Conflict Resolution

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  Conflict Zen

• How category errors make you a less effective conflict resolver

  Tammy Lenski

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:56 am

  Imagine that it’s two o’clock in the morning and this happens: Your doorbell rings; you get up, startled, and make your way downstairs. You open the door and see a man standing before you. He wears two diamond rings and a fur coat, and there’s a Rolls Royce behind him. He’s sorry to wake you at this ridiculous hour, he tells you, but he’s in the middle of a scavenger hunt. His ex-wife is in the same contest, which makes it very important to him that he win. He needs a piece of wood about three feet by seven feet. Can you help him? In order to make it worthwhile…

• What great conflict resolution is all about

  Tammy Lenski

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:56 am

  I live just down the road from the MacDowell Colony, the nation’s leading artist colony with a rich history of nurturing some of the greatest talents of the past century. My brother’s been a colony fellow twice, long before we lived in NH. I was watching a new short video about the colony and it ended with this line quoted from Marian MacDowell, wife of composer Edward MacDowell and the driving force behind the creation of the Colony in 1907: “My purpose was to prevent the non-writing of a great poem.” That’s just brilliant. And I thought, ah, that’s what…

• Negotiation tips for tough economic times

  Tammy Lenski

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:09 am

  WMUR, New Hampshire’s ABC news affiliate, interviewed me for a feature negotiation tips story that aired earlier this week. We discussed ways to renegotiate rates on everything from credit cards to cable television, tips for negotiating a car purchase at a competitive price, and set the record straight on a few negotiation myths. Following the interview, I had a chance to coach someone for a few minutes and she then put my negotiation coaching immediately to work in a call to her cable company. Five minutes of coaching and almost $200 saved on her annual cable bill. Not bad. Here are…

• Surviving and thriving during job loss and other major change

  Tammy Lenski

  23 Oct 2009 | 6:55 am

  Blame is oh so tempting, however. One of the things I’ve noticed that people do when some difficult change hits is to ask, “Why is this happening? It’s got to be someone’s fault.” We don’t want it to be ours, so we find someone else to pin it on: “Oh, it’s Mary’s fault, not mine, so I can feel a bit better about the fix we’re in.” It makes us feel more in control to have a why that’s not us. But finger-pointing has unintended consequences that are worth understanding. So notes change expert M.J. Ryan in her timely new…

• The camel conundrum and the art of creative problem solving

  Tammy Lenski

  13 Oct 2009 | 10:36 am

  Jay Rothman, author of Resolving Identity-Based Conflict in Nations, Organizations, and Communities (Amazon link) tells this story: A Middle Eastern man died, leaving 17 camels to his three sons. The first son was to receive 1/2, the second son was to receive 1/3, and the third son was to receive 1/9. They were unable to figure out how to divide the camels fairly. After arguing among themselves, they consulted a wise old woman for a solution to this difficult problem. She offered to lend them her one camel. Of the now 18 camels, the first son took 9, the second took 6, and the third son took…

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  Google News: Conflict Resolution

• America should not withdraw from the Mideast peace process - Global Arab Network - English News

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:34 am

  Brisbane TimesAmerica should not withdraw from the Mideast peace processGlobal Arab Network - English NewsThe Middle East conflict might explode if the United States suddenly abandons the scene of conflict resolution. Things are indeed worsening, even before the Peres, Gilo, Israeli Pilots & IranIsraCastIt is not yet Time for a Palestinian Confrontation with the Obama AdministrationRI condemns Israeli govt for E. Jerusalem settlementsJakarta PostCounterCurrents.org -Media Monitors Network -Aljazeera.netall 256 news articles »

• In Morocco, Tzipi Livni backs Mideast talks - AFP

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:58 am

  AFPIn Morocco, Tzipi Livni backs Mideast talksAFPHowever, speaking at a forum in the coastal city of Tangiers devoted to conflict resolution, Livni said she would not countenance the establishment of a and more »

• "NO LINK BETWEEN KARABAKH PROBLEM AND TURKEY-ARMENIA RELATIONS" - History of Truth

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:29 am

  Trend News Agency"NO LINK BETWEEN KARABAKH PROBLEM AND TURKEY-ARMENIA RELATIONS"History of TruthThe processes of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution and normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations are seperate.” Stressing that Russia welcomes the Armenia will be ready to make concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh problem Today.AzToday we are square with Turkey: RA FMInformation-Analytic Agency NEWS.amNalbandian Responds to Aliyev's Latest ThreatsAsbarez NewsPublic Radio of Armenia -News.Az -News.Azall 187 news articles »

• Sex. Business. Property. Conflict. Resolution. If It's Legal, Net Lawman Now ... - SBWire (press release)

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:04 am

  Sex. Business. Property. Conflict. Resolution. If It's Legal, Net Lawman Now SBWire (press release)Online legal and business forms and support services for every walk of life with simple and effective solutions. We have tried to make it as easy as

• Karzai's pledge of Loya Jirga may be only partial solution to conflict - Times Online

  19 Nov 2009 | 2:15 pm

  Karzai's pledge of Loya Jirga may be only partial solution to conflictTimes OnlineLoya Jirgas are a traditional Afghan mechanism for conflict resolution. and there is a 'Loya Jirga Tent' in the centre of Kabul for such events. and more »

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  Yahoo! News: Conflict Resolution

• Cotter councilman renews conflict-of-interest question (Baxter Bulletin)

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:10 am

  Cotter City Councilman George Peters Thursday night renewed his questions about a conflict of interest if Julie Raines, wife of Mayor Steven Raines, applies for grants for the city of Cotter and receives pay from grant funding.

• Lack of funding for ethics mandate raises concerns (The Daily News of Newburyport)

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:16 am

  MERRIMAC and mdash; Selectmen voiced dissatisfaction Monday with the unfunded ethics mandate from the state requiring conflict-of-interest training for all municipal employees. Selectman Earl Baumgardner raised the issue of a Massachusetts Municipal Association non-binding resolution to oppose all current and future unfunded mandates.

• Drumcree parade true test of political progress (Belfast Telegraph)

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:18 pm

  Ed Curran's column (November 16) details an imaginery scenario of the potential conflict between any future devolved policing and justice powers and the resolution of contentious parading. Related Stories How to resolve that Stormont identity crisis Laughing all the way to bank Budget store is needed here Election to give opportunity for new leadership

• Karzai’s pledge of Loya Jirga may be only partial solution to conflict (MalaysiaNews.net)

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:27 pm

  END: Module - M24 Article Headline with no image --> BEGIN: Module - Main Article --> In his speech, President Karzai gave the British Government what it has been asking for when he pr...

• Karzai’s pledge of Loya Jirga may be only partial solution to conflict (Times Online)

  19 Nov 2009 | 2:34 pm

  In his speech, President Karzai gave the British Government what it has been asking for when he promised a Loya Jirga grand council, designed to begin a wider process of engagement with the Taleban.

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  MSN: Conflict Resolution

• Hasina has stood for democracy, pluralism - Tribune

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:28 pm

  T he US attempt to mollify India on President Barack Obama’s support for a wider role for China in South Asia during his recent visit to Beijing was to be expected considering the preposterous nature of the US stance. The moment Mr Obama sang a ...

• Dec. 3 extradition hearing set for 'Octopus Murders' suspect - Desert Sun

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:21 pm

  The California Attorney General's Office is handling prosecution of the case because of a conflict of interest with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Hughes is related to District Attorney Rod Pacheco. As long as there are no disputes ...

• Latest Articles - Dissident Voice

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:59 am

  The resolution about Sri Lanka was actually its own draft, which Cuba tabled. 4 Just before the vote, the Bolivian HRC ambassador, Ms. Angélica Navarro Llames, made it clear she was perturbed by the manner in which many of the 17 countries had ...

• Friday Flashback: 1980: Enter... TASKMASTER! - Newsarama

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:59 am

  What is it about George Perez and the 1980s? In 1981, he drew one of my favorite comic arcs of all, the battle between the JLA, the JSA, and the Secret Society of Super-Villains. That went down in “Justice League America” #195-197. The year ...

• 20 years after UN pact, many children still suffer - Herald & Review

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:38 am

  EDITOR'S NOTE _ The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child 20 years ago Friday, yet hundreds of millions of children still suffer from violence, hunger and disease. Associated Press correspondents around the globe ...

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  Resolving Conflict in Teams

• Just Say “I’m Sorry”

  Guy Harris

  16 Nov 2009 | 8:11 am

  I’ve written about the power of apology in the past, and today I was reminded of the power of the words “I’m sorry” by a short article I read in the November 23 edition of BusinessWeek magazine. As part of a larger article titled 10 Ways to Cut Health-Care Costs Right Now, I found item number [...]

• Easy Isn’t Necessarily Best

  Guy Harris

  11 Nov 2009 | 11:38 am

  Yesterday, I stopped at a fast-food restaurant to grab a sandwich. When I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed six or seven cars in the drive through line and no one standing in line inside the building. So, I parked my car, walked inside, purchased my sandwich, and returned to my car in about [...]

• Some Thoughts to Consider

  Guy Harris

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:57 pm

  I’m buried in some projects that I hope to be announcing in the next few weeks. These projects are keeping nearly all of my writing time occupied. I’ll have more information to share soon. In the meantime, here’s a great post by Tammy Lenski you might enjoy: In workplace conflict, don’t mistake your experience for reality

• Conflict Can Be Good

  Guy Harris

  19 Oct 2009 | 4:44 pm

  While this blog is primarily about exploring thoughts, tips, techniques, and approaches for resolving conflict in teams, I thought it might be important to acknowledge that conflict can actually be a good thing in some situations. Good conflicts are the natural result of people working together towards a common cause. Well-intentioned, hard-working people can have honest [...]

• Acknowledge Emotions Before Solving Problems

  Guy Harris

  5 Oct 2009 | 6:30 am

  Recently, I was working through an issue with another person. They were distressed over the results of a process that affects both of us. I helped to create the process. I have authority to change the process if necessary. And I have knowledge of the system to troubleshoot and fix a fair number of problems. As [...]

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  Brains On Purpose™

• What's attention got to do with it? Quantum physics of the brain in mediation

  StephanieWestAllen

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:01 pm

  I often talk about the importance of paying attention to what you are paying attention to in conflict resolution, and in life. Because I think it is so important, the A in the acronym of my CARVE Disputes Model™ stands for Attention. In case you have not seen CARVE, here it is: C - Curiosity A - Attention R -...

• There's a new blog on the neuroscience of social interactions

  StephanieWestAllen

  17 Nov 2009 | 11:24 am

  For those of you not reading idealawg, here's information about a new blog being written by a grad student in social cognitive neuroscientist Kevin Ochsner's lab.

• Mediate.com celebrates!

  StephanieWestAllen

  16 Nov 2009 | 11:22 am

  Mediate.com recently published the 300th issue of The Mediate.com Weekly. The web version of the Weekly is at www.mediate.com/Newsletter. The Weekly began 13 years ago under the guidance of Founding Editor John Helie. Over time, the newsletter became a bi-weekly and then weekly publication under the leadership of Editors John Ford and Jim Melamed. The Weekly offers the latest articles,...

• Do you tell your clients about neuroscience? A quick poll

  StephanieWestAllen

  13 Nov 2009 | 9:16 am

  I am writing an article about what I call neuroscience transparency. By that I mean how much conflict professionals tell their clients about brain science. Some dispute resolvers give clients much information about the mind and the brain; others believe the science is "just between us mediators" (quoting a presenter I heard last year). I have prepared a short, quick...

• Want to know a brain? Don't take it out of context

  StephanieWestAllen

  9 Nov 2009 | 1:33 pm

  Brains are changing all the time (when I think of neuroplasticity—brain changing—I sometimes imagine the brain as a verb instead of a noun), and that changing is not in isolation. Brain changes are facilitated by social interactions such as a dispute, as well as by interactions with the non-people environment and the culture. To highlight the fact that the brain...

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  Freak Revolution

• Community Update #10: 3½ Weeks to 52 Weeks to Awesome

  Pace and Kyeli

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  Time for another dose of what’s going on in our community! Hildy Our friend and fellow world-changer Hildy Gottlieb presented a workshop in Tucson. She mentioned The Usual Error and gave us photographic proof! Look on the whiteboard behind her head! I (Pace) recently finished reading Hildy’s book, The Pollyanna Principles, and it feels like the connection paradigm applied to nonprofit organizations. (Sorry, “Community Benefit Organizations”, which I agree is a much better name for them.) It’s like reading something I could have written, except in a different…

• Wedding Wednesday: On the Occasion of the Marriage of Pace and Kyeli

  Kyeli

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  Brides the Day After by LynnivereOn the Occasion of the Marriage of Pace and Kyeli Regardless of What the Law Says What are we if we are made of meat? We paint our bodies with flowers and sighs And every moment we are loving full force                Our monkeyspheres and our families. Love is the change we wish to see and be. We are constantly recreating ourselves - Our former selves created in our current image, Striving for the noble goal that shares…

• The Fallow Time

  Kyeli

  16 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  This time of the year brings challenges for me. It’s the fallow time, that dark quiet between Samhain and Yule, where the previous year has ended and the new year has yet to begin. My internal clock slows way down, which is natural but has interesting side effects. The early darkness often brings me a sense of restlessness and a kind of loneliness. And here, where it’s 85° but dark by 6pm, all these feelings are enhanced by feelings of dissonance – what the hell season is it, anyway? Gah. So I wind up feeling down and motionless and stagnant. Last Friday, my dear friend…

• What Kind of Revolutionary Are You?

  Pace

  13 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  Here’s a conversation with Daniel Quinn about how to change the world. It’s really good. Go read it, especially if you’re a Quinn fan. A summary of the conversation: The Author writes a book containing revolutionary ideas. The Friend reads the book and recommends it to The Business Owner. The book changes the way The Business Owner runs his business, thereby changing the way his competitors do business, thereby changing the world. How neat! Three different types of revolutionaries all working together! Three Types of Revolutionaries: 1. The Artist The Artist changes the…

• Wedding Wednesday: The Ceremony Preamble

  Pace and Kyeli

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  We’re gathered here today, as family and as friends of Kyeli Ruvoryn Lorino (Smith) and Pace Mawokamatanda Reagan (Smith) for their joyous, illegal wedding ceremony. Pace and Kyeli really wanted you here to share this day with them, and that’s profound. You see, Kyeli and Pace can’t legally get married in Texas. The state of Texas, like too many other states in this country, wants to pretend that their union doesn’t exist. Well, that’s just too bad for Texas… Look at what Pace and Kyeli have done. They’ve built a home. They’ve built a family.

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  Mediation marketing and career guide: Making mediation your day job

• Frequently asked mediation career and business questions…and some answers

  Tammy Lenski

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:46 am

  I receive certain questions regularly via email, so thought I’d post answers here to save some of you the time inquiring. If you have questions I haven’t addressed here, please do leave a comment at the foot of this post and I’ll do what I can to answer them there! What was your career path? How can I get into the mediation field? Can someone with my background become a mediator? How do I know if I’d be a good mediator? What mediation certificate and grad programs do you recommend? What mediation trainers do you recommend? How do I get certified? How much should I…

• Odds and ends, november 2009

  Tammy Lenski

  15 Nov 2009 | 7:34 am

  A few quick announcements: The American Bar Association is sponsoring a mediation video contest to find the best 3-minute demonstration of mediation process and benefits. If you’ve got some creativity, they’ve got $1,000 to part with. Mediate.com reached a major milestone this week, with publication of its 300th free newsletter. Here’s the article celebrating the milestone and offering up some interesting readership stats and resources. We’re all the better for Jim’s and John’s fine work. I anticipate re-opening the Marketing School for Mediators, my…

• The death of the cookie-cutter mediator is nigh

  Tammy Lenski

  15 Nov 2009 | 4:24 am

  Prospective clients are checking up on you. They’re Googling your name and your business name. They’re scanning only the first one or two pages of results. If you’ve got a website, they’re visiting it and looking around. If you don’t, they’re relying on what others are writing or saying about you. These are the questions they’re asking themselves as they rummage about on the ‘net: Does she know her stuff? Can I trust him to get it done right? Why should I hire her instead of the mediator down the street? How can he help my clients and/or me? What would working with her be…

• How not to use powerpoint in your mediation marketing

  Tammy Lenski

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:57 am

  When a prospective client invites me to speak to their group about my work and how I may be of assistance, one of the first logistical questions I’m asked is whether or not I want an LCD projector. There are times I do use PowerPoint, but I’m judicious about it and always keep Garr Reynolds’ wisdom in my mind. And the following tongue-in-cheek wisdom, too. It’s an oldie but goodie. Enjoy the chuckle! [Can't view the embedded video in your email? Click here to view it online.] Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons…

• Welcome, association of missouri mediators

  Tammy Lenski

  31 Oct 2009 | 8:30 am

  Today was a first for me: Keynoting an ADR association conference via Skype. If you were in the Association of Missouri Mediators audience, thanks for inviting me and for being part of something new and interesting! I promised the audience some follow-up links based on our conversation about marketing mediation, and thought I’d share them with everyone. Articles related to my keynote comments Marketing mediation from your strengths How a narrow target audience broadens chances for success Mediation in the mainstream: 5 successful strategies for spreading innovation Your ADR marketing…

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  conflict-resolution « WordPress.com Tag Feed

• Speaking the Truth in Love

  Tim Kade

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  In our first two years of marriage, Kathy and I didn’t handle conflict well. It was horrendous. Any time a disagreement would come up, I would attack and she would retreat. I would blow up and she would clam up. After a couple of marriage retreats, we came to learn the truth about why we acted the way we did. In my house growing up, we would yell. When we were irritated, we would raise our voices and tell each other what was on our mind. When we were mad, we would throw stuff. When we were really pissed, we would say nothing. In Kathy’s house growing up, they handled disagreements…

• Conflict Resolution 101: Four scenarios where ‘I Messages’ might help

  debbiedunn

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:46 pm

  Using an ‘I Message’ with others is a useful tool that could help defuse a conflict with other people. Instead of making ‘Accusing You’ statements that sound blameful and attacking, using an ‘I Message’ is a constructive step that has the potential to de-escalate the feelings of anxiety and maintain the peace between you. Click on CONFLICT RESOLUTION to read the entire article.

• Marriage: Ground Rules for Fighting Fair

  Tim Kade

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:01 am

  Everyone fights, but most couples don’t get it right. Many people never sit down to establish ground rules as husband and wife for handling disagreements. Here’s six that have helped Kathy and I in our eighteen years of marriage. 1. Choose the Right Place and the Right Time. Set up a time when you both are not tired or hungry. Have some watch the kids. Sit down face to face/eye to eye/knee to knee. Hold hands, pray and ask God to give you wisdom to discuss this peacefully. 2. Focus on the Issue, Not Winning. Learn how to attack the issues without attacking each other. You are both…

• Wow... I am Actually Free...

  robbinsrun

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:43 pm

  Wrote this post sitting in Sheri’s Restaurant. The first time in years that I’d written into a notebook rather than directly to my computer… I started writing a bit after 6 am… when I stopped it was after 11 am. To say it’s rather long would be the understatement of the year… Shipped Grizzy to his new forever home this morning. I’ll miss hiss happy face. However; I know he is going to a wonderful home filled with love and 3 Pom playmates. Had to be at the airport at 5 a.m. to make his 6 a.m. flight. Sent him in a larger crate than had planned; but it worked out better for him…

• Mini Lesson Plan – No Bullies in the Kingdom

  debbiedunn

  18 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  After reading the 7-Act play called “No Bullies in the Kingdom,” students will take part in a variety of follow-up activities to enhance the learning experience. Click on BE BULLY FREE to read the lesson plan.

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  ANGER ON MY MIND

• Affordable Online Anger Management Classes in Charlotte, North Carolina

  Carlos R. Todd

  11 Nov 2009 | 4:08 pm

  For anger management classes in North Carolina visit www.masteringanger.com or call 704-804-0841.

• Why others fail to change—how you will succeed

  Carlos R. Todd

  11 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm

  Not everyone is willing to change. Take the example of Michael who still languishes at the law office where he hopes to be a partner. Many people resist change for a variety of reasons. The number one reason why people refuse to change is that they are afraid of the unknown. Another reason why people refuse to change is that they do not want to step out of their comfort zone. Even if their way is not working and they express being dissatisfied, they will still resist change. This is why people end up failing. And why you will succeed. If you are willing to change and find better ways to do…

• Affordable Online Anger Management Classes

  Carlos R. Todd

  29 Oct 2009 | 3:52 pm

  For anger management classes in North Carolina visit www.masteringanger.com or call 704-804-0841.

• How to Be Positive

  Carlos R. Todd

  29 Oct 2009 | 3:48 pm

  Think of 10 things that you like about yourself and put them on post it notes. Put the notes in places around the house and bathroom so that you see them in the morning when you get up.  These will be your affirmations for the day. Repeat them to yourself on a daily basis.  Again, if you don’t believe in the good about yourself, you will not have much luck in convincing others about it. Start believing in yourself and give yourself positive self talk and eliminate the negative.  Each time you say something negative to yourself or about yourself, stop. This is not…

• Anger management classes online $99

  Carlos R. Todd

  21 Oct 2009 | 5:04 pm

  For anger management classes online Click Here. For answers to your questions please call 704-804-0841.

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  Colin Rule's blog

• IMVU and Crowd Sourced Dispute Resolution

  Colin Rule

  11 Nov 2009 | 11:27 am

  Very interesting revisions to the IMVU peer review process... mirrors the Community Court in some important respects: "Q. What is Peer Review? A. Peer Review is a system that IMVU has put in place in order to give the community a voice in the kinds of content allowed on IMVU. Peer Review allows users to review product submissions before they enter the catalog to be sure they adhere to the Virtual Goods Policy and IMVU community standards. Q. How does the Peer Review process work? A. After a product is submitted to the catalog, it is put up for review. All products are randomly assigned to a…

• Voting with the remote

  Colin Rule

  20 Oct 2009 | 9:59 am

  Jacob Weisberg in Newsweek: "Any news organization that took its responsibilities seriously would take pains to cover presidential criticism fairly. It would regard doing so as itself a test of integrity. At Fox, by contrast, complaints of unfairness prompt only hoots of derision and demands for "evidence" that, when presented, is brushed off and ignored... Fox's model has invaded the bloodstream of the American media. By showing that ideologically distorted news can drive ratings, Ailes has provoked his rivals at CNN and MSNBC to develop a variety of populist and ideological takes on the…

• Don't Blow It

  Colin Rule

  18 Oct 2009 | 6:15 pm

  Bono in the NYT today: "The Nobel Peace Prize is the rest of the world saying, “Don’t blow it.” But that’s not just directed at Mr. Obama. It’s directed at all of us. What the president promised was a “global plan,” not an American plan. The same is true on all the other issues that the Nobel committee cited, from nuclear disarmament to climate change — none of these things will yield to unilateral approaches. They’ll take international cooperation and American leadership. The president has set himself, and the rest of us, no small task. That’s why America shouldn’t turn…

• Dealing with FOX News as a political enemy

  Colin Rule

  16 Oct 2009 | 9:18 am

  Gene Lyons on Salon: "Appearing on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” the White House’s Dunn made it clear that the Obama administration intends to deal with the network as a political enemy. “We’re going to treat them the way we would treat an opponent,” she subsequently told The New York Times. “As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.” {...} Providentially, the Obama administration appears to grasp that Rupert Murdoch’s minions may inadvertently have done…

• Happiness and healthiness are contagious

  Colin Rule

  29 Sep 2009 | 5:22 pm

  One of the more interesting results of the Framingham Heart Study: happiness and healthiness are contagious: "two years ago, a pair of social scientists named Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler used the information collected over the years about Joseph and Eileen and several thousand of their neighbors to make an entirely different kind of discovery. By analyzing the Framingham data, Christakis and Fowler say, they have for the first time found some solid basis for a potentially powerful theory in epidemiology: that good behaviors — like quitting smoking or staying slender or being happy…

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  Global Conflict Resolution and Mediation Discussion

• HUMAN RIGHTS: PRIVACY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

  Often practitioners say I believe in human rights and a fundamental question seems to arise which right are they advocates of? What are the objects and purposes of this right? What source is it derived from the constitution, treaty law or another legal instrument? Key rights that are mentioned in this posting are privacy and environmental [...]

• Sovereignty Abandoned: Bernard Kouchner’s Assault on the Westphalia Doctrine

  Abstract This short article is designed to look at the long term implications of the French Foreign Minister’s suggestion of sending offensive humanitarian aid into the cyclone ravaged areas of Burma. The dangers suggested herein are not the immediate effects of the humanitarian invasion of Burma, but an analysis of the precedent set by such action.  [...]

• TEN SIMPLE RULES FOR ATTORNEYS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF FAMILY MEDIATION

  8 Susan M. Helms 2003, 2009 1. ADVISE THE MEDIATOR IN ADVANCE about: domestic violence, the need to end the session early, health issues of either party, inability to pay the expected fee, desperate need for coffee and doughnuts or smoke breaks, etc. 2. COME WITH FACTS AND FIGURES. If you have not yet completed a financial [...]

• Real Estate Negotiation: Best Strategies

  An important part of the job of your Realtor is to help you negotiate for the best deal on a house. You must be able to rely on their confidence and professionalism in this area. Here are some strategies to guide your real estate negotiation and achieve the best result for you. There is no [...]

• ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR) FOR LESS COST AND RISK

  If you find yourself considering litigation to resolve a dispute, consider a couple of points: · First, greater than 80 percent of all civil cases in most jurisdictions, and greater than 95 percent in many, settle at or before trial (from Beyond Winning:  Negotiating to Create Value in Deals and Disputes by Mnookin, Peppet and Tulumello). · [...]

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  ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace)

• Moomeo: A perfect site for whistleblowers and anti-corruption initiatives?

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  13 Nov 2009 | 8:46 pm

  Moomeo is a relatively new site based on a powerful, simple idea. It creates a webpage out of any email sent to post@moomeo.com. This website comes with easy links to share it on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else on the web. Importantly, it does not show the sender of the email, ensuring that her / his identity is a secret. However, Moomeo does have a clear disclosure policy, which means that your identity can be revealed if you use an email that is tied to your name, or a well known online identity associated with you. So rule of thumb, if you are going to send a potential explosive…

• Journalism, civil society and mobile networks

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  13 Nov 2009 | 8:16 pm

  Jude Mathurine from Rhodes University has an interesting presentation on the impact of mobile phone based use of social networks in Africa. I’ve not yet come across a comparable study of new media’s use and impact in Sri Lanka, but the points on slides 3 and 7, noting that the Internet is still an elite medium in Africa, holds true here as well. Jude points to traditional media’s inability to grasp the potential of new media. Many examples of this can also be found in Sri Lanka, including for example this recent post of mine and the use of Wikipedia by the Sunday Times.

• The arrest of the ‘blogger’ in Sri Lanka: Crowd-sourcing trumps traditional media follow up

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  7 Nov 2009 | 1:40 pm

  Ayubowan, a blog I didn’t know of before, helpfully posted a screen grab of a post from Gossip Lanka, a blog I also didn’t know of before, on the recent arrest of a ‘blogger’ in Sri Lanka that had many concerned. Gossip Lanka’s post is in Sinhala and doesn’t render at all on my Mac, which is why Ayubowan’s screen grab is helpful. The post avers in Sinhala that, A few days ago, a derogatory email, also containing five nude photos, were sent to the Secretary of Defense and the President. Resulting CID investigations probed the IP address to ascertain…

• 1000 posts on Groundviews: Bearing witness, shaping peace

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:07 am

  Exactly three years after its launch, Groundviews published its 1000th post today. In it Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu identifies the site with quality debate and asks citizens to use it to canvass their ideas for constitutional reform, governance, human rights and the economy and whatever else they see as constituting essential elements of an agenda for change and reform. Over three years, Groundviews has borne witness to that which traditional print and electronic media did not, and for well-known reasons, could not. Post-war for example, our path-breaking coverage of the situation…

• White House visitor logs and e-gov

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am

  The White House website has an interesting post on new disclosure policies that make available on the web, for the first time in history, all White House visitor records. Transparency like you’ve never seen before is a progressive record of transparency made possible by a forward thinking administration, strengthening and complementing existing Right to Information legislation. Compare this with Sri Lanka’s proposed use of ICT at local and national government levels and lack of any Right to Information legislation. Posted in ICTs and other stuff

• 
  Nancy Love's Weblog

• Making a List – checking it twice

  Nancy Love

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:32 pm

  Do you make lists?  I do.  I make lists about everything and the most important lists are BIG and POSTED.  Sometimes it helps me get things done and other times it just serves to feed my guilt about not getting around to things. Here is my list of things to write blogs about… Ethnography of each BEACH PULSE in Politics Conversations that work Conversations that change people’s mind – reference Howard Gardener Conversations for Leaders – words create worlds World Peace One Conversation at a Time. Views from Jordan, Ghana and Canada Conversation Institutes powered by…

• Monday – Dwell in Possibility

  Nancy Love

  16 Nov 2009 | 11:11 am

  Dwell in Possibility – words of Emily Dickinson.  What do destiny and possibility have to do with each other?  How do you know which is destiny?? Is it always the one you choose?  Each Monday provides a new set of possibilities and sorting out which belongs to your destiny can be tricky.  Today I am overwhelmed be possibility.  There is so much to do, to chase, to complete.  I have been away from the writing for months but the thinking has followed me and now I do not know where to begin.  Sorting out the possibilities from the destiny is so important right now as it is every…

• Busy

  Nancy Love

  2 Oct 2009 | 9:10 pm

  Busy is a funny word.  It doesn’t look like it sounds and when you add ‘ness’ it becomes business which also is not pronounced the way you might predict if you were learning English as a second language. I have been busy lately.  When someone asks me how I am or how things are going I often answer “busy” .  Sometimes I mean happy, healthy busy and sometimes I mean crazy, tired busy.  Either way it is like I am on a “bus” that keeps moving and doesn’t slow down or stop for any length of time for a person to catch their breath and regroup.

• People Using Language Skills Effectively

  Nancy Love

  24 Sep 2009 | 9:17 am

  People Using Language Skills Effectively By Dr. Nancy Love If you have been on the planet a while then you already know how to speak and listen to your fellow human beings.  You have probably experimented with different approaches to communication and have developed your own repertoire of how to get what you need out of a conversation.  You have been more or less successful in your everyday encounters and have learned to adjust what you say and how you say it according to the situation and the audience.  The skills presented in this article are not necessarily new to you.  These are the…

• Back to the Drawing Board

  Nancy Love

  10 Sep 2009 | 2:15 pm

  Sometimes life gets in the way of plans.  That happens to me on a daily basis.  I plan to write in my journal and to finish the projects I have started.  I plan to meet with people who will enrich my life and who may give me the opportunit to enrich theirs.  I plan to spend time at the computer in deep thought generating the words and sentences and paragraphs that will become the chapters and the books that fill my head. I have had these kind of plans since I got back from Hawaii in May.  Lots has happened since may but my head is still feeling as full as it was then and my notebooks…

• 
  NCDD News & Perspectives

• IJP2 Article Part 4: Frame in terms of general goals and desired outcomes

  Sandy Heierbacher

  17 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am

  At the October 2008 NCDD conference in Austin, Texas, one theme that emerged in the “Framing Challenge” was the idea of framing dialogue and deliberation in terms of general goals and desired outcomes Many times, the potential for concrete outcomes or results needs to be underscored in big, bold letters. This often means identifying language that explicitly connects the public engagement process or program to solving a particular problem people are facing. In the online dialogue we held before the conference to explore the five challenge areas, Judith Mowry described learning that…

• IJP2 Article Part 3: Understand the specific concerns of conservatives

  Sandy Heierbacher

  14 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  A major theme in the Framing Challenge at the 2008 NCDD conference was the need to understand the specific concerns of conservatives. The public engagement field and related fields struggle with the fact that many more progressives than conservatives are attracted to this work. The vast majority of practitioners are politically progressive, and it is typically more challenging to recruit people with more traditional or conservative views to participate in dialogue and deliberation programs. During the conservative panel sub-plenary on the second day of the conference, panelists Joseph…

• Repost: Transpartisan Town Hall, Fresno, CA

  Sandy Heierbacher

  12 Nov 2009 | 3:42 pm

  Joseph McCormick posted this today to the Transpartisan Alliance’s social network. (You can join the TA network here.)  I thought some of you would be interested… The other night about 35 people in Fresno got together at “the big red church” to talk about Ending the Political Un-Civil War. They were real estate brokers, retirees, non-profit leaders, former senior business executives, conservative columnists and politicos from the left and right. The purpose of the evening was to engage this group of community thought leaders and networkers in the possibility of a new way to…

• IJP2 Article Part 2: Consider how different framings affect different groups

  Sandy Heierbacher

  10 Nov 2009 | 2:19 pm

  Another clear theme in the Framing Challenge at the 2008 NCDD conference was the importance of understanding how different groups of people respond to the various ways public engagement is currently framed. In the online dialogue and at the conference itself, many pointed towards acquiring and cultivating greater sensitivity to the ways that distinct language ‘plays out’ for different groups. The concept of blind spots in our language – terms and phrases that dissuade or confuse without our realizing it – was discussed in the online dialogue. Susan Partnow, a leader in the…

• IJP2 Article on Framing and Systems Challenges

  Sandy Heierbacher

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:50 am

  An article of mine was published in the latest addition of the International Journal of Public Participation (IJP2), titled Taking our Work to the Next Level: Addressing Challenges Facing the Dialogue and Deliberation Community.  The article outlines our learnings in two of the five challenges we focused on at the 2008 NCDD conference in Austin:  The “Framing Challenge” (How can we talk about and present D&D work in ways that are accessible to a broader audience?) and the “Systems Challenge” (How can we make D&D values and practices integral to government,…

• 
  Notes from the World of Anger Management

• Anger Management Guru, George Anderson to Facilitate the Saturday Accelerated Anger Management Classes.

  George Anderson

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:28 pm

  Anger Managment Guru, George Anderson, will once again be facilitating the Saturday morning Anger Management Classes at the Brentwood location of Anderson & Anderson. His long awaited return will provide trainees with an excellent opportunity to learn and perfect skill sets related to: coping with anger and stress, improving interpersonal communication, and becoming more emotionally intelligent. Lekdan Takspa, General Manager Anderson & Anderson, A.P.C Trusted name in Anger Management  Phone: 310-207-3591 Fax: 310-207-6234 http://www.andersonservices.com

• CEU 2009:-Organizational Emotional/Anger Management Training

  George Anderson

  9 Nov 2009 | 2:55 pm

  All Certified Anderson & Anderson Anger Management Facilitators are required to complete 16 hours of ceu’s each year. For 2009, we are offering live training in Oakland on November 13 & Los Angeles on Dec. 7, 2009. The title of the training is Organizational Emotional Intelligence/ Anger Management Training. Our DVD with the same title will be given to each participant along with sample requests for organizational training. Providers who wish to complete the Home Study training may do so by ordering the DVD along with the written exercise. Effective Jan. 1, 2010, the Los…

• Aftercare For “disruptive physicians” is a Critical Factor in Successful Intervention

  George Anderson

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:38 pm

  Aftercare has been routinely mandated for psychiatric impairment, substance abuse and boundary issues for physician clients. The Vanderbilt and University of California Medical School Programs for “disruptive physicians” also include aftercare. Aftercare helps the participant increase his or her ability to maintain the initial gains made in the program and continue to enhance the skills in which the participant scored in the deficit range during the assessment. During the last several years, Anderson & Anderson has offered free aftercare to some of the physicians who completed the…

• Anger Management for Developmentally Disabled Adults and Youth

  George Anderson

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:34 pm

  A developmental disability is a disability that is manifested before the person reaches 22 years of age, which constitutes a substantial disability to the affected individual, and is attributable to mental retardation or related conditions which include cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism or other neurological conditions when such conditions result in impairment of general intellectual functioning or adaptive behavior similar to that of a person with mental retardation. Adaptive behavior means that the person has overall adaptive behavior which is significantly limited in two or more skill areas…

• The Joint Commission’s “Disruptive Physician” Standards Spawn a Cottage Industry of Questionable Providers

  George Anderson

  31 Oct 2009 | 10:07 am

  Effective January 1, 2009, JCAHO issued new guidelines to respond to the negative behavior of physicians that often places patient care at risk while increasing medical errors. These new standards make it mandatory for Hospitals to establish written policies designed to address what is defined as “disruptive physician behavior”. Essentially, a “disruptive physician” is one whose behavior is described as demeaning, aggressive, uncivil, or hostile to colleagues, patients or ancillary staff. The American Medical Association (AMA) has defined disruptive behavior as a style…

• 
  Blog

• The War in Waziristan

  Shiza

  17 Nov 2009 | 11:18 am

  by Mehlaqa Samdani read more

• The Role of Poverty in Radicalization and Terrorism, in DEBATING: Terrorism and Counterterrorism, edited by Stuart Gottlied

  jfleischner

  16 Nov 2009 | 11:23 am

  By Karin von Hippel read more

• The “Islamic Threat”—Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons and US intentions

  Shiza

  13 Nov 2009 | 12:15 pm

  by Mehlaqa Samdani Seymour Hersh’s article in the New Yorker, questioning the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, has caused quite a stir in Pakistan.  read more

• Event: The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court

  Shiza

  10 Nov 2009 | 8:31 am

    Johns Hopkins SAIS Rome Auditorium 1619 Massachusetts Ave NW read more

• The Kashmir-Kabul Connection and US Diplomacy

  Shiza

  9 Nov 2009 | 8:54 am

  by Mehlaqa Samdani   read more

• 
  Peacemakers

• Treaties with first nations would boost B.C. economy: report

  story spotted by Catherine Morris

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:51 am

  Settling land claims through treaties with B.C.’s first nations will not only help the first nations involved, but all British Columbians, says a report commissioned by the B.C. Treaty Commission released Wednesday.

• Missing Elements of a Comprehensive Strategy in Afghanistan

  story spotted by Catherine Morris

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:50 am

  U.S. policymakers should articulate a comprehensive military, diplomatic and development approach to Afghanistan. Too much public discussion in the U.S. focuses on military troop levels in Afghanistan rather than a more comprehensive U.S. diplomatic and development strategy. This article lays out missing or under-emphasized elements of U.S. policy in Afghanistan.

• ICRC to parties in conflict: respect children

  story spotted by Catherine Morris

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:15 am

  DAVAO CITY – November 20 is Universal Children’s Day and 20 years after the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to commemorate this, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is urging conflict parties to fully respect international humanitarian and human rights law to enhance protection for the estimated one billion children affected by armed conflict worldwide.

• Breaking the inverted pyramid – placing news in context

  story spotted by Catherine Morris

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:01 am

  News journalism relies on a tried-and-tested model of inverted storytelling. Contrary to the introduction-middle-end style of writing that pervades school essays and scientific papers, most news stories shove all the key facts into the first paragraphs, leaving the rest of the prose to present background, details and other paraphernalia in descending order of importance. The idea behind this inverted pyramid is that a story can be shortened by whatever degree without losing what are presumed to be the key facts. But recently, several writers have argued that this model is outdated and needs…

• An Antidote for Web Overload: … a journalist stresses context to attract digital users

  story spotted by Catherine Morris

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  For the longest time, whenever I read the news, I’ve often felt the depressing sensation of lacking the background I need to understand the stories that seem truly important. Day after day would bring front pages with headlines trumpeting new developments out of city hall, and day after day I’d fruitlessly comb through the stories for an explanation of their relevance, history or import… I came to think of following the news as requiring a decoder ring, attainable only through years of reading news stories and looking for patterns, accumulating knowledge like so many cereal box tops…

• 
  Re:solutions

• Lights! Cameras! Mediation?

  11 Nov 2009 | 8:20 am

  From the "never thought I'd see this" category.There's going to be a television show about mediators.The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the USA Network has agreed to a pilot called "Facing Kate." It's the story of a divorced attorney who leaves her job to me a mediator.If this gets off the ground, we all need to spruce up our offices and be prepared for the expectation of glamor.

• What do attorneys want?

  10 Nov 2009 | 8:10 am

  As part of my role as Communications person for the ADR section of the Dallas Bar Association, I have the privilege of attending monthly section meetings. Yesterday's meeting was fabulous.Three very prominent attorneys and one former judge were on a panel discussing everything from the value of a joint session, ethical considerations, and mediation tips. I came away with a page full of notes. Most importantly, to me, was the unanimous viewpoint by all three experienced attorneys that they want a mediator who will evaluate the case and be advocates for settlement. "Evaluate the case and the…

• Happy Conflict Resolution Day

  15 Oct 2009 | 8:57 am

  To all: Happy Conflict Resolution Day!Please take a moment to reflect upon, and promote, the use of resolving conflicts in the legal system, businesses, schools, families, and communities.

• Words from George Mitchell

  24 Sep 2009 | 10:41 am

  George Mitchell is the current Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. Very recently, he briefed reporters about the trilateral meeting President Obama had with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. The transcript of Mr. Mitchell's briefing can be found here. Mr. Mitchell made some interesting comments about conflict resolution--regardless of one's view of the situation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority--and I'd like your comments.The tone was positive and determined. The President made clear his commitment to moving forward, and the…

• Conflict Resolution Day Approaches

  24 Sep 2009 | 10:30 am

  October 15 is Conflict Resolution Day, sponsored by an organization that I belong to and respect, the Association for Conflict Resolution. As Conflict Resolution Day approaches, a number of local ACR Chapters begin publicizing the day as well as local governmental units and agencies.Here's the first article that I've come across, it's from the Maryland Gazette, announcing that Maryland's Judiciary's Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office is sponsoring a Conflict Resolution Day Student Bookmark Art Contest.Congratulations to the Maryland Judiciary's Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office…

• 
  Settle It Now Negotiation Blog

• How Not to Kill Your Relatives This Thanksgiving

  15 Nov 2009 | 8:05 am

  I kicked off a recent Thanksgiving holiday season by having an argument with my friend and neighbor the rocket scientist about extraordinary rendition and the effect of immigrant workers on the economy.  I knew I'd lost all sense of perspective around midnight as I continued searching for and emailing Tony articles that proved me right, while Mr. Thrifty snored softly beside me, intermittently awakening to say "I thought you said you were going to go to sleep?" Embarrassing, but true. A little more than a week from today, tens of…

• Trial Lawyers' Dilemma Similar to Mediation Advocates' Dilemma: Making the Initial Demand

  14 Nov 2009 | 9:03 am

  Check out Trial Lawyer's Dilemma:  How Much to Ask for at the Palm Coast Injury Law Blog this week. As lawyer Phil Chanfrau observes: Knowing how much to ask the Jury for  is a delicate, tough and lonely decision for any plaintiff's trial lawyer, no matter how skilled,  and experienced he is.   If he asks for too little, the jury award will not be adequate.  Too much and the jury will be insulted.  The venue should and must be considered too.  In a place like Flagler county, jurors may feel a lawyer is asking for too much, whereas under the…

• Prejean, Larry King and Hard Facts Making Bad Mediation Confidentiality Law

  12 Nov 2009 | 7:57 pm

  While reading this opinion (or simply this post) think about Carrie Prejean's accusation that Larry King's question to her -- "why did you settle" --was "completely inappropriate" because (presumably) her thought process was protected by mediation confidentiality.  In yet another 2-1 opinion on mediation confidentiality -- Cassel v. Superior Court -- California's Second District Court of Appeal grapples with hard facts that made bad law.  In conversations between litigation counsel and its client, Cassel, held on the days immediately preceding mediation as well…

• Hope is a Choice: an Interview with Psychologist Anne LaBorde

  12 Nov 2009 | 7:21 am

  I created this video years ago with my BFF and apologize for its poor visual quality (I was just learning).  But I can't duplicate this conversation about communication and peace making skills.  I'm posting it here for the first time.   

• Why Do You Think They Call Them "War" Stories? A Meditation on Mediation Ethics

  10 Nov 2009 | 8:19 am

  Thanks to google translate (daily destroying God's work on the Tower of Babel) I can bring you this mediation war story (loosely and imperfectly translated from a German mediation blog that I'm sorry I've lost the link to). Before the trial of a wrongful termination case, the parties meet to mediate.  In separate caucus, the employee tells the mediator that he is working for a competitor.  The employee shares his concern that the revelation of his new employment could make him liable to his former employer for breach of the employee's non-compete obligation.  In a separate…

• 
  DIALOGIC Mediation Services

• Mediate.com Publishes 300th Issue of “Weekly”

  dialogicmediation

  16 Nov 2009 | 10:59 am

  Mediate.com recently published the 300th issue of The Mediate.com Weekly.  The web version of the Weekly is here. The Weekly began 13 years ago under the guidance of Founding Editor John Helie.  Over time, the newsletter became a bi-weekly and then weekly publication under the leadership of Editors John Ford and Jim Melamed. The Weekly offers the latest [...]

• Read her lips: it’s confidential!

  dialogicmediation

  13 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  A lesson on mediation confidentiality for the uninformed: (H/T: Victoria Pynchon)

• Should I vaccinate my child against pandemic H1N1 Flu?

  dialogicmediation

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:50 pm

  The challenges such a decision pose are compounded in the case of separated or divorced parents who share custody.  “Custody”, in this jurisdiction at least, is construed as authority to make major decisions in four areas of a child’s life: health, religious training, education and extracurricular activities. Nancy Van Tine alerted me to this post by [...]

• Mediation Outreach

  dialogicmediation

  1 Nov 2009 | 8:26 am

  For all of us who explain how we do mediation in our opening statements to clients, we know that the process is not the best known in the land. It is to be hoped that “Facing Kate”, a new TV series in development by the USA Network may help change that.  Kate is a San Francisco [...]

• Death Penalty World Map

  dialogicmediation

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:51 am

  (Click here for a big version)

• 
  SideTaker.com

• Afghanistan Money And Trucks!

  Tiger09286 & ohsogay

  15 Nov 2009 | 6:56 pm

  Side 1 - So for a brief background. My fiance and I are getting married next month, having a baby in January, and two months later, he is getting sent to Afgha...    Side 2 - First, I would like to say that this is oh so gay and I can't believe Jen is doing this just so that someone may finally tell her she is right. As if...

• He Thinks It's Childish...

  wolfpack85 & crackerman171

  9 Nov 2009 | 8:56 am

  Side 1 - Ok, I'm a 24 yr old. female. I have a professional job, pay my own bills, etc. I don't wear it often but my cooking apron is a Winnie the Pooh (not...    Side 2 - Let me start by saying that I understand that my girlfriend is an adult. Because she is an adult she should realize that certain things are not approp...

• I Owe Someone Some Honesty

  Colleen & Pistoff

  8 Nov 2009 | 7:34 pm

  Side 1 - I chose to use sidetakers to get a question answered. Most of the people I asked seem to all think the same. The question was about my man dissappeari...    Side 2 - This has to be a joke. First of all I met U while I was on one of my so called "coffee breaks". Secondly I made it quite clear from the start that I w...

• What Should I Do With Evil Mother-in-law?

  Elisa_24 & Male24male

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:38 am

  Side 1 - Hi all, I'm together with my boyfriend for 4 years now, we live together also. The parents of my boyfriend had a dog and when my boyfriend still li...    Side 2 - Well, you already said why i don't want it. I love you very much but what my family does is their buisness. I understand that it hurts you, and it hur...

• Stay At Home Mom Who Wants A Five Minute Break

  shanon14 & eddiewa1

  30 Oct 2009 | 3:57 pm

  Side 1 - I am a stay at home mom of two beautiful baby girls. One is 2 1/2 and the other is 16 months. I love my children with all of my heart and I would die...    Side 2 - At the present time my wifes responsiblilities are simple, take care of the kids and keep the house clean. I have no problem with keeping my kids or t...

• 
  Playing Well

• Changing through Delight

  Deidre Combs

  14 Nov 2009 | 10:24 am

  Play is the exultation of the possible — Martin Buber I’m guessing by now you’ve noticed that in “playing well at work and beyond”, I recommend embracing the “play” portion of that statement. When we do, life can become a game that rewards practice, detachment (”it’s only a game”) and most of all having fun. Always looking [...]

• Practice makes perfect

  Deidre Combs

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:46 pm

  What is most essential to Buddhism is based on clarifying the mind. If you want your mind to be clear, it is important to put opinions to rest. If opinions are not stopped, then wrong and right are confused; if the mind is not clear, reality and illusion are mixed up. - Hsueh-yen “Pay [...]

• Going Mother Bear

  Deidre Combs

  26 Oct 2009 | 8:10 pm

  I remember twenty years ago when our son Cameron was a newborn and my husband and I ventured bravely from the suburbs to downtown Washington, DC on the Metro. He must have been three weeks old or so, as Cameron lay on my shoulder sleeping. A man across the aisle looked at the sleeping baby, [...]

• Say Yes

  Deidre Combs

  11 Oct 2009 | 8:28 pm

  Life is movement. The more life there is, the more flexibility there is. The more fluid you are, the more you are alive. – Arnaud Desjardins Ask a Buddhist what we can count on and he will probably explain that nothing is permanent or, as Desjardins says, “life is movement.” Sometimes that precept is welcome news. [...]

• Look for Passion, Passion, Passion

  Deidre Combs

  30 Sep 2009 | 2:02 pm

  Passion burns down every branch of exhaustion. Passion is the supreme elixir and renews all things. No one can grow exhausted when passion is born. Don’t sigh heavily your brow bleak with boredom. Look for passion, passion, passion. — Rumi Our grandfather played eleven different instruments and wrote his high school’s fight song. Yet, somehow musical [...]

• 
  Mediation Channel

• Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogging: 3 mistakes to avoid as you negotiate social media

  Diane Levin

  17 Nov 2009 | 1:06 pm

  A compellingly attractive aspect of all forms of social media – whether blogging, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or others – is their relative ease of use. Within moments, anyone with internet access and no technological ability whatsoever can leap confidently into the driver’s seat of social media. Thanks to user-friendly platforms like Twitter, Wordpress, or Blogger, social interaction online is a mere click of the mouse away. This is not to say that social media is without difficulty or nuance. Each form demands observation of custom or etiquette. These themselves are no more…

• Fallacious Argument of the Month: in pursuit of the red herring

  Diane Levin

  16 Nov 2009 | 3:47 am

  Each month I dedicate a post to the discussion of a different fallacious argument. It’s part of my ongoing effort to help the world bicker better. Here, friends, is this month’s installment. That diverting entertainment, magic, depends upon distraction to delight and mystify an audience. Magicians play their tricks not primarily with hats and rabbits but instead with our perception, directing our attention elsewhere as they nimbly palm the coin or make the assistant vanish into air. In the hands of the skilled illusionist, magic is artistry. But in the theatre of argument,…

• Top ADR site Mediate.com reaches milestone: 300th issue of weekly newsletter

  Diane Levin

  16 Nov 2009 | 12:44 am

  Year after year, Mediate.com remains at the top of its game, the very best resource bar none for news, information, and high-level thinking about conflict resolution and negotiation. Features that make this site outstanding include: A vast library of articles organized by Section or searchable by Topic, Term or Author An archive of over 100 video interviews featuring conversations with giants in the ADR field A round-up of the best each week in conflict resolution blogging Now Mediate.com announces it has reached a significant milestone: the publication of its 300th newsletter. Launched back…

• The why’s have it: teaching curiosity for effective negotiation and mediation

  Diane Levin

  15 Nov 2009 | 12:19 pm

  What makes Deepak Malhotra’s and Max H. Bazerman’s 2007 Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond so highly readable are the memorable anecdotes of real-world negotiations it contains. Among my favorites is one that concerns a colleague of the authors, a “negotiation genius” identified by his first name only, “Chris”. Chris’s firm was negotiating with a small European company to purchase an ingredient for a new health-care product. The two firms agreed on a price but became deadlocked over the…

• Do you tell your mediation clients about neuroscience? A poll at Brains on Purpose

  Diane Levin

  13 Nov 2009 | 11:53 am

  Mediator, lawyer, writer, and all-around Renaissance woman Stephanie West Allen needs your help as she prepares to write an article on neuroscience transparency. What is neuroscience transparency? It’s what conflict resolution professionals tell their clients about neuroscience. You can contribute by taking her survey at her site, Brains on Purpose, a blog which explores the role that brain science can play in the resolution of disputes. Stephanie raises an interesting question that ADR practitioners no doubt will ask themselves more and more. Increasingly I myself look for ways to…

• 
  Waging Nonviolence

• Wage theft: the forgotten crime wave

  Eli Braun

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  Low-wage workers and community supporters gathered in more than forty cities across the U.S. on Thursday to condemn wage theft, the illegal underpayment or non-payment of wages.  The National Day of Action to Stop Wage Theft was organized by Interfaith Worker Justice, a national alliance.  Wage theft is a national crime wave that robs millions of workers of billions of dollars. Low-wage workers in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles were cheated of an average $51 a week, according to a recent report co-authored by several universities, entitled, “Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers:…

• The rise of the global climate movement

  Bryan Farrell

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  I’ve got a story in latest issue of The Indypendent, fresh off the press today in fact, about the evolution of climate activism. It’s been in the works for several months and is an amalgamation of the many protests covered on this site, as well as a dozen or so interviews with leading voices like Bill McKibben, longtime organizers like Mike Roselle and even one of The Yes Men. I think it does a good job of explaining the differing tactics and approaches taken by climate activists around the world and how it all adds up to a fresh new global movement intent on forcing the necessary…

• The Onion spoofs new “Call of Duty” video game

  Eric Stoner

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Launched on the eve of Veteran’s Day last week, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” the latest in “first-person shooter” video games, raked in an unbelievable $310 million in its first day on the market. The game – already the subject of controversy over a scene where the player indiscriminately mows down innocent civilians in an airport that looks like LAX in Los Angeles – is supposed to be one of the most realistic war games yet. As Peter W. Singer describes it: As part of a US special operations team, the player roams everywhere from Afghanistan to…

• ‘Saharan Gandhi’ continues hunger strike in Spanish airport

  Nacho Martin

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:26 am

  SPAIN – The Saharawi non-violent activist Aminatou Haidar, who is also known as the Saharawi people’s Gandhi and was recognized with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2008, remains on a hunger strike – which she began on Sunday – at the Lanzarote airport in Spain after Morocco expelled her by force from the Western Sahara Occupied Territories last Saturday. The story has been reported by human rights organizations, the Spanish police, Communicators for Peace and the Saharawi Journalist and Writers Union (UPES). Despite the fact that doctors are worried about her…

• Experiments with truth: 11/19/09

  Bryan Farrell

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:52 am

  About 2,000 students blocked the exits of a building where University of California regents voted to hike tuition 32 percent next year. After the vote was announced students lay down en masse to symbolize what they called the death of an affordable UC education. Dozens of protesters gathered outside Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s office in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday to protest a fundraiser for the notoriously racist settler community of Hebron being held at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, this Saturday. Greenpeace activists released a floating banner inside the…