Change my mind.
Update: From Longtime Reader Bruce comes this little snippet of OzCop fuckery. They must have been trained by our Fibbies or else the New Jersey sturmtruppen.
Category: Nannies
What Bullshit
Apparently, every ailment now means you have caught the ‘Rona:
Body aches, a runny nose and diarrhoea are among the nine new signs of Covid that have been added to the NHS symptom list.
The health service quietly expanded its list of all the tell-tale signs of the virus to also include a loss of appetite, feeling or being sick and a headache.
So now basically Covid has become the trawling net for all sickness, ergo the means whereby we could be isolated, locked down or similarly oppressed for having a cold, the flu, an upset stomach or being hung over.
Reason #472
…why I won’t use Microsoft Word:
The function produces a purple line beneath words or phrases it deems problematic while offering more ‘inclusive’ alternatives, and is included on the Office 365 version of Microsoft Word from 2019 onwards.
Recommended improvements to your usage:
- Whitelist > Accepted List
- Postman > Postal Worker
- Mankind > Humanity
- Maid > House Cleaner
- Showgirl > Performing Artist
- Master > Expert
- Mistress > Lover
- Manpower > Workforce
- Heroine > Hero
For the record, I quit using Microsoft Office decades ago, for all sorts of reasons, among them:
- Word has too many features that I can’t, don’t or won’t use
- Excel is a shit spreadsheet program (Lotus 1-2-3 and Quattro were far better)
- Don’t get me started about Outlook, ever since MS killed Express
- None of the other Office products are of any use to me since I retired, and I preferred Paradox to Access anyway when I was still working
- MS Office is WAY too expensive for its actual utility.
So I use Apache OpenOffice, which while it has a few drawbacks of its own, is at least free (Writer and Calc work just fine for what I do), and Thunderbird for email.
I remember pointing the Son&Heir at OpenOffice many years ago when he was at college, and he found it worked for all his writing assignments and math homework. He’s been grateful to me ever since, and I don’t think he’s ever used MS Office (although since he moved to Global MegaBanc Inc. that may have changed, I must ask him).
So fuck Microsoft, fuck their wokedom and by the way, fuck Windows 11, for which I’ve started getting those irritating little spam pop-up messages.
Karen Gets Physical
It’s a good thing I don’t fly much anymore, because had I been the older guy, this stupid Karen would be visiting her dentist, more than once, over the holidays.
Automotive Control
Over the past couple years, I’ve taken a lot of guff from people when I’ve stated my implacable hostility towards the Internet Of Things [spit] intruding on my private life, and specifically when it comes to my car.
“Oh but Kim,” the response comes, “think of the convenience of not having to drive!” , etc. etc. My retort to giving up control of one’s vehicle is usually, “Giving up control to whom, exactly?”
Well, here’s a little example of what I could see was coming down the pike:
The bipartisan infrastructure bill includes a provision that would require auto manufacturers to equip “advanced alcohol monitoring systems” in all new cars.
Buried in the massive proposal—which is already longer than 2,700 pages—is a section titled, “ADVANCED IMPAIRED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY,” which mandates new vehicles include “a system that … passively and accurately detect[s] whether the blood alcohol concentration of a driver of a motor vehicle is equal to or greater than the blood alcohol concentration” of .08, in which case the system would “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation.” Automobile manufacturers would have a three-year grace period to comply with the regulation.
Here’s another prognosis to this already-ghastly invasion of our privacy: it won’t stop at “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation”. Given the all-pervasive network of operations from Skynet, what is to stop the government (federal, state, local or a combination thereof) from levying a fine for drunken driving (to be deducted automatically from your bank account), as well as sending your car’s GPS coordinates to Officer Friendly at Hometown P.D.?
Tell me I’m exaggerating or overstating the thing, I dare you.
But it’s all for our own good, isn’t it? So why would I be so upset about this? After all, seatbelt mandates have saved countless lives, so why not apply the same rationale for car immobilization and punishment for intoxicated driving?
By all means, let’s all get upset when the government suggests implanting computer chips into guns so that they can be controlled by law enforcement during times of emergency — “That’s like totally beyond the pale, dude.”
This car nonsense is precisely the same thing, being suggested for all the same reasons.
I foresee a rush towards the purchase of older cars which don’t contain computers of any description — until, of course, the government outlaws ownership thereof.
Once again: tell me I’m exaggerating or overstating the thing, I dare you.
Yeah, We Know
Via Insty (link in pic):
The only time I’m going to be wearing a mask is if I decide to avail myself of the federal government’s free housing and medical care program by robbing a bank.
Other than that, they can all fuck off, especially bastards like these:
…not that I’m likely to go to either shithole, of course — but Trader Joe is especially on my watch list.