Sour Taste

Was chatting to my insurance guy the other day, and the result of said discussion was that as far as my VW Tiguan is concerned, I’m screwed if I ever get into a wreck because the book value of the 2013 model with 130,000+ miles is in the single-figure thousands.

This would be barely enough for a deposit on a “new” (i.e. second-hand) replacement, assuming I could even find one in acceptable condition — mine is near-perfect because I look after my cars, and it has the “leatherette” seats which are like hen’s teeth in this model.  (I’m a huge fan of the Tiggy because I’ve owned two, consecutively, and neither ever gave me any trouble, for a total of 210,000 miles.)

And to continue on the math of the thing, a $5,000 deposit would result in a $450+ monthly car payment, which I can’t afford #CrappyCashFlow.

So I’m stuck with what I’ve got, and the only thing I’ve got going for me is that a month’s total driving tops out at about 200 miles.  Had I not done Uber for a couple years, the mileage would now stand at about 40,000 miles, but I had no option in the matter (did I already mention #CrappyCashFlow?).

Anyway, I’ll just have to be careful out there, as a wise TV cop once said.

But there is an advantage to not having a modern — i.e. 2015+ — model, in that the electronics of the Tiguan are minuscule:  no keyless entry, no mapping software or any of that jive.  In fact, other than electric windows and -rearview mirrors, it’s about as electronics-free as one could imagine:  no seat “memory”, no “touchless trunk-closer”, none of any of those apparently-must-have “features” which are now common in cars nowadays.  Hell, my Tiggy doesn’t even have an Event Data Recorder (EDR) chip installed (that came after the 2014 model year).

This non-modernism is a real advantage when it comes to dealing with bastardy of this nature:

In a world where privacy is becoming increasingly elusive, drivers are facing an invisible foe that could be costing them money. A New York Times report details how automakers are sharing information on driving habits with insurance companies which can have a harmful impact on people’s wallets.

Insurance companies have “offered incentives to people who install dongles in their cars or download smartphone apps that monitor their driving, including how much they drive, how fast they take corners, how hard they hit the brakes and whether they speed.”

Car companies have established relationships with insurance companies, so that if drivers want to sign up for what’s called usage-based insurance — where rates are set based on monitoring of their driving habits — it’s easy to collect that data wirelessly from their cars.

But in other instances, something much sneakier has happened. Modern cars are internet-enabled, allowing access to services like navigation, roadside assistance and car apps that drivers can connect to their vehicles to locate them or unlock them remotely. In recent years, automakers, including G.M., Honda, Kia and Hyundai, have started offering optional features in their connected-car apps that rate people’s driving. Some drivers may not realize that, if they turn on these features, the car companies then give information about how they drive to data brokers like LexisNexis.

Here’s the thing:  I am one of the world’s most careful drivers;  in fifty-odd years of driving, I’ve had two wrecks of any consequence (and none at all in the past forty years) and two — count ’em, two — speeding tickets (both for doing less than 50 in a 40mph zone).  That’s it.

So if anyone would qualify for a lower insurance premium, assuming that I’d agree to let my insurance company snoop on my driving, it would be me.

But I’ll see them all burn in hell before I agree to this bullshit.  Fuck these assholes, fuck their Big Brother snooping, and fuck any car company who goes along with this foulness.  I’ll stick with my old ‘un, thankee:

No wonder ol’ Fred’s smiling.  He doesn’t have to put up with all this bullshit.

Not Red, Not Even Herrings

You need to read the report about the “pipe bombs” that were discovered outisde both the DNC and RNC heaquarters buildings in Washington D.C. on Jan 6 2020.  The report exposes either incomparable incompetence by the FBI, or else a degree of indifference about the supposed bombs and their implications, which leads me to suggest the executive summary of the whole business.

There were no bombs, and the FBI knew they weren’t bombs.  The bomb-like devices were a plant to increase the supposed imminence of civil unrest and insurrection and feelings of paranoia and fear among members of Congress and the public on Jan 6.  And the FBI were absolutely complicit in, if not the actual creators of this entire charade.

Now you can read the article, and see if the above summary is refuted by anything therein.

More Bastardy From California

I thought this nonsense had been declared illegal:

Several major credit card companies have decided to move forward with a plan to track purchases made at gun retailers in California, CBS News reported Monday.

American Express, Visa, and Mastercard will implement a new merchant code for firearm and ammunition retailers, allowing banks to track “suspicious” purchases to comply with a new California law.

As I’ve said before, whenever government needs a BJ, corporations have absolutely no problem falling to their knees.

Fuckers.

Cash.  Gun shows/estate sales.  Individual purchases.  (I don’t know how any of this would help CA residents, as they appear to be doomed, gun-wise.)


Update:  Seems like Idaho has the right idea, though.

No Overreaction This Time?

Here’s one that just makes me shake my head.

In the latest of a series of high-profile swatting incidents, far-left billionaire George Soros became the victim of a prank 911 call at his estate in Southampton, New York.

Southampton Village Police responded to the call reportedly made just before 9 p.m. last Saturday.

The unidentified caller claimed to have shot his wife and was threatening to commit suicide at the Soros mansion on Old Town Road.

Police response teams, including detectives and officers, were dispatched to the scene only to determine that the call was indeed a hoax after securing the premises.

Did the cops kick down the door and throw flashbangs?  No.

Was the homeowner beaten up and handcuffed?  No.

Was anyone at all shot or brutalized?  No.

In other words, this went down not at all like yer typical SWAT response.

They didn’t even shoot his damn dog.

Scorpions, Frogs

From Britishland a week or so ago, this lament:

Good God, they dishonoured our war dead and the police just stood and watched

Pro-Palestine mob desecrated monument to Britain’s war dead and the police told us they were powerless. That is a lie.

Outside Parliament a large gathering of protesters were both very vocal and waving the now obligatory Palestine flags and lighting flares.

The Police stood by and allowed this.

After the vote the gathering moved off and, in anticipation of them attacking the Cenotaph, police were quickly mobilised in order to protect it.

Realising that they weren’t getting anywhere near to the Cenotaph, the mob moved off to the statue and memorial of the Royal Artillery in Hyde Park corner.

There, unabashed and bafflingly unhindered by our coppers these idiots climbed onto the memorial, setting off flares, and plastering it in the flag of Palestine.

At the same time, in order to facilitate the mobbing of it, they stood on very many Remembrance wreaths damaging them and desecrating them.]

They were allowed to carry on until they got bored and moved off.

The Police did absolutely nothing to stop this and having observed this desecration no arrests were made when the idiots climbed down.

Well, yes.

…and law and order will do nothing.

I would love to see all those British soldiers who died in the Great War come back to life, fix bayonets, charge the fuzzies and not stop the killing until all the bastards are dead.  And if a few of those cowardly cops happen to get a bayonet in the gut as well, so much the better.

Then the heroes can go back to the peace of the grave with, once again, our grateful thanks.

Not Here, It Ain’t

Here’s one from Britishland that’s guaranteed to make yer blood boil:

Shoppers trying to arrest shoplifters could expose themselves to legal action and even imprisonment for assault, a lawyer has said.

Chris Philp told a fringe event at last week’s Tory Party conference that members of the public should make citizen’s arrests on thieves and called on security guards to step in where it is safe to do so.

But Ed Smyth, partner at Kingsley Napley, said that the law generally only permits citizen’s arrests for serious cases that could be tried in a crown court. They could also be used for low value shoplifting cases, but the force used must always be reasonable in the circumstances.

And guess what?  You don’t get to decide what’s “reasonable”.

No wonder that law-abiding Brits just cower in the face of villainy.  The law is not on their side.