Kosovo-Serbia Conflict Heat Up Again: What we should learn in the U.S.?

 Kosovo-Serbia heat up again and some have argued it is from a tertiary conflict with Russia. What I hope for is peace. People should stop and think about what they are doing and not be drawn into conflict (i.e. blind followership). It makes no difference if one is Muslim or Christian (or anything else). Both religions honor peace and should encourage it before tensions break out. It will be devastating for everyone involved if conflict spirals out of control. 

We should learn from these examples about how universalizing our values and institutions can help us develop our own human capital (and avoid conflict). Some of these international conflicts are based in disparate treatment among different peoples, clans, and religions. Likewise in the U.S. we recently experienced our capital being sacked by extremists and have not yet fully grasped why we must stand for some very basic American principles (Some are still heckling officers who defended the capital.).

The Bill of Rights and the Constitution apply to all Americans and we should support those fundamental values. That means we universalize, encourage trust, work in a bi-partisan manner, listen to people who have been treated unfairly, and really work towards building our nation as a unified peoples (outside the box of our toxic politics). There is some movement in a positive direction....but not everyone.

I do have a Muslim sounding name and that will likely throw some for a loop as they try and figure out whether Americans can have Muslim sounding names or not (No...seriously...there are people who debate this. There are some who don't even believe they have rights and easily circumvent them with impunity.). I have Muslim, Christian, and Jewish friends it is precisely people like me who care enough about our communities and countries to stand up to hate, disparate treatment, and stand for reasonableness in all of our affairs (Not just one race, religion, or clan.). 

How do I do that and how should you do that?

By showing kindness, empathy, and understanding to each other (The Golden Rule). To reach out to your neighbors, reach across your political isles, start solving problems, hold to account bad actors trying to cause problems (You can still show empathy while recognizing the bad behavior.), and keep our eyes on our horizon which provides an opportunity to push toward national development (As a democracy with shared values and as an economic and military powerhouse. We will not be able to maintain our top spot without universalization and development of human capital across a broad section of society. Innovation and development is an environmental issue. ). 

There are those who try and exploit hate and there are those who try to bring people together (Bringing people together is part of both Christian and Muslim traditions. It just radicals that exploit them for self gain.). Which are you? While it may be a personal choice most of us have said the Pledge of Allegiance and made oaths to support our nation. Sometimes the best way for people to do that is simply to get others to think through the positive and negative of their options and opinions (i.e. Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion). 

California Fire Expands: How Do We Approach These Issues?

 Let us say that global warming is a real thing and people are going to experience some hardship from it (It makes no difference if one believes it or not...its important to protect our environment.). I think there are going to be bigger changes coming from global carbon policies, resource allocation, exit routes from dangerous areas, and insurance adjustments. We will probably start to coordinate more on different government and business levels to clean up our environments (i.e. Great Lakes and pollution). 

Russia Navy Day and Hypersonic Missile Use and Navy Strategy Shift

Peter the Great was brought up again and it seems that Russia has motivations to making its way back on the global market (You can read from a historical perspective why he is important to Russian legend and symbolism. HERE). Russia acknowledged its inferior naval strength and seems to be pushing for greater naval bases and positioning. One concerning thing they mentioned was their hypersonic missile and how they see the U.S. as their primary threat. We can expect them to use more of this missile in their mobile/navy arsenals. 

Russia is not our primary threat but certainly a thorn in side (Long term China is more our threat at this point in history.) The hypersonic missile does bring up the need to create new innovations across the U.S. market. Our military must play its A game by being the most innovative we can so we can stay on top of the market from a defense and offence perspective (Its possible to create faster military innovations while also encouraging wider market innovations through butterfly effects. Likewise, industry-govt. research can go a long way in create real manufacturing and military adaptations.). 

Pushing our society upwards means we have to consider not only some of our recent infrastructure investments but also human capital development. While a rapid innovation system cluster model I have been working on could have some benefits (I'm rewriting it to wrap it but it is sound and supported). You can read that HERE. (Long term future national based advancement would mean enhancing our human capital nationally and that requires thinking about inclusiveness and universalization of certain values.). It is an unfinished theory but you can kind of get the picture on how such macro innovations occur.

On Navy Day, Putin says United States is main threat to Russia

25 Dead in Kentucky. Global Warming?

I'm not sure about global warming yet. I believe that whether it is true or not true it make sense to protect our environment as much as possible. I can also say that because our environment appears to be changing we will have to be better prepared. 

Emergency kits can help people weather some difficult spots. From the video you see that some were without food and water for a few days. I'm wonder if having a sack with basic supplies, first aid, and a radio handy might help in these situations. 

Its Important for People to Stand Up for Hate-From a Constitutional Perspective

 Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are fundamental to our nation and our future prosperity. Without that we have no nation, and no real future as a unified entity. When we subjectively ignore those fundamental rights in favor or our clan, race, or religion we begin the trek backwards into third world status. Broken societies are often decided by our inability to use our systems for the best interest of everyone. Free passes are not free...they add to the cracks in our foundation.

I believe that our nation will turn toward the brighter light. While we have often given wink and nod (assuming that is the case) to certain hate based behaviors we know that there is a huge percentage of society that are beginning to distrust those blind sided decisions. Integrity comes from doing the right thing consistently and in the best interest of everyone. 

We will turn toward the higher moral ground because eventually our choices will begin to catch up to us. As a people we know we must either come together or we must break apart. I advocate for peace, bringing people together, and finding a shared cause around our shared American principles. Creating a universal sense of purpose; some advocate for something different.

Our nation is strongest when we respect our Constitution and Bill of Rights. We becoming increasingly stronger when democracy represents the needs of the people and capitalism encourages people to be their best (not just the wealthy). When we engage in clan like behaviors we destroy that foundation by using different metrics for different people. We should take the higher moral ground.

While behaviors are often learned and repeated I do believe there are backstops within the system. While we might look at some individuals and say they have the "right" social group, background, race, religion, or friends we know that giving them free hand leads to all types of future atrocities (Just read the sequences within our history books.). That is why our system is designed with local, state and federal judges (elected and appointed) who have different perspectives that creates checks and balances. 

Each has a slightly different vantage point based on the needs of the nation and its people. Local judges are often qualified to deal with local issues but don't always understand the greater purpose of the justice system. State judges think about the needs of the state and federal judges think of the needs of the entire nation. Sometimes it is necessary to step in when systems begin to default. 

I always encourage empathy and kindness no matter what the outcome. Our lives are so short. As I have learned from experience, lives can be easily discounted and then supported by others in that discounting. Not a single person can say me or my kids have done something wrong to them. On the contrary, we are easy targets in a system where the laws are more focused on social structure and popularity then the deeper needs of the community, nation and people.

I made promises and oaths and I plan on following through with kindness, honesty, positive engagement, and encouraging win-win situations. Hopefully, I will not back down to inappropriate and unjust behaviors no matter how many people line up to blindly support the ignorance of hate. I cannot sugar coat bad behaviors. My perceived religion may have made me easily discardable but I believe I am making a positive impact to at least those few who can see beyond the obvious. 

We have responsibilities to the next generation and that reaches far beyond our social groups. I know it sounds so stupid that our nation and future are built on the foundations of trust inherent within the system. We as a nation must stand together for some very basic rules of how we treat each other and deal with each other. When groups engage in hate with a level of immunity we must ask ourselves where our values lay. Shall we take door #1 which leads to a shared sense of purpose or door #2 where we sort of gamble with the outcomes.

Free Pass for Hate: Struggling w/ Dealing with Hometown Hate

 What we have found over the past few years is that hate may not be taken seriously in our country (Antithetical to the needs of the nation.). No matter if our capital gets sacked or we are targeting people within our hometowns we have not been able to find a way to deal with that hate (There is some effort on a national level but not so much on our local levels.). Free passes are not wise and seem to be something of a little concern as statistically most of these issues are unreported and unenforced on a local level. (UCR) 

We are not talking about a single incident but a repeated incident in manipulation of elderly, group level hate, rejection for jobs you were more than qualified, local police corruption (just a couple) and general aggressiveness by an ex sports playing group. While all of it is relevant, none of if seems to matter. 

What I have advocated for is that the people who use these behaviors like tools should have mandatory mental health evaluation and that all records are audited where it appears there is an attempt to gain a profit by such behaviors (These people smirked, got a large group of people involved, and it appears repeated whenever there is something to gain. These behaviors didn't come from no where.  The law should recognize those behaviors as inappropriate.). I would think that would be a given in similar situations.

I also encourage Michigan leaders to think about mental health and extremism and find better mechanisms for dealing with it (Track and Coding). Thus far it looks like as long as the targets are against "the other" there is unlikely to be any real level of accountability (Indicating a level of acceptability.). This is moral issue and does hint that we are beginning to break down some fundamental rights as subjectively applied. 

I have not asked a single person to go to jail but I do ask that there is some level of accountability and what I have proposed is very reasonable and light on my part considering the intentionally destructiveness and potentially dangerous behaviors these individuals engaged it.  So how does one build trust in a system....by that system acting with truth, wisdom and moral conscious (What we look for on a bio-psychological level. Its rooted in us.). 

If we hope our nation will move to the next level as based in our human capital we will need to rethink how much free hand we give those who attempt to harm, profit, lie, restrict, or ostracize people. I'm just saying people like this don't often learn when they have a history of such "super cool" behaviors where they show aggression and rely on a couple of law enforcement friends to support them. 

There are some communities where the laws become subjective and people that are not the "right" kind must wonder if we as a nation are serious about our national philosophies. We need to build unified communities and our institutions should universalize to help encourage prosocial behaviors. While people with Muslim sounding names have little value and mixed race children even less, we have to wonder.....at what point are we going to fix these issues? 

The answer is right there in front of our face. Sometimes we have to come to accept that our system is not yet ready to move onto the next stage in the development of our democracy. In many ways it is trying to tread water holding against slipping its ground. Once we make the commitment to universalize our systems and values we will move ahead again. We may not yet be there but I think at some point we will come to accept that the voices/reasons that hold us back will begin to lose their merit.

Let us see what happens.....

House Passes Assault Weapons Ban----Off to Senate!

The House may have narrowly passed it but it will need to make it through the Senate. I'm split on this bill. I don't think someone should be able to go down and buy a case of beer and then head next door to buy an assault weapon (Saying as an illustration example and not a fact). 

We know that people sometimes do bad things with these guns. It would seem that a lot of the senseless death is through illegal weapons that wouldn't be impacted by this bill. As of recent it seems some of the perpetrators obtained them legally. 

As a general concept, the more weapons we have in circulation, the more these problems will arise. 

That being said I do support the 2nd Amendment. However, some guns seem like they should have more scrutiny. They are not defense oriented. There may be people who have a legitimate use for these guns but that isn't your average Joe.

Thus a better background check and a 48 hour holding period might make sense on this class of weaponry. Yet, that probably won't make everyone happy. Let us wait and see what happens in the Senate.