A Retrospective of Ibicasa Features

“Big Pharma” 12/2022
The large pharmaceutical companies are corporations, and by definition their only goal is to make money to enrich their executives and stockholders. The way that a corporation makes money is by having a steady stream of customers who pay for their goods or services. The ‘customers’ of Big Pharma are people who are ill and need to pay for pills and injections. So their goal is for us to be perpetually sick
 so that we buy their drugs every day for the rest of our lives. With regard to Covid, that meant taking endless booster shots, even though these ‘vaccines’ do not prevent either infection or trans- mission of the virus. 

Every day millions of competent, well-intentioned people go to work as doctors, nurses, researchers, hospital staff, etc.. The vast majority of them are dedicated to making life better for those who are ill, but unfortunately they are pawns in a corrupt system. It all comes down to the fact that caring for our health should not be based on how much profit can be made. Curing people is the exact opposite of Big Pharma’s business model. This is the insanity at the core of our health care system.
It’s time for us to do away with a system designed to manage sickness for profit, and move toward one that is dedicated to keeping us as healthy as possible, whilst healing those who become ill.

“Life After Covid” 6/2022
The worldwide efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19 had devastating effects on our health, livelihood, lifestyle, and perhaps most of all, our freedoms. The Covid restrictions created what Edward Snowden calls “The Architecture of Oppres- sion”. What he means is that getting us accustomed to a system of restrictions on our lives, sets the stage for more intrusive measures that will continually erode our freedoms. It took humanity thousands of years to evolve the civilizations that have given us our basic freedoms, but now we are in danger of losing them. Before Covid it was unthinkable that we could be forced to stay in our homes, wear a mask, carry special papers, etc., etc.. Yet during Covid these restrictions became commonplace. If we are to move forward to a better world then it is imperative that we are more vigilant in protecting our precious freedoms, because once they are relinquished it is extremely difficult to get them back.
“Nuclear Power” 10/2023
It is estimated that by 2040 global use of electricity will be double or triple what it is today. Where will all of this extra electric energy come from? Let’s look at the alternatives to get an idea of what is the best mix for providing reliable clean energy. The most important challenge facing both wind and solar is the problem
of intermittency. Solar energy is unsuitable for regions with limited sun exposure, and of course the sun does not shine at night. Wind energy is unpredictable
 as it can vary significantly. The intermittent nature of these two sources means that they need to be supported by a consistent source of power that will ensure a continuous and reliable flow of electricity. 

Nuclear power is a clean and efficient answer to the problem. It ran into a roadblock in 1986, as a result of the accident at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union. That was caused by a poorly designed old reactor which was mismanaged. Advanced reactor designs make modern nuclear plants much safer than their predecessors. An excellent example of modern nuclear energy safety is France, which for many years has gotten 70% of its electricity from nuclear plants, and has never had a serious accident. Perhaps it is time to reconsider whether modern nuclear energy might be the cleanest and best way to fill the inevitable gaps in the grid caused by wind and solar. 

“The Search for Truth” 2/2024 Freedom of the press is meant to guarantee that we have access to the truth of what is going on in the world. Freedom of speech protects those who are seeking to express that truth. These two values are at the very core of a free democratic society. Yet in recent years it has become more and more difficult to know where to find the truth. The traditional Mainstream Media (TV, newspapers, etc.) are still reliable for keeping us informed about urgent events: storms, earthquakes, plane crashes, etc.. But when it comes to real journalism that gives us unbiased facts, they have lost their way. Many people have turned to alternative sources, mostly on the internet. This has resulted in a renaissance of free speech and free journalism, but it is a double edged sword. The benefits of having a greater selection of sources for information, is offset by the fact that many of them are not credible.
The simple solution would be to ban any information that is intentionally false or malicious, but the problem with that is obvious: who gets the power to decide what is banned? If the government becomes the final arbiter of what can be said, then the most important aspect of free speech will be lost. It is no surprise that totalitarian governments of the past and present always cement their power with complete suppression of free speech and thought. At the end of the day, your best protection is your own common sense. Find sources that you trust, and always ask yourself this classic question: “Cui Bono” (who benefits). This means to be sceptical of information coming from any person or organization that stands to gain financially or otherwise from what they are saying. This basic rule applies to all areas of information, and it will help you information, and it will help you to find truth in the digital age. 

“Electric Cars” 6/2024
The European Parliament ap- proved a law to ban the sale
 of any new car that is not an electric vehicle (EV) by 2035. The ban includes petrol, diesel and hybrid cars. But the intended environmental benefits cannot be realized until we have fully transi- tioned to clean energy sources for electricity generation. Oth- erwise, the reduction in vehicle emissions will be offset by the increased pollution from the power plants needed to charge our cars. It is unrealistic to think that we will have a reliable sup- ply of clean energy to charge all of Europe’s 400 million cars in such a short time. So why are we rushing to make all vehicles 

electric, when there is a simple alternative that can achieve the same goals without the problems. That alternative is the dependable hybrid car that has been used successfully for decades. A hybrid car has both a petrol engine and an electric motor that work together. It automatically switches from one to the other based on the level of battery power. This gives it much greater fuel efficiency and less pollution than petrol cars. Most hybrids are selfcharging, so no need
 to build thousands of charging stations. This is not to say that EVs don’t have a place in our future, but perhaps they should be integrated into our lives with more patience. A gradual transition would allow the majority of drivers to switch from petrol to hybrid at a much lower cost-in both in money and convenience. 

“Artificial Intelligence” 8/2025
Two years ago in these pages (6/23) we explored how Artificial Intelligence (AI) had burst into prominence with Chat GPT. In that article we outlined the history of AI and looked into what the future might bring. Well, it has been only two years, but it looks like that future is almost upon us. Today’s most advanced AI systems are starting to approach what is called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) - the ability to understand, learn, and apply knowledge across a wide range of tasks. When AGI is fully developed – meaning an AI system that can understand, learn, and perform any intellectual task a human can – then most jobs involving cognitive labour will be at risk. Where is this all heading? Who knows? Will AI be a wonderful tool that makes our lives more interesting and productive, or will it rob our societies of their humanity? The ultimate dystopian nightmare sees AGI becoming so autonomous that it develops the “human” capabilities of scheming and deception. It could then rewrite its own code and take over the world. I would like to think that this is not possible, yet our governments and the big tech companies are going full  speed ahead with few guard rails. By continuing to move toward reliance on AGI systems that handle most of our cognitive tasks, we could risk losing much of what makes our lives human. This does not seem like a good idea to me. What do you think?