Federal Reserve Holds Key Rate at 5%

The Federal Reserve decided to not raise interest rates and that is based in many ways on a mixed market. You can watch the whole video below. A couple of interesting articles. One is a news piece so you can see what is happening and the other an explanation of what the Federal Reserve does.

A solid explanation 'Federal Reserve holds key rate at 5% as it evaluates state of the economy following lower inflation reading' 

The monetary policy and credit is managed by the Federal Reserve. You can read about that in 'The Fed Explained: What the Central Bank Does'

How Challenging Can Improve Clan Based Justice Systems

 Protecting oneself is not going to be easy in places that embrace clan applied laws. Normally, you might have a few officers that may go rogue and when discovered they are held to account. In clan systems, the entire system focuses on helping their members even when major federal violations occur. Its one of those situations where the interconnected nature, dominated by a few influencers, suspicion of those who are different, leads to poor choices, decisions and in turn outcomes.

While I can't say every member of local law enforcement is this way, I believe you could probably ask any one of them if they are aware of some rumors related to ethnic cleansing of crazy Muslims out of their area and they would probably nod something affirmative (I'm a light right Republican but there appears to be an indication that far right extremists are influencing the local system in direct challenge to state, federal, and international law.)

When political, religious, ethnic, social and ultra-nationalist underpinnings influence decisions through the entire system all the way to the top of that system then we have bigger issues to contend with. Such clan based systems often rely on the same people within their vicinity/influence to investigate issues they were directly involved in and who are a central cause of the problem (i.e. vested interest and bias).

Two layers of leadership in one department and unfortunately another got snagged. More or less I believe the latter was unsure of how to handle these issues based on uniqueness and not maliciousness ( At least I don't see it that way yet. In this hypothetical and impossible situation, it would appear only one department didn't contribute a member to the cleansing cause. As we flip the pages of this obvious fantasy we may come to find out I may be wrong about that as well. By my nature, I give people the benefit of the doubt but only so long as I can reasonably believe an innocent/ignorant action occurred without intentional maliciousness.)

I'm for the most part a nobody, but when I see people given immunity for grotesque behaviors I become increasingly concerned these local systems can't hold "their own" to account and that puts everyone at risk. I grew up knowing if you want to do the right thing you will, if you want to accomplish something you will, if you see wrong doing and don't challenge it you are part of the problem. Well, we got a problem and I hope that this is a learning situation (These people are right they have taught me "lessons" and I would like to share what I learned with others. I mean at least until I get pulled over on a dark country road or someone else gets upset because someone tells them "no" and engages in a backroom conversation of how to teach more "lessons")

Default creates a major moral dilemma that can't be easily sidestepped or whisked away.  Targeting kids, spreading dangerous rumors, free passing hate, allowing financial crimes to occur, taking advantage of the sick, ignoring community complaints, and using local justice as a clan enforcement extremist leaning tool are wrong things on so many levels (Assuming in this situation all of that is true which we know could never, ever happen. Another hypothetical argument might be to give them wiggle room to deal with their issues with the full knowledge the hammer is coming. People wield this hammer all over the places in struggling democracies but it would be nice to have it hit the nail on the head every once in a while to remind people of their greater duties. It would be one way to encourage more motivation to have a 'moral conscious'. Just saying it might work. i.e. asking them to turn in corruption even though they have weak internal controls didn't seem to work. So in this accountability model one would have to then get increasingly more focused. Remember, corruption typically wins because they have used intimidation tactics and dishonesty to silence various concerns.). That is not how they see it of course. To them, I suspect they think me and people like me to be the problem. To me, when you misuse the law and mock our liberties because of racial, religious, and clan based affiliation I smack the liberty bell to warn others of local democracy struggling to maintain a healthy course.

If these officers ask why they are involved my answer is ,"You got yourself involved when you torched our Bill of Rights to help your friends". Other then those who are not part of this clan, I have the greatest respect for good cops and help them when I can and it seems prudent to do so (Remember that unless we have an alternative systems that functions policing is necessary and it is an honorable profession where we want young, bright, diverse, moral minds engaging in to help their people and their country. Good cops are welcome and bad cops must be muzzled.)  Right now, I'm helping those who went down a dark hole in a way it would be immoral for me not to challenge (I swore an oath to these things and I have sworn other oaths to the powers above. See I'm a conservative who believes in our country. My history also shows I'm a loyalist through thick and thin. That doesn't extend to being silent when we need correction.)

What is an American? They call me the bitch and yell that in front of my kids and then involved them in a harmful way. They say that when they misuse their friends in local law enforcement to engage in multi coordinated incidents over a 4 year period of time that would have cleansed anyone. Looks like they been doing this to people for sometime and they were good at it (Bravo you getting yourself busted!). 

I understand they were passing out immunities to their friends like candy. Justice shouldn't be a candy store for those obese on their own entitlement. Let us put some healthy fruit and vegetables into this one nugget diet that starves the greater body of nutritional need. Perhaps a little exercise would also help (Oh, I also have a fitness training license I would like to use more so if you need help please let me know. I like to run too something and not away from something if that helps put my fitness plan into perspective. 💁)

How does one protect themselves when clan based systems go crazy...."Do what is right! You don't need to be a perfect person to do that, you don't need a badge, you don't need to be an authority. You can make a dent in the darkness; whatever that darkness is. Just have good intention and do what is in the best interest of our society. Be positive, polite, say the truth and challenge shortsightedness and corruption for the benefit of everyone. Its difficult to put into a sound bite and sell politically but we can always hope more enlightened minds to come forward." (Kind of an interesting article on judges in society )

Do I expect to win or have essential and universal justice? I don't care if I do or I don't. What I care about is making sure it never happens again to anyone and the simple challenge alone makes the statement that our nation and its people will be free no matter how many capitols are sacked or how many local justice systems default. There will always be someone out there who will politely, positively, and with best interest of everyone in mind hold their stated boundaries no matter how many people line up to enforce their unwritten clan rules. Win or lose isn't really the ultimate outcome or factored much into the equation (Check your assumptions. Friends help you see what you can't see.). 

The Interesting Nature of Clan Based Toxic Dysfunction (The Know No Better Process)

 We are a social people and we develop and learn from each other. For the most part that is a good thing and that has led to the development of society. As the world develops and grows we no longer live within isolated communities and those communities that are isolated often start falling behind. With exposure comes new ideas, thoughts, people, and ways of looking at the world. Not everyone is going to agree with those environmental changes, not everyone is going to want to change, and when we mix that with bigotries and mental health we might find Clan Based Toxic Dysfunction rising (I'm going to use the acronym CBTD. CBTD looks official but its just letters because I don't want to write it out.)

CBTD is caused by lots of factors but from my experience it looks like it has a mixture of toxic personalities, bigotries, isolated homogenous groups, and poor values among some officials who view taxpayer positions as extension of these networks (Kind of a problem in this situation.). In other words, the flavor, nature, beliefs, cultural outlook, ethnicity/background, lifestyle, etc. become all encompassing to the point where there is a distortion of world perception and the value of others outside of the group (i.e. the "other" as developed through social anxiety of others).

Such groups seem to grow in environments where certain personalities dominate long socialized groups to poor behaviors and perceptions. Some of their behaviors are fear driven and its relatively easy for a toxic souls to rally them to some perceived social cause (It's funny because its a little like when a person has low self esteem and puts oneself above others even though they have little/no justification when you compare actual apples to apples. It looked likes this happened on a group level.)

It is that domination of others through manipulation that leads to all types of problems that are hard to manage when they morph (Something the initiators desired and they knew they were immune from it.). It appears the same distorted viewpoint of the world may have come from a line of thinking about themselves within their tight networks fostered since childhood (i.e. it could be any long socialized group. In this hypothetical case more or less related to sports playing) and in turn throwing in a dominant toxic personality, mental health, financial gain, and the right kind of target one begins to find the moral social order going out the window. 

This is where appropriate backstops come into play. If there are no backstops, it potentially leaves the victims/targets of CBTD isolated where they must fend for themselves (Why we have oaths to help keep officials on the right path.). Remember this backstop issue not only lacking but also moving down a dark path of clan support. Keep it in mind that as we learn from this situation we become more aware of how to avoid such group aggressions and inappropriate use of official positions to support those poor behaviors in the future. We can talk about that more later.

The last sort of two ideas I want to leave you with is the moral code that is supported for emulation when aggression and crimes are rewarded financially and socially. Likewise, one could think about the encouragement of future coordinated behaviors and how that stemmed from not addressing some of the mental health signs early of dark triad manipulative behaviors that became apparent in an environment where racial and religious anchored rumor spreading may have followed years of prior rumor spreading pathways (In other words, I think this group was very good at and accustomed to spreading dark rumors about others in the community to damage people. Some might even be unaware that some cultures believe that if you spread negative information knowing that it is unlikely to be true it is a type of defamation, moral crime, and shows the mindset of those who do it as simple.  Inner group surrounded by easily manipulated wider group. )

The whole this is a sad affair but it can't be left to its own devices because there was general failure across the board leading to a need of some level of addressing and oversite. 

Hate-Motivated Behavior: Impacts, Risk Factors, And Interventions

Fire and Ice Firefighter Tribute: Why they do it?

This is a great firefighting video that takes a very unique and historical approach that discusses why firefighters engage in the world around them and put themselves at risk. In our area we rely on the firefighters a lot. One department trains all the time, every week, and is attracting interest as a local model. This volunteer firefighting station is one of be best units in the area and everyone contributes. Men and women are both involved (In the old days, it was primarily a male occupation) 

If you feel like joining the cause, donating, or contributing in some way reach out to your local firefighting station. 

I encourage our young people to make their mark on this world. While volunteering as a community seems something that our grandparents did when communities had little resources, it is increasingly important today where resources are stretched. We have global warming, purpose dilution, and other issues that need new ideas and young physical abilities. We want the youth to get involved in the building of our nation and of our communities. 

We do that best when we are all focused on the same goal. 

Orcas Learning to Attack Boats

 If you spend some time on the water you will realize that there is a bigger system at play and that we are part of an eco system. The bio mass that is related to natural animals are declining and our footprint is often over compassing. There will be changes in nature as they learn to adapt through many encounters with humans and of course our equipment. 

What makes these orca to boat attacks interesting is they learned to take out the rudder and learned to stalk the boats off the water. If true, it would be a sign of coordinated territorial protect believed to be from a traumatized orca hit by a boat and caught in a fishing net. She remembers how dangerous we boats can be. Others are learning from her and at some point it appears to be a learned response. (That would be interesting if it was learned by different schools of fish but not necessarily a good thing.)

Lesson, keep your footprint small and be respectful of nature......we live in nature and while we think we are above it, I believe nature has its own intelligence to manage us if we get too environmentally destructive. We share this world, not the masters of it...as we are learning through pollution and other short sighted behaviors we have responsibilities we are not keeping up with.  

Unlike the collective power of nature, we are not the smartest things on the planet. 

Where Are We With Leadership Research? (Research Steps)

The team is working diligently on accomplishing their research goals. Recently, we applied to for a research grant and submitted the information within the prescribed deadlines. There are some other things we need to work on in terms of determining the method of randomization of participants, statistical software, hosting platforms and other such things we need in this type of research. 

Once we hear back with positive funding we will be on our way....

The goal is to learn about the inherent traits of leadership and how best to enhance that leadership within certain fields. If your interested in knowing more about research steps you can read the article provided by the Small Business Administration (I suggest you check out the databases on the bottom of the article. Radical! Everything from industry stats to income.)

Market research and competitive analysis

The discussion on Leadership Trait Theory is a good one because it relates in many ways to our current study. Ours is a little different in terms of competency which might be more along the lines of displayed skill and/or learnable skill that can be displayed.

Clusters in Mature Economies Might Be Able to Mimic Growth Rates of Developing Nations