News Us politics - read first post before comment

[somerandomguy]

Somebody mentioned a while ago...that your Environmental Protection Agency had been disbanded under the present administration.

No, but it might as well have been. Many previous regulations have been suspended. It doesn't do anything anymore and, like the rest of the administration, is firmly in the pocket of big business.

The official policies of the US Government are that global warming does not exist and there is no need for any environmental protections.

 

[hodge]

Yep, @blackemerald1, what @somerandomguy said. It's disgusting. We also basically have no State Department. No frigging ambassador to South Korea, for example. Like, you really, really want to have an ambassador in South Korea these days, ya know? But Trump doesn't care. If he ever does go to meet with Kim Jung Un he will just be the total, unprepared asshole he always is. A complete embarrassment. And we'll be lucky if something nuclear doesn't come of it.

 

[scout86]

Scout, I want a strong leader, not a weak leader

A weak leader doesn't end up being much of a leader, that's true. But there's a line somewhere between how you lead a democracy, if you really believe in democracy, and how you "lead" if you think you're the only person in the universe with a valid opinion.

Employment has been on the decline since it's peak 2016 according to the U.S. bureau of labor and statistics report released yesterday.

This is maybe one of those things where you have to look close and see what they're really talking about. Here's an article that seems to show a different picture. Maybe it's apples & oranges and I'm just not seeing it.

 

[LuckiLee]

Lots of jobs coming back to the Motor City. I work in the automotive industry and have been on overtime for months. We're located in an industrial area and everyone is hiring. I don't want to hear there's no jobs out there because that's b.s.

As for Russia at this point I'd rather have them as an ally then a enemy. Which seems crazy to me because one of the reasons J joined the Army was because all the propaganda in the 80's said communism was going to take over the world.

 

[SaharaSon]

A weak leader doesn't end up being much of a leader, that's true. But there's a line somewhere between...

@scout86 Scout this article by Good Jobs Nation is false. This is a leftist leaning group of unions supporting the Good Jobs Nation organization. I just read the Bureau of Labor Statistics report just out. It says the opposite of what it was purported to have said. The unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in years. The job participation rate is the highest that it has been in years. And the employment rate is increasing. I just checked the BLS statistics for the last 9 years. Very educational. Careful where you get your information. :D

 

[hodge]

I'd also rather have Russia as an ally, but Russia is clearly not our friend. Putin screwed with our election in 2016 and is sure to do the same this November. He's gotten his cyberwar spies into our energy systems, which they could shut down whenever they feel like it. Putin kills journalists and political opponents. Who needs a "friend" like that?

 

[scout86]

I'd say Putin isn't our friend. Russia? I'm not sure the people are getting accurate information.

@SaharaSon , the way I read the article I cited, it agreed with what you said.

 

[Justmehere]

Russia is all good?

Look at the way the kids are treated: Disabled Children Face Violence and Neglect in Russian Orphanages

Most kids with cancer in Russia don't get any treatment of any kind. More here.

It is not much better for adults: Russia's bad healthcare system is getting worse.

The poverty rate in Russia is soaring.

One-quarter of Russian companies cut salaries in 2016, at times even skipping payments to their employees. The average monthly wage in Russia dropped 8% last year (after falling 9.5% in 2015) to under $450 — less than the mean monthly pay in China, Poland or Romania — while the poverty rate jumped to nearly 15%. Russia is a mess — the poverty rate is soaring and only 10 of 85 regions are financially stable

I'm not really pinning away for things to be done in the US like it is in Russia. At all.

 

[Fadeaway]

@scout86 I can't see the article .Maybe it's because I am on a crappy cell phone. I am always interested in seeing both sides of the story.

@LuckiLee I have been in the area less than a week, but I have been very shocked. Not what I expected at all. Jobs may out there but location is everything. There is a lot of rural poor in this country and no jobs in those areas except gas stations and fast food. I just spent the last week going from the West coast to Michigan and went through about 5 states straight on highway 80 before I hit a town that looked like it had any real jobs to offer just due to shear ruralness of most of the central Us. It takes money to get to where the jobs are at.

 

[LuckiLee]

Which is why we put in a new railway. Good luck with everything!

 

[SaharaSon]

Russia is all good?

Look at the way the kids are treated: [URL='YouTube...

Well it seems to be in vogue to trash Russia and the Russian people these days. I refuse to do it. They are just looking after their own interests, which is only natural. I just want to remind you that their PISA math scores have been higher than the US students. That is to say, they seem to be doing a better job of teaching their kids to add, subtract, differentiate and integrate. One of the reasons for health challenges is the vastness of the country. It is hard to get to medical facilities hundreds of miles away. No, Russians do not wander around with horns on their heads. I would not underestimate the Russian people, as I recall they crushed Napolean (French), Hitler (Germans), the Ottoman Empire (Turks), the Chinese, etc., etc.... And they are capable of vapourizing us. I would say that the better part of wisdom, after reflecting on history, is to call them friends. Their enemies sure as hell haven't fared very well.:D

 

[scout86]

There is a lot of rural poor in this country and no jobs in those areas except gas stations and fast food.

Since I live in one of those areas..... That's not quite true. True that there's rural poverty. Also true that everyone's idea of "poverty" isn't the same. True that there aren't a lot of factories (although we have some some here). But there are jobs associated with the farm land you drove through that aren't obvious, especially this time of year.

There are less ag jobs than there used to be. Things are more mechanized. Farms are way bigger, due to economy of scale. People are moving to bigger cities, looking for better jobs. But, this isn't exactly a post-apocalyptic waste land and I sure wouldn't want it to be any more built up than it is.

My personal opinion. The biggest political problem we have on the planet is the sequestration of wealth at the top of the food chain. It doesn't matter how much health care costs, if you're earning enough money to pay for it. It doesn't matter how much anything costs, if you earn enough money to pay for it. That seems to be getting harder to do. And, why WOULD the people at the top of the food chain want to their workers more than the least they can get by with? They wouldn't! They see workers as an input cost, not people.