'Respected Leader' - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, was one of the most important leaders for Indian Independence against the British colonial rule. He was born Subhas Chandra Bose but he is known to people as "Netaji" which means 'respected leader'.

Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23rd, 1897. His Bengali family was affluent and lived in Cuttack, Orissa. His father, Janakinath Bose, was a member of Bengal Legislative Council. He was a public prosecutor. Subhas went to Raven Shaw Collegiate School in Cuttack. Then he entered Scottish Church College in Calcutta and also went to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University. When Subhas took the Indian Civil Services entrance exam in 1920, he came in fourth with the highest marks in English. But his career in the Indian Civil Service was short lived as he resigned in April 1921 to become one of the driving forces of the Indian Independence Movement. He joined the Indian National Congress and was very active in its youth wing.

Immediately after his resignation from the Indian Civil Service, Bose organized a boycott of the celebrations that were to mark the Prince of Wales' visit to India. He was arrested and imprisoned by the British. In April 24th, 1924, he was elected as the CEO of the newly formed Calcutta Municipal Corporation. In October of the same year, he was again imprisoned on the suspicion of terrorism. He was jailed at the Alipore Jail but later exiled to Mandalay, Burma. He led a procession to protest against the British rule in India and was arrested on January 23rd, 1930. He was released on September 25th, he was immediately elected as the Mayor of the City of Calcutta thereafter.

During the 20 year period, Netaji was imprisoned by the British eleven times. He was sent to jails in either India or Rangoon, Burma. He was exiled by the British in the mid 1930s. He left for Europe, where he campaigned with world leaders for the aspirations of Indian people for independence and self-governance. He met leaders in gatherings and conferences.

Although Bose had a clear contention to the British rule and colonialism, he was impressed by their systematic and methodical approach. He often wrote in his letters about the British system. While in England, Bose exchanged his ideas on the future on India with British Labour Party leaders and political movers and shakers alike.

Bose believed that independent India needed a Socialist authoritarianism like the Turkish leader, Kemal Ataturk for at least two decades. However, Bose was never granted the permission to meet him for political reasons. During his travels in England, only the Labour Party and Liberal politicians agreed to meet Bose. The Conservative Party leaders and officials refused to meet him, as a sign of their disapproval of a politician from a 'colony'.

Among the leaders that he met were Arthur Greenwood, Harold Laski, J.B.S. Haldane, Ivor Jennings, G.D.H. Cole, Gilbert Murray and Sir Stafford Cripps, Lord Halifax, George Lansbury, and Clement Attlee. It was during the Labour Party's control of 1945-1951, under then Prime Minister Attlee that India gained her independence.

By 1938, Subhas Chandra Bose became the president of Indian National Congress. He was elected to be president for two consecutive terms. However, there were ideological conflicts with another leader of Indian Independence Movement - Gandhi. Bose was an advocate of violent resistance. Getting total independence or "Swaj" by any means possible. He believed that Mahatma Gandhi's tactics of non-violence would never be sufficient. Gandhi also commented that "Subhas's victory is my defeat." Gandhi's continual opposition to Bose, led to Bose's resignation from the Congress Working Committee, the executive arm of Congress. Bose went on to establishing a separate political party, the All India Forward Bloc, which demanded the full and immediate independence of India from the British.

Subhas Chandra Bose stuck to his beliefs even at the on set of World War II. Bose's ideology was largely influenced by the Italian patriot and statesmen Guiseppes Garibaldi and Mazzini. The Gandhi-Nehru camp, a section of the Indian Congress leadership wanted to wait until the end of WWII. They believed that the British would grant India her independence then.

Bose saw the political instability as a chance to topple the British. When WWII broke out, Bose organized a massive protest against the Viceroy's declaration to enter into war for India without the consent of the leadership from the Congress. Gandhi was not convinced but Bose went ahead and called for civil disobedience and protests in Calcutta.

He was arrested and sent to jail by the British. After a seven day hunger strike, he was released to his home but the authorities kept Bose under a close watch. There were two court cases pending for Bose and it was clear that they would not let him go before WWII ended. So he escaped to Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. Bose travelled to the Soviet Union, Germany and Japan to seek alliance so the British could be attacked - leaving India.

With the assistance of the Japanese he freed the Indian prisoners of war and plantation workers from Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore. He reorganized the Indian National Army to battle against the allies in Impal and Burma during the Second World War. The Japanese gave Bose military, monetary, political, and diplomatic assistance. Bose formed the Azad Hind Government while in exile.

Bose's connection with the Japanese and the Nazis was controversial. It has been a point of arguments and disagreements among politicians and historians alike. He had been accused of being a Fascist sympathizer. Most people in India however believed that his doctrine of realpolitik as a manifesto had guided his choices in socio-political matters.

On August 18th, 1945 while flying to Tokyo, his plane allegedly crashed over Taihuku ,Taiwan. (Though Taiwan Government later denied any incidence of plane crash on that day) . Although officially it was declared as an accident, contradictory evidence also exists that suggest otherwise. As a result there were many legends and theories as to Bose's whereabouts. Some stories claim that he died in Siberia while in a Soviet prison. Some claim that he survived the plane crash. Government of India has set up several committees to probe an inquiry into this matter.

2010 MEP National Conference Keynote

Sec. Gary Locke addresses attendees at 2010 MEP National Conference held in Orlando, FL, on May 3, 2010.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3hAUvvVxQM&hl=en

Bill Bukowski - President's Conference Series: Understanding Desire, Session 2

Bukowski's research is in the area of social development, specifically concerned with the features and effects of peer relations during the school-age and early adolescent years. His work has examined age, sex, and cultural differences and the effects that experiences with peers have on behaviour, emotional well-being and health. Bukowski has been awarded support for his research program through grants from the National Institutes of Mental Health in the United States, as well as from SSHRC, FQRSC, and CIHR. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Behavioral Development and has published over eighty-five articles and chapters in scholarly journals and books.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5GrgyBP5vY&hl=en

The Right to Food

Most of us living in big and action-packed metropolises have a similar life pattern. All through our lives, we use the assets and gifts with which the Almighty Has blessed us without giving anything a second thought. Perhaps, we have taken everything for granted. Living in our air-conditioned rooms, we avoid a wrenching reality that 60% people around the world live below the poverty line with absolutely no concept of housing and electricity what so ever. With education easily accessible to us, we never realize that only 1 out of 8 children in the world ever gets to see a school. With our refrigerator and food supplies at just some steps, we tend to forget an eye opening and heart shattering fact that it's just a game of destiny that we are born in the right part of the world and into the right social class. If we hadn't, then we might have gone hungry all our short life, as 800 million people do, who were born in the wrong place or wrong conditions or into the wrong social class. This has to change. With caring and nourishing our own selves, we need to know and develop a better understanding of Human Rights and when do we actually start misusing them.

According to the Declaration of the United Nations, "Human rights are those basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity. To violate someone's human rights is to treat that person as though she or he were not a human being. To advocate human rights is to demand that the human dignity of all people be respected." It also refers to a concept that all human beings are free and have universal rights, or status, regardless of legal jurisdiction, and likewise other localizing factors, such as ethnicity and nationality, race, color and family background. This concept is not very new. The Theory of human rights is based on the dogma of "Moral Universalism", initially put forward by Greek philosopher Aristotle. In "Nicomachean Ethics," Aristotle presents his argument in support of the existence of "a natural moral order" and says that such a "natural" order should be the basis for all truly rational systems of justice. This concept of moral universalism implies that morality is not dependant on social and historical conditions and applies to all human beings regardless of place and time, and forms the basis of human rights. Roman Stoic philosophers such as Cicero and Seneca, also supported 'moral universalism' and argued that all moral laws originated in the rational will of God and the authority of such moral law transcended all local legal codes. Christianity, which emerged later, maintained the belief of a universal moral code in the ensuing centuries. Islam, one of the most believed and fastest growing religion of the world also makes a resounding effort to ensure equal rights to all people. Standing on these strong historical and religious grounds, much has been done to date to ensure rights to every individual living on this planet. United Nations along with its associate agencies in collaboration with hundreds and thousands of NGOs is trying to make this possible. At the same time, a great emphasis has been given to the fact that all the rights are inter related and solving one problem at a time would need to tackle all the other issues. While U.N.E.S.C.O is working for education and U.N.I.C.E.F for children, agencies like W.H.O, F.A.O and W.F.P are dealing with one of the most intense issues of our world and going every length to ensure one of the most basic rights to all humanity.

The Right to Food.

The Center for Economic and Social Right states "The right to food guarantees all people the ability to feed themselves. It also obligates states to cooperate in the equitable distribution of world food supplies. As part of the more general right to an "adequate standard of living," the right to food contributes to a broader question of whether people live in basic dignity. People have a right to the basic amount of food necessary for survival, but they also have a right to food of high enough quality and quantity to live in adequate dignity". This generalizes that hunger, malnutrition and inaccessibility of food is not only violation of a very basic human right but is also an obstacle for attaining social, political and economic stability and harmony. It stresses towards a fact that irrespective of all social, political, economic and geographical differences, every human being has a birth right to lead a life with access to adequate supply of food and water.

Providing adequate food and work has always been seen as prime moral obligation for the kings and monarchs with large empires and those ruling the common men. The only basic difference between these moral responsibilities and human rights is that the human rights give the poor and unprivileged people a claim, which principally is enforceable.

In those times of monarchy, people had no option other than to revolt against the king or state that failed to meet this obligation and responsibility to feed its citizens.

This signifies a fact that the idea of human right to food is to establish a practical and legal channel for fulfillment of this basic right and to seek remedies against authorities which fail to guarantee access to food. This idea is barely 200 years old-and not yet legally implemented in most states even today.

The right to adequate food is a human right and is well established and recognized on several premises under the international laws. Just after three years of the World War II, On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 25 of this declaration states that everyone has a right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food. This universal declaration of human rights sets a common and realistic standard of achievement for all people and nations. Keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, states and nations shall strive to achieve the common global goal and emancipate their respective people from the curse of hunger, malnutrition and starvation. Nearly 20 years later, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) developed these concepts more fully, stressing "the right of everyone to adequate food" and specifying "the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger". The Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition (1974) and the World Employment Conference (1976) also pressed to this fact asking for an inalienable right of food for all humans in order to develop their physical and mental faculties. Conferences and declarations such as The International Conference on Nutrition (ICN), World Declaration on Nutrition (1992), the Rome Declaration on World Food Security (1996) and the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit (1996) all stressed up to ensure right to food throughout the world. Agencies working under the United Nations such as Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A.O), World Health Organization (W.H.O) and World Food Program (W.F.P) are taking all considerable and necessary steps to eradicate the nuisance of hunger and starvation from the entire humanity. "Achieving food security for all" is the main point of focus of F.A.O's efforts. And to make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. F.A.O's mandate is to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy. They also provide assistance to those nations who need to increase their crop yields but lacks technical skills. With a staggering budget of $765.7 million, F.A.O aims to achieve its goals on community, national and international levels. On the other hand, the largest international food aid organization, World Food Program, combats hunger in underdeveloped nations of the world with severe shortage of food. This hard and strenuous fight has been carried out through plan action of Rescue, Rapid Reaction and Rehabilitation. Expanding its activities into 78 countries around the world and with direct expenditure of US$ 2.9 billion, W.F.P is distributing food to 87.8 million poor people in the world which is the largest relief and aid operation of its kind ever since the dawn of human history. Most recent relief operations of W.F.P include earth quakes of Pakistan in 2005, floods in Bangladesh of 2004 and recent famine in Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, every year on 16th October, World Food day is celebrated to re-think and re-plan the strategies for present and future.

But despite the fact that the international community and UN has frequently reaffirmed the importance for the right to adequate food and launched multitudes of operational projects, a disturbing gap still exists between the standards set and the situation prevailing in many parts of the world. The target of reducing world hunger by the year 2015 which was set in World Food Summit in 1996 still appears a far cry. Statistics show that since 1990, the number of hungry and underfeed people is constantly and unceasingly increasing. In developing countries spread across 5 continents, it has started to increase at a rate of almost four million per year. By the advent of 21st century, the total number of undernourished people worldwide has risen to 854 million (14% of the world's total population): 820 million in developing countries, 25 million in countries in transition and nine million in industrialized countries. Today, only one out of seven people do not get enough food to lead an active and healthy life which is the birth right of everyone. According to a research conducted by F.A.O about the state of food insecurity in the world in 2006, 25,000 lives are lost everyday due to poverty and hunger. In the developing world, every second a child dies due to hunger and malnutrition. Moreover, 27 percent of children under 5 are moderately to severely underweight. In 2005, about 10.1 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday. Almost all of these deaths occurred in developing countries, 3/4 of them in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the two regions that also suffer from the highest rates of hunger and malnutrition. Today, one in nearly seven people does not get enough food to lead an active and healthy life which is the birth right of everyone. Adding to this, malnutrition and undernourishment leads to many chronics and deficiencies leading to physical and mental restraints which they effected carry all through their lives. All these numbers and statistics lead us to the loop poles in international working bodies and their incomplete strategies and approach in dealing with these intense issues. At the same time, it indicates the presence of many other factors and causes that are still making hunger, malnutrition and violence of right of food the number one risk to health worldwide with greater number of victims annually than AIDS, malaria and cancer combined.
In order to understand the factors of this prevailing state of hunger and violence of the right to food, one needs to understand that inadequate food access can be due to two prime reasons: There is absolutely no food available, or the food is available but far from the access of deprived and unprivileged people. Stereotypically all importance and emphasis has been given by the states and the welfare organizations on the overall food availability and it has been thought that mainly through increasing food production and quality, hunger and malnutrition can be overcome and target of ensuring food rights to all can be achieved. Such a strong emphasis is only reasonable when the production of food by the poor is for themselves. But there is another view point to this situation. According to different experts, adequate quantity of food is available or can be produced with the current resources almost in every country of the world. Many of the countries considered poor, produce food enough for not only their domestic markets but for export as well. Nonetheless, hunger and malnutrition still persists. It may surprise us but according to the annual report presented by F.A.O in 2004, only 10% of the total hunger death is due to famine and malnutrition. This leads us to re-examine and arrive at some more obvious causes. Lack of food isn't the only cause of malnutrition and hunger but is also due to social injustice and political, economic and social segregations. There are almost one billion people around the world who earn less than $1 a day. These poor people are deprived of the rights to have their resources while the rich and those in power monopolize these resources for their own luxury and comfort. Billions of people all around the globe in their respective countries are never given opportunity to have a secure economic life and hence have food security. This statement is well proved by the facts like the total assets of the three wealthiest men in the world constitute 47% of the world's total monetary assets, and all three of them belong to the United States of America. On the other side, most food productions whether agricultural products or food obtained from oceans or rivers, goes towards feeding livestock whose meat and by-products are consumed mainly in the countries of the industrialized North.

The other reason for this number of deaths is global debt-trap. The World Bank has admitted that today, the developing countries pay $13 in debt as repayment for every $1 it receives in grants. Due to this, tens of billions of dollars which can be used to improve infrastructure, development of rural communities, education and health care are just being wasted in paying those debts to the World Bank. Thus, it would be rational to say that "Global Capitalism" and "Unequal distribution of resources" are the main monsters under the disguise of hunger and food shortage which are responsible for the massacre of human lives on such a massive scale.

Today, in order to bring hunger and malnutrition to an end and make access to food possible for all, long term attempts should be made on International, National and Individual grounds. Globally, the world has to re-realize a fact that right to adequate food is inherently linked to the dignity of humanity and is inseparable from the fulfillment of all human rights for all. Eradication of poverty, ensuring equal rights, education, employment, better and fast ways of transportations and better facilities for health would also improve food security. Necessary steps should be taken to ensure economic democracy and micro- finance should be made available on local level to reduce the global dominance of big industries on agriculture sector.

Internationally, accumulation of wealth should be reduced by massive redistribution of wealth and other resources. This also includes cancellation of debts to the Western banks and increased investment in rural and under-developed sectors. The West and those belonging to the industrialized and developed world should join hands today and try to improve the infrahuman conditions in many parts of the world such as Africa, South America and South Asia. At the time of a natural calamity, the welfare organizations and NGOs should establish a check and balance system to make sure that all the aids go to the deserving and those in need. As declared by the Economic and Social Council, "The role of the United Nations agencies, including through the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) at the country level, in promoting the realization of the right to food is of special importance. Coordinated efforts for the realization of the right to food should be maintained to enhance coherence and interaction among all the actors concerned, including the various components of civil society. The food organizations, FAO, WFP and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNICEF, the World Bank and the regional development banks, should cooperate more effectively, building on their respective expertise, on the implementation of the right to food at the national level, with due respect to their individual mandates."

On national level, the state government should design and adapt a national strategy based on human rights principles to ensure food security for all its citizens. It should formulate policies and take all necessary steps to make sure that everyone is free from hunger and can enjoy his right to adequate food. It should also identify the resources available to meet the objectives and the most cost-effective way of using them. The national strategy should give particular attention to prevent discrimination in access to food on different aspects such as color, caste, creed, gender, financial standing and geographical location. Moreover, the state government should take all necessary measure to ensure transparency and accountability in all aspects of food system including production, processing, distribution, marketing, food safety and nutritional value. Adding to this, those who suffer the violation of the right to food should have full access to the judicial system of the country and all necessary steps for compensation and prevention for any further cases should be taken.

Last but not the least, every one of us who has got sufficient amount of resources to feed ourselves, must thank the Almighty for His blessings and should take small steps on individual and community basis to help those millions of our brothers and sisters who suffer from famine, hunger and malnutrition and are deprived of their right to food. We all must try not to waste the food and should contribute through our money, time and knowledge in ensuring the right to food to every human being on our mother Earth.

R2T columnist appointment - Ed News Colorado

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien and Commissioner of Education Dwight Jones react March 29, 2010 to news the state did not win the national grant competition known as Race to the Top.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RRvGWL4R0I&hl=en

McCain TV Ad: "JD Huckster - 60"

JD Hayworth filmed bogus "free government money" TV infomercial in November 2007. Get more info here: bit.ly Watch highlights from full infomercial here: bit.ly WSJ John Fund column, "JD Huckster" here: bit.ly



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc9LlQZ_ayM&hl=en

McCain on Hayworth attacks: "Never get into a angry bout with a pig"

John McCain ends JD Hayworth -- Tucson Debate, KUAT-TV, 7/17/10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvDVB-D9YWQ&hl=en

EMS, Ambulance, Fire Department, 911 - Customer Service is Part of Your Mission

EMS, the Fire Service, 911 communications centers, what do each of these emergency service specialties have in common? What is the one thing that is routinely overlooked by a majority of agencies? It is of course service.

We are all in the service business

My objective in this article is to make you think, to challenge your comfort levels and to help you develop a system to turn customers into clients. Throughout my 30+ year career as an EMS professional and a consultant I have found that this process takes hard work, dedication and consistent effort but the rewards are great.

Some un-enlightened EMS leaders will not understand and will not grasp the subtle but important difference between customers and clients. In fact, many of our colleagues have yet to embrace the fact that they are even in a service business.

In the beginning the public simply called and we came. Contracts with municipalities and healthcare facilities were simple, if we had them at all. We collected subsidies, stipends or donations from our communities. We did our job and that was enough. It is not nearly enough any more.

Response times, standards of practice, playing a very active role in the community, developing strong relationships with the local governmental agencies, mandatory system reporting, dealing with new privacy and other federal compliance regulations are just the starting point for the expectations placed upon us. And that was pre 9/11. Now the roles and expectations have increased, the readiness levels are even higher and communities look to us, the 'emergency service professionals' to deliver in time of crisis.

For the remainder of this article, I'll be speaking specifically to EMS providers. But the true measure of success of any emergency service agency is when they have cultivated a sense of community awareness so great that people in the community refer to them as 'our' ambulance service rather than 'the' ambulance service. Cultivating this level of awareness is what helps turn customers into clients. How does your community refer to you?

Think about the term client. Who has clients? Lawyers, tax professionals, counselors, consultants, and financial planners just to name a few. They understand the long-term value of developing positive customer relationships. They are seeking referrals and goodwill to increase business. You are seeking to reap the benefits of goodwill and informed support for your mission by the people in the communities you serve

People ask me all the time, "Why do I care? I don't have time for all of this 'nice touchy feely stuff. I've got a service to run." My answer is always the same, "You can educate people one at a time and develop and informed army of supporters. Or, you can try and educate them as a group at crunch time, after something has gone wrong which is a much harder job."

Commitment to a long term program to develop client relationships will insure the operation integrity and long term viability of your service. This holds true for volunteer, municipal, hospital-based or investor owned services.

Think of any service in your area that is either in trouble now or has already failed.

I guarantee you that at least one of the factors to blame is a failure to provider proper levels of service to one or more customer groups.

Before we can discuss turning customers into clients we have to define the difference and then discuss what a good relationship should look like.

Definitions:

cus-tom-er One who buys goods or services; one with whom one must deal

cli-ent One for whom professional services are rendered (Source: American Heritage Dictionary)

These definitions couldn't explain the way many services view the relationships any better. Many look upon anything outside the actual provision of emergency care as something that must be dealt with, and they certainly don't see the need for a relationship 'after the sale' when the patient is out of the ambulance and off the stretcher.

Best practice agencies see the value in providing professional services and in servicing the client 'after the sale'. They know that a satisfied customer can be developed into a client and become a positive voice in support of their agency. Every person who comes into contact with your service starts the relationship as a customer, it is your responsibility to turn them into a client.

A good working 'client' relationship should pass this Four Criteria Test

· There is a constant two way flow of information.

· Both parties see the value in the long term benefits of working together.

· Both parties view the other as a valuable resource.

· Services are tailored to meet/exceed the clients' needs.

Reality Check

Can you name three different client relationships that you have that fit all four of the criteria listed above.

If you can't, don't worry. Very few emergency service leaders can. Read on, we'll develop the foundation for the changes you'll need to make if you want to get there.

Now that you have an idea of what's in my head when I describe the difference, let's talk about the different customer groups that will interact with your service and what you need to do to turn them into clients.

Eight Customer/Client Groups

I have identified for you the eight basic customer/client groups that every emergency service manager must learn to serve:

1) Employees/staff

2) Patients/families

3) Other managers in your organization

4) Community Leaders/Special Needs

5) Healthcare facilities

6) Other responders

7) Government regulators

8) Media organizations (Print/Radio/TV)

There are a variety of sub-groups that may exist in your service are but these are the basic headers for the remainder of our discussion in this article.

A successful EMS leader today must actively work to meet the varied, and often competing, needs and expectations of EACH of the groups listed above. The order outlined above illustrates my personal philosophy of the importance of each. Not that each group is not important in its own right, but given a conflict of time, I would handle an employee's need before handling one brought to me by the media.

Employees / Staff

I firmly believe that the employees/staff are the number one customer group that leadership serves. I WANT to turn the relationship with the employees into a client relationship as quickly as possible.

Reality Check

Does the relationship with your staff meet the four criteria client test?

Very few agencies can honestly answer 'yes' to this question. Most are dealing with bickering, conflict, recruitment or retention troubles and unreasonable demands by employees or their representatives.

As we begin work with agencies in crisis and it is clear that no client relationship exists, the first steps to repair the damage is what we call Hitting the RESET Button.

The RESET process involves conducting a complete review of your organization, questioning everything. This means looking at the mission statement, all of the communication channels that exist with employees and other customers, business processes, hiring and other personnel issues and even some of the things 'that you've always done that way' might need to be changed.

After the review is complete and a course of action is agreed upon and communicated to the staff, the RESET button is pushed and the outdated past practices are blown away giving the organization a fresh start.

Often a series of 'town meetings', employee committees that allow a real voice, or

re-establishing positive relations with union leadership are needed.

A properly trained, informed and involved staff are the best ambassadors any agency can have. Conversely, employees that are treated like so many replaceable parts will turn into ambassadors of poison as they talk about your organization being a lousy place to work.

Your employees are the most important marketing tool in your company and they are directly interacting with each of your other customer groups every day. Are they damaging relationships as quickly as you're building them?

I think consultant Tim Pelton says it best, "If you take care of the troops, they'll take care of the mission."

Patients / families

Obviously this is, in my opinion, the next most important group. After all this IS the reason we're here, to provide care and transportation to the sick and injured.

Whenever we conduct customer service training for field providers, we stress that the family members are customers and often 'patients' also.

Reality Check

You do conduct customer service training for your field providers don't you?

If you don't, let me give you an example illustrating why it's important.

I am still fortunate enough to be able to work in the field as a paramedic. On my last shift, I arrived on the scene of a 40 year old woman presenting with hypoglycemic symptoms. I also met her two young and obviously worried sons, ages 7 and 9. As I was asking her questions and it became apparent that she may need to be transported the sons became very agitated.

The youngest one asked me, "Have you ever taken care of a di-betic before?" I assured him that I had many times and he looked relieved. Then the older one asked his mom what he should do since there was no one to care for him and his brother if she went to the hospital.

While waiting for the magic juice-and-sugar concoction to work, I assured them that arrangements would be made for someone to stay with them or they could come along with mom in the ambulance. Within 5 minutes, her sugar was normalized and she opted to refuse transport.

The incident reminded me however, that we are watched every step of the way by family, friends and the public. We have to constantly remember that those watching have varied levels of understanding about what we're doing and therefore form opinions about our capabilities, as evidenced by the young son asking me if I knew what I was doing. He perceived that I was asking too many questions and not fixing his mom.

The customer service moral of the story: while one patient may be sick there are emotional patients to care for as well. They are also our customers and meeting their needs builds the relationships and impressions to turn them into clients.

The kids were very happy with the outcome. They both wanted to shake hands as I was leaving and they were all able to enjoy a happy Easter Sunday at home as a family.

Other managers in your organization

You have to begin to look at co-workers as your customers as well. Every leader in your organization has expectations of you that need to be met so that they can do Their jobs properly.

Building internal relationships using a customer service model, forming multi-department project teams to solve business problems will both go along way towards building the elusive team oriented workplace everyone says that they want. If you don't view your co-leaders as important customers, you'll never get there.

Community Leaders / Special Needs

Working with community groups, church leaders, school officials on things like Project Prom or the DARE Program, allow these influential folks to form opinions of you and your agency.

The dialog about their perceptions of the needs in the community is invaluable to you from a service and a planning point of view. Do they think that there are unmet needs in high ethnic community sections? Are they hearing complaints about your service? Do they think you're meeting or exceeding the expectations of the community? Get out there and ask! Talk and then LISTEN!

The opportunity to initiate dialog about the problems you're facing or needs you have identified can be priceless when you need public support at budget or contract time. Educated customers turn into informed clients.

Healthcare facilities

Reality Check

When was the last time you were in any of your local skilled nursing facilities other than on a call or to visit your grandmother?

Facilities can be very fickle about who transports their patients. Even if you're the sole source 911 provider, they can make life difficult if misunderstandings get out of control.

Don't assume that no news is good news. Periodic calls to check on how your crews are performing, perhaps providing a speaker for the next staff meeting or helping them understand your capabilities goes a long way to building the client relationships you want while allowing you to control the market share that you need. Proactive dialogue will also help keep complaints to a minimum.

During my tenure as Manager of an investor-owned ambulance company, I used to send night crews to meet with night shifts. Our people conducted quarterly 'surprise' drills on various shifts to test emergency plan readiness for the facilities. We'd be let in by a supervisor and plant a manikin someplace in the facility and test the response to the discovery and subsequent code drill.

This practice helped the facility, let the people learn to work together, and made our agency more valuable to the facility helping to ward off a stronger competitor.

Other responders

Paul Maniscalco, formerly a Deputy Chief with FDNY*EMS, had one of the best quotes I've ever heard on this subject. "How can you expect a guy to help you out if you don't even know how he likes his coffee?"

Treat your mutual aid and other community responders as customers. What do they need from you? How can you work more efficiently together? When was the last time you cross trained so you have an idea where equipment is located on each other's rigs?

A quick example of meeting a simple need: When you send out street closing or construction updates, make sure you let your mutual aid services know too. They should not find out when they hit the detour signs enroute to a call. If they are going to service your community, they need to be kept in the information loop also.

Governmental agencies and regulators

"I'm from the government. I'm here to help." This can be a true statement if you treat them like a valued customer.

Do you communicate positive and negative issues to your governmental agencies?

I recommend services provide at least quarterly reports to the leaders in the communities they service.

These reports should include, at a minimum, the numbers of responses, transports, fractile or average response times, numbers of presentations or classes completed and especially if you're a volunteer agency, the number of calls handled between 5pm and 6am (when the politicians are home with their families) and the number of volunteer hours of service provided to the community (include calls, drills, classes and any other activities).

You will never be able to get them to move from 'the' ambulance to 'our' ambulance unless you make them see the tangible value you bring to their world.

Media organizations (Print/Radio/TV)

Do you try and run away from a camera or microphone? Or is your standard procedure to move the media back 1,000 yards and then complain that they got lousy shots of your heroic rescue?

The media can be a very valuable tool in your efforts to build your community image.

They need news to cover. You respond to news events. Work together. You both have a job to do, and God knows EMS needs the coverage.

Meet with them, feed them news, know and respect their deadlines and if an issue arises, deal with it immediately. Assign someone who is articulate, professional and looks good on camera as your Public Information Officer (PIO).

Dealing with the media could be an article in itself but in a nutshell, if you look at them as a hungry customer and feed them good solid food, you'll develop a healthy relationship that can be invaluable when a call goes bad.

Reality Check

One of your ambulances just blew an intersection enroute to a call and killed a civilian. Would your local media get to the bottom of the story and report it fairly or enjoy the opportunity to crucify you?

If it's the latter, then you have not been dealing with them as a client. RESET the system, get together over lunch or a cup of coffee together and rekindle the relationship.

The Seven Keys to Success

Over the 30+ years that I have been in the EMS profession, I have had the good fortune to work with a number of agencies all across the country. I have been able to review the best practices of these agencies and have distilled them into a list that I call the Seven Keys to Success.

Agencies that employ these Seven Keys, or are working towards completing the list, are some of the finest and best run agencies in the country.

So, what are these miracle keys that will unlock your future success and help you turn customers into clients?

· Customer Centered Service

· Field Staff Education

· Leadership Development Programs

· Annual technology review and upgrades

· Effective staff recruitment and retention initiatives

· Multiple effective revenue streams

· Constant relationship building with the eight primary client groups

Customer Centered Service

The best organizations base every decision on the impact that it will have on the primary mission, service to their customers. Most organizations design an agency for their own ease of operation and sense of purpose and then take that organizational model to the streets and provide their version of service.

The best organizations look at the end result first, excellent customer centered service. They design or redesign the organization to fit the needs of their clients, even if it means more work for them.

An example of this can be seen in something as simple as staffing patterns.

A volunteer agency was initiating paid daytime staffing for the first time and decided arbitrarily to staff Monday through Friday from 0800-1800, the hours convenient for them.

The community needs dictated that a crew should be on from 0500 when volunteers were not taking calls because the average of two hours per call would impact their ability to get to work on time. By thinking about the needs of their clients, the agency retooled the schedule and began the shifts at 0500. The result: they dropped their morning missed calls to almost nothing, Town Hall got fewer complaints and the mutual aid companies were able to sleep in.

This is a simple but very valid example of putting three client groups first.

Field Staff Education

As discussed earlier, I believe that THE single most important client group that any manager can serve well is their employees. By committing a portion of organizational resources to their education and treating those resources as sacred, the staff members grow in capabilities and the organization ultimately benefits from an educated, thinking work force.

Leadership Development Programs

What would have happened to FDNY on 9/11 at Noon (after the towers had collapsed killing many members of the command structure) if people were not trained to assume command? Who could take your place if you were killed in a car wreck on the way home?

Strong organizations develop strong leaders. Every position should have someone in training prepared to assume command should something happen. Succession planning, mentoring, and leadership development are all components of effective organizations.

Honestly now, how ready are you?

Annual technology review and upgrades

Technology just for the sake of having the latest and greatest new toy or gadget is a waste of money. That being said, best practice agencies continuously upgrade technology that makes operational and fiscal sense, adds value to the overall productivity of the organization and most importantly improves the level of service. If a technology investment doesn't meet all three of these criteria, even if you really want it, pass.

Proper staff recruitment and retention

Aligning people, paper and practices or in other words making sure the right person is in the right job with the right tools is the only way to reduce job stress and have the ability to educate and develop the people side of your business.

Multiple effective revenue streams

What is the primary source of your agency's funding? Look for opportunities to tap new sources of revenue, billing, grants, donations, subscriptions, being designated as charity of the year by a community group, receiving memorial bequests and providing training for community businesses are all important to fiscal health of your agency. Capitalism is not a dirty word. It is how you survive in all types of economic weather.

Constant relationship building with the eight primary client groups

I discussed the eight groups earlier. Best practice organizations work constantly to improve relationships with each of these groups. It will be easy with some, hard with others and due to past events nearly impossible with a few. Keep trying. Your long term health depends upon it.

When it comes to customer service remember one simple saying:

You're only as good as THEY think you are!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZRdGCWI-cA&hl=en

Ask Issa: The US Inspectors General Question the Top GOP Watchdog

Yesterday, Congressman Issa (R-CA) took questions on his watchdogging plans from your front-line taxpayer watchdogs: the US Inspectors General. 11-17-10: Oversight Productions



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWi_mF07VSo&hl=en

Davenport Lounge @ Ritz Carlton New Orleans

What A Wonderful World!! Project Appleseed president, Kevin Walker, made a low tech iPod video of U. City High School grad, Jeremy Davenport (UCHS 88'), from his seat at the Davenport Lounge at the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans. Kevin was attending the national Grant Makers in Education Conference in late October at the hotel. Jeremy and Kevin spent an hour talking about the positive impact University City schools made on Jeremy - and why they need to improve.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhf4nw0uJyI&hl=en

Avram Grant Press Conference

Avram Grant shares his thoughts with the national press.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPbPJoh7qpU&hl=en

Grant Cameron -- US Politicians & UFOs, Pt 5 of 8

For a complete DVD of this lecture, as well as past X-Conference events, please visit: shop.paranormalmatrix.tv X-Conference 2008 Site: www.paradigmresearchgroup.org www.paradigmresearchgroup.org Grant Cameron (from Canada) became involved in extraterrestrial-related phenomena research in May 1975 with a personal sighting near Carman, Manitoba about 25 miles north of the Canada-US border. Over the next 18 months hundreds of sightings were reported, and Grant spent months photographing a series of strange objects and interviewing hundreds of witnesses who were involved. Thus began a 28 years commitment to the subject After composing a manuscript about the 1975-76 sightings, he moved on to research the work of the legendary Wilbert B. Smith. Smith headed up the Canadian government's flying saucer investigation known as Project Magnet, which ran from 1950 to 1954. Over two decades Cameron was able to collect most of Smith's files and written materials. He interviewed most of the associates around Smith who worked on the flying saucer investigation. He produced a CD-Rom data disk with most of the documents from the Smith files along with 12 hours of audio related to Smith's work. During the Smith research Grant learned of the former Penn State University president Dr. Eric Walker, who was identified by Dr. Robert Sarbacher as a key person inside the Cover-up. Cameron teamed up with T. Scott Crain to research and write UFOs, MJ-12, and the Government published by MUFON ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_34j8j5EUJE&hl=en

McCain TV Ad: "Buyer Beware - Tucson"

jd jd hayworth mccain national grants conferences ngc huckster infomercial obama



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UZhZc0pqJs&hl=en

Part 1 - National Security Press Conference (4/29/2010)

Basseterre, St. Kitts (April 29, 2010) -- Presenting Part 1 of the Opening Statement by National Security Minister, the Hon. Sam Terrence Condor at a Press Conference on Thursday. Copyright by the Government of St. Kitts & Nevis.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1rLZF7DEmM&hl=en

2009 National AITC Conference - What's the Buzz about Bees?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViGgdZU9tYA&hl=en

JD Hayworth Infomercial: Free money! You never accept to pay it back!

JD Hayworth filmed this infomercial in November 2007 for a company called National Grants Conferences - widely regarded as a fraud and a scam.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WmeaywMcCE&hl=en

Governor Paterson Announces $11 Million National Emergency Grant (NEG)

Governor David A. Paterson—introduced by BMCC President Antonio Pérez and joined by New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, New York State Senator Daniel L. Squadron, and New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Patricia Smith—held a press conference in BMCCs Richard Harris Terrace to announce the availability of federal funding to retrain New Yorkers who lost their jobs in the recent collapse of the financial services sector. A new strategy for getting back in the workforce More than ever before, community colleges are places where individuals can return to acquire and update the skills they need to function and thrive in a rapidly changing world, said President Pérez in his opening remarks. Typically, this kind of assistance helps people re-enter the field from which theyve been displaced; in this case, it makes sense to find a different career ladder altogether. This funding will be merged in the areas where we feel employment will flourish, Paterson said, in the new, emerging fields such as green jobs, health care, teaching and information technology. An estimated 1400 workers are expected to receive NEG funding. Staff from the New York State Department of Labor has already interviewed over 1100 potential NEG workers in the New York City area, helping them develop a training plan matching their transferable skills and goals with viable jobs. Going where the jobs are The important question, said BMCCs Continuing Education Dean, Sunil Gupta in an interview with ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KlQqwknMhk&hl=en

UFOs In Presidential Politics - Grant Cameron LIVE at the X-Conference

This LIVE presentation looks at the history of UFOs in presidential campaigns, UFOs in elections, how some candidates have stood on the UFO issue, and news on the UFO files being released by government agencies and institutions. Grant Cameron (Canada) became involved in extraterrestrial-related phenomena research in May 1975 with a personal sighting near Carman, Manitoba about 25 miles north of the Canada-US border. Over the next 18 months hundreds of sightings were reported, and Grant spent months photographing a series of strange objects and interviewing hundreds of witnesses who were involved. Thus began a 28 year commitment to the subject of UFOs. Grant later moved on to research the work of the legendary Wilbert B. Smith. Smith headed up the Canadian government's flying saucer investigation known as Project Magnet. Cameron later teamed up with T. Scott Crain to research and write the book "UFOs, MJ-12, and the Government," published by MUFON. Cameron then turned his research interests to the relationship of US Presidents to the extraterrestrial issue. He made countless trips to the US National Archives and most of the Presidential archives looking for relevant documents. A major contribution of his work was a FOIA submission to the White House Office of Science and Technology which yielded nearly 1000 pages of disclosure documents from the Clinton administration. This LIVE presentation was given at the X-Conference and features Grant Cameron. The X-Conference is ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1whMGyLByE&hl=en

2009 National AITC Conference - How to Apply for a Grant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF-BTaDO1Nk&hl=en

2009 National AITC Conference - Teachers Share Ideas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrc_KPt3VOo&hl=en

Workforce Grant Announcement (09/28/2010 Press Conference)

The grants, part of the Affordable Care Act's Public Health and Prevention Fund, are designed to build the public health workforce and provide community-based prevention. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius was joined by the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, Dr. Mary Wakefield to announce the latest round in grants to expand the primary care workforce. They each delivered remarks before answering questions from reporters. More info at www.hhs.gov We accept comments in the spirit of our comment policy: newmedia.hhs.gov US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) www.hhs.gov



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFtXT8s-60I&hl=en