Category: economics

help people escape the north

On 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.

 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

painting-of-la-loche-brothers

Funeral Tuesday for brothers killed in La Loche shooting

 

 

Narcos season 1

On 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!

… the life of Pablo Escobar from the late 1970s, when he first began manufacturing cocaine, to July 1992, when he escaped La Catedral prison. …

Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar, leader of the Medellín Cartel … is believable. He’s from Brazil and I’m told his Spanish is not so believable.

escobar

Pedro Pascal as Javier Peña – a DEA agent – is very good.

images

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

The Cartel – A Novel

On By Rick McIn bad news, books, economics, ethics, firearms, government, movies, product complaints, things getting worseLeave a comment

If you’ve ever wondered how nobs like this peasant-farmer-turned-billionaire-drug-lord can exist, read The Cartel: A novel by Don Winslow .

El Chapo

Though it’s getting great reviews, I found it too long. Too violent. The ending not believable.

The rights holders want Leonardo DiCaprio to play the role of Keller, the (so called) good guy of the story.

related – ‘Cartel’ Author Don Winslow Responds To Sean Penn: “Call It Anything You Want – Except Journalism”

pedal 1 hour, electricity for 24 hours

On By Rick McIn cycling, economics, ethics, health & fitness, product endorsements, things getting betterLeave a comment

Pollution free energy. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Manoj_Bhargava,_Founder,_5-hour_ENERGY
Billions in Change is a movement to save the world by creating and implementing solutions to the most basic global problems – water, energy and health. Doing so will raise billions of people out of poverty and improve the lives of everyone – rich and poor.

That’s the mission of founder philanthropist Manoj Bhargava, born in India, educated in the U.S.

Bhargava has committed to giving away 99% of his $4 billion dollar net worth and signed the well-known Giving Pledge in 2012.

Thanks to Doug Davis for the link.

homeless in Seattle

On By Rick McIn economics, GOP USA, government, travelLeave a comment

I unexpectedly found myself in transit in downtown Seattle. I stayed at City Hostel since the Green Tortoise was full.

Caught the @QuickShuttle bus to Vancouver, Canada. Not the cheapest option at US$43 one way. But more convenient. Free WiFi. Good service. I’d take it again.

Late Friday night and early Saturday morning I wandered the streets. It’s appealingly unrefined for a major city. Homeless, intoxicated and deranged citizens are everywhere. One decided to punch me with his garbage bag of old clothes. He does that to everyone, I assume. I didn’t take it personally. 🙂

There are missions and homeless shelters. People still on the street don’t like the rules.

homeless in Seattle

more homeless in Seattle photos

documentary – Bikes vs Cars

On By Rick McIn cycling, economics, governmentLeave a comment

Traffic congestion worldwide must be getting worse.

Istanbul, Mexico City and Rio are three of the most congested.

I don’t own a car. Love public transport. And cycle commute as much as I can.

Sadly, our world promotes motor vehicles. Not bicycles. 😦

Bikes vs Cars depicts a global crisis that we all deep down know we need to talk about: climate, earth’s resources, cities where the entire surface is consumed by the car. An ever-growing, dirty, noisy traffic chaos.

The bike is a great tool for change, but the powerful interests who gain from the private car invest billions each year on lobbying and advertising to protect their business. In the film we meet activists and thinkers who are fighting for better cities, who refuse to stop riding despite the increasing number killed in traffic.

Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.

Former Toronto mayor / crackhead Rob Ford is one of the bad guys. 😦

(via Treehugger)

The Big Short

On By Rick McIn economics, moviesLeave a comment

The Big Short is a 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film …

It is based on the 2010 book of the same name by Michael Lewis, about the financial crisis of 2007–2008 …

The film stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt. …

… On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 87%, based on 163 reviews …

The New York Times‘s “UpShot” series stated The Big Short offered the “strongest film explanation of the global financial crisis.” …

I’d agree. This film is entertaining. And it also provided me with the clearest insight yet as to the insanity of the American banks bringing down the world economy. If I’d lost money in that debacle, I’d be plenty pissed off. 😦

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

all that Christmas crap …

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, philosophyLeave a comment

😦 … What are you going to do with it? 😦

Pope Francis led the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics into Christmas on Thursday, urging those “intoxicated” by possessions and superficial appearances to return to the essential values of life.

Pope on Christmas Eve urges return to essential values

My own philosophy is Voluntary Simplicity

Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.
– John Ruskin

Click PLAY or watch comedian Ben Champion on Vimeo.

(via Treehugger)

I agree with Trump … on one thing

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, things getting worse1 Comment

With his random, jumbled blurting … it was going to happen sooner or later.

… “We’ve spent $4 trillion trying to topple various people that, frankly, if they were there and if we could have spent that $4 trillion in the United States to fix our roads, our bridges, and all of the other problems — our airports and all the other problems we have — we would have been a lot better off, I can tell you that right now.

We have done a tremendous disservice not only to the Middle East — we’ve done a tremendous disservice to humanity. The people that have been killed, the people that have been wiped away — and for what? It’s not like we had victory. It’s a mess. The Middle East is totally destabilized, a total and complete mess. I wish we had the 4 trillion dollars or 5 trillion dollars. I wish it were spent right here in the United States …

VOX

Trump

Still. This idiot has to quit the race soon. He’s bad for America. Bad for the world.