Brain, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

The following thoughts occur to me as I plan to update this LJ. As I want the other entries to be coherent, I shall dump them here.
-Ariel, Cal and Jeff don't have livejournal. This is a pity, particularly as Ariel knows origami stuff and probably remembers more of the origami talk than I do. Cal and Jeff are summer math incarnate. Shmack and Katy's journal almost compensate but not quite.
-Lawns exist to look nice, lawn-mowers exist to make lawns look nice. Trees look nicer. Hills like trees much more than lawn-mowers like hills. (Best analogy ever)
-Computers with on-off switches should make use of them. Tilting the entire tower an inch or so is not an intuitive on-off switch.

Mathcamp (watch out! I said the M word)

So, if all goes well I'll be co-teaching a Math and Origami class or two. The plan right now is as follows.

Class: Math and Origami (* to **, 2 or 3 sessions)
Class 1: Trisecting angles, doubling cubes and other "impossible stunts"
as well as an explanation of the difference between compass and
straight edge construction and compass and ruled edge
construction. End with intro to modular pieces
HW: build a whole bunch of modules and look at the shapes they make. ** - what
volume do these solids have? Is it possible to do everything that can
usually be done with compass and ruler with a square of paper?
Class 2: Modular Origami, Platonic solids, really big bucky balls and other
things you can build if you have way too much time on your hands.
Duals and how they relate to each other visually, construct 5
interlacing tetrahedra. Zometool may work it way in either here or in
the homework.
HW: How do the modules interlace? What other shapes/intersections
would be useful for construction? Design your own base piece.
Class 3: Origami overview. Dragon curves. Conics through origami.
Folding a perfect pentagon. Hexaflexagons. Unsolved origami
questions (Can this crease pattern actually be folded into a 2-d
object? How about 3-D) Theorems about origami and research
currently being done.

Class three could easily be dropped to make a 2 session class or cut in half, using half the material for an intro to make a 4 session class.

For those who don't know, the stars are a difficulty rating system for classes, * being easiest and **** being hardest.

I ask the following of you-all, my loyal readers:
1) a better title than Math and Origami
2) Suggestions for topics to cover, advice on good books on math and origami (particularly theorem and proof oriented rather than project oriented)
3) Advice on teaching, suggestions for how to present particular ideas, etc

Lawnmowing and Taxes

Once upon a time, I wrote college application essays. One of my favorites as far as actually being interesting rather than silly/trite was the one I wrote about tax reform. Once upon a more recent time, I used to talk politics among other things with Clara
Once upon earlier this morning, I mowed the lawn and thought thoughts.

What all this boils down to is that I'm still trying to figure out what a good, decent, legitimate and practical tax system would look like. (Note: those four adjectives are not redundant

For example: Is it legitimate to tax people under the age of 18? We fought under a rallying cry of "No taxation without representation" once. What does representation and such do to sales tax or income tax or other things that apply to youth? People have offered the following explanations or excuses for these issues, most people under age 18 get refunds each year as they don't fall into a tax bracket. Fine, what about those who do? Some students are in a tax bracket because of education funds in their name. Is it their money or their parents? If someone over 18 earned it, are taxes OK then? How do you guard against child tax shelters? What about people working full time to support themselves? Are they "legal adults?" Should they be able to vote?

What services do taxes pay for? Yes I know in general, but can I find a list somewhere? How does the money break down, percentage-wise? If I gave out points, there would be a few in here for people who could find me good unbiased data.

How many different taxes am I subject to? How about someone who lives in town X, county Y state Z? Is there a good way to figure out all the taxes someone pays without counting on one's hands? Again, data would be most appreciated.

What constitutes a fair tax system? What features must it have? How can such a system also be easily monitored/administered? Our current system works, but what would make it better?

I may try to figure out and post some of my opinions in the next few days, but I want to hear what other people have to say.