Life Expectancy Drops Biggest Since WWII

 Just read an excellent article entitled, 'US life expectancy in 2020 saw biggest drop since second world war.' in the Guardian. It talks about how our life expectancy has dropped and sort of speculates as to the reasons why....(....most likely they are right from a statistical sense in mortality and COVID). 

There has been some indicators that life expectancy may drop from things like pollution and changes in lifestyle. Life is a total environment thing so there will be some additional contributing factors.

A decline in life expectancy with modern advances in medicine is concerning. We will have to take a look at the numbers after COVID to see if they return afterward. 

Life expectancy is based on a lot things that include a healthy lifestyle, good friends, and great food. (One of the reasons why I like to write about fitness and other things of interest.) Its about a persons total life. 

There is something we often miss and that is education. Educational attainment transforms and changes an peoples quality of life and their lifespan. Take a look at this 2013 study The Effect of Educational Attainment on Adult Mortality in the United States

"Presently, the mortality and life expectancy gaps between U.S. adults with the highest and lowest levels of schooling are most likely wider than ever. Moreover, a sizable share of U.S. adults continues to have less than a high school education or completes high school but no secondary education; these millions of individuals will be at higher risk of death on an annual basis in the coming decades compared to their more highly educated counterparts. There is little question that there is significant room for improvement by enhancing U.S. population health through increases in educational attainment, particularly for the sizable number of individuals who do not complete a high school degree." (Hummer & Hernandez, 2013).

Hummer, R. A., & Hernandez, E. M. (2013). The Effect of Educational Attainment on Adult Mortality in the United States. Population bulletin, 68(1), 1–16.

Side note......

Education changes people's lives and we can often see those differences in subtle ways that impact just about everything we do. If you knew the French fry was going to give you a heart attack would you eat a basket of them every night? It can be a lot more subtle because education changes the way in which we connect concepts and leads to more connections in the brain that process information differently. I'm not an expert in that field but seems correct to me. You can see these differences as well years down the road in life choices. All in all its better to just sort of get kids into school when they are young and pliable to maximize national benefit. 

Driving Between Dearborn and Louisville (Pictures)-Bringing Rural America Back through Cluster Development

Rural America has been declining over the past few decades. Small family farms were crushed by corporate farms and poor policies that favor corporate elite (btw...I'm not knocking corporate elite.) When the government policies changed and globalization took hold the small business owner, small farmer, and small community industries either folded or were incorporated. To save our rural towns we should do two things....

1. Hedge our Internet and virtual workplaces to bring people back to rural locations. 

2. Ensure businesses are willing to start building and selling products from these small towns.

Where communities once had an anchor or two we found that they are now gone. I drove from Dearborn MI down to Louisville KY and changed my Google maps so that I avoided highways. I got to see a lot of the countryside as I drove through farm fields and small towns. 

What I did see is lots of small towns looking old. When I stopped at gas stations I asked what the main industries were. Some still had a company but many said they closed up a decade or so ago. Leading one to believe that there needs to be some method of rejuvenating. 

I'm working on a cluster theory and applying that to Delta County Michigan in an attempt to make a more comprehensive national model that will help understand restore our American communities. Not really for political purposes...but more along the lines of if I have the ability to help I should probably contribute to the benefit of the nation (even if only a couple of people read it.) See Transactional Cluster Theory. 

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Kind of a side note here.....

I've spent time living with Arabs and Muslims and have adopted many of their beneficial beliefs. I consider myself more of Muslim-Catholic in terms of how I view religion. I'm culturally a Catholic but sort of blended these ideas into a more spiritual value system. While I'm also Republican in political orientation I am also very Democratic leaning on social issues such as diversity and inclusion (..from a human capital perspective). Take note in how I can't seem to say I'm neither all this or all that! (Sorry its hard to stereotype effectively all people because none of us are truly all this or all that. It doesn't mean I'm confused....🙊😅 but perhaps the viewers inability to truly understand a level of ambiguity.). Thus its a little like understanding how and why people believe the things they do and at what point do they become aware of their limited perspective on important topics of the day (i.e. the need for educational reform and enhancement in the Digital Age.). You can get an understanding of what the World-Knot is and its philosophical implications.

I used to to do some photography so hopefully some of the artistic ones came out well. 

Annie Oakley

Law Enforcement Disclosures in Small Communities (Maintaining Objectivity)

Small towns are places where people know each other and most of the time beneficial. There maybe a few times when these association carry specific risks to the public. Sometimes people misuse those close associations to manipulate their environment (Yes it does happen here and there; hopefully rarely.). At present we have a crisis of confidence in the justice system (Its very sad we do but some of it was earned and some of it wasn't. 😞. We need more checks & balances and/but there are times when public anger is misplaced.) and we want to ensure the general public feels there are safeguards against these potential conflicts. 

(There is an NPR Poll that shows the differences in trust based on community. No matter what our political persuasion and beliefs we should sort of keep in mind that it is possible that people see different things in the same events. See NPR Policing Demographic Poll if you ask me...I believe policing is necessary and the far majority of officers want to do the right thing and act with integrity. However, there are some officers who don't and in a free country like the U.S. our government has the responsibility to raise the trust level as much as possible for both practical outcomes and to reduce societal discontent. Our institutions may make mistakes but as long as they continuously try and do the right thing and evolve to better serve all their stakeholders, we will restore that trust over time. Keeping in mind the difference between optics and fact.)   

Restoring trust in the Justice System means we consistently act with integrity to build neural expectations through multiple positive exposures (Meaning people have positive interactions with police and respect their choices in a way that leads to positive neural encoding of feelings and images.) When there are potentials for conflicts of interest to arise we must disclose them least we turn what would be positive into a negative neural event  (Damaging trust and legitimacy as an enforcement mechanism.) That doesn't mean such disclosures need to be released to the public but we might want such disclosures to have independent oversite (Increasing multi-department transparency. Still not sure how that would work. 🤔). 

The reason we might have a disclosure is to ensure that our social connections don't become part of the problem in building/rebuilding that trust (We have to think of where we are going in this country and why trust in our institutions is important.). In a prior example, we had a group of individuals (speaking in general this time) who utilized their close law enforcement connections to allegedly intimidate others that could have under the wrong scenario caused irreversible harm to the target(s) and the departments reputation ( Immature behaviors compounded problems that could have led to serious injury and/or death. Did/do they care about the risks to others and children? Doesn't seem that...the problem with not encouraging people to get mental health help when they need it...which in this case would be the originators of the problem. Remember....trust is through repeatedly doing the right thing. Here is some marketing research on Brand Loyalty Through Trust. Its interesting that there are interconnections between different fields.). 

The problem was that the officer may have knowingly become an extension of their social group's destructive projections. If we know there is a potential for such a conflict to occur that would cause general doubt (by reasonable analysis by a reasonable person) that could be alleviated by disclosure (Significant conflicts should be reported. Intentionally not reporting could cast doubt on integrity. There may be times when high levels of non report incidents may indicate bigger underlining problems of a department. In other words, the inability of a department to monitor itself and maintain objectivity.). In other words, we want to remove any important conflicts right away so that potential/perceptual corruption doesn't occur 

{Sometimes there real and sometimes they are not. This is why you use an outside agency that the community and police both trust as a method of fair assessment. That is why our agencies should be neutral and universal in their values. i.e. Plato's universal justice. Particularly I like this quote from the article, "Plato saw in justice the only remedy of saving Athens from decay and ruin, for nothing agitated him in contemporary affairs more than amateurishness, needlesomeness and political selfishness which was rampant in Athens of his day...."}

{Sometimes we have failure in "seeing" trends. I say "seeing" because there are facts and then there are the construction of facts. Minorities will construct one way and enforcement officials may construct another way. I'm kind of neutral with construction because I have seen officers do great things and seen officers do corrupt things. Likewise, I have stayed and lived with minorities/majorities for a long time and have a sense of how they interpret information through their symbolism, language, and values.} 

{Thus, I seek to stay focused on possible different explanations and allow the data/details to sort of go where they fit and see which theoretical "pot" makes the best connection between all that information as a plausible and parsimonious explanation. What many officials don't understand is that majority and minority at their essential root beliefs want the same thing but there are individuals who hype up these differences for personal/social gain.  If we didn't listen great...but most of us do listen because we are tied to our "herds/clans"}.

That disclosure would indicate the officer is acting with integrity and letting the (whomever the reporting agency is) know of the potential for a problem of subjectivity to arise. That may also mean department liaisons (i.e. internal investigations) "bump up" any issues in which they are involved that relate to that specific conflict of interest. Integrity starts with the officer first but is often enhanced by the policies and values of the department (When they go array, we should change them!)

On the flip side, those who do not disclose those behaviors, even though it is obviously a conflict of interest, would be liable for not disclosing should it later become an important issue. I don't think we yet have a system like this but certainly it is something Congress should think about when pondering common sense police reforms (Common sense is kind of a misnomer. We know people don't often reason the same. In an AI world, its possible to use language to understand higher order thinking. Commonsense in Natural Language). Finding a way to orient officers and community stakeholders around shared sense of duty and values is based in our language usage. See Duty or Values and Military Honor Codes.)

That disclosure may need to be administered within an outside entity such as Homeland Security, State Police, district attorney, and/or FBI (Perhaps we can get them to monitor each other creating collective transparency. Who monitors the monitor of the monitor kind of thing?🤷.) We would sort of have to figure out a single entity, multiple reporting lines, etc...to ensure the information is present but the concept is valid. It can all be done in the background with no impact on the public and/or investigations (..but it does help put in place an additional layer of protection for the public. Its not a finished idea....but it might be worth further exploration. All changes start with first an "idea".)

Why would we want to do this? In small towns things get messy when personal affairs and policing all get jumbled up. It happens in most work settings. However, when it happens in policing it could impact people's lives....its much more important to be open (People naturally trust those who are open. Here is some old research on Internet and Government Transparency and Trust. I should probably spend some time finding something newer. Its more or less for illustration purposes.). Where there is the potential for conflict of interest there must also be the potential to disclose that for integrity reasons. No one wants these associations influencing how officers think, act, investigate, use logic, "construct" reality etc...in any given situation (Least friendship and social networks become a primary catalyst.).

We want to build transparency wherever we can create it while still providing law enforcement officials the flexibility to catch bad guys/gals and/or help people/victims (...that is the other side of policing that should be enhanced because I suspect it is highly correlated with trust.). Where there are potential conflicts of interest we want to pass the baton to an agency that has more independence and can come to valid conclusions based on a "birds eye" view of the issue. Restoring trust in Law Enforcement does rely in part on ensuring there is healthy separation between those who violate the law and those who enforce it (Its very novel but it works! Ok...its not novel. 😒). 

Sometimes I think about how we can integrate multiple communities into an American brand through mutual societal trust. We really only have our institutions and our values that hold our nation together during difficult times (..as seen during the capital riots, civil war, and other social upheavals where institutional trust declined. That is often a marker of a trend toward future problems that might more effectively handled today. Think about opinion formation from a macro perspective and how those beliefs impact small choices and reinforced behaviors leading to societal change.). Our leaders and officials should maintain our essential American principles by finding win-win strategies among the widest scope of societal stakeholders (There is an actual ethics argument here.). Disclosing could be just one idea to ponder.....

The U.S. works with the OECD to highlight public service and conflicts of interest (They happen a lot and that in turn reduces total trust.). I'm not sure how that works on a practical manner yet. See OECD Public Service Conflicts.

Fire Trucks and Powerful Engines

Final got a chance to look under the hood of one of these firetrucks. Powerful engine! I didn't really pay attention to the brand at the time but I think this might be a Cummings Engine. See Cummings Engines.  Not sure on the speed or torque power. 

Delta County Michigan relies heavily on volunteer firefighters. There are paid firefighters in the City of Escanaba and Gladstone as part of public safety but a significant portion of rural firefighting and support services come from volunteers. 

All of the fire departments, whether volunteer or paid, could use donations and support in helping them achieve their goals. They do an excellent job with what they have but some new equipment (i.e. grass truck and battery powered Jaws) would be helpful. 

Driving Through the Upper Peninsula to the Mackinac Bridge on US 2-Beaches and Farmer Markets

 Driving from Escanaba to lower Michigan. You can see some of the beautiful beaches and a few cool places to stop. Lots of tourists this year so its likely to be a trend setter. This is one of the reasons why I think Escanaba should get into tourism and micro manufacturing as two ways to attract new wealth and retain it in the area. 

The Difference Between Healthy and Unhealthy Groups

There are differences between healthy and unhealthy groups that will help highlight what we want and don't want in our communities. I would like to list a few I have learned through experience. Over the past few years I have been dealing with a group of individuals who consider themselves "locals" (I'm a local with multi generational roots but because I have a Muslim sounding name that designation no longer applies and that designation has been stripped through ethnocentric projections.) and have coordinated efforts to not only damage reputations but also encourage a wider group of individuals (based in their sports networks) to engage in similar types of antagonistic behaviors (probably learned from antagonism with other sports teams. We aren't a sports team...were just a father and two kids. Think about it!). 

While my children and I have not done anything to the members of this group (.....disagreeing or having boundaries is not "doing" something. Not all members understand theirs and/or others boundaries so it only seems like "doing" something.), we were told by the "leadership" the reason why this group and their larger network of supporters were doing this because we are "Muslim" (..leading to a coordinated ethnic cleansing attempt to make the town uncomfortable through social network manipulation.). That is likely only part of the truth. The other part is that there are other petty things that set off the fragile egos of key influencers in the group (...such a social problem means we need to work on finding a Social Cure for unhealthy group behaviors least their value systems spread to others who might also not critically examine information and behaviors. See Social Cure) 

Hate really isn't as much about hate as it is about power over others and the weakness the perpetrators hide from their followers/others (If you are confident in yourself there is no reason to hate or fear people who are different.). What likely urks the "inner core" of the group the most is that the majority of people around their age have come to recognize them as the "center" of local sports and social culture since highschool (I'm not sure why...they seem pretty average to me in terms of wealth, style, abilities and characteristics). The core groups desire to be praised by others around them creates a much bigger problem when the "Muslim family" (and likely others) see the mental folly and refuse to bend to their will (The arrogance of not allowing people decide things for themselves without outside manipulation and/or intimidation! What is this world coming too? Ingrates! 😒😳). 

Most "normal" people just sort of move on when they can't dominate someone but in this case the central members of the group continue to spread rumors (...increasing the likelihood others will be hurt through false information and "loose cannon" personalities) capitalizing on "blind" group followership and an all too willing "gossipy" ear. There is little to  no remorse for such behaviors because it is "justified" simply because they are the "other" and do not have the channel to provide an alternative source of information through intentionally created social barriers (Come on...your really think when push comes to shove people don't support their friends over "good moral conscious"? We have seen lots of people do bad things and in hindsight say they were pushed by others and are "blameless". Each person "owns" their own behaviors and often only becomes aware after the fact when they look back in forced reflection. )

It creates a problem for society because this group feels "entitled" to "own" a town and those that disagree with inappropriate behaviors and false information become targets for coordinated behaviors (i.e. bragging about how they ruled highschool, how they "rule" the town, and how everyone wants to be like them. Most of the people don't have the background to sort of see the dysfunction in all of this so they believe the first thing that comes out of one of their friends mouth without considering how misinformation benefits those spreading it.) 

Basically, the extended sports members are told who they are allowed to talk to and who they can be friends with based upon the social direction and control methods of their central leaders (In laymen's terms they call it "owned". BTW it seems as though they use rumors and false information to control their network as well. Doesn't sound very free to me and this makes such groups undesirable to emulate in the general population). Here are a few concepts that separate healthy from unhealthy group dynamics...

1.) Healthy groups accept people who are different then them (They are not ethnic cleansers, hate mongers, and bullies. Yuck! Yuck!). They recognize the inherent value of others and are open to meaningful exchanges.

2.) They don't manipulate the laws, spread rumors, put in false police complaints and then brag about it, or engage in aggressive behaviors. Healthy groups try and focus on truth, solutions and win-win outcomes. 

4.) Healthy groups move beyond their highschool identities (i.e. sports) and into other healthy differentiation of personality (multi faceted interests that may include sports but also art, books, volunteering, etc...) 

5.) Healthy groups don't tell their friends what to believe and the values they "must" have to be members (Remember this should not look like a gang with colors.). While members in groups align on many things they are not forced to believe in a specific way for fear of social retaliation.

6.) Healthy groups don't coordinate behavior to harm "those people" or spread rumors to damage the reputations of others. In healthy groups, the members know the difference between right and wrong and are empowered to act upon it. The more they follow the direction of the core leadership, the more they lose their sense of "reality" that could lead to further inappropriate behaviors in the future.

7.) People in healthy groups are allowed to think for themselves. Normal variance in opinions is accepted without repercussion.  One person(s) doesn't get to define things for others simply because they were popular 30 years ago and can still throw a good "kegger". 🍺 (Animal House and Caddy Shack were cult classics that live on and on and on!)

Healthy groups are open and welcoming to others and are willing to be inclusive of general differences. Members are allowed to have their own identities and not tied to the dysfunctional values of their "leadership". They are free to hang out with whoever they want without having the threat of being "cut off" if they are friends with "the Muslim people" or show any sense of maturing of civility (I'm surprised people give their personal power over to them. Its like all the "manliness" and "coolness" gestures by some of the members is just more or less theatrics when push comes to shove 🤷.)

As of now, I will continue to be polite and friendly to members of this group so they don't need to fear others such as Muslims, Jews, Blacks, Asians and/or anyone else who holds different values. However, there are limits on what a person can and can't do because as long as the central members continue to encourage poor behaviors it is unlikely that the other members will have the independence of thought and/or self efficacy to break free from their dysfunctional networks (That would mean they are mature adults Abel to decide things for themselves). 

Members of this group feel that if they just sort of don't say anything that they are "off the hook". That isn't true (Group behavior only seems to diminish individual responsibility.). Silence in this case is complacency that that is the root of why such bad behaviors continue (..and have likely been done to others in the past. This was learned behavior based on past patterns. Thus it was a tool used at other times. In this case, they can't live with not being in control so they continuously escalate every issue.).  Its important for the group to reflect back to their leadership the inappropriateness of their behaviors so the group can reorient back toward healthy pro-social behaviors.  

I found a study on bullying that you may find interesting. See Bullying in Sports  "Pörhölä et al. (2006) stated the majority of research studies related to bullying defined it using three criteria; a) bullying is when someone directs destructive behavior in the direction of another party or the intent to hurt or harm, b) bullying is an act that happens repeatedly over time, c) there is a disproportion of power executing bullying and a party being subjected to bullying that is unable to defend oneself." It important to remember that its the intent of the bully's and not the "reality" of the situation. Not everything is how it first appears and that is why we don't judge only the cover of a book (trust me...flipping open a page of a book from time to time could be helpful here 📕📖.)  

My question is, How many other times have members of this group done this until someone said, "Nope...its not your right to throw your dysfunction on others! It makes no differences if you manipulate 20 or 200 people to act on your misleading information because right is right and wrong is wrong!."  With any luck and with positive engagement (over time) we can encourage members of this group to abandon their blind followership into the dark world of hate and chart their own course in their relationships and lives (i.e. empowering people to be better). We owe it to others and our children to be well adapted adults. America is built off of freedom and the right for people to think for themselves and not on bending to intimidation, corruption, or hate (Yes I'm aware of politics over the past 10 years and the growing trends there. Not sure I completely understand it yet.🙈🙉🙊).

Each of us will need to decide which principles in our lives matter and the values we want emulate to the youth of our community (The central members of this group intentionally involving children and taught their children inappropriate lessons). I would love a win win situation where the perpetrators come to recognize their behaviors and seek help in solving their personal problems versus finding scapegoats in "the other". It would also be nice to find a way through the fog that can shed light on how to deal with these issues in other places. That requires coordinated efforts to redirect their anger into a healthier place where they can deal with it and move past it (Hate is sometimes based in other comingling traits such as narcissism and childhood trauma.)

 ...as of now I'm still here. 💗 

Little Dove Makes Its Nest (Picture) - Birds of Ishtar?

Doves of Love!

I was doing some housework painting under the eaves of my house and I come across a dove. He didn't move the whole time I was there. Just staring at me and not moving. Its amazing how patient they are. My brush was within 6 inches and it didn't even flinch. Finished up and left.......cool! Found another dove nest on the other side of the house.  

Doves are symbols of peace and have been part of society dating back to the ancient days. I suspect its a little bit of a good omen to have one living at your house (in a hokie pokie kind of way!) 

They were called birds of Ishtar and associated with Aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty. Many religions (including the big Three) believe in their blessed nature. They were there there for peace, to guide souls, to bring people together, to pass messages from one world to the next. Kind of cool stuff (It relates to our Anthropology and root beliefs and/or symbolism we use as a species). See Dove Symbolism and 15 Facts on Mourning Doves.

Either just hanging out or passing good omens...its welcome! We have to learn to live with nature someday anyway. Maybe I should throw some bird seed out.....(Yikes I'm that old!) 🤔🕊