Putin and Xi Meet: Does it Having Meaning? Opportunities and Challenges for the U.S.?

It looks like the recent meeting Russia and China is an attempt by Putin to deal with the current loss in Ukraine (Be aware of the Ukraine-Russia conflict not being over yet as Putin seems to have a personality that doesn't just give up and walk away based on a single loss. Things will likely move more into the covert domain where he feels most comfortable and allows issues to be out of the eyes of the public. We may even see more military activities and/or new equipment coming into the conflict and boarder. Maybe or maybe not? Let us wait and see but always be prepared! 🤷). There are political reasons why he is engaging with China as to show he is trying to strengthen Russia by partnering with ideological allies in a way that helps internal dissenters feel as though he is effectively dealing with the situation (i.e. from a PR standpoint he is going to blame people under him for not providing good intel. That is only likely partially true but as a leader for his military he should have known one way or another. He didn't create an atmosphere where people feel free to communicate. That is the danger of overly top down management where power dynamics are at play.). 

Ukraine was strategic for its ports and maintaining what Russia viewed within its sphere of Soviet influence. Being beaten into a military route exposed the weakness of the Russian military and lack of sophisticated equipment to counter adversaries (Innovation historically flourished under capitalism. We think that is because of hard economic points but its actually based on human capital and motivation. This is also why in the U.S. we don't want to over concentrate wealth and opportunities into the "connected" upper crust. It should be a best and brightest issue where anyone who is willing to climb can achieve great things if they can use their unique skills and abilities effectively. Race and religion shouldn't factor into that and if it does we are still stuck in an older framework with the wrong subconscious symbols.). China is building sophisticated equipment, while slightly behind the U.S., it is important to consider the risks of that innovating in parallel to our own (Why we will be forced to change and that may come with some reorienting our politics to solving problems and not blind party loyalty that does little but create yes men/women. Not something we need in a learning nation that is built from open mindedness. I would like to hear people's unique ideas from both parties.) 

Based on ideological similarities there is likely going to be increased trade between the two nations to ensure communism oriented perspectives maintain their regional supremacy. This is where the U.S. will need to think about winning in Ukraine doesn't mean we can let up in our national development. If anything it should have done the opposite and taught us the necessity of advantages. We should strive to see over the horizon and create those advantages where we can.

We will need to overcome some human capital legacy issues that have been slowing our full development to match skill to innovation. That also means we should think of new models that can launch both our military/space and manufacturing industries forward so that it attracts further investment interest to create a sustainable economy. (I know! I know! I have a Muslim sounding name! I'm not expected to know much or achieve much. 💩 Maybe we should encourage our leadership to open their minds to the possibility that democracy is in a state of development and we must get it over the hill to unleash its awesome potential on a new platform. Or we can just argue endlessly as opportunities slip through our fingers.)

Putin concedes China has ‘questions and concerns’ over Russia’s faltering invasion of Ukraine

Brookings Institute: Opportunities to strengthen and expand supply chains in North America

I was looking for something else but came across this. The U.S. is at a unique point in their history, based on the push into the Digital Era catalyzed by Covid and world conflict, to return to the central stage of advanced manufacturing. There are opportunities for economic development and human capital development/enhancement. If you take a broad look at the environment (i.e. environmental scan and global mindset) the iron is starting to look fairly hot for striking. Being the center of the supply chain and one of the best places to invest through the advanced innovation (innovation clusters) can lead to long term national health. That is if we get our politicians to put down their petty grievances, sideline those that detract from our future, and work together to solve problems. Right now other issues seem to be of primary concern (Vervet Monkeys). We need the best and brightest to rise by opening the door to human capital development development as wide as possible. Just like we transitioned from nobility to the merchant class we are now moving from the "connected" to a more inclusive nation where actual skill is important (Not because everyone wants to but because we will have to run at our highest capabilities. It is in the best interest of everyone.) Wait a minute before you judge what I'm saying.

Freedom TO Hate but Not the Freedom FROM Hate

TO and FROM are different words and apply differently to hate. One is projected onto others and others is in defense of such projections. Freedom has becoming increasingly confused in our society where freedom to hate starts taking precedence over freedom from hate. Until we flip flop these concepts where one has more rights to protect themselves/others/family then those who engage in hate targeting we are eventually going to have a societal upheaval. 

While we might have opinions on people's races and religions we don't get to project those onto others. . Worse, we don't get to use our institutions as extensions of that hate simply because we are aligned to a certain group or clan. As frightening and backward as it sounds there are people still doing this! It comes down to essential root values that left unaddressed risk our democratic future (Why I advocate looking over the horizon and fixing problems before they become bigger problems.)

Before you get excited this isn't really just a minority issue anymore. We are a nation of minorities and the situation can apply to multiple different peoples with different backgrounds so it is something we must master. Most are stuck in their limited perspective through their own ethnocentric subjective reality (Not race or religion specific.) . As a diverse nation we must ensure that those who want to cause harm are not given preferential treatment over victims based on distorted symbolism and logic (Our symbolism is in transition and that is why there is some commotion and social upheaval. It takes time for new ideas to fully embed into our culture and collective conscious and make their way throughout our institutions. Republicans and Democrats will likely be on similar perspectives when it comes to human capital development.)

I have seen hate in action and the free pass given to those who felt they were immune from such behaviors (In many ways they were but not all the way. Lots of grey area.). It didn't make logical sense to me from an evidence based standpoint but I must admit there are many things in this world that make me scratch my head (The wonders of life and people.). What I can say is that while most people and places try to do the right thing there are those who do not. Some pervert and circumvent the law to maintain lower order values. 

To me and the situation I saw its not about "getting people in trouble". It is about creating an atmosphere of improvement 1.) helping those who have highly aggressive personality traits resolve those issues for the safety of others (help them and others); 2.), ensuring there are greater protections for targets when they draw red lines; 3.) proper barriers between friends, clans, groups and law enforcement (i.e. to ensure they are not able to skew the purpose of law enforcement or misuse authority to ensure that authority and its value are retained for protecting and serving the community); 4.) ensuring institutions don't circumvent their missions for bigotry or social gain (i.e. local college misusing tax payer dollars and violating Federal Law to support their ethnic/religious homogenous networks); 5.), making sure community complaints are investigated (To protect the public and maintain the purpose of law enforcement); and, 6. reviewing the incentives (including manipulation of the elderly for financial gain.).

When you and your family are the target and you request a protective boundary and people triple up in their aggression to violate that boundary there is a problem with that group. That becomes even more apparent when they cannot see perspectives outside that group. When local systems default in protection of their friends, clanmates, and ethnic group we have deeper issues at play (i.e. meaning it is a pattern that likely was used before.). 

This is where the legal system should consider the rights of Freedom TO Hate (No such thing) and Freedom FROM Hate (What our social contracts were designed to protect). It strikes at our nations beginning, purpose and future! I believe in learning from every situation. We must leave the door open for reconciliation and a better way forward but we can't sugar coat behaviors least they skew our development as a people. Its bigger than this situation but does give good insight as a model of what could happen under the wrong circumstances and lack of checks and balances. All good karma!🤓💓

J.P. Morgan Indicates Softer Inflation Landing: Recession, Investments, Infrastructure, and College Level Human Capital

Exciting times in the news as the world's economy adjusts and shifts to a post COVID world! It looks like some recession indicators offered by JPMorgan may not be as strong as expected. This is the soft landing many are hoping for as the Fed could have possibly acted in a way that cooled the flames just enough to let inflation simmer down without pushing the U.S. into a major recession. 

First, let us sort of discuss the landscape. Europe is expected to go through some type of low level recession but that remains to be seen. The U.S. I suspect will do better than many other nations (i.e. a good place to invest with a changing fundamental economic landscape.). It might be a good time for European leaders to start working more closely with the U.S. on shared economic goals. 

There is an interesting article Recession or resilience? Here’s how the U.S., Europe, and Asia stack up that discusses how the U.S. may be resilient during 2023 and China has some structural issues. What I'm concerned with is the 2023/24 interchange as strategies developed during COVID are fully implemented in the U.S. (i.e. digital economy in the U.S., infrastructure, CHIPS, etc.) and how structural limitations could hamper Chinese growth (i.e. not being being the only or best place to invest.)

Recession impacts everyone within an economy and few can escape all of its fallout. I suspect the richer you are the more shielding you have as you don't need to budget for things like groceries but you might need to budget your 3rd or 4th home. 🤷 

College students graduating during a recession get hit very hard. Recession Graduates: The Long-lasting Effects of an Unlucky Draw Helping college students get employed right away in meaningful jobs is helpful throughout their careers. Likewise, ensuring we are graduating college students with the right skills is helpful.  

As a side note:  The energy sector may have some good investments. Yippie! I keep my eye open for some investments. Not that I have a lot to invest but you know just a little cookie jar stuff. 

Global Economy May Avoid Recession as Inflation Risks Ease - J.P. Morgan

A Few Tips on Media Buying and Advertising Strategies

Companies need to make money and that comes from the development of strong marketing campaigns that convert people's peepers into paying customers. It takes significant foresight to know how to spend marketing resources in order to ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck. Without customers you pretty much have nothing; or just a concept. Media buying strategies, executive frameworks and marketing evaluation can help in the development of your business.  

Media Buying Strategies:

Your company can't be everything to everyone so you will have to decide who you will serve. That  means you will differentiate between what channels are going to provide a high ROI and which one's will waste your marketing budget. Defining your target marketing is going to make a big difference in helping you select the right channels based on the best way to reach your potential customers. You can read more about buying marketing strategies in How To Build an Effective Media Buying Strategy During a Crisis

Organizational and Executive Alignment:

To create effective marketing strategies it is important to ensure that each of the activities within the organization are designed around core initiatives and strategic objectives. The more in alignment the organizations activities and resource, the higher the chance for success. Executives are often the ones who launch such initiatives and they are should be able to develop their domains of influence around certain marketing and value objectives. Think of total alignment around shared perspectives, activities and outcomes. You can read more about the importance of alignment of activities in Executive Alignment a Behavioral Framework.

Evaluating Effective Marketing Strategies: 

Once a company as implemented a marketing strategy and then in turn lets its run its course for a while it will naturally want to find a way to improve on those strategies. That requires a level of feedback on effectiveness that often comes in the form of return on investments (ROI), sales numbers, customer reactions, comparison and many other aspects. Online companies often look at clicks and conversion rates while brick-and-mortar businesses might think along the lines of visitors and average amount spent. The type of metrics one uses are many. You can read 7 Ways to Evaluate Your Marketing Plan

Allies Want US Weapons: Opportunity to Innovate New Systems and Sustainable Systems

The U.S. has opportunities to innovate and sell off its older equipment as new technology becomes available for military enhancement and defense. Economic development and military development can work together through shared technology lines. The war in Ukraine has taught us that value of high technology and mobility on the ground and that requires equipment that is much more mobile and effective than our enemies. 

When such new equipment is matched with good old fashion small nation warfare the combination could be very effective as we have seen in Ukraine. There has been some strategic changes in the U.S. by focusing on developing troops to be more mobile with versatile systems that can form up anywhere they are needed quickly. That all comes from research, training and cutting edge equipment development.

This is what I suggest based on my understand. The U.S. develop defensive equipment for our troops and to sell/lease to other nations when needed/beneficial. That will develop a defensive industry and proceeds can be used in clusters to continue to develop our own offensive and defensive equipment. Defensive equipment is always in need and can be a deterrent for cross nation aggression.

To keep feeding industry innovation (i.e. outdoor equipment, new metals, space tech., wearable industrial tech, education, pooled research, etc.), military development (Great Lakes ships building, new weaponry, etc.) and infrastructure (ports, rails, semiconductors, etc. i.e. Delta County transactional cluster prototype model) we can spur butterfly innovations in industries through new developments/research that impacts other products (keeping our economy strong through non military products) as well as infrastructure (improving the underpinnings of the economy that reduce transaction costs.)

If manufacturing improvements and military development earn more revenue some of that money can go back and feed the cluster to spur new research and development. Excess revenue can be used for other budgeting purposes such as DOD, infrastructure, education, healthcare, or whatever. Maybe even a large investment fund like a national endowment could be considered for excess revenue earned from new products (military and non-military products/services). 

To me the latest and greatest should always be kept in house and proprietary to the U.S. until it no longer has major advantages. Defensive weapons can be more liberally sold because they have passive and peaceful purposes. 

These are just a couple of ideas that aren't completely thought out but I would think in terms of creating sustainable systems that grow and reduce our dependency on debt and taxes. 

Allies push for US weaponry after seeing impact in Ukraine

President Joe Biden marks 21st anniversary of 9/11 attacks

September 11th marked a shift in our thinking as we begin to realize the dangers of extremism. January 6th taught us that extremism can be right here at home. No matter one's religion, creed, country, or other "ism" there is no legitimate moral or religious code that allows innocent people to be intentionally put in harm's way.

The sanctity of innocent life is a universal moral code that transcends all religions.

We have overcome one challenge and will overcome the next. It takes diligence to our core American principles and our oaths to our nation. We have something we can teach the world about how freedom is a blessing for any people who want to worship, live, and prosper in their own way. 

We have work to do and need everyone rowing in the same direction. There are struggles we still face and when we work together as equals we can achieve almost anything. That applies here at home and globally.

 Remember the past and draw whatever strength you can from it as to the necessity of preserving democracy for the future. If we lead other nations will follow.