Category: government

Mugabe named U.N. Minister of Tourism

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

Oh that … The Onion.

Where do they come up with their hilarious spoofs on the News? 🙂

The idea that a possibly insane semi-dictator, who personally ruined one of the richest nations in Africa, might have any connection to tourism is sick.

… wait a minute.

This is a true story:

• Why Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe was named UN ‘tourism envoy’

• The UN’s new International Tourism Ambassador: Robert Mugabe

• Canada quitting UN agency over Mugabe appointment


Note to self — CANCEL my $1 billion donation to the United Nation.

stupid States have no helmet laws

On By Rick McIn ethics, government2 Comments

I don’t like government regulations. But mandatory helmets for motorcycles is a no brainer. And State without a helmet law needs to have it’s head examined.

… A report released today by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) finds that no progress was made in reducing motorcyclist deaths in 2011.

Based upon preliminary data from 50 states and the District of Columbia, GHSA projects that motorcycle fatalities remained at about 4,500 in 2011, the same level as 2010. Meanwhile, earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration projected that overall motor vehicle fatalities declined 1.7 percent in 2011, reaching their lowest level since 1949. Motorcycle deaths remain one of the few areas in highway safety where progress is not being made. …

freakonomics

Between 1994 and 2007, six states repealed laws that required all motorcyclists to wear helmets. Here’s a look at per-capita organ donations from male victims of motor-vehicle crashes in those states versus all other states.

George Zimmerman bloodied and bruised

On By Rick McIn governmentLeave a comment

… why did this take so long to be confirmed?

George Zimmerman bloodied and bruised, files show
Gunman who killed Trayvon Martin suffered a broken nose from a fight

For the first time I’m starting to wonder if he did (recklessly) use a gun in self-defense.

North Korea – Camp 14

On By Rick McIn books, governmentLeave a comment

Here’s the argument – North Korea continues to brutalise its people and yet we do nothing

Shouldn’t we send in the Aircraft Carriers?

It worked so well for Vietnam and Iraq. … 😦

My opinion is that we should do everything non-violent to protest the brutality of North Korea. Gandhian resistance.

A new book brings this issue to the attention of the general public:

Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West.

North Korea is isolated and hungry, bankrupt and belligerent. It is also armed with nuclear weapons. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are being held in its political prison camps, which have existed twice as long as Stalin’s Soviet gulags and twelve times as long as the Nazi concentration camps. Very few born and raised in these camps have escaped. But Shin Donghyuk did.

In Escape from Camp 14, acclaimed journalist Blaine Harden tells the story of Shin Dong-hyuk and through the lens of Shin’s life unlocks the secrets of the world’s most repressive totalitarian state.

Shin knew nothing of civilized existence-he saw his mother as a competitor for food, guards raised him to be a snitch, and he witnessed the execution of his own family. Through Harden’s harrowing narrative of Shin’s life and remarkable escape, he offers an unequaled inside account of one of the world’s darkest nations and a riveting tale of endurance, courage, and survival.

Buzludzha Monument, Bulgaria

On By Rick McIn government, photosLeave a comment

Have you heard about the huge, abandoned Buzludzha Monument in Bulgaria?

Symbolic of the grandiose stupidity of Soviet Communism.

Check some of Timothy Allen’s photos.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

… In September 2011, the Bulgarian cabinet transferred ownership of the monument to the Bulgarian Socialist party.

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov declared, “We shall let them take care of it because here it also holds true that a party which does not respect its past and its symbols has no future”.

They have still not come to an agreement about what to do with it.

To date, every year at the end of July, 30-40,000 Bulgarian Socialists still congregate at Buzludzha to mark the founding of the Bulgarian Social-Democratic Party.

read more – Human Planet

Even Liberals are Big Fans of Oil Subsidies

On By Rick McIn economics, governmentLeave a comment

Jeff Sutherland sent me a link to this article. It blew my mind.

Consumer Energy Report:

If you were to survey people and ask the question “Should we subsidize oil companies?” — the overwhelming majority would undoubtedly respond “No!” The notion that we are subsidizing oil companies generates outrage in many people, but in this article I will show why these subsidies aren’t going to go away any time soon. The reason may surprise you. …

… The summary of oil-related subsidies for 2010 totals $4.5 billion. That is a number often thrown out there; $4 billion a year or so in support for those greedy oil companies. …

The single largest expenditure is just over $1 billion for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is designed to protect the U.S. from oil shortages.

The second largest category is just under $1 billion in tax exemptions for farm fuel. …

The third largest category? $570 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. …

Many smaller subsidies are intended to keep Oil jobs in the USA, rather than overseas.

When President Obama and the Democratic National Committee complain about Oil Subsidies, they’re being disingenuous. No Democratic President is going to cut them. Much.

In fact, No money from the U.S. Treasury goes to the oil industry. Everything is a tax break.

Read the article for your self – The Hard Truth: Even Liberals are Big Fans of Oil Subsidies

related – Washington Post Fact Checker – Oil War: The ad battle between ‘Big Oil’ and DNC, Part 2

After all that, I still trust that Obama is more likely to take the side of the consumer over Big Oil. But not by much. Neither he nor Romney are going to lower the price of gas at the pump. Nor the profits of American Oil companies.

Alberta’s Highway of Death

On By Rick McIn government, product complaintsLeave a comment

An 11-year-old girl is the fifth victim to be identified in Friday’s deadly head-on crash in northern Alberta that resulted in the deaths of seven people, including one other child. …

CBC – Girl, 11, latest victim identified in Alberta highway crash

Dear Premier Redford,

The people of Fort McMurray demand to see a plan to twin Highway 63. Yes, we’ve heard about the caribou migration and the other issues – what we have not heard is a concrete plan with completion dates and a timeline. We demand that this highway be better patrolled – and frankly I don’t give a damn what it costs to do so. As has been stated again and again we are driving the provincial economy with our oil sands industry – and we are paying for it with our lives on a highway that is inadequate for the traffic it sees. …

Theresa Wells – An Open Letter to Premier Alison Redford – Fort McMurray and Highway 63

movie – The Diplomat

On By Rick McIn government, moviesLeave a comment

This is going to be fantastic.

… A strange, enigmatic and decadent white diplomat arrives in central Africa, looking like a mixture of Henry Stanley and Karl Lagerfeld.

He has recently bought an ambassadorship and claims to be a do-good rich business man, who has come to spearhead a diplomatic mission.

Officially he is there to start a factory that produces matches – this, to employ locals and teach how to make this simple piece of fire-making equipment.

Unofficially he is really there to gain access to vast reserves of diamonds.The Ambassador is a genre-breaking, tragic comedy about the bizarre world of African diplomacy. …

‘The Ambassador’ Trailer – Lars von Trier’s Production Company Explores African Diplomacy In Sundance

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Something like Hunter S Thompson doing an expose on government corruption in Africa.

You can buy an Ambassadorship for around $40,000, then use diplomatic immunity to transport illbooten gotty across borders.

Hilary Rosen’s campaign gift to Mitt Romney

On By Rick McIn government, movies2 Comments

Hilary Rosen … is an American lobbyist and Democratic pundit. She worked for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for 16 years where she was CEO from 1998 to 2003. …

CEO of the hated RIAA during the years I hated the RIAA most?

I have to assume Hilary Rosen is an idiot.

Having never heard of her before this, she certainly sounds an idiot.

Rosen on Cancer survivor Ann Romney:

… Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life. …

Ann Romney via Twitter:

I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.

Here’s the misspeak on Anderson Cooper 360:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch an overview of the story on YouTube.

I’m quick to link when Republicans like Rush Limbaugh do something this stupid. This is the dumbest thing Hilary Rosen ever said out loud, and as CEO of the RIAA, she said a lot of very stupid things.

… I’m still backing Romney over Obama, by the way. But I don’t have much faith in either one.