January 30, 2007

Don’t Kill Yourself Or You’ll Go To Jail

Should laws exist to protect people from themselves? (note: we still need an answer to yesterday's question, we're THIS close to changing the world!)
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January 29, 2007

Universal Healthcare Alternative

So, here are the current sides of the health care issue in this country. If you're a proponent of universal health care, you're a financial idiot. If you're not a proponent of universal health care, you hate poor people. Is there a middle ground? Specifically, is there a way to provide universal health care coverage in a privatized system? So, the premise is that the government would fully fund health care in this country, but they would not run it. The health care system would be run competitively amongst many healthcare providers and players in order to ensure rate competitiveness and efficiency of these government funds. Is this possible?
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January 26, 2007

The “What I’m Worth” Debate

The minimum wage debate has struck up again with the newly elected Democratic majority in Congress. And thus, debates among my friends, acquaintances and intellectual inferiors as well. The popular argument amongst my pro-wage increase friends is, "What people don't understand is that increasing wages will increase spending capital and therefore increase revenues...so everybody wins." Me, in my jerk mentality goes, "great, let's raise the minimum wage to $60 an hour." The reply, "Well, obviously there's a limit." "Ok, great. Then, what is it?" my truthfully curious reply. Their retort, "Well, I think the proposed $7.25 is reasonable." Ok, here's the thing. There shouldn't be a debate about this anymore. If increasing the minimum wage (to an extent) helps everyone, then what is that ideal economic number? This is truly an economic question. What wage helps the most people? What? Economists say that magic number is $0? Those cruel, hateful jerks. Maybe that's what they are. Maybe they're right, but ignore basic rules of moral decency. But, let's at least look at the cons of raising the minimum wage, and understand that there ARE some before we try to hurry this vote through to "help" everyone.
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January 25, 2007

What Do We Stand For

Well, a day after the President's SOTU, the main articles I read are how many times Nancy Pelosi blinked in her new, on-camera chair position as Speaker of the House. So, I guess the things that people stood for and clapped were just for show, and will be ignored once again. It was really interesting to see people look around after Bush said something to see if they should clap or stand up, especially since Bush obviously tried to phrase his statements in a way where you would look stupid for not standing (no tax raises, medical liability reform, etc.) Similarly to saying "I love children. I support our troops." But, what the heck was Dikembe Mutombo doing there? I guess we're still trying to court the massive Congonese giants vote. On a aside, while I was watching the speech the other night, I was thinking about how despised this leader of our country is. And I understand why, but I guess I don't get why we can't separate the policy from the person. After all, this is the guy the country voted for. TWICE! In 2004, everyone knew who this guy was, and what he stood for...and voted for him again. So, instead of just saying Bush sucks and acting like an oppressed people, how 'bout trying to change people's minds?
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January 24, 2007

Sunflower Oil

So, Frito-Lay has started to advertise on all its chip bags and commercials the fact that they cook their chips in sunflower oil. I have to admit, it's clever. I remember thinking when I was a kid that I didn't want McDonalds to cook my fries in vegetable oil because I hate the taste of vegetables. Well, it turned out that vegetable oil wasn't really that healthy for you. And guess what, neither is sunflower oil. But, I guess it'll make people feel better about their food choices. It's kind of like my dad. He wasn't really "drinking", since it was just dandelion wine. But, the whipping's still hurt just as much.
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January 23, 2007

Government Created STD’s

There's a problem in this country with teen pregnancy and unwanted children. Just as often as there is a problem, there is a solution. The U.S. government needs to start creating terribly destructive STD's that will spread and wipe out the sexually indigent among us. Therefore, the superior genetics of the moral elite will dominate Darwin-style. Just like Darwin would have wanted it. Some will say, "What about people that have sex with an infected person against their will?" In Darwin's omniscience and sovereignty, he obviously chose that person to be a sacrifice for the greater good.
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January 22, 2007

There Were Two Trees in Eden

Genesis 2: 8-9 "Now, the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life AND the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." There were TWO trees in the middle of the garden? Why wasn't the tree of life a "temptation" for them? Another one of those Bible stories that you learn enough times in Sunday school that you skim over when you get to them in the Bible. But, there's some deep stuff there.
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January 19, 2007

The Future of Commerce

So, Brent had a very good idea the other day about retail outlets becoming designed more for fulfilling Internet pick-up orders than in-store shopping, due to the high cost of shipping something like groceries to your house. So, let's think this through with a different kind of company: Best Buy. What is cheaper for Best Buy? A) To have several regional warehouses across the country and pay for shipping directly to the customer? Or B) To staff and purchase hundreds of retail locations across the country, ship the products in bulk to the distribution centers, and save on the direct shipping to the customer? Obviously, this would just be a guessing game at this point, but I still feel like shipping directly to the customer could be cheaper if done correctly?
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January 18, 2007

Simultaneous Acceleration

So, a few weeks ago, Justin made a comment as to why when he's sitting in the tenth position at a stoplight does it take him 30 seconds to start moving after the light turns green. The answer, obviously, is that we can't start accelerating before the person in front of us already has begun. After weeks of near constant deliberation on this, I think I may have a solution. What if we didn't pull up 6 in. from the bumper of the car in front of us at every light? When we do this, we don't start accelerating until the car in front of us is about a car length in front of us, and by this time they're going 15-20 mph as to our 0. So, in a few seconds, they're about 3-4 car lengths ahead of us before we can catch up to their speed. However, if we pulled up to a light, leaving at least a car length in between the car in front of us, we could accelerate at the same time and speed as the car in front of us. So, the car length that we give up at the beginning is actually better than the 3-4 we regularly lose. Could this work? Give it a try today and see. Then, we'll figure out how to tip it.
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January 17, 2007

Adultery: Unpunished No Longer

Well, people from the good state of Michigan are finally paying attention to the brilliant ideas we stem on this page. In a strange and highly unpopular legal move among the sexually indigent, a legal loophole has made adultery a felony in the state of Michigan. An abrupt change of punishment from having to sleep on the couch to having to spend life in prison may seem a bit harsh to some people, but hey, don't do the crime if you don't want to have to go to jail for having consensual relations with someone from the opposite sex. Greetings from Michigan.
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