UP Dog Sled 200 2022: Mushing the Mushers

Attended the UP Dog Sled 200 2022 in Marquette MI. last night. That was an awesome experience! Lots of energy in the crowd! Try and come out and visit next time. It was freezing cold and you had to wear snow pants, winter jacket, face masks, and deal with a blizzard warning. 

Options on Russia-Ukraine (Negotiation Tactic or Land Grab?)

Things are heating up in Ukraine and we are often left wondering what is going on. Putin is getting older and may want to make a move to fulfill his hoped legacies. He may do so through negotiation or he may do so through invasion of Ukraine (Seems like he is setting up two options). He could be banking on our hyper politics, rising China, declining Europe and not yet mobilized U.S.. He may also see his country as loosing on the international stage but also sees a few opportunities to strengthen his position in alliance with a strong China acting as the U.S. counter balance. Russia has a history of "come backs" and he is hoping to tap that history to return what he sees as sphere of influence. (You can read a solid article on 'What does Putin want in Ukraine? The conflict explained')

Fuel is very important to the world economy but may only be as important from a supply standpoint for the next 15-20 years as alternative green methods are developed and commercialized. Russia may be trying to use its primary resources that is in demand today to place itself into an advantaged position for tomorrow. They may intuitively know they cannot compete in other economic arenas effectively at this time and want to use their advantages now to bolster their economic and regional position. 

Are there options?

There are Economic, Military, and Diplomatic initiatives that can have influence but may not deter invasion if Russia is dead set on a plan. Of course not all options are good ones so we have to think through them. Someone would have to go through all the different scenarios to determine how they might play out in different situations. Yet, we can say that supporting Ukrainian's right to decide peacefully their future is important because all people have the right to self determination (In any direction they decide but do so through democratic principles.).

It is also helpful for the U.S. to think about what its future position and where it wants to go (We have struggled because politics became more important than national development in many cases.). We see that the world is changing and there are powerful actors coming on the chess board. We thus must think long term about our own future health and vitality. That means watching these scenarios and thinking about how thy impact our future ability to be prepared as a state that functions both independently and with our allies on multiple levels (Meaning, if we see from these situations where we can improve ourselves we should do so by becoming a learning organization/nation.)

It should be remembered that these are ideas, unvetted, and perhaps even useless. Some are direct to the situation and some are not direct at all and are really just thinking about how to improve ourselves. The situation might end up impacting longer term strategies that may not be advantageous for Russia (I'm just sort of looking at this from a neutral standpoint.)

-Europe-US to bolster forces and bring show of unified force through NATO.

-Make Ukraine treacherous territory that is hard to invade or keep.

-Provide support, training, and arms to Ukraine.

-Strengthen U.S. Manufacturing and Data Infrastructure

-Put pressure on China to not feed the issue or provide support. 

-Start finding new fuel sources for Europe (Might include U.S. shale and other sources.). 

-Level-K American politicians work together to solve problems and strengthen nation.

-Diplomatic effort to have countries support Ukrainian sovereignty.

-Sanctions mixed with long term strategies make sense.

-Enhance our human capital through education, inclusion, business and development (That may also include giving high creative people and gifted people the right to fully develop. Not race or religion specific.)

-Maximize our current resources to maximize our options and outcomes.

-Rapid innovation economic systems that push U.S industries to top tier market positions.

-Unified effort to stop extremism in the U.S. and support positive dialogue to create universal understandings.

-Improve cyber security, intelligence and cyber warfare capabilities.

-Develop our green energy and advanced technologies.

-Strengthen our social media outlets to ensure that they are not easily manipulated form outside the U.S.

-Be open to conversations with Russia to try and understand their essential needs/wants. Open markets, frank/honest conversation, and long-term win-win situations can sometimes come from directly engaging in diplomatic efforts. So many times I have seen seemingly lose-lose or win-lose situations but once I delved into them I found a silver lining win-win. Can that still apply to international conflict? Can't say one way or another whether or not that will apply here.

Negotiation tactic or land grab? Probably a little of both.

Great Lakes Receives $1 Billion: Bi-Partisan Legislation Works in National Reemergence!

Manistique, MI.

The Great Lakes would be an important and vital part of a national reemergence strategy. According to the International Joint Commission the Great Lakes provides about $6 Trillion to the national economy and supplies drinking water to 40 million people in the U.S. and Canada (Livernois, 2021). Because of its large impact there is likely only a few revealing studies because they are often conducted by governments. 

"The science of ecosystem service valuation, which brings together ecologists and economists, is an attempt to understand and quantify, usually in monetary units, the extent to which ecosystem services contribute to the welfare of society." (IJC Great Lakes Science Priority Committee, 2021)

We must keep it clean and ensure that the waterways are working well and functioning at full capacity. It is possible to develop a sustainable system where ROI benefits also include the general cost of pollution and ensures the entire system functions to move products freely and easily (This is where new metrics in the Digital Era would make a difference. i.e. pollution and species sensors). 

Our nation can't have a full reemergence/renaissance without the Great Lakes. Manufacturing, shipping, fresh fish, tourism and lifestyle are part of that same overall process. As a person who lives on the Great Lakes and plays/works on water one can experience the secondary benefits of a healthier lifestyle. In addition, as a bi-partisan bill I support when our politicians work together to keep our nation strong (That doesn't mean working together on everything is necessary but when it comes to national development we all have to find solutions because we all will lose if we don't! Light-Right R)

This is good 
Bi-Partisan 
Policy with benefits for
Delta County :)

President Biden announced $1Billion on a bi-partisan Great Lakes restoration program. You can read more at ,'Remarks by President Biden on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Great Lakes Restoration'

The EPA also provides an announcement with lots of information of interest. You can read EPA $1 Billion Announcement. AOCs are listed for those who are interested in the areas where clean up is going to occur. It looks like you can also click on each area to gain more information. List of Great Lakes AOCs.

Specifically you can read about the Manistique River AOC which isn't too far from Escanaba. About an hour to the East.  A nice shipwreck near there (Still waiting on an marine archeologist to get back to me. Hmmmmm) 

There was also some discussion on a $20 billion investment in a semiconductor campus outside of Columbus, Ohio. I would like to know more about that because its a vital issue for the Digital Era. I think Michigan should get/start another semiconductor cluster in the state somewhere. President Biden is correct that we invented these conductors and then gave essential technologies to our competitors (I'm going to add that because we were sometimes shortsighted, being cheap, and using short-term stock logic versus long term value creation strategies.). Duh! 🙊

.

EPA

 

Eberhart Capital Acquires M. J. Van Damme Trucking Inc. (Construction, Mining, and Farming)

This is a little old news but it is still important to understanding the conception of the local economy. M. J. Van Damme Trucking Inc was bought out by Eberhart Capital in 2020. You can read more about the deal on "Eberhart's page Eberhart Capital Acquires M. J. Van Damme Trucking Inc. in Strategic Deal" .M. J. Van Damme Inc. in Gwinn, Michigan in a $20-$50 million deal that is hoped to help diversify their portfolio to create higher levels of long-term growth. You may also want to review something about it in The Mining Journal 'Private equity firm buys Michigan construction company' 

Calumet Michigan
A major mining location in past before
economic collapse.

One green initiative the Van Damme company engages in is it diverts waste materials that would go into a landfill into reusable construction materials. This impacts the papermill waste and how they repurpose such waste within the area. Considering that we have a large papermill in Escanaba and mines within the area this could become increasingly important with other area investments. 

M.J. Van Damme Trucking also services Verso who is merging with the Swedish company BillerudKorsnas AB. There is a rumor that M.J. Van Damme was bought out by a Swedish company as well. I used to work in a job where I had the opportunity to investigate rumors. While they may sometimes be true its often mixed up with truth and falsehood. I would say that the person could be easily confusing a new purchase with the 2020 purchase. At present there is no public announcement so we can sort of just table the idea (Det skulle vara ett intressant koncept om det stämmer..). 

Iron Mountain Miners
Mining Artifacts

There is a push by government officials to maximize our development of materials, supply chains, and American industries. That can't happen unless there is solid trucking and transportation industry. You can read more about mining in 'Mining & metals 2022: ESG and energy transition – the sector's biggest opportunity' and how that specifically impacts' and 'Mining in Michigan:  A focus on nonferrous mineral extraction' and something about the Eagle Mines. The U.P. was once a big mining place until we starting over relying on foreign suppliers. That is probably going to change. (If you are interested in learning about some of the older mines and historical sites check out Trip Advisor. :)

You may want to read about private equity funds in the The 2022 Global Private Equity Outlook, an annual report co-published by Dechert LLP and Mergermarket as well as ESG in 2022: Insights forprivate companies for a broader knowledge of private equity markets. Its beneficial to keep up the the financial markets and how they function in terms of investment. As we draw interest in the area we will likely to do so off of connecting opportunities of investors to local resources, assets, and people. This is part of a work in process Transactional Cluster Theory I'm working on that helps to formalize interactive companies within a cluster. (The basics are there and I have been applying it to real life situations but need to edit the other chapters to ensure that they are connected well and make sense to an average reader. It brings together a lot of different theories and holds some promise as a method to push the U.S. into a higher innovative stance when used to quickly innovate certain industries we have neglected over the past 30 years. Maybe its useless or maybe it will have value but time will tell.👷🖋). 

Update on Hate (02-16-22): Believing in America and its Freedoms?

There are times when you scratch your head and think about the values of society. Where good moral conscious should be forthcoming it is often buried in the subjectivity of our laws. Because hate and targeting children is more than just bad behavior it should be treated with more seriousness. Free passes are not free passes as they are little chips from the bedrock of our institutions. The integrity of the system must be maintained at all times through thoughtfulness and wisdom. That requires a commitment to certain American principles and values. We have to step back and look at the bigger picture and make sure in the long run if our decisions and choices are making a stronger nation or are destroying our fundamental values that tie us all together (You can say that objectively with a straight face.)

The good news is that for the most part the community has rejected the false propaganda of hate group members and have shown a positive and welcoming attitude (except a few institutions whose decision makers have close contact with the original group. Time will tell the greater story.). However,  it would also seem that corruption and hate based behaviors may not have been held to full account so we might expect more of the same in the future (Maybe not with me but there may be a history of these behaviors and other victims. I am also not ignorant that I will likely be a targeted for a long time spanning years for standing up for some basic American values and trying to protect my community from what appears to be corruption known by others. I actually do believe in my community and want to ensure that "bad apples" are removed so they can do no more harm. Numerous community complaints of corrupt behavior have gone unheeded. There is so much potential here and I believe our future success is worth the challenge. That won't happen if the most backwards of us bully their community and the people within their social networks to silence dissention. When you can't make decisions for yourself for fear of backlash you are not truly a free person.)

In most societies children are sacred and our rights are sacrosanct and to be protected at all costs. That doesn't mean it happens in all cases and sometimes the measuring ruler is not calibrated correctly. I have asked for mandatory mental health, a review into the corrupt practices of this officer (and anyone who engaged in hate behaviors in an official position; not ones who made a mistake and corrected. It should be noted that most of the law enforcement officers acted with integrity but a few did not and engaged in stalking, threats, and intimidation tactics just because they are friends with the perpetrators. Some of the questionable behavior was just a few months ago so it continues on unheeded. I can only say questionable because I am not privy to its cause but I suspect it was about jumping to conclusions without facts again. We make these assumptions all the time. Black people with nice car, Arab person with long beard, Jewish person with money, Mexican person with heavy accent, etc...they are not accurate they are bigoted assumptions. Almost as though they have a stake in proving they did nothing wrong. However, you don't get to target someone just because you are subjectively involved in the outcome.), as well as a forensic review of embezzlement.  

Dangerous behaviors will continue to be dangerous without accountability (Think about it. Why would they change? Mistakes are one thing but criminality is another.).  I personally  believe that we are setting our selves up for failure if we sort of don't take highly sadistic and immoral behavior based in hate and greed seriously. Its a type of pass that encourages others to do the same (not saying that has happened here.). It should be within our minds that history sort of repeats itself and unless we change our values we are bound to find ourselves in a difficult future situation (While I'm not privy to everything that is going on and am open to multiple interpretations there is some indication that the initiators of the problem have been granted a type of immunity for their behavior. The inner group has shown no remorse for their conduct and it increases the likelihood that it will be repeated in the future.)

Certain behaviors are beyond the scope of national consciousness and without social recognition and condemnation we inadvertently teach others its ok through social learning. We can no longer afford to intentionally or unintentionally maintain a caste type social system with different rules for different people. We are failing in developing our human capital in part because we have devalued certain groups (As a nation we can no longer afford to not develop all of our talent. If we fail it is because we failed to rally around certain national principles.).  We all have inalienable rights under the law and when people violate those rights should be held to account. To use a baseball example, everyone should get a chance to swing at the ball.

Believing in America means believing in our freedoms as a people. I encourage those who have been wronged by bigots and hate groups to push for justice and accountability (They had no reason to get involved but felt they were "above the law". This is often called entitlement and a distorted belief that the law is created exclusively for them. Its easier to do this when you nestled yourself in with corrupt elements in law enforcement.).  That depends on your value system as a person and as an institution. I still believe in my country and its Constitution (many of these group members do not) and believe that the justice system can still provide justice (Its just a little spotty sometimes.). 

We have become a people that are pro-Constitution and some who are not pro-Constitution. If you are one side of the spectrum you get upset and roll your eyes when someone says "rights" and if you are on the other side you get upset when "rights" are thrown in the trash can. I'm sort of in the middle. I think the laws should be universally applied to all citizens and doing so release performance benefits we need to overcome our current and future challenges (Those who are against rights are doing so through a distorted lens that will limit our future options.). I'm not pro or anti minority but I believe that we all should be under the same system. Let people perform and succeed on their own merit. Hate is a disease that detracts from our national legacy and future performance options. Try convincing others of value of a moral code is like an uphill battle (Some have values and some won't ever have values.). The danger is that as long as we give a free pass to certain sadistic and racists/bigoted behaviors there are no incentives for people to stop and we all own the consequences for our failure to believe in something greater. 

What do you believe?

Horses in Delta County: Lots of Land and Lots of Horse Loving Opportunities

Mo

Horses are awesome! Ok...they are awesome if your a horse lover. Its hard to find places where land is cheap enough to buy acreage to develop a horse farm. For those who might be interested in moving into the area and have a bent toward owning horses Delta County Michigan is one of the best places to do this. While the horse community is relatively small it is growing. We even started to play polo in the area! 😮

Escanaba and Gladstone are small towns where within a few miles you could be out in the country surrounded by trees. Its not like large cities where you have to travel great lengths and distances. You can live just outside the city limits and have your horse (or horse farm) with the abundance of older farm properties in the area. 

The picture is of MO my horse. He is about 9 years old and well trained. Friendly and walks right up to you in exchange for treats. Mo doesn't get spooked easily and seems to be happiest when he is in ear shot of other horses. Super friendly! Room and Board is about $230 which is cheaper than you might find in other places. You can read a little something on  Training Methods and Horse Welfare

Who that farm dog in the window?

Waran, Natalie & McGreevy, Paul & Casey, Rachel. (2007). Training Methods and Horse Welfare. 10.1007/978-0-306-48215-1_7.

Pentagon Holds Russian Briefing: Opportunities to Focus on Solutions

Geopolitical issues impact lots of different things that range from the price of bread we pay at the store to our international influence. We are in a situation that smacks of a return to the Cold War Iron Curtain. The Russians may be engaged in a pressuring/testing tactic or they may be preparing to actually invade (You can only watch the movements and see where the focus is.). No one really knows for sure but I believe its possible Putin may (key word "may") have designs to bring back a Soviet style coalition. The next ten years is going to be crucial for the U.S. and our competitive position.  At present we have a little wiggle room to diversify our military suppliers, improve our data infrastructure and intelligence capabilities, encourage innovation and start-ups within our military supplier networks and integrate emerging technologies faster (We can do the same for the rest of the economy as well.). Having the most advanced military in the world supported by a strong network of creative companies/individuals and backed up by a strong advanced manufacturing society with wise political-international leadership is an unbeatable combination to create serious deterrents to emerging challenges (on multiple fronts and spectrums). 

Diplomacy backed by thoughtful strength is a powerful deterrent. There are lots of different angles on how to see this situation. One of the biggest things our politicians can do is drop all the useless rhetoric and focus on solutions.....assuming that their country is more important than their political careers. The loudest mouths in the room are not always the wisest (usually its the opposite.). Part of the reason why I support evidence based decision making and centralist views in our governance. (In case your wondering about my political leanings. I'm a light right Republican that supports diversity and good ideas from anyone within the country {including people in other parties or no party at all.}. We are all in this boat together and good ideas are good ideas. I think our country is more important than political encampment and win-lose arguments.)