August 23, 2018

Guaranteed Income – Garbage Incinerators

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Why Universal Basic Income Is A Ridiculous Idea

You know what the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard is?

And, the crazy thing is, I keep hearing my entrepreneurial friends talk about this. People I respect, people that I admire, I hear are proponents of this idea of a universal basic income.

The idea that the government should just dole out cash.
Like, if robots take over all the world, we’re going to need the government to take care of us and give out a universal basic income for people so that everybody can live while the robots run our lives.

Universal basic income is this ridiculous idea that is based on this fundamental flaw that innovation destroys more than it creates. And nothing could be further from the truth.

https://www.capitalism.com/universal-basic-income-ridiculous-idea/

Guaranteed Income for All? Switzerland’s Voters Say No Thanks

Swiss voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to guarantee an income to Switzerland’s residents, whether or not they are employed, an idea that has also been raised in other countries amid an intensifying debate over wealth disparities and dwindling employment opportunities.

About 77 percent of voters rejected a plan to give a basic monthly income of 2,500 Swiss francs, or about $2,560, to each adult, and 625 francs for each child under 18, regardless of employment status, to fight poverty and social inequality and guarantee a “dignified” life to everyone.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/06/world/europe/switzerland-swiss-vote-basic-income.html

High-Powered Plasma Turns Garbage Into Gas

From the highway, one of the biggest landfills in the US doesn’t look at all like a dump. It’s more like a misplaced mesa. Only when you drive closer to the center of operations at the 700-acre Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Oregon, does the function of this place become clear. Some 35,000 tons of mostly household trash arrive here weekly by train from Seattle and by truck from Portland.

Dump trucks inch up the gravel road to the top of the heap, where they tip their cargo of dirty diapers, discarded furniture, lemon rinds, spent lightbulbs, Styrofoam peanuts, and all the rest onto a carefully flattened blanket of dirt. At night, more dump trucks spread another layer of dirt over the day’s deposits, preventing trash from escaping on the breeze.

https://www.wired.com/2012/01/ff_trashblaster/

Why incinerate garbage?

Garbage incinerators can stop bear problems. Burning in pits or the common “burn barrel” attracts bears. The fuel drains into the dirt or into cans beneath your garbage so that garbage is only scorched. The fire smolders for hours. Bears will dig up half-burned garbage. Fast burning fuels and inadequate air, such as in a pit or a drum result in scorched and smoldering garbage that attracts bears.

Garbage incinerators can save time and money. They can be located close to camp and the limited ash does not require heavy hauling. Bear damage to your camp, cabin, or lodge can cost thousands of dollars to repair. Open pit fires can cause costly tent and forest fires. Garbage hauls to town dumps can be costly in the long run.

If you allow bears to get into your garbage you risk prosecution under Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulation 5AAC 92.230. This regulation makes it illegal to negligently leave out food and garbage in a manner that attracts bears. The penalty is $100 per incident.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=livingwithbears.incinerators

Canada Is Raging Against Gun Violence—But Not Like America

After a shooting in Toronto, the country is debating a total ban on handguns.

Like so much else in Canada, the debate over guns typically happens more quietly than it does in the United States. But on rare occasions, a tragic moment will come along and propel the issue to the top of the public agenda. When that happens, the country abandons the decibel range of polite discourse and begins to argue—loudly—about gun control.

That’s what happened this week after a lone gunman, Faisal Hussein, allegedly opened fire in Toronto’s Danforth neighborhood Sunday night, killing two and wounding 13 more. The ensuing days have been incredibly busy ones for gun-control advocates in Canada. The tragedy has sparked a national conversation, with officials as prominent as Toronto’s mayor pushing for a ban on the sale of handguns. Advocates have seized the moment of increased public attention to argue for tighter gun laws.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/07/canada-gun-control-debate/566102/

The Justin Trudeau-led Liberal government has announced changes to Canada’s gun laws. The “good” news is, Canada’s large and thriving community of lawful gun owners probably expected it to be much more brutal than this. The bad news is, the laws aren’t really going to make anything better, and will probably make some things worse.

COMMENTARY: Trudeau gets tough on gangs by hassling target shooters

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