Why Does Freemasonry Support Public Schools?

Each year the California Grand Lodge and its constituent Masonic lodges throughout the state proclaim one month to be “Public Schools Month.” A proclamation is routinely delivered by the sitting Grand Master, read aloud in each constituent lodge during one or more monthly stated meetings. Its purpose has always been to encourage lodges to plan a program publicly supporting Public Schools in a way that reveals for all to see the depth of Freemasonry’s commitment.

Until 2011, each constituent lodge was generally left to decide for itself what to do without the benefit of also embracing a statewide Masonic project in which it could become involved. That effort has been a rather haphazard implementation of a series of different activities by different lodges working independently of each other. The programs ranged from elaborate and energetic interaction with selected Public Schools to nothing at all.

There are many various reasons why certain lodges have done little or nothing. In some lodges the members have not been particularly active outside of lodge ritual or lodge social events. In other lodges the past leadership simply did not provide adequate vision. And in yet other lodges financial resources were inadequate to do much more than struggle to support the bare minimum of activities.

But all of that changed in 2011 for California Masons and their lodges. Grand Master William J. Bray III led the way to implementing a statewide Masonic commitment to the state’s public schools. Although it was his leadership that provided the energy for implementing the programs, the plan came from ordinary Masons who work in the trenches of Freemasonry throughout the state.

The most recent Grand Lodge Strategic Plan is the product of a survey taken by its Executive Committee and staff delivered to each and every member of a constituent lodge. Woven into the fabric of that plan was the overwhelmingly most popular response: Masonry should become a force for profoundly invigorating our Public Schools. Masons up and down the state concluded that it was important to save public education, make it better than ever before, and prove to our communities that Masons believe that a successful system of free public education is essential to the continuation of a free society.

To better understand why such a diverse group of men and women from differing political, religious and cultural backgrounds stand linked arm-in-arm in support of public schools, it is instructive to first learn how and why public schools came to dominate America’s educational system. A great deal of credit for that goes to Horace Mann – the “Father of the Common School Movement” – who also happened to be a Mason. It would be a mistake, however, to conclude that Mann’s dedication to the public school cause was due to his being a Mason. It would also be a mistake to infer that Freemasonry supports Public Schools simply because Horace Mann was a Mason. The truth of the matter is that Masonry embraces values that Mann found appealing enough to be initiated into the Craft. Freemasonry and Mann shared the same reverence for virtue, morality and the advancement of an enlightened public.

Today, Public Schools are the primary source for educating our children from kindergarten through high school. That was not always so, for from the beginning of this country until the present day advancing the cause of Public School education has been strongly opposed by parents with powerful political backing who have steadfastly resisted turning their children over to teachers for their moral education. Even in America’s early years some children were home-schooled. If their parents were wealthy enough others were taught by private tutors. However, soon after the American Revolution was concluded, Thomas Jefferson initiated a nationwide dialogue that gained such tremendous momentum that Public Schools eventually became the norm rather than the exception.

Jefferson argued that a free and independent society would be stronger if all of its citizens received equal access to knowledge – knowledge which each could then apply in their daily lives. At the end of the Revolution the nation found itself without any educational system and the people were left to fend for themselves. To remedy the matter, Jefferson – who at various times argued with equal vigor for small and large government – suggested that tax dollars be used to fund a nationwide educational system. His suggestion was ignored at the time and his idea languished for nearly a century.

By the 1840’s a few Public Schools had popped up around the country financially supported by communities that could afford them. At about this time Horace Mann began his own crusade, picking up where Jefferson had left off. Mann’s life story cannot be told here, but suffice to state that if he had not acted with energetic, single-minded dedication to what he believed was necessary, Massachusetts would not have passed the first compulsory education laws in 1852. New York followed the following year and by 1918 all American children were required to at least attend elementary school. What followed was the nothing less than the successful pursuit of something shared in common by Freemasonry and America’s Founding Fathers: equality.

At the turn of the 20th century schools in the South, as well as many in the north were segregated. In 1896, in a case entitled Plessy v. Ferguson, the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregation was legal – a decision that would be overturned decades later in the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas. What was at issue in 1954 and decided once and for all time was the ideal that all men are created equal under the eyes of the Supreme Architect of the Universe – at least when it comes to the question of equal access to education. It certainly comes as no surprise that the Chief Justice in 1954 was Earl Warren who, like Horace Mann, was a Mason. From that year forward all Public Schools have been open to children of all ethnic backgrounds.

Between 1896 and 1954, Masons throughout America led the charge for the advancement of enlightenment with its clarion call for the support of Public Schools. It is neither ironic nor wholly surprising that the first time the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, whose see is at Charleston, North Carolina, ventured out into the world of community service was to further the cause of Public Schools. Much gratitude is owed to the Grand Commander at the time, George F. Moore, for his uncompromising leadership in that venture.

Before being elected Grand Commander in 1914 by the Supreme Council, Moore – a prolific writer – auditioned his Masonic position in favor of Public Schools in such publications as The New Age – a predecessor to today’s Scottish Rite Journal. His attempts, made before the onset of World War I, were well received everywhere – including in New York which was prompted by men such as Moore, as well as organizations such as the Scottish Rite to pass it’s compulsory education laws in 1918. In the years after Moore had passed his elected position as Grand Commander on to John Cowles, the Scottish Rite became known throughout America as the great promoter of nationwide literacy through the auspices of Public Schools.

California Masons were no less active in their support of Public Schools. In 1920 Charles A. Adams, Grand Master of Masons in California made Public Schools a Masonic project for the first time. The demands for manpower made upon the populace by World War I led to the flight of thousands of teachers from their classrooms. More important jobs awaited them: combat overseas, attending to farmlands to grow the food necessary to sustain a struggling nation, and manufacturing factories that had to fulfill ever increasing demands for the production and delivery of war materiel. Grand Master Adams witnessed the accompanying fallout with great alarm. Approximately 600 schools were closed throughout California – an extraordinary number for that time.

Although Freemasonry has consistently refrained from engaging in or taking sides in the world of public politics, Grand Master Adams prudently weighed the advantages and disadvantages of doing so on behalf of Public Schools. At its core, Masonry had always inculcated in its members the importance of pursuing knowledge. Its ritual sought to impress upon candidates for Masonic degrees the importance of studying the liberal arts and sciences, such as grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, music, astronomy and geometry. And the very idea about the establishment of Public Schools throughout the nation seemingly originated with our first President – and one of Freemasonry’s most prominent members. In a letter to his Vice President, John Adams, George Washington wrote:

“Wise and judicious modes of education, patronized and supported by communities, will draw together the sons of the rich and the poor, among whom it makes no distinction; it will cultivate natural genius, elevate the soul, excite laudable emulation to excel in knowledge, piety, and benevolence; and finally it will reward its patrons and benefactors by shedding its benign influence on the public mind.”

There was additional Masonic precedence for Grand Master Adams to draw upon before deciding what to do. De Witt Clinton, who served as Grand Master of Masons in New York, as well as Governor of that state, embraced the cause of Public Schools so emphatically that he is known today as the “Father of New York Public Schools.” While serving as Grand Master of Masons in Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin openly endorsed the adoption of Public Schools in that state.

With that history and precedent to support him, Grand Master Adams determined that California Masons should take a public stance in support of strengthening the Public Schools system in this state. He knew that Masonry had a long-standing belief that public education was essential to sustaining a free society. Indeed, Masonic virtues promoted a concept that went far beyond encouraging the mere accumulation of knowledge: equal access to knowledge promotes freedom and strengthens the middle class without which democratic principles fundamental to this Republic will wither away and eventually disappear. On those grounds it was easy for Grand Master Adams on August 30, 1920 to issue the first Masonic Public Schools Week Proclamation.

The history of Masonry’s support of Public Schools did not end there. That support has continued since then in every Masonic jurisdiction, but was perhaps most profoundly demonstrated by the continuing nationwide work by the Scottish Rite. For example, seizing upon the examples set by Grand Commanders Moore and Cowles – that freedom is the most significant blessing any man can enjoy – Brook Hays, a Thirty-Third degree Scottish Rite Mason and Arkansas congressman literally sacrificed his political career for Public Schools.

A lay-preacher and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Hays also took a stand against many of his Southern Baptist cronies by leading the public charge against Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus who opposed providing public education equally to all races. Owing to Hays’ courage and persistence, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the Arkansas National Guard to go into action. By his command they advanced into that state and restored obedience to the new law of the land – Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas – and thereby forever linked all of America and Freemasonry to a commitment to a free public education for all people.

In 1985 when Fred Kleinknecht was elected to serve as Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite, Public Schools were under assault by various religious organizations bent upon wresting control of education from the hands of a secular public. Two Masonic values were under attack: the freedom of religion and the right of all people to a free public education. Kleinknecht was determined to continue the work of his predecessor, Henry Clausen, to keep religion separate from the state – the one and only certain way to prevent the tyranny of theocratic doctrine. Grand Commander Kleinknecht would forever be dogged during his tenure by religious fundamentalists who eventually turned their ire directly against Masonry – an ire that to this day has not entirely abated.

It didn’t help Kleinknecht’s position in the eyes of his persistent detractors that Clausen had previously taken a firm public stance against prayer in Public Schools while serving as Grand Commander. To those fervently pressing for inclusion of prayer in Public Schools, Clausen’s stance was viewed as emblematic of all that is wrong with Masonry. The result has been a continuous and unrelenting effort to discredit the Craft and its members. It is no surprise that the assault by some powerful forces upon Public Schools has also increased and poses a threat to a bedrock of human freedom.

Today our Public Schools are operated at the state level by departments of education, and locally by school districts, as well as publicly elected or appointed officials. By one estimate there are approximately 15,000 such school districts operating throughout the nation. Most are supervised and run by individual counties. Because there is little federal oversight, curricula differs from state to state – a fact that has prompted some to opine that greater coordination or centralization would even out the existing disparities among the states in student performance.

While literacy rates among students at all levels in elementary school are perhaps the most important issue for Masons to focus upon, it is equally important to understand why some outspoken critics of Public Schools blame poor performance upon the system and its teachers, but give little credit to either when students perform well. The maxim “follow the money” is particularly relevant.

First, Public Schools are funded by tax monies paid by taxpaying citizens. No one likes paying taxes and when they are asked to pay more than they have in the past, many people point fingers of blame at supposed inefficiencies within the system.

Property taxes pay for most of the cost of Public Schools. Although some monies flow into the system from parents, private fundraising, as well as federal, state and local governments, it remains those taxes which comprise the lion’s share of funding. In California, a so-called “taxpayer revolt” and well-financed political campaign led to the passage of something referred to as “The People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation.” While the benefits and harm of that law can forever be debated, one fact about Public Schools is beyond debate: since the 1960’s when California schools were highly ranked among the nation’s Public Schools, there has been a steady decline since The People’s Initiative was made law. Today the state’s Public School students now rank 48th out of 50 states in many surveys about student achievement.

For Masonry the challenge is not about endorsing or opposing higher taxes, or even to adopt a position in that emotionally-charged debate. Rather, the challenge is to fully comprehend the forces at work for and against Public Schools. Our discussion is not about whether to support Public Schools – it is about how best Masonry can do so. Consequently it is essential for Masons to engage in a dispassionate discussion about Public Schools without getting drawn into the politics that never seem far away. Perhaps the forum our Craft provides, devoid of political ambition, is the best forum within which that discussion can take place.

On April 1, 2011, the California Grand Lodge will “kick-off” its strategic plan to make a profound difference in public education. Celebrations up and down the state will take place at various Public School sites intended to communicate clearly and very publicly that Masonry intends to work for the advancement of Public Schools. It intends to do so because a productive, educated middle class is fundamental to the perpetuation of a free society. Enlightened people will not easily relinquish the freedoms first established by the Founding Fathers.

There is important work remaining to be done by California Masons. A kick-off celebration without something of substance to follow is little more than a show – not an effort to make a profound difference. Public school advisory councils drawing upon the talents and resources of Masons within their geographical boundaries consisting of a mix of age groups to discuss and decide upon ways to implement the Grand Lodge’s strategic plan hold out much promise for success. Masonry is at its best when it coordinates its lodges into a force for good. The advisory councils can be such a force.

Equally important, public school advisory councils provide an opportunity to California Masons that might not otherwise exist: the opportunity to engage members who are searching for something meaningful with which to make a personal commitment. As they progress through the various stages of initiation, from the First to the Third Degree, Masons anticipate learning about how they can be a part of something that changes society – and changes it positively. Our fraternal support of Public Schools offers the Craft a wonderful, perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put Masons to work to implement Masonic values dedicated to the hope that freedom will always prevail and that the pursuit of knowledge will forever be available to the rich and the poor, the high and the low – to all regardless of station in life.

Softdrink Production Technique – Step by Step Guide on How to Produce Softdrink

SOFTDRINK

MEANING: Softdrinks are the class of non-alcoholic beverage, usually but not necessarily carbonated, normally containing a natural or artificial sweetening agent, edible acids, natural or artificial flavours and sometimes juices.

SOFTDRINK SPECIALTY There are many types of softdrink. Mineral waters are very popular in Europe and latin America. Kava, made from roots of a bush shrub, Piper methysticum, is consumed by the people of Fiji and other Pacific Islands. In Cuba people enjoy a carbonated cane juice; its flavour comes from unrefined syrup. In tropical areas, where diets frequently lack sufficient protein, softdrinks containing soybean flour have been marketed. In Egypt Carob or Locustbean extract is used. In Brazil a softdrink is made using mate as a base. The Whey obtained from making buffalo cheese is carbonated and consumed as a softdrink in North Africa. Some Eastern Europeans enjoy drink prepared from fermented stale bread. Honey and orange juice go into a popular drink of Israel.

SOFTDRINK HISTORY

The first marketed softdrinks appeared in the 17th Century as a mixture of water and lemon juice sweetened with honey. In 1676 the Compagnie de Limonadiers was formed in Paris and granted a monopoly for the sale of its products. Vendors carried tanks on their backs from which they dispensed cups of lemonade.

Carbonated beverages and waters were developed from European attempts in the 17th Century to imitate the popular and naturally effervescent waters of famous springs, with primary interest in their reputed therapeutic values. Jan Baptist Van Helmont (1577 – 1644) first used the term gas in his reference to the carbon dioxide contents. Gabriel Venel referred to aerated water, confusing the gas with ordinary air. Joseph Black named the gaseous constituent fixed air.

Robert Boyle, the Anglo-Irish scientist who helped found modern chemistry, published his short memoirs for the Natural Experimental History of Mineral Waters in 1685. It included sections on examining mineral springs, on the properties of the water, on its effects upon human bodies, and, lastly, “of the imitation of natural medicinal waters by chymical and other artificial wayes”.

Numerous reports of experiments and investigation were included in the philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London in the Late 1700s, including the studies of Stephen Hales, Joseph Black, David Macbride, William Browning, Henry Cavendish, Thomas Lane, and others.

Joseph Priestley is nicknamed “the father of the soft drinks industry” for his experiments on gas obtained from the fermenting vats of a brewery. In 1772 he demonstrated a small carbonating apparatus to the college of physicians in London, suggesting that, with the aid of a pump, water might be more highly impregnated with fixed air. Antoine Lavoisier in Paris made the same suggestion in 1773.

To Thomas Henry, an apothecary in Manchester, England, is attributed the first production of carbonated water, which he made in 12-gallon barrels using an apparatus based on Priestley’s, Jacob Schweppe, A jeweler in Geneva, read the papers of Priestley and Lavoisier and determined to make a similar devices. By 1794 he was selling his highly carbonated artificial mineral waters to his friends in Geneva; later he started a business in London.

At first, bottled waters were used medicinally, as evidenced in a letter written by English Industrialist Matthew Boulton to the Philosopher Erasmus Darwin in 1794: “J. Schweppe prepares his mineral waters of three sorts. No. 1 is for common drinking with your dinner. No. 2 is for nephritick patients and No. 3 contains the most alkali given only in more violent cases”. By about 1820, improvements in manufacturing process allowed a much greater output, and bottled water became popular. Mineral salts and flavours were added – ginger about 1820, lemon in the 1830s, tonic in 1858. In 1886, John Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, Ga., invented Coca-Cola, the first Cola drink.

SOFTDRINK PRODUCTION INGREDIENTS

The ingredients used in softdrinks include Water, CO2 , Sugar, Acids, Juices and Flavours.

SOFTDRINK PRODUCTION PROCESS

Water Purification. Water is treated by a process known as super-chlorination and coagulation. There, the water is exposed for two hours to a high concentration of chlorine and to a flocculants, which removes such organisms as plankton; it then passes through a sand filter and activated carbon.

Carbondioxide and carbonation., Carbondioxide gas given the beverage its sparkle and targy taste and prevents spoilage. Carbondioxide is supplied to the softdrink manufacturer in either solid from (Dry ice) or liquid form maintained under approximately 1,200 pounds per square inch pressure in heavy steel containers. Light weight steel containers are used when the liquid carbondioxide is held under refrigeration. In that case, the internal pressure is about 325 pounds per square inch. Carbonation is effected by chilling the liquid and cascading it in thin layers over a series of plates in an enclosure containing carbondioxide gas under pressure. The amount of gas the water will absorb increases as the pressure is increased and the temperature is decreased.

Flavouring syrup Flavouring syrup is normally concentrated salutation of a sweetener (artificial or sugar), an accidulant for tartness, flavouring, and a preservative when necessary. The flavouring syrup is made in two steps, first, a “simple syrup” is prepared by making a solution of water and sugar. This simple sugar solution can be treated with carbon and filtered if the sugar quality is poor. All of the other ingredients are then added in a precise order to make up what is called a “finished syrup”.

Finishing. There are two methods for producing a finished product from the flavouring syrup. In the first, the syrup is diluted with water and the product then cooled, carbonated, and bottled. In the second, the maker measures a precise amount of syrup into each bottle, then fills it with carbonated water. In either case, the sugar content is reduced to 8-13 percent in the finished beverage. The blending of syrups and mixing with plain or carbonated water, the container washing, and container filling are all done almost entirely by automatic machinery. Returnable bottles are washed in hot alkali solutions for a minimum of five minutes, then rinsed thoroughly. Single service or “one-tip” containers are generally air-rinsed or rinsed with potable water before filling. Automatic filters service from 30 to 2,000 containers per minute.

Insurance Law – An Indian Perspective

INTRODUCTION

“Insurance should be bought to protect you against a calamity that would otherwise be financially devastating.”

In simple terms, insurance allows someone who suffers a loss or accident to be compensated for the effects of their misfortune. It lets you protect yourself against everyday risks to your health, home and financial situation.

Insurance in India started without any regulation in the Nineteenth Century. It was a typical story of a colonial epoch: few British insurance companies dominating the market serving mostly large urban centers. After the independence, it took a theatrical turn. Insurance was nationalized. First, the life insurance companies were nationalized in 1956, and then the general insurance business was nationalized in 1972. It was only in 1999 that the private insurance companies have been allowed back into the business of insurance with a maximum of 26% of foreign holding.

“The insurance industry is enormous and can be quite intimidating. Insurance is being sold for almost anything and everything you can imagine. Determining what’s right for you can be a very daunting task.”

Concepts of insurance have been extended beyond the coverage of tangible asset. Now the risk of losses due to sudden changes in currency exchange rates, political disturbance, negligence and liability for the damages can also be covered.

But if a person thoughtfully invests in insurance for his property prior to any unexpected contingency then he will be suitably compensated for his loss as soon as the extent of damage is ascertained.

The entry of the State Bank of India with its proposal of bank assurance brings a new dynamics in the game. The collective experience of the other countries in Asia has already deregulated their markets and has allowed foreign companies to participate. If the experience of the other countries is any guide, the dominance of the Life Insurance Corporation and the General Insurance Corporation is not going to disappear any time soon.

The aim of all insurance is to compensate the owner against loss arising from a variety of risks, which he anticipates, to his life, property and business. Insurance is mainly of two types: life insurance and general insurance. General insurance means Fire, Marine and Miscellaneous insurance which includes insurance against burglary or theft, fidelity guarantee, insurance for employer’s liability, and insurance of motor vehicles, livestock and crops.

LIFE INSURANCE IN INDIA

“Life insurance is the heartfelt love letter ever written.

It calms down the crying of a hungry baby at night. It relieves the heart of a bereaved widow.

It is the comforting whisper in the dark silent hours of the night.”

Life insurance made its debut in India well over 100 years ago. Its salient features are not as widely understood in our country as they ought to be. There is no statutory definition of life insurance, but it has been defined as a contract of insurance whereby the insured agrees to pay certain sums called premiums, at specified time, and in consideration thereof the insurer agreed to pay certain sums of money on certain condition sand in specified way upon happening of a particular event contingent upon the duration of human life.

Life insurance is superior to other forms of savings!

“There is no death. Life Insurance exalts life and defeats death.

It is the premium we pay for the freedom of living after death.”

Savings through life insurance guarantee full protection against risk of death of the saver. In life insurance, on death, the full sum assured is payable (with bonuses wherever applicable) whereas in other savings schemes, only the amount saved (with interest) is payable.

The essential features of life insurance are a) it is a contract relating to human life, which b) provides for payment of lump-sum amount, and c) the amount is paid after the expiry of certain period or on the death of the assured. The very purpose and object of the assured in taking policies from life insurance companies is to safeguard the interest of his dependents viz., wife and children as the case may be, in the even of premature death of the assured as a result of the happening in any contingency. A life insurance policy is also generally accepted as security for even a commercial loan.

NON-LIFE INSURANCE

“Every asset has a value and the business of general insurance is related to the protection of economic value of assets.”

Non-life insurance means insurance other than life insurance such as fire, marine, accident, medical, motor vehicle and household insurance. Assets would have been created through the efforts of owner, which can be in the form of building, vehicles, machinery and other tangible properties. Since tangible property has a physical shape and consistency, it is subject to many risks ranging from fire, allied perils to theft and robbery.

Few of the General Insurance policies are:

Property Insurance: The home is most valued possession. The policy is designed to cover the various risks under a single policy. It provides protection for property and interest of the insured and family.

Health Insurance: It provides cover, which takes care of medical expenses following hospitalization from sudden illness or accident.

Personal Accident Insurance: This insurance policy provides compensation for loss of life or injury (partial or permanent) caused by an accident. This includes reimbursement of cost of treatment and the use of hospital facilities for the treatment.

Travel Insurance: The policy covers the insured against various eventualities while traveling abroad. It covers the insured against personal accident, medical expenses and repatriation, loss of checked baggage, passport etc.

Liability Insurance: This policy indemnifies the Directors or Officers or other professionals against loss arising from claims made against them by reason of any wrongful Act in their Official capacity.

Motor Insurance: Motor Vehicles Act states that every motor vehicle plying on the road has to be insured, with at least Liability only policy. There are two types of policy one covering the act of liability, while other covers insurers all liability and damage caused to one’s vehicles.

JOURNEY FROM AN INFANT TO ADOLESCENCE!

Historical Perspective

The history of life insurance in India dates back to 1818 when it was conceived as a means to provide for English Widows. Interestingly in those days a higher premium was charged for Indian lives than the non-Indian lives as Indian lives were considered more risky for coverage.

The Bombay Mutual Life Insurance Society started its business in 1870. It was the first company to charge same premium for both Indian and non-Indian lives. The Oriental Assurance Company was established in 1880. The General insurance business in India, on the other hand, can trace its roots to the Triton (Tital) Insurance Company Limited, the first general insurance company established in the year 1850 in Calcutta by the British. Till the end of nineteenth century insurance business was almost entirely in the hands of overseas companies.

Insurance regulation formally began in India with the passing of the Life Insurance Companies Act of 1912 and the Provident Fund Act of 1912. Several frauds during 20’s and 30’s desecrated insurance business in India. By 1938 there were 176 insurance companies. The first comprehensive legislation was introduced with the Insurance Act of 1938 that provided strict State Control over insurance business. The insurance business grew at a faster pace after independence. Indian companies strengthened their hold on this business but despite the growth that was witnessed, insurance remained an urban phenomenon.

The Government of India in 1956, brought together over 240 private life insurers and provident societies under one nationalized monopoly corporation and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) was born. Nationalization was justified on the grounds that it would create much needed funds for rapid industrialization. This was in conformity with the Government’s chosen path of State lead planning and development.

The (non-life) insurance business continued to prosper with the private sector till 1972. Their operations were restricted to organized trade and industry in large cities. The general insurance industry was nationalized in 1972. With this, nearly 107 insurers were amalgamated and grouped into four companies – National Insurance Company, New India Assurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company. These were subsidiaries of the General Insurance Company (GIC).

The life insurance industry was nationalized under the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) Act of India. In some ways, the LIC has become very flourishing. Regardless of being a monopoly, it has some 60-70 million policyholders. Given that the Indian middle-class is around 250-300 million, the LIC has managed to capture some 30 odd percent of it. Around 48% of the customers of the LIC are from rural and semi-urban areas. This probably would not have happened had the charter of the LIC not specifically set out the goal of serving the rural areas. A high saving rate in India is one of the exogenous factors that have helped the LIC to grow rapidly in recent years. Despite the saving rate being high in India (compared with other countries with a similar level of development), Indians display high degree of risk aversion. Thus, nearly half of the investments are in physical assets (like property and gold). Around twenty three percent are in (low yielding but safe) bank deposits. In addition, some 1.3 percent of the GDP are in life insurance related savings vehicles. This figure has doubled between 1985 and 1995.

A World viewpoint – Life Insurance in India

In many countries, insurance has been a form of savings. In many developed countries, a significant fraction of domestic saving is in the form of donation insurance plans. This is not surprising. The prominence of some developing countries is more surprising. For example, South Africa features at the number two spot. India is nestled between Chile and Italy. This is even more surprising given the levels of economic development in Chile and Italy. Thus, we can conclude that there is an insurance culture in India despite a low per capita income. This promises well for future growth. Specifically, when the income level improves, insurance (especially life) is likely to grow rapidly.

INSURANCE SECTOR REFORM:

Committee Reports: One Known, One Anonymous!

Although Indian markets were privatized and opened up to foreign companies in a number of sectors in 1991, insurance remained out of bounds on both counts. The government wanted to proceed with caution. With pressure from the opposition, the government (at the time, dominated by the Congress Party) decided to set up a committee headed by Mr. R. N. Malhotra (the then Governor of the Reserve Bank of India).

Malhotra Committee

Liberalization of the Indian insurance market was suggested in a report released in 1994 by the Malhotra Committee, indicating that the market should be opened to private-sector competition, and eventually, foreign private-sector competition. It also investigated the level of satisfaction of the customers of the LIC. Inquisitively, the level of customer satisfaction seemed to be high.

In 1993, Malhotra Committee – headed by former Finance Secretary and RBI Governor Mr. R. N. Malhotra – was formed to evaluate the Indian insurance industry and recommend its future course. The Malhotra committee was set up with the aim of complementing the reforms initiated in the financial sector. The reforms were aimed at creating a more efficient and competitive financial system suitable for the needs of the economy keeping in mind the structural changes presently happening and recognizing that insurance is an important part of the overall financial system where it was necessary to address the need for similar reforms. In 1994, the committee submitted the report and some of the key recommendations included:

o Structure

Government bet in the insurance Companies to be brought down to 50%. Government should take over the holdings of GIC and its subsidiaries so that these subsidiaries can act as independent corporations. All the insurance companies should be given greater freedom to operate.

Competition

Private Companies with a minimum paid up capital of Rs.1 billion should be allowed to enter the sector. No Company should deal in both Life and General Insurance through a single entity. Foreign companies may be allowed to enter the industry in collaboration with the domestic companies. Postal Life Insurance should be allowed to operate in the rural market. Only one State Level Life Insurance Company should be allowed to operate in each state.

o Regulatory Body

The Insurance Act should be changed. An Insurance Regulatory body should be set up. Controller of Insurance – a part of the Finance Ministry- should be made Independent.

o Investments

Compulsory Investments of LIC Life Fund in government securities to be reduced from 75% to 50%. GIC and its subsidiaries are not to hold more than 5% in any company (there current holdings to be brought down to this level over a period of time).

o Customer Service

LIC should pay interest on delays in payments beyond 30 days. Insurance companies must be encouraged to set up unit linked pension plans. Computerization of operations and updating of technology to be carried out in the insurance industry. The committee accentuated that in order to improve the customer services and increase the coverage of insurance policies, industry should be opened up to competition. But at the same time, the committee felt the need to exercise caution as any failure on the part of new competitors could ruin the public confidence in the industry. Hence, it was decided to allow competition in a limited way by stipulating the minimum capital requirement of Rs.100 crores.

The committee felt the need to provide greater autonomy to insurance companies in order to improve their performance and enable them to act as independent companies with economic motives. For this purpose, it had proposed setting up an independent regulatory body – The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.

Reforms in the Insurance sector were initiated with the passage of the IRDA Bill in Parliament in December 1999. The IRDA since its incorporation as a statutory body in April 2000 has meticulously stuck to its schedule of framing regulations and registering the private sector insurance companies.

Since being set up as an independent statutory body the IRDA has put in a framework of globally compatible regulations. The other decision taken at the same time to provide the supporting systems to the insurance sector and in particular the life insurance companies was the launch of the IRDA online service for issue and renewal of licenses to agents. The approval of institutions for imparting training to agents has also ensured that the insurance companies would have a trained workforce of insurance agents in place to sell their products.

The Government of India liberalized the insurance sector in March 2000 with the passage of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Bill, lifting all entry restrictions for private players and allowing foreign players to enter the market with some limits on direct foreign ownership. Under the current guidelines, there is a 26 percent equity lid for foreign partners in an insurance company. There is a proposal to increase this limit to 49 percent.

The opening up of the sector is likely to lead to greater spread and deepening of insurance in India and this may also include restructuring and revitalizing of the public sector companies. In the private sector 12 life insurance and 8 general insurance companies have been registered. A host of private Insurance companies operating in both life and non-life segments have started selling their insurance policies since 2001

Mukherjee Committee

Immediately after the publication of the Malhotra Committee Report, a new committee, Mukherjee Committee was set up to make concrete plans for the requirements of the newly formed insurance companies. Recommendations of the Mukherjee Committee were never disclosed to the public. But, from the information that filtered out it became clear that the committee recommended the inclusion of certain ratios in insurance company balance sheets to ensure transparency in accounting. But the Finance Minister objected to it and it was argued by him, probably on the advice of some of the potential competitors, that it could affect the prospects of a developing insurance company.

LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA ON REVISION OF THE INSURANCE ACT 1938 – 190th Law Commission Report

The Law Commission on 16th June 2003 released a Consultation Paper on the Revision of the Insurance Act, 1938. The previous exercise to amend the Insurance Act, 1938 was undertaken in 1999 at the time of enactment of the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority Act, 1999 (IRDA Act).

The Commission undertook the present exercise in the context of the changed policy that has permitted private insurance companies both in the life and non-life sectors. A need has been felt to toughen the regulatory mechanism even while streamlining the existing legislation with a view to removing portions that have become superfluous as a consequence of the recent changes.

Among the major areas of changes, the Consultation paper suggested the following:

a. merging of the provisions of the IRDA Act with the Insurance Act to avoid multiplicity of legislations;

b. deletion of redundant and transitory provisions in the Insurance Act, 1938;

c. Amendments reflect the changed policy of permitting private insurance companies and strengthening the regulatory mechanism;

d. Providing for stringent norms regarding maintenance of ‘solvency margin’ and investments by both public sector and private sector insurance companies;

e. Providing for a full-fledged grievance redressal mechanism that includes:

o The constitution of Grievance Redressal Authorities (GRAs) comprising one judicial and two technical members to deal with complaints/claims of policyholders against insurers (the GRAs are expected to replace the present system of insurer appointed Ombudsman);

o Appointment of adjudicating officers by the IRDA to determine and levy penalties on defaulting insurers, insurance intermediaries and insurance agents;

o Providing for an appeal against the decisions of the IRDA, GRAs and adjudicating officers to an Insurance Appellate Tribunal (IAT) comprising a judge (sitting or retired) of the Supreme Court/Chief Justice of a High Court as presiding officer and two other members having sufficient experience in insurance matters;

o Providing for a statutory appeal to the Supreme Court against the decisions of the IAT.

LIFE & NON-LIFE INSURANCE – Development and Growth!

The year 2006 turned out to be a momentous year for the insurance sector as regulator the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority Act, laid the foundation for free pricing general insurance from 2007, while many companies announced plans to attack into the sector.

Both domestic and foreign players robustly pursued their long-pending demand for increasing the FDI limit from 26 per cent to 49 per cent and toward the fag end of the year, the Government sent the Comprehensive Insurance Bill to Group of Ministers for consideration amid strong reservation from Left parties. The Bill is likely to be taken up in the Budget session of Parliament.

The infiltration rates of health and other non-life insurances in India are well below the international level. These facts indicate immense growth potential of the insurance sector. The hike in FDI limit to 49 per cent was proposed by the Government last year. This has not been operationalized as legislative changes are required for such hike. Since opening up of the insurance sector in 1999, foreign investments of Rs. 8.7 billion have tipped into the Indian market and 21 private companies have been granted licenses.

The involvement of the private insurers in various industry segments has increased on account of both their capturing a part of the business which was earlier underwritten by the public sector insurers and also creating additional business boulevards. To this effect, the public sector insurers have been unable to draw upon their inherent strengths to capture additional premium. Of the growth in premium in 2004-05, 66.27 per cent has been captured by the private insurers despite having 20 per cent market share.

The life insurance industry recorded a premium income of Rs.82854.80 crore during the financial year 2004-05 as against Rs.66653.75 crore in the previous financial year, recording a growth of 24.31 per cent. The contribution of first year premium, single premium and renewal premium to the total premium was Rs.15881.33 crore (19.16 per cent); Rs.10336.30 crore (12.47 per cent); and Rs.56637.16 crore (68.36 per cent), respectively. In the year 2000-01, when the industry was opened up to the private players, the life insurance premium was Rs.34,898.48 crore which constituted of Rs. 6996.95 crore of first year premium, Rs. 25191.07 crore of renewal premium and Rs. 2740.45 crore of single premium. Post opening up, single premium had declined from Rs.9, 194.07 crore in the year 2001-02 to Rs.5674.14 crore in 2002-03 with the withdrawal of the guaranteed return policies. Though it went up marginally in 2003-04 to Rs.5936.50 crore (4.62 per cent growth) 2004-05, however, witnessed a significant shift with the single premium income rising to Rs. 10336.30 crore showing 74.11 per cent growth over 2003-04.

The size of life insurance market increased on the strength of growth in the economy and concomitant increase in per capita income. This resulted in a favourable growth in total premium both for LIC (18.25 per cent) and to the new insurers (147.65 per cent) in 2004-05. The higher growth for the new insurers is to be viewed in the context of a low base in 2003- 04. However, the new insurers have improved their market share from 4.68 in 2003-04 to 9.33 in 2004-05.

The segment wise break up of fire, marine and miscellaneous segments in case of the public sector insurers was Rs.2411.38 crore, Rs.982.99 crore and Rs.10578.59 crore, i.e., a growth of (-)1.43 per cent, 1.81 per cent and 6.58 per cent. The public sector insurers reported growth in Motor and Health segments (9 and 24 per cent). These segments accounted for 45 and 10 per cent of the business underwritten by the public sector insurers. Fire and “Others” accounted for 17.26 and 11 per cent of the premium underwritten. Aviation, Liability, “Others” and Fire recorded negative growth of 29, 21, 3.58 and 1.43 per cent. In no other country that opened at the same time as India have foreign companies been able to grab a 22 per cent market share in the life segment and about 20 per cent in the general insurance segment. The share of foreign insurers in other competing Asian markets is not more than 5 to 10 per cent.

The life insurance sector grew new premium at a rate not seen before while the general insurance sector grew at a faster rate. Two new players entered into life insurance – Shriram Life and Bharti Axa Life – taking the total number of life players to 16. There was one new entrant to the non-life sector in the form of a standalone health insurance company – Star Health and Allied Insurance, taking the non-life players to 14.

A large number of companies, mostly nationalized banks (about 14) such as Bank of India and Punjab National Bank, have announced plans to enter the insurance sector and some of them have also formed joint ventures.

The proposed change in FDI cap is part of the comprehensive amendments to insurance laws – The Insurance Act of 1999, LIC Act, 1956 and IRDA Act, 1999. After the proposed amendments in the insurance laws LIC would be able to maintain reserves while insurance companies would be able to raise resources other than equity.

About 14 banks are in queue to enter insurance sector and the year 2006 saw several joint venture announcements while others scout partners. Bank of India has teamed up with Union Bank and Japanese insurance major Dai-ichi Mutual Life while PNB tied up with Vijaya Bank and Principal for foraying into life insurance. Allahabad Bank, Karnataka Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Dabur Investment Corporation and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc have tied up for forming a non-life insurance company while Bank of Maharashtra has tied up with Shriram Group and South Africa’s Sanlam group for non-life insurance venture.

CONCLUSION

It seems cynical that the LIC and the GIC will wither and die within the next decade or two. The IRDA has taken “at a snail’s pace” approach. It has been very cautious in granting licenses. It has set up fairly strict standards for all aspects of the insurance business (with the probable exception of the disclosure requirements). The regulators always walk a fine line. Too many regulations kill the motivation of the newcomers; too relaxed regulations may induce failure and fraud that led to nationalization in the first place. India is not unique among the developing countries where the insurance business has been opened up to foreign competitors.

The insurance business is at a critical stage in India. Over the next couple of decades we are likely to witness high growth in the insurance sector for two reasons namely; financial deregulation always speeds up the development of the insurance sector and growth in per capita GDP also helps the insurance business to grow.

Common Mistakes Writers Make When Writing

For those writers who plan to have a book published, I can only hope that your manuscript will go through a thorough edit before it is printed. That is especially important for those who self-publish or use publish-on-demand services to bring their book to market. These methods usually do not require or offer editing services to catch mistakes that can cost you credibility as an author.

As an editor for individual authors as well as working as a contracted editor for two publishers, I’ve seen many grammatical or mechanical errors in manuscripts. I’ll share a few of the more common mistakes in hopes that you might avoid these pitfalls.

Please note that Associated Press (AP) style is commonly used for journalistic works such as newspapers and Web text. The examples I am going to use are from Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) published by the University of Chicago Press. It is one of the most respected and trustworthy guidelines for literary works such as books.

1. A very common error in many of the books I edit or proofread occurs in the title, headers, and subheaders. The Chicago Manual of Style 7.127 states: In regular title capitalization, also known as headline style, the first and last words and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions (if, because, as, that, etc.) are capitalized. Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and prepositions, regardless of length, are lowercase unless they are the first or last word of the title or subtitle.

2. A book is not entitled (meaning deserving, allowed, permitted); it is titled (meaning to have a title, label, or name).

3. The titles of books, record albums, movies, TV shows, and screenplays should be in italic type. Do not use “quotation” marks. Do not underline these titles unless you are formatting them for a bibliography. However, article titles and poem and song titles do go inside quotation marks.

4. Unless a word is an acronym, it should not be in ALL CAPS. Use italics for emphasis.

5. OK should be spelled out: okay.

6. ISBN is the acronym for International Standard Book Number. To write “ISBN number” is the same as stating International Standard Book Number number. It is redundant to use the word “number” or the pound symbol (#) after ISBN.

7. Percent symbols (%) should be spelled out “percent” unless used in a chart or table. Numbers followed by a percent should be in numeric form. Example: 91 percent. However, if a percentage is the first word of a sentence in a literary work, it should be spelled out. Example: Ninety-one percent of the students passed the test.

8. Use one space (not two) after a period, question mark, colon, or semi-colon. This is quite the opposite of what we were taught in typing class way back when! It can be a hard habit to break.

9. CMOS 5.57 states, “In a series listing three or more items, the elements are separated by a comma.” For example: The dog, cat, hippo, and cow jumped over the moon.

10. When writing years, do not use an apostrophe. Example: 1960s, not 1960’s unless you want the possessive form of the word. If abbreviated: ’60s is correct; 60’s is incorrect. Notice that the apostrophe [ ‘ ] is used as a placeholder for missing the numbers, and not a single close quote mark [ ‘ ] which faces the opposite direction.

11. Speaking of years, hyphens and numerals are used when you write “the 16-year-old boy.” No hyphen is needed, and the number is spelled out when you write “the boy is sixteen years old.”

12. Internet is a proper noun and the first letter should be capitalized. The debate on whether or not Web should be capitalized is still ongoing. CMOS says it should be written in proper case. It is another name for World Wide Web, which is a proper noun.

RE: Web site. When a word is used a lot, its spelling becomes commonly accepted even if it is incorrect. The most common spelling and use of this word is website. However, according to CMOS, it is two words: Web site. As long as you are consistent throughout your book or document, I doubt most people will question either spelling.

13. The em dash [-] is defined as one em (letter “m”) in width. The double hyphen will convert to an em dash-if you type two dashes (hyphens) — and do not put a space before or after. Or, you may create an em dash in Windows-based programs by pressing and holding Caps Lock and Alt while typing 0151 on your number key pad. Similar to a parenthetical phrase (like this), the em dash sets apart clauses in a sentence.

14. The en dash [-] is one en (letter “n”) in width: half the width of an em dash. The en dash is used to indicate a closed range, or a connection between two things of almost any kind: numbers, people, places, etc. For example: June-July 2008. Create an en dash in Windows-based programs by pressing and holding Caps Lock and Alt while typing 0150 on your number key pad. There should be no space before or after an en dash.

15. When writing dialogue, all punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. When a word or phrase is used to set apart text in scare quotes, the first example below is correct; the second is incorrect:

Every day we hear that the price of gas has hit an “all time high.” Every day we hear that the price of gas has hit an “all time high”.

16. Numbers less than ten should always be spelled out. Some style guides will disagree about higher numbers. Chicago advocates that all numbers under 101 should be spelled out. If in question, always consult a style guide. Be consistent and use the same style guide throughout the document or manuscript. Correcting these common errors will make your manuscript much easier and enjoyable to read.

If you need assistance with preparing your book manuscript, the editors on our team would be happy to help you. Our rates are more affordable than you might expect. See writersinthesky.com for more information.

How to Be a Successful National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Member: How to Be a Professional Corper

The NYSC scheme is an avenue for corps members to acquire useful skills, knowledge and abilities. These skills are acquired through seminar, training, workshops, symposia, colloquium, etc. organized by the NYSC in conjunction with other organizations. These life-changing activities are one of the most profitable aspects of the NYSC scheme.

From the orientation camp, every corper will be given opportunities to acquire skill and information that will be very profitable in life. Speakers, professionals and practitioners from various fields will be invited to educate corps members on how to maximize their service year. Life after service year will also be discussed. Some community development service groups like: Nigerian Road Safety, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Millennium Development Goal, Humanitarian/ Welfare Group, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission. Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Red Cross. Etc, will also be invited to give specialized lectures. Their operations, goals and objectives will be unveiled. Corpers will be persuaded to join any of the CDS groups. It is compulsory that you must be a member of at least one CDS group. At the end of the service year you will be given membership certificates, which are very useful after service.

Apart from the above benefits, there is another silent but celebrated privilege of the NYSC scheme that will make you self-dependent, self-employed or gain employment before the end or after your service year. The NYSC always partner with various professional bodies in the quest to make youth corps members self-reliant. These professional bodies train and equip corpers with necessary skills to make them successful. Through the process of lectures, seminar and examination corps members are fully empowered. These prestigious bodies are nationally and internationally recognized. The importance of these professional trainings and certificates are innumerable.

Although these professional bodies offer world-class services, their fees are very affordable. You may not believe the cost of acquiring these training and certificates. The reason for the reduced fees is that these professional bodies are aware of the allowance of corpers, and they know the importance of corps members to national development. A typical example is the Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria. This Institute is one of the brains behind my successful writing and speaking career. Its courses on entrepreneurship opened my eyes to profitable business opportunities in the Nigerian environment. They offer comprehensive services, and I can testify that their lectures and reading materials are of good standards. The fee was very affordable. Non NYSC members pay a very high fee to acquire this professional certificate.

So many professional bodies exist, take advantage of the reduced, priced and acquire professional skills and certificates. You might never have the opportunity again.

Most uninformed corps members perceive these professional trainings and certificates as waste of time and resources. They believe it is irrelevant. A wise man said that” no knowledge is a waste.” As an engineer you need managerial and administrative skills, even a doctor needs it, in fact, everyone that dreams to be a self-employed must acquire these skills. A social scientist or a management graduate needs technical knowledge because diversification is necessary in the business or employment market. Let’s briefly discuss some of the benefits of becoming a professional corper.

Self-Employment

One of the cardinal goals of these professional bodies is to raise professionals who will take the world economy to the next phase through the establishment of profitable small and medium-scale businesses. Their entrepreneurial and managerial lectures equip corpers to face the challenges of small and medium-scale enterprises and emerge successful. You will learn how to identify business opportunities and how to cheaply tap and execute them. The various means of capital generation and the practical steps to access these funds is one of the lectures I will never forget. These professional bodies offer vibrant and interesting lectures that will lead a young entrepreneur to the top.

Statistics have shown that only 50% of small businesses are still trading after their first three years from the initial set up. Most failure is attributed to lack of administrative, marketing and managerial skills. These skills can be acquired cheaply through professional training. I sold close to seven hundred copies of my books within one month through personal sales. It was possible because I acquired profitable management skills from various professional bodies. They offer practical courses that you can never acquire from any higher institution.

Majority of both national and international organization when recruiting make membership of professional bodies a criterion for employment. In most recruitment forms, there are always provisions to fill the professional bodies you belong to. In some cases, the vacancies are limited to only applicants who possess a certain professional certificate.

Don’t deprive yourself of a lucrative employment opportunity only because you fail to utilize an opportunity to acquire a professional training. Nigeria has millions of unemployed graduates, with just few jobs available. Only graduate with a niche can grab these limited employment opportunities. ‘Go the extra mile’, empower yourself and employers will beg for your service. Your curriculum vitae will even speak for you when you have acquired various training and certificates, they will send for you immediately you possess the skill they want. Professional training gives you an advantage over other applicants.

I secured my first job immediately after service without undergoing any aptitude test or formal interview. The owner of the firm was a Fellow of a professional body in which I am an associate. When I discovered that, I told his assistant that I wanted to see his boss. When I introduced myself the only question he asked was; can you do the job? And I said yes, that was all. I was given the job while other applicants continued the employment process just for formalities.

Knowledge

The training, lectures, seminars and reading materials offered by these professional institutions are sources of uncommon knowledge. As an entrepreneur you need knowledge to outshine your competitors, and a worker must possess special knowledge to attract promotion and increase in earnings.

In addition, acquired knowledge can lead to the establishment of a profitable business enterprise. You can become a consultant with your professional skills and certificate. Immediately, you are inducted and certified, you are permitted to start practicing. You can establish a professional firm where businesses will come to seek professional advice, and you can make good money from consultation.

Currently, I am a management consultant, entrepreneurship expert and professional debt collector. I am qualified to carry out these skilled tasks because I am a member of Nigerian Institute of Management, Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria and the Institute of Debt Recovery Practitioners of Nigeria.

Information

Information is the only tool for development. Anyone who doesn’t value information will become obsolete. The world is moving, and things are changing every day. Your skills and professional knowledge must be updated constantly to enable you to compete favourably in the business environment and in the corporate circle. Membership of a professional body is a sure means to modernize your skills and knowledge.

Professional bodies always engage in diverse research. This leads to innovative discoveries and mind-blowing inventions. Members also engage in brainstorming sections that always produce solutions to challenges facing their profession. The only means of accessing this information is to be a member. They also organize seminars, workshops, exhibitions, meeting, etc., to acquaint members with the current trend in the profession. You can never be outdated as an active member of a professional body. They also give professional advice to members to enable them to overcome business or corporate challenges.

Association

All you need to succeed in life is meeting the right people at the right time. Your professional body can link you to people that can lead to your advancement in business and other endeavors. During professional body meetings, you will meet successful business executives and professionals. Most of them are very influential in the society; they can connect you to a job, contract, business opportunities and even a political appointment. Nobody is an island, so you must interact with the right minds to succeed.

It is very important to state that the more you associate with successful people, the greater your chance of becoming successful. You can stand on the shoulder of some senior colleague and make giant strides. All you might need to become successful might be a call or a recommendation letter from a prominent citizen.

It is possible to enroll and grab as much as three professional certificates within the one-year service period. Just choose any professional body of your choice regardless of your course of study, because no knowledge is a waste.

Please grab this opportunity now, lest, it may be difficult and expensive to acquire such certificates at the expiration of your service year.

College and the Autistic Student

Autism, a neurological-based developmental disability, affects an estimated one in 166 people, according to a 2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control Prevention. Both children and adults with Autism typically show difficulties in verbal and nonverbal communication, social interactions and leisure or play activities, according to the Autism Society of America. Autism affects individuals differently and to varying degrees.

Experts agree on the following advice upon detection of Autism:

1. Seek immediate treatment for your child.

2. If possible, find someone to work with the child at least 20 hours a week, i.e. a therapist, teacher, parent, grandparent or someone from your church or group. Look for progress after one month.

3. Do not allow the child to sit and watch TV all day. Get them engaged and play as many games as possible that require taking turns.

4. New parents learning they have an autistic child must recognize immediately that they cannot do it all by themselves. They should immediately contact Autism societies or chapters to find resources, join support groups and talk with other families about their experiences.

5. Help the child to develop their areas of strength, particularly among high-functioning students with Asperger’s Syndrome (a neurobiological condition characterized by normal intelligence and language development with deficiencies in social and communication skills), and get them job experiences during high school.

Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia is one of the few colleges in the US that has a special program in their Autism Training Center, which works with Autism spectrum disorders like Aspergers. Although many colleges have counselors and staff familiar with Autism, only Marshall has a program tailored specifically for autistic students. The program serves three of the university’s 16,360 students and may eventually accommodate 10; it will remain small by choice.

“The goal is not for all students with Autism to attend Marshall, but for the program to become a model for other colleges,” says Barbara Becker-Cottrill, the Center’s director. “The true goal is for students to have the ability to attend the university of their choice. Our work will be working with other universities on how to establish a program such as this on their own campuses.”

Kim Ramsey, the Marshall program’s director, had this to say, “The problem is, social and daily living issues are interfering.”

This is not to be confused with a special education program. Like all students, they must meet and maintain the university’s academic standards. The Center offers tutoring, counseling, a quiet space to take exams, and help in the navigation of the bureaucracy and social world of college, i.e. how to schedule classes, join clubs, buy books and replace ATM cards that don’t work.

In a recent issue of the bimonthly, Asperger’s Digest, Lars Perner, an assistant professor of marketing at San Diego State University who has Asperger’s Syndrome, said, “How many college students have forms of Autism is impossible to determine as many go undiagnosed or are simply perceived as a little bit strange. The exact cause is unknown, although both genetics and environmental factors are suspected of playing a role. Some of these students might be able to get into college because of fairly strong academic credentials and a reasonable academic showing. That may not mean they will be able to stay in college.” Perner is also the author of a college selection guide.

Sadly, most autistic students either drop out or don’t even apply to college because they have difficulty with such tasks as doing all the paperwork, time management, taking notes and sitting for exams. Stephen Shore, who is finishing his doctoral degree in special education at Boston University and has been diagnosed with atypical development with strong autistic tendencies, said, “More programs like Marshall’s were needed. I think they would do much better and there would be a much higher rate of success if this type of program were available elsewhere.” However, as researchers learn more about Autism and public school services for Autism improve, more autistic students will graduate from high school and be academically, socially and emotionally prepared for college.

College Selection – Your Number One Priority

The following must be considered, but only after the family has visited the campus and is convinced their student will be able to “survive” at that school:

1. Accommodations: If proper accommodations are not made available to the student, then it would be futile to attend that particular college.

2. Curriculum: Ideally, there will be enough areas of interest for the student.

3. Setting: Urban or rural, close to home or far away, and a large or small student body are all issues that must be factored in.

4. Cost: Last but not least; like the 5th C when searching for that perfect diamond – is the cost. Paying for college is actually the easy part, because no matter what, you can borrow the money! And never lose sight of the fact that all the financial aid in the world is useless without that coveted admission ticket!

Some other criteria that should be particularly important for autistic students include:

1. A highly structured academic program

2. A second-to-none disabilities services program (or its equivalent)

3. A willingness to be flexible

4. Support for individual needs and a centralized counseling center

Experience with Autism is helpful, but the most important characteristics of the disabilities services program and counseling center are the commitment to providing individualized support and a willingness to learn about each student’s disability and needs. Because of the learning differences of students with high functioning Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome, they often benefit from tutoring, organizational and personal support services.

Sometimes, a smaller school is easier for students who learn better in a smaller and quieter environment. For students who will find the degree of independence and organization required for living at college to be intimidating, it can be helpful to live at home for the first year or two of college, and gradually make the transition to more independent living. Some colleges offer cooperative education programs, in which students alternate between taking academic courses and working in related jobs. Such programs have the ability to help students explore potential careers and develop essential work skills.

Academic Assistance and Accommodations

In college, students are given the responsibility of advocating for themselves. They can receive support from the disabilities services program or not, but they will have to be able to make many decisions for themselves.

In many colleges, the disabilities services program will write a letter to relevant professors indicating that a student has a disability and may need special accommodations. This letter might be the student’s responsibility to give to the professor, or it might be sent out to each professor. In either case, it is then likely to be the student’s responsibility to follow up with the professor and request specific help.

Many students will need coaching and support in order to do this. Some counselors may be willing and able to help, others will not. In many instances, it will be necessary and helpful to have a tutor. The disabilities service center will usually be able to assist with the required services.

Academic accommodations have been helpful as well as necessary for some students with Asperger’s High Functioning Autism because they need a little longer to process information and organize responses. This can mean that they will take a little longer in responding to questions in class and should receive the required extra time on quizzes, tests and exams. Due to difficulties in processing and screening sensory information, a distraction-free environment may be important for ongoing studying and for taking exams.

Seating is often important in lecture halls. Sitting at or close to the front and sometimes in the center of the row, can make it easier to hear and understand. Some students find it easier to sit near the front but in an aisle seat, so that they have a bit more room to spread out and are less likely to be bumped.

Seating is sometimes on a first-come, first served basis daily, or for the entire semester. If this is the case, students should get to their first class early, or try to make preparations in advance. Some professors prefer assigned seating for the entire semester. In that case, students may need to talk to the professor in order to arrange for their special seating needs.

Some professors include class participation as a component of the grade and require recitals in front of the class and/or working together as part of a group. Such class requirements can be challenging for students with difficulties in oral communication or working together with others. In anticipation of this, students should be advised to talk to the professor about their disability early in the semester in order to attain special accommodations, if necessary, and the support and understanding of the professor which is always necessary.

Getting Organized

Most students with Autism spectrum disorders need clear, systematic organizational strategies for academic work and most likely for all other aspects of daily living. Calendars, checklists and other visual strategies for organizing activities should be developed with the student.

Course Selection

Many students with Asperger’s/High Functioning Autism will excel in courses that draw on factual memory and/or visual perceptual skills. An intuitive counselor or advisor can help guide the student to a curriculum that will capitalize on his or her strengths and interests.

The most difficult and challenging courses are those that require abstract verbal reasoning, flexible problem solving, extensive writing, or social reasoning. Such courses may be valuable to take, but could require extra time and support.

In her book, Pretending to be Normal, Liane Willey, an adult with Asperger’s Syndrome, recommends taking courses in communication and psychology in order to improve social understanding and skills. “It is often wise,” she advises, “to audit a course if it would take a long time to master the material.”

A somewhat relaxed class load is often the best course of action, especially during the freshman year when everything is new. For some students, a reduced course load can help keep the stress levels more manageable.

A related issue is that many students with Autism need extra time for thinking about problems and for completing work. This means they will need more time than most students for reading and doing assignments. This should be taken into account in planning a student’s course load so they will not be overwhelmed, which could have adverse consequences.

Social Groups and Activities

For some students, living on their own may be overwhelming as they often need more support than most freshmen for making social connections. All campuses have organized social groups and activities. Most students with high functioning Autism/Asperger’s will enjoy participating in some of these, but will need guidance with finding the right groups and introductions.

Always consider the student’s strengths and interests when looking for groups and activities. It might be beneficial to have someone, perhaps an older student, a mentor or advisor point out groups that would be of interest and help with the initial steps of becoming a participant. It may also be possible to mobilize other resources through Student Services, residence advisors and service organizations on campus.

Dorm Life

For many students with high functioning Autism, it is preferable to have a single room. This will provide a sanctuary where they can control their environment, focus on their work and daily activities without distraction, and not be forced to engage in social interaction all the time. Having a roommate can be highly stressful, and most experts agree that to be without one initially is the best choice. However, it is strongly recommended to have a mentor nearby.

When the student is in agreement, it can be helpful to inform the residence staff of their disability and the areas in which support may be needed. It is best if the student can discuss their disability with peers. It can also be helpful to meet with other students in adjacent rooms to discuss why their behavior may appear to be odd at times.

The Daily 9-5

It will prove most helpful to identify the likely pitfalls and provide the student with written guidelines and checklists in addition to advance preparation and training. The following are various aspects of daily life on the average college campus.

1. Meal plans and their rules; where to eat at non-meal times

2. Laundry

3. Spending money; budgeting

4. Using a campus ID and/or charge card

5. Dorm rules

6. Handling fire drills at any hour, especially in the middle of the night

7. Using communal bathrooms

8. Transportation

9. Campus maps

10. Locating security personnel

11. Finding rest rooms

12. Using an alarm clock

13. Campus mail, e-mail and instant messaging usage

14. Library hours and how to get help from a librarian, and for that matter, anyone else

15. Lecture hall procedures

16. Learning about and participating in dorm activities

17. Student health services

18. Medical, non-medical emergencies and non-emergency procedures

19. First aid and how to take care of oneself during a minor illness (including how to get liquids and food when they’re under the weather)

20. Finding time for physical exercise is important for many, not only for health reasons but also to help with stress management.

Plan Far In Advance

Thinking about these issues years in advance is necessary; doing something about it is mandatory! As part of the Individualized Education Plan process, each student should have a transition plan to learn the skills necessary for college. Many important skills that will facilitate success in college can be taught and practiced at home and while the student is still in high school. It is important that the student understand what his or her learning needs are, and the types of accommodations that will be helpful.

In college, students will probably find it helpful to talk to advisors and professors about these issues. This will be easier to do when it has been practiced in the more supportive environment of the home and the high school. At home, high school students should be learning and practicing daily living and independence skills so they will be able to be successful in college…

For further information about Autism and to view country artist Mark Leland’s emotionally charged video, “Missing Pieces,” a song for Autism, please visit Frinkfest.com [http://www.frinkfest.com], and the following:

The PARIS database contains details of all colleges known to The National Autistic Society that cater for students with autistic spectrum disorders. It is available at http://www.info.Autism.org.uk and is updated regularly. If you require further information please contact the NAS Information Centre.

Tel: + 44 (0)20 7903 3599 or 0845 070 4004.

http://www.about-disability.com/disability-aids/college-financial-aid-disabled-student-99.html College financial aid for disabled students.

A Few Resources

There are brief discussions of college-related topics in Liane Willey’s book, Pretending to be Normal, and in A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome & High-Functioning Autism, by Sally Ozonoff, Geraldine Dawson, and James McPartland.

Aquamarine Blue 5: Personal Stories of College Students with Autism, edited by Dawn Prince-Hughes, has 12 essays and an appendix of tips. A recent addition is Succeeding in College with Asperger Syndrome: A Student Guide, by John Harpur, Maria Lawlor, and Michael Fitzgerald.

Eric Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, One of their many useful articles, ERIC EC Digest #E620, is “Selecting a College for Students with Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).”

A web site from the United Kingdom, University Students with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, has many helpful links and some interesting articles by university students with Autism spectrum disorders.

North Carolina State University has a useful guide on transitioning from high school to college on their web site. Edmonds Community College and the University of Washington Autism Center.

Experts On The Subject

Dr. Ami Klin, http://www.info.med.yale.edu/chldstdy/Autism/staff.html

Dr. Klin is the Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychology and Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, and Yale – New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of London, and completed post-doctoral fellowships in developmental psychopathology at the Yale Child Study Center. He coordinates psychological evaluations at the Yale Child Study Center Developmental Disabilities Clinic, and the diagnostic, neuropsychological, and social cognitive assessments of three large, federally-funded program projects focused on behavioral and neurobiological aspects of Autism and related conditions. Dr. Klin is also Chief of Psychology at the Child Study Center.

His research activities focus on psychological and biological mechanisms impacting on socialization, particularly as these mechanisms are expressed in individuals with Autism and related severe social disabilities. These studies include novel techniques such as the new eye-tracking laboratory that allows researchers to see the world through the eyes of individuals with Autism, as well as to measure their patterns of viewing of naturalistic social situations. He is the author of over 80 publications in the field of Autism and related conditions. He is also the co-editor (with Drs. Fred Volkmar and Sara Sparrow) of a textbook on Asperger Syndrome, published by Guilford Press, and the third edition of the Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Disorders.

Carol Gray, http://www.thegraycenter.org

President of the Gray Center, Gray initiated and developed the use of Social Stories with students with autistic spectrum disorders, and has written several articles, resources and chapters on the subject. Gray co-authored the first article describing Social Stories, entitled Social Stories: Improving Responses of Students with Autism with Accurate Social Information, published in Focus on Autistic Behavior in April of 1993. Shortly thereafter, Gray edited the first book of Social Stories, The Original Social Story Book (1993), followed by New Social Stories (1994), which is now under the title, The New Illustrated Social Story Book (revised 2000).

Gray has written several chapters on the topic of Social Stories, including: Teaching Children with Autism to “Read” Social Situations, in Teaching Students with Autism, Methods to Enhance Learning, Communication, and Socialization, a text edited by Dr. Kathy Quill (1995, Delmar Publishers Inc.); Social Assistance, in Higher Functioning Adolescents and Young Adults with Autism, edited by Dr. Ann Fullerton (1996, Pro Ed Inc.); and Social Stories and Comic Strip Conversations, in Asperger Syndrome or High Functioning Autism? a text in the Current Issues in Autism series, edited by Dr. Eric Schopler, Dr. Gary Mesibov, and Dr. Linda Kunce (1998, Plenum Press).

Most recently, Gray has edited My Social Stories Book, a collection of Social Stories specifically written for young children. In addition, Gray has extensively researched the topic of bullying. Gray’s Guide to Bullying looks at bullying as it relates to people with ASD (The Morning News, winter 2000, spring 2001 & summer 2001). She has also worked on a curriculum to teach students how to avoid violence.

Gray has developed a variety of other resources addressing additional topics related to the education of children and adults with autistic spectrum disorders. She is the author of What’s Next? Educating Students for Success in the Community (1992), Taming the Recess Jungle (1993), and Comic Strip Conversations: Colorful, Illustrated Interactions with Students with Autism and Related Disorders (1994). She is also the editor of The Jenison Autism Journal (formerly The Morning News), an international newsletter that shares information among those working on behalf of individuals with autistic spectrum disorders. Gray is the recipient of the 1995 Barbara Lipinski Award for her international contribution to the education of children with autistic spectrum disorders.

Stephen Shore, http://www.Autismasperger.net

Diagnosed with “Atypical Development with strong autistic tendencies” Stephen Shore was viewed as “too sick” to be treated on an outpatient basis and recommended for institutionalization. Nonverbal until four, and with much help from his parents, teachers and others, Stephen Shore completed his doctoral degree in special education at Boston University with a focus on helping people on the Autism spectrum develop their capacities to the fullest extent possible.

In addition to working with children and talking about life of the Autism spectrum, Stephen presents and consults internationally on adult issues pertinent to education, relationships, employment, advocacy, and disclosure as discussed in his book Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome and numerous articles. He also serves on the board of the Autism Society of America, as board president of the Asperger’s Association of New England and is on the Board of Directors for Unlocking Autism, the Autism Services Association of MA and the Asperger Syndrome Coalition of the US.

Historical References to W E Fairbairn, E A Sykes AND Dermot "Pat" O’Neill

FROM THE BOOK: “PIERCING THE REICH”

AUTHOR: JOSEPH E. PERSICO

They learned the art of silent killing, perfected by W.E. Fairbairn, the legendary British Major, sometimes known as “Delicate Dan.” Knife strokes taught, should be upward, from the testicles to the chin. The hand in a “tiger claw” position was most effective for gouging out eyes. A single sheet of newspaper, they learned, could become a crude dagger. Fold the paper to approximately six inches by two inches. Then fold it diagonally to form a sharp point at one end. Drive the pointed end hard into the stomach or under the jaw, just behind the chin.

FROM THE BOOK: “BEHIND JAPANESE LINES”

AUTHOR: RICHARD DUNLOP

British Major Dan Fairbairn, who had been chief of police in Shanghai before the Japanese capture of the city, taught the Fairbairn method of assault and murder. His course was not restricted to Camp X but later given at OSS camps in the United States. All of us who were taught by Major Fairbairn soon realized that he had an honest dislike for anything that smacked of decency in fighting.

“To him, there were no rules in staying alive. He taught us to enter a fight with one idea; to kill an opponent quickly and efficiently,” said Ray Peers.

Fairbairn had invented a stiletto as precise as a surgeon’s scalpel. He wielded it with a flashing, slashing vigor that invariably proved fatal to an opponent.

“Why is it so long and thin?” I asked him one day in a question period during my own course of instruction. “It doesn’t have a cutting edge.”

“It doesn’t leave any marks on the body,” he replied. “Scarcely more than a tiny drop of blood.”

Fairbairn taught his trainees to fire anything from a pistol to a BAR at close quarters, by aiming with the body. In unarmed combat he overcame one hulking trainee after another. With a wry smile the wiry major would admonish his bruised and bleeding students, “Don’t let anybody lead you down the garden path.”

FROM THE BOOK: “THE FIRST COMMANDO KNIVES”

AUTHOR: PROF. KELLY YEATON, LT. COL. SAMUEL S. YEATON (USMC)

AND COL. REX APPLEGATE

On January 24th, 1933, he wrote me:

“This man Fairbairn is beyond the shadow of a doubt the greatest of “the greatest of them all.” I’ve had about 12 hours of conferences with him and done a couple of hour’s work on the mats. His stuff is not jiu-jitsu or judo – he gave us an exhibition of judo using five men, two third-degree black belts, two second, and one first, to prove it. He uses some of their falls and a few holds, but not more than about 20% of it and most with variations. It’s not Chinese boxing, of which 80% is mere ritual. It’s a collection of all the known methods of dirty fighting and it will beat them all. He knows it will, he’s done it. Judo is to clean on every hold a judo man’s eyes and testicles are vulnerable. But it is awful fast; still, it’s not as fast as boxing. We proved that, and to the Japanese, at that. Given men of equal speed, it’s the man who is not surprised by the others method of attack who will win. We put Sam Taxis [the third Sam] who boxes featherweight now against a third degree judo man [the punches not to be delivered and the throws not to be carried out] and it was a draw. But we had a man hold up his hand as a target and Sammy Taxis put a one-two on it while a man stood beside the hand and tried to grab his hands. All they got was his necktie. The remarkable thing about Fairbairn is that although he damn near does know it all, he doesn’t seem to think he does. If you’ve got an idea, he’ll not only listen to you and point out what’s wrong, if anything, but he’ll admit if it’s new to him and as good as or better than his own current methods.”

One of the motivating causes for the interest in the fighting knife was the discovery that even Fairbairn (“The Greatest of Them all”) had no real defense against a knife in the hands of trained fighters. We knew a number of ways of disarming men with pistols, some of them relatively safe. Even trying to disarm a person with a knife is dangerous, unless the person attacks with the dramatic “assassin’s stab” holding the knife like an ice-pick overhead. For that kind of stupidity there is a clear and positive response, fortunately. But even for the Paris “Apache’s” style coming in low, with the knife edge upward and aiming at the guts, Fairbairn had only two suggestions

A. RUN

B. “With a lighting-like kick of either foot, kick him in the testicles or stomach.”

But when my brother asked him to demonstrate this move, “Willie never even got up from his desk he just said, ‘You missed the phrase lighting-like I don’t do lighting-like any more.'”

FROM THE BOOK: “SOE ASSIGNMENT”

AUTHOR: DONALD HAMILTON HILL

“Another or our distinguished instructors was a tall spare man – who looked like a bishop – with steel-rimmed spectacles, a soft voice and wrists of iron. He was Captain Bill Sykes – formerly of the Shanghai Police – and he taught unarmed combat and quick shooting reactions such as how to kill four people in a room whilst falling down on the ground near the door lintel to make oneself a difficult target. His methods of unarmed combat and silent killing were such that many were able in the years to come to save themselves entirely owing to his instructions. The Germans in 1942 published a pamphlet, which portrayed his methods, and used it in neutral countries to enlist sympathy against the diabolical British. ‘Our man’ in Lisbon picked up one or two and sent them to me for comment with a request for a UK posting, and training with Bill Sykes.”

CAPTAIN PETER MASON, A RETIRED BRITISH INTELLIGENCE OFFICER, NOW LIVING IN CANADA WRITES:

“So, E.A. Sykes had far more of an interesting career in the Far East, than just being a volunteer special sergeant attached to the sniper squad of the Shanghai Municipal Police! “As to any ‘yarns,’ I only recall two stunts that he performed, and both involved the Government .45 auto. The first was demonstrated with a proved empty Colt’s auto. To illustrate how pushing a prisoner along with a .45 will push back the slide and perhaps disconnect the firing mechanism, should the prisoner know his pistols (!) allowing him to wipe the handgun aside, etc., etc.

“And the other example, which I saw demonstrated, was after we did the combat pistol course, and all were felling rather over-confident with the knock-down power of the issued Colt cartridge, Bill called a greatcoat-clad sergeant over to stand at the fifty-yard target backstop. The ‘target’ stood with feet about thirty inches apart, hands in overcoat pockets, and holding the garment away from his body. A loaded ‘Thompson’ was set at repetition fire mode, and Bill tapped-off single shots that struck the center of the man’s coat. At each shot I saw his coat ‘flick’ and I, like everybody present, assumed that the bullets just hit the multi-layers of cloth and dropped to the earth. Our greatcoats were double breasted heavy woolen material, with a same cloth lining, plus a heavy-weave horse hair-like spacer, so that’s six layers. But to this day I wouldn’t want to try it!

NANCY FORWARD (SOE) (CODE NAME “WHITE MOUSE”) WHO WAS FAMOUS FOR HER WORK WITH THE FRENCH MARQUIS, IS ONE OFTHE FEW SOE AGENTS STILL LIVING. SHE WRITES:

“I have already told you that Sykes was the instructor who taught me ‘silent killing,’ amongst other things. Poor Sykes was forgotten like many other people in Great Britain, and elsewhere. My impression of Sykes was very favorable and I would have liked to have known him better. I was the only female in our class and I remember that whenever he addressed me, or gave me an order, his tone of voice was not so ‘crisp’ – to coin a common old phrase – ‘a thorough gent!’ I have always regretted that I was unable to thank him for all the things he taught me.”

BILL PILKINGTON, WHO WAS ONE OF THE FIRST CLOSE COMBAT INSTRUCTORS TRAINED BY FAIRBAIRN AND SYKES FOR DUTY WITH THE HOME GUARD, STILL LIVING IN ENGLAND, WRITES:

“Of course, we must remember that in 1939-45 there were still some ‘deadheads’ in our forces, officers who had not advanced professionally in civil life, and when called to service life, they were reluctant to acknowledge they were ‘behind’ in knowledge. “This was one of the aspects with both Fairbairn and Sykes; they both openly criticized the Top Brass, for ‘Dog in the Bloody Manger’ attitude. These comments were, in my hearing, openly said to Staff Officers, by both Fairbairn and Sykes. And they were quite right, the ‘Old Guard’ of Whitehall Wafflers who had slept soundly from 1918 to 1939, failed to appreciate how advanced other nations were, compared to Britain, but the worst part was the Old Guard were reluctant to allow others who had kept abreast of the times to circulate their knowledge. Obviously, this was to protect their image. This may well have some bearing on the lack of written work available today, much has been deliberately destroyed out of jealousy.”

ANOTHER LETTER BY PILKINGTON DATED OCTOBER 10, 1995. HE WRITES:

“Following the disaster of the Norwegian campaign, and then Dunkirk in 1940, Britain anticipated that Hitler would invade. Desperate measures were called for, because there was little left in the way of arms or ammunition, also the nation had suffered a blow to its spirit. “The Local Defense volunteer Force became, officially, the Home Guard, a body of willing but untrained men, mostly ex-servicemen from the 1914-18 war. In desperation the Government of the day called in two officers from the Shanghai Municipal Police. These were Captain W.E. Fairbairn and Captain E.A. Sykes. “I was introduced to these officers because I had already qualified in Jujutsu to a Brown Belt. Also I was about the only man who had been taught Kendo and Indian Lathi. Captain Fairbairn explained he intended to train a dozen men to become instructors in killing tactics, who would then go out to teach other men to become instructors in the Police, Home Guard, and Civil Defense Corps. These would become the defense of Britain in the event of the invasion. “I found that Captain Fairbairn was very much in charge. Captain Sykes had equal authority, and great ability. He was the finest rifle shot I have ever seen, as well as being very good with the .45 Colt 1911 Automatic pistol. Both officers were very skilled in unarmed combat also, Fairbairn was obviously the master of various disciplines and the first team of 12 potential instructors, including me, soon learned to respect both our tutors. “Captain Fairbairn was very strict, he insisted that the training he gave aimed at perfection. In retrospect, I feel both officers gave us all very good ability to impart knowledge to others. “Captain Fairbairn was a hard man, so was Sykes [now called Bill Sykes, but most certainly NOT to his face] but he had a lot more patience. They were two different men, of course. ‘Bill Sykes looked like a village person, round faced, he had a mild look, unlike Fairbairn who looked hard, despite white hair, horned rimmed glasses giving him the look of a schoolmaster. Bill Sykes was friendly, but never familiar, he would be a bad man to cross. Once or twice he did show temper, but then only for a few moments. “We all learned Fairbairn was married, but we never learned if Sykes was. Apart from his disclosing that before joining the police, he had been a representative for Remington Arms and Ammunition organization, we learned little about him. He did have medal ribbons on his tunic, as did Fairbairn, but I never tried to remember what these were for. “Sykes had a very good knowledge of Martial Arts, and like Fairbairn, he was physically very powerful, and a good boxer. In knife fighting, both Fairbairn and Sykes were excellent. I thought Fairbairn was the better of the two, he was a Master of the blade. Sykes was always relaxed, his moon face was pleasant but you never knew what was on his mind. He was full of surprises in training. “I did teach a few hundred people the killing arts, and I am grateful for the training I experienced with Fairbairn and Sykes, they were really masters of their craft.

FROM THE BOOK: “MAQUIS – THE ACCOUNT OF A FRENCH-AMERICAN OPERTIVE”

AUTHOR: GEORGE MILLER

Such training in these schools had saved his radio operator, he told me. When his circuit got “blown” the Gestapo had captured his operator, a young Frenchman. They searched him, but failed to find the small automatic hidden in a special holster. [Note: a Colt .380 in a crotch holster] The pistol following the rule of his master was ready cocked and at “safe.” When they had handcuffed him they took him away in a car. There were three Germans in the car. One beside him in the back seat. The radio operator had never fired a pistol except in England at the school where he had been taught like us to snap shoot at cardboard targets. He was afraid that he would miss. But he was more afraid of what would happen when he arrived where they were taking him. Despite his manacles he opened his buttons, pushed down the “safe” lever on his [gun] and brought it to the point where it would draw freely. A glance around, he held his breath, drew, and fired as he had been taught. “Bang-bang.” Two holes sprang red in the back of the driver’s neck. The car overturned. He shot the other two.

ELSEWHERE MILLER RECORDS:

We were taught to use the forward-crouching stance and the quick, snap shooting method. Some of us got so accurate with the pistols that we were like King George V knocking down driven grouse. The French-American danced. His legs were tense and springy, but above the waist, except for his straight right arm, his body was loosely balanced. As the targets popped up, or darted from one screened side of the range to the other, his stiff arm leaped to the horizontal and the automatic, a blue, shining continuation of his arm, spoke “crack-crack,” and again “crack-crack.”

FROM THE BOOK: “AMATEUR AGENT”

AUTHOR: EWAN BUTLER.

EWAN BUTLER, AN SOE AGENT, RECALLES HIS TRAINING AT THE HANDS OF E.A. SYKES. BULTER GIVES A PARTICULARLY GOOD ACCOUNT OF THE SOE ASSAULT COURSE AT ARISAIG, JUST WEST OF LOCHAILORT:

This system involved what was called the “battle crouch position.” The gunman crouched slightly, held the pistol in line with the center of his body. Soon is became a second forefinger to him. After several periods on a more or less orthodox range, the students were shown quite an elaborate little village, which lay at the foot of a steep bluff. At the top of the cliff a soldier stood beside a set of levers, which looked somewhat like those in a railway signal-box. The village, we were informed, was full of Germans. It was our business to kill them all. We were given two Colt .45 automatics, already loaded and two spare clips of ammunition apiece. Then, one by one, we were to attack each house in turn. The door of the first house sprang open in response to a brisk kick, and the signalman on the top of the bluff went into action. The houses were fully furnished and fully occupied. No sooner had a dummy, impelled by wires, leaped out of bed to tackle the intruder and been shot for his pains, than a trapdoor opened, “men” emerged from beneath tables, bottles and chairs came hurtling disconcertingly at the gunman’s head. Pistols blazing, one dispatched, as one hoped, all the occupants of the first house, and dashed to the second, where a fresh set of hazards presented itself. By the time I had gone through five houses in a matter of forty-five seconds or so, and had been told that I had scored a creditable number of hits, I was inclined to feel quite pleased with myself. Then came the chilling thought that the dummies, however lifelike their movements, had not been armed.

Copyright 2003 thetruthaboutselfdefense.com ©

21 Reasons for Exporting a Used Car from Japan

Introduction

There has never been a better time to import a used car from Japan and save big dollars. Exports from Japan have been steadily increasing for the last three years as more and more dealers, wholesalers and private buyers around the world realize this great opportunity.

Reason #1: Wide product range: Due to the very competitive domestic Japanese car market, there are an abundance of models and manufacturers in Japan manufacturers including Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru), Suzuki and Daihatsu.

Reason #2: K-class Mini Cars: This is a new type of car which has been created in Japan to address Environmental concerns, demand for fuel efficiency and the general the lack of space on Japanese roads. All K-class vehicles meet a specification which restricts the weight, engine displacement (maximum of 660cc) and exterior dimensions. K cars have excellent cost performance are in growing demand around the world.

Reason #3: Excellent Japanese road conditions: Despite the lack of space, Japanese roads are extremely well maintained meaning normal wear and tear which might be attributed to poor road conditions in other countries is not a problem in Japan.

Reason #4: Average vehicle age: The average age of all vehicles on Japanese roads is almost sure to be lower than most other countries. It is unusual to see cars older than 15 years on the roads at all. The Japan Automotive Manufacturers Association (JAMA) reports average vehicle age to be approximately 5.8 years.

Reason #5: Higher model specifications: Due to an abundance of models from each manufacturer and the Japanese penchant for new electronic and other gadgetry, the specifications of a Japanese vehicle produced for the domestic market will usually be much higher than foreign-produced equivalents. This means you can buy a Japanese export model with all the features you like for the same price as a base model bought domestically.

Reason #6: Low mileage: Most Japanese live in cities which lack space and are very dense in terms of population. Since everything necessary to live a comfortable life is within close reach for the typical Japanese, domestic drivers average mileage is typically less than half that of other countries. The Japanese Motor Vehicle Inspection Registration Association reports average mileage for Japanese domestic drivers to be around 9,000km annually. American drivers, on the other hand, drive and average of 19,000 kms each year.

Reason #7: Relative cost: Even after taking into account costs such as freight and local compliance it is almost always cheaper to import a used car from Japan than to buy an equivalent used car locally. There are several reasons for Japanese exports being so cheap, primary amongst them is the mandatory Japanese vehicle safety inspections which effectively increase the cost of ownership as the vehicle ages.

Reason #8: Excellent resale value: Japanese cars, particularly Toyota and Lexus, generally hold much more of their value over the lifetime of the product than foreign counterparts such as Ford and GM.

Reason #9: Highly efficient automated auction systems: Instead of purchasing from private sellers or through local used car dealers whose reputation and business practices may be circumspect, used Japanese cars may be purchased at wholesale prices through very efficient auction houses run by Toyota, Nissan and other reputable companies. Each vehicle placed into an auction is photographed, inspected and graded and this information is useful, accurate and available to potential buyers.

Reason #10: No need to deal with sleazy local used car salesmen: It is an unfortunate fact that the used car industry around the world has the reputation of being filled with unsavory types who deceive and lie in order to gouge their customers on every deal. Whether this is true or not, buying a Japanese export car removes the need to deal with these individuals at all.

Reason #11: Japanese cultural habit of always buying new: Typical Japanese drivers are loathe to buy a car that someone else has used, regardless of the value proposition inherent in doing so. Thus Japanese customarily purchase new cars every 5-7 years, creating a pool of high quality, low mileage, high-spec used cars ready for resale around the world.

Reason #12: No need to waste time and money with private sellers: It is well know that buying a used car from a private seller is sometimes a good way to find a bargain, but this kind of purchase may be quite risky for a buyer who is not mechanically inclined. It can also be very time consuming dealing with private sellers, trying to schedule meetings and test drives and traveling around town to inspect vehicles which are often not as advertised. .

Reason #13: Abundance of Japan-based used car exporters and specialists: Since Japan represents the second largest vehicle manufacturing country in the world and the number of exports from Japan are growing every year there are many exporters and specialists who can assist you in sourcing and exporting your car. Due to the number of people vying for your business you can choose an exporter that you like and gain very competitive pricing as well.

Reason #14: Japanese safety regulations: The Japanese roadworthy testing system is a positive for two reasons: (1) All Japanese vehicles are subjected to exhaustive bi-annual testing and mechanical checks to ensure they are well maintained and (2) gaining roadworthy (called Shaken in Japan) usually costs a lot, artificially inflating the ongoing running costs year by year as the car gets older. The latter is one of the primary reasons Japanese drivers trade up to a new car so quickly and so often.

Reason #15: Increasing shipping capacity and shipment options: Many vehicle transportation companies are increasing their capacity to freight both new and used vehicles from Japan due to growth in this market. For individuals wishing to purchase 2-4 cars at a time shipment by container is also an option which may be faster, more secure and possibly cheaper depending upon the destination port.

Reason #16: Availability of objective information: On the internet today there are many automotive review sites dedicated to the provision of accurate, timely and objective data for all types of Japanese cars. It is no longer necessary for individual buyers to rely on salespeople or manufacturer marketing literature to gain an accurate understanding of specifications, prices and vehicle conditions prior to purchase.

Reason #17: Auction assessments and evaluations: Every auto auction house in Japan performs mechanical tests and assessments by trained technicians prior to entry of the vehicle at auction. These evaluations are very detailed and accurate and include all pertinent information along with grading for the exterior and interior of the vehicle.

Reason #18: Flexible payment terms: While most exporters prefer to be paid via telegraphic transfer, credit card/paypal payments and payments via letter of credit are becoming more common. Most exporters are open to alternative payment methods and the foreign buyer may also consider escrow services if hesitant about sending large sums of money abroad for the first time.

Reason #19: No need to speak Japanese: Due to the huge market which has developed in used Japanese car exports there are many people from many different nations involved in this business. Buyers from Pakistan can communicate with exporters in Urdu. Buyers from Russia can speak in local dialects with Japanese exporters in Northern states, where Russian speakers are common. Almost every Japan-based exporter speaks English too. You do not need to worry about communication problems.

Reason #20: Availability of parts: While Japanese domestic models are usually higher spec than their foreign-manufactured equivalents the fact that so many Japanese manufacturing plants exist around the world mean that common parts for popular vehicles are likely to be available cheaply in local markets. In the event that a part is not available domestically, there are many parts specialists who can help in locating a required part.

Reason #21: Trucks, buses ands machinery also available: While used cars are currently the most popular automotive export, sourcing of buses, trucks and machinery is also becoming more common. Japanese trucks are mostly purpose-built, while those manufactured in other countries are not. Thus it is possible to obtain the perfect truck for the job at hand by exporting it from Japan. Once again, the quality and value of these items exceeds what could normally be attained locally.

Conclusion

Buying a new or used car from Japan is a great way to get your dream car and save money doing it. Although it may not be the quickest way to buy, more and more satsifed buyers are taking advantage of this great opportunity. Since the purchase of a car is usually a major decision and an expensive proposition, exporting your next car from Japan is definitely worthy of consideration.

Capital Punishment: How Money And Power Reshapes Societies

In a capitalist system, money is inextricably linked with power – the more money you have, the greater influence you wield.

In particular, purchasing power can become political power when the wealthy use their resources to assume positions in the corridors of influence through attending elite private schools, exclusive social clubs, or networking events where they can form connections with other monied interests.

The wealthy can also attain political control by either bankrolling those already in power who hold opinions favourable to them, by using expensive PR and marketing campaigns to shift public opinion in ways which suit their interests, or by forming pressure groups to influence politicians directly, among any number of other methods.

There are many different names given to this phenomenon – corporate lobbying, nepotism, corruption, cronyism, ‘the old boys club’, bribery, sleaze – and lots more, but all of these terms describe the same behaviour.

Namely, those with substantial levels of wealth are able to leverage these resources to shape societies in ways which fit their interests.

A prime example of this comes in the examples of the Koch brothers and the Mercer family.

Charles and David Koch are American billionaires and the primary owners of the second largest privately held company in the United States.

Since 1953, they, their family members, and several other extraordinarily wealthy donors have spent many hundreds of millions of dollars (probably even several billion dollars) on setting up think tanks and political action committees to pursue the Koch brothers’ political agenda of deregulation, low taxation, reduced environmental protections, and more.

Meanwhile, the Mercer family have also been major funders of right-wing publications and think tanks in the USA such as Breitbart News, the Heritage Foundation, and the Cato Institute – among scores of others.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the Hungarian billionaire George Soros founded the Open Societies Foundation and is thought to have donated over $32 billion to this organisation since its inception. Due to the Open Societies Foundation’s support and aid for refugees seeking asylum in Western nations, along with its lobbying for pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the USA and other countries, George Soros has become a villainous figure for much of the European and American right-wing.

‘The Strong Will Do What They Have The Power To Do, And The Weak Will Accept What They Must Accept’ – Thucydides, The Melian Dialogue

The theme of those with financial power using it politically to further their own interests is sometimes combined with military power.

Consider the example of the United Fruit Company. Before WW2, the United Fruit Company was able to establish highly lucrative operations throughout Latin America due to the dictators of these nations guaranteeing them an advantageous business environment through such measures as repressing labour rights, offering tax incentives, and providing land grants.

Then, in 1944 United Fruit began experiencing difficulties in Guatemala – one of their most important bases. The Guatemalan President, Jorge Ubico, a dictator closely aligned with US interests and an enthusiastic supporter of the United Fruit Company, was deposed in a popular uprising.

Over the next 10 years, several of the Presidents to follow Ubico enacted land reform measures which returned vast swathes of land owned by United Fruit back to the Guatemalan people.

By 1954, the United Fruit Company had seen enough, and heavily lobbied the American government to take action. Partly due to the fact that several of US President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s staff had ties to United Fruit, they were only too happy to oblige.

As a result, the CIA orchestrated a successful coup in Guatemala which deposed the elected President and installed another dictator who was more amenable to American interests. What followed was four decades of brutal civil war between Guatemala’s dispossessed poor and a succession of US-backed dictators, which left 200,000 civilians dead.

In March 1999, US President Bill Clinton finally apologised to the Guatemalan government for the atrocities committed by the American-backed dictatorships, saying that ‘for the United States it is important I state clearly that the support for military forces and intelligence units which engaged in violence and widespread repression was wrong.’

However, Guatemala was by no means an isolated case. The trail of destruction and bloodshed which the United Fruit Company – together with their powerful allies in government and in the military – left across a series of Latin American states is almost staggering in its scale.

Not So Long Ago, Not So Far From Home

Examples of corporate interests becoming political and military interests too are by no means confined to little-considered Latin American states in long-gone decades.

For instance, over several years in the late-1960s to mid-1970s, individuals from the British security services, senior ranks of the military, and well-connected political circles, covertly plotted to overthrow Harold Wilson, the elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and install in his place a coalition government of their choosing.

To most, such a conspiracy sounds extraordinary, but confirmation came from MI5 whistleblower Peter Wright, who outlined the plot in his book Spycatcher, which on its release in 1987 was banned from publication in England.

Others who have verified accounts of the plot against Wilson include Hugh Cudlipp, the former editor of the Daily Mirror, and the former intelligence officer Brian Crozier.

It is thought that the conspirators had a specific individual in mind to lead this unelected government – none other than Lord Mountbatten, a relative of both the Queen and Prince Phillip.

As Patrick Sawer, a Senior News Reporter at the Daily Telegraph has written:

Lord Mountbatten came dangerously close to leading a cabal of industrialists, generals and tycoons plotting a coup against an elected Labour government… The 1968 plot was designed to replace Prime Minister Harold Wilson with a coalition government to bring the country together, during what Mountbatten and the conspirators regarded as a time of national crisis.

These events were featured in Season 3 Episode 5 of the TV series The Crown, which was appropriately titled ‘Coup’.

A similar plot was hatched in the USA in 1933.

After the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had pledged to abandon the gold standard and enact a raft of left-wing economic policies which became known as the ‘New Deal’, magnates behind huge corporations such as Chase Bank, Standard Oil, General Motors, Goodyear, Dupont, Heinz, and others, conspired to recruit a private army of up to half a million military veterans to overthrow Roosevelt’s government and install a fascist leadership in his place.

This became known as the ‘Business Plot’, and the conspirators approached Major General Smedley Butler – a 34 year veteran of the US Marine Corps, who at the time was the most decorated marine in US history – to lead their private army.

However, Butler had become disillusioned by his experience in the US military, and not only did he refuse to participate in the plot, he testified about it before the United States House of Representatives in 1934.

Despite Congress concluding that they were ‘able to verify all the pertinent statements made by General Butler’, no-one was ever prosecuted, nor were any of the main figures accused of involvement in the plot called to testify before Congress.

Shortly after, in 1935, Smedley Butler released a book entitled War Is A Racket – the summary of which reads:

War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small ‘inside’ group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

More recently, the sequence of events which saw Dick Cheney be Chairman and CEO of the American oil company Halliburton between 1995 and 2000, then become United States Vice-President in 2001, followed by Halliburton then receiving a $7 billion contract in the run-up to the Iraq war which only they were allowed to bid on, is unlikely to be coincidental.

Furthermore, in his autobiography, the former Labour Home Secretary Robin Cook wrote about the overly close relationship that the British defence company BAE Systems enjoyed with the highest echelons of the UK government, and how they would benefit from this cosy connection.

Cook stated that ‘The chairman of BAE appeared to have the key to the garden door to Number 10. Certainly, I never knew Number 10 to come up with any decision that would be incommoding to BAE.’

As a final note, in 2006 an arms deal between BAE Systems and the Saudi Arabian rulers was being investigated by the UK’s serious fraud office for possible corruption, but following pressure from Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, a former British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the investigation was dropped.

Five years later, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles was appointed International Business Development Director for BAE.

COVID-19 And The Brave New World

It has been well documented that during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many billionaires have increased their wealth while most ordinary people have seen their incomes decline or their jobs disappear completely.

For example, the BBC reported that ‘billionaires have seen their fortunes hit record highs during the pandemic’ while also noting that ‘a World Bank report showed extreme poverty is set to rise this year for the first time in more than two decades’.

Meanwhile, USA Today stated that ‘the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an economic crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Great Depression’, before continuing to say that ‘over a roughly seven-month period starting in mid-March, America’s 614 billionaires grew their net worth by a collective $931 billion.’

In truth, income inequality across much of the world had been rising for decades before the emergence of COVID-19, and in recent years the populations of many countries had reacted to these increased inequities by supporting a range of populist politicians who portrayed themselves as ‘outsiders’ railing against a corrupt ‘establishment’.

In the UK, the foremost figure to play this role was Nigel Farage, while others such as Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson depicted themselves as brave combatants fighting against an out of touch and uncaring political elite. It is also not difficult to interpret the victory of the Leave campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum as a vote against the British political establishment by those who had felt marginalised, ignored, and undervalued by mainstream politicians for a number of years.

In other countries, this wave of populism found its figureheads through individuals such as Donald Trump in the USA, Marine Le Pen in France, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Sebastian Kurz in Austria, Narendra Modi in India, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Beppe Grillo and Matteo Salvini in Italy, Recep Erdogan in Turkey, Viktor Orban in Hungary, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, and Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine, among others.

As all these populists rose to power even before the substantial upward transfer of wealth from ordinary people to the billionaire class which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, the question must now be asked – what will happen next, as people all over the world react to a such a rapid and significant increase in inequality, on top of what they have already experienced?

Where Do We Go From Here?

If public anger rises further due to the existing income and wealth inequalities being deepened still more, then it is not difficult to envisage the wealthy, elite classes becoming spooked and fearful of what may happen to their resources.

As a result of this, it seems logical to suggest that elites will retreat to lavish, heavily guarded enclaves even more than they already have done – perhaps existing in some kind of ‘billionaire city’, where extreme wealth is a prerequisite for entry, and where connections to the world outside are minimal.

A prototype for this kind of settlement can perhaps be seen in the example of Monaco. A Principality with a population of 38,000, one of the conditions for becoming a resident is to open a bank account in Monaco and deposit at least €500,000 in it.

Taxes in Monaco are almost non-existent, and it has the largest police force in the world – both per capita, and per square metre – plus there’s a 24-hour video surveillance system in place which covers the entire surface area of the Principality.

Monaco also has the second-highest GDP per capita in the world, beaten only by Liechtenstein. Interestingly, the only other two nations to have a GDP per capita in excess of $100,000 are Luxembourg and Bermuda, both of which are also regarded as refuges and tax havens for the ultra-wealthy.

The vast majority (i.e. over 75%) of Monaco’s residents are foreign-born, as wealthy individuals (including celebrities such as Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic, Bernie Eccleston, Shirley Bassey, and Bono) move there to enjoy the tax benefits and other lifestyle advantages.

Monaco also has a poverty rate of zero, meaning that none of its population live below the poverty line, while its residents also enjoy the highest life expectancy in the world.

It’s not surprising then, that for these reasons and more, Monaco is known as the “Billionaire’s Playground”.

If public anger at rising levels of inequality continues to increase over time, and is bolstered by the substantial gains that the financial elites have made during a global pandemic which has severely impacted hundreds of millions of people across the world, then it is not difficult to imagine more Monacos being established in all corners of the planet, where the wealthy will flee to in return for guarantees of minimal taxation and heavy security – effectively cutting them off from the discontented world beyond the nation’s borders.

Automation, Disinformation, And Militarisation

In the background to all this, technological change continues at pace.

The rise of the robots means that more and more jobs than ever before are being automated, and scientists predict that in the next few decades alone hundreds of millions of people around the world will have their jobs automated out of existence.

As a response to the vast, incoming tidal wave of job losses and entire career pathways ceasing to exist, some seemingly utopian policies such as a four-day workweek and a Universal Basic Income (UBI) have been suggested by a range of academics, politicians, and businesspeople from a wide variety of political schools of thought.

The specified goal is to ensure that the huge numbers of people who will see their job roles either diminish or disappear completely due to automation shall be given the basic resources needed to survive and craft a meaningful life for themselves.

However, given what we know about the propensity for monied groups to either campaign against policies which do not fit their best interests, to flock to parts of the world which will not pursue those policies, or even to engage militarily against the ordinary working populations, why should we be so sure that the business and financial elites will not flex every bit of muscle they have to guarantee that they and they alone benefit from the enormous gains in productivity which automation will provide?

What are the chances that, instead of embracing UBI and the four-day workweek, these elites use every tool in their armoury to keep as much as possible of the added value generated by automation for themselves, at the expense of the general population?

Some methods the elites could use include passive measures, such as lobbying politicians, funding think tanks, or creating UBI and four-day workweek trials which are ‘set up to fail’, so they can then be used as ‘evidence’ to shape public discourse.

More active measures could also be used by the elites to protect and enhance their advantages. As we have seen, using military means to accomplish this has not been beyond them before, so it should be assumed that it is something they may be willing to do again.

This conflict between the interests of the general population and the interests of elites when it comes to the issues of automation and technological advancement, and of how this scientific progress could be used to benefit either group (or both), was addressed by Bill Joy, the Founder of Sun Microsystems, in an article he wrote entitled ‘Why The Future Doesn’t Need Us’.

In it, he stated that:

Control over large systems of machines will be in the hands of a tiny elite-just as it is today, but with two differences. Due to improved techniques the elite will have greater control over the masses; and because human work will no longer be necessary the masses will be superfluous, a useless burden on the system.

If the elite is ruthless they may simply decide to exterminate the mass of humanity. If they are humane they may use propaganda or other psychological or biological techniques to reduce the birth rate until the mass of humanity becomes extinct, leaving the world to the elite.

Or, if the elite consists of soft-hearted liberals, they may decide to play the role of good shepherds to the rest of the human race. They will see to it that everyone’s physical needs are satisfied, that all children are raised under psychologically hygienic conditions, that everyone has a wholesome hobby to keep him busy.

‘Power Concedes Nothing Without A Demand. It Never Did And It Never Will’ – Frederick Douglass

At this point, it is more than ever worth remembering the example of the Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th Century.

As machines and mechanical tools revolutionised factories and how goods were produced, vast increases in productivity were attained, and the GDP of industrialising countries rose sharply. However, at this time working in a factory was no easy task. Workdays could be up to 16 hours long, workweeks usually involved working on 6 days out of the 7, and child labour was common.

Over the following decades, as the ordinary workers better understood the enormous added value their endeavours had a part in producing, they began to demand a fairer share of this additional value, so they could work less hours in better conditions and receive higher wages for it.

It took time, but their efforts were successful.

For example, in the UK a series of ‘Factory Acts’ was passed, which gradually reduced working hours, improved working conditions, and limited the amount of hours children could work.

Eventually, across much of the world (though by no means all of it), the 40-hour workweek became the standard schedule, while child labour was greatly reduced or banned outright, and legislation passed to ensure workers had adequate conditions and protections while doing the job.

Now, as we approach the age of automation which some have described as being like another Industrial Revolution, it is likely we will again see the same debates regarding working hours, wage levels, and employment terms which dominated the original Industrial Revolution.

Accompanying them this time will be discussions around other issues such as UBI, the 4-day workweek, and many more.

The outcome of this coming age of automation will be uncertain for some time to come, but it is important to note that whatever your feelings on this issue, or however interested or disinterested you may be in these topics, you will almost certainly be affected by them in the not too distant future.

Therefore, it is perhaps best to engage yourself in these matters, before they engage themselves with you.

7 Signs That Your Boss Is a Boundary Violator

Any time your boundaries are crossed in a way that disrupts your ability to have your needs met and your preferences honored, you are experiencing a boundary violation. People violate boundaries without even knowing it. In the workplace, boundary violations happen all of the time. For example, an employee has her daughter’s recital to go to on Wednesday at 7 pm. She’s explained to her boss that she needs to leave at 6:30 pm sharp in order to make it to the recital. At 6:29 pm, her boss rushes into her office and tells her that she absolutely needs her to stay a little bit longer to help make a last-minute fix to a project that has to be submitted tonight. That boss may not understand what she just did but the employee certainly feels it. Her boundaries have been violated.

Boundary violation occurs intentionally or unintentionally. The key is to notice when your boundaries are being violated and address the issue promptly. The issue of boundary violation takes on added meaning when you compound the violation with a boss who consistently behaves in this way. Any time you have a manager who does not respect or value your off-hour time, your work/life/family balance needs, and does not understand where your job role begins and ends (and thus has you doing the job of three people), you have a manager who is also a boundary violator. The problem with this is that, at some point, you’ll get so fed up that one of three things will occur: 1) your performance goes down, 2) you quit the job or 3) you change departments or positions in an attempt to get away from your boundary violating boss. While all of these options are viable, none of them teach you how to successfully manage a boundary violator. Rest assured: you’re going to come across these kinds of people in all areas of your life. Use this workplace experience as an opportunity to learn how to navigate these rocky waters.

If you’re confused about whether your boss is a boundary violator (or if he/she just expects a lot of you), here are 7 signs that your boss is, in fact, a boundary violator:

1) You’ve made it clear what you can and cannot do in terms of your work role but consistently get asked to do the tasks and take on the responsibilities that you’ve clearly stated you cannot do (i.e. extra projects, weekend work, extensive travel, longer hours, taking on additional projects when you’re already overwhelmed with the ones you have). In this situation, it’s almost as if you’re talking but your boss doesn’t really hear you… or he/she doesn’t care.

2) Your boss consistently reminds you of past mistakes that you’ve made as a way of guilting you into doing more work than is required of you (i.e. playing the blame/shame/guilt game as a way of making you feel like you ‘owe’ your boss).

3) On the one hand, your boss praises your work but, on the other hand, he/she refuses to help you move up in the company. At every performance appraisal, he/she has at least 10 reasons why you’re “not ready” to move up in the ranks.

4) Your boss inappropriately confides in you as a “friend” about his or her personal life, marital troubles, and work issues and asks you for advice, thus putting you in an awkward position.

5) Your boss consistently waits until the very last minute to ask you to “help out” on projects, tasks and committees that he/she could’ve easily asked you to participate in earlier.

6) Your boss delegates a lot of tasks to you but takes all of the credit.

7) Your boss is disorganized when it comes to delegating responsibility when on vacation, leaving early, or going on business trips and expects that you will pick up the slack for his or her lack of follow through.

Those are just seven of the signs that your boss is a boundary violator. If even two are present, know that it is up to you to have that boundary conversation. When setting work boundaries, many employees fear that if they firmly set boundaries, they’ll put themselves at risk for losing their jobs. At the end of the day, here’s the truth: your boss will continue to violate your boundaries as long as you let him or her do that. It is up to you to decide if your best bet is to:

1) find another job,

2) find another position within the company,

3) have a boundary conversation or

4) simply start saying no.

Only you know the exact dynamics of your department and your relationship with your boss. Trust your intuition on this one.

If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, get your resume and cover letter together and begin to pursue opportunities elsewhere. If you feel that your talent and gifts are being taken advantage of, you have the power to stop that today. At any moment, you can request a meeting where you ask your boss to modify your hours, your job role, negotiate your salary, or simply seek employment elsewhere and deal with the boundary violation until you move on to another firm. But you’ve got to do something. Whenever boundary violations go on for an extended period of time, one of two things happens: 1) the person being violated loses self-esteem, hope, and performance suffers to the point of turnover (voluntary or involuntary) or 2) the person violating never learns the powerful lesson that people will give you 200% if they know that you truly care for them and take their needs into consideration. To allow boundary violations to continue to occur is a lose-lose situation. Don’t put up with it. There is a way to create and keep healthy boundaries in ALL areas of your life, especially at work.

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