A member of a group I’m working with to develop a logo and marketing slogan for court-connected dispute resolution services just sent us all a link to “The Art of the Dispute“, an American Express ad that’s been airing during the U.S. Open.

Starring former tennis professional John McEnroe, remembered not only for his virtuosity on the tennis courts but also for his fearsome temper, the ad lauds the advantages of American Express cardmember dispute resolution services.

You can view either the commercial or a lengthier video clip. It’s a clever ad, regardless of what you may think about either McEnroe or American Express–and no matter what, it doesn’t hurt the mediation field that dispute resolution — with its promise of “less arguing” — gets placed squarely in front of the attention of the television-viewing public.

One of the greatest things about the web is the amount of free stuff out there to help any small business owner, well, take care of business.

Thanks to the Canadian legal research and IT blog Slaw, I just learned about 100 free (or really, really cheap) products and services ideal for the entrepreneur launching a business on a shoestring.

You can browse The Poor Entrepreneur’s Toolset: 100 Freebies for Boostrappers at the Bootstrapper blog.

(Photo credit: Leea Gilmour.)

Today Mediate.com, the world’s premier mediation site, posts its 200th newsletter.

Not only is Mediate.com a web site that I visit frequently to research information on topics in ADR, but it’s also the one that I recommend first to my mediation students and to anyone interested in understanding more about mediation, conflict resolution, and negotiation.

As a blogger I am also deeply grateful that Mediate.com reached out to embrace bloggers at the beginning of this year through the launch of its “Mediate.com Featured Blogs” section. Mediate.com is not only a dependably top-quality resource, it is also a good cyber-neighbor.

Congratulations, Mediate.com. Here’s to 200 more.

This week’s mediator link-fest includes the following headlines:

“Attributing Blame — from the Baseball Diamond to the War on Terror“, from The Situationist, examines the ways in which we attribute blame and draw inferences about the motivation of others when bad stuff happens.

Cognitive Daily offers “Insight into how children learn cultural values“, and also explains “Why we are blind to some changes but not others“.

Neuromarketing, a blog I’ve recently discovered, takes a look at decision making in “Want” vs. “Should” - It’s All in The Timing“.

The Executive Assistant’s Tool Box explains “How to Speak Your Mind (and Keep Your Job)“, while Lawsagna discusses “Three Kinds of Empathy“.

Workplace bullying is getting plenty of attention this week. Thoughts from a Management Lawyer describes the results of the U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey 2007 (in PDF) in “Workplace Bullying is Widespread“. And Dumb Little Man - Tips for Life has advice on “How to Deal with a Workplace Bully“.

Finally, the secret’s out: everyone’s talking about mediator-blogger Geoff Sharp’s “40 sites in 40 minutes“, a whirlwind tour of Geoff’s favorite stops in the ADR cyber-neighborhood.

(Thanks, Geoff, by the way, for including Online Guide to Mediation on your list.)