Monday, June 21, 2021

Wells Township (Escanaba River Mouth) Pictures

Just a mile or so below the paper mill dam is the the mouth of the Escanaba River. A nice little place to launch boats or throw a fishing line in. I'm getting more into fishing these days as it just seems natural. Reminds me of how things might have been a few thousand years ago. 

There are very few places left where the ancient past and the present seem to be connected through shared activities like fishing. While I might fish for fun and a if I'm lucky a dinner, in the past they fished for food and livelihood. 

There used to be a hot commercial fishing market in Delta County's beginning. There were a couple of villages in Wells, Fairport, and other places that made their living off of the Great Lakes fish. (P.S. You might want to check out the Delta County Historical Society. See DC Historic Soc.)

I keep thinking about getting a commercial fishing license and an old commercial fishing boats and making a hobby out of it! Maybe I could feed a couple of small stores. (Yikes...not read for that yet! I think I need a good boat $10-20K and a commercial license with unknown cost. LOL) 

You can read a little more about commercial fishing in Delta County. See Commercial Fishing DC


Saturday, June 19, 2021

Steve Forbes Discusses Inflation-High or "OK" 2021?

Inflation is in debate this year among global economists! Whether it will rise substantially and damage the economy or whether it will not be a big factor because there is plenty of cushion (I was looking around for some economic information and came across this video). More money usually means devaluing of that money and in turn purchasing power. In traditional systems we find money tied to precious metals like gold (Theoretically it could also be a pack of different commodities that have some global value. See Commodities as Market Predictors). 

Basically, the debate is between different policies and whether or not continued support is helpful or not. I looked at a little study about India to see if I could understand better. See India Inflation and Fiscal Stimulus. Debt, supply, demand, economic performance, manufacturing, etc... all make their way into government decisions and those decisions have some (not all) influence over market activities. 

Some argue for more government influence and some argue for less (I'm of the mindset to keep the market as free as possible from interference because it functions best and with less overall admin costs. However, there could be times during crisis that federal policy must be adjusted to ensure resources are being reallocated to places where it is needed during those times.)

Steve Forbes is a very knowledgeable guy on these issues and would be someone (along with a short list of others) you might want to pay attention to on these subjects.

Mo "Esky-Mo" is Well Trained and Looks Fab in His Fly Boots

The Cat Walk! Strut Your Stuff Stud!!

Mo is my horse.🐎 He is named after the mascot Escanaba called Esky-Mo. He isn't a high end horse and more like a family average "Joe" type horse. Does well on the trails and listens to commands. The best thing about him is his personality. He is just a lover! πŸ’“ He might be big and powerful but he is an empath (p.s. horses have actual personalities much like humans. See Horse Personality Assessment). At times he makes sounds to get an echo response from his herd when practicing (Its annoying sometimes when you trying to get him to train.). 

I'm not sure if I actually want to sell him. I was sort of thinking of training horses and selling them just to pay for the hobby of riding and playing with horses. In some ways, I'm helping the industry because I'm taking green and rescue horses and training them for actual use and placement with families.

I got Mo some Fly Boots. He looks Fab! Sometimes we are a little serious about life. While this blog is about national development it should still think about the smaller things that make America....well frankly "America". 

Hello! Treat?

Each person has to define what makes America a special place for them. Some love golf, some love farms, some love hunting, some love dogs, some love dancing, some love music, its up to you but you are free to do it! We have responsibilities to ensure its free for the next generation. Sometimes I wonder what our some (only some) are actually thinking but....I guess....they haven't shared their logic or why they believe what they believe (Let us just hope they are using evidence based management because we all are relying on them in some ways. See Multi-Generation Trust). 

Of course I have to leave you with some type of research or otherwise I feel guilty. Amazingly there are some horses that lead and many that follow but they are all part of a herd. Developing a strong horse and its ability to lead a herd is helpful for herd health and safety ( I usually pick out the one's with the right personality when seeking to train because the rest will work out if there is enough motivation and effort on the part of the horse.) See the Application of Learning Theory Horses

Friday, June 18, 2021

New Video Shows Rioters (NYPD retired) Engaged in Conflict

The video shows a lot of anger and a lot of violence. While we can be shocked that there is a retired officer involved in the crowd we really shouldn't be. By the sheer volume of people participating in the insurrection/riot we likely have officers, bakers, mechanics, lawyers, and lots of other occupations present (It there is a high concentration of public service employees then that might be more of a concern.). What I think what is more disturbing is that there are divided American loyalties (Again...remember some of this might be homegrown and some of this might have been pushed a little by foreign interference/intelligence. Maybe? 🀷) within our public service industries (This is why we need a method of reporting radicalism, extremism and hate groups).

Its doesn't matter whether your Republican or Democrat because the consequences will fall on all of us the same. The rhetoric, how we select our politicians, the culture of conflict, people striking political points versus working together, etc...etc... is one of the root causes of these issues (If we gave the mic more to centralists versus loud demanding fringe figures we would be able to draw people more toward the center. Perhaps the media could have some influence in covering centralist stories more than the radicals in the room🎀). 

No matter what a person's political persuasion, we should restore trust in our institutions and the political process. Somewhere along the line the precursors to this incident were already planted and the trend continued until there was an exploitable blowout. See Reduction of American Trust Trend

 When people feel its ok to sack the capital we need to rethink our strategies and what we desire out of future leadership (or....we can hype up the rhetoric and see what the end result would be! πŸ€”⛔πŸ™…From where I sit....there will be less and less opportunities for a positive end result if people continue to go down the path of radical politics.) Our nation needs to get a little more serious about how we are acting, what our central values are, and how the republic is going to compete. See Roots of Logical Ethics 

AP has a pretty good article on it Fierce Capitol attacks on police in newly released videos

Fishing In Gladstone Michigan-Salvaged Boat and Re-Introduction of Native Fish Species

 Fishing is a great past time and I have been getting into it more each year. Perhaps someday I might try my hand at small scale commercial fishing operation on the weekends (I hear they don't make any new commercial fishing licenses in Michigan but you can buy them from people retiring.) Ok...not like a serious commercial fisherman but just more along the lines of sitting on the back with ice tea working on my lap top in hopes something bites. I could think of worse place to have an office view than from an anchor. 

Ok...don't laugh....I'm stuck with this! It was a cheap dinghy I bought from a Chinese vender (Some of their products are good while others are bad but this one definitely didn't hold up to my expectations. I try and buy American but we sort of stop producing products in some markets.)

It worked well for a year and then It must have been on gravel or something because it had like 20 different holes all over one side. I thought, "Well, its junk now...but maybe I can play with it and see if I can salvage it." I'm looking for a boat anyway and well my buddy has a diving boat but hasn't upgraded yet to sell me his old one he promised πŸ˜–.

I tried everything from patches to rubber sealant and nothing worked. Then I gave it a last ditch effort and smeared caulk on it. Well....it was more like...waterproof silicone but it worked awesome. I patched the holes and now throw it in the back of my car just in case I want to go fish. 

It has three separate air pouches so with luck the silicone will hold. If not....well....the other two air compartments will help me limp home. I'm also a good swimmer. :)

Total cost to salvage with caulk $7....all the other junk I tried $70. 

Notice environmentally friendly electric trolling motor. FYI it lasts like 3-4 hours.

There are some ideas to re-introduce the Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus in the Manistee river which isn't too far away. I guess this fish hasn't been around since the 1930's. This is also why we need infrastructure development in the Great Lakes to protect against invasive species that whip out the local diversity in native fish. You might want to support politicians (either side) that help support wildlife development and infrastructure improvements (I think its best we choose politicians that understand these issues and are able to solve them effectively).  See Fish Distributions and Habitat Associations in Manistee River, Michigan, Tributaries: Implications for Arctic Grayling Restoration


Thursday, June 17, 2021

Portland Riot Rapid Response Squad Resigns-Is there a middle ground?

As you can tell from the video the Rapid Response Team resigned in protest of a conviction. I'm not going to discuss the merits of the specific case as its not central to the issue I'm discussing here. It should be noted that this is just more of an opinion and not necessarily an attempt to convince others of what to believe. When you watch what is going on in the news you will find that this is a societal discussion on how much authority and how much accountability there should between policing and the public.

People seem to jump to quick conclusions and believe that police are either all bad or police are all good (This is a direct result of Right and Left radicalism and not a reflection of what is actually occurring). As with most things in life its not that simple; its a mixed bag. 

Policing is difficult business with lots of danger and not always the best working conditions. The vast majority of officers are honest, selfless, and want to help their communities. From time to time there are officers that need to be disciplined/removed (like any HR function) because they are not acting in ways that are helpful to their community stakeholders (Their primary mission of "protect and serve".) 

Police are people, with families, who have time honored traditions (most of these codes are by necessity but a few norms need to be adjusted because they lead to group silence), who deal with difficult populations, and feel a little victimized (At least seems that way. 🀷).  

Yes...policing is under the spotlight right now and the message they hear might be a very negative one (We might want to give police a more positive message of "We honor you and your sacrifices and we would like to reorient your focus as a profession to some of the challenges we face as a nation. We want to shore up trust issues") There can be positive things that come out of greater awareness.

Why is it all this or that? We should be able to agree that good officers should be promoted, officers that make mistakes should be trained, and those who do bad things should be disciplined and/or removed. Officers may sometimes need protection from frivolous lawsuits but at the same time should not be given immunity when criminal conduct occurs (Think about it...there is a need for some shielding from false accusations but not from legitimate ones. That balance is in the process of being defined. Just watch and pay attention.). 

It will be interesting to see what the end result will be and where the definition will likely lay in a few years (I really hope we can resolve this because its an important one to deal with). We can support our officers while supporting those common sense changes that help improve the profession of policing and further build trust with minorities (and society in general). 

I think Deputy Chief Chris Davis did a great job creating a sense of calm, knowledge, and reasonableness in his communication. Unique situations are difficult to deal with so sticking to what he believes is the truth is important. We can see this an opportunity to listen to the different stakeholders of society and find that balance that makes the sense for everyone (effective policing with respect for human rights). 

I understand how people feel and how polarized angry people are (The problem with our politics is that everyone is shouting and no one is listening so problems go unresolved along pure party line votes. Maybe we should spend some time questioning our lack of ability to see outside of our political ideologies. 😬). I've witnessed police misconduct and it can be frustrating for minorities when you know what you saw but your not sure if that information will act as important feedback for improvement. 

Most of the officers I have met are awesome people with the right personality for the job. Thank God for them!  I would trust them to do the right thing because they are critical thinkers with the best interest of their societal stakeholders in mind (but that is not everyone). 

A few ideas that don't even begin to discuss the complexity of the situation (i.e. its important for you to think for yourself and determine what you believe based upon everything you have read and your own personal experiences)...

1.) Listen to the officers and listen to the societal stakeholders (emphasizing those who feel mistreated) to get a grasp of where the major "rub" points are (Those will be central focal points). One could probably put together a meta analysis of all the police research and commission a study specifically focused on finding the right policy approach that leads to the best outcomes.

2.) Look at the policing system and see what might help improve officer retention and develop the kind of culture that can give opportunities to those that show leadership while creating a stronger mechanism for removal (investigation and removal) of those who do not reflect "good moral conscious". 

3.Stop allowing fringe groups and more radical political voices (Right and Left) to define what is best for our police, the public or our nation. We need policies that make sense and solve problems....not ones that create more problems and more divisions at a time we need people focused on a bigger picture.

P.S. I still like the idea of developing a whole line of non-lethal weapons for use as an option in domestic policing and international peace keeping activities.

Cancun or Escanaba? Would a shuttle between marina, downtown, hotels and mall help?

I posted a picture I took on Facebook. I asked the question, "Cancun or Escanaba?" About half the people got it right and the other half didn't. Beaches are a tourist attraction and in Escanaba the beach is ideally located on the other side of the Marina down a short walking/bike path. I walk and job there sometimes. It would be something that visitors would enjoy. 

Bring your boat, hang out on the beach, shop and eat (Still need to figure out if a shuttle during certain seasons would work to bring traffic to and from dining to the park and hotels and mall. Perhaps a deal with cabs and/or shuttle might help during certain seasons to get tourists to move around and maximize their economic value. Maybe a loop of some type that runs around these areas until like 10 pm. I saw in once in Breckenridge. Works great!)

Would a shuttle between marina, downtown, hotels and mall help? Yes...it might be worth the cost during certain summer or winter (if we maximize winter tourism). 



SpaceX successfully launched an advanced GPS satellite for the U.S. Space Force on Thursday (June 17, 21)

SpaceX launches advanced GPS for Space Force. See Falcon 9 Description carries a GPS satellite that has antijamming abilities as well as more accurate signaling for military (not sure if it will be used for civilian applications as well πŸ€”) If your interested in a career in the Space Force they are recruiting. I'm sure its not for geeks only. I suspect they have room for "Geek" and "Jock" combos (There are people out there that play sports and read. 😲 See Space Force Site

Fed Chair Jerome Powell (06-16-21) Expect Job Growth

Job growth is expected, inflation could rise, supply chain issues , holdings of securities continues, economic recovery not the same for all people's, and a few other things as they relate to general administration of the Fed. You can read a nice summary at Federal Reserve meeting full recap: Chair Jerome Powell’s market-moving comments

(This is why we need to shorten them back to the U.S. and if absolutely necessary then use Mexico as a low cost regional partner. Advance high end manufacturing and low cost manufacturing have a place in the product life cycle. See Product Life Cycle. We have become accustomed to tax hoping and moving facilities to Asia. However, there is no reason why we wouldn't consider building these options in North American first. See Invest Global Supply Chain and See Delta County Great Lakes Shipping Model)

Au train Old Cart Wheel Dive

 A few friends and I went to Au train last weekend to dive. What I found was something that looked like an old cart wheel off of the 1870's dock at Bay Furnace.