Category: ethics

Why Hate the Koch Brothers?

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, product endorsements, things getting worseLeave a comment

If you hate GOP policies, you hate the Koch brothers. Right?

After listening to the Freakonomics interview with David Koch, I’ve now got mixed feelings.

Charles Koch, the mega-billionaire CEO of Koch Industries and half of the infamous political machine, sees himself as a classical liberal. So why do most Democrats hate him so much? In a rare series of interviews, he explains his political awakening, his management philosophy and why he supports legislation that goes against his self-interest.

Charles Koch

The list of charitable causes supported by Charles Koch, and his brother David, is long and diverse, and would surely find approval with even their most devout political enemies. David is particularly well-known in New York for funding the arts and medical research. Among the Koch Industries beneficiaries are the United Negro College Fund; Project JumpStart, which provides construction training; and the movement for criminal-justice reform.

He’s very smart. Very well read.

Why Hate the Koch Brothers? (Part 1)

Why Hate the Koch Brothers? (Part 2)

They want tax reform and want to roll back regulations. They don’t like idiot Jeff Sessions’ idiotic “war on marijuana”.

They are disappointed with GOP efforts to repeal Obamacare. They don’t like Trump.

They are for free trade. Against border-adjustment fees that Trump keeps trumpeting.

All that said, if you hate GOP policies, know that the Koch brothers do as much as anyone to ensure dinosaurs like Pence stay in office.

The network of conservative donors announced Saturday it plans to spend between $300 million and $400 million on politics and policy during the 2018 cycle. …

Koch network ramps up political spending while trying to push Trump team

On the other hand, some Koch donors are so pissed they want the “Koch network ‘piggy banks’ closed until Republicans pass health and tax reform.

The Hama massacre – Syria 1982

On By Rick McIn bad news, ethics, government, things getting worseLeave a comment

The Hama massacre (Arabic: مجزرة حماة‎‎) occurred in 2 February 1982, when the Hafez Syrian Arab Army and the Defense Companies, under the orders of the country’s president Hafez al-Assad, besieged the town of Hama for 27 days in order to quell an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood … 

The massacre, carried out by the Syrian Army under commanding General Rifaat al-Assad, effectively ended the campaign begun in 1976 by Sunni Muslim groups …

… the lower estimates claiming that at least 2,000 Syrian citizens were killed, [5] while others put the number at 20,000 (Robert Fisk),[1] or 40,000 (Syrian Human Rights Committee).[2][6] … 

The attack has been described as one of “the single deadliest acts by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East”. …

Hama 1982

I visited Hama in 1994. All these buildings had been bulldozed to the ground. The town rebuilt.

It was very quiet.

It was Hafez al-Assad, president of Syria, and his brother Rifaat al-Assad responsible for killing those thousands of Syrians.

In 1994 his the dictator’s eldest son and successor Bassel had just died in a car accident. Hafez turned to his his younger son Bashar. 

It’s Bashar al-Assad who’s killing Syrians in 2017.

Once seen by the international community as a potential reformer, al-Assad has few friends left. Russia continues to protect al-Assad in the the UN Security Council. 

2015

In June 2014, Assad was included in a list of war crimes indictments of government officials and rebels handed to the International Criminal Court. …

Nobody knows exactly how much money Assad and family have extracted from Syria. One estimate says Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has amassed up to $1.5bn (£950m) for his family and his close associates. Hidden out of the nation, of course.

Sooner or later al-Assad will be gone. What comes next may be even worse — the tiny impoverish, war torn country the spoils of many different warlords.

Religious Leaders call for friendship

On By Rick McIn education, ethics, friends, government, human rights, Islam, things getting better, travelLeave a comment

World’s Top Religious Leaders Issue Rare Joint Appeal

“Our advice is to make friends to followers of all religions.”

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Racists tend to ghettoize. Cling to people who look and think like themselves.

new – WikiTribune NEWS

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, product endorsements, things getting betterLeave a comment

The founder of Wikipedia is launching a news site.

Sounds great. Ad free. Donor supported.

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

Dictators Nicolae & Elena Ceaușescu – Palace of the Parliament

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

Inspired by the dictator in North Korea, Nicolae Ceaușescu was a terrible leader.

While subjecting his people to extreme austerity, he built the Palace of the Parliament … the second-largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon.

His thirst for power led to his regime bulldozing historical parts of Bucharest in the early eighties and forcing workers to build, through day and night, the enormous political and administrative complex known as the House of the People.

The grandiose palace, which was not completed in the Ceausescus’ lifetime despite the huge human and financial cost, has been called the world’s second biggest building after the Pentagon and boasts luxurious fittings. It is now Romania’s parliament building. (30% occupied) …

Under his regime, eating a banana was a rare luxury while all staple products such as milk, sugar, eggs and butter were rationed. …

Telegraph

It’s difficult to put this monstrosity into scale.

Check the size of the people on the balcony.

Here’s the last known photo of the dictator on that balcony.

It was from that balcony in 1992 that Michael Jackson shouted: “Hello Budapest“.

I took the tour seeing 4% of the space.

The exterior is classic former Soviet rectal-linear architecture. UG. LY.

The interior is better. Especially the halls they show to tourists.

Ceaușescu was shot before construction finished. There’s no mention of him in the building today.

This huge space was intended for a gigantic portrait. It was never painted.

I walked the perimeter surprised to see they are still building. This will be the future National Cathedral.

The waste of money and resources will always remind me of egomaniac dictators. And dictator wannabes like Trump.

Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu killed by firing squad

Considered by the BBC a kangaroo court or a show trial, the main charge was genocide—namely, murdering “over 60,000 people” during the revolution in Timișoara. …

Steve Bannon exposé

On By Rick McIn bad news, ethics, GOP USA, government, product complaints, things getting worseLeave a comment

Who is this dangerous man? 😦

“Darkness is good,” Bannon told the publication.

He added: “Dick Cheney, Darth Vader, Satan. That’s power. …

Business Insider

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

On The Media audiocast

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, education, ethics, human rights, product endorsementsLeave a comment

On The Media is my favourite podcast.

WNYC’s weekly investigation into how the media shapes our world view. Veteran journalists Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield give you the tools to survive the media maelstrom.

The most recent episode  is super —  This is Not a Safe Space. It explores the issues of students feeling safe on campus and academic freedom of speech.

 

White male patriarchy results in bullying on campus for anyone who is not a white male. Something like 1/5 women will STILL be sexually assaulted in their College years.

 

We want all students to feel safe while simultaneously protecting freedom of speech. The two are not mutually exclusive.

 

us and them …

On By Rick McIn ethics, governmentLeave a comment

I mostly say what I think. Don’t worry about consequences.

But the majority in the age of Trump are trying to be careful what they say.

Here’s some good advice for us all.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This Danish ad will challenge you to step outside your defining box

do you share fake news?

On By Rick McIn education, ethics, government, things getting worseLeave a comment

If so, what the Hell is the matter with you? 😦

Stupid man with bag over his head
Stupid man with bag over his head

We’ve always had propaganda.

Big Tobacco obfuscation of facts about cancer and smoking, for example.

… ignorance spreads when firstly, many people do not understand a concept or fact and secondly, when special interest groups – like a commercial firm or a political group – then work hard to create confusion about an issue. …

BBC Future – The Man Who Studies The Spread of Ignorance