Gross National Happiness - This is a very rough spew of thoughts.

Gross National Happiness, a term first used by Bhutan's King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, is defined as "an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product." Wiki According to Wikkopedia, "The four pillars of GNH are the promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance." Wiki
GNH is extremely subjective because many different things make people happy. To make GNH objective, the world needs to design key elements of a country that a majority of the world agrees influences well being. For example in 2006 Med Jones proposed these 7 measurements for GNH
" 1. Economic Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of economic metrics such as consumer debt, average income to consumer price index ratio and income distribution
2. Environmental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of environmental metrics such as pollution, noise and traffic
3. Physical Wellness: Indicated via statistical measurement of physical health metrics such as severe illnesses
4. Mental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of mental health metrics such as usage of antidepressants and rise or decline of psychotherapy patients
5. Workplace Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of labor metrics such as jobless claims, job change, workplace complaints and lawsuits
6. Social Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of social metrics such as discrimination, safety, divorce rates, complaints of domestic conflicts and family lawsuits, public lawsuits, crime rates
7. Political Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of political metrics such as the quality of local democracy, individual freedom, and foreign conflicts." Wiki

This list of factors that influence a countries overall "well being" is a good start to assigning a value for GNH. As the debate continues, the factors are surely to become more complex and "accurate".
Despite the objective methods being applied to GNH, it remains a subjective tool. For example a country could justify deporting or exterminating all of its mentally ill and then report a high GNH. The idea of GNH is still fresh and has yet to be defined.

Happiness (You can hang a plethora of people with this rope)

Happiness is subjective. There are many different things that make many different people happy. Happiness results when the brain receives input that invokes joy or a state of contentment. An interesting phenomenon of happiness, is that some people can only be happy, when causing unhappiness. Bullying in school causes a lot of unhappiness for those being traumatized, but what about the bully. Interestingly enough the bully gets satisfaction from torturing the weaker individuals around him. The savory power of being in control provides contentment and joy for many people. Competition and a resulting loss or win has a direct influence on many's happiness or unhappiness. In my life my happiness is completely related to my comfort in any environment.

Big Project

I want to write a letter to the editor about the potholes in Ithaca. Ithaca should buy a few trucks and pothole filler, and we can all volunteer to go around when we have free time to fill the potholes. As a delivery driver I spend half my time swerving around on the roads to not hurt my car, and its a serious problem we should address. The best way would be to completely repave every road within a couple years, but that is unrealistic. Actively filling the potholes would be cost beneficial and would be a great start.

Handbook Chapter 15, 16

Chapter 15 was refreshing. A lot of the problems had to with things that you catch when reading out loud, but the tricky mistakes were interesting. The lesson it gave on the proper uses of the conditional clauses were partially new to me. Combined with your lesson I learned the proper way of using the conditional. Not that I didn't use it correctly before, but its not something that was concretely ingrained in my head.

Chapter 16 was pretty boring, but the list of irregular verbs reminds me yet again that English has a frustrating amount of errors and qwerks. I was born in France, and moved to America when I was six years old. Sometimes English still feels foreign to me. Lie and Lay were actually problems for me, so it was nice to see their proper uses.

Smooth Road Ahead

How much money do car owners spend repairing their cars due to damage caused by potholes in the road? In Ithaca, which prides itself for its beauty, many people suffer financial loss to repairs caused by potholes. There are many potholes that are unavoidable streets, and they cause significant damage to vehicles. They are an eyesore for the local community and tourists. With the help of the community Ithaca can fill its potholes and provide a safe and pleasant journey for all vehicles.

Fixing the deteriorated streets of Ithaca could save the community a significant amount of money in car repairs. I work as a delivery driver in this town, and I frequently have to repair my suspension. A high percentage of cars in this town are rusty; the last thing they need is the shock of a pothole.

Completely repaving all the roads in town is too costly. Instead, Ithaca should invest in more equipment and supplies to fill potholes. Two pickup trucks and some gravel and asphalt mix could get the pothole filling project started. The equipment should be used by volunteers. A group of two to three people can sign up to use a pickup truck and spend a few hours filling the potholes in town. Instead of a resident waiting for a road crew to come fix a particularly troublesome pothole. He or she can sign up and fill the pothole. This provides a relatively cheap alternative to completely repaving roads or hiring crews to fill all the potholes in towns.

In upstate New York residential roads in good condition are hard to come by. The potentially smooth roads of Ithaca can be a unique token of our city. Ithaca's beauty attracts tourists, and our smooth roads will not deter them from coming back. There are many businesses that rely heavily on transportation. Our smooth roads can attract them.

Handbook Chapter 14

I expect to get a good understanding of commas and when to use or not use them. I have a generally good grasp of grammar, but it has been a while since I've had to write anything. Chapter 14 should be a good reminder for me.