John James Discusses His Independence of Thought

 In any organization that I have been in there is a healthy balance between following the standard line of thinking and developing your own niche to differentiate modes of thinking. I suspect in the political world we have to find our own voice that stays to a number of stakeholders that includes self, society, and political affiliations. Variability mixed with central core ideas isn't a bad idea if we want to be highly effective as a society overcoming challenges.

I read the article, "John James fires back at Senate opponent: I stood up against terrorists, Dem 'lies are going to bounce off" by Celeb Parke. 

This isn't advocating for or against a particular candidate. I think people will vote for who they believe represent them and their needs the most. I can only say that I believe that people contribute to the national dialogue through their own words and experiences. Sharing those experiences leads to greater knowledge of the candidates and what they believe. 

There are certain things that will be said in unison and some things that will be said from a personal perspective. When what one says resonates with others it will attract followers. People judge the message by the person saying it and look for a lot of different cues to determine the genuineness of a message. Go with with what you feel about the message and the person saying it. 

I can say I don't have much of a reason to distrust the message even though I don't necessarily hang on the news everyday. Most of what he says make sense from the vantage point in which he is saying it. Thus, I can say that I believe that the message he offers is a genuine one but that the votes are likely to be split down party lines. 

There are some undecided independents and free thinkers that can be swayed by the right person and their message. In this case, what is being said, who is saying it and the ultimate meaning of the message will create an impression in the readers head. Such impressions can lead to increased positive reflectivity toward the speaker or it will lead to a negative impression that will impact recall at the ballot box. 

The message should be unique enough to attract the public interest but similar enough to maintain alliance to a particular ideology. Much of the message will depend on the overall impression of the candidate during the time when they are talking. That means that voice, facial expression and the background/environment will have an impact on the total message and its perceptions to others in the middle of the voting spectrum. Those who come in with pre-determine beliefs about the candidates will interpret messages through a particular party lens. 

Both of the candidates Peters and James have a long track record of serving their countries and I believe when push comes to shove both would be there to do what they feel is the right thing. That doesn't mean I would agree with everyone about everything but that we have the ability to think critically for ourselves about what we support and what values we have. Personally, I would love to see a political environment where both parties focus on the essential issues and not on each other. It makes for great entertainment but ultimately detracts from the business of running the country. 

Parke, C. (September 1, 2020). John James fires back at Senate opponent: I stood up against terrorists, Dem 'lies are going to bounce off. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/john-james-fires-back-at-senate-opponent

In Search of New Diving Spots

 In search of new diving spots I went over to the other side of the Island by Kellog's Beach and didn't find a single spot to dive. Most of the area was beach which would be nice and comfortable for shore diving but I'm not sure there was anything of interest to dive for. Sometimes you find some interesting things under the water and other times its just sand. Its nice to find places with known markets and items of interest. 

Two Economies: Stocks for the Wealthy and 'Wishfulness' for the Working Class

 During Covid we saw a bigger split in our economic societies between the wealthy and the not so wealthy. We have the working class, blue color, and service industry workers that often don't have the same opportunities as the highly educated, socially connected, and financially influential. The article Most Americans Don’t Have A Real Stake In The Stock Market does a really good job of highlighting that disparity.  The article goes on to describe some fairly significant investment disparities in society. 

We have those who have been exposed to investments at a young age and understand the financial language that goes along with stock investments. That creates long term advantages and gaining wealth through stocks is a long term game for most people. If we did a better job of encouraging more investment knowledge we might be able to help people struggling. I've been there before...and I know what its like to have to add up money to make a small investment.

I have to admit I been neglecting my investment duties and realize that while I maintain general investments in places like my 401K I don't really have as much stocks as I would like. I dabbled a bit here and there but never too much interest in it. As I got older I seem to be taking more interest in how they work and thinking about how to create some wealth for the next generation. It is also helpful for me to understand how investments can rebuild economies for my academic theories. 

One of the things we don't teach in school was how to be investment savvy and financially smart. We can teach about math and high end finance but a lot of people leave college without a basic understanding of finance within their own lives. Those classes may not be money makers that employers want but we certainly could consider infusing basic concepts in classes to ensure we are developing functional adults. 

Going back to the article....I'm not sure there is an easy fix for something like this. Much of it depends on how the offerings are structured for different demographics and how we expose people to investments and putting away for the future. Generational wealth has been built around table talk on how to maintain and increase wealth. I can't find a reason why we cant expose people more to useful tools in college through infusing concepts within courses where they apply and make sense. 

Ghilarducci, T. (August 31st, 2020). Most Americans Don’t Have A Real Stake In The Stock Market Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghilarducci/2020/08/31/most-americans-dont-have-a-real-stake-in-the-stock-market/#53ec7e0f1154

Boutique Pet Stores-Worth the "Boutique" Price?

The market is pushing businesses to move more of their core functioning to online models which changes the nature of business as we know it. The online cheaper price leaves service, returns and customer service a bigger issue among customers that need more. Thus, moving to a boutique storefront model may be helpful if customers can get the best of both worlds through personalized local service with a much larger online structure. 

I went to the store The Shore Thing Pet Supply in OB. Lately I have been getting into smaller stores with a more neighborhood fell to them. For me, I think we need to redesign our neighborhoods of highways and big shopping malls back to local stores, even if some of them are chains, where people can walk and get to know their neighbors. Things would have been easier in COVID if we were prepared that way and people had relatively easy localized outdoor movement and shopping. 

Very positive customer service. Exceptionally friendly and willing to talk about options (they knew their product) that you won't find in large chains. It was this localized service and feeling that your a customer that matters makes a big difference. They were willing to return if the items I had I didn't like. I asked about a mattress for my dog carrier and biodegradable poop bags and they turned me onto two great products. 

Earth Rated vegetable Compostable Poop bags were one of the items the store had that I tried. As it was explained to me these are vegetable based bags that decompose. It looks like from the package that is only a facility. I think of things as alternatives. If I can switch from a heavy bag that will contribute to pollution or I can find one that is biodegradable then I would take the later even if it is a few more dollars. I would do that based on my personal values. I'm an active consumer. It was like $8.99 for 60 bags. So that is a lot of money considering the cheaper more pollutant varieties. 

I also got a pad from PLAY Pet Lifestyle and You. A few days prior I saw the pad there and thought it was $19.99 and debated in my mind whether I could buy something online and have it delivered within a few days for cheaper. Then I realized that part of the fun of shopping was browsing but someone must support these stores so I decided to go back and buy it in an act of water it down rebellion.

Standing at the counter I realized the price was now $29.99. Debating whether I would put it back I didn't want to look cheap so I made a quick evaluation and decided I would still buy it. It was worth the price. The pad was much thicker and of higher quality than some of the other pads I have seen before. Here is the Facebook page of the company. https://www.facebook.com/PetLifestyleAndYou/

I took the pad and used it for flooring in Chewy's pet carrier. It collapses sometimes and to have it stay open needs a harder floor but because I want the floor to be flexible for traveling I had to find something like a pad. So a little better quality for this purpose works well for me because he is going to get a lot of use out of it.

 

When People Should be Held Accountable for Not Dealing with Mental Health Issues?

Mental health is an increasing problem in our society and most of our administrators and law enforcement officers are at a loss on how to deal with it effectively.  According to the National Alliance on Mental Health 19% of Americans are impacted by mental health each year (NAMI, 2019). While that number is astonishing there are a few in that percentage that are destructive to others and thus we need to ensure our Justice system is able to differentiate and hold accountability people who don't want to be responsible for their care.

Each person is going to have their own experiences dealing with people with mental health and the people around them with Mental Health concerns. There are those who have issues but look within themselves and their community to find help and don't want to be destructive to other people. There are others who lack the insight and accountability to their mental health behavior and in turn seek to inflict chaos and harm to others. These are the ones we should be concerned about from a law enforcement stand point. 

Why? Lack of ability to deal with mental health causes other issues for people in society which often includes willful violating the law. For example, a person with a narcissistic disorder may spread rumors, put in false police complaints, encourage societal violence and shunning rooted in bigotries, endanger children, and seek to damage people through psychological projection. With narcissism spectrum one of the only deterrents is punishment as common sense concerns and empathy do not factor into their self construct and decision making. But there can be a solution....

Let's take a look at Narcissistic Personality Disorder as an example of how a grandiose personality relies heavily on the need to feel superior in some way. According to Dr. Caligor and Dr. Stern it is possible to use, "framework of object relations theory (ORT), core organizing, structural features define NPD and provide a coherent conceptual framework for understanding clinical features"(Caligor & Stern, 2020). The characteristics of such disorder entail a grandiose sense of self that doesn't afford the 
same ability to have a healthy self-regulation based on normal identity formation.

A person with this disorder may always need to be at the center of attention. It could be the loudest in the room, overly concerned with societal position, willing to act like a bully to others, spread misinformation, triangulate others through false rumors, and in general be self-opportunists. They may be popular, they may get along with most people, but when their fragile sense of self is shaken, and they are unable to apply control mechanisms successfully, you may have a full blown narcisstic temper tantrum.

Sometimes people know they have issues but haven't found the strength to go to counseling and at other times they don't have the temperament to receive help when it is absolutely necessary. So the court system sometimes need to get involved. Often they are not involved until destruction and damage has occurred. With narcissism the results could be physical but are likely instead to be social crimes of bullying, misinformation, triangulating other people, callousness, lack of concern for children, so on and so forth. 

This brings up a difficult problem when the perpetrator has a close friend(s) in law enforcement and works in a position that gives her access to influence law enforcement opinion. When someone has high social skills and possibly narcissism it is a dynamite combination to abuse other people. As long as she can triangulate individuals (You can learn about Triangulation HERE). involve officers and friends to see the other people as different, defunct, "those people" (i.e. meaning race and religion), and "outsiders" who always cause problems then there will be little investigation, follow up, or accountability. 

That does create a problem of trust in the sense that one must be able to trust senior leadership to make decisions that will ensure these things don't happen again. That can't be effective unless we gain some knowledge on how mental health impacted decision making and in turn how can we better insulate officers from manipulation (i.e. triangulation) while still giving them better tools for dealing with destructive acts from  poor mental health care. Sometimes that could be training and sometimes different types of performance metrics. 

It should be noted that manipulating information is one thing but an officer with close personal ties acting on that information is another. Officers have a responsibility to protect the public and put the public's concern above their own and their friends wants. Thus, if they are not using evidence based decision making tools in their decision making process then we must ask what other criteria are they using to deal with the public? Maybe that is the problem. :(

From what I know of senior leadership they have positive view and a helpful personality. I have seen this myself and must say I think he has the best intention at heart and tries to enjoy the happiness of life while spreading good cheer to others. Yet this is close to home and if true it could impact the entire department because of the actions of a few. Thus a decision must be made to embrace truth and change or to delay inevitable changes to a more inconvenient time where reform is not light footed and in good spirit. It is up to leaders to determine when the need to act on a call for change.

That leads open question of whether to investigate or not investigate. Let's assume there are three options 1. Don't investigate or "gloss over" investigation. 2.) Investigate through Internal Affairs, 3.) Ask an Outside Agency to Help. There are a few variations of these but this is more for an illustrative standpoint. 

In scenario 1. where there is no investigation or a "gloss over" investigation occurs there is substantial risks if the people involved engage in a future crime and reasonable complaints were ignored. I would likely use 2. & 3. combination. Launching an internal investigation allows leadership to understand what is occurring inside the department so as to better navigate a call from an outside agency. Such a decision would indicated taking the situation seriously while removing liability if future information comes to light. 

The choice to investigate mental health issues that caused the problem in the first place is an important. Without understanding how intentional misinformation impacted the department it would be difficult to ensure that doesn't happen again. We want officers to be as objective as possible and if someone is able to skew misinformation even though they have no real knowledge, are not qualified to make any type of assessment, and have a history of manipulative bullying type behavior that is a serious issue. 

Investigating helps come to a conclusion on what actually happened. It should be noted that this isn't just a situation of a highly aggressive mental health behavior seeking to do serious harm on others it is also about wasting significant public time and resources based on self-seeking behavior. That becomes more troubling if this behavior was to cover another crime in the past. 

Let's say for a moment that there was an investigation called and in turn it was found that the person miscued information and that misleading has caused in the past and could cause further problems in the future. A strategy that worked in the past was used successfully and without consequences there are risks it would be used as an effective tool again. That person might need a psychiatric evaluation to assess the cause of the misinformation and ways to prevent it in the future. 

There is something to be said about empathy here. Assuming the behavior was illegal and intentionally destructive but it is believed that the person could be reformed with proper mental health care. We don't need more people in prison and we don't need people having their lives ruined. It is about getting them the help they need and ensuring they don't do these behaviors again. Criminal and mental health could be used to drop down charges to a fine only and in turn provide the help others need. 

Helping people with undiagnosed mental health issues will have an impact on that person's family, the community, and the willingness of different parties to trust the Justice System. It has effectively said we are willing to investigate wrong doing and hold people accountable in an empathetic way for mental health issues that have become destructive to others. We ensured the integrity of our position and helped a person and their family live a healthy and happy life. We didn't let them walk and we didn't punish them for their pain...we helped them. If such individuals choose not to get the help they need then full accountability seems to be the other alternative.  

Eve Caligor and Barry L. Stern (2020). Diagnosis, Classification, and Assessment of Narcissistic Personality Disorder Within the Framework of Object Relations Theory. Journal of Personality Disorders: Vol. 34, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, pp. 104-121. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2020.34.supp.104. 

NAIMI. (Septumber, 2019). Mental Health by the Numbers. https://www.nami.org/mhstats

Congress Debating Stimulus-Focus on building business to improve quality of life.

Congress is debating market intervention spending of $500 billion and it appears that Republicans and Democrats are pretty far off from each other. Thus far one side wants to reduce the current $2.2 billion price tag. It is possible that members will vote for a scaled down version which creates some partisanship theatrics. People want some type of stimulus so pressure will mount on both sides. Where and how that money will be spent will determine whether or not its wasted money or it helps rebuild the economy and people's lives. 

Republicans are sought to bring back jobs, help kids and liability protections through the HEALS Act. They had to go back to the drawing board so I'm wondering what some of the changes will be when it comes out. At present we know that there is more money for PPP, testing, schools, health & human services.

I think the issues are the amount of money available and where that money is allocated. Personally, I think we have a shot at launching ourselves forward into a new level of economic activity if we harness change, strengthen the fundamentals for industry and ensure that people's health needs are taken care of. However, we are talking about a significant $300 difference to unemployment each week and that will be a big hang up.. That is a lot of money for people who are struggling. 

I can say that I hope we take this opportunity to think about how to push the economy forward through the use of enhancing our manufacturing capacity, education, and science to create industry innovation. We cannot neglect the long adjustments we might need to focus on in terms of walkable neighborhoods and better health policies. 

Klein, B. & Mattingly, P. (September 1st, 2020). Senate GOP leaders look to lock down Republican support for new stimulus plan after weeks of party divisions. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/01/politics/senate-gop-stimulus-negotiations-plan/index.html

Kenton, L. (August 31st, 2020). Steve Mnuchin says Trump wants to provide another round of stimulus checks to help America's kids and bring back jobs, but Democrats are refusing to negotiate 'in good faith'. UK Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8683905/Mnuchin-says-Trump-wants-provide-round-stimulus-checks-Democrats-wont-negotiate.html

Turner, T. & Pecorin, A. (September 1st, 2020). 

Senate GOP poised to offer slimmer COVID-19 relief bill after Mnuchin testimony. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-gop-poised-offer-slimmed-covid-19-relief/story?id=72748087

50 Franchisees Sue McDonalds over Discrimination

Lawsuits brought forward by a group of Black franchisees owners indicates that possible discrimination has caused them economic damages. The video states there are about $5 million in damages per franchise. Many of these owners likely have more than one store which means the income received from the lawsuit is substantial. McDonalds says the allegations are not true and appears poised to be ready to engage in a long term court case. It will be interesting how this turns out as to whether this is part of the broader movement on a business front or a single event.  

Finding New Diving Spots-Moving on from the Wall

 Because I was trying out some used equipment I went back to the same diving place a number of times. Because it is next to a large wall people walk and fish off of as well as launch their boats you can sometimes find different items inadvertently dropped off the wall or lures that broke from their lines. Usually I always find something of interest to pull out. 

Of course we get bored so I think I have a new spot on the other side of the Island near Kellogg Beach. Its another lesser used dock but will likely have a sandy bottom so there may be nothing to really see there. But...trying out new places is a big part of the fun. 

08/31/20: President Trump Holds a News Conference

The President discussed a number of issues as they relate to the markets, economy, politics and protests.  What you do see is the differences between how Democrats and Republicans view a particular situation. Two different interpretations for the same event. We can see how perception creates reality. There is a lot of great stuff in it so I would watch.  

August 31st 2020 Market End-Sell Off! Shift on Trade War Concerns?

 There was a market sell off and impacted a number of indexes. Healthcare and utilities seemed to do well and so did some technology stocks. Technology took a pretty big hit. The pull back seems to represent a market shift more than just day-to-day market activities. There have been some change in market perception and thus trading adjusted accordingly. For example, a decline in Walmart and Boeing declined a little. We might be able to see this in strong performers for the year having a higher sell off rates but what happens to that cash in a few days will be more telling. One could argue there are a lot of issues going on such as unrest the U.S. and trade wars with China that could lead to some shifting. Market correction sell offs with improvement in business investment and household income could also mean business activity is poised to increase soon.