E-Waste Assessment In Trinidad Tobago: Fill & Download for Free

Obama’s record. It may not overwhelming assisted every Black American, but was he supposed to? He wasn’t the president of Black America. He was the president of the United States. I truly believe he did his job to the greatest extent possible, within the 8 years he had, with the Congress and Supreme Court he had. The problem he had all through his presidency is that he was intentionally held in check, by Republican power. But even with that he was able to mount several accomplishments:EthicsOrdered the White House and all federal agencies to respect the Freedom of Information Act and overturned Bush-era limits on accessibility of federal documents (2009)Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible (2009)Placed limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House (2009)Placed limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration (2009)Signed a measure strengthening registration and reporting requirements for lobbyists (2009)Ordered that lobbyists must be removed from and are no longer permitted to serve on federal and White House advisory panels and boards (2009) * Note: After saying he would not hire lobbyists, a few have been hired in the AdministrationCompanies and individuals who are delinquent on their taxes or owe back taxes are no longer allowed to bid for federal contracts (2009)Initiated the “e-Rulemaking Initiative” (in cooperation with Cornell University) to allow for online public “notice and comment” of federal laws and initiatives (2010)Issued the “Open Gov Directive” ordering all Cabinet departments to promote transparency and citizen participation in their policies (2010)Signed extensions on banning lobbyists from serving on agency boards (2010)Developed the “Don Not Pay List” with data on contractors and recipients of federal funds who are deemed to be ineligible because of fraud and abuse (2010)GovernanceThe White House website now provides information on all economic stimulus projects and spending, along with an unprecedented amount of information on our government (2009)Ended the Bush-era practice of circumventing established FDA rules for political reasons (2009)Ended the Bush-era practice of having White House staff rewrite the findings of scientific and environmental regulations and reports when they disagreed with the results (2009)Limited the salaries of senior White House aides (salaries cut to $100,000) (2009)Has urged Congress to adopt “Pay-Go” (whereby each dollar of spending is offset by a dollar in cuts or revenues, which was used in the `90s but abandoned in the `00s) (2010)Has been holding open meetings with Republican leaders, although they complain of a lack of access and information (2010)Signed the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (2010) * Note: To curb wasteful spendingTasked federal agencies to develop plans for disposing of unneeded real estate and then to eliminate unnecessary or non-economical lands, properties, etc. (2010)National SecurityPhasing out the expensive F-22 war plane (which wasn’t even used in Iraq/Afghanistan) and other outdated weapons systems (2009)Announced his intention to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay (2009) * Note: The closure has been delayed due to massive opposition but it remains on the agenda.Stated his interest in housing terrorists at a new federal “super max” facility in the US (2009) * Note: this has been delayed in the face of massive opposition but it remains on the agendaCut the expensive Reagan era missile defense program, saving $1.4 billion in 2010 (2009)Cancelled plans to station anti-ballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic (2009)Replacing long-range, expensive missile systems with more efficient smaller systems (2009)Increased US Navy patrols off the Somali coast in response to pirating (2009)Established a new cybersecurity office and appointed a cybersecurity czar (2009)Ordered the first nation-wide comprehensive cyber threat assessment (2009)Instituted a new Nuclear Posture Review, revising US nuclear deterrence policy to encourage more nations to join the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (2010) * Note: Components of the policy include: a pledge to stop nuclear testing; a pledge to not build a new generation of nucs; identifying nuclear terrorism, rather than a launch from another nuclear state, as the major threat; a pledge to not use nucs on a non-nuclear state in a conventional conflict; etc.Executive orders to block payment, transfers, exports, etc… of individuals and organizations support the regimes of North Korea, Iran, Somali pirates, and other foreign threats (2010)Presidential Memoranda to extend certain provisions of The Trading with Enemies Act which was to expire in September 2010 (2010) * Note: This includes freezing assets and banning trade that benefits the Cuban regime; however further efforts at normalizing travel to Cuba are supportedSigned bill for southwest border security and increased funds and agents on the Mexican border (2010)Signed the Comprehensive Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act to deal with foreign regimes like Iran and North Korea (2010)Iraq & AfghanistanBegan the phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq (2009); continuing the withdrawal (2010)Changed the US military command in the Afghan conflict (2009)Tasked the Pentagon to reorganize US policy in Afghanistan; the new policy includes 30,000 additional troops deployed, priority training of Afghan forces, developing agriculture and infrastructure, limiting aerial bombing, etc. (2009)Ordered the Pentagon to send additional helicopters to assist US Marine units and Special Forces in Afghanistan (2009)Increased unmanned drone strikes on Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan (2009)Ended the Bush-era “stop-loss” policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date (2009)Military & VeteransOrdered the Pentagon to cover expenses of families of fallen soldiers if they wish to be on site when the body arrives back in the US (2009)Ended the Bush-era “blackout” imposed on media coverage of the return of fallen US soldiers (2009) * Note: The media is now permitted to cover the story pending adherence to respectful rules and with the approval of the fallen soldier’s familyEnded the Bush-era “black out” policy on media coverage of war casualties (2009) * Note: Full information is now released for the first time in the War on TerrorOrdered better body armor to be procured for US troops (2009)Funding new Mine Resistant Ambush Vehicles (2009) * Note: The old Hummers were very vulnerable to roadside explosives and an alarming percentage of our soldiers lost in Iraq were on account of IEDsWorking to increase pay and benefits for military personnel (2009)Improving housing for military personnel (2009)Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses (2009)Ordered that conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other neglected military hospitals be improved (2009)Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military to a post-Cold War, modern fighting force (2009) * Note: Bush announced in 2001 his intention to do this but backed off the reforms after 9/11, which include: new procurement policies; increasing the size of Special Ops units; deploying new technologies; creating new cyber security units; etc.Ended the Bush-era practice of awarding “no-bid” defense contracts (2009)Improving benefits for veterans as well as VA staffing, information systems, etc. (2009)Authorized construction of additional health centers to care for veterans (2009)Suspended the Bush-era decision to purchase a fleet of Marine One helicopters from suppliers in favor of American made helicopters (2009)Ordered a review of the existing “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military (2010)New GI Bill for returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan (2009)Signed bill providing assistance for caregivers of veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan (2010) * Note: The omnibus bill does the following: Training, funding, and counseling for caregivers; promoting pilot childcare programs for women vets under treatment at the VA; independent oversight to prevent abuse; readjustment counseling for National Guard and reservist units; etc.Eliminated co-payments for veterans who are catastrophically disabled (2010)Fulfilled campaign promise to have combat troops (90,000) out of Iraq by August 31, 2010 (2010)Established a new interagency task force to assist veterans owning small businesses (2010) * Note: The efforts include promoting federal contract opportunities, improve access to loans and capital, mentor assistance programs, etc.Signed The Families of Fallen Heroes Act, which covers the moving costs of immediate family members of those lost in service (military, intelligence, and security personnel) (2010)Foreign PolicyClosed the Bush-era “secret detention” facilities in Eastern Europe (2009)Ended the Bush-era policy allowing “enhanced interrogation” (torture); the US is again in compliance with Geneva Convention standards (2009) * Note: Obama has permitted some controversial interrogation techniques to continueRestarted international nuclear non-proliferation talks and reestablished international nuclear inspection protocols (2009) * Note: Bush withdrew from non-proliferation talks and dismantled the inspection infrastructureReengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic (2009) * Note: These were suspended under BushReengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions (2009) * Note: These were suspended under BushVisited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office (2009)Banned the export of cluster bombs (2009)Overturned Bush-era plans to increase the US nuclear arsenal (2009)Authorized the Navy SEALS operation that freed by force the US shipping captain held by Somali pirates (2009)Restored the US commitment to the UN population fund for family planning; overturned the ban on providing funds internationally for family planning (2009) * Note: The family planning efforts were suspended under BushInstituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return “home” to visit families (2009)Extended an offer of engagement (free from sanctions and penalties) to Iran through December 31, 2009 (Iran did not accept the offer) (2009)Sent envoys to the Middle East and other parts of the world, reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy (2009)Authorized discussions with North Korea and the private mission by former president, Bill Clinton, to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons (2009)Authorized discussions with Myanmar and the mission by Senator Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive (2009)Renewed loan guarantees for Israel (2009)Signed the USIFTA trade agreement with/for Israel (2009)Authorized a $550m advance for Israel (six months prior to the scheduled date) in order to accommodate Israeli’s economic and financial needs (2009)Continued agreements with Israel for cultural exchanges, immigration, etc. (2009)Spoke on Arab television, spoke at an Egyptian university, and met with Arab leaders in an effort to change the tone of US-Arab relations (2009)Ordered the US to finally pay its dues to the United Nations (2009)Attended the Summit of America’s meeting in Trinidad and Tobago (2010)Invited the Israeli Prime Minister to Washington; met with him (2010)Dispatched several envoys and initiated talks with numerous nations (2010)Signed a nuclear limitation treaty with Russia (2010) * Note: The agreement calls for both countries to reduce their nucs by one-third (1,500) and launch systems by half (800)Hosted nuclear non-proliferation summit for several nations (2010)Executive Order to establish support offices in the State Department to assist the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan (2010)Presidential Memoranda to continue drug interdiction support with Columbia (2010)EconomyIncreased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants…) (2009) * Note: Bush was the first president since Herbert Hoover to not make infrastructure a priorityAuthorized the US auto industry rescue plan and two GMAC rescue packages (2009)Authorized the housing rescue plan and new FHA residential housing guarantees (2009)Authorized a $789 billion economic stimulus plan (2009) * Note: 1/3 in tax cuts for working-class families; 1/3 to states for infrastructure projects; 1/3 to states to prevent the layoff of police officers, teachers, etc. at risk of losing their jobs because of state budget shortfallsInstituted a new rule allowing the public to meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (in as quickly as one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying (2009)Authorized a continuation of the US financial and banking rescue plans initiated at the end of the Bush administration and authorized TARP funds to buy “toxic assets” from failing financial institutions (2009)Authorized the “Cash for Clunkers” program that stimulated auto sales and removed old, inefficient, polluting cars from the road (2009)Convened a “jobs summit” to bring experts together to develop ideas for creating jobs (2009)Ordered the FDIC to beef up deposit insurance (2009)Ended the Bush-era policy of protecting credit card companies (2009) * Note: In place of the old policy, new consumer protections were instituted and the industry’s predatory practices were bannedAuthorized the federal government to make more loans available to small businesses and ordered lower rates for federal loans to small businesses (2009)Placed a 35% tariff on Chinese tires and a few other products such as pipes after China was found to be illegally “dumping” exports below cost (2009) * Note: Clinton, Bush I, and Reagan all refused to “get tough” on China’s predatory trade practices; Bush II refused four times during his presidencyIn November 2009, Obama extended unemployment benefits for one million workers and expanded coverage for some existing homeowners who are buying again (2009)Called on Congress to deliver a “Jobs bill” (2010)Credit card companies are prohibited from raising rates without advance notification or arbitrarily if customers are paying bills on time (2010)Signed a bill to extend unemployment benefits set to expire (2010)Signed historic Wall Street reform bill (2010) * Note: Designed to reregulate and end abusive practices and promote consumer protectionsSigned the HIRE Act to stimulate the economic recovery (2010) * Note: The bill includes: tax cuts for small businesses who hire someone unemployed for at least two months; small businesses can write off their investments in equipment this year; etc.National Export Initiative established to enhance federal support (technical assistance, training, trade missions, etc.) and coordination efforts to help US businesses export products and services (2010)Initiatives to promote a “Wireless Broadband Revolution” (2010) * Note: Among other things, broadband is finally being considered as necessary infrastructure, with efforts to expand use, access, and spectrum…Expanded agricultural credit to farmers during current economic crisis (2010)Signed bill - US Manufacturing Enhancement Act (2010)Signed bill - Single Family Housing Mortgage Insurance (2010)TaxesNegotiated a deal with Swiss banks to permit the US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals (2009)Ended the Bush-era policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs (2009) * Note: The new policy promotes in-sourcing investments to brings jobs back to the USSigned the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which provides small tax cuts for 95% of “working families” (2009) * Note: The tax cuts were not as big as was suggested during the 2008 campaignConvened an advisory board that is looking into simplifying the tax code (2009)Ordered the closing of offshore tax safe havens (for individual and business tax evaders) (2009)Reduced taxes for some small businesses to stimulate economic recovery (2009)Extended the Home Buyers Credit for first-time home buyers (2009)Proposed doubling the child tax credit (2010)Called for the repeal of the capital gains tax for small businesses (2010)Proposed rolling back the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans (2010) * Note: This would be for families earning over $250,000/year and would return their tax rates to the 1990’s levelBudgetingOrdered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut federal spending (2009)Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify wasteful spending and practices (2009)Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient (2009)Overturned the Bush-era practice of not listing certain federal programs in the federal budget (2009) (2010) * Note: Bush did this (so did Reagan) in an effort to hide programs and make the budget look smaller; such “off budget” items are now included in the annual budgetFull appropriations for war are now included in the budget (2009) (2010) * Note: Bush did not list many of the appropriations for Iraq, Afghanistan, and War on TerrorFunds for emergency appropriations are now included in the budget (2009) (2010)Proposed a three-year freeze on federal discretionary spending beginning in 2011 (2010)Is in the process of cutting 120 federal programs identified as either wasteful or unnecessary (2010)Established a bipartisan commission on fiscal responsibility, staffed by House and Senate members and private citizens, tasked with submitting proposals to balance the budget (2010) * Note: In the face of Republican opposition, the powers of the commission were watered downEstablished a bipartisan commission on the future of Social Security, tasked with submitting proposals to preserve and strengthen Social Security (2010) * Note: In the face of Republican opposition, the powers of the commission were watered downCut $20 billion from federal budget and has pledged to cut at least this much every year (2010)Ultimately decided to cancel planned new presidential helicopter fleet and stick with marine One (2010)Freezing all discretionary spending for next three years, except on national security (2010)Presidential Memoranda to freeze discretionary awards, bonuses, etc. for federal political appointees (2010)Beginning to use “Pay-As-You-Go” (Pay-Go) to offset budget expenditures with budget cuts or revenue enhancements (2010)HealthcareRemoved Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research (2009)Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research (2009)Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children (2009)Established an independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare (2009)Reversed some of the Bush-era restrictions that prevented Medicare from negotiating with pharmaceutical firms for cheaper drugs, allowing government to again competitively bid (2009) * Note: Obama had promised to lift all restrictions but, while he did negotiate with drug companies for them to lower their costs the deal only lifted some restrictionsExpanding government vaccination programs (2009)Issued new disease prevention guidelines and priorities for the CDC (2009)Authorized the FDA to finally begin regulating tobacco (2009)Tasked federal labs to prioritize research on and deployment of H1N1 vaccines (2009)Asked multiple congressional committees to bring forward a healthcare reform bill; held dozens of public hearings and town halls on the issue (2009) (2010)Established a new council on National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health to be chaired by Surgeon General and charged with promoting healthy lifestyles and integrative healthcare (2010)When accusations to the contrary arose, an Executive Order was signed to reaffirm that federal funds are not to be used for abortion services (2010)Historic healthcare reform bill signed - $940 billion over 10 years (2010) * Note: 32 million additional Americans will receive healthcare coverage and costs will be lowered for most Americans, but many of the goals are phased in over four yearsCOMPONENTS OF THE BILLPrevents insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals/family members with pre-existing health conditions; a temporary plan is being developed to cover high-risk individuals with pre-existing conditions until the full reforms go into effect in 2014Prevents insurance companies from placing lifetime limits on benefitsBans “rescission” so insurance companies can’t cancel coverage if individuals keep their policies current or if they become illAn individual’s out-of-pocket healthcare expenses are cappedCloses the “donut hole” (Part D) for Medicare prescription drug coverage (under Bush, Medicare helped pay for drugs up to $2,600 and above $4,550, but individuals had to pay 100% of the costs in between these amounts); now Medicare helps cover costs irrespective of the amount – seniors will now pay only 25% of drug costs up to $4,550 and only 5% of drug costs above that amountIn 2010, an emergency provision will offer seniors a $250 rebate on the costs incurred within the “donut hole”Individuals living at or below the poverty line were eligible for healthcare under Medicaid, but by 2014 individuals/families living slightly above (making up to $14,404/$29,327) the poverty line will also be eligible for benefitsIndividuals/families making less than $43,320/$88,200 per year will qualify for government subsidies to help purchase health insuranceAll individuals must have health insurance or face a government fine; all large (over 50 employees) employers must offer health insurance to employees or pay a fineSmall businesses can get a tax credit if they offer health careThere are hardship exemptions if individuals can’t afford health insuranceFamilies can keep their children in college on their plans through age 26Promotes health insurance “exchanges” so consumers can buy “wholesale”Creates consumer assistance offices to help consumers file complaints or appeal decisions from insurance companies; beginning in 2011, insurance companies can no longer make excessive rate hikes without justification and approval, and those doing so may be barred from participating in new health insurance exchangesFUNDING SOURCES:Large employers (over 50 workers) that don’t offer health benefits will be charged a $2,000/worker fee; if the employer offers coverage but employees instead purchase federally subsidized insurance the fee is $3,000/worker receiving federal subsidies or $750/worker (whichever is lower)Annual fees on pharmaceutical companies ($27 billion), health insurance companies ($60 billion), and medical device-makers ($20 billion)Annual penalties on individuals who do not have health insurance (up to a maximum of $695/person)Increase in the Medicare payroll tax from 1.45% to 2.35% for individuals making $200,000+ and families making $250,000+3.8% tax on unearned income for millionairesInsurance companies will be subject to a tax on each high-end insurance plan (so-called “Cadillac” plans) they offerMISCELLANEOUS:Illegal immigrants are not eligible for insurance or subsidiesBy Executive Order, such federal funding can’t be used for abortionThe federal government will assist states by covering all of the increased expenses of expanding Medicaid coverage (90% of costs after 2020)Energy & EnvironmentRemoved a ruling that now allows individual states to enact automotive fuel efficiency standards above federal standards (2009)Offered attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles (2009)Overturned Bush-era rule that weakened the Endangered Species Act (2009)Announced plans to purchase fuel-efficient American-made fleet for the federal government (2009)Ended the Bush-era policy of not regulating and labelling carbon dioxide emissions (2009)Signed a measure requiring energy-producing plants to begin producing 15% of their energy from renewable sources (2009)Announced that the federal government would reengage in the long-delayed effort to clean up “Superfund” toxic waste sites (2009)Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production (2009) * Note: Much of Obama’s energy reform was killed by Senate RepublicansProposed a new refuge for wild mustangs (2009)Cancelled several Bush-era mountain-top removal and mining permits (2009)Reengaged in international treaties and agreements to protect the Antarctic (2009) * Note: Bush had withdrawn from such effortsAsked Congress for an energy reform and “cap and trade” bill (2009) * Note: The Congress failed to pass such a billDeveloping plan to lease US coastal waters for wind and water-current energy production (2009)Overturned Bush-era policies that allowed uranium mining near national parks such as the Grand Canyon (2009)Expanded the Petrified Forest National Park (2009)Signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act that protects millions of acres of scenic, historic, and recreational lands and trails (2009)Requiring that government buildings and facilities be retrofitted to save energy costs (2009) * Note: These green retrofits are moving very slowlyAuthorized studies in several western states to determine how to support large-scale solar installations (2009)Attended the Copenhagen talks and, after the talks were stalled, negotiated an international (voluntary) agreement on reducing carbon emissions and raising funds to assist developing nations in offsetting carbon emissions (2009)Banned importation of pythons in response to a growing population of pythons damaging the Florida Everglades (2009)Committing the federal government to increasing research and use of renewable, clean energy sources such as wind, biomass, etc. (2009)Executive orders establishing a federal initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in all federal operations (2009) (2010)Called for exploring the possibility of additional off-shore oil drilling in the Gulf, Atlantic, and off Alaska (but not in ANWR) (2010)Agreed to consider increases in nuclear energy production and requested a study on the feasibility of nuclear power plant construction (2010) * Note: Nearly all energy initiatives were defeated by Republican opposition in CongressIncreased investment in clean energy projects (2010)Executive Order to develop a new strategy for and commitment to ocean and lake resources, and for scientific research on water quality (2010)RightsInstituted enforcements for equal pay for women (Lilly Ledbetter Bill) (2009)Appointed Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina, to the Supreme Court (2009)Held the first Seder in White House (2009)Appointed a diverse Cabinet and diverse White House staff (2009)Spoke at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization (2009)Signed the first major piece of federal gay rights legislation that includes acts of violence against gays under the list of federal hate crimes (2009)Reversed the Bush-era practice of politicizing Justice Department investigations and prosecutions against political opponents (2009)Pushing for some of the 9/11 perpetrators to be tried in federal court (2009) * Note: The process has moved at a snail’s pace and, in the face of opposition, Obama has remained quietSigned an extension of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Bill to provide federal research and support for treating the disease (2009)Allowed the State Department of offer same-sex benefits for employees (2009)Proposed that the Pentagon repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy; placed a “freeze” on current efforts to remove alleged homosexuals from the military (2009)After eight years of neglect, the Justice Department and EEOC are again enforcing employment discrimination laws (2009)Convened the White House Tribal Nations Conference, inviting representatives from 564 federally-recognized Indian tribes (2009)Provided increased school projects for Indian lands and increased funds for the Indian Health Service (2009)Signed an Executive Order mandating that his Cabinet develop plans to work with and consult Indian tribes on issues impacting Indian lands (2009)Commissioned a study to develop alternatives to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (2010)Called for federal agencies to look into recognizing gay partnerships in terms of benefits (2010)Signed an Executive Order for the President’s Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (2010)Increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (2010)Signed Executive Order to promote the federal government as a “model employer” when it comes to hiring the disabled (2010) * Note: This includes new efforts to increase the recruitment, hiring, and training for the disabledPrograms to assist Spanish speakers with the US Census (2010)Elena Kagen appointed to Supreme Court (2010)Tasked all federal agencies to develop new strategies to address HIV/AIDS (2010)After organizing studies on the topic in 2009, tasked the Pentagon to eliminate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (2010)Signed Fair Sentencing Act (2010) * Note: The Administration continues to deescalate marijuana interdiction and raids; increased dramatically the amount of cocaine one must possess to be sentenced to jail; eliminated mandatory sentencing for first-time drug abusers and simple possessionEducationAuthorized construction funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access in K-12 public schools (2009)Increased funding for school construction (2009)Increased funding available for student loans (2009)Expanded the national youth service program (2009)Streamlined the federal student loan process to save $87 billion over the next 10 years (2009)Changed the rule to allow students struggling to make college loan payments to refinance their loans (2009)Beginning discussions with Congress for education reform (2009) * Note: Much of Obama’s education reform has been sidelined by opposition in CongressInitiated a “Race to the Top” competitive federal grant program for states who develop innovative policies (2009)Instituted a “judgment review” allowing families with student loans to petition to have their current financial status determine the loan rather than the previous year’s finances (2009)Launched “Educate to Innovate,” a public/private partnership making $236 million available for science, mathematics, and technology education programs (2009)Proposed capping the maximum amount students must pay on student loans (as percentage of their income) (2010)Proposed reducing student loan obligations for individuals going to work in community and public service jobs (2010)The federal government will offer direct student loans, cutting out the cost of private banks (“middle man”) who increase the costs in order to make a profit (2010)Increased investment in technologies for schools/education (2010)Disaster ResponseOrdered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness (2009)FEMA once again reports directly to the president (2009) * Note: Bush removed FEMA (prior to the Hurricane Katrina disaster) from this statusDemonstrated an immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters (2009)Ordered that funds be released and red tape be streamlined for the ongoing Hurricane Katrina recovery effort in the Gulf Coast (2009)Timely and massive relief effort in response to the January 2010 earthquake and ensuing humanitarian crisis (2010)COMPONENTS OF THE RESPONSES:The FBI’s National Center for Disaster Fraud was tasked to look into possible fraud with organizations soliciting funds for reliefAnnounced the Clinton-Bush Haiti FundEstablished an emergency Haiti Task Force in the State DepartmentEstablished a website with information, resources, and a posting of a “person finder” online to help families and friends to locate loved onesJoint aid and relief planning with the U.K.Sponsored a resolution in the UN Security Council for additional security and police forces in HaitiDispatched the US Navy floating hospital (USNS Comfort) and, within 5 days, 9 naval and relief ships, 5 Coast Guard cutters, 8 Coast Guard aircraft, and 12,000 US military personnelInitial dispatch of several ships and cargo planes full of humanitarian aid and supplies, 6 search/rescue teams (500 personnel), and 265 Department of Health & Human Services personnel for emergency medical and aid supportEstablished a mobile US air traffic control center at the destroyed airport in Port-au-PrinceAfter the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a freeze was placed on new deep water projects (2010)Executive Order to establish new security measures to minimize accidental release of bio and chemical agents; new strategies for public health and bioterrorism response (2010)Established a national commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon spill to examine facts and report a plan of action; new efforts to prevent offshore spills (2010)After a slow start in responding to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the White House is promoting a long-term plan to reconstruct the damaged Gulf and negotiated with BP the establishment of a multi-billion dollar trust fund for victims of the spill (2010)Extended national flood insurance program for those in need during current economic crisis (2010)Other InitiativesNew federal funding for science and research labs (2009)Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program (2009)Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program (2009)Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud (2009)Ordered the DEA to stop raids on medical marijuana usage (2009)Ordered a review of existing “mandatory minimum” prison sentencing (2009)Signed an order to limit airport tarmac delays and the time passengers had to sit in the plane/on the tarmac during delays (2009)Restored the EPA to “Cabinet-level” status (2009) * Note: Bush removed the EPA from this statusBeginning discussions with Congress for comprehensive immigration reform (2010) * Note: Much of Obama’s immigration reform had been stalled by the opposition in CongressCommissioned expert panels and reports from NASA; announced a new direction for human space flight that involves funding a new heavy lift-launcher and jettisoning the Ares 1 program; boosting NASA’s budget by $1 billion in 2011 (2010)Ordered a ban on text-messaging for all commercial truck and bus drivers (2010)Signed bill – FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (2010)P.S. In Case You Were Wondering…The Obamas paid for the renovations of the private living quarters in the White House with their own money rather than using the funds provided to all new first families (2009)The Obamas reused many Christmas ornaments from previous White House trees rather than buy new ones (2009)The Obamas used LED energy-saving lights on White House Christmas tree (2009)Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; donated the award money for the prize to several charities (2009)Planted a garden for the White House’s vegetables and flowers (2009)Installed a swing set/playground for the Obama daughters and children of White House employees (2009)Held over 150 public town halls, press conferences, interviews, etc. in first year in office (2009) * Note: Official numbers are not available on such things, but this seems to be a new record highLess than 30 days of vacation in first year in office (2009) * Note: Official numbers are not readily available on such things, but this seems to be a new record low...And A Family Man!!!Source: The 244 Accomplishments of President Barack Obama – Ramona Houston

YesThe.Whole.Bloody.Grapheme.System.Needs.A.Bloody.ReformIn Hindi too,“box” is baksa,we did not make a whole new alphabet for it.Why did the Romans do it,I ain’t got an explanation.Okay John Katt,I’m copying pasting your most famous answer here.the English spelling system can and should be reformed because it is flawed (half its lexicon is) and what is flawed is very costly and/or takes/wastes a lot more time/money, which takes a lot of time and effort, away from other more crucial subjects. Who pays? Children, parents, teachers, and society do. We all do. You do. To preserve the history of words? 250 years of insanity must stop. Oil lamps had their time. Paradigms have shifted in 250 years. A lingua franca must be better. Is it the spelling system that is rotten or the learners? The teachers? Hundreds of thousands of words in the English lexicon ARE badly spelled. It is not the learners’ fault or the teachers’ fault. It is the system’s faultS.Words hurt and in more ways than … one! Where is the /w/ sound in one? Why an “o” in “words? Hundreds of thousands of English words are misspelled like so in the lexicon! Is the history of words more important than the health of people?A UNIQUE, FAIR, WISE, and EFFICIENT REFORMLearning from research and past reforms and using new technology, this reform de-risks everything, maximizes the opportunity and minimizes ALL issues. First, current users will NOT need to learn a new spelling system because it will be phased-in for 12 years in schools, starting at age 6. (This is unlike many other spelling reforms. That is a game-changer.) Second, it uses a set of diaphonemes (the most popular phonemes of most English dialects) to prevent all polemics. (No one has ever thought about this before.) As a result, it allows for the adoption of an extremely robust, systematic, and phonemic system that will be the envy of all languages. It is a unique, fair, wise, and efficient proposal. MANY paradigms have shifted in 250 years. The English spelling system can and should be re-engineered. English will be finally a worthy lingua franca.MAIN SINE QUA NON CONDITIONS for a reformThat no current users be required to learn the new spellings. It will not be necessary.That the new system be introduced in whole to new students in level 1 of primary classes called cohort 1 (C1) and phased-in, one year at a time.That C1 students and all future cohorts be given bilingual, bicodal courses in the old system. They become a transitional cohort.That other (English 1.0) students get some instruction with the new system, but increasingly so for cohorts that are closer to C1 .That diaphonemes (average of phonemic variations of main dialects) be used. It is an algorithm. It cannot be fairer.That an extremely systematic and phonemic scheme with virtually no exceptions be used. No compromise.That local, dialectal spoken/speech be maintained. C1 will be bicodal.That computer technology be used to instantly transcode material. Writers will see their work published in two varieties or as desired by the customer using a free transcoding program.That no loss of jobs take place. Translators/interpreters will still be needed for the current population and C1.This is the short version. Please do read the full version below. It not only gives the reasons why this should happen, but explains how it should happen (and why this way) in detail. All reasons I know of to not do it are debunked. I have been studying this issue for 5 years. I have heard them all.Why and how?The “how” part offers credible solutions on how to reduce dramatically all of the incredible high costs and/or problems children. parents, and children must face and all of the arguments used by all the skeptics or vested parties to prevent a reform. ALL! For one thing, paradigms have shifted since Samuel Johnson (250 years ago) “dictated” how he thought we (kids and adults) should decode/read, spell/pronounce words. Since Johnson’ time and since some of these arguments were made, a lot has changed. Odd! For another, some reformists expected that current populations change how they spell words and learn how to read in a new way. This was a major error. This issue demanded a new approach that sought outside-of-the-box solutions. There is nothing more idiotic and insane to keep doing something that has failed over and over again and expect different outcomes. Times have changed. Lastly, English has become a lingua franca, spoken by 1.5 billion of people, in some ways or another. This is the short answer. LOL(I would like to recognize and thank Dana Smith and Roman Huczok for their excellent comments and suggestions, which helped make this answer better.)WHY?Consider that as the most used language in the world (spoken by billions of people), it has a spelling system that is an absolute embarrassment for a language and, a fortiori, for a lingua franca, a world language, a language that should be the epitome of all languages. It isn’t. It has hundreds of thousands of words misspelled in its lexicon (see below for evidence), which might explain why you must use a spell checker or can’t pronounce or could not decode words when you learned it, if you learned it, depending on your language (see the end for explanation). With the rapid use of computers and spell checkers, it is my contention that the issue is no more a spelling issue, as it is a decoding/reading and pronouncing issue. This does not take a way from the idea at all though because the spelling issue was never considered by many to be the major issue.Did you know that it takes 3 more years for the average learner to learn just a few thousands words whereas any Finnish or Spanish kid after Grade 1 can decode ANY word in their language’s lexicon in just a few months? (Maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but the differences are startling.) Think teaching the extra time is free? Sorry taxpayers! Think it is easy to learn? Kids labelled reading disabled thank you and so 1/2 of Britons who apparently cannot spell. Illiteracy rates are unusually high in Commonwealth countries (unless you throw lots of money at mitigating the problem like in Canada). But, we are told that it would be impossible to fix (Did they not say this for climate change or women equality,…), but many professors of linguistics like Dr. Yule and Dr. Betts now and Shaw, Roosevelt, Carnegie, Websters, Twain,… think that when there is a will there is a way. Are it tutoring agencies, publishes of English learning material, even teachers, psycholinguists who are claiming it cannot be done? The status quo is lucrative. Who is right? Here is the case.Exhibit A:This is how it could look like.Exhibit B:Now compare that with something that is familiar.Exhibit C:Exhibit D:Which is a mess to deal with? And which is an intelligent, engineered system?ANSWERd bExhibit E:10.1.1.92.1830.pdfBut, why it should be done and how could it be done?1. WHY it should be done?Since Finnish kids start school at age 7 and most English-speaking kids at age 5.5. Given that Finnish is a highly phonemic spelling system, it would allow Commonwealth countries to reduce educational budgets by removing the need for many teachers and many literacy teachers as well. This could be billions in the US. Alternatively, countries could replace these years by the teaching of more crucial matters and include more subject areas in the curriculum. Ethics 101? Financial literacy 102? Programming 103?Billions of foreign learners will finally be able to pronounce words as they are pronounced.There will be less of a chance for Chinese to dethrone English as a lingua franca if English were easier to learn.A country with a better educated population with higher literacy levels might have lower crime rates, but higher employment.More happier children will want to read.Some linguists claim that it is not really worth it. But, their jobs depends largely on this mess (especially psycholinguists). Tutors/tutoring agencies depend on the mess too. Many benefit from the chaos. They get grant money to study our kids who become their little rats. Are they really disabled or is it the system that is? Which is it?Exhibit F:(http://www.elemedu.upatras.gr/en...)So, is it worth it when most kids in English countries can decode words at a 35% level and most others do TWICE as well? This study was done with normal kids. This was a major study too. Are English-speaking kids inherently dumber than all the other kids? Are English-speaking teachers inherently more incompetent than all others? Or is it that the spelling system is … inherently dumber, disabled, disabling,… that if it were a car, it would be recalled in a second? You bet.Exhibit G:If we use Masha Bell’s research on just 7000 words and extrapolate this to the whole English lexicon, it is safe to say that there are hundreds of thousands of words that are “misspelled”. /ə/ AKA a schwa is one of the most frequent phonemes/sounds in English and it can be spelled 13 ways. How do you expect people to learn this? Memorize the pronunciation or the spelling of 1 million words? Most polysyllabic words (mostly not part of the 7000 words) have at least one schwa and often many.Exhibit H:Here is that diagram again.It shows that there are 13 ways of spelling ONE phoneme (the schwa), 12 ways to spell the /ei/ sound or 11 ways the /ɛ/ sound. Hey! I see a pattern! THAT is easy to remember! (Find the list of spellings in the addendum.) Hundred of thousands of misspelled words! NOT! How insane is that? No wonder the native speakers cannot spell/decode words and foreign learners cannot pronounce words (and spell them, if they do not speak a European language). As to teachers, they do the best they can with a messy tool. That it costs a lot of money for taxpayers and parents does not seem to be an issue, but many people don’t know how expensive it is.You want more evidence?Exhibit I:http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltex...(This booklet focuses on the reading literacy test scores of students in the grade levels where most 9- and 14-year-olds were to te found in 32 national systems of education. Data were collected from 9,073 schools, 10,518 teachers, and 210,059 students. In 1990-1991 thirty-two school systems were involved in the LEA Reading Literacy Study. Participating in the study were: Belgium (French) Netherlands Greece New Zealand Spain s Sweden Nigeria , Norvay Switzerland Thailand Demnark Iceland Philippines Trinidad & Tobago Finland Indonesia Portugal United States Ireland Singapore Venezuela)There is more. From Wikipedia. Exhibit J:“Alphabetic writing systems vary significantly in the depth of their orthography. Englishand French are considered deep orthographies in comparison to Spanish and Italian which are shallow orthographies. A deep orthography like English has letters or letter combinations that do not reliably map to specific phonemes/sound units, and so are ambiguous in terms of the sounds that they represent whereas a transparent or shallow orthography has symbols that (more) uniquely map to sounds, ideally in a one-to-one correspondence or at least with limited or clearly signified (as with accent marks or other distinguishing features) variation. Literacy studies have shown that even for children without reading difficulties like dyslexia, a more transparent orthography is learned more quickly and more easily; this is true across language systems (syllabic, alphabetic, and logographic), and between shallow and deep alphabetic languages. [20] WikipediaThis person’s explains it well:Exhibit K:From The children of the code website.Exhibit LSorry, Chomsky: English spelling is hardly “close to optimal”I rest my case.2) How?Many languages have had reforms (check it out) and many were successful. The better ones did not expect current learners to learn the new system. Moreover, today, we have computers, smart phones, AI,… the paradigm has shifted. Are the naysayers living in the Dark Ages? Why are they so reticent? No one who loves to read this will be bothered. Why would they want to subject kids to mental torture because the MAJORITY of kids struggle, the MAJORITY of citizens struggle, the MAJORITY of foreigners struggle. While the naysayers love exceptions, the evidence is there. No matter how you look at it, it is a mess. (This neurological research might explain why some people are reluctant. It is not so much the people as it is how some brain works! To be sure, people whose identity is shaped because they know English and can earn a living might have an even stronger reaction, but I will prove that there is nothing to be feared about. Change can be a win-win proposition if done with respect and intelligence.)But, how could we do it? There have been a few attempts to try to reform the English spelling system. The most serious one came to an abrupt end 100 years ago. President Roosevelt had initiated. His friend, Carnegie, who had been delegated the task of looking into it, believed that we should not force people to spell and read differently as his board had decided. He preferred a more informal and timid reform where people could decide to adopt the changes or not. (Simplified Spelling Board - Wikipedia) Purists, vested interest groups (publishers), and political games did the rest. (German and French reforms of recent times have suffered similar fates. By trying to appeal to the general population, by making minimal changes, they opened themselves to criticisms for being superfluous or a lot of trouble for nothing.) The main issue, however, is the idea of forcing people to adopt the changes or hoping that people will do. All of this would make a holder of an MBA laugh as both approaches are ineffective. In the case of English, there might be a cultural aspect to this as well. The British culture is know for their ability to manage adversity by keeping a stiff upper lip and avoiding reality by going to bars, as this question demonstrated: What are some dark sides of the UK? Not sure if having to learn to spell and read such a complex system is one of the reasons for these types of behaviours, but it might make them less interested in changing matters.They are proud of their culture and their language, like most people are. That is to be admired, of course. But, this is not about culture. It is not about language per se. It is about a spelling system. Times have changed. Times are changing. There is Quora and we can discuss things. Today, we also know more about management of changes. People are texting now. Computers were introduced 30 years ago and everyone seems to have a smartphone in their hands now. One billion Chinese are soon to be a force to be reckoned with. Which international language are they going to speak? Chinese? Many paradigms have shifted. Not sure what is going to be the tipping point. But, things have evolved.One of the ideas (which is closer to Carnegie's thinking) is that we should NOT try to “force” people who know the current system to learn the new one. However, we have pushed that idea to its extreme. It is our contention that no one, unless they wanted to, should learn to spell using the new system unless they desire it. It is our contention that the key to making a reform work should be to introduce it methodically and slowly in schools first and only in schools. That does not mean that we would introduce bits of the new spelling system to all grades. It will be ALL of the new spelling system starting with the Grade 1 kids, as a wave. Of course, this plan would need to be approved by the government and the people. There will be a congress next year during which a group of linguists and professors at the English Spelling Society will decide which is the system(s) that they recommend. I believe we should use a system that is based on a general dialect that has some, but not all the features of any of the dialects. I am talking about the vowel diaphonemes found on this page. I am including a reformatted sample to give an idea. The multiple dialects that the original chart has have been removed because the idea is that the diaphonemes will be used as the pronunciation guide to be used with whatever spelling system will be chosen. So, in Iezy Ignglish, in all Commonwealth countries “trap” words will now be pronounced with the /ae/ and spelled with an “a” as “trap” and “bath”/”father” words (if the /a:/ is used) will not be spelled baeth/faether (faedher)), and so on and so forth. Btw, this is one diaphoneme that would require an agreement on as it has 2 possible phonemic representations. All others are straightforward. The match with the new spelling system (whatever it is) will be 1:1.Beyond that, it is our view that a reform should take place in all schools once teachers have been trained. It should be starting with a group that has not learned to read and write: 6 year old kids. The rest of the school children would be taught the old system. It might be wise to start teaching these children bits of the new system. Again, the government will look at the recommendations and decide what they feel is best. The next year, the second cohort of new grade 1 kids would start school learning the new system while the older Grade 1 would move into Grade 2, continuing to learn to read and write using the new system. Tablets will be given/lend to all students (school and home) to access information from the internet or other sources, except that this information would be instantly transcoded when they need it, like it happens with Google translate. I think that by the time this happens, most tablets will be very inexpensive for schools so that all students will have one. (Dana Smith felt free tablets should be given to needy families, but I think these should be loaned like textbooks are/were.) They will be like those textbooks that were given to us at the beginning of the year. Btw, transcoding is much faster and more accurate than translating. Eventually, after a few years, some of these cohorts will be taught the basics of English 2.0: how to read street signs, store signs,… They would not learn how to spell using English 1.0, but they will learn to decode a basic set of words and, especially towards the end of their schooling, how to read English 1.0 words of their trade. There might be a need for them to have a slightly different accent depending on how standardized English 2.0 will be, which might depend on which countries decide to participate in the reform. This reform will take 12 years to works its way out, but it will take years to make it occur. Convincing the population will take years and then politicians more years. But, if and when it is approved, the 12 years will give even more time for society to get ready. Free transcoders (programs that can transcode between English 1.0 and English 2.0) will be available for all. This will be very simple to do. In fact, some reformists have made some of them. When these cohorts exit the school system, they will try to find work like all students or they will go to university. Books and manuals should be available in both codes. This should not be so hard for publishing companies and digital copies of these should available for download into tablets. We would hope that by that time students’ books would all be the digital type. Again, these are recommendations.Will a reform be perfect? Is anything perfect? Is the English spelling system now perfect? Why are those lovers of perfection in love with imperfection? There are thousands of imperfections now and they are fine with those? Be coherent! The system will no doubt be much easier to learn and to teach. That is self-evident, as demonstrated earlier. Something is simpler to learn than something that is complex.Will some dialects need to re-align some of the pronunciation of a few words? Probably unless they want to develop their own English 2.0 or unless their kids can be bilingual in both Singapore English which pronounces some words that have a short /a/ as /E/ and the new English 2.0 (an international version). I believe kids have that capacity. Up to them to pronounce it the way they want. We would suggest they teach in school the right way and enforce the change in the media. When there is 250 years of laissez-faire, it is necessary to take extraordinary measures, but it will be up to Singapore and other dialects to align themselves with the diaphonemic spelling that is as impartial as one can make it. Accents will be preserved in many instances though, but they will less … pronounced in some cases. But, bad should not be spelled “bed”. Multiple spellings of words could be allowed, but whenever it is feasible. IN some sense, a re-alignment will nt be bad for those “rogue” dialectal words and speakers. It will allow to be understood by more people in the Commonwealth. Is that bed? I mean “bad?Let me address the most common objections that are often used to prevent any change.1. There are too many accents (AKA dialectal variations in pronunciation).Dialectal accents are started to be “learned” or “perceived” by the age of 2, BEFORE children can link phonemes, allophones, with any spelling, phonemic or not. Here is the research.We know that children (their brain, really) have the capacity to learn many languages, many accents. In Italy, for instance, it is common to hear people know a dialect (usually oral) and speak/read/write the standard Italian as well. We suggest that the only reasonable way to deal with this issue is to make all Commonwealth children start to learn another standard dialect by Grade 1 which will —finally— be the lingua franca that all people around the world have long been awaiting for. (Thanks Roman Huczok for reminding me that keeping a dialect and learning a standard is very doable.)To avoid political issues and help make English a true lingua franca, it would be wise to use the diaphonemes used on the International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects - Wikipedia or some other agreed form. If some populations of certain countries or region were not interested in this new standard, they would have the option of staying with the current system or reform their dialect as they please.This would not be the Armageddon, the end of English as we know it, an incredible loss of culture,… This is about spelling, not language.The internet, public education for all, social media,... are helping standardizing many accents and, if it were to be reformed in this manner, it will be much easier.2. I do not want to learn a new system.You won't have to. I repeat … you will not have to. That is our pledge. I do not want to either. This reform is not for me, you, but for the next generation.The change will occur in schools, starting with as many Grade 1 classes as it is possible. Opting out will be possible. In year 2, another group of Grade 1 will start to learn the new system. The first group will go in Grade 2 and will keep learning the new system (or rather learn using the new system since they will have it mastered decoding and spelling already).3. There will be a need for some people to learn the new system.The 20 to 40 will need to be familiar with the new system, but free programs will be able to transcode from the current system to the other and vice versa, seamlessly and fast. Transcoding is much faster than translating. It is also much more accurate.The cohort that will go into the labour force after 12 to 16 years will speak the same language. Speech recognition software and transcoding programs will do the rest.4. Street signs and vendor signs will need to be respelled/respelt.No. The new spellers will be able to decipher the old system.5. ALL documents will need to be reprinted.No. Digital documents will be transcodable. It is much easier to do so.Should a citizen be interested or be in need to read printed documents that are not in a digital format, I am sure we can figure out ways to efficiently recode these (text-to-speech recognition software to deal with that issue) or have someone read the text to him or her or transcode it.6. Will translators lose their job?No. A good segment of the population will still function in the current system.No. The new spellers will need translation as much as the older generation.There will be a need for some transcoding too.7. Will teachers lose their job?If a Grade 1 teacher were incapable or unwilling to teach the new system, they could be given the task to teach those children who are opting out or be asked to teach the old system (as a second language) or teach older grades. Substantial accommodations should be given to older teachers wanting to plan (prepare material) and/or learn the new code.There will be a 4 or 5 year preparatory period to start the transition (Year 1/Grade 1) which should give people plenty of time to shift, should they want to.Unions will be consulted and a system will be put in place to facilitate the transition for allRetirement by attrition would be one of the ways used to replace teachers.Grade 1 teachers are often able to teach other grades.New students will need a few teachers to teach the old system as a second-language mode.8. The language will lose the morphological links between words that will be lost or reduced with a new more phonemic system.Everyone knows the link between language and linguistics or photography and photographer, for instance. These pairs of words resemble each other, but the link is not automatic in the first pair. A more phonemic system will sometimes improve the semantic relation and sometimes obscure it. At the end of the day, some of the words that are linked by how they look, require the learner to remember the pronunciation of the words since they might not be pronounced as they are written and, obviously, their spelling: photographic, but photography: (/fəˈtɒɡ.rə.fi/ VS /ˌfəʊ.təˈɡræf.ɪk/. Which is better? In a reform spelling, these words would be spelled something like this in Iezy Inglgish: fetogrefy VS fotegrafic. Notice that in both, the stressed syllable is the one that does not have the “e” or schwa. Huge advantage for foreign learners where now no one knows where the word stress is put. Is there anyone who canNOT link the two words semantically? A newer system will improve the link between words that are spoken and words that are written/decoded/read. Learning should be faster as a result. The current system obscures the link between words that are spoken (and heard) and words that are written/decoded.Furthermore, yes, there are words that look like they are related and the link will be obscured, but if spelling and misspellings are so important aren’t they a lot of false-positives that a respelling would clarify? Is ready about reading? Arch and archive? Apathy is about taken a path? Ballet is a small ball? Country is about counting? Breakfast is the action of breaking fast? Colonel is a special colon? Lead (the metal) is about leading? Bus and business? Deteriorate and deter are related? (They are not.) Cancel is about cans and cells? Gig (the performance) and gigantic are related ? Have and haven are related? Ache and achieved? Reinvent and rein (vent)? All and allow? Inventory and invent are linked? Reached and ache? Resent is about sent/sending? Is a beldam a belle dame (It is an ugly woman)? Is noisome about noise (It is not!) Is nowhere about now and here? How many more do I need to prove the point that there are a lot of false positives currently?There are words in the current system that appear to be linked, but aren’t. No one seems to be confused. Invest is about a vest that’s in a coat? Numb and numbers are related? Legal is about leg? Assertive about ass? Acting and actual are related? Deli and deliver? Heaven and heavy? Man and many? Add and address? Earl and early? Pet and petty? How about bigot? Is Nonplussed about being not plus (It means confused!)? Is Disabuse about abuse (it is not!)? Is specious about species or special? Crudités are crude? Terrific and terrible mean the complete opposite. How about restive and restful? How about condone and condemn? Disinterested does not mean not being interested! Is humility and humiliation connected semantically? NOPE! Is sublime less than good like subway, substitute, subtract? Prodigy and prodigal are not related? Awesome and aweful are opposite. Is being “broke” about being broken? Dulcet is about being sweet, not dull. Is ribald about badness? It doesn’t! There are lots of false positives in that sense in the lexicon too.9. Is it worth it?Suppose we make English as regular as Finnish. Now consider, Finnish kids start school at age 7. Most English-speaking kids start at school at age 5.5. How much does it cost to teach all of those kids for an extra 1.5 years. Teachers are expensive. Daycare? Less so. Imagine the possibilities. Also, there is quite a bit of data that indicates that maybe kids do not need to go to go to school at age 5.5. Again, daycare or universal childcare could make the life of millions, dare I say billions of learners, that much better. THAT is not worth it? What is?Illiteracy rates in the 30% levels in most Commonwealth countries will drop with a simpler system.A simpler system will be MUCH cheaper to teach (fewer specialist teachers will be needed).Learning will happen faster. As students HEAR a new word, they will be able to link it to its ONE possible spelling and when they read a new word, they will be able to link it to a word that they heard. The brain connections will be reinforced more efficiently. Lets take a word that you have never seen printed before: “tuleafashouhe”? Are you sure of it pronunciation? Where is that word stress? And then, a few weeks later, you hear on TV “tlayfaychor”? Would you be able to connect the 2? Most likely not, but if it had been spelled as it is pronounced, then the connections would have been made, with more certainty. It is self-evident that more coherence between systems would make learning faster and easier.Fewer kids will be pulled out and shamed as reading disabled.Less crime as more people will be able to read and write. (Robots will do the menial work that illiterate people sometimes must do).Happier labour force.Better educated/literate labour force.Better economy.More people around the world should be able to learn an easier system.Easier travelling and understanding between people.More people will be able to read books written in the new code. Higher profits for English-speakers.10. Which industry will lose?Tutoring agencies and tutors could lose out. Still, we could make the first generation that will learn the new code, bicodal. If this is so, they will surely need help to learn the old code, just like pasts generatiosn did.We need to make this a win-win situation. Anyone displaced will be given a choice of work that is related to what they were doing beforeTeachers (attrition and re-assignment will need to be addressed), but those who cannot cope will be re-assigned.Publishing houses will benefit. Some of the old material will need to be digitized, but a lot has been (Gutenberg project, Google,…)Psychologists who assess students’ reading and writing abilities/intelligence will lose out, but I suspect that this is a small number, seeing how many of these evaluations took place in my 25 years of teaching.11. What do these new spelling systems look like?Some are using most of the spelling rules that exist now. They are just regularizing many of the patterns. (Masha Bell has one system.)A reform would not mean spelling using a phonetic system like IPA. There is no cursive writing (although this could be created I suppose). Cursive writing is faster than printing words, but aren’t more and more people going to use technology to avoid writing all together? Even in rare instances where people are asked to cursive write, a recorder with speech recognition software could do the work of transcribing much more efficiently than any one could, even with short-hand.Other systems attempt to maximize the opportunity as taking a second shot at this will prove unlikely. Iezy Ignglish is such a system. It systematizes the easiest pattern of English: the vowel+e pattern found in many words (piece, clue, foe, reggae,…) and it echoes the long vowel+Consonant+e pattern found in a lot more words, which is more contrived than the first pattern and which makes decoding a much harder tasks than it should (late, cute, core, mite, mere). The simpler pattern would do away with the cumbersome doubling of the consonant rule to change the vowel value: pat/patting, mat/matting VS mate/mating/.Others can be found on the English spelling society website.12. Will communication between the ones who know the new system and the ones that don’t be affected?The language/speech/conversations will be the same.The only communication mode that will be affected is the written mode, but is there anyone who thinks that most people will not have smart phones or tablets or computers to allow this?The internet will need transcoding work, but programs can easily be created I am told by programmers. These programs will be able to transcode tons of material and will do it faster that any translation program (and much better).13. There will be many homophones/heterographs. Will they not make communication harder? (Thanks to Tomas Murphy for that one.)You/ewe, read/reed, ad/add,…No one when speaking and listening is confused. There are very few instances where this is a problem in real life. Many cannot be confused as many are not even the same type of words: check (verb)/cheque (noun), ad/add, it’s/its, their/there/they’re,… Let’s respell them. tchèc, ad, its, dhèr: I went to cash the tchèc. I tchèc the tchèc.Homonyms: bark (dog) and bark (tree). Many words have multiple meaning and one spelling. Is there anyone who is confused.The great majority of these words are disambiguated by the types of words they are. You is a pronoun and ewe is a noun. Read is a verb and reed is a noun. Ad is a noun and add is a verb. The linguistic context helps clarify matters already.The great majority of these words are disambiguated by the context.Hundreds of thousands of misspelling are okay, but 500 homophones will cause issues?There are just 500 homophones and there is close to 1/2 a million words misspelled. We cannot change the spelling of words because 500 words (which upon analysis would not cause comprehension issues if they were respelled.14. Accents will vanish?For the last 250 years (and more) they have NOT vanished even with an extremely POOR system representing them.15. Language changesThe printing press, spell checking, public schooling,.. have cemented the spelling of words for centuries now and will. If one were to re-adjust spelling to be more phonemic/regular, spell checking and printing will operate in the same manner, cementing the new spelling of words. I doubt that vowel shifts will occur again.With a more phonemic system, there will be fewer chances of deviations. Deviations occurred mainly because few people were schooled, could write, could read in the past. The system will be much more stable.16. The current spelling helps me.If you are French, Spanish, Italian (any Romance language), about 50% of words will be spelled more or less like they are in these languages and reading will be easy for these words, obviously. However, the spelling will interfere with the pronunciation of these words. Everybody knows how these speakers have a real tough time pronouncing English words. Why? Because they are not pronounced like they are in these languages. Why? Because there is very little guidance in the spelling to indicate how these words are pronounced. Again, there are hundreds of thousands of words whose pronunciation needs to be memorized.If you are Greek, there are only 6% of the time where spelling will be easier for you, Pronunciation again is going to be a huge problem for hundreds of thousands of words as it with everyone.People who speaks Germanic languages are being helped with the spelling 1/4 of the times. Unless they know a Romance language, they will struggle with the pronunciation of those French words and others. The pronunciation of those Germanic-based words will be easier. They are usually shorter and do not contain the invisible “schwa” that one needs to know about for those bigger Latin/French words.But, what about those people who don;t speak any of these languages? Are Asian-speakers persona non grata? How selfish is it for European-speakers to stick it to the Asians, Arabic, African-speakers? Will they forgive you or will they ask you to learn Chinese or Arabic? What goes around, comes around. Latin used to be the lingua franca of the world and how many people speak Latin now.ADDENDUM:The schwa: about, children, pencil, renovate, supply, syringe, luscious, mission, blood, does, cousin, thorough, and especially. (Even “one” or o_e could be included as it is pronounced “wun”.) So, even 14! (I am including stressed syllables/words as schwas like in does, which some phoneticians feel are very different than the “a” in “about”. This linguistics university course 115 (Pennsylvania) seems to indicate I am right: Phonetic symbols and this linguist in speech makes a case for the schwa being just a reduced phoneme of the /ʌ/)./ei/: great, raid, grey, gray, ballet, mate, table, caffe, matine, reggae, vein, vain/ɛ/: bear, care, aerial, their, there, questionnaire, mayor, bury, any, friend, leopard/i:/: be, been, bean, key, mere, elite, people, ski, debris, quayNOTE:Differences in English acquisitionDifferences in English acquisition depends on the language you learned, you know. If you are a person who speaks a Germanic language, it will be easy for you to speak, read/read out loud, and understand English, day to day English. If you speak a Romance language like French, Italian, Spanish,… it will be relatively easy for you to read/decode/understand written English (especially if it is academic or legal), but it is the speaking and the listening parts that will be challenging, especially if it is a day to day task. English is a mix of both these families, but easier words are related to Germanic languages like Dutch, Danish,… , but more difficult words are usually French, Latin-based Italian, Spanish, … Of course, if you are a speaker of Chinese, of a language that is not related to English in any way, then it is going to be an even greater challenge, as even phonemes and of course alphabetic letters will be completely new to you.Read John Katt's answer to What are your most controversial or unpopular opinions?My blog Njú Ingliş has this article and it’s a good new grapheme system.Here are all the letters we’d use.The original letter is followed by the one with a diacritica=/ə/ againá=/aː/ fatherà=/ʌ/cutå=/ɒ/bottleæ=/æ/batb=/b/butterc=/t͡ʃ/chopperd=/d/dogð=/ð/thise=/ɛ/beté=/eɪ/Bravef=/f/phoneg=/g/godĝ=/d͡ʒ/gelh=/h/halli=/ɪ/bití=/iː/beetj=/j/youk=/k/cutl=/l/lochm=/m/mann=/n/noo=/ɔ/boyó=/oʊ/ohp=/p/Potter*q=/q/Qatarr=/ɹ/rivers=/s/saltş=/ʃ/sheltert=/t/tallþ=/θ/thornu=/ʊ/ruthlessú=/u/bootv=/v/valvew=/w/will*x=/x/loch(Scottish English)*y=/y/few(only in some accents)z=/z/zedž=/ʒ/vision*Q,Y and X are to be used only for transliterating other scripts.Só,Ái ges it wiɫ ték às sàm táim tú get júzd tú ðis þing,bàt its fòr ár ón gud!I’m also making a Greek grapheme system which will look sexier.Áim olsó méking a Grík grafím sistam wic wil luk seksiar.