I wonder if anyone has actually had a look at some of the old Amazing Stories publications that came out in the years following the first world war?

People who are now world famous writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs had their material published and could be read for only 50 cents along with a other writers as well.

Sometimes I wish we could travel back in time to pick up these bargains. Those among you who are greedy will of course speculate on being able to bring them back and then sell them for the astronomical prices they would fetch now!

Whenever I look out over my garden I am reminded that it is spring here in Australia. The daylight hours are increasing, the weather is becoming more pleasant, the bees are buzzing around, the flowers have either come or gone and buds as well as the beginnings of fruit on the trees are starting to make themselves known

Oh what a horror it is when you hear on the news that over 1/3rd of the stone fruit crop in Victoria has been hit by frost and has finally packed it in!

Oh what joy it is to realise that it does not matter.

"Does not matter?" you say. "Why is this so?"

Once upon a time I was a boy scout and the motto of being prepared has stood me in good stead ever since.

We have an apricot tree, a plum tree and my outlaws have a peach tree.

The fruit, will ripen on the tree and so actually have some flavour and some colour.

If you have ever managed to sink your teeth into a ripe apricot or a peach off the tree rather than a store bought one, you will appreciate what I am talking about.

Try growing your own and put the flavour back into fruit and so encourage your children to enjoy their fresh fruit.

Walking is simply not enough exercise?

The BBC reports that simply walking is no longer considered good enough to keep you fit.

Getting sweaty is now considered to be the answer.

I wonder which of the companies that market gym equipment has been at work manipulating THOSE results?

Why is today different from all other days?

Well it isn't really, but according to one of those columns in the local rag that look at curiosities it does seem to be an unusual date.

On this day in 1817 Spain signed a treaty with Britain to end the slave trade.

Today while we have no official slaves (that we know about - although there are stories about exploited children) we do have what are known as 'wage slaves', namely all the people in a family who all have to work to be able to get enough money to survive, while the four hundred richest people on the planet now have to be multi billionaires to make the list.

Of course at the same time, there is about as much money spent in one year on armaments as all of these guys have collected in all of their lives. Around 1.1 trillion dollars!

I wonder what would happen if we could only spend that much per annum trying to solve problems like, oh I don't know, poverty, health issues, hunger, the hole in the ozone layer, global warming, pollution . . the list is endless.

Meanwhile, in 1932 Hijaz and Nejd and other regions were merged to form what is now known as Saudi Arabia. What a boon that was for the Royal Family and what a downer for world pollution

In 1988 rival Muslim and Christian governments threaten to partition Lebanon. Had that happened I wonder what that area of the world would look like NOW.

And of course most importantly, Augustus Caesar the first Roman Emperor was born. Thus commencing the end of the Roman Empire. (Well it had to be BORN first didn't it?)

What has all this to do with the price of fish?

No idea - I guess it's just a slow news day!

I was sent this T Shirt message

Pete's Points:

I wonder how many parents would like to own one of these T shirts especially on those occasions when they are simply well meaning parents who take their youngster (usually a teenager) to a party or an organised function at the home of one of their friends and receive 'the look'.

"The look" is something that every parent is familiar with. It is the look that your child gives you when you do something that is absolutely normal for you as an adult, but which is just SOOOO embarrassing for someone younger and in the midst of peers.

Consultants and contractors should consider making up one of these T shirts - after all it never hurst to advertise does it?

Don't speak English? You're not citizen material!

Pete's Points:

Herewith a comment on the recent debate in this country about whether migrants and refugees should learn English before they can become Australian citizens.

Some news on the hit rate for this Blog

On 14 July 2006 this blog had only 4302 hits. The hit rate today is 5151 so far. That's around 283 hits a month - it's not great, but it beats being invisible!

Land Tax in the Australian Capital Territory - is it fair?

Pete's Points

Should you be taxed on land that you don't own?

In every other state in Australia, if there is a land tax levied and imposed, at least the people on whom it is imposed, own the land either in fee simple or some other form of land title.

Only in the Australian Capital Territory has the local government had the cheek to impose a tax on people who lease land that either they or the Commonwealth Government own.

Can a government that owns the land, impose a tax on someone who merely leases it? An interesting question and one that in my view ought to be tested in the courts.

These are questions that every citizen, rate payer and resident in the Australian Capital Territory should be asking its representatives.

More to the point they should be asking the legal fraternity in the ACT to help explain to people how the government of this Territory has the power to levy taxes on people for land that they do not own.

People already pay income tax and GST and a host of other rates and taxes.

Paying a tax for something that is NOT owned by them I think is an affront.

Bring on legislation that permits the land to be owned by the people who place their homes or business on what is now leased land. That way they have the security of ownership. Then, if you must, tax them.

Alternately drop this revenue raising exercise which, at least in my opinion, is a blatant rip off!

Iran and the USA - with a twist!

Iran is in the news so much lately.

Let's see what we have been hearing about.

• Its nuclear ambitions,
  
• its relationships with insurgents,
  
• its arming of Hezbollah,
  
• its relations with non aligned countries and
  
• its somewhat fundamentalist outlook on Islam

Its struggle with the Great Satan has made all the headlines so I thought I would present another story about Iran and the US that could be a little less depressing

Here is a recent story from the BBC

The first woman space tourist has blasted off on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

The mission is carrying Iranian-born businesswoman, Anousheh Ansari, along with a fresh crew for the International Space Station (ISS).

Ms Ansari, a 40-year-old US citizen, is thought to have paid at least $20m (£10.6m) for the mission.

Read all about it on http://spaceblog.xprize.org/

THIS is news!

From the BBC

The Vatican has opened to scholars and historians part of its vast collection of archives.

The section being opened covers the rise of Mussolini and Hitler and the run-up to the World War II.

It dates from the reign of Pope Pius XI, who was pope from 1922 until just before the outbreak of war in 1939.

Details of the Vatican's relations with Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini are expected to be of great interest to scholars.

They don't get it do they?

Pete's Points

From the BBC

"Iraqi tribal chiefs in the so-called Sunni Triangle have agreed to join forces to fight al-Qaeda, and have pleaded for US supplies of arms.

"People are fed up with the acts of those criminals who take Islam as a cover for their crimes," Sheik Fassal al-Guood told the Associated Press news agency on Monday.

He said 15 of the 18 tribes in Ramadi "have sworn to fight those who are killing Sunnis and Shiites", and had put together "20,000 young men".

Here was the response from:

"a young al-Qaeda leader called Abu Farouq told Reuters that the fight would go on until an Islamic caliphate had been imposed across Anbar."

"This tribal system is un-Islamic. We are proud to kill tribal leaders who are helping the Americans," he said.

Neither side seems to get it!

Iraq will never be a country if it is made up of warring tribal factions or insurgents or terrorists.

The last thing that is needed in Iraq is to have 20,000 more young zealots with weapons running around - regardless of their motives and regardless of whose 'side' they are on!

Speaking about Information Management . . .

Pete's Points
I wonder how many people have managed to see (at the Green Chameleon Site) this article

It would be really useful for people to have a look at what is being suggested about Information Neighbourhoods!

No words needed!

I was sent this scanned image today by someone who should KNOW better!

The title that comes with the picture reads: "Proof positive that marriage exists in the animal kingdom"

What can I say - a picture is worth a thousand words!

Older workers - stop cringing and start fighting for your rights!

"Bosses dig their heels in over older workers" screams the headline in Management-Issues.com

I am simply amazed at this story. On the one hand we have bosses screaming about:

• their inability to fill jobs,
  
• the lack of talent among younger workers,
  
• the lack of skills among the younger workers,
  
• the problems with the attitude of younger workers and yet they do not want to hire older workers.

As the Americans would say "Go figure!"

People are out there wanting jobs simply because the way that the economy has been managed has led to the cost of things in the world being so high that they NEED to work to be able to pay for their retirement.

They have the time, they have the inclination, they have the motivation and above all else they have the skills and abilities honed by time and experience.

Here is a message to all bosses!

The next time you scream for workers and the next time you try and introduce some measure into parliament to import foreign workers to do the work which is capable of being done by those of us who live here, let us hear the voices of those in the community who have been asking for work and have been denied.

It's time for the older worker lobby to be formed and its time that its voting muscles to be flexed.

Politicians beware of the 'grey lobby'.

Until we die, we "baby boomers" will continue to outnumber the weak and soppy crowd that I am afraid some among us seem to have given birth to!

Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance

Then of course there is this handy site about corporate governance. Have a look you actually may LEARN something

Beginner's Guide to Careers

Beginner's Guide to Careers

Have you seen this site? If not you should!

Why is it that only when I retire these sort of helpful sites appear!

360 Degree Feed Back

It just seems to me that this cartoon summarises what I feel about 360 degree feedback in performance appraisal.

Talk about being threatened!

I do not know how many people have had the opportunity to participate or more usually been FORCED to participate in performance appraisal one element of which can include 360 degree feedback.

What I do know is that people who have been subjected to performance appraisal processes have mixed views about their propriety and usefulness.

If you are interested in at least one point of view why not explore the contents of some my thoughts on the subject at Garpets Goodies. You will find the link in the side bar!

Then again you could always look at: 360 Degree Assessment: A Beginners Guide to Assessment

"You can either calm down or I can pop you in the mouth again"

I have come across a little presentation from what is claimed to be Southpark and I have created the link to this little item
Slapping the KIDS?

I would like to suggest that people view the little WMV file and then think about the recent spate of commentary on the news about whether we should slap children as part of our parenting process.

Lest someone is going to be offended - let me make it clear that the clip, entitled ADHDCURE.WMV shows one of the Characters on Southpark a teacher, with three out of control kids in the background. The teacher then provides some corporal punishment to two of them and the third suddenly becomes - well let's say "more reasonable".

I am not advocating corporal punishment. For that matter I am not advocating not using corporal punishment. I guess the matter should be left to parents to decide.

What I am suggesting in reference to this cartoon however is that children do need to learn what is and what is not acceptable behaviour when they 'act out'. How people deal with it is up to them I guess.

All I can say from a personal perspective is that a good clip around the nether regions never did me any harm (of course I was well padded as a kid) and certainly did help to bring home to me what was and what was not acceptable behaviour.

IF and I mean IF and ONLY IF you are bored . . .

I have been sent the ideal mindless toy - a URL to a site where there is an image of a sheet of bubble wrap. Depending on your level of frustration you can call up this site and pop bubble wrap to your heart's content without making a mess in your home!

to see what I mean try to access http://www.saab-stuff.com/pop.swf

BUT ONLY IF YOU ARE BORED!

Thanks to one of my correspondents - The "WALKING EAGLE" Story

"Invited to address a major gathering of the American Indian Nation last weekend in Arizona, President Bush spoke for almost an hour of his future plans for increasing every Native American's present standard of living. Though vague on the details of his plan, he appeared enthusiastic about his ideas for helping his "red brothers."

At the conclusion of his speech, the Tribes presented the President with a plaque inscribed with his new Indian name -- 'Walking Eagle'.

As the President departed waving to the crowd in his motorcade, a news reporter asked the group of chiefs how they came to select the new name given to the President.

They explained that Walking Eagle is the name given to a bird so full of crap it can no longer fly."

News from the employment front

It is simply amazing what one can find on the net that passes for research and information. Take this little gem from Management.Issues

Women executives are now earning much higher pay rises than men, yet businesses are still failing to stem a tide of resignations among older female employees, a new British survey has suggested.

The study by the Chartered Management Institute and researcher Remuneration Economics has calculated that, in the 12 months to January, women saw their earning rise on average by 6.7 per cent, compared with 5.6 per cent for men.

The increase was also the highest movement in earnings for five years, the two organisations said.

At director level, the gap was even more pronounced, with female earnings increasing by 9.2 per cent against only 5.8 per cent for their male counterparts.

Women in team leadership roles were awarded an increase of 6.6 per cent compared with 5.2 per cent for men.

Have a look at the figures folks 9.2% and 5.8% while we in Australia battle to try and get anything like a 4% increase in wages and are told that the country can't afford it.

Then of course the Americans have some more interesting information they have given up on wage increases and gone for productivity bonuses instead.

Of all of the people in a 'team' let's just guess that not all the team members get their productivity bonus for getting a piece of work done well within the time, budget and quality constraints. So who does get them - why the person with the best marketing skills not necessarily the person who slaved away and did all the work.

Let's Not Worry about Human Killers

There is worse to come! Microscopic mutants!

Featured on the BBC is this headline:

'Virtually untreatable' TB found

About 1.7 million people die from TB globally each year

A "virtually untreatable" form of TB has emerged, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Extreme drug resistant TB (XDR TB) has been seen worldwide, including in the US, Eastern Europe and Africa, although Western Europe has had no cases.

I don't know about everyone else out there, but I for one am startiong to get really scared about travel.

It does not seem to matter where you go - somewhere someone or something seems determined to kill you!

What really scares the heck out of me is that this item is buried on the back pages rather than screaming for attention on the front page.

At the end of the day this news, at least to my mind, has greater impact on the world we know than whether or not Mr Blair will survive politically for another few weeks or months.

Newspaper editors and people out there WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROSES before you stop breathing!

What the difference between the US Air Force and the US Army?

I was sent these two shots of troops enjoying themselves by a friend as part of a presentation

If this is the way the American forces want to recruit new troops for Iraq or elsewhere they will simply have to get a better publicist for the Army!

The pictures tell the story:

And so it begins again!

From the BBC

Sudan say the African Union (AU) force that is trying to keep the peace in Darfur must leave the country when its mandate ends later this month.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died and millions been made homeless since 2003 in fighting between pro-government militia groups and rebels demanding greater autonomy.

Fresh Sudanese soldiers have now begun arriving in the region, and rights groups, AU officials and Darfur's rebel groups report that on 28 August a new offensive began, with reports of attacks on rebel-held villages in Darfur.

Khartoum has denied reports of bombing raids on villages, saying it is merely conducting "administrative operations".

Last week, the UN's humanitarian chief Jan Egeland warned that "a man-made catastrophe of an unprecedented scale" loomed within weeks in Darfur unless the UN Security Council acted immediately.

And so it begins again. Another round of killing and another round of making people homeless and desperate. The Australian media do not seem to mention this struggle as frequently as they did the recent 'war' in Lebanon although many more thousands have been killed and millions have been left homeless.

Do we care? Not really it seems. We have allowed this crisis to continue since 2003.

Is there a difference in this group of humanity that differentiates them from others that seem to get far more attention?

Look at the fuss made over the relatively few (by comparison) that were killed and made homeless in the recent few weeks of fighting in the middle east. Look at the decisive action in that arena and then compare what happened there with what has been happening in the Sudan.

Is it because we have no interests in that region?

Whatever the case, the European and other communities will feel the impact in trying to deal with the attempts by refugees to flee the fighting and while nearby countries will cop the initial impact other countries will soon be having yet another mass of humanity either washing up on their shores or having to be rescued by NGOs.

The insanity goes on while everyone will simply look on and in some instances, be horrified - again!

What a surprise?

From the BBC

More than 1,000 illegal immigrants from Africa have landed in Spain's Canary islands so far this weekend and the number shows no sign of slowing.

Some 20,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in the Canaries this year.

Tens of thousands of migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, have attempted to reach Europe this year, often undertaking dangerous sea journeys in rickety boats.

What a surprise? With millions of people on the African continent being affected by AIDS, unnatural weather patterns, civil war brought on by greed or greed disguised as religious zeal, it is hardly surprising that sensible people want to get away from the dangers and go somewhere safe.

I think someone should have a look at the relative exploitation combined with neglect that African nations have received in the last few centuries and begin the slow process of realisation that the policies of the past and the present are largely responsible for the situation that most of these people now find themselves in. Keeping out the hordes of refugees is ONE answer.

Rehabilitating their countries and cleaning up the mess that has been left by previous colonial endeavours so they can stay at home, is another.

The 21st century seems to be one in which all of the disastrous decisions of the past millennium are coming home to roost.

It will be interesting to see the changes that will happen in another few decades much less centuries. As I stated before in my earlier note - I wonder when we are going to learn the lessons of history?

Do we ever learn from history?

Extreme Rainfall in the UK expected blares the BBC.

You would imagine that after one of the hottest summers on record, a time when severe water shortages people in the UK would rejoice. Bt no, instead they paint a picture of future flooding like the scenes at Boscastle pictured at left.

The scientists reporting on this prediction make the statement that:

"One solution could be to build storage facilities such as small reservoirs close to rivers to catch the excess water following extreme rainfall events.

"This could also help alleviate the potential for flooding as well as solve the water shortage crisis we are likely to experience in the summer months."

Well, "DUH!"

What would be more interesting would be to see if the government in the UK would realise that in permitting developers to dry up marsh land which is a natural catchment and drainage area and reuse the 'salvaged land' as housing estates could possibly explain why they are having problems with flooding and a lack of water?

Whenever we interfere with the way in which nature has stabilised our environment for the sake of greed (or need as most people would call it) we experience the downsides that nobody bothered to mention while the decisions were being made.

Can anyone else see this as being a recurrence of the old adage, "Those who will not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them?"

A new link to Garpets Goodies!

Just Click the picture

Do you manage IT Projects?

Pete's Points
If you manage IT projects then I am absolutely certain that you have had a need at some point to have documents that can look inside your project and report on a whole range of things.

Many organisations have all sorts of tools that they use to plan and monitor the various stages of an IT project. If you have those tools and you find them useful all well and good. If you do NOT have the tools though then there are options available to you to use tools that are simply there for your use on the Internet.

I would suggest for example that people have a look at ittoolkit.com and when you are there have a squizz at the Project Planning for IT projects page

What you will find are some Adobe Acrobat forms that are able to be filled in on line and then printed out for use within your project and/or project team. I think you will find that the list of what is included in these tools is quite comprehensive. Each form also comes with instructions and so can assist even new staff with information about what to do and how to do it.

I have listed a copy of just SOME of the things you can find on this site for information. Please note that each of the links that are provided here will take an individual to the original web site of itttoolkit.com.

Project Initiation Tools

The Project Proposal Scorecard Instructions The Project Acceptance Criteria Worksheet Instructions The Project Initiation Checklist Instructions The Project Outsourcing Impact Worksheet Instructions The Project Scope Statement Instructions The Project Sizing Worksheet Instructions The Requirements Planning Worksheet Instructions The Project Services Request Form Instructions

Project Planning Tools

The Project Risks Scorecard Instructions The WBS Building Blocks Worksheet Instructions The Quality Management Overhead Worksheet Instructions The RFP Evaluation Worksheet Instructions The Analysis Framework Worksheet Instructions The Assumptions and Constraints Worksheet Instructions

Project Staffing Tools

The Project Skills Scorecard Instructions The Project Experience Checklist Instructions The Job Profile Template Instructions The Stakeholder Analysis Worksheet Instructions The "Project Team" Mission Statement Template Instructions The Staff Burnout Assessment Instructions

Project Execution Tools

The Meeting Agenda Template Instructions The Project Closure Checklist Instructions The Status Report Template Instructions

Project Control Tools

The Project Change Request Form Instructions The Checkpoint Planning Worksheet Instructions The Project Issues Form Instructions The Project Progress Scorecard Instructions The Project Spending Report Instructions

IT Best Practices Tools

The Best Practices Scorecard Instructions The Change Control Worksheet Instructions The IT Test Plan Checklist Instructions The Move, Adds & Changes Worksheet Instructions The Policy Planning Worksheet Instructions The Policy Evaluation Scorecard Instructions The Process Evaluation Scorecard Instructions

Strategic Planning Tools

The IT Mission Statement Template Instructions The IT Service Objectives Scorecard Instructions The Project Office Mission Statement Instructions The SLA Requirements Worksheet Instructions The Scenario Planning Worksheet Instructions The Software Evaluation Scorecard Instructions The Customer Service Plan Template Instructions

Greed is Good - or is it?

From Management Issues

The booming Chinese economy is leading to a retention melt-down that has left companies struggling to retain their professional staff, and faced with either having to pay higher salaries or excessive recruitment costs.

A survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting of over 100 organisations in China, many of which are multinationals, shows that more than half (54 per cent) have experienced an increase in turnover for professional staff since last year, while four out of 10 have reported higher turnover for support staff.

Meanwhile, the average tenure for 25-35 year olds - the age group targeted most by multinational companies - fell from an average of between three and five years in 2004 to just one to two years in 2005.

"The employment market in China has ignited in recent years, as more multinational organisations set up operations there and local companies expand," said Mercer's Brenda Wilson. "Individuals with transferable skills have become a valuable commodity, and companies are battling to keep hold of them."

Pete's Points
"Greed is Good" has started in the Chinese economy. Let this be a warning for all, that the Chinese products that we have taken for granted in the last few years are no longer as likely to remain as cheap as they once were.

Given that the Chinese now control most of the production of certain goods that are appearing on our shelves and given that 'entrepreneurs' in Australia have taken their production facilities or their investments in the manufacturing industry off shore to China there is likely to be some friction between those who expected to be able to make a killing investing in the human resource capital of China and those Chinese who now want their 'fair share' of the proceeds.

It would be interesting to be around in a few years time to see the impact of these rumblings in the Chinese economy and the reaction of the rest of the world to it.

Meanwhile for those of us who remain cynical about world events I suspect that the truculence of Iran about its nuclear industry is more likely to lead to events that will shake the world in the short term. World stability is not helped by the news recently that Chad is seeking to take control of its oil production. It once again reinforces the feeling by western investors that investing in tin pot regimes is likely to lead to a loss of their investment.

Do not be surprised to hear of civil war or something similar in Chad soon. The oil companies and their investors are not going to give up their incomes as easily as that!