I guess that has always been how the Singapore government prefer to work and their idea of safety net. They never believed in giving free money and say “there you go, here is some money to take care of your basic needs, you don’t have to tell me what you do with it and hopefully you live happily ever after”, their message is " I will give you some money but you have to show me what you are willing to do to upgrade yourself for this small amount of money to get through your basic expenses for now so that in future you have a lesser chance of finding yourself in such a situation again." But as I say, there will never be a solution fits all. Every government probably have to find a system that works best for the future of the country for the people.
It’s tough to manage, and I’m not sure what side of it I come out in. Generally my viewpoint is that to the degree government assistance raises the people it helps, so they are better placed to rebound, and take care of themselves, and even hopefully move on to bigger and better, great! The Singapore example above seems like exactly the right idea.
To the degree government assistance becomes a crutch that people settle for… well, that seems inherently broken.
It is an interesting idea and should not be dismissed out of hand. I think John Lennon voiced a similar idea back in the 60s - put the word “Free” in front of absolutely everything. Initially it sounds like a crazy idea but with some radical thought it does have some merit.
Regarding UBI or other state support schemes, I always wondered why government address the income rather than the expense part. Instead of paying cash support they can pay the gas/power bill or provide debit cards for public transports etc.
Cash is easier to administer and more flexible as recipients can use as they need to. There are often additional schemes to help with heating/ travel costs, for particular groups, in the UK.
Interestingly, there is law in Minnesota that specifies the action being prosecuted does not have to be the only contribution to death. So, their arguments that he had high blood pressure and a heart problem and was on Meth has no legal standing. Per their law the question is “was that enough by itself, without the defendant putting his knee on his throat for 9 minutes, for him to die at that moment?”
I am not an expert in this but what I heard while some UBI calls for helping with basic income and expenses, there are some groups who actually ask for UBI so that people are not forced to only work in jobs they may not like but are the only paying jobs available, so that people can choose to chase their dreams in a lifestyle they prefer, without breaking any laws of course. I probably can understand that in a very large society but hopefully people can understand why that might be a concern in a small island nation like us with only 3.5mil citizens. Or more fairly, its how the society and nation wants to address the balance between lifestyle, economy reality etc
I haven’t kept up with the coroner reports but I thought they said they only found possible traces of what could be methamphetamine? (i.e. it wasn’t confirmed that he was high)
More to the point it’s going to come down to how many on the jury think it’s fine for police officers to kill black people. I’d honestly be shocked if at least one doesn’t think it was Floyd’s fault - given that there are self-confessed Blue Lives Matter guys on the jury.
Yes, the analysis I heard yesterday was the defense has no real basis as a legal basis per Minnesota law, but it’s a jury trial and they often just go with their gut anyway.
If Chauvin doesn’t go to jail for a significant stretch it will be a miscarriage of justice, and it may prompt riots on the streets. Unfortunately that will be seized upon by the political right and they will say the Dems are soft on crime and don’t believe in supporting the police, etc.
If I had to guess, I’d say based on the links to an already jailed local politician from here in Orlando, this is going towards prostitution/solicitation charges, with her being possibly underage and trafficked across state line just added problems for him. At the very best, he is an undeniable sex pest (see the sexual conquest game he allegedly set up in Congress). At worst, he’s a predatory peado using his power to abuse teens.
We have a local official here in Orlando who was forced to step down last year after a series of abuse of power incidents
Much of his tenure was embroiled in controversy: Months after taking office, he began allowing employees to carry guns, and then in December 2017, while wearing a tax collector badge that looked like a law enforcement shield, he pulled over and confronted a driver for speeding. Officials with the Seminole State Attorney’s Office declined to press charges.
About a month following that incident, Greenberg himself asked for “professional courtesy” after he was pulled over for speeding.
A 2019 Orlando Sentinel investigation revealed Greenberg had spent $3.5 million in consultant contracts, salaries to friends and associates, including giving a combined $644,000 to three of his groomsmen and another $677,000 to a campaign adviser. An audit released last December showed Greenberg wasted about $1 million in taxpayer funds, including buying body armor, weapons, ammunition and a drone.
He was forced to step down after these revelations, but later was charged with further criminal acts such as using a state database to make fake IDs and sell them. That investigation ultimately turned into a sex trafficking investigation and now this guy looks like he’s going away for ever.
This guy had developed a profile as a result of close ties he developed to Gaetz and MAGA world, and it seems these issues Gaetz is facing came as a result of that investigation.
We now have Gaetz’s version of the story where he is claiming that his dad (a powerful Florida politician whose position explains Gaetz’s unfortunately presence in our lives) was contacted by two people with alleged knowledge of the investigation telling that his son was fucked, but they had a way out. If he paid for their continued effort to get a hostage released by Iran (who most people think is already dead) they would let Gaetz take the lead on the praise once they got him released, which would buy him favour from the justice department and mitigate his sentence (that is not how any of this works). Gaetz Sr and Son are now trying to present this as extortion as a way of misdirecting from the actual accusation, despite there only being upside offered in this proposed deal and no thread/punishment.
Yeah, since the one the Colorado mall last week, we’ve had about 20 other incidents that meet the definition of mass shootings, about half of which meet the layman definition of someone just walking into somewhere and lighting up the place with seemingly no obvious triggering event (like a fight or gang related)
What’s your personal experience? Have you ever heard live gunfire whilst out in public (and not near a rifle range, for example)? Is it something that most people living in the US would say they’ve experienced during their lives?