running processes

the search and replace process i have been running on our intranet directory has now taken four hours – which on anything other than a windows server would have taken less than an hour. why? why? oh yeah – monopoly is why.

the use of microsoft software is like the model of the us being continually shoved down our throats day after day – touted as secure, efficient, intelligent, socially and economically viable – but at the end of the day whether we buy the software or the country – we’re getting ripped off.

and that’s what i don’t understand about those people who would vote for stephen harper, a man who would steer canada in the direction of the us as quick as you could say “achtung!”. it’s our inferiority complex i suppose – the nagging sense all canadian children are raised with that somehow the us is infinitely more superior because they have more choices in their array of snack treats, television stations, and clothing brands. i certainly thought that as we drove down to bellingham twice a year to purchase new clothing and other consumer goods (before our dollar became so devalued it didn’t make economic sense to do that anymore), and watched the flashy us tv piped into our home once we got cable (so much more exciting than cbc!).

but i grew up to realize that like most commercially advertised products – the us was nothing more than bad off-the-shelf technology when it came to the things it promised. features exist for only those who can afford them, and security means giving up functionality.

it came home to me on sunday night when a friend (who works for the evil empire M$) and i were talking about incomes, and taxes and take-home pay. he makes $10,000 more than me a year, but our take home pay is exactly the same per cheque. this in a country with lower income taxes – how can that be? and of course it’s because less taxes = more user fees. he pays less taxes but because of a practially non-existent pension system he pays loads for his 401K, their social security system takes a much higher percentage of his pay per cheque (it’s not taxes though it’s still money going direct to the government), and his basic health-care contribution is far higher than mine for infinitely less service.

and this is the model that stephen harper would follow – less taxes, less services, more user-fees – more military, less rights, less social-welfare. oh yeah – and of course, less clean-air, less publically managed resources, more corporate control.

i thought we were better than this – i really did – that maybe we were smart enough to see the danger a man like harper represents to all of us…..

but like sheeple we are mesmerized by the shiny things presented by the corporation of the united states of america, and are destined to follow the path many americans now wish they could get off.

*sigh*