Political snippets, or my political views on various issues
Phone lines went out for a bit last night.
So, because I couldn't get online, I decided to go political.
Each of these is short answers to an issue facing us today. Written off the cuff and in a hurry.
Enjoy!
ON ABORTION
Abortion must be legal, without caveat, through the first trimester. Afterwards, abortion should only be permitted if the unborn has a previously-undetected and serious disorder or defect, or if the unborn will threaten the life, health, or reproductive health of the mother.
Banning abortion entirely also gives the fetus rights that a just-born child doesn't have. This goes against all intuition and reason.
That being said, allowing abortion after a certain point also takes away more rights than I can reasonably stomach. I chose the point I did because it's convenient. If there is a better place for scientific reasons, then I'd go for it instead (and by better I don't mean "at conception")
ON STEM CELL RESEARCH
Unused embryos from reproductive clinics should with the consent of the donors, be made available for stem cell research. Discarded embryos or fetii from abortion operations should NOT be so used (conflicts of interest are much more likely here).
I am aware that there are now new techniques for possibly creating new stem cells. However, these techniques are, for the most part, unusable for actual therapy due to certain chemicals and processes used in them.
Should these techniques be brought to a usable level, then they should be added to the arsenal of treatments, rather than replacing the embryonic stem cells that would already be in use.
ON ROBOTICS IN THE MILITARY
All reasonable efforts should be made to continue the development of UAV-type automatons, that is, robots for the purposes of recon, mineclearing, bomb defusing, and so forth.
The use of robots in actual combat should be banned. Firstly, if it is robots dying instead of humans, there is less of a moral and ethical burden on the commanders to consider the actual cost of warfare. Second, because a robot would, by definition, be immune to the effects of NBC weapons (possibly excluding EMP), the use of robots in actual combat would encourage the use of NBC weapons against those armies not employing them. Third, although even the most sophisticated AI available at present is a poor match for a human when faced with a dynamic, complex situation, it is possible that there will be more powerful ones available in the future. Do we really want such AIs running rampant?
ON THE MILITARY, AND WARFARE IN GENERAL
Warfare should not be engaged in without one of the following sets of conditions present:
1: an unprovoked attack on US soil by (official or unofficial) armed forces of another nation or by nationals with the tacit or official support of that nation
OR
2: the active support and participation of the UN and other nations.
In no case shall warfare be engaged in if diplomatic and other peaceful solutions have not first been tried.
ON ISRAEL AND PALESTINE
Every effort should be made to forge a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza.
Jerusalem should belong to both Israel and this Palestinian State, administered by both, and be both an open city and a disarmed city.
The Palestinains must recognize Israel's right to exist within its present boundaries (less Gaza and those portions of the West Bank to be set aside for said Palestinian State). Failure to recognize this, and maintain said recognition, both in word and in deed, shall be grounds for the destruction of said State.
Israel must officially and by deed recognize the right of the Palestinians to have a State of their own. Some of these people have been in the area even longer than the Hebrews have, after all.
The Golan Heights belong to Israel. So long as Syria maintains any antagonism towards Lebanon or Israel, or any support for a non-diplomatic and/or non-mutual-acceptance solution to the Israel/Palestine problem, their return cannot be countenanced. (They're too good a strategic point for Israel to give up).
The Palestinian State and Israel shall have the right (indeed, the obligation) to exile any person seeking to attack the other, or seeking to undermine the other's ability or right to exist. If no country will take such a person, he is to be put on a ship, never to be released (see: Man Without a Country)
ON NBC WEAPONS
These weapons are an abomination and should be destroyed as soon as possible. Biochem weapons should be broken down into safe or even useful materials. Nuclear material should be refined into either nuclear power rods or RTG fuel.
The latter is a particularly attractive option in order to meet the next goal.
ON ENERGY
There can be very little, if any, argument that our carbon emissions are causing the Earth to heat up. Furthermore, oil reserves are dwindling.
In order to reduce our emissions, we should immediately begin the following programs:
1: a conversion of all vehicles to either fuel cells or Radioisotope Thermal Generator (RTG) power sources. Both of these are safe and effective power sources that have been used in the space program since the mid-1960s.
2: Power generation shall, as quickly as possible, be switched over to non-Carbon bases. E.g. Solar Power, Wind Power, Hydroelectric power, and nuclear power.
3: Research should be begun on the possible use of beamed power.
4: Petroleum based energy should be phased out as soon as possible. This will reserve the world's remaining supply of petroleum and coal (a significant amount of it, regardless of whether we have reached Peak Oil or not) for plastics, lubricants, and other polymer-based applications.
ON POLLUTION
Corrolary to the above, every effort must be made to dramatically reduce carbon and sulfur emissions as quickly as possible.
If other countries refuse to follow suit, an "environmental cleanup tax" shall be imposed on all imports that were not produced under standards at least as strict as those required by U.S. law. Funds raised from this tax shall be invested in Brownfield-equivalent programs abroad, whether public or private.
Pollution levels shall be determined based upon a 1:100,000 fatality rate over the present usual span of years (I believe that for most pollutants, the span is 25 years). Going much lower than that results in standards that are both too strict and meaningless.
In the alternative, the average exposure to a chemical shall not exceed the average exposure in the home. For example, it does little good to regulate, say, ammonia, to 1 ppb when the average person is exposed to 10 ppm when they walk into a house where the windows have just been cleaned.
ON MARRIAGE
The term "marriage" shall be struck forevermore from U.S. law. Its use in present law is a violation of the Separation of Church and State.
In all cases where the term "marriage" occured, the term "domestic personal partnership" shall replace it.
Any two persons, neither of whom is presently in a domestic personal partnership or an equivalent relationship, who have reached the Age of Consent and ahve the ability to legally consent, shall be permitted to enter into a domestic personal partnership, in the same manner and with the same prerequisites as a present civil marriage, unless such archaic prerequisites are contraindicated here. A religious ceremony of "marriage" or the equivalent in a faith (e.g. handfasting) shall also be deemed to form a domestic personal partnership, assuming all other qualifications are met.
Domestic Personal Partnerships shall be open to all persons, regardless of gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual identity, sexuality, &c.
Dissolving of a Domestic Personal Partnership shall be done in the same manner as a "divorce", with the same consequences for assets, taxes, &c.
ON HEALTH CARE
It is vitally important that ALL Amerricans receive at least preemptive or preventative care throughout their lives. ALL Americans must have access to affordable health insurance, whether through their persons or through their employers.
The private companies have demonstrated an unwillingness or inability to provide such health care to all persons. Even in cases where such insurance is provided, there are often so many strings attached as to render the health care useless.
Henceforth, the government shall provide basic health coverage, covering all preventative and preemptive care that a person needs throughout his or her life. Additional insurance may be purchased by those willing to risk working through the insurance companies.
ON SCHOOLS
The school system in this country is in need of complete overhaul. Frankly, the structure of the schools is probably best left for the states, counties, or even municipal governments, so long as education through secondary school is available to ALL persons, regardless of citizenship. If you live here, you get an education.
I suspect that something can be learned from the Japanese and European school systems. Splitting children up based upon talent, rather than simply upon living location, seems to be a good place to start. As well as certain customs that are intended or have the side effect of inducing some pride in the learning-place.
There is also the whole necessity for returning discipline to the schools. I don't mean the return of the cat-'o-nine-tails, but at the very least, a teacher shouldn't be sued or fired for using physical force to separate two children who are fighting, or for restraining a student who is taking actions that place others in danger.
ON TAXES
I do not mind paying taxes if those taxes are used effectively and efficiently. I DO mind paying taxes if the money is wasted on vengence wars, on perqs, and so forth.
I realize that many of the things I talk about here will require higher taxes. I do not mind, so long as the money is spent wisely.
Furthermore, the tax system itself must be continuously updated to ensure equitable treatment of all taxpayers.
The Fair tax is a bad idea. I have yet to meet a proponant who has an answer that deals with the problem of people simply driving some distance to avoid the tax, or making the really big purchases online in another country.
ON RELIGION
Religion must stay out of politics. It must also stay out of education.
Yes, I realize that churches played an important role in educating this nation's children during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, in the modern era, the rate of advancement, as well as the nature of many discoveries about hte world, preclude religious organizations from being an effective conduit for teaching children. Too often, purely religious agendas are advanced in place of facts and knowledge. The same is true in the political arena.
That being said, absolute freedom of religious belief must be maintained. Absolute freedom of religious practice should also be maintained so long as it does not violate the law (and assuming that said law is not in place specifically as an anti-religion measure).
ON IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
First: Birthright citizenship must needs be ABOLISHED. This abolition shall not be retroactive. While it was necessary in the era of its inception, it is no longer needed, and in conjunction with some of the programs discussed herein, is detrimental to the health of the nation.
Second: All immigrants seeking to earn a green card or actual U.S. citizenship shall be required to take a class in basic English. The goal is to reach the 2,000-word fluency mark. These classes shall be offered for free.
Third: Any persons presently in the U.S. illegally shall be required to register and begin the citizenship or Green Card process within the next X length of time. Failure to do so shall be grounds for immediate deportation. There shall be no prejudice against these persons if they begin following the legal process in this manner.
Fourth: no monetary obstacles shall be used to regulate immigration or citizenship.
Fifth: A company found to be knowingly employing an illegal immigrant shall be fined the following amount:
-(immigrant's pay, adjusted to reflect a year's work) + (annual pay of mid-level managerial employee, adjusted to reflect number of hours worked by the immigrant versus the manager).
This fine shall be imposed for each unregistered worker. Thus, an illegal immigrant working 60 hours a week for minimum wage while the mid-level management fellow is working 40 hours a week for $75,000 will be fined:
-($5.15*60*52)+($75,000*1.5) or -16,068+112,500 or $96,432 per illegal employee.
An exception to this shall lie for family-owned (non-absentee) farms, who shall merely be fined the difference between the immigrant's wage for the season and the going wage for a legal worker for the season.
ON TRANSPERANCY IN EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
All executive and legislative papers shall bemade public ten years after the holder leaves office, unless the Supreme Court, the holder of the papers, and the national security advisor or the head of the CIA shall swear that to release an individual document would compromise current security interests. These papers shall be released as soon as is practical.
ON TORTURE
The Geneva conventions are quite clear: torture is illegal. Such torture includes waterboarding.
The U.S. is a signatory to the Geneva Convention, and as a result, torture is illegal both within the borders of the U.S. and when practiced by U.S. citizens outside of those borders, and when practiced by citizens of other countries at the request or behest of the U.S.
ON CIVIL AND PERSONAL RIGHTS
A strong commitment to civil and personal rights is fundamental to the identity of this country.
Regardless of what we might think or believe about a person, all persons within the U.S. or the control of the U.S., regardless of citizenship, affiliation, or other characteristic, hold the same civil rights.
Which include such things as the right to a fair trial, the right against self-incrimination, the right to representation, the right to confront witnesses against oneself, the right to rehabilitate oneself, the right to petition for redress, and so forth.
ON GUN CONTROL
While London, as well as the rest of Europe, has had great success in reducing both severity and frequency of crimes by totally banning guns within the cities, this is not feasible within the U.S.
HOWEVER.
Fully automatic weapons, or weapons which are easily converted to automatic fire, have no place within the United States, outside of military armories. They are useless for home defense, or for any other purpose to which they might be put. They're called "assault rifles" because they have only one purpose: to attack others. You can't even effectively use them for home defense, because you'll do more damage to whatever wall is backstopping the intruder (and whatever is hanging on or standing in front of the wall) than the intruder would to your house.
Carrying weapons in public is similarly useless for most people - by the time the average person has the gun out and has worked up either the adrenaline or the cajones to shoot, it's all over. Best if their use is restricted to home, the shooting range, and the hunt.
Besides, for the average person in a situation where they actually need the gun, the adrenaline shock is going to be so great that they end up spraying bullets everywhere, doing more harm than good.
ON GENDER RIGHTS AND ROLES
Women have, in every way, the potential and the ability to be the equal of men. It is time that the law and the world recognized this.
The reverse is also true.
Transgendered persons should be afforded the respect of being treated as their correct gender. Period. This includes things that straight-straight people take for granted, such as the proper honorifics, and the loo.
ON PUBLIC TRANSIT
A safe, efficient, and orderly public transit system should be available within all cities of a certain size. The model for aboveground transit shall be the "hub" model used in most small-to-medium sized cities in Europe (see: Bayreuth). The models for the underground transit systems shall be the London Tube, the D.C. Metro, and the NYC subways.
Public transit may or may not be feasible between cities. If it is, it should be implemented.
Larger tax breaks should be offered to those who carpool or take public transit.
ON STATES' RIGHTS, A.K.A. "FEDERALISM"
I believe that a great deal of the ineffiency and ineffectiveness of the government comes from the fact that many of the functions and roles of the government are being filled at the wrong levels. Some things are best executed at the state, county, or city levels, rather than the national. In most things, the national government should only provide guidance, whereas the state, county, local, or even precinct government should be the one to actually implement the goal, plan, rule, etc. in the way best suited to that particular area.
So long as the basic rules are maintained, and so long as the upper levels of government keep their fingers out of the pies, this delegation to the appropriate level can work. It is equally important that each role and function be reviewed every few years, sooner if requested or needed, in order to determine the proper level for those roles and rules to be executed at.
IRAQ
After reading the Baker Commission Report even more closely than last time, I find myself in eminant agreement with it - in its entirety, and feel that it should be implemented - in its entirety.
For the President to shove aside the Report in favor of an ill-conceived "surge" was foolish and reckless. Now he's proposing withdrawal - BEFORE it is confirmed that the "surge's" effects are going to be permanant. If anything, I do not expect them to be permanant, and I expect that once he starts pulling the troops out, it will turn into a catastrophe.
That's just my two coppers, though.
ANTI-MICROBIALS, ANTI-BACTERIALS, ANTIBIOTICS, AND THE DEMISE OF THE FIVE-SECOND RULE
I feel that the spread of this obsession with total cleanliness in our lives is a foolish and dangerous thing. When I was a child, there were no anti-microbials, anti-bacterials, and so forth in our soap. It was just soap - it got our hands clean, and that's what it was needed for.
Doctors didn't prescribe superdrugs for the average case of strep or the common cold. You didn't go to the nurse for a runny nose.
And if it was on the ground for less than five seconds, you could still eat it.
What worries me about this clean fetish is the fact that our children are now growing up in an environment where they have NO RESISTANCES.
NONE.
They expect that everything will be healed by powerful drugs - regardless of whether they actually need them.
There is no longer any emphasis on letting the body take care of the minor illnesses, and just toughing through them.
I was sick about a month or two ago. Before that, the last time I was sick was FOUR YEARS AGO, and then two years before that (that time was a 6-hour fever). Prior to that, I think you have to go back to middle school to find an illness that laid me out.
I'm certain that I get infected more often than that. But because my parents were believers in letting my body take care of the minor things itself, I don't even notice them anymore. I just keep right on trucking through colds, the occassional flu, and so forth.
Maybe it's time to have everyone re-read the War of the Worlds. Not the piece of tripe Tom Cruise remake of a few years ago. The novel.
There's a lesson to be learned from it. Something about the common cold, I think =P
EXERCISE FOR CHILDREN
It disturbs me that the amount of physical activity school-age children get is on the decline. People wonder why children keep getting fatter and fatter. Well, there's a good reason why. Half an hour of running around outside daily, plus PE three times a week. MINIMUM.
And I mean it too. Unless the mercury dips below zero (F), they should be outside, running around, playing tag or kickball or climbing on the junglegym, or whatever. Not leaning on the wall with their DS.
Heck, I make it a habit to take their electronics away from them at recess.
As a side effect, I suspect that many children who are "ADHD" would no longer display such outright symptoms if they were permitted to burn off energy at recess and PE. Just a thought from one who actually has said disorder.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
I see nothing wrong with prescribing marijuana, or any drug, if it is appropriate to the circumstances and done under a doctor's supervision.
HOMOSEXUALITY
...is not a disease. Nor is homsexuality a disorder. Nor is it even wrong.
Just as with the gender roles and rights section further up, there should be no difference between how society (and the law) treats a straight-straight and how society (and the law) treats a samer.
ON THE DEATH PENALTY
By inclination, I am in favor of the death penalty. I believe that there are some crimes so heinous and some persons so far gone that they cannot be rehabilitated.
Note that: I believe the role of the criminal justice system should be rehabilitation, not punishment. It does no good to punish these people if we are not going to take the effort to turn them into productive members of society.
However, my work with the innocence project has convinced me for all time that the death penalty is WRONG.
There are too many errors in the criminal justice system for me to even feel comfortable with the death penalty, no matter how justified I might feel it is in certain situations.
There will always be mistakes and errors in any system that has humans in it. It's the nature of the animal that we are. And because of this, it is WRONG to have the ultimate penalty avaialble to be inflicted if there are such errors in the system.
Questions?
Comments?
Any areas that I've missed or that you'd like to see me cover or elaborate further upon?
So, because I couldn't get online, I decided to go political.
Each of these is short answers to an issue facing us today. Written off the cuff and in a hurry.
Enjoy!
ON ABORTION
Abortion must be legal, without caveat, through the first trimester. Afterwards, abortion should only be permitted if the unborn has a previously-undetected and serious disorder or defect, or if the unborn will threaten the life, health, or reproductive health of the mother.
Banning abortion entirely also gives the fetus rights that a just-born child doesn't have. This goes against all intuition and reason.
That being said, allowing abortion after a certain point also takes away more rights than I can reasonably stomach. I chose the point I did because it's convenient. If there is a better place for scientific reasons, then I'd go for it instead (and by better I don't mean "at conception")
ON STEM CELL RESEARCH
Unused embryos from reproductive clinics should with the consent of the donors, be made available for stem cell research. Discarded embryos or fetii from abortion operations should NOT be so used (conflicts of interest are much more likely here).
I am aware that there are now new techniques for possibly creating new stem cells. However, these techniques are, for the most part, unusable for actual therapy due to certain chemicals and processes used in them.
Should these techniques be brought to a usable level, then they should be added to the arsenal of treatments, rather than replacing the embryonic stem cells that would already be in use.
ON ROBOTICS IN THE MILITARY
All reasonable efforts should be made to continue the development of UAV-type automatons, that is, robots for the purposes of recon, mineclearing, bomb defusing, and so forth.
The use of robots in actual combat should be banned. Firstly, if it is robots dying instead of humans, there is less of a moral and ethical burden on the commanders to consider the actual cost of warfare. Second, because a robot would, by definition, be immune to the effects of NBC weapons (possibly excluding EMP), the use of robots in actual combat would encourage the use of NBC weapons against those armies not employing them. Third, although even the most sophisticated AI available at present is a poor match for a human when faced with a dynamic, complex situation, it is possible that there will be more powerful ones available in the future. Do we really want such AIs running rampant?
ON THE MILITARY, AND WARFARE IN GENERAL
Warfare should not be engaged in without one of the following sets of conditions present:
1: an unprovoked attack on US soil by (official or unofficial) armed forces of another nation or by nationals with the tacit or official support of that nation
OR
2: the active support and participation of the UN and other nations.
In no case shall warfare be engaged in if diplomatic and other peaceful solutions have not first been tried.
ON ISRAEL AND PALESTINE
Every effort should be made to forge a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza.
Jerusalem should belong to both Israel and this Palestinian State, administered by both, and be both an open city and a disarmed city.
The Palestinains must recognize Israel's right to exist within its present boundaries (less Gaza and those portions of the West Bank to be set aside for said Palestinian State). Failure to recognize this, and maintain said recognition, both in word and in deed, shall be grounds for the destruction of said State.
Israel must officially and by deed recognize the right of the Palestinians to have a State of their own. Some of these people have been in the area even longer than the Hebrews have, after all.
The Golan Heights belong to Israel. So long as Syria maintains any antagonism towards Lebanon or Israel, or any support for a non-diplomatic and/or non-mutual-acceptance solution to the Israel/Palestine problem, their return cannot be countenanced. (They're too good a strategic point for Israel to give up).
The Palestinian State and Israel shall have the right (indeed, the obligation) to exile any person seeking to attack the other, or seeking to undermine the other's ability or right to exist. If no country will take such a person, he is to be put on a ship, never to be released (see: Man Without a Country)
ON NBC WEAPONS
These weapons are an abomination and should be destroyed as soon as possible. Biochem weapons should be broken down into safe or even useful materials. Nuclear material should be refined into either nuclear power rods or RTG fuel.
The latter is a particularly attractive option in order to meet the next goal.
ON ENERGY
There can be very little, if any, argument that our carbon emissions are causing the Earth to heat up. Furthermore, oil reserves are dwindling.
In order to reduce our emissions, we should immediately begin the following programs:
1: a conversion of all vehicles to either fuel cells or Radioisotope Thermal Generator (RTG) power sources. Both of these are safe and effective power sources that have been used in the space program since the mid-1960s.
2: Power generation shall, as quickly as possible, be switched over to non-Carbon bases. E.g. Solar Power, Wind Power, Hydroelectric power, and nuclear power.
3: Research should be begun on the possible use of beamed power.
4: Petroleum based energy should be phased out as soon as possible. This will reserve the world's remaining supply of petroleum and coal (a significant amount of it, regardless of whether we have reached Peak Oil or not) for plastics, lubricants, and other polymer-based applications.
ON POLLUTION
Corrolary to the above, every effort must be made to dramatically reduce carbon and sulfur emissions as quickly as possible.
If other countries refuse to follow suit, an "environmental cleanup tax" shall be imposed on all imports that were not produced under standards at least as strict as those required by U.S. law. Funds raised from this tax shall be invested in Brownfield-equivalent programs abroad, whether public or private.
Pollution levels shall be determined based upon a 1:100,000 fatality rate over the present usual span of years (I believe that for most pollutants, the span is 25 years). Going much lower than that results in standards that are both too strict and meaningless.
In the alternative, the average exposure to a chemical shall not exceed the average exposure in the home. For example, it does little good to regulate, say, ammonia, to 1 ppb when the average person is exposed to 10 ppm when they walk into a house where the windows have just been cleaned.
ON MARRIAGE
The term "marriage" shall be struck forevermore from U.S. law. Its use in present law is a violation of the Separation of Church and State.
In all cases where the term "marriage" occured, the term "domestic personal partnership" shall replace it.
Any two persons, neither of whom is presently in a domestic personal partnership or an equivalent relationship, who have reached the Age of Consent and ahve the ability to legally consent, shall be permitted to enter into a domestic personal partnership, in the same manner and with the same prerequisites as a present civil marriage, unless such archaic prerequisites are contraindicated here. A religious ceremony of "marriage" or the equivalent in a faith (e.g. handfasting) shall also be deemed to form a domestic personal partnership, assuming all other qualifications are met.
Domestic Personal Partnerships shall be open to all persons, regardless of gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual identity, sexuality, &c.
Dissolving of a Domestic Personal Partnership shall be done in the same manner as a "divorce", with the same consequences for assets, taxes, &c.
ON HEALTH CARE
It is vitally important that ALL Amerricans receive at least preemptive or preventative care throughout their lives. ALL Americans must have access to affordable health insurance, whether through their persons or through their employers.
The private companies have demonstrated an unwillingness or inability to provide such health care to all persons. Even in cases where such insurance is provided, there are often so many strings attached as to render the health care useless.
Henceforth, the government shall provide basic health coverage, covering all preventative and preemptive care that a person needs throughout his or her life. Additional insurance may be purchased by those willing to risk working through the insurance companies.
ON SCHOOLS
The school system in this country is in need of complete overhaul. Frankly, the structure of the schools is probably best left for the states, counties, or even municipal governments, so long as education through secondary school is available to ALL persons, regardless of citizenship. If you live here, you get an education.
I suspect that something can be learned from the Japanese and European school systems. Splitting children up based upon talent, rather than simply upon living location, seems to be a good place to start. As well as certain customs that are intended or have the side effect of inducing some pride in the learning-place.
There is also the whole necessity for returning discipline to the schools. I don't mean the return of the cat-'o-nine-tails, but at the very least, a teacher shouldn't be sued or fired for using physical force to separate two children who are fighting, or for restraining a student who is taking actions that place others in danger.
ON TAXES
I do not mind paying taxes if those taxes are used effectively and efficiently. I DO mind paying taxes if the money is wasted on vengence wars, on perqs, and so forth.
I realize that many of the things I talk about here will require higher taxes. I do not mind, so long as the money is spent wisely.
Furthermore, the tax system itself must be continuously updated to ensure equitable treatment of all taxpayers.
The Fair tax is a bad idea. I have yet to meet a proponant who has an answer that deals with the problem of people simply driving some distance to avoid the tax, or making the really big purchases online in another country.
ON RELIGION
Religion must stay out of politics. It must also stay out of education.
Yes, I realize that churches played an important role in educating this nation's children during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, in the modern era, the rate of advancement, as well as the nature of many discoveries about hte world, preclude religious organizations from being an effective conduit for teaching children. Too often, purely religious agendas are advanced in place of facts and knowledge. The same is true in the political arena.
That being said, absolute freedom of religious belief must be maintained. Absolute freedom of religious practice should also be maintained so long as it does not violate the law (and assuming that said law is not in place specifically as an anti-religion measure).
ON IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
First: Birthright citizenship must needs be ABOLISHED. This abolition shall not be retroactive. While it was necessary in the era of its inception, it is no longer needed, and in conjunction with some of the programs discussed herein, is detrimental to the health of the nation.
Second: All immigrants seeking to earn a green card or actual U.S. citizenship shall be required to take a class in basic English. The goal is to reach the 2,000-word fluency mark. These classes shall be offered for free.
Third: Any persons presently in the U.S. illegally shall be required to register and begin the citizenship or Green Card process within the next X length of time. Failure to do so shall be grounds for immediate deportation. There shall be no prejudice against these persons if they begin following the legal process in this manner.
Fourth: no monetary obstacles shall be used to regulate immigration or citizenship.
Fifth: A company found to be knowingly employing an illegal immigrant shall be fined the following amount:
-(immigrant's pay, adjusted to reflect a year's work) + (annual pay of mid-level managerial employee, adjusted to reflect number of hours worked by the immigrant versus the manager).
This fine shall be imposed for each unregistered worker. Thus, an illegal immigrant working 60 hours a week for minimum wage while the mid-level management fellow is working 40 hours a week for $75,000 will be fined:
-($5.15*60*52)+($75,000*1.5) or -16,068+112,500 or $96,432 per illegal employee.
An exception to this shall lie for family-owned (non-absentee) farms, who shall merely be fined the difference between the immigrant's wage for the season and the going wage for a legal worker for the season.
ON TRANSPERANCY IN EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
All executive and legislative papers shall bemade public ten years after the holder leaves office, unless the Supreme Court, the holder of the papers, and the national security advisor or the head of the CIA shall swear that to release an individual document would compromise current security interests. These papers shall be released as soon as is practical.
ON TORTURE
The Geneva conventions are quite clear: torture is illegal. Such torture includes waterboarding.
The U.S. is a signatory to the Geneva Convention, and as a result, torture is illegal both within the borders of the U.S. and when practiced by U.S. citizens outside of those borders, and when practiced by citizens of other countries at the request or behest of the U.S.
ON CIVIL AND PERSONAL RIGHTS
A strong commitment to civil and personal rights is fundamental to the identity of this country.
Regardless of what we might think or believe about a person, all persons within the U.S. or the control of the U.S., regardless of citizenship, affiliation, or other characteristic, hold the same civil rights.
Which include such things as the right to a fair trial, the right against self-incrimination, the right to representation, the right to confront witnesses against oneself, the right to rehabilitate oneself, the right to petition for redress, and so forth.
ON GUN CONTROL
While London, as well as the rest of Europe, has had great success in reducing both severity and frequency of crimes by totally banning guns within the cities, this is not feasible within the U.S.
HOWEVER.
Fully automatic weapons, or weapons which are easily converted to automatic fire, have no place within the United States, outside of military armories. They are useless for home defense, or for any other purpose to which they might be put. They're called "assault rifles" because they have only one purpose: to attack others. You can't even effectively use them for home defense, because you'll do more damage to whatever wall is backstopping the intruder (and whatever is hanging on or standing in front of the wall) than the intruder would to your house.
Carrying weapons in public is similarly useless for most people - by the time the average person has the gun out and has worked up either the adrenaline or the cajones to shoot, it's all over. Best if their use is restricted to home, the shooting range, and the hunt.
Besides, for the average person in a situation where they actually need the gun, the adrenaline shock is going to be so great that they end up spraying bullets everywhere, doing more harm than good.
ON GENDER RIGHTS AND ROLES
Women have, in every way, the potential and the ability to be the equal of men. It is time that the law and the world recognized this.
The reverse is also true.
Transgendered persons should be afforded the respect of being treated as their correct gender. Period. This includes things that straight-straight people take for granted, such as the proper honorifics, and the loo.
ON PUBLIC TRANSIT
A safe, efficient, and orderly public transit system should be available within all cities of a certain size. The model for aboveground transit shall be the "hub" model used in most small-to-medium sized cities in Europe (see: Bayreuth). The models for the underground transit systems shall be the London Tube, the D.C. Metro, and the NYC subways.
Public transit may or may not be feasible between cities. If it is, it should be implemented.
Larger tax breaks should be offered to those who carpool or take public transit.
ON STATES' RIGHTS, A.K.A. "FEDERALISM"
I believe that a great deal of the ineffiency and ineffectiveness of the government comes from the fact that many of the functions and roles of the government are being filled at the wrong levels. Some things are best executed at the state, county, or city levels, rather than the national. In most things, the national government should only provide guidance, whereas the state, county, local, or even precinct government should be the one to actually implement the goal, plan, rule, etc. in the way best suited to that particular area.
So long as the basic rules are maintained, and so long as the upper levels of government keep their fingers out of the pies, this delegation to the appropriate level can work. It is equally important that each role and function be reviewed every few years, sooner if requested or needed, in order to determine the proper level for those roles and rules to be executed at.
IRAQ
After reading the Baker Commission Report even more closely than last time, I find myself in eminant agreement with it - in its entirety, and feel that it should be implemented - in its entirety.
For the President to shove aside the Report in favor of an ill-conceived "surge" was foolish and reckless. Now he's proposing withdrawal - BEFORE it is confirmed that the "surge's" effects are going to be permanant. If anything, I do not expect them to be permanant, and I expect that once he starts pulling the troops out, it will turn into a catastrophe.
That's just my two coppers, though.
ANTI-MICROBIALS, ANTI-BACTERIALS, ANTIBIOTICS, AND THE DEMISE OF THE FIVE-SECOND RULE
I feel that the spread of this obsession with total cleanliness in our lives is a foolish and dangerous thing. When I was a child, there were no anti-microbials, anti-bacterials, and so forth in our soap. It was just soap - it got our hands clean, and that's what it was needed for.
Doctors didn't prescribe superdrugs for the average case of strep or the common cold. You didn't go to the nurse for a runny nose.
And if it was on the ground for less than five seconds, you could still eat it.
What worries me about this clean fetish is the fact that our children are now growing up in an environment where they have NO RESISTANCES.
NONE.
They expect that everything will be healed by powerful drugs - regardless of whether they actually need them.
There is no longer any emphasis on letting the body take care of the minor illnesses, and just toughing through them.
I was sick about a month or two ago. Before that, the last time I was sick was FOUR YEARS AGO, and then two years before that (that time was a 6-hour fever). Prior to that, I think you have to go back to middle school to find an illness that laid me out.
I'm certain that I get infected more often than that. But because my parents were believers in letting my body take care of the minor things itself, I don't even notice them anymore. I just keep right on trucking through colds, the occassional flu, and so forth.
Maybe it's time to have everyone re-read the War of the Worlds. Not the piece of tripe Tom Cruise remake of a few years ago. The novel.
There's a lesson to be learned from it. Something about the common cold, I think =P
EXERCISE FOR CHILDREN
It disturbs me that the amount of physical activity school-age children get is on the decline. People wonder why children keep getting fatter and fatter. Well, there's a good reason why. Half an hour of running around outside daily, plus PE three times a week. MINIMUM.
And I mean it too. Unless the mercury dips below zero (F), they should be outside, running around, playing tag or kickball or climbing on the junglegym, or whatever. Not leaning on the wall with their DS.
Heck, I make it a habit to take their electronics away from them at recess.
As a side effect, I suspect that many children who are "ADHD" would no longer display such outright symptoms if they were permitted to burn off energy at recess and PE. Just a thought from one who actually has said disorder.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
I see nothing wrong with prescribing marijuana, or any drug, if it is appropriate to the circumstances and done under a doctor's supervision.
HOMOSEXUALITY
...is not a disease. Nor is homsexuality a disorder. Nor is it even wrong.
Just as with the gender roles and rights section further up, there should be no difference between how society (and the law) treats a straight-straight and how society (and the law) treats a samer.
ON THE DEATH PENALTY
By inclination, I am in favor of the death penalty. I believe that there are some crimes so heinous and some persons so far gone that they cannot be rehabilitated.
Note that: I believe the role of the criminal justice system should be rehabilitation, not punishment. It does no good to punish these people if we are not going to take the effort to turn them into productive members of society.
However, my work with the innocence project has convinced me for all time that the death penalty is WRONG.
There are too many errors in the criminal justice system for me to even feel comfortable with the death penalty, no matter how justified I might feel it is in certain situations.
There will always be mistakes and errors in any system that has humans in it. It's the nature of the animal that we are. And because of this, it is WRONG to have the ultimate penalty avaialble to be inflicted if there are such errors in the system.
Questions?
Comments?
Any areas that I've missed or that you'd like to see me cover or elaborate further upon?