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azaleahs

User Profile Image azaleahs
Member since : May-25-2009 (Verified)
44 Ideas, 92 Comments, 105 Votes

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Ideas Posted

Instead of each individual getting health insurance how about the Clinics, Doctors and Hospitals etc. getting insurance that pays for healthcare and every American pay their fair share of that overall cost.
Sometimes you've just got to blow off steam and complain to the boss.

But first they want me to fill out this form and by the time I'm done I'm lucky if I can remember my own mothers name let alone what I wanted to complain about.

For starters though I should be able to fill out your form once and then have the system remember me when I plug in my name and email address.

The subject line asks me if I have a policy question or just a comment that doesn't need a reply. And I would say that I don't want to relegate what I say to something not needing a reply what I'd rather is that if you can do something reply and if you cant don't.
A special branch of the military that travels all over the world to provide emergency medical care to the poor in countries where other providers like the red cross have problems operating because its so dangerous.
The purpose of this group is at least twofold. 1. to provide a reason for our military presence where it might otherwise be unwelcome. 2. To help sustain a population of locals who feel good about the USA but are otherwise a burden upon the local economy (and might become the local dissidents of the future).
I propose that there be an unsubscribe button next to the subscribe one so that by clicking it and entering your email you can easily unsubscribe to this site. You can always come back and subscribe again at a later date if you want.
An emergency high speed wireless frequency that all computers would be given access to for emergency communication and access to emergency web pages, weather reports and more via your laptop computer.

In an emergency whether its a hurricane, tornado or whatever else emergency vehicles would be equipped to boost the signal even in places where normal communication towers were destroyed.

A resident could receive weather reports and have access to special web pages that would have links to even more information. Even if you were buried in the rubble you might potentially be able to email your rescuers.

Lists of rescued people would exist linked to you tube type films of each so if you were missing a family member you could still look up their name and verify by looking at the film it was them.
Looking through the ideas there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to why something is voted against. I think it could be very important to discover why someone doesn't like a particular idea.
I hear politicians on the right say "nothing the government does operates at a profit" which they get away with because people don't see the cost savings.

Check out this article on the cost and the cost savings from mass transit from June 2, 2009;
http://fastlane.dot.gov/

If more stories like this with cost savings statistics were available on the internet it would give us something easily available to refute the argument that the government operates at a loss all the time.
Basicly I'm suggesting that a cell modum would be provided that would give you access to emergency sites, government sites and 911 only.

You could hand them out during national emergencies but they would provide access to anyone whether they had high speed access at home or not.

They would be available at Stores everywhere for a nominal sum but I imagine anyone who wished emergency access especially when power lines (and cable) were down could use them.
#1 I can think of is if I could plug it into my keyboard and save the phone list. Every time I get a new phone I have to redo the phone list.
#2 improvement would be to allow me to use my computer keyboard to text on.

So if I plugged my cell phone into my computer and maybe it showed an external hard drive. All I'd have to do is drag and drop from cell phone to computer and back.

Some people may not see this as important but the ability to receive data via text message and later play with it on my laptop (and save my phone list on my laptop for the next time I drop my cell phone in a puddle) is priceless.
A simple text message might request census data that would easily be sent as a prepared text message (sort of a copy and paste thing).

A text message is more easily handled. It can be sent even if your in a dead area (the message actually sent when you move into a better transmission area and received the same way) you don't get put on hold, and when they have time your phone beeps and there's the info. Charming.
Provide, on a site like this one, a list of government offices that have forms to fill out online. Then ask people to fill out the forms and critique the forms and ease of filling them out.
I'd like to brainstorm this but;

for me it would be easier to keep my kids in college if I didn't have to puzzle out the forms and if funding was available so I don't have to take money from retirement and use it for education.

But I believe its even more important to find ways to motivate kids to stay in school.

How about an allowance provided for children that remain in school that they lose when they drop out.
If your idea is submitted 5 minutes before the brainstorming process ends it may not receive enough votes to be considered even if its a fantastic idea.

How about brainstorming first, then a voting period with consideration of the ideas, then discussion of the top suggestions followed by implementation.
Usually if you reduce spending and come in under budget they reduce the allowance you get the next year making it harder to stay within the budget.
Not for the boss but for the employees.

set the amount of the bonus as a percentage of the amount under budget.

I had a manager who didn't order supplies for an entire quarter and they gave her a promotion for it. The next manager had to order all those supplies and got in trouble for going over budget. That kind of foolery shouldn't be allowed.
Recycling should change the material to a benefit to mankind not a danger.

So using spent Uranium on the battlefield doesn't count.

Turn the idea over to MIT and others.

Offer a million dollar reward (or even a billion) to the scientist who comes up with a solution to turn all nuclear waste into a benefit by recycling it inexpensively.

While your at it offer another million to the scientist who discovers a way of cheaply removing carbon from the atmosphere without pumping it into caverns.
Many bus companies provide half fare cards for disabled and elderly but require you to fill out a bunch of paperwork (which I cant do with my disability) or through social security (who knows nothing of my disability because I was federal and don't get social security.

I suggest instead that the the elderly or disabled should automatically receive such things when they first start to receive disability retirement or maybe there should be someone who can expedite the process.
You may notice that my ideas are shorter and more to the point of many others. Its because I'm mostly only using two fingers and still making lots of typos that I have to go back and fix.

So understand that when I suggest that it would be nice to be able to send text messages by voice (as I suggest in a different idea), its from the perspective of someone who has a fair amount of difficulty.

Computers allow us to provide translations of documents into other languages easily for those that may speak english but understand another language better, they should also make it easier for everyone no matter what their disability to interact with their government more efficiently.

There should also be a simplification process. I'm not sure how this could be done but if you were reading a document in complicated legal language and couldn't understand it you might click a reostat in the menu that somehow simplifies what your reading. Keep on clicking and it becomes simpler and easier to understand.
First I have to tell you a story.

Several years ago I retired from the Federal Government (sorry, I wont tell you what I did) and within a short time my monthly check stopped coming. I called and called but would be put on hold and never got through. I called up my Senators office and told a staffer. The very next day I got a call from the retirement office to tell me that the problem was solved and I'd get my check within a few days. A staffer had travelled across Washington and had that office call me and sort it out. I was charmed at this proof of Government working. Recently there was another problem but this time it wasn't resolved, different Senator.

My suggestion is an email address that anyone can contact that will expedite conflicts similar to my story above.
The Rail freight companies say they can transport a ton of freight a hundred miles for one dollar. I imagine its not that cheap to transport people but still probably a lot cheaper than it does cost.

If I drive to NYC, 150 miles in a car that gets 30 mpg when gas is $2.00 a gallon it costs me around ten dollars for gas. I think the rail fare for that same distance should be around ten dollars as well.
If you could talk to your phone and have it send a text message you could access data without being put on hold.

The resulting information could be texted back to your blackberry and saved.

You could send text messages much quicker, even if you have a fingering disability.

A library could receive a line of text messages and originate answers in text easily as well.

Combined with the fact that many cell phone companies provide unlimited texting for a real small amount of money and you can see it should have been done long ago.
In the Town of New Scotland there is a lot of contention at the moment over a large shopping center locating in the area. Many wish to limit the size of such structures. Some talk about the increase in taxes that will be incurred by larger roads to serve the shopping area. The idea I liked was for the shopping center to locate itself on the old D&H railway right of way and establish light rail connecting outlying communities to Albany. The shopping center could have their own station and people wishing to visit could park anywhere along the right of way and catch the train to the shopping maul for free. The cost to the taxpayer would be less in the long run and there would be many other advantages to the locals and business.
could submit their application by getting involved in a special forum (similar to this perhaps?) that would ask them to prove themselves first by producing on a volunteer basis. Commission might even be involved.

I've always liked the idea of commission pay in government jobs. If you don't produce you just get minimum wage but those that produce get a commission that raises their pay substantially. Potentially, such a job could start right here with someone providing ideas for free. If they stand out from the crowd there would be a security check on them before any invitation and if they failed the security check they just wouldn't be invited to the next level.
When someone makes a suggestion the moderator gets to categorize it. The brainstormer of course gets a link to the suggestion and can appeal its placement.

It could prove interesting to see where some of these ideas go. I know I get ideas constantly that I lose just as fast that could potentially result in cost savings to someone. It would be neat if my ideas weren't wasted.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 4205 Ideas
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Comments Posted

azaleahs 8 months ago
Men created governments to guarantee them certain rights. You have the right to be conceived and then to die and those are the only rights you have unless some force backs it up and that force has to be formulated as law. The Bible has laws that guarantee rights and religion is a type of government that threatens you with damnation if you don't follow those laws. There are other kinds of governments as well that grant you rights. Without those laws we're back to my second sentence, thats all you got.
azaleahs 8 months ago
And so the poor in some states are illiterate and not in others. Talk about guaranteeing the peasants stay peasants. If you cant read can you even get in the military? The military was the one place where you could change your social class but you had to start with a decent lower education first. If you don't provide a decent education through twelfth grade people who have been born poor will most likely remain poor because the vast majority of jobs that pay higher require literacy and reading comprehension.
The federal government can provide funds elsewhere though. Say, by providing a state funds for transportation on a par with what the state pays for education.
azaleahs 8 months ago
tsiya: An inalienable right is an allowed right. If its not allowed then its not a right. The point of my statement was I'd like to see that your carrying a gun. IIf you carry it concealed I cant tell. Therefore it should be unconcealed.

And the only inalienable rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Shall not be infringed is a statement indicating its a right granted by the constitution. An inalienable right is something your born with.

And of course progressives are interested in a free country. Freedom from hunger, freedom from the fear that the guy with the gun on his hip is going to shoot you in the back, freedom from having to sleep on the street. These are freedoms that presumably are guaranteed by the statement in the bill of rights that says just because its not listed here doesn't mean its not a right.

How about the freedom to determine who will have a gun in your own home or business. I may not want people in my place of business who are carrying guns.
azaleahs 9 months ago
We already have a shortage of teachers.

Most of the teachers I know have spent only a small amount of every day in the class room. The rest of the time was spent "in the real world" trying to support themselves while working to get a high enough GPA to get their degree.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Or they shoot an innocent bystander (and I always try to be one of those).

I think that the states had best reconsider. If your going to allow people to carry a gun, I'd rather see it carried openly. And the police would have the right to arrest anyone who was carrying concealed unless they had a special permit. And I'd be very careful about issuing those. And if someone came into your place of business carrying a gun you could ask them to leave or check the gun. You could have a detector on your door that would detect a weapon.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I guess so. Its sort of hard to understand what you write when its all capitals though.

What I want is to be able to get health care for me, my friends and my family without breaking the bank.

I don't care about the big words (or the capitals).

Now, granted, I think the solution is to take the insurance companies out of the equation, something that certainly wont happen because this is a capitalist country. The guy with the most money to spend on advertising and getting his message out wins the election.

The insurance companies and other interested parties will be the ones who determine what kind of health care we receive. The politicians will be blamed or will take credit depending on what they wanted or how they are perceived but the determining factor will be money.

Those people who think otherwise are wrong. It may not always be easy to "follow the money" but money is the only determining factor in a country that sees anything else other than capitalism as being a loss of freedom.

In the United States you are only free if you have the money to pay for it. If you have no money you have no freedom from hunger, no health care unless there's a "socialist program" available, you probably have the freedom to live in the streets or the freedom to be a vagrant, but you certainly wont have the freedom to get a job unless another "socialist program" helps by giving you a place to stay, clean clothes to wear, an official mailing address to declare on your employment application. You also wont have the freedom to travel to other locations seeking a job that will support your family. In our country as long as you have money your free and if you don't you aren't.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Well ....... obviously some of us do. In a basically capitalist country like ours you can support who you want by giving them money. Those without money have to wait until there's an election.

Then there are those who believe in the violent overthrow of the government. Of course they all think they'll be the ones in charge when its all over.
azaleahs 9 months ago
See, there you go, jumping to conclusions again. I don't live in a big city. I've carried a gun most of my life. I'm smart enough to realize that the second amendment gives us the right to bear arms not the right to carry them concealed. And its always easier to suggest that the opposition doesn't know what their talking about instead of actually debating and actually considering that the other guy may actually have a point. As long as both sides treat the other with the lack of respect you treated me with neither side will win anything other than the support of those that already support you whether your right or wrong.
azaleahs 9 months ago
If the US government were as bad as some of these petty revolutionaries have indicated they'd do as Sadam did and use nerve gas or biological weapons against the people. Our guns wouldn't amount to a hill of beans against what they could bring against us. And if these people actually didn't trust the government, who in their right minds would sign up for this forum and then speak in such a fashion as they do here. Its pretty obvious that they either weren't born into the real world or they have absolute trust in the forbearance of the US government. In which case their just talking through their hats.
And in response to the person who said "what Iran would be like right now if they all had guns" anybody in Iran or Iraq who wants a gun can get one. Check out Iraq and Afghanistan. There are guns everywhere. But in a society where anyone can have a gun, central authority is week and law enforcement practically nonexistent might makes right and justice has nothing to do with it.
The only way your right to bear arms makes a difference is it allows you to stand up against others who also have guns. In an area where law enforcement is week this is a blessing but in a country such as ours where the criminals have lots of money and can buy superior armaments it just makes the homeowner and his pistol and rifle; gun fodder. The only people who can then stand up to the rich criminals with their superior armaments are the military who also carry those weapons and the only way they have of telling the difference between the civilians and the criminals are the presence of the guns, the loot or the drugs.
In the time when the US was in its infancy there wasn't a lot of difference between one soldier carrying his rifle and one civilian carrying his rifle but today its all about maximum firepower and one guy may carry enough firepower to kill the entire regiment facing him each with individual rifles.
The people who wrote the constitution had no way of knowing what sort of weaponry would exist 200 years later. They might have written the second amendment differently if they had.
My own suggestion is that there be a draft into the National Guard. Every man or woman, girl or boy gets drafted upon finishing their education. They don't have to serve with a gun in their hands but they do have to go through basic training. I'd be a lot happier with some of these people who carry guns if I knew they had gone through the training. Then I'd say no concealed weapons. And you have to check your gun in a hospital, school, old peoples home, bar etc. Put a detector on the door and if they don't want to check their gun they cant go in.
azaleahs 9 months ago
On Dr Michael Edes web blog he compares many of the artificial sweeteners and he points out the fact that aspartame breaks down when exposed to heat and that all diet sodas are stored unrefrigerated. He goes on to suggest that splenda is probably the safest low cal sweetener at this time. I have only found one low cal soda that uses it in my area made by adirondack beverage company.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Does the caps lock indicate your shouting or something like that.
Its always easiest to decide that everybody who disagrees with you is corrupt but then again, maybe its just that they think your wrong.
Deciding everybody is corrupt who disagrees with you is similar to the guy who says everybody other than himself is insane.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Its amazing. Does anybody read beyond the title of the comment or maybe the first few words. The comments here indicate they don't.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Although I don't necessarily agree that we "have to be nice to it" I can agree that a forum that allows us to submit our own ideas is not one to be wasted with rabble rousing. There are other places for that.

And everybody should remember that if one ignores the rules of the forum and keeps pounding away at things that aren't supposed to be in the discussion your writing spam.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Strangetruth has indicated that Vattel defined Natural born citizen as someone who's parents were citizens. kandis1105 says that the definition is from a book "The Law of Nations" presumably predating the existence of the USA that also defines a natural born citizen as being someone who inherits their citizenship from their parents. As many American Presidents' parents were not American citizens I suspect that though there was a great deal of discussion of what it required to run for President parents who were citizens of The USA probably wasn't one of them. I'd say this one requires a decision from the supreme court. If you cant get one I don't think your idea has a leg to stand on.
azaleahs 9 months ago
So George Washington wasn't a Natural Born citizen because he was born a British subject of parents who were British subjects? So he couldn't run for President?
azaleahs 9 months ago
The problem is that to many people who are very loud and easy to hear believe that a public health care system is creeping socialism which it is of course. But we need health care and the plans that aren't socialism screw the middle class and poor so what's left?
azaleahs 9 months ago
I have the same insurance as any government employee does and you might think its great in comparison to some policies but its pretty much like all the others. In November each year is open season. All that means is that a number of health insurance plans freely misrepresent themselves so that I can choose the best one between them. As always, people with pre-existing conditions are better off keeping the plan they already have and the co-pay of each on top of thousands you actually pay for the plan is sure to keep you from preventative health measures.
The government plan isn't any better than what most other people already have unless you don't have healthcare.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Note the word Strategic. Strategic means an elaborate and systematic plan of action usually over the long term. In this case the strategy is intent on a long term military objective. It helps us maintain a military presence in places where it may be difficult to maintain any other kind. Of course we wouldn't be telling them of our intent. No doubt the military have quite a few of these in the world but probably not with military medical personnel acting in what appears to be an altruistic fashion. These groups would be heavily armed of course.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I always get a kick out of the reactionaries who over react every time. No we don't have that now. Note: the reason to do this is to develop a dissident population that may in time overthrow the current government. It also provides an extremely visible presence for black ops types this is of strategic importance not for the purpose of getting them to like us. They'll never do that. Note Iraq. The previous government would regularly kill off the majority of the people we would be helping. And when we attacked Iraq those same people were on our side. Yes such an organization might do some good in the world as far as do-gooders are concerned but its their presence as a strategic resource that makes them so important.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Actually its very clear what spam is. This site is asking for something specific; an original idea. If its not original its spam, if its not an original idea its spam. I think what you have written is not original and its not specifically an idea of yours.
azaleahs 9 months ago
This on the other hand is SPAM
azaleahs 9 months ago
Its Chaves by the way. It will be interesting to see what happens in Venezuela. He's a strong proponent of democracy so presumably if his handling of things turn out badly he'll be replaced. As far as that quote goes it sounds a bit "tongue in cheek" to me. And seeing our government changes every 8 years thats a bit of a stretch for Putin to suggest that. When you have a multi party system or at least an opposition party to your own party you'd best not count your chickens to soon. Rush can say some pretty outrageous things to, but I'm not likely to believe half of that either.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Don't be ridiculous. No such thing as beginning. Every President has the option to either do the job or to use the first 4 years to run for the next 4. Obama is doing the job. If you do your job the best you can, thats what's important not an additional 4 years. If he gets us out of the recession, if he gets us out of Iraq, if he gets universal health care, if he builds an energy policy based on renewable fuels, and if he simplifies the FAFSA and enables students to get a college education without the huge student loans that have always been associated with it in the past. If he does all this in the first year of his 4 year term so that he can run for reelection during the last 3 years while pointing out that he has fulfilled all his campaign promises he win another 4 year term. But it doesn't matter if he does. If he accomplishes those things he'll have done more than most Presidents do inn 8 years.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Actually this isn't Obama's site. It belongs to the National Academy of Public Administration. As far as the web sites as a whole its one of his campaign promises. So far Obama is keeping all his campaign promises. And people seem to object that he's doing that rather than what most Presidents do which is to run for the next 4 years.
I believe that Obama planned all along to be a single term President because no President has ever had so much to do (and done it) and also managed to be reelected. Besides who would want to be President with all this stuff going down.
If he manages to reduce the cost of health care, get us out of recession and successfully transition from Iraq to Afghanistan he'll have succeeded in doing more in 4 years than most do in 8.
Finally, everybody lies, including you or at least the people you believe. Thats politics. All Obama has to do is fulfill his campaign promises and he has then fulfilled his obligation to the people who elected him.
On top of that he has to try to get us out of recession, something no one has been able to do in the US without being labeled a socialist even when its not so. Ask the Socialists if they think Obama is a socialist and they'll tell you he's not. And if you believe only in capitalist programs and no social programs you believe in a corporate republic where only the ceo's of successful corporation have the vote
azaleahs 9 months ago
So what's to keep the spanish majority some period of time in the future from changing the "official" language to spanish.
I think that if documents were posted on the internet you could easily get a translation from the english original, no problem.
The reason to do that would be that someday the shoe might be on the other foot and we english speakers will want the translation.
azaleahs 9 months ago
He cant cap anyones salary unless they take tax money. He can say CEO's have to keep their salary under this amount or no money. Obviously Union leaders etc aren't taking loans or investment from the gov't so he has no say with them. This has nothing to do with socialism and everything to do with an agreement between two parties. If you do this you can borrow that. Banks do it all the time and never get accused of socialism.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I can see it now.

The Prez is on a United Airlines passenger jet when suddenly;

the enemy attacks and the Pres has to give permission for a reply and oops! Gotta return to the white house, had to leave the button there with the other ten thousand pounds of stuff that they couldn't fit on a United Airlines flight.

or

one of the other passengers attempts to assassinate the Prez and oops had to leave the secret service behind......

or any of a million other scenarios.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Just remember that in another 5 years when spanish speaking people have the majority they may decide to designate spanish as the official language. Instead legislate against declaring an official language ever, to avoid having to learn spanish in 5 years.
azaleahs 9 months ago
There is an obligation inherent to the Presidency that allows security personnel a reasonable amount of control over the planning of a Presidents travel.

Often enough when a President doesn't allow his security team that control, the bodyguards are the ones who suffer the consequences and have to "take one" for the President.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I dont know where your getting your information but there is obvious proof that the post office isn't in the red. All their operations are paid for by postage. When they need money they raise their rates. Nothing they do is paid for by taxes. Thats all public information and easily obtained.

As far as AMTRAK is concerned thats also easily obtainable from the transportation department who pays an independent auditing company to check their books. With AMTRAK of course there will be red ink because congress and in some cases the state legislatures of some sections can deny funding. But the savings the approval of that funding provides is also in the transportation department and has been independently supported.
Oh by the way there is no Post Master General anymore. There is a General manager. And he is paid a civil service salary that is set and can be looked up and guess what he doesn't get a bonus so you should check your facts, not me.
azaleahs 9 months ago
The post office has been independent of the government since 1970 and runs quite well except for the fact that they have to deliver political mail for nothing. Think about how any private business might be impacted by mandates set by the previous owners.OH, and the other problem is that they are required to deliver mail to any approved mail receptacle more than a quarter mile from a post office. None of their competitors have to do that.
And we do own the stock. If GM does well (similar to chrysler that the us taxpayer helped out of a bind) the stock will be sold and that money will be returned to the treasury. Every time the US does this more money is returned to the treasury than is originally paid out.
And Amtrack works really well too, saving the government 50 billion for every 20 billion spent on it. Most people just hear about the subsidy because the lobbyists who are against Amtrack wont tell about how much would be spent without Amtrack.
Go work for Amtrack or the Post office sometime if you want to see. Oh, there are people who don't do their jobs just as their are others who to do more to make up for those who don't.
azaleahs 9 months ago
The problem with any national non partisan group you care to mention is that I didn't elect them. If I dont like the job Obama has done in 4 years at least I can choose not to vote for him. And the fast tracking is going on because there is so much to do and experience indicates that not much will get past congress after the first year.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Absolutely. Truth in labeling. Let the consumer decide if they want to consume it with full knowledge of what's inside.
azaleahs 9 months ago
The government isn't running it. The taxpayers are stockholders in GM. On top of that the government has agreed not to vote the stock as long as GM abides by the agreement it has signed. Certainly nothing that other car companies haven't agreed to do.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Get rid of the electoral college and within another 50 years when the populations of 10 key states will exceed all the others several times over those 10 states will dictate policy by determining who the next President will be.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Finally, the US budget is designed to be able to spend more than it has for a reason. War for one. In WWII we spent a lot more than we had and if we had been limited to a balanced budget we'd not be here today. Everybody knows that and thats why I used it as an example. But there are other circumstances in which you might want to deficit spend where the average citizen might disagree.

When it comes right down to it, if everyone in this country voted during an election, and if all legislation was transparent and easy to understand, representatives in government would be very careful about voting for irresponsible legislation because they would worry about losing their job. But as long as less than 50% of the electorate votes and so many of them fall for the stupidest propaganda around, the bad guys will continue to be confident inn their ability to pull the wool over your eyes and anyone who loses their job has a fifty fifty chance of not having done what everybody thought he'd done.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Its hard to figure out the specific dollar amount when you have to also figure in how you'll pay without the expenditure. Mass transit throughout the US. Many are turned off by the 14 billion dollars the US spends subsidizing mass transit without noticing the 80 billion in savings due to decreased congestion, decreased accidents, reduced road maintenance etc.
azaleahs 9 months ago
First you should remember that you are a special interest. There might be a piece of pork you want to see passed. All that pork is is a public works project that benefits a single region of the country. It could be a hydro electric dam that will provide you the electricity you need for the foreseeable future. But no matter how positive such a project is there are many who don't want it but they ant their own pet project instead. So pork isn't necessarily bad as long as its not disguised as a bridge to nowhere.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Of course it is, and no doubt politically motivated. But its a pretty good hoax as such things go.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Hawaii is paperless. The only birth certificate Hawaii issues is an electronic document and it is in all ways completely legal.

Your Birth certificate is different in many states but each one is completely legal to determine citizenship and natural birth.

Then there are those who weren't born in a hospital and had no attending Physician. How do you prove they were born? If they ever need to get a drivers License they'll probably have to present something produced by a county clerk and a notary.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Obviously its government that benefits the most through a reduction in necessary highway maintenance, a reduction in car accidents and other related savings (check out DOT statistics on yearly savings from paying the subsidy on mass transit). Its a good business model for those who have to pay those alternative costs now (which is the tax payer).
azaleahs 9 months ago
Actually, the moment you do, the possibility that someone could turn around and legislate another language as "THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE" becomes a possibility. If you fight to guarantee your rights including freedom of speech, freedom of the press etc. and make sure that anything that needs to be translated is available for translation on the internet that will insure that the english language remains a force to be recognized in this country.

Although I must admit that its a little disconcerting when you discover that only in America do so many people live who cant speak the languages of their immediate neighbors.

Some countries the regular man in the street speak as many as five languages fluently. Maybe we're just lazy.

However if you want to do your utmost to have a national language other than english within fifty years go ahead and insist that english be made the national language. If you look at the number of Americans of Spanish descent who's ancestors immigrated here from Spain, Mexico, South America and Cuba, they are going to have the majority in only a few more years. If you attempt to restrict their cultural identity by legislating english as a national language inn a few more years they may do the same to you.

No, I think that would be a big mistake. We're better off by supporting the US core values which include an individuals right to your own cultural identity, freedom of expression, religion, speech and the press. The declaration of a national language could easily be taken as an infringement on those rights and help create a political organization to take away our rights.
azaleahs 9 months ago
What was that thing I read, it went something like; I suppose we'll never know the truth. And then the answer was something like; you've been told the truth, you just wont believe it.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Absolutely! And so should all reasonable Americans in good mental health. To believe otherwise is to prove oneself hopelessly paranoid. There were thousands of people involved in the investigation. Those who are not paranoid and still provide verbal or written support of these stories are reaping political capital from continuing to promote it. I imagine the President has asked his advisors as to what he should do and they've told him too ignore it.
azaleahs 9 months ago
There was a joke in the 1960's about three people sitting down to plot a revolution. One's a fool and the other two are police spies. The President has submitted his short form for public scrutiny, the long form is in the hands of the FBI. There are so many people involved in the initial investigation of Presidential candidates that if the investigation hadn't been completely legit 50 FBI agents would already have squealed to the press.
azaleahs 9 months ago
As I understand US security precautions every potential President of the United States is checked out by CIA, FBI, etc before he can run. So all required information has already been filed or he wouldn't have been allowed to run in the first place.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I was born here and learned the English language then majored in Biology in College and still could use a translation of lots of things (into English).

This idea is obviously sarcasm but my question is don't we invite ten to twenty million illegal aliens every year to pick apples, oranges and other crops?

And if they aren't allowed in to the country, who is going to do all the jobs they do that Americans don't want to do (or Americans have proven to not do as well like picking)?
azaleahs 9 months ago
You can get a translation of anything already on the internet in just about every language (you can study a language for 20 years, speak it fluently and still have problems with the translation especially in government documents). So maybe its important for all government documents and such to be posted on the internet. As far as traffic signs anybody who has a license is supposed to be able to read it from the shape of the sign alone and all those other signs I'd like to get rid of all of them except place of business signs.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Of course the original suggestion here proposed new ways and new technologies. The sliding walkways, the high speed busses they use in South America that have special lanes and only stop like a train at stations, Monorails and more. There are probably methods of mass transit that work in your town but not in mine. I have never believed that one size fits all.

I mentioned the D&H in particular because its a historical railroad. One of the first inn this country. There's a piece of it that still operates in the Adirondacks taking skiers to the mountains and leaf watchers in fall. It wouldn't take much to provide mass transit into Albany, NY, perhaps using trains similar to what traveled there in 1802 and stimulate our local tourist industry too.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I wont force them to. You just provide them the option. I certainly would like the option.

As far as the roads go the railroad is part of it though the railroad companies have always built sections they have wanted the US Government has provided them right of way and funds to do it.
azaleahs 9 months ago
As to voting an idea down because its been repeated it gets hard to tell when there are a couple thousand ideas, some with a couple thousand words. I just vote up or not at all.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Thats true. But suggestions like this one may be considered when brainstorming again. Personally it would be best without votes but if your going to have votes being required to explain yourself might provide insight into why they don't like an idea.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Whether you pay for them to remain in school, on welfare or in prison sooner or later your going to pay. I choose school when you still have an opportunity to change the behavior responsible.
azaleahs 9 months ago
If you click Report abuse and then mark it as a duplicate, when enough people flag it it will be deleted.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I thought there was a rule against repeats. There are at least 4 of these maybe more.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Auditing is one thing abolishing another.
azaleahs 9 months ago
The number of ideas isn't what matters but what about if your idea was actually implemented?
azaleahs 9 months ago
The amounts of money involved indicate its nationwide. The statistics indicate that there must be numerous cases of success in mass transit if as you say there exist a few failures.
azaleahs 9 months ago
In 2002 rail transit cost around 12 billion dollars in subsidy money which is why people believe its a losing proposition. What they don't see is the 20 billion in savings caused by reduced congestion, 8 billion reduction in road maintenance costs and 6 billion in reduced crashes. Taking all that into account sure looks like a profitable venture to me.

There is this popular belief that nothing run by government can be profitable but you couldn't be any more wrong. The above information is repeated throughout many government endeavors. If you only concentrate on the subsidy and ignore the costs that would have been paid without the government service it makes great political capital for those who are against the service in the first place.

If you check my figures you'll see I ignored an additional 20 billion or so in cost savings nationwide.
azaleahs 9 months ago
The D&H was originally a coal hauling company and there were a number of lucrative markets that were ignored because gas was cheap. Today the cost of gasoline is much more expensive and a passenger line connecting the rural villages between Amsterdam and Albany would no doubt improve the situations of many but there are a number of reasons it hasn't been attempted.

If there was some way for local Government, businesses and the railway to form a passenger business together they would find it easy enough to make a profit. But the benefits are diverse between businesses that have not worked together in the past.

Part of the benefit would be to the local economy caused by funneling of passengers along the railway corridor. Another part would be the reduction in maintenance allowed by running local passengers on steel rails. A third part could be had by a reduction in required parking spaces in the city because people could park along the right of way and ride the train in.

No, the reason its not done is because everyone has their own little project and the political backing isn't currently there. Instead the separate groups that would benefit so well together spend twice as much apart.

There isn't much doubt that a transportation system using cars that was originally designed to take advantage of the cheapness of fuel will be harder pressed as the price of that fuel climbs but there isn't anyone out there other than the government who is capable of pulling the benefactors together into one group to make an alternative possible. And as long as there are people who have a strong enough voice who suggest that there is no such business because there is no demand and others who believe them and fight rather than see a resolution that would benefit all I think it will not happen.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Then again if you provided housing for your homeless population maybe they wouldn't take shelter on the train.
In Albany, NY if they didn't have shelter they'd freeze in winter.
azaleahs 9 months ago
On the other hand in Albany, Ny and surrounding communities the D&H railway once connected a string of communities together. Now that the railway is defunct everybody drives their car into the city. There's a constant problem with finding a parking space and dealing with traffic. If the railway was restored people could drive to parking lots along the right of way and catch a train into the city. It would stimulate the economy in the inner city
azaleahs 9 months ago
I'm 6 foot 6 inches and weigh 450 pounds. I'm partially paralyzed on my right side.

There's a shop just north of Boston that will convert pickup trucks to electric.

Right now I'm driving a 1978 dodge pickup I bought brand new in 1978. 225 slant six 3 on the tree or for those not in the know 3 speed shifter on the column. In the city it get 20 mpg on the highway 25 and it can run on 100% ethanol with its 2 barrel carb. This is a full size pickup truck without downsizing. Go back to the old 2 barrel carb and make 100% ethanol available and I think you'd have a cheap enough option. Modern small cars with high mpg were made to run on gasoline. Design them to run on pure ethanol instead.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I said available in stores for nominal sum. Most emergency equipment for the home owner is available pretty cheaply. But I also pointed out that during an emergency they could or should be handed out.
Finally, this is a brainstorming session supposedly though no brainstorming session I've ever been in blows off peoples ideas as readily as this one.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I thought I was making it plain enough. What I meant was that with this free cell modum you could access government and emergency sites with your laptop computer.

Compare this with the family that has a weather radio and short wave radio. In this case they'd have access to the internet.

There maybe something better than a cell modum that I dont know anything about, but such a connection would allow both homeowners and emergency personel to send email, access emergency bulletins, track the storm or evaluate the damage.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I completely disagree. But I'm not willing to explain further other than to suggest that the government that waits for market pressures to bring about technological change that provides equal access to government data for the poor as well as the rich isn't a government for the people. A government for the people has to worry more about that equal access and less about capital markets.
azaleahs 9 months ago
You cant be wronger than that. Freedom of religion, freedom of the press and freedom of expression still means something in the United States. Just because your heavy doesn't mean you have bad eating habits. As far as trying to stop using more fuel thats not what this is all about. If you want you can continue to drive as big a vehicle as you want as long as it runs on electricity and that electricity is generated using renewable carbon neutral fuel. Some of the largest most powerful motors in the world run on electricity and renewable fuels will soon be able to produce the electricity.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Experience helps stimulate these ideas. If I had it to do again I might say 50 words or less. This is supposed to be brainstorming. The discussion comes later. Of course I cant say that the National Academy didn't ask for it.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Designing a car that is comfortable, convenient, efficient, easy to get in and out of while being safe may not be easy to do but I really don't think its impossible.

There are very tall people, very short, very thick and very thin. I think they should be designing cars for all of us not just for one type.

I have friends who are tall and fat who will always buy big gas guzzling cars not because they want to waste their money but because they want to be able to get in and out. And for those who say lose some weight I say grow up. People are going to be different if you cant design that into your paradigm your just not a very good designer.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Actually it does have everything to do with it. If the government provides data that I can access with my computer why shouldn't I be able to access it with my cell phone.
Of course there are limitations to the cell phones which should be addressed if you want to down load data more easily.
And you should be able to access your cell phone from your computer so I can transfer data easily from one tool to the other.
All the rest of that stuff was in another post also by me and I thought everybody who read it would make the connection. Obviously I was wrong but we're brainstorming so there should be built in flexibility. I imagine if I broke the rules the moderator would remove my post automatically.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Absolutely! And combine that with the difficulty fat people have, or people with bad knees etc. You can easily see why people have to have larger more spacious vehicles with better ground clearance. But what's wrong with a vehicle designed for everybody. Gets good mpg, Is easy lo load packages into, can carry 5 people, You can ride in if your 7 feet tall or 4 feet tall, if your fat or thin etc. I'm fairly fat but I can get into amazingly small cars though I'm not sure I could get back out without falling down.
azaleahs 9 months ago
If you look at the amount of fuel it requires to lift a pound of anything into orbit then multiply it by the amount of nuclear waste the amount of money required to lift it into orbit and then launch it anywhere is truly astronomical. It makes the bailout funds look like a drop in the bucket.
azaleahs 9 months ago
All you have to do is give them an incentive to come in under budget while doing the job. If you withheld checks you could perhaps come in under budget but get fired for not doing the job.
But there are ways to come in under budget that they aren't going to do if the budget itself is likely to be reduced.
azaleahs 9 months ago
All true. But if you don't state the case simply there's nothing left for the discussion phase. And if it gets to long it no longer communicates what your trying to express.
azaleahs 9 months ago
But it does say this board. I also don't agree with the idea os setting any kind of limits when brainstorming. Also in any system that talks of open government what you are suggesting closes it for certain people.

I'd rather see a limitation on the number of words in the description and the ability to edit the title and comments as well as the idea.
azaleahs 9 months ago
The other savings don't matter because I'm already paying them. I will continue to own a car, will continue to pay insurance, will continue to pay everything except if I ride the train I will save gas. Thats why its important to only take gas into account. My mistake was mentioning NYC. What I should have said is someplace a hundred fifty miles from here on Route 20 because there would be no tolls to that location. If the ticket cost me less than the gas would I'd leave my car at home.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Because this brainstorming process is only about a week long and ends today it would be difficult to do as you suggest. A discussion phase and an implementation phase will follow as described above.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Dragon Naturally speaking doesn't work on my mac and it has many other benefits that I cant abandon. If there was voice recognition software that worked on all computers that would be better.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I'd like to have my cell phone respond to voice. Even if I had to spell words out when texting or say the numbers it would help a lot.
What is needed is software designed by disabled software designers. So often the software designed by someone who has full usage just misses the point and makes things unusually difficult.
The other thing is everyone who is disabled is subtly different from every other disabled person. There should be a number of solutions not just one. Perhaps you could take this "learning process" to a new level by designing a computer to learn a persons disability.
azaleahs 9 months ago
If you read my comment the boss was guilty of not doing her job and thereby reducing spending. The next manager did her job and got censured because the first thing she had to do was buy up all the stuff the previous manager hadn't bought.
On the other hand if the manager is one of the employees she gets a share of the bonus.
The way the government works is there is no benefit for being under budget in fact if you are under budget it may be an excuse to reduce your budget in the next year.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Similar to my idea except I just want something thats as fast as my car, as easy to bring packages home in and is cheaper than using my car which I'll still have for going places the bus doesn't.

As far as the quality of the ride its not all that great now. I would opt for bus passes for everyone. Students, the elderly and disabled ride for free. Everyone else pays something thats cheaper than driving your car.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Whatever the real solution I think it should involve recycling the material somehow not dumping it. The nuclear material originated here on earth we should be able to find a way that recycles it somehow.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I think the pebble bed reactor technology is a more realistic alternative and closer to reality than the alternatives expressed above. Besides, looking at some of the conceptual designs I think that one pebble bed reactor will be able to handle the waste from around 10 breeder reactors.
azaleahs 9 months ago
None of that matters. As I said, I believe that the cost of riding the train should be comparable to the cost of the GAS on a car that gets 30 mpg. People already own a car. The car has the added advantage that you can carry 4 or 5 people together for the same price. So the actual cost of the trip is going to be all the things you said divided by the number of passengers. On the other hand if I'm traveling alone and the cost of riding the train is the same as paying for the gas for the trip, I may decide to leave the car at home. If riding the train is easily a strong cost savings for a person without a lot of money who also owns a car there's a chance they will leave the car at home and thats all that matters. If the people who make less than $30,000 a year leave their cars at home there will be an appreciable savings in gas consumption. As far as how little the railroad has to make and still make a profit its really small.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Recognition is cheap. I may not need it but recognize it should be provided nevertheless.
azaleahs 9 months ago
If you store nuclear waste inside the containment system of a pebble bed reactor it degrades much more rapidly.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Your probably the only one then that doesn't work better with recognition than without.
In the military, you do a good job they up your rank and your pay. If your a hero they give you a medal. Those people don't do what they do for the medal but there are indications that recognizing them for their gallantry has a positive affect.
When push comes to shove the company that provides recognition for a job well done does better than a company that doesn't.
And if you don't provide some recognition to people who go out of their way to provide good ideas you probably wont get as many good ideas.
azaleahs 9 months ago
I suspect that the big population states would get everything and small population states wouldn't get anything.
The electoral vote provides representation for the minority as well as the majority. And it makes states with small populations more equal in comparison to large population states than they would be otherwise.

As far as Financing of elections how about media financed. Provide media companies with incentives to provide electoral coverage for free.
azaleahs 9 months ago
If those little companies depend on the big ones for credit you might see them fail instead.

I'd rather bail them out, then later when the recession is over, recover the debt by breaking them up and selling the parts off (unless they pay the debt off first as some are currently doing).
azaleahs 9 months ago
There's no guarantee that those people with credit card debt would pay it off.

Instead let the IRS pay off your credit card debt and pay for it by charging those people a slightly higher income tax.

Can you imagine what would happen to such debt if it automatically translated into higher income taxes?
azaleahs 9 months ago
What a copout that comment is. Consider, the interstate highway system allows all to use it to promote their own self interest. It was paid for by taxes. Then think of the Interstate rail system. Using public right of ways and usually on public lands and yet primarily for the use of a single dominant corporation. The railway system should be part of the interstate transportation system which includes rail and roads. All companies should have equal access. Otherwise, the public is getting the shaft.
azaleahs 9 months ago
Recently I have been seeking to place my fathers ashes (he was a veteran of WWII) in a national cemetery.

The funeral parlor needs my dads mustering out papers but some years ago there was a fire that destroyed many such papers making it more difficult.

It seems to me that a paper document shouldn't be required. Instead the necessary document should be available on line so the funeral parlor or the managers of the national cemetery could verify on its own.