12 Leadership Qualities Of An Often Overlooked President:John Adams, 2nd president of America, written by Mike Myatt of Forbes:

1. He valued education.
2. He strove for a good reputation.
3. He loved his wife.
4. He fought for what was right.
5. He was a great communicator.
6. He saw his shortcomings and recruited others to fill in the gaps.
7. He recognized talent.
8. He was brave in the face of physical danger.
9. He had unwavering integrity
10. He had perseverance- As mentioned before, Adams readily admitted when he was unfit for a job. This was especially true while in France and Holland, serving as an emissary. He was staunchly patriotic ....
11. He could see the big picture.
12. He was a true servant.

If you want the full article, search it in this http:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2013/08/29/12-leadership-qualities-of-an-often-overlooked-president.

Let us set up the qualities that we should expect from a president and see if they measure up to our standards. We used to decide on the basis of our emotions -- whether pity or sympathy, fear, or exhaustion from too much politicking in our midst. This time we should get hold of our emotions and let our rational perspectives take over. After all we are building a Philippine society for many, many generations to come. We don't want to bequeath to them moral cretins and confused leaders who do not know how to stand up when crises arise or who rely on fawning (To exhibit affection or attempt to please, as a dog does by wagging its tail, whining, or cringing. 2. To seek favor or attention by flattery and obsequious behavior.) underlings for wayward advice.  Our heirs deserve the best that we can leave them. WE must start in 2016.  

Beating the Big One

How to prepare for the Big One: here is an article I found in the Internet on being safe from the efx of the earthquake:

Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory.' Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

There you are at work, on the freeway, shopping, at a restaurant, or maybe just at home. And the Big One hits. The lights go out as electrical power fails. No internet, no phone or cellular signal, no utilities. Many buildings and homes have crumbled and are on fire. Roads are impassable and people are hysterical. Maybe it's raining.Are you prepared? Start with the essentials: it's dark half the time, so always have a flashlight, shoes and eye glasses within easy reach, especially near your bed. If you can't see or make your way to safety, you're in trouble.

There is much more to preparedness than flashlights and shoes; dried or dehydrated food, pots for boiling water, clothing, shelter (tents and sleeping bags), rain gear, medicine, battery or solar powered radio, etc. Remember, in any disaster you are likely to be on your own for a few days, maybe more. The following links will help you to be ready to survive an earthquake, and many other natural disasters as well.

Links below:

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USGS preparedness guidelines
EarthquakeCounty preparedness guidelines
DisasterCenter preparedness guidelines
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) preparedness guidelines
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) preparedness guidelines
Red Cross preparedness guidelines
DareToPrepare preparedness guidelines
Special needs and vulnerable populations preparedness guidelines

WHAT IS HE DIGGING?

So many viewpoints have been posited on the complete turnaround of Congress representatives who were formerly against many provisions of the Basic Bangsa Moro Law and who now support in toto all the provisions that PNoy wants to have in it. Shall we condemn these people right away or give them the benefit of the doubt?

Going by the many reactions of the people on the concluding statements of the Committee charged with discussing the BBL, our future holds a bleak picture in our politics. It looks like our people shall be divided, in different factions, or a grimmer picture is that bullets and bombs will be flying about.

We can hold our optimism until this bill reaches the Senate, and then it is brought to the Supreme Court for review. Meanwhile, we hold our guns.

But my intuition tells me that PNoy is not a very subtle politician. When he likes something he just drives into it without thinking of the repercussions. He could be digging a hole for a tree or a coffin, it depends.

FEEDBACK ON CHRISTIAN TEACHING ON AIR

Mexican Christianity Wall Art from http://wall-decor.novica.com/sun-and-moon/mexico



If I were a non-Christian and I hear the radio spiel -- "Jesus said, ' take, eat, this is my body'" would I not think that Jesus is asking people to be a cannibal? Quoting from the Bible is not feeding the converted with quotations but making them understand Biblical statements, not blindly and possibly Christianizing them, making them appreciate Christian teachings.

But that is not the case at the moment. A Christian radio station, with the voice of a woman, keeps harping on that quotation, ad nauseam, as if she were a pastora who knows how the souls of human beings should run -- along fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible, a very medieval view of teaching about Christianity.

But is there room for change in the world of Christians? So many people like to quote from the Bible but their praxis is total opposite to what they preach. Another pastora I know very well has hurled epithets to her landlady for insisting that she vacate the place as she has not paid for almost 20 months then, the last time they talked. Yet she could quote dozens of Biblical passages, as if she had the sole prerogative of being holy.

It is difficult to find or push for changes in the religious scheme, when people embrace their religion as if it were blood in their veins. I think that is a very shallow understanding of Christian teachings. I believe in Jesus, especially when he says that "For what shall it profit a man (or woman) if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?"

But for me to believe in Christ because so-so said this over the radio, I think that that is taking Christ out of context. But to be a Christian I would like to think is to know the whole life of Christ. To not be a Christian, is not to repudiate Christ's teachings without having read them.

Radio being an aural medium, and hence can penetrate the mind when one hears the sounds in darkness could be a dominating medium that could induce people to embrace a religion blindly. It should be handled with caution, and makes its users imperatively responsible enough to know the implications of every word that is spoken through it.

Sadly, there is very little space for changes where communication is concerned. The big radio stations use 4-numbers for people to communicate with them. But some celfones like mine do not send any of those numbers away under Globe or Sun or even Talk and Text. And how much do stations charge for sending to those 4-digit numbers? P15 per message to the Christian station.

Well, at least I am glad that DZXL has the 11-digit celfone number so I can send my comments very easily -- which is why we call it a friendly station.

Maybe the National Telecommunications Commission must already be on its toes to look into this matter of giving feedback, especially on religious matters that affect our daily lives day and night. We cannot remain quiet in the face of insidious attacks on our beliefs. The NTC must insure that every media outfit that goes on air shall allow for feedback without charges.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

An Aquino regime is difficult to fathom -- is it democratic or fascist? It is very hazy as to what its policies are. In the beginning, during the first SONA, PNoy said that the OFW phenomenon would be a thing of the past. And yet now, it has acquired a full-blown culture. 

The initial problems of the OFW policy -- that of exporting labor to foreign countries were the illegal recruitment to employers who -- gave the wrong salaries unstated int he contract; who overworked the employees; who kept the OFW passports; who denied them humane treatment.

Now the OFW phenomenon has become very much broader -- the OFWs are being used as drug mules -- carrying drugs and other illegal paraphernalia to other countries. 

An extension of that is the human trafficking aspect -- that of OFWs being traded off as prostitutes to foreigners. 

The whole phenomenon is nothing but a cop-out to the need to uphold the dignity of labor. Actually, as soon as a citizen leaves the airport, he or she is already abandoning all hopes if not 80% of that for protection as a citizen, much more so as an employed person. OFWs are at the mercy of their employers if they have one, or of the host countries. 

And yet, when our heroes and heroines sacrificed their lives so that we could have independence from the colonial powers, their view was that we would all stay here and enjoy the bounty of our land. 

Where do we go from here?

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS?

Something I don't understand with Christians. It is said that the human body is God-created yet there is bruhaha over boxing in which the boxers outdo each other in destroying it. 

It is said that being cruel to animals is bad. Yet, a Christian radio broadcasting station announces: "Christ said, if you feed on me..." isn't that a very CANNIBALISTIC stunt that jolts our sense of value for what is humane? How can we feed on Christ?

The same station states that "Looking to Christ his crucifixion and his resurrection." Every hour on the hour it repeats this phrase -- a rather masochistic view of the human body. Why should we be reminded always of the negative end of Christ? Why not focus on his teachings and the values that he preached, or even the miracles that he caused?

Worst of all, what was once a one-hour daily per week showcase of Filipino composers, singers and musicians has become only two hours every Wednesday, lunchtime. Is this the way a Christian broadcasting station should deal with our musician artists? it is high time that Christians in media look inward and see if they are really fulfilling the words of Christ. This last act is truly discriminatory, racist, and downright unChristian. 

Christ could be weeping now for the turn-around in the use of his teachings. 

God forgive them for they know not what they do. Help us determine the nationality of those who did these.