01-11-2024, 01:35 AM
Auld Lang Syne, 2023
Treading water in an Orwellian Tsunami
Donald Jeffries
Dec 30, 2023
As I’ve mentioned, I hate goodbyes. Of any kind. Finality terrifies me. Thus, because New Year’s Eve focuses on what is essentially the death of a year, and celebrates the birth of a new one, it’s probably not surprising that I am always depressed at this time. Especially since for the 35th year or so in a row, I won’t be invited to any parties.
I used to look forward to New Year’s Eve. I went to some great New Year’s Eve parties, back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ones where you didn’t feel embarrassed about getting uproariously drunk, because everyone was uproariously drunk. When midnight hit, I thrilled at kissing every female at the party. I mean real, French kisses. It was exciting. I can’t picture such a thing happening in America 2.0. I guess it was the times, but I never had any girl protest, or hesitate in the least when I drunkenly shouted, “Happy New Year!” before embracing them, Clark Gable style. I wasn’t that irresistible. I was turned down plenty when asking girls to dance. New Year’s Eve midnight kissing was an expected custom that everyone followed, like Eskimos providing visitors with their wives to sleep with.
I looked forward to New Year’s Eve, even after the petite nurse I’d been dating told me, in a conversation on the front lawn of a party during a rainstorm, that she wanted to date my best friend. New Year’s Eve 1978. Happy New Year to me. It inspired me to write a few more self-pitying songs and poems. But there weren’t many more memorable New Year’s Eve parties after that one. People I knew were becoming involved in serious relationships, including me. You tend to be less understanding of all that kissing and flirting going on, when you’re committed to one person. My wife and I had fun on New Year’s Eve throughout the 1980s, but it wasn’t quite the same.
I quit smoking cigarettes in January, 1989. My wife was pregnant with our first child, and had quit smoking herself. She told me I could keep smoking, but not in the house. Since my workplace had just started banning smoking inside the facility, I figured the writing was on the wall. I always claimed I would stop smoking at age thirty. I was thirty two, so I came pretty close. I still recall grinding out my last cigarette, while watching the Morton Downey Show, which was experiencing its fifteen minutes of fame. After that, if I tried to drink any alcohol, my urge to smoke increased dramatically. Any smoker will tell you that for some reason, drinking alcohol makes you smoke a lot more. So I stopped drinking, too. Nobody likes a sober party animal.
So from that moment on, New Year’s Eve became something I stopped looking forward to. It’s not the same thing, watching the ball drop in Times Square, with a few family members in your recreation room. No strange drunken women to kiss. And with sobriety, at least for me, comes the realization that each year brings me closer to the end of the line. Although I feel the same as I did when I was fourteen, and some would say I still have an adolescent emotional level, I can’t ignore the numbers. Even if I don’t see the aging process clearly in the mirror, I can see everyone else around me getting older. It’s scary, and each New Year drums home the reality.
I think of my brother even more on New Year’s Eve. He would get so psyched up about the yearly Twilight Zone marathon on the sci-fi channel. He’d ask me which ones I had watched (for the zillionth time), and talk about the ones he’d seen. That classic television show was one of the few things that could hold his interest. Ricky would invariably call me, exactly at midnight, before I’d had a chance to eat the dozen grapes my wife insists we eat for good luck. I was ready to get angry at him, as usual, when he called on his last New Year’s Eve, but thankfully my wife calmed me down a bit before I picked up the phone. I’m sure I was still too abrupt with him, but her advice helped assuage the guilt I felt when he died twenty days later.
I think of all the ones who won’t be here in 2024. Not just Ricky, who will be gone two years on January 20. But people like Tae Kim, or as we all called him, Mr. Kim. I was shocked to learn last week that he had died two years ago. Mr. Kim worked with me in IT for over twenty years. I grew to love him, even though he had no concept of the technology- we would joke that he seemed to think there were tiny men inside the computers. He used to bring his mail into work, and have me look at it. He didn’t understand a lot of things, and was too proud for his wife and children to know that. I was happy to help him, and started calling myself his number three son. He was in incredible shape- still playing soccer at age eighty. I can only assume he went into the hospital like my brother, and was killed by COVID protocol. No other explanation.
Ever since 2020, when the Greatest Psyop in the History of the World began, the subsequent years blend together, in some kind of Orwellian haze. Remember when all the memes joked about everyone being anxious for 2020 to end? So that things would return to “normal?” 2021, 2022, and 2023 have been progressively worse. So many ugly earmarks of tyranny are now ingrained in our rigged system. The Alex Jones and Donald Trump show trials are setting precedents to prosecute any and every Thought Criminal left in the land. Most Americans accept that there is “hate speech,” and that Hate Speakers should be prosecuted. First they were subject to public ridicule, then the loss of their job, and now to the long arm of our ludicrous “law.”
Millions agree that “misinformation” and “disinformation” must be combated. Not by renegade historians like me, but by the authoritarian leaders who promote it continuously. So anyone who questions authority is now promoting “disinformation” or “misinformation.” I’m not sure of the distinction between the terms, but both are now serious offenses. Unlike violent crime, which is largely being overlooked by the same “Woke” prosecutors who want to throw the book at dissenting enemies of the corrupt state. What one thinks or says now is far more important than what they do. The political beliefs of the J6 prisoners are why they are being subjected to such cruel and unusual punishment. And why the BLM rioters aren’t.
The major events of 2023 get quickly forgotten. For example, the curious fires in Hawaii. You know, with the mayor that was also the police chief. And allegations that police were stopping people from moving to safety. That’s yesterday’s news, like the Titanic submersible and the Chinese spy balloon. Or the environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. The last I heard, the water and wildlife had been poisoned. Ask Greta Thunberg about that. Yet another unfairly convicted defendant was just released from prison after serving nearly fifty years for a crime he was finally proven not to have committed. He was Black, for what it’s worth. That’s usually of crucial importance in America 2.0, but it didn’t garner any outrage from the usual suspects. Where was Al Sharpton? Or the Congressional Black Caucus?
2023 saw the interesting presidential candidacies of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Vivek Ramaswamy. RFK Jr. lost a lot of credibility by his wildly over the top crush on the state of Israel. His enthusiasm didn’t wane, even with the monstrously disproportionate attacks on the Palestinians after the dubious events of October 7. Now he’s pretty much disappeared. Vivek has been mostly very impressive, but again just can’t quite pull the trigger on hearty, justifiable criticism of Israel. But he is more even-handed than the rest, and he had my book Hidden History on the bookshelf behind him during his interview with Alex Jones. How could I not like that?
So we’re left with the likes of Nikki Haley, who should theoretically have been pressured out of the race after her recent rambling response to the question of what caused the Civil War. Her answer was closer to the truth than I would ever have anticipated, but she made the cardinal mistake of not shouting “Slavery- of course!” in a millisecond. She has, naturally, issued the standard apology. Unlike all the hapless White men over the past fifty years or so, she isn’t being “cancelled.” The establishment would love to have neocon Nikki as the Stupid Party nominee. For the real story on our Civil War, read my book Crimes and Cover-Ups in American Politics: 1776-1963. History is always written by the victors.
Who knows what they have planned politically for 2024? Will the barely functioning Joe Biden be cast aside? Will it be Michelle Obama to the rescue? Why would any Republicans vote at this point? In most districts and states, they are given horrific RINOs as the option to the tyrannical “Woke” Democrat. And the strong indications of massive fraud from both the 2020 and 2022 elections remain unaddressed. In fact, former President Trump is being prosecuted for complaining about it. It’s only Trump, so why worry? It’s not like they’d ever prosecute an average citizen for complaining about the vote. Give them sentences of up to twenty two years. Hold them behind bars, in solitary confinement, and deny them all due process.
We’ll be treated to some kind of fear porn daily in 2024. Reports that an asteroid could come perilously close to Earth. More predictions of World War III, from both the state controlled media and alternative voices on the internet. Ominous declarations about a deadly new “variant” of the never ending COVID virus. An inordinate number of people will die, including celebrities. Most often, no cause will be listed. Doctors will be baffled. The Sheeple will continue to get jabbed, as often as the corrupt authorities produce the newest “booster” shot. More Americans will support censorship and selective prosecution of dissenting Thought Criminals. Amazon will continue to block reviews of Masking the Truth. I will continue to be shadow banned.
If you watch my weekly live streaming podcast, with the same “I Protest” name (and if not, why aren’t you watching?), you’ve seen my interviews with everyday people caught up in municipal corruption. The system is rotten from top to bottom. I’ve talked with parents whose children have been stolen by Child Protective Services and local law enforcement, including Meghan Walsh, daughter of America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh. We’ve focused on the victims who’ve been unfairly and unjustly treated by the family court system. You’ve seen some of the victims of January 6, including Ashli Babbitt’s mother Micki Witthoeft, who made a return appearance on my show just last Friday. The rabbit hole gets deeper every year in America 2.0.
I will make New Year’s resolutions, as I routinely do. Like most people, I rarely succeed in keeping them. I will vow to not let traffic anger me any more. I know it’s stupid and pointless to get angry at the way others drive, or the way the stoplights are seemingly configured to create the most traffic possible. I’ll vow to stop getting upset at NFL games. I only care about them because I still incomprehensibly play fantasy football. I was one of the first to call sporting events fixed, back in the 1970s, so I know these are rigged games, for the entertainment and control of the masses. Bread and circuses, with lots of diversity. The NCAA, the NFL, the NBA, MLB, are all hopelessly corrupt. And each adhere to the same anti-White agenda all institutions do in America 2.0. The Great Replacement. I guess I’m like a heroin addict.
Sugar, like sports, has been a staple in my life since childhood. I will try to cut down on sweets. Ice cream. Cookies. Sugar. Trail mix with lots of dark chocolate. Really, sugar is my only vice at this point. I was an obese child, as I’ve mentioned. There was no “fat acceptance” then. Just scorn from everyone. So I lost weight at age fourteen, and weigh basically the same now as when I was in high school. And that’s with eating sweets regularly and drinking very sweet tea. I have embarrassed my daughter many times in restaurants by telling the server, “You can’t make it too sweet.” Since sugar cane is a natural substance, I feel the negative information about it has been largely overblown. I said the same thing about salt, which they’ve now admitted they were wrong about. Still, I need to consume less of it.
2024 seems surreal to me. I was born in 1956. That’s a long time ago. Where are all the cool futuristic inventions- the flying Jetsons’ cars? The amazing human life extension? So many of my friends have passed on, gone before their time. Victims of a medical establishment that has overseen the decrease of life expectancy rates in this country. Because of the fact I was born so late in life, I am strongly connected to the distant past. The only grandparent I knew, my father’s mother, was born in 1893. My mother’s father was born in 1874. If my parents were alive today, they would be 113 and 111. I knew people born in the nineteenth century. We are now living in the nightmarish twenty first century. I don’t seem old enough for that.
I think about time more than ever on New Year’s Eve. The calendar rules us all. I often wonder what would happen if there were no trappings of time around us. No clocks. No birthday cakes. No New Year’s Eve celebrations. Would we age differently then? Do we age because we think we’re supposed to? Do we age because we see others aging? Many of those closest to my heart have left this vale of tears. My parents. My brother Ricky. Some of the best friends I ever had; Joe Burton, Dave Campbell, John Harmon, Mark Costello. And those are just the ones I know of. I didn’t hear about Mr. Kim’s death until two years later. Co-workers and fellow students are easily forgotten. I refuse to check the obituaries daily, as many my age do. I don’t really want to know.
I look at my dog. The lovely golden retriever Riley. She’s eleven now. Which is seventy seven in human years. I can do the math. When we had to put our last dog, TJ, down, I couldn’t go into the room. My wife, who has always been emotionally stronger, stayed with him. I walked outside and wept. I was not nearly as close to TJ, or our first dog Dino, as I am to Riley. Riley is a bigger part of my life than anyone else at this point. She’s always there. Lying down in front of the computer while I do my show. Bugging me to take her on one of her countless daily “Riley walks.” Demanding my human food. I can see time moving far more rapidly on Riley. Yesterday she was a mischievous puppy. Now she’s an old lady. I try hard not to think about it.
It will probably be just my wife, my son, and I on New Year’s Eve. My daughter will surely be busy doing something far more exciting. I still hope for an invite somewhere, but it never comes. I’m probably not nearly as fun a party guest as I once was. And my radical views are hardly welcome in polite society. I don’t know that people give big New Year’s Eve parties any more. It’s not like I see evidence of them in my neighborhood, and ruminate over why we weren’t invited. They may be just another relic from America 1.0. Kissing the wrong woman at midnight now might bring a lawsuit. Which you would undoubtedly lose, in our corrupt courtrooms.
I am incurably nostalgic. I tend to recall the past through rose-colored glasses. My love of history was probably instilled in me by my mother. She wasn’t interested in American or world history, but she regaled me with tales from her own childhood. She painted some colorful pictures. Because of this, I remain especially attracted to that era, the Roaring Twenties. Those Flappers were babes. I think it’s important to know your family history. I’ve conducted as much research as I could on my own roots. I’m fascinated by time travel because I’d love to visit the past. Not the future. That would be terrifying. As Santayana said, those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. With each passing year, we move further away from distant history.
My mindset is still stuck in the twentieth century. So 2024 seems far in the future. We are more than a century removed from the birth of John F. Kennedy. And nearly a century from the assassination of my hero Huey Long. The only grandparent I knew died fifty five years ago. We are deep into the timeline. I don’t accept, or adapt very well to change. Since life is constantly changing, I am constantly stressed. Turning the page to a new year exacerbates that. I’ll be watching Twilight Zone episodes I’ve seen many times before. And thinking about my brother while doing so. Eating hors d’oeuvres. But not consuming alcohol. Here’s a toast to each and every one of you, for your interest and your greatly appreciated support.
Annette
Dec 30, 2023
Liked by Donald Jeffries
The thoughts expressed in this post mirror my own in many ways. I was born in 1956 too. Long gone are the people I used to think were my friends. Evidently I was too outspoken on social media during the 2014 IDF wholesale slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. I had previously been blissfully unaware of the sad plight of these people, and the newfound awareness shocked me to my core. How naive I was. I used to think that most people were better than they actually are. If only they knew the truth and shared it with others maybe the horror could be stopped somehow. Silly me.
Christmas was spent with my two sisters and their husband's (I'm single with no kids, a product of the sex, drugs and rock n roll revolution unfortunately). I had to be careful to keep my mouth shut as they talked about getting "covid" over and over again despite being "vaccinated" and wearing a mask on the plane, and the grand kids getting sick for weeks on end. I had tried to warn them early on to please not take the injections. It didnt go over well at the time. So nowadays I stay silent when the topic comes up to keep the peace. At any rate, I was grateful to still have them in my life and to be able to spend the day with them.
All my best to you and my fellow Don Jeffries Substack readers in the coming year. May we all weather whatever lies ahead with grace and humor as best we can.
Eveohtse-heomese
Dec 30, 2023
Liked by Donald Jeffries
Happy New Year my ass, it’s an election year so it will be wrought with a sh*t storm of stupid….
2023 was worse than 2020, because another year went by and people are still going about as mouth breathers, one upping their neighbors, wearing masks, still boosting up (still testing apparently, for fucks sake) and nothing came of the tyrants deeds, just a slow march to the black swan event they throw in our faces, that they know is coming. Another year closer to the end of the sh*t hole, the United States of Tyranny and globo-psycho too, we can only hope.
Congrats on quitting alcohol Don, and smoking too. Haven’t been to a party in 10 years, don’t miss them at all, I can’t stand the average people we are forced to share our spaces with. I apologize for the loss of your brother, mine died many years ago now, he was 35, so it still sucks, he was my best guy friend.
https://donaldjeffries.substack.com/p/au...-syne-2023
A Preview of Things to Come
By eric
December 30, 2023
It will be 2024 soon and that means we’re only one calendar year away from the 2026 model year. That is the decreed-upon year when all new cars sold in this country must have “impaired driver” detection and pre-emption “technology.” Meaning, “technology” that monitors driver performance – the actual wording used in the decree, as opposed to the language used to market the decree as being a measure to prevent “drunks” from driving (and never mind that, per the decree, everyone who drives is to be presumed “drunk” until he proves otherwise, to the car, as he drives it) and takes action when a driver’s performance falls outside allowable parameters.
Elements of this “technology” are already embedded in many 2024 (and 2023) model vehicles and I thought you might like a preview of them – which I can offer, having driven (as a car journalist who gets to test drive them) many 2023 and 2024 vehicles that already monitor your “performance” as a “driver.”
Actually, they don’t do that. They scold – and correct – certain driver behavior/actions. It’s a distinction of some importance, because of the deception. Your “performance” as a driver is not what’s to be monitored and corrected.
It is your obedience.
For instance: Almost all cars sold in 2023 and 2024 have a system that can tell whether you have used a turn signal before making a lane change that will proceed to correct your attempt to change lanes if you haven’t signaled first, by electronically trying to steer the car back into the lane you’re trying to leave for the one adjacent. This is marketed as Lane Keep Assistance Technology. The premise being you require “assistance.”
The fact being the car’s programming objects to your disobedient exercise of judgment.
The law says a driver must always signal when changing lanes. The law also says a driver must always come to a complete stop at every stop sign. In neither case is it always necessary and it is sometimes just mindlessly obedient to do it. Why stop completely – robotically – at every stop sign, even where it’s clear there is no reason to, other than it being “the law”? It wastes gas by losing momentum(which must then be recovered, using more gas (and charge, if you are an EV driver) and it increases wear and tear on the car.
But the main thing is, it’s just mindlessly obedient to mindlessly obey every traffic regulation to the letter. Such mindlessness discourages the paying of attention, the evaluation of each driving situation and then responding in a rational/reasonable and mindful way to the situation.
That, of course, is not what is wanted. Mindfulness is the last thing wanted. It is what “driver performance technology” is meant to punish.
This will be done via more than just “assistance.”
For instance, the “drowsy driver” technology that is embedded in the 2024 model I’m test driving this week. I was out for a drive in it yesterday and not the least bit drowsy, having already had several cups of very strong coffee. Apparently, the car does not have caffeine sensing “technology” (though that is probably coming; can’t have drivers behind the wheel who might be twitchy).
Anyhow, a box kept popping up in the instrument cluster – they’re mostly LCD displays now and what they display is only incidentally instrumental – electronically pestering me to “keep my eyes on the road.” Which of course I had been doing – else I’d have left the road, probably. But I do tend to look around me as I drive, so as to maintain a picture of what’s going on around me as I drive. This, apparently, deviates from the parameters of “driver performance” programmed into the system. It wants me to look only where it thinks I ought to be looking. And it watches me, to make sure I do.
It did not matter that my performance as a driver was within parameters – in that I did not leave the road or even wander across the median line. The car demanded obedience to its programming parameters.
These demands are toothless – for now – in that all the car could do at the moment was scold me via the flashing box (and chime). Of a piece with the annoying chimes (more like buzzers) that electronically needle you to “buckle up” – even for a drive down to your mailbox, because saaaaaaaaaaaafety first!
More accurately, conditioning first.
The seatbelt buzzer is designed to make it so annoying to drive “unbuckled” – even down your driveway, to the mailbox – that you will automatically (and mindlessly) “buckle up” as soon as you sit down. Good doggie! Your exercise of judgment is very much not wanted. What is wanted is for you to get used to doing as you’re told – just because you were told. Like a good doggie. It is of a piece with getting people used to queuing up to take off their shoes and holdup their arms (while a government goon runs his hands up and down their legs and probes the perimeter of their crotches). After awhile, this training becomes routine and people just expect it and go along with it because it has been normalized.
Ask any dog trainer.
The training will also include the necessary correction, of course. In the “drowsy driver” example described above, it will likely come in the form of an automatic adjustment of the amount of money the insurance mafia you’re forced to do “business” with can (and will) automatically debit from your Central Bank Digital Currency account as punishment for your disobedience. Which of course will be characterized as poor “driver performance,” which will be conflated with unsafe driving.
Just the same as not wearing a “mask” was conflated with spreading plague (never mind that you didn’t have it and never mind that the “mask” prevented no one from getting it).
What matters, uber alles, is obedience.
And that is what they really mean when they talk about “driver performance.”
https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2023/12/...s-to-come/
Treading water in an Orwellian Tsunami
Donald Jeffries
Dec 30, 2023
As I’ve mentioned, I hate goodbyes. Of any kind. Finality terrifies me. Thus, because New Year’s Eve focuses on what is essentially the death of a year, and celebrates the birth of a new one, it’s probably not surprising that I am always depressed at this time. Especially since for the 35th year or so in a row, I won’t be invited to any parties.
I used to look forward to New Year’s Eve. I went to some great New Year’s Eve parties, back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ones where you didn’t feel embarrassed about getting uproariously drunk, because everyone was uproariously drunk. When midnight hit, I thrilled at kissing every female at the party. I mean real, French kisses. It was exciting. I can’t picture such a thing happening in America 2.0. I guess it was the times, but I never had any girl protest, or hesitate in the least when I drunkenly shouted, “Happy New Year!” before embracing them, Clark Gable style. I wasn’t that irresistible. I was turned down plenty when asking girls to dance. New Year’s Eve midnight kissing was an expected custom that everyone followed, like Eskimos providing visitors with their wives to sleep with.
I looked forward to New Year’s Eve, even after the petite nurse I’d been dating told me, in a conversation on the front lawn of a party during a rainstorm, that she wanted to date my best friend. New Year’s Eve 1978. Happy New Year to me. It inspired me to write a few more self-pitying songs and poems. But there weren’t many more memorable New Year’s Eve parties after that one. People I knew were becoming involved in serious relationships, including me. You tend to be less understanding of all that kissing and flirting going on, when you’re committed to one person. My wife and I had fun on New Year’s Eve throughout the 1980s, but it wasn’t quite the same.
I quit smoking cigarettes in January, 1989. My wife was pregnant with our first child, and had quit smoking herself. She told me I could keep smoking, but not in the house. Since my workplace had just started banning smoking inside the facility, I figured the writing was on the wall. I always claimed I would stop smoking at age thirty. I was thirty two, so I came pretty close. I still recall grinding out my last cigarette, while watching the Morton Downey Show, which was experiencing its fifteen minutes of fame. After that, if I tried to drink any alcohol, my urge to smoke increased dramatically. Any smoker will tell you that for some reason, drinking alcohol makes you smoke a lot more. So I stopped drinking, too. Nobody likes a sober party animal.
So from that moment on, New Year’s Eve became something I stopped looking forward to. It’s not the same thing, watching the ball drop in Times Square, with a few family members in your recreation room. No strange drunken women to kiss. And with sobriety, at least for me, comes the realization that each year brings me closer to the end of the line. Although I feel the same as I did when I was fourteen, and some would say I still have an adolescent emotional level, I can’t ignore the numbers. Even if I don’t see the aging process clearly in the mirror, I can see everyone else around me getting older. It’s scary, and each New Year drums home the reality.
I think of my brother even more on New Year’s Eve. He would get so psyched up about the yearly Twilight Zone marathon on the sci-fi channel. He’d ask me which ones I had watched (for the zillionth time), and talk about the ones he’d seen. That classic television show was one of the few things that could hold his interest. Ricky would invariably call me, exactly at midnight, before I’d had a chance to eat the dozen grapes my wife insists we eat for good luck. I was ready to get angry at him, as usual, when he called on his last New Year’s Eve, but thankfully my wife calmed me down a bit before I picked up the phone. I’m sure I was still too abrupt with him, but her advice helped assuage the guilt I felt when he died twenty days later.
I think of all the ones who won’t be here in 2024. Not just Ricky, who will be gone two years on January 20. But people like Tae Kim, or as we all called him, Mr. Kim. I was shocked to learn last week that he had died two years ago. Mr. Kim worked with me in IT for over twenty years. I grew to love him, even though he had no concept of the technology- we would joke that he seemed to think there were tiny men inside the computers. He used to bring his mail into work, and have me look at it. He didn’t understand a lot of things, and was too proud for his wife and children to know that. I was happy to help him, and started calling myself his number three son. He was in incredible shape- still playing soccer at age eighty. I can only assume he went into the hospital like my brother, and was killed by COVID protocol. No other explanation.
Ever since 2020, when the Greatest Psyop in the History of the World began, the subsequent years blend together, in some kind of Orwellian haze. Remember when all the memes joked about everyone being anxious for 2020 to end? So that things would return to “normal?” 2021, 2022, and 2023 have been progressively worse. So many ugly earmarks of tyranny are now ingrained in our rigged system. The Alex Jones and Donald Trump show trials are setting precedents to prosecute any and every Thought Criminal left in the land. Most Americans accept that there is “hate speech,” and that Hate Speakers should be prosecuted. First they were subject to public ridicule, then the loss of their job, and now to the long arm of our ludicrous “law.”
Millions agree that “misinformation” and “disinformation” must be combated. Not by renegade historians like me, but by the authoritarian leaders who promote it continuously. So anyone who questions authority is now promoting “disinformation” or “misinformation.” I’m not sure of the distinction between the terms, but both are now serious offenses. Unlike violent crime, which is largely being overlooked by the same “Woke” prosecutors who want to throw the book at dissenting enemies of the corrupt state. What one thinks or says now is far more important than what they do. The political beliefs of the J6 prisoners are why they are being subjected to such cruel and unusual punishment. And why the BLM rioters aren’t.
The major events of 2023 get quickly forgotten. For example, the curious fires in Hawaii. You know, with the mayor that was also the police chief. And allegations that police were stopping people from moving to safety. That’s yesterday’s news, like the Titanic submersible and the Chinese spy balloon. Or the environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. The last I heard, the water and wildlife had been poisoned. Ask Greta Thunberg about that. Yet another unfairly convicted defendant was just released from prison after serving nearly fifty years for a crime he was finally proven not to have committed. He was Black, for what it’s worth. That’s usually of crucial importance in America 2.0, but it didn’t garner any outrage from the usual suspects. Where was Al Sharpton? Or the Congressional Black Caucus?
2023 saw the interesting presidential candidacies of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Vivek Ramaswamy. RFK Jr. lost a lot of credibility by his wildly over the top crush on the state of Israel. His enthusiasm didn’t wane, even with the monstrously disproportionate attacks on the Palestinians after the dubious events of October 7. Now he’s pretty much disappeared. Vivek has been mostly very impressive, but again just can’t quite pull the trigger on hearty, justifiable criticism of Israel. But he is more even-handed than the rest, and he had my book Hidden History on the bookshelf behind him during his interview with Alex Jones. How could I not like that?
So we’re left with the likes of Nikki Haley, who should theoretically have been pressured out of the race after her recent rambling response to the question of what caused the Civil War. Her answer was closer to the truth than I would ever have anticipated, but she made the cardinal mistake of not shouting “Slavery- of course!” in a millisecond. She has, naturally, issued the standard apology. Unlike all the hapless White men over the past fifty years or so, she isn’t being “cancelled.” The establishment would love to have neocon Nikki as the Stupid Party nominee. For the real story on our Civil War, read my book Crimes and Cover-Ups in American Politics: 1776-1963. History is always written by the victors.
Who knows what they have planned politically for 2024? Will the barely functioning Joe Biden be cast aside? Will it be Michelle Obama to the rescue? Why would any Republicans vote at this point? In most districts and states, they are given horrific RINOs as the option to the tyrannical “Woke” Democrat. And the strong indications of massive fraud from both the 2020 and 2022 elections remain unaddressed. In fact, former President Trump is being prosecuted for complaining about it. It’s only Trump, so why worry? It’s not like they’d ever prosecute an average citizen for complaining about the vote. Give them sentences of up to twenty two years. Hold them behind bars, in solitary confinement, and deny them all due process.
We’ll be treated to some kind of fear porn daily in 2024. Reports that an asteroid could come perilously close to Earth. More predictions of World War III, from both the state controlled media and alternative voices on the internet. Ominous declarations about a deadly new “variant” of the never ending COVID virus. An inordinate number of people will die, including celebrities. Most often, no cause will be listed. Doctors will be baffled. The Sheeple will continue to get jabbed, as often as the corrupt authorities produce the newest “booster” shot. More Americans will support censorship and selective prosecution of dissenting Thought Criminals. Amazon will continue to block reviews of Masking the Truth. I will continue to be shadow banned.
If you watch my weekly live streaming podcast, with the same “I Protest” name (and if not, why aren’t you watching?), you’ve seen my interviews with everyday people caught up in municipal corruption. The system is rotten from top to bottom. I’ve talked with parents whose children have been stolen by Child Protective Services and local law enforcement, including Meghan Walsh, daughter of America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh. We’ve focused on the victims who’ve been unfairly and unjustly treated by the family court system. You’ve seen some of the victims of January 6, including Ashli Babbitt’s mother Micki Witthoeft, who made a return appearance on my show just last Friday. The rabbit hole gets deeper every year in America 2.0.
I will make New Year’s resolutions, as I routinely do. Like most people, I rarely succeed in keeping them. I will vow to not let traffic anger me any more. I know it’s stupid and pointless to get angry at the way others drive, or the way the stoplights are seemingly configured to create the most traffic possible. I’ll vow to stop getting upset at NFL games. I only care about them because I still incomprehensibly play fantasy football. I was one of the first to call sporting events fixed, back in the 1970s, so I know these are rigged games, for the entertainment and control of the masses. Bread and circuses, with lots of diversity. The NCAA, the NFL, the NBA, MLB, are all hopelessly corrupt. And each adhere to the same anti-White agenda all institutions do in America 2.0. The Great Replacement. I guess I’m like a heroin addict.
Sugar, like sports, has been a staple in my life since childhood. I will try to cut down on sweets. Ice cream. Cookies. Sugar. Trail mix with lots of dark chocolate. Really, sugar is my only vice at this point. I was an obese child, as I’ve mentioned. There was no “fat acceptance” then. Just scorn from everyone. So I lost weight at age fourteen, and weigh basically the same now as when I was in high school. And that’s with eating sweets regularly and drinking very sweet tea. I have embarrassed my daughter many times in restaurants by telling the server, “You can’t make it too sweet.” Since sugar cane is a natural substance, I feel the negative information about it has been largely overblown. I said the same thing about salt, which they’ve now admitted they were wrong about. Still, I need to consume less of it.
2024 seems surreal to me. I was born in 1956. That’s a long time ago. Where are all the cool futuristic inventions- the flying Jetsons’ cars? The amazing human life extension? So many of my friends have passed on, gone before their time. Victims of a medical establishment that has overseen the decrease of life expectancy rates in this country. Because of the fact I was born so late in life, I am strongly connected to the distant past. The only grandparent I knew, my father’s mother, was born in 1893. My mother’s father was born in 1874. If my parents were alive today, they would be 113 and 111. I knew people born in the nineteenth century. We are now living in the nightmarish twenty first century. I don’t seem old enough for that.
I think about time more than ever on New Year’s Eve. The calendar rules us all. I often wonder what would happen if there were no trappings of time around us. No clocks. No birthday cakes. No New Year’s Eve celebrations. Would we age differently then? Do we age because we think we’re supposed to? Do we age because we see others aging? Many of those closest to my heart have left this vale of tears. My parents. My brother Ricky. Some of the best friends I ever had; Joe Burton, Dave Campbell, John Harmon, Mark Costello. And those are just the ones I know of. I didn’t hear about Mr. Kim’s death until two years later. Co-workers and fellow students are easily forgotten. I refuse to check the obituaries daily, as many my age do. I don’t really want to know.
I look at my dog. The lovely golden retriever Riley. She’s eleven now. Which is seventy seven in human years. I can do the math. When we had to put our last dog, TJ, down, I couldn’t go into the room. My wife, who has always been emotionally stronger, stayed with him. I walked outside and wept. I was not nearly as close to TJ, or our first dog Dino, as I am to Riley. Riley is a bigger part of my life than anyone else at this point. She’s always there. Lying down in front of the computer while I do my show. Bugging me to take her on one of her countless daily “Riley walks.” Demanding my human food. I can see time moving far more rapidly on Riley. Yesterday she was a mischievous puppy. Now she’s an old lady. I try hard not to think about it.
It will probably be just my wife, my son, and I on New Year’s Eve. My daughter will surely be busy doing something far more exciting. I still hope for an invite somewhere, but it never comes. I’m probably not nearly as fun a party guest as I once was. And my radical views are hardly welcome in polite society. I don’t know that people give big New Year’s Eve parties any more. It’s not like I see evidence of them in my neighborhood, and ruminate over why we weren’t invited. They may be just another relic from America 1.0. Kissing the wrong woman at midnight now might bring a lawsuit. Which you would undoubtedly lose, in our corrupt courtrooms.
I am incurably nostalgic. I tend to recall the past through rose-colored glasses. My love of history was probably instilled in me by my mother. She wasn’t interested in American or world history, but she regaled me with tales from her own childhood. She painted some colorful pictures. Because of this, I remain especially attracted to that era, the Roaring Twenties. Those Flappers were babes. I think it’s important to know your family history. I’ve conducted as much research as I could on my own roots. I’m fascinated by time travel because I’d love to visit the past. Not the future. That would be terrifying. As Santayana said, those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. With each passing year, we move further away from distant history.
My mindset is still stuck in the twentieth century. So 2024 seems far in the future. We are more than a century removed from the birth of John F. Kennedy. And nearly a century from the assassination of my hero Huey Long. The only grandparent I knew died fifty five years ago. We are deep into the timeline. I don’t accept, or adapt very well to change. Since life is constantly changing, I am constantly stressed. Turning the page to a new year exacerbates that. I’ll be watching Twilight Zone episodes I’ve seen many times before. And thinking about my brother while doing so. Eating hors d’oeuvres. But not consuming alcohol. Here’s a toast to each and every one of you, for your interest and your greatly appreciated support.
Annette
Dec 30, 2023
Liked by Donald Jeffries
The thoughts expressed in this post mirror my own in many ways. I was born in 1956 too. Long gone are the people I used to think were my friends. Evidently I was too outspoken on social media during the 2014 IDF wholesale slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. I had previously been blissfully unaware of the sad plight of these people, and the newfound awareness shocked me to my core. How naive I was. I used to think that most people were better than they actually are. If only they knew the truth and shared it with others maybe the horror could be stopped somehow. Silly me.
Christmas was spent with my two sisters and their husband's (I'm single with no kids, a product of the sex, drugs and rock n roll revolution unfortunately). I had to be careful to keep my mouth shut as they talked about getting "covid" over and over again despite being "vaccinated" and wearing a mask on the plane, and the grand kids getting sick for weeks on end. I had tried to warn them early on to please not take the injections. It didnt go over well at the time. So nowadays I stay silent when the topic comes up to keep the peace. At any rate, I was grateful to still have them in my life and to be able to spend the day with them.
All my best to you and my fellow Don Jeffries Substack readers in the coming year. May we all weather whatever lies ahead with grace and humor as best we can.
Eveohtse-heomese
Dec 30, 2023
Liked by Donald Jeffries
Happy New Year my ass, it’s an election year so it will be wrought with a sh*t storm of stupid….
2023 was worse than 2020, because another year went by and people are still going about as mouth breathers, one upping their neighbors, wearing masks, still boosting up (still testing apparently, for fucks sake) and nothing came of the tyrants deeds, just a slow march to the black swan event they throw in our faces, that they know is coming. Another year closer to the end of the sh*t hole, the United States of Tyranny and globo-psycho too, we can only hope.
Congrats on quitting alcohol Don, and smoking too. Haven’t been to a party in 10 years, don’t miss them at all, I can’t stand the average people we are forced to share our spaces with. I apologize for the loss of your brother, mine died many years ago now, he was 35, so it still sucks, he was my best guy friend.
https://donaldjeffries.substack.com/p/au...-syne-2023
A Preview of Things to Come
By eric
December 30, 2023
It will be 2024 soon and that means we’re only one calendar year away from the 2026 model year. That is the decreed-upon year when all new cars sold in this country must have “impaired driver” detection and pre-emption “technology.” Meaning, “technology” that monitors driver performance – the actual wording used in the decree, as opposed to the language used to market the decree as being a measure to prevent “drunks” from driving (and never mind that, per the decree, everyone who drives is to be presumed “drunk” until he proves otherwise, to the car, as he drives it) and takes action when a driver’s performance falls outside allowable parameters.
Elements of this “technology” are already embedded in many 2024 (and 2023) model vehicles and I thought you might like a preview of them – which I can offer, having driven (as a car journalist who gets to test drive them) many 2023 and 2024 vehicles that already monitor your “performance” as a “driver.”
Actually, they don’t do that. They scold – and correct – certain driver behavior/actions. It’s a distinction of some importance, because of the deception. Your “performance” as a driver is not what’s to be monitored and corrected.
It is your obedience.
For instance: Almost all cars sold in 2023 and 2024 have a system that can tell whether you have used a turn signal before making a lane change that will proceed to correct your attempt to change lanes if you haven’t signaled first, by electronically trying to steer the car back into the lane you’re trying to leave for the one adjacent. This is marketed as Lane Keep Assistance Technology. The premise being you require “assistance.”
The fact being the car’s programming objects to your disobedient exercise of judgment.
The law says a driver must always signal when changing lanes. The law also says a driver must always come to a complete stop at every stop sign. In neither case is it always necessary and it is sometimes just mindlessly obedient to do it. Why stop completely – robotically – at every stop sign, even where it’s clear there is no reason to, other than it being “the law”? It wastes gas by losing momentum(which must then be recovered, using more gas (and charge, if you are an EV driver) and it increases wear and tear on the car.
But the main thing is, it’s just mindlessly obedient to mindlessly obey every traffic regulation to the letter. Such mindlessness discourages the paying of attention, the evaluation of each driving situation and then responding in a rational/reasonable and mindful way to the situation.
That, of course, is not what is wanted. Mindfulness is the last thing wanted. It is what “driver performance technology” is meant to punish.
This will be done via more than just “assistance.”
For instance, the “drowsy driver” technology that is embedded in the 2024 model I’m test driving this week. I was out for a drive in it yesterday and not the least bit drowsy, having already had several cups of very strong coffee. Apparently, the car does not have caffeine sensing “technology” (though that is probably coming; can’t have drivers behind the wheel who might be twitchy).
Anyhow, a box kept popping up in the instrument cluster – they’re mostly LCD displays now and what they display is only incidentally instrumental – electronically pestering me to “keep my eyes on the road.” Which of course I had been doing – else I’d have left the road, probably. But I do tend to look around me as I drive, so as to maintain a picture of what’s going on around me as I drive. This, apparently, deviates from the parameters of “driver performance” programmed into the system. It wants me to look only where it thinks I ought to be looking. And it watches me, to make sure I do.
It did not matter that my performance as a driver was within parameters – in that I did not leave the road or even wander across the median line. The car demanded obedience to its programming parameters.
These demands are toothless – for now – in that all the car could do at the moment was scold me via the flashing box (and chime). Of a piece with the annoying chimes (more like buzzers) that electronically needle you to “buckle up” – even for a drive down to your mailbox, because saaaaaaaaaaaafety first!
More accurately, conditioning first.
The seatbelt buzzer is designed to make it so annoying to drive “unbuckled” – even down your driveway, to the mailbox – that you will automatically (and mindlessly) “buckle up” as soon as you sit down. Good doggie! Your exercise of judgment is very much not wanted. What is wanted is for you to get used to doing as you’re told – just because you were told. Like a good doggie. It is of a piece with getting people used to queuing up to take off their shoes and holdup their arms (while a government goon runs his hands up and down their legs and probes the perimeter of their crotches). After awhile, this training becomes routine and people just expect it and go along with it because it has been normalized.
Ask any dog trainer.
The training will also include the necessary correction, of course. In the “drowsy driver” example described above, it will likely come in the form of an automatic adjustment of the amount of money the insurance mafia you’re forced to do “business” with can (and will) automatically debit from your Central Bank Digital Currency account as punishment for your disobedience. Which of course will be characterized as poor “driver performance,” which will be conflated with unsafe driving.
Just the same as not wearing a “mask” was conflated with spreading plague (never mind that you didn’t have it and never mind that the “mask” prevented no one from getting it).
What matters, uber alles, is obedience.
And that is what they really mean when they talk about “driver performance.”
https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2023/12/...s-to-come/
Quote:60 COMMENTS
Jim H January 2, 2024 At 10:16 am
“The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.” – 1984 — ET
Revealing, damning questions from NHTSA, in its proposed rulemaking for impaired driving prevention (page 83):
‘How would an alcohol-impaired person react to their vehicle not starting, and how
can/should this be considered? Would some individuals decide to walk to their destination
in the road, increasing their risk of being hit by another vehicle? Would they get a sober
person to start their vehicle and then take over the driving task themselves?’
Well, let me at least address your first question, Acting Administrator Carlson, as to how an alcohol-impaired person (i.e., my goodself) would react to my vehicle not starting:
1. Screams obscenities pertaining to Congress Clowns and bureaucrats.
2. Removes tire iron from the trunk and pounds the living sh*t out of the dashboard.
3. Squirts lighter fluid on both front seats and tosses in a match, creating a raging inferno.
4. Reaches for his revolver.
And that’s just for starters …
Reply
drumphish January 3, 2024 At 2:26 am
Call a cab, that’s what the pot dealers do or did. Greatly reduces risk, hermetically sealed packaging is the way to go. Experience counts too. Used to be part of the MO, not so much these days. Cannabis reduces drug usage and alcoholism. True in this Orwellian world we embrace daily.
Life in America ain’t all that bad, just the knuckleheads in charge make it something it really isn’t.
25,000 metric tons of cannabis is traded all across America every year. It never stops.
Supply and Demand, if cannabis killed people, it would not be a plant that is used, in demand, period.
You are being taxed to death so Israel can prosecute even more deaths. Not to worry, you are being forced to create even more evil. Death rules in Gaza and Israel. When will they ever learn?
Al Capone opened soup kitchens, he had a heart for the old ladies in the neighborhoods of Chicago. He also owned a Cadillac with a V-16 and one inch thick bullet-proof glass, the first armored vehicle built. Al Capone wasn’t interested in massacring 20,000 Chicago-ans back then. He had lawyers, ‘Easy’ Eddie O’Hare was Al’s lawyer. ‘Butch’ O’Hare, Eddie O’Hare’s son was an ace pilot in WWII, O’Hare Airport bears his name. Wonders never cease.
20,000 gallons of beer each day in Chicago paid Al 100,000,000 dollars in one year during Prohibition, the first American businessman to reach that goal.
Al didn’t have to call a taxi.
Cash Cab works for cannabis sales, maybe so. You can even answer questions and win some money!
Drop off the groceries at the pizza joint and get the take out.
More beer and pizza!
Winning!
Reply
Marcus+Aurelius+Tarkus January 2, 2024 At 1:51 am
So much that I could write here. I will home in on one factor.
Of the uncounted millions of illegals invading the US, very few–if any–will be driving cars that nag and narc on their drivers. Ergo, most of future on-road mayhem and mishaps will be the fault of the illegals, but will be accused of the legals by their vehicle’s black boxes. Watch your insurance rates skyrocket beyond affordability. Meanwhile, the millions of the invited invaders will be paying nothing, with impunity. And all by design.
Personally: At 73, I will hang on to my 2011 to the end of my driving years, if possible. No major repair, expense or replacement will cost more–both in money and consequences–than upgrading to a newer model that nags and narcs on me: and, soon, does much worse.
Reply
eric January 2, 2024 At 5:28 am
Hi Marcus,
I agree – and foresee a time coming (soon) when people will just stop paying the insurance they can no longer afford. And they will keep on driving – just like the “refugees” do.
Reply
Sparkey January 2, 2024 At 6:03 pm
Here in Eastern WA our resident diversity crew as busy as ever:
https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/loca...03078.html
Before the Reagan amnesty in ‘85 a wrong way crash was extremely rare, now it’s weekly or, per the above link, a two in one weekend event. I howl at the DUI gov PSA ads on TV, always some white guy getting busted can’t show diversity in those ads! WA a leader in “equity justice” which really means if you’re white with a job and assets you’re screwed but here illegally no license, no insurance, no job, no problem! Neighbors niece killed by a “diversity” hit and run drunk driver. Three priors DUI. Got 3 1/2 years, yep that’s “equity”. Disgusting.
Reply
ET January 1, 2024 At 8:48 pm
Owning an older auto w/o the driver surveillance will be a bit like when Winston Smith found an apartment without a telescreen, or so he thought.
“The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.” – 1984
Reply
John dieter January 1, 2024 At 8:46 pm
My passenger gets shot. I’m speeding to the emergency room, and the damned car TURNS ITSELF OFF. Or, I’m being chased by murderers, etc… Sometimes you need to drive fast
Reply
Paul January 1, 2024 At 7:10 pm
Even on my small 4 min. commute to work it’s amazing the amount of brain dead idiots I encounter. One of my biggest peeves being the “turn on red” issue. It might be different depending on the state but here in good ole MA. you can turn right even on a red light as long as there is no sign saying otherwise. The amount of people I’ve been stuck behind going home at this one light, that I turn right at, which is a right turn only lane also, is amazing. They just sit there like moths at a flame waiting for big brothers traffic signal to give them that proper green approval so the can go. Gezzzzzzz
Reply
Michael Maier January 1, 2024 At 6:25 pm
So all new cars will have cameras watching me as I drive? What the flip?
Reply
The Bobster January 1, 2024 At 2:59 pm
A few years ago, I rented a Ford Fusion, complete with all the safety bells and whistles. (Don’t get me going about the ASS system!)
It didn’t take me long for all the different alarms to go off. Get too close to the car in front? Beep, beep, beep! Stray a little from your lane? Beep, beep, beep!
But what really got me was when I was on the Pa. Thruway outside of Harrisburg. The road expanded from 2 to 6 lanes to accommodate the entering traffic. Naturally I drifted to the left lanes. Then the damn dreaded coffee cup came on to warn me that I was falling asleep. No, I wasn’t, dammit! The damn thing wouldn’t disappear for 10 minutes.
Well, I’ll just keep my 2014 Ford Focus. This was one of the last years when cars didn’t have the annoying (and dangerous) “safety” features.
Reply
Charleen January 1, 2024 At 2:24 am
” Such mindlessness discourages the paying of attention, the evaluation of each driving situation and then responding in a rational/reasonable and mindful way to the situation.”
Exactly! A friend of mine mindlessly uses his blinker even when there is nobody as far as you can see. I told him that I only signal when there is someone to signal to…He looked at me like I was wrong to do that. I said “Do you even pay attention to traffic around you”. No – was his “real” answer.
Reply
helot January 1, 2024 At 3:29 am
I think about that often myself, Charleen. “I only signal when there is someone to signal to…”
…There’s always that cop hiding in the bushes. ? Making sure you, dot your i’s & cross your t’s? …Like a snake in the grass?
RE: “I said “Do you even pay attention to traffic around you”. No – was his “real” answer.”
Imho, that’s whatchya call, a NPC. …We’re surrounded by them. They may even be our best friend or a hot girlfriend. ?
I hope, someday, they will wake up.
…I’m not holding my breath.
Vaccidents to the left of me, Vaccidents to the right.
A Clot-Shot, it doesn’t even take, they were clueless even before. …Eh?
Reply
RFI Choke of Destiny January 4, 2024 At 1:56 pm
Not everybody like this is an NPC. Some of us are well aware that we’re being enslaved and aren’t happy about it, but we’re also just bad drivers. In particular, people with ADD would benefit from some of these safety features. But they should obviously be opt-in and not mandated by the state.
Reply
eric January 4, 2024 At 2:15 pm
Hi RFI,
Absolutely. As with EVs,I have no objection to “driver assistance technology” – as such. I object to such things being pushed. If someone needs help parking and “assist” can help them, fine. But I don’t need “assistance” – and resent being made to deal with it (and pay for it) contrary to my will.
Reply
eric January 1, 2024 At 5:49 am
Hi Charlene,
Yup! I like the idea of doing things for a reason – as opposed to “just because.” Training people to use a turn signal every time is training them to be mindless rather than mindful. Good to have you with us!
Reply
Mark January 1, 2024 At 9:54 am
Eric, it’s all part of a larger program by government called, “Learned Helplessness”. Follow the orders and do not freelance at your own safety because government knows what is best for all the little people. My only question is, if the people in government know so much more than me and others like me. Why do they need us to support them/tax-feeders? Us little people do a good job at taking care of ourselves on our own dime whereas the Tax-Feeders would starve to death if we didn’t pay for everything to support them.
Reply
Charleen January 2, 2024 At 2:13 am
It’s like living in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”.
The Federal Department of the Handicapper General.
Reply
Charleen January 2, 2024 At 2:08 am
Mindless NPC men disgust me more so than the dishonest. I would rather be with a woman than a mindless man. I think I have Ayn Rand syndrome ?
Reply
eric January 2, 2024 At 5:24 am
Hi Charleen,
Yes – and that works both ways, too!
Reply
Tom January 1, 2024 At 11:28 am
I usually don’t signal if there is nobody around. Who will notice it other than the spy cameras and perhaps God. I sometimes don’t use a signal if it is obvious what my next turn will be. I do this on purpose to keep my attention on my attention and not be mindlessly driving like a robot.
I can see where pre-2023 vehicles will be more in demand although the majority will go along with the obedience training like they have for decades. The idea of owning a brand new (or fairly new) vehicle, no matter the cost and control, is ingrained in the American psyche, exactly like running to the pill distributor for every little ache and pain.
It’s called marketing and it attacks you every minute of your life from all directions but most people are unaware and asleep to it.
Reply
Courageous Lion January 1, 2024 At 5:32 pm
God doesn’t care! LOL!
Reply
drumphish January 3, 2024 At 3:17 am
I always use my blinker before driving up the gravel driveway to the farmhouse, there might be a skunk or a wolverine that needs to be warned so they don’t get run over. Like they know I am driving drunk, they don’t. har
There could even be a porcupine or a badger, have seen them all. Let them live, life is important. The dachshund had porcupine barbs sunk into his snout, it is a death sentence, dog won’t survive, to the vet to be surgically removed. The quills keep driving into the dog’s skin, get there to the vet right away.
Have to respect all life in this world. Even if the wolf is at your door, chase the wild thing away, that would be the Joe Biden wild thing too. Wolf nonpareil, really.
This war bidness might pay big time, but it will bitterly end, so just stop.
Repel this nonsense, peace is better.
Reply
helot December 31, 2023 At 11:54 pm
I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.
May you all live long & prosper. …And, hopefully; a buncha ya will make lotsa Freedomista babies.
Thought this was a good take for the new year:
Appalachia’s Homestead with Patara
‘Control YOUR 2024!’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC3E1-sbel0&t=1s
Reply
Jim H December 31, 2023 At 9:26 am
When your C-PHOW (Cell Phone On Wheels) rats you out:
‘Christine Dowdall, 59, started occasionally seeing a strange new message on the display in her Mercedes, about a location-based service called “mbrace.” The second time it happened, she took a photograph and searched for the name online.
“I realized, oh my God, that’s him tracking me,” Ms. Dowdall said.
“Mbrace” was part of “Mercedes me” — a suite of connected services for the car, accessible via a smartphone app. Ms. Dowdall had only ever used the Mercedes Me app to make auto loan payments. She hadn’t realized that the service could also be used to track the car’s location.
‘Ms. Dowdall called Mercedes customer service repeatedly to try to remove her husband’s digital access to the car, but the loan and title were in his name. Mercedes representatives told her that her husband was the customer so he would be able to keep his access. There was no button she could press to take away the app’s connection to the vehicle.’ — NYT
https://archive.ph/fSSH6#selection-445.0-445.581
No off button: that’s digital persistence. Cell phones, social media, connected cars: the surveillance state has hit the trifecta. And best of all, from their point of view, it’s all self-imposed, self-operated and self-financed. Win win win — for them.
Don’t want your ASS anymore
Don’t want your Clownscreen, that’s for sure
I die each time I hear this sound
Here he comes, that’s Mercedes’ clown
— The Everly Brothers, Cathy’s Clown
Reply
BAC December 30, 2023 At 5:12 pm
Just rented a brand new Chevy Malibu (well, you get what they give you). The god damn thing would not shift out of park unless I was buckled up for safety. Not even to just back up out of a parking spot. So this means you have to plug in the seatbelt just to move your car around your own driveway. Christ almighty. fu*k GM with this crap.
Reply
Landru December 30, 2023 At 7:44 pm
Hi BAC; just get one of those seat belt extenders and you’re good to go. The seat belt sensor is in the buckle and the extender will fool the sensor into thinking you’re belted in.
Reply
Publius December 31, 2023 At 5:48 am
Overall I like the Malibu.
But it’s little things like that, and ASS, and so on that make it un-buyable.
Reply
Sparkey December 30, 2023 At 3:45 pm
As a motorcycle rider you learn quick to keep your head on a swivel the last thing you need are surprises from the sides and rear. This “eyes forward forever” is dangerous idiocy. Bike and cage driving out here in the country is always sporty with people running stops at the crossroads. Best be looking over at that F250 hauling a** downhill with a trailer – will he stop, will …. nope! That and diving for the shoulder when oncoming Cell Phone Celia drifts into your lane.
Reply
ChrisIN December 30, 2023 At 2:43 pm
Time to disconnect or shove a screwdriver in the speakers.
I hate to say this. We are not going to win. The masses have no clue, and most likely don’t care.
I have bought lots of new vehicles without driving them, but that can’t happen anymore. If the fricken thing imparts my driving in any way, it’s no sale. And I will let the general mngr and/or owner of the dealership know why (as they drool over my low mileage trade). I hope it helps. We all need to do this, not just walk away. You have to let the owner know why.
I’m wondering if there will be a ‘secret’ re-coding the dealers will be able to do to to be able to sell cars to people like me. They do it with the seatbelt crap, at least FCA did, and as of my latest ’21, still allows you to delete the seatbelt BS.
Reply
Sparkey December 30, 2023 At 3:33 pm
“ The masses have no clue, and most likely don’t care “
Yep, and some embrace it. Several years ago friends got a new Honda CR-V. He was over the moon about all the features “it’s got smart cruise control keeps you away from the car in front automatically! And this lane assist keeps from drifting out of your lane, isn’t that just the greatest!” I was real blunt, having suffered with a VW rental just prior that tried to put me into the oncoming lane on a narrow winding country road with its “lane assist”. Told him I’d never willingly ever buy a rig with any of it. “Whuut?”
Reply
drumphish December 30, 2023 At 1:02 pm
It’s the New Mother Nature taking over – The Guess Who, New Mother Nature
Canadian musicians know how to rock and roll, well, the Guess Who know how, anyhow.
Canada is a big village and everyone belongs, that is why they call it Canada.
You will basically be bit and bridled, a saddle on your back, the gov is going to show you how to drive, be the muleskinner, you have no other choice. You will be the trained horse, hell’s bells, there will be a set of blinders on your crazy fool head. There’ll be some oats at the bottom of the bit bag that will be securely attached to your horse face.
You only get to see and do what you are told to do and see.
Shake those chains.
Reply
BJ January 1, 2024 At 7:26 am
Hi Drumphish
It must be jelly cause jam don’t shake that way! What the thugs in power want, and what they get tend to be a rather different matter at the margins. Shot gun songs and New Boss Old Boss, can’t get fooled again refrain. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. But a hand in a bush can get your face slapped. Keep that 30% 40% 30% ratio in mind. Especially since a good part of the 40% are now standing there with egg dripping down their faces and they don’t believe its raining.
In God we trust all others pay cash. Gold is the money of kings. Silver is the money of gentlemen. Barter is the money of peasants. Debt is the money of slaves. EnD Of LIne.
Reply
Mike December 30, 2023 At 12:06 pm
Anyone else remember Car Talk on NPR? When they were serious, they’d say things like “anything that takes your eyes off the road and hands off the wheel is bad”. That’s really the crux of driving. Just pay attention.
Reply
The Bobster January 1, 2024 At 2:43 pm
NPR? Who the hell listens to that crap?
Reply
The True Nolan January 1, 2024 At 3:01 pm
NPR was a pretty good network.
Back in 1985.
Reply
ken December 30, 2023 At 11:37 am
All my acquaintances swore they would never own this trash now own this trash.
If we are expecting the cattle to stop buying this sh*t stand by to be disappointed. Most I talk to think it’s great! They say it’s a little annoying but the safety is worth it.
These seem the same ,,, molon labe,,, groupies I read on Zerohedge that will revolt if the Donald doesn’t win or they come for the guns. Most drive like granny, have never been under fire and most talk like they’re John Wick. lol…..
Reply
Mike in Boston December 30, 2023 At 11:03 am
“Lane keep assist” is my favorite evil of all this nanny crap. So you swerve suddenly when a kid runs out in front of you but the car steers itself back and kills said kid. Can’t wait to see how Larry the Lawyer handles that scenario; is the driver at fault or the car manufacturer? Should really lock up everyone at NHTSA for causing a death.
Reply
RS December 30, 2023 At 12:47 pm
How lane keep assist is even allowed in cars is a testament to the hypocrisy of the government. There is nothing safe about it.
Reply
Raider Girl December 30, 2023 At 1:04 pm
“There is nothing safe about it.”
That’s the point, RS. It doesn’t make sense what government is doing unless you can accept the fact that the government wants the majority of us dead.
Reply
Steve December 30, 2023 At 3:35 pm
Just drove one of those piece of crap vehicles with lane keep. Rural Nebraska, no one around for miles, let alone on the road, so, of course, as a prudent driver, I straddle the middle line on the straightaways and follow the line in the curves. Didn’t take more than a few miles before most of the display was replaced by the “Take a Break” notice. After I stopped, I found out disabling it was simply one button on the steering wheel, but soon that button will be no more…
Reply
ReadyKilowatt December 30, 2023 At 10:54 am
Risky behavior needs to be outlawed.
OK fine. How about gay bathhouses? Visiting one is still very risky, even though people can live with AIDS (becoming a permanent drain on collective insurance that’s required by law). Will the car prevent someone from navigating to the gay bathhouse?
What about eating refined sugar? Despite centuries of suppressed evidence that sugar is not only highly addictive and leads to a myriad of health issues, our government not only keeps big sugar in business, encourages excessive consumption! Maybe if they really were concerned about our lives, the car can stop people from going to Dairy Queen if they’ve been there more than three times in a calendar month. Or maybe detect when you’ve had one too many grande mocha lattes and won’t let you in the Starbucks drive thru.
Just override your trip to Golden Corral and reroute you to the gym for an hour of cardio. You’re already wearing sweat pants and sneakers…
“Oh Ready, you’re just being silly.”
Reply
ken December 30, 2023 At 12:08 pm
AIDS like Covid are scams. Refined sugar is okay if you don’t eat 5 pounds a week.
Lifespan has decreased over the last couple of years. They don’t know why and are baffled but they absolutely know it’s NOT due to the Clot Shot.
Reply
michael67 December 30, 2023 At 10:03 am
I know when I’m actually drowsy behind the wheel is when I’m -not- looking around: my eyes are focused straight ahead, not checking gauges or mirrors. When a car surprises me from behind along the interstate, then I know I need to stop somewhere. I guess staring mindlessly forward is now the correct behavior.
Reply
Jim H December 30, 2023 At 10:01 am
From the NHTSA’s draft Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for impaired driving detection:
‘The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recently recommended that NHTSA seek legislative authority to award incentive grants for States to establish a per se BAC limit of .05 or lower for all drivers who are not already required to adhere to lower BAC limits.’
http://tinyurl.com/mrxw3z4d
In other words, the US fedgov is going to use federal dollars to bribe states into enacting stricter BAC limits. This is how we got obnoxious fedgov-sponsored predation such as Click It or Ticket. Bend over, here it comes again.
Passive alcohol detection sensors are discussed on pages 50-52:
‘ACTS [Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety] expects touch and breath sensor reference designs for private vehicles, capable of higher BAC measurements, in 2025. NHTSA is aware that these delivery dates may be affected by several factors including further research and development. These dates do not include the time necessary for any manufacturer to consider and implement design changes necessary to integrate these systems into vehicles.‘
Can they make it any plainer? They are not going to meet the 2026 deadline.
Once this ugly assault on freedom is published in the Federal Register, a 60-day comment period will ensue. Don’t know about y’all, but I intend to bit*h LIKE HELL.
Reply
anonymous1 December 30, 2023 At 9:47 am
The New Blue Screen Of Death? “Your Vehicle Cannot Be Driven”
This week a photo went viral on social media purporting to show a Ford vehicle displaying a “your vehicle cannot be driven” message after a failed software update. “Please call customer support,” the screen urges.
In response, another shared issues they were having with Ford’s OTA updates, stating: “I’m still dealing with a failed OTA update. My 6.2.0 was incomplete. Called Ford Motor Company and they confirmed the failed update and stated the update would try again within 30 days. 60 days later, with no update, they sent me to a dealer for service.”
The nightmare continued: “Dealer claimed to have updated the software. My car was delivered to my home and nothing was fixed. In fact, my software reverted to 4.2.1. Now my service manager has no idea what to do. I can’t change drive modes, open trunk or frunk, and pre-collision warning turns on all the time. I can still drive but with limited capability. Feels like a car with a sprained ankle.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/new-bl...-be-driven
Reply
Philo Beddoe December 30, 2023 At 12:09 pm
Please, I beg you, if I ever in the course of daily life use the word “frunk” in a sentence, shoot me immediately. The term elicits a very effeminate feeling as if the utterer of such a word is also carrying a “murse” while drinking his favorite soy based product.
Reply
anonymous1 December 30, 2023 At 1:40 pm
The brits call it a fruoot….front boot….
Reply
John B December 30, 2023 At 9:46 am
Just as people who refused to wear face diapers everywhere & be guinea pigs for Pharma were once deemed UNCLEAN at the height of COVID hysteria, there could come a time where people who drive an automobile that DOESN’T have all this Nanny State crap are deemed “Unsaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafe” and attacked by the Biden Thing & establishment media.
Reply
Jim H December 30, 2023 At 9:16 am
‘[2026] is the decreed-upon year when all new cars sold in this country must have “impaired driver” detection and pre-emption “technology.”’ — eric
This supposed 2026 deadline has been widely cited. Dig into the details, though, and you’ll find that it is not realistic.
My opinion? No. It’s the NHTSA’s opinion:
‘At the time of its review (draft completed at the end of 2022), NHTSA noted that … systems specifically targeting passive and accurate alcohol-impairment detection and prevention are still primarily in the research stage.
‘With respect to technologies that target measuring BAC levels, there have been reported improvements in capability, packaging, and availability for aftermarket testing over time. However, passive versions targeting a BAC of .08 g/dL or other legal limit as directed in BIL section 24220 are not yet available in the market.‘
http://tinyurl.com/5ydkrur5
Passive alcohol detection sensors are not available now, and may never be available. As the NHTSA notes in the linked document, ‘the issuance of the final rule is subject to subsection (e) “Timing,” which provides for an extension of the deadline’ — for up to ten years. This was already foreseen in the law, since the sensor technology was and remains vaporware.
Impaired driver detection is a manifestation of bad intent. But the claim that it’s coming in 2026 is not credible. Don’t buy their bullshit.
Reply
ARYLIOA December 30, 2023 At 5:32 pm
As far as Blood-alcohol readings that is likely. However, many of the other Impaired/Distracted/Outlaw Driver items on the wish-list are readily implemented, as Eric indicates. A camera can easily detect where you are looking and the CPU determine for how long. (It might actually be a good idea if Tesla shut down the cars where the driver is sleeping.) With facial recognition, it might even see if you are legal to drive, and with an owner supplied list, legal to drive that particular car. Excess-motion/lack-of-motion on the steering wheel is easy to track with electronic power assist. “Excessive” speed is available in any car, as is exceeding the speed limit in any car with GPS. “Heavy accelleration, heavy braking”, no sweat. Lane wandering is already in place, as is “following too closely”, they are just not in a shutdown algorithm yet. What isn’t fed to the algorithm now only requires addition of a cheap sensor and a software update. Since most cars are “fully integrated” it is easy.
And as others have posted, the masses love the prospect. It will keep all the bad drivers, you know, everyone but themselves, from being a risk.
Reply
Jim H December 31, 2023 At 9:51 am
‘Many of the other Impaired/Distracted/Outlaw Driver items on the wish-list are readily implemented, as Eric indicates.’ — ARYLIOA
Yes. And the NHTSA is as fascinated by them as an 11-year-old boy ogling a girlie mag:
‘Many, but not all, Level 2 driving automation systems monitor visual and physical driver indicators, using camera-based sensing systems. Useful measures of general driver visual attention include measures of eye/pupil movement (e.g., fixation duration), measures of glance location (e.g., eyes on/off road), and measures of glance spread and range (e.g., scan path).’ — NHTSA, page 59
http://tinyurl.com/mrxw3z4d
NHTSA acting admin Ann Carlson laid out the best reason why a ‘cheap sensor’ ain’t gonna work:
‘Carlson said there were close to 1 billion separate daily driving journeys in the United States. “If it’s 99.9% accurate, you could have a million false positives,” Carlson said. “Those false positives could be somebody trying to get to the hospital for an emergency.” — Reuters, Dec 12, 2023
Remote sensors are never going to be 99.9% accurate. Carlson’s maff is utterly intractable. Clowngress cannot repeal it, try as they might.
Reply
RS December 30, 2023 At 9:14 am
Well wow. So this stuff is really here. I expect we will be seeing many very interesting and ominous car reviews from you in ‘24 and ‘25. Even though you have warned us repeatedly about the upcoming impaired driver technology, it is still a reality check to see it actually installed in a car you’re test driving and see it scolding you. I think this is the year I need to actively shop for a reliable brand 2022 or earlier suv. I want to postpone having this in my car for as long as possible. The assists I turned off in my leased 2022 and prompts by the car to install an update are bad enough that the tech at bmw is now recommending I not allow the install so instead the pissed off car now periodically and randomly pops up ALL the assists on my display chiding me to set them back to “recommended settings” with one click. Probably in the hope that one of these times I will get careless and allow the update. This nannyism is getting insane.
Reply
Zane F December 30, 2023 At 8:55 am
My last new car…er truck was in 1986… an Isuzu Trooper. The thing was so simple it had 4 wheel drive… and a heater. The plebs can keep these new car`s I agree with John They are.. evil…… And sure as hell no FUN.
Reply
Roscoe December 30, 2023 At 8:52 am
Whether or not the demands seem toothless, the vehicle will record the date/time of every scolding, possibly reporting the poor driving habits back to the manufacturer as they happen. This data will be valuable to someone. I’m sure Flo and the Gecko would pay for the information.
Reply
John Kable December 30, 2023 At 8:18 am
Glad I’m at the end of my driving years, and couldn’t, or wouldn’t afford a new car anyway.
So sorry for the rest of you. This is evil. There’s no better word for it. Reporting your “bad behavior”, if not physically “correcting” it. Owned by a machine that you presume to own.
Reply
Raider Girl December 30, 2023 At 8:44 am
The best thing the Cadillac scenario taught me was I should not and will not own one of these vehicles. I agree with you, John, they are evil. You don’t realize it at first. A test drive around the dealership or even a weekly rental doesn’t prepare you for the mishaps, spying, and eventual combat, against your own automobile.
These new cars and trucks are the most dangerous things on the road. The amount of injuries and deaths that will occur as more and more of these newer models start appearing on our highways will be outrageous, but TPTB and the peasants will never consider linking more accidents with newer vehicles. Dumbing down the user does not make our world safer, but you will never be able to get this message across the media and it’s controlled public.
Reply
John Kable December 30, 2023 At 9:47 am
RG,
Nothing says safe like having your car take hold of your steering wheel while you are in the middle of a critical maneuver.
Reply
Lee R December 30, 2023 At 12:03 pm
This has already happened in at least a couple of airplanes where the plane’s computer system fought with the pilots and the planes ended up crashing. Crashes that resulted in catastrophic loss of many lives….
Reply
ken December 30, 2023 At 11:23 am
[ but TPTB and the peasants will never consider linking more accidents with newer vehicles.]
Just like all deaths from the covid needle are not linked to the covid needle.
Reply
roger January 1, 2024 At 1:43 pm
John and RG
When, (if ever) the masses finally learn to spell the word evil correctly, i. e. Devil,
there might be a chance that they will also finally learn what’s really going on. But
for now, it’s business as usual.
It is NOT about control. It IS about total and complete destruction of every thing
God created. He’s got the hammer down because “…he knows he has but a short
time.” That was a warning from Christ.
The (D)evil does two things. He lies and he murders. That’s it. He uses myriad lies
in order to murder in myriad ways. He uses his myriad children to get-er-done. He
also lies to them because he is incapable of telling the Truth.
These are simple things that most people can’t get their heads around because
they’ve been conditioned to believe that not only doesn’t the Devil exist, but also
that what’s really going on just has to be so much more complicated than that.
Someone said that the greatest trick Satan ever pulled off was to convince the world
that he doesn’t exist.
How does one destroy? First, take control. Lies are one of the most important tools
needed for control.
I could go on and on about this subject but I don’t think that’s what Eric created
this site for. But I think it’s great that he makes room for discussion of just about
anything we have a mind to bring up. He’s one of the few who have open minds and
common sense.
Thanks Eric.
joebear