House of Cards (season 4)

On April 11, 2016April 10, 2016 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, TVLeave a comment

The fourth season has received generally positive reviews from critics.

On Metacritic, the season has a score of 76 out of 100 based on 17 reviews.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a score of 89 out of 100, with an average rating of 8.1/10 based on 27 reviews. The site’s critical consensus reads, “House of Cards retains its binge-worthiness by ratcheting up the drama, and deepening Robin Wright’s role even further.”

It’s must watch TV. Addressing the issues of the day, especially the Donald Drumpf phenomenon. Evil in power.

That said, the plot line is pretty stupid. I’m surprised those writers cannot do better with the talent they’ve got.

It was great to see Robin Wright have a bigger role, but that’s about the only improvement this season.

Doug Stamper is good. Still.

Joel Kinnaman as Will Conway, Republican Governor of New York and Nominee for President of the United States running against Frank was a good choice.

But House of Cards could be much better.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

Jeff Bridges does NOT like plastic

On April 6, 2016April 4, 2016 By Rick McIn economics, education, ethics, government, product complaintsLeave a comment

Me either.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

Plastic Pollution Coalition is a global alliance of individuals, organizations, businesses and policymakers working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impact on humans, animals, the ocean and the environment.

plasticpollutioncoalition.org

refugees arrive in Parksville

On March 31, 2016 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, IslamLeave a comment

Musa Hodale Ali said he is happy to be working at Parksville’s Tim Hortons while he adapts to his new home and explores options.

He was sponsored by local Tim Hortons owners Ed and Lilian Mayne and the Qualicum Community Baptist Church. 🙂

He spent most of the last six years in refugee camps in Ethiopia. 😦

Completing a six-year journey from Eritrea in East Africa, the first refugees of a recent wave have hit the Parksville Qualicum Beach shore.

Musa Hodale Ali and Mohammed Subhat arrived on Vancouver Island on March 9, and within a week had among the most Canadian jobs possible, at Tim Hortons. …

A high school teacher back home who studied applied physics and economics, Hodale Ali admits he’s looking for more skilled work, but is quick to add that he’s basically just arrived and is giving himself time to adapt. …

Refugees arrive in Parksville

I’ll drop by and welcome him to Canada, myself. Canada needs immigrants.

P.S. How’s the Canadian economy doing under that socialist Trudeau?

Economy off to ‘roaring start’ as Canada sees biggest gain since 2013

lack of COMPETITION in the USA

On March 29, 2016March 26, 2016 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

One reason I’ve been so disappointed with Obama is that he’s done very little to reduce the rate of rich getting richer, poor getting poorer. 😦

Economist:

AMERICA used to be the land of opportunity and optimism. Now opportunity is seen as the preserve of the elite: two-thirds of Americans believe the economy is rigged in favour of vested interests. …

A tenth of the economy is at the mercy of a handful of firms—from dog food and batteries to airlines, telecoms and credit cards. A $10 trillion wave of mergers since 2008 has raised levels of concentration further. …

Lobbying spending has risen by a third in the past decade, to $3 billion. …

And new regulations do not just fence big banks in: they keep rivals out. …

… the rate of small-company creation in America has been running at its lowest levels since the 1970s. …

Most of the remedies dangled by politicians to solve America’s economic woes would make things worse. …

Modernising the antitrust apparatus would help. …

The second step is to make life easier for startups and small firms. …

A blast of competition would mean more disruption for some: firms in the S&P 500 employ about one in ten Americans. But it would create new jobs, encourage more investment and help lower prices. Above all, it would bring about a fairer kind of capitalism. That would lift Americans’ spirits as well as their economy.

The problem with profits

lack of competition

we buy too much clothing

On March 8, 2016March 4, 2016 By Rick McIn economics, ethicsLeave a comment

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

harvesting clean water from fog

On March 3, 2016February 29, 2016 By Rick McIn economics, good news, health & fitness, things getting betterLeave a comment

Clean water is the world’s immediate need. Education of girls and women the long term priority.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

The research paper.

via Hashem Al-Ghaili

watching Mr. Robot

On February 25, 2016February 22, 2016 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, internet, TVLeave a comment

Quite good. So far. I like the dysfunctional lead character. And the Tech perspective.

Mr. Robot is an American drama–thriller television series …

It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker who suffers from social anxiety disorder and clinical depression. Alderson is recruited by an insurrectionary anarchist known as “Mr. Robot”, played by Christian Slater, to join a group of hacktivists. …

Mr. Robot has received widespread acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 96% with an average score of 8 out of 10 based on 55 reviews. It set a record on Rotten Tomatoes as the only show to earn perfect episode scores for an entire season since the site began tracking television episodes. …

mr-robot

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

help people escape the north

On February 23, 2016February 19, 2016 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

I often brag that Canada is the least racist nation I know.

Aside from our First Nations peoples. The history of how Canada has treated the indigenous peoples is damn awful. 😦

I agree with Scott Gilmore. It’s long past time we admitted the Canadian system has never worked. We should dismantle the Reserves, paying out each Band member who opts to leave.

Scott Gilmore on a sad cycle of violence in remote communities:

… the north itself is violent and has been forever.

Isolated regions always are. Australia’s Northern Territory has that country’s highest crime rate. The remote regions of Papua New Guinea are more violent still. Siberia is the most dangerous region in Russia. In Brazil, the state of Pará, straddling the undeveloped stretches of the Amazon River, has one of the highest murder rates in the country, rivalling the lawless favelas. …

The only way we can ever truly help the people of La Loche and hundreds of other remote communities like it, is to give those who want it a viable option to leave, to build lives in southern Canada, integrated into one of the world’s healthiest, safest, most rewarding societies. …

La Loche shows us it’s time to help people escape the North

Funeral Tuesday for brothers killed in La Loche shooting

Narcos season 1

On February 17, 2016February 16, 2016 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, TVLeave a comment

Narcos season 1 … comprising 10 episodes, originally aired on August 28, 2015, as a Netflix exclusive. Set and filmed in Colombia, season 1 tells the true story of notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who became a billionaire through the production and distribution of cocaine, while also focusing on Escobar’s interactions with drug lords, DEA agents, and various opposition entities. …

… season 2 will air in 2016. …

I recommend the series. It’s violent. But astonishingly entertaining. What a story!