--- description: Winning over the silent majority in Afghanistan, mobile phones helping to reduce maternal death, and building a better internet w/o ads. title: These are The Best Ideas of the Day image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 15 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 15, 2014 4:00 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 15, 2014 4:00 PM CUT **1\.** [**1,000 new visas is a good start, but to continue building trust, the U.S. must further expand the visa program for Afghans assisting ISAF at great risk.**](https://news.vice.com/article/thanks-to-congress-1000-more-afghan-interpreters-will-get-us-visas-this-year "undefined") By Jordan Larson in Vice **2\.** [**It’s not too late for the Internet to ditch pop-up ads and build a better web.**](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/advertising-is-the-internets-original-sin/376041/ "undefined") By Ethan Zuckerman in the Atlantic **3\.** [**A peace deal may be the only way to relieve Gaza’s “health disaster.”**](http://politically-inclined.com/2014/08/a-first-hand-account-of-the-looming-health-disaster-in-gaza/ "undefined") By Dana Lea in Politically Inclined **4\.** [**Now ubiquitous, mobile phones can close the gap for maternal health care.**](http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2014/08/14/cell-phones-the-future-of-rural-health-care-in-south-asia/ "undefined") By Becky Allen and Jenna Karp at the Council on Foreign Relations **5\.** [**To save the African elephant, we must ban all ivory sales for a decade or more.**](http://blogs.nature.com/news/2014/08/ban-all-ivory-sales-for-10-years-says-conservationist.html "undefined") By Daniel Cressey in Nature  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3117405/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-15/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3117405/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-15/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 15","datePublished":"2014-08-15T16:00:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:43:05.839Z","description":"Winning over the silent majority in Afghanistan, mobile phones helping to reduce maternal death, and building a better internet w/o ads.","url":"https://time.com/3117405/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-15/","keywords":["Innovation","Congress","Afghanistan","Ivory","Elephants","health","Gaza","advertisements","mobile phones"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3117405/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-august-15/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 15"}}]}] ```