Crisp Clean Super Moons in the Wilderness

Super moons are not something common but when they do occur they can be beautiful. I was out hunting near and on my drive home I passed the old KI Sawyer Air force Base. As I rounded the turn I noticed a great big moon that cast a nice light over the woods. While it was -1 degrees Fahrenheit out and my phone would get sluggish in just a few seconds of exposure I was able to snap at least one shot.

Such natural phenomenon add to the beauty and lifestyle that is attractive for a more natural lifestyle outside of a city. As the economy changes more people will be drawn to large cities and likely not see many of these natural beauties. There will be a large, yet smaller, demographic people that will use their education and work arrangements to life outside the city and comet to places like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where a growing eco-tourist industry is growing. 

Six Measures of Economic Branding

National brand is an essential component of competing within the global market places. The "made in" image creates a stereotype between consumers and business that creates a picture of the products and its value to consumers on the global market (Ali & Rehman, 2015). This image is created from multiple aspects of the economy that include a variety of different aspects that reflect the local environment.

Countries are engaging more and more in branding opportunities because it can often draw additional investment that leads to economic growth (Anhold & Simon, 2003). As the world moves into an integrated global market stakeholders must think more about collaboration and working together to measure performance using macro-data and putting together better brands.

It is possible to use six dimensions of the local economy in measuring the quality of a brand image (Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index, 2017).

-Exports: Products and services that allow consumers to buy or avoid local production.

-Governance: Belief and trust in government related to poverty, justice, democracy, and environment.

-Culture and Heritage: The global image of the locations heritage including arts, crafts, literature, sports, music, drama and film.

-People: The image of the people and their education, competence, friendliness and openness.

-Tourism: The local natural and man-made attractions that draw people to the area.

-Investment and Immigration: Through the lens of investors it is the value of the location for people to invest, get educated, spend money, start businesses, and live in the area.

Ali, M. & Rehman, C. (2015). National branding and economic development: finding the missing link. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5 (5).

Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index (2017). About. Retrieved 01/01/18 http://nation-brands.gfk.com/

Anholt, & Simon. (2003). Brand New Justice: The Upside of Global Branding,.
UK. : Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford

Those Without Higher Education Suffer Through Shorter Lives

Education can have a substantial impact throughout our lives and touches just about every aspect of our being include health and marriage. According to Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton, men and women who do not go to college live shorter, less healthy lives and continue to lose ground against their more educated countrymen.

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/casetextsp17bpea.pdf


We know that life can be stressful but pain, stress, unemployment, and social dysfunction seem to take a toll on those who didn't get an education. They are slowed by their economic environment and their stress levels begin to rise. 

There is also the problem of consistent healthcare. When you are working menial jobs, or are not fully employed, you don't have the same access to healthcare and this can add up to a shorter life. Neglecting check ups and not having money for procedures can lead to serious illness. 

The comparison can be profound. For those between 50-54 without a bachelors degree mortality is 867 per 100,000 versus 243 for those with a bachelors degree. This is almost a 3X difference in survival rates. 


Higher education is becoming a must in today's high technology world where people need college to complete everyday tasks. This doesn't mean that a person can't move into a skilled trade but there is a level of education that goes with it that can be helpful. Helping people attend college can improve people's lives in many different arenas. 

The Importance to the Economy of Independent Law Enforcement

America has laws and these laws are voted on and passed by the people for the benefit of all. While we may not agree with all laws, and sometimes law enforcement may not apply these laws fairly or with the best wisdom, it nevertheless has an important duty to protecting citizens from crime, corruption, and predatory commerce. At the essential root of all economic systems is trust and law enforcement helps to ensure that people trust the system.

Independence means that law enforcement should not be at the whim of any politician or entity that could potentially skew the protections its affords its citizens. While judges have an obligation to interpret the will of the people, and often times hit a butterfly with a hammer, it is ultimately the people who have passed these laws that should have the final say.

While we may not see this at first look, law enforcement protects the value of the dollar and the economy. Each economic system is based in trust of trade and trust in the value of the dollar. When countries become corrupt it has a detrimental effect on the value of lawful commerce and causes wider devaluation of currency. The end result is the disintegration of values, economic activity, and beneficial citizen behaviors.

With skewed application of laws people lose a sense of belief in the overall American principle that if someone works hard they will receive rewards through entrepreneurial and personal initiative in the market. The system will look "rigged" and people will have less qualms about violating the law themselves in order to give themselves opportunities. The rich, poor, and popular should all be subject to the same laws.

Law enforcement has a sacred duty to protect the entire economic and political system through a balanced, independent, and thoughtful approach to the application of law. While there are many good reasons to reform law enforcement to ensure that justice is not blind to its own misapplication it should nevertheless be partially insulated from interference. Enough protections to keep it fair and unbiased while at the same time ensuring it doesn't run wild without accountability.

Enhancing Scientific Abilities in the Gifted Population

Scientific and creative ability is something that can lead to fundamental advancement of research and findings. However, it isn't always fostered among students and people with the highest capacity. As a nation we have a problem not only supporting the gifted population but also those with advance aptitude toward creative science. While we may talk a great deal about the importance of STEM we leave the exceptionally skilled underdeveloped with almost no opportunities to learn skills and overcome the emotional laden issues that are common in this population. What is giftedness and how does it contribute to scientific abilities?

Scientific abilities allows someone to understand and work with scientific process by using use inductive and deductive reasoning to come to valid and logical conclusions. In other words, scientific thinking abilities with a special talent for the science. Its kind of a definition that leads a little to be desired in its circular thinking but it kind of puts us in the right area.

When matched with creativity scientific thinking leads to new discoveries and paradigm shift type thinking that can impact society in ma-mouth ways. Science will investigate what we already understand and break it down or build it up to gain greater knowledge. However, creativity allows for cognitive leaps that lead to whole new ways of constructing information into new forms and models. It changes the way we think.

Creativity is a subconscious process and takes considerable time. Some people tap their unconscious more than others and are thus able to be more creative. It is based in our ability to solve problems on a deeper cognitive level and then draw forth those solutions to an "aha" experience that solves the problem more wholistically than existing models. This is where the actual magic occurs.

Giftedness can often be found in mathematical, scientific, technical, linguistic, social, and musical arenas. In the scientific domains there are factors that impact their success and failure. According to a meta-analysis of other studies the motivation and self-conception seem to be the biggest blocks to actual high performance (Heller, 2011):

Motivation: Success comes through practice, practice and more practice. The need to create goals that allow for meaningful work and the push toward a solid outcome is important. Many highly intelligent people have lots of interest but a lack of time to complete them all. Helping them find an overriding goal that interests them throughout their careers can be exceptionally important in creating a positive outcome down the road.

Self-Conception: The ability to integrate experiences into a complete whole. This takes significant time as the person disintegrates their previous experiences and reforms them into a new self. Gifted people often think of themselves as different and have received considerable negative feedback from society unless placed in an environment where their skills are encouraged. Helping them come to a new realization of identity and self leads to higher performance.

What is the return on investment for society? Beyond the exceptional thinking of abilities of this population the most extraordinary gifted take greater care to protect and advance society. They feel a sense of obligation with their talents and end up producing new ways of thinking to advance society to higher forms. Their innate characteristics make the return an often high one beyond what we can currently imagine. Foster giftedness among the many different skill levels and variables in natural life can lead to higher societal growth whether this is in the economic, scientific, artistic or political realms.

Because we are not maximizing the potential of the nation and the highly skilled people within it I advocate for gifted programs in higher education institutions. Universities and educational systems that have unused resources and facilities should seriously consider attracting, enhancing and developing gifted graduates from around the world as they not only contribute to the advancement of society in a rapidly changing global world but also to the institution's brand image. Advanced programs, scholarships, visas, job placement, patent help and counseling services are part of the process of exceptional outputs. Such institutions will likely find their brand image go up and their financial resources improve as private/public philanthropic resources support this population and employers who are wiling to provide funds to sponsor the highest quality recruits. The end result is a population that develops new ideas that enhances both their employers and the institution that groomed them through their creative capacity that often leads to tangible benefits.

Heller, K. (2007). Scientific ability and creativity. High Ability Studies, 18 (2).

EDULEARN18 (10th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning

EDULEARN18 (10th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies)
July, 2nd-4th, 2018
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
http://iated.org/edulearn

Deadline for abstracts submission is March, 22nd, 2018 (included)
Abstracts should be submitted on-line at http://iated.org/edulearn/online_submission

OVERVIEW
You are invited to join the 10th anniversary of EDULEARN (10th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies) that will be held in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of July 2018.

This conference will provide the ideal opportunity to present your projects and experiences to an international audience in three different formats (oral, poster or virtual). Also, it will offer participants an overview of the current situation of education, research and new learning innovations. You will be able to listen to experts from different countries, representing all continents.
If you wish to learn more about how education is changing in the world, then do not miss the opportunity to come to EDULEARN18.

A TRULY INTERNATIONAL EVENT
After 10 years, EDULEARN has become an annual meeting point for lecturers, researchers, professors, educational scientists and technologists.
Every year, EDULEARN brings together over 800 delegates from 80 different countries.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
There will be 3 presentation formats: Oral, Poster or Virtual.
You can submit your abstracts proposals until March, 22nd, 2018 (included)
Abstracts should be submitted on-line at http://iated.org/edulearn/online_submission

TOP FIVE REASONS TO ATTEND EDULEARN18
- Present your paper in one of the largest international conferences on education
- Interact with international educators and technologists for future cooperation
- Meet 800 participants from more than 80 countries.
- Learn about education innovations and strategies in 70+ thematic sessions and workshops
- Publish your paper in EDULEARN18 Proceedings.

PUBLICATIONS
EDULEARN18 Proceedings (with ISBN) will be produced with all the accepted abstracts and papers.

This Publication will be reviewed for its inclusion in the ISI CPCI (Web of Science). Since 2010, all previous editions were already indexed in ISI CPCI. Also, a DOI number will be assigned to each accepted paper.

All accepted contributions will be indexed in IATED Digital Library to form part of our database of innovative projects in Education and Technology.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES
- Abstract Submission Deadline: March 22nd, 2018. (included)
- Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: April 16th, 2018.
- Final Paper Submission Deadline: May 10th, 2018. (included)
- Registration deadline for authors: May 10th, 2018. (included)
- Conference Dates: Palma de Mallorca (Spain), July 2nd-3rd-4th, 2018.

VENUE
In addition to your participation in EDULEARN18, you will have the opportunity to visit Palma de Mallorca.
The capital of the island of Mallorca enjoys an excellent climate all year round. Known for its sun and beach tourism, it also has an attractive historic quarter and its monuments are worth are well worth visiting.

The landscape of the island is full of coves, beaches, pine forests and cliffs on the coast. The variety of the landscape and culture invites visitors to explore every corner of the island and to enjoy its unique local gastronomy.

Also, Palma is a very accessible city: its airport offers a wide range of international flights.
We look forward to seeing you in Palma.

More information is available at http://iated.org/edulearn/tourism

Enquiries: edulearn18@iated.org
Website: http://iated.org/edulearn

Holiday Shopping Largest Since Recession

U.S. consumers spend $598 billion in retail sales with a $90 billion return rate of products. This is the largest holiday shopping period since the recession. It is seen as a good sign for the economy for the year because a large percentage of the economy is based on retail sales and if the stores start out strong they can balance their budgets and reinvest in new lines for next year. It also shows that people have disposable incomes and are willing to buy.