How to improve Primary Election Turnout: Let Everyone Vote

My state had a primary election this week and once again the press and election officials bemoaned the fact that turnout was light. They blamed it mostly on electoral apathy. I submit that a more direct cause is the fact that only registered party members can vote in a primary. That means that one third or more of the electorate, including myself, who are registered independent or unaffiliated cannot vote. Now coupled with the apathy factor you get a turnout of between 15% and 25%.

I suggest doing away with preregistration of party affiliation. You would still register to vote, but you would not indicate a party. Then, when you arrived at the polling station during a primary election you would tell the poll worker in which party's primary you would be voting and would be instantly registered with that party. You would remain registered with that party until you voted in another primary. Only registered voters who never voted in a primary would remain unaffiliated.

This would allow all voters to participate and improve voter turnout. There are a number of primaries in which I wished I could vote, but can't because I am registered independent. Of course I could reregister as a party member, but that is a hassle if I want to change my affiliation from one election to the next. Anything that improves voter turnout should be encouraged.

The Crisis in Ukraine

The crisis in Ukraine is very worrisome. A worst outcome is war between the US and Russia. I am heartened that Ukraine is finally acting on its threats to retake its public buildings in the East. Empty threats embolden the separatists. I hope that Russia does not see this as provocation for further escalation or at worst full scale invasion.

If I were US president, I would tell Russia that further provocation would result in new strong sanctions:

• All Russian government employees would be barred from travel to the US except members of the Russian UN, embassy, and consulate delegations - and these allowed into the US only on a case by case basis
• All members of the Russian armed forces and members of the separatist militias in Ukraine would be barred from travel to the US
• All financial transactions made in rubles would be barred from US regulated banks except money returned to US accounts
• All US financial accounts would be barred from transferring money to Russian bank accounts and any non-Russina bank accounts where the funds are in rubles

I would also propose the following military activities:

• Send small arms and humanitarian supplies such as food, medical, etc. to the Ukrainian armed forces
• Send small artillery to the Ukrainian armed forces
• Send an aircraft carrier into the Black Sea
• Restart talks with Poland concerning missile defenses
• Ask congress to appropriate funds to build two new aircraft carriers
• Ask the Secretary of Defense to reorganize the armed forces for better projection of power rather than having military bases all over the world

The Apple vs. Google Maps Debacle

Mapping is hard. As sea levels rise due to global warming, Mt. Everest's height gets lower! When you add man-made items to maps, such as roads and buildings, keeping up with the changes becomes complex.

Apple recently replaced the built-in maps app on IOS (iPhone and iPad). Google's app was removed and Apple's app took its place. User's discovered that Apple's app had numerous errors and some were glaring. Google then responded by creating its own app. For some people this seemed better. Not for me!

There are two parts to a map app - a user interface and geographic data. A wonderful interface can't make up for bad or incorrect data. A bad interface can't make up for great data. You need both. Apple has a great interface but mediocre data. Google had an ok interface and ok data.

All map apps have incorrect or out of date data. A business that moves to another location or closes may continue to be shown in the old location for some time. There are not enough people to keep up with changes in real time. So it takes time for changes to be verified and made, although there is no excuse for having incorrect locations for years. Also, sometimes two locations have the same or similar names and the mapmakers confuse them as happened recently in the Australian part of Apple's maps.

Apple was heavily criticized for its bad data. It apologized in public. But Google is not immune to bad data either. I live in a town that shares its zip code with the neighboring town. Both towns have streets and addresses with the same number and name. So both Apple and Google have mislocated points of interest (POIs), such as restaurants, post offices, doctor's offices, etc., in the wrong town.

Additionally, Google's interface is nothing about which to get excited. Apple's is better.

So, overall I don't see the big deal about Apple versus Google. Both have strengths and weaknesses. Both have good and bad data. Just don't bet your life on map apps.

How to fix the deficit

It's not hard to fix the deficit and avoid the fiscal cliff. No one seems to have political will to do the right stuff. Here's what I would do:

1. Do away with all federal income tax deductions and exemptions. This includes the charitable, mortgage, and local taxes deductions and the personal exemption.
2. All tax payers pay the same rates - no married, head of household, etc.
3. Treat all income the same. No special rates for capital gains or dividends.
4. Set the rates to bring in about $200 billion more than is brought in today, but make them graduated. A single flat rate is regressive. These should be lower than today since more income is taxed. 
5. Everybody pays at least 5% tax no matter how small an income.
6. Tax all income, not just wages, for Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. No income is exempt and no ceiling. Set the rate so that about $50 billion more is brought in than today.Because all income is taxed, it should be lower than today.
7. Only provide Social Security and Medicare benefits to those who need them. Rich beneficiaries with high enough incomes ($1 million) or assets ($2.5 million) should not get Social Security and should pay the entire Medicare premium.
8. Set the Medicare eligibility age at 67.
9. Reduce our foreign military bases significantly. Close Okinawa. Only keep those that are absolutely necessary (Korea, Persian Gulf, some in Europe). Why do we need bases in New Zealand or Indonesia?
10. Restructure our military to project our power from the US rather than have all kinds of personnel stationed all over the world. Build a few more aircraft carriers.
11. Eliminate federal crimes that are more properly handled by the states. We have overfederalized criminal behavior. Traditionally crimes that do not involve federal issues, such as customs laws or interstate activities, are left to the states to handle.

Where are the Proofreaders?

The Philadelphia Inquirer has been through some changes over the past few years. It has had multiple owners, layed off employees and moved to a smaller building. It must have also stopped doing proofreading. Two recent articles show the sad state of affairs in the quality of the language used in this great newspaper.

On Saturday, December 8th, there was an article about a family in the Kensignton section of Philadelphia that was growing over 500 marijuana plants. Their home was raided by the authorities. The article stated that  500 lbs. of pot were"recovered." That is so obviously wrong. The word "recover" implies that whatever was found belonged to someone else and the police will return it to the rightful owner. I don't think so! Perhaps if these people were thieves and the stolen loot was found. The proper word in this case is "confiscated." The 500 lbs. were taken by the authorities to become evidence in future proceedings. Later the pot will be destroyed. No one is getting back their misplaced marijuana. It was confiscated.

Then, on Monday, December 10th, the secondary headline for the top editorial was "The governor's trying to keep his schedule secret is an affront to the state's open-records law." This is such bad English grammar that the statement is an affront to all English teachers. It makes one wonder who taught the editor how to write. I know the writer was trying to squeeze maximum meaning into minimum space, but that is no excuse for such poor English. In addition, the word "affront" requires someone to be insulted. Laws cannot be insulted, but they can be broken or violated. One better way to say the same thing without too much extra space would be "An attempt by the governor to keep his schedule secret is a violation of the PA open-records law."

It's a sad day when those who we expect to properly write our language don't. This tarnishes the image of a great newspaper. On the other hand, the quality of language in our society today is such that most will not even notice.