OpenGov - Open Government Brainstorm

Greg Vanderlaan

Member since 3 years ago

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6 ideas posted

7 comments 130 votes

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Ideas contributed by Greg Vanderlaan

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  10 votes

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  Legal & Policy Challenges »

  Do science, tell the truth and then write laws that honor reality.

  LLPF=BP. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire equals Bad Policy. When the public notices a blatant lie, it undermines credibility on all statements. People automatically conclude that if they were lied to on one subject, then they question the validity of other subjects. Case study: Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base written by the Institute of Medicine; National Academy of Sciences. Copyright 1999 Conclusion: ...more »

  LLPF=BP. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire equals Bad Policy.

  When the public notices a blatant lie, it undermines credibility on all statements. People automatically conclude that if they were lied to on one subject, then they question the validity of other subjects.

  Case study: Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base written by the Institute of Medicine; National Academy of Sciences. Copyright 1999

  Conclusion: Marijuana has medical potential and should be made available to patients.

  However, Marijuana is classified Schedule 1.

  http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html

  Schedule I.—

  (A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.

  (B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.

  (C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision."

  So what we have here is a law that is in direct opposition to actual reality. How is a sane person supposed to respect the law when it is obviously based on lies?

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  1 comment for Idea: Do science, tell the truth and then write laws that honor reality.

  Submitted by Greg Vanderlaan 3 years ago

• I agree

  Voting is Disabled

  19 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Communications Strategies »

  Reduce Federal Spending by ending warrantless wiretapping.

  The return on investment is poor for this Federal program. It costs a lot of money to provided lawyers to defend spying on Americans. Furthermore, there are costs for analysts, transcribers and computer systems needed to record American's phone calls. Then there are costs for data mining, writing reports, printing reports and eventually ignoring reports. If we the people actually benefited in any way, the costs would ...more »

  The return on investment is poor for this Federal program. It costs a lot of money to provided lawyers to defend spying on Americans. Furthermore, there are costs for analysts, transcribers and computer systems needed to record American's phone calls. Then there are costs for data mining, writing reports, printing reports and eventually ignoring reports.

  If we the people actually benefited in any way, the costs would be justified. Sadly, the warrantless wiretapping project has been a failure.

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  2 comments for Idea: Reduce Federal Spending by ending warrantless wiretapping.

  Submitted by Greg Vanderlaan 3 years ago

• I agree

  Voting is Disabled

  -19 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Making Data More Accessible »

  Build a fiber optic cable from Eureka, California to The Dalles, Oregon.

  Currently there is one fiber optic cable connecting Eureka to the Internet. When that is accidentally cut, business stops. No credit or debit card sales, no automatic inventory re-ordering. The cable fails about once a year. If we connected to the data centers in The Dalles we could continue to be in business. The telecom companies have already designed the system but are waiting for a "big player" to sign on to finance ...more »

  Currently there is one fiber optic cable connecting Eureka to the Internet. When that is accidentally cut, business stops. No credit or debit card sales, no automatic inventory re-ordering. The cable fails about once a year. If we connected to the data centers in The Dalles we could continue to be in business. The telecom companies have already designed the system but are waiting for a "big player" to sign on to finance the construction. This is a "shovel ready" construction project that would employ Americans.

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  7 comments for Idea: Build a fiber optic cable from Eureka, California to The Dalles, Oregon.

  Submitted by Greg Vanderlaan 3 years ago

• I agree

  Voting is Disabled

  28 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Between Federal, State, and Local Governments »

  relax HIPPA rules, they interfere with getting things done accurately.

  HIPPA has turned out to be a nightmare. Since all employees are in fear of violating the regulations, the result is that the patient has to bring all their own records with them every time. We can't get charts from another department, so we simply ask the patient to fill out our form and write down all their information again. Instead of sharing information that has already been collected. We collect it again. The potential ...more »

  HIPPA has turned out to be a nightmare. Since all employees are in fear of violating the regulations, the result is that the patient has to bring all their own records with them every time. We can't get charts from another department, so we simply ask the patient to fill out our form and write down all their information again. Instead of sharing information that has already been collected. We collect it again. The potential for error is bad. Many patients have poor memory... actually, 100% of the patients have poor memory in comparison to a database.

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  3 comments for Idea: relax HIPPA rules, they interfere with getting things done accurately.

  Submitted by Greg Vanderlaan 3 years ago

• I agree

  Voting is Disabled

  16 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Uncategorized »

  Federal Subsidy of Public Transportation. Free Bus Passes for ALL.

  Reducing the ticket price of a city bus, light rail and subway to zero would increase ridership and reduce the number of cars on the road. Fewer cars would mean fewer traffic jams for those that still choose to drive. A dramatic increase in the quality of life for commuters. Fewer cars would reduce oil imports... reduce pollution... increase miles per gallon (traffic jams cause terrible mpg). With ridership increasing, ...more »

  Reducing the ticket price of a city bus, light rail and subway to zero would increase ridership and reduce the number of cars on the road. Fewer cars would mean fewer traffic jams for those that still choose to drive. A dramatic increase in the quality of life for commuters. Fewer cars would reduce oil imports... reduce pollution... increase miles per gallon (traffic jams cause terrible mpg). With ridership increasing, the transit system could increase the quantity of buses and schedule more routes and more times. That would make public transportation practical for more commuters. Create jobs for bus drivers and mechanics.

  more info: http://gregvanderlaan.com

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  7 comments for Idea: Federal Subsidy of Public Transportation. Free Bus Passes for ALL.

  Submitted by Greg Vanderlaan 3 years ago

• I agree

  Voting is Disabled

  46 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Strategic Planning and Budgeting »

  End The War in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009. GET US OUT.

  These wars are a waste of taxpayer's money and a waste of soldier's lives. Let those countries figure out solutions to their own problems. We can not afford to fight over there. Let's use our limited resources to fix problems at home. For Example: We could employ soldiers as school teacher assistants. During Peacetime, there are not many tasks to occupy a soldier's time. They could be kept busy by teaching practical math ...more »

  These wars are a waste of taxpayer's money and a waste of soldier's lives. Let those countries figure out solutions to their own problems. We can not afford to fight over there. Let's use our limited resources to fix problems at home. For Example: We could employ soldiers as school teacher assistants. During Peacetime, there are not many tasks to occupy a soldier's time. They could be kept busy by teaching practical math and reading to children. Not only would the students benefit, but the soldiers would learn too. There is nothing quite so educational as teaching a subject.

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  8 comments for Idea: End The War in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009. GET US OUT.

  Submitted by Greg Vanderlaan 3 years ago

Displaying all 6 Ideas

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