Wednesday, October 18, 2006

~ Clock. Works




Galloway: [crisply, after Kaffee's risen prematurely to leave] You're dismissed.
Kaffee: [pause] I always forget that part.
~ A Few Good Men
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6 comments:

Emerald. said...

"" Recognizing, that the importance of private sector investment to achieve sustainable economic growth, employment creation, development of strategic national resources, transfer and implementation of competitive technology and technical skills, export growth and improved balance of payments.

Appreciating, that an appropriate legal framework is prerequisite to promoting a stable, predictable and attractive business environment that will encourage and support private economic activity by Indonesian and foreign investors.

Acknowledging, that an appropriate legal framework for investment must provide certain key principles, among which are: equal treatment of investors in similar circumstances irrespective of nationality; protection against expropriation, confiscation or requisition of investments and unilateral alteration or termination of contracts; freedom to repatriate foreign investment capital and net proceeds there on; and access to impartial, quick and effective mechanisms for the resolution of commercial and other investment disputes.

Cognizant, that these principles have increasingly been adopted as standard international practice and have been incorporated into national legislation in many countries, both regionally and globally, and have been recognized in various international documents, including the GATT/WTO Agreements, the APEC Non Binding Investment Principles, and numerous bilateral investment agreements.

Undertake and Resolves to reform the investment policies, legislation and regulations of the Republic so as to create an enabling environment for private investment consistent with the above stated principles, to be characterized by active promotion and facilitation of investment, transparent criteria for the admission and establishment of investments, transparency of government procedures and administration, and minimized restrictions, prohibitions, screening and licensing requirements based on a short "Negative List" of restricted investments.

The government has therefore established an Investment Policy Reform Initiative having as its objective the encouragement and facilitation of private sector investment through reform and implementation of transparent, predictable, market oriented policies applied equally to both foreign and domestic investors. In this the Government has recently adopted major policy changes, including liberalizing the rules for foreign investment. The Government is committed to the rapid elimination of the remaining restriction on foreign and local private investment.

This statement sets forth newly adopted and current policies of the Government for promoting and facilitating private sector investment in Indonesia. The Government is fully committed to these policies and will take the necessary steps to ensure their effective implementation. This statement will be supplemented by detailed investment guidelines to be issued in the near future.

To encourage and facilitate private investment, the Government has adopted the following policies.


NATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW
The Government is preparing a unified law on Investment that will replace the existing Domestic Capital Investment Law and the Foreign Investment Law and regulate investment on all sectors. This new law will incorporate market oriented principles of investment policy and establish basic guarantees such as equal treatment of Indonesian and foreign investors whenever possible, protection against expropriation of investment. Free repatriation of foreign investment capital and returns and a reasonable part of the salaries and wages of expatriate personnel and related concepts drawn from regional and international best practice. Regulations and Decrees issued under the earlier investment laws will be streamlined and reformed to minimize negative list and other restrictions on local and foreign investment. In the interim and as these legislative enactments are prepared, the administration of investment related functions by government agencies and departments will be updated and improved in light of the new policies contained in this Investment Policy Statement.

FREEDOM TO INVEST
Investors shall be permitted to invest in any sector of the economy except in a small number of activities, which are listed on "Negative List". There shall be no restriction on the size of the investment, the source of funds or whether the products are destined for export or for the domestic market. Existing foreign investors may invest in activities other than those initially authorized, except for activities stated on "Negative List".

COMPANY FORMATION
Industrial licenses are still needed based on the principles of fairness, simple, quick and transparent mechanism and procedure.
Procedures for company formation are to be administered so as to permit prompt establishment of business enterprises.

TAXES AND DUTIES
The Government is committed to enhance the country's investment climate and international competitiveness by further reducing and simplifying taxes and duties through ongoing tax and trade policy reform programs. The current Indonesia tax law provides tax incentive to investor who invest in certain sectors and or certain areas as follows:


Investment Allowances,

Accelerated depreciation and amortization,

Expanded loss compensation but not more than 10 years,

10% tax rate for dividend paid to foreign taxpayer, except to prevail tax convention maintaining lower tax rate.
Indonesia always tries to maintain equal treatment in tax law not only for taxpayers but also for tax cases that have similarities. By giving tax incentive to investors, Indonesia must assure that this incentive granted still reflect the principle of equal treatment and the application of that principle did not depart from the objective of tax incentive.

AVAILABILITY OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE
The Government will continue to ensure, according to pre-set criteria and procedures, that foreign exchange for import transactions and dividend payments is freely available and the Government is committed to ensuring the ease of repatriation of capital and payments for business services.

ACCESS TO LOCAL FUNDING
The Government is considering introducing a simple system that will allow foreign investments access to local funding based on simple established criteria.

LABOR PRACTICES
Within the framework of the labor laws of Indonesia, the Government recognizes that enterprises may require foreign expertise. Accordingly, it will continue to make residence permits readily available according to prevailing regulation for key personnel required for employment in such enterprises.

GENERAL INFRASTRUCTURE
The Government recognizes the importance of infrastructure to support investment and is committed to make available adequate infrastructure such as transport, electricity, water and communications through partnership mechanisms that attract private capital. Adequate legal protection including guarantees for the integrity of contracts will be provided.

AVAILABILITY OF LAND
The Government is committed to ensure that land for industrial and commercial use is readily available to investors. The Government will receive and simplify all existing land licensing and environmental approval procedures to ensure transparency.
The Government is committed to develop new serviced industrial sites and has provided the necessary framework to enable private investors to develop industrial sites including through arrangements for subleasing to other investors.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
The country's small and medium scale enterprises hold great potential for rapid economic growth and employment creation. The Government is therefore dedicated to continuing with various programs assists these enterprises, including simplifying the regulatory and policy environment, removing obstacles to securing access to raw materials, removing tax related impediments and improving access to credit.
The Government will promote mutually advantageous, commercially beneficial subcontracting/ partnership arrangements between large-scale foreign and local firms and small- and medium-scale business.

INVESTMENT PROMOTION
To further enhance the capacity of the BKPM and to create an integrated investment promotion regime, the Government is actively reviewing proposals for the formation of an independent, public private partnership to promote and facilitate all private investment in Indonesia.

INVESTMENT SERVICES
The Government is committed that the investment services for foreign and domestic investment in the era of regional autonomy is more preferable that the current condition. Therefore, a "one stop service" system will be introduced to be implemented in the region.

INVESTMENT PROTECTION
The Government recognizes that security of assets of investors is of paramount importance. It therefore, assures investors that it will avoid using any measures that will adversely affect their property rights.
In the case of foreign investors, the Government has negotiated and concluded several bilateral investment treaties, which provide direct protection to investors for the security of their assets as well as assurances for the repatriation of proceeds from their investments. The Government will actively work to pursue to conclude additional bilateral investment treaties with other countries. Indonesia has also joined the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

DOUBLE TAXATION RELIEF
To improve economic and trade relationship with other countries, Indonesia would like to have certain law provisions that regulate the right of tax imposed from each country. The purposes of those provisions are achievement of rule of law, avoiding double taxation, and prevention of tax evasion. Government is entitled to make an agreement with other countries to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion.
The framework and the matter of this agreement are based on international convention and other rule of laws and also the tax regulation of each country.

ARBITRATION
The Government recognized that foreign investors must have an appropriate forum to resolve disputes that can not be settled amicably. While such disputes would normally lie within the jurisdiction of a competent court, parties may agree in certain cases to pursue extra-judicial adjudication and to choose an appropriate forum, including international conciliation or arbitration.
To that end, Indonesia has become a member of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) at Washington DC.

3:04 AM
Emerald. said...

(( THE ULTIMATE IN DIVERSITY

3:06 AM
Emerald. said...

(( Lesson learned: "Say what you mean, and say it right away," advises Sparks.

Here are five additional tips for having effective and constructive conversations in difficult situations:

1. Give Fair Warning: The element of surprise won't work in your favor, says Loren Ekroth, Las Vegas-based founder of National Better Conversation Week. "You don't want to blind-side the other person, so ask them to get together at another time in a private, confidential place to clear up some issues. Let them know what you see as the issues and give them some time to reflect and prepare their thoughts for when you get together."

2. Have a Plan of Attack: "Consider what you want to say, write it down, and sit with it for awhile," says Suzanne Bates, author of Speak Like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results and president of Bates Communications in Wellesley, Massachusetts. "Writing it down will help you act, instead of react. If you're not sure what you want to say, discuss it with someone you trust. Be sure that person can be trusted not to disclose it. Confidentiality is critical. You don't want to complicate the situation."

3. Be Prepared for an Ongoing Process: Be ready to have to continue the conversation later, cautions Alexander Grashow, director of the consulting practice at Cambridge Leadership Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "Difficult conversations are iterative and most often require the people involved to negotiate changes with their people, departments or communities."

4. Call for a Mediator: If you think the conversation will become heated, ask that a mutual, trusted colleague be present to mediate and keep things civil, Ekroth suggests. "Often the simple presence of another puts antagonists on their best behavior so differences can be worked out with civility."

5. Check Assumptions at the Door: Making too many assumptions is a common mistake, Bates says. "It's easy to assume we fully understand the other person's motivation. We are too quick to jump to conclusions about people's actions, behaviors and attitudes." To avoid that, forget about who is right and focus on understanding the other person. "Be genuinely curious. This will help you get clarity. Separating fact from assumptions is the key to arriving at real understanding. Questions also interrupt the blame game and create an atmosphere of trust instead of suspicion."

Armed with these tips, you'll be ready the next time you have to have a tough talk with a colleague or client. And you'll be more likely to achieve a positive outcome for everyone.

3:42 AM
Emerald. said...

(( Rule Out What You Clearly Don't Like: You may think you enjoy everything, but you really don't. We all have dislikes and even hates. So work on identifying what you don't like and what you don't see yourself pursuing as a major or career. If you're iffy about a particular major or career at this point, keep it under consideration. For now, rule out only those possibilities that are definitely not for you.

Prioritize What You Want to Explore Further: Once you've eliminated the don't likes from your list of possibilities, take the majors and careers remaining and prioritize them as best you can, given what you know about each one, which may be very little in some cases. Which three or four areas are you most interested in exploring further, and which can go on the back burner?

Start Exploring: This is a critical step, because in order to explore majors and careers, you have to start somewhere. I know that sounds simplistic, but you may have to remind yourself of this concept. By prioritizing what you should explore and then starting your exploration, you move closer to figuring out your career direction one small step at a time.

Consider, for example, working with a campus career counselor to get a better sense of your skills, personality, values, likes and dislikes. In addition, find out whether or not those traits match up well with the majors and careers you're researching.

You can learn about the major or career through reading, talking to people who are in that major or career and, if possible, participating in an experiential activity -- an internship or a co-op -- to get a hands on sense of what the major or career is all about.

Use What You've Learned to Reprioritize and Eliminate: Once you have a better picture of yourself and the majors and careers you've explored, you'll more than likely change your list of initial priorities. Perhaps you'll even drop some of those options from consideration. It's unlikely that you'll be able to narrow your options to just one major or career at this point, but that's normal and for the best in many ways. The idea behind this process is not necessarily to eliminate all but one major or career, but rather to reduce your initial list to one you can more easily manage.

As you might guess, this process is neither quick nor easy -- at least not if you do it right. But if you're willing to invest some time and energy, you'll slowly be able to replace your debilitating confusion with action-oriented exploration that gets you moving toward an informed decision about your major or future career.

3:52 AM
Emerald. said...

"" air - getting airborne
aerial - airborne manoeuvre
amped - charged up - stoked - fired
backdoor - to pull into a tube from behind the peak
bail - to abandon a board - jump off - usually without regard to the boards future
bake - a closeout
bashing - body surfing
boost - getting airborne off the lip
brah - from bruddah, Hawaiian pidgin for brother
bro - a buddy or friend
bucket - helmet
bump - a swell
bumps - the build-up of wax on a surfboard deck.
carve - symmetrical, fluid turns
cheater five - five toes on the nose - keep your weight back on the board to maintain trim and speed, squat down and extend one foot forward
clucked - afraid, intimidated by the wave
crew - a group of surfers defined by break or area
dogging - going backside in the pit.
drop - as in dropping from the crest of the wave to the pit
dropping in - catching a wave that is already occupied ... taking off on the shoulder while someone is taking off deeper
drop in late - catching the steepest part of a wave
dune - a big peaky wave
falls - the pitching lip of the wave - don't get sucked into this
fan - a fan of spray off a turn such as a water skier throws
fluff - spray off the lip
falls - top of the wave pitches out and throws a waterfall shoreward.
frigged - snaked.
fully - with commitment and intensity
full on - with commitment and intensity
gash - very sharp turn
gnarly - awesome and intimidating
going off - a break under optimum conditions
gouge - sharp, fast turn
gremmies - grem or gremmie is short for gremlin - Sixties US term for young, possibly or probably mischievous surfer, pre-adolescent surfer
green room - inside a full cover-up tube
grommet - adolescent surfer
gunned - undergunned or overgunned refers to the size of your board in relation to wave conditions
hiddie - from hideous, intense
hoot - howling and yelping approval and encouragement to buddies
jag - retreat after getting worked
nipped - nipples rubbed raw by board or suit
noodle - exhausted, overall condition or specific as in noodle armed
meatball flag - black with a yellow dot in the middle, means no surfing today
pop - kickout
pit - the hollowest portion of a breaking wave
pitch - throw - angle of any run to rise
pitted - being in the pit of the wave
pearl - to go pearl diving, the nose of you board submerges and usually the wave pushes the rest of the board over the nose, you too
poser - a non-surfer playing the role of a surfer
pucker factor - the effect an intimidating wave has on ones ability to remain relaxed
puff - a spitting wave.
pumping - above average large swell
quiver - a surfer's collection of boards, a board bag that holds several boards
rip - to surf to the height of one's abilities
room - inside a large barrel.
schlong - thick, long, old style single-fin surfboard
squid - unlikeable individual
scab - a reef or rock
scabbed - getting damaged by a reef or rock
shred - ability to execute rapid repeated turns - shortboard term
sick - excellent, top notch - describing a surfer, stunt, manoeuvre or conditions
sideslip - when your board stops tracking forwards and moves sideways
slam - bounce off the lip as it begins to pitch
slash - cutback.
snake - paddling around behind someone who is in position and stealing their wave. Effectively the snake is taking ownership of the wave by being the closest rider to the breaking portion of the wave.
stink-eye - hard, cold, menacing stare
stoked - geared up, wound up, full of enthusiasm
stylie - with good form - with grace
surfer's knots - large bumps on the tops of feet and on knees caused by callusing where one continuously contacts a board
stuffed - getting driven under the water by a wave coming down on you
swish - a meek or fearful surfer
thrashed - when a wave lays a beating on you
throwing tail - sliding the tail in a turn, breaking the grip of the fins
tow-ins - getting towed into waves that are too large to paddle into
trim - adjusting your position on a board so that it planes, and achieves its maximum speed
tube - the cylindrical or cone shaped hole created when the lip pitches out far and clean enough to create a space between the wave and the falls
vertical - turn straight up the wave
waffling - rapidly working the board back and forth
wannabe - wan-na-be, someone who wants to be
wax - paraffin + colour + scent + additives to make it apply at specific temperatures. Used on deck of boards for traction
wipe out - a fall, particularly a spectacular fall
worked, getting - the action a wave plays on you. It feels like being in a large washing machine.

4:10 AM
Emerald. said...

(( Do You Have the Skills to Do the Job?

According to Karsh, the employer must first determine whether you have the necessary hard skills for the position, e.g., the programming knowledge for a database administration job or the writing chops to be a newspaper reporter. "By really probing into what the candidate has done in the past, an interviewer can tap into hard skills."

But the interviewer is also looking for key soft skills you'll need to succeed in the job and organization, such as the ability to work well on teams or "the requisite common sense to figure things out with some basic training," says Terese Corey Blanck, director of student development at internship company Student Experience and a partner in College to Career, a consulting firm.

Do You Fit?

"Every organization's first thought is about fit and potentially fit in a certain department," Corey Blanck says. That means the interviewer is trying to pinpoint not only whether you match up well with both the company's and department's activities but also whether you'll complement the talents of your potential coworkers.

Do You Understand the Company and Its Purpose?

If the organization fits well with your career aspirations, you'll naturally be motivated to do good work there -- and stay more than a month or two, Corey Blanck reasons. "I don't want someone to take the position because it's a job and it fits their skills. I want them to be excited about our mission and what we do."

How Do You Stack Up Against the Competition?

You're being evaluated in relation to other candidates for the job. In other words, this test is graded on a curve. So the interviewer will constantly be comparing your performance with that of the other candidates'.

Do You Have the Right Mind-Set for the Job and Company?

"I'm always looking for someone who has a can-do type of attitude," Corey Blanck explains. "I want someone who wants to be challenged and is internally motivated to do well."

Corey Blanck points out that an employer can't train for this essential trait. "But you can hire for it. And if you don't, you'll end up with a lower-performing employee."

Do You Want the Job?

Most employers know better than to believe everyone they interview actually wants the position being offered. They understand some candidates are exploring their options, while others are using an interview with a company they don't care about to hone their interview skills.

So you have to prove you really want the job, says Al Pollard, senior college recruiter for Countrywide Financial. "I use the ditch-digger analogy: Many of us can dig ditches, but few are willing to -- and even fewer want to."

4:16 AM

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