Articles Archives | Page 2 of 2

14 Nov

Solar Roadways: American Ingenuity to Power a Greener Future

Craig Carroll5 CommentsArticles, Solution Spotlight, SustainabilityAutomated Vehicles, innovation, invention, renewable energy, safety, solar energy, solar power, tech, technology, Tesla

There are moments in life when we hear about something that strikes us as so obvious, so wonderful, that we wonder why we haven’t encountered it before. Solar Roadways was one of those things for me. We have accepted roads that exist in a certain way, but what if, in the near future, they could serve purposes other than simply a solid, flat surface for vehicles to drive upon? Solar Roadways is a company that has developed a technology (of the same name) which began with the idea to turn the surface of our roads into solar panels, and evolved…

20 Sep

Fatherland and Life: The Story of Cuban Spirit Against the Regime’s Might

Nick Ramos0 CommentsArticles, International NewsBatista, Bay of Pigs, blockade, capitalism, Castro, communism, COVID-19, Cuba Libre, Cubans, Donald Trump Jr., embargo, Enrique Iglesias, Fidel Castro, Fulgencio Batista, Gente de Zona, Leninism, Marxism, Miami, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Obama, Patria o Muerte, Patria y Vida, SOSCuba, Trump

Beginning on July 11th of this year, Cubans publicly protested against their government for over a week. In response to the unprecedented disobedience by a citizenry that usually does not protest, the Cuban government cracked down. Plainclothes officers, regular police, and the infamous Black Berets special forces patrolled the streets and beat protestors. The forces were supported by military equipment intended to cause fear but also for use if the balance tipped against the government. Cubans had not protested like this in a long time, the last big protest taking place in the ‘90s. However, that was constrained to just…

30 Aug

Congress in Crisis: Assessing Our Broken Branch, Pt. II

Nathan C. Smolensky0 CommentsArticles, Governmentcampaign finance, Congress, Democratic Party, electoral reform, House of Representatives, John Sarbanes, Katherine Gehl, Ken Buck, Lawrence Lessig, Newt Gingrich, reform, Republican Party, Ro Khanna, Senate, structural reform, US Congress

How We Got Here, Why It's Getting Worse, & What We Can Do About It Editor’s Note: This is the second article in our two-part series on Congress. Part I discusses the issues currently causing the problems in Congress. This part discusses how we got to this point. “I think the most important man in the history of Congress, after [James] Madison, was Newt Gingrich. And I think Newt Gingrich destroyed congress”[1] —Lawrence Lessig A pivotal moment in the evolution of our modern legislature came in 1994, when Republicans won control of the House of Representatives for the first time…

28 Aug

Congress in Crisis: Assessing Our Broken Branch, Pt. I

Nathan C. Smolensky1 CommentArticles, GovernmentCongress, corruption, fundraising, House of Representatives, Justin Amash, Senate, Speaker of the House, The Swamp, United States

Editor’s Note: This is the first article in our two-part series on Congress. This part discusses the issues currently causing the problems. Part II discusses how we got to this point. What's Going On in Washington? “The founders envisioned Congress as a deliberative body in which outcomes are discovered. We are fast approaching the point, however, where Congress exists as little more than a formality to legitimize outcomes dictated by the president, the speaker of the House, and the Senate majority leader.” Former Rep. Justin Amash (L-MI) These were the words of Justin Amash (L-MI), first printed in a Washington…

26 Jun

Whatever Happened to the Fuel of the Future?

Nathan C. Smolensky1 CommentArticles, Sustainabilitycarbon emissions, coal, fuel, geothermal, hydroelectric power, innovations, nuclear energy, nuclear power, oil and gas, Paris Agreement, Paris Climate Agreement, solar power, wind

Listen to "Whatever Happened to the Fuel of the Future? by Nathan C. Smolensky" on Spreaker. On April 22nd of this year—Earth Day—US President Joe Biden played host to some 40 world leaders in a virtual climate conference. The conference carried many of the talking points typical of its predecessors—climate change and crisis, of urgency and action—but Biden did make some bold promises for the nation's direction. Carbon emissions, the president declared, would be cut by 50%-52% from 2005 levels by the year 2030, primarily on the strength of reduced coal usage and more electric cars and trucks replacing gas-guzzlers…

23 Jun

El Salvador Becomes the First Nation to Make Bitcoin Legal Tender – Here’s Why it Matters

Zachary Josephs0 CommentsArticles, Cryptocurrency, EconomicsBitcoin, Bitcoin Law, blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrencies, El Salvador, IMF, President Nayib Bukele, World Bank

Early in the morning of June 9th, a bill referred to as the Bitcoin Law passed through the Salvadorian congress with a supermajority of 64 out of 82 votes. Introduced by the nation's president earlier in the month, the legislation made the Central American nation the first in the world to recognize a cryptocurrency as legal tender. While waiting for the results of the vote that day, Nic Carter, a writer and journalist who focuses on Bitcoin and blockchain developments, was hosting an otherwise uneventful Twitter Space, a voice-only discussion room, for members of the Bitcoin community to discuss the…

23 May

How Voting Systems Can Determine Our Future, Even More Than Votes

Vicky Lio and Stacia Wilson1 CommentArticles, Election Integrityalternative voting systems, democracy, first past the post, ranked choice voting, STAR, voting, voting systems

“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”—Abraham Lincoln Voting is the cornerstone of democracy. It allows each individual among millions to make their preferences heard in a quantifiable way. But there are many methods of quantifying preferences as votes and they are not all made equal. Much like adding different proportions of flour, milk, and eggs can create everything from cookies, to pasta, to pancakes, the way each vote is counted can produce very different election outcomes. So, how does your vote get counted, what options are out there, and which voting method is the best? We’ll shed some light…

09 May

Diagnosing Rising Costs of American Healthcare

Stacia Wilson5 CommentsArticles, HealthcareFDA, government subsidies, healthcare, medicine, monopolies, R&D, socialism

In many ways, we have the worst of both worlds. Our system … has the illusion of a free market and the illusion of regulated market with the apparent benefit of neither.—Bill Gurley, CFA; Forbes Midas List Graphic by Max Roser In his book, The Price We Pay, Marty Makary, MD, MPH, of Johns Hopkins University writes, “Half of the Amish people we interviewed said that when they or a relative gets a serious sickness, they take the Amtrak train to Mexico. Why? Because the medical quality is good and the prices are fair and disclosed up front.” How did…

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