Steal My Ideas, Please

More than two million homes are expected to be foreclosed this year. What a waste. All because the owners can’t affort the particular payment on that house. Hmm. So what if we switched the people and the houses? Orchestrated a kind of mortgage musical chairs? Take Joe. Can’t afford his $600,000 house. But he could afford the […]

Not surprised: This has been thought of before. If electric cars have a limited range, why not be able to pick up recharged batteries as you drive? Swap ‘em like tanks for gas grills. Freshcreation.com has a post, including a neat video of how electric car battery exchanges could work.

Hello! Why is a cutout fine for many companies, but others insist on adding unnecessary plastic to the recycling of paper? Ban it.

Ever use that algebra and calculus you learned in high school? Most people don’t, I’ll bet. But every day we make decisions or encounter information involving odds and numerical evidence. Play poker? Buy a lottery ticket? Decide to fly or drive? Read a story about how married people live longer? Or how a drug cuts the risk of a rare […]

We have days for honoring military heroes, but why not a holiday to honor other people who risked their lives to protect and save their fellow man? Police. Fire fighters. Transplant donors. Rescuers from accidents and disasters. Extend gratitude to doctors, teachers, parents, too. If as a society we’re not going to pay these people as well […]

The presidency’s too much for any one man. Or woman. So divide it up. Besides, the more responsibilities a leader has, the more failures are accepted, and the more elections focus on likeability instead of issues. So suppose there were multiple ”presidents,” (or commissioners) each independent with only one problem-solving job: Improving education. Winning the war on drugs. Making Americans […]

“Vote for Me! My ugly opponent’s pro-death and he wants to raise everybody’s taxes! This ad, brought to you by the Committee to Re-Elect Joe Jerkweed at Any Cost, not only just wasted $20,000 that could have gone for several children’s health-care premiums, but it may cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, gullibility, insensitivity, and major regret. […]

I have a dream. I go to schools, conduct creativity workshops. Help kids learn to invent. As individuals, or as a group, they keep all the rights. And hopes. Wouldn’t it be great, as part of this dream, if poor kids could get patents for free? America’s slipping, some say. People worry about future generations, […]

New line item on federal income-tax returns: Number of $1 chances you’d like to buy to have all of your income taxes refunded. Bet 50 million people would buy at least a single chance. You’d keep drawing tickets till half the pot is awarded. Profit for feds: $25 million or more. Earmark for a worthy […]

Here’s my nightmare: I’ll buy a winning lottery ticket but forget to ever check it. Here’s my solution: Lottery ticket subscriptions. It’s like having season tickets to a sporting event. Every game, or every so often, you get the same numbers. If they ever hit, this computerized system automatically contacts you. No waiting in line, […]

Lots of American adults need more education. Could a kind of home schooling be an answer? Grants or government funding could set up a service or registry that would help students form groups taught by volunteers or family members. Perhaps parents who home-school high schoolers could invite an adult or two into their sessions, maybe […]

Elementary schools don’t really teach science, which is a system of thinking, not a set of facts. Suppose, for example, in kindergarten, a running endeavor is to list observations about water: It’s wet. It’s sticky. It freezes. It flows. Ice floats. Snow has little crystals. Steam is hot. It forms drops. It splashes. Fog is […]

Could charities parlay tax breaks into bigger donations? Scenario: Generous Jill is in a 15 percent tax bracket. If she donates $1,000 directly to her favorite charity, she saves $150 on her taxes, right? But say the charity is also supported by Benefactor Bob, who is in a 30 percent bracket. He could give the […]

Imagine if our currency had a little “Brought to you by” section. Sell enough sponsorships, and voila, free money! Blasphemous! Sacrilegous! Tacky! you say. But this could be an ideal form of welfare. Free money for the poor, at no cost to taxpayers. Couldn’t possibly raise a dollar per dollar-bill? OK, how ads on coins. […]

Imagine every day your newspaper had on its front page a little box labeled “Know News.” In that box, you’d find a single timely word, term or name with a simple definition. Could be old: Arraignment. Concerto. Insurgency. Or relatively new: Stem cells. Keylogging. Podcast.
Finish with a quick teaser or page number to a story […]