Category: ethics

Song of COVID-19 – Times Like These

On By Rick McIn ethics, musicLeave a comment

Live Lounge Allstars

I can’t stop watching this. Brilliant audio editing.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

BBC has released Times Like These as a single, with UK proceeds to be combined with any funds raised by The Big Night In.

These funds will be split equally between BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief to provide essential support to vulnerable people of all ages and backgrounds across the UK who will be significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

5 Seconds of Summer
AJ Tracey
Anne-Marie
Bastille
Biffy Clyro
Celeste
Chris Martin of Coldplay
Dermot Kennedy
Dua Lipa
Ellie Goulding
Foo Fighters
Grace Carter
Hailee Steinfeld
Jess Glynne
Mabel
Paloma Faith
Rag’n’Bone Man
Rita Ora
Royal Blood
Sam Fender
Sean Paul
Sigrid
YUNGBLUD
Zara Larsson

Blood Road – a cycling documentary

On By Rick McIn best bike rides, cycling, ethics, government, movies, sport - amateur, travelLeave a comment

Rebecca Rusch and Huyen Nguyen were first to pedal the entire length of the 1,800 km (1,200 mi) Ho Chi Minh Trail through Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Blood Road, according to director Nicholas Schrunk, “set out to document an epic cycling expedition as well as Rebecca’s personal journey to visit the crash site [of her father], but we ended up uncovering something much deeper.

It’s a story about the scars, both physical and emotional, that war leaves on families, countries, and cultures, and how they still exist today.

Rebecca Rusch and Huyen Nguyen

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

Superb cinematography. Incredible drone footage.

I was reminded just how stupid and futile was the Vietnam War and all wars. What a waste.

Watch it FREE on Red Bull. (90min)

I learned of Rebecca Rusch from an excellent and inspiring interview on the Adventure Podcast.

What a badass. Mountain Bike Hall Of Fame. Mountain Biker of the Year, Endurance LIVE Awards. Adventure Sport Magazine “Queen of Pain” (2004)

Rebecca says she was never much of cyclist. Climbing was her thing. But she won a lot of races due to grit, determination and pain tolerance.

Says her toughest adventure was her first Iditarod Trail endurance bike race in winter.

Cycling Nanaimo, Cowichan, Bamfield, Alberni – days 3/4/5

On By Rick McIn cycling, ethics, travel1 Comment

Days 1/2 | 3/4/5

It rained most of the night. A beautiful calm morning on Cowichan Lake.

Only my second time visiting the town, I do like it.

From here I had to decide whether to ride the north or south side of the big lake. Google Maps recommended south side, perhaps because a short section is paved.

Unfortunately there is little development and few lake vistas from the south.

The most interesting spot was Heather Campsite (closed) which has all kinds of swings and ladders for campers.  Looks fun for kids.

I had the Backroads Mapbook, Maps.me and Google maps … and several choices of logging roads heading towards Bamfield.

I ended up taking the main road, perhaps longer but in better condition than the rest.

I pedalled steadily for hours seeing almost no development. No people. Perhaps one motor vehicle an hour.

Canada is vast and empty for the most part.

I took few photos as the views did not vary much. Pristine rivers and creeks were the highlight.

Around 6pm I had a surprisingly difficult time finding a good place to camp. Here’s where I ended up.

It was good, but visible from a spur logging road. Normally I want to be invisible from any road.

During the night no vehicles passed.

I was on the road early next morning.

Down a ways, breakfast instant coffee and peanut butter toast.

Again, there was not much of interest to report en route to Bamfield. Here are a couple of highlights.

Hub cap forest

I’d passed through Bamfield quite a few times over the years as it’s a West Coast Trail trailhead. And a popular tourist destination.

With a population of less than 200 — and no tourists — it looked a ghost town.

I had planned to hike muddy Cape Beale and Keeha Beach Trails — but they were VERY closed.

The local Huu-ay-aht First Nation definitely do NOT want visitors right now. They’d declared a COVID-19 state of emergency with regulations more strict than the B.C. government.

The history of First Nations in North America is a history of genocide by introduced diseases.

I did not stay long.

That’s too bad as I had planned to hike … then take the ferry back to Port Alberni. But it only runs 3 times a week during the winter.

During my many hours cycling this trip I was surprised to see very little animal life. In fact, this bear was the highlight. And it was in a Bamfield back yard.

SO … I rode back in the direction I’d come, already having picked a lovely riverside campsite.

Click PLAY or watch me setting up camp on YouTube.

The grocery store in Bamfield was open. I had treated myself to a can of chili for dinner.

Perfect weather. A lovely location. No biting insects. This is dream camping.

Next morning I had about 60km left to Port Alberni …

… but on this infamous road.

I don’t really mind hills. But these are HUGE. And LONG. And UNRELENTING.  I wouldn’t ride it again.

After pushing my bike up a hill for about 25 minutes a forestry worker offered me a lift. Yes, he was a cyclist. And he knew it might take me another hour of pushing to get to the top.

On the other side were big hills. But not as big. And the scenery is better than the interior.

Happily, I rolled down hill past China Creek without incident.

Once back to Port Alberni I enjoyed Tim Hortons coffee. Then gave my Dad a call to come pick me up.

Here’s a general overview of the 5 day trip.

Days 1/2 | 3/4/5

Charity: Water

On By Rick McIn clean water, education, ethics, government, human rights, product endorsementsLeave a comment

The story of Scott Harrison building Charity: Water to a half billion dollar non-profit is inspiring.

charitywater.org has funded 51,438 water projects for over 11 million people around the world as I post.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My personal wish list for the world:

Short term – clean drinking water

Long term – education of girls and women 

 

Amazon

My China Creek CURSE !

On By Rick McIn cycling, ethics, hiking, travel3 Comments

Cycling Parksville to China Creek B.C. 

During 21 days in place in Parksville, I did some research into what kind of outdoor adventures are ethical and legal on Vancouver Island during COVID-19.

National Parks were already closed.

Provincial Parks, including all protected areas, conservancies, recreation areas, and ecological reserves, did not close until April 8th, after I had returned to Parksville.

Anyone found in a closed park after April 8th could be evicted and could face a $115 fine. All front country campgrounds also now closed.

Legally, that leaves Crown Land. Any Canadian can camp free for up to 21 days on Crown Land unless posted otherwise.

BC Ministry of Tourism Culture and the Arts maintains more than 1,200 recreation campsites (on Crown Land) under its Recreation Sites and Trails BC program. …

It looks to me like the more remote free campsites are still open. Those with no road access, no camping fee. No services.

Most Crown campsites with fees are closed, on a case-by-case basis.

Ethically, I don’t want to add any demands on medical first responders. Happily we have many empty hospital beds right now — but I was still enthusiastic to avoid injury.

So … I took off on my bike. Late afternoon.

About 3 hours later I set up camp in a remote wilderness spot close to little hiked Qualicum River Trail.

Next morning I passed excellent Horne Lake Caves Provincial Park Visitor Centre. Already closed — though the Park itself was still open.

From there you can cycle into logging roads. Clearly the NO ACCESS sign means no access for motor vehicles.  Clearly.

I’d cycled these logging roads and trails to Port Albeni last summer.

This time I stayed on the main route, Lacey Lake road.

Got lost twice. Pushed the bike a fair bit uphill through mud.

During the day I saw 2 guys on ATVs and 1 other cyclist. Said I was the first other bike he’d seen over 5 days on these trails.

Good physical distancing, I reckon’.

Just before Port Albeni one of my paniers broke. Again. I’d fixed it last season with a zip tie.

Fed up, I decided to stop at one of the Port Alberni bike shops. All open. All busy during COVID-19.

The small shop had only 2 brands of saddle bags. One was the colourful, waterproof Ortlieb, so popular with Europeans. I’d been envious for years.

Though expensive, I was a very easy sell. I paid CDN $240 for a set of two.

At the time the cost on Amazon.ca was 157.99. 

Very quickly I left civilization on logging roads in the direction of Bamfield.

It was 5pm when I decided to camp in a wilderness spot near China Creek on the Alberni Inlet.

I was keen to set-up my new Solar Panel system — BigBlue 5V 28W Solar Charger — which had gotten great reviews.

I hung around for 10 minutes making sure it was charging my iPhone and Apple Watch, then took off on the Alberni Inlet Trail to visit famed China Creek campground which I’d never seen.

I set it up on a log with a good angle to catch the setting sun in the west.

I’d hiked the Alberni Inlet Trail (section 1) in 2019, but stopped short of the China Creek campground where section 2 begins. In fact, later on the same trip my bike broke down just short of China Creek. I hitchhiked back to Port Alberni and phoned my Dad for rescue.

China Creek campground and trails are gorgeous.

About 6pm I got back to camp. All my gear was there … except the solar charger, iPhone and Apple Watch. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Stolen? … By whom? 

Seemingly thieves were around. In the wild.

I decided to move camp to deep in old growth forest. Far from sunlight.

By next morning I’d decided to quit. Again. Again at China Creek. Second year in a row. 

I cycled back to Port Alberni. Called my Dad for rescue. Again. Second year in a row. 

The RCMP are not interested in any crimes valued less than CAD $5000.

But on Find My Phone I located both phone and watch. In a house in Port Alberni. The thieves. … I locked both devices and remotely put on a message offering a reward. With a phone number.

I reported the incident online, including the house address, to the RCMP.

Realizing they’d been found, the thieves phoned me. Said they found iPhone and watch in a ziplock bag. Would be happy to return both — but were afraid of the virus. I’d have to drive back to Port Alberni to collect them.

I did. Thrilled to get my electronics back. … Let’s call the CAD $85 solar charger the reward.

And let’s call China Creek cursed.  😀

 

 

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Harari

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, government, happiness, human rights, Islam, philosophyLeave a comment

Having dealt with the distant past in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011) and with the distant future in Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2016), Harari turns in 21 Lessons his attention to the present.

I really enjoyed this book. Harari is a BIG PICTURE guy who quickly puts things into perspective.

His chapter on God is excellent, for example.

21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018)by Yuval Noah Harari … attempts to untangle the technological, political, social, and existential quandaries that humankind faces. …

In The New York Times, Bill Gates calls the book “fascinating” and his author “such a stimulating writer that even when I disagreed, I wanted to keep reading and thinking.” For Gates, Harari “has teed up a crucial global conversation about how to take on the problems of the 21st century.”


related 2020 interview:

Yuval Harari: This is the worst epidemic in ‘at least 100 years’

‘Disinformation’ v ‘Misinformation’

On By Rick McIn ethics, internetLeave a comment

Misinformation is me telling you to go down the WRONG alley by mistake.

Disinformation is me telling you to go down the WRONG alley on purpose.

… So the difference between the two comes down to intent.

To further confuse the issue, is the fact that a piece of disinformation can ultimately become misinformation. It all depends on who’s sharing it and why.

David Price

Global migration and the remittance economy

On By Rick McIn books, economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

In 1987, reporter Jason DeParle went to sleep on the floor of a shanty in Manila for the first time. He had come to the Philippines to find out more about poverty in the developing world …

… he would spend the next 32 years following their family as they spread out around the world for work and a future outside the slums.

His new book is called A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves and is the story of global migration in the 21st century …

NPR

In the news we hear non-stop horror stories about foreign workers being abused. And those happen.

Very under-reported are success stories.

More than 2 million Filipinos depart each year …

About one in seven Filipino workers is employed abroad, and the $32 billion that they send home accounts for 10 percent of the GDP.

A remittance is a transfer of money, often by a foreign worker to an individual in their home country. …

… in 2018 overall global remittance grew 10% to US$689 billion, including US$528 billion to developing countries.

Global migration is far more good than bad. 

Interview the families affected before you ASSume to know how they feel.

 

confronting American Gerrymandering

On By Rick McIn ethics, governmentLeave a comment

Is any nation worse than the USA for gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering establishes an unfair political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries.

A secretive, high-tech gerrymandering initiative launched 10 years ago threatens to undermine our democracy.

This film, Slay the Dragon, follows everyday people as they fight to make their votes matter.

We must fight, as citizens and voters, to end gerrymandering and save democracy.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.