Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

On October 8, 2015October 8, 2015 By Rick McIn books, product complaintsLeave a comment

Seveneves is a speculative fiction novel by Neal Stephenson, published in 2015. The story tells of the efforts to preserve human society in the wake of apocalyptic events on Earth, following the disintegration of the Moon.

The narrative jumps to 5000 years later. There are now 3 billion humans living in a ring around the Earth, and they have indeed formed into seven races, each one descended from and named after the Seven Eves who survived …

The orbiting races terraform Earth by crashing ice comets into it to replenish the oceans, and seed the planet with genetically created organisms based upon re-sequenced DNA data saved from the escape to orbit. Once a breathable atmosphere is recreated, and sufficient plant and animal species have been reseeded, some members of the orbiting races (“Sooners”) resettle the planet …

This book is either a masterpiece. Or a sprawling mess.

I quit before the end. Too many characters. Too much detail. About as deep as a bird bath. 😦

Not recommended.

Tab Closed; Didn’t Read

On September 3, 2015August 26, 2015 By Rick McIn internet, product complaints, things getting worseLeave a comment

Do you hate popup overlays like this one?

@drcongo recommends you not read that content. Or click on their ads. Or help them generate revenue in any way.

They are far too intrusive. (Some small, subtle box that won’t slow you down would be reasonable.)

Tab Closed; Didn’t Read

I like web pages that do not do ANYTHING unless I ask them to.

Scientology exposé – Going Clear (film)

On August 15, 2015August 15, 2015 By Rick McIn ethics, movies, product complaintsLeave a comment

I’ve long assumed Scientology was a cult. Their spiritual leader a scam artist.

The 2015 documentary Going Clear confirmed that. Convincingly. It got very high marks on Rotten Tomatoes.

No doubt some members of this organization (Travolta, Cruise for example) believe it’s been positive for their lives. But the “religion” itself is based on irrational nonsense. Scientology should no be getting religious status under any tax code.

L. Ron Hubbard … often referred to by his initials, LRH, was an American author and the founder of the Church of Scientology. After establishing a career as a writer, becoming best known for his science fictionand fantasy stories, he developed a system called Dianetics which was first expounded in book form in May 1950. He subsequently developed his ideas into a wide-ranging set of doctrines and rituals as part of a new religious movement that he called Scientology.

He was, in fact, a troubled man. Charismatic. But quite possibly mentally ill himself. Paranoid. Sometimes a danger to his family and followers.

No genius.

David Miscavige ( born April 30, 1960) is now the leader. A good buddy of Tom Cruise.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

FOX news bad for America, bad for the GOP

On May 31, 2015May 28, 2015 By Rick McIn economics, ethics, GOP USA, government, product complaintsLeave a comment

JACK SHAFER, Politico’s senior media writer:

Fox News isn’t just bad for America, which is the usual liberal complaint. It’s also bad for the Republican Party, the still-conservative Bartlett holds, because it has stunted the GOP’s growth with a news agenda that ships “misinformation” to the party’s far-right base.

This is the so-called Fox “echo chamber” effect you’ve read so much about …

According to chamber theorists, Fox “breeds extremism” within the Republican Party by convincing viewers to reject other news feeds as biased and to partake only of Fox content and like-minded conservative radio fodder. The echo chamber, so the theory goes, has deluded the party into thinking that support for its radical-right views is greater than it really is. This, in turn, has convinced the party to run radical candidates who aren’t as electable as they seem to be. And all this extremism prevents the GOP’s presidential candidates from reaching centrist voters, who are essential for victory.

… the network is better at employing presidential candidates than electing them. …

… The median age of a Fox viewer is 68 … and its median age is rising. …

What Liberals Still Don’t Understand About Fox News

are you “cellfish”?

On May 29, 2015May 28, 2015 By Rick McIn humour, product complaintsLeave a comment

Who’s the most addicted person you know? 🙂

India hates tourists … less

On May 18, 2015May 18, 2015 By Rick McIn economics, government, product complaints, travel, travel IndiaLeave a comment

New. Announced November 2014 for tourists wanting to travel to India.

e-Tourist Visa. Online. US$60. Good for 1 month. Single entry.

Here’s the application page (I hope). I’ll try it for a trip September 2015. Wish me luck.

Original post from 2014 ____

I’m in Nepal. Visa on arrival. No hassles. Nepal loves tourists.

India still requires a visa in advance for Canadians, a stupid and time consuming process from the days of the Raj.

Though open-for-business Modi promised Obama it was coming, ~~it’s not yet here.~~

India is working on a proposal for visa on arrival (VoA) facility for US tourists, one of the big-ticket announcements expected to be made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile visit to the US beginning September 26. …

Times of India

Since 2010 visa on arrival was available for citizens of these nations: Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia and South Korea.

Yet they cannot bloody add more nations to that list? 😦

UPDATE – The list has been expanded to 43 nations including the USA. … But NOT Canada. NOT U.K.

related – India hates tourists (2013)

Day in the Life of the KKK

On May 3, 2015April 30, 2015 By Rick McIn ethics, firearms, GOP USA, government, product complaintsLeave a comment

Carl, an imperial wizard of a Southern-based Ku Klux Klan realm (or state-level group), takes aim with a pellet gun at a large cockroach (on the piece of paper just below the clock), while his wife and goddaughter try to avoid getting struck by a possible ricochet. …

see more crazy photos by Anthony S. Karen – A Day in the Life of the Ku Klux Klan, Uncensored

Any racist who does no harm, breaks no laws, should be encouraged to put on a goofy costume. It’s a free country.

But if they do break laws, they should be prosecuted severely.

… the Klan’s numbers are steadily dropping. This decline has been attributed to the Klan’s lack of competence in the use of the Internet, their history of violence, a proliferation of competing hate groups, and a decline in the number of young racist activists who are willing to join groups at all. …

guns in the home: more suicide, increased risk for women, more likely to be used for crime than self-defense

On April 28, 2015April 25, 2015 By Rick McIn education, ethics, firearms, GOP USA, government, product complaintsLeave a comment

David Hemenway, professor at the Harvard School of Public Health:

… to qualify for the survey the researcher should have published on firearms in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, and that he or she should be an active scientist — someone who had published an article in the last four years. I was interested in social science and policy issues, so I wanted the articles to be directly relevant. …

So,for example, one survey asked whether having a gun in the home increased the risk of suicide. An overwhelming share of the 150 people who responded, 84%, said yes. …

I also found widespread confidence that a gun in the home increases the risk that a woman living in the home will be a victim of homicide (72% agree, 11% disagree) and that a gun in the home makes it a more dangerous place to be (64%) rather than a safer place (5%). There is consensus that guns are not used in self-defense far more often than they are used in crime (73% vs. 8%) and that the change to more permissive gun carrying laws has not reduced crime rates (62% vs. 9%). Finally, there is consensus that strong gun laws reduce homicide (71% vs. 12%). …

LA Times – There’s scientific consensus on guns — and the NRA won’t like it

That all said, if you still want to own firearms, please handle them responsibly.

Neither myself or Obama is coming for your guns. 🙂

boycott Kroger’s Supermarket

On April 16, 2015April 15, 2015 By Rick McIn education, ethics, firearms, GOP USA, government, product complaints3 Comments

Stop shopping at Kroger’s until they stop open carry of guns.

Groceries not Guns

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I was in Oklahoma last week. Pretty much every establishment I entered had either a “No Guns” sign. Or a “No unlicensed Guns” sign. Kroger’s does not. Boycott.