Definitely sparked some paranoid interest in the blog, after posting about one of the software titles offered by Maximus. First, they said I was completely insane, then, that I was just crazy. The third post from the same person goes into a long dissertation about everything EXCEPT about what my post was about. So… might as well read his comments, although it tries to have nothing to do with the subject of takeover of our lives by large corporations, that are ostensibly the ones running the government through lobby groups and no bid contracts.
First off: “Google notified me of your blog on a hit of the keyword ‘JailView’†so they must be wondering about what people are saying about them by using the Google service. Then comes “I’m your average Joe†and some Mom and apple pie talk, and then oddly about identity theft and how we’re all alike etc. along with a bit of nudge trying to be my pal as a fellow programmer.
Then, there is a long dissertation about what the software does: “Lots of players, but most business is transfer business: a customer dropping one carrier for another. That’s the way it is with jail management software.†It’s so sad hearing these people; considered being in a country with about the highest incarceration rates in the world talk about locking people up and high crime rates as “just businessâ€. Of course the jail software is touted to put people through the system faster, quicker access to justice and all that. But we’ve all seen that justice is more about who you are, who you know, and how much money you can dig up. JailView just helps the system along by being a cog of the system.
And on… a rant from him that I suppose is trying to paint me as some sort of conspiracy theorist, but comes off sounding more like he’s trying to defend himself. Too bad he doesn’t have his facts straight, “when you’re incarcerated, you are charged with an offense that becomes a matter of public record.†Except that doesn’t happen, ask Mr Arar or Hossam Shaltout or someone like Gail Davidson trying to prosecute Bush for war crimes.
Amazing how these people can try to twist your words around: “There is no evil Orwell at MAXIMUS writing evil code in JailView for the evil US government.†At no time did I ever mention the word evil, but this fellow seems to think so as he has words like “hidden evil agendas†etc. sprinkled about liberally. There is nothing hidden about it, it’s all right there on the Maximus web site showing who their clients are and the software and services they sell.
“Management consulting Services for government including financial services including revenue maximization & cost allocation, systems planning & monitoring, child welfare, education, asset management and general consulting†and “More than 1,400 school districts, some 50 airports, in excess of 160 courts, and more than 100 of the nation’s leading colleges and universities utilize MAXIMUS products. Additionally, multiple agencies and departments of the Federal government rely upon our products.â€
That sounds like one of the many corporations that I consider to be a “false front for the US government†that specializes in working for the government. And how he ever got that phrase to making that into the government is spying on everyone is beyond me, except maybe it’s a typical government spin where the opposite of what they say is true. I mean he says right there in his comment that “the idea that JailView … to control or monitor personal information is not only false†then goes on to say that the software will “assist the jail staff in maintaining order and successfully treat those incarceratedâ€.
Also odd he mentions: “There’s no hidden stealing of private information going on here†when there is nothing being stolen that I know of. It’s right out there in the open once it’s in the hands of a US company and under the control of the Patriot Acts.
The self-effacing humor is odd too, picking out that I said that JailView was an arm of the company and trying to make it sound like jeez, we’re just six guys here writing code and don’t know anything about what mothercorp does and we’re not really part of that big thing that really isn’t that big. If you are looking to invest though, they would like to tell you a different story to go along with their 25% CAGR Revenue Growth Rate: “revenue to $519 million in fiscal 2002 with over 4,000 contracts in all 50 states. In recent years, the Company has expanded its presence into international markets including Canada, and Australia.â€.
So there you have it; as the topic of my post was how the resources and jobs of this Province are being outsourced to private US companies, think my point has been made.
I also imho think this knee jerk, blue blooded, apple pie and Mom all-american style response from “Billy†is all too representative of what is wrong with a lot of people in the USA today. The obedience to the god of capitalism allows them to completely overlook that what they may be doing is actually hurting themselves. They would be a lot better off dealing with the problem of so many people in jail and things like their government overlooking and even condoning torture (it’s called ‘rendition’ now-a-days), by working on the underlying reasons, instead of reacting to the consequences of the out of control US government and media and making money on it. Creating software to allow big companies to make big money from big governments is just not my cup of tea, it’s amazing that a little blog from some other country can raise the hackles so easy.
