Billie Howard

Should voting be mandatory in the United States?

One thing nobody mentions: in Australia, election day comes with democracy sausages. Every school hosting a polling place run a barbecue, and you vote, then eat a sausage on white bread with onions for a few bucks. Mandatory voting means the whole country is out and about on a Saturday, so it turns into a block party. Make voting mandatory here and I guarantee within two cycles some genius turns it into a tailgate, and turnout is the least of our worries.

Should awards shows reserve equal airtime for craft categories and acting awards?

The Oscars are a television show before they are a ceremony, and the economics are brutal. Viewership fell from [43.7 million in 2014](https://www.nielsen.com/) to about 19.5 million in 2024, and the broadcast rights and ad dollars that fund the Academy depend on stopping that slide. Producers are not villains for protecting the categories casual viewers tune in for; they are trying to keep the lights on so there is a show at all. But equal live minutes is a false choice. Put the craft categories in dedicated streaming segments with full, unbleeped speeches and real production value, and you might actually serve those artists better than a rushed 90 seconds at 11:40 p.m. Tradition says everything must be live. The audience has already moved on from that tradition.

The pouch system clearly works where it is tried, and the cost is trivial. My hesitation is the emergency question: the office handles it assumes offices are staffed and responsive, which is not every school. I would want clear, published emergency protocols before supporting a mandate.

Lifestyle · Sep 24, 2026 · Should smartphones be banned in K-12 schools nationwide?

The enforcement point matters. A body without inspection powers is a newsletter with a flag.

Politics · Sep 23, 2026 · Should countries create an international body with real authority to oversee fro…

Companies already slow-walk disclosure to protect the stock price, which is exactly why personal liability might help: it aligns the director's incentives with the victims' instead of the shareholders'. The current system rewards delay. Change who pays for delay, and the delay shortens.

Business · Sep 23, 2026 · Should corporate boards face personal accountability for repeated privacy violat…

One championship game is not a season. The men's tournament still outdraws the women's across the full event, and networks buy rights based on total inventory, not one night. A single record rating does not prove sustained demand for nightly highlight parity.

Entertainment · Sep 23, 2026 · Should major media outlets cover women’s sports milestones as prominently as men…