Category: things getting worse

Lonely Planet soon DEAD to me?

On By Rick McIn books, dead to me, economics, internet, things getting worse, travelLeave a comment

I love Lonely Planet.

But not — perhaps — for much longer.

The end of guide books? Lonely Planet lays off one-third of editorial staff

lonelyplanet

Venerable travel guide brand Lonely Planet, which has bounced from owner to owner in recent years, just announced some bad news: They’re slashing staff on three continents and getting rid of much of their content staff. Almost 100 jobs were slashed in Melbourne, Australia alone, and additional layoffs were made at Lonely Planet’s London and Oakland offices. …

Update: According to an email from a Lonely Planet publicist, “Print will continue to be part of the mix” for the company.

END OF AN ERA: LONELY PLANET SLASHES CONTENT JOBS

They say they’ll switch to more digital format, more user generated content.

The time’s not right. Yet.

Show me a worthy digital alternative to a Lonely Planet guidebook?

download.com doucheware

On By Rick McIn internet, product complaints, things getting worseLeave a comment

BEWARE these guys.

dl

Addition of malware

Beginning in August 2011, download.com changed their own installer to add adware, malware, and browser toolbars to the software that users wish to download.

Accusations have included the surreptitious installation of a trojan installer and a browser hijacker. …

AVOID download.com 😦

download.com is owned by CNET and CBS. Boycott both, if you can.

Use the curated app stores run by Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. 🙂

related – Download.com wraps downloads in bloatware, lies about motivations (2011)

(via TWIT)

gundamentalist propoganda

On By Rick McIn bad news, Facebook, firearms, government, product complaints, things getting worseLeave a comment

The right wing in the USA has many channels by which they push their agenda.

prop·a·gan·da

Noun

Information, esp. of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

The dissemination of such information as a political strategy.

I see this stuff every day, especially on Facebook.

For example:

Woman shoots intruder after she is raped in front of her children

Screen Shot 2013-04-05 at 1.33.33 PM

Kristy Sage, a young mother living in Lemon Grove, California survived a nightmare and wants her story to be told. Her husband was deployed in the Persian Gulf and although her mom lived with her, her mom worked nights, so Kristy was left home alone at night with her two toddler-aged boys.

Knowing that he was to be deployed, Kristy’s husband made sure that she could adequately protect herself while he was away. He bought a 9mm pistol and made sure she knew how to use it. …

What a story!

It’s perfect for the NRA. Almost as if somebody had invented it. 🙂

Jennifer Cruz did invent it. None of that happened.

But it’s posted on a gundamentalist website. And people are obliviously sharing it with friends and family.

Was Jennifer Cruz paid to write that story?

Is she part of a funded network of believers volunteering to write propoganda?

It hasn’t hit Snopes yet, by the way.

I happen to believe that gun owners have some very good arguments. People like Jennifer Cruz undermine the cause. Make them look like extremist wingnuts.

The NRA should be calling out the liars like Cruz. Debunking propagandists.  They’re not.

more security, less privacy

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, happiness, health & fitness, things getting worseLeave a comment

Like pretty much everyone, I’m pissed off.

Pissed off that two yahoos had the freedom to maim and kill innocents.

Martin

I, for one, am willing to have less freedom in exchange for more security.

Yes I know that authorities will abuse that power. I’m willing to chance it.

More cameras. More intercept of communication.

Drones I’m less certain about. But probably yes to drone surveillance, as well.

Martin Richard’s Family ‘Applauds’ Boston’s Heroes

Scary Beautiful shoes

On By Rick McIn Art and beauty, product complaints, things getting worseLeave a comment

… what women will suffer in the name of fashion.

Click PLAY or see them on YouTube.

… The shoes—titled “Scary Beautiful”—were designed by artist Leanie van der Vyver, who teamed up with Dutch shoe designer René van den Berg.

A recent graduate of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, “Scary Beautiful” were part of van der Vyver’s thesis, a commentary on today’s impossible beauty standards. …

jezebel

takeaways from the American election …

On By Rick McIn bad news, economics, GOP USA, government, things getting worse1 Comment

After this, I’ll try to shut up.

• President Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase — Separation of church and state

Republicans need embrace the concept.

• U.S. Republicans can learn from Canada’s Conservatives

Neither American party is fiscally conservative. I truly believe Romney would have run up an even bigger debt than will Obama.

• Donald Trump is an ass

• Michael Moore‘s heart is in the right place, but he’s as dangerous a left wing zealot as right wing extremists like Trump. I disagree with more than half of what he says.

• Romney’s a good guy. But was forced to associate with Evangelic extremists, bigots, billionaires, bankers and other unsavory characters. Pray for his sold soul.

Mitt’s quite the chameleon. Has any other politician flip-flopped so many times and almost gotten away with it?

I’ll be entertained by the many books with titles like: Why Romney Lost

His math-illiterate, vague platform was an insult to any thinking voter. The only possible reason to vote for him was … ABO (anybody but Obama)

• “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” was not the title of the editorial he wrote for the NY Times. Whomever penned that catchy headline — Obama owes him a drink

• the worst decision of the Supreme Court in a long, long time was Citizens United. Corporations are not people. Campaign spending should be limited, difficult as that is to do.

• men talking about rape is a very, very bad idea

In fact, a good rule of thumb for men — DON”T talk about women’s bodies on the campaign trail.

• I loved how Chris Christie blew off partisan politics when his own people were in crisis. He’ll never be the Republican candidate.

• the trend is towards approve Gay marriage. Get used to it.

• the trend is to a more diverse population. Politicians anti-immigrant, racist and those surrounded by white advisers will lose. Expect Asian and Hispanic Americans to get more vocal.

• John McCain’s daughter, Meghan, calls for the GOP to #evolve

More than a few dinosaurs need go extinct

• most Tea Party and Occupy proponents simply protest — they don’t have much to offer as politicians. I hope both movements fizzle over the next 4yrs. The Tea Party has done more damage than good.

• young people are most influenced politically by two TV programs on the Comedy Network: Daily Show & Colbert. Both are left wing. (Colbert is my favourite show, so I must be young at heart.)

Republicans need a candidate who can handle youth culture and social media —  McCain and Romney? … Not so good.

• voters watching Fox News and MSNBC know less about government than those who watched any other news source. Or none. Folks who watch NPR and the Daily Show know most.

The right wing pundits at FOX really seem to believe their talking points. That’s surprising. O’Reilly is not a fool.

• Read my lips: Republicans need stop signing Grover Norquist’s NO TAX Pledge. It hamstrings.

• the trend is towards legalized marijuana. Colorado & Washington have legalized recreational use. It’s inevitable that ganja will be as restricted as alcohol.

Personally, I think the USA is doomed. I can’t see any way out for their polarized government. The debt and deficit will continue to balloon.

The trillions in debt will grow. I can’t see any way they can repay with both parties refusing to raise revenue.

Where are new trillion dollar industries going to come from?

Potential for American growth is limited to small business.

America could do better than Barack Obama; sadly, Mitt Romney does not fit the bill

future

• there’s some chance Obama will end the expensive, ineffective war on drugs

• accelerate troop withdrawals. QUIT putting boots on the ground in other nations. Bring the troops home and have them work on infrastructure.

• some day, hopefully within my lifetime, women will take over politics. And I trust women more than I trust men. In 2012 Americans elected a record 19% women to the Senate.

19% !! — WOW … That’s something to celebrate 😦

Tammy Baldwin made history when she became Wisconsin’s first female senator and America’s first openly gay senator. (VIDEO) … Homophobe Paul Ryan’s neighbour.

Next President?

Best would be a bilingual (Spanish & English) woman. Fiscal conservative. Advocating a very minimum social safety net. Requiring individuals who live or work in the USA to pay taxes. Requiring corporations earning money in the USA to pay taxes. Advocating a major reduction in the military. Focused on improving the American infrastructure: roads, rapid transit, sewage, etc.

Increasing regulations of banks.

… In the meantime, this guy’s got problems.

I wish him well.

Sincere thanks to everyone who engaged in the issues of the American election. I learned a lot.

Thanks also to the gluttons for punishment who decided not to HIDE me on Facebook.

Note the very, very few in 2012 who are willing to voice political support online for either Democrats or Republicans. It’s very divisive.

There truly are two Americas. If you could wave a magic wand, something like this wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Folks would have to MOVE. Like they moved between Pakistans and India when that nation broke up.

Committee member on U.S. Science, Space and Technology says Earth Is 9,000 Years Old

On By Rick McIn education, GOP USA, government, things getting worseLeave a comment

The earth is about 9,000 years old, according to U.S. House Representative Paul Broun, who is also a physician and member of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology of the House of Representatives.

“There are a lot of scientific data that I’ve found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young earth, ” Broun said in a videotape of the Sportsmen’s Banquet held on September 27 at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Georgia. “I don’t believe that the earth is but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them.”

via Scientific American

Paul Collins Broun, Jr. (born May 14, 1946) is the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 10th congressional district, serving since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party and the Tea Party Caucus. …

Broun has been married four times. He has a son with his fourth wife, Nikki, and two daughters from previous marriages …

Seems to me a guy married 4 times is doomed to the “Pit of Hell”.

Young Earth creationism (YEC) is the religious belief that the Universe, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago. Its primary adherents are those Christians and Jews who believe that God created the Earth in six 24-hour days, using a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a basis.

The scientific consensus, supported by a 2006 statement by 68 national and international science academies, is that it is evidence-based fact derived from observations and experiments in multiple scientific disciplines that the universe has existed for around 13 billion years, that the Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago with life first appearing at least 2.5 billion years ago. …

I stand with the vast majority of scientists. It makes no sense to me that an eternal God would have created the world with millions of years of fossil records.

You can see evolution with your own eyes at the Burgess Shale in the Rockies.

Of course, Scientific American magazine considers Young Earth creationism nonsense.

That’s the same magazine that reports uncomfortable truths like this: Free Birth Control Access Can Reduce Abortion Rate By More than Half

I respect Paul Broun’s right to his own opinion. But how did he get on Science, Space and Technology?

Who’s fault was that?

Why Obama Now

On By Rick McIn bad news, government, things getting worseLeave a comment

The best pro-Obama video so far is convincing.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Yet the man of Hope and Change was a disappointment over the past 4yrs. Why wasn’t he able to do more to FIX those many problems he’s citing ??

So, … should the USA take a chance on Romney?

Or “double down” on Obama?

Obama would be slightly better over the next 4yrs, I feel. Romney — how could anyone know?

He’s such a flip-flopper there’s no telling what the Republicans would do. Start a war when their popularity dips, I fear.

Therefore I’d advise, vote Obama. I’m about 13% confident he’ll maintain a peaceful world for another 4yrs. About 10% confident in Romney.

More likely they’ll be some sort of global catastrophe under either.

They’re somewhat the same politician. Both went to Harvard. Neither will raise taxes much. Both signed similar Health Care bills in the past.

Neither will much cut military. …

Debt and deficit out of control under either.

Best start stocking your survivalist bunker. 😦

going to College a BAD investment?

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

I talked to a gymnasts’ father this morning at Starbucks. His son has decided on a trade — electrician. No University.

Good call in Canada 2012, in my opinion.

… the spiraling cost of higher education continues to saddle millions of young Americans with a crippling financial burden well before they enter the workforce. …

Click PLAY or watch a FUNNY commentary on YouTube.

Many young people today are best with a trade. Then should use that income to finance their own small business.

Being a full-time Gymnastics Coach has never looked so good as today. Reasonable salary. And plenty of job security.

cost of University

On By Rick McIn economics, government, product complaints, things getting worse1 Comment

Canada is less expensive than the USA. But it’s getting more expen$ive.

Full-time undergrads in Saskatchewan pay an average of $6,017 / year, compared with the national average $5,581. Ontario is highest at $7,180.

I’ve been hanging out at University of Saskatchewan this past week. Very nice. But I’m less and less convinced that getting an expensive University degree is necessarily the BEST way to go for young people in 2012.

related – Stats Can