dougabaird@earthlink.net

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – Whole Human Replacement Parts

As Artificial Intelligence looms larger and larger, overshadowing humanity, there is one clear result — nothing is being done to protect us. The actuality of human displacement has been met, not with protections or retraining programs, but with indifference and vague assurances of new jobs in the future. There’s not even a mention of what country those jobs will be in.

There is an old joke in which a corporate “tycoon” vacationing in a small fishing village instructs a skilled fisherman on the steps he can take to become rich so he can retire and enjoy life. The fisherman responds by asking “Why? I’m doing that right now.”

We could have a simpler and much more fulfilling life with all the latest technology, but then where would the “tycoons” be?

The once independent rural community I live in has been taken over by an affluent suburban pastiche of incomers. They recently pushed through a 300 page Comprehensive Plan whose most influential writer stated that she didn’t think the rural people “deserved to live there.”

There won’t be any “fishing villages” in their Cornithaca County!

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – Do•Doctrine Nail Art Advertisement

It’s a common occurrence in satire to question whether something is actually satirical or not. Since the Cornithaca County book is intended to challenge the reader, I have tried not to give even that solid ground. Some parts are obviously outrageous and others quite “sensible.” It’s easy today to only connect with the people and sites that reinforce your beliefs and not be exposed to different ways of viewing the world. Thinking and learning can be uncomfortable, but there’s a comfort in realizing you are part of a larger world than you ever knew existed.

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – Back to School – “The Gift of Grab”

Have you ever gotten those large, bulging envelopes from charitable fund raisers and wondered who is paying for all the printed enclosures, the cards, address labels, pens, t-shirts, ornaments, personalized note pads and attention-getters they contain?

Do you wait in a long line at the only open check-out counter, only to be publicly questioned about your charitable intentions so the store’s owners can brag about how generous they are?

Non-profits are increasingly using aggressive and psychologically manipulative means to enrich themselves; and why not? — Since they are “good” by definition; every act is cleansed. Cornithaca County’s Corporate-Educational-Non-profit- Bureaucrat-Conglomerate is more that “good” by their own definition; they’re “better.”

And if you’re “better,” what acts can’t you justify?

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – Back to School – “The TMDL Theory”

Another structured lesson for students. Government authorities have traditionally claimed to aim at perfection and have fallen far short. You can imagine how far short they’ve fallen when they only strive to reach adequacy — or you could take a look around and not have to imagine.

You know you live in Cornithaca County when they don’t fix the problem, just change the definition.

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – Back to School – The “Lossy” Society

Since learning of my Family Farm Fun book being used for home schooling in Agricultural Pollution and Rural Justice topics, I decided to consciously add structured lessons to the content of this book. I hope that they will encourage the imaginative and creative thought that has [except for lip service] been removed from the classroom.

Is this an example of the “Lossy” Society?

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – “Map Maze”

Like the “Stone Monuments” Maze, this maze is just for fun and has no connection to the Cornithaca County agenda of the book. It’s one of the places set aside for the reader to relax. The solution has been added to this image. In this book, as in the Family Farm Fun book, the solutions to all the puzzles and mazes will be given in the back.

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – “The Myth of Responsible Science”

In a time of “doing good by definition,” it’s important to look behind the bureaucratic billboards and see what their “vision of the future” is actually like. Non-profits are defined as “good” [even if 80% of the donations are siphoned off before they trickle down to the needy] and so is “Science.”

Why is it that so many professions that deal in cold hard cash and cold hard facts are now cloaking themselves in compassion and concern?

The answer is revealed in Cornithaca County.

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – “The Myth of Science” again and again

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – “The Myth of Science #2”

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – “The Myth of Science #3”

Every new advancement seems to promise freedom, and deliver conformity. In Cornithaca County, everyone is busy — busy conforming.

When computer programs for publishing were first becoming popular commercially, designers were be able to tell which program was used for a publication because each one “channeled” the design into a recognizable form.

The channeling of today’s devices and apps can be just as controlling, and more insidious, than any totalitarian government.

Take some time to examine what’s happening to you — if you’re not too busy.

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – “The Myth of Science”

Is Science right?

When the practice is as simple as giving someone food, Science creates Industrial Farming; releasing Genetically Modified Organisms and Cancer causing pesticides in a doomed-to-failure “I’m bigger than you!” race with overpopulation — while at the same time destroying the arable land, polluting the fishable waters, and accelerating global warming seasonal changes that are decimating the crops much of the world has relied upon for thousands of years.

The real question may be: “Is Science rational?”

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – “Ruler of All You Survey”

In Cornithaca County; the “puppet show” never stops, and the theme is usually Public Participation. The elite conduct public surveys on the county’s “needs” — needs that have already been decided before the survey questions were ever were made up.

The survey results gain legitimacy from a list of “interested parties” [although who they are or how to get on this list is a mystery] and school children [under the guidance of their teacher/authority figure]. While the children are too young by law to be entrusted with mature decision making, their teacher can instruct them on how they should decide the county’s future policies. Input from the county’s adult taxpaying residents is not actively solicited.

While the areas of policy involved may differ — every decision gives Cornithaca County’s elite more power, more money, and more control over the lives of others.