2013 March
2013 March 31
Veterans Fight Changes to Disability Payments
Veterans should be like any other employee, they should earn their fair wages while working, but then should not be entitled to anything more when they leave their employer.
2013 March 30
SAC Insider Trading Probe Deepens With Steinberg Charges
Tax Only Active Economic Activities
This would include imposing a sales tax every time a trade of a security/stock took place. This would dramatically reduce the amount of day trading, short-term trading and, to a lesser extent, even all trading in general. The frequency of insider trading would dramatically be reduced. In effect, more people would be forced to create something of real intrinsic value for a living, rather than merely creating greater liquidity in markets, which itself does not provide a whole lot of value. Too many people trading securities creates lots of liquidity, but also create lots of susceptibility to computer-automated triggered panics and potentially dangerous volatility fluctuations that could cause significant financial damage to many market participants. The potential to benefit from incrementally small moves in price also naturally lead to the temptation for market manipulations.
2013 March 29
YDS students experiment with giving up borders for Lent and other acts of “holy imagination”
Whenever a large enough group of people with the same interest are allowed to exist, it is natural that they will form an interest group with a certain amount of clout that will be harder to oppose. This is true regardless of the issue at hand. Illegal immigrants mainly from south of the border have been allowed to enter and exist without anywhere near appropriate levels of enforcement for the last half-century. It is currently estimated that around 12 million are residing here. Including relative who have been naturalized or born here, these illegal immigrants have a huge political interest group to represent their view that further border deregulation and even border elimination take place. Increasingly, the Catholic church and significant support from other religious groups have further skewed the logic of the debate.
The policies put forth in the Immigration & Citizenship chapter attempt to show how the ultimately more humane and longer-term solution would be to enforce the borders against illegal immigration and encourage such energetic youth to change their own native countries for the better.
2013 March 28
Let Them Go: Why John Brennan should give a passport and $10K to every Gitmo prisoner
Keeping these prisoners continues to be a fact that the Taliban uses to recruit new fighters against us. Letting them go would give them one less reason to attack us. Of course, they still have many other reasons to attack us, but that’s why it is more imperative to reduce their list of grievances against us.
Every distinct group, including the Taliban if they have enough numbers to qualify, deserve their own independent state. The international community should decide how to restrain such extreme ideologies so that other member states are not threatened.
2013 March 27
IRS Warns About ‘Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams
Ban Tax Deductions, Credits, Exemptions, Pre-Tax Money & Other Tax Tricks
Simplifying the tax code would result in easier to file tax returns or even, potentially, in no need to file annual tax returns. The need for people to seek professional help due would be dramatically reduced. Thus, the potential profit from such fraud would be reduced as well.
Costs Of a Crime & Punitive Penalties
Victims of a crime need to be made whole. And this would include compensation for ‘pain and suffering’ as well as any other costs involved. The stress of having one’s identity stolen or the stress of resolving one’s relationship with the IRS needs to be well compensated for.
Victims Get Compensated Immediately
Victims should not have to wait years before being compensated. Governments have the responsibility to prevent crimes. Governments should compensate victims when governments fail to prevent crime.
2013 March 26
Commuter Cycling Stays Flat in 2012
Bicycle Transportation Network
The best way to encourage people to get bicycles incorporated into their daily lives is to have a safe and comprehensive bicycle route network. If potential bicyclist perceive that it is too much of a hassle to worry about competing with motor traffic along bike routes or that traveling along bike routes is inconvenient (too much direct sunlight (sunburn) in summer, too many puddles or degraded, bumpy pavement, etc.), then people will naturally prefer to travel in motor vehicles.
For many trips, most people only need to carry themselves and maybe a small bag that could easily be accommodated on a bicycle rack or even worn by the rider. A system of public bicycles would add an additional benefit of not needing to worry about whether they even have a bike or even about the need of maintaining one. They would just be able to pick up a bike where ever they need one and drop it off where ever they are done with it. Like shopping carts, they would only need to return it to approved locations, which should be plentiful (as least one on every block) in a well-developed system.
Tax Only Active Economic Activity
Cars have long and various commodity chains, and a tax system like the one proposed here would result in significantly higher costs to both purchase and maintain them. This would be a very powerful incentive for people to migrate to bicycle transport.
Natural Environmental Harvest Tax
This tax would tend to further raise the costs of motor vehicle ownership because of the degree to which natural resources are used to construct and operate them. However, this tax would become a less effective restraint on use if recycled and alternative materials were used. Nevertheless, ‘fossil fuel’ use would continue to be impacted by this tax.
Perhaps a pollution tax could be imposed upon each of the various pollutants to increase the appeal of bicycle (human powered) transportation alternatives. Though it would appear that electrically-powered vehicles would escape such a tax, the cost of the electricity to the end consumer would have already reflected the internalization of such a pollution tax.
2013 March 24
Cyprus Makes Plan to Seize Portion of High-Level Deposits
Tax Only Active Economic Activity
It is wrong for any government to simply grab a portion of what a person owns. That should be illegal everywhere. That would amount to changing the rules in the middle of a game. It would be acceptable for the government to say that it would begin imposing a tax on whatever or raise an existing tax rate to whatever, but it can’t say, “I’ll take 20% of whatever you have currently in the bank.” That’s absurd!
The fairest way to raise revenues is to raise them on everyone, but using a progressive scale.
2013 March 23
Trayvon Martin: Hundreds Attend L.A. Rally for Slain Florida Teen
Public Policing of Published Information
So many details about this case are in dispute that a mechanism for slowing the spread of false details and intrinsically injecting a tendency for the accurate dissemination of information would go a long way towards resolving contested issues and mitigating social friction which give rise to a variety of undesirable behaviors which often last years and which may also often create their own vicious cycles of undesirable behavior, often morphing into subconscious, long-term, assumed prejudices between various population groups.
2013 March 22
Ashley Greene’s dog dies in fire that destroys ‘Twilight’ star’s West Hollywood …
Only Tax Active Economic Activity
This type of taxation principle would have potentially reduced the amount of materials
(including flammable) present in the apartment that contributed to the spread and intensity of the fire.
Natural Environmental Harvest Tax
This tax would have also potentially reduced the amount of combustible material inside the apartment that contributed to the spread and intensity of the fire.
2013 March 21
Pittsburgh lawsuit challenges UPMC’s tax status
Ban Tax Deductions, Credits, Exemptions, Pre-Tax Money & Other Tax Tricks
Included in the above proposal would be the elimination of the non-profit, tax-exempt status for all entities. This complicated the tax code and results in unfair advantages, especially for non-profits with borderline purposes (because non-profits use all the same infrastructures as all other economic organizations).
2013 March 20
Released From Prison: Climate Activist Tim DeChristopher On Civil Disobedience and Building Movements
Punishments Denominated Primarily In Terms of Money
The punishments for making false statements and interfering with the bidding process should never include prison time since these violations never even potentially could have resulted in anyone getting hurt. A monetary fine should have been the only form of punishment imposed. The two-fold benefits would have been a lower cost for the taxpayers who fund prisons and an actual financial income for the government as a result of such a fine.
2013 March 19
Why America Needed to Beat Itself Up a Little More Over the Iraq War
If Iraq would have been divided up into 3 independent countries during the colonial period with geographies roughly in accordance with their historic distinct population distributions (Kurds, Sunnis, Shiities), the task of taking out a leader and rebuilding a country would have likely been lower due to the reduced probability that one leader would have gained control of so much territory and resources to resist international pressures.
2013 March 18
No Books Were Cooked: Mistakes Were Made In the Lead-Up to the War In Iraq 10 Years Ago
If there were a properly constructed international military organization with proper jurisdictional authority given it, the probability that an Iraqi invasion would have been dramatically lower. Such organizations should not have certain nations with veto power (such as the UN Security Council currently possesses). Had the US not been so centrally involved in the UN’s disarmament and verification missions in Iraq for the decade before the 2003 invasion, it is likely that further progress would have been achieved, potentially leading to an acceptable solution, avoiding the need for a full-scale invasion. Furthermore, had the decision to invade been put forth democratically to representatives of this hypothetical international military organization, the likelihood of approval would have been dramatically lower.
2013 March 17
You Really Can’t Eat Just One, and Here’s the Reason
‘Salt Sugar Fat’ by Michael Moss
An essential element in the strategy to sway consumer behavior is to construct a proper tax structure that encourages the desired behavior. Imposing a specific tax on junk foods, also including specifically salt, sugar and fat, would go some way towards encouraging a lower consumption rate of these foods while encouraging a higher consumption rate of healthier foods.
2013 March 16
Oregon Company to Sell Drone Defense Technology to the Public
Information or Products Intended to Conceal or Aid Illegal Behavior
Using this drone defense technology to defend against any legitimate government surveillance use of drone should be a crime. Defending against use by unauthorized users should be allowed.
Widespread Use of Video Cameras in Public
The increased use of video cameras in public are a good thing for policing against the illegal behaviors of others. If it is shown that people are abusing these camera use rights (according to the courts) then this privilege should be taken away from that individual.
2013 March 15
The Doomsayers Are Wrong Again: Wall Street Isn’t Worried About the U.S. Debt
It’s sad to hear economic professionals stress the secondary effects of economic laws above their primary effects and how they lobby to get fundamental government policies to harness these secondary effects, forgetting that the primary effects, regardless of how much they are ignored, will inevitably reveal its dominance.
This article criticizes doomsayers who said in 2010 that due to the increase debt spending, interest rates would rise and that interest payments on the national debt would soon become unsustainable. In fact, interest rates have fallen from the already relatively low level of 3.3% in 2010 to a remarkably lower level of 1.9% in March 2013. The reasons given for such low interest rates were the results of profits from rapid development abroad (using the US to park funds), uncertainty in the global economy (using the US to park funds), and the Federal Reserve pumping new money into the markets and committing to do so for several more years (a fiat increase in the money supply). The author, Daniel Altman, then says that the markets likely believe that the debt will come down naturally when the economy recovers with increasing tax revenues being used to pay off debts.
The fundamental errors used to justify additional borrowing as many. First, relying on profits from the development of a finite supply of underdeveloped countries to keep interest rates low is very short term thinking. Such funds are volatile and are likely to eventually be entirely reinvested within/among developing countries due to their need for huge investments and their intrinsically higher interest rates. Second, relying on the current uncertainty in the global economic climate as a reason to engage in long-term borrowing now is foolish. Obviously, the global economic climate is very likely to change. Whether for the better or for the worse, it will negatively affect us. Third, having the Federal Reserve pump new money into the economy is the worst long term policy because it devalues the dollar (inflation) and causes everyone to pay interest on each on of these destructive dollars pumped in.
The worst fundamental law being ignored is the one about how fiat injections of currency without a concurrent increase in the amount of real goods in an economy will lead to inflation. This is just a truism, although it is not perfectly correlated. We could get away for a while, but it will eventually catch up with us.
Lastly, assuming significant debt repayments during economic expansions is just too unlikely due to extreme partisanship and a fundamental lack of the ability to govern for the good of the entire population rather than mere interest groups.
The point above talks about getting away from a debt-based money system in favor of a system designed exclusively for the public good. The potential savings on interest that would result from adopting these idea would save a staggering amount of money for everyone.
This proposal urges a balanced budget over the business cycle.
2013 March 14
The Democracy Boondoggle in Iraq
In most cases, perhaps the best and most natural way to change a country’s government or leadership style would be to do so passively through the use of tax and economic policies. Obviously, the more countries that join in with a similar view, the greater effectiveness that such policies would have. It has been rarely the case over the last 60 years that sudden, catastrophic transitions of government, especially through the use of force, and especially external force, ever result in a more prosperous, happier populous. More often than not, entire populations are forced to endure not just months, but years or even decades of poor living conditions, with utility and transportation network usually knocked out or otherwise unreliable, and with fighting resulting in a hellish amount of pain and suffering.
At times when threats are temporally near requiring the use of force, then economic sanctions should be used as a short-term measure until a more effective means of imposing that change by force is utilized. Sanctions are a very blunt instrument and usually hurt the common population the most, leaving the ruling class relatively so much better off that much of the effectiveness of such sanctions evaporate.
Aid for Poor, Undeveloped Countries
The best way to improve the living conditions of a population is to enable them to become functioning members of an economic community (giving them meaningful jobs). Jobs and a sense of self-worth will pacify a population enough to enable the generally slow process of education to work its magic with a population, rectifying other behaviors into ones that are sustainable and beneficial for the long-term.
Ensuring that the prices charged for products or services actually reflect all the true costs of such goods, then a fair system of economic exchange can function. Workers would get proper compensation for their labor, negative environmental externalities would be internalized and reflected in the price, ‘dumping’ and other unfair market practices would be prevented or severely punished, etc.
Having a debt-based system of money will inevitably result in the ever expanding portion of a population’s labor that is dedicated to merely servicing such debt, either directly through interest payments or indirectly through such forms as higher taxes, inflation, and reduced services.
2013 March 13
Tehran Tnking – Iran’s Popularity is the are Arab World is Way Done, but Sectarianism is on the rise.
This article again talks about sectarianism, and it’s widespread nature. It is unfortunate that so many high level people who really would like to do good in the world, are constrained by the titanic resistance forces imposed by the status quo. It appears that so many people just can’t seem to get past the initial costs as realize the long-term benefits of constructing a world in which every distinct people group have their own independent country. This would seem logical enough. So many of this world’s international political boundaries have been the result of haphazardly drawn lines on a ma, that it is no wonder that we are experiencing so many internal and international struggles.
The Shittes and the Sunni need to be separated and have their own countries. They are not compatible to live together longterm.
2013 March 12
Lesson of Iraq: How Not to Repair a Broken Pot
Although this article mainly focuses on the de-Baathification in Iraq and the dissolution of the Iraqi Army as the major errors that lead to Iraq’s long term, fundamental troubles, I think that both of these fundamental errors would not have been as significant as they were had there have been a policy from the beginning of breaking up Iraq into three independent states to accommodate each of its respective groups: Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds.
2013 March 11
Tomgram: Jeremiah Goulka, C-130 Math and a Cargo of Pork
Government Funding of Elections
Eliminating private election funding is probably the single best thing that can be done to decrease the level of corruption in US politics.
Equipment like this wouldn’t even need to be purchased by national governments if their was an international military organization that took over the responsibilities of national defense.
2013 March 10
How to Fight Chinese Cyber Attacks Without Starting a Cold War
Every country should have a pricing court that would be responsible for determining that fair price for products/services under dispute. There should even be an international pricing court. This way, when it is assumed or found that China has illegally gotten some piece of technology, then the goods or services generated and sold to the offended country should be charged import taxes sufficient to cover the damages and an additional amount as punitive penalties.
Business Relationship to the Environment
This is a no-brainer. Naturally, any economic activity cannot be described to be free and fair if any significant negative externalities remain unaccounted for. China has lots of negative externalities to incorporate into it product prices.
2013 March 9
How to Reform the Pentagon for “Light Footprint” Interventions
This trend towards a smaller, more agile military is the correct trend. The world is changing towards smaller and asymmetrical warfare. But the focus of this article which is to use light footprint military units to not just address various security and other problems in foreign lands, but also to keep them “in shape” for when such talent is needed for other more pressing purposes or during times of expanded warfare, should not be the correct policy.
Any time military force is necessary, it is as a result of policy failures that have occurred at some point(s) in the past. Light foot-print military operations are not different. Such operations are akin to trying to fly an airplane using only the trim rather than the full control surfaces. It’ll work in some cases and help in others but it won’t prevent or solve the underlying forces that give rise to the need for such military interventions. As a general rule, foreign military interventions, especially if they are long-term, will result in local rebellion or at least some significant resistance from the local population. People want to control their own affairs, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. There is no doubt that an incredible amount of talented people could do a lot of impressive work, and that a significant amount of such talent would be lost by not accepting this philosophy of the value of continuing or increasing the current level of small foot-print military intervention activities around the world, but a lot more bang for the buck could be obtained by addressing the root cause of such problems rather than by dealing with such problems through some kind of military force.
The most shocking thing said in this article, although it is true, is also repulsive. The author, Lujan, stated that “the most effective way to keep the most experienced leaders from leaving the military may not be by awarding bonus pay or special incentives, but by selecting the best and keeping those with the right aptitude and skills engaged in light-footprint missions overseas.” It is a scary thought to think that in order to keep a military in shape it must be kept engaged in warfare. I know he doesn’t mean starting or prolonging wars, but just wants to cycle these military professionals within the field and not have them rotate to desk jobs. Although Lujan is right, our goal should be to withdraw from military engagements, at any level, and instead work on the political level for resolution. All the effort spend on military efforts would be much better spent at the political level, with far larger and longer benefits.
Also, it should be an international military organization that should be conducting such light foot-print military mission, anyway. The would bring far more legitimacy to such operations.
Military, Defense & International Affairs
Virtually this entire chapter would minimize or eliminate all the major causes for warfare and the need for small foot-print military activities.
2013 March 8
Who’s Winning the Great Energy Rat Race?
China has now surpassed the US as the the world’s largest oil importer. Though this particular eclipse is just of statistical significance, it does reveal worrisome trends. The US consumes a lot of oil and it’s still increasing, and for another country to surpass us shows that we are depleting our reserves at an astonishing rate (as if that was news). The following policies could clearly curb domestic and international oil and other fossil fuel consumption.
Tax Only Active Economic Activity
This tax would inevitably result in at least slightly lower overall consumption. Higher purchase prices will result in lower demand. That is one of the most fundamental laws of economics. This type of tax is also one of the best contributors for environmental protection because it is precisely active economic activity that is responsible for the vast majority of environmental degradation.
Tax Trade Across Political Boundaries
Taxing the international shipment of goods would result in higher costs to the importers, thus causing a reduction in demand in those importing countries. The fuel that would have been necessary to make and ship the difference would never be used.
Taxing every unit of pollution would make it more expensive to produce goods, and increase the probability that producers would internalize these pollution costs, often by switching to cleaner forms of energy.
Natural Environmental Harvest Tax
Imposing a tax on extractions from the natural environment would result in a greater incentive to use recycled materials or other alternatives than virgin sources.
2013 March 7
Gentle Giant
India’s military expenditures as a percentage of GDP is currently around 2.5%. Becoming a member of the international military organization as I have planned would require a military tax on India of only 1.75%. Why this significantly lower cost? Because the economies of scale and efficiencies associated with the elimination of redundancies would save lots of money. Airplanes, ships, etc, could all be jointly owned by all member states within this organization.
2013 March 6
Speak Softly and Let Others Carry the Big Stick
The Tutsi and Hutu people groups within Rwanda should have their own separate independent countries. Their has been a clear history of distinction between these two groups of people over the past few generations. The degree of hate has risen to the level that independence for each group is justified. It’s important to note that practices during the colonial period contributed to the current levels of hate between these two groups.
An international military organization is the proper way for external powers to intervene within an independent state. However, absent such an organization, it is clearly valid and often beneficial to have various states to intervene directly within other states. Importantly, the international military organization must be designed correctly for efficiency and effective enforcement of international rules. In other words, any voluntary donation of funds, troops, etc., by member states would not work. Although all actions would be approved through majority or super-majority votes of all member states, an effective military organization must work independently of individual member state objections.
2013 March 5
The Exoneration of Bob Menendez?
Even the women who agreed to falsely accuse Bob Menendez would have been able to benefit from turning over this information over to police. Of course, they would still have been punished far more than they would have gained by telling police, but at least they wouldn’t have borne the entire, unmitigated punishment.
It is likely that someone else who knew the truth would have come forward and disclosed this fact to the police sooner, had this policy of compensating informants been widely known throughout society.
2013 March 4
Extremely Loud: We Have Drowned Out the Natural Soundscape
All of the suggestions listed in this Noise Pollution section would dramatically reduce the amount of noise suffered by everyone by regulating aircraft, car alarms, horns, vehicle operation noise, and more.
Mass Transportation System Infrastructure
The most comprehensive noise reduction would result from the implementation of a comprehensive mass transportation system as described here. A monorail system would be the cheapest, quietest, and quickest to design, build and maintain. A comprehensive mass transportation system would dramatically relieve the pressure on conventional, independent vehicular transportation systems thus reduce not only the noise associated with them, but also result in a population that is less stressed due to the reduce traffic, and less likely to honk their horns.
It’s amazing how far you could go on a bike while hardly making any noise. In the early morning, you definitely appreciate how little noise bikes make in comparison with cars. The tires of cars slapping the pavement is perhaps that greatest source of noise due to vehicles in urban areas. Bicycle tires don’t make any significant noise.
2013 March 3
Dalit Girls’ Rape, Murder Rock Rajya Sabha
If people knew that informants could earn a lot of money turning over information/evidence to the police, not only would crime naturally be reduced because of the fear that would be instilled in criminals, but many more crimes would be solved much sooner. This article says that many people know who the rapists/murderers are, but no one wants to come forward. They are not coming forward because of potential retribution from the criminals themselves or because of the social stigma they would suffer if they did come forward. But there are always some brave individuals who would be willing to take that risk. Once a few cases are solved because of these few brave individuals, and once the public sees that they are not only doing a huge public service, but are getting good compensation as a result, everyone will want to do their part to better society and get some potentially good income as well.
These sex offenders would never be able to rape again if this policy were in place.
The murderers would be castrated and given the death penalty but would required to pay for all economic losses to the victim (including future losses, even to the families) as well as be required to compensate for ‘pain and suffering’. For those who participated in the rape but did not commit the murders, they would be castrated and likely spend much of the rest of their lives either in or out of jail, but working to repay the victim/family for the crime. The fact that the girls were killed should not enable any reduction in the penalties/fines. There must be some financial estimate or flat penalty imposed for the murder of an individual so that the criminal could have a goal to work towards repayment.
Victims Get Compensated Immediately
These rape victims (and/or families) should be compensated immediately by the government (within about 3 months) since it is the government’s responsibility to ensure peace and order in areas under its control.
Criminals Paying for Their Crimes
A crime committed within a government’s jurisdiction represents the failure of that government to prevent it. The government should compensate the victims immediately and then should go after the criminals to get repaid.
2013 March 2
Jim Clyburn: Antonin Scalia Rejects Voting Rights Act Because He’s ‘White and Proud’
Voting Age, Eligibility, Registration & Identification
Verifying every voter’s name and address is a necessary task but requiring documentation of each voter for this purpose would mean too much paperwork and the logistics and inconvenience of such a task would make it impractical and frustrating. An alternative method of ensuring that only eligible voters vote would be to inform voters that their current names and addresses on file with that precinct will be assumed to be correct otherwise heavy financial penalties will be levied.
In reading the actual description of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, it is not clear what all the fuss is about. It appears logical to leave the function of verifying voter qualifications or prerequisite eligibility criteria to the states rather than to the federal government. This should be a state function, not a federal one.
Voting Procedures and Instructions
Every citizen should vote. However not everyone wants to vote and they shouldn’t be encouraged to vote just because it is their right. Only after people are encouraged to learn about the issues should they be encouraged to vote. It is hoped that people who don’t care enough about voting will not vote. Another benefit is that this subset of the population is likely to contain a higher percentage of people who have questionable voting eligibility, thus reducing the verification workload.
2013 March 1
Manning Plea Statement: Americans Had a Right to Know ‘True Cost of War’
Much of the information disclosed by Manning was information that proved valuable because it publicized illegal and/or immoral activities that would likely have remain hidden from the public for too long. However, perhaps not everything released by him could be justified. As leaked elements become known, punishments, if any, would be determined on a case by case basis.