The National Free Press - World Edition: Free Speech, Free Press and Human Rights

The entire hostage situation of close to 11 hours ended in a great tragedy with 8 hostages dead August 23, 2010. The greater tragedy was not the hostage, but the complete lack of training, equipment, and correct manpower to handle the situation. The situation had 15 hostages in a bus with a furious gunman who had a demand.

The negotiator for the situation has no trained experience in negotiating, other than being the vice mayor of the city, allowing the brother to go along and bring the letter while taking his gun away and arresting him only caused further panic for the gunman, and this is not where it ends.

The people sent to take care of the situation did not have any gear, did not cordon off the area, and had no training whatsoever in such a situation. They came in on a corner of the bus, scared of a bullet wound, using a sledge hammer on a window, which poses more risk of killing the hostage inside than saving the hostage. What is worse is the assault took a long 1 and a half hours, which is despicable in the field of warfare attack.
 

After thorough reflection, one has to redefine wealth as having something of value that is beyond monetary. It is also seen that a person of great experience has a wealth of experience, or that a sociable person is wealthy with friends. What is of a newer view with wealth, albeit monetary or otherwise, is that anything one has of value, one is accountable for. Wealth is actually a liability in a sense that one is accountable for how is that of value being utilized. When there is accountability, then one understands that one therefore has no personal possession of anything of value, but responsibility.

It is therefore imperative that wealth be used in a holistically positive manner. Wealth, like leadership or authority, is not having power over the others, but being accountable to ensure that the noble intentions for the sake of creating positivity is therefore met and provided in the field of both private and public concerns. Wealth is responsibility over general affairs. This of course, does not mean that one who is materially wealthy involves all one's wealth in charitable affairs.

There have been countless times when we watch TV and see ads on stopping water leaks, on becoming a more responsible water user, and better managing this exhaustible water supply. We incur the greatest problem of not being able to appreciate just how severe the issue has reached, and to what extent is the real situation that we are currently facing.

One vital example would be Angat Dam in the Philippines. This dam currently supplies water to 97% of Metro Manila, the largest metropolis in the Philippines with a population of 15 million. The dam is also designed to provide 240 megawatts of power (200 megawatts main, 40 megawatts auxiliary), and provide water to 30,000 farms. It is 65,000 hectares in size, with 2,200 hectares as the dam itself, and the rest, its watershed, collecting rain water, its only source of water, to provide the public with their need.

During summer the Dam has severely reduced in water, and this might have been happening for quite some time now. The dam, perhaps, was not designed for the population of the metropolis, but more importantly, the dam is suffering from a seeming water deficit, as it continually goes lower, waiting for rain.

The general public's opinion that USA is the worst offender in Carbon Emissions might actually be misguiding. Nationmaster's list of CO Emissions per capita presents otherwise.

While it is true that USA has the highest Carbon Emissions, it falls 5th place as an offender per capita. The first 4 are Middle Eastern countries with Quatar having a little more than twice the emissions per capita of USA.

Several factors have to be looked into with this study. First and foremost, third world countries will definitely have a lower carbon emissions due to lack of many luxuries and necessities. Therefore, many poorer countries barely have any carbon emissions.

One of the saddest points in male chivalry is the dying ethics and ettiquette of a man's behavior in the presence of women. The biggest conflict noticed is the excuse men have that women wanted to be treated as equals, and therefore many acts would be deemed outdated.

The very point of male chivalry was to never look at a woman as a weaker gender, as what others depicted male chivalry to be, but in fact, a better appreciation of women. The very core feature is for us to remember and appreciate women's roles in our society. They go beyond career as they do take on activities with the community, and even beyond is their active role in child rearing.

It is important to remember that when it comes to molding future leaders the very foundation is established most deeply by mothers. Every aspect of initial child rearing, from pregnancy to birth carries many subliminal cores that requires a woman to be more vigilant in ensuring she will give birth to a healthy child. Going further, the infancy of a child is mostly spent with the mother, the child's very first guru in understanding life. This core has been established as a mother's love to her child is her driving motivation that could test all patience in child rearing. What is seen, and should be seen in all women is this very first core, and respect this very core, the sacrifice of motherhood in rearing a child of the society.

One of the most important aspects of decision making has been to keep a calm mind. The advent of many distractions have kept us from being able to sit in peace and review our decisions, the issues, and formulate solutions. But it also goes beyond with us a needing constant general reflective state. We need to be able to reflect to be able to better govern ourselves and the situation.

The most important and readily available method would be meditation. It is important to keep ourselves in a quiet and comfortable room or environment, with dim and cozy lights, either silent or with some simple meditation music, and either keep silence or chant a mantra that would have its effects designed for what we are looking for. Meditation has been very effective in spirituality, mental peace, and helping compassion. It has been noted through several tests that those who meditate are generally happier and healthier. A happy mind keeps a healthier body.

Meditation too, is very difficult, clouded minds prohibit one from being able to let go and focus. It is very difficult for a novice to immediately meditate if there is a lot of mental burden being carried. Assistance is greatly encouraged from proper masters who can guide the student towards intended peace.