The blog discusses current affairs and development of national economic and social health through unique idea generation. Consider the blog a type of thought experiment where ideas are generated to be pondered but should never be considered definitive as a final conclusion. It is just a pathway to understanding and one may equally reject as accept ideas as theoretical dribble. New perspectives, new opportunities, for a new generation. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”—Thomas Jefferson
Are you spiritual or religious? Most people are one, the other, or both. To me religious is specific and spiritual is broad. Both have their advantages. Religion gives one a sense of community, history, and guiding structure. Spirituality is more broad but doesn't come with the structural advantages or community support that religion offers.
Your personality and environment will determine which has the most appeal to you.
Religion and spirituality gives one a sense of higher moral purpose. When the poo poo hits the fan, one can rely on those principles to give a sense of direction. As always, it is not enough to just say one is religious or spiritual but then drop those principles when they are needed for higher moral order thinking. The values should be deeper. The same for other philosophies of God.
We often think manhood as something of physical ability alone and doesn't take into account the inner sense of integrity. Whether one is a good boxer, martial artist, fighter, fencer, sports player or warrior strength is not in their muscle but in their moral duties. Its the stuff on the inside that counts. When you have integrity, you will be a man. A good lesson for all males who are wondering what truly separates the wheat from the chaff in manhood. Philosophy comes from life experience.
Rarely do you get a chance to see democracy in action where a community has come forward in such a way as to encourage stronger governance through people working together and solving problems. While it seems chaotic, and democracy sometimes is, we do have a commitment to our community and to our people. Civic dialogue is part of the process of allowing people to bring forward their concerns, issues, praise, and collective efforts to improve on the good work that others have done.
The good news in this meeting is a great commitment to our veterans. We have had issues in the past of not supporting our veterans and funding issues. Our veterans are important and some people have been intentionally neglecting and/or mistreating them. Its important because these people served us and we should serve them again. We Honor our Veterans!
Civic Participation:
Another good argument is that you have a lot of people very interested in government and in general it is much higher then you would find in other places. Everyone is talking about these videos, some have said they starting watching the subcommittees. That is great! A few of these meetings have reached percentages of government participation much higher then you would have found in other locations. Core Principles of Community Engagement.
A concern over monies, bonuses, notarization and land grants. According to the video there was missing money and there were issues of notarization. The mention is about notarization, State Attorney, and open and transparent government. The concern was while waiting for direction from the state some amendments were filed.
Someone brought up a concern on stalking, similarities of attorneys, and a few other issues. I'm wondering if this is related to some earlier concerns of people saying they have been followed home. I'm not sure that addresses all of the issues yet but its a start.
Poem: The Dangers of Stalkers, Talkers and Baulkers
Its a creepy thing to be one of the stalkers,
In the tinted car they might not be just talkers,
People's sense of safety is a serious affair so lets not be baulkers!
(Yes I know its not very good.)
Stalking is a dangerous affair and I believe its important to hold people to account when they are trying to commit harm or acts of intimidation for political, racial/religious, or other purposes. Good job State of MI of getting this guy! There are some other complaints in the area about targeting kids, intimidation, misuse of taxpayer equipment for personal/political uses, enriching friends, etc. There have been some freedom of religion and speech issues as well. Just FYI. This appeared to be a physical stalking but in the digital area we have to become concerned about Cyber Stalking as well.
Freedom of Speech
Good quote on freedom of speech. Its important! The last thing we want to do is silence the public intentionally or unintentionally when they have complaints, concerns, or even praise. Being respectful is always important and the need to express oneself is fundamental to our nation. Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Religion
A few comments on Christians and good energy. You never know there might also be some Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Bahai, Native America tradition, etc. in the crowd as well. Good energy and prayer is awesome for people and its good for the community! So is positive civic engagement even if someone doesn't have a religion. Freedom of Religion
Let me close this out with. The old must teach the young why and how we are a free people. They are not just stories. I Fought for You
Michigan has a population of females with the age of 41.5 and men of an age 39.1. Michigan is seeking to court younger workers and attract them to their labor pool. In the U.P. our towns are often declining but the small towns here have greater benefit than what I have seen in other places (Tinder dating is limited though. 🙅). I have heard that Escanaba is growing and attracting significant investment.
We also find that our national demographics are changing and with that will come changes in how we see and how we develop. Businesses will also change and I think small business will become more popular as a way to get ahead.
So, these demographics make me think about how to adjust our approaches to support greater participation in society as well as avenues of encouraging people to redevelop their downtowns through small business. Escanaba right now has lots of downtown space and buildings you can buy for under 100K. I would suggest a local and tourist oriented downtown with some type of product that can be sold online and exported.
Come on guys....we need more population.....2 years older isn't that big of a gap! Update your profile pictures, wash the Carhart and buy some smell good stuff. You got this, go the distance! (FYI POF works better up here.)
What is the concept of justice and a just society? I suppose it is different for different people and you are going to get perspectives across the board. Some would say justice is that which benefits themselves the most and some would say that justice is that which seeks to benefit society. Because of that difference in perspective some will use justice for themselves and some will use justice for others.
However, that isn't the truest of the story. There are differences between justice and justice systems. One is the pure philosophical form and the other is the pale carbon copy with much of the self interest embedded within. The legal form will always be behind the pure form as an ideal.
Society in the general sense wants justice and creates institutions to be the providers of such justice. However, when some/many within those systems are working for self interest, or perhaps those who have access to influence the system think of justice in their self interest we have misalignment.
Despite this divergence there are in some societies/local systems few ways to correct such systems because they have become closed loops. In turn a growing percentage of society becomes locked out from broad based opportunities and full use of such systems for a greater good.
Even those who support its greater and broader purpose can become quickly silenced and targeted for their beliefs about the benefits of justice. Failure to support our professed values of liberty and justice for all creates a slope of trust decline. Its a misalignment that could be corrected if we believed in those greater purposes.
For example, if we float to some mythical third world nation and find that rogue elements are using the justice system to further extremist views and help enrich their friend networks then that would be a moral break in the spirit of justice (hypothetical example.). Yet, they will eventually lose.
What is your blueprint for a just society? Depends on who you ask.
P.S. if you are asking me if I think justice will prevail? Yes, but it will take some self-reflection of those who make the decisions over such things. In the long run there are no other options as society will seek to create pressure to correct. Game Theory and Selfish Lose. Its just a thought experiment.
Typically it is much better to get things done then to risk unknowns such as shutdowns. While the projections are that a shutdown would not be overly destructive I think its a gamble. While unknowns can sometimes bring good things they also present a risk. Few know for sure what will actually happen.
The wisest way is for people to truly understand the need to reduce the deficit and then taking those actions that are reasonable to find the balance. Its about moving in the right direction and not necessarily screeching everything to a halt.
Because of a contentious political environment, a shut down presents bigger unknowns beyond temporarily closing a few offices and services. Choke the gas too much and you might be able to restart the system as easily as one would have thought.
There are few people out there that have particular character and the ability to navigate hard situations. The military is a great place to grow talent. It creates good people and gives people a greater purpose. I think he did a lot for the country and the institution and hopefully his knowledge and lessons won't be lost to the next generation of military-civilian leaders. We should learn from such skill sets and put that knowledge to good use.
The military was always a great place to develop talent and ability. Its one of its finest attributes and has a great purpose in society. Personally, I think the military is prime spot for growth for our young who are motivated and want pathways to success. It provides opportunities that would not have been there otherwise. Most of the military people I have met in my life were good and noble characters.
If your interested in joining I'm sure there is room for interested young men and women.
