Republican Mia Love tries for Congress

On May 1, 2014May 17, 2014 By Rick McIn GOP USA, government, things getting betterLeave a comment

On Facebook I link a lot to information confronting Gundamentalists. And Tea Party Republicans.

Both are generally bad for the USA. Bad for the world.

One of my themes is that Republicans must CHANGE or LOSE, long term.

The GOP needs prominent candidates of colour. Pro science. Fiscal conservatives, not shills for corporations and billionaires. Pro immigration. In support of Gay marriage.

Here’s one who looks promising.

Mia Love clinches Republican nomination at Utah convention

On May 18, 2013, Love announced that she would run again in 2014. If elected, she would be the first Haitian American and first black female Republican ever elected to Congress, as well as the first from the state of Utah. …

Love favors “fiscal discipline, limited government, and personal responsibility.” She has also said that she asks herself three questions whenever she approaches an issue, “Is it affordable? Is it sustainable? Is it my job?” …

I’m sure she’s not perfect. But she gives me hope that Republicans can recover, eventually, from Tea Party insanity.

related – What stupid thing did Sarah Palin say lately?

The end of Sarah Palin:

She is purely an Obama-era novelty. As Obama’s tenure ends, so does the career of Sarah …

Good riddance.

His Daughter ~ Molly Kate Kestner

On April 30, 2014April 29, 2014 By Rick McIn internet, music, things getting betterLeave a comment

This is why I love the internet.

A talent like this can rapidly gain an international audience without some corporate middleman.

Listen to Molly Kate Kestner, a high school senior from Minnesota, perform an original song, “His Daughter.”

With a voice that shows more range than those of a lot of famous singers today, Kestner sings about a girl abandoned by her alcoholic father who’s looking for love in the wrong places, but eventually creates a family of her own. …

High School Student Stuns The Internet With Breathtaking Original Song (Video)

Click PLAY or watch her on YouTube.

(via our Uncle George)

vaccines not perfect …

On March 26, 2014March 26, 2014 By Rick McIn health & fitness, product endorsements, things getting betterLeave a comment

… but they are far, far better than the alternative.

When a global effort to end polio was launched in 1988, the disease crippled more than 200,000 children every year in India. Almost two decades later, in 2009, India still reported half of the world’s new cases — 741 out of 1,604.

The development of the Salk and Sabine vaccines helped lead to eradication of polio in the United States in 1979. In India, too, vaccination was critical. …

CNN – India beats the odds, beats polio

Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg

On February 18, 2014 By Rick McIn ethics, government, things getting better, travelLeave a comment

The Apartheid Museum is a … complex in Johannesburg, South Africa dedicated to illustrating apartheid and the 20th century history of South Africa.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Watch another video on the museum.

Uruguay – NATION of the year

On January 27, 2014January 23, 2014 By Rick McIn good news, government, happiness, product endorsements, things getting better, travelLeave a comment

… the accomplishments that most deserve commendation, we think, are path-breaking reforms that do not merely improve a single nation but, if emulated, might benefit the world.

Gay marriage is one such border-crossing policy, which has increased the global sum of human happiness at no financial cost. Several countries have implemented it in 2013—including Uruguay, which also, uniquely, passed a law to legalise and regulate the production, sale and consumption of cannabis. This is a change so obviously sensible, squeezing out the crooks and allowing the authorities to concentrate on graver crimes, that no other country has made it. If others followed suit, and other narcotics were included, the damage such drugs wreak on the world would be drastically reduced.

Better yet, the man at the top, President José Mujica, is admirably self-effacing. With unusual frankness for a politician, he referred to the new law as an experiment. He lives in a humble cottage, drives himself to work in a Volkswagen Beetle and flies economy class. Modest yet bold, liberal and fun-loving, Uruguay is our country of the year. ¡Felicitaciones!

Economist

former guerrilla and Marxist President on the LEFT

George Takei on the Sharing Economy

On January 8, 2014January 6, 2014 By Rick McIn economics, things getting better, travelLeave a comment

George Takei chats with Michael Buckley about Airbnb, Lyft, and all that’s unique and interesting when it comes to the sharing economy …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Edward Snowden – Man of the Year

On December 31, 2013December 23, 2013 By Rick McIn Apple, ethics, Google, government, things getting betterLeave a comment

We can’t trust corporations.

We can’t trust governments.

We can’t trust Obama.

The only way for the general public to get the truth is whistleblowing. We’ll see more like Snowden over the coming years.

Edward Snowden, who leaked an estimated 200,000 files that exposed the extensive and intrusive nature of phone and internet surveillance and intelligence gathering by the US and its western allies, was the overwhelming choice of more than 2,000 people who voted. …

Edward Snowden voted Guardian person of the year 2013

what-do-you-think-of-national-security-leaker-edward-snowden-poll