Category: education

Apple in China by Patrick McGee

On By Rick McIn Apple, books, economics, education, ethics, government, human rightsLeave a comment

I thought I knew the story of Apple. BUT what I really knew was the story of Steve Jobs.

Looking back in 2025 at what made the company thrive, it was 2 other men.

Market chain guru Tim Cook, of course.

But even more so, Terry Gou, who, in 1974, founded FoxConn in Taiwan.

Incredibly ambitious, by 2012 Foxconn made up approximately 40% of worldwide consumer electronics production.

Just one of his many huge factories in China produces the bulk of Apple’s iPhone line and is sometimes referred to as “iPhone City”.

Needless to say, there are many abused workers in those plants. They don’t last many months on the gruelling production line.

Over the years, Gou and others steadily wooed Tim Cook and Apple to move manufacturing to China.

Today over 90% of Apple products are made in China. A huge risk for the company if authoritarian dictator-for-life Xi decides to invade Taiwan. Or shut down exports.

Attempts to move production to other nations have been mostly experiments. Or motivated by politics, not business.

In the meantime, Chinese engineers — many trained by Apple — are building cheaper, better Chinese phones in China. They no longer need Apple.

It’s a precarious situation.

Apple in China is a 2025 book uniquely looking at the company from the viewpoint of China.

In her May 15, 2025 review for The New York Times, Hannah Beech called Apple in China “smart and comprehensive,” praising Patrick McGee’s clever and chronologically organized timeline of how Apple’s expansion to China manufacturing facilities under then COO Tim Cook created a global success but also an “existential vulnerability” for the United States. 

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t talk about the future.

SOME DAY robots will do much of the assembly.

TV series – “A Teacher”

On By Rick McIn education, ethics, TVLeave a comment

The FX miniseries A Teacher (2020) was filmed in my old High School, after it had closed and was scheduled for demolition. 

… I don’t recall any teachers like Kate Mara when I was a student.  😀 

Set in the span of 10 years, this series follows a female English teacher in her early 30s as she begins to groom and abuse her 17-year-old male student in the fictional high school of Westerbrook in Austin, Texas.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My 50th High School Reunion

On By Rick McIn about Rick, education, friendsLeave a comment

Our thanks to the 2025 Viscount Bennett High School reunion organizers, Rod Peterson and Dayle Conlin.

They host a reunion in May each year at Schanks Sports Grill in Calgary.

It’s open to all Viscount grads, teachers, from any year — and any +1 who wants to come along and shoot the breeze with ol’ timers.

After 25 years or more, former classmates look familiar — but I usually couldn’t quickly come up with their names. 😀

I attended Viscount Bennett High School in Calgary, graduating 1975.

Due to the area’s ageing population and the opening of other high schools nearby, after only 30 years Viscount Bennett closed in 1985.

Ron, Brian and myself were organizers of the 2000 reunion which was hosted in the old school — at that time a continuing education institution. 

The day before the 2025 reunion, I stopped by my ol’ school to check the state of demolition.

Sad. But change is inevitable.

I returned a student I.D. to our High School President, Greg Cole. He had dropped it in the time capsule, way back when.

Brenda Mikkelsen and Debbie Dalton made it.

Drinda Miller Rainville was there.

I was too busy chatting to take any photos.

Tony Retrosi on Compassionate Governance

On By Rick McIn education, ethics, GOP USA, government, gymnastics, human rightsLeave a comment

Tony Retrosi is a highly respected Gymnastics coach, educator, and leader.

He’s one of the Americans dismayed with the turn of Republican politicians to ReTrumplicanism. Angry, hateful, intolerant, near totalitarianism.

In 2025 you must parrot the low IQ Trump’s lies, or be banished from the GOP.

I was impressed with Tony summing up in this post:

  • a country should take care of its weakest members … children, disabled, sick, and elderly
  • healthcare is a right, not a privilege
  • higher education should be affordable
  • massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying
  • companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage
  • don’t force religion on me or mine
  • LGBT people should have the SAME rights as everyone else
  • we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. 
  • systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think
  • enforcement of present firearms laws and enacting new, common sense gun regulations
  • I believe in so-called political correctness … social politeness
  • funding sustainable energy
  • women should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse

Read more …

The Value of Compassionate Governance

An Immense World by Ed Yong

On By Rick McIn books, education, scienceLeave a comment

Fantastic non-fiction.

One of those books that makes science entertaining. It reminded me of The Body by Bill Bryson. That book made 1st year Anatomy interesting.

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us is a 2022 book by Ed Yong that really impressed.

MOST interesting to me was the mystery behind how all kinds of creatures can migrate so accurately. In 2025 we can still barely grasp how that is possible. It might be partially visual. Birds might SEE something in the direction of flight.

The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. 

In An Immense World, author and Pulitzer Prize–winning science journalist Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us.

We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats.

We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision.

We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved. 

EdYong.me

Humans have better vision than any other mammal — but far inferior to birds of prey, some of which can spot a moving rat at 1 mile distance.

Evolution is amazing.

Trial and error over millions of years works.

Ed Yong is a British-American science journalist and author.  Born in Malaysia.

In 2021, he received a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for a series on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ed Yong reads his own audio book. Amazon.

My Old School ➙ Glamorgan Elementary

On By Rick McIn about Rick, education, McCharles familyLeave a comment

My old Elementary school is going strong. I pass by often as my brother still lives in the Glamorgan district in Calgary.

Glamorgan Elementary is ALL fond memories for me. I’m one of those weird kids who liked school. 😀

I did get LOST first day walking home from school!

Glamorgan Elementary was built to accommodate the growing population in the neighbourhood, which was rapidly developing post-World War II. It was the very edge of the city. Next block to my family home (bought 1963) was a farm with horses.

It was MODERN — architecture reflected the educational philosophies of the time, emphasizing open spaces and accessibility. That turned out to be a mistake, I’d say. Open classrooms are too loud and distracting.

Actually, it was only the Grade 6 students who used the open area / library. I recall lower grades being in regular classrooms.

In Grade 6 me and my buddies — including Brian Mason — arrived Monday mornings with our top 10 lists scrawled on scrap paper. We compared our updated TOP 10 A.M. RADIO SONGS … and TOP 10 GIRLS. 😀

Hey — it was a more sexist era.

His Mom was a teacher at the school.

Glenn P. Michell wrote up a personal account of his experience at the school and community.

Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari

On By Rick McIn Artificial Intelligence AI, bad news, books, climate change, economics, education, ethics, GOP USA, government, happiness, health & fitness, human rights, internet, things getting worseLeave a comment

Any panel put together to save the world, would certainly include Professor Yuval Noah Harari. 

He’s a BIG thinker. 

Some feel he overstates the risks to mankind. I’d rather we err on the side of caution.

His 2024 book is …

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

I’m not smart enough to explain his thinking — but here’s a ChatGPT summary of the non-fiction tomb.

Main Focus: Nexus explores the intersection of technology, human evolution, and the future of societies, emphasizing the merging of biological and digital realms.

Technological Convergence: Harari examines how advancements in genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology are changing humanity’s relationship with itself and the world.

Human Enhancement: A central theme is the idea that humans may soon be able to enhance their biological and mental capacities through technology, leading to “post-human” forms of existence.

Ethical Implications: The book raises questions about the ethics of altering human biology, creating artificial life, and the consequences of tampering with the essence of what it means to be human.

Social and Economic Impact: Harari discusses how these technological advancements could lead to social divides, with some individuals or groups gaining access to powerful enhancements while others are left behind.

Surveillance and Control: A significant concern is the potential for increased surveillance and control over individuals’ minds and bodies, both by governments and corporations.

Evolution of Consciousness: Harari reflects on how human consciousness may evolve or change in response to these new technologies, as well as the philosophical questions surrounding free will and identity.

End of Homo Sapiens: The book suggests that humanity might be on the verge of an epochal shift, where Homo sapiens could be replaced by a new, technologically-enhanced species—either through natural evolution or deliberate engineering.

Uncertainty of the Future: Harari emphasizes the unpredictability of the future, acknowledging that the developments discussed could lead to both utopian and dystopian outcomes.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Other booksSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011)
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2015)
21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018)

Viscount Bennett High School 50th Reunion

On By Rick McIn about Rick, education, friendsLeave a comment

Good news. There’s a concept of a plan for a 50th reunion.

Saturday, May 10, 2025

4.00 p.m. at Schanks Sports Grill, Calgary

I was one of the organizers of the VB High 25th anniversary in 2000. A lot of fun.

VB Reunion website

I was one of those kids who actually enjoyed High School. 😀

Viscount Bennett High School
Viscount Bennett High, Calgary

Viscount Bennett High School operated as a junior and high school from 1955 to 1985, closing due to low enrolment. 

In 1995, Chinook Learning Services operated out of the building until the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) closed it permanently in 2018.

We had buried a time capsule in 1975. Dug it up in 2000. Then reburied some items.

BUT it was dug up during a facility renovation, the junk dumped on the sidewalk. Brian Mason picked it up. I still have some things in my basement.

In 1975, we had something called the “Grad Notebook“.

Handmade. Something we could pass around for kids to sign as a remembrance.

Here’s mine. I took a photo of each page. Did a little editing.

The Westgate Motor Inn Bar was demolished 2004.

The CREW of the 1975 Grad Film were Ian Baird, Ron Shewchuk, Brian Mason, Richard Englehardt, Dean Cave and myself.

Many in 1975 predicted recreational marijuana would be legal by 2000. BUT it wasn’t official until 2018.

Richard Englehardt and myself won the 1975 High School car rally when the REAL winners were disqualified for not wearing seatbelts.

Loraleigh Keashly was the smartest kid in school. She went on to finish multiple degrees and became a professor at Wayne State University. Certainly her comment was the most … accurate. 😀

Ron Shewchuk was already a writer and a bit of poet:

In ’00 we will meet

All older.

Some wiser

When I see this 25 years from

Now

I will probably realize

Au revoir.

Abbott Elementary – season 3

On By Rick McIn education, government, humour, TVLeave a comment

I was charmed by season 1.

Enjoyed season 2.

But started to fade by the end of season 3.

Like most sitcoms, every episode is the same.

Abbott Elementary stars 4 ft 11 inch (149.9 cm)​​ Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, a perpetually optimistic second-grade teacher at the underfunded Abbott Elementary, a predominantly Black school in Philadelphia. 

William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson, the school’s eccentric, overqualified and talented, custodian is my favourite character.  Still.

It’s an insight into the American public school system. ReTrumplicans insist on reducing funding for public education, while subsidizing rich kids in private schools.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Will and Harper

On By Rick McIn anti-smoking, education, ethics, GOP USA, government, happiness, human rights, movies, things getting worseLeave a comment

An important film.

Unscripted road trip.

Touching.

It’s about friendship. Life. … Aging.

Acceptance about who you are. And being tolerant of others to be who they want to be.

I was quite charmed by the warm welcome Harper got dropping into a random Oklahoma biker bar. (You can still smoke in Oklahoma bars?)

Face to face, people are most often welcoming and open minded. Even rednecks in country bars.

Since 2020, right wing politicians have been attacking the rights of transgender people — simply as a way to motivate their most deplorable voters. Very few of those haters have ever once had an encounter with a trans person.

Considered and attempted suicide rate of transgender people in the United States

from 2000 to 2022, with a forecast from 2023 to 2030

Right wing politicians and influencers like Musk and J. K. Rowling are partially responsible for those suicides.

I admire Will Ferrell trying to bring trans folks some hope with this movie.

I’d to do the same if any of my friends announced they were transitioning.

It’s a complicated process. And different for every single person.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I found the ending of this movie just perfect.