LEADERSHIP

Leadership starts at home. We can not expect our elected leaders to solve the societal problems that have their root in the failure to teach our children the values that are important to being an adult in 2006. If you are a parent, ask yourself if you have had a formal discussion and obtained a commitment from you child concerning the following important attributes of being an adult.
Honesty - Without honesty you will loose the next two (Integrity and Respect).
Integrity - Is earned by doing the right thing and doing what you say you will do.
Respect - You automatically give some respect to each new person you meet. It's like a load of loose bricks. They can build it into something wonderful or throw them and loose them and eventually have nothing.
One Love - It's all about celebrating diversity. Love of all humans no matter what race, or religion. Respecting that many people are different than you and celebrating our differences. One Love is about understanding that every human has a right to be happy and live their life as they see fit. The Jamaican people taught the concept to me by example and I am forever grateful for their wisdom.
Nonviolence - Violence is all around us. Even though in the last century violence has become less socially acceptable, it is still at epidemic levels. We see so much violence that it seems almost a normal part of our lives. Television and movies are the biggest source of violence we see. The best thing you can do, especially for your kids is to eliminate their seeing of violence on a daily basis. Understanding that we are predisposed to violence because we see so much of it is step one. Step two is learning to control our anger. Anger is an emotion that no good ever comes out of. Anger serves no purpose other than to destroy relationships and lives. The sooner one accepts this and learns to control their anger and not let it escalate into violence, the better. Learn the concept of nonviolent dispute resolution.
Forgiveness - The most difficult to master of all these attributes is to forgive when you have been wronged. It is a true test of character. Forgiveness of all wrongs done to you is a very difficult thing to master but it is essential if you want to live a happy and healthy life. To forgive someone who has wronged you you must see that the reason they committed the act that caused you hurt is that they are on the wrong path. For whatever reason they have chosen a direction in life that is not on a good path. All you can do is show them the error of their ways and hope their path will change. With forgiveness in your life there is still justice. If someone has wronged you and broken the law, you can still seek justice, you just have to forgive them for their decision to do you wrong.
Revenge - Revenge is the "getting back" at someone who has wronged you. Understanding that forgiveness is key to eliminating revenge and retaliation from your life is a big step. "Revenge is always the weak pleasure of a little and narrow mind." (Decimus Junius Juvenal).

 

Take Action: If you haven't discussed these concepts of life with your children and let them know that you believe they are the most important qualities for them to maintain and build on then you should do it as soon as possible. For these are the keys to a successful and happy life and a civilized society.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

 

LOCAL POLITICS

Mark Mallory - I invite him to embrace the concepts on this site and be a leader for positive change, not just maintaining the mediocrity.

David Crowley, Vice Mayor of Cincinnati
David pushed City Council to pass the Environmental Justice Ordinance in May 2009! His colleagues on Council who supported this ground-breaking legislation were ; Ms. Laketa Cole, Ms. Roxanne Qualls, Mr. Greg Harris, and Mr. Cecil Thomas.

This is truly a good thing for Cincinnati’s environment. Unfortunately, the enemies of Environmental Justice are still lurking…
At the end of the May 25th meeting, Councilmember Jeff Berding snuck in a motion that will delay the EJ Ordinance for one year, and have a “private foundation” perform a cost-benefit analysis “at no cost to the City”. The private foundation he is referring to is the Chamber of Commerce…who happen to be one of the most vocal opponents to this legislation. His motion will be referred to committee for discussion, and it is my hope it will not be supported. David is truely fighting for the health and environment of Cincinnati…

NATIONAL POLITICS

There are a select few people in the position of political power who will publicly acknowledge that the country has gone off in the wrong direction and are trying to get us back on track. Ohio Congressman and 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich (D- Ohio 10th district) is one of them. Click on his name above to visit his website and be sure to see the "issues" page. I have been very impressed with his stand on all of the topics listed there. This is the kind of intelligent logic we need in our government leaders and we can all learn a lot from Dennis. Our local leaders can and should be pressured to support and follow his example of what we need in our government if we are ever to be known again as a great nation not a hated nation. Dennis is truely the only candidate that has no "strings attached". His adjenda is what is right for a strong America and it's people, not some corporate or industry special interest.

 

OTHERS

"Our problem is that we make the mistake of comparing ourselves with other people. You are not inferior or superior to any human being... You do not determine your success by comparing yourself to others, rather you determine your success by comparing your accomplishments to your capabilities. You are 'number one' when you do the best you can
with what you have."
Zig Ziglar,
American motivational writer