The blog discusses current affairs and development of national economic and social health through unique idea generation. Consider the blog a type of thought experiment where ideas are generated to be pondered but should never be considered definitive as a final conclusion. It is just a pathway to understanding and one may equally reject as accept ideas as theoretical dribble. New perspectives, new opportunities, for a new generation. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”—Thomas Jefferson
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 😖.
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
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.
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 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 🤔) 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
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)
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.
President Biden just left the summit and he discussed the need of supporting human rights and standing up for essential principles that promote healthy international commerce. The "idea" that is the root of a philosophy is what makes each country and culture different. It is the ideological histories that help develop those ideas into full bloom where they create large groups of followers (Sometimes empires). The U.S. has its long ideological chain that crisscrosses with older philosophers that were used to develop the Russian ideological mindset (Each ideology has its own confirming logics and symbolisms that make it subjectively true for adherents. This is why culture is programming of the mind. See Culture and Negotiation).
From the video you can tell there was significant discussion on cyber security. Russia has been said to use cyber because it is relatively cheap, bounces around the world (making it difficult to track) and there are many different cyber groups working freelance (plausible deniability). They are seen as early adaptors of cyber warfare and have gotten good at the game. However, the U.S. has much stronger capacity and once it moves out of the older platforms (into...dispersed data, encryption, block chain, etc...where processing and finding proper sequences becomes much more difficult).it will shave off most of the hackers (saving the best) cyber groups for some time before new hack methods are created (Overall it will be more secure and functional).
Putin is an interesting character and he is strategic like a fox and can use systems thinking to manage various aspects of his administration. While the U.S. has much more overall abilities, we haven't fully developed our technological assets. It seems like (..from what it appears in the news) Putin often looks for flaws in people's character (A keen understanding of psychological motives and non-verbal mechanics) and capitalizing on our divisions in politics (i.e. hyper politics, Proud Boys, Antifa, etc..). We have to shore up this hole in our national capacity by promoting leaders that draw people together into a single concept of "American" versus separating out out into different demographic groups (That is why we can't let fringe Right and Left weaken our central American values).
In addition, we do need to build our cyber capacity (in defense, functioning, and if necessary offence). One way to accomplish this is to give the next generation better STEM training and update our education systems to match current needs. We have this capacity in house (and globally) but we don't think on that paradigm and haven't really empowered our allies and young geeks to learn how to thwart cyber attacks (...meaning purposely testing our capacities and enhance them where they are deficient.) See Ethical Hacking and Cyber Security
