GOP Governor Candidate Signature Woes-How Much and How to Handle?

Some problems arose over fraudulent ballot signatures in the primaries and that is likely to do some damage to the GOP candidates. There are a couple of options but this is how I see it below.  There were 69K false signature among 5 candidates. It has been referred to Attorney General Nessel's office for review. Apparently it was caused by First Choice Contracting LLC but that remains to be seen once a full review if there were others involved.

Here is an interesting article you may want to consider. Fraudulent signature reports referred to Nessel's office for investigation and an other article GOP to Board of Canvassers on petition fraud scandal: Evaluate each signature one-by-one

1.) Those that knew, conducted and supported should be prosecuted (No place for games with democracy. What is referred to as a "Money Grab" by some candidates.).

2.) Those that didn't do their due diligence reprimanded (Sometimes people skip steps and its not wise in our mad rush to win. This is an opportunity to learn. That includes official notice. Remove the fraudulent signatures. Some may be able to continue on with their campaigns.).

3.) Those that wouldn't have reasonably known be given some flexibility to continue to run (A few seem genuine and I believe they may not have known. They appear honorable to me but used common services recommended by others and with a lack of understand may have been caught blindsided.)

I'm a light right Republican so I don't play politics with our national values. I have little stake in it (actually its mostly risk but being a divergent thinker I have some advantages and responsibilities to share my opinion. For better or worse.🤷). Our democracy and self government works best when people have accurate information, proper signatures, robust debates and high quality candidates running to push each other to get better to solve important problems. 

Regardless of Republican or Democrat we want the best of our crop (Best and brightest versus most connected. Think for a moment why we want to be led by those with the capacity to lead independently. 🤔) to come forward and debate with honest and helpful information. That is not an endorsement or lack of endorsement of anyone or any party (I state my general affiliations right up front. Light Right with many Liberal friends. An American before a party adherent.) . 

Clean politics and clean debates with accurate information where the state's best interest in mind leads to increased trust of the total institution (That is more important than any party or person). We can debate policies all day but we can't compromise certain values and hope to have a good outcome. We are competing with other global ideologies and must be our best as a nation (...even if some don't get more pieces of cake then others. 🎂)

GOP is in a process of change and has lots of promise as being an important contributor to the strengthening of society and working with (and I suspect sometimes against) Democrats to achieve important national goals as a future oriented party (Against is ok as long as its in good faith, civil and problem solving focused.). Different perspectives can lead to greater knowledge and awareness of leadership in general as to the best paths forward. 

No matter our party affiliation we fit within some general larger philosophies that Democrats and Republicans must adhere to (...hopefully not encouraging other foreign philosophies.). We should not rule out candidates that really don't want to be in politics because they are likely the ones that have the best interest of society in mind. Kind of why public service is a duty and responsibility and not an avenue of self enrichment and ego self-gorging (No matter the party or person). Beware of those who really really really want to win at all costs. 💇

The Concerns of Lack of Hate Accountability (Hypothetically What is the Value of Accountability?)

Once you become targeted you also become aware how important it is to hold people accountable. Without accountability we will find ourselves in a few years back to the very same spot; perhaps a worse spot. There are certain behaviors in our society we should not nor ever accept. For some reason we have accepted them as "ok" even though they run against the grain of everything good and just. There is a higher calling for our society to adapt to the distortion of hate and rage. We must only be willing to take a few steps to see the risks we face as individuals and as a society.

Give you an example. Someone holds inappropriate beliefs about their importance in the world. Racial and religious hate and is willing to lie and manipulate to gain benefit. That sets off a whole serious of dangerous events that include police targeting (by a few corrupted officers. Not all. Most did the right thing but a few persisted.), a large mediocre ex-sports highschool players clan engage in highly provocative antics, potential manipulation of an elderly person for financial gain (not the first time), and lost opportunities caused by those who support hate, etc...

Let's pretend an extremely bizarre thing happened (I know! I know! Its impossible a distorted soul can launch a hate network! But let us squint our eyes and pretend a Steven King creepy thing actually did happen. Let us look beyond the surface.). Someone went back and asked questions and found out that not only was the initiators lying, they were also stealing, and in turn hated the targets for personal, racial and religious reasons. Perhaps they were even coached by their close officer friends on how to "set up" their target (It didn't turn out as planned but they tried. Again, sorry for the impossible scenarios. May not be true but you never know weirder things in life have happened.)

If this bazaar thing were true what would be appropriate? 

To me I would say that five things should happen. 1.) Mandatory mental health and monitoring for those who caused the problem. 2.) Those officers that were involved be disciplined and in turn reforms within their department to protect the public be initiated. and 3.) Audit of any of the incentives for theft 4.) they admit to their social networks they were lying (to minimize future conflicts) and 5.) Review of coaching g practices to ensure we aren't teaching young to bully and hate  (There have been comments about some of these coaches and how they act. Most are good but some take their values and put them in their coaching practices)

That is me. I would suspect with a thorough review they might even receive jail time but that isn't what I advocate for. Remember that they launched a hate network that damaged children, pulled over in a unmarked car (Meaning it is still dangerous because of different issues for them to come up in the area. It is becoming a smaller risk but it is still a risk.), the father followed home and threatened (I continue to challenge these bad behaviors. I've made my peace long ago. So intimidation tactics will likely have opposite effect.), and did lots of damage to reputations and opportunities. Because of their rumors of that Muslims are crazy, dangerous, and terrorists they could have easily sparked a lone wolf in their network that wants to "save" America (Perhaps part of the goal. Now we have something called replacement theory to sort of explain why some of these behaviors are happening.)

What is the value of accountability in society? I'm not sure but it would seem we need to find mechanisms to ensure that the rampages we are experiencing, people are held to account and we find a better path forward. It seems like we might not yet understand why these behaviors are inappropriate and early intervention on hate and their networks is helpful for others in society. I think our heart is in the right place and we want solutions but perhaps we don't have the political and moral conscious to ensure we stop these behaviors in their tracks before they become bigger issues (Politics and racial identity are becoming increasing tied together so acting and not acting with value is often associated with one's political beliefs. That is one of the most dangerous things we can have going on in society. Human life is not political. Our democracy should be universal. I'm a light right but my values on Americans are universal. ) Hindsight is often more wise then foresight. It opens up a can of worms as to the value of life and how we see different lives in society. I guess if some people can do whatever they want they have good reason to giggle and smirk as well. We just dont seem ready to solve these problems yet. If that is true it's a sad state of affairs. 🤷

....and then we turn a page in this book of life and see what is next. I'm curious myself if we as a society can adapt. Or whether our values will see the need for change....and that will open some doors and close others. Starring at the door is not a particular helpful strategy unless we find the courage to grab the knob and open it. Do our leaders need help mustering their inner lions? Wheat from chaft in leadership! These are the times that determine the nature of a nation and its future!

Stealing from Detroit Firefighters: The "culture of corruption"

Detroit firefighters have a hard job. They deal with all types of interesting things that range from homeless fires, burning industrial buildings, residential areas to crime scenes. Now they also must deal with one of their own stealing from them.  The firefighter involved embezzled $220K in money that was to go for retirement and into personal spending and organizations she supports. 

You can read more about it in Ex-Detroit fire official gets prison for embezzling $220K on hotels, flights and cruises

According to the U.S. Department of Justice Bulletin , "During the four years Day was Treasurer of the DFFA, she fraudulently obtained approximately $167,900.00 of union funds by (1) issuing checks in her name and then changing the name of the payee in the Union’s Quickbooks software; (2) cashing checks which were voided by her in Quickbooks; (3) writing checks made payable to cash; and (4) withdrawing cash from DFFA bank accounts. Day also fraudulently obtained money by diverting funds intended by the DFFA to be a donation to the NAACP."

I don't know what people think about stealing from first responders (for some its not really a problem) but it would seem to me that when people work hard for a living and take risks so they are entitled to their retirement. Stealing from that is lowering the value of those jobs and putting people at risk directly and indirectly. 

The problem with a culture of corruption is that there were multiple officials across different departments stealing from pension funds (In many of these corruption situations you can trace back to poor investments, bribes, and direct theft of retirement funds). The question then becomes where did they learn this, who did they learn this from and how closely connected are they. I believe that learning where she and other officials learned these habits is important. I would also suspect that an audit of all City of Detroit pension/retirement funds is increasingly important. With luck it could lead to a connected group of people that have been misusing systems for a long time (i.e. organized crime, shadow organization, a local form of the "mob".)

The question is, "How and why are multiple departments, unions, and pension funds involved?"

I think these are the right associations below. 

Detroit Firefighter's Association Webpage

Facebook Detroit Firefighters Association 

Sad state of affairs when any bad behavior can be justified and lots of people look away when they are happening. 100's of people have already been caught in this web of public deceit and corruption. Its time to run it all down. My theory is that these organizations didn't change and increased transparency, new technology, and the Internet created more avenues of exposing and uncovering bad behaviors. They can't just burn the paper trail any more and data records are available for review. Old world mobs running into the Digital Era and Psychological Economy of Needs

The Thing about Violence and Hate (Devaluing Children in Society)

Violence and hate are a growing trend. People and groups engaged in hate targeting has become increasingly common because we haven't developed mechanisms to deal with it as everything is politicized. People bent on violence are hard to reason with and there seems to be some support among different peoples as to the acceptance of violence. 

Targeting children, targeting people in our community, and general dishonest mayhem have become part of us and in many cases acceptable (Depending on who the targets are.). The development of solutions is slow and when good solutions seem to be forming there is lack of desire to act because of social, political, and other pressures.

It creates scenarios where such behaviors are repeated over and over because of failed accountability and no theoretical methods of intercession. We have lost our sense of community and the willingness to stand for basic values. The way and the will should come together.

Rules apply differently to different peoples. There is no reason for children to get hurt and anything that encourages or causes that should be changed. The protection of children is fundamental to our lives and to our society. Without that...we will eventually lose our society (eaten from the inside).

I've seen children be targeted, lied to, and families get on the hate target list. The group responsible feels no remorse, continues to spread false information, and is unable to respect the values of people in their community that they have been told "they can't like".  It only takes one hate supporter to change the scenario.

Let us stop pretending that we have all of the answers. Doing more than politically arguing and looking in the other direction is necessary for resolution. It makes no difference what the children's parents say, what I say, what anyone says because we are missing the moral conscious and fortitude to chart a new course. I don't believe we can any longer tolerate hate. 

The question is, "What do we do now?" 

National Inability to Handle Guns, Rage and Copycats

The insanity of the use of guns, copycats and rage is beyond what any nation can reasonably accept. 19 children and two adults dead and many of them very young. We need better ways of ensuring people who display these behaviors of targeting get mental health help quickly before they do real harm. Likewise, we also don't want guns free flowing into the streets (We need to think about the gun purpose and the rules associated with high caliber guns. I say that as a light right Republican who believes in the right of citizens to bear arms for things like hunting and basic self defense. Not assault guns whose very design is based in destruction. Aggressive guns need different rules. ). So many problems and not so many solutions. 

It seems as though the specifics are tight lipped in terms of motive. Perhaps they don't know and investigations will reveal more of what happened. We need to chase this down and find out what happened. If we find they exhibited aggressive behaviors mixed with mental health rage we need to find solutions (i.e. track and solve strategy). 

This issue is a failure of our leadership (both Republicans and Democrats), our parents, our society and our ability to find solutions. So until we get serious we will have more and more of these moments of sorrow, excuses, and of course more death. Shame on us as a society.  In one ear and out the other.  Its not fair to debate over people's lives. Keep watching the trends and let us wait to see what solutions our politicians come up with (As of present emerging ideas that have merit are often ignored for those that are more politically acceptable. I wish I knew the answers.)

I feel bad for those parents. I feel sad for those young kids (the ones who died and the one's who witnessed) and what those kids could have been. Their lives were discounted by ineptitude and political stalemates. We need more love and more solutions. I guess in many ways we also need more prayers. Let us pray our leadership takes their lives seriously and provides serious solutions.

Alleged Texas school shooting gunman identified: What we know about the suspect, his motive and more.

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Moe the Horse Learned Some Bad Habits Pulling on Reins

Moe is my horse. He is often used by kids and he may have picked up a few bad habits that includes strong pulling his head to pull the reins out of your hands. So I will need to work on it with him to ensure he doesn't continue with these bad behaviors. That includes moving he reins right and left until he gives and making him go in circles. He has someone who trains him so I will inform her as well.  

I learned how to pull on reins.

                                           

Debunking In-Out Group Ideological Pressures (Resolution to Hate 05/24/2022)

Small dysfunctional groups eventually are pressured to conform to wider societal values through sustained pressure and the practicality of higher level thinking. The wider value pressure based on the philosophies acceptable to different sociological, religious, political, economic and ideological entities (I think you could probably find how how society is demographically sliced and how each influences group identity formation. That would be way beyond the scope of this blog post.) will exert different types of influences to create cohesion (vs. conflict) because ultimately it is in the best interest of society (local, national, global).

Sometimes small groups can influence larger spheres based on the ability to describe something, understand something or solve a long stemming problem (That is why its important to create a universal society to minimize ethnic, racial, religious, political conflict. See Conflict Modeling). When dysfunctional groups influence their surroundings it is through false solutions and rhetoric that seeks to manipulate information(Think Hitler, Proud Boys, ISIS, etc..)

What we often find is that internal pressures among certain societal members create requirements for social adherence to certain distorted values (i.e. perception of the value of human life as anchored to race, religion, and in this example sports identity. The same can be said for religious, political, racial etc... types of extremism). Those who do not adhere to these values are considered out-group members and their values are discounted (Why pressure is often needed to change thinking patterns of in-group members). 

Dysfunctional personalities help to form these bubbles of distortion that seek to create influence and then press outward to create influence and control (In some cases it also impact institutions and their functional levels through personal values and social connections. For example, a couple of corrupted officers or hiring practices of a local college based on likely past bad behavior and blind loyalties.). They do this through passing of poor values in implicit and tacit communicative expectations to group adherents (See positive and negative communication patterns, paralanguage)

One way to break the cycle of distortion is to insert more accurate information with consequences so people must take the time to think about the information and its value to them (See Blind Eye, Creative Critical Thinking, Critical thinking in Business, conflict modeling, Reverse Learning). The more they seek accuracy for self interest  the more they are able to see logic and debunk false information (Assuming its not deeply rooted and matched with psychological distortion which is often the case in the leadership of cultish groups. Its also why we want to raise independent thinkers that can use evidence based management and critical thinking. That is also why say in a sports group that have taken on distorted values of racial/religious bullying we may need to go to the coaching practices themselves to ensure that poor values are not being passed to impressionable students that grow up emulating the values of their coaches. As of yet they are unable to peel off of their leadership to create a cohesive community. They create an "us" vs. "them" mentality based on false self-images and are unable/unwilling to take in more accurate information from outside he network. The group exists within a community of positive people but have carved out a kind of social inner network around key leadership figures that encourage "clanmanship" through rigid social adherence. That gives more testimony to the good coaches and people that have not bent to such values. At least in theory.)

The faster we can intercede on poor behaviors the better able we are capable of stopping the spread of un-American and distorted vales. For example, in the Capital Riots we noticed how it only takes a few coordinated groups to hype up a larger crowd into violence. The same can be said when a core group of locals hype up a contextual hate in a larger group of ex sports players (Notice how they cling to their groups and are not able to create positive connection with their "targets" for fear of social rejection. It is important to remember that lack of accountability on the leadership means that the groups will use these approaches to others they disagree with, have the wrong color/race, or are not part of the "super cool" crowd. It also risks creating undue influence on local judges and officials which can distort our institutions. Democracy is not based in aggressive clanship but in "liberty and justice for all" that seeks to tie us together as a nation and people.). There are fundamental differences between freedom of speech and intentionally distorting information to harm others or take over national capitals. 

The wider environment will create pressure on these groups to adjust their thinking to reduce the cost of conflict (Which has little benefit for society at large). The process is cyclical. Great conflict often creates greater opportunities for growth. It is a process of change. The same learning can occur on a community level (local hate groups) or on a national level (Sacking of Capital and near civil war) or even international level (Conflict with Russia over aggression). Those risks become minimized through newer definitions of what ties us together and the opportunities that lay before us (i.e. newer definitions of "American" or international standards of behavior that lead to lasting peace.)

The Professors Role in Coaching Students to Problem Solve

Students often come with all types of backgrounds and understandings. Part of the purpose of higher education is to raise the level of problem solving and performance in a way that improves personal and professional growth. We want students that can compete in the global market and obtain meaningful jobs and enriched lives. That takes commitment by faculty.

Sometimes students, like professors, and like business professionals come with good and bad habits. Some students are ready to compete and some need a little more help shoring up their abilities and skills. Higher education is likely one of the last times outside of life and work to help the student.

Coaching is part of the job of developing higher overall performance. Being flexibility also means taking the time to find the right tool to help the student achieve their long term goals.

Some argue that coaching on life skills isn't the professors role that they should not take the time to ask questions and listen. Others argue that it is central to the process of higher education and the development of highly functionable graduates. The debate is still out!

Just like accepting any late paper is not wise it is also not wise to be too restrictive. There is a happy balance where a level of coaching and problem solving for mistakes can be helpful in improving long term performance. Empathy with coaching.

For example coaching on time management helps students move from being reactive to life to being proactive. I'm not immune to the same issues and have a lifetime of solving some big problems for others and myself. 

The business world has shown that proactive problem solving pays dividends in the market (Business, government, and life. Think of all the problems that can be solved when we are proactive on emerging or consistent problems.).

Thus, higher education is about developing the whole individual to contribute meaningfully to their fields and society and that comes from helping students create long-term strategies that lead to their life-career success. We need globally competitive graduates and that comes through professors who care enough to spend enough time to ask questions and encourage student oriented problem solving brainstorming. 

A few ideas:

1.) Connect with students.

2.) Ask questions to find the root of the problem.

3.) Notice patterns

4.) Encourage students to think of long term solutions.

5.) Keep them focused on their goals.

6.) Provide meaningful feedback.

Johnson Motor Working: Dock Hand Provides Some Advice

Sometimes it is the small things in life that are exciting. I messed around with this Johnson motor in my garage and put it on the boat (Remember I bought the 12' boat, trailer and motor for $500. I couldn't start it right away and messed with it in the garage in a bucket of water. The Escanaba Marina dock hand came over and he said it looked like the old 1960's motor on another boat. We played with the choke and we worked through it to determine what some of the knobs do. We got the idle to go down. Letters are sort of worn out. Guess what? It works!

It hasn't been tested so I'm not going too far out yet least I be rowing back!

This AM at the gym I got into a discussion of fishing spots. Apparently the Walley are hiding on the other side of the bridge in the shallows, out by "the point" (My friend Len probably knows where the spots are. Keeping it a little secret. Shhhh!) and along the rocks near the mouth of the marina when they come in to feed. I haven't really been able to try any of the spots (except the other side of bridge with the wrong bait. Its super shallow there except a channel of 10'to15' in the middle.). I was told to be quiet or they will stay away from the bait.

Repelling off of the Wall Firefighting

Had some excellent training tonight. It has been a while since I repelled. Have done some rock climbing but its great to get back and do it. They have a lot more safety equipment in firefighting vs. rock climbing. Top ropes, heavy duty belay, etc... The biggest thing is to keep yourself leaning back at a near 90 degrees. We also did a little basket rescue. (That is me! LOL)