Asil Shaar and Nour Alarda, Nablus, West Bank, Palestine

When Asil Shaar and Nour Alarda observed the struggles of sight-impaired neighbors attempting to navigate the hills and war-torn streets of their hometown, Nablus, and find their way around the refugee camp where they lived, they decided to do something about it. They created an obstacle-detecting cane for the blind.

The process wasn’t easy, especially considering how difficult it was to obtain electronic parts such as sensors and circuits in the West Bank. The determined pair made multiple trips to Ramallah, about 45 minutes away and through two military checkpoints, to find the materials they needed to complete the task.

Though previous “laser canes” existed, these models were flawed in that they were unable to detect uneven surfaces or holes in the ground. In contrast, the girls’ design incorporates two infrared sensors into a pine walking stick, one front-facing and one down-facing, to detect both obstacles and drop-offs.

In reply to this comment by geo321:
Yay! Thank you. I love the graphics of the guy with the super-illuminated cane.

In reply to this comment by siftbot:
Congratulations! Your dedication to keeping VideoSift alive by resurrecting dead videos has earned you your "Necromancer" Level 1 Badge!
<img src="http://static1.videosift.com/images/badges/necromancer.png"/>
Hey I dont wanna nitpick.

But I will

thats a staff. I am not to fluent with north pole laws and statutes but I would think a cane must have a means of hooking or yanking the neck of someone off stage.

You are welcome.

In reply to this comment by geo321:
Yay! Thank you. I love the graphics of the guy with the super-illuminated cane.

In reply to this comment by siftbot:
Congratulations! Your dedication to keeping VideoSift alive by resurrecting dead videos has earned you your "Necromancer" Level 1 Badge!

Yay! Thank you. I love the graphics of the guy with the super-illuminated cane.

In reply to this comment by siftbot:
Congratulations! Your dedication to keeping VideoSift alive by resurrecting dead videos has earned you your "Necromancer" Level 1 Badge!
<img src="http://static1.videosift.com/images/badges/necromancer.png"/>

Get that cat a tailored suit, a top hat, and a cane and he's a dead ringer for the distinguished Baron Humbert von Gikkingen from Studio Ghibli's The Cat Returns.

you people and your stereotypes....Testosterone is the least of your worries when you dissuade vigilantism of any kind in this day and age of illusory safety and comfort, and fair and level moralities for everyone...welcome to the world of the real-or, go live in bumfuck Idaho, Vancouver, or Sri Lanka-How about Singapore..where the punishment of spitting gum on the street fits the crime of caning??...

>> ^bmacs27:
I'd rather just pick some fixed amount everybody gets for life however, and just hand them the money when they are 18. It doesn't even have to be money right away (to defer the inflation). It could just be stamps that are converted to cash by the doctors when they are reimbursed for services. It's got most of the qualities of the progressive plans. It's egalitarian. It puts money in the pocket of people that need it. Unlike those plans however, it would get the votes from both sides.
Like I said, it isn't that radical. It isn't like the European style systems, but there are models. Like I mentioned, a similar system is quite popular in Singapore (which I wouldn't describe as an entirely backwards society, I could do without the caning, but you know, quit yer litterin'). For whatever reason, however, this debate always gets bogged down in this quagmire of European system or status quo, which I find bunk. I think there are legitimate concerns with the European way of providing health that don't fit neatly with our cultural identity. There would be broad Republican support for a bill that puts consumers in charge of cost control (this video could be cited as evidence). So why not consider that sort of plan? Because it doesn't inch us along the path to single-payer? Political points? What is it? Why isn't it even on the table?


Let me unpack this a bit, and respond separately to policy substance and the politics of the bill.

I'm not sure how a "lump sum" grant would work. Is there a hidden assumption in there that this is to replace their Medicare benefits later in life? Are there new taxes to offset it? Do people get to keep what they don't spend as cash? What happens if you get a serious illness and deplete it before you're 30?

Part of the advantage of the plan DeLong proposes is that most of the cost is borne by the individual themselves. They also have strong incentives to keep themselves healthy, since any money they don't use gets rolled over into their IRA, or if they so choose, returned to them immediately. If they're young and healthy, this means they have a pretty strong push towards saving 15% of their income at all times. If they do get sick, they have an incentive to try to deal with their illness as cheaply as possible, since every dime is out of pocket. If they get seriously ill, and blow through their HSA, they know what they pay is capped at 15% of their yearly income, and everything past that is paid for by the government, so they know they won't go broke.

A lump sum plan seems to lose most of those advantages.

As for politics, what Democrats are proposing now is actually to the right of the bill Republicans offered to Bill Clinton in the 90's. It's more conservative than the Massachusetts Romneycare reforms.

Republican opposition isn't ideological. There isn't a single god damned thing Democrats could do with this bill that would make Republicans vote for it. They win by handing Obama a defeat, period. Any reform that dramatically improves the system that's signed into law by Obama means historically huge credit will be heaped on Democrats in general, and Obama in particular. They will do anything to stop that from happening.

That said, I would have loved to have seen Democrats propose something like what DeLong suggested, just to hear what the Republican anti-reform talking points would've been. Probably they'd just demagogue the mandated 15% contribution to HSA's and call that a "government takeover" of health care. They'd probably still say that all we need to do is tort reform and to "let companies sell insurance across state lines" which would in effect eliminate the states' ability to regulate insurance.

The only bill that would ever get broad Republican support is one introduced by a Republican majority in congress.

@NetRunner : Yea, something like that. I'd rather just pick some fixed amount everybody gets for life however, and just hand them the money when they are 18. It doesn't even have to be money right away (to defer the inflation). It could just be stamps that are converted to cash by the doctors when they are reimbursed for services. It's got most of the qualities of the progressive plans. It's egalitarian. It puts money in the pocket of people that need it. Unlike those plans however, it would get the votes from both sides.

Like I said, it isn't that radical. It isn't like the European style systems, but there are models. Like I mentioned, a similar system is quite popular in Singapore (which I wouldn't describe as an entirely backwards society, I could do without the caning, but you know, quit yer litterin'). For whatever reason, however, this debate always gets bogged down in this quagmire of European system or status quo, which I find bunk. I think there are legitimate concerns with the European way of providing health that don't fit neatly with our cultural identity. There would be broad Republican support for a bill that puts consumers in charge of cost control (this video could be cited as evidence). So why not consider that sort of plan? Because it doesn't inch us along the path to single-payer? Political points? What is it? Why isn't it even on the table?

Your video, How it's made - Candy Canes, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

>> ^RedSky:
No Oompa Loompas? Are you SERIOUS?


No African Little People were harmed during the making of these candy canes.

I so want a fucking candy cane now.

Erm, he's not assigning his own meaning, it's the truth.

The local cane toads, when accosted by my dog, sit still and puff right up (as that toad in the video is) which get's their poison flowing, and will always keep their back facing the inquisitive dog so that the greatest surface area is exposed to the mouth. That is what they do when they are threatened, the logical extrapolation of that is they are scared.

To tell you the truth, I did recognize it as a song my 12 year old daughter listens to... Perhaps I should have known it was Miley as well...

In reply to this comment by Lann:
What can I say?...I'm a lesbian pedifile.

In reply to this comment by Sagemind:
Anyone find it odd that Lann can clearly identify Miley Cyrus

>> ^Lann:
Anyone else find it odd that teenage boys are listening to Mile Cyrus?


Just buggin' ya Lann....

Anyone find it odd that Lann can clearly identify Miley Cyrus

>> ^Lann:
Anyone else find it odd that teenage boys are listening to Mile Cyrus?


Just buggin' ya Lann....

I like when you rescue Deckard Cane!