Automotive Control

Over the past couple years, I’ve taken a lot of guff from people when I’ve stated my implacable hostility towards the Internet Of Things [spit]  intruding on my private life, and specifically when it comes to my car.

“Oh but Kim,”  the response comes, “think of the convenience of not having to drive!” , etc. etc.  My retort to giving up control of one’s vehicle is usually, “Giving up control to whom, exactly?”

Well, here’s a little example of what I could see was coming down the pike:

The bipartisan infrastructure bill includes a provision that would require auto manufacturers to equip “advanced alcohol monitoring systems” in all new cars.
Buried in the massive proposal—which is already longer than 2,700 pages—is a section titled, “ADVANCED IMPAIRED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY,” which mandates new vehicles include “a system that … passively and accurately detect[s] whether the blood alcohol concentration of a driver of a motor vehicle is equal to or greater than the blood alcohol concentration” of .08, in which case the system would “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation.” Automobile manufacturers would have a three-year grace period to comply with the regulation.

Here’s another prognosis to this already-ghastly invasion of our privacy:  it won’t stop at “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation”.   Given the all-pervasive network of operations from Skynet, what is to stop the government (federal, state, local or a combination thereof) from levying a fine for drunken driving (to be deducted automatically from your bank account), as well as sending your car’s GPS coordinates to Officer Friendly at Hometown P.D.?

Tell me I’m exaggerating or overstating the thing, I dare you.

But it’s all for our own good, isn’t it?  So why would I be so upset about this?  After all, seatbelt mandates have saved countless lives, so why not apply the same rationale for car immobilization and punishment for intoxicated driving?

By all means, let’s all get upset when the government suggests implanting computer chips into guns so that they can be controlled by law enforcement during times of emergency — “That’s like totally beyond the pale, dude.”

This car nonsense is precisely the same thing, being suggested for all the same reasons.

I foresee a rush towards the purchase of older cars which don’t contain computers of any description — until, of course, the government outlaws ownership thereof.

Once again:  tell me I’m exaggerating or overstating the thing, I dare you.

Misdirection

Every magician knows the trick:  to distract the audience’s attention, they do something with one hand while the other performs the manipulations necessary for the trick to work.  And thus it is with the current Democrat Establishment:

Rochelle Walensky, a Democratic Party activist who happens to direct the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, is promoting new COVID-19 measures at the instruction of her boss, Joe Biden. These measures would require masks even for vaccinated Americans entering public buildings and for students and teachers in public schools.
Although such impositions may displease readers of this journal, until now they have made sense politically. They are intended to distract us from the colossally stupid things the Democratic administration has unleashed on us. Focusing public attention on a health crisis caused by the Delta variant provides a diversion from everything that should be laid at Biden’s doorstep, such as the explosion of violent crimes in American cities, rising inflation, uncontrolled borders, and the takeover of the military and education by the intersectional Left. If the Democrats can get Americans to concentrate on their “crises,” such as the putative danger of a right-wing insurrection and a raging COVID pestilence, then voters might be distracted from other things.

Okay, we all know that there’s no danger, putative or otherwise, of a “right-wing insurrection” other than in the sick projections of the people talking about it, e.g. President Braindead and his equally-braindead minions in the Justice Department and its testicle tentacle offices such as the FBI and parts of the DHS.  (A couple hundred people acting like idiots in the hallowed halls [sic]  of Congress do not an insurrection make, as much as the Communists are claiming it as such.)

But as the article rightly puts it, we need to avoid the waving (albeit irritating) hand and concentrate on the really important stuff:  the horrifying mega-budget being pushed on us by the Leftists (and even some asshole Republicans too, for shame);  the flooding of our border defenses by illegal migrants and criminals;  the foul Critical Race Theory which is poisoning our kids and undermining our military, to say nothing of other less-important institutions such as our sports organizations, corporations and other parts of our everyday lives.  And most importantly, our First- and Second Amendment freedoms are being circumscribed and undermined on a daily basis by this same disgusting ruling establishment,

All the above being aided and abetted by the media, academia and politicians, of course.

Sadly, it’s a war of many fronts, but it is nevertheless a war that has to be fought every single day — because the Left is assaulting us with blatant lies and subterfuges every day and at every turn.

I’m not saying we should ignore annoyances such as mask mandates, of course.  But in ignoring, mocking or opposing them, we should not lose sight of the important issues which should take most of our effort and support.

Unsurprising

In the news:

SPRINGFIELD—All area stores have completely sold out if their supply of 9mm vaccine passports amid a nation-wide shortage.
The shortage began last year, well before rumors started circulating that President Joe Biden was going to require vaccine passports for certain activities.
Many people looking to tell the president and his minions, “I got your vaccine passport right here, Karen,” are having trouble finding them.
“It’s just a combination of things — you got millions of new vaccine passport owners buying them right when COVID hit,” said Billy Fallon, the owner of Firing Line, an indoor firing range and vaccine passport shop in Westland. “Companies shut down because of COVID, and when they started back up, they were only at a quarter-staff. And the orders kept coming in.”
Now with a likely federal mandate, the shortage could reach unprecedented levels.
“We’re short on everything but just cannot keep the 9mm or the .40 caliber vaccine passports on the shelf,” Fallon said.

Serves them right for just going with untried, untested 9mm/.40 S&W vaccine passports.  I (and many like me) prefer to go with the tried-and-tested .45 ACP and .357 Magnum vaccine passports, which deliver just the kind of results one would like them to have on the Gummint Karens.

The Beat Goes On…

Looks like it’s a Sonny & Cher kinda day, because (once again via Insty) I see the following:

President Joe Biden’s latest round of attacks on guns is helping to drive a historic sales surge that continues to leave store shelves bare of firearms and ammunition.
Industry officials said that June sales were the second-highest ever for the month, at about 1.3 million. Only June 2020 had a higher number for that month, at 2,177,586.

Anyone checked the availability of AR-15s recently?  Orders still backed up out to infinity?  Thought so.

And now that the 9mm/5.56mm ammo pipeline seems to be opening up, things are going ahead as planned.

Not as planned by Biden and the anti-gunners, of course, which is why they’re running around like headless chickens, trying to pass all sorts of stopgap anti-gun legislation.

Now if we can just get the increased flow of .45 ACP to lower the prices down from nosebleed levels, maybe I can get some 1911 practice going again.  My Springfield thinks I must have left town or something…