A new report indicates that microplastics are making it into wildlife and onto our plates. According to the study 90% of samples of water in the Great Lakes contain microplastics. That could be impacting our body and contributing to pollution and health concerns.
Someway or another we need to find a solution to the problem. Maybe newer and cleaner technology can help.
Researchers make disturbing discovery while analyzing samples taken from the Great Lakes: ‘We know we are being exposed’Imagine if you have seen and experienced corruption, have been targeted with threats of violence, your children were pulled over multiple times and the local courts seem to struggle with managing this misbehavior. Because corruption and extremism can be so deeply embedded it is hard to root out without diving deeper into the essential issues of the problem. Most of our officers do a great thing and help their communities. Sometimes we have rogue officers and that could present a long term problem if not addressed adequately. Lets explore some ways to understand these situations.
Unfortunately because we do not have strong laws against domestic extremism and struggle to see certain groups as a threat (until Capital Riots), the problem will likely continue into the future until our leadership cracks down on behaviors and puts in place proper checks and balances (Why there has been some criticism.). The victims are typically left holding the bag as there are few to no mechanism within the system to correct poor behaviors (i.e. retaliation for reporting.) Failure to succumb to threats and violence could lead one to have mark on them (i.e. I watched it once in a movie.)
*Let us first say this fictitious and should not be taken with any level of seriousness. Its just a story of exploring when extremism makes their way into institutions and there are few methods of holding to account perpetrators.
Let us continue on with our series of fictitious stories....
Black suburban drives up slowly on main street while the minority target/witness gets coffee. All windows tinted in a way that would have gotten them pulled over immediately in other places (i.e. more to story of possible corruption; but maybe not.). Two options one of which is official people working in an official capacity/unofficial capacity and unofficial people working in an unofficial/official capacity. Think through all the possibilities because there are a couple of them. Either way, the message would fairly clear if consistent and repeated over 5 years and intentionally included mixed race children while putting other children at risk..
(Because its just an example its not true. Also keep in mind there are many possible explanations of why this might occur and it could have nothing to do with targeting. You just never know so try not to jump to conclusions. Perhaps it was all meant for a positive purpose; the opposite perspective. Socrates teaches us to Question everything. )
No matter, when it comes to these issues, it is generally best to stick to the truth no matter if one looses or not thereby stripping the power of intimidation. (While it is a fictitious story we cannot expect victims/witnesses to not take risks challenging potentially violent extremism. Liberty is very important even with sacrifices. We must only stand with one voice against hate and corruption.). History has its own trajectory and truth, even if misunderstood at the time, is often validated at some other point.
Consider reading the United States Institute of Peace's publication Preventing Corruption and Violent Extremism. Carnegie Endowment also released 'Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States: What the Research Says'. We learn that there are elements in our society and in some of our institutions that are willing to drop their oaths and break the trust society placed in them.
With that being said, at what point (5 years in this example) does this reach a level of something insidious such as terrorism? Consider an article entitled, 'The Military, Police, and the Rise of Terrorism in the United States'. It indicates that terrorists "achieve political goals and create a broad psychological impact." Perhaps this could be extended to targeting and intimidation tactics that risk the safety and psychological security of the targets of any background (In this example they were targeting minorities for 5 years based on social connections and extreme bias within some units in local policing culture.)
What we find is that its not the role someone plays in life that indicates their loyalty to our principles but their deeper inner values (i.e. unhinged from race or religion. That is the thing extremists don't get. Its more important then them or the victims). For those of us who have suffered for our American values we have deeper sense of its importance for our nation and democracy for the world. We also understand generation values of upholding these laws even if we must sacrifice for them (It is the most honorable path to stand by your values when others might suffer if you don't.) Because it is unchecked it could continue to spread through group expectation and behaviors that create a risk for the community; minority and nonminority.
My advice to those in America targeted by extremist where there is what appears to be intentional lacking of appropriate checks and balances is to return hate with love 💕💓🤗. Like most of our religious philosophers have done prior. You can consider saying, "If what your doing is wrong (an assumption), I forgive you for your choices, however we have to correct this for everyone else and the risks your behavior creates. Not to mention that its highly illegal and breaks some of our most sacred shared oaths. So please come to the light of liberty. Its just over here, walk with me for a while....turn the page...." Consider Hate Motivation and Intervention.
From a philosophical question let us ponder for next time a few questions.
1. The Bar: What are the parameters of corruption versus official duty? When does something become illegal? Is the bar too high or too low?
2. The Constitution: At what point does the Constitution come into play and/or be enforced? Does it apply to some more then others based on those pre-existing bias?
3. The Role of Authority: Assuming its illegal to target what would be the role of the state in ensuring these behaviors do not continue? We have to make an assumption that they are illegal. Maybe they are very legal! If legal no worries you must address that through legislation. It still might be immoral. If they are illegal then it would be incumbent on the state to enforce the spirit and intent of the laws.
All important questions. The biggest one is are we a backsliding democracy or not? U.S. World Report Backsliding Democracy
If you are a victim of hate targeting consider the Hate Crimes Unit in Michigan and FBI Civil Rights Program (Interesting FBI Video), Department of Homeland Security Civil Rights, US DOJ, UN Human Rights Council.
*Please keep in mind it is fictitious. I couldn't emphasis this enough as its for learning purposes. We do have rising extremism and nearly no checks and balances nationally when squads go rogue against our fellow American citizens. My goal is to explore this to the very end conclusion. If society can learn from such thought experiments on hate (and by extension corruption) then it was worth the effort. Its a shared learning experience.
Assumptions can be a dangerous thing. We judge and we act without thinking about the bigger picture of our roles. Whether we are just people walking in the street or taking on an official role we judge each other and we act on those judgements. Our very nature is to judge each other. However, when that judgement is false based on pre-existing bias it can lead people down all types of illogical rabbit holes. The very first assumptions and symbolic anchoring were distorted/inaccurate Bias and Strategic Thinking
For example, a group of people begin to target and dehumanize a family in their community because of racial and/or religious considerations. It escalated to a point that it became unsafe for the family and their children. The hate narrative appeared to be launched not only to enrich the initiators through intimidation, threats of violence, and humiliation but also to remove people they felt shouldn't be allowed in their community. It didn't matter if their genetic footprint was preset in the area for generations. The narrative spread like wildfire among multiple networks attracting the interest of hate sympathizers. Hate Crimes and Supremacist Sympathies.
*Let us be very clear here. This is fictitious running story designed as a thought experiment only. It means that it is only for illustrative purposes on how we might understand extremism, Often these stories come to profound insight at their conclusion. Its a type of logical exploration of the dark side of human behavior and maybe a little insight into how to solve them.
A few possibilities to be broken down into categories of behaviors later.
The Background:
The background are those factors that might contribute to a wholesale justice system default. What we might find is that there were pre-existing factors that might be a stage for a catalyst of serious hate based behaviors.
-Existing bigotries within a group.
-History of spreading rumors to damage people (dehumanization).
-Close social group that relies on a few personalities for validation.
-Incentives for money by engaging in bad behavior.
-Close connection and employment.
-History of highly manipulative behaviors.
-Extreme need to be liked. Possible narcissism feeding
-Mental health issues.
-Available within networks of extremism leaning ideologies.
-Lack of objective investigations into wrong doing.
-Relative inexperience in the local justice system with corruption and minorities. i.e. the inability to understand bias or detect bad behaviors. No way to hold them to account without outside intervention.
-History of people retaliating. Possible illegal surveillance that would be illegal for these purposes.
-Social connections that cross different institutional boundaries.
-Possible weak internal controls. A need to reform the departments completely.
-Possible inexperience of department management. Too close association with some of these networks.
-Existing teams and/or close inner networks that work outside the law.
-Weak state and federal oversite of hate crimes and police targeting. Failure to uphold the national laws when it comes to police corruption.
-Lack of respect for the Constitution and Bill of Rights. A clearer sign of misalignment of behaviors and values.
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| Harvesters 1565 Pieter Brugel the Elder |
Deloitte's 2023 Human Capital Report has some interesting information. consider this quote below. Deloitte Human Capital Report 2023
Below is a video on income and comfortability. There is even a discussion on some of the strategies that people use to mitigate those costs. i.e. cheaper locations. What I find surprising is the very large number that people feel they need. Wages are not always rising as fast. To improve wages means we need to improve overall output in the U.S. as well as the value of the worker through education/training and technology.
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| Anzu Representing two awe inspiring animal spirits in one. Dems and Repubs. Rino-Dino perspective. Great Beasts of Legend |
Why? I have two quick to thought, not vetted, reasons why.....
1. Different types of conversations going on leading to different perceptions. Depending on the nature of politics some are going to feel bad or good depending on who is in charge and who is taking credit for the economy (When you really get down to it there are many factors of which each president contributes but doesn't own fully. However, some have had more influence then others depending on policy and its success in alignment of the economy to the market.).
2. Inflation is still high. Because inflation is high I'm sure lots of people are feeling the pinch. Money is money and lots of Americans are living from pay check to pay check with high debt. For those of us in that situation I bet there will be some gloom with higher costs. Increasing wages and better spending habits can change things.
Consider the first reasons of different types of conversations and how that leads to a type of political delusion for both parties. Same economy but two different perspectives. This is the danger of hyper politics. The environment might be the same but the discussion derails the thought processes in a way that leads to skewed perceptions of the economy. That impacts behaviors and that can be dangerous if left too divergent for two long (i.e. two societies of thought which struggle with understanding they have only part of the solution. They would be much better if they saw things closer to eye to eye.).
Democrats and Republicans do live in different worldsCome on peeps, we know better then this!
What's my opinion? A few options. 1. Economy continues to grow with digital, manufacturing and geopolitical issues, 2. Economy tanks because its running too high. 3. It finds a homeostasis and gets stable 4.) Nothing happens and its all pretty normal. In other words, my opinion is based on what the market data provides. Its mixed but I have hopes for the rest of the year. It is not defined by the voice of others who have not fully examined the market either. Let us wait and see what happens.....animal spirits at work.....
