassadors anamorphically skewed in perspective in order to mimic the famous anamorphic skewing of the skull in the bottom of the painting's own original composition.
And so on and so on and so on and so on until one catches on that their own picture of the work is itself ineffable–glimpsed and then buried in the flow of memory crystals and emergent memory crystals in its wake.
Van den Dorpel's version shows me the way.
References to inverted computing equipment, interlocking structures floating in voids, refracted light on swimming pool ripples, and the skewing of The Ambassadors point to a picture of time and time's pictures as maya.
By: Jeff Baij
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check out these words i wrote about artby jbaij
50 50 by Oliver Laric is a version of the 50 Cent track In Da Club composed of 50 other versions of the same track—in this case, YouTube user videos in which a user (or users) performs a homemade karaoke performance of a pop song in front of a home video camera or webcam.
Laric cuts these versions together in such a way as to create a single, seamless performance of the track which has less to say about In Da Club and more to say about the fact that the world of images in 2007—the year the video was initially uploaded–is composed of versions of In Da Club as much as it is composed of the original track.
When one searches for a pop track on YouTube, more often than not one will find versions of the track produced by rank-and-file YouTube users as opposed to an "original" version.
And if one does find an "original" version of the track, it will still be versioned anyway through the video's visual component—say a slide show of thematically relevant imagery or a static screen of text and graphic elements advertising whatever it is that the user sells.
This ecology of versions is what 50 50 shows me—confronts me with when I view it.
It is thus a work of—one could say—YouTube art or new media art as it turns on the question "what is YouTube?" or "what is new media?"
But is it a work of contemporary art?
Well, does it turn on the question "what is contemporary art?"
I'm not sure.
It could be exhibited as contemporary art, but the problem is that that's all that it could be as contemporary art—"exhibited"–one more interesting thing.
The work doesn't address contemporary art's own issues and concerns; it doesn't look contemporary art in the eye.
And to 50 50's credit, it really shouldn't.
The work works because it frames itself in the paradigm of the Web and contributes to the world of that paradigm, describing the Web to itself.
In this way it is not unlike 50 Cent himself who frames his work in the paradigm of pop music and contributes to the world of that paradigm, describing the sound of pop to itself.
However, the sculptural component of Laric's work Versions—a series of variations not on a YouTube function, but on an art-historical reference—does—one could say—speak to contemporary art by describing the history of fine art's own entanglement in the condition of versioning to its contemporary self.
By creating a series of identical casts from the molding of an art historical work—an icon from St. Martin's cathedral in Utrecht which was damaged in a fit of iconoclasm during the Protestant Reformation—and altering only the pigmentation of each casting, Laric mutates one's understanding of iconoclasm.
The art icon is no longer physically defaced in order to save it—as in the Reformation—it is spiritually defaced in order to save it—as in the version.
In the press release for an exhibition of Versions at the Seventeen Gallery in London, an anonymous author writes in regard to Laric's sculptures:
After the conceptual event of iconoclasm, after the physical inscription of that event as damage on the very surface of these icons, the formal hierarchy between the original and its modification is fundamentally undermined. Instead there is equipoise; no single truth, no original; no derivative; just versions…
This is a statement about the world of art and its objects, describing art to its contemporary self.
Thus, Oliver Laric's project encompasses both works made for the world of new media as well as works made for the world of contemporary art.
So, which is he–a new media artist or a contemporary artist?
Well, perhaps if one was forced to locate the beating heart of his project one could say that Laric's art occurs in neither new media nor in contemporary art, but rather on his website– in his leaps from world to world, performing the role of the artist, describing time to itself.
By: Jeff Baij
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stealing some old persons content against his EXPLICIT WISHESFebruary 5, 2010 by jbaij
Note: My Web pages are best viewed with style sheets enabled.
Copyright © by David Ross
I reserve all publication rights to any Web page or portion of a Web page (including tables) marked with the © symbol as copyrighted by David E. Ross. Republication or performance — electronically, in hardcopy format, or orally — is prohibited without my express written permission.
I will consider requests for permission to republish submitted via E-mail. Permission I grant via E-mail is invalid without my PGP digital signature.
This notice applies to all photographs — including photos I have placed at Flickr — but does not apply to any other graphic unless a separate copyright notice specific to that graphic appears on the Web page displaying it. In some cases, the separate notice is embedded in the graphic and appears when a cursor is placed over the graphic.
A table is not a graphic. The contents and format of a table appearing in any of my pages is covered by this copyright notice unless an explicit statement to the contrary appears for a specific table.
This notice does not apply to any quoted material attributed to someone else. However, such material might have a copyright owned by that other person or by another party.
I will not consider any request to copy or republish the HTML of any Web page. I might consider a request to copy the contents of a Web page to another non-commercial Web page providing the other Web page contains an appropriate statement attributing the source to me. For commercial Web pages, I will consider such requests only if my granting authorization to copy the contents of a Web page involves an appropriate payment to me in an amount to be negotiated. In general, however, I will only consider requests to print, display, recite, or capture the image of a page as it would appear in a Web browser window when obtained directly from my Web site; again, I will grant such requests only if proper attribution is made or if my copyright notice appears in the image.
I hereby grant permission to anyone to link to any of my Web pages via HTML from another Web page. However, if the referring Web page is a frame, the link must display my copyrighted page in a separate browser window and not within the frame (e.g.: via
TARGET="_blank" in the anchor). In any case, the entire page — including my copyright notice — must appear without truncation or alteration when any link causes one of my copyrighted Web pages to appear in a browser window. Without alteration includes not adding any banner, launching any popup or popunder, inserting any graphic, altering any link, or substituting any style sheet.
In the paragraph above, I make a commitment: Anyone may link to any of my Web pages. Anyone needing a PGP-authenticated statement of my commitment (e.g., for a skeptical ISP) should send me an E-mail message indicating a preference for RSA or DSS/DH keys. I will reply with a digitally signed copy of the above paragraph, using one of my PGP keys.
Please note:
- I do prefer that other Web pages link to mine rather than copy my text. This way, as I update my pages, the latest version remains available via the link.
- However, I sometimes delete a Web page when its content or subject matter become obsolete. I cannot be held responsible for broken links resulting from deleted pages. I do archive many of my deleted pages indefinitely.
- On occasion, I restructure my Web site, moving selected pages from one directory within my domain to another. When I do this, I usually leave a truncated page at the old location for about two months, with a warning that the page has moved and that viewers should update their bookmarks and links. Again, I cannot be held responsible for broken links resulting from moved pages.
Why Copyright My Pages?
I thought my Web pages had scant commercial value. Why would anyone pay for a copy of one of my pages when it can be seen for free through the Internet? However, I discovered that indeed at least one of my pages was copied more than once for commercial purposes. So far, I have been successful in stopping violations of my copyright without taking legal action. If I were ever unsuccessful, I would not hesitate to seek compensatory damages equal to whatever fees the violator received, plus possibly punitive damages. I definitely do not want someone else profiting from my effort without them also paying me.
Money is not the only reason to claim a copyright. These Web pages are the product of my mind. As such, I want to control their dissemination and use. I want to prevent someone else from twisting my words in a way that changes my meaning. And I certainly want to prevent someone else from republishing my ideas and claiming authorship. This kind of control falls within the protections given by a copyright.
In addition, I put much effort into formatting my Web pages (in part, to ensure they are indeed viewable by any browser). I update some of my pages rather frequently. I research the subjects addressed by my pages and include links to other Web pages relating to those subjects (including some very authoritative sources). Whenever I modify a page, I then verify that any links are still valid. I do not want my formatting lost, my recent changes ignored, or my efforts contaminated with stale links. A copyright gives me control to prevent such corruption.
Yes, I do receive requests to republish some of my pages. I have agreed to every request (more than one) that meets the requirements described on this page. And, no, I have never been paid by anyone receiving permission to republish these pages. (Money would be nice. Nicer yet is preserving the integrity of what I have written.)
Why Authenticate This Copyright Notice?
While I obviously support the protection of intellectual products through the use of copyrights, I think some commercial interests have gone overboard in the protections they claim. In particular, a federal judge ordered 2600 Magazine (a Webzine) to remove links to another Web site because that other site contained a download link for software that might violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act — not for hosting the software (which was hosted elsewhere) but merely for having a link to it. In another case, EBay blocked another Web site from having links to pages internal to the EBay site.
Because of these legal cases, some ISPs have become wary regarding Web sites they host. If such a site contains a link to a copyrighted Web page, an ISP may require its customer to obtain a license from the owner of the linked page. My own position is that, if I can add a link to a Web page to my bookmarks file, then I can cite that link in any of my Web pages. My ISP (ISWest) has never expressed any concern with my position. However, if your ISP wants proof that I granted you permission to link to my Web pages, you can not only show your ISP this notice but also authenticate it through an E-mail message bearing my PGP signature.
Enforcing My Copyright
I put much time, research, thought, and effort into creating these Web pages. Unlike some others with personal Web sites, I have no advertising. I make no money from what I have created here. So when I find that someone has stolen my work — plagiarism is indeed theft — for commercial use, I feel abused and frustrated.
- 2005: I found six commercial Web sites that violated the copyright on one of my Web pages. I succeeded in having all infringing material removed or having the entire Web pages deleted.
- 2006: I found 11 commercial Web sites that violated my copyright. In nine cases, the infringing material was removed or the entire Web page was deleted when I informed the page's owner of the copyright violation. In the remaining two cases, the pages' owners ignored my communication. One Web site was then blocked by its Web hosting service after I lodged a complaint of copyright violation with that service. The other site remained an open issue into 2007.
- 2007: I found three commercial Web sites that violated the copyright on one of my Web pages. One of those violations was by a real estate agent working in the same agency as the agent whose site remained the open issue from 2006. I notified the manager of that real estate agency. Another was by a real estate agent who is a long-time acquaintance; she was livid over the fact that she paid good money for what she thought was original content. In this latter case, not only was I successful in having the page deleted; but my acquaintance ended her contract with the Web developer.
- 2008: I found a commercial Web site — again, owned by a real estate agent — that violated the copyright on one of my Web pages. This was a complete copy of the text on my Oak Park page, including references to my daughter. The real estate agent claimed to have hired a high school student to create the page for her. She deleted the page when I brought the violation to her attention.
- 2009: I found another commercial Web site — again, owned by a real estate agent — that violated the copyright on my Oak Park page. Upon receiving my "cease and desist" letter, the site's owner quickly changed the content to eliminate the violation. This was the third time I found a violation hosted by Dominion Enterprises or its subsidiary Advanced Access. Not only do these firms host the Web sites, but they also develop them. I am keeping a log of copyright violations and can readily establish a pattern of repeated violations by those firms.
*** Begin Right Sidebar ***
I am the unpaid Webmaster for a small charity whose Web pages are also copyrighted. In 2006, I detected three other charities had violated those copyrights. One charity had copied three of "my" charity's pages, changing only the name of the organization. I was successful in stopping all of these violations.
*** End Right Sidebar ***
When I find a violation, I send a "cease and desist" letter (postal mail) to the owner of the Web site domain and a complaint via E-mail to the site's hosting service.
One recipient of my "cease and desist" letter responded in anger because I had the nerve to be so formal and strong in my objections to his theft. I'm the one who should be angry that my hard work generated income for him but not one cent for me. No, I will not make public the name of this person. He did remove the plagiarism from his three Web sites. If he violates my copyright again, however, I will not bother with a "cease and desist" letter; instead, I will immediately refer the situation to an attorney.
I really do not understand why real estate agents in particular plagiarize my Oak Park Web page (all but one of the violations over the years). Yes, I'm somewhat flattered by the fact that they find the information well-written. However, they would be better served by merely linking to that page. Then, they would receive the advantage of any updates I make to it. Furthermore, there is no copyright involved in having such a link.
Warning: If necessary to protect my copyrights, I may indeed file lawsuits. If successful, I will request damages in the amount not only sufficient to cover my legal costs but also to recover whatever fees or other payments were received by whoever violated my copyrights.
Updated 1 June 2009
This page is copyrighted © 2003-2009 by David E. Ross
February 4, 2010 by chriscollins
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bloggingFebruary 3, 2010 by jbaij
matching bandana and youtube frame
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YHBK thanks Citizens Energy for keeping Chris Collins warm this winter.by alex


text: News Going beyond treatment When it comes to leprosy, there is a cure available. Multi-drug therapy involves consuming a combination of medication over a 6 to 12 month period. Once the course is completed, that person is infection free and need not worry about any further effects of the disease. However, at the time of treatment they may already have experienced nerve damage and seen permanent disabilities to hands and feet set in. They could even have lost their sight. Therefore, despite being no longer affected by leprosy, it's difficult to say that a person is cured. The Cambridge dictionary defines being cured as 'making someone with an illness healthy again' [1]. In the case of leprosy, it is hard to evaluate whether an individual who has lost fingers and cannot feel patches on their body that are then prone to burns and cuts, is in fact healthy. After all, such anaesthesia can lead to infections and further ill health. That's why we don't just work with children, women and men until the point that they've accessed treatment. We look at their whole life after having experienced leprosy and find ways to help improve it. We provide reconstructive surgery and physiotherapy services to reduce the burden leprosy may have left. This is one step in increasing the affected person's chances of resuming their old way of life. We also set up self-help groups that bring people together who have shared similar experiences and provide training in various skill sets. These, along with the groups' micro loans, offer an opportunity for a person to set up a small business and earn a living. Being able to do that restores confidence and can help a person re-establish themselves in their community too. Our protective shoes are also a part of assisting a person after the disease has been treated. They can be customised to individual needs and help to protect any patches of anaesthesia on the feet. This reduces the risk of infection. Our self-care demonstrations also work towards reducing the risk of infection by showing people how to care for their affected limbs. Through these activities, we look to relieve some of the burden of having been affected by a neglected disease. You can read more about our work here. [1] http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cure

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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text:
|Articles of Confederation
Page I of the Articles of Confederation
|November 15, 1777
|March 1, 1781
|Continental Congress
|Continental Congress
|Constitution for the United States, later replaced by the creation of the current United States Constitution
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union (commonly referred to as the Articles of Confederation) was the governing constitution of the alliance of thirteen independent and sovereign states styled "United States of America." The Article's ratification (proposed in 1777) was completed in 1781, legally uniting the states by compact into the "United States of America" as a union with a confederation government. Under the Articles (and the succeeding Constitution) the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically deputed to the central government.
The Articles set the rules for operations of the "United States" confederation. The confederation was capable of making war, negotiating diplomatic agreements, and resolving issues regarding the western territories; it could not mint coins (each state had their own currency) and borrow inside and outside the United States. An important element of the Articles was that Article XIII stipulated that "their provisions shall be inviolably observed by every state" and "the Union shall be perpetual."
They sought a federation to replace the confederation. The key criticism by those who favored a more powerful central state (the federalists) was that the government (the Congress of the Confederation) lacked taxing authority; it had to request funds from the states. Also various federalist factions wanted a government that could impose uniform tariffs, give land grants, and assume responsibility for unpaid state war debts ("assumption".) Another criticism of the Articles was that they did not strike the right balance between large and small states in the legislative decision making process. Due to its one-state, one-vote plank, the larger states were expected to contribute more but had only one vote.
Fearing the return of a monarchical form of government, the system created by The Articles ultimately proved untenable. Their failure in creating a strong central government resulted in their replacement by the United States Constitution.
The political push for the colonies to increase cooperation began in the French and Indian Wars in the mid 1750s. The opening of the American Revolutionary War in 1775 induced the various states to cooperate in seceding from the British Empire. The Second Continental Congress starting 1775 acted as the confederation organ that ran the war. Congress presented the Articles for enactment by the states in 1777, while prosecuting the American Revolutionary war against the Kingdom of Great Britain.
The Articles were created by the chosen representatives of the states in the Second Continental Congress out of a perceived need to have "a plan of confederacy for securing the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the United States." Although serving a crucial role in the victory in the American Revolutionary War, a group of reformers,[1] known as "federalists," felt that the Articles lacked the necessary provisions for a sufficiently effective government.
The final draft of the Articles was written in the summer of 1777 and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777 in York, Pennsylvania after a year of debate. In practice the final draft of the Articles served as the de facto system of government used by the Congress ("the United States in Congress assembled") until it became de jure by final ratification on March 1, 1781; at which point Congress became the Congress of the Confederation.
Congress began to move for ratification of the Articles in 1777:
"Permit us, then, earnestly to recommend these articles to the immediate and dispassionate attention of the legislatures of the respective states. Let them be candidly reviewed under a sense of the difficulty of combining in one general system the various sentiments and interests of a continent divided into so many sovereign and independent communities, under a conviction of the absolute necessity of uniting all our councils and all our strength, to maintain and defend our common liberties…[2]
The document could not become officially effective until it was ratified by all of the thirteen colonies. The first state to ratify was Virginia on December 16, 1777.[3] The process dragged on for several years, stalled by the refusal of some states to rescind their claims to land in the West. Maryland was the last holdout; it refused to go along until Virginia and New York agreed to cede their claims in the Ohio River valley. A little over three years passed before Maryland's ratification on March 1, 1781.
Even though the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were established by many of the same people, the two documents were very different. The original five-paged Articles contained thirteen articles, a conclusion, and a signatory section. The following list contains short summaries of each of the thirteen articles.
Still at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain, the colonists were reluctant to establish another powerful national government. Jealously guarding their new independence, members of the Continental Congress created a loosely-structured unicameral legislature that protected the liberty of the individual states. While calling on Congress to regulate military and monetary affairs, for example, the Articles of Confederation provided no mechanism to force the states to comply with requests for troops or revenue. At times, this left the military in a precarious position, as George Washington wrote in a 1781 letter to the governor of Massachusetts, John Hancock.
The Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended hostilities with Great Britain, languished in Congress for months because state representatives failed to attend sessions of the national legislature. Yet Congress had no power to enforce attendance. Writing to George Clinton in September 1783, George Washington complained:
Congress have come to no determination yet respecting the Peace Establishment nor am I able to say when they will. I have lately had a conference with a Committee on this subject, and have reiterated my former opinions, but it appears to me that there is not a sufficient representation to discuss Great National points.[4]
The Articles supported the Congressional direction of the Continental Army, and allowed the 13 states to present a unified front when dealing with the European powers. As a tool to build a centralized war-making government, they were largely a failure: Historian Bruce Chadwick wrote:
George Washington had been one of the very first proponents of a strong federal government. The army had nearly disbanded on several occasions during the winters of the war because of the weaknesses of the Continental Congress. … The delegates could not draft soldiers and had to send requests for regular troops and militia to the states. Congress had the right to order the production and purchase of provisions for the soldiers, but could not force anyone to actually supply them, and the army nearly starved in several winters of war.[5][6]
Since guerrilla warfare was an effective strategy in a war against the British Empire, a centralized government proved unnecessary for winning independence. The Continental Congress took all advice, and heeded every command by George Washington, and thusly the government essentially acted in a federalist manner during the war, thereby hiding all problems of the Articles until the war was over.[7] Under the Articles, Congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them. There was a requirement for unanimous approval before any modifications could be made to the Articles. Because the majority of lawmaking rested with the states, the central government was also kept limited.
Congress was denied the power of taxation: it could only request money from the states. The states did not generally comply with the requests in full, leaving the Confederation Congress and the Continental Army chronically short of funds. Congress was also denied the power to regulate commerce, and as a result, the states maintained control over their own trade policy as well. The states and the national congress had both incurred debts during the war, and how to pay the debts became a major issue after the war. Some states paid off their debts; however, the centralizers favored federal assumption of states' debts.
Nevertheless, the Congress of the Confederation did take two actions with lasting impact. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established the general land survey and ownership provisions used throughout later American expansion. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 noted the agreement of the original states to give up western land claims and cleared the way for the entry of new states.
Once the war was won, the Continental Army was largely disbanded. A very small national force was maintained to man frontier forts and protect against Indian attacks. Meanwhile, each of the states had an army (or militia), and 11 of them had navies. The wartime promises of bounties and land grants to be paid for service were not being met. In 1783, Washington defused the Newburgh conspiracy, but riots by unpaid Pennsylvania veterans forced the Congress to leave Philadelphia temporarily.[8]
The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles for distribution to the states on November 15, 1777. A copy was made for each state and one was kept by the Congress. The copies sent to the states for ratification were unsigned, and a cover letter had only the signatures of Henry Laurens and Charles Thomson, who were the President and Secretary to the Congress.
The Articles themselves were unsigned, and the date left blank. Congress began the signing process by examining their copy of the Articles on June 27, 1778. They ordered a final copy prepared (the one in the National Archives), directing delegates to inform the secretary of their authority for ratification.
On July 9, 1778, the prepared copy was ready. They dated it, and began to sign. They also requested each of the remaining states to notify its delegation when ratification was completed. On that date, delegates present from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina signed the Articles to indicate that their states had ratified. New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland could not, since their states had not ratified. North Carolina and Georgia also didn't sign that day, since their delegations were absent.
After the first signing, some delegates signed at the next meeting they attended. For example, John Wentworth of New Hampshire added his name on August 8. John Penn was the first of North Carolina's delegates to arrive (on July 10), and the delegation signed the Articles on July 21, 1778.
The other states had to wait until they ratified the Articles and notified their Congressional delegation. Georgia signed on July 24, New Jersey on November 26, and Delaware on February 12, 1779. Maryland refused to ratify the Articles until every state had ceded its western land claims.
On February 2, 1781, the much-awaited decision was taken by the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis.[9] As the last piece of business during the afternoon Session, "among engrossed Bills" was "signed and sealed by Governor Thomas Sim Lee in the Senate Chamber, in the presence of the members of both Houses… an Act to empower the delegates of this state in Congress to subscribe and ratify the articles of confederation" and perpetual union among the states. The Senate then adjourned "to the first Monday in August next." The decision of Maryland to ratify the Articles was reported to the Continental Congress on February 12. The formal signing of the Articles by the Maryland delegates took place in Philadelphia at noon time on March 1, 1781 and was celebrated in the afternoon. With these events, the Articles entered into force and the United States came into being as a united, sovereign and national state.
Congress had debated the Articles for over a year and a half, and the ratification process had taken nearly three and a half years. Many participants in the original debates were no longer delegates, and some of the signers had only recently arrived. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were signed by a group of men who were never present in the Congress at the same time.
The signers and the states they represented were:
Roger Sherman (Connecticut) was the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Articles of Association, the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.
Robert Morris (Pennsylvania) was the only person besides Sherman to sign three of the great state papers of the United States: the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.
John Dickinson (Delaware) and Daniel Carroll (Maryland), along with Sherman and Morris, were the only four people to sign both the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.
The following list is of those who led the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation as the Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled. Under the Articles, the president was the presiding officer of Congress, chaired the Cabinet (the Committee of the States) when Congress was in recess, and performed other administrative functions. He was not, however, a chief executive in the way the successor President of the United States is a chief executive, but all of the functions he executed were under the auspices and in service of the Congress.
For a full list of Presidents of the Congress Assembled and Presidents under the two Continental Congresses before the Articles, see President of the Continental Congress.
In May 1786, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed that Congress revise the Articles of Confederation. Recommended changes included granting Congress power over foreign and domestic commerce, and providing means for Congress to collect money from state treasuries. Unanimous approval was necessary to make the alterations, however, and Congress failed to reach a consensus. The weakness of the Articles in establishing an effective unifying government was underscored by the threat of internal conflict both within and between the states, especially after Shays' Rebellion threatened to topple the state government of Massachusetts.
In September, five states assembled in the Annapolis Convention to discuss adjustments that would improve commerce. Under their chairman, Alexander Hamilton, they invited state representatives to convene in Philadelphia to discuss improvements to the federal government. Although the states' representatives to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were only authorized to amend the Articles, the representatives held secret, closed-door sessions and wrote a new constitution. The new Constitution gave much more power to the central government, but characterization of the result is disputed. Historian Forrest McDonald, using the ideas of James Madison from Federalist 39, describes the change this way:
The constitutional reallocation of powers created a new form of government, unprecedented under the sun. Every previous national authority either had been centralized or else had been a confederation of sovereign states. The new American system was neither one nor the other; it was a mixture of both.[10]
Patrick Henry, George Mason, and other antifederalists were not so eager to give up the local autonomy won by the revolution.
Antifederalists feared what Patrick Henry termed the "consolidated government" proposed by the new Constitution. They saw in Federalist hopes for commercial growth and international prestige only the lust of ambitious men for a "splendid empire" that, in the time-honored way of empires, would oppress the people with taxes, conscription, and military campaigns. Uncertain that any government over so vast a domain as the United States could be controlled by the people, Antifederalists saw in the enlarged powers of the general government only the familiar threats to the rights and liberties of the people.[11]
According to their own terms for modification (Article XIII), the Articles would still have been in effect until 1790, the year in which the last of the 13 states ratified the new Constitution. The Congress under the Articles continued to sit until November 1788,[12][13][14][15] overseeing the adoption of the new Constitution by the states, and setting elections. By that date, 11 of the 13 states had ratified the new Constitution.
Historians have given many reasons for the perceived need to replace the articles in 1787. Jillson and Wilson (1994) point to the financial weakness as well as the norms, rules and institutional structures of the Congress, and the propensity to divide along sectional lines.
Rakove (1988) identifies several factors that explain the collapse of the Confederation. The lack of compulsory direct taxation power was objectionable to those wanting a strong centralized state or expecting to benefit from such power. It could not collect customs after the war because tariffs were vetoed by Rhode Island. Rakove concludes that their failure to implement national measures "stemmed not from a heady sense of independence but rather from the enormous difficulties that all the states encountered in collecting taxes, mustering men, and gathering supplies from a war-weary populace."[16] The second group of factors Rakove identified derived from the substantive nature of the problems the Continental Congress confronted after 1783, especially the inability to create a strong foreign policy. Finally, the Confederation's lack of coercive power reduced the likelihood for profit to be made by political means, thus potential rulers were uninspired to seek power.
When the war ended in 1783, certain special interests had incentives to create a new "merchant state," much like the British state people had rebelled against. In particular, holders of war scrip and land speculators wanted a central government to pay off scrip at face value and to legalize western land holdings with disputed claims. Also, manufacturers wanted a high tariff as a barrier to foreign goods, but competition among states made this impossible without a central government.[17]
Political scientist David C. Hendrickson writes that two prominent political leaders in the Confederation, John Jay of New York and Thomas Burke of North Carolina believed that "the authority of the congress rested on the prior acts of the several states, to which the states gave their voluntary consent, and until those obligations were fulfilled, neither nullification of the authority of congress, exercising its due powers, nor secession from the compact itself was consistent with the terms of their original pledges."[18]
Law professor Daniel Farber argues that there was no clear consensus on the permanence of the Union or the issue of secession by the Founders. Farber wrote:
What about the original understanding? The debates contain scattered statements about the permanence or impermanence of the Union. The occasional reference to the impermanency of the Constitution are hard to interpret. They might have referred to a legal right to revoke ratification. But they could equally have referred to an extraconstitutional right of revolution, or to the possibility that a new national convention would rewrite the Constitution, or simply to the factual possibility that the national government might break down. Similarly, references to the permanency of the Union could have referred to the practical unlikelihood of withdrawal rather than any lack of legal power. The public debates seemingly do not speak specifically to whether ratification under Article VII was revocable.[19]
However, what if one or more states do violate the compact? One view, not only about the Articles but also the later Constitution, was that the state or states injured by such a breach could rightfully secede. This position was held by, among others, Thomas Jefferson and John Calhoun.
If any state in the Union will declare that it prefers separation … to a continuance in union …. I have no hesitation in saying, let us separate.Jefferson letter to James Madison, 1816
This view motivated discussions of secession and nullification at the Hartford Convention, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, and the Nullification Crisis. In his book Life of Webster, (1890) Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge writes
It is safe to say that there was not a man in the country, from Washington and Hamilton to Clinton and Mason, who did not regard the new system as an experiment from which each and every State had a right to peaceably withdraw.[20][21]
A competing view, promoted by Daniel Webster and later by Abraham Lincoln , was that the Constitution (and Articles) established a permanent union.[22][23] President Andrew Jackson during the Nullification Crisis, in his "Proclamation to the People of South Carolina," made the case for the perpetuity of the Union while also contrasting the differences between "revolution" and "secession":[24]
But each State having expressly parted with so many powers as to constitute jointly with the other States a single nation, cannot from that period possess any right to secede, because such secession does not break a league, but destroys the unity of a nation, and any injury to that unity is not only a breach which would result from the contravention of a compact, but it is an offense against the whole Union. To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union, is to say that the United States are not a nation because it would be a solecism to contend that any part of a nation might dissolve its connection with the other parts, to their injury or ruin, without committing any offense. Secession, like any other revolutionary act, may be morally justified by the extremity of oppression; but to call it a constitutional right, is confounding the meaning of terms, and can only be done through gross error, or to deceive those who are willing to assert a right, but would pause before they made a revolution, or incur the penalties consequent upon a failure.[25]
This view, among others, was presented against declarations of secession from the Union by southern slave states as the American Civil War began.
All links retrieved April 18, 2016.
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Marine Sgt. Thomas R. Bagosy returned from a combat tour in Afghanistan in November 2009 suffering from a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder. Six months later, when officials at Camp Lejeune, N.C., tried to hospitalize him for treatment, Bagosy shot himself in the head during a standoff with military police.
The White House this week reversed its policy against extending official condolences to the families of military personnel who kill themselves, but the change applies only to those who commit suicide in officially designated combat zones.
In cases such as the one involving Bagosy, 25, who died in the United States but after clear indication of mental disorder related to his war experiences, survivors still will be left without the comfort of a presidential letter.
"I'm angry at this — I really am," Bagosy's father, Robert, who also served in the Marine Corps, said Thursday. "Honestly, this is like a slap in the face. A condolence letter means a lot. It's not going to bring my son back, but it matters."
The previous White House policy, inherited from past administrations, was to send presidential letters of condolence to families of service members who die in combat zones, with a "specific exemption for suicide," said Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council. "The key point here is we have put suicide on equal footing with other deaths."
Presidential condolence letters are not routine when members of the military die away from war zones, no matter the cause. The policy review, officials said, was focused only on how to handle suicides that occurred in war zones.
The military has long struggled with how to handle suicide. Although Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has supported changing the White House policy to extend condolences in cases of suicide, some in the military have been opposed, in part because of worries that it might lead to more suicides.
In a statement announcing the policy change on Wednesday, President Obama said: "This decision was made after a difficult and exhaustive review of the former policy, and I did not make it lightly. This issue is emotional, painful, and complicated, but these Americans served our nation bravely. They didn't die because they were weak."
About two-thirds of military suicides take place outside combat zones, and many of these suicides are related to PTSD or other combat-related stresses. Advocates for military families argue that the treatment of the next of kin should not depend on where the suicide occurred.
"It doesn't matter how they died, it's how they lived and how they served," said Kim Ruocco, national director of suicide education and outreach for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, an organization providing support for military families. "This is a common story; why does it matter where he died?"
Her husband, Maj. John Ruocco, a Marine Cobra helicopter pilot who flew 75 combat missions during a deployment to Iraq, killed himself in 2005, three months after returning home to Camp Pendleton, Calif. "He came back from war and was completely different," she said.
John Ruocco was depressed and feeling no longer valuable to his Marines or his family, including two young sons, she said.
"He gave until he had nothing left," Kim Ruocco said. "He never asked for help for fear of the repercussions."
While applauding the White House policy change as an important step for removing the stigma associated with suicide, the survivors' advocacy group is pressing for presidential condolence letters to be sent to the next of kin of all service members who die while serving honorably, including in stateside military training accidents or by suicide outside of combat zones.
"With only select families receiving presidential condolence letters, a line is drawn between the value of the life and service of someone who dies on foreign soil and someone who dies in the exact same manner, whether injury, illness or suicide, here at home," the group said in a statement. "For families, that does not go unnoticed and is often hurtful."
In a posting Wednesday on the White House blog, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who commanded the 1st Cavalry Division in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, recalled that he lost 169 soldiers during the division's year-long deployment. But the monument erected at Fort Hood, Tex., lists 168 names.
"I approved the request of others not to include the name of the one Soldier who committed suicide," wrote Chiarelli, now the Army's vice chief of staff. He said that the decision to omit the soldier's name is "the greatest regret of my military career."
Chiarelli commended the White House decision to include letters to families of suicide victims. "Any attempt to characterize these individuals as somehow weaker than others is simply misguided," he said.
Letters also do not go out to service members killed in training accidents in the United States.
"It's one of those things — you want your child remembered," said Sara Conkling, whose daughter, Marine Capt. Jessica Conkling, died when the Cobra helicopter she was piloting crashed outside San Diego in 2009. "If not, it hurts a lot."
"This is your commander-in-chief saying that their death meant something," said Mary Gallagher, whose husband, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jim Gallagher, hung himself at Camp Pendleton in 2006, eight months after returning from Iraq. "Those few simple words that their life meant something."


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Event details form
We are pleased to invite you to our Annual General Meeting to be followed by an update on software patents.
The AGM is important because it provides you with an opportunity to hear what we have achieved to improve member services, and to participate in the planning for 2016 through contributing to the committee team.
We will provide some drinks and food so please join us to discuss any ideas you have for the next year.
Please find the Agenda and links to forms here.
Manuel Schmidt is a Software Patent Attorney with FB Rice and will give an update on latest developments in Australia. In particular, Manuel will provide some practical conclusions from the recent decision Commissioner of Patents v RPL Central Pty Ltd [2015] FCAFC 177 (11 December 2015), where the judges rejected the software patent application for lack of patentable subject matter.
(C) 2019 New South Wales Society for Computers & the Law. ABN 81180932448
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Dreams with alphabet L | page 1 | page 2 | page 3 | page 4 | page 5 | page 6 | page 7 |
If you dream of admiring well-shaped feminine legs, you will lose your judgment, and act very silly over some fair charmer.
To see misshapen legs, denotes unprofitable occupations and ill-tempered comrades.
A wounded leg, foretells losses and agonizing attacks of malaria.
To dream that you have a wooden leg, denotes that you will bemean yourself in a false way to your friends.
If ulcers are on your legs, it signifies a drain on your income to aid others.
To dream that you have three, or more, legs, indicates that more enterprises are planned in your imagination than will ever benefit you.
If you can't use your legs, it portends poverty.
To have a leg amputated, you will lose valued friends, and the home influence will render life unbearable.
For a young woman to admire her own legs, denotes vanity, and she will be repulsed by the man she admires. If she has hairy legs, she will dominate her husband.
If your own legs are clean and well shaped, it denotes a happy future and devoted friends.
If you drink lemonade in a dream, you will concur with others in signifying some entertainment as a niggardly device to raise funds for the personal enjoyment of others at your expense.
To dream of seeing lemons on their native trees among rich foliage, denotes jealousy toward some beloved object, but demonstrations will convince you of the absurdity of the charge.
To eat lemons, foretells humiliation and disappointments.
Green lemons, denotes sickness and contagion.
To see shriveled lemons, denotes divorce, if married, and separation, to lovers.
To dream that you are lending money, foretells difficulties in meeting payments of debts and unpleasant influence in private.
To lend other articles, denotes impoverishment through generosity.
To refuse to lend things, you will be awake to your interests and keep the respect of friends.
For others to offer to lend you articles, or money, denotes prosperity and close friendships.
If you dream of lentils, it denotes quarrels and unhealthy surroundings. For a young woman, this dream portends dissatisfaction with her lover, but parental advice will cause her to accept the inevitable.
To dream of a leopard attacking you, denotes that while the future seemingly promises fair, success holds many difficulties through misplaced confidence.
To kill one, intimates victory in your affairs.
To see one caged, denotes that enemies will surround but fail to injure you.
To see leopards in their native place trying to escape from you, denotes that you will be embarrassed in business or love, but by persistent efforts you will overcome difficulties.
To dream of a leopard's skin, denotes that your interests will be endangered by a dishonest person who will win your esteem.
To dream that you are infected with this dread disease, foretells sickness, by which you will lose money and incur the displeasure of others.
If you see others afflicted thus, you will meet discouraging prospects and love will turn into indifference.
To dream that you see a registered letter, foretells that some money matters will disrupt long-established relations.
For a young woman to dream that she receives such a letter, intimates that she will be offered a competency, but it will not be on strictly legal, or moral grounds; others may play towards her a dishonorable part.
To the lover, this bears heavy presentments of disagreeable mating. His sweetheart will covet other gifts than his own.
To dream of an anonymous letter, denotes that you will receive injury from an unsuspected source.
To write one, foretells that you will be jealous of a rival, whom you admit to be your superior.
To dream of getting letters bearing unpleasant news, denotes difficulties or illness. If the news is of a joyous character, you will have many things to be thankful for. If the letter is affectionate, but is written on green, or colored, paper, you will be slighted in love and business. Despondency will envelop you. Blue ink, denotes constancy and affection, also bright fortune.
Red colors in a letter, imply estrangements through suspicion and jealousy, but this may be overcome by wise maneuvering of the suspected party.
If a young woman dreams that she receives a letter from her lover and places it near her heart, she will be worried very much by a good-looking rival. Truthfulness is often rewarded with jealousy.
If you fail to read the letter, you will lose something either in a business or social way.
Letters nearly always bring worry.
To have your letter intercepted, rival enemies are working to defame you.
To dream of trying to conceal a letter from your sweetheart or wife, intimates that you are interested in unworthy occupations.
To dream of a letter with a black border, signifies distress and the death of some relative.
To receive a letter written on black paper with white ink, denotes that gloom and disappointment will assail you, and friendly interposition will render small relief. If the letter passes between husband and wife, it means separation under sensational charges. If lovers, look for quarrels and threats of suicide. To business people, it denotes enviousness and covetousness.
To dream that you write a letter, denotes that you will be hasty in condemning some one on suspicion, and regrets will follow.
A torn letter, indicates that hopeless mistakes may ruin your reputation.
To receive a letter by hand, denotes that you are acting ungenerously towards your companions or sweetheart, and you also are not upright in your dealings.
To dream often of receiving a letter from a friend, foretells his arrival, or you will hear from him by letter or otherwise.
If you dream of a letter-carrier coming with your letters, you will soon receive news of an unwelcome and an unpleasant character.
To hear his whistle, denotes the unexpected arrival of a visitor.
If he passes without your mail, disappointment and sadness will befall you.
If you give him letters to mail, you will suffer injury through envy or jealousy.
To converse with a letter-carrier, you will implicate yourself in some scandalous proceedings.
To see a letter-file in your dreams, is significant of important news, which will cause you an irksome journey. For a woman, this dream implies distressful news and unfaithful friends.
To see lettuce growing green and thrifty, denotes that you will enjoy some greatly desired good, after an unimportant embarrassment.
If you eat lettuce, illness will separate you from your lover or companion, or perhaps it may be petty jealousy.
For a woman to dream of sowing lettuce, portends she will be the cause of her own early sickness or death.
To gather it, denotes your superabundant sensitiveness, and that your jealous disposition will cause you unmitigated distress and pain.
To buy lettuce, denotes that you will court your own downfall.


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Articles & Resources
Boomers and Millennials: A Powerful Mix
Boomers and millennials not only come from different decades, they bring their own strengths and experience to the workplace. Each generation has a particular culture, unique work style and their core values differ greatly. When boomers and millennials work side by side, or one acts as supervisor, they can play well together in cross generation teams, learn from one another and invigorate and motivate each other. The key is to know and understand the inner workings and strengths of each group, and encourage them to mentor and teach each other.
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- Relatively fresh, especially in the working. Millennials haven't had time to learn what doesn't work.
- Able to work incredibly hard when they are motivated to do so. Intense focus, long hours, across a range of task domains.
- Intuitively understand technology – they are "digital natives."
- Want to see the world become a better place for themselves and their future families.
- Want mentors who can guide them and explain what mistakes to avoid to maximize.
At the core of boomer energy is experience, with 42% of them planning to continue working after age 55:
- Intangible wisdom that comes from decades of forming and living through relationships, projects, and experiences.
- Tend to have an uneven relationship with technology, how it works, and what is possible.
- Want to see the world become a better place for their children and grandchildren.
- Want to feel like they have a direct and tangible way to give back and pass along the things they've learned.
Millennials who enter the workforce seek a collaborative organization and demand that companies be transparent. They desire a setting where the culture and the work has meaning, and will make working from home the norm. They perform best when they have something to believe in. When an entry level job is positioned as a role that can have an impact and fit into the larger picture, the work becomes valuable in their eyes and they will perform. Embrace their fresh ideas and innovative approaches and include them in brainstorming sessions. They want to be challenged and recognized. Baby Boomers are goal oriented and seek recognition. They exhibit a strong loyalty to their employers and prefer a consensual leadership style. Boomers prefer face-to-face communication, but to work well with Generation Y they'll need to adjust their communication style and get social. That includes Facebook posts and Twitter tweets. Who better to help them than Millennials? Remember, millennials may not have extensive work experience, but that doesn't mean there isn't great potential and a terrific fit. Instead of a list of past jobs, look at their life experience. This can be another way to evaluate behavior, values and see how they match up to a job description. The challenge for Human Resources is to demonstrate a knowledge of what's important to each generation and a sensitivity to what makes them happy. This will help companies shape a culture that meets the needs of both and capitalizes on their strengths. The result will be improved productivity and collaboration, and in turn, more success for employees and the organization. Sources: Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/12/16/10- ways-millennials-are-creating-the-future-of-work/ 99u: http://99u.com/articles/14709/why-baby-boomers-andmillennials-make-great-teams United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund:http://www.un.org/staffdevelopment/pdf/Designing%20Recruitment,%20Selection %20&%20Talent%20Management%20Model%20tailored%20to%20meet%20UNJSPF's%20Business%20Development%20Needs.pdf
Do You Have a (Cost-Effective) Plan in Place to Retain Top Talent?
By Teri Calderon
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Talent retention seems simple: hire qualified people, treat them well, pay them fairly, and they'll stay for life, right? Not in today's employment market. Today we are facing record low unemployment rates and workers with multiple options for employment.
Turnover costs time, money, and other resources. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), research suggests that replacement costs can reach as high as 50-60% of an employee's annual salary. Once you add in other transition costs such as lost productivity, impact on morale, etc., the total costs associated with turnover can range from 90-200% of annual salary.
Actively working to retain top talent is the answer, yet according to a recent study, only 53% of organizations have a talent management initiative in place. An employee retention plan does not need to be extensive or expensive.
10 Low-Cost Employee Retention Strategies
Retention goes beyond competitive salaries and benefits. There are a number of strategies you can implement today for little to no cost:
Hire the right people
Retaining your workforce begins with hiring the right people. To reduce turnover risks, seek people who are interested in developing their careers and are a good fit within your company culture. Identify 5-10 key personality characteristics and skills of your top performing long-term employees and seek similar traits as you add to your team.
Provide opportunities for learning and development
Train new employees well and continue to provide ongoing personal and professional development opportunities. Identify your emerging leaders and focus your development initiatives on them. Provide experiences they would not otherwise have, such as interaction with senior leaders or a learning project where they are asked to resolve a real-life business problem. Employees benefit by expanding their skills and you benefit by gaining a productive, skilled workforce. It's a win-win!
Provide a career development plan
Employees are more likely to stay if they have a long-term vision of their role within the company. Provide new employees with a well-defined career path so they understand what it will take to progress through the company. Have your managers meet with employees on a regular basis to discuss the trajectory of their careers and how your company can help them grow and advance. This conversation will also help you identify training needs. Highlight employees who have been promoted within your organization and share their stories.
Invest in your management team
People often don't quit on their jobs, they quit on their boss. Check in with your management team often and provide ongoing leadership training to ensure that your employees have managers who are professional, fair, and good communicators. Promote employees to management roles, not only because they do a good job, but because they have demonstrated an ability to lead people.
Open lines of communication
Build trust by being transparent in decisions related to rewards, recognition, and employee development. Maintain an open door policy so that your employees feel comfortable voicing their opinions and ideas. Likewise, check in with them from time to time to provide your feedback. Implementing your employees' ideas will create a sense of ownership and responsibility.
Create passion for your brand
Identify employees who are your culture and brand champions and have them share their stories via internal communications and social media sites. There is influence in story-telling – so let their stories be heard!
Recognize their efforts
Ask each employee how they prefer to be recognized. In many cases, taking the time to provide a simple 'thank you' goes a long way. This is especially true when employees are praised in front of their peers. Take this act of gratitude to the next step by providing a hand-written thank you to acknowledge your employee for their efforts. Appreciated employees are loyal, hardworking employees.
Make work meaningful
People want to be a part of something that has significance not only to themselves, but also their communities. This is especially true for Millennials. Help employees see how their work positively impacts the team, department, organization, and society at large. Create meaningful experiences by backing a cause and providing ways for your team to contribute. For example, schedule time for employees to volunteer at your local food shelf.
Provide work/life balance
To achieve high levels of employee satisfaction, you need to recognize the overlap between life and work. If possible, provide flexible work arrangements so that your employees can take care of their personal and family needs and put their full attention to their work while on the job.
Conduct "stay interviews"
A stay interview is an informal review in which the manager and staff member sit down to review progress, ideas, and feedback. It allows you to learn what really matters to your top talent. Stay interviews boost engagement and reduce the likelihood of turnover. If a star employee has an issue, wouldn't you prefer to have a chance to fix it before they give you their two weeks' notice?
Employee retention does not need to be complicated or costly. To keep turnover rates low and your workforce happy, motivated, and productive, it really comes down to this: value your employees and – most importantly – let them know they're valued.
Stay Interview Questions
• What keeps you here? What would entice you to leave?
• What is the type of impact you are looking to have while working here? Do you feel as though you are making a difference in the organization and beyond? Are we fully utilizing your talents?
• Are you receiving the regular feedback you need to do your job well? Do you feel as though you are being fairly recognized for your contributions?
• What specifically would you want to change about your current role if given the chance? How do you want to widen your professional horizons?
Teri Calderon is the senior vice president of human resources for Atterro Human Capital Group where high engagement scores have led to low turnover, financial growth, and "Best Places to Work" status. Ms. Calderon has 20 years of experience in the field of human resources, the last 13 with Atterro.
Create a Positive First Impression with an Employee Onboarding Plan
Congratulations! After an extensive search and interview process, you found the perfect candidate with the skills, experience, and traits to fit your company culture. Your next superstar employee is ready to hit the ground running. Are you? In other words, do you have an onboarding plan that will make a great first impression?
Onboarding is the process of welcoming new employees into the company and introducing them to colleagues, training, and the company culture. In addition to creating a strong start, an onboarding plan:
- Increases profitability by demonstrating how the new employee's contributions directly impact the company's financial goals
- Improves retention by lowering the risk of an unsuccessful or disappointing transition
- Engages the new employee by building relationships and setting expectations early and often
- Ensures that every new employee's initial experience is similar, regardless of position or department
6 Onboarding Success Tips
The most effective onboarding programs are automated and have a defined process with checklists and a schedule. Planning for the first day and beyond ensures that new employees have everything they need to be successful. Here are six onboarding best practices:
1. Don't wait for the first day
There are no second chances at making a great first impression. Onboarding begins before the first day on the job. Before new employees start, call or email to confirm logistics such as parking, expected arrival time, dress code, plans for lunch on the first day, and who to ask for upon arrival.
On the first day, create a welcoming, "we're ready for you" environment to help new hires feel confident about their decision to accept the job. There are a number of ways you can prepare for new hires, including:
- Set up workstations, including computers and office supplies
- Print business cards and nameplates for the offices/cubes
- Have training materials and new employee paperwork ready
- Assign someone to greet new hires upon arrival
2. Acclimate new employees to the team
It's important for new hires to create meaningful connections with colleagues, management, and direct reports. Personally introduce new hires to the team during the first week (depending on the size of the team, you may want to spread this out over a few days). A team lunch is a great way for everyone to get to know each other on a personal and professional level.
To encourage strong working relationships, help new hires understand how they contribute to the team's success. Identify early successes to establish a sense of value and belonging from the very beginning.
3. Use the buddy system
Assign mentors to new hires. A mentorship program makes an onboarding program more efficient and effective, and demonstrates a company's commitment to employee success. Mentors serve as resources for questions, help new employees build a network, and offer key information about the company culture.
4. Map out a training plan and schedule
Create personalized training schedules that outline tasks to learn and who will teach them. Share the schedules and learning materials with the new hires so that they can prepare for each day of training. Make sure that your trainers block their schedules so that they can give their undivided attention – no phone, email, etc.
5. Define expectations
The last thing you want is confused and unsure new employees. Make sure that new hires have a clear understanding of their roles within the company and job duties. During the first week, new hires should meet with management to discuss expectations on deliverables, timelines, and performance. Explain the roles of key team members, how the team works together, and the company's processes and procedures. To boost productivity and help new employees feel engaged, assign tasks that allow them to quickly make positive contributions to the team.
6. Schedule regular check-ins
Above all else, your daily interactions and conversations with new employees are the single most important factor to a successful onboarding experience. To set the stage for giving and receiving feedback, ask insightful questions, including:
- How do you see the experience here fitting into your career development goals?
- How can I best help you be successful?
- How do you best learn?
- What motivates you?
- What type of management style do you work with well?
- What do you feel is important for me to know that I may not already know about you as it pertains to work?
Continue to check in with new hires on a regular basis to make sure the job fits their expectations. As a rule of thumb, check in every day for the first week and then weekly for the first 90 days. This will lay a foundation of trust and respect and establish open dialogue and communication with new employees from the very start.
Following these six onboarding best practices will help you guide new hires toward productivity and peak performance, while providing the resources they need to be successful. As a result, not only will you create a positive first impression, you'll have a solid foundation to build lasting working relationships.
Candice Winterringer is the senior vice president of strategic solutions for Atterro Human Capital Group. A results-driven leader with 30 years of experience in the staffing industry, Candice helps organizations increase recruiting productivity, attract qualified new employees, and improve retention and performance.


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North Beach
This 3700 square foot home's marriage of form and function came about through a seamless collaboration between contractor, client, interior designer and architect. Rock interior walls and cherry wood provide a warm base for a variety of textures and materials throughout the home such as concrete slabs, slate, granite, and stainless steel. Radiant heat and a showcase glass and steel fireplace with original copper artwork warm the main-level gourmet kitchen and great room. A wall of windows maximizes an expansive view of the Puget Sound. Automated shades shield out light and sliding doors collapse into themselves to fully connect indoors to outdoors. Downstairs, a home office with removable glass walls that nest into one another sits adjacent to a family room and auxiliary kitchen, creating a cozy hub. In addition to ample bedrooms, bathrooms and a guest suite, thoughtful storage options abound such as pantry pullouts and built in file cabinets.


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Pac Man representing at the Comune party. His only clean shirt he had to wear. Last I heard he was on a mission to recruit a pretty little lady into the Hapa Is Prapa family. Stay tuned to see if he succeeded.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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This group is your one stop shop to find ALL of the Dirt Farmer's informational posts and guides on the wall. DO NOT EVER add your Friends to this Group......We DO NOT Force Add Players...Let them ASK TO JOIN the same way you did.
The Dirt Farmer mantra is to play the game your way, that also means being respectful of other people's right to play theirs. Please be respectful at all times, comments that are rude, or negative toward any other human being will be removed.
Please DO NOT CREATE DOCUMENTS OR UPLOAD FILES without prior authorization from a DF leadership admin (Locke, Prashanth, Rina, Heather)
This is a Dirt Farmer group. You can advertise other groups on your own wall. Please do not post links to software groups or game guides that come from anywhere but Zynga or Dirt Farmer affiliated sites. Anything we deem unsafe, disruptive, or anything from other fansites will be deleted.
If you have questions or need clarification about any rules, please feel free to comment on the group rules document and tag several admins https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.588850057878773&type=1


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Thanks 100 Watchers!!
on 06/12/2011 at 2:10 pm
Posted In: Blog
#1 – OMg~ There are 100 of you out there reading this comic! Woah.. hi~! I have to spiff up some more! aha
#2 – Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I've had a rough week. My little sis was quite ill, and then I had some job stuff come up. I'm hoping to get a new comic up tonight. I've been working a lot on advance ideas so hopefully I can do several comics and then be ahead of the curve. Anywhoo any prayers or well wishes you could my sis' way woudl be excellent.
See youz soon!


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About Seminyak
Seminyak is a further extension of Legian village reaching towards the suburbs and is abundant in antique and designer boutiques with many eating establishments of European and Western cuisine.
A cosmopolitan mix and is home to hundreds of expats involved in commerce of one sort or another. Seminyak runs from the daytime trendy Blue Ocean Boulevard across Double Six Road to the restaurants and bars of Dhyana Pura Street.
Tourist accommodation is not really fine than in the previous areas but you'll find good standard hotels, interesting food and sophisticated shopping and nightlife spots.
The following list has been compiled to help you make the most of your stay in Bali. If you have any further concerns that are not mentioned here, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or queries that you may have.
General things that you should or shouldn't do…
Don't …
Passports and Visas
Bali Visa. Important change to Indonesia's Visa Policy for Tourists.
Please read carefully as there have been changes to Indonesia visa policy.
Countries that do not require a Visa to enter Bali.
* Brunei Darussalam
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For further information and bookings, please use the enquiry or booking related links above. For an urgent matters, you may contact the reservation office below:


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Until recently, I would not have considered myself a "breakfast person." In fact, I didn't even like eggs until I met Meaghan in 2011 …. and I was 22. Back in our MUSC days, I used to eat a 1/2 cup of dry breakfast cereal every morning. There is even a picture of our pantry with all of our 12 cereals lined up in our Mt. Pleasant apartment. I would eat my dry cereal in the car, while driving to work (you can imagine what my car looked like).
Then I got a job, moved to Greenville, and started trying to eat a big girl breakfast: oatmeal. I tried the instant oatmeal, then the organic instant oatmeal, and even tried making baked oatmeal. I never quite felt right after eating oatmeal, and was absolutely ravenous after 30 minutes.
In April we completed about 6 weeks with whole foods only: no processed out of the box type stuff, we made everything. During this time, I got hooked on this simple, yet healthy and very satisfying breakfast. Every Sunday night I make a big batch of quinoa with cinnamon apples and walnuts or pecans, and eat off of it throughout the week. This provides everything you need in a healthy breakfast: carbs from the apples and quinoa, protein from the quinoa and nuts and healthy fat from the nuts. This recipe has 5.2g of protein – almost as much as an egg!
Cinnamon Apple Quinoa with Nuts
Servings: 6 (3/4 cup each)
- 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
- 3/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup skim milk
- 2 small apples, chopped (I use organic pink lady)
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts of your choice(I typically use pecans or walnuts)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Cinnamon to taste
- Place the quinoa, water and milk in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer, stirring frequently to ensure the quinoa and milk do not brown to the bottom ~ 15 minutes.
- While the quinoa is cooking, melt the butter in a medium sized frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the chopped apples and season with cinnamon to taste. Stir frequently and cook for ~5 minutes.
- In a large serving dish with a lid, combine the quinoa, cinnamon apples and nuts and place in the refrigerator. (It will last up to 7 days.)
- Reheat 3/4 cup of the quinoa breakfast mix in the morning by placing in the microwave for 30 seconds – and you're good to go!
Nutrition facts: 214 calories, 11.9g total fat, 3.2g saturated fat, 23g total carbs, 5.2g protein, 45mg sodium
What's your go-to work day breakfast?


text: For your first booking, you will receive the benefit of a free courrier service to pick up your apartment keys. We'll simply ask you for a 3 hours availability at any parisian address; it could be your accomodation address or your office. As soon as we'll receive your keys, the customer service will help you by answering all of your questions and help you to fill out your apartment form with all the information necessary to welcome your guests and prepare your apartment. You can select the date and time of your choice for this appointment directly online.


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The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan pitched for utilisation of foreign exchange reserves to arrest the slide of rupee caused by temporary fluctuation in capital flows.
"If the assessment is that depreciation in rupee is being caused by temporary fluctuation of capital flows, reserves must be used in order to see that impact is not felt on Rupee," Rangarajan said while addressing a PHD Chamber event here.
The Indian rupee has lost about 8 per cent since the beginning of March. It was trading around Rs 53.59 against dollar in early trade today.
Pointing out that the foreign exchange reserves were not dwindling at a fast rate, Rangarajan said, "one step should be to use the forex reserves in order to be able to prevent the rupee from falling sharply".
The country's foreign exchange reserves stood at around USD 290 billion. To check the sliding Rupee the Reserve Bank had last week asked exporters to convert half of their foreign exchange reserves into Rupee to make available dollars in the market.
Rangarajan said the depreciation in the value of Rupee was mainly due to a high current account deficit (CAD) which arises when import of goods and services exceeds its export. The CAD had touched 4 per cent of GDP at the end of December 2011.
"CAD is high and that has an impact on foreign exchange market and on rupee. We have to reckon with the fact that CAD will continue to remain at high level," Rangarajan said, adding he expects it to be around 3 per cent in 2012-13.
During the 2011-12 fiscal, even as FDI inflows witnessed a rise, FIIs withdrew large sums from the Indian markets. The net investment by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in stock market during 2011-12 was the lowest in the last three years at Rs 47,935 crore. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India in the last fiscal was around USD 36.50 billion (around Rs 1.82 lakh crore).
Rangarajan further said the GDP growth rate in the current fiscal would be over 7 per cent. In 2011-12 fiscal, the economy is estimated to have expanded by 6.9 per cent.
"The growth rate in the current year will be higher than last year. Agriculture will do well, monsoon is expected to be normal, services sector have also been doing well than last year. Manufacturing sector will do well than last year because of low base," he said.