Full of Technological Utopian Goodness

Hello everyone, I'm back again. Less than two months despite the court order barring me from computers, political commentary or voting.
...
Just a short post today. I know I say that and then ramble on for 13 pages, but I really mean it this time, just a small observation and I'll be out of your hair.
...
Once my point is made, then I'll shut up, because there's no point talking about something once your point is made. So I'll say my bit, and then end this post, satisfied of a job well done.
...










...
And after than I'll sign off. Just one little message.
...







One. That's it.
...

Anyhoo, I was at Canadian Tire today, where I selected a couple of packages of tin foil I was going to use to make a helmet to resist mind control. Confident in my formidable knowledge of metallurgy I approached the cashier, counting out nickels I keep in a hollowed out Pontiac muffler, when I noticed the aisle I was in was cashierless. Undaunted, I proceeded to the next aisle, which was also displaying an extremely low employee density. And similarly the third aisle was entirely bereft of customer service representatives.
So I went to the Customer Service counter. This also was notably unpopulated. A moments reconnoiter confirmed the truth: there were no cashiers of any kind. There were, however, four of those automatic teller doohickeys which the Circle of Evil have been trying to replace human cashiers with. Also, there is a person standing there whose job apparently, is not Customer Service or Sales, but rather supervising the customers to ensure they cashier for themselves.
...
Hmmm.... I thought.
Now, I hate to be jumping up and down shrieking 'I told you so' or, 'I knew it, Ragnorok is upon us!' so I kept such statements to a minimum. I tried to explain to the Customer Supervisor that I did not wish to use her infernal blasphemous mechanized abominations, and -this is the part that really gets me- she began to defend the bloody machines which were replacing her! At that point I gave up trying to smack some sense into the poor deluded automaton and with regret I rang my own stuff through. Can't say I'll be returning anytime soon to aid in Canadian Tire's systematic assault on our economy however.
...
It is sometimes disturbing to me how bloody right I am.
...
Anyhoo, thought it was an important fact that the Socioeconomic Collapse is proceeding according to plan... for those who don't read my older rantings, the short version is that our country's jobs are primarily service industry stuff... once the cashiers have been replaced, there goes about 40% of our job market... you can now find automatic tellers in hardware, grocery and banking industries, and as they catch on this movement is only going to accelerate. And in most of these professions they have somehow brainwashed the very employees they are outmoding with this stuff to endorse the very instruments of their own financial demise! The government is saying the recession is over, but there is no way in hell- we're just in a short pause. Combine that with rediculously high credit balances, iron fisted oligopolies on oil, banking, the media (especially television) and manufacturing and the massive rise of jobs based on servising other industries, we have a looming depression which will make the Great Depression look, well, great by comparison.
...
That's it.
...
So help stave off this nonsense. Don't use the infernal machines when a human alternative is available. Perhaps we can delay this or even turn it around, although with the idiots we currently have running things I'd be surprised.
In the meanwhile I have to go accelerate my plans to deal with the Circle of Evil, which will require nearly 18 tonnes of itching powder in very tiny paper packages. It'll keep me busy for a while.
Have a nice day, :)
The Prognostic Lexiphage.
...
P.S.: See, I kept to my point! I can do that!

Those Deadly Swine II

Sorry about the phantom post.
...
So you may be wondering why I am posting with such regularity. There is a simple answer. One that I think will answer pretty much all variations and details of the above question. The answer is this:

Not sure really....

Glad I could help.
...
So apparently H1N1, the dreaded Swine Flu, is a pandemic. As in, like an epidemic, but worse, and with more screaming involved. As far as how deadly it is, it kills nowhere near as many as the regular flu's 1500 or so per year ( not sure what the actual numbers are involved with the Swine version, but from what I understand there has been one death so far in my area and a small handful across Canada... I'll get back to that in a minute). So it's not the actual deadlyness of it... apparently it's how many people are catching it. Apparently it is effecting way more people than the normal flu. This says to me (stop me if I'm wrong here) that each individual case is LESS dangerous than the regular flu. And if it's just the number of people being effected, where is the panic about the common cold...?

HOWEVER...

There have been a lot of talk about making the Swine Flu shot manditory. As in Compulsory with a capital Comp. To throw this in perspective: AIDS is considered probably the nastiest virus we have going these days, being extremely virulent and very determined to cause a long, slow, unpleasant death, and there is no cure, however there are a number of hideously expensive and also nasty treatments. AIDS has almost by itself destroyed Africa, an entire continent... Cancer is caused by the breakdown of genetic matter within the cell, and as such we all will eventually get it unless we die of something else first. And of course the regular flu, which we discussed earlier. None of these qualify as serious enough to curb our freedoms for our own good. Neither were the Bird Flu, SARS, the West Nile Virus (which I and my family caught, nasty but generally flulike), and any of the other horrifying viral threats to the world in the past 10 years. Nope, they all are small potatoes compared to the Swine Flu.

In actual fact, experts are not even actually worried about what the Swine Flu can do, much like the Bird Flu, it is essentially just a regular flu for the moment. BUT, they are worried about what it could mutate into... you know, if it actually became deadly and was already as widespread as this, then we'd really be in trouble... yadda yadda yadda. Of course, mutation doesn't work like that, suddenly and across populations of trillions of individual viruses... it works, by definition, in an infinitessimally small majority. and of course, it also works in any of an infinite variety of ways and at any time. Further, if it is that likely to mutate into a more dangerous form, it is just as likely to mutate into a less dangerous form. In other words, it's not deadly (relatively speaking) now, it most likely won't become deadly, and if it does it most likely won't stay deadly for long.

So the government has decided to force us all to take the Swine Flu vaccination, but not because it is any more dangerous than any other virus. Cute.

Further, Flu shots are only minimally effective because the flu in any form, mutates often. By this I don't mean into Horrifying Super Viruses, just regular, relatively innocuous mutations. Normally when the head honchos in charge decide to make a new flu shot for the coming year, they GUESS how the flu is likely to mutate and they make a vaccination for that. They are always wrong as to how it will turn out (at least so far) and because the flu is a cockroachly tough little bug the vaccination has to be ultra-specific to work.

To recap further- the government has decide to suspend our freedoms to prevent a virus that is not especially deadly with a vaccination that likely will not work. As I said before, cute.

So why are they pulling this nonsense? I mean, we are in a massive economic slump, our deficits are ballooning out of control, and we have bigger fish to fry. Do we actually need the expense for no significant reason? Couldn't we use that money, for example, to give our idiot politicians another huge undeserved raise? Maybe give it away to GM to help them take jobs away from us and encourage them to also avoid the best people for the decision making jobs?

I'm not even going to suggest they use it to build more recycling plants. For one, I already have suggested it, and second, there is no way our politicians would choose that over an undeserved raise.

No, in my humble opinion, seeing as how our own government is not the only one following this anane line of reasoning, it is the pharmaceutical companies which manufacture the vaccines. They are the self-professed experts in the field, they are the ones which would be doing any research which might contradict these ideas, they are the ones which train our doctors (the second line of experts one would guess) and they are the only ones who are likely to benefit from it financially. So they are bossing our governments around much like the auto manufacturers were not too long ago, whether anyone admits it or not. Big Pharma no longer works for our governments and us, it's the other way around. They are using us as research subjects. Just screwing around to see what happens. Because they can and because it'll make them some fast cash. They've been doing it for a while- it's a matter of public record our governments were complicit in experimenting on the black populatin of the 1930's with syphilis, there was the MK Ultra experiments in Quebec in the 60's, and the laws governing Indian Reserves outlaw their right to refuse medical treatment or experimentation whatsoever.
...
So on the off chance you think the government will actually listen to our opinion, maybe we should say no. You know, unless you have some kind of health problem which would mean flu is a serious risk for you. Ultimately if a majority of the population refuses the shot, there is nothing the government can actually do about it. Think about it, it's like voting... it's your democratic responsibilty.
...
You know, or just go along. I'm sure Big Pharma is much more interested in our welfare than the government, and they'll probably let us vote for their CEOs and so on. Really.
...
Well, that's enough ranting for now, I have a Man in Black knocking at my door who doesn't know about my security cameras... he thinks I can't see his 14 buddies and the stunguns. Hee hee hee...
...
Bye bye,
The Schismatic Lexiphage.

The Voluminous Illustration

Salutations, fellow gentlebeings...
Thought I'd toss out some pearls of wisdom to annoy the worldwide Circle of Evil today, and several ideas came up. People often say to look at the Larger View, the Big Picture, or whatever...
...
My Enourmous Pictoral Rendering idea is this: you all know my apocalyptic rantings about socioeconomic collapse; I was thinking this morning (yes, it happens) and it occured to me that many of today's problems are the result of us relying on intrusive, overlarge government. During the course of the 20th century, the focus shifted from people being more or less responsible for themselves in the first half or so to people expecting the givernment to handle virtually all of their problems, and as I may have mentioned before, most governments could not organize thier way out of a wet paper bag with a cutting torch (They'd spend a lot of time running studies to see if wet paper will burn at 5000 degrees).
...
Gargantuan Sketch Part A:
Power. I have mentioned before that the governments of Canada (or anywhere in North America, for that matter) can't keep up with our increasing energy usage. It's only a matter of common sense that with our ever-increasing assortment of 'must-have' gadgets, from cellphones to air conditioning our energy needs will increase, but the weirdos in charge don't seem to build much in the way of power plants any more. They attempt to from time to time and spend hundreds of millions and decades in the process, but we don't actually get any more power. Imagine how bad the problem will be in 20 years if we continue the way we have... or when gas reaches $2 a litre... or $3. I think we can all agree that the one thing the Oil Cartels and the environmental lobby can agree on is pricier gas, with no upper limit, not to mention the complications caused by a culture of people living 40 km away from their jobs and commuting to work every day. Everyone is spending thousands a year on energy costs, and the costs are all going straight up.
...
Expansive Photograph Part B:
The Service Industry: This is being impacted by two issues: first, the rising minimum wage (which of course is well-deserved, don't get me wrong) and second the increase of automation. Those little tags you see in books or DVD cases which trigger the anti-theft devices in stores are being improved and made cheaper every day. They are radio transmitters powered by electromagnetic induction, and once they can hold as little information as a bar code (not far away) for a few cents per unit, there will be no need for cashiers to scan your items. A similar device on your debit or credit card will allow the anti-theft systems in the store to automatically deduct the money from your account, and if you don't have it, notify the police of your identity and what you got away with. With rising minimum wage costs, employers are more motivated to look for alternatives, and it a few short years the entire industry could be almost employee- free. Maybe a security and maintenance staff- say, two or three people for a grocery or retail store, or maybe 20 or so for a mall that today employs several hundred. How many people do you know with jobs in the service industry? or that handle cash? or some sort of spinoff job?
...
Bloated Tapestry Part C:
Health Care: Canada is the proud beneficiary of universal health care. Our system has many flaws, but works more or less for the vast majority of cases. However, a problem is arising in that the goverment funds the doctor & hospital aspects but not neccessarily the pharmaceutical aspects. For example, if you have HIV, the government will not buy your drugs for you, whether they cost $50,000 per year or not. So the doctor issue is pretty much a useless issue if you can be told what the cure is but can't afford it. Despite this issue, the government will fund sex-change operations or limitless abortions and emergency rooms are clogged with people with common colds- and the government is fear-mongering the cold sufferers in with scares of SARS and the ineffective Telehealth phone lines (which pretty much are a costly, time consuming way to tell you to go to emergency regardless of your problem). Technology, while it is great in terms of the improvements in health it can give us, also comes with a price tag, which is larger every year- not only because of inflation, but also from new procedures which are developed. Sooner or later, the price tag to keep us alive will be more than we can afford. And of course, there's always a doctor and nurse shortage which is getting worse each year, whatever McGuinty has to say (there's occasionally more doctors temporarily because a great many baby boomer doctors are practising into their 60s and 70s- but they won't live forever). In addition to that, the doctors are now being almost entirely educated by funding from the pharmaceutical companies, who of course will recommend the cures which include the most expensive products that they can (see the drug funding problem, above). Which brings me to:
...
Elephantine Depiction Part D:
Education: The education system in Canada (and in other countries, my details on this are less comprehensive) is becoming increasingly controlled by political and corporate interests. Black students were forced to segregated schools in the name of hate and fear only a few generations ago, and now they're building a black segregated school in the name of tolerance and inclusiveness. Of course, our politicians have MUCH better reasons than they did 50 years ago. Teachers are expected to nearly raise our kids for us, and yet they are more restricted each year with arcane rules and regulations about how to discipline, how to talk to our kids, and which horridly outdated sciences they must teach. Meanwhile, of course, there are stories in the news every year about teachers which abuse their students and yet are quietly moved to another school or region... I personally would prefer a teacher that spanks a kid who brings a machine gun or cocaine to school to a teacher that rapes little girls. But hey, I guess that's just me. As a result of these issues, kids are becoming contributing members of society later and later- living as teenagers used to until their mid-thirties or even forties until life finally teaches them what the teachers weren't allowed to.
...
To sum up:
The government has screwed up virtually everything they lay their hands to and is completely unaccountable for it. Any of the above problems were initiated by people making $100,000 a year plus. They cannot solve our problems. The government should focus on areas which only a government can handle- military, police, trade, and so forth and get out of the social engineering business. Wherever possible, we as a people should take care of ourselves. We need self-sufficiency- learn to generate some of your own power (solar panels are pretty cheap- look in Canadian Tire), learn a few of your grandmother's home remedies to take pressure off of the emergency room, employ yourself instead of working for a big, faceless corporation, and teach your kids as much as you can while they are still young (anybody remember apprenticeship? It's still a good idea). Don't commute, telecommute. And as I may have mentioned before, move out of town, thicken up your walls with reinforced concrete, and stock up on the canned food and shotgun shells. When the gas-price riots and great homeless migrations begin, you'll be nice, cozy, and more likely to be radiation-free.
...
Until next time,
Keep one both eyes over your shoulder-
they never come at you straight on.
Ciao,
The Laodicean Lexiphage.

Smoke Signals & Carrier pigeons

Hey lexiphans!
Sorry for the long intermission, I was unavoidably detained when my ancient computer had a massive brain hemmorhage. Still, for a second-hand job (not to be confused with a second hand job) it did better than any other machine I've had- it lasted me 3 years or so, despite being a 3 year old contraption at the time of acquisition. It was a nice computer, made of the very finest flint and bearskin, and apparently was originally owned by some guy named Hammurabi. So, I was looking at other used machines for a little while, but noticed the margin between a new and used machine has narrowed considerably. On Friday I get a spot of moolah and will use this capital to purchase a NEW machine- something I have not had since the distant days when people could ask "what's a Pentium?".
...
Just a little pat on my own back here- apparently McGuinty heard my recommendation to bribe me prior to the coming election and therefore decided to send parents of young children a "please elect me again, really I'm desperate" check for $250 per child. Note that in the finest Liberal tradition I have not actually got the check as yet, but it should arrive sometime between now and the looming election Mcguinty hasn't called and therefore isn't campaigning for on the taxpayer's tab. Speaking of which, it is interesting to note that one of the few promises McGuinty did not break was the inception of a law which prevents political parties from campaigning on the public budget... this stuff he's doing now, it's not really campaigning, it's keeping the public informed. Really!
...
So I'm making this post once again on the faithful library computer, which thankfully was not commissioned by our able-minded premier, and hopefully on Friday I'll make another post on my shiny new machine, which in the finest tradition of science fiction writers should rise up against my control in a year or two. I figure this based on elementary Chaos science, which says all complex systems will behave in this way (if you don't believe me, watch my ex-wife cook sometime and see what happens with her creations), and also on general paranoia, which says McGuinty is somehow responsible for the death of my old computer, and sent me the 'please-elect-me' check as a means to plant his electronic agent within the Lair of the Lexiphage. The cad! At least it's cheaper than sending over the Men in Black twice a week to sift through my garbage and whack me with cattle prods...
...
For those of you who are wondering about the Smurfs, they are doing well despite being out of school for the summer now... I still have them in daycare 3 times a week to keep the brain juices flowing, and Mya is talking pretty well these days (recent sentence reported from daycare: "Go Outside"... Gav has been doing well as well although he seems really bored lately... I think he needs a challenge, so I've been going over the alphabet with them and and am building a new version of my brainwave manipulator which hopefully will teach him all about my veiws on politics with electronic ease. May as well make the teachers obsolete whilst the rest of us are getting that way, eh?
...
I guess that should be it... this is an insecure location without all of my usual electronic-warfare subterfuge, and the government and hydro thugs are already closing on my position. Until next time,
Ciao,
from the Quixotic Lexiphage.

McGuinty's Best Idea Ever

Hi everyone! Long time no type!
...
So... everyone's favourite premier of Ontario, the Honourable Dalton McGuinty, has now done something that I wholeheartedly agree with. Looking back on his record and realizing he has to call an election in around October, McGuinty decided to DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING until the election. That's right, even Dalton has realized that everything he touches turns to... er... guacamole... and so he has decided that NOT running the government can't possibly be as bad as VITUALLY ANYTHING HE IS LIKELY TO DO. He has done this in the vain hope that maybe in four months the people of Ontario will FORGET everything from the past four years, most especially his cute health tax, which he still maintains was a good idea.
...
The smurfs have been talking up a storm lately, and the main tasks for the summer will be:
1) Getting Mya to willingly walk longer distances than 1 block without stopping to pick flowers
2) Getting Gavin entirely toilet trained (he pretty much understands the mechanics but is avoiding the Big Leap)
3) Getting both of them to eat carrots in preparation for my big crop of carrots which should be due by the end of July.
...
Speaking of my crop, I've been thinking post-apocalyptically lately (how unlike me) and have been noodling growing my own food in anticipation of the collapse of the socioeconomic machine and the inevitable spread of genetically and otherwise altered foods. Since carrots are amoung my favourites, they are the first ones I'm trying (I once attempted and screwed up tomatoes). Does anyone know how to harvest carrot seeds for the next year's crop? Those buggers are bloody near microscopic, and obviously if I have to rely on the socioeconomic machine to supply seeds, I'm screwed. Can you plant chunks of carrot like seeds? I hear some plants can grow from a chunk of root or whatever- perhaps that would be a good method...
Or maybe I'll have to start growing more self-sufficient stuff. Curses!
...
Well, that's all for today.
Remember- shotgun shells, canned food, and a lead-lined basement are the best investments you'll ever make!
Let the good times roll,
The Magnanimous Lexiphage.