
For all those I have worked with in the KM sphere who are current or former librarians - let this be a lesson to you - what goes around comes around!
The subjects vary, but include news, politics, social work, social issues, management education and IT related matters.
From Management Issues
Failing to discuss five key issues before embarking on a new business initiative, project or programme almost guarantees that it will end in failure.
What are the five undiscussable issues that do so much damage?
- The first and most fundamental is fact-free planning – that all-too familiar scenario that sees a project set up to fail with deadlines or resource limits that are set with no consideration for reality.
- Second, is absent without leave (AWOL) sponsors who fail to provide the leadership, political clout, time or energy to see a project through to completion.
- Then there is skirting, when people work around the priority-setting process and are not held accountable for doing so.
- Another common issue is the "project chicken" scenario, when team leaders and members don't admit when there are problems with a project but wait for someone else to speak up.
- Finally, team members perpetuate dysfunction when they are unwilling or unable to support the project, and team leaders are reluctant to discuss their failures with them candidly.
"Empowering leaders who give their employees room to think and behave independently are often perceived as more effective than the traditional directive leader who issues specific orders. But according to U.S. researchers, this isn't necessarily so.So bring back the boss who can tell you what to do instead of the wimp who tells you he has NO IDEA and wants you to flounder around on your own so he has someone to blame when things go wrong!
In certain types of environments - including fast-moving entrepreneurial businesses  command-style leadership can be more effective, argue Dr. Keith M. Hmieleski and Dr. Michael D. Ensley."
"Directive leaders  those who instruct people to carry out designated tasks and reprimand those who stray - are seen as old-fashioned and possibly downright stifling."Most striking among the findings is that the empowering style of leadership, commonly thought to be most effective with heterogeneous teams in environments of rapid change, was clearly shown to be less effective under those very conditions.
"Fast-moving environments demand fast decisions," said Dr Hmieleski. "That's where directive leadership comes in. A directive leader can rapidly clarify what work needs to be done in the moment and by whom."
As a result, Hmieleski argues that the benefits of directive leadership and the drawbacks of empowering leadership have been downplayed."
"Seven out of 10 workers aged more than 45 in the U.S and UK are worried about not having enough money to fund their retirement, a new survey has suggested. The study by Hartford Financial Services Group found one in three older workers in the U.S and UK was either "extremely" or "very" concerned." (from Management.Issues)I seem to remember that when I first started work in my so called 'permanent position' I noted that I was actually receiving fewer dollars in salary than I had been making on commission doing the work of a sales representative. Soon after I met people who were getting older and who had not taken care to save for their old age who were continually getting about seeking aid from anyone who would care to listen and help to support them.
The concentrated brines that can be a by-product of desalination of seawater or saline groundwater have a value all their own.What about that analysis? I am not well enough versed in either chemistry or power generation to offer a comment about the feasibility of what is being suggested - however I would like to hear from people who know a lot more than I do what they think.
One such value resides in their usefulness as a component of solar ponds. Solar ponds are amongst the most cost-effective solar heat collection and storage devices. A layer of dense highly saline water is insulated by a layer of less dense fresh water separated by a membrane. Solar radiation is trapped within the saline layer, which heats up.
This heat is used to generate electricity in a conventional closed-cycle thermal power plant using a low poiling point working fluid. (A facility like this supplies electricity for Birdsville in SW Queensland; the only difference being that the source of the heat is hot artesian water, water heated by the natural nuclear fission occurring in subterranean granite masses.)
Relative scarcity of dependable fresh water supply for even domestic purposes is frequently a feature of life in Australia. I can only wonder that this convergence of availability of resource and demand for both product (fresh water) and by-product (in the ultimate, electricity) both in near coastal and remote inland locations is not recognised as an ideal opportunity for the application and development of natural (or, to use the buzz-word, sustainable) energy sources.
Not only is the brine by-product useful in its own right, it is easy to handle and transport. It can be piped to a usage point, it can be piped back out to sea, or it can be piped and re-injected into an already saline aquifer. Given, with respect to seawater particularly, the absolutely miniscule quantities of water removed as fresh water in relation to the source, the return of relatively more concentrated salt water to the sea need not be an environmental impact problem: it is so inherently controllable on both the small scale and the large that I can only marvel at the seemingly uninformed objections being thrown up against desalination on this ground. Is there some other agenda or community perception at work producing such negativity?
"The growing industry trend toward accreditation has reached the business analyst community which is introducing its own formal certification process.The Australian Business Analyst Association (ABAA) today announced the introduction of a baseline accreditation for business analysts."
Of course the competency based movement has had competency standards for business analysis for some time. Readers interested in these standards should look at: http://www.ntis.gov.au/ for information
"Britain's coastline has remained more or less intact since the end of the last ice age. But as sea levels rise, erosion is accelerating and more than a million homes are now under threat. Is the only solution for us to abandon the shore?"In my view do not abandon the shore - make plans for a new type of property the floating home.
Sarah Left Wednesday December 15, 2004 The GuardianNow of course we have Mr Robb, that famous adherent for the promotion of Liberal values, who is trying to convince us about the need for similar items for people living in Australia.
"The Home Office today published a 145-page handbook intended to familiarise prospective citizens with British culture, history, traditions and government, which will serve as the core text for new citizenship tests. . . . . "We want to encourage people who are settling here to acquire a basic knowledge of English and of British society. This is fundamental if we are to help them contribute fully to our national way of life," a Home Office spokesman said.
Mau Mau to sue British government
Mau Mau war veterans claim they were tortured
Victims of Kenya's independence war with Britain 50 years ago are to start proceedings to claim compensation from the British government.Veterans of the Mau Mau - who fought a guerrilla war with their colonial masters - are demanding an apology and an out-of-court financial settlement."
Pete's Points:
Keep your eyes on this story!
For those old enough to recall this story about Jomo Kenyata the leader of the Mau Mau who finally became the country's first leader, there was a lot of horrific murder to go round.
The Mau Mau were not called "guerrillas" or "freedom fighters" when all of this took place. They were appropriately called terrorists and terror is what they spread throughout Kenya.
People died horrific deaths on all sides and there was no quarter given by either side. For the relatives of these terrorists to come fifty years later and ask for compensation is, at least in my view, simply unbelievable.
Who do the families of their victims sue?
I suspect that if this situation gets to court and is heard then there will be relatives of the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Centre who will be seeking compensation for the loss of their 'loved ones' who were no doubt forced to martyr themselves in their "struggle".
Soon there will be relatives of the people who hijacked jet airliners and killed the passengers, caused millions of dollars damage and put fear into international travel who will claim compensation for mental anguish or some other bullshit!
I am really afraid that I have no time for claims like this.Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
Sunday October 1, 2006
The Observer
The company charged with rescuing the NHS's troubled IT system has consistently failed to meet its deadlines for introducing the project across the health service, The Observer can reveal.Last week Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) was awarded a £2bn contract to take on a bigger role in overseeing the implementation of the Connecting for Health system, the biggest civilian computer project in history which is supposed to electronically link all doctors' surgeries and hospitals. But government hopes that CSC will prove the £12.4bn project's salvation have been hit by news that the company has itself experienced huge problems in implementing even the most basic parts of the project.
"Almost half of workers across Europe believe their workplaces discriminate against older workers, a new survey has suggested.
As Britain gears up for arrival of age anti-discrimination laws this weekend, the poll by recruitment firm Monster found that Spanish and German workers most felt older workers were discriminated against, but Norwegians were the most tolerant towards older workers.
The survey of asked 8,277 European workers "do you feel your company is ageist when it comes to employing new recruits?"
A total of 46 per cent across Europe believed their employers discriminated against older workers when it came to hiring new recruits, although nearly a quarter felt their organisation took a balanced approach."
"As if to confirm popular stereotypes, a new study comparing Australian CEOs with their counterparts in the U.S. has found that the Americans are more conservative and buttoned down, while the Australians are more fun-loving and risk-taking.
The findings are based on results of three personality assessments administered by U.S.-based Hogan Assessment Systems (HAS) to 55 Australian CEOs running organisations with annual revenues ranging from $2 million to $450 million and employing between 10 and 8,500 employees. Almost a quarter of these were women."
"A documentary on evangelical Christian children's camps has caused uproar in the US
Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Friday September 29, 2006
Burning with a cause ... American children at the Kids on Fire Pentecostal summer camp pray before chanting for 'righteous judges' in the documentary film Jesus Camp, which has created a furore in the US. Photograph: Magnolia Pictures
The children at the Kids on Fire summer camp are intent as they pray over a cardboard cutout of President George Bush. They raise their hands in the air and sway, eyes closed, as they join the chant for "righteous judges". Tears stream down their faces as they are told that they are "phonies" and "hypocrites" and must wash their hands in bottled water to drive out the devil.The documentary film Jesus Camp follows three children at the Kids on Fire Pentecostal summer camp in the small city of Devil's Lake, North Dakota.
"We live in a state where there are basic democratic and constitutional values. And then you have immigrants with other value systems.This small excerpt asks the question about the future within Europe - I wonder if Australia is any different?
How far do you go in accommodating these newcomers?
What is a deal-breaker?
The question of integration and assimilation is the number one issue facing Europe over the next decade."
Pakistan's intelligence agency was behind the train blasts in Mumbai in July that killed 186 people, Indian police say.The attacks were planned by the ISI and carried out by the Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba, based in Pakistan, Mumbai's police chief said.
Then of course there is this - also from the BBC
Pakistan's president has warned the West would be "brought to its knees" without his country's co-operation in the so-called war on terror."If we were not with you, you won't manage anything," said President Pervez Musharraf in a BBC Radio 4 interview.
Also from the BBC
Al-Qaeda's number two has called US President George W Bush a "liar" who is losing his war against the network.
In a video published on the Internet, Ayman al-Zawahiri called Mr Bush a "lying failure" and said al-Qaeda was stronger than ever.
Also from the BBC
Veteran US journalist Bob Woodward says he was stunned to be told by the Vice-President Dick Cheney that the veteran former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, -who served Presidents Nixon and Ford during the Vietnam war - was also serving President Bush.
"He's back. In fact Henry Kissinger is almost like a member of the family. If he is in town he can call up and if the President's free he will see him," Mr Woodward said.
He added that Mr Kissinger's message was that victory was the only meaningful exit strategy.
"So fascinating. Kissinger's fighting the Vietnam war again," Mr Woodward added.
Also from the BBC
The Iraqi government has declared an immediate curfew in the capital, Baghdad, to run until Sunday morning.
The move affects both vehicles and pedestrians, a spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister said.
A senior Iraqi military spokesman said the curfew had been introduced due to specific intelligence about a series of planned car bomb attacks in Baghdad.
Also from the BBC
A letter from 1988 in which Iran's top commander says Iran could need a nuclear bomb to win the war against Iraq has come to light in Tehran.
The commander is quoted in the letter, written by the father of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, to top officials in the final days of the war.
It has only now been made public - by former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The letter seems at odds with Tehran's statements that Iran is not seeking a bomb because it is against Islam.
Who are we to believe and what are we to believe? That is the question.