*Co-Parenting means that with one another, together, both parents should parent all the children in the household.

Initially, I would suggest that the primary role of disciplinarian be awarded to the biological parent. Keep in mind that the child has had years of dealing with one parent's approach to discipline and will need time to adjust. Therefore, issue such as: room cleaning, bed times, homework time, curfews, etc., should be left up to his/her biological parent. Having said that, there are certain behaviors that should not be tolerated by either parent, from the very beginning. For example, if little Tiffany is mouthing off, rolling eyes, talking back or being plain old disrespectful, her stepfather shouldn't have to wait until her stepmother gets home before reprimanding her. If she was doing this at school or anywhere else that respect for adults and authority figures is expected, there would be consequences. And, that teacher would not wait until mom or dad showed up to enforce those consequences. As stated in my other articles, "it is essential that you demand the same positive behavior that the child had prior to the divorce." Otherwise you will be giving the child an excuse (the divorce) to act out. She shouldn't be allowed to be disrespectful because she doesn't like her new stepparent and/or is still bitter about the divorce. The adults in the house should always retain their roles as adults and should never reverse those roles out of guilt.

At any rate, during the "grace period," parents should develop a co-parenting policy that should help decrease conflict when it comes to discipline and other issues of the household. The policy should contain the following: bed times, homework time, dinner time, curfews, household chores, allowances, etc. It should also contain mutually agreed upon rules and consequences. This policy should be discussed, in depth, with each child of the household. This will ensure that each child knows what is expected of them and the consequences of broken rules. Therefore, it is essential that both parents stick to the policy at all times. In the blended family, you cannot rely on spontaneous reaction to the child's behavior problem. This policy will also help you, as parents, present a unified front when it comes to discipline, thereby decreasing conflict between you when these issues arise.

More Tips

1. Don't expect your step-child/ren to instantly love or even like you. Children need time to adjust to the loss (in a way) of a parent as well as a world that they have always known. Be respectful of their feelings and try to avoid forced relationships.
2. Keep parental conflict, disagreements and inconsistent discipline away from children. Being exposed to the above can cause emotional and behavioral problems. Children begin to think that they can do whatever they want. When this happens, they begin to implement their "divide and conquer" strategy by telling the other parent, grandparent, aunt, or whoever will listen, what the mean old stepparent did to them.
3. Always remain a parent and never reverse those roles out of guilt. Mostly moms have a difficult time with this one because they don't want anybody scolding (even if necessary) their baby. As such, they will begin to make excuses like, "she just cursed you out because she's hormonal." When you make excuses for what you know to be bad, inappropriate and/or unacceptable behavior, you are no longer being the parent.
4. Don't try to replace the child/ren's biological parent. Although it may be difficult at times, children need to have their relationships with their biological parents supported by you. You are to act as an additional parental figure, but not attempt to totally replace the other parent.
5. NEVER EVER allow any and everybody to come in and discipline your child/ren! Matters of discipline should only be entertained by individuals who you will be in a committed marital relationship with. Doing anything else will be creating an unstable environment for your child/ren. That person may not even be around tomorrow. This will not only help to build resentment towards you, but for any future mate whom you do decide to actually tie the knot with.
6. Finally, before you even think about allowing someone else to step in and co-parent with you, ask yourself these questions:
   

• What kind of expectations do you and your potential spouse have of each other?
• How do you view each others' roles in your new family?
• How will decisions, regarding your family, be made?

I will address the bad first. The bad, in this instance, is the pity I feel for Australian gamers. I have learned through numerous sources that Australians really receive it in the anus from all video game companies. First of all, the prices of everything in gaming is nearly doubled in almost every instance, if not worse. For instance, XBOX Live costs Australians $99 US dollars, which is about double to our $50 a year because their dollar is $0.98 to ours. On a similar note, even though the Australians pay double for XBL, they do not get all the fancy features. They will not be able to use the new Netflix feature, nor the 1v100 feature, and they also cannot download videos from marketplace.

That is not the worst of it, though. Not only do they have less features fro double the price, but games are not released there at the same date (or even close to, for that matter) that they are in the US and other major markets.

On a lighter, nicer, side of things, I am going to share with you some wonderful music (as always).

The name of the band is ISIS. Their game: ambient sludge metal. Their Wikipedia page describes them as "post-metal" and "sludge metal". As you could read in their wiki page, they are a Boston-based band, which I was quite excited to hear about.

Anyway, enough about the band itself. The music is what makes them remarkable. Last March, my friend Ryan was like "Hey, you ever listen to ISIS?" and I replied 'Who?'. Much to his disbelief I had not heard of or listened to them before. That's when I first checked them out. At first, I liked them, but it was not obsessed as I am now. The song he played for me was "Garden of Light" which is the last track on their 2006 release In the Absence of Truth. As a whole, that album could quite possibly be one of my favorites in quite some time. In my ears, the best track on the album is BY FAR "Holy Tears". It's the heaviest song, and it lasts for precisely seven minutes and six seconds. That is 7:06 of pure brilliance. I cannot describe to you how moving this song is, or anything else about it for that matter, and do it justice. Because of that, I am going to embed a player with it right now. Prepare yourself for EARGASM.

So? How was your eargasm? If it was not one of the most intense eargasms of your life, you simply do not appreciate sonic brilliance.

Now, we shall move on to the ugly. This is slightly ludicrous to criticize my own blog in a blog post, but, it has to be done.

Since I have been posting here at WordPress, none of the posts I have given you few, wonderful readers have been nothing but useless drivel. Jargon. Empty words. Although they have provided small amounts of insight into my mind, what substance or knowledge have you gained that can be applied in a positive manner? None, as far as I can see, and hat is a problem. There is far too much useless drivel in the world today, what with the failing media and news outlets. Do I really need to be adding to the cesspool of useless banter floating around the Internet? I want to be more, and I feel that the people deserve more. The problem is, however, that I have nothing useful to say. I cannot provide insight to any real dilemmas or real-world issues. I would try, but I would fall into the category of "this guy doesn't know what he is talking about" and I DO NOT want to become that guy.

Will I continue to write in this blog the way I have previously? Of course I will. What better way to improve than to practice?

The other downside is my poor vocabulary usage. I have a very concrete, predictable style of writing, and I wish to change that. The problem I run into is that I do not know how to solve the paradox. Do I keep writing? That could lead to me only solidifying the style I write with now, or if I was able to write with enough discipline I could possibly work my way in a different direction. The most problematic hurdle I run into is a lack of critique. Out of all the readers I have had come to my blog (424 curious visitors, as I type this), I have only received 18 comments. Not a ratio I particularly enjoy. If any of you wish for my blog to become a more interesting, flavorful read, PLEASE help me help you and comment. If there was any confusion, anyone can comment. You do not need to register to WordPress or anything (although, you should get your own blog!).

Now, per usual, I am going to leave you with some wonderful, thought-provoking lyrics:
"Mad made god made man made god made man, my god" - "Painkillers" by Cold Duck Complex

Ciao!

Looks good, but I think at times that I either need to replace the batteries in the Wiimote or Balance Board.

As you can see, one day I was below the "Obese" line and the next day I jumped well above it. My diet was steady and I did no extra eating on those days. In fact, I was about as good as ever on those days.

Yet the numbers dipped and then went up. Go figure.

I am now at 214.3 lbs and feeling great. We're headed to the L.A. Zoo today so there's a lot of walking ahead of us. Exercise!

See you later :)

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There are sincere Christians who are promoting a teaching that I would like to lovingly, and Biblically disagree with. When the Bible speaks of discipline, some equate it with the same word as punishment. This teaching has been spreading since the early 1900's predominately and while I understand the reason, scripture appears to disagree.

Discipline(paideia) in the Greek means to educate or train, instruct in order to correct. This is what God does at times to those who are born again Christians through faith in His Son. It's the word the Bible uses in speaking of His children, all who are born again.(Hebrews 12:7) The root word of the word discipline is disciple.

Punishment in the original language, is defined as a suffering or pain that is or loss that serves as retribution. It gives a negative consequence. This is what we would have had Christ not died on the Cross, this is what we had before we trusted Christ as our Lord and Savior. This is what those who are lost have and why they need the good news of the gospel, then to receive it. Jesus Christ being the only way.(Romans 3:23-26)

Punishment is given in righteous anger, discipline is out of love, Jesus taking upon himself God's wrath meant for us. Remember the hymn Jesus Paid It All?

The name of this blog is Ministry of Reconciliation. Reconciliation is what Christ accomplished on the Cross, and what only God can do.

The Bible says while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8). The fact is that God is a Holy God, and while love is one of His attributes, it's not His only attribute. He is also a Holy God, a word that we as human beings have no idea what that means on God's terms. To us Holy means good, perfect, but it's even more than that. It's a word that is beyond our comprehension. God cannot stand to look on even one speck of sin. As a result of God's holiness, God's wrath is on all those who do not believe in Christ.(John 3:36). God is angry with the sinner(those without Christ), continually. (Psalm 5:5, 7:11, 10:3).

There is only one reason that Christ can be the only way, and that is He has to be God, and He has to live a perfect life. That is exactly what He did. Hebrews 4:15 says:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Now notice that I use the word sinner and equate that to the lost, those without Christ. The reason? Though we as born again Christians do sin, we are no longer known as sinners in God's eyes, but we are now righteous. You see it has nothing to do with how good we are, that we follow the ten commandments to a T, that we help the poor, teach a SS class, or any other good deed one can mention. A lost person is capable of doing this too. There are people who are bound for hell, but in the world's eyes, in our human form, we think will be in heaven. But there is only one way, and that way is through Jesus Christ. (John 14:6).

Romans 5 tells us that we are justified through faith. Not works, but faith in Christ Jesus. That is how we are made righteous. Christ took the penalty of our sins onto Himself, as a result sinners were made righteous.(Isaiah 53:11,2 Corinthians 5:21)

Matthew 1:21 tells us that Jesus is the Christ who came to save the world from their sins.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Jesus, who is the eternal God, was able to be a substitute for my sins, for your sins, if you are a born again believer. (John 6:37-39). The great divide, the chasm, between God and man was removed through Christ's shed blood on the Cross. (Romans 5:8-10) In Christ we are brought back to God because Christ's righteousness was imputed to us. It's Christ God sees when He looks at us. It's Christ that is the reason God can look at us, even when we as believers sin. It's Christ and His work that is the reason we no longer have to fear God's wrath for our sin, but can now come boldly before the throne of God, even crying out Abba(daddy), because we are made sons and daughters through adoption. (Galatians 4:4, Hebrews 2:10).

This is how we can glorify God and enjoy Him completely, which is what we are to do. It's how we can give the gospel, and how it is good news.

Now there will be those, even Christians who do not understand what Christ fully accomplished on the cross who will think what I have said here foolishness.

1Co 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
1Co 1:20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
1Co 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
1Co 1:22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
1Co 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
1Co 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1Co 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1Co 1:26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
1Co 1:27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
1Co 1:28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
1Co 1:29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
1Co 1:30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1Co 1:31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Christ took the punishment that was due us. We no longer fear being punished by God. Not now, not in the future, not ever. Never. Not because of what we have done or will do, but because of what Christ did in His perfect life, and on the Cross.

It's not that we never sin, it's that we grieve over our sin. Something that did not happen before Christ was Lord of our lives. We are sensitive to sin because of the new creations we are, not for fear of punishment. Punishment is not a word in the Christian vocabulary. We no longer live under the law, we are now under the New Covenant of grace and mercy because of what Christ did, not us. The emphasis in scripture is always Christ, Christ, Christ.

We suffer illness, death, troubles of any kind to perfect us. For God's glory. At time it is to discipline us, but Paul suffered in his ministry, Christ suffered, John the Baptist, Peter was crucified upside down. Hebrews 13 is not because the saints were being punished for their sin.

The punishment for our sin was taken by Jesus Christ for us. I emphasize this throughout this post because so many Christians do not know this. For some this is new teaching, yet it is old as the Bible, it is in the Bible.

May God through the Holy Spirit impart this teaching into your thoughts and then into your hearts according to the prayer Paul prayed for the Ephesians in chapters 1 and 3. Don't take my word for it, search the scriptures and see if this isn't so. It will change everything. The way you read the Bible, the way you relate to Christ, the way you relate to God. No longer will you not come boldly before the throne because you see God as punishing you. For the Christian we always have access, 1 John 1:9, and Christ. When the Bible speaks of the righteous, it is not meaning a perfect person, but a redeemed person. You and me. My next post will be on the question of sin, does this give license to sin? Paul says no, of course not.

Please give this something to think about.

Yeah it is the 21st century; separating or divorcing seems to be of no big deal. However, let me just note down some things I've learned during the past 2-3 years.

When you analyse the wrongdoers among the kids in a school, there are two types; The ones who can be corrected by punishment and the others who cannot be corrected. The first type includes the mischievous ones who love to have fun at school. The second type usually does the things to get attention, for them even the punishment is good enough attention. Sadly most of the time, this second type is associated with some sort of disturbance in the family. It can be either separation, divorce, death or simple neglect by the family.

To give out a personal view, death does not affect a child as much as divorce does. It is one thing to not have a parent and it is another thing to have a parent who doesn't care for you. It shatters the child's self esteem. You  get him an iPod, a PsP and send him to the best school in a brand new SUV, but if you don't value your son and show him how valuable his life is, you fail as a parent. Something which an expert mentioned to me was that, in SL when parents divorce, they do not consider the wellbeing of the child. When the divorced parents do not talk to each other, the child gets the notion that they're just an accident that happened to the parents. From the treatment some of the boys get from their parents, I sometimes feel that they are just accidents that happened to their parents.

So the message I've learned? ...Having a child might consider to be fun by a parent, but make sure that you, your marriage and your career can handle it. bringing up a child is a responsibility to the society at large, if you think you can' take it up....back off and do what you think you are good at. Also if by any chance you had to divorce, make sure you do the least damage to the children and they won't ask;

"Daddy, Am I just an accident in your life?"

As a coach I never had my authority taken away, so I consider myself lucky. My autonomy was always maintained.

However, in Aberdeen a cheerleading coach resigned her position because she felt her authority was undermined by a hearing officer. A student broke a team rule, which was in the contract signed by all of the students and known by all of the parents. The girl appealed for reinstatement because her infraction occurred at the end of the previous school year, even though the penalty apparently was supposed to carry over into the new year according to the signed contract.

Some may think that an infraction from a previous year (let's say in June, for argument's sake) should not affect a student in the current school year. However, one unique part of a cheer squad is that try-outs often occur in April or May, so the cheerleaders may prepare for summer camps. Plus, their seasons begin before school starts since football games begin immediately, sometimes before classes even begin. Thus, a penalty carrying over is not surprising. I remember people were often shocked to hear that my wife's cheer squad practiced 11 months out of the year, partially because of stunting but also because they had to prepare for three sports seasons.

Regardless, I find it sad that a student breaks a rule after signing a contract and the parents help the student appeal the consequence. Often I hear we live in a society where consequences are rarely accepted, and this case seems to prove the rule.

As a classroom teacher I see the same thing occur as well. A student breaks a rule or violates a policy, and the parents often do not want their child to suffer the consequence. Without accountability, rules and policies are meaningless.

Still, I feel bad for the other girls on the cheer squad in Aberdeen. They now have no coach. The girl who appealed her case quit the team once all was said and done. And July is a tough time to try and hire a qualified coach.

I also applaud the coach for sticking to her guns. While I never really like to see someone quit before a commitment is completed, I don't know that I could work in a position where my authority could be undermined so easily. Maybe the contract itself needs some revisions, but the kids and parents agreed to it, and the school administrators approved it. Too bad a coach had to resign before people could see what a loss of authority can do to an individual and a team.

these teens ransacked the house and stole cash and whatever else they could get away with. having done that they bragged about it to friends. are they serious? did they not think that they would get caught? did they think that this would be held confidential or did they really care? i guess this was intentionally done so that others would hear of their "exploits".

as i have written in previous post about this topic "what were they thinking?" i won't take much time with that again only to say, "what were they thinking?" (lol)

obviously they weren't or were they. maybe they thought they could get away with it. maybe they thought that their friends would not say anything to anyone. maybe they thought that the victim would not say anything. who knows what they were thinking.

i raise the question again here as i did in a previous blog , "who is to be blamed?" "who should be held responsible?" what should be the fate of these teens?

this incident supports the notion that most teens do not think before they act. they ignore possible consequences. they do not see how their actions could produce painful and possible long term consequences. for the most part they are very short sighted; they act on the pleasure principle which blinds them to the impact of their actions on others.

all of these actions underscores the findings that teens in general do not have the capacity to connect actions and consequences. hence the need for discipline, guidance, tough love, faith, much prayer, and for constant parental oversight. the question that someone will ask is what happens when there are no parents present and the teen is basically left to his / her own. i would say these are the exceptions which calls for some form of outside help.

not an easy discussion. i'm open to suggestions / ideas.

"No nos ha dado Dios espiritu de cobarida [temor], sino de poder, de amor y de dominio propio." 1 Timoteo 1:7

I'm bigger on discipline (raising my voice, taking toys away, etc.) than is my wife, but I've never been keen on using physical force. I've never ruled it out (see Miz Pink's post "Beat Down" because I agree with her 95% on that post) but I don't like it, and there are other people in the blogosphere who have spoken eloquently on the pitfalls and uses of corporal punishment (Blackgirlinmaine recently in her Spare the Rod... post, a more light-hearted one at this blog, and a more academic take here.)

Last night, I smacked my little girl across the thigh. Didn't leave a mark, but it still left her crying for a long while.

Now, I know that many readers will roll their eyes and say "Big frickin' whoop!" You didn't smack her multiple times, you didn't hit her across the face, you didn't use a hanger or something, so what are you whining about? And I know objectively that I didn't do it out of anger so much as surprise, because my hand flew a split second after my little girl unexpectedly chomped down on my left nipple.

But the fact is, my hand flew.

And it didn't need to.

I should be able to take the pain of a bite from a three-year-old. I should be able to control my hand. I don't hit my wife. Never have, never will (unless she gets homicidally psycho on my ass, which is highly unlikely). I don't get into fights now and I never have in the past.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not some hippie milquetoast here. Call my wife, daughter or son a certain epithet that rhymes with "chigger" and I'll put your face into the pavement. Sexually assault my daughter, at any age, and there will be a body buried in the woods shortly thereafter. Try to attack me physically, and I will work on the assumption that you mean to kill me and respond with appropriate force. I have a very forgiving temperament and a very, very slow and long fuse. But push me too far and you could really regret it.

But what exactly did smacking my daughter accomplish that couldn't have been accomplished just as well by yelling or throwing out one of her DVDs? What galls me is that my mom only had to spank me twice during my whole childhood. I don't like the thought that my hand might fly faster than my reason or common sense can stop it.

I don't fear that I'll become an abusive parent; that would just be silly logic. That's not the kind of person I am.

But I don't like that a girl who doesn't have a chance against me bit me, and probably had no clue how much that would hurt me, and I hit her. Doesn't matter where and it doesn't matter how minor the hit; I hit her and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry, honeybunch, I really am. And I apologize to Mrs. Blue as well, even though she's already long over it (and so is the little girl).

Now I just have to get around to forgiving myself.

Bonus Feature

I started work on the second chapter of my blog novel Cleansed by Fire, and I had only intended to get a start on it and then finish it by next week for my usual weekly posting, but I couldn't stop writing, and now I have a finished part 6 already ready to post. In fact, I did post it, right before this post. I know the last installment was just a couple days ago, but I couldn't help myself. So, if you're following my first foray into novel-length fiction or would like to start, scroll down my main page or, if you came to this post directly from somewhere else, click here for part six of my novel.

What is Command Climate?  I don't think it's really definable, but suffice to say that it's the force that a commander exudes that causes his charges to make a particular decision without specific guidance.  For a platoon commander, this force impacts the Marine's efforts at basic things like equipment maintenance, physical training, making safe decisions when off duty, etc.  These aren't usually life-or-death decisions, but when added together, they have a great effect on discipline, morale, health, and effectiveness of a unit.  Command Climate is the thing that guides a Marine when he has to make a decision, and the pluses and minuses of that decision cancel each other out, leading the Marine to think, "Damn it, Cpl X, or Sgt Y, or MSgt Z, or Lt. SE would want me to do this, so I'm going to do it."  Simply put, Command Climate is a sort of peer pressure that's exerted on a unit by the Commander.

Command Climate can be positive or negative.  While it is a truism that the bottom 25% of any group will take up 75% of a leader's time, it also seems to be true that 75% of the problems in a group of units seem to come from only 25% of those units.  Strong leaders create Command Climates that solve and mitigate problems.  Poor leaders create Command Climates that create and worsen problems.  And so it appears to be so with the US Air Force. 

Today, the Washington Post reported:

"The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on "comfort capsules" to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs, according to internal e-mails and budget documents."

It goes on to say:

"Air Force documents spell out how each of the capsules is to be "aesthetically pleasing and furnished to reflect the rank of the senior leaders using the capsule," with beds, a couch, a table, a 37-inch flat-screen monitor with stereo speakers, and a full-length mirror."

Now, I understand the increased responsibilities that officers, and especially senior officers require.  Officers on Navy ships are afforded staterooms, while low-ranking enlisted sleep in berthing, and more senior enlisted Sailors and Marines rate more spacious berthing areas.  This is done largely to give the officers and senior enlisted space to do administrative work, while sequestering by rank to improve discipline while spending months at sea.  However, in combat, much of this often goes out the window.  When fighting in Afghanistan in 2004, I slept in a 2-man tent for 101 days.  The Colonel commanding my unit (now a Brigadier General) slept in the same type of accomodations, and discipline was not affected.  In fact, one could argue that discipline was enhanced because a full-bird Colonel of Marines was sleeping in the same dirt as a Lance Corporal.  Such is life in a combat zone.

I do find it galling, however, that such generals desire such creature comforts while flying as a passenger in a military cargo aircraft.

The Washington Post also reports that the Air Force is using Counterterrorism funds for the purposes of enriching its own bureaucratic overlords--it's general officers.  If this is not illegal, it is certainly unethical. 

Add in F-22 problems, more F-22 problems, F-35 problems, a B-2 crash, CSAR-X issues, nuclear weapons issues, more nuclear weapons issues, Taiwanese nosecones, tanker corruption, an Air Force Secretary and Chief of Staff canned (here too), friction between the USAF and SecDef, unwillingness by the AF to join the fight overseas, and a willingness to backstab the other services.  Add these up, and countless other minor and major service issues, and you have a Command Climate that is deep crisis.

It seems to me that the Command Climate of the Air Force consists of two principles:

1. If you're a high-ranking officer, you are entitled.
2. If you're responsible for something, don't worry.  You can just pass the buck.

So what is to be done?  I don't think Shlok's solution is adequate.  Firing the generals just terminates some careers, and there are plenty of AirPower Kool-Aid drinkers to fill their shoes, regardless of the circumstances of the firings.  The SecDef needs to fire the generals, and then make it clear to the remaining generals why they were fired.  Secretary Gates needs to command those USAF generals to act like generals, and if necessary, tell them what is expected of generals.

And if that fails, it might be time to start using the Eisenhower solution:  If you're not satisfied with your generals, it might be time to start looking at which colonels you can trust.

I enjoy, just as much as the next person, reading the latest celeb magazines while I’m in line at the grocery.  If there’s an article about Tiger, I’ll read about his wife and his yacht and, of course, his relationship with his father, but I’ve never been interested enough to take the time to see what are golf’s and Tiger Woods’s hold on so many people. 

However, a column by New York Times writer David Brooks(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/opinion/17brooks.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)  gives me a new perspective on Tiger Woods and also on Brooks himself.

According to Brooks, writers, in particular, “get rhapsodic” over Woods’s ability to focus, partly because “Woods seems able to mute the chatter that normal people have in their heads.” 

Brooks contends that in our over-extended, overwhelmed lives, Woods is “the exemplar of mental discipline,” “stone-faced,” “locked-in, focused and self-contained,” “self-controlled.”

Woods “achieves perfect clarity, tranquility and flow.”  There!  Now I'm on board! "Flow" I understand.  In flow, he is using his top strengths and talents, but he is also being challenged.  He can be at one with his game when he is in flow, unaware and uninterested in the world about him.

Brooks, who is no slouch and obviously has been in flow many times himself, confesses that his own focus as a writer is far from perfect. 

He describes his restlessness and inability to stay focused, in contrast to that of Woods' intense focus, saying “As I’ve been trying to write this column, I’ve toggled over to check my e-mail a few times.  I’ve looked out the window. I’ve jotted down random thoughts for the paragraphs ahead.” 

Brooks also suggests that his readiness to yield to distractions are fairly normal.  For sure--I prefer to check email rather than steel myself to surrendering to the writing, but I wonder what would it be like, if, like Woods seemingly has, I could silence those gremlins in my head for good and never be distracted by them. 

What would it be like to step into a writing challenge and yet be perfectly calm?  To breath regularly and to hear nothing--no negative chatter rising to the deafening level of a rock-concert?   I’ve had those moments of calm focus.  I've been in flow when at I'm at one with my writing, and I want more of that. 

What would it take to have more of the steeliness that Woods has?

What do you think?  Does Woods give us a model for mental toughness, the kind of mental toughness it takes to finish a dissertation?

I’d love to hear from you.

Here’s to flow and mental toughness,

Nancy
Your Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com

Your dreams are your visions of where you'll be after the battle,
your prize at the end of your journey to success.
Your goals are the steps you take to finally attain your prize.

Unless you're willing to work hard and establish some discipline in your life,
all of your dreams will be pipe dreams,
little mental fantasy trips that will never materialize.

Make concrete steps toward fulfilling your ultimate dream,
and start with solid objectives called goals,
Your dreams are where you want to go,
your goals are how you get there.

The first indispensable step
to getting the things you want out of life is this:
decide what you want.

Don't be afraid to think big and dare to be great.
Dreamers are not content with mediocrity.
They never dream of going half way.

People with goals succeed because they know where they're goin.

Copyright 2008 www.yourdailymotivation.com

 But, we are also doing quite well in regards to preparing for a good night out to eat thanks to our kids' misbehavior :-) .  Last night we counted the jar.  I think we are up to $13 or something. 

 The only problem is that each infraction is $.25.  And in the jar we found a nickel and a dime.  So, one of our kids either 1) doesn't know what a quarter looks like...which we highly doubt; or 2) we have a kid who is so ingenious they have found the loophole in our system...mom and dad aren't checking what coin drops in the jar!

THE INVESTIGATION IS ON!!

A network marketer recently emailed my office to seek some MLM training advice for a problem he was having: He could get appointments set...but prospects seemed to disappear after that. Here's the question:

"I can get appointments to meet with people. My call rate is very good with people I know or have met. But I can't seem to get a follow through meeting, to go further. "I'm told that, 'you can't say the wrong thing to the right person or you can't say the right thing to the wrong person.' I'm supposed to find the person 'who is looking' because if they are looking you 'couldn't beat them out of getting into network marketing with a stick.'" -Warren

Great question Warren.

I do agree with the quote-with a few additions and perhaps some alterations. Sometimes the prospect might "be ready" but isn't looking or isn't looking for an MLM business.

Picture a person driving to his job and is pondering that he wishes he could own his own business. Is he looking? No. He's thinking. If you know this person, and you've had the proper MLM training, then you know how to do an effective invite (using the Inviting Formula) and will be able to take this person from "thinking" to looking. Rarely have I seen someone who was out looking for an MLM company. It does happen but not commonly.

Most often your quote is a comment made by speakers from a stage who don't know how to train the A network marketer recently emailed my office to seek some MLM training advice for a problem he was having: He could get appointments set...but prospects seemed to disappear after that. Here's the question:

"I can get appointments to meet with people. My call rate is very good with people I know or have met. But I can't seem to get a follow through meeting, to go further. "I'm told that, 'you can't say the wrong thing to the right person or you can't say the right thing to the wrong person.' I'm supposed to find the person 'who is looking' because if they are looking you 'couldn't beat them out of getting into network marketing with a stick.'" -Warren

Great question Warren.

I do agree with the quote-with a few additions and perhaps some alterations. Sometimes the prospect might "be ready" but isn't looking or isn't looking for an MLM business.

Picture a person driving to his job and is pondering that he wishes he could own his own business. Is he looking? No. He's thinking. If you know this person, and you've had the proper MLM training, then you know how to do an effective invite (using the Inviting Formula) and will be able to take this person from "thinking" to looking. Rarely have I seen someone who was out looking for an MLM company. It does happen but not commonly.

Most often your quote is a comment made by speakers from a stage who don't know how to train the specifics of inviting so the quote is a variation to "just do the numbers."

It's very easy to say, "Just do the numbers." It's harder to say, "Let me show you how to do an effective invite call." And, it's even harder to say, "I'll teach YOU how to do an effective invite call."

So instead sometimes a leader's MLM training comes down instructing you to just say, "Do the numbers" and find people who are looking. The other thing is, you need to be the best inviter you can be when you do talk to that person who is looking. So no matter what you do, you're going to have to learn good inviting skills. And by the way, follow through is part of the inviting skills!

As for your follow thru question, I'm assuming that you're using the words FOLLOW THROUGH as I discussed in the MLM training series "Professional Inviter" - which is different than FOLLOW UP.

Follow through is once your prospect has indicated an interest to do the business that you follow through and deliver EVERY THING the prospect requires to get him what he's stated he needs/wants and/or doesn't want-this you would have gotten by using the Inviting Formula.

Normally this is way more than what is in your standard-issue training manual. If you hand the training manual to the new person and the first thing they read is, "make a list of 200 people" and your new person doesn't do it, have you delivered everything the prospect requires? No.

Something is still in their way. Inability to communicate may be in their way; it may be they need a better understanding of what they will be doing; it may be they don't see themselves being a sales person or it may be that they need to fly to the company so they have certainty that it's a real business!

If you've listened to Professional Inviter you've heard my live calls and heard me on the phone with Ruth and Nadira. The moment they indicated that they were interested in the business I moved towards an appointment. If I can't meet with someone locally, I just continue the conversation over the phone. Now both Ruth and Nadira had things that were still in the way of doing the business that I had to help them overcome-and both of them were "looking."

My point is, the key to FOLLOW THROUGH is NOT saying "Next" as soon as someone is stuck on something! Help them through whatever they're stuck on. Now I know many people will say that I have the Mother Theresa complex. Well, I don't mind being compared to her because she was a very noble person and helped a lot of people. But remember, my sponsor would not have sponsored me had he not followed up and followed through with me to help me overcome my barriers.

When do I "quit" following through? When they stop taking my calls or they ask me to stop calling.

The speed at which you identify what the person is stuck on is critical. When you first sponsor someone or you have someone who has indicated they're interested-do not let a single day go by that you're not talking to them. Keep them close so you can get them past sticking points.

Also as soon as they start moving, gently (meaning very slowly) ease off so they don't grow dependent on you. This is a topic I'll leave for a later time, but I wanted you to see that some people make the mistake of connecting themselves to their people and never pass them the power to do it themselves ... so they never do.

If I could leave you with one key MLM training point as it relates to Follow Up and Follow Through, it would be this: You must have a sincere desire to make your prospect's life better. When your aim and intention is focused on this, your follow up actions will be focused on the right things, and your prospect will respond to your helpfulness and sincere desire to help.
specifics of inviting so the quote is a variation to "just do the numbers."

It's very easy to say, "Just do the numbers." It's harder to say, "Let me show you how to do an effective invite call." And, it's even harder to say, "I'll teach YOU how to do an effective invite call."

So instead sometimes a leader's MLM training comes down instructing you to just say, "Do the numbers" and find people who are looking. The other thing is, you need to be the best inviter you can be when you do talk to that person who is looking. So no matter what you do, you're going to have to learn good inviting skills. And by the way, follow through is part of the inviting skills!

As for your follow thru question, I'm assuming that you're using the words FOLLOW THROUGH as I discussed in the MLM training series "Professional Inviter" - which is different than FOLLOW UP.

Follow through is once your prospect has indicated an interest to do the business that you follow through and deliver EVERY THING the prospect requires to get him what he's stated he needs/wants and/or doesn't want-this you would have gotten by using the Inviting Formula.

Normally this is way more than what is in your standard-issue training manual. If you hand the training manual to the new person and the first thing they read is, "make a list of 200 people" and your new person doesn't do it, have you delivered everything the prospect requires? No.

Something is still in their way. Inability to communicate may be in their way; it may be they need a better understanding of what they will be doing; it may be they don't see themselves being a sales person or it may be that they need to fly to the company so they have certainty that it's a real business!

If you've listened to Professional Inviter you've heard my live calls and heard me on the phone with Ruth and Nadira. The moment they indicated that they were interested in the business I moved towards an appointment. If I can't meet with someone locally, I just continue the conversation over the phone. Now both Ruth and Nadira had things that were still in the way of doing the business that I had to help them overcome-and both of them were "looking."

My point is, the key to FOLLOW THROUGH is NOT saying "Next" as soon as someone is stuck on something! Help them through whatever they're stuck on. Now I know many people will say that I have the Mother Theresa complex. Well, I don't mind being compared to her because she was a very noble person and helped a lot of people. But remember, my sponsor would not have sponsored me had he not followed up and followed through with me to help me overcome my barriers.

When do I "quit" following through? When they stop taking my calls or they ask me to stop calling.

The speed at which you identify what the person is stuck on is critical. When you first sponsor someone or you have someone who has indicated they're interested-do not let a single day go by that you're not talking to them. Keep them close so you can get them past sticking points.

Also as soon as they start moving, gently (meaning very slowly) ease off so they don't grow dependent on you. This is a topic I'll leave for a later time, but I wanted you to see that some people make the mistake of connecting themselves to their people and never pass them the power to do it themselves ... so they never do.

If I could leave you with one key MLM training point as it relates to Follow Up and Follow Through, it would be this: You must have a sincere desire to make your prospect's life better. When your aim and intention is focused on this, your follow up actions will be focused on the right things, and your prospect will respond to your helpfulness and sincere desire to help.

Tim Sales helps network marketers gain the skills necessary to be successful in MLM. His MLM training is based on his personal success of building a downline of 56,000 people. Instantly access Tim's free MLM training and learn the steps to achieve success at http://www.brilliantexchange.com/mlmtraining

Indeed, we have tremendous power to achieve through intense focus.  The difficulty surfaces when we see, however, the limitations of focus.  The tool is only as useful as the choices we make.  We may chose, for example, to focus on increasing business profits through hard work.  And while we may achieve our goal to some extent, we suddenly realize that by focusing intently on working harder, we have been blind to new methods that provide shortcuts to the same success.  Focus, in other words, can obstruct clear view of opportunity.

Maybe you focus hard on losing weight, and indeed the pounds drop away.  But in the process, you turn a deaf ear to your soul's lonely outcry and ignore the oppression you feel from dieting.  You end up thinner, but now there's a new problem: chronic depression.

So focus is a handy tool, but it can be deceptive.  It can trick you into thinking you're in charge and invincible.  Which is a great feeling for the short term, but simply untrue in reality. 

Focus is like the drugstore magnifiers we aging boomers all use to boost our fading eyesight.  It's a wonderful tool that lets us pretend we can see with accustomed clarity.  We do well not to forget, however, that the larger truth is that we're slowly going blind, no matter how powerful the tool makes us right this instant.

In the end, practising focus and learning to use it intensely and well is a seriously helpful way to achieve your goals.  And then, letting your focus go, dropping it completely in order to open to new information supercedes your focus.  Focus, like the rules of a game, is best practised and then forgotten.

Anyways back to the beginning, what is Internal Discipline? because i dont know!

I'm sure all parents did a little reading while they were expecting their first child... and second if they felt they did everything wrong.  While I followed every rule in the book with my first child I came to the conclusion that everything I read, set me up for the feeling of failure.  Not that I failed.  I'm sure that that can't be decided just yet.  However, my implementing of all the advice from knowledgeable sources did not give me the results I had hoped for.  In fact I'm sure that I was given false hope and left feeling a sort of powerlessness.

The bedtime fairy was a good idea and in retrospect could have panned out had I been more vigilant.  Bedtime fairy brings children who go to bed nicely little gifts.  It was suggested that I stock up on little cheap toys or write little notes and place them under my child's pillow.  This worked until, my daughter found a package of bracelets in my car that had resembled a bracelet she had recently received from the Bedtime Fairy.  With all the magic gone, my too smart 4 year old asked me to tell the Fairy not to come to our house any more.  With that the horrendous bedtime routines returned.

Time out has always been a funny little joke and I somehow missed the punchline on this one.  I read that you put your child in timeout according to their age.  A 4 year old would stay in time out for 4 minutes.  This being said... my 4 year old would maybe stay in time out long enough to watch me turn around and then she'd make a run for it.  Recently I found a variation to the timeouts in a positive discipline article.  The writer suggested that the parent take a time out with the child and use this so called punishment as a "nurturing" (not punitive) time out.  Possibly the parent should consider taking a time out with their child.  Excuse me once more please... Who the fuck would want to take a time out with a screaming hateful 4 year old, who would most definitely use this as an opportunity to throw a bigger tantrum and of course try to escape?!

I do have a favorite, it's called cooperation.  Apparently you tell your child "I can't make you, but I really need your help."  This piece of advice is shit.  Why?  If I tell my 5 year old that she needs to clean her room and add that I can't make her do it.  She would tell me that it's my job.  Recently she was asked by her dad if she would help pick up.  She asked him what would mommy have to do if she picked up for me?  I'll tell you what I'd do kid, I'd take a well deserved break!

Oh and then there is the Star Chart.  In my opinion the star chart just reinforces what you knew all along, there is nothing out there that can make your children behave if they don't want to.  No promise of special surprises can stop either one of my kids from splashing or standing up in the bathtub.  Nothing can negate their need to get out of bed at least 30 times before they finally pass out... in our bed.  However they are fun to make and you will generally have so many stickers left over after the first week alone that you could supply an entire kindergarten class for a year.

Honestly though I have tried almost everything to help get my kids through the day with minimal conflict.  Sometimes what I'm trying works and sometimes it fails.  I guess I just don't have the formula down.  I doubt I'm always doing the right thing, I do know that I'm always there and always attend to their needs.  I give hugs and help them out  with difficult situations as well as show and tell them that I love them.  Though I'm quite certain I'm not shaping them into perfect people who will look back and say that I was by far the best mother on earth...  I do believe they could say, that beings I can have a 3 year old puke in my mouth and not puke myself I should be considered the best mother alive.

You know I did mean to say something very important here.  There are no books out there that can tell you exactly how to raise your child or discipline your child the right way.  My children are so different that it's virtually impossible for me to use the same methods on both of them.  There are no answers other than love those little "Children of the Corn" with all your heart and make sure you tell them you love them, so that there will be one less thing they have to tell their shrink later on.

Yes, The Sly Bald Guy lacks simplicity and discipline in his life. I have been reading on leading a simple life in all possible aspects and it seems daunting, probably due to the wealth of information on the topic. My point of reference has been zenhabits.net, Leo (the author) has a wealth of knowledge on the subject and has simplified his life as much as he could. Though I don't see how having six kids is simple.

With regards to discipline, that stems from my laziness. It is usually preceded by procrastination. So my goal is to attack my lack of discipline and its relatives. How? I have no clue. But I figure that if I keep a journal of my workout, take pictures of my face weekly, and stay organized and get started on assignments earlier, I have a very good chance of attacking my issues.

Simplicity and discpline, I will embrace them.

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Those quarrelsome Native Americans are at it again. Not satisfied with merely being granted permission to live in the Land of Free (not to mention the Home of the Brave!), the headdress-wearing ingrates are now trying to encroach upon liberties that they simply have no business encroaching upon.

A small rural school district in Fort Bend County and a determined mother are tangled in a dispute over hair.

Michelle Betenbaugh says her 5-year-old son, Adriel Arocha, wears his hair long because of religious beliefs tied to his Native American heritage.

But the leaders of the Needville school district have strict rules about long hair on boys and don't see any reason to make an exception in his case.

Seems pretty cut and dry to me. The kid is going to public school, that public school has rules, and shock of shocks, he's expected to obey them, even if he or his parents don't agree with them.

Newsflash to Ms. Betenbaugh: the Needville board of education doesn't just work for you, it works for the collective interest of the community's parents. Take it from somebody who has spent countless (read, about five) evenings at school board meetings, for every liberal out there that tries to use faith as a crutch to justify their child's hair style, there's a conservative who knows better than to let their little boy be in proximity to a tiny queer in training. And, as many studies have shown, nothing turns a straight boy into a little flaming homosexual quicker than limiting the impressionable child's exposure to hairdressers.

Now, I don't have a child of my own (If you're reading this, stop calling me. You know who you are.), but if I did, I'd make sure to take him (the man decides the gender, and you bet I'm picking boy -- plus a girl doesn't make any sense for this purely hypothetical situation) to the priciest, ritziest, most overtly unhetero salon I could find. Oh, he'd try to resist, but as I am a brute of a human being, I would easily overpower and subdue the small child, to the point where if I had to carry him into the establishment I would.

"I'm doing this for your own good," I'd explain to him while violently throwing him into the barber's chair. "You'll thank me on your wedding day." Then I'd tell the scissors-wielding fairy to stop fucking around, get the razor out, and go #1 all over junior's head.

Realizing the thought process of the average sodomite, I'd explain that my request had nothing to do with urine.

Once I was assured that my drift had been caught, I'd sit back and watch as a grown "man" who identifies himself as Fifi shears all but approximately a quarter inch of hair from my son's dome. It'd bring back such fond memories of when I was his age and I'd spend ten bucks a week at John Christopher's to be made as close to bald as was permissible at Catholic school. (Sadly, this era came to an end after I sustained a concussion during a pickup football game and was advised not to shave my head for some time. I don't remember who told me this -- I had a concussion -- but I can confirm to you that there's a certain point in his life where a man can grow his hair long and not worry about catching the gay. [I'm afraid I can't reveal the exact benchmark at this time -- you're not getting the satisfaction.]

When the haircut was finished, I'd have my son look into the mirror and examine the new skinhead look he'd been given. If he was anything like his old man, he'd wonder to himself, "Why did my dad do this to me?" And I'd just point to that mirror and say, "Son, that's what a man looks like." And then I'd point to Fifi, with his fake tan, and, oh yes, long hair (longer than mine) with goddamn flowers in it -- how do you even live with yourself, man? -- and say, "And that's what you look like when you're a fag."

See, if it was up to me, that's something that they'd teach in the public schools. I'd wager that that's somewhere where Ms. Betenbaugh and I would differ.

But really, isn't that what makes America great? Freedom of expression. She's allowed to make her point in the press, I'm allowed to respond on this nifty blog, and then the board of education makes the final decision and we both must respect and honor their decision. Isn't that how our forefathers drew it up, though? I wouldn't be surprised if it said in the constitution that men were to maintain short hair at all times. Back in George Washington's day, for instance, it would've made it a heck of a lot easier to don those ferociously manly wigs.

I hate to single Ms. Betenbaugh out here, but her outrage kind of triggered some thoughts that I've been sitting on for a while. When did this country become so selfish and disrespectful towards authority? If a powerful figure tells you to do something, why ask questions? Would this figure be in power if he or she -- again, more likely he -- was ill-equipped for that role? In a democracy, no less? Look, I've had a run in or two with Johnny Law, like the time I got pulled over for going eight miles per hour under the speed limit in a construction zone -- I guess I was driving too slow, but everything was cool after the dogs left -- but never have I felt the need to ask questions. These people know what they're doing.

What the typical American is doing, I've found, is taking unfair advantage of the constitution. "Freedom of speech" doesn't mean bash the president, it means bash the Queen of England -- that withered old hag, the leader of some powerless antiquated faux leadership group that's like the Hiltons beaten with an ugly stick and then run over with an age steamroller. "Freedom of religion" means worship whatever deity you choose, so long as your beliefs aren't in violation with federal, state or local regulations. Let's use another hypothetical here, and it's purely hypothetical -- I'm actually an ordained Christian minister (just like Reverend Camden from 7th Heaven -- don't read too much into that analogy) -- wherein I establish a religion, let's call it Murderism. And as a Murderist, it is my belief that I must kill people to please a higher being, who we'll refer to as Shooter McKill. Now, just because this is my belief system, should I be able to arbitrarily walk around and kill people to satiate my messiah's bloodlust? I'd say no.

But don't tell that to your faith liberals like Ms. Betenbaugh (again, I'm sorry to single her out). She seems to think that just because her son's spirituality is different from that of other students that he should be exempt from the regulations set forth by the school board. That's not freedom of speech or freedom of religion, that's just bullshit.

Look, our forefathers were gracious enough to turn over some of the land they discovered to the Native Americans and let them just sort of hang out while we turned the East Indies into America. And to their credit, the Indians have played the hand they were dealt to this point with significant aplomb. But now they're starting to get a little big for their britches. Today they're asking for their own hair styles, what will tomorrow bring? Exclusive fashions? Special housing? Private tracts of land?

No, we mustn't give in. Even if they threaten to use force -- didn't these people popularize scalping? -- we cannot allow these Natives to let their children grow their hair out. We have come too far and made too many strides to begin making concessions now.

This, Native Americans, is America, where there are two simple choices: love it or leave it. So either have your kids man up, get their heads shaved and then ship them off to school so they can learn how to behave as individuals in a controlled classroom environment, or kindly give us back the land that we so graciously handed to you so many years ago.

Ugmo writes:

Whip his ass each time you see him swinging on the door!
You have told him to stop it and he won’t. Spare the rod and you’ll spoil the child. Read Proverbs chapter 22 verse 15. Also chapter 23 verse 13.

Ugmo,

You have a valid point and thank you for your advice.

I wish parenting were as simple with my younger children as it was with my older children. Spanking can be an incredibly effective tool, when used properly. When abused, unfortunately, it looses its effectiveness and creates additional behavior issues.

I fully agree with GODs word and what he says about physical discipline. Unfortunately my son’s father neglected the part about not provoking your children to anger. As a result the rod is seen as a tool of abuse rather than loving discipline.

Physical discipline was effective with my older children (ages 18 and 20). It was also effective with my younger children until my soon-to-be-ex-husband, who has bipolar disorder continued to misuse that GOD-given technique. Too often he left bruises on the children. He seems unable to know the difference between discipline and abuse. Spanking lost its effectiveness and created anger and rebellion instead.

Also, he should never physically discipline the children and unfortunately I must lead by example. If I strike the children then he feels entitled to spank/abuse the children because that is the way his brain works.

I hope that someday he will learn that people do not learn from domineering or abusive treatment. All discipline must be done with love as the motivating factor, rather than ego or annoyance. I hope my children will continue to heal from the abuse inflicted on them.

I use time-out, which is not nearly as effective as properly used spanking. I also use extra chores and various other unpleasant or natural consequences as discipline.

Report: IT Admin Locks up San Francisco's Network (PC World)

A network administrator has locked up a multimillion dollar computer system for San Francisco that handles sensitive data and is refusing to give police the password, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.

The employee, 43-year-old Terry Childs, was arrested Sunday. He gave some passwords to police, which did not work, and refused to reveal the real code, the paper reported.

The new FiberWAN (Wide Area Network) handles city payroll files, jail bookings, law enforcement documents and official e-mail for San Francisco. The network is functioning but administrators have little or no access.

Childs, who remains in custody, is accused of improperly tampering with computer systems and causing a denial of service, said Kamala Harris, San Francisco's district attorney, on Monday afternoon.

"The bail has been set at $5 million, and the exposure in this case if he were convicted on all counts would be seven years in prison," Harris said.

Harris said it's unknown why Childs tampered with the system. The Chronicle, however, reported that Childs was disciplined recently for poor performance. Childs worked in the Department of Technology for San Francisco, making close to US$150,000 a year, the paper reported.

City officials told the paper that Childs may have caused millions in damage while also rigging the network so that other third parties could monitor traffic, posing a huge data security risk. He is also alleged to have installed a tracing system to monitor communications related to his personnel case.

(Robert McMillan in San Francisco contributed to this report.)

First of all, it’s amazing in this day and age of technology that an employee could lock down access to a computer system and there is no way for others to get in. Obviously it is possible, as evidenced by this article but what is particularly troubling is they stated that he may have done this due to being disciplined for poor performance. I think it highlights the fact that HR people and departments are shouldering a bigger burden than in the past when employees have such power that can so easily be abused, thus costing a company (or in this case a city and its taxpayers) huge sums of money and lost productivity.

Hopefully it will serve as a reminder, or a wake-up call that if an employee is going to be disciplined, all precautions need to be taken not only to ensure the safety of people but the integrity and accessibility of data. I assume it is just another part of the appraisal and/or reprimanding process that employers are going to have to take into consideration.

Solving a piece of the puzzle… 
Matt Lafata, HRchitect