Counterfeit Bus Tickets

The OC Transpo strike is over. Ottawa is moving again. If it still takes you three hours longer than usual to get to work, you need to buy a new car; it's not the traffic.

Besides the new HUGE tickets (What did they do? Hire blind drivers?), something new, at least to me, is the rumour of counterfeit bus tickets.

Is this people's way of exacting revenge on OC Transpo for the inconvenience they suffered during the strike? That's the only way I can think to explain it, since it's likely more expensive to produce fakes than to buy real tickets.

Maybe it's the rush of getting away with it, I don't know. But come on, people; it's not like you just robbed a major bank. If you need to feel like you're a rebel, stick to your virtual video game worlds.

HPV Vaccine- More Info

I found a very good site when it comes to researching the lesser-broadcast dangers of vaccines. It should be noted that it is extraordinarily pessimistic, however they bring up valid points. Here is the page on the HPV vaccine I wrote on earlier:
http://www.vran.org/vaccines/hpv/hpv.htm

The Flu Shot: Useless

Here's an interesting tidbit: the flu shot this year does not actually protect against the flu.

As I explained earlier, because the flu is a virus that changes and mutates, a new vaccine must be put out each year to be effective against the current flu. Well, when the next year's flu shot is being developed, it's more or less educated guesswork. This year's flu shot was guessed wrong. It does not protect against the current strain at all. It stops a very rare form of the flu that is barely prevalent and not a concern.

If you've had the shot this year, don't panic, it's not harming you; it just isn't helping you. So the moral of the story is, wash your hands and drink your orange juice!

More general info on this vaccine: http://www.medicalconsumers.org/pages/FluVaccineisRarelyEffective.html

Skipping: In High School, It Doesn't Mean Jump Rope

In high school, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who has never skipped a class by the end of the four years. I'm sure there are some, but it seems like these are an endangered species.

Some reasons I've heard for skipping:

• Issues with teachers; meaning, strict teachers, conflicts between students and teachers, etc.
• Incomplete homework, or a presentation of some sort that the student is unprepared for. Often, In group projects, one person of the group volunteers or is elected to take one for the team and save the rest by skipping the class.
• Other homework. I know a lot of people who will skip a "less important" class to study for a test or do homework.
• Study hall or supply teachers. The rationale behind this excuse is that nothing useful will be taught during that period anyhow. Work periods are also included in this. When asked, the student will probably say, "Well, it's just (fill in the blank)."
• Pure laziness, carelessness, or other plans. By "other plans" I am not referring to valid reasons such as doctor's appointments. I mean, "Yo, we're all skippin' English, gonna go play Rockstar at Jeremy's; you in?"

I'm sure there are more, but those are the main ones. I am not a skipper by nature, I have a theory that my conscience is about 12 times the size of the average person's. However, I have skipped a handful of study halls after convincing myself that they weren't really useful.

And maybe there are some times where skipping can be seriously justified; I don't know. How does one judge that? But I do think that there is a lot of excessive skipping, and it is problematic.

My two main issues with chronic skipping are lack of respect for authority figures, and lack of work ethic/selfishness.

Your teacher has chosen to condemn themselves to be in a classroom everyday for a career, to help teenagers grow, to teach. Maybe you don't feel they really care, and maybe they aren't passionate about their job. However, think of the term "high school career." If high school is your work place, where we work to earn grades rather than money, then your teachers are your superiors, and as such, you must respect them. Skipping is blatant disrespect. You may as well say, "I do not care about your class. The information you are passing on to me means nothing. I don't have to listen to you."

And in this way, the issue of disrespect links to the issue of self-centered attitudes and terrible work ethic. What happens when we graduate and take this mind frame with us into the work force? When we "enter the real world," as we are so often told?

We get unreliable employees who call in sick just because they would rather stay in for a day, who aren't committed to their jobs, who expect everything to land in their laps, who produce very little. What started with skipping French, ended with a less than motivating dead end job, that you are probably at risk to lose.

If you must take it selfishly, you're not doing yourself any favours.

"Do You Want to Choose the Gender of Your Next Baby?"

Apparently in vitro clinics in the US have started advertising something new: gender selection. Now, I don't know very much about the process behind it, but no matter how it's performed, I have definite issues with the concept.
First of all, this could create gender ratio inequalities like what we're seeing in India (see http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/gender/gender_india.html for some more information on this). Which obviously in turn causes all kinds of other issues.

But even more, unconditional love, acceptance,and affection are crucial in a child's development. Would it really be unconditional love if it's basically a mail-order baby? Having kids is not about satisfying parental desires; if you are fit to be a parent then you will care for any child you have regardless of gender or other physical aspects. And what about sexism? There is already a definite preference for boys requested through this gender selection.

At least one clinic is even offering selection of hair colour, eye colour, and even skin colour (Is this ringing the racism bell, anyone? The sexism bell should already be pounding loud).

Why are we accepting this? Check out this excerpt from http://www.gene-watch.org/genewatch/articles/17-1darnovsky.html :

"Recent trends in consumer culture may warm prospective parents to such offers. We have become increasingly accepting of — if not enthusiastic about — “enhancements” of appearance (think face-lifts, collagen and Botox injections, and surgery to reshape women’s feet for stiletto heels) and adjustments of behavior (anti-depressants, Viagra, and the like). These drugs and procedures were initially developed for therapeutic uses, but are now being marketed and normalized in disturbing ways."

We have been lulled into accepting this kind of thinking, placing conditional value on human beings. It's a scary place to be, ladies and gentlemen.