2013 April
2013 April 30
The World’s Most Controversial Walmarts: The big box behemoth might be a global force for good, but expansion doesn’t make everyone happy.
The Case for Breaking Up Wal-Mart
Tax Only Active Economic Activity
This type of tax would reduce the overall consumption rate, leading to a reduced pressures for such low-priced outlets.
A progressive income tax like the one proposed here would make such large companies like Wal-Mart inherently less economical than its smaller competitors.
If a Wal-Mart were to capture a significant amount of market share, then this tax would kick in. It would naturally result in a less profitable operation as its market share increases, compared to its competitors.
2013 April 29
Into Africa: Believe the hype. Africa’s rise is real.
Aid For Poor, Undeveloped Countries
To continue this process and to rectify past injustices, many of these countries should benefit from policies instituting certain unilaterally beneficial trade policies. This would fuel broader-based developments resulting in a more stable middle class population.
Economic developments will inevitably be hindered by a continued enforcement of unnatural international political boundaries across the majority of Africa. Political boundaries need to be drawn that correlate more to the actual historical and current demographic realities on the ground. Many more countries should exist on the continent, as is the case generally around the world. Enforcing the current boundaries is just asking for more wars.
Immigration & Citizenship Chapter
This entire chapter is relevant to this issue because implementation of these policies will undoubtedly benefit the African continent (as well virtually all other poverty stricken regions around the world). Keeping talent and youthful energy within locals that need development is a necessary prerequisite for a balanced, broad-based development program.
2013 April 28
Tomgram: Rosner and Markowitz, Your Body Is a Corporate Test Tube
Public Policing of Public Materials
Everything uttered by anyone on any mass medium should be subject to review and potential financial penalties if it eventually turns out to be false, even if a good faith effort was made to ascertain its truth the first time around. Everything conveyed on a mass medium must be true while falsehoods must be discouraged through the use of financial penalties.
Comprehensive Regulatory Authority
This one regulatory agency should be responsible for both approving chemicals and setting pollution limits.
2013 April 27
Rep. Tom Cotton says more terrorists have ‘reached their targets’ under Barack Obama than under George W. Bush
Public Policing of Published Materials
The first person (or perhaps the first few people who discover such false statements should be rewarded for submitting such material to the proper authorities for corrective action and fines.
2013 April 26
Why America Still Needs Aircraft Carriers
Countries should ideally not have control over such weapon systems. Instead, an international military organization should construct and operate such weapons under an international management scheme.
Nuclear Reactor Design Requirements
Nuclear reactor on warships are very productive but pose too great a risk to the environment if they are not designed according to the principles mentioned in this proposal. Only safe reactors should be used. All others should be cycled out of service as quickly as reasonable.
2013 April 25
Inspiration Inflation: We’re all to blame for giving al Qaeda’s magazine more credit than it’s due
Public Policing of Published Materials
Surely, at least some of the more radical and inflammatory rhetoric that is so often inserted into such literature could be deemed factually false, and thus economic fines would be imposed on the publishers. This would reduce their likelihood of continuing with such falsehoods.
Mass Media Access Restrictions
People with views that are clearly not in the best interest of the public should not be allowed use of any mass medium. Depending perhaps on the number of units printed, physical publications perhaps may not qualify as a mass medium. Internet publications perhaps should qualify as a mass medium because it is much easier to scale up access to electronic media than it is for conventional print media.
Information or Products Intended to Conceal or Aid Illegal Behavior
Placing instructions on how to make pipe bombs or how to lie your way through security, etc, should all be banned.
2013 April 24
The Defense Department in Sequesterland
Public Policing of Published Materials
To keep every bit of information as accurate as possible and avoid the degree of hype that surrounded talk about this sequestration, people need to be punished for originating or conveying inaccurate information. Financial penalties would be an effective enough means of punishment.
2013 April 23
Engelhardt, Field of Nightmares
The United States should, as should every other nation, concentrate more on themselves and not as much on others. An international organization should deal with common international issues. Individual country’s ‘interference’ should be mainly limited to economic regulations, such as tariffs or other import requirements. When an independent people’s own free will is either actually or perceived to be tampered with, only more problems could result.
2013 April 22
The Monks Who Hate Muslims
The states that arose after the Mongol invasions of around 1300 AD should comprise the rough framework for determining what groups of people should qualify for their own independent country. This modern idea that somehow current international boundaries must be preserved at nearly all costs is very frustrating. So many of them were drawn during colonial times which obviously means that they are not likely to correctly correlate with actual facts (demographics) on the ground.
2013 April 21
Obama, National Security Team Meet After Arrest of Bombing Suspect
Widespread Use of Video Cameras
More video cameras would have potentially reduced the suspense surrounding the arrest due to a likely reduction in the amount of time between the actual commission of the crime and the eventual arrest. Video cameras would have increased the likelihood of more current information regarding the ever changing location of the criminal.
If people knew that they would be able to earn money for turning over relevant information to the police, then they would be more likely to do so. The result would be a shorter lag between the commission of a crime and the criminal’s arrest.
2013 April 20
8th Grade Student Suspended, Arrested Over Gun T-Shirt
If students were required to wear uniforms, things like this wouldn’t pop up so often.
Victims Get Compensated Immediately
Compensation for False Arrest & Conviction
The kid (and his father who had to take off of work) are the victims here. Although there probably were not any financial damaged in this ordeal (except maybe childcare? or lost work-related income for dad) they should be compensated for the pain, suffering and hassle of dealing with this matter. I would estimate that $1,000 – $1,500 my be a just reward.
2013 April 19
Keep Calm and Shut the Bleep Up:
Dear Americans, stop patting yourselves on the back for ‘not letting the terrorists win.’
Public Policing of Published Materials
This proposal would go a long way to helping prevent the generation of so much noise circulating throughout society.
2013 April 18
Erika Eichelberger, Your Home Is Your Abattoir (Domestic Violence)
Costs of a Crime & Punitive Multiples
A big part of this proposal is that “pain and suffering” are essential components of a crime that needs compensation. Domestic violence often has little or no other direct costs associated with it. It is usually verbal or physical abuse.
Victims Get Compensated Immediately
This would help women get often desperately needed financial support if their boyfriend/husband/breadwinner is taken away to jail.
2013 April 17
Jeremiah Goulka, Shell Shock Lite
War is hell. Well, hell is worse, but you get the picture. Wisdom comes with age, and I felt myself get an additional speck of wisdom when I remember hearing about the Syrian government’s military attack on demonstrators in Syria in March of 2011, at the very beginning of the Syrian revolution. I remember thinking, “What the hell is the government thinking? They are blowing away the opportunity to show the world that a peaceful governing modernization is possible.” I was also thinking about all the pain and suffering that was about to befall them, likely for several years into the future. Very rarely do countries change rapidly and peacefully. Think of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt and even Tunisia which is still on the edge and dangerously close to adopting sharia law, a development which would be very negative for the well-being of its people.
The article above discusses the problems associate with shell-shock or warfare in general. War is caused by so many different reasons and has so many different effects that mitigating warfare requires the changing of many different policies. The following suggestion is perhaps the best single policy proposal that could be applied to minimize the occurrence of war and to mitigate the majority of the pain and suffering caused by warfare.
2013 April 16
China Is a Cyber Victim, Too
The reason we should listen to Beijing’s complaints about U.S. hackers.
Unauthorized Internet Information Access
Any party accessing information illegally should be punished. The United States should be especially hard on itself because we are such a high profile target for others to point to in cases of hypocrisy that it would greatly further our own interests (let alone the interests of the world) if we hold ourselves to a higher standard.
It would obviously greatly help enforcement if we could identify where each communication originates.
2013 April 15
Should You Get a Ph.D.?
Education in one’s chosen field of study should start much sooner in life, like in the tweens. In the mid to late teenage years, academic learning should be accompanied by on the job training. Perhaps by age 20, full employment in one’s chosen career could be attained. These are general guidelines and all these stages would likely be different for most people, but the idea is that way too much non-important learning is taking place during a person’s early school career. Way too much time is lost during these most critical of years. Real-world training is way more important than academic training. Students/people should be thrust into the real world as soon as possible to start building their real-world experience. Generally, that is the best way to really excel in any given field.
English Language Simplification
‘Primary’ & ‘Secondary’ School Redefinition
Academic Year Definition, Length, Vacation Schedule & Daily Start Time
Self-Paced Flexible Packaged Courses
Many may think that Monetary Policy has nothing to do with career choices and the ultimate productivity of an individual over a lifetime, but I would like to emphasize the time-saving and stress-saving nature of this policy proposal. Without inflation, and without the need to run an ever faster ‘rat-race’ due to a debt-based monetary system, people, on average, would actually have more time to ponder and pursue their ultimate life goals. Also, less time would be needed to work to pay back interest on their personal loans as well as paying back interest costs (borne by other entities, like governments, etc.) that ultimately find their way to the end consumer.
2013 April 14
The Enemy-Industrial Complex:
How to Turn a World Lacking in Enemies into the Most Threatening Place in the Universe
Such large scale disconnects between the real world and policymakers and between policymakers and citizens arise largely because of faulty communications between these groups. Better communications would tend to result in better assessments of risk as well as tend to result in the best ideas naturally rising to the top of discussions. Several suggested policy changes could be applied to better the situation because this is such a fundamental but complicated problem. However, implementing the ones listed below would be a good start.
Public Policing of Published Materials
Government Funding of Elections
Election Systems (Single-Winner & Multi-Winner)
Government Sponsored Classes On Current World Events
2013 April 13
The Limits of Leading by Example
The only permanent solution is to create an international military organization that guarantee the security of all international boundaries of the signatory countries in exchange for their willingness to relinquish their sovereign right to offensive military weapons. All further territorial disputes would take place within the framework established by the treaty. Any country who wants to and who agree to certain fundamental principals would be allowed to sign. As the validity of such an arrangement becomes obvious, and as political attitudes become more tolerant of distinct people groups to form their own countries, more countries are bound to sign. With each additional signatory, the world becomes more secure, both because of the reduction of yet another country that would potentially cause and international conflict, but also because of the increased political and military strength of the alliance due to the increase in its membership.
2013 April 12
Mirage Across the Potomac: The Pentagon’s proposed spending and savings are both totally unrealistic
So much money could be saved by reducing potential threats through the use of enforced treaties by organizations that actually have enforcement teeth. The United Nations is impotent be cause it is based on the volunteering efforts of contributing states. Nations pooling their military resources would provide so much more security at a far lower cost. Each individual nation would need to spend less for an equivalent amount of security. This means that the Pentagon’s proposed spending cut would have been far less urgent because their total budget would have been much lower than it is now, if such a multi-lateral treaty-based military defense framework had been created.
2013 April 11
The Cuba Lobby
It is childish to not speak to a government just because we really don’t like its policies. There should always be diplomatic relations between all countries, regardless of the level of relations between them.
2013 April 10
Why the earthquake near Iran’s dated and unproven nuclear reactor at Bushehr should scare you
Nuclear Reactor Design Requirements
Reactors should be designed so that it is impossible to have a nuclear meltdown or any release of radioactivity that is not able to be cleaned up relatively quickly.
Near the end of this article it states that Iran might potentially refuse to pay for damages in neighboring countries due to a catastrophic radiation release. An international organization (with teeth) should be required to force such compensation. Absent such an organization, individual countries affected should be required to do whatever is necessary to gain such funds, like impose import tariffs on trade from Iran (including tariffs on Iranian products imported from 3rd countries), confiscate Iranian funds located within the offended country, etc.
2013 April 9
Tomgram: Barbara Garson, Going Underwater in the Long Recession
The increasing practice of purchasing things that were made overseas is one of the factors responsible for decreasing the living standards (discretionary income) of the average member of the population. The profits generated by such sales are transferred to foreign countries, so a net decrease in money remains within the local area. This means that people would generally tend to suffer a reduction in wages leading to a loss of a significant portion of their discretionary income (income which I would equate to the profit margin of labor). Thus, they would need to increase their discretionary income (profit margin) by doing more labor (holding more consecutive jobs, doing more odd jobs, etc.).
The availability of easy credit due to fractional reserve banking also contribute a lot to the competitive pressures in society. Easy credit means that, for example, 10 people could start a business selling the same things as opposed to perhaps 2 that would have been able to start such a business if credit were more difficult to attain (i.e., if bankers actually had to put up real money instead of the mostly fictitious money that they are allowed to create out of thin air).
Tax Trade Across Political Boundaries
To create a bit of inefficiencies in the global economy, taxes should be imposed at political boundaries, especially international ones. In a world that is too economically efficient, it is easy to see how just a few producers of a particular good or service would be able to garner the lion’s share of the market. If instead, the ‘cost of doing business’ is dependent, at least in part, on distance to the consumer, then local producers would be slightly favored. The inevitable result is that downward pressure on profit margins would be lessened a bit allowing people to better chance at earning a more decent living.
2013 April 8
Budget Calls for 4% Spending Increase at VA
Catastrophic Single-Payer; Mandatory Routine Visits
There should be no separate veterans healthcare infrastructure. Everybody should be included into the same pool of insured and should use the same healthcare infrastructures. Having a separate healthcare infrastructure for veterans would be equivalent to having a separate healthcare infrastructure for public employees or for those living below the poverty line. Just have one set of healthcare infrastructure that is accessible to everyone. The government could provide extra funding for services to veterans, if that’s what we want to do, but veterans don’t have enough unique types of healthcare needs that others in the general population don’t have. Yes, veteran populations may have certain medical issues at rates that are different than the general population, but essentially, they are all just medical issues.
2013 April 7
Dementia sufferers robbed of £100m: Callous conmen prey on elderly
Anybody with information about such crimes should get a hefty reward if they turn over such information to the police.
Costs of a Crime & Punitive Penalties
The actual value of the ‘stolen’ money is only part of the crime’s cost. Also included should be compensation for pain and suffering, court and investigative expenses, and, of course, a punitive multiple. This would mean that the actual penalty imposed would be up to several times the actual amount of money stolen. Any informant would be entitled to a certain percentage (determined by the courts, but perhaps 5-10%) of this larger figure.
Victims Get Compensated Immediately
Victims should be compensated immediately (within about 3 months by the government) for their actual losses, for the ‘pain and suffering’ they endured and victims should be awarded the punitive multiples associated with the crime. The criminals would then work to repay the government back for all the money the government had given the victim, with interest.
2013 April 6
Cracking Down On Offshore Tax Dodgers? Believe It When You See It.
Anybody who has information about any crime, and is either the first, or among the first to make authorities aware of it, they should be compensated, by the government, with a reward equivalent to a certain percentage of the total crime’s value, perhaps somewhere between 5 – 10%.
2013 April 5
Obama Budget to Include Cuts to Programs in Hopes of Deal
Healthcare Should Not Be a Federal Function
Although the US states are part of a federation, most powers should remain with the states, as was originally envisioned at the beginning of this nation. Healthcare and social security are functions which are not fundamentally federal in nature, as national defense would be. Thus, they should be left to the states. It could be very beneficial for a central government to set minimum standards and enforce them nationwide, but requiring the federal government to actually provide such services is not one of its functions. Healthcare and social security should not be federal functions.
Raising the retirement age would result in incredible savings.
The federal government should require the states to create and administer their own retirement and healthcare programs without compensation by the federal government. A person who has worked his entire life should have followed an approved government retirement savings plan. If this were to have been the case for the last several decades, this untouchable holy grail of national politics (entitlement programs) would not have existed.
2013 April 4
Peru implements law to calm mining, oil disputes
Although Peru is pretty well assimilated and does not contain many distinct groups of people that would qualify for independence under the terms of this proposal, the Quechua people are, perhaps, one exception. They, having a distinct language and present in large enough numbers, would qualify for an independent state. Of course, there are significant numbers of Quechua in neighboring countries that may need to be incorporated into an eventual Quechuan state, although links between these groups currently separated by international borders have been very significantly weakened over the decades and centuries. Anyway, giving the Quechuans an independent state would have reduced the need for passing such a law with intents to give the native people, whose land such resources often lie, more authority in its development because such resources would have lied only within the territories of an independent Quechan country.
2013 April 3
Online Higher Education Receives Support from Senate Bill 520, as reported by OnlineSchool.com
Self-Paced Flexible Packaged Courses
It should not make a difference as to where a student’s knowledge comes, whether from a public or private school. Government and educational regulations should be constructed in such a way that each are required to meet the same basic minimum standards. For a very simple example, in a course teaching single-digit addition, so long as a thorough explanation of the subject is taught, it should not matter whether the student learned it from a public or private school. The entire educational system should be constructed in a way that allows accredited equivalent courses to be transferable to any other educational institution offering the significantly similar course. This is only logical. There should not be an irrational assumption of the superiority of public versus private education courses.
2013 April 2
North Korea Vows to Restart Shuttered Nuclear Reactor That Can Make Bomb-Grade Plutonium
Having many nations be part of this comprehensive international military treaty would mean that events such as this blatant violation of the will of other nations wold likely not be able to occur because this international military organization would have the teeth to actually enforce it’s rules, though any means necessary, including binding military force.
Permit Purely Defensive Systems
Every country should have the right to autonomously design, create and distribute purely defensive weapon systems. Nuclear reactors, which have a dual-use capabilities, must be required to be available for spontaneous inspections by any inspectors from this international military organization.
2013 April 1
Lawmakers Tighten Belts Amid Automatic Budget Cuts
Government Spending & Financing
Many government agencies and departments should naturally experience proportional gains and decreases in their funding depending on the gains or decreases in overall government revenues. This would reduce the likelihood of overspending to the extend that would require artificial or sudden cuts such as this sequestration.