Why Integrity and Learning in Justice is Important?

We often think that justice has something to do with getting people in trouble. It has more to do with keeping the system focused on what is in the best interest of our nation and communities. We must be a learning and adjusting nation/governance that seeks the highest states of democracy and human capital development.

A problem sometimes arises when we get confused about what justice means. I'm sure there is a lot of different perspectives on this but it is about appropriate weight based on the crimes committed. Each case is due to its merits.

For example, a hungry man who steals an apple is not on the same level as someone who defrauds millions (Which we are seeing more often). Punishing one due to poverty more than one with fancy attorneys is not justice. Its just power and limited budgets!

The same can be said for hometown hate. Free pass for self-enriching coordinated hate behaviors of a 100+ people (Most of these people are good but caught into a distorted sports network with little conception of the rest of the global world. Think of how in anthropological research aboriginals that might be isolated in the middle of the forest have their own way of looking at the world and are tightly bound so as to not be able to see values and beliefs outside their cultural knowledge and limited experiences. This group sees themselves primarily through the same social network they grew up with. That carries both good and bad characteristics.) with the blind support of at least one department (A few officials within that department. Not to take away from the many good officers) and perhaps a local judge (Either based in being misinformed or misaligned in values.) is not acceptable. Its just power!

It isn't always about getting people in trouble but it is about correcting the intentional wrong. The system should adapt, change, improve performance, and more focused on American principles. Something many of our national leaders have become confused as to their roles and reasons for being in office. It has little do do with catchy slogans and jingles.

As a nation we are in a state of transition and I believe the next generation will force us in say less than 10 years to face our demons (Maybe not). The young are diverse, increasingly global, and simply don't have the patience to placate poor values for the sake of a single group, clan, racial, religious, or political affiliation.

Even when making adjustments and changes are in the best interest of everyone, can be helpful to those that started the problem and improve local opportunities it is often swept aside in self interest. Some are not interest in win-win but perhaps instead of pleasing their homogeneous social networks. 

Its an opportunity I think to improve the entire local judicial system they shouldn't let slip through their fingers. It would be irresponsible. 

As always I encourage wiser and brighter minds to continuously adjust the system so that it functions at the highest possible state of development. If we want to be global leaders we have to think on a global level and that includes universalizing our systems to the needs of our society. It moves beyond essential American values and into the very root of values through shared/symbolic understands of moral conscious. 

Each person should ask if they will cling to the past or embrace the future? To me if it makes sense to adjust and improve a system then one should make practical adjustments if it is in line with a more global, interconnected, world where racial and religious differences are unlikely to be that important to the next generation. 

I'm not sure I know what the right answer is but I do believe a free pass is highly unfair and not justified based on what I have seen. We can't be a society of anything goes as long as its against certain people. It just seems so defunct. I believe change is needed to ensure these things never happen again. 

The only power we have is to teach the next generation a higher set of values and the need to maintain loyalties to our essential American principles. Our democracy is important and basic civil respect and civil rights are what will help us get there. These people were all about tearing things down and building boundaries and boarders between people in a way that benefited them. Hate is so powerful it can default entire systems. Its a shame!

President Joe Biden speaks at the National Education Association

Biden provides speech at National Educational Association. The audio on this channel sort of stinks but I couldn't find a better one. I do agree with one thing, work provides a level of pride for people, and having jobs helps. There is also a internal conflict between MAGA and Old Guard Republicans. I think that is start to switch back to the central stance as legal issues ramp up. 

As with all speeches there are things I agree with and things I disagree with. Very wealthy people don't count their pay checks in the same way as poor people. So help on one level could be valid and beyond that we need to fix the system in general. That would include increased opportunity for people and ensure that health insurance functions well is another. 

The devil is always in the details and it if was easy to solve it would have been solved a long time ago. Market forces should determine the price of drugs but at the same time an argument can be made that the pharmaceutical industry has responsibility to society and the community. 

Money and profits go far but community and resources goes much further. Invest in the American people through reduced cost on important drugs. The question is do you reduce drugs through competition in an imperfect market or do you simply say the retail price for these drugs should be lowered outside of market forces? 

Anyway....watch for yourself.

GOP Rolls Out Commitment to America: A Few Thoughts

There are some good ideas and comments in the GOP's Commitment to America. I have listened to President Biden's speech and have seen some of the recent changes in the GOP and let me say that they are more similar than both sides pretend to be (At least at their root.). At the end of the day they both want American to be strong and share some similarities in interest. I put my comments in in brackets below. Just in case you want to know I'm a light R and have no problem looking at things from different perspectives and angles. No one has to listen to me, or necessarily should, but certainly you should make up your own opinion regardless of what party you belong. Our nation is that important! I'm writing to understand myself. 

As an observation what I would say there isn't yet a lot of information in there so I would suspect its a developing agenda.

Taken GOP leaders roll out ‘Commitment to America 

-We will not allow it. The Commitment to America represents a new direction and better approach that will get our nation back on track. (New approaches are always welcome if they are thought out, supported, and have a high chance to succeed. Sometimes you just have to jump in both feet forward when there are lots of unknowns and no research to guide you. We are sort of half half with that now.)

-Because Americans are workers and builders, we commit to remove government-imposed obstacles to their success. Hardworking taxpayers should be valued, not punished. (In general, I agree that the more we remove road blocks, remove red tape to development, encourage investment and promote small business as an avenue of growth we are doing well. That being said there is room for some restrictions and rules when it comes to shared needs such as pollution and infrastructure.)

-Because no American should live in fear, we commit to reverse soft-on-crime policies that have caused violence in our communities. Public safety is a necessity, not a privilege. (People who commit serious crimes should be held to account. There are times where souls can be redeemed and we should always keep that in mind. Without an avenue of reform we don't really have a justice system or a reform system. We just have holding cells. It can be hard to find a balance. We should always seek to understand and use the right tools for people as individuals. Hard when hard is needed and soft when soft is wise. Its not always easy to judge a man's soul and we should always seek to enhance. Let us just make sure its fair and not giving some free passes and others not. Each on its own merit. It must be universalized.)

-Because Americans are learners and dreamers, we commit to advance excellence in education and respect for dedicated parents and teachers. Our future depends on it. (I agree. We need a robust education system all around. Without strong education and skilled trades we can't develop the human capital needed to truly build a modern innovative nation that others want to invest in. We need such skills to maintain growth and maintain strength.)

-And because Americans deserve fairness and real accountability, we commit to make Washington finally serve the needs of the people. We can no longer afford business as usual. We will work with anyone who shares these goals—as long as they put people before politics. (All of our politicians need to be more focused on the needs of the country versus themselves, their egos, their parties, and their pocketbooks. We need new blood so let us find the healthy balance between the stability of the "connected" and opening up the nation to the best and brightest. That allows for adaptability. Right now we have some stagnation in thought and ideas.).

(I struck through the part below because I like solutions more than rhetoric. I just sort of ignore these comments by both sides because they are not helpful. Extremism whether R or L is just destructive all the way around and creates group think. )

But the extreme ideology of this Democrat majority blinds them to the challenges of everyday Americans. They are simply too partisan and out-of-touch to correct course now. So be it. 

The National Importance of Local Judicial Integrity

The rule of law is important for order within society and its important for the development of our most important asset "The people". Sometimes law is misapplied in an avenue to protect certain races, religions, ethnic or social groups. When this occurs it needs to be corrected in order to maintain the integrity of the entire system as well as ensure such institutions stay in alignment with national values. 

What happens when institutions move outside of alignment with national values and/or engaged in corrupted behaviors?

If these behaviors are apparent then it might fall under the purview of US Public Corruption and Civil Rights Division. Such a division looks at cases where coordinated police, judicial, or and/or clan aggression appears to be in violation of some of our nation's most important/cherished values.

We are a nation in transition and there are still places that feel that their clan is more important than the national laws and that is why Federalism exists to ensure that people are treated fairly so as to maintain the internal stability of our democracy around shared principles (Try and sell that one to some of our politicians and you will find many confused as to what their actual roll is. Let me tell you it has nothing to do with helping themselves...they call it public service for a reason. Otherwise we would call it self service. 🤷)

Without that fairness we do run risks as certain groups and people have seen and come to accept the "normalization" of horrendous displays of bigotry and hate. For example, the group that started coordinated aggression did so based on their perceived power of 100+ blind supporters, coaching/connection/support of a few local officers (looks like up to 5 involved in other poor behaviors), and likely historical rulings of a pro-clan/"local" judge. 

All that power against a guy protecting his kids (and self) from manipulation, hate, pulling over, etc... Such weak groups only do so when they were given immunity before starting and have overwhelming power against individuals (i.e. smirky attitude with local police support by some officers) and when they do not expect to be held to account. Sounds like a well worn path for some of the members. 

To me it is more important to challenge these behaviors than to trash the Constitution that protects freedom of religion and freedom of speech. As a nation will we will have pressures to push our development into an enlightened society that moves into a universal democracy (that will likely gain support by many nations) and digital era where human capital is maximized. 

We also face risks we won't adapt and fall back into darker times where race, religion and Good Old Boy networks destroy our performance and options. Those that are engaged in minority targeting behaviors have become a risk to the rest of us and take on roles related to domestic extremism when opinion (especially intentionally manipulated opinion) is acted upon. 

Its a choice and its not my choice. The only thing I can choose is what I will do (They picked fights, intentionally insulted, yelled out to my kids "your father is a bitch", and told me why they were doing this because we were Muslim.). Protect my family, encourage integrity, be polite but not passive, encourage a system that corrects its behavior for the protection of the community and live by what I believe are my American/"American" values.

 Others will choose what they believe the values they hold in their hearts.  I use positive peaceful pressure to turn this into a learning situation because I now wholeheartedly believe it is possible its happening all across the nation as some groups feel frightened and threatened by a changing world and changing national demographic (I don't feel challenged. No matter anyone's race and religion we are all equals and our institutions should encourage that. We have positive things to teach this world.)

I know! I know! As someone with a Muslim sounding name and what these people call "Nigga Baby" kids we are the first to get targeted, the first to lose our rights, and the first to be retaliated against (At least on a local level). We are not seen by some as being full blooded and valuable Americans. Its a fundamental value system. I don't know what the right answer is but it seems like there is no remorse or accountability and that creates a pretty big problem for me, and people like me. 

To forgive is one thing but to forget when those risks are still present is another. It would be irresponsible of me. It wouldn't be fair to any past or future victims.  

Some doors open and some close, let us see what happens.....

Pictures of Casco Viejo, Panama

 A few pictures you might enjoy. 

Palace Views Casco Viejo, Panama 

Some of the revenue goes to fund charities such as orphans.

Spanish Street Models Casco Viejo, Panama. 

Some of the revenue goes to fund charities such as orphans.

Courtyard in Casco Viejo, Panama.

Some of the revenue goes to fund charities such as orphans.

College Readiness and Corporate Recruiting Practices Influences Human Capital Development

Human capital development is related to development of one's labor force and the capacity of people to move upwards and receive the rewards for their efforts. This is why I usually advocate for the benefits of training and development but also for the universalization of our institutions and opportunities. According to a publication the Brookings Institute entitled The contribution of human capital to economic growth employers should be hiring graduates based on their performance within universities, ability to conceptualize issues/problems, think clearly and originally on issues. 

College Preparedness and Company Hiring Practices

Ensuring graduates have the right skills is one things but the employers ability and willingness to hire and groom exceptional talent is another. My experience in the past indicates that most positions 70% are hired by people who know each other and that isn't always based on people's skills (I did a quick search to see if that was in the ball park Network Statistics 2022). That would create a problem for high performing students that aren't given a chance to succeed and must struggle to fully maximize their exceptional talent. 

Thus colleges can encourage these behaviors but employers but be willing to move outside of their social networks to recruit higher quality candidates. That is unlikely to happen unless we are forced through challenge to change existing patterns to find and promote the best, brightest, and most qualified. (I once created a variable course tract sequencing system that allows students to move through different courses based on their learning and interests in a way that tests and reinforces their knowledge through individualize competency development based on their natural abilities and interests. It was kind of a next stage on competency implementation.)

That leads us to 1.) Company hiring practices and 2.) College preparedness.

Its important to change how companies hire and how colleges prepare students because according to that publication the average contribution of labor productivity growth has been minimal for the U.S. at a stagnant .2% (Baily, Bosworth & Kennedy, 2020). Its an indication that we are not maximizing our national resources well and social nepotism is holding us back. (An argument for knowing someone's abilities through experience is one thing but not looking at qualified candidates because they are not within one's social circle is another thing. One must always be open to more qualified people from other networks and places to take a chance on the highest corporate/national performance.)

We learn that 3.) Social networking and nepotism could have a negative impact on human capital growth if exclusive.

Human Capital Calculations

Reading through the paper I also found an interesting human capital calculation that may be of benefit to someone who is concerned with how education and personal development are calculated. Remember that these are formulas and could easily be developed with different variations. They are not facts but just ways of understanding the components that allow for quantitative analysis. 

Mincer (1974) developed the Mincerian function ln Y= α +β‧S + g(A)

(Y is a measure of labor earnings, S is years of schooling, A is age or preferably years of work experience, and g is a higher order polynomial that reflects the concaveness of the age earnings) function.)

What we find is that education (I would include many forms of higher skilled trades) impact human capital development over a persons life in a way that improves the resources available to a country. Thus, education is so important for development that with the right infrastructure and investment environment could determine the economic path and resilience of an entire nation over time. 

It also brings up another important concept for countries that are aging in what we often see in developed nations. Education mixed with other forms of productivity enhancements (i.e. wearable tech, innovative clusters, etc.) could be a net positive when that education mixes with knowledge, experience, and pro growth policies to create real value and development opportunities. 

The work further discusses inventors, entrepreneurs and industrial research laboratories for maximization of benefits. 200 innovation. 4, 2010). I have advocated for economic clusters (i.e. Delta County Model) as places to improve upon human capital development because it puts the right inventors, investors, and entrepreneurs in the same location to enhance each other. It also allows for the creation of pools of cluster research that improves multiple industries at the same time (i.e. military, outdoor equipment, metals, auto-space, etc.). 

Suggestions and Recommendations

Based on the paper and my own research I would consider the need to ensure our schools are truly functioning at their best to improve on slow growth in human capital development. Likewise, education (and skilled trades) have become part of a life long learning opportunities that pays dividends for a nation and for the people who engage in them. That requires a level of easy access and mobility of education as seen in some of our transition to online schools and more inclusive educational frameworks.

Business and industry should always consider that they do not currently associate with the best candidates and are neglecting a huge untapped resource because they don't want to step out of their comfort zones. They should consider working with universities to design curriculum that enhances needed skills (i.e. competency model) and allow promising individuals (based on skill and not race, religion, or social network) to be selected for corporate grooming (mentoring would likely be helpful here). 

While hiring people we know may feel safe it also carries a long term risk for the highest performance levels needed in a global society because people with the highest skills (i.e. best and brightest) are not always considered. Often they are not part of those "connected" groups. To find such unexplored gems one must be willing to look at other markers and tools that lead to discovery, recruitment and enhancement.

Mixed with the right pro investment policies, clusters, and universalized institutions we can unlock our diverse human capital that is unique to the U.S. (each country will have their own mix) that will determine what skills and resources are available for their own industry development. I advocate for the U.S. to use its diverse background and abundant financial, natural, and political capital to place itself at the highest/valuable within the supply chain in a way that leads to maximizing of value for ourselves and our allies. 

Investments and maximization of returns is important for growth. Top down policies don't work unless they spark wider growth and greater return. Our economic system should consider methods of creating rapid innovation and investment value to help our nation push its development upwards into the Digital Era where maximum economic and social performance is possible in a way that sustains future capital.  See Foster New Discoveries, University-Industry Research, Delta County Invest. 

Baily, M., Bosworth, B & Kennedy, K. (September 2020)The contribution of human capital to economic growth: A cross-country comparison of Germany, Japan, and the United States. Brookings Institute. Retrieved September 19, 2022 from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/20210928_BailyBosworthKennedy_Returns_to_education_final.pdf

Mincer, Jacob (1974). Schooling, Experience and Earnings. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Thomas Barrack Charged with Acting as a Foreign Agent. What is going on? More Loyalty to American Principles Needed

I'm saddened by what has been going on in my country. We are a great nation and unfortunately we have been going through some tough times in terms of the quality of our leadership. It is alleged Thomas Barrack a billionaire investment fund manager/owner was acting as an agent of UAE. That would be of concern considering we have multiple different entities potentially influencing our politics. 

What I can say is that loyalty to one's nation is needed by our leaders and independent of one's political leanings. There are great people who never get a chance to make billions, influence their government, or do good for their people. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty but its pretty smoky in this room.

Whether innocent or guilty what we can say we should not be in this place and this is a key point in the need for new people within our government to ensure that the flow of new ideas, thoughts, and concepts are pushing adaptability in a way that maintains focus on the development of our nation without alternative interest for foreign governments. 

Listening to our world stakeholders is very different then working for them. In an imaginary world if I was an imperfect leader of a large nation I would always be able to listen to the world's leaders but must make decisions in the best interest of my nation and for the world in general based on certain principles, oaths, and values. 

I have seen us water down our values and throw our principles in the trash when its convenient or helps our group. Someday we are going to have to commit ourselves to the higher principles of our nation as a the world's leading democracy. Its a sacred right and its a responsibility for our leaders. If they can't do it then let us consider voting in some new people. 

Lets politely ask our leaders (those that are selling out their national principles) that if they aren't going to take their oaths seriously if they would be willing to step down and let the next generation get a swing at the ball. Just saying. 

Now...let us vote for the first person who gives us a catchy jingle to remember such as, "The other party blah, blah, blah" without actually bringing forward workable solutions. I'm a Republican (Even if some see me as a Rino-Dino) that believes that loyalty to one's nation is important and the need to protect our Constitution such as 1. Freedom of Religion (All positive religions) and 2.) Freedom of Speech is important. 

Jury hears opening statements at NYC trial of Trump ally