Category: government

why are TAXES so complicated?

On By Rick McIn economics, governmentLeave a comment

Rich people and corporations pay accountants to find every loophole. That’s why Amazon reported $11 billion of U.S. income yet claimed a federal income tax rebate of $129 million.

Complicated systems benefit the rich, make those of us who don’t hire accountants pay.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That’s in the USA.

For my low income and simple return, I’ve never been upsold by online software. I use SimpleTax Canada and have been very happy.

related – Elizabeth Warren has a great idea for making Tax Day less painful
You shouldn’t have to file your taxes. The government should do it for you.

Why I’m outspoken about Trump

On By Rick McIn ethics, governmentLeave a comment

It’s called ethical action.

If you don’t take action against things you think are wrong, you are partly responsible. You’re an enabler of wrong.

Happily I have no employer or anyone else pressuring me to stay quiet.

HOW Democrats can beat Trump

On By Rick McIn governmentLeave a comment

There are a confusingly large number of candidates running to win the Democratic nomination.

I like YANG best so far, but he’s not got a good chance this time around.

No matter who ends up on top, ALL other candidates should immediately rally behind the winner. Ask their supporters to work together.

This is one thing Hillary bungled last time.

Bernie was first to sign the pledge.

World Book Day – April 23

On By Rick McIn books, education, governmentLeave a comment

It’s World Book Day. An event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

I bought a book on Audible.com recommended by my author brother.

related – Ford government cuts Ontario Library Service budgets in half

Boomtown Rats – I Don’t Like Mondays

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, musicLeave a comment

A song inspired by a 1979 school shooting in San Diego. ☹️

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Though the family was very poor, the killer’s father — Wallace — had given his daughter a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight and 500 rounds of ammunition for Christmas 1978.

She later said, “I asked for a radio and he bought me a gun.” When asked why he might have done that, she answered, “I felt like he wanted me to kill myself.”

The killer will die in prison.

The father, I assume, is free. If it were up to me, I’d put him in prison too.

… on male privilege

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, humour, musicLeave a comment

I doubt any human has had life easier than me — a white, male, heterosexual Canadian born 1957.

Talk about privilege.

Any man calling himself victim to the women’s rights movement is an idiot. And a snowflake. 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

Where are LIBRARIES headed?

On By Rick McIn books, education, ethics, government, product endorsements, things getting betterLeave a comment

I spend a lot of time in libraries. They are good. But could be much better.

Eric Klinenberg spent a year researching libraries for his book Palaces for the People.

How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life

Social infrastructure is the glue that binds communities together, and it is just as real as the infrastructure for water, power, or communications, although it’s often harder to see.

But Eric Klinenberg says that when we invest in social infrastructures such as libraries, parks, or schools, we reap all kinds of benefits. We become more likely to interact with people around us, and connected to the broader public. If we neglect social infrastructure, we tend to grow more isolated, which can have serious consequences.

Calgary Public Library

I heard Klinenberg interviewed on the 99% Invisible podcast. His argument was compelling.

I’d love to see libraries expand their programs. Increase the hours they are open.

Libraries are unofficial sanctuaries for street people, at least during daylight. That should be formalized.

Libraries could be much, much better.

COMPETITION improves the world

On By Rick McIn economics, government, things getting worseLeave a comment

Corporations want to be monopolies. Then raise prices as high as they want.

Consumers want competition.

Sadly there’s LESS competition today than in the past. At this rate Amazon will have all the money.

  • Four have 70% of airline flights. (hat tip: The Economist)
  • Four companies control 66% of U.S. hogs slaughtered in 2015, 85% of the steer, and half the chickens. (h/t Open Markets Institute)
  • Four companies control 85% of U.S. corn seed sales, up from 60% in 2000.
  • Three companies control about 80% of mobile telecoms.

Axios

I MIGHT support governments breaking up some of the largest corporations, even if it’s for the wrong reasons.

The Confession by John Grisham

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

John Grisham is an activist and board member for the Innocence Project, an organization that fights to exonerate prisoners it deems wrongfully convicted.

This 2010 book looks at the issues of the death penalty through the wrongful conviction of  17-year-old Donté Drumm. He is a star on the high school football team and loved by the girls.

Donté’s is accused of murdering Nicole  Yarber, a cheerleader.

It’s set in football mad Slone, Texas.

It’s a very good book. Well told. Some might find it a bit preachy. Repetitive in places.

Travis Boyette is the real killer. The most memorable of the characters, for me. Seems Grisham is skilled at writing complex, weird and evil bad guys.

Amazon

I agree with Grisham on the death penalty. I’m against it. And still recall the day I made that decision. It was in a High School class in the 1970s where we were discussing the topic.

I’ll consider the USA a backwards nation until they ban it.

The USA will be backwards until the Republican Party finally starts to evolve their platform in the area of human rights.

United States, Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Belarus, Oman, and Taiwan are some of the most prosperous nations that still have it.

Much of the fictional case presented in the novel is taken from some real-life cases involving defendants on death row.

A memoir by one of Obama’s speech writers

On By Rick McIn books, governmentLeave a comment

I don’t read many of these political memoirs. But this one I enjoyed. And learned a lot.

I like Obama better. And appreciate more the difficult decisions he had to make over the 8 years.

His legacy is bigger than I gave him credit for.

As they point out frequently on his team, progress is rarely a straight line. Some of the things Obama pushed COULD yet be achieved by future American governments. Once that idiot Trump is gone, of course.

“Ben Rhodes, who served Barack Obama as a foreign policy adviser and speechwriter from beginning to end, has written a book that reflects the president he served—intelligent, amiable, compelling and principled.

And there is something more: The World as It Is is a classic coming-of-age story, about the journey from idealism to realism, told with candor and immediacy.

It is not a heavy policy book. There are anecdotes galore, but they illuminate rather than scandalize.

Even Donald Trump—a politician who seems the omega to Obama’s alpha—is treated with horrified amazement rather than vitriol. . . . Ben Rhodes is a charming and humble guide through an unprecedented presidency. . . . He never quite loses his idealism; in a crass political era, he impressively avoids becoming a cynic. . . . His achievement is rare for a political memoir: He has written a humane and honorable book.”

—Joe Klein, The New York Times Book Review