Category: ethics

Red Terror Museum, Ethiopa

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, travelLeave a comment

The Ethiopian Red Terror, or Qey Shibir … was a violent political campaign in Ethiopia and Eritrea that most visibly took place after Communist Mengistu Haile Mariam achieved control of the Derg, the military junta, on 3 February 1977.

It is estimated that between 30,000 and 500,000 people were killed over the course of the Red Terror. …

Mengistu was found guilty of genocide in absentia and was sentenced to life in prison in January 2007. After his conviction, Zimbabwe, where he received sanctuary due to friendship with Robert Mugabe, said it would not extradite him. …

The Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum in Addis is the #1 tourist attraction.

It’s sobering.

red-terror-martyrs-memorial

The museum is well laid out and incredibly moving. Nothing more so than the walls of photos and names of just some of the estimated half a million killed under the Derg, or the display cabinets filled with human remains dug out of mass graves. Some of the skulls and other bones are displayed alongside a photo of the victim and personal artefacts they had on them when they died. …

Lonely Planet

There’s very little reason, aside from this museum, for tourists to spend many days in Addis Ababa. It’s a dusty construction nightmare right now.

I’d like to return some day, but only after the new Addis Ababa Light Rail opens.

It looks great. Addis Ababa’s rail project keeps Ethiopia on track for transformation.

Even more ambitious is the new Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam. Ethiopia’s Nile dam project signals its intention to become an African power.

I wish them luck.

USA spent $10 trillion in the Middle East

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, GOP USA, governmentLeave a comment

Are U.S. taxpayers getting good value for that expenditure?

NO. The USA should QUIT the Middle East.

The U.S. gets only around 10% of its net oil and natural gas from the region.

David Vine:

With the launch of a new US-led war in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State (IS), the United States has engaged in aggressive military action in at least 13 countries in the Greater Middle East since 1980. In that time, every American president has invaded, occupied, bombed, or gone to war in at least one country in the region. …

As in prior military operations in the Greater Middle East, US forces fighting IS have been aided by access to and the use of an unprecedented collection of military bases. …

In the Persian Gulf alone, the US has major bases in every country save Iran. …

Members of Congress spend billions of dollars on base construction and maintenance every year in the region, but ask few questions about where the money is going, why there are so many bases, and what role they really serve. By one estimate, the United States has spent $10 trillion protecting Persian Gulf oil supplies over the past four decades. …

On their own, the existence of these bases has helped generate radicalism and anti-American sentiment. …

Mother Jones – America Still Has Hundreds of Military Bases Worldwide. Have They Made Us Any Safer?

David Vine, associate professor of anthropology at American University in Washington, D.C. He is the author of Island of Shame: The Secret History of the US Military Base on Diego Garcia.

base

The USA has about an $18 trillion dollar debt. Canada, by comparison, will run a surplus budget this year,

All in the Family – far, far ahead of its time

On By Rick McIn ethics, GOP USA, government, humour, TVLeave a comment

All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. …

Produced by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin and starring Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, and Sally Struthers, All in the Family revolves around the life of a working class bigot and his family.

The show broke ground in its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for U.S. network television comedy, such as racism, homosexuality, women’s liberation, rape, miscarriage, abortion, breast cancer, the Vietnam War, menopause, and impotence. Through depicting these controversial issues, the series became arguably one of television’s most influential comedic programs, as it injected the sitcom format with more realistic and topical conflicts.

The show ranked number-one in the yearly Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976. …

This is one of my favourite scenes.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

 

Norman Lear, age-92, just published his autobiography – Even this I get to experience.

Lear is extremely liberal, the opposite of Archie. Actually, Normal Lear had Maude, Bea Arthur, represent his personal views.

In some ways Archie still symbolizes the old white male conservative dinosaur. Carroll O’Connor died 2001.

all-in-the-family-tv-sp08

Archie Bunker’s ideas should have died with him.

Band Aid 30 – Do They Know It’s Christmas?

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, musicLeave a comment

I bought the single on iTunes. 100% of that revenue is supposed to go to the cause.

Band Aid 30 is the 2014 incarnation of the charity supergroup Band Aid. The group was announced on 10 November 2014 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.[1] As in previous incarnations, the group covered the track Do They Know It’s Christmas?, written in 1984 by Geldof and Ure, this time to raise money towards the Ebola crisis in Western Africa. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

As Bono said, it’s not for Ebola, it’s to prevent the NEXT Ebola.

Bill Maher does not understand Islam

On By Rick McIn ethics, Islam1 Comment

Religious scholar and professor Reza Aslan actually knows what he’s talking about, unlike Maher and these CNN talking heads.

This is well worth watching. Reza Aslan nails it.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Update: Michael Moore posted a very well crafted defense of Maher. Still, Bill Maher does not understand Islam.

He and others are demonizing the religion.

Russell Brand Criticizes Stephen Harper’s Reaction To Ottawa Attack (VIDEO)

On By Rick McIn ethics, governmentLeave a comment

I don’t know Russell Brand and won’t likely follow him in future, but on Harper’s reaction, he makes a good point here.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The USA will ultimately fail and withdraw from the Middle East to concentrate on homeland security.

Chrétien announced in Parliament March 2003 that Canada would not “join with the so-called Coalition of the willing”. Chrétien did the right thing.

Harper is doing everything wrong this time. 😦

Rex Murphy on the Ottawa shooting

On By Rick McIn dead to me, ethics, government, things getting worseLeave a comment

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

From here on in I will support and campaign for the Canadian political Party that vows to withdraw military from the Middle East.

Harper’s Conservatives are dead to me.

Canadians are today less safe at home, not more.

Women’s Museum, Hanoi

On By Rick McIn ethics, travelLeave a comment

Vietnamese Women’s Museum is located in Hanoi, in Ly Thuong Kiet Street, near the central Hoan Kiem Lake and the old quarter. This is the most ancient street in the capital city, with many French-style buildings, foreign embassies, hotels and government offices. …

The mission of the museum is to enhance public knowledge and understanding of history and cultural heritage of Vietnamese women by collecting, preserving and introducing exhibits through object collection, historical anthropology approach, diverse and multi-directional reflection of women’s issues in historical and contemporary life … promoting gender equality. …

In 2012, Vietnamese Women’s Museum was ranked “One of the best attractions in Hanoi in 2012” by TripAdvisor – one of the most prestigious world tourist websites. In 2013, TripAdvisor continued to include Vietnamese Women’s Museum in the top 25 most interesting museums in Asia.

street vendor

I’d concur. The most moving section is right at the beginning, photos and video of Hanoi street vendors. All have the same story – they’d much rather be home in the village, but felt forced to move to the city to supplement family income.

Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo. (54min)

http://vimeo.com/104125386
 
Another floor I found laughable. Fierce women at war. Warriors.

Vietnam is still a totalitarian State. That exhibit is propaganda. I’m betting 99.99% of Vietnamese women hated the war. And cared only for the welfare of their family.

Oddly, I was unable to find the Men’s Museum in Hanoi. 🙂

Gay marriage in Idaho

On By Rick McIn ethics, GOP USA, government, happinessLeave a comment

Idaho is one of the most Republican States.

Yet …

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed same-sex marriages to proceed in Idaho, lifting a temporary stay issued two days earlier by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

The developments capped a busy week for gay rights. It started with the court’s refusal on Monday to hear appeals from decisions striking down same-sex marriage bans in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. The next day, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, struck down bans in Idaho and Nevada.

Supreme Court Allows Same-Sex Marriage in Idaho

I’d say the battle for same sex marriage in the USA is pretty much decided.

click for larger version
click for larger version

Here’s a list of prominent American opponents of same sex marriage. I’m looking forward to those politicians flip-flopping on the issue.

Cruz and Huckabee are two who will stay the course.

I’m stunned that the U.S. of A., normally so slow to change anything has changed so quickly. Where is the Tea Party of 10 years ago?

Where are the Christian Righteous?

Where is the Pope?

… Oh right. We have a reform Pope. A new report by a top-level Vatican panel on the family calls for a more positive view of homosexuals.

Congratulations to my Gay friends and advocates for the dramatic turnaround in American public opinion. I do feel it’s for the best.

On the other hand, I completely understand the argument by opponents that the word “marriage” has traditionally meant a legal contract between one man and one woman. That’s true.

Seems the definition of a word can change over time.

In addition, fewer adults in the USA are married than ever before. More people will never marry. Will decline in marriage result in a less stable society? I doubt it.

related – FOX News – Is gay marriage battle over? The silence on the right is deafening