The Worlds Greatest Problems

I actually did not vote during our last presidential election, because I felt neither candidate would do the greatest position in our nation justice.
Having nothing of value to say about Hillary, or the Clinton's I will remain polite. I once felt Trump might become a diplomat, but have long since discarded my ridiculous notions.
 
Auckland mayoral elections are coming up and I have no idea who to vote for, must do my research. Im only going to vote if I really think that person could be mayor. If none of them are up to par, Im just not going to vote.

When people get into politics they need to be able to do what they say and not be hypocrites, thats the most important thing. Having worked within local govt I know what bureaucracy is like. Everyone has competing interests and unfortunately money does talk. Over the past few years my city has centralised, and there has been good things about it and also bad things. You cant please everyone. But its important that people are listened to and heard. Thats what democracy is about. Everyone ought to have a say. And then things that need action are acted on.
 
Lanolin said:
Auckland mayoral elections are coming up and I have no idea who to vote for, must do my research. Im only going to vote if I really think that person could be mayor. If none of them are up to par, Im just not going to vote.

When people get into politics they need to be able to do what they say and not be hypocrites, thats the most important thing. Having worked within local govt I know what bureaucracy is like. Everyone has competing interests and unfortunately money does talk. Over the past few years my city has centralised, and there has been good things about it and also bad things. You cant please everyone. But its important that people are listened to and heard. Thats what democracy is about. Everyone ought to have a say. And then things that need action are acted on.
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Lanolin,

One of the unfortunate consequences of elections in this country (US) at every level, is that it is expensive. Candidates have to raise millions of dollars to be able to run. So, a person with a good message and no money is just a person with a good message. It is also very complicated. As an example: I live in Florida and Florida has 67 counties. I live in South Florida in a county called Miami-Dade. My county has a population of a little over 2.7 million people and is about 2,700 square kilometers in size. Miami Dade county has 34 townships. We have 35 mayors in the county (1 per township and one for the county itself). That is a whole lot of government and the citizens of township has to deal with both the township and county government and, in some cases, with the state government as well.

rtm3039
 
What do you think of Luke 19 about the talents...

When each person is given a talent and spends it, and makes more they get to rule over however number of towns.
It is true that people willing to invest in their own region then get to be in charge. Maybe thats how the current Presdient of the USA got to be there cos he made his fortune by investing in buildings, and he deals with lots of people.

Although talent may not necessarily mean money....the previous president was not as wealthy as the current one but he invested a lot of time listening to people and organising communities.

With social media and things I think election campaigning can become much cheaper the old school way was to get a rich backer to sponsor you so you could have ads in the paper, flyers, hoardings etc. but you also had to meet with eveyone and be visible so you need to go on tv, have conferences. Meetings etc. why dont they just make a you tube vid rather than have to buy airtime on network tv. It does cost millions to do a campaign the traditional way.
 
Lanolin said:
What do you think of Luke 19 about the talents...

When each person is given a talent and spends it, and makes more they get to rule over however number of towns.
It is true that people willing to invest in their own region then get to be in charge. Maybe thats how the current Presdient of the USA got to be there cos he made his fortune by investing in buildings, and he deals with lots of people.

Although talent may not necessarily mean money....the previous president was not as wealthy as the current one but he invested a lot of time listening to people and organising communities.

With social media and things I think election campaigning can become much cheaper the old school way was to get a rich backer to sponsor you so you could have ads in the paper, flyers, hoardings etc. but you also had to meet with eveyone and be visible so you need to go on tv, have conferences. Meetings etc. why dont they just make a you tube vid rather than have to buy airtime on network tv. It does cost millions to do a campaign the traditional way.
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The political mechanism, at least here in the US, is out of control and does not come with a reverse gear. Political campaign will cost more with every election. What you are describing is what we hear sometimes call a "grassroots" campaign; and they just don't work. So, without going into an actual election 101 class, know this: We the people do not elect a president, it is done by a small group of people called the electoral college. Each state has one, with the number of members dependent on the number of people in the country. There is a total of 538 possible votes and the first one to get to 270 wins. Because of this and our various time zones, this gas to be very strategical and politicians have to target states based on their voting history (red or blue) and based on the total number of votes available. Twenty nine states have double digit possibilities (>9). The big ones are California (55), Texas (38), New York (29) and Florida (29); most of which are in different time zones. So, a blue guy (Dem) can lose the election long before the clock falls on California. As you can see by the two maps below, a change in just 6 states changes everything for the entire country.

2012.JPG2016.JPG
 
The responsibility of our greatest and most important position in this country, reflects upon the entire world.
What is Trump saying about us as a nation? How are his actions affecting the global economy?
As a nation I still have hope someone will step up to the plate and take action to help us, and the world.
We certainly need a miracle for sure. No matter which party wins the electoral vote...
 
I have no idea whats going on really with the economy all I know is, I actually have a job right now. It pays, but it wont ever be enough to actually afford a home. Thats dream bit the dust years ago.
 
thenami said:
I actually did not vote during our last presidential election, because I felt neither candidate would do the greatest position in our nation justice.
Having nothing of value to say about Hillary, or the Clinton's I will remain polite. I once felt Trump might become a diplomat, but have long since discarded my ridiculous notions.
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But...…..by not voting for Trump, you in effect voted for Clinton.

Now I am not a Trump fan at all. But I think that all of us need to loo look at how hard the left liberal democrat's are working to get rid of him.

That should tell us something.

Take for example this "Whistle Blower" spectacle. He DID NOT hear anything. He did not see anything. But according to the media it was the worst event in history.

Was it? Mr. Trump actually repeated what the Washington Post reported 2 or 3 years ago about some kind of agreement from Biden and the county of Ukraine to NOT investigate his son.

Mr. Biden actually bragged on video how he stopped the inquiry while HE WAS STILL IN OFFCE. But for some reason we do not here about that from the media. We hear that Trump tried to strong arm Ukraine when in fact all he only repeated what had already been said.

From where I sit, IMO, we have been involved in a COUP for the last 2 years without any shots being fired...…...….yet.

The scary thing about all of this is that one day the Republicans will do the very same thing to a Democratic President which means that who you vote for does not matter. If we (Congress) do not like who you (Country) voted we will kick him out and replace him with who we want.
 
thenami said:
The responsibility of our greatest and most important position in this country, reflects upon the entire world.
What is Trump saying about us as a nation? How are his actions affecting the global economy?
As a nation I still have hope someone will step up to the plate and take action to help us, and the world.
We certainly need a miracle for sure. No matter which party wins the electoral vote...
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I hear you my friend. Again, please note that I am not a Trump fan or a supporter. I am simply someone who looks at what IS without the spin of someone telling me what I should be thinking.

As for the economy. You are going to have to find something else to fault Trump over.

The stock market is higher than it has ever been in the history of our country.

The unemployment rate is 4.3%, a 16-year low.

The economy has added more than 1 million jobs since Trump took office.

The average price for an existing home in June was a record $263,800, or 6.5% higher than a year ago.

Spending has increased 2.8% over the past 12 months.

The trade deficit fell slightly in June from three months ago, to $43.6 billion.

The USA now exports more oil than it imports.
 
rtm3039 said:
Ok, don't mean to go off into a political moment, but not sure Mr. Trump needs that much help in disgracing himself. He fuels most of the attacks with the child-like manner he conducts himself. No, I did not vote for him, but I know he is my president. I can't even argue that I don't agree with some of his positions. To me; however, the President is foremost a diplomat. He has totally eliminated that skill set from the Presidential tool-bag. He loves the attention and does anything he can to keep the camera pointed at his direction.

Ok, that's about it for me. I no longer watch or pay attention to anything that is political. I am disappointed with both sides of the isle and have given up on all of them.

rtm3039
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I am not saying you are wrong. I agree that his mouth gets him into more frying pans than a cook at IHOP.

However, if you remember...…..we (USA) did not vote for a diplomat. We voted and elected a BUISNESSMAN and he in fact has done exactly what he said he was going to do.

Democrats are so focused on pushing anti-Trump stories that they're completely ignoring their electorate. This increases the chances of the GOP for winning election in 2020 and this just may lead to the Repubs retaking the House.

Personally, I for one think that the Republican are thrilled at all the talk about impeachment.
 
Major said:
I hear you my friend. Again, please note that I am not a Trump fan or a supporter. I am simply someone who looks at what IS without the spin of someone telling me what I should be thinking.

As for the economy. You are going to have to find something else to fault Trump over.

The stock market is higher than it has ever been in the history of our country.

The unemployment rate is 4.3%, a 16-year low.

The economy has added more than 1 million jobs since Trump took office.

The average price for an existing home in June was a record $263,800, or 6.5% higher than a year ago.

Spending has increased 2.8% over the past 12 months.

The trade deficit fell slightly in June from three months ago, to $43.6 billion.

The USA now exports more oil than it imports.
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Happy Sunday bothers. I believe the current unemployment rate is 3.7%, but could be wrong. Would it be disappointing if I confessed that, while I know there is something about a whistle blower and something about Joe's son, I did not know they were connected (until reading Major's comment) and have not listened to a "news" article about either issue at all? I do the 6:00am - 6:15am NPR news and that is all the time I dedicate to all the drama.

I've also heard some talk about the new "Joker" movie, but have no plans on going to the movie and have not paid much attention to it.

So there you have it. My entire grasp of current events is that (1) Trump is still president, (2) the dems are doing something about a whistle blower and an impeachment thing, (3) the 2020 elections is coming (I'm voting for Ronald Reagan), and (4) the Army said something about the new "Joker" movie.

rtm3039
 
For me, I think it would be nice to be paid during school holidays or have the option of this.
Just because there are no children attending school , doesnt mean librarians dont have work to do. (And also bills to pay!)

The other problem that I and many people have is dentists. Now if they were funded just like all other health care it would be so much more affordable to visit them. They are only funded for under 18s though.

So that, I would say is a many problem people face, because after not visiting them for a few years the problems get worse.
And they charge through the roof. Owning a car is probably cheaper in terms of rego and warrant of fitness costs!

Ive heard of people losing all their teeth or having to go into debt just to pay the dentist. And I have met dentists who argue that their equipment is expensive and someone has to pay for it. But if they care about peoples teeth they must know that only the rich can really afford good dental care.
 
I dont really know what the root cause of the problems I outlined are, but it could be down to one persons greed.

Eg, if theres a budget for paying staff, some get more than others so someone has to miss out.

For dentists, it could be that either dentists themselves are out to get rich from peoples misery or again, budgets are only allocated to certain people who get more of the pie, while others miss out.
 
One more world problem that some people want action on, particularly govt groups say is child poverty.

My neighbour in my quaker fellowship is writing to the local MPs about this. She gave me some booklets outlining the problem, but actually I dont think poverty is a problem in and of itself. There will always be poor people and rich people.

My thoughts are that its parental neglect that is more of a problem than poverty. Simply Throwing money at the issue wont help. Because rich parents can neglect their children too, as they are so busy working.

If it were simply everyone had the same as everyone else, in terms of money, or food there would still be child poverty because its not a poverty of material things but of love. Now I know children cant really function well if they are hungry. But thing is feeding them excess school milk, ok thats whats happening, but the children dont learn to grow or catch food for themselves. They just get spoon fed milk. It works to an extent, but it means parents can just drop their children at school and depend on the school to provide and think they will be ok in school. But at home its a different story.
 
Lanolin said:
For me, I think it would be nice to be paid during school holidays or have the option of this.
Just because there are no children attending school , doesnt mean librarians dont have work to do. (And also bills to pay!)

The other problem that I and many people have is dentists. Now if they were funded just like all other health care it would be so much more affordable to visit them. They are only funded for under 18s though.

So that, I would say is a many problem people face, because after not visiting them for a few years the problems get worse.
And they charge through the roof. Owning a car is probably cheaper in terms of rego and warrant of fitness costs!

Ive heard of people losing all their teeth or having to go into debt just to pay the dentist. And I have met dentists who argue that their equipment is expensive and someone has to pay for it. But if they care about peoples teeth they must know that only the rich can really afford good dental care.
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Lanolin, I have no idea how your school system works. With us, we have 10 month employees (mostly teachers) and 12 month employees (everybody else, including principals). For teachers, they have the option of adjusting their 10 month salary, so they can get paid for the other 2 months (summer vacation). Now, everyone (10 and 12 month employees) get spring break and winter break (Christmas and New Years) off with pay. For 12 month employees, we get 1.25 days a month as vacation and 7 additional days that can be used as sick days or personal days.
 
Lanolin said:
One more world problem that some people want action on, particularly govt groups say is child poverty.

My neighbour in my quaker fellowship is writing to the local MPs about this. She gave me some booklets outlining the problem, but actually I dont think poverty is a problem in and of itself. There will always be poor people and rich people.

My thoughts are that its parental neglect that is more of a problem than poverty. Simply Throwing money at the issue wont help. Because rich parents can neglect their children too, as they are so busy working.

If it were simply everyone had the same as everyone else, in terms of money, or food there would still be child poverty because its not a poverty of material things but of love. Now I know children cant really function well if they are hungry. But thing is feeding them excess school milk, ok thats whats happening, but the children dont learn to grow or catch food for themselves. They just get spoon fed milk. It works to an extent, but it means parents can just drop their children at school and depend on the school to provide and think they will be ok in school. But at home its a different story.
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Lanolin, is there a difference between poverty and being poor?

Rtm3039
 
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thenami said:
In this nation even those living in poverty have no idea how much they really have, compared to other places in this world. I have no right to complain about anything ever with how blessed I am.
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Totally agree. It sometimes feels like we are barely surviving; however, if you have had the opportunity of living or traveling through a third-world country, you know better.

rtm3039
 
rtm3039 said:
Lanolin, I have no idea how your school system works. With us, we have 10 month employees (mostly teachers) and 12 month employees (everybody else, including principals). For teachers, they have the option of adjusting their 10 month salary, so they can get paid for the other 2 months (summer vacation). Now, everyone (10 and 12 month employees) get spring break and winter break (Christmas and New Years) off with pay. For 12 month employees, we get 1.25 days a month as vacation and 7 additional days that can be used as sick days or personal days.
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You can get annualised pay if you only contracted 40 weeks per year but I missed out because I started later in the year.
Teachers generally get 12 months pay and its support staff that get 10 months so its the other way round.
 
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