Tag: policy

The Inability of the U.S. Government to Enforce Safety Regulations for Firearms and the Consequences of This

Leave a comment

In the U.S., firearms are one of the few products which are exempt from federal consumer product safety regulations. This exemption derives from the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 which explicitly prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from regulating firearms and ammunition. As a direct result, there remains no federal agency responsible for ensuring the safety of firearms prior to firearms being sold to consumers. This legislative policy can be disasterous, as with the case of the SIG Sauer P320 pistol, a firearm which is prone to firing without the trigger having been pulled. The SIG Sauer P320 firearm is effectively always engaged within a cocked position, with the weapon ready to fire even when not intended by the end user (e.g. holstered and on the hip of the end user etc.). The SIG Sauer P320 is a striker fired firearm and does not have a manual safety by default. Early versions of the design had issues in which the internal components (e.g. trigger, sear, striker etc.) could inadvertently engage, causing an unintentional discharge. This has resulted in law enforcement and civilians accidentally harming themselves and others with accidental misfires. As of 2016, 80 people have been harmed by this particular firearm. In 2017, the manufacturer SIG Sauer Inc. offered a voluntary upgrade program, not a recall but rather an offer to modify the design of this firearm to improve safety features, including adjustments to the trigger, sear, and striker mechanisms

The Sham Elections of the North Korean State

1 Comment

Every 5 years, all North Korans over the age of 17 are expected to vote in a democratic election in which 687 members of North Korea’s Supreme Peoples Assembly are elected to represent the North Korean people. Voters are handed a ballot with a single name pre-written upon it and are expected to place this supposed vote in a ballet box, however the ballet box is not enclosed for privacy, rather it is open and on display for all to watch as a persons peers submit their vote. This entire charade is pointless as there are no choices for voters, it’s merely an exercise to create the illusion of democracy for the international community. Perhaps the only positive which comes of this system is that there is no instability within North Korean families with opposing political ideologies as is the case with other democratic nations. Additional positive characteristics of this shameful display of democracy in action is that voters do not need to be familiar with candidates or their policies and platforms and they do not have to worry after having voted if they indeed chose the wrong candidate. The primary reason as to why these sham elections occur is because the North Korean government uses the process as a census to detect those who oppose the current status quo of the North Korean dictatorial political regime. Private voting booths are available but are treated with significant stigma as anyone who uses one in order to write in a candidate or perhaps a short message which is contradictory to the current administration of Kim Jong Un is subject to being questioned and arrested for the crime of “subversion of the North Korean political process”, something which would be unimaginable in most democracies. The entire operation is essentially a method of detecting and exposing dissenters. The 2014 election recorded a total turn out of 99.9% of the North Korean population

Chinese Business Practices Designed to Stimulate the Planned Economic Growth of China

Leave a comment

The Chinese government have started a policy referred to as “forced technology transfer” which means that “in order to do business in China, foreign business interests must give up some of their technological innovations and protected secrets”. The Chinese government refers to this process as an “indigenous innovation policy”, to ensure that Chinese companies, state owned or otherwise, remain or become the most powerful and influential industry leaders within various world economic sectors. The short version of this policy is that if a foreign company wants to work with a Chinese corporation or do business in China (e.g. selling U.S. made products in China), they must agree to do so through joint ventures with Chinese firms, and allow propitiatory technology to be shared with Chinese corporate interests and the Chinese government to encourage growth within Chinese industry as a whole. The World Trade Organization has laid out rules stating that this practice is inconsistent with what it deems fair and legal business practice, however the Chinese government has repeatedly ignored requests for these practices to halt. The Chinese state has issued statements claiming that there are no official laws in place forcing foreign companies to comply with such practices, however this is evidently untrue as multiple U.S. corporations have provided evidence to the contrary