CHRISTMAS 2010

HEALTH for the HOLIDAY SEASON

Here are some tips for the Holiday Season:

1. Plan Christmas activities for yourself and your family to prevent tension and stress.
2. Take care of yourself and your family against changes in temperature. Children and adults may become susceptible to cough, colds and fever. If your cough, colds and fever is more than five days, consult your nearest health station.
3. Prepare a well balanced Noche Buena and Media Noche meals. Make sure that vegetables and fruits are on the table together with your traditional ham and queso de bola.
4. Be kind to your heart. Eat a moderate amount of nutritious foods to sustain your daily activities.
5. Drink plenty of liquids. Drink plenty of water and fruit juices to facilitate excretion.
6. Have enough sleep. Give yourself enough sleep so that mind and body can rest.
7. Avoid crowded areas because bacteria that cause diseases multiply and spread easily. Airy and well ventilated areas are essential to health living.
8. Use environment friendly Christmas Decors that cost less and are not fire hazards. Save decors for next year and store them in a safe place.
9. Buy toys with no pointed or sharp edges, nor too small toys that can cause choking.
10. Do not use firecrackers and fireworks during the Holidays. Make some noise even without fireworks and firecrackers

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR.
STAY ALIVE AND WHOLE FOR THE COMING YEAR.

Five Somali pirates convicted of attacking US naval ship

A US federal jury in Norfolk, Virginia, today convicted five Somali men of attacking a US Naval ship - in what is believed to be the first time a jury has convicted anyone of piracy since 1820. The men were captured on April 1 after they decided to target the USS Nicholas, believing it was a merchant ship, as the vessel was operating west of the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean. The USS Nicholas is an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate homeported in Norfolk, according to the Justice Department.
Three of the men - Mohammed Modin Hasan, Gabul Abdullahi Ali and Abdi Wali Dire - used a small vessel to launch the attack, firing assault weapons and a rocket propelled grenade.
The three men - along with Abdi Mohammed Gurewardher and Abdi Mohammed Umar, who were aboard a larger supply vessel - were detained by the sailors aboard the USS Nicholas and later brought to the US.
The charges levelled against the men included piracy, attack to plunder a vessel and assault with a dangerous weapon in the special maritime jurisdiction.
The men face a mandatory sentence of life in prison when they are sentenced March 14, 2011.
"Today marks the first conviction of piracy in more than 190 years," US lawyer Neil MacBride said in a statement after the men were convicted.
"Modern-day pirates not only threaten human lives but also disrupt international commerce by extorting hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments.
"Today's conviction demonstrates that armed attacks on US-flagged vessels are crimes against the international community and that pirates will face severe consequences in US courts."

Some Christmas Facts

Christmas was once a moveable feast celebrated at many different times during the year. The choice of December 25, was made by Pope Julius I, in the 4th century A.D., because this coincided with the pagan rituals of Winter Solstice, or Return of the Sun. The intent was to replace the pagan celebration with the Christian one.

Jesus Christ, son of Mary, was born in a cave, not in a wooden stable. Caves were used to keep animals in because of the intense heat. A large church is now built over the cave, and people can go down inside the cave. The carpenters of Jesus' day were really stone cutters. Wood was not used as widely as it is today. So whenever you see a Christmas nativity scene with a wooden stable -- that's the "American" version, not the Biblical one.

According to historical accounts, the first Christmas in the Philippines was celebrated 200 years before Ferdinand Magellan discovered the country for the western world, likely between the years 1280 and 1320 AD.

In the East, St. Nicholas was regarded as the patron saint of SAILORS. In the West, he has been regarded as the patron saint of children, among other things.

Human Beings, Not Human Doings

"Until one experiences the hopelessness of his existence in poverty, misfortunes, sickness and tragedy - he has nothing but only the mystical and divine power of the God to sustain him. Then, only then man is enlightened. Man has free will to choose right from wrong, and we are responsible for our actions.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

Maintenance of Sewage System

Seafarers whose work involves maintaining shipboard sewage system are at increased risk of faecal contamination. Immunization against typhoid and hepatitis A is therefore recommended. It should again be noted that when working on such systems attention must be drawn to more stringent personal hygiene requirements including applicable PPE.

is your health on the line

Unless you've had your cellphone permanently glued to your ear, chances are you've heard the recent health buzz: Mobile devices can cause cancer. While it's true that National Cancer Institute has ruled them safe, a growing number of independent researchers disagree.
Those experts point out that the FCC wireless regulations on cell phone safety are largely based on something called Specific Absorption Rate(SAR) levels, or the rate at which our bodies absorbs radiation. Most phones do comply with the federal standards, but SAR monitors only thermal effects. (In other words, if the radiation from your phone isn't cooking your brain, its regarded as safe.) But mounting scientific evidence suggest that nonthermal radio frequency radiation (RF)- the invisible energy waves that connect cell phones to cell towers, and power numerous other everyday items- can damage our immune systems and alter our cellular makeup, even at intensities considered safe by the FCC.

Most Dangerous Cities in the World

1) Caracas Venezuela –With drug cartels, and poverty, Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, ranks the highest for murder and crime in the world. They have nicknamed the city the “murder capital of the world”.

2) Cuidad Juarez, Mexico – This place has a serious problem with robbery, kidnapping, sexual assault and drug-related crimes. They are the number two city in the world for murders, most of them drug-related.

3) Mogadishu Somalia –Mogadishu has one of the highest terrorist populations in the world. Looting, prowling, kidnapping, gunfire,etc.. make Mogadishu one of the top 3 most dangerous cities.

4) Capetown South Africa –The Capetown is in a great state of poverty, making crime a part of the peoples everyday life.

5) Bogota – Columbia – Bogota is the main port for drugs and guns coming up from Colombia to Panama. People get murdered in plain daylight every day.

6) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil –A drug cartel, called the Pirahnas, resides in Rio, and they are responsible for many murders and abductions.

7) Grozny, Chechnya, Russia – There is more Russian Mafia in this place than police. This city is not run by government officials, but by gangsters. A russian is murdered here every 20 minutes.

8 Baghdad, Iraq –Al-Qaeda and Kurdish rebels, and criminals are involved in violence that goes on everyday. Nuclear devices to poison the people there and the inherent gunfire killing civilians everyday makes Baghdad truly hell on earth.

9) Guatemala City, Guatemala – The government is very corrupt, they get paid off everyday by the drug lords. There is a high crime rate in this capital city, and many tourists are victims of armed robbery, rape and even murder.

10) Bangkok Thailand- Thailand is the #1 producer of opium and heroin in the world. A major transit for those drugs is the capital Bangkok. Therefore making it unsafe. The violence and crime due to social unrest makes Bangkok top 10 for sure.

What's hiding inside your tuna tin?

Greenpeace recently commissioned the first ever independent, public genetic tests into tinned tuna, to find out what was really going on inside 50 brands of tinned tuna. Analysis of products from 12 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, and several European countries, turned up some pretty dodgy things inside some of them.

Inside some tins (brands Calvo, Campos in Spain), two different species of tuna were found, while in others (for example Clover Leaf in Canada and Nostromo [owned by Calvo] in Italy), tins from different batches were found to have different species inside separate tins.

The root of this problem is the use of FADs (Fish Aggregation Devices), manmade or natural floating objects that attract not only adult tuna, but all kinds of other marine life, including sharks and turtles and juvenile tuna.

While this apparently sloppy behaviour should set alarm bells ringing from a consumer point of view, there’s actually even more to be concerned about; the tinned tuna industry, through what appears to be lazy disregard for both its customers and future tuna availability, is forcing consumers and retailers into involvement in a trail of destruction.

November 23, 2010

The Myth of the Overqualified Worker

The prejudice against too-good employees is pervasive. Companies tend to prefer applicant who is a “perfect fit” over someone who brings more intelligence, education, or experience than needed. On the surface, this bias makes sense: Studies have consistently shown that employees who consider themselves overqualified exhibit higher levels of discontent. For example, over qualification correlated well with job dissatisfaction in a 2008 study of 156 call-center reps by Israeli researchers Saul Fine and Baruch Nevo. And unlike discrimination based on age or gender, declining to hire overqualified workers is perfectly legal, as shown by U.S. federal court rulings upholding the New London, Connecticut, police department’s rejection of a high-IQ candidate on the grounds that he’d probably become dissatisfied and quit.

This kind of thinking has tossed untold numbers of experienced, highly skilled people into the ranks of the long-term unemployed, a group that now constitutes nearly half of all U.S. jobless.

But even before the economic downturn, a surplus of overqualified candidates was a global problem, particularly in developing economies, where rising education levels are giving workers more skills than are needed to supply the growing service sectors. In China, where the number of college graduates has tripled since 1998, more than one-fourth of this year’s 6.3 million college grads are out of work, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

If managers can get beyond the conventional wisdom, the growing pool of too-good applicants is a great opportunity. Two recent studies—one analyzing data on more than 5,000 Americans, the other examining 244 employees of a Turkish apparel chain—show that overqualified employees outperform their colleagues. In the former study, Greg Reilly of the University of Connecticut, Anthony Nyberg of the University of South Carolina, and Mark Maltarich of St. Ambrose University looked at employees with above-average intelligence working in jobs such as car washing and garbage collecting. In addition to achieving higher performance, these cognitively overqualified employees were less likely than others to quit. The researchers point out that many overqualified workers stay put for lifestyle reasons, such as the hours or the company’s values.
by Andrew O’Connell

8 Reasons To Tough Out Your Job

1. Money: Money is the obvious reason to remain in a job that you would otherwise quit in a heartbeat, because the fact is, unless you are willing to live in the woods off the fat of the land, you are going to need money and this becomes even more important if you are responsible for more people than just yourself.

2. Experience: Even if your job is not ideal, chances are you are learning something that can become marketable in the future, in other words, it is in your best interest to learn everything possible from your current position so these skills can help you secure a more fulfilling position in the future.

3. Advancement: You might be unhappy with your current position, but before you decide to call it quits, consider the advancement opportunities that may exist should you decide to stay and try to think honestly of the best case scenario - where could you be in this company in two or five years?

4. Expectations: Having realistic expectations about a career is vital to job satisfaction and expecting too much responsibility, freedom or compensation can lead to disappointment and it is helpful to look objectively at the position to determine realistic expectations both for the job position and for yourself.

5. The Grass is Always Greener: Although it's easy to assume "I would be so happy if I worked somewhere else," this is not always the case even the dreamiest of jobs provoke some level of dissatisfaction and frequently, the jobs that seem most appealing fall short in some regard, whether it's in salary, job stress level, time commitment or working conditions (i.e. environment, co-workers etc).

6. Attitude: If you are unhappy with your job, it is useful to take an honest look at your attitude, if there is something that you could change (about yourself) that would make your job more tolerable?

7. Fortitude: A common source of workplace dissatisfaction involves an intolerable co-worker or manager because while we all hope to get along with our colleagues, one co-worker can, quite literally, ruin your work day.

8. Opportunity: If you have decided that your current job is definitely not going to work out for the long term, you can begin a new job search while you are still employed and as mentioned above, being currently employed is more appealing to potential employers, and it is easier to look for a suitable job (and one that you will enjoy more than your current one) if you are not worried about making the mortgage payment.

"Merry Christmas"

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christian called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheist went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!'or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists)'Look out for the wall!'~Dave Barry

vitamin D: more may not be better for you

According to the report released by the Institute of medicine that the only thing vitamin D and calcium have been proven to help is with avoiding rickets and maintaining strong bones. Too much of everything is bad, that is the rule of the thumb.

According to Dr. Holick who was the first person to identify the major circulating form of vitamin D in human blood and to determine vitamin D is synthesized in yhe skin says that "You cannot obtain enough vitamin D to your diet. The 3 steps strategy reccomended are injest food that naturally contain or are fortified with vitamin D along with sensible sun exposure and taking vitamin d supplement. Control of vitamin D ensuring enough vitamin D to Body is reccommended."

freedom

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" remains as good a concise definition of liberalism’s aims today as it was when Thomas Jefferson borrowed the language of John Locke for the Declaration of Independence. What distinguishes liberalism, however, is not just high aspirations but strikingly effective principles for the creation as well as the control of power. From its origins as constitutional liberalism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the liberal project has provided the basis of the most prosperous and powerful states in the world.

-Paul Starr, Freedom's Power

Christmas light and Safety Instruction

The majority of christmas light today use a parallel wiring system. Parallel wiring provides more than one path of electricitl for each light bulb to follow. After the current leaves the light bulb it follows two or more path before returning to the electrical source. The parallel lights have two wires and each light bulb has its own positive wire connection so if one light bulb burns out the rest lights remain lighted. To reduce the risk of overheating the lights, you should replace any burned out light bulbs promptly. Use the same wattage replacement bulbs as the original strand of lights. The voltage of the light does not change when another set of lights are added, what does change when adding additional sets of lights is the number of watts. This increase in wattage increases the amount of current that passes through the light bulbs.

STOP BEING SO NICE

Conflict avoidance is a common trait of most corporate workplaces. But, steering clear of disagreements and leaving things unsaid creates unnecessary complexity and needless anxiety. To get better at confronting conflict constructively, follow these three steps:

1. Reflect. Ask yourself whether there are times you should've spoken up but held your tongue. Do you avoid certain types of conflicts?

2. Get feedback. Ask trusted friends and colleagues how they perceive your readiness to engage in constructive conflict. They might see patterns that are less obvious to you.

3. Experiment. You don't have to change overnight. Try pushing back on a request or speaking up in a meeting and see how it goes. Preface your comment with an admission that you are working on getting better at conflict. This will help demonstrate your sincerity.

US downplays shelling by North as aircraft carrier heads for Koreas

Reuters

INCHEON, South Korea/WASHINGTON: The United States said Wednesday it believed North Korea’s shelling of a South Korean island this week was an isolated act tied to leadership changes in Pyongyang and called on China to use its influence to stop the North’s provocative behavior.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States was working with allies on ways to respond but said that “It’s very important for China to lead.”

“The one country that has influence in Pyongyang is China and so their leadership is absolutely critical,” Mullen told a US television talk show.

A day after North Korea rained artillery shells at the island of Yeonpyeong, killing two civilians, a US aircraft carrier group set off for Korean waters Wednesday to take part in drills.

Although the US Forces Korea said the exercise had been planned well before the attack, many thought the move would enrage the North and unsettle its ally, China.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley also said the US expects China to use its influence to get North Korea to cease its provocative behavior, saying Beijing could play a “pivotal” role in helping to calm the situation.

Mullen said he believed the attack was linked to the succession of the reclusive state’s leadership.

Widely thought to be in failing health, Kim Jong-il appointed his younger son to key posts in September, a move seen as grooming him to be the North’s next leader. But Kim Jong-un has no real support base, and with the economy in dire straits there is a risk powerful military or government figures may decide the time is opportune for a power grab.

Tuesday’s attack by the North was the heaviest since the Korean War ended in 1953 and marked the first civilian deaths in an assault since the bombing of a South Korean airliner in 1987. 

North Korea said the shelling was in self-defense after Seoul fired shells into its waters near the disputed maritime border. The North’s KCNA news agency said the South was driving the peninsula to the “brink of war” with “reckless military provocation” and by postponing humanitarian aid. 

“The DPRK that sets store by the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula is now exercising superhuman self-control, but the artillery pieces of the army of the DPRK, the defender of justice, remain ready to fire,” the agency said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 

The nuclear-powered USS George Washington, which carries 75 warplanes and has a crew of over 6,000, left a naval base south of Tokyo and would join exercises with South Korea from Sunday to the following Wednesday, US officials in Seoul said. 

“An aircraft carrier is the most visible sign of power projection there is … you could see this as a form of pre-emptive deterrence,” said Lee Chung-min of Yonsei University in Seoul. 

In Seoul, the South Korean government came under pressure for the military’s slow response to the provocation, echoing similar complaints made when a warship was sunk in March in the same area, killing 46 sailors. 

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young was grilled by lawmakers who said the government should have taken quicker and stronger retaliatory measures against the North’s provocation.

Read more:http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=121846#ixzz16OmR0Oza
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

top 10 most dangerous sports in the world

10. RUGBY:

Possibly the most brutal contact sport on the planet. Given that fact, it’s hardly surprising that rugby has more injuries per player than any other participation sport.

9. CAVE DIVING:

Being a diver is bad enough, what with the risk of decompression, which can cause failure of the spinal cord, brain and lungs.

8. CHEERLEADING:

Cheerleading is the world’s most injury-prone sport in the world for women.

7. MOTORCYCLING:

The most dangerous motor race in the world is, without doubt, the Isle of Man TT event. In its 100-year history, this one race has seen more than 220 deaths.

6. FISHING:
The sedate pastime of angling has one of the highest mortality rates of any sport due to the number of people who drown every year.

5. ROCK CLIMBING:

According to Accidents In North American Mountaineering, the year 2000 saw 24 deaths in the US due to rock climbing mishaps.

4. GOLF:

Some figures suggest more than 4,000 of us take our last breath on the fairway every year. It’s also a killing field when it comes to bad weather, with five per cent of all lightning-related deaths taking place on the golf course.

3. HORSE RIDING:

Falling off a horse can sometimes cause pretty severe injuries, such as happened to Christopher Reeves. Even being around horses can lead to injuries, they are large animals that weigh much more than us mere humans and they can pack a very powerful blow.

2. BASE JUMPING:

Dangerous for the simple fact that it’s all or nothing – if your parachute opens you’ll be fine, if it doesn’t you’re looking at certain death.

1. LAWN BOWLS:

If you’re one of the lucky ones that escapes death, there are thousands more who end up with dislocated ankles, broken hips, torn knees or who simply keel over with a heart attack or a stroke due to the incredibly stressful nature of the game.

“Recognized Organization Performance” how will this affect the Ship Risk Profile (SRP)?

Ships with a Recognized Organization which is not listed in the table “Recognized Organization Performance” cannot be a Low Risk Ship (LRS). The following criteria are not fulfilled:

- Recognized Organization to be high performance, and
- recognized by one or more Paris MoU members.

Furthermore, for the calculation of the High Risk Ship (HRS) profile, the ship will not gain any points for the criterion Recognized Organization performance as the RO does not appear on the Paris MoU list.

THE MOST DANGEROUS BODY PART

- The TONGUE is a small thing but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark.
Do you want to risk your life or live a long good life?
Then watch your TONGUE.

NEWSIM 10th Anniversary

My Dear RM Students,

I invite you all to join us in celebrating NEW SIMULATOR CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC. (NEWSIM) 1oth Anniversary on December 8, Wednesday, at the Blue Leaf, The Fort. You may bring with you one other person closest to your heart. Attire: Formal.

Please see the map here:

http://www.theblueleaf.com.ph/location.aspx

And because it is Christmas, I feel like Santa Claus.

NO FINALS FOR ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE GROUPS WHO WILL SUBMIT THE CONSOLIDATED REPORTS ON TIME.

I wish to see you all in this once in a lifetime event! Please send me an SMS to confirm you are coming. For those who cannot make it, see you on December 11 :-)

Alvin

Success - 7 Mindsets You Need To Adopt to Attract Your Success

It doesn't matter what your situation may look like right now. As long as your thoughts are in alignment with your desire you can attract the success you want to have by adopting the right mindset.
Mindset #1 - Clarity of Mind
Mindset #2 - Use Visualization
Mindset #3 - Use Vivid Imagery
Mindset #4 - Get Emotionally Involved
Mindset #5 - Focus on your Desire
Mindset #6 - Identify your 'Why'
Mindset #7 - Take Action

Getting involved with like-minded individuals can help you nurture and develop this mindset even more, help you to keep on track and encourage you if the road to your success becomes tough.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Success---7-Mindsets-You-Need-To-Adopt-to-Attract-Your-Success&id=5155066

5 Holiday Shopping Mistakes

Mistake 1: You don't have a gift list. Running around the mall not knowing what to buy is a surefire path to blowing your budget--especially when you're pressed for time.

Mistake 2: You don't track holiday spending. Not tracking all those little splurges and expenses can leave you with a huge bill to pay in January. Not fun.

Mistake 3: You don't look for a discount. Many last minute shoppers are too desperate to find a deal when the big deadline looms.
Mistake 4: You don't give homemade gifts. Making something from scratch is thoughtful and can also save you money.

Mistake 5: You don't shop at home first. Filling your shopping cart with holiday decorations, gifts, and food supplies is a massive money mistake if you already have the goods at home.

Cyberthieves use human money mules for risky work

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL and PETE YOST, Associated Press Alicia A. Caldwell And Pete Yost, Associated Press – Mon Nov 22, 6:35 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Sitting at a computer somewhere overseas in January 2009, computer hackers went phishing.

Within minutes of casting their electronic bait they caught what they were looking for: A small Michigan company where an employee unwittingly clicked on an official-looking e-mail that secretly gave cyberthieves the keys to the firm's bank account.

Before company executives knew what was happening, Experi-Metal Inc., a suburban Detroit manufacturing company, was broke. Its $560,000 bank balance had been electronically scattered into bank accounts in Russia, Estonia, Scotland, Finland and around the U.S.

Operating from Eastern Europe and other overseas locations, the thieves used malicious software, known as malware, to infect the computers of unsuspecting users in the United States by e-mail, the malware-infected e-mails were written to look like they came from a company manager or colleague who might send an e-mail message to everyone in a company, such as the head of human resources.

When the e-mail recipient clicked on an embedded link to a website or opened an attachment, a Trojan horse virus called Zeus installed itself and gathered usernames, passwords and financial account numbers typed by the victims on their own computers, the hackers then used this information to move the victims' money electronically into bank accounts set up in the United States by the money mules.

The money mules set up shell bank accounts to receive the money, then they withdrew the funds from the shell accounts in amounts they thought were small enough to elude detection by banks and law enforcement. In some cases, the cyberthieves bombarded telephone numbers attached to the targeted accounts with calls to block the company from calling to verify the transactions.

The mules sent most of the stolen funds overseas electronically to accounts controlled by the ring leaders; the mules usually kept 8 to 10 percent as their cut.

Bungee Jumping!

Indians in the South Pacific island of Pentecost used to have bungee jumping as a kind of a competition or rite which the males jumped from banyan trees tied to vines. Since this practice was shown in 1955 by a National Geographic documentary, bungee jumping has gained world wide popularity. The increased popularity of this sport has raised questions about safety and risk of jumping. The major bungee jumping injuries have been impact related. Minor injuries include contusions, pinched fingers , and cord burns to the body. Intraocular hemorrhages, peroneal nerve injuries, near hanging , and quadriplegia are more serious injuries that are being reported. Bungee Jumping injuries are divide in three major groups : head, trunk, and lower extremities injuries.(http://www.medstudents.com.br/sport/sport7.htm)

Protect Your Good Idea

The best idea can still die when naysayers raise concerns, even if the concerns are meritless. Instead of trying to dodge unavoidable attacks, learn to expect the common types you'll face, and how to counter them simply and convincingly:

1. Death by delay - Adversaries may try to put off the discussion, ask for additional information, or otherwise delay a decision on your idea, thereby slowing momentum. Keep your audience focused on making a decision.
2. Confusion - Detractors often present distracting information or try to link your idea to several others in an attempt to confound people. Be clear about what your idea is and what it isn't.
3. Fear mongering - Nothing kills an idea faster than irrational anxieties. Know what fears your challengers might stir up and be prepared to allay them.

Source: adapted from Buy-In by John P. Kotter and Lorne A. Whitehead

Exercise Ambidextrous Decision Making

Do you rely on data and analytics to make big decisions or do you follow your instincts? While analytical decision-makers are usually more likely to make the right judgment call, intuition and gut feel can't be overlooked. In fact, many leaders have missed great opportunities because the data didn't support the risk, and the risk was actually worth taking. Great leaders adeptly use both inputs. If you are really good at collecting and analyzing data to inform decisions, find ways to check your data against a gut feeling. If you generally rely on creativity and an intuitive understanding of the customer, see if you can develop more analytic muscle.

Source: adapted from "Learn to Make Judgment Calls On the Other Hand" by Tom Davenport

2 Ways to Make the Most of a Crisis

Spectacular feats seem to happen in a crisis: people step up, productivity increases, and politics and red tape take a back seat. Unfortunately, this type of energy can't be sustained once the crisis dissipates. But, there are important lessons to take from this elevated mode of operation. Next time your organization has an emergency, do these two things:
1. Hold a post-crisis clinic. Ask everyone who was involved in the response what happened differently and why. Help people identify the new ways of working they adapted.
2. Focus the energy on a critical initiative. Ask people to apply the energy and dedication they mustered in the crisis to a stretch goal that you want to achieve in 100 days or less. This will help you determine which new ways of working are sustainable and can be integrated into a more routine way of doing business.

Source:"Don't Let Your Next Crisis Go to Waste" by Ron Ashkenas.

Quality, the biggest risk confronting Toyota on the top of the world

Toyota Motor Corp. has successively introduced to the world new models of cars highly important to the market since 2006, such as the American best seller Camry, world's best seller Carolla, and the top-in-the-Lexus-series LS. So far, everything has gone smoothly without any trouble to the quality of each of the models. Some industry sources say, however, that the people who are actually involved in the production of those cars have been stretched out for too long. "This kind of situation can't last long," they say. The company appeared to have been trying to avoid any defect in its production by setting up an inspection system like that under an emergency alert. It is thriving on achieving a sales increase of as much as 10 million units as early as in 2010. The company has also to meet the challenge of high technology advance symbolized hybrid cars, while it has to exert efforts for the production of cheaper-priced cars meet the competition from Chinese makers. Toyota is entering into new fields which it has never experienced before one after another. Risk always lurks in effort to maintain high quality.

Pacquiao - for President ? ? ? ?

No question about Pacquiao being an excellent fighter inside the ring... but being a congressman, representing a certain locality can already be disturbing... can we be ready to put our fate in the hands of a good boxer as our future president?????

Why did Google bet $1 million on Shweeb?

	By Kyle Almond, CNN October 18, 2010 -- Updated 1935 GMT (0335 HKT) | Filed under: Innovation

• Shweeb, a pedal-powered monorail, wins $1 million from Google
  
• Inventor pushes "a system that would change the world"
  
• Google says Shweeb could be a low-cost, eco-friendly solution to traffic woes
  
• But expert sees more potential in light-rail trains and plug-in hybrid cars

JUMP AT YOUR OWN RISK

I have been lucky working onboard passenger cruise ships to see and experience many things some of which were considered wild, others were wonderful and the few were risky and frightening.

One of the most thrilling and craziest thing I’ve ever did was bungee jumping high above a flat solid ground somewhere in the cold wilderness of Akureyri, Iceland.

After having the initial briefing on the ground and harnessed up, I joined the jump instructor in a small cage to head up to the jump site at the top of the boom of a high crane. Feeling confident and exhilarated about this new experience, I glanced at the equipment and the elastic cord attached to my harness by which I was to be suspended. I’ve bungee jumped before in other places in the world but this time my heart started beating faster for completely different reason. The elastic cord which was to hold my dear life for a few minutes on my descent looked to me somewhat old and heavily frayed. I wondered if it was just the hallucinating effect of the great height I was at that time.

Standing on the platform moments before my jump, I asked the jump instructor how often they changed the elastic cord. The man pondered for a few moments and answered brusquely, “Isn’t it obvious? Whenever the cord breaks.”

THE NEWEST WORDS IN THE MERIAM WEBSTER DICTIONARY END OF 2009

To keep up with the advances in technology and new cultural trends, dictionaries add new words every year.

CARBON FOOTPRINT: the negative impact that a person or business has on the environment more specifically the term refers to the amount of carbon during a particular period of time.

FRENEMY: someone who pretends to be a friend but who is actually an enemy.

GOJI (goh-jee): the dark red berry of the thorny Asian shrub Lycium barbarum.

LOCAVORE (loh-ku-vor):someone who eats fods that have been locally grown, whenever it is possible

STAYCATION:a vacation spent at home or close to home

VLOG: a blog that features videos

WEBISODE:an episode of a show that can be viewed on a website