When Muslims Become Targeted: The Need for a Complete Justice Overhaul

The Statue of Liberty Illuminating the World

1875

Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi

As a representation of upholding

our most cherished laws 

not only for our democracy but also

to support freedom 

in other democracies.

Imagine for a moment there is a general disregard for minorities not only within local police departments but perhaps even within the state police. While things like targeting, put kids in harm's way, defamation of character, enriching friends through false witness so and so forth would be illegal we sometimes find that we have a long way to go to enforce our laws fairly and adequately. 

*Remember this is just story for teaching purposes only. Integrity in all systems is important. That can be at time a huge struggle depending on politics and general integrity of some leadership.

It puts minorities in a tough spot because reports do not seem to make much of an impact (unless its evidence collection stage.). The multi-department targeting hasn't ended no matter who is aware or whether complaints were filed. No matter what, if they are wrong about their assumptions this would be serious Constitutional and Civil Rights violations that should make any government or court system cringe.

 (Thats assuming we view minorities as having rights. Also assuming they have faith in our American principles. In this case it does seem that race and religion are part of the decision making factors even though these officers are not aware of the religious principles of the targets. i.e. attempted arrest on Good Friday as a sign of religious based extremism and intent of some of these local government officials to circumvent the purpose of these laws.). 

Yet we often find that this doesn't happen and crimes against this family are not enforced locally no matter if they, or the people around them, are put at put at serious risk of harm (The father was volunteering and these officers may have been stalking in places they cannot be trusted to be in with extremist leaning beliefs. i.e. poor decision making and a lack of respect for minorities or rights. There were mixed race kids there that, depending on how deeply embedded the extremism, could have put them at serious risk. There has been a history of targeting the family's kids so I suspect they wouldn't respect these kids or their rights either.). On a realized level minorities are not always respected by some and hyper politics creates a situations where misapplication of laws create difficulties in protecting targets of hate; children included. It makes no difference whether they are vets, first responders, etc.  When hate takes over there are no backstops and systems seems to quickly default with no apparent avenue of correction.

(Keep in mind that serious threats and violence has been pushed on the target(s) at multiple times and places. There were witnesses and its well known there is direct targeting going on from officers in these agencies. Also some of their associates had picked fights in public places, stared kids down in parking lots, pulled over children multiple times, spread rumors, targeted other Muslims in the area, possibly other minorities like Native Americans, so and so forth. None of that seems to matter in the context of the situation. I encourage officers that are aware and faithful to their positions, to report suspicious behaviors to Federal agencies. Should make no difference if they are officers or not. Actually, it is more important if they are officers. The local agencies seem to struggle with hate crimes or managing their own rogue elements. One might need to step out of the local system.) 

This why I believe in complete justice reform. When you target and create dangerous cleansing situations for your fellow Americans you are doing wrong. Makes no difference their assumptions. This is why people are protesting on the street (I support peaceful protests and non-protest feedback loops like this designed to improve the functioning of the whole. That does not mean I don't support police. I'm more rational then most of these officers or even perhaps some of the local courts that may have free passed these behaviors.). This is also why this issue is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon without a sense of reaching hand in hand to uplift the torch of liberty to its highest universal point. Extremists know how to manipulate our laws and sometimes there is a very slow response to require compliance with the greater intent (i.e. its universal application.).

Complacency among some in leadership position seems all too common. If they are also aware that this is occurring and there is a general inability to either pass new laws or enforce existing laws then we have in some ways given up fundamental beliefs that have been shared from generation to generation. Somehow, the sacking of the capital temporarily ended but the sacking of our communities continues forth. Politics gives cover for hate and that risks snuffing out liberty if the line of complacency continues for too long and too many years. We are a free people and we have collective interest in maintaining the highest path of development.

Now, what makes this more interesting is that the person they are targeting has not only had a history of helping police but also turning in crimes. Turning in crimes at other times and places doesn't seem to factor into somes decision making. Not just against potential corruption like this, but also against other crimes unrelated (A long history of standing against crime and potential crime.). Even this situation is unlikely to change that perception as hate has come to warp critical thinking and the very foundations of why taxpayers support law enforcement (In other words they work for the taxpayers and community above themselves, corruption or extremist leaning embedded networks.)

Support police 100% and Civil Rights 110% (Civil Rights a dirty word in some areas.)

What is the solution? It certainly isn't to support what normally would be considered criminal activity that could move beyond extremism and reach the bar for terrorism if left too long unchecked (If you had switched up the roles and religions of the players you would have likely met that bar more quickly. I'm not the expert. Yet I would suspect intentional removing of civil right protections, incidents of direct and applied violence, and repeated behaviors over 5 years would have made such a diagnosis possible depending on the lens used to see it. However, if the anchor of the decision makers is that all Muslims are evil and all non-Muslims are not then we can't fix that at our current place in history until there is greater commitment to a universal application of laws intent. Be patient, we are just about there.). So with patience and peacefulness we should as a people be persistent in government integrity. Its important for all governments to think of the bigger picture of the laws and the future direction of a nation (all democratically free nations).

That becomes even more important if it is well known that violence, threats, removal of safety, defamation of character are well known among the community and local government officials alike. America and our values are more important than what these officers and what their supporters are doing. For the first time in my life, I wonder....what makes the difference between those who believe in their oaths and those who have sold them out (You should sit down during the Pledge of Allegiance Syndrome if you can't stand for them in word and deed.). We are in precarious times in this country and I think its going to get better as soon as we get through the worst.

Freedom of Speech or Religion do not seem to function well where corruption has strangled good foresight nor does there appear to be any attempt to uphold them as sacrosanct. How quickly some sell out if supported within their social networks. We made oaths to our nation and its Constitution (including other social contracts). There are those actively working on undermining those essential American principles and given the immunity to continue forth in those behaviors.

Question: Which laws and values do you think will ultimately prevail? How might either choice be a foreshadowing of the risks or strengths of a nation? I know what I believe America should look like and what place we need to be to not only enforce our laws fairly but also unleash human capital to encourage future generations to continue to build something the world desperately needs. These officers and those who allow such behaviors, don't seem to have to have that same understanding of our place in history. My faith in our ability to learn and overcome is high because this is who we are at our core (We are bouncing off the bottom in full trajectory upward faster then I can recall. Lots of people pushing upwards).

*Fictitious story to highlight how positive and persistence engagement will encourage higher standards of performance. January 6th was an attempt to overthrow peaceful transfer of power and perhaps our nation but these hate based behaviors continue in our communities and among some of our officials. To me, it is more important to be right standing for something greater and in the long term benefit of our communities then to succumb to threats of violence and corruption. No matter what. There are some in positions of authority that have different ideas I suppose. 🤷

For now just recognize the potential circumvention of State/Federal/International Laws, difficulty in detecting or holding to account extremism within local policing/officials, and the general difficulty in management these domestic extremism issues adequately leading to a dangerous environment for some of our fellow Americans. As a nation we are adapting as a learning organization. Feedback loops are being built. We must stand united as a single people. Good people will strive toward the horizon.  Reform is coming because it is the most logical end in the best interest of everyone. Turn the page....

Yellen Doesn't See Signs of a Recession

Escanaba City Council Meeting (September 7th, 2023). Updating Electric

Interesting meeting. Keeping updated on local development. Electric grid is getting updated and that is important. I wonder at some point if an update would help with local businesses that need this infrastructure update. Also, a lot of places have issues with electricity so I think its important to stay up to date as much as possible. Nice presentation. 

Decoding the cost dilemma: How can electric companies navigate a shifting landscape?

A New Study Indicates 90% of Samples in the Great Lakes Contain Microplastics. Yikes!

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’

Where to Report Hate Crimes? State, Federal, National, International (The Suburban-Updated on Hate Narrative Story 09/18/2023)

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. 

Update on Hate (09/17/2023): The Struggle for Justice Continues-Challenging the Assumptions of Hate (Background Section)

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.

Human Capital For Organizational and National Development

Harvesters 
1565
Pieter Brugel the Elder

Human capital is the power in each of us to accomplish great things. Everyone is endowed with something special they can do and enhancing human capital means finding those higher performance levels. Our environments often limit our ability to excel. When this is occurring throughout an organization or even throughout a nation it is time to rethink how we are doing things. Sometimes making tweaks and adjustments to the environment can create broad based development that sparks further development in other economic sectors (Human capital is broad and fundamental to the economy. It maximizes infrastructure. If both are advanced, your society is advanced and enlightened. i.e. Digital Era Renaissance.) 

Deloitte's 2023 Human Capital Report has some interesting information. consider this quote below. Deloitte Human Capital Report 2023 

“Many of the boundaries that used to provide the structure of work have been dismantled. Now the boundaries that remain are much more focused on human dynamics, and how people interact with and engage with work.” — Chris Ernst, CLO, Workday

The Digital Era brings with it opportunities to magnify human capital and develop it in a way that can transform society. The environment will determine whether or not we are able to maximize that human creativity to encourage new and competitive products. The next decade belongs to rapid advancement through matching higher human performance with technology performance.

Mass human capital blossoms won't happen in environments where there are not broad based opportunities to develop and access to the technology needed to maximize those outcomes. Where there are disparities in opportunity that are not based on actual performance, there will be some limitations on human capital. If we do this long enough we have quiet quitting (i.e. it doesn't matter what I do thinking. It is also why younger generations are likely changing their perceptions of work-life balance.).

The environmental factors is why discussions on education, justice, fair compensation, opportunity, safe schools, etc. all become part of the long term solution. They are important discussions for our leadership and for our economists. Figuring out what we can do to maximize national human capital in the Digital Era is important. The World Bank has something on the Human Capital Project that highlights how lack of strong human capital can impact nations.

Just so we have a good understanding of how environments limit maximum human potential I want to present three quick studies. 

The first is on an individual level- gifted children (I would say by extension adults as well who had similar experiences) and their limited performance in poor environments. Thus, for those with high potential they are sometimes able to maximize them when the environment is conducive to enriching experiences. The key point is the environment can make a huge difference in people's lives and bring forward skills society needs. Environments Influence Performance/Talent Levels. 

The second study is related to workplace environments influence on human capital development. The environment in which people work also influences their overall performance level. Proper balance in everything is needed. The workplace environment should maximize performance through understanding human characteristics and needs. See Improved Performance Workplace

Janet Yellen the Federal Reserve Chair published her perception of educations influence on human capital in Invest in Human Capital.  Education/training impact our ability to reach new heights of performance throughout a nation. That requires commitment of companies, education total life, government, and other entities to really provide new pathways so as to further our an organizations best and brightest (Not dictated by social class, race, religion, or other defining characteristics not related to specific performance.)