My friend owns a home near me and pays local taxes. He sends his daughter to public school. I also write about and analyze politics for a living. But it’s all national politics; the local is only a blip. Honestly, he doesn’t really know what’s at stake in any local election. None of his neighbors seem to be paying much attention either. They all want to talk about national politics too. He’s not alone. The overwhelming majority of Americans consume disproportionately more news about national politics than about state and local politics . In one analysis , 99 percent of respondents in a typical media market never visited websites dedicated to local news. In a typical local election , fewer than one in five citizens bother to vote. There are at least half a million elected officials in the United States. Only 537 of them are federal. And yet almost all of our collective attention is on those federal officials and in particular, just one of them: the president....
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TED’S COMMUNITY - DAVID WASHINGTON AVENUE JANUARY 6, 2021 It is Wednesday morning, January 6, 2021. In a few short hours, Congress and the Senate will begin the process of certifying the electoral votes of the 2020 election. There is a planned objection by Republican members to several swing states’ electoral votes. This is their constitutional right and the process will play itself out with the likelihood of a President Biden and Vice President Harris certified as the new administration. This 2020 election cycle saw the partisan divisions grow deeper. Americans are in agreement in their distrust of partisan politics and our political parties have failed its constituencies election after election. In their own distinct ways, The Republican and Democratic parties have become increasingly weak, whereas, the parties were designed to focus elections on policies rather than personalities. What went wrong? I recently completed reading an article, “ The Rise and Fall of Political Partie...
Pro-Active Health In the wake of the mess of 2020, we seem to have forgotten a truth about how our health is truly affected by our attitude. There are really only 2 emotions: Love and Fear. All other emotions stem from one or the other. Worry, Anger, Hate, Anxiety, even Sadness for the most part – is really a Fear of something or someone Compassion, Happiness, Contentment, Joy - are all forms of Love One causes illness to take place in our bodies; the other starts the healing. Scientifically, Fear causes stress which our autonomic nervous system in our body reacts to by sending out adrenaline and cortisol hormones to which other organs in our body react to. These stress hormones are the same ones that trigger your body’s “fight or flight” response. Your heart races, your breath quickens, and your muscles ready for action. This response was designed to protect your body in an emergency by preparing you to react quickly. But when the stress response keeps firing, day af...
Tap 90 Series, The it Factor - Money, money, money, First in series The question I am asked most often is how to get money to start or grow your business. You have to sometimes look hard and never give up, but for a good business, there is almost always a way to start and grow. Bank Financing Until you have already grown your business and been going for years, it is difficult, if not impossible to get funding from banks. You need a solid track record and three to five years under your belt before this is a realistic option. Even then, you need to show a consistent volume of business that is growing. Bank financing in the early stages without personal guarantees from someone with a large bank account accounts for a very small percent of financing, less than ten percent. Venture Capital Nearly everyone has heard about startups getting millions and billions of dollars from venture capital. Unless your business is highly scalab...
While Bitcoin has been around almost a decade, one of the most confusing things to understanding cryptocurrency is that it is virtual, meaning it is something you cannot touch or hold. And since you cannot touch it or hold it, it is hard to visualize or understand what it is. Even harder is to know how Bitcoin is moved from one person to another and what the value is of such a transaction. Let me simplify what cryptocurrency is, how it is transferred, and how it is used in transactions and to transfer goods. Once you understand this, you too can become a believer in Bitcoin or other digital currenc ies and start your journey into a digital world. First off, cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency, such as using a credit card, and Bitcoin is one type of cryptocurrency. Let’s start with understanding "digital currency" with Bitcoin. You can take an analogy of Bitcoin from the dollar bill, a piece of paper that denominates the value of a dollar backed by the US Gover...
Multiple fights broke out at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia on Saturday between pro-Trump advocates and members of Antifa — and the tense dueling protests culminated in gunfire. Supporters of President Donald Trump were at the Capitol holding a pro-Trump and anti-lockdown rally, while Antifa were holding an event titled “Squash Fascists.” The situation was tense, with pepper spray and fists flying from both sides, even before the gun shot rang out. One man was arrested for firing, and there has been conflicting information about which side he was on. It does appear, from arrest records and social media accounts, that he was with the pro-Trump crowd. The shooter has booked on felony 1st degree assault and 2nd degree assault, according to the Thurston County Jail Roster. What does Teds Community think about activity like this? Real simple. Protests are OK. Violence is not. We are all Americans, but more important we are all human beings. Shooting at som...
From The Harvard Business Review, August, 2016, “Why Diversity Programs Fail” “In analyzing three decades’ worth of data from more than 800 U.S. firms and interviewing hundreds of line managers and executives at length, we’ve seen that companies get better results when they ease up on the control tactics. It’s more effective to engage managers in solving the problem, increase their on-the-job contact with female and minority workers, and promote social accountability—the desire to look fair-minded. That’s why interventions such as targeted college recruitment, mentoring programs, self-managed teams, and task forces have boosted diversity in businesses. Some of the most effective solutions aren’t even designed with diversity in mind. ” Teds Community is a model that is sustainable whereas many of the diversity attempts today are at best, well-intentioned, at the worst, counterproductive in major ways. Teds Community has as its goal to transform inner cities into profitable self-sust...
Tap the 90 An exclusive series answering questions of Ted's Community Resident members Often when we start a relationship, business or a project we don't look for answers outside of our own experience or a small group of friends or sources. These only give, at best, 10 percent of the possible solutions to build a strong foundation and grow personally, professionally or build a lasting enterprise. My lifetime has been spent helping people tap the 90. The answers are often unexpected, and it is because we don't always know how to ask the right questions. In this series, I will exclusively answer Ted's Community members real questions and address issues while protecting their identities. I will be tapping my global network of experts in their respective fields to bring you the 90%. I look forward to hearing from you. Good fortune and God bless. Steve Minard, Steve Minard Street, Teds Community
In addition to providing oversight of cases that are brought within their respective circuits, Supreme Court Justices also have the authority to decide which ones can be brought before the full Supreme Court (where four justices have to agree to hear a case). Currently, the court’s originalist faction is now overseeing a number of circuits where key battleground states are located, that likely will make it easier for the Trump campaign to get its legal challenges before the high court. — Justice Samuel Alito will oversee the 3rd Circuit, which includes Pennsylvania — Justice Clarence Thomas will oversee the 11th Circuit, which includes Georgia — Justice Brett Kavanaugh was assigned the Sixth Circuit, which includes Michigan — Justice Amy Coney Barrett is overseeing the Seventh Circuit, which includes Wisconsin The Trump campaign has launched federal lawsuits or other legal challenges in each of these states, though several cases in lower cou...
Our Precious Vote - Americans are bombarded with a daily basis through television and social media about how divided we are in our politics. But it does not have to be like this echo chamber of vehement disagreement and often vile personal accusations. Important values transcend politics and drive to the core of who we are as a country, including the sacred right to vote, the peaceful transition of power, and the integrity of our elections. These are revered traditions and attributes of a proud democracy, ones that all Americans, regardless of party, must consider our bedrock principles. There are several pernicious forces at play that are deliberately trying to sow mistrust and doubt in our elections. So many are stoking fears that this election will be ripe with fraud, and voters on both sides of the aisle are worried that the other party will cheat or that people with the losing side will be prone to violence if their candidate is defeated. We must push back against those who tr...
Trust in Media If one advocates more transparency on the part of the press because it makes for more informative and comprehensive journalism, fine—a greater degree of “showing one’s work” could make journalism more instructive. But I don’t think it will bolster trust. More and more, Government is producing neither the inspiration nor the concrete policies to make anyone more trusting. And politics is getting more sharply polarized. Democrats are much more likely to be “consistently liberal” and Republicans “consistently conservative” on matters like taxation, government spending, regulation, and environmental protection than they were 50 years ago, when trust in the media ran higher. Would it help if news organizations were more transparent about how they produce the news? What might help is a reduction, by way of policy, in economic inequality and in inequality of social recognition and dignity. With that, I’d hope, would come a reduction in political polarization, with conco...
Welcome to Teds Orlando, the blog that will help build our future city. This blog is meant to highlight key issues that affect our community, but most importantly give everyone the power to make decisions and influence their environment more than ever before. This Blog is one of the tools that makes Ted's Community the future model for cities everywhere. We look forward to many of you joining us, and with us, became an influential power to improve life here in Orlando.