American Politics

[Sabretooth78 808]

Frankly it's a complete joke.  My wife just left her job, and the offerings are an embarrassment.  Fortunately I'm able to add her onto my employer's plan for far less.

 

It is a well-intentioned idea turned around only to benefit those in power (who coincidentally are exempt from it) while doing nothing to solve the underlying systemic problems in the US healthcare arena.

 

Oh, and it was originally championed, and pioneered, by a "republican".

 

“I’m proud of what we’ve done,” he said. “If Massachusetts succeeds in implementing it, then that will be a model for the nation.” -  W. Mittens Romney

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I think the ACA is an idea whose time had really not come in the U.S.  There wasn't enough universal hardship. 

 

Canada's Health Act grew out of the great depression starting in Saskatchewan with the activities of T.C. (Tommy) Douglas.  Over several years it took to get this in place there was a lot of struggle, but eventually all the provinces and the federal government got on board, perhaps out of sheer embarrassment.  When Mr. Douglas retired from Parliament, he was voted a permanent seat at the Speaker's table.  An honour many parliamentarians never get, this being one of the rarest of honours that Parliament can bestow.  He held this position until his death.

 

Americans are far too "screw you, Jack, I'm inboard" to want anything to do with "social systems".  Canadians are very much "We must hang together or we'll hang separately" and tend to accept a good thing when it is clearly there.

[Larks2242 251]

Utah votes to bring back firing squads for capital punishment!

 

 

Something we have been missing for a long time in the US, a far cheaper more suitable way to dispose of those deemed unfit.

[hym 358]

Utah votes to bring back firing squads for capital punishment!

 

 

Something we have been missing for a long time in the US, a far cheaper more suitable way to dispose of those deemed unfit.

 

I don't know how much Utah spends on conducting an execution, but I highly doubt that this is a significantly cheaper alternative to using lethal injection.  It costs Texas less than $83 to conduct an execution using lethal injection.  I suspect Utah isn't radically more expensive.

 

More than anything, this is likely a response to the issues that have been happening with traditional lethal injection protocol.  It's cheaper to bring back a firing squad than it is to rebuild a gas chamber.

[LexusInfernus 908]

I don't know how much Utah spends on conducting an execution, but I highly doubt that this is a significantly cheaper alternative to using lethal injection.  It costs Texas less than $83 to conduct an execution using lethal injection.  I suspect Utah isn't radically more expensive.

 

More than anything, this is likely a response to the issues that have been happening with traditional lethal injection protocol.  It's cheaper to bring back a firing squad than it is to rebuild a gas chamber.

 

That remains to be seen. Perhaps the direct costs are cheaper, but the indirect costs will probably be much higher. Lets just say that shooting people as part of your job is not very good for your mental health. They invented things like gas chambers because the firing squad was to taxing on the people that did it. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

The question is does the firing squad need to consist of people or robots?  Not a good precedent if the latter.

[Larks2242 251]

A turret could be a good idea. 

[Sabretooth78 808]

I believe Utah also recently passed legal tender legislation basically allowing alternative currencies.  At least somebody is thinking outside the box.  We could use a lot more of that.

[Meg 368]

 

That remains to be seen. Perhaps the direct costs are cheaper, but the indirect costs will probably be much higher. Lets just say that shooting people as part of your job is not very good for your mental health. They invented things like gas chambers because the firing squad was to taxing on the people that did it. 

 

 

Back when it was common, they used, say, 7 guys but only 6 loaded guns; one gun had blanks.   That way each guy could convince himself he was the one that shot the blanks.

 

or so they taught in my 9th grade civics class.

[LexusInfernus 908]

Back when it was common, they used, say, 7 guys but only 6 loaded guns; one gun had blanks.   That way each guy could convince himself he was the one that shot the blanks.

 

or so they taught in my 9th grade civics class.

 

I know, but its hardly an effective trick. Anyone with a brain realizes that the chance he was the one with an actual bullet is much bigger than being the guy with the blank. At best it causes a bit of uncertainty over who really shot the target, but even so it requires a lot of lying to yourself. That might actually add to the stress, the uncertainty over whether you shot and killed someone or not. 

 

Also, you are still a close up witness of an execution. you are still staring down the barrel of your gun aimed at the target. You watch the target get hit, you see the blood, possibly hear the scream. And what if the first salvo doesn't do the trick? No, it sounds like a very messy affair, as much for the person getting shot as the people doing the shooting. 

[krbe 193]

A turret could be a good idea. 

Until 2003 Thailand executed prisoners by machine gun fire in the back (the reason is religious: It is believed that the one who kills another person will be haunted by the ghost of the killed as long as you are aware of who your killer is. The execution chamber was designed to prevent this).

 

In terms of effectiveness I would absolutely believe that the gas chamber is the best option. It could probably also be designed to be as automated as possible if the executioners are really that tender hearted.

[CapTon 592]

A life for a life is what I believe. You kill someone, you should be killed.

[Meg 368]

A life for a life is what I believe. You kill someone, you should be killed.

 

 

So, if I understand what you are saying, if Person A kills Person B, it's okay for Person C to kill Person A.   So is it then okay for Person D to kill Person C?

[LexusInfernus 908]

 

A life for a life is what I believe. You kill someone, you should be killed.

 

 

So, if I understand what you are saying, if Person A kills Person B, it's okay for Person C to kill Person A.   So is it then okay for Person D to kill Person C?

 

In case of the death penalty that goes even further. Since its the state that executes someone, all citizens in that state are responsible for the execution, given that such executions are carried out in their name and with their approval/consent. Taken to its logical conclusion, all citizens of a state that executes people are responsible for the death of that person. Hence, all citizens of that state should be killed if the appropriate logic to killing is by killing the one who does the killing. As Ghandi said, an eye for an eye makes the world go blind. And the death penalty is little more than legalized and moralized mob justice. If enough people want someone dead its okay to murder that person. 

[CapTon 592]

I worded that wrongly. If you murder someone, you should be executed. If it was an act of self-defense, you should not be executed.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I believe Utah also recently passed legal tender legislation basically allowing alternative currencies.  At least somebody is thinking outside the box.  We could use a lot more of that.

States should not have that power.  It just trammels up the consequences.  In this case, there is no doubt that 'all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.'.

[Sabretooth78 808]

Maybe not, but seeing as the 10th amendment apparently has no value any more, it's good to see some states starting to fire shots across the bow.  Not that Washington still isn't oblivious to it all or anything like that.

[krbe 193]

Absolutely. Washington is probably more concerned about what happens when John Boehner starts shooting planes out of the sky at the end of the month. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Doesn't the U.S. have an equivalent to our federal statute:  The Currency, Mint and Exchange Funds Act?  This action is surely ultra vires for Utah.

[Meg 368]

Doesn't the U.S. have an equivalent to our federal statute:  The Currency, Mint and Exchange Funds Act?  This action is surely ultra vires for Utah.

 

U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 10:

 

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

[hym 358]

It may be helpful to read an article about the concept.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/20/arizona-set-to-ok-gold-silver-currency/2100039/

They are not approving a new currency. They are approving payment using a federal coinage system that already exists.

[krbe 193]

It seems that Utah is looking to accept Bitcoin as payment for state services. It doesn't create a currency, merely states that debts can be settled with Bitcoin (similar to saying "We accept payment in Euro").

 

Apparently they also made American-minted gold and silver coins legal to pay with at face value. Foreign gold and silver coins? Federal ban on those, so the local 7/11 won't be weighing Krugerrands just yet.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Perfectly all right to use specie (gold and silver), but considering the fact that such coins have a face value which does not reflect the actual market value of the metal, then what?  The face value will probably be less than the market.

 

"I asked the man how his butter was sold.

"He said 'One pound of butter for two pounds of gold.'

"I said, 'So long, its been good to know, ya.

"'So long, its been good to know, ya,

"'So long, its been good to know, ya,

"'But its a long time since I've been home,

"'And I gotta be drifting along.'"

Rather old (1960s?) popular song.

[airman15 4,113]

Could Oregon be the first state in the union to adopt the International Standard of Units? Oregon Senate Bill 166 could pick up where Hawaii stopped.

[krbe 193]

Perfectly all right to use specie (gold and silver), but considering the fact that such coins have a face value which does not reflect the actual market value of the metal, then what?  The face value will probably be less than the market.

 

Indeed it is. However, it is a shot at the Federal Reserve and the policy makers in Washington. But yeah, in Utah, you could go to the supermarket, use a $50 gold coin with a market value of $1300 to pay for $10 worth of goods and only get $40 back. Of course, the cashier might give the $50 coin as change to anyone (I'd call my friend at once!) as well - and must probably only count it at face value.

 

Apparently there's a lot of hullabaloo surrounding the taxation of these coins, which were treated like assets rather than currency. The taxation has been abolished on the state level.

 

Could Oregon be the first state in the union to adopt the International Standard of Units? Oregon Senate Bill 166 could pick up where Hawaii stopped.

And then there is this in a bill intending to establish Le Système International:

"Any petroleum product which is in a liquid state under conditions of seven hundred sixty millimeters of Hg at sixty degrees Fahrenheit [...]"

One SI unit and two American ones - the SI unit being scrambled with an American unit! The correct SI sentence is:

"Any petroleum product which is in a liquid state under conditions of 101325 Pa at 288.15° Kelvin[...]"

or if you want a usable, readable, understandable SI compatible sentence:

"Any petroleum product which is in a liquid state under conditions of 1013.25 hPa at 15° Celsius [...]"

The 760 millimetre of Hg is properly called 1 Torr. Or an International Standard Atmosphere (which includes the temperature in its definition), at 29.92 inHg (sea level air pressure).

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Canada officially went metric many years ago.  However, things like butter are still packaged by the pound marked 454 gm.  The simple thing for packagers to do was to change the printing on the package.

[airman15 4,113]

Hawaii seems to have a love affair with going metric. They have road signs in Kilometers as well as miles and much of their tourism comes from all around the world. It would make sense for them to go metric; they are an island state so there wouldn't be a sudden shift from Mph to Kph when crossing state lines (which would most likely be the case for Oregon). Also, I imagine it would bring more international business to the state as there wouldn't be a need for a numerical conversion between the two systems.

 

If we really are going metric, the next state that should be in the position to make the switch should be Alaska.

 

The hybrid units are confusing to read. One of the biggest projects for DES II asked me to create assembly drawings with one of the parts being dimensioned in millimeters while the rest was dimensioned in inches.

[Sabretooth78 808]

Most highway exit signs in NH are dual units, or at least used to be.  As I seem to recall they ("we" at the time) were one of the last ones to ditch designing roads in SI after the federal mandate for doing so expired.  Of course all that means is that the design plans were done in SI units, but everything was basically a soft conversion from US units and completely invisible to the end user since everything ended up being signed in US units anyway.

 

As an engineer I fully realize how much easier SI is to work with, but there's that issue of familiarization.  I can work with the units all well and good, but I'm not very good at "visualizing" them.  I suspect you only get that after being immersed in it in a daily life.  From that respect, even Canada and England aren't fully imersed.

 

Honestly I kind of like it the way it is.  I like going to Canada and reading a distance sign and seeing how the numbers drop faster.  A little psychological effect that makes you think you're getting somewhere faster. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Having lived through going SI, I can say two things:  If you are at all numerate, it is not a big deal with respect to everyday life;  My kids are totally metric.

 

I think one of the biggest barriers is fear of something 'new'.  This is typical of John Q. Public who will fly off the handle if his coffee has no cream in it.  The only thing to do is what Weights and Measures Canada did:  Adopt SI officially and declare a transition period at the end of which all dealings with the government must be metric.  It cannot be a state option.

[krbe 193]

 Adopt SI officially and declare a transition period at the end of which all dealings with the government must be metric.  It cannot be a state option.

 

Just make sure that planes and mechanics are on the same page...