Category: ethics

Murdering Salmon & Halibut

On By Rick McIn cycling, ethics, food, McCharles family, travel2 Comments

I really like Salmon. Try to avoid thinking about how they are killed for my pleasure. 😐

But my Dad and brother have always been keen fishermen. I’ve joined them on charters a few times in Canada and Mexico.

Many times found reasons to avoid those trips in the past. I really fear sea sickness. 🤮

Since my Dad sold his boat, they’ve done two charters a year, most recently out of Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island.

As Pacific salmon numbers decline, it’s gotten increasingly more difficult.

June 2021 they decided to try a new guide in a new area. An interesting and entertaining character.

Captain PETE with my Uncle

We stayed in Port McNeill for 2 nights as Pete lives there. He made the final decision whether to fish out of Port Hardy or Port Alice.

Fishing had been better out of Hardy, so that was the final decision.

It was about a 3.5 hour drive from Parksville to McNeill. Another half hour to Hardy.

We headed north at 6am on the hottest day in thousands of years (at least).

I’ve been to the north of Vancouver Island a few times — but feel I don’t really know the remote, unique area. I’m planning for a couple of weeks bicycle touring. Some day.

It was an hour at full throttle to get to the open fishing area. Seas at the north tip of the island are dangerous. Weather often horrific.

Our day was dead calm, compared to normal.

My family likes to fish for salmon first. Switch to halibut next. We had our limit of 8 Chinook (Spring) salmon (2 / licence) by about 12:30pm.

I even caught fish. It was fun.

4 year old salmon

Click PLAY or get a glimpse on YouTube.

Pete took us further out about 5 miles to a spot he calls his butthole. It’s a shallow, sandy bottom area.

We ended up catching 4 halibut. They were bigger and much more of a challenge to murder than salmon. The largest halibut required Pete to use his harpoon.

Cost for 4 was about $1600 including 2 nights hotel, charter, fuel.

We brought home well over $1600 worth of fish.

I’d go again. Did not get sea sick.

On return to town we found all restaurants closed. Power failure.

Happily our motel had a huge, noisy generator.

related – Canada has budgeted $647M over 5 years to try to save declining Pacific salmon.

Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack?

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, health & fitnessLeave a comment

Until about age-30, I assumed I’d die from nuclear radiation.

Now age-63, I’m still surprised each morning to be enjoying life.

A nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NEMP) weapon is designed to be detonated far above the Earth’s surface.

The explosion releases a blast of gamma rays into the mid-stratosphere, which ionizes as a secondary effect and the resultant energetic free electrons interact with the Earth’s magnetic field to produce a much stronger EMP than is normally produced in the denser air at lower altitudes.

Just one such weapon could kill everything electronic for months or years.

COULD YOU SURVIVE IN A TENT WITHOUT POWER? FEED YOURSELF FROM THE LAND?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Should BILLIONAIRE$ pay less tax than YOU?

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

Someone in the American IRS leaked to Propublica:

  • Warren Buffett ~ 0.10% true tax rate
  • Jeff Bezos ~ 0.98% true tax rate
  • Michael Bloomberg ~ 01.30% true tax rate
  • Elon Musk ~ 3.27% true tax rate

What’s your true tax rate?

American politicians write complicated tax laws which result in loopholes used by the richest donors.

BUT — can it be fixed?

The best summary of the issue I’ve seen is the second podcast in this list.

Trump’s View of the War – The Daily

On Tuesday, President Trump extended the cease-fire with Iran that had been about to expire, even as a second round of negotiations with Iran was paused. Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, New York Times reporters who cover the White House, discuss how the president is thinking about the war, and the political fallout for his party. Guest: Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times. Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times. Background reading:  Mr. Trump extended the cease-fire with Iran this week, even as Vice President JD Vance postponed his trip for negotiations. Here’s a look back at how Mr. Trump decided to enter the war. Photo: Nathan Howard for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
  1. Trump’s View of the War
  2. Ticketmaster’s Big Loss in Court
  3. Inside Kash Patel’s F.B.I.
  4. Dating on the Spectrum
  5. How Charlize Theron Overcame Her Dark Family Past

“All Lives Matter” is denial of systematic racism

On By Rick McIn ethics, GOP USA, government, human rightsLeave a comment

When your All-Lives-Matter friend has a birthday, be sure to message:

“All Birthdays Matter”. 😀

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by a white cop. 

I’m hopeful things have change for the better.  

BLM haters have been more muted since their racist President departed for the golf courses full-time. 

According to professor of critical race theory, David Theo Goldberg, “All Lives Matter” reflects a view of “racial dismissal, ignoring, and denial”.

Philosopher Chris Lebron describes “All Lives Matter” as a “disingenuous retort” that misunderstands the problem raised by Black Lives Matter proponents.

On Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill Maher expressed support for use of the “Black Lives Matter” phrase, stating that “‘All Lives Matter’ implies that all lives are equally at risk, and they’re not”. …


I’m fully vaccinated

On By Rick McIn cycling, ethics, government, health & fitness, hiking, travelLeave a comment

😀 Send me ALL the vaccine passports.

I got dose #1 of “Covishield”, the Indian version of Oxford–AstraZeneca, March 18th. NO — I’m not worried about blood clots.

I was in the first 7.76% of Canadians to get jabbed.

When Alberta started allowing the second dose of AstraZeneca after only 4 weeks, I signed up. Got jab #2 on April 16th.

Sounds like Vaccine Passports are a terrible idea.

But it’s inevitable that something like this will become required for international travel for many months. Or years.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, government, human rights, TVLeave a comment

Faceless Killers is a 1991 crime novel by the Swedish writer Henning Mankell, and the first in his acclaimed Wallander series.

Happily, the audio book is read by one of my favourites — Dick Hill — of the excellent Jack Reacher and Harry Bosch series. Hill has 542 audio books, last time I checked.

Inspector Kurt Wallander is called out to a seemingly senseless and brutal murder on a Swedish farm.

Wallander is forty-two-years-old. His wife left him unexpectedly 3 months earlier. He’s constantly worried about his estranged daughter. And unsure whether his own elderly father can continue living alone out on another farm.

Also, he’s gaining weight.

Uncoordinated. Accident prone.

Near broke.

Troubled, to say the least.

Author Henning Mankell was a left-wing social critic and activist. 

But the themes of the book include Sweden’s liberal attitude regarding immigration, racism and national identity. The character Wallander is conflicted.

Kenneth Branagh is one of the actors who’s played Wallander in adaptations.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

World’s First Genetically-modified Babies

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, scienceLeave a comment

He Jiankui has been jailed in China for 3 years. And fined US$430,000.

He’s the researcher who’s work led to the world’s first gene-edited babies known as Lulu and Nana in 2018.

Their father was HIV positive. Mother HIV negative.

His goal was to edit their genes to be highly resistant to HIV using CRISPR.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

What Nations come out of COVID-19 Strongest?

On By Rick McIn education, ethics, government, health & fitnessLeave a comment

There’s an argument that governments should have let the pandemic run its course. Kept most things open as Sweden did at the beginning. More early deaths, more illness, more long long-haul side effects.

Leaders leaning this way include Trump, Nicaragua’s Ortega, Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Mexico’s Obrador, Belarus’s Lukashenko, Turkmenistan’s Berdimuhamedow, Cambodia’s Hun Sen, Tanzania’s Magufuli.

Populists pandering to their dumbest voters.

When the pandemic ends we’ll be able to calculate which nations survived best: economically, educationally, healthiest. It won’t be any of those nations. They will include New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea, Iceland, Senegal, Denmark, Saudi Arabia.

Staying Quiet helps the Oppressor

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, human rightsLeave a comment

Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. 

Immediately after they were sent to Auschwitz, his mother and his younger sister were murdered.

Wiesel and his father were selected to perform labor so long as they remained able-bodied, after which they were to be killed in the gas chambers.

Wiesel and his father were later deported to the concentration camp at Buchenwald. …

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Quote by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller 

ESSENTIAL Travel to Banff

On By Rick McIn ethics, health & fitness, travel1 Comment

I flew for the first time in a year — Vancouver Island to Calgary.

Essential travel to get my first vaccine March 18th.

Essential Doctor’s appointment next day. I hadn’t had an annual medical in over 15 months.

LAB TESTS Calgary are run by a monopoly ~ Alberta Precision Laboratories. Not enough capacity — obviously — as my first available slot was April 12th.

Happily, I could get lab tests in Banff March 23rd.

Travel out of Banff is non-essential, … so I better stay until my vaccine starts to kick in. 😀

Lounging-in-place in my US $60+ / night private hostel room. Only departing for essential food and drink.

And EXERCISE, of course. That’s essential too.