ECONOMICS
Taxes, to be fair, should be based on percentage of money earned, so that no group in society can claim they are being victimised by it i.e. 10%, so that someone earning a £100 per week would pay £10 and someone earning a £1,000 would pay £100, etc.
HUMANITARIAN AID
With regards to people living on flood plains, like the Indus Delta, their housing should made into rafts, so that come a flood, they can either rise above it, using anchors to stay in place or if they do get swept away, they've at least got something to hang onto until the navy of the country or civil ships in the area can pick them up.
ANIMAL AID
Heat pads as marketed by Petnap could be used for the lambing season, laid out in banks connected to the electricity through extension cords (as used to warm pets)
DEFROSTING CAR WINDOWS
I had an idea for the above, using either cordless hairdryers (if such things exist) or heat guns, for stripping paint etc. (If they can be set at a low enough temperature).
HEALTH IDEAS
I've designed a scapula to throw over your shoulders as a protection against rucksack straps digging into your shoulders (easy to make yourself and makes hiking less fatiguing): See figure 16 in the gallery for details.
Motorway Madness - I have an idea to help relieve tired and irritable drivers of their stress, by providing a service at motorway service stations, through giving people head and neck massages as well as feet and face ones, if required. On top of this Shiatsu and Thai massage could be used because they don't require the removal of clothes and all of these treatments can be done in minutes. It has to be a motorway, at least in the UK because it's the effects of long term driving on the body and the mind that needs to be addressed (continuous sitting in one place for a long time and monotonous visual scenery). On top of this soundproof sleeping booths, with alarms mounted in the walls could be used by those feeling the need for a few hours shut eye, in the same way that lorry drivers use their cabs nowadays. Lastly, a final component could be used for those trapped in road rage - namely a gym or room, where they could take out their aggression on punchbags etc rather than other road users (These don't need to be on motorways but may be better placed on ring roads or main highways in inner cities, where most of these kind of incident occur).
Talking of massage, there is a method you can use to relieve yourself of fatigue, after physical work or hiking, which consists of what I call frisking i.e. rapidly rubbing the palms of your hands and soles of your feet, using the tips of your fingers in a bunch. I've also noticed it works to enliven tired dogs, only your briskly rub their stomach's, using your hands cupped under the body but first massage the shoulders, hips and thighs - plus their equivalent of forearms (Using the first finger and thumb, create a circle or 'O' shape round the limb, then briskly rub it up and down the leg).
With regards to migraines, perhaps organisations or local group could get hold of Gamow bags (or similar) as used in Mountain sickness, to treat the condition? According to an experiment repported in Blackwells Medical Journal (info. courtesy of the Medical Research Council, in the UK), a patient was successfully treated in a Hyperbaric chamber as used to treat The Bends. All of these conditions are about decompression flooding the system with various toxic elements as well as overwhelming the body's vascular system and a portable means of doing this would be valuable as Migrainuers aren't usually in a good enough condition to travel and it might be better to take the treatment to them (See also Migraine section for my observations about the condition in general and why I think it occurs plus what I believe it actually is).
Another idea to assist migraineurs is the use of a Yoga Back Stretcher as espoused by Ruth White and other leaders in the field. You lay spreadeagled over the contraption, arms outstretched behind and to the side of you, listening to the cracking of your spine as you slowly let go and relax. Using it myself I'd say that the evening is the most effective time as the stress of the day has built up to the point where it can appreciably be released. First thinmg in the morning is not so good as after a nights rest, you're already pretty relaxed.
Bee stings are currently being used to help people with arthritis and MS but how it works seems to baffle medical science. Could I suggest because it isn't chemical as such but a bodily reaction to attack (outside stimulus). I personally believe mild electric shock, stinging nettles or even a mild snake bite might have the same effect.
Midges as a work hazard, could be dealt with using the facts we have about them. They don't like rain, so a fine atomized spray of water above workers heads, would bring them down but might make working conditions unpleasant in another way. A gigantic fan might also help as they don't like wind and would prove less of a problem than the fine mist spray. Liquids like menthol could also provide the same kind of protection through evaporation, pushing the bugs away as the stuff dissipates into the atmosphere (chemical repulsion). Gels and creams would act like fly paper, creating a barrier to stop penetration of their biting parts as would muslin or cheesecloth as a physical wall, but without making working conditions too hot during the summer.
EDUCATION
Education could be improved by streaming - not by intelligence necessarily but fields of interest. By this I mean thinkers could learn theory and go on to study science, business and politics etc. Doers could get lessons in practical things and learn things like sport, mechanics, animal husbandry and domestic science etc. Feelers could go into the arts, healing and the ministery. For a start it might not be obvious where childrens interests lie but by the time they get to secondary level education, streaming should have been determined and led by the direction the children themselves took at the primary level. Nothing has to be set in stone as some children don't know where they belong in society or even if they want to be there but we should accomodate those who do, for our sake as well as theirs (If they are not happy then they can become disruptive and rebel against what they feel is being rammed down their throats - on top of this they may be inventive and bring something new into this world that perhaps should be cultivated for the future benefit of mankind as a whole).
Rhyming couplets could be a useful way of teaching facts to children, so that they are more memorable (1066 - William one, Harold nix).
Teaching material consists of two kinds. First there is the explanatory matter to promote understanding, then there is the raw facts that require memorisation (Root learning or repetitive testing or chanting, to fix them in your mind for later use, like a toolbox for physical jobs). Understanding opens us up to a new world of ideas and only needs that one Eureka moment, where everything becomes clear, to let the rivers of effort (mental or physical) flow again.
