The Resolution BlogThe Resolution Blog is my mini-journal about alternative dispute and conflict resolution. It... * provides you with regular updates about developments in the conflict resolution field * lets you know whenever any new Web pages appear on All-Things-Conflict- Resolution-and-ADR.com telling you about new content, finds or recommendations. * keeps you up-to-date with other postings or news from the site. * points out some special areas of interest that you might otherwise miss. To subscribe to the Resolution Blog (no e-mail necessary), right-click on the orange RSS button (see bottom buttons to the left) and then paste the URL into your RSS reader. Or click on the My Yahoo! button or My MSN or Add To Google button if you keep a personalized home page there. If you are not sure what RSS and blogging is all about, click on "What's an RSS Feed?" Once you start, you will be amazed at what RSS can do. It's fun . . .so enjoy! Loan Modification Our ServicesOur only goal is to help you avoid foreclosure and find a way to remain it your home at a price you can afford. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Loan Modification Our Services" What is Loan ModificationA Loan Modification is a change to your loan agreement outside the original terms of the contract agreed to by the lender and you due to hardship. Permalink -- click for full blog post "What is Loan Modification" Loan Modification Under the HARP Program Part IIA Loan Modification will help you stop foreclosure Permalink -- click for full blog post "Loan Modification Under the HARP Program Part II" Loan Modification Under the HARP Program, Part IIn order to qualify for loan modification you must be able to show the following Permalink -- click for full blog post "Loan Modification Under the HARP Program, Part I" Loan Modification Under the HAMP Program Part IILoan Modification, under HAMP means articipating lenders may not refer a loan for foreclosure sale or proceed with a foreclosure sale on an eligible loan until the homeowner has been evaluated for HAM Permalink -- click for full blog post "Loan Modification Under the HAMP Program Part II" Loan Modification Under the HAMP Program Part ILoan modification, under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), means getting a new loan to replace your existing loan. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Loan Modification Under the HAMP Program Part I" Loan Modification: How It WorksTo Support Your Loan Modification Request: Here are The Four Key Steps We Use Permalink -- click for full blog post "Loan Modification: How It Works" Loan Modification Help InquiryLoan Modification Help Inquiry Permalink -- click for full blog post "Loan Modification Help Inquiry" Loan Modification News and ViewsOn this page you will find all of the major headline news and breaking news about the loan and mortgage modification. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Loan Modification News and Views" Evaluate Your Debt To Income RatioDebt-to-Income Ratio: Is the ratio of your income versus your debt level. A high percentage of debt versus income will put you in the high-risk borrower category. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Evaluate Your Debt To Income Ratio" State Denies Timber Bridge For ChathamAfter months of speculation, flurries of correspondence, several meetings, countless volunteer hours and, as one selectman put it, “a cast worthy of a Permalink -- click for full blog post "State Denies Timber Bridge For Chatham" Stand Up Paddle BoardingWith A Low Learning Curve And A High Fun Factor, Stand-up Paddle Boarding Is Quickly Becoming One Of The Most Popular Water Sports - Especially Here in Permalink -- click for full blog post "Stand Up Paddle Boarding" Benefit CheckupThere are benefits you or your elder may be missing! BenefitsCheckUp helps you find and enroll in public and private benefits programs. You can also Permalink -- click for full blog post "Benefit Checkup" When Elder-Care Duties Lead to Sibling RivalryAn elderly parent’s health problems can torpedo relationships among brothers and sisters. One of the most common causes of sibling elder-care conflicts Permalink -- click for full blog post "When Elder-Care Duties Lead to Sibling Rivalry" Scammers Prey On ElderlyScammers Prey On Elderly More than 7.3 million Americans above age 65 — one out of five — have been victimized by fraud, according to a June study from Permalink -- click for full blog post "Scammers Prey On Elderly" Caregiver Agreements Protect AssetsProtecting Your Future: Caregiver Agreement Protects Assets “Family members overwhelmingly provide the care for elderly and disabled loved ones at home. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Caregiver Agreements Protect Assets" Pleasant Bay Wins No-Discharge Designation“Officials from the U.S. EPA held a news conference at Jackknife Harbor last week to announce their approval of a no-discharge area (NDA) for Pleasant Permalink -- click for full blog post "Pleasant Bay Wins No-Discharge Designation" 78% of Americans Oppose Raising Social Security Retirement Age78% of Americans Oppose Raising Social Security Retirement Age “The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare has released a new poll 45 Years of Helping Seniors Age in Place. What's Next? Economic SecurityA move is underway to make economic security an explicit part of the Older Americans Act. The Elder Economic Security Initiative™ is an exciting new Technology for Aging in Place: Caregiving Matters - July 2010 Market Overview UpdatedThe market for technology to assist family and professional caregivers help aging adults remain in their homes of choice continues to attract new entrants Chatham-by-the Sea -- an exquisite place to relax and rechargeEverything you wanted to know about Chatham and never thought to ask. Release of Living Longer on Less in Massachusetts: The New Economic (In)Security of Seniors.The social contract for seniors in the 20th century was based on the prospect of a secure retirement during the later stages of each American’s life-course. Independence Day Comes A Day Early In ChathamOne of the highlights of Chatham’s summer, the 4th of July parade is being held a day early because July 4 falls on Sunday, and the morning event would Permalink -- click for full blog post " Independence Day Comes A Day Early In Chatham" Volunteering At Local Government Mediation CenterI am a graduate of the Southern Methodist University Master of Arts program in Dispute Resolution. I have had to re-think my career path and think of dispute Permalink -- click for full blog post "Volunteering At Local Government Mediation Center" Academic Conflict Resolution TrainingI am based in Italy and currently working in Bradford, UK as a lecturer in conflict resolution. In Italy mediation is a relatively new field, and I helped Permalink -- click for full blog post "Academic Conflict Resolution Training" Professional Development and Dispute Resolution Coaching and TrainingAs a professional development business owner, I have used dispute resolution as a skill area in leadership and management coaching and employee training. Jobs In Conflict Resolution Lessons From the Front LinesI am looking for input on satisfying jobs in conflict resolution Permalink -- click for full blog post "Jobs In Conflict Resolution Lessons From the Front Lines" The Safety DanceWell meaning family members often caution safety first s they try to persuade parents to change their habits, to exercise caution, to move from one setting Permalink -- click for full blog post "The Safety Dance" Pedicab Service May Be Coming To ChathamA college student's, Tanner Pendleton's bid to operate a pedicab in downtown Chatham this summer appears ready to coast through the permitting process. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Pedicab Service May Be Coming To Chatham" Elder News and ViewsOn this page you will find all of the major headline news and breaking news about the elderly. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Elder News and Views" What Legal Issues Are Becoming More Prominent As The Population Ages?Among the most important legal issues affecting the elderly in America are those that have an effect on a person’s independence — the right to care for Chatham-Massachusetts Current News Weather And ActivitieFor those of you who share my love and interest in Chatham, MA, and who want to keep up with everything Chatham, you can now have Chatham, Ma headline news, weather and activities available 24/7 Permalink -- click for full blog post "Chatham-Massachusetts Current News Weather And Activitie" Chatham Implements $200 Million-Plus Sewer Expansion ProjectCritics of the wastewater plan have said that alternative systems could address the nutrient loading problem at a lower cost than an expanded centralized Permalink -- click for full blog post "Chatham Implements $200 Million-Plus Sewer Expansion Project" Conflict Resolution JobsHave you ever considered a career in conflict resolution? Permalink -- click for full blog post "Conflict Resolution Jobs" Finish
No matter what happens to us in life, no matter what is taken from us, there is always one choice that remains open to us. How are we going to react to what has happened?What will our attitude be?
Nick Vujicic has no arms or legs but has come to terms with his lot in life. He delivers an inspirational speech to these school kids that they will probably never forget. And neither will you! You have to check this out. Sidetaker
This was just too good to pass up. Sidetaker.com is a website where you can submit your dispute to anonymous third parties who will then vote on your dispute and will give you feedback to help you see a different perspective. Air out your differences anonymously while letting the people of the world give you advice and make the decision on who should apologize. No matter the dispute, Sidetaker.com lets you get a third party perspective and get an indication of whether other people with agree with you or not Advice
From Mediator Steve Mehta of Mediation Matters, A Negotiation and Mediation Blog.
 Image thanks to The Hubster Blog
A recent study conducted by Francesca Gino at Carnegie Mellon University demonstrated that the fact that when someone has paid for advice means it is more likely to be heeded. The study found that people are more likely to use advice that has been paid for than advice that's free, even if there's no difference in quality between the two sources. Throughout the study, the participants took more account of advice they had paid for than advice they were given free, even though it was made clear to them that the advice was of the same quality. A final study by Gino showed that the participants took even more account of advice if it was made more expensive. In other words, the more that the person charged, the better the advice was accepted. Another Inspirational Video
Superstar
From the Wall Street Journal online  Image thanks to FastCharacters.com
Competitors playing a match against Bobby Fischer, perhaps the greatest chess player of all time, often came down with a mysterious affliction known as "Fischer-fear." Even fellow grandmasters were vulnerable to the effect, which could manifest itself as flu-like symptoms, migraines and spiking blood pressure. Recent research on what is known as the superstar effect demonstrates that such mental collapses aren't limited to chess. While challenging competitions are supposed to bring out our best, these studies demonstrate that when people are forced to compete against a peer who seems far superior, they often don't rise to the challenge. Instead, they give up. The negative effect of superstars has been most clearly demonstrated in professional golf, which for the last decade has been dominated by Tiger Woods. According to a paper by Jennifer Brown, an applied macroeconomist at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Woods is such a dominating golfer that his presence in a tournament can make everyone else play significantly worse. Because his competitors expect him to win, they end up losing; success becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Brown discovered the superstar effect by analyzing data from every player in every PGA Tour event from 1999 to 2006. She chose golf for several reasons, from the lack of "confounding team dynamics" to the immaculate statistics kept by the PGA. Most important, however, was the presence of Woods, who has dominated his sport in a way few others have. The numbers back up the legend: When Woods's break from golf began, in November, he had a World Golf Ranking score of 16.169, which was nearly twice the total of the next two players . He has more career major wins than any other active golfer, and has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record 10 times. Whenever Woods entered a tournament, every other golfer took, on average, 0.8 more strokes. This effect was even observable in the first round, with the presence of Woods leading to an additional 0.3 strokes among all golfers over the initial 18 holes. While this might sound like an insignificant difference, the average margin between first and second place in PGA Tour events is frequently just a single stroke. Modern management practice assumes that the best way to maximize employee performance is to institute sports-like tournaments, in which people compete directly against each other. There is little doubt that, in many situations, such incentive structures lead to motivated employees, working hard for the top spots. But the presence of a superstar can reverse this dynamic, so that instead of trying our best we accept the inevitability of defeat. Mediation
From WiredPRNews.com
Brain Research
 Image thanks to www.paranormalpeopleonline.com
Is there a link between neuroscience and conflict resolution? Some neuroscientists are saying that the brain can determine optimal ways to solve disputes. In order to successfully resolve a conflict, Baroness Susan Greenfield, a professor of synaptic pharmacology at Oxford, it is key knowing that a person's brain is shaped by the factors to which they've been exposed. This is known as the brain's "plasticity", or ability to change. Lady Greenfield says that simply telling children about the brain's plasticity - proving their ability to learn - can drastically improve their educational performance. "When people are highly aroused, words have little impact," according to Lady Greenfield . "That's the kind of mode you don't want." In order to determine what leads to this state, she examined the brains of children, who tend to be highly emotional and reckless, as well as the brains of gamblers, obese people, and schizophrenics. All of these people, who "give into the press of the emotion over the cognitive", have something in common - an underactive prefrontal cortex. This segment accounts for one-third of our brains, and if, in extreme cases, it's damaged, we revert to a childlike state. In conflict resolution, the parties should avoid "highly arousing" environments that could lead to irrationality by surpressing the prefrontal cortex and activating other parts of the brain. The brain's plasticity means that humans are able to form new neurological connections when they bring together ideas. For instance, in an experiment with people who had previously never played the piano, practicing five-finger exercises - or simply thinking about the exercises - led to new connections in their brains. Lady Greenfield likens the negotiation process to completing a crossword puzzle together - an objective quest with a clear endpoint. In fact, a recent study out of Harvard University recommends using crossword puzzles or Sudoku to activate the prefrontal cortex and limit an emotional response when a couple is quarrelling. Pairbuilder
A US researcher has created a conflict resolution web site for couples, after he carried out an extensive research on how couples can best resolve relationship conflicts. Baylor University researcher Dr Keith Sanford an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, calls the site the Couple Conflict Consultant. It utilizes a personalized approach, instead of forcing participants into a "one-size-fits-all" application. Once logged into the Couple Conflict Consultant, participants complete a questionnaire assessment of a current or recent conflict with their partner. The questionnaire was developed and tested over several years in a series of published research studies involving thousands of couples. The assessment provides scores on 14 important areas of conflict resolution. These scores identify the participants' strengths and weaknesses and provide guidance in developing the participants' own personalized plan to strengthen conflict resolution skills in their relationship. The scores also help a participant resolve a particular conflict with their partner. Based off the participants' score, the program will provide specific things they are doing to help resolve conflict and things that are likely to make conflict worse. The feedback gives recommendations on areas to address for improved conflict resolution. Since the web site is part of a research study being conducted by Sanford, the Couple Conflict Consultant is free. Rejection
 Image thanks to www.cartoonstock.com
"You're good with people, but you don't have the analytic background we need. Not only would you need to steer the sales team, but you'd need to analyze information and data too." This was said to a woman who thought she was in final contention for the job. Shocked, the woman left the meeting realizing the offer she'd thought was in the bag was gone. After every job interview, according to Robert Hellmann, a career coach at the Five O'Clock Club, a career counseling firm, who also teaches career development at New York University, you should write not a thank-you note but what he calls an "influence letter." In this case, that letter became his client's key to getting back into the running. If, like Hellmann's client, you've been told there's a specific issue with your candidacy, deal with it head-on. Hellmann's client asked the executive to provide her with a set of data on which she could do the kind of analysis he'd said the job required. At first he didn't respond, but a week later she received a terse two-word e-mail--"OK, here"--with a spreadsheet attached. She spent the following three-day weekend attacking the spreadsheet, and on Monday night she e-mailed back a thorough analysis, with a request that he save a slot in his calendar for her to come in and discuss what she'd done. The executive called her shortly thereafter and offered her the job. Rotary
 Image thanks to Nixa Public Schools
Here is another resource. The fellowships are for study at one of the six Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution to obtain a master's degree in international relations, peace studies, conflict resolution and related areas or a professional development certificate in peace and conflict studies. The Rotary Peace Centers have been established by The Rotary Foundation in partnership with universities throughout the world. For more information and a fellowship application, contact a local Rotary club. Interested individuals can also consult the Rotary Web site for more information and to download an application. Programs
By far the highest number of emails to the Resolution are questions about careers in conflict resolution. Here is one resource: Craig Zelizer of the Peace and Collaborative Development Network has published the following: Download PeaceandconflictPhdPrograms.doc For MA Programs in Conflict Resolution and Related Fields. Non Lawyer Mediators
I know this is a hot topic for many who follow this blog. A discussion on the professional networking site, LinkedIn that you might want to follow. Conflict Resolution Mistakes
By Wellness Coach Elizabeth Scott
 Image thanks to Stus.com Blog
Aging Brain
What if older people who volunteered to work in elementary schools, in a program that bolstered educational progress for children, could at the same time reduce their own risk of cognitive decline? In an intriguing study recently published in The Journal of Gerontology, a team led by the Johns Hopkins neuropsychologist Michelle Carlson used cognitive tests and brain imaging scans to measure the effects that working in Baltimore public schools had on eight female volunteers. The women, with an average age of 67, were at risk for cognitive impairment. They had low income and education levels and had scored poorly on the much-used Mini-Mental State Examination. The volunteers completed 32 hours of training in the program, called Experience Corps, then worked 15 hours a week assisting classroom teachers and librarians, reading to students, shelving and recommending books and leading conflict resolution lessons. After six months in the schools, the women underwent another round of cognitive testing. "Their performance improved by over 40 percent," Dr. Carlson said in an interview. The gains also were seen in M.R.I. scans showing the women's brain activity. "They showed immediate and measurable positive changes," she said.
 Images of the brains of volunteers show increased activity in areas marked in blue.
Something about the combination of varied and demanding tasks and social engagement benefited the volunteers, compared with a control group of similar women who did not volunteer. Losing executive function - the ability to focus on tasks and make sound judgments - is one of the major reasons old people find themselves unable to maintain an independent household and are often forced to move in with family or into institutions. The study offers hope for finding ways to preserve executive function. Elder Mediators
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Is the title of a new article in the Wall Street Journal that found growing acceptance and use of Elder Mediation. "Elder mediation has started to take off over the past couple years," says Dana Curtis, an attorney who mediates disputes and trains elder mediators at Elder Mediation Group in Sausalito, Calif. According to the article, "mediators can help families resolve a range of issues. Most often it's to resolve a fight over money. But some conflicts concern responsibility for caregiving or for making decisions on behalf of an aging parent. Families who hire an elder mediator often do so to save money. Mediators also may provide information families can use to make decisions. For instance, when one family hired Ms. Curtis to referee a dispute over a child's request for an early inheritance, she helped them calculate how much they could afford to give the child -- after setting aside enough to cover the parents' needs and inheritances for the rest."
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