The Dangers of Distorted Social Networks and How that Can Hamper Community Growth

Social networks can be good and they can be bad. Sometimes they are a little of both. Good can come with bad and that can lead to many mixed results. There are some signs I have seen that should push people to think beyond these networks based on their personal development level and their conception of values (...especially the values they want to teach their children and we as a nation hold sacred. A lot of people fought and died for those rights. Dysfunctional groups should not supplant them just because they think its "cool" to do so.).

For example, local families looking out for each other is important and helpful. That is a great thing! We should applaud their engagement. It can help the community and help people in general.

We can run into a problem when such social networks limit opportunities for others and some of the core members engage in seriously questionable behaviors (..they create the untouchables much like what we would find in an Indian caste system. That "untouchable" status is based not a person's merit but simply whether someone in their social network likes that person or whether they have the right clothes, skin color or religion. Steven King creepy. 😬) based on.....

1.) Intentionally false information (In history we have seen people intentionally misuse false information to exploit the ignorance of others. That has led to all types of destructiveness.) Rumors are about power, control, and management of social networks. While true information can lead to better decision making from a human species standpoint, it can also lead to group manipulation (People don't often figure out they were treated as stooges, flying monkeys, or ignorant until well after the damage. I personally would be upset if my friends lied to me about others to solicit support and create a hazard.). 

2. Influence over Institutions (i.e. an HR department manager of a local college connected to a social group using rumors based in bigotry to justify illegal behaviors. Likely why an EEOC audit is necessary. It could also impact courts when/if they rely on false information within their social networks to make poor decisions over sacred rights and oaths. ), 

3.) Misuse of police power (i.e. a couple of corrupt officers that may have engaged in other illegal behaviors that people in the community talk about but haven't been investigated. Most officers are awesome but the one's connected to that social group are/may be a long term danger to the public.). That could influence local judges and justices (There could be huge problems right under the surface

 Taking a peak might be helpful.).

4.) A bully network based in past sports identity (Most are good people but they are caught in a network that they must strictly adhere to certain rules for fear of being rejected. The same tools they use against others. They love to spread rumors and gossip.)

5.) Use of power and intimidation as tactics (Intentionally seeking to harm others through misuse of information designed to distance themselves and protect potentially illegal and criminal behavior.)

6.) The in group and out group social adherence (People must fall in these networks and strictly fall in line. Much of the social hierarchy is mixed with racial and religious overtones. The quality of people doesn't matter. Its bazaar but because they self-confirm their values and beliefs its hard to break the cycle of ignorance. )

7. Blind "Clanmanship". In most situations where people have found out they were manipulated they would be upset but in some situations you can't change those beliefs. This is where there are social networks, prior bias, self-gain, and general ignorance (These networks become somewhat dangerous because they cannot critically think and will act again if pushed to do so.)

What do you do about such situations? Well its a choice we have as a nation. We can continue to divide society and create us versus them or we can come together as a single people, community, and nation. There will be those who exploit for self gain and there will be those who have a higher calling. Truth and wisdom should overcome the distortion of these networks. That is why my door is always open to those who have a moral conscious and seek to recreate networks (Me and my children come from a line of people that have been there longer than most of the others so "cleansing" us out will be staunchly opposed.).  I will positively and politely encourage people to step back from these distorted networks to create higher level of development (personal, social, financial, economic) in their communities. 

(The interesting thing is that there have been multiple people who sort of talk of this "in crowd" and their destructive influence on the community. Many of the doctors, professionals and others leave the area because they don't "fit in". Local people use the term "clickish" to describe that group. Those are lost opportunities for the community. Retention of new people, new families, new wealth leak out the door because of this semi functional/dysfunctional network and their distorted influence on local social affairs. When some of them become destructive there is a need for more intervention. If you ask locals privately if these groups were good for the community most would like say no but they don't really go after them but may have gone after others. Most people in the community have shown great support once the misinformation was debunked and they became familiar with the targets as valued community members. To me, mandatory mental health and a review of their financial, racial/religious, and bully like behaviors are helpful in creating lasting community cohesion. ). 

As a Light Right Republican Its Time to Get Guns Out of Schools

Gun reform is necessary and we will see that as more people use them to project outward their inner distortions. I'm a supporter of hunting rifles and self defense guns but do not believe anyone who wants a military assault rifle should have one. As a matter of point, those who want them and often have them aren't the ones who should be carrying them. Let us be wise over this issue and support our long term health over short term profits. The rhetoric has grown and their is intentional inflammation that will be too much for the population to bear (They are seeing people dying it is their right to be angry!). 

The most important  job in society is teaching and schools are underfunded as it is so all the promises aren't going to make a difference this time. Loading our population with killing tools (Guns are tools. Those choice of how to use that tool is up to the handler. Personally, I trust very few people with those tools. Look around and ask yourself, "Do you trust them with a gun?")) and turning schools into prisons isn't going to solve our problems. While some people having guns can help defend against those who are misusing these tools this is not, or should not be, a war zone. More guns in circulation means more people using them (A nice profit I guess.)

Here is what I see. Parents, educators and law makers have an important point to make about 18 year old's walking into stores buying guns and using them. Yes guns are not necessarily evil but they are designed to kill. Knowing what they are designed to kill is important. Killing an intruder maybe ok, killing deer with a permit isn't a problem, killing people as though you are fighting a war....big issue (At least it should be. Some guns are great for the military but not so great for general population. There are risks to our political parties stability which are becoming  increasingly split by separatist mentality and those who profit from conflict. Beware!)!

Yes violent video games and bad parenting are part of the problem. We want to score points and we want to put all the explanation on guns but that is maybe half the solution. The other half is also an issue. So let us take the opinions on both sides and say 1.) some restrictions on military grade assault weapons is needed and so is 2.) some change in how exposed kids are to violence and 3.) where mental health intervention helps in thwarting violence (There is more like tools and tactics of police in dealing with active shooters, hate group extremists, gangs, and civil rights. I have talked about those prior.) 

I don't pander to anyone. Far right extremists who talk of civil war nor to far left radicals who want to remove the Pledge of Allegiance! There are choices we have to make; they aren't even tough choices. I know our leaders don't understand or see the trends that are brewing because if they did they would zip their lips and find solutions. The polarization, mixed with radicalism/violence, American's competitive position, and rapid change in socio-economic-and cultural positioning that will require our institutions to be universally wise. 

If our leaders knew their choices lead to certain outcome they wouldn't be so sure all of their answers are the ONLY answers. We can pray our leader will gain wisdom before their options are limited and everything is a bad choice (In case your wondering. I'm a light right Republican that some may see as a RINO-DINO combo. I wear my rationality with pride! An American before a politician!)

I'm sure if they work together to find solutions they can do it and make meaningful change. I'm equally sure if they feel they want to rip this country in half they can also do that. Two doors and we have to pick one! ⏳

Escanaba City Council Meetings May 19th, 2022: 360 Reviews, Flowers and Opportunities

 This council meeting wasn't as exciting as the past. There were talk about Delta County and new flowers. There was also talk of 360 performance appraisals. When done well they encourage a rounder view and force managers to think of the need from different department perspectives. They are also time consuming and not all of the information is going to be particularly useful. Full Bloom Delta.  You can read the Escanaba May 19th, 2022 Agenda. 

Why am I watching? Because I want to see if a UP location ready ripe for investment can transform itself by encouraging new interest and investment. Of course I also have my own economic theory. Covid has change some of the investment interests around the world and with the right exposure and model (matched with govt interest in returning manufacturing and industry) it may be possible to develop new life into old resource towns like this. 

There have been some new investments into Verso, local mines, military to the north, Navy in town, hotel at jail site, House of Ludington, etc... Is there a tipping point where those who jump into invest are going to obtain more advantages than those who don't? Organic development with a nudge and guidance. Maybe or maybe not...it just fun to do! A few silly ideas.....Rebuilding Downtown, Digital Tourism, SME, Micro Manufacture, Multi Cluster, Start up Firms, Stakeholder Analysis, Delta Shipping, Financial Info, Subfactors, Investor Hedge, Venture Cap, Hotel Marina.

Moe Learns Not to Root the Reins

 Moe the horse picked up some bad habits with the kids. Pulling his head forward when the reigns are annoying him. I watched a few videos on how to have him stop doing that. He can be a little stubborn and thought it was going be a run of the mill ride where he could do what he wishes. Except this time when it tried to pull forward I wiggles his mouth back and forth and he put his head back. 

The next method would have been a little more aggressive and that would be pulling his head to the side while jabbing in with my heel in his ribs. I didn't need to do that. He tried playing around once more and then stopped. He learned quickly. I wish we could get people to do that. Good job Moe!

Today was perfect out so we hit polo balls out in the field for a while. 65 degrees and nice sun.

Dont Consider Best Paths Forward: Anger and Logic

Life is confusing. Soooo many options and choices and one must think through their options. Logic is usually one of the secondary considerations behind emotion and social networks when people make decisions. When people are in leadership position they should have the capacity to balance logic with emotions and social network demands. They are expected to be above that but often fail to muster the personal strength. 

Over the years I have seen people make superficial self interested choices and then distort the logic leaving big holes in their decision making. The goals is to achieve something and all the logic used is distorted to that end. Better decision making leads to better ends.

Worse, if you point out possible alternatives even if you don't care specifically about any of them you will find some start to think and you will find other enraged. Part of my life is about helping people think through alternatives. Sometimes if you point out something different they get really angry. 

Part of the reason is because it forces them to use their brain and spend the time to accept or invalidate an argument; assumptions are very lazy and convenient. That makes people livid and when their emotions get involved it increasingly creates big issues. When that is matched with power or an avenue of destruction you will need to watch out.

There are those of us who can handle differences well by learning from them and there are many of us who resort to lower standards such as aggression and bullying. Yet the circumstances don't change. You can silence someone but you don't change the "truth" of the situation. It just pushes it down for another time.

For example, some people appeared to be taking things that did not belong to them and engaging in a variety of inappropriate behavior. When questioned they doubled down and exploited racial and religious hate to "force" their will for self gain. That led to a whole bunch of problems as people lined up to support their friends, racial, and religious group (Pretty third world. Actually kind of worse in some cases.) 

My logic recognizes bad behavior mixed with mental health and a unquestioning social network they can rely on to create flying monkeys (...a term used when manipulation occurs and people act on that manipulation to help their perceived "leaders".) One of the primary ways to solve the problem is to force them into mental health help and if that doesn't work some punishment or jail time would be appropriate (carrot or stick). 

Yet that is my logic and now what we are experiencing hate and violence across the country I have not had to change my logic as it still seems to apply. I'm willing to change it when it becomes ineffective but as of yet mental health concerns are part of the hate mix and one of the ways to fight extremism. 

Let us move into our political perspective. There are lots of things that anger people from minorities living in their town all the way over to taxes, abortion or votes. When you ask them to think through their logic they get really really angry and are often willing to use force to get their way (i.e. sacking capitols or protesting at justices houses in what appears to be an attempt to intimidate their families). 

The question becomes one of values. Who is more important to society? The people who question or the people who demand. That is where your personal values and the values of society come into play. As of right now...the juries still out (perhaps literally).

Long Range Rocket Systems Might Help Ukraine with A Different Ground Strategy

In this war Russia has a lot of weapons and are using them as a long-range advantage. Many of them are old and some of them new but they have numbers and they have replenishable equipment supplies. A tactic they seem to be using is to shelling and artillery to soften up and spread out Ukrainian troops. Artillery and Long Range rockets supplies to the Ukrainians may help counter those forces. Putting Russian troop formations, batteries, supplies, and equipment outside of the range may force Russians to come in lightly armored and commit boots to the assault. That raises costs for PR and fear factor (many are younger Russian soldiers with a lack of experience.) and right now the goal is likely to stop infiltration, slow down the shelling, and break up the assault so that smaller groups can be dealt with more effectively (Reduce numbers advantages). 

The Ukrainians might want to create a strategy of breaking up movement and target pockets with focused shelling and quick assaults. That depends on their capacity, numbers, terrain proximity, and equipment. Force the Russians to move into designated "kill zones" where the advantages are switched. Since the Russians don't know where these kill zones are located it could slow down the advancement across the board and in turn matched with longer range equipment would give them few places to sit back. Rush in or hunker down in small packs might be their primary options. Either way it will be nerve racking with low troop moral and likely force changes in strategy where mistakes happen. Just an idea.

U.S. may send long-range rocket systems to Ukraine; Russia captures more villages in Donbas. Follow our live updates

Economy GDP Declined 1.5% in First Quarter 2022.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2022 (table 1), according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 6.9 percent.

You can read the actual release at Gross Domestic Product (Second Estimate) and Corporate Profits (Preliminary), First Quarter 2022

I find it interesting personal income rose but disposable income declined. Personal savings declined. I kind of suspected the digital economy would grow but most the statistics are horrendous out there and don't capture what I'm looking for. You can browse around for Digital GDP, Digital Economy, etc... and find lots of either old or irrelevant things. Internet Economy Grows. Our government should be tracking the Digital Economy because its going to be the new way forward in the Digital Era. Its important.

Advance Estimate	Second Estimate
(Percent change from preceding quarter)
Real GDP	-1.4	-1.5
Current-dollar GDP	6.5	6.5
Real GDI	…	2.1
Average of Real GDP and Real GDI	…	0.3
Gross domestic purchases price index	7.8	8.0
PCE price index	7.0	7.0
PCE price index excluding food and energy	5.2	5.1

Michigan Senate Votes to Reduce Gas 50 Cents per Gallon

 The Michigan Senate is voting to reduce taxes around 50 cents per gallon. Its a nice idea. I'm not sure of the overall impact but I'm sure it helps drivers a little and it sends the message that government is doing something. Let us just make sure we wouldn't have more benefit with that money somewhere else. If we don't have any pressing needs at the moment as a state then great! My $20 buys me about 4 gallons and that is $2. I do that 2X a week and that is $4. In two weeks I can buy a burger. Others drive much more so their are likely to have $10 a week. Its helpful, but not necessarily huge. Where it is likely to make the bigger difference is in business that delivers stuff, travels, and fills their gas regularly. I don't think it applies to diesel but I'm unsure. I doubt it.

Escanaba Harbor: Clear Glass Waters

Today I didn't catch any fish but I did get my engine running and ventured out the mouth of the harbor. It did clonk out a few times but I also had low fuel in the tank so its likely related. Just enough to play with it. It does seem that it was running fine but if not the next step would be to replace the spark plugs. For a few dollars that makes sense form a maintenance standpoint. 

I cast a line and not even a bite. I'm just in the wrong place and need to get farther out. The view was awesome. A little foggy, glass water, and NPR in the background (I know its kind of liberal but they have good programming sometimes. They also have some classical and international music. Don't get me wrong I like different music for different activities.)

The Escanaba harbor is beautiful and it is gaining more interest from visitors. I haven't seen too many harbors as nice as this one. The bathrooms are clean and it is well taken care of. The staff are friendly and prices are fairly cheap compared to many other marinas I have been at. Enjoy the pictures. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Opens Door to Bi-Partisan Gun Bill

Its a narrow opportunity but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell  opens a window through discussions with Senator Cornyn, Sen. Murphy and Sen. Sinema and others. You can read more about that in Exclusive: McConnell says he has directed Cornyn to engage with Democrats on a ‘bipartisan solution’ on gun violence. Children being involved has changes some things and broke some hearts. They are central to society.

Here are a couple of points to consider briefly:

1.) Democrats should take the olive branch and put forward moderate Democrats to quickly engage and problem solve. Personality is important. No one needs radicals causing mayhem on either side destroying opportunities. Life is too important for irrationality of politics. Both sides need concise, pointed, and specific conversations. 

2.) Focus on military grade weapons that are designed to kill people. Few are going to support taking away 2nd Amendment Rights but they may consider some restrictions on outward projected weapons designed to harm people. Back then weapons were a little different and had multiple purposes and may have been a hunting rifle and a military weapon.

3.) Be open to the many different possibilities and solutions. Mental health, limited ammo, gun locks, background checks, training classes, registration, police training, school security, illegal to hold guns within a range of schools, etc... There may be some we haven't thought about. There could also be combo of opportunities. Finding the right one is important.

Doing nothing really isn't an option. It seems easy to just wait, wait on the sidelines, but I think kids are worth more than words (I've seen children discounted and no action. Worse smirking about it). We have seen over the last few years the insanity of modern life that ranges from hate to merciless ignorance. Blind eye to blind conscious. Sacking capitals to sacking of our sense of togetherness. Yet we wait for our leaders on both sides to be "leaders". Not everything is about reelection or waiting for more support. I do believe we will all someday be judged by the quality of our character and the choices we make (from spiritual standpoint). Sometimes the time to act is before us and we trip over our own logic. I respect the movement on both sides but I respect the rights of children 10X more. I've seen people get a free pass from hate. We have ignored the rights of children and failed to step up to distorted rage way way too many times. So many excuses and almost non of them are valid. What is our purpose if we can't raise a finger to protect our children or do the right right thing? Our lives are not up to debate or politics. Few are listening.