Great Lakes Receives $1 Billion: Bi-Partisan Legislation Works in National Reemergence!

Manistique, MI.

The Great Lakes would be an important and vital part of a national reemergence strategy. According to the International Joint Commission the Great Lakes provides about $6 Trillion to the national economy and supplies drinking water to 40 million people in the U.S. and Canada (Livernois, 2021). Because of its large impact there is likely only a few revealing studies because they are often conducted by governments. 

"The science of ecosystem service valuation, which brings together ecologists and economists, is an attempt to understand and quantify, usually in monetary units, the extent to which ecosystem services contribute to the welfare of society." (IJC Great Lakes Science Priority Committee, 2021)

We must keep it clean and ensure that the waterways are working well and functioning at full capacity. It is possible to develop a sustainable system where ROI benefits also include the general cost of pollution and ensures the entire system functions to move products freely and easily (This is where new metrics in the Digital Era would make a difference. i.e. pollution and species sensors). 

Our nation can't have a full reemergence/renaissance without the Great Lakes. Manufacturing, shipping, fresh fish, tourism and lifestyle are part of that same overall process. As a person who lives on the Great Lakes and plays/works on water one can experience the secondary benefits of a healthier lifestyle. In addition, as a bi-partisan bill I support when our politicians work together to keep our nation strong (That doesn't mean working together on everything is necessary but when it comes to national development we all have to find solutions because we all will lose if we don't! Light-Right R)

This is good 
Bi-Partisan 
Policy with benefits for
Delta County :)

President Biden announced $1Billion on a bi-partisan Great Lakes restoration program. You can read more at ,'Remarks by President Biden on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Great Lakes Restoration'

The EPA also provides an announcement with lots of information of interest. You can read EPA $1 Billion Announcement. AOCs are listed for those who are interested in the areas where clean up is going to occur. It looks like you can also click on each area to gain more information. List of Great Lakes AOCs.

Specifically you can read about the Manistique River AOC which isn't too far from Escanaba. About an hour to the East.  A nice shipwreck near there (Still waiting on an marine archeologist to get back to me. Hmmmmm) 

There was also some discussion on a $20 billion investment in a semiconductor campus outside of Columbus, Ohio. I would like to know more about that because its a vital issue for the Digital Era. I think Michigan should get/start another semiconductor cluster in the state somewhere. President Biden is correct that we invented these conductors and then gave essential technologies to our competitors (I'm going to add that because we were sometimes shortsighted, being cheap, and using short-term stock logic versus long term value creation strategies.). Duh! 🙊

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EPA

 

Eberhart Capital Acquires M. J. Van Damme Trucking Inc. (Construction, Mining, and Farming)

This is a little old news but it is still important to understanding the conception of the local economy. M. J. Van Damme Trucking Inc was bought out by Eberhart Capital in 2020. You can read more about the deal on "Eberhart's page Eberhart Capital Acquires M. J. Van Damme Trucking Inc. in Strategic Deal" .M. J. Van Damme Inc. in Gwinn, Michigan in a $20-$50 million deal that is hoped to help diversify their portfolio to create higher levels of long-term growth. You may also want to review something about it in The Mining Journal 'Private equity firm buys Michigan construction company' 

Calumet Michigan
A major mining location in past before
economic collapse.

One green initiative the Van Damme company engages in is it diverts waste materials that would go into a landfill into reusable construction materials. This impacts the papermill waste and how they repurpose such waste within the area. Considering that we have a large papermill in Escanaba and mines within the area this could become increasingly important with other area investments. 

M.J. Van Damme Trucking also services Verso who is merging with the Swedish company BillerudKorsnas AB. There is a rumor that M.J. Van Damme was bought out by a Swedish company as well. I used to work in a job where I had the opportunity to investigate rumors. While they may sometimes be true its often mixed up with truth and falsehood. I would say that the person could be easily confusing a new purchase with the 2020 purchase. At present there is no public announcement so we can sort of just table the idea (Det skulle vara ett intressant koncept om det stämmer..). 

Iron Mountain Miners
Mining Artifacts

There is a push by government officials to maximize our development of materials, supply chains, and American industries. That can't happen unless there is solid trucking and transportation industry. You can read more about mining in 'Mining & metals 2022: ESG and energy transition – the sector's biggest opportunity' and how that specifically impacts' and 'Mining in Michigan:  A focus on nonferrous mineral extraction' and something about the Eagle Mines. The U.P. was once a big mining place until we starting over relying on foreign suppliers. That is probably going to change. (If you are interested in learning about some of the older mines and historical sites check out Trip Advisor. :)

You may want to read about private equity funds in the The 2022 Global Private Equity Outlook, an annual report co-published by Dechert LLP and Mergermarket as well as ESG in 2022: Insights forprivate companies for a broader knowledge of private equity markets. Its beneficial to keep up the the financial markets and how they function in terms of investment. As we draw interest in the area we will likely to do so off of connecting opportunities of investors to local resources, assets, and people. This is part of a work in process Transactional Cluster Theory I'm working on that helps to formalize interactive companies within a cluster. (The basics are there and I have been applying it to real life situations but need to edit the other chapters to ensure that they are connected well and make sense to an average reader. It brings together a lot of different theories and holds some promise as a method to push the U.S. into a higher innovative stance when used to quickly innovate certain industries we have neglected over the past 30 years. Maybe its useless or maybe it will have value but time will tell.👷🖋). 

Update on Hate (02-16-22): Believing in America and its Freedoms?

There are times when you scratch your head and think about the values of society. Where good moral conscious should be forthcoming it is often buried in the subjectivity of our laws. Because hate and targeting children is more than just bad behavior it should be treated with more seriousness. Free passes are not free passes as they are little chips from the bedrock of our institutions. The integrity of the system must be maintained at all times through thoughtfulness and wisdom. That requires a commitment to certain American principles and values. We have to step back and look at the bigger picture and make sure in the long run if our decisions and choices are making a stronger nation or are destroying our fundamental values that tie us all together (You can say that objectively with a straight face.)

The good news is that for the most part the community has rejected the false propaganda of hate group members and have shown a positive and welcoming attitude (except a few institutions whose decision makers have close contact with the original group. Time will tell the greater story.). However,  it would also seem that corruption and hate based behaviors may not have been held to full account so we might expect more of the same in the future (Maybe not with me but there may be a history of these behaviors and other victims. I am also not ignorant that I will likely be a targeted for a long time spanning years for standing up for some basic American values and trying to protect my community from what appears to be corruption known by others. I actually do believe in my community and want to ensure that "bad apples" are removed so they can do no more harm. Numerous community complaints of corrupt behavior have gone unheeded. There is so much potential here and I believe our future success is worth the challenge. That won't happen if the most backwards of us bully their community and the people within their social networks to silence dissention. When you can't make decisions for yourself for fear of backlash you are not truly a free person.)

In most societies children are sacred and our rights are sacrosanct and to be protected at all costs. That doesn't mean it happens in all cases and sometimes the measuring ruler is not calibrated correctly. I have asked for mandatory mental health, a review into the corrupt practices of this officer (and anyone who engaged in hate behaviors in an official position; not ones who made a mistake and corrected. It should be noted that most of the law enforcement officers acted with integrity but a few did not and engaged in stalking, threats, and intimidation tactics just because they are friends with the perpetrators. Some of the questionable behavior was just a few months ago so it continues on unheeded. I can only say questionable because I am not privy to its cause but I suspect it was about jumping to conclusions without facts again. We make these assumptions all the time. Black people with nice car, Arab person with long beard, Jewish person with money, Mexican person with heavy accent, etc...they are not accurate they are bigoted assumptions. Almost as though they have a stake in proving they did nothing wrong. However, you don't get to target someone just because you are subjectively involved in the outcome.), as well as a forensic review of embezzlement.  

Dangerous behaviors will continue to be dangerous without accountability (Think about it. Why would they change? Mistakes are one thing but criminality is another.).  I personally  believe that we are setting our selves up for failure if we sort of don't take highly sadistic and immoral behavior based in hate and greed seriously. Its a type of pass that encourages others to do the same (not saying that has happened here.). It should be within our minds that history sort of repeats itself and unless we change our values we are bound to find ourselves in a difficult future situation (While I'm not privy to everything that is going on and am open to multiple interpretations there is some indication that the initiators of the problem have been granted a type of immunity for their behavior. The inner group has shown no remorse for their conduct and it increases the likelihood that it will be repeated in the future.)

Certain behaviors are beyond the scope of national consciousness and without social recognition and condemnation we inadvertently teach others its ok through social learning. We can no longer afford to intentionally or unintentionally maintain a caste type social system with different rules for different people. We are failing in developing our human capital in part because we have devalued certain groups (As a nation we can no longer afford to not develop all of our talent. If we fail it is because we failed to rally around certain national principles.).  We all have inalienable rights under the law and when people violate those rights should be held to account. To use a baseball example, everyone should get a chance to swing at the ball.

Believing in America means believing in our freedoms as a people. I encourage those who have been wronged by bigots and hate groups to push for justice and accountability (They had no reason to get involved but felt they were "above the law". This is often called entitlement and a distorted belief that the law is created exclusively for them. Its easier to do this when you nestled yourself in with corrupt elements in law enforcement.).  That depends on your value system as a person and as an institution. I still believe in my country and its Constitution (many of these group members do not) and believe that the justice system can still provide justice (Its just a little spotty sometimes.). 

We have become a people that are pro-Constitution and some who are not pro-Constitution. If you are one side of the spectrum you get upset and roll your eyes when someone says "rights" and if you are on the other side you get upset when "rights" are thrown in the trash can. I'm sort of in the middle. I think the laws should be universally applied to all citizens and doing so release performance benefits we need to overcome our current and future challenges (Those who are against rights are doing so through a distorted lens that will limit our future options.). I'm not pro or anti minority but I believe that we all should be under the same system. Let people perform and succeed on their own merit. Hate is a disease that detracts from our national legacy and future performance options. Try convincing others of value of a moral code is like an uphill battle (Some have values and some won't ever have values.). The danger is that as long as we give a free pass to certain sadistic and racists/bigoted behaviors there are no incentives for people to stop and we all own the consequences for our failure to believe in something greater. 

What do you believe?

Horses in Delta County: Lots of Land and Lots of Horse Loving Opportunities

Mo

Horses are awesome! Ok...they are awesome if your a horse lover. Its hard to find places where land is cheap enough to buy acreage to develop a horse farm. For those who might be interested in moving into the area and have a bent toward owning horses Delta County Michigan is one of the best places to do this. While the horse community is relatively small it is growing. We even started to play polo in the area! 😮

Escanaba and Gladstone are small towns where within a few miles you could be out in the country surrounded by trees. Its not like large cities where you have to travel great lengths and distances. You can live just outside the city limits and have your horse (or horse farm) with the abundance of older farm properties in the area. 

The picture is of MO my horse. He is about 9 years old and well trained. Friendly and walks right up to you in exchange for treats. Mo doesn't get spooked easily and seems to be happiest when he is in ear shot of other horses. Super friendly! Room and Board is about $230 which is cheaper than you might find in other places. You can read a little something on  Training Methods and Horse Welfare

Who that farm dog in the window?

Waran, Natalie & McGreevy, Paul & Casey, Rachel. (2007). Training Methods and Horse Welfare. 10.1007/978-0-306-48215-1_7.

Pentagon Holds Russian Briefing: Opportunities to Focus on Solutions

Geopolitical issues impact lots of different things that range from the price of bread we pay at the store to our international influence. We are in a situation that smacks of a return to the Cold War Iron Curtain. The Russians may be engaged in a pressuring/testing tactic or they may be preparing to actually invade (You can only watch the movements and see where the focus is.). No one really knows for sure but I believe its possible Putin may (key word "may") have designs to bring back a Soviet style coalition. The next ten years is going to be crucial for the U.S. and our competitive position.  At present we have a little wiggle room to diversify our military suppliers, improve our data infrastructure and intelligence capabilities, encourage innovation and start-ups within our military supplier networks and integrate emerging technologies faster (We can do the same for the rest of the economy as well.). Having the most advanced military in the world supported by a strong network of creative companies/individuals and backed up by a strong advanced manufacturing society with wise political-international leadership is an unbeatable combination to create serious deterrents to emerging challenges (on multiple fronts and spectrums). 

Diplomacy backed by thoughtful strength is a powerful deterrent. There are lots of different angles on how to see this situation. One of the biggest things our politicians can do is drop all the useless rhetoric and focus on solutions.....assuming that their country is more important than their political careers. The loudest mouths in the room are not always the wisest (usually its the opposite.). Part of the reason why I support evidence based decision making and centralist views in our governance. (In case your wondering about my political leanings. I'm a light right Republican that supports diversity and good ideas from anyone within the country {including people in other parties or no party at all.}. We are all in this boat together and good ideas are good ideas. I think our country is more important than political encampment and win-lose arguments.)

IMF and the Economy January 2022 World Economic Report: Inflation, Supply Chains and Debt

Inflation impacts energy and fuel.
That is when you need a sail boat versus motor boat.

The January 2022 World Economic Report by the IMF was released recently. The World Economic Report provides an overview of the world economy and understanding the current global market conditions. The IMF includes 190 participating countries and launched after WWII to help improve global economic cooperation. It general, the IMF sets some basic policies as they pertain to global finance and trade that impacts perhaps billions of people. They provide useful reports and recommendations to nations and their leaders on setting their own monetary policies. 

 

One of the reasons why you may want to read these reports is because they offer key insights into things that are happing now and things that may happen in the near term. As you browse some of the highlights below you will also notice discussions on leading issues of the day and a few projections that business executives, leaders, and investors might want to explore. I read them to not only understand the world markets but also the larger system. (and of course myself...and I'm not very rich. I was working a long time on a different sort of thing so I'm kind of new to the game here. If you scratch beyond the surface of our assumptions there are whole worlds of different things to explore. Not specifically related but our brains are programed through culture to see only certain things and thus we miss out on lots of different perspectives outside our perceptional understanding. There is data we take from our senses and there is the understanding of that information based on cultural programming. Different cultures and peoples will see different things in the same phenomenon.)

In addition, to relevant policy setting discussions, the IMF also publishes root information based on seminal types of economic research. This means that other people read this and publish their own news articles and opinion pieces. The core information is in the data and within the narrative of the report. Sometimes you can look at the data and see a few things that they may not have mentioned or may have even missed (It should be stated that in science there are a few decision makers and lots of indoctrination on what types of problems to look at the the methods used to decode and organize data. To know that for sure someone would need to look at the backgrounds of key leaders, higher education institutions, professors and the major economic philosophies at the time of their attendance as obtained through syllabus, academic departments, etc.... Creative mindsets free flow connections beyond economic formulas and statistics. Some of this limiting scope is from the exact nature of economic calculations seeking to imperfectly explain the neuroeconomic choices of human behavior; even harder if we don't have strong virtual economic models in a world where increasingly more choices are made online without the same physical constraints.  This means that the highest positions in government decision making are regularly awarded to people who attended the best schools and in turn their indoctrination limits their ability to see "out of the box" phenomenon and/or solutions. Learning organizations should think about the different types of people, various backgrounds, that can see things in new ways but have enough industry knowledge to make recommendations useful. What I'm saying isn't specific to the IMF but to all agencies in the sense of key leadership teams and their educational backgrounds.. Diversity of thought is beneficial for strategic planning. Science Starts with Question)

A few key points from the report........

1. Supply disruptions, higher energy costs, and reduction of fiscal policy (we should expect this) have reduced downward the U.S. GDP 1.2 percentage-points.
2. Global Economy moves from 5.9 in 2021 to 4.4 percent in 2022 (Remember its a market projection)
3. Global growth is expected to be around 3.8 percent in 2023 (Remember its a market projection)

4.Inflation will decline when supply chains return back to normal (We adapt. If the U.S. starts drawing back investment, manufacturing and supply chains it can reduce long term inflation threats like this. Reduce but not eliminate is the key term. In the Digital Era we have better metrics and can see emerging economic threats happen.. We are also more connected to global economies but also have better tools and ability to navigate economic storms. For example, our government might find the right calibrated tax system, create sustainable development through a reinvestment rate, better calculate the long tail ROI of private-public investment, determine the contributing economic factors of some institutions, etc...)

5.Lockdowns of COVID-19 Variants.

6.High levels of debt (Something we should work on. Two philosophies...create a better economic mousetrap and the other is to cut our budgets as a way out of it. Similar in struggling businesses. To me we build a better economic system and then cut wasted fat out of programs through ethics, metrics, and performance. If something isn't working find new alternatives and adapt institutions to enhance the larger economic system. Such improvement concepts can apply to almost anything that ranges from medical care to farming. Its a process of continuous tweaking policies without all the ideological poo poo that doesn't allow for constructive change.)

7.Geopolitical issues (Russia-Ukraine, Hyper-Politics in the US, etc....These are risks our politicians should keep in mind.)

8.Natural Disasters (Floods, droughts, etc...)

9.Pricing revisions for technology sector (The volatility might be an indication of upcoming changes that lead into the Digital Era. It should be remember that it is a period of transition and not just a single transition point. We will debate privacy rights, new companies emerging on the market, old companies going bust, and the its part of the total process of transformational change through creative destruction. See Schumpeter.)

 

Reading reports like this to try and understand the global markets and how that impacts my country and the theory I'm working on.   

January 2022 IMF report 'Rising Caseloads, A Disrupted Recovery, and Higher Inflation'

Source IMF January 2022

Fitness for Busy Professionals: An Hour and Out!

For those who are busy and still want to stay in shape it take a little time management and diligence to achieve one's goals. That can be difficult for busy professionals that need to get to the gym, manage families and master the art of boardroom battles (Ok...most of the time its not a battle, but think of it as competition where you have to be your best.). Getting your workout in within an hour can be difficult but here is what I suggest. 

I've been in great shape and I have been in bad shape. It all depends on where I'm putting my effort. I do have a fitness trainers license and engaged in martial arts from time to time. Whether your trying to master the stomach bulge that keeps growing or just get into better health you may want to consider a couple of things. 

1.) Eating and Calorie Intake: What you eat will make a big different. Seek to maximize clean protein and lots of veggies (I haver some very serious fitness friends that do low low carbs and lots of fruit. I think everything should be in balance. Complex carbs, more veggies, and less sugary fruits.). Keep Track of Calories App.

2. Weights 30 Minutes: Weights are important to maintain your overall strength. If you are into self-defense and martial arts you will want to make sure that you are doing your weights to create a level of cross training and muscle speed (I would not recommend only doing weights like some sports trainers profess.) 

3. Cardio 30 Minutes: This is where you are going to get your heart in shape. There are benefits beyond calories alone. Matching positive eating habits mixed within vigorous cardio can make a big difference. 

None of this stops you from doing other stuff on top like hiking, biking, practice, yoga (highly recommended for athletes), and other stuff. We have an obesity problem in this country to its wise to teach people about fitness beyond highschool sports!

There is a pretty good study that discuss the necessity of calories and cardio for weight loss: You can read about that HERE. 

If you are new to the Escanaba/Gladstone area (maybe part of some of the local investments), a digital nomad or something else consider finding a gym that fits your needs. There is a good one in downtown that has all the basics you need for about $40 a month. 

Swift, D. L., Johannsen, N. M., Lavie, C. J., Earnest, C. P., & Church, T. S. (2014). The role of exercise and physical activity in weight loss and maintenance. Progress in cardiovascular diseases, 56(4), 441–447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2013.09.012