Fixing presidential nomination process
1| Plan the schedule in advance.
The details: Republican conventioneers will consider proposals for most delegates in future years to be chosen later in the process. And Barack Obama wants Democrats to downplay the unelected “superdelegates.” Both ideas, in broad form, would make sense to voters confused, depressed or just plain bored by this year’s mad scramble.
Prepare for the cyber-wars
2| U.S. must strengthen tech defenses.
The details: The Heritage Foundation’s homeland security expert Dr. James Carafano proposes that Congress establish new public and private educational programs to train skilled cyber-warriors to combat cyber attacks, especially those from Russia and China.
What are we waiting for?
Black gold means green cash for Uncle Sam
3| Driling here, drilling now, creating money.
The details: The latest Department of the Interior auction of lease rights to drill in the outer continental shelf produced more than $487 million in income for the government. Billions more will be generated if drilling is allowed in areas now off-limits. So how about using those billions to repair dangerous bridges?
Peoples’ Press Collective
4| Colorado bloggers pool convention coverage.
The details: More than 15,000 mainstream media journalists are headed to Denver to cover the Democratic National Convention, an event that will most likely produce little actual news, since everything has already been settled. A group of Colorado-based bloggers are joining together in the Peoples’ Press Collective to offer an alternative to the hordes of regular journalists asking the same people the same questions over and over.
Low-tech solution to high-tech problem
5| Charges of voting-machine fraud are rising.
The details: University of Tennessee law professor and Instapundit.com blogger Glenn Reynolds has the solution to the growing wave of post-election lawsuits charging voting machine fraud: Go back to paper ballots, which are easily counted and verified.
No more tax increases
6| Gov. Tim Kaine pledges not to raise taxes again.
The details: Virginia faces a $1 billion shortfall due to a slowing economy and less-than-expected revenue collections. Since the commonwealth’s $77 billion biennial budget is based on those same revenue projections, it stands to reason that state spending be adjusted accordingly, instead of forcing taxpayers to make up the difference.
New York-style transit straps
7| Metro is testing overhead handles.
The details: Too-high grab bars on older Metrorail trains make it difficult for children and shorter adults to steady themselves as the cars lurch their way into the stations. The solution: Inexpensive nylon-mesh straps that hang down at least a foot, which Metro hopes to install on 300 railcars by the end of the year.
Sticking up for poor parents
8| Taking on D.C.’s child welfare bureaucracy.
The details: Matt Fraidin, associate professor at the University of the District of Columbia’s law school, is using a $75,000 grant to set up a legal aid clinic for parents threatened with the loss of their children. Fraidin says poverty and racial bias accounts for the vast majority of kids removed from their homes.
Making good use of abandoned schools
9| Charter group takes over closed middle school.
The details: A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday to celebrate KIPP DC: AIM Academy’s move to the former Douglass Junior High in Ward 8, where 320 students will begin the new school year on a refurbished seven-acre campus. The college-prep charter school previously rented space from a church in Congress Heights that lacked many traditional school amenities.
Furry rehabilitation
10| Program uses unwanted dogs to help wounded vets.
The details: The Washington Humane Society is offering a course in dog training and behavior at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Both disabled veterans and the shelter dogs they will train for eventual adoption stand to benefit from the eight-week, hands-on-fur course.
