Issue 509 Fighting Ebola with cellphones January 20, 2015

Ok, you are like, "how do you fight Ebola (and other diseases) with a cell phone"?  Well it is elementary my dear reader.  It provides doctors (and people) with information.  Here is how it works in a nutshell.

How Cell phones fight Ebola:  No, the cell phones do not transform into crime fighting robots akin to Optimus Prime, but they do link people together.  What you must understand is that most of the Africa's electronic infrastructure is based on cell phone technology (and who in America or the rest of the world does not have a cell phone?).  And that means we have access to the cell phones data.  It is fairly big brotherish, but by looking at the data a doctor can see all the places an individual has been and thus make it easier to see who they have interacted with.  From there they repeat the process until every individual who has come into possible contact with the infected person(s) can be found, quarantined and then treated if they should prove sick.  Cell phones act almost like mini-tracking devices and if a person passed through a crowded area, it is possible to see what other people were in the immediate proximity via their cell phones (or other electronic devices).  So by doctors playing the part of an electronic stalker, we can prevent outbreaks from spreading and thus save lives.

Conclusion:  Yes it is intrusive, but in an emergency this will be an approved method by which to stop the spread of any sort of contagion.  Sure, the fact that you can be located 24/7 365 is kind of scary, but so long as it is done for something like this, then I really have no problem with it.

Issue 508 Postal monopoly: Letters and magazines January 19, 2015

The United States postal service still holds a monopoly on two forms of U.S. mail.  And last I checked, monopolies are never a good thing and that government supporting one is even worse.  Allow me to express why I believe this monopoly should be broken.

The Postal Monopoly:  I believe that due to the post office having total control and authority to deliver letters and magazines that it has caused businesses to go under (case in point are certain businesses that could not afford the prices of the post office to deliver advertisements or their wares, or the actually shipping companies falling under due to not being able to deliver a wider variety of goods).  My reasoning is that if letters and magazines were allowed to be delivered by say DHL, or UPS that they could actually deliver the mail cheaper and possibly easier than say the United States postal service.  This is because competition is the mother of invention in a free market society like ours.  An example of this is when Cablevision on long Island New York had sole monopoly on providing channels outside of broadcast channels.  When Verizon and Dish network were allowed to begin selling their services Cablevision reduced the price of its services.  From there, the cost fell further, or services were added that made the continued use of their other services more worthwhile.  As such quality improved.  This same thing can happen with the breaking up of the monopoly that is the United States postal service.  By allowing private companies to deliver letters and magazines, businesses could get better deals and we the consumers will get more options with respect to price and quality of service.  Not only that, but if Congress allowed it, the post office could be freed up from most of its constraints to allow it to act as a real private enterprise that would as a result increase its quality as an institution and thus its revenue.  Sure, letters are slowly disappearing with each passing generation (though they may become a novelty item), but magazines are here to stay.  So let us remove the monopoly already.

Conclusion:  No this is not about eliminating the United States postal service, it is about doing the counter intuitive things to save the post office from obscurity.  What needs to be done is increase competition and variety in services so that it can survive (this means allow it to run like a true private company).  But to do that, it means creating a real even playing field with the other companies who are in the package delivery business.  So shall we increase the quality of services or are we just going to continue to allow the post office to languish into obscurity forever.

Issue 507 Jobs for the less skilled January 16, 2015

We talked about skilled labor making the big money while the less skilled of us getting relegated to being the working poor.  But there are jobs out there that the least skilled of us can learn and thus overcome this gap to a degree.  Let us discuss.

Jobs that last forever:  Basically, the unskilled will still have the opportunity to find jobs in the lower end jobs with respect to skills.  Jobs that are often looked down upon, but society thankfully cannot exist without them.  Those jobs include farming, plumbing, auto mechanic and other repair based jobs.  These three job types will last forever.  The reason being is that despite the jobs taking in more technology, the jobs simply become easier, but the human eliminate so far has yet to be seen as replaceable.  You still need the human touch to harvest most crops, and even if grown inside special facilities, the food grown there requires human beings at certain points and times.  Plumbing still as of yet is not idiot proof and thus plumbers still have their jobs.  Also, computers still need fixing along with cars, trucks and other pieces of technology.  Sure mechanics jobs have gotten easier with diagnostic computers to say what is exactly wrong with say a car, but it takes a human being to replace those parts in such a way that they will still work.  So there you have it.  The less skilled jobs that will be unskilled labors salvation.

Conclusion:  Yes I know, these jobs may not be enough to save all the unskilled members of the labor pool.  And no, there are other jobs they can learn that ultimately require even greater skills so that these unskilled members of society can achieve a higher standard of living.  But here I just wanted to make a point.  That point being that despite the future looking so grim for a large group of our society, there is still hope and places where you can advance and thrive in our ever changing world.

Issue 506 Technology: rewards the skilled January 15, 2015

Well, the gap between rich and poor is only going to increase.  The reason being is that technology rewards skilled labor and reduces those who are unskilled to the poorest class of society.  Allow me to explain.

How the skilled are rewarded:  In a technology driven society, the business climate and technology itself is constantly in flux.  Basically it is adapt or die.  As such, people with skills generally are able to survive in this environment as they can adjust to these fluctuations on the fly.  So skilled people who specialize in computers, using computer programs or repurposing techniques and technologies become the upper middle class and higher.  In addition, people who once worked the dull, the dirty and dangerous jobs are slowly being supplanted by either new methods of doing those jobs, or those jobs becoming outmoded due to technological changes.  Case in point is the robots working an assembly line as opposed to traditional workers.  But this too rewards skilled labor.  Blacksmiths, carpenters and others who make things by hand can know sell their wares at much higher prices due to the fact that what they sell is hand made.  Their skills allow them to create novelties that fetch much higher prices at markets and thus makes them richer as well.  

The Unskilled:  On the other hand we have the unskilled.  Those who are just starting out in the workforce, and without any particular skill set.  These people get assigned menial jobs that pay very little and thus they are relegated to a less fulfilling existence.  As such, these people are the new working poor.  Until they find a skill of some sort or they move up the corporate ladder (something that becomes much harder with the slow decline of middle managers) they will always be on minimum wage.  Hence why skilled labor makes the big money, while the unskilled will not.

Conclusion:  We are in the start of a new industrial revolution that will see the rise of new methods of manufacturing and greater standards of living.  However, it comes at the cost of many people becoming poor first to get there.  So my best advice to you my readers is find something you are skilled at and embrace it while you can, you never know if that skill will save you from obscurity.

Issue 505 Mandatory Minimums and Judges January 14, 2015

Mandatory minimums like plea bargaining has its problems.  With mandatory minimums we have people who are declared guilty in a jury trial forced to serve out a sentence of say a set 30 years even if the other facts in evidence would be cause to have the guilty person to have a much reduced sentence of say five years.  Let us discuss.

Mandatory Minimums:  As I said in the opening, Mandatory minimums mean that a petty theft charge could bring a 30 year sentence, the same kind of sentence an individual could get for grand larceny.  Obviously this is unfair.  Another example is that a drug dealer, and a drug addict caught with their personal stash would be given the same criminal sentence of 25 years in jail.  Obviously their crimes are not equal, but this is what mandatory minimums unfortunately do.

Solutions:  Well, many judges are calling for the mandatory minimums to be scrapped altogether. Some think this a good idea because it allows maximum flexibility when it comes to judges deciding sentences for a convicted individual.  It allows for judges to take into account all factors in a case to the point that an individual could be remanded to a rehab facility for six months as opposed to a jail cell for five plus years.  However, this does risk people being under sentenced for a crime, or even being let go for a crime despite being guilty (case in point is the judge who let the Muslim husband who raped his wife go without penalty because his "religion" allowed it).  Also, mandatory minimums support plea bargaining by making it easier for prosecutors to convince suspects to take a lighter sentence.  On top of this, mandatory minimums also reduce costs because it prevents lengthy sentencing trials after the guilt of the individual has been determined.  Taking all this into account, if mandatory minimums was to be removed from our system, then strict conditions on punishments or even newer updated penalties that allow for flexibility in sentencing will have to be implemented.

Conclusion:  I do not favor mandatory minimums for most crimes.  In fact, for a majority of crimes, a televised public trial where the defendant is humiliated (or exonerated) becomes the main source of punishment.  Then if the defendant is guilty (crimes like petty theft to grand larceny) the individuals become forced to pay back all the money they stole (no jail time).  People who are drug addicts would go to therapy and other programs to aid them in resisting their addiction and the economic and social consequences associated with it.  Rapists and child molesters on the other hand is another story.  I want penal colonies where they stay for life and that they can volunteer for medical experiments to receive extra "privileges".  Murder though is entirely different and thus needs maximum flexibility with respect to sentencing (the nuance in these cases is a little beyond me and thus why I have this opinion).  But I think you my readers get my view and the issues surrounding the tool known as mandatory minimums in criminal sentencing.  Hope you enjoyed the read.

Issue 504 Plea bargains: should they be scrapped? January 13, 2015

Plea bargaining (where a defendant pleads guilty so that they get a lighter sentence) has come under fire as of late. And this may be so with good reason.  So let us discuss.  (Inspiration for this issue comes from the October 4th issue of the Economist)

Why plea bargain?:  The primary reason for the plea bargain is so that an accused individual can reduce their sentence in jail.  This works by the prosecutors offering shorter sentences in behind closed door meeting toward defendants.  Due to this, many courts have reduced costs and the government has saved thousands of dollars.  However, this power that the prosecutors have has been likened to a defending attorney bribing a witness.  According to the economist article Jed Rakoff (a district judge in New York) thinks it is unlikely the 95% of the defendants are guilty.  Rakoff believes that it is possible thousands of innocent people have been put behind bars because they wanted to avoid the mandatory minimum sentences for say 30 years in jail (if a trial was conducted normally) for a lighter five to 10 year sentence with a plea bargain. So basically, this power has been both good and bad for people all around when it comes to the criminal justice system. 

Solution:  The primary solution as proposed is to have a separate arbitrator or judge oversee the plea bargain process.  The goal is to remove the prosecutor from the lead role and that the independent arbitrator will make the deals with the defendant(s) instead if a plea bargain becomes the prefered option.  This allows for the plea bargaining process to continue without say an individual going to jail for a crime they did not commit (or at the very least reducing the chance of such an event occurring).  Obviously there's more detail to this, but you get the general premise that preventing an innocent person going to jail (especially in a case they can actually win) is preferable to the status quo.

Conclusion:  While I cannot say I am an expert on such matters, it is clear to me based on the articles I have read that there is room for reform in America's judicial system.  While I get that we want to keep costs down, it is no excuse to allow an innocent person go to jail based on fear of a heftier sentence.

Issue 503 If the Bureaucracy does not want it!?

Did you know that Congress and the President of the United States pass laws on spending that the Federal Bureaucracy does not want?  So the Pentagon will be forced to spend money on a new missile launcher that it does not even need.  The FDA will be forced to spend money on visual inspection agents for food, when a simple chemical test will due instead.  So what am I proposing?  Well read on to find out more.

The Proposal:  Here I am proposing that the Congress and the President pass a bill into law that would allow federal agencies and departments to eliminate programs that they deem redundant or are no longer useful.  So no more wasteful spending on missile launchers in the pentagon if they deem it redundant or possibly inferior to the ones they have already.  The State department can stop giving money to foreign countries when they do not vote the same way as us in the United Nations.  Departments that deal with welfare can drop programs deemed ripe with corruption or that are considered completely useless.  So many programs would be able to be cut, so much money could be saved.

How it would work:  So the idea is that the law would do one thing, that is to allow federal departments and agencies to cut programs and cease spending (even before it begins) on programs or expenditures deemed redundant, duplicative, superfluous or wasteful.  Of course, Congress will have oversight of this and have veto power over each program or expenditure cut with the stipulation that each item be voted on individually.  If the cuts get passed the Congressional veto, then the money will be deducted from the federal agencies/departments budget equal to the amount of money that was allocated that year for the continuation of that program or expense.  This will thus prevent corruption by the bureaucracy of cutting one program just to shift the money to a program or expense they favor without the consent of the people via their representatives.  This also has the advantage of letting Congressional representatives save face in the eyes of the public as they will no longer have to publicly defund a failing welfare program, or a school support program which would make them look like the evil bad guy taking money from the poor or from children.  Thus everyone can save a little face in the eyes of the public.

Conclusion:  This is a possible idea to help us deal with federal programs run amok that are deemed not needed.  Though it will have the problem of ideologues in the bureaucracies cutting programs they don't like as opposed to the ones that do not work.  So methods like an outside auditor or even a separate group within another federal branch like the treasury could make these decisions for the department/agency heads (with department heads making recommendations for cuts as well).  Again it is an idea to be flushed out, but it is an idea at the very least worth thinking about.