Thursday, July 8, 2021

Why I Write? Responsibility to Support a Free Society!


There may be people from time to time that wonder why I write and spend the time doing some of those things versus all the other fun things of life (I do fun things in life too). I think its important to write about issues that others find difficult to understand; i.e.. injustice, economy, education, science, geo-political issues and corruption. If we don't think about these we can't expect them to change. Not everything I say will have importance but likely there will be a few people who sort of "get it" and it offers something beneficial. 

Sometimes I write about politics and the economy. Politics is a necessary process in our democracy but there are people who exploit politics for their own gain and for their own "people's" gain. Universalizing our actions means we seek to create maximum gain and trust among as many people as possible. We may be elected by certain groups but owe responsibility to the "whole" society.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
Lao Tzu

Other times I might write about things like fitness, health, art and local activities. While these don't seem very important they are still part of the process of living. There are people who find benefit in some of this writing and there are people who find it kind of useless. For example, maybe I learned something about fitness or a new way of doing something.

Still and other times I write about things like injustice. I understand injustice has become a type of dirty word in some circles (probably part of the reason why we have political polarity). Will my writing change anything? Probably not...there are a lot of people writing about a lot of things. When your name is "Murad" you learn that what you have to say is often less worthy than say "Tom" or "Joe". More about this in the future..... 

Mostly I write to understand. To understand the world around us and how we live in it. I guess I shouldn't really care much but higher awareness also comes with higher responsibility. That doesn't mean I'm right and it doesn't mean that anyone will actually listen to what I say. It only means there are some who are simply more aware of their environment and can see the long term implications of certain paths (many of our leaders and officials struggle with thinking beyond themselves and their rigid ideologies).

We know we have problems in society and we know we should deal with them. Its probably much easier and less frustrating to just be like others and worry about what is in my benefit only. I'm no martyr but likely inherited the "tragic gift" high moral and IQ based intelligence (Perhaps a couple more.) in an environment that doesn't have much use for it and probably doesn't seem to encourage it (Some of our cues are to reinforce conformity and that has always been the root of injustice; especially if some classes, races, religion and people can't conform to someone else's distorted image.)

Do I expect my writing to have any impact? Not really. I think there will be a few people who read it who believe yes he makes sense (dependent on cognitive engagement).  Most others are unlikely to find much interest beyond gossip sake. Those who should be listening are unlikely to listen because it would require them to break their mold (part of the reason why I write). Mostly its just fodder for those who hate and want to support that hate (our society seems to support them).

What I have learned is that there are definite differences in how we treat people each other in this society and without change we are going to have a very bumpy future. Our options will be limited by a the same people who propose the same worn out solutions and then punish those who have alternative explanations (forced political persuasion). Long-term preference in decisions not based on evidence leads to corruption, indecisiveness, lack of global competitive ability that risks eventual collapse (Its a line of choices.)

Do I think our politicians, judges, and people will change? We are creatures of habit and when disruption occurs such as pandemics, economic shifts, and social instability we will make some adjustments (often after events occur and not often in "real time"). Before this, trends are not a concern because they don't impact the lives of those who make the decisions (Yes...they can be selfish as well. We seem to like to deal with issues in crisis mode versus getting out in front of problems.)

If you every wonder what the truth is...just wait a minute and let all the people make the choices they want and see where the dust settles. The proof is in the outcome. What we say is important but how we decide and the outcome of those decisions is what is essential. The "truth" is what "we" decide it is. We either land on the side of virtue, wisdom and universal law (will likely bring us good things) or we land on distortion, dishonesty and subjectivity (will likely bring us more instability and further diminish our ability compete globally through the American brand). 

We all have choices to make and we as a collective society make those choices together. The truth is what we as a society make it out to be. Yet sometimes we become smarter and history changes to be more reflective of a universal truth (i.e. the moral failures of slavery, treatment of native Americans, viewing all Muslims as the "enemy", etc...) 

Should I continue to write? I'm not sure...I guess I will for now. There are risks to writing and saying the truth as you see it (subjective and objective). Not everyone will agree and often the system supports and enforces ignorance. We can look back through history at anyone who has something important to say (i.e. philosophers, religious figures, civil leaders and visionaries) and we find that the vast majority have had a tragic end but all have been right in history at a different time and space.

A word of caution. Free societies with free people should be able to handle reasonable differences of opinions. We cannot achieve our long term goals if we only listen to a sliver of friends and supporters leading to group think and intellectual/scientific blindness. Corruption and disparate treatment will divide our country while universal justice will bring us together. If we are unable to think beyond our bio-psychological interests of today we will continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over. We are like fish in a fish bowl who don't understand the fish bowl is in a massive ocean. Everything we do ripples somewhere else. 

Voltaire uttered two phrases that seem to make sense in this case, "It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong." and "Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Farm Land in the U.P.

 The other day I was out riding in a field next to Hiawatha National Forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is what rural farmland looks like. Being born and raised in this country landscape gives you a glimpse of what it must have been like 100 years ago as life is fundamentally the same (plus electricity, water, Internet and other necessities of basic living😱. ). 

Stonington


Mo. He was a rescue horse and now is well trained.

Firms That Are Willing to Invest in Research and Development (Cluster and Calibrated Tax Systems Delta County Model)

Investment is the lifeblood of any economy. In the global arena its important to build an environment that attracts new investments and leads to greater research & development (R&D). At various times in history countries pushed R&D to innovate a developmental line to solve important problems. While government might research and launch a spot where investments likely will lead to increases in net positive wealth it is often industries that push that growth far beyond what government coffers could even attempt to pay for (assuming they find value in the investments).

Collaborated R&D and Shared Ideas/Development:

Old Infrastructure can Create New

I'm working a cluster theory that seeks to create an investment rich environment where industries can partner to create value in their particular supply lines far beyond what they could have done in developmental silos (See Delta County Venture Capitalism). As companies share information, people, and resources they will inevitably borrow from like minded industries their R&D returns grow substantially (See Transactional SubFactors).

Think of it like this....innovation rests on sharing ideas and creating new ways of doing things to solve problems. When companies place their R&D investments into certain aspects of the cluster they begin to develop off of each other in a way they couldn't before (See Economic Synergy, Clusters and Economic Value, Interaction Value.

For example, if I want to develop a new way of creating an advanced research tool to be used in the Great Lakes (or space industry) there will be interested parties that could benefit off of the research and development that goes into its development and design. Likely stakeholders might include Navy or Space (or other branches), research instrument suppliers, outdoor gear companies, engineers, metal experts, etc.... Collaboration on mutual shared goals expands the power of R&D money breadth and width. When we put R&D activities in the same place we can not only develop that tool but also other tools and marketable products for government and public use. See Delta County Multi Clusters and Delta County Start Ups.

Encouraging Companies to Invest in R&D:

We want companies to coordinate some of their R&D efforts in order to build into a cluster at the same time. See Pack Investing. The problem municipalities often face is they don't know how to attract R&D for maximizing these synergistic benefits. To answer question we would first need to know who will engages in R&D investment? According to a study in the Journal of Economics of Innovation and New Technology we find

1. Majority of R&D is conducted by export oriented large manufacturing firms

2. Some shifting to include small non-manufacturing firms (Foster, Grim & Zolas, 2020)

What this study helps us understand how larger manufacturing firms would be most likely interested in R&D investments and there is a growing trend of non-manufacturing firms that also have interest. See Pack Investing, Delta County Venture Capitalism and Rebuild Delta County Downtown. In my Delta County Cluster Model it would make sense to attract 1.) manufacturing R&D teams and 2.) non manufacturing engineering & design firms and pooled local small business R&D (Giving small business an opportunity to invest in cluster development and reap the rewards for their custom products. By the way, they are also receiving the benefit of the cluster environment and its infrastructure (See Delta County Export Shipping). There is a way to increase large and small business at the same time. See Attracting SME Delta County).


See other tax development theoretical framework at Lower HQ Tax Calibrated System Attracting HQ (DC Model) G7 Minimum Tax Floor

Lucia Foster, Cheryl Grim & Nikolas Zolas (2020) A portrait of U.S. firms that invest in R&D, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 29:1, 89-111, DOI: 10.1080/10438599.2019.1595366

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Bill Nelson NASA Administrator Discusses Habitable Planets and ET

 There has been an argument...that if space is infinite and the chance of Earth existing is 1 in $$gazillion then there would still be an infinite amount of earths out there (Kind of makes sense right?). We don't really know until will know! Chances the other earth's might come find us before we develop the solar and/or nuclear propulsion to get us out there (Makes you wonder if the UAP Intelligence Report indicates ET visitors or human rivals?). πŸ˜•πŸ‘½

This is also the reason why we need technology driven innovation clusters to ensure we are putting the right resources in the right areas in a way that leads to faster growth of the space industry and other related industries (i.e. car, solar, outdoor, etc...).

Its nice to see society (NASA being an institution in society) found use for very wealthy people beyond making us salivate with envy at high end purses/wallets, luxury cars, modest mansions, and exotic vacations!

July 1st Escanaba City Hall Meeting-Community Preservation Officer

Another exciting meeting discussing things that range from discouraging blight (Its actually a very clean town. A little older looking but all the neighborhoods are relatively safe. A couple blocks might need a little more code enforcement than others but all-in-all still ok. We might not yet have the interest to ask the bohemian artistic-creative types to come in and reinvent the area. In some cities they cleaned up neighborhoods and put a positive "vibe" in them.) all the way over to societal recognition. 

Meetings like this occur all across the U.S. but in Escanaba there is a special interest in keeping the community moving forward in a thoughtful way. You can tell the city council members take special interest in how their decisions impact the community (Its not agree or disagree on issues and/or choices but it is an observation based on the interaction, behaviors and decision making choices of the members.)

An approval on a moving a Community Preservation Officer from part-time to a full time position. What is a Community Preservation Officer? .....

It is someone who helps enforce codes (See couple of blocks above comment). Towns that keep their areas clean and up to date (i.e. maybe downtown) are more appealing than ones that do not follow certain standards. I found a description of what a community preservation officer is HERE

Cool PPT. Makes everything easier to understand (Especially if you can't hear it!) 

There is some updating of the treatment plant and fiber cable....more to come in our digital transformation. You can sort of see how data technology and a government infrastructure push make their way into towns (Side note. We need infrastructure that has multiple ways of functioning to make them resilient against anything that ranges from hacking to natural disasters.)

There were a couple of certificates of meritorious performance to Mr. Hunter and Mr. Moore. The purpose of awards in  society is to create not only recognition but also to increase employee motivation. While we might not think of it right away, of it there are also secondary benefits related to culture and prompting others on what behaviors are encouraged in society (Why rewards help define societal values.) See Reward, Recognition, and Job Satisfaction.

There was something about National Historic and grants. Totally didn't hear it! πŸ‘‚πŸŒ½ Sounded interesting. ....grants? 🀷 I can barely hear the audio (I'm wondering if I should call them and let them know....πŸ“±). 

The video starts around 22 minutes after the start. I've seen the White House videos do this as well. I think maybe its unedited "live" time. See Escanaba Agenda July 1st, 2021

Monday, July 5, 2021

Knowing How to Fix Your Car is Still a Beneficial Skill!

Most of us drive our cars and don't know what is under the hood. We have become complex and the simple cars of the past have given away to something a little different (Just wait for electric!). Knowing some mechanical skills can save you a ton of money!

A few months ago I paid $350 for new brake pads and a caliper for my Chevy Equinox. Worked great for a  month or so until I slammed on my brakes to avoid UP deer (Upper Peninsula of MI).  

According to an article on  MLive approximately 48% of car accidents in the U.P. involve deer. Dee UP Accident

You could see this deer bouncing out of the field and running up the embankment giving me just enough time to guess his jump. A narrow miss!  A day later the sticky caliper and a little crunchy odd sound while applying the brake. 

I took off the brakes (...by the way the wheel hub lock nut doesn't help up in the UP of Michigan. I'm more worried about not being able to change my tire on a lonely blizzard road than protecting my tires from theft.) and greased the caliper. 

What I did found was...

1. One shoe out of bracket (The bracket was put in wrong). 

2. A sticky caliper (Not enough grease and/or wrong grease on pins). 

3. A track groove in the rotor (Likely from slamming brakes). 

4. Dirty brake brackets that I cleaned and greased. 

5. The rotor placement nut stripped (likely why there was no recommendation to change the rotor. I drilled the center of it and pulled it out.)

The total cost me about $60. $50 of that cost was from having to remove the special lug nut (It was more expensive to buy the tool than to have someone take them off.)

The rest was for grease and a the right size socket. The rotor was $70 and it is maintenance to change them from time to time and this seemed like a great time to do it so I could eliminate possibilities. 

The biggest culprit was the brackets that weren't greased causing the pad to stick sometimes but not at other times leading to all types of cause confusion. It also may be part of the crunch noise when stopping and occasionally a small vibration when first releasing the caliper. 

Once they were greased it all went away! (The simplest and easiest step!)

Knowing how your car works can help you in all types of situations. I like the outdoors and will likely be doing lots of more outdoor stuff. Knowing your car and having some technical skill makes sense in emergencies. It can also save you money! Now I'm looking for a $1000 old pick up for horse and/or boat stuff. If I'm lucking it will come with working brakes.


President 2021 July 4th 2021

President Biden conducted his July 4th, 2021 speech discussing the history of American and our (potential) future as a nation. He talks about ensuring that race, religion, and other factors don't stop people's ability to get ahead. Lots of discussion on Covid Vaccine and our essential ideas that tie us as a people together.

As with any video and person there will be things I agree with and things I don't. The essential message was an important one. We can achieve if we work together and we will fail and fall further behind if we continue the path of division (...and allow others to exploit those differences). 

Our brightest days could be ahead of us if the economic winds blow in one direction and our metaphorical sails are already prepared to snag the momentum. We can feel this wind now but as with all bumpy platform changes there is likely to be much more wealth generated in the future (Why its important to provide business and other opportunities to the widest groups of people through education/skills and entrepreneurship).

That will require strengthening small business, improving universality of our systems, updating into the digital economy, calibrating our tax system to bring companies back, creating innovative/investment rich environments, mastering human capital development and coordinating with our international friends to build free markets and unmolested markets. 

Anyway.....Happy 4th!