State of Fear

Yeah, back on line. Yeah, it cost me $300. Now I am scared to open any email with attachments or links. This is the big Achilles Heel of the internet - hackers can mess everything up. Security experts, like insurance salesman play on our worst fears. Makes you want to just stay in bed and pull the covers up.

I have recently finished re-reading Michael Crichton's State of Fear. The central action in the book is about a group of enviro-terrorists who go around fabricating fake catastrophic "events" to raise the level of fear about man-made global warming. I think Crichton makes an excellent case for those of us who are still skeptical about Al Gore's data - as proffered in "An Inconvenient Truth."

Published in 2004, the story is fictional, but the author did extensive research on the scientific reports and research data that was available at the time. The author -who died last year of apparently natural causes - warned about scientific consensus . Facts are facts, but consensus has almost always been proved wrong by improved observations.

You don't have to agree with all of the arguments made by characters in Crichton's book, but you might have trouble with some of the facts he cites. I do not wish to argue them here, because I think the bigger point that Crichton was making in the book was about the government-sponsored effort to keep the populace in a constant state of fear about things that individuals are helpless to control.


The objective of such a strategy is social control; it is easier to enforce rules which curtail liberties when the people are afraid. Especially if the demon is an unknown foreign power (like Russia or Iran for example) or the climate or even rogue asteroids.

The media thrives on fearful pronouncements and warnings, so do not expect them to dig into the alleged threats.

Now, to distract us from our deflated nest-eggs and the prospect of higher taxes, inflation and ineptitude in government, we have the prospect of swine flu pandemic. Not to worry - Uka Sam will help you. The check is in the mail. Maybe we should nuke Mexico?

Swine Flu and Other Viruses

You and I are in the wrong business, dude. We need to learn how to fix PC's.

I am writing at the public library today, because my PC is in the shop again. This time it was a virus that was pretending to be a security alert system. It obtrusively popped-up to "warn" me about potential attacks. The more I tried to ignore it, the more insistent it became, until I finally unplugged the foolish thing and took it in to Data Doctors. They were pleased to see me, and assured me that it was nothing that a few days scrubbing and $300 couldn't fix.

I am not sure how the virus got into my machine, or when. I disabled my Mcaffee virus blocker years ago, because it slowed my PC down to an unacceptable crawl. Besides that I was convinced that all the new viruses were aimed at the latest Microsoft Operation system. I'm still running XP. We never click on strange links or download anything. So, I hope that I did not pass anything along to people who I send email attachments to. More importantly, I hope I still have my documents when I get the PC back. (No, I have not backed up the files for several months. Thanks for asking.)

Have you noticed that the media are once again trying to create a state of fear about the prospect of a swine flu pandemic? I think this flu business is a marketing product of the pharmacy companies to make us run out to buy Tamiflu. So, have you got any?

Eye Trouble

There is an old joke where the employee calls in "sick".
Boss: What's wrong?
Employee: Eye trouble
Boss: Eye trouble? What do you mean?
Employee: Well, I just can't see working today.

That's how I feel these days.

I know what you are thinking: "What a wuss! You only work 20 hours a week, and you don't have to go in until mid morning, you get out before rush hour. No heavy lifting. No statistics. You get along with your coworkers. What's your problem, dude?"

Ok, here is the answer (and stop calling me 'dude', OK?):
Life is short. I have other things to do.

In past entries, I have referred to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as the best explanation for human motivation. In a nutshell, people are never satisfied with the status quo. (I believe a lot of people settle for status quo but continue to yearn for change.)

The present part time job satisfied a lot of the needs I had expressing before starting last August: A schedule, social interaction, being part of a team, making a few bucks...
All of these were accomplished. And it has been good for me, I will admit.

But, the restrictions of having a job are more than I want to live with at this point in my life. The company doesn't want employees to take long vacations, they expect you to show up on time every day that you are scheduled. This job required me to wear a dress shirt and tie (despite the fact that the many of the customers were slovenly, bad tempered and possessed the fashion consciousness of a 4 year old.) .

So, like a fickle hearted suitor, I proved that I could get the job and do the job --- and now I don't want the job anymore. Thus, I have notified my manager that he might consider finding a replacement as of June 1.

Please do not be concerned that my schedule will now have gaping holes. Somehow my calendar has become scribbled on with a prodigious list of things that need to be done around the house and grounds, not to mention a planned vacation to Maine and Canada.
My wife, who has been enjoying the footloose and free life of post-retirement, has been encouraging me take more time off to go places with her. We also have decided to spend a month in Florida next winter.

A few nights ago, we suddenly lost our favorite cat, our ten-year-old male Siamese, Jasmine-Ming. One minute he was fine; the next minute he was lying on the rug unable to walk and in yowling pain. The emergency vet said it was a blood clot, probably caused by a heart condition. The prognosis for recovery was poor; and we all (reluctantly) agreed that euthanasia was the best option. Finis.

This event underscores the fragility of life. Ming was "just a cat" but he was a family member just the same. Any minute, any one of us could be struck down by accident, stroke, fall, natural or man-caused disaster - heck a meteor could fall out of the sky and poof.

When it happens to me, I do not want to be sitting at a desk; I want to be fishing.