Solving the World's Problems

Some Good Thinking

2006-10-02T22:50:00.000-07:00

I like the cut of this post's jib...

Crooked Timber » » Can you live without a car?

Can you live without a car?
Posted by Ingrid Robeyns

Proposal for Proportional Prepresentation?

2006-01-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

Canada's Electoral System

The ole First-Past-the-Post system is becoming more and more annoying, and it's increasingly distorting of Canada's true electoral landscape. Take the NDP, a minority (but federal - supported fairly consistently across the country) party; it gets its @$$ kicked by the Bloc Quebecois every time in parliament, winning much fewer seats (like about 1/5 as many) despite having more popular support across the country.

That's the problem. The system rewards regional concentration. A system designed to govern an entire country equitably is biased towards regional concentrations. It doesn't seem to be designed very well.

So there are lots of other ideas, that never really get proposed, but at least are talked about (more and more frequently) around election time these days.

Proportional Representation

The simplest proposal/idea that critics have is Proporational Representation, and simply, if a party gets 19.2% of the popular vote, then that party would get 19.2% of the seats in the house. It would mostly abolish the idea of candidates and electoral districts, because a vote in any area of the country would mean the same thing -- one vote for the party. So if a party won 60 seats, it seems like the party would get to pick which 60 members could sit in the house (since it could never be assured that with 19.2% of the popular vote, that 60 candidates will have won in their ridings). So what would be the point of electoral districts? Possibly Parties could be forced to send their biggest winners in the election to the house first.

Big winners of proportional representation: the NDP, and the Green Party
Big losers with proportional representation: the BlocQ
Also losers with proportional representation: the Conservatives and the Liberals

First- and Second-Past-the-Post.

We could, on a point system, send both the first-place candidate in a riding and the second-place candidate. Give 2 points to the party with the 1st-place party, and give 1 point to the 2nd-place party. There would then be 924 points total (3 x 308 ridings). Divide the points by 3, round up, and allocate that number of seats to each party (an independent can sit if he/she was in 1st or 2nd).

Combination of the Two

Allocate 924 points for proportional representation. That means if you have 7/924 of the vote, then you get 7 points (we can round down for partial points). Add on the first and second place points, for a total out of 1848 points. Divide by six and round up, and that's how many seats a party can have in the house. Once again we'd have to have some rules telling the party which candidates they'd have to send to the house (like the ones they won in by the most votes).

Check it out.

JJE

Abolish the Penny!

2006-01-03T20:33:00.000-08:00

This one is easy.

1. It costs too much to produce, relative to its cash value.
2. It's really easy to round to the nearest five cents.
3. We can use the world supply of copper for other things.
4. If the mint does this, then they can put off their plans for introducing the five dollar coin, known as the woodie (or perhaps the pocketbuster).
5. It brings us one step closer to not having to use cents at all. Like Yen. Wouldn't it be nicer if we didn't have to use decimals all the time when referring to money?

JJE

Raise the Federal Gas Tax!

2005-09-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

I call myself a "rich" person for the following reasons:

-I can afford to eat what I need;
-I have no appreciable debt;
-I don't have to work long periods of time in crappy jobs in order to make money;
-I own a car and I can afford to run it.

So this special circumstance colours a bit my feeelings about high gas prices and the taxes that cause a large part of those high prices.

But here goes in short point form.

-Gas tax to support urban public transit is an awesome idea. The main problems with gas-guzzling SUVs are as follows: Climate change, mental health associated with traffic frustration, and wastefulness.

-Mass public transit helps reduce the rate of increase of global climate change. Riders of public transit are more at ease when they don't have to drive (and also when they save money, and possibly time as well). It's easy to see how public transit is less wasteful than large cars with only one passenger, often with no additional baggage.

-Sell some more of our major highways so that they can be tolled, and use the revenue to fund more mass public transit.

-Car purchase tax/rebate is also a good idea. Basically, if you buy a fuel-efficient vehicle, you get a certain amount of money from the government. If you buy a fuel-inefficient vehicle, you have to pay a certain amount to the government. The net sum of tax/rebates for car purchases in any given year would be zero. So this is simply a redistribution of wealth; a "tax on the stupid" if you will; that penalizes those who willfully harm the environment or general mental health or waste on average, and it rewards those who harm the aforementioned less than average.

-It then follows that gas taxes could be increased even further, under certain conditions (and add more conditions if you think of them, please).
a) Businesses that *need* to use light vehicles should be reimbursed for the losses they will incur due to increased gas tax or highway tolls, etc.
b) Increasing taxes at a high magnitude can only be justified if there is a reasonable alternative to driving a light vehicle to work/whatever. So the infrastructure of public transit has to be an urgent priority in order not to wreck the economy too much.

Thoughts? Questions? Criticism?

Bring it on!

This is the word of the Sophiarchs.

MARCTIC

2005-09-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

This is Chris's original idea, so I will leave the meat of the idea to him.

The Royal Canadian Navy currently comprises two main large formations; MARLANT, short for Maritime Forces Atlantic, which is based in Halifax, and MARPAC, short for Maritime Forces Pacific, which is based in Esquimalt.

Canada, of course, borders three oceans, the third being the Arctic Ocean. Its importance is waxing these days as global warming is increasing the possibility that more melting will occur each summer, making possible many of Canada's Arctic waters more traversible by surface ship.

Enter MARCTIC, Maritime Forces Arctic. It may be necessary in the future to help protect Canadian sovereignty with icebreakers, more submarines, and small surface ships in the summer. It would perhaps be appropriate for MARCTIC to be commanded by a Rear-Admiral who would report directly to Commander, Canada Command. Sub-units of MARCTIC may include SUBARCS, the Arctic Submarine Squadron, BRARCKERS, the Squadron of Icebreakers, and FARCTAFF, a task Force of Destroyers with a Frigate command ship.

All this can be ours, at the price of something in the tens of billions?

Standing on Guard.

Highway 401

2005-09-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

If you live in Ontario, you have heard of Highway 401, and you know that it is a massive, wide, and long highway for motor vehicles that covers Ontario's portion of the route from Quebec City to Windsor.

It passes through the city of Toronto, and serves as the main east-west "artery" within the city and its surroundings.

And if we stay on the human-biology motif, this artery is clogged; clogged with impurities and under the strain of being too narrow for the volume of "blood" it transports; tired from overuse and constant reconstructive repair; full of waste like SUVs and fat, rich, lazy people who are scarfing down McGriddles and Tim Hortons' doubles-double while talking on their cellphone and shifting stick all at the same time.

But I digress.

Right now, along the "Greater Toronto Area" section of the 401, it is actually divided into two highways that run in parallel; the 'Express' lanes, and the 'Collector' lanes, 'Collectors' being an eminently insightful name for roads that seem to let cars on them in great volume but never seem to let them off. Sadly, the express lanes do just as much of that collecting.

So this article is a proposal to ease a bit of the traffic strain. The express lanes only give drivers access to the collector lanes, with a few exceptions like Hwy 400, and the DVP, I believe. You can get onto any of the exits of the highway from the collector lanes. The problem is, people don't use lanes for their intended purpose.

If the collectors are faster, drivers normally will take those, even if they never intend to get off the 401 at all while travelling through the city.

And those drivers who plan to get off in the city will often stay on the express until the last chance they have to transfer to the collectors and take their exit.

I'm not saying it's bad for drivers to take advantage of the best option available. What I'm saying is bad, though, is that the current system allows people to transfer frquently in one trip from lane to lane to collectors to express to collectors to express to passing pane to collectors to the exit, or some other permutation of many lane changes and transfer mounts. This is what causes congestion. People have too many different options to "beat the rush" and weave around others who are percieved as slower drivers or slower in mind and not agressive enough.

Here's what we should do.

First, reduce the express-collector hopping by disallowing access from the express lanes to the collector lanes. The only things I propose the express lanes should have access to are:
-Hwy 410
-Hwy 427
-Hwy 409
-Hwy 400
-Allen Road
-Yonge St
-DVP/404,
and access would be direct to those roads, so one wouldn't have to get on to the collectors first before exiting off the 401.

Next, rename the "Collector" lanes to the "Local" lanes, so some of us won't get this image in our heads of thickening blood along thinning walls of some fat guy's aorta. The local lanes will have access to all the exits, and will have access to the express lanes at frequent intervals. The only catch is, we'll have to put up signs that say "Notice: Express lanes access only highways 400, 404, 409, 410, 427, DVP, and Yonge St, and Allen Rd".

People will make mistakes and miss their exits, but at least they'll be driving faster doing it.

Then we'll be able to raise the speed limit on the express lanes to 110 kilometres per hour.

The local lanes will probably get a bit more congested, but we hope that it will coerce people to look for alternate cheaper, cleaner, and less wasteful modes of transport, and leave the highway driving in the city to only the people who really need it.

So be it!

Discussion: What should Alberta do with its new-found wealth?

2005-09-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

Some questions:

Who says that it's Alberta's oil, and not Canada's oil? Did the dinosaurs say to themselves, just before dying, that they should lay themselves to rest in Alberta, thereby letting the Eastern Bastards freeze in the dark (because I suppose they're bad people?) - wait, humans haven't been invented yet for hundreds of millions of years.

Why turn the surplus into a small disposable cash gift? I'm sure that the $500 given to each Albertan from last year's surplus will be well spent, much of it on tobacco, cigarettes, and gambling. And probably not to health care nor education.

What are the merits for Alberta separating from Canada? I think they can afford it, and I think that it is in their best interest economically to do it. Unfortunately, it also means the destruction of Canada.

Is it time to consider an alternate arrangement for the GST in Alberta? Adding 7% to prices is a cognitive burden, and also it sort of redistributes wealth from Alberta, to Ottawa, back to Alberta, in a way, which I think is wasteful. It would be so much simpler there with no tax, especially when none is really needed.

Fair dinkum!

Project: Abolish Daylight Savings Time

2005-09-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

This is a perennial debate (usually around when we have to set %#&$ our clocks forward and lose one hour of sleep!) and it has many arguments and subarguments, but I will put forward one proposal, discuss other options, and weigh advantages and disadvantages for each.

This time we're talking about a little more because our USA neighbours to the south are going to extend the daylight savings time period in the year by one week before and three weeks after, or something like that. It will save some energy by shifting working hours during the affected periods so that less energy is used during darker hours, I believe. It does make some sense.

The Canadian dilemma is as follows. Should we follow suit with the Americans? That way we won't be out of sync with them for four weeks per year. The problem is, so far the rest of the world will not be doing this. So someone is going to be out of sync.

The whole need for "daylight savings" is sort of an old one anyway, now that we are in this global village, working at possibly any hour in the day anyway. This is why I propose that Canada abolish daylight savings altogether. I should note that "daylight savings all year-round" has been done before in the energy-crisis 1970s.

Summary of options:

OPTION 0: Continue the way we have been doing things;
OPTION 1: Institute the USA's change in the annual daylight savings period;
OPTION 2: Abolish daylight savings time by going to DST year round.

OPTION 0.

Disadvantages: a) We will be out of sync with the USA four weeks per year, and it is going to be awfully, awfully confusing. b) We will still have to change our clocks twice a year, and lose an hour of sleep one a year.

Advantages: a) We don't have to change anything. b) We can get a bit of dubious "Canadian pride" by not following the Americans. But seriously, folks, this is as notable as Quebec's old "you can't turn right on a red light", or Nfld's "half-hour time difference", and this type of "cultural identity" is pathetic and retarded, if you'll excuse the pun. c) We will still be in 'sync' with the rest of the world, assuming they don't change their time regimes, either.

OPTION 1:

Disadvantages: a) We succumb to pressure and have to change things to a system that is likely to change again. b) We will be out of sync with the rest of the world. c) We still have to change our clocks twice a year and lose an hour of sleep once a year.

Advantages: a) We will be in sync with our largest trading partner.

OPTION 2:

Disadvantages: a) We will be out of sync with the USA and the rest of the world (sort of like Saskatchewan), until they realize that this is the best solution and follow *us*!

Advantages: a) We get our bit of dubious "Canadian Pride", for the mean time. b) WE NEVER HAVE TO CHANGE OUR #*%(@ CLOCKS AGAIN! Hooray!

*********************************************

I think it is clear which option we are supporting.

This is the word of the sophiarchs.
Let wisdom be with you wherever you are.

Project: Restaurant Tipping

2005-09-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

A common problem with Canadian patrons of restauranteurs is calculating an adequate tip that is based on the quality of service received and also takes into account the performance of the sevice in contrast to some sort of expectation.

A system for doing this is in the works. So far, it's proposed that we have four categories of performance, based on expectations. In brackets, we have referred to Chris' Choice Scale Ratings.

A note on tipping: The percentages are based on the subtotals without tax. This may lead to tips lower than the "rule of thumb 15%" that Canadians are pressured into tipping regardless of how rudely they were treated. To account for this, we state:
-If tax were included in posted meal prices, then that would mean more tip money for good servers. Write a letter to your local MP!
-Although the Chris' Choice ratings refer to a bell-curve distribution of service, it is not necessarily the case that 50% of all services will be at level W or X and 50% of all service will be at level Y or Z. Currently (fall 2005), this is how they stand. The distribution is about 16%-34%-34%-16% for levels W, X, Y and Z, respectively. But perhaps in 5 years or so, service in Canadian restaurants will have generally improved so that the distribution is 10%-20%-40%-30%. If so, we will tip at those high levels, until our expectations grow higher again, assuming they do!
-Restaurants paying servers below the minimum wage already accounting for expected tips is obscene, and should be stopped immediately.
-It would be better if it were like in Austalia anyway, where tipping is not normally expected, unless service is second-to-none.

Level W (-2 or -3): Very Poor service. The patron has arrived at a restaurant in a good mood but leaves angry. Caused by a catastrophic service fault (not the tennis kind), or at least two major faults. Tip 6%.

Level X (-1): Weak service. Most often found in kitchy chain/family restaurants served by teenagers and young twentysomethings who don't care at all about their customers. Nevertheless, the job is done. At most one major service fault, or possibly a few minor faults. Tip 12%.

Level Y (+1): Generally Good service. Minor faults only. An overall satisfying experience. Makes you want to go back to the restaurant some other time, order nearly the same thing, and secretly hope you get the same server, because it's a good bet for good service. Tip 18%.

Level Z (+2 or +3): Fantastic Service! Maybe a minor fault that is intercepted by the server him/herself and is corrected accordingly. Top drawer. Tip 24%.

Alphabet Song

2005-09-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

Due to the correct pronunciation of the letter 'z' the Canadian alphabet song does not fully rhyme. I propose changing the order of the Canadian alphabet in order to fix this problem. There are two possible changes:

Switch 'b' and 'z,' or
Switch 't' and 'z'.

I am interested in what the masses think and if there are other palatable alternatives.

Project: The Canadian Grammar Corps

2005-09-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

This is a call for volunteers to join the Canadian Grammar Police Corps. Part-time members will be able to contribute to the fight against the misuse of the English language. You will be able to:

-Write citations against business owners and advertisers who display typographical errors, spelling errors, or any other blatant mechanical errors, and demand correction of these errors;

-Join in activist protests against those who fail to comply with suggested changes to the misuse of the language;

-Support any of these actions through completing administrative, logistical, operational, financial, telecommunicative, planning, or information-gathering tasks; and

-Bask in the pedantic belief that you are helping increase the wisdom and intelligence of the average Canadian citizen.

For more information, please contact the undersigned:

JJE Imber
Captain
Canadian Grammar Corps
(416)807-0131
jeffimber@rediffmail.com

Project: Toronto Rapid Transit Expansion

2005-09-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

This is a short description of expansion plans for Toronto subway/light rail lines.

Before I list them, please let me qualify this idea with the knowledge that "viva", a new, modern bus system, is already being installed to help tackle the problem of congestion and limited span of rapid transit in Toronto. So the following does not yet account for the potential positive or negative impact that Viva will have on the network.

Rapid Transit in Toronto currently consists of four lines:

Line 1 (yellow) travels south from Downsview station at Sheppard and Dufferin along Allen Road to Eglinton and Bathurst, then to Spadina/St George and Bloor, then south on University to Union Station, then North on Yong to Finch.

Line 2 (green) travels east from Kipling and Bloor along Bloor St until crossing the Don Valley, then continuing east along Danforth until Main St, then heading to Kennedy and Eglinton.

Line S (blue), the Scarborough Light Rail, travels north from Kennedy & Eglinton to Kennedy & Ellesmere, then east along Ellesmere to McCowan and Ellesmere.

Line 3 (violet) travels east from Yonge and Sheppard to Don Mills and Sheppard.

The following expansions and installations of new lines are proposed as follows:

Line 1: Expand as proposed and planned the University side from Downsview through York University, halting near Steeles and Jane. Expand the Yonge side from Finch to Steeles, and then west on Steeles from Yonge to Jane. This will form a complete loop, broken only at the Steeles and Jane Station.

Line 2: Extend west from Kipling station south-west to Sherway Gardens.

Line S: Extend east to Markham road, and then north to Markham and Sheppard.

Line 3: Extend west to Downsview, and extend east to Markham and Sheppard.

New Line 4 (orange): Eglinton Line. Begin at Kennedy Station, travel west along Eglinton across to Highway 427, and then travel north-west and end at Terminal 3.

A map of these new extension plans will be provided. Comments are welcome and requested.

Further ideas:

Line 5 (red): Queen St from Gardiner to Beaches (Queen st).
Line 6 (grey): Lakeshore shuttle serving Union, Skydome/CN Tower, Exhibition place, and beaches.
Line 7 (light blue): Steeles from Albion Road to Toronto Zoo.
Line 8 (white): Spadina from Union to Bloor, replacing the Streetcar currently there (i.e. something that does not compete with traffic lights on Spadina).

Some subtopics for further future discussion:

Slowness and futility of Streetcars
Fare zones
Subway vs Light Rail construction
Appropriateness of TTC connection with neighbouring cities' systems and possibility of extending TTC rapid transit into those areas

So be it.

JJE

The Rating Scale

2005-08-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

The official Chris' Choice rating scale is one of the first collaborations of the Sophiarchs. I think it is a particularly good example of the kind of thing we are trying to produce here. It has survived about 4 years of use on that venerable site and is still an appealing system to my mind.

The virtues of the scale are that the system is rational and uses both external and internal reference to derive meaning. That is, the system is balanced along the average '0' with two like categories on either side. Each category gains meaning from the items grouped within it, but also fromthe external statistical definition. Moreover, the portability of the system provides a second reference by providing cross domain comparisons.

Needless to say we will continue to use and refine this rating system whenever we can.

Let wisdom be with you wherever you are.

Let Us Begin

2005-08-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

This is post number zero in hopefully what is a long list. There is a dire need, more than ever, for objective intellectuals to have input into the systems of the world that have been governed for too long by the changing whims of impressionable people, including fickle issues of money and "practicality".

Here we will not allow minor concerns to influence and impede the progress of genius and often derail plans that are fundamentally good in nature and have the greater good in mind, for the long term.

The key word behind our projects is "systems". Systems that produce, systems that correct, and systems that take care. They will not be perfect, by any means, but will be geared to the mental clarity and mirth that any honest and intelligent person desires in the forces that control his or her life.

The driving force behind this campaign is a synergistic combination of reason and design, which comes from the mind and thoughts of two people who revere knowledge in both the arts and sciences, the practical and theoretical, the creative and analytic. The essence here is the constructive, rather than destructive, mission to make this place a little better to live in and to clear our heads a little.

So please share with us your plans. Expect criticism, as we expect it ourselves, but bask in the comfort that in receiving our criticism we accept those plans and wish for them to be clear of impulsive and fragmented contaminants. What is the problem? What is the goal? What is the system? There will be a way.

Let wisdom be with you wherever you are.

This is the word of the sophiarchs.

Thanks be to Chris and Jeff.