Category: government

Abbott Elementary – season 3

On By Rick McIn education, government, humour, TVLeave a comment

I was charmed by season 1.

Enjoyed season 2.

But started to fade by the end of season 3.

Like most sitcoms, every episode is the same.

Abbott Elementary stars 4 ft 11 inch (149.9 cm)​​ Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, a perpetually optimistic second-grade teacher at the underfunded Abbott Elementary, a predominantly Black school in Philadelphia. 

William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson, the school’s eccentric, overqualified and talented, custodian is my favourite character.  Still.

It’s an insight into the American public school system. ReTrumplicans insist on reducing funding for public education, while subsidizing rich kids in private schools.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Future of Desalinization

On By Rick McIn clean water, climate change, economics, food, good news, government, product endorsements, things getting betterLeave a comment

For countries where water is plentiful (Canada) and industries where water is a huge fraction of costs, desalination is probably not viable for industry.

BUT for countries where water is already scarce, or for industries that don’t depend mainly on water, bringing desalinated water is completely plausible. Prices continue to drop.

I recall having a hot shower in Saudi Arabia. Great water pressure. … Wondering where the H2O was coming from.

Desalinization plants hundreds of miles distant.

TOMAS PUEYO posted a deep dive.

Does Desalination Promise a Future of Infinite Water?

Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions

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

I’m against Capital Punishment. I still recall the moment I decided — in Ms. Dalton’s class. She was my favourite High School teacher.

If it was wrong for people to kill, it was wrong for the government to kill.

ONE reason is the risk of wrongful conviction. Wrongful death penalty.

Check this new non-fiction publication.

In ‘Framed,’ John Grisham teams with an activist to spotlight real-life injustice

Grisham and Jim McCloskey tell 10 gripping and galling tales of the wrongly convicted.

One of the worst cops wrongfully putting people in jail was Norfolk, Virginia Police Detective Robert Glenn Ford. In February 2011, Mr. Ford was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison for other crimes. Ford served his sentence and been released — though some are calling for further investigation into his past extorting confessions from innocent people.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Will and Harper

On By Rick McIn anti-smoking, education, ethics, GOP USA, government, happiness, human rights, movies, things getting worseLeave a comment

An important film.

Unscripted road trip.

Touching.

It’s about friendship. Life. … Aging.

Acceptance about who you are. And being tolerant of others to be who they want to be.

I was quite charmed by the warm welcome Harper got dropping into a random Oklahoma biker bar. (You can still smoke in Oklahoma bars?)

Face to face, people are most often welcoming and open minded. Even rednecks in country bars.

Since 2020, right wing politicians have been attacking the rights of transgender people — simply as a way to motivate their most deplorable voters. Very few of those haters have ever once had an encounter with a trans person.

Considered and attempted suicide rate of transgender people in the United States

from 2000 to 2022, with a forecast from 2023 to 2030

Right wing politicians and influencers like Musk and J. K. Rowling are partially responsible for those suicides.

I admire Will Ferrell trying to bring trans folks some hope with this movie.

I’d to do the same if any of my friends announced they were transitioning.

It’s a complicated process. And different for every single person.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I found the ending of this movie just perfect.

Gumption by Nick Offerman

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, government, human rights, humour, music, philosophyLeave a comment

Nick Offerman has released four semi-autobiographical publications:

  • Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living (2013)
  • Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers (2015)
  • Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop (2016)
  • Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside (2021).

Gumption is a humorous, philosophical look at some of the people who have inspired Nick over his lifetime. For example, as a young man he was a huge fan of the film Billy Jack (1971) — and its creator / star Tom Laughlin. He attended Tom’s funeral in 2013 and spent time with the family.

While focused on personal heroes, Nick finds time to expound upon many of his favorite topics such as religion, politics, woodworking, agriculture, creativity, philosophy, fashion, and, of course, meat.

21 profiles of America’s gutsiest troublemakers

  1. George Washington
  2. Benjamin Franklin
  3. James Madison
  4. Frederick Douglass
  1. Theodore Roosevelt
  2. Frederick Law Olmsted
  3. Eleanor Roosevelt
  4. Tom Laughlin
  5. Wendell Berry
  6. Barney Frank
  7. Yoko Ono
  8. Michael Pollan
  1. Thomas Lie-Nielsen
  2. Nat Benjamin
  3. George Nakashima
  4. Carol Burnett
  5. Jeff Tweedy
  6. George Saunders
  7. Laurie Anderson
  8. Willie Nelson
  9. Conan O’Brien

Remembering John Lennon – Oct. 9th

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, human rights, musicLeave a comment

I often wonder what John Lennon would be saying and doing today if he hadn’t been murdered.

His main theme at the end was …

PEACE

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Born Oct. 9, 1940, he’s celebrated annually with the lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The words on the tower are written in 24 world languages:

English: IMAGINE PEACESwahili: TUFIKIRIENI AMANI
Japanese: 平和な世界を想像してごらんIcelandic: HUGSA SÉR FRIÐ
Korean: 평화를 꿈꾸자Turkish: BARIŞI DÜŞLE
Chinese: 想像世界有了和平Persian: به صلح بیندیش
Arabic: احلم سلامFilipino: ILARAWAN ANG MUNDONG MAPAYAPA
Portuguese: IMAGINE A PAZTamil: சமாதானத்தை நினையுங்கள்
‹See Tfd›Russian: ПРЕДСТАВЬТЕ СЕБЕ МИРHungarian: KÉPZELD EL A BÉKÉT
Hindi: शान्ति की कल्पना करेंFinnish: KUVITTELE RAUHA
‹See Tfd›German: STELL DIR VOR ES IST FRIEDENGeorgian: წარმოიდგინეთ მშვიდობა
Italian: IMMAGINA LA PACEStandard Tibetan: ཞི་བ་སྒོམས་
French: IMAGINEZ LA PAIXHebrew: חלום שלום
Spanish: IMAGINA LA PAZInuktitut: ᓴᐃᒪᖃᑎᒌᑦᑕ

related – Pentatonic covers John Lennon’s Imagine

My Favourite Podcasts 2024

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, GOP USA, government, gymnastics, internet, mediaLeave a comment

Looking back on my favourite podcasts 2020 — things have changed.

If interested, search for any of these in your favourite Podcast Player.

These are podcasts I rarely skip:

Next most essential in 2024:

Sadly, most of The Economist podcasts went behind a paywall. I’ll probably buy those again, one day.

For some reason I’ve grown less interested in the TWIT network podcasts. Too much filler, not enough content.

I subscribe to perhaps 70 additional podcasts, but listen to them far less than 50% of the time.

I AM definitely listening to podcasts less than ever. I prefer audio books most of the time.

Phantom Orbit by David Ignatius

On By Rick McIn books, governmentLeave a comment

David Ignatius is an acclaimed journalist and expert on the CIA.

A fiction author, as well, with 11 novels in the suspense/espionage fiction genre.

This is the first for me — and probably the last. The story telling was TOO SLOW.

An un-Thriller.

Phantom Orbit is his 2024 book. And it is very much up-to-date in terms of technology. The detail, relevancy, and realism are impressive.

Threats to the American GPS system and satellites, especially from Russia and China, is the main thread.

It follows Ivan Volkov, a Russian student in Beijing …

The years pass, and they are not kind to Volkov.

After the loss of his son, a prosecutor who’d been too tough on corruption, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Volkov makes the fraught decision to contact the CIA.

He writes: Satellites are your enemies, especially your own…Hidden codes can make time stop and turn north into south…If you are smart, you will find me.

Billionaires should PAY more TAXES

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

… six people control more wealth than the bottom half of America, and pay an average tax rate of 6%. …

You can argue the number 6% — but American billionaires pay a lower tax rate than YOU.

And that’s stupid.

Professor Galloway argues that it’s a waste of resources to have very few people hoarding so much money:

Hoarders

If I give YOU $100 dollars, you’ll spend it. The economy rolls.

If I give another $100 to a billionaire, it will get locked away in NVIDIA stock. Be less productive.

Billionaires argue that they will GIVE AWAY most of their wealth to worthy charities.

That does help — but Galloway only respects the way it’s being done by two:

  • MacKenzie Scott
  • Melinda French Gates

Immigration in 2024

On By Rick McIn bad news, economics, GOP USA, governmentLeave a comment

Everyone agrees the USA is a disaster when it comes to FIXING their immigration laws.

Trump shot down the most recent border bill effort.

ReTrumplicans want the disaster to continue at least as long as the 2024 election. They really don’t have many REAL issues to campaign on.

Freakonomics posted a 3 part audiocast series. Well worth listening to.

Listen to Freakonomics episode 580:

The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or listen to part 2 on YouTube. Episode 581.

I’ve always felt Canada is one of the best nations in handling immigration.

We welcome those who can fill necessary jobs.

The USA still uses a lottery. And mostly fills their quota with families.

Click PLAY or watch part 3 on YouTube. Episode 582 — Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada? 

Canada recently reduced their immigration target numbers. Not good for the economy. But there simply isn’t enough affordable accommodation for new citizens or foreign students.

Finally, the ReTrumplican GOP in 2024 is anti-immigrant. The opposite of Ronald Reagan.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.