"Lock them in a room" and other "solutions" to Illinois' governmental problems

This could be done legally but probably not under the current IL Constitution. You could adopt the papal conclave model and evict them from office if they do not attend rather than forcibly detaining them. There would have to be reasonable exceptions for emergencies. It would likely force a resolution but probably not a great one.

While we are on the subject of pipe dream "solutions", I will add a couple ideas that I think would be worth discussing. First, we should move to a unicameral legislature. There is little benefit to a 2 chamber model. Second, we should set the size of the legislature to roughly 1 per 60,000 residents (215 vs the 177 we have now). It is easier to know your representative and harder for outsiders to "buy" an election with smaller districts. Third, terms should be lengthened (10 years?) to end this constant game of taking tough votes after various election-related dates. This could be coupled with a single term limit and/or recall provisions.

Government-sponsored research into natural therapiesral therapies

There are a ton of diseases that could be cured or alleviated with minimal side effects using natural therapies. However, no corporation would invest the time and money researching and marketing a natural cure because there would be no patent rights and they'd lose their investment. So instead we get manufactured chemicals with side effects almost as bad as the disease they're meant to treat. What we need is a medical research arm of the government searching for cures using natural products. The results should be posted and use encouraged by prescribers, perhaps increasing reimbursement rates.

Solid bike tir

Anyone else think a solid bicycle tire would be a good idea? I'm thinking a modest band of rubber around the metal rim with shocks or springs of some sort to replace the cushion lost from a pneumatic tire. The benefits would include better "mileage" from not pedaling against an underinflated tire and no flats. Tires could last much longer reducing cost and environmental impact.

Why do we have street lights?

Anyone know? Think of all the energy wasted and light pollution created by street lighting while cars drive around with lights of their own. My very crude estimate has Chambana spending about $2M/yr on it. I know sidewalk lighting is important, especially in densely populated areas to cut down on crime, but the streets themselves? I've read some arguments saying it helps drivers see hazards or signs easier but, if that were so valuable, why are offramps lighted and not the whole interstate? Why not just improve headlights and technologies to allow for improved environmental awareness like nightvision.

Could help save $, aesthetics, and the environment.

Escobar's - Not a fan

Been wanting to check out Escobar's for a while. Read it was pretty nice. Told it was up there with KoFusion which we've been to several times and they have really good food. Tried to go last Monday but they were closed. Finally got there this weekend and I think it just may have been the worst meal I've had in C-U, certainly for the price. We ordered a house salad, mussels, and a dish with filet mignon medallions over pasta and a cream sauce. The salad was just alright. Table bread smelled good but was generally mealy. Mussels were decent but they didn't bother to pick out the bad ones. But the filet dish was just downright bad. Ordered medium, got just shy of raw. See for yourself.
And by filet mignon, they meant a fatty, chewy steak. Most sirloins are better than that. By cream sauce, they meant whatever juices happen to drip off the meat. The pasta was completely unseasoned, as if it was pulled straight out of the water and onto the plate. The side veggies were the only thing decent on the $20 plate.

Just saying.

Woohoo, I can post from my phone!

Okay, so it's not perfect but I can blog from my phone now. Maybe I'll actually do it more often now.

eCommerce Sales Tax

Most online purchases are not taxed and most people do not file to pay the tax as required. This creates a big disadvantage for local, brick-and-mortar companies and results in more individual shipping and packaging which isn't very green. My solution: have the ecommerce retailer tax the purchase at some nationally-agreed upon rate, remitting half to their home state and half to the purchaser's home state. The rate might be the retailer's home state rate, the average of all state rates, the highest state's rate, or some other method. Alternatively, the states could maintain a database of tax data that the retailer could access to tax appropriately. In the end, however, half the tax should be retailer-local and half should be purchaser-local to more fairly distribute the tax based on the impact to public services each party has.