world’s 85 richest people

On January 22, 2014May 17, 2014 By Rick McIn education, ethics, GOP USA, governmentLeave a comment

… have wealth equal to that of half the population: report

Just how rich are they? According to a new report by Oxfam, their total fortunes are equal to as much as half of that of the world’s population.

The report, which analyzes a number of studies to highlight the world’s growing economic inequality, was intended as a precursor to the World Economic Forum, which begins in Switzerland this week.

… the wealth of the richest keeps growing, while the bottom 90 per cent (i.e. most of the rest of us) keeps shrinking. …

Globe and Mail

loser-donald-trump

NOT sustainable.

NOT an efficient use available cash.

Most of those 85 don’t deserve to be more than piddly millionaires.

Our system is not working.

Here’s the original report that came up with that stat — Oxfam – Working for the Few – Political capture and economic inequality

This kind of headline is bad news for the Tea Party crowd. It’s damage control time for the extreme right wing. Drudge linked to a conservative site claiming the actual statistic is that the 85 richest people own about 0.7% of the world’s wealth.

I trust Oxfam.

Edward Snowden – Man of the Year

On December 31, 2013December 23, 2013 By Rick McIn Apple, ethics, Google, government, things getting betterLeave a comment

We can’t trust corporations.

We can’t trust governments.

We can’t trust Obama.

The only way for the general public to get the truth is whistleblowing. We’ll see more like Snowden over the coming years.

Edward Snowden, who leaked an estimated 200,000 files that exposed the extensive and intrusive nature of phone and internet surveillance and intelligence gathering by the US and its western allies, was the overwhelming choice of more than 2,000 people who voted. …

Edward Snowden voted Guardian person of the year 2013

what-do-you-think-of-national-security-leaker-edward-snowden-poll

I’m sorry for the innocent hurt by these leaks, but the greater good for society is served.

One more thing …

We can’t trust the media. Including the Guardian.

Ed Bott – The real story in the NSA scandal is the collapse of journalism (June 2013)

related – Time magazine – Edward Snowden, The Dark Prophet

Time had Snowden a runner-up, naming the new Pope as Person of the Year.

Double Down: Game Change 2012

On December 30, 2013May 17, 2014 By Rick McIn books, ethics, GOP USA, governmentLeave a comment

Ezra Klein:

“a joyous romp through the seedy underbelly of presidential campaigning“.

Though not nearly as good as Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime (2008), I still enjoyed hearing insider anecdotes of the dirty dealings.

Double Down: Game Change 2012 is a book written by political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin about the 2012 United States presidential election, in which Barack Obama was re-elected as President of the United States, defeating Mitt Romney. …

… a behind-the-scenes narrative of the Obama and Romney campaigns.

The book relies on over 400 sources, most of whom are anonymous. The authors treated their interview subjects with alcohol in a private suite or restaurant to get them to open up …

… Rep. Michele Bachmann‘s belief that as a “branier” Sarah Palin she could win the nomination, only to suffer horrible stage fright and a series of gaffes …

Herman Cain‘s initial appeal deflated by charges of sexual harassment and a poor understanding of U.S. foreign policy

Jon Huntsman‘s campaign collapse due to poor organization and attacks by both the Romney campaign and the Obama White House, each viewing the ambassador as a turncoat …

Gov. Rick Perry‘s gaffe-ridden campaign, apparently the result of painkiller use. …

… Karl Rove‘s role in the primaries, pushing Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee to enter the race, only to have both decline over issues of finance. …

Biggest idiot of all — as usual — was Donald Trump.

Romney was criticized for being an out-of-touch fat cat, beholding to the very rich. I feel that charge was fair. Like George W, if elected, he would have had to do everything he could to make the rich richer.

Chris Christie comes out looking best of the many who might have got the nomination instead of Romney. I do hope he runs in 2016. He’s a heavy weight legit candidate. Smart enough and tough enough to do the job. Sadly, skeletons in the closet could derail.

Paul Ryan was a gutsy choice for VP. He kept arguing to put forward alternative policies to Obama — but Mitt’s people wanted to make few specific promises, sticking with anti-Obama rhetoric. Of the Republicans covered, Ryan’s to my mind the closest to a fiscal conservative. His budget was Micky Mouse, hardly better than Obama. But I was hoping it was a first step in the right direction. For example, this week he defended cuts to military retiree benefits. Ryan’s got balls.

Mitt Romney is a good man. He might have been a good President. Might have been better than a term 2 Obama. We’ll never know.

I supported Romney when he first got the nod, hoping that a business man might better manage the nation. Unfortunately he voiced no platform. Weaseled or flip-flopped out of every question. It was embarrassing to listen to him interviewed.

His best moment was in the 1st presidential debate, Wednesday, October 3rd. Romney was good. Obama was terrible.

There are no scandalous reveals in the book regarding Mitt. He’s just as boring in real life as he was on the campaign trail.

HBO Films, which produced Game Change, the film version of the book, has optioned the rights to Double Down. When asked about casting, Halperin suggested Will Smith or Giancarlo Esposito would be his choices for Obama, while George Clooney or Jon Hamm could play Romney.

I’d love to see Clooney playing a Republican. 🙂

In some ways the respective National Conventions symbolize the respective Presidential campaigns.

The Democrats tightly scripted. Disciplined.

Their celebrity loose cannon the biggest hit of the event. Read the transcript of Bill Clinton’s Speech to the Democratic National Convention.

Obama Clinton

The Republicans. … Not so good.

No need to read Clint Eastwood‘s GOP convention speech: Full transcript. It was a mess, though I still like Clint personally.

clint_eastwood_and_invisibleobama.jpeg.size.xxlarge.letterbox

2016?

I can’t see any Republican beating Hillary.

They’ll have to take a shellacking before finally turning to fiscal conservatism, abandoning Tea Party trivialities.

Most Tea Party candidates are no more competent to govern than Occupy Wall Street extremists.

If you are interested in what’s really happening in the campaign war rooms, read this book. You’ll never again believe a word an American politician says.

Phil Robertson – Freedom of Speech

On December 24, 2013December 23, 2013 By Rick McIn ethics, TVLeave a comment

I’ve never watched an episode of Duck Dynasty. And never will.

But A&E’s suspension of the star of that show seems an over-reaction to me.

In response to the controversy, Cracker Barrel removed Duck Dynasty items from its restaurants, but immediately reversed its decision after a barrage of complaints from customers. The company explained the reversal in a candid letter …

Mashable – Why Are So Many People Puzzled by ‘Duck Dynasty’?

A&E’s decision was made after consulting lawyers & ratings gurus.

My best guess is that Phil Robertson will soon be brought back to the show. That the controversy will bring even higher ratings.

take ACTION when you see something unethical

On December 22, 2013December 18, 2013 By Rick McIn ethicsLeave a comment

Guy Brings His White Girl To Barbershop In Harlem And Gets Hated On By Black Hairdresser… Does Anyone Step In To Check Her?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

In sport we call that “taking ethical action“. It takes courage.

NSA highly unlikely to read your email

On December 16, 2013December 15, 2013 By Rick McIn ethics, Google, government, internet, product complaints, things getting worseLeave a comment

A former employee of the National Security Agency, Loren Sands-Ramshaw, weighs the benefits / risks of the U.S.A. collecting all your online data:

Many are concerned about the NSA listening to their phone calls and reading their email messages. I believe that most should not be very concerned because most are not sending email to intelligence targets. Email that isn’t related to intelligence is rarely viewed, and it’s even less often viewed if it’s from a US citizen. …

I do believe that the safeguards against unauthorized data retrieval by Agency employees can and should be improved.

I do not believe that their information-gathering powers should be curtailed. Such restriction would not only hinder the Agency’s ability to gather intelligence, but also impede its ability to wage cyberwarfare.*

The NSA is our best hope in this war. In my mind, the Agency’s continued dominance of the Internet is absolutely worth the once-a-year one-in-three-hundred-million chance that your private data will be purposefully viewed by an NSA employee. …

read more …

Verge – Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others launch campaign for NSA reform

Zero Dark Thirty

On December 13, 2013December 7, 2013 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, moviesLeave a comment

Zero Dark Thirty is a 2012 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. Billed as “the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man”, the film dramatizes the decade-long manhunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Zero Dark Thirty has received some criticism for significant historical inaccuracy. Former assistant secretary of Defense Graham T. Allison has opined that the film is inaccurate in three important regards: the overstatement of the positive role of enhanced interrogation methods, the understatement of the role of the Obama administration, and the portrayal of the efforts as being driven by one agent battling against the CIA “system”. …

For a Hollywood movie, that’s not bad.

I did not find it at all pro-torture. The message I took away was that to defend the USA American troops should be brought home. To ensure homeland security troops should be in the homeland.

Taking action in Islamic nations inspires more terrorists than it defeats.

If they’d shut down the embassies in Yemen, Egypt and Libya, for example, those big targets would not have been attacked.

In the age of the internet, why do diplomats need to live in those expensive fortresses?