Category: ethics

Drumpf was right …

On By Rick McIn ethics, governmentLeave a comment

Once.

He blurts out so many wildly conflicting statements that – sooner or later – he’s bound to be correct once in a while.

Donald Trump: “We’ve spent $4 trillion trying to topple various people … and if we could’ve spent that $4 trillion in the United States to fix our roads, our bridges, and all of the other problems; our airports and all of the other problems we’ve had, we would’ve 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 wiped away, and for what? It’s not like we had victory.”

IB Times

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at the 2015 FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Nevada July 11, 2015. REUTERS/L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Sun - RTX1K115
Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at the 2015 FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Nevada July 11, 2015. REUTERS/L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Sun – RTX1K115

The Man in the High Castle

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, TVLeave a comment

I watched season 1. The premise of the story is interesting. The technology in 1962 fascinating.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

Not sure I’ll continue to season 2, however.

The Man in the High Castle is an American dystopian alternative history television series produced by Amazon Studios …

The series is loosely based on the 1962 novel of the same name by American science fiction author Philip K. Dick. …

The story is an alternative history of the world in which the Axis powers won World War II. The United States has been partitioned into three parts: The Japanese puppet state of the Pacific States of America, a Nazi puppet state that comprises the eastern half of the former United States; and a neutral zone that acts as a buffer between the two areas, called the Rocky Mountain States. …

A second season of ten episodes has been announced for a 2016 release.

Man_High_Castle_(TV_Series)_map.svg

Quantum Night – Robert Sawyer

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

Rob’s latest. I’ve read most of them.

He says this might be his last. These days he’s more interested in screenplays for TV and film.

Quantum Night
Amazon

As he’s a friend of my brother’s, I drove with Rob to his Calgary book tour stop, a reading at Pages on Kensington.

This might be the first book reading I’ve ever attended.

The session was good. Short. Rob is a likeable and entertaining speaker.

His tour is the biggest put on by Penguin Canada in 2016. They were keen on it as his last book – Red Planet Blues – was his biggest seller, so far.

I won’t bother relating the plot of the book. But here are some of the themes and talking points:

• EVIL

• There are many more psychopaths in our society than we realize. (Not many are as obvious as Donald Trump.)

The lead character in the book discovers a simple test which instantly reveals who is a psychopath. Who is not.

• The GOAL is to change psychopaths into less dangerous human beings.

The book is blatantly Canadian: Winnipeg, Calgary, Saskatoon. Rob says he’s never been pressured to set his stories in the USA.

Set in 2020, Nenshi (NDP) becomes Prime Minister over Trudeau (LIB) during the timeline of the book. 🙂

RECOMMENDED.

related – Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us – Dr. Robert D. Hare (Author)

Mission14.org and the 6 Summits Challenge

On By Rick McIn ethicsLeave a comment

Here’s an amazing story.

In 2015 a team planned to climb 6 of the world’s highest peaks in one calendar year to bring attention to the plight of women and children victims of human trafficking.

They got caught in the Nepal earthquake.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Time to fire Drumpf

On By Rick McIn ethics, governmentLeave a comment

Economist magazine:

The front-runner is unfit to lead a great political party, let alone America

One way to judge politicians is by whether they appeal to our better natures: Mr Drumpf has prospered by inciting hatred and violence. He is so unpredictable that the thought of him anywhere near high office is terrifying. He must be stopped. …

To recap, he has referred to Mexicans crossing the border as rapists; called enthusiastically for the use of torture; hinted that Antonin Scalia, a Supreme Court justice, was murdered; proposed banning all Muslims from visiting America; advocated killing the families of terrorists …. This is by no means an exhaustive list. …

If The Economist had cast a vote in the Republican primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada we would have supported John Kasich. …

Economist cover Trump

Time to fire Trump

An Unbelievable Story of Rape

On By Rick McIn bad news, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

An 18yr-old woman from Lynnwood, Washington was raped. Friends and family did not believe her. The police did not believe her. A few days later she felt pressured by the police to say that she might have dreamed it. Or made it up.

victim

An UNBELIEVABLE STORY of RAPE

This is why some women are so reluctant to come forward after sexual assault. 😦

(via This American Life episode 581: Anatomy of Doubt)

watching Mr. Robot

On 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.