Category: government

Is the USA still a democracy?

On By Rick McIn ethics, GOP USA, government, things getting worse1 Comment

For me a authoritarian regime (dictatorship) is a place where the leader can order opponents murdered, without consequences. Russia and Saudi Arabia in 2020, for example.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) scores countries on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture.

Nations are then classified under four types of governments: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

Under Trump the USA became a flawed democracy.

Obviously, the main goal of the GOP under this egocentric toddler is to make the rich richer. Which they’ve done.

Nations still ranking high as democracies include Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark. Canada and Ireland are up there, as well.

Recently a Republican Senator claimed that “democracy isn’t the objective” any longer. Knowing that his Party was likely to lose the 2020 election, it’s part of the GOP plan to contest the results.

That Senator was bored, at home, COVID-19 positive at the time. #loser

I want people to be able to easily un-elect bad leaders. To have more influence in governance, even when they get it wrong. When wrong, they should be able to later easily change again.

David Attenborough’s A Life On Our Planet

On By Rick McIn government, things getting worse, TVLeave a comment

David Attenborough is now age-94.

His newest work is a “witness statement” — his reflection on his career as a naturalist and the devastating changes he has seen.

A love letter to Earth from the beloved broadcaster.

The first half is very depressing. Humanity doomed.

But in the second half Attenborough explains how mankind MIGHT possibly survive the next 80 years.

As it seems nations can’t organize to do even the most trivial collective good, I’m not optimistic.

In the USA, the Trump regime has been doing the exact opposite as recommended. In Alberta, the Kenney regime is making the future worse, as well.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

American Kingpin by Nick Bilton

On By Rick McIn books, government, internet, moviesLeave a comment

Nick Bilton is a British-American journalist and author. He is currently a special correspondent at Vanity Fair. …

His reporting is credited with helping to lead the United States Federal Aviation Administration to overturn their longtime ban on using cell phones, Kindles and iPads on airplanes. …

Bilton’s most recent book, American Kingpin, tells the story of the Silk Road marketplace, its founder Ross Ulbricht (who went by “Dread Pirate Roberts“), and how U.S. law enforcement arrested him.

…  In June 2017, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the Coen brothers and Steven Zaillian were adapting the book into a movie.

Natalie Maines, Martie Erwin Maguire & Emily Strayer

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

#respect for the Dixie Chicks

The Chicks (previously known as the Dixie Chicks)  … have won 13 Grammy Awards.

Remember this from 2003?

Anti-war band the Dixie Chicks have hit back at their critics – by posing naked on the front of a leading showbiz magazine.

The Grammy-winning band suffered a massive backlash in America after they said they were “ashamed” President George Bush was from their home state of Texas. …

 

If you support Trump, never speak to me again.

On By Rick McIn ethics, GOP USA, government, human rights, things getting worseLeave a comment

When you challenge a Trump supporter to defend the toddler’s latest indefensible lie, crime or moral outrage, they very often deflect by calling for “civility”. Let’s look for common ground.

That’s bullshit, of course.   I ask that they instead unfriend me instantly.

So far as I’m concerned you’ll burn in the same Hell as this anti-Christ.

The Ugly American

 

Forgive? Sounds good
Forget? I’m not sure I could

I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go ’round and ’round and ’round …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, government, human rights, things getting betterLeave a comment

Of many movies and books I’ve recently reviewed trying to become more aware of my white privilege, White Fragility is best.

That surprised me as the author is White writing for a White audience.  Writing for me, a privileged white male who believes he’s anti-racist.

Click PLAY or watch DiAngelo on YouTube.

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism is a 2018 book written by Robin DiAngelo about race relations in the United States.

An academic with experience in diversity training, DiAngelo coined the term “white fragility” in 2011 to describe any defensive instincts or reactions that a white person experiences when questioned about race or made to consider their own race.

In White Fragility, DiAngelo views racism in the United States as systemic and often perpetuated unconsciously by individuals….

DiAngelo linked to a study pointing out that children aged 3 upwards believe it better to be White in the USA.

She points out that white, males avowing to be Christian and heterosexual are at consistent advantage.  Everyone else at a disadvantage, especially Black Americans.

That’s systemic racism.

The book is popular but has had a fair bit of criticism, as well.

Personally, I learned a lot.  On the other hand, it’s not well written: too academic, frequently repeating the same bullet points.

Also, I wouldn’t sign-up for one of DiAngelo‘s lectures nor diversity training workshops.  I find her arrogant and too defensive with those who challenge.

And here’s how comedian Ron Hart learned about his white privilege in 1994.  As the only White guy in a comedy club.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Censorship by flood of misinformation

On By Rick McIn bad news, Facebook, Google, government, internetLeave a comment

Back in the 1990s I was completely convinced that Google and the internet would make the world a much better place.

If people had more information, they’d be able to make better decisions.

It turned out to be mixed. Smart people make better decisions.

But many are overwhelmed, disinterested and easily confused.

Comedy and White Privilege

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

A one woman investigation into her White Privilege.

On Netflix.

Best part is when she went to meet her High School boyfriend. He had been in prison for 14 years.  Out and clean for 3 years.

“Hello, Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea” follows comedian Chelsea Handler as she confronts and explores her personal and cultural impacts around white privilege.

Handler travels around the country speaking with a wide range of people on the topic of race including fellow comedians Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, and W. Kamau Bell, anti-racism writer and activist Tim Wise, a Republican women’s group in Orange County, CA, college students at an open mic night, and her former high school boyfriend in New Jersey.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

ABOUT those pro-life hypocrites …

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

I can see the argument for being pro-life.

Nobody wants abortions.

But if you are pro-life you must also have a consistent life ethic:

… an ideology that opposes abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

Adherents are opposed, at the very least, to unjust war, while some adherents also profess pacifism, or opposition to all war.

The term was popularized in 1983 by the Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin to express an ideology based on the premise that all human life is sacred and should be protected by law. … 

In the States, many who claim to be pro-life also support the death penalty, support the right of untrained neighbours to own weapons of war.

They support wasting any amount of money on the military while denying basic health care and education to the young women who might consider having an abortion.

They are pro-birth, not pro-life.  Once the baby is born they no longer care what happens to the child.

History of the world’s tallest buildings

On By Rick McIn economics, governmentLeave a comment

Here’s a video showing the history.

Dubai Creek Tower, likely to be completed 2022, perhaps should not be included as it’s a tower not a building.

The world’s tallest artificial structure is the 829.8-metre-tall (2,722 ft) Burj Khalifa in Dubai (of the United Arab Emirates). …

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an organization that certifies buildings as the “World’s Tallest”, recognizes a building only if at least 50% of its height is made up of floor plates containing habitable floor area.

Structures that do not meet this criterion, such as the CN Tower, are defined as “towers“.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.