Weiss Report Blog

As we age facial muscles weaken, and skin begins to sag. But just as gym workouts can promote the body’s youthful strength and suppleness, facial exercise - based on the same principles of dynamic resistance - can strengthen facial muscles. If sagging muscles in your face chin and neck are aging you beyond your years there is a way to reverse the process and make you look healthier, more vibrant, younger.

Facial exercise can transform your looks without cosmetic surgery. One thing facial exercises won’t do is cause wrinkles, but some people think they do. This is absolutely wrong. Properly done facial exercise most certainly does not cause wrinkles.

In fact, exercising the face helps to make women and men look younger for longer, by toning and tightening the facial muscles, just like toning the muscles of the body firms them up.

But, don’t make the mistake of thinking that all facial exercise programs are the same. Expensive devices will not give you better results. Electrodes are very hard to position properly and can be painful if you have sensitive skin.

Sagging, bagging and deep hanging folds in older looking faces are, caused by lack of facial tone. Exercising the muscles in your face is crucial to maintaining a young appearance. Beauty treatments with creams can’t lift sagging muscles.

Surgical facelifts can be costly, painful and sometimes dangerous. Give your face a structured work out and you’ll reap the benefits for all the years to come. Our program includes deep breathing to enhance your exercises. The deep breathing will not only bring extra oxygen to your facial muscles, but to your whole body. Oxygen is the key to these exercises.

Some surgeons even give facial exercises to their patients after their face-lift. Why not, just skip the surgeon and do the exercise? A good facial exercise program lifts and tones the facial muscles. My program comes with a guarantee, and I have yet to refund any money. For more information go to http://www.lynchnetenterprises.com

…makes the rules, of course.

But when the gold takes the form of top-notch public
relations, she AND he get to make rules like these:

Our PR concentrates on delivering what we really need.

Our PR does something positive about the behaviors of
those outside audiences that MOST affect our organization.

Our PR persuades those key outside people to our way of
thinking, then moves them to take actions that allow our
department, division or subsidiary to succeed.

In other words, our PR uses its fundamental premise to
deliver external stakeholder behavior change, the kind that
leads directly to achieving our managerial objectives.

And that fundamental premise? Here’s what it looks like:
People act on their own perception of the facts before them,
which leads to predictable behaviors about which something
can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that
opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-
action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization
the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

If you do just what we’ve covered so far, what kind of results
might come your way? How about welcome bounces in show
room visits; community leaders beginning to seek you out;
membership applications on the rise; customers starting to
make repeat purchases; fresh proposals for strategic alliances
and joint ventures; prospects starting to do business with you;
higher employee retention rates, capital givers or specifying
sources beginning to look your way, and even politicians and
legislators starting to view you as a key member of the
business, non-profit or association communities.

But you had best get your public relations people involved
by getting them on board this kind of approach to PR. Be sure
everyone buys into why it’s so important to know how your
outside audiences perceive your operations, products or
services. Be especially certain they accept the reality that
negative perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can
damage your organization.

Reason together about how you will monitor and gather
perceptions by questioning members of your most important
outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know
about our organization? Have you had prior contact with
us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much
do you know about our services or products and employees?
Have you experienced problems with our people or
procedures?

And do remember that your PR people are already in the
perception and behavior business and can be of real use for this
opinion monitoring project. Of course you can always use
professional survey firms, but that can be a budget buster.
However, whether it’s your people or a survey firm who
handles the questioning, the objective is to identify untruths,
false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, and
misconceptions .

Your next chore is identifying which of the problems
outlined above becomes your corrective public relations goal -
clarify the misconception, spike that rumor, correct the false
assumption or fix a variety of other possible inaccuracies?

Fact is, you can meet that goal only when you select the right
strategy from the three choices available to you. Change
existing perception, create perception where there may be
none, or reinforce it. Picking the wrong strategy is about as
cool as serving a meat and potatoes guy an asparagus and
broccoli casserole with braised celery on the side. So please
be certain the new strategy fits comfortably with your new
public relations goal. You wouldn’t want to select “change”
when the facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

And now the toughest part of this job — create a persuasive
message aimed at members of your target audience. Always a
challenge to put together action-forcing language that will help
persuade any audience to your way of thinking.

Because s/he must create some very special, corrective
language, be certain you have your best writer on the assignment.
You need words that are not only compelling, persuasive and
believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/
opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors
you have in mind.

Happy to say that things get easier. Identify the communications
tactics you need to carry your message to the attention of your
target audience. Insuring that the tactics you select have a record
of reaching folks like your audience members, you can pick
from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours,
emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews,
newsletters, personal meetings and many others.

As often is the case, the credibility of the message can be
dependent on the credibility of its delivery method, you may
wish to deliver it in small getogether-like meetings and
presentations rather than through a higher-profile media
announcement.

Requests for progress reports will probably be heard from various
quarters. Let that signal to you that you and your PR team had best
undertake a second perception monitoring session with members
of your external audience. You’ll want to use many of the same
questions used in the first benchmark session. But now, you will
be watching very carefully for signs that the bad news perception
is being altered in your direction.

And rest easy when things seem to be slowing down. These
matters usually can be accelerated by adding more
communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

The bottom line is, this workable public relations blueprint will
help you persuade your most important outside stakeholders to
your way of thinking, then move them to behave in a way that
leads to the success of your department, division or subsidiary.

So, no matter who has the gold, the public relations rules that
will best serve any business, non-profit or association manager
read this way: the people you deal with do, in fact, behave like
everyone else - they act upon their perceptions of the facts
they hear about you and your operation. Leaving you not
much choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those
perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and move
your key external audiences to actions you desire.

end

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box
in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website.
A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net.
Word count is 1190 including guidelines and resource box.
Robert A. Kelly © 2005.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR,
Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR,
Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-
cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press
secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree
from Columbia University, major in public relations.
mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

When it comes to learning fiscal knowledge, some lessons result in better memories than others. One of the most satisfying lessons I have ever learned is that there are rules simply made to be broken.

Rules that produce benefits for everyone are not what I am talking about. These “good” rules include not cutting in line at the grocery store, at a 4-way stop the driver on the right has the right-of-way, and paying your taxes on time keeps the government operating. These are all good rules and should never be broken.

You, as a consumer, are must discern what type of rules are critical to be break. These rules are created by commercial businesses for their own benefit. The enterprise isn’t trying to help you with their regulations; they are looking out for themselves. This kind of thinking survives because we, the consumer, are intimidated when told “That’s against our rules. You can not do that.”

All consumers can benefit by learning to question the statement of “You can’t do that”. Once you learn how to do it, you might find it an enjoyable, and profitable, experience.

Rule #1: You Break It, You Bought It

Some time ago I passed the time in an airport gift shop waiting for a friend. Startled by the sound of breaking glass, I turned around to see an active youngster standing next to a shattered glass vase. The stern faced store owner pointed to a sign reading “YOU BREAK IT, YOU BOUGHT IT”. He then had the audacity to demand $49.95 for the vase. The young mother, clearly distraught, stood her ground and said “No.”

By the time I left, the woman and her child had left, the store owner was cleaning up the glass and I was amazed that someone else knew the truth about business. The truth is, accidents are apart of doing business and breakage is a legitimate tax deduction.

I suggest that if you do accidentally break something in a store, earnestly apologize and keep your wallet firmly in hand. If you want to pay to ease your conscience about being a bumble-bottom, fine. But only pay for the actual cost of the item as verified by the invoice, never allow the store owner to make a profit on your accident.

Rule #2: A CD Grace Period is set in Stone

Banks are extremely skilled at intimidating their clientele. They are also good at maximizing their profits. I allowed a CD to automatically roll over at a large bank instead of bothering to actually go to the bank and take care of it myself. In my defense, I mistakenly assumed the interest rate would be the same as the expiring rate.

Unfortunately, by the time I bothered to look at the paperwork and discover the rate was less than half of what I had been earning, the grace period of changes was over. When I called, the customer service person told me “Once the grace period is over, there is nothing I can do.”
Nothing he could do, but I politely asked to speak with a supervisor. Within a couple minutes I was granted a “promotional” rate equal to the one I had been earning on the expired CD.

A lesson can be found here about the trustworthiness of banks. As quickly as they adjusted my CD rate made me wonder how many other patron were letting the bank dip their fingers into their cookie jar.

Rule #3: The Insurance Agent Always Knows Best

People selling insurance are imaginative creators of rules to help themselves make a larger commission and the companies they work for are no better. An example here is “dwelling coverage”. This amount is what the insurance company will pay if your house burns down or is destroyed somehow necessitating you to rebuild.

If you try looking for more information in your policy, there isn’t much. Inquire of your agent how they arrive at the replacement value of your home and the premium you pay and you might get an answer similar to “The computers calculate that automatically, it works the same for everyone”.
In my case, the last premium notice I received had the replacement value of my home considerably higher than its market value. I called my agent again. He explained if my home was destroyed the insurance company would rebuild it for me, which would cost more than buying an existing home.

Good sound bite, but I would still have to pay a higher premium to buy coverage insurance my home for more than it’s actual worth. While on the phone, I lowered the coverage to the market value and saved nearly $100 immediately. I know if something happens, I will only receive market value for my house. However, that will be enough for me to buy an existing house and not have to go through the headaches of building one.

Rule #4: Warranty Cards are Mandatory

I used to thing I wouldn’t have any warranty coverage on my stuff if I failed to return the little card manufacturers enclose with any new product. Do you still think that? It’s what manufacturers want us to believe.

Their reason is simple - the manufacturers use these cards to gather marketing data about their consumers: age, income, where they shop, etc. Plus, if there is ever a recall on the product, they have a name and address to contact you.

That is the only reason I ever fill out and return one of those cards, and then only with my name, address and product serial number filled in. I know there is still warranty coverage even without the card, so why spend my time helping the manufacturer gather marketing data for free?

Rule #5: Social Security Number Requirement

Lately, the crime of identity theft has been increasing in coverage on the news. Identity theft is when a crook obtains enough information about you to make credit purchases in your name, leaving you to explain that you have never flown to Australia. What information do the crooks need to know about you?
Your Social Security number and name is all. That’s why it is important to never divulge this information to anyone unnecessarily. In fact, the only reason you have to give it to anyone is because the government wants information about you. Your employer needs it to report earnings, banks and financial institutions need it to report earnings, and the IRS wants to collect their taxes on your earnings.

Lately, insurance companies want to run a credit check on you, and credit issuing companies want to run a credit check on you, and for this they need your Social Security number. Federal law prohibits credit grantors from denying you credit without telling you the reason - if you ask. So be sure to ask, and always shred any document with your personal information like name and/or Social Security number before throwing it in the trash. It is up to you to take as many precautions to protect your number as you can.

Rule #6: Contractors Are Paid Up Front

Some questionable rules are created by individuals. Remodelers such as carpenters, housepainters, roofers and drive-way repair persons have an interesting rule they want you to believe is etched in stone. This rule says “You are required to pay 1/3 of the project costs up when you sign the contract”.

I’ve learned that with contractors it is easy for them to be sidetracked when a more profitable job comes along. To counteract this understandable issue, I change their rule to “I’ll pay 1/3 after the materials are delivered and the job started”.

All legitimate contactors will agree, in my experience, once you politely explain to them why you are doing it this way. He may still get sidetracked, but at least he won’t be using your money before starting your project.

Rule #7: Sign on the Dotted Line

Never sign any contract without reading it carefully. This includes all the fine print, so take a magnifying glass with you.

You say you never sign contracts without reading them? Good for you. Does this include everything you affix your signature to? You know the lease, bill of sale, rental agreements or credit card slip all constitute a contract. Once you sign, you have agreed to all the terms of the contract, even the ones you don’t understand or think are e “unfair”.

When you start calling attention to provision of contracts you don’t like, you may be told “That’s our standard contract. We can’t change it”. Wrong, they can and most will if it means the difference between making a sale or you walking away.

Leases are good examples of changing contracts. If you are a desirable renter, the landlord may make certain improvements instead of renting “as is”. If you find clauses undesirable, and the landlord won’t remove them you would probably be better off renting elsewhere anyway.

The time to check over a contract is before you sign, not after you have signed it and are home again. A friend of mine leases things like cars and office equipment for his business and he claims to have never signed a lease without changing at least one phrase.

Go ahead and try being a rule breaker. You might like it and it could save you headaches and money, too.

Roger Sorensen is a Financial Speaker and Author and the editor of Money Basics - The Newsletter found online at the website Slave2Work.com. You can contact him through the website, read articles he has written and find his most recent book “You Don’t Own Money 2nd Edition” at the http://www.Slave2Work.com Bookstore.

Having problems with your drainage system? Does it have leaks? You may be in the market for a plumber. Not sure where to turn? The good news is that it is fairly easy to find a reliable, experienced plumber for any of your household jobs.

One way to find a plumber is via word of mouth. You can ask friends and neighbors for referrals. They may know of someone who has previously done plumbling work at their home. Best of all, they may know someone in the neighborhood who does plumbing work who can report to your house right away.

If you can’t obtain the name of a plumber via word of mouth, you can look at the yellow pages and find a plumbing company or a union. You will be shown a list of plumbers in your area along with contact information. With so many listings, you are virtually assured of finding someone to handle your situation.

You can also look for plumbers online. Make sure that you search your local area only. Within a few keystrokes, you can locate a plumber, find contact information, and call to set up an appointment. They will most likely ask what has happened with your leaking taps. If it is not that severe and you can fix it up, they will just give you some easy instructions on how to fix it. If it is just a simple problem, you need not have a plumber to go over your house.

The newspaper in the classifieds section is a good resource for plumbers. But again, you have to make sure that you search in your local area only. Those who are in the web and the classifieds are the ones that you need to trust. Although there are good plumbers without enough apprenticeship but with good skills, engineers would always require those which are prominent in the field.

Some people would always run to the plumber who had been pointed by their friends even if they are not efficient and experienced plumbers for the reason they charge only a little amount compared to the plumbers in the union.

If you really want to be highly selective, you can search for those plumbers with identification, which includes years of experience. If your house has some little problems with leaks, there is really no need to consult the best plumbers, paying the highest cost when even the apprentice can fix minor problems.

You need the best plumbers if you are building a new home. The plumbing and drainage need to be detailed, and it’s the plumber’s task to read through the blueprint of your house. A starting plumber cannot understand properly the details in the blue prints, only those who have been in the field for a long time. Building a home needs the best plumbers so that the plumbing features can last for a long time. in the future if it leaks, you can ask a local plumber to fix it up for you.

Jo Williams has an interest Home & Garden related topics. To access more information on plumber supply or on plumber snake, please click on the links.

You have probably heard this more times than you can count and you have probably received loads of quit smoking tips but facts are facts! There is no other way to say it - smoking is not only bad for your health, it is deadly! If you smoke you should stop. It’s easier now than ever with stop smoking support available on every corner, be it offline or online.

It’s been proven, that quitting smoking, your blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen levels will return to normal, carbon monoxide will be eliminated from your body, your lungs will clear out mucus and other smoking debris, nicotine traces will leave your body, your ability to taste and smell will be greatly improved, your breathing becomes easier, your energy levels increase, your circulation improves, coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will improve, risk of a heart attack will fall and the risk of lung cancer will decrease.

One woman in her late thirties had smoked for 10 years. She had tried everything from watering down her cigarettes, throwing them away, wearing a nicotine patch, nicotine chewing gum, you name it, she tried it. She really wanted to quit but the addiction was so strong she was finding it impossible to quit.

The mother of an 11-year old daughter and a 13-year old son, she was taken by surprise when something happened that made her quit smoking in one day. Her son told her that he had something very important to tell her. With a quick response of, “Okay, what is it?” he said, “No, I really need to talk to you.” She knew by the look on his face and the tone of his voice that this was something important. Her son looked her square in the eyes and without wavering said, “I want you to quit smoking because I don’t want you to die. I want a mother in my life.”

With that, she walked over to an ashtray, put out her cigarette, and now almost seven years later, she still does not smoke and she doesn’t need more stop smoking tips either.
While this will not work for everyone, the next time you pick up a cigarette; take a minute to consider how your child or family would feel if you were no longer around. Do you think, perhaps this tip can work for you too?

Terje Brooks Ellingsen is a writer and internet publisher. He runs the website 1st-Self_Improvement.net. Terje is a Sociologist who enjoys contributing to the personal growth and happiness of others. He tries to accomplish this by writing about self help issues from his own experience and knowledge. For example, self esteem improvement tips and stop smoking help.

Parents of hyperactive children know the “Would you please just settle down?!” phrase well, and likely use it on a regular basis.

There are a number of tips to help parents settle their hyperactive child down. These quick tips and relaxation techniques take the same amount of time as yelling and scolding but produce incredibly different results in hyperactive children.

Quick Calming Tips:

Try quick tips to calm a hyperactive child down during temper outbursts or unusually rowdy days. These calming tips are not novel to adults by any stretch. How many times have you heard “Take a deep breath and count to 10″ or “Calgon, take me away.” What works for big people works for little people as well._ Deep breathing is one of the simplest ways to calm the body. Teach your children to take deep breaths (in through the nose, out through the mouth) when they begin to feel frustrated and out of control. Parents, you do this too!

_ Draw a warm salt bath or bubble bath to wash away the hyperactive child’s stresses of the day.

_ Take your hyperactive child for a walk or send them around the block on their own if they are old enough. Not only does walking burn off excess energy, the repetitive thump, thump, thump of feet hitting pavement brings the mind back into focus.

_ Give your hyperactive child a mini-massage. Touch is very important to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder children. Massaging their temples, giving a shoulder rub or lightly running your fingers through their hair can calm children quickly.

_ Put together a “Boredom Box” that provides creative outlets for your hyperactive child. Fill this box or plastic storage bin with paint sets, coloring books, crossword puzzles, modeling clay, jewelry making kits and other artistic areas of interest. Hyperactive children bore easily and their fast spinning minds need extra stimulation. In the absence of nothing better to do, hyperactive children will lean on their own devises and you don’t want them doing that. Better that they draw than set the cat on fire…

The quick-fix calming techniques work to sooth the hyperactive child after they already became too stressed or active. There are also techniques that parents can teach their hyperactive children to help them get the “stuff” out before it builds up and explodes.

Create a calming home environment:

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder children have difficulty remaining calm in a hectic environment. Clearing the clutter and taking a “less is more” approach to decorating can reduce the sensory overload on Attention Deficit and hyperactive children.

The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder child’s bedroom especially should be free of clutter. Use plastic bins to organize and store all those precious little plastic treasures (that we adults commonly refer to as “junk”) and small toys. Open the curtains to provide natural lighting. Keep posters and wall hangings to a minimum. Paint the child’s bedroom in calming muted colors instead of bright primary colors.

If you play music in the house, opt for soft “elevator music” or classical music instead of rock. Try to avoid loud clatters and noises when your Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder child is at home.

Follow a Routine:

All children thrive in homes that provide routines, consistency and structure. Attention Deficit and hyperactive children especially need structure and schedules to feel secure in their surroundings. For these children, a more “military” approach to routines works better. Waking up, eating meals, doing homework, and bed times should all occur at about the same time every day, with few surprises to upset the Attention Deficit or hyperactive child.

A Place to Relax:

If at all possible, find a space in the house to designate as a relaxation space. It does not have to be a large space but it does need to be away from high activity areas. This little corner (or even a portion of a walk-in closet) can have a beanbag chair and a few books, coloring books or other quiet time activities.

Encourage your child to go to this space when they become angry or out of control, but never make this a place of punishment. This special spot in the house is a positive place where they can go to settle down, sort things out or just hang out when they need to be alone.

Journaling:

For the child who is old enough to write, journaling is an excellent way to untangle frazzled minds and get things off their chest. This technique allows hyperactive children to spill their internal stresses outside themselves and onto paper.

Develop a daily habit of having your child write a page or two, depending on their age, about anything that comes to mind. They can write “I hate school, the dog just drooled, the baby’s crying is driving me crazy…” - whatever comes to mind. Eventually, they will get to the guts of what is going on inside them. Then rumple or tear the paper up and throw it away.

These private internal thoughts are not for you or anyone else to read, ever. Please respect their privacy and let them know they can write anything down without fear of reprimand.

Taking a mini-vacation with Guided Imagery:

Guided imagery is a powerful relaxation tool for hyperactive children that pulls their focus to positive thoughts, all the while encouraging creativity in your child. You can check out books on this technique at your local library if you want further information on the subject.

Last, but certainly not least, diet:

Some parents find that reducing or eliminating sugar from the diet goes a long way in calming the hyperactive child. If your child is a finicky eater, you will need to supplement the diet to make sure your Attention Deficit or hyperactive child has the fuels needed for his body to function well.

Starting the day out with a healthy breakfast balanced with proteins, fats and carbs is important. An egg sandwich, peanut butter toast and fresh fruit, protein shakes and fresh fruit smoothies are great ways to start the day for Attention Deficit and hyperactive children.

Sugar cereals are quick and convenient but should not be used as a breakfast mainstay. Fruit juices are high in calories and sugar and not recommended for children, especially those with Attention Deficit or hyperactivity. Instead of juice or sodas, get in the habit of offering plain old H2O. With plenty of bottled waters that offer fruit flavors and vitamin enhancements, getting your children hydrated is easier now than ever before.

About The Author

Jeannine Virtue is a freelance journalist and mother of an Attention Deficit son. Visit the Attention Deficit Disorder Help Center at http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com for information about treating Attention Deficit Disorder without the use of Ritalin or other ADHD medications.

jvirtue@add-adhd-help-center.com

As a landlord, when renting your home you can run into several problems. Some tenants may even appear to be the perfect match for you and your home until after they move in and you see what they are really like. The following are several problems you can run into when renting your home.

One of the biggest problems a landlord can face is late payments. Even if the tenant appears to have perfect finances and good references, they can still be late on payments. It is best to document each late payment on behalf of the tenant so you can have ground for an eviction notice should it become necessary.

If you are renting a fully furnished or partially furnished apartment or home there can be problems as to what is your and the tenants when it comes time for the tenant to move out of the residence. Therefore, it is best to clearly state in writing at the time of renting what cannot be removed from the residence. This will help to give you a legal recourse in case something is removed if the tenants do not notify you.

Another common problem is that of improper removal of garbage. If garbage is not collected, not only does the area become unsanitary but also your property can begin to look run down. Therefore, in the contract state how often garbage must be removed.

Along these lines, cleanliness can become an issue with tenants. This cannot only become a health hazard to your tenants but also to the neighbors as well. Therefore, set clear cleanliness guidelines in the contract.

Great Las Vegas Guide:
See our list of Las Vegas Buyer Realtors for help on investing or buying a low cost home.
You can get an instant quote on Las Vegas Used Car Prices.

Vibes will be difficult to include into a long term relationship Some folks will probably notice the introduction of dongs into a beautiful marriage scary and it will often bring up questions such as “does he fancy me anymore”? Still dongs will be a wonderful & satisfying event & vibes also help to build closeness between you & your wife.

Figuring out which sex toy to choose might well be an adventure. A time where you and your lover can sit down and discuss about what you both want out of the endeavour & choose a dildo together that meets both of your desires. Please don’t go straight in for the eminent huge dildos, just start off slowly. Looking for the real thing then get Realistic Dildos.

Once both of you have chosen a sexual aid & have had the wonder of opening your new treasure both of you need to set the sexy mood. Candles and sensual music are the perfect platform to start off any sexual adventure. Make the time special, unplug the phone, turn off the DVD player & focus fully on your husband. Elongated sensual stimulation before bringing out the sexual toy is a magnificent idea. Light and loving touch increases the sexual sensations and helps towards a relaxing and enjoyable sex session.

And please don’t forget to get into the zone, have lots of fun and enjoy it.

Many of the problems that the members of the European Union are expressing with their constitution are in matter of fact problems with they perceive to be the ‘one size fits all’ idea of policies. The French are loudest in expressing their objections and looking at the history of the evolution of the nation state, perhaps they have a point. It took millennia for the idea of the Nation State to evolve into any recognizable shape. So to expect a huge bloc of countries to continue to integrate without noticeable hiccups would be naive.

The idea of the modern state as it can still be seen in Europe and the US was in matter of fact invented by a Frenchman. Political philosopher Jean Bodin in his 1576 book Six Livres de la Republique describes a republic as “a just government of several households and of what they hold in common, with the power of sovereignty”. His description and further treatment of the subject confirms the great importance the concept ‘authority’ and ’sovereign rule’ has had in our formative ideas of statehood. Bodin is a very contradicting scholar. He is said to have been both the proponent of an overly powerful ruling class -absolute monarchy- as well as an advocate for limiting the power of this sovereign to the doorstep of every household.

He was the first to hit home the notion of sovereignty as a limited entity when he at the time of writing referred to mostly feudal and monarchic systems elsewhere in the world as simply horrific. Slave master relations in countries like Russia, Turkey and Iran at the time abhorred the Europeans. These countries had a sovereign who was more or less full master of the “bodies and goods” of his subjects. The people of Europe would have not put up with such a regime that took for granted certain limits to the state’s authority, according to Bodin. On the other hand, Bodin was accused of being a proponent of unlimited rule. True enough, Bodin extolled in extravagant terms the prerogatives of sovereignty; but these did not include the power to impose new taxes. ‘Natural law’ forbade this, he said.

Bodin cites Seneca to the effect that `to Kings appertains the power over all, but property belongs to individuals’” Bodin is said to have been very impressed with Europe’s eldest form of democracy, embodied in the ancient democratic ceremony of the Carantanians (currently in Austria), which he said “had no parallel throughout the world.” And perhaps he was right; The Slovene community in Carantania was one of the few at the time to not have slaves. Stretching from the river Elbe to the Adriatic Sea, its centre was at Gosposvetsko Polje near Krnski Grad which is in present-day Austrian Carinthia.

The free Carantania became infamous for resisting all foreign domination for almost one hundred years, which in this area of tribal Europe was also quite impressive. Besides leaving a lasting imprint on the historical memory, their example has inspired European countries to date as well as the US, where Thomas Jefferson took inspiration from the Six Livres in his constitutional work. The Carantanians’ celebratory democratic institution, the installation of a Slovene duke persisted down to the year 1414 was quite a remarkable piece of culture even at the time. It took place during a general assembly of all free Carantanian Slavs, by voting. A duke would be installed with at a place called Knezji Kamen (the Prince’s Stone) with special rites by a peasant, the embodiment of the people, on whose behalf he invested the duke with power and authority. Just imagine the scene.

The prince had to make a solemn pledge in public to be fair and just at all times, to defend Carantania bravely against all enemies, to do everything possible to safeguard peace, and to help the poor. The ceremony at the time was quite unique and attracted the attention of the humanist Aeneas Piccolomini, Pope Pius II, who travelled through Slovene lands, to say that the installation ceremony “was second to none.”

This Robin Hood type democracy is known to have flourished centuries before the adoption of the Magna Carta in 1215, which is widely regarded as the cornerstone of contemporary western democracies.

This is not to say that Bodin advocated the Carantanian ideas, yet he was convinced though that human structures as they had formed did show that they were quite detached from the balance of nature. Primitive tribal democracies of the Carantanian time might not at all have been compatible either with the statehood that Bodin describes. “In order to function as viable members of a medieval polity, states had to possess permanent social structures. First of all, a state had to be identified with a definite geographical space, a stretch of land whose physical features could imprint themselves

on the collective psyche. Such a rooting in a particular territory could not be brought about except by centralized political power which could define the territory’s limits and organize their defense. This demanded, in turn, the development of a social hierarchy in which a ruler and a class of nobles shared the burdens of power and were able to interact with their social counterparts in other states. The definition of spheres of authority and the stabilization of administrative practices called for the adoption of definite legal procedures for whose formulation a supratribal literary language was needed,” describes Alexander M. Schenker, a Yale University scholar in his ‘An introduction to Slavic Philology”

He then goes on to illustrate that the void here was filled up by the literate clergy. Those days, the church pretty much assumed political powers as a natural extension to its religious teachings. Bodin, who lived at the time that Huguenots and Catholics were involved in religious strife, advocated more secular, professionalised political rule that superseded church domination.

“Cadres of learned, or at least literate, people had to be developed in order to use this language in the course of performing the necessary administrative functions. Hence the need for Christianity with its monastic tradition of learning, with its schools where Latin or Church Slavonic were taught, with its ability to replace tribal particularism with its own universalist message. To initiate a social revolution of these dimensions, strong leadership and permanent political institutions had to emerge,” Schenker writes. It took some European countries millennia before the favorable conditions for the establishment of a nation state arose with a central element here often the opposition of pagans toward ruling by a clergy elite.

Bodin’s thinking on political issues was quite similar to that of thinkers of his generation, including Montaigne, Pasquier and Le Roy. These thinkers, like Bodin no longer believed that human laws and society very closely reflected the immutable principles of the divine and natural orders, but instead argued that human affairs were generally detached from these orders and were characterized by a high degree of particularity, variability and mutability. However, Bodin did say that the human political order could not subsist without some divine and natural foundation. His works are attempts to identify a new universal foundation for human laws and society, anchored in the divine and natural orders and are highly regarded in their pioneering the nation state until today.

Bodin’s treatment of the nation state appears to be motivated by his perception that the limitations of power needed to be made clear. In arguing the case for absolute monarchy, he did speak out against abusive taxation policies in outside countries, but underlined the need for a well ordered society which did away with the remaining remnants of feudalism. He saw France’s defense as neccessitating collective payment of soldiers to defend the country against a Spanish army, which was financed by silver from the New World. (This was the first standing army since the Romans’ more than a thousand years earlier.)

Incidentally, this was also the occasion on which France established a mercenary economy; it started to create revenues by keeping imports low while pushing exports and subsidizing them. Few political thinkers have been regarded to be at once as innovative and as self- contradictory as Jean Bodin, a statement that would not be totally out of line describing Europe of today. A number of his ideas were developed in the seventeenth century, in Germany, the Netherlands and England. They either reconciled apparent contradictions within his thought or exploited their ambiguity for political advantage.

It took 300 years–the time until the unification of Germany and Italy in the 19th century–before Bodin’s description of the nation-state came to dominate Europe. But his mercantilism was adopted almost immediately by every European government, large or small. It remained the reigning philosophy until Adam Smith showed the absurdity of believing (as mercantilism does) that a nation can get rich by robbing its neighbors.

Yet twenty-five years after Smith, mercantilism was still the doctrine that underlay America’s first and most important work in political theory; The Report on Manufacturers (1791) by Alexander Hamilton. And almost a century later, in the second half of the 19th century, Bismarck based the new German Empire on Bodin’s mercantilism as adapted to Europe by Hamilton’s great German admirer, Friedrich List, in his 1841 book, The National System of Political Economy. However discredited as economic theory, mercantilism, not Adam Smith’s free trade, thus became the policy and practice of governments virtually everywhere (except for one century in the UK).

The Spanish, predictably, never took a liking to Bodin. Their Counter-Reformation ideas disparaged Bodin as a politico, second only to Machiavelli in his alleged advocacy of the subordination of religion to political ends. By contrast, Italy during its Counter-Reformation heydays, did adopt some of his ideas but thinkers in this country had difficulties with his theory of sovereignty. But Bodin has left his strongest imprint on politics in France. Hence, some political commentators regret today’s Non in France and say that the French for all the reasons they may have to do away with the European ideals they themselves are among the strongest proponents for, is simply a denial of their own origins. “A continental Constitution that ensures basic human rights and dignities seems to be as much a French legacy as anyone else’s. […] we are awash in examples of people who lightly toss off their hard- earned heritage”, writes Dawn Miller, an editorial writer of WVGazette, who fails to understand the Non camp, after spending 11 days in a Parisian neighborhood.

Others have issued warnings of doom if the technocrats of Brussels continue to ride roughshod over the clearly expressed aspirations of member states, referring to recent challenges to democratic ideals that are steeped in plenty historic precedent. “There have been enough hints by the electorates of various member states in a sufficiently large number of national elections to give Brussels a sense of what needs to be done. Each time, election results that have reflected the rise of populist, anti-EU parties (such as occurred in France’s last Presidential election) have been dismissed as one-off aberrations”, writes Marshall Auerback in his international perspective on Prudentbear.com He says that as a consequence, the underlying political message is ignored and that this is storing up more trouble for the future. That is why we already see a vacuum in Brussel which is likely to only get more extensive as time goes along and no change is made in operating procedures.

Angelique van Engelen is a freelance writer based in the Netherlands, writing for http://www.contentClix.com. She writes political reports, news, features, web content brochures and research. Contact her for a free quote: Angeliqueve@contentclix.com.

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