Traveling to a foreign country is a bit like entering The Twilight Zone. Confronted by bizarre customs and unfamiliar routines, it can feel like everyone around you is acting strange, yet they treat you like the odd one out.
Such was my experience when I tried ordering breakfast during a recent trip to Malaysia. On the surface, this might seem like a trivial example of a foreign tourist not being used to a local custom, but that “trivial” experience revealed to me something extremely worrying about the direction civilization itself is headed.
In a nutshell, what should have been a simple breakfast order helped me understand with greater clarity than ever before that people the world over are collectively sleepwalking into a nightmare. In that nightmare, our ability to participate in public life—our very ability to exist in the world—is increasingly tied to subscription services, devices and technological infrastructure. When our ability to opt out of those services is finally taken away, we will be offered a chilling ultimatum: either adopt the very technology that is enslaving us . . . or die.
So, do you want to know how a breakfast ordeal in a foreign country can lead to such dramatic conclusions? Then read on!
“Obviously, if I knew the answer to those questions, I’d have already implemented it and we’d be living in a better world right now.”
But you did, James. You simply refused to comply and they had to work around you, not the other way around.
Notta problem for me to boycott these types of establishments. To me, a restaurant that serves ‘breakfast’ through QR codes and payment apps smells like Darpa, or Blackrock: gmo’d, micro-chipped and or otherwise nano-toxicized. Plus, I generally don’t carry my “fondleslab” (lol, good one!) everywhere I go, whereas, my own pocket-sized radiation device has never scanned a qR code. Yes, cash is king.
Indeed, I too am also an outcast for not even carrying a tracking devise (dumb phone) with me unless I think I am going to need it to call someone. Indeed, I have seen the QR codes on Menus, but I just play dumb and ask what is this thing? I don’t do that! I got cash! For the most part, I find that the wait staff likes cash better, especially when in comes to the tip.
I really feel sorry for this kids that don’t know what freedom is. Thus, they don’t know what they are missing. Some of them have been raised with Smart Phone (tracking / manipulation devises) from the time they could talk. Many of their parents have Apts that allow them to track the kids. They think this is good and never even think that “Big Brother” can track there kids as well. It’s kind of like Big Bother knows when the kid is away from home so that that can send messages to the brain washing devise.
As a stubborn old fart of 70 who had one of the highest rated Smart Phones for a number of years, I know how hard it can be to cancel the subscription and put the thing to rest, however I can only image how much harder it would be for one of these kids that has allowed the thing to control their life. At some point they become willfully ignorant manipulated morons who will reject the truth even when it is laid out before them.
Hallo, Truthseeker: I remember the first time I found myself forced into having to try to ignore a woman yammering away on a cell phone in public. It was shortly after 9/11 and my two young daughters and I were sitting quietly while waiting at our gate for a flight from MSP to Raleigh–Durham when suddenly a woman appeared with her phone pressed to her ear, yakking away. Unfortunately for us, she planted herself directly across from where we sat and for the next 15 long minutes we tried to ignore the fact that she was bawk-bawk-bawking three, maybe four feet across the way. There were still such things as ‘payphones’ and ‘phone booths’ at the time, so I just couldn’t wrap my brain around the fact that someone would be so brazen, so rude as to hold a phone conversation (a very loud one) with someone on the other end in the midst of so many strangers.
This was, of course, when the ‘nothin’ ta’hide’ mentality began.
Sigh.. I really miss the days when people weren’t in such deep denial and actually did have ‘somethin’ ta’hide’. I also miss phone booths.
And, yes, I am sad that kids who learned how to pose ‘for the smart-phone’ before the age of two, will never know, nor understand what either a phone booth or privacy was.
This is nothing new, i was in sweden in 2017 or so and they already had entirely cashless hotels. Its also not possible to boycott depending how far along your country is. But a good option i’m looking at doing myself is to open businesses that are cash only. Discriminating the other way round. The right kind of customers will find their way towards you
Good Luck!
Good one! I would support that right away.
I’d not known about that freemediaheckyeah site. Thanks.
A chain of upmarket cafes here in Nairobi put out QR codes on the menu, but the many complaints following forced the chain to remove them. Similarly, if a restaurant refuses cash, I simply say “either you accept cash or I walk out”. They always do, but then cash is still king here luckily.
Thank you for being a normal human James 🤗🤗
Some cafe’s here in Dublin tried the same…I just left.. and, was clearly not the only one and, we now again have the option to chose how we want to pay…
So happy the part of the Andes I will be relocating to next year, so far more or less, only take cash and, I’ll bring my coins 💰💰💰
I love it when Corbett uses his personal experiences to make a larger point.
This is so relatable.
Cashless *only* transactions are a real problem, especially when options are limited.
James , here in Oklahoma we have public roads that are built with invested bonds and on completion become toll roads. Collecting the toll is farmed out to a private vendor. The state provides the ” cashier” to handle the transaction with a small fee.. It’s a public road but if you have no vendor relationship another vendor of last resort will photo your license plate and mail you the bill, for a small fee. Heaven forbid you don’t respond and find your property impounded and you receive a warrant for your arrest . You will be seized , detained and put in a cell until you make restitution for your past due bill while driving on a public highway.
Kinda like going to breakfast. Seems a enterprising Maylia would fill the void where ever it occurred…for a small fee.
@generalbottlewasher
I had to look this up. It’s a civil penalty, in Oklahoma, if you (the owner) ignores payment, it might interfere with the owner of the vehicle renewing the registration.
I don’t see anywhere, where they’re going to issue a warrant for the owner’s arrest.
It’s not a criminal offense.
Thanks Iamfreeiamme.
I left out a few steps to being caught in a broad net and into a system of debt and property transfer. In Oklahoma as other states it’s all up to who you come into contact with out on the road. A felony awaits around every corner when confronting a bad apple. We can see the traps and pitfalls that enslave us. Some feel that’s a criminal offense.
The point is the entrepreneurial Mayla should fill those voids or ‘ hickeys between the state and hospitality. Not to mention if the tourist is so cheap he won’t tip, then a small fee would be expected and forth coming. God knows how hard it is to be witness to a spontaneous organization in hospitality for the good of a guest.
An unpaid Road tax/fine/Fee or whatever they want to call it does not cross State lines, however It could be a problem if one plans to drive through Oklahoma more than once.
I got a couple of Parking Tickets in NY back 1978 which amounted to $90 if I was dumb enough to pay them within a specified time frame. My attitude back in 1978 was fuck-um, I not planing on going back to NY.
Another time I was coming back from the west coast driving through Chicago (likely around 2010) in 8 lanes of traffic. I was in the left lane when my exit comes up on the Rt, so I had to jump 8 lanes just to make the Prepaid Auto- read booths. Of coarse I only had cash so I ran the damn thing. Anyway, I was checking my mirrors all the way to the India border but no cops showed up. Once I got home I never got even a notice.
These Tech Companies will do everything they can to deceive you to pay, but when it comes down to it, their fees are simply a request. Most judges will toss these violations out of Court if you contest and force them to prove their case. Once you show them that they are going to lose money fucking with you they will give you a free ride.
If you don’t know your Rights, and you are not willing to stand up for them, You don’t have any.
War may be a Crime, however if they are coming to make me a slave, I see no other answers.
Thus, I say Aggressive War is a Crime, yet we have duty to defend ourselves from Aggressors.
May I add, Israel is an Aggressor!
Truth seeker
“…..An unpaid Road tax/fine/Fee or whatever they want to call it does not cross State lines,…..”
That’s true, but if a state issues a warrant for unpaid fees or whatever your name can come up next time you get pulled over. Cops are ID mad because their fishing for warrants on your name.
You might beat the rap but you may not beat the ride.
I had a similar experience with Ticket master. I bought tickets to a concert and they wanted me to download the app which I didn’t but the venue absolutely refused paper tickets and so I could not print them out. I ended up having to take my phone and find the e-mail and the QR code was on that. Then to add insult to injury the venue will not let anyone bring in their own water bottle even if it is empty🤦🏽♀️ They searched our bags and had to go through a metal detector. It felt very TSA like. grr. They did have some water fountains in the event but the water trickled out. The concert ended up being really fun but I don’t think I will be going back. Fortunately they still have free outdoor concerts here in the summer.
For that very reason, I’ve stopped going to large venues, in general. If a venue sells through TicketSlaveMaster or requires that I bring my fondleslab, I don’t bother. Fortunately, that simultaneously precludes most exorbitantly marked-up shows and venues that have the consumer-milking practices you describe. Unfortunately, that precludes a lot of really big, beloved acts. 🙁
India, small town (Nelamangala my workplace) near, very big town (Bangalore). Morning street market with, so called fresh fruits and vegetables on a cloth on the pavement, all payable by QR code, with strong reluctance cash (rupees) accepted. this is already going on for years, India wide.
Opening a CBDC account with any bank, no problem. Wholesale or Retailaccount Sir?? Obligatory QR code entering int. terminal Bangalore airport, Without this it is a very difficult and lengthy procedure to get in. No people behind the check in counters, completely automated!! (QR code) again. And on and on. India was always a kind of backward isn’t it?? Question, in what sense??
The VA as well as other public services is now entrenched in behavior for our “safety” meaning what used to be a simple online access to communicate has turned into codes, phone calls, etc. just to get on line service.
I use a flip phone with no “apps” and only talk and simple text on it. I have paper maps and GPS for navigation. I saw all this coming a LONG time ago understanding the agendas of the controllers regarding banking and world control. When my iMac can no longer “talk” to the web I will just disappear I guess.
Most folks left and right just don’t want to hear about the breaking down of sovereignty and freedom as if we are the bad guys just for talking about it :-/
GET OFF THE PHONE (song)
https://old.bitchute.com/video/2QbsxZOkIYjA/
In our lifetime they cracked down on public cigarette smoking.
First it was an Ashless Society. (kinda worked)
Then a Cashless Society. (kinda working)
Then a Crashless Society (driverless cars, kinda not working)
Then a Clashless Society (Work in progress…When we are ALL angels, Hah! But actually when they have surveilled and locked down the whole human population)
BTW The anti-gun virtue signalers should consider the following facts.
1.We don’t have a gun free society as long as the police and the military (now becoming virtually indistinguishable) give up their guns.
2.When it is a crime to have a gun, only criminals will have all the guns. On both sides of the law.
3.Pol Pot, Castro, Mao, Hitler, and Stalin took the guns, and that did not provide greater safety, but just the opposite.
This is digressing somewhat, but not totally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwNNPNL-KKc&ab_channel=IvorCummins
My friend recommended this clip of Alex Krainer analyzing the world. He was new to me. He said a lot of interesting things. Towards the end, he painted the BRICS nations as rather virtuous. He is no lightweight; I would love to see James debate him on that. (I think James’ dive into that area goes deeper, and is probably more accurate, but I imagine that we would learn a lot if they ever had a public debate.
It is increasingly uncomfortable for me to be in the world as it transforms… It is difficult to find locals to connect with where I live. But besides that:
1. Product quality and ‘customer service’ are going (and have been going) by the wayside for some time (the replacable everything society). I am old enough to remember quality control and true service, as well as blue skies and clean water.
2. All of the stores where I live except a few, begrudgingly take cash but don’t like it or encourage it at all. (Until their computer systems go down, and then all of a sudden they only take cash for some odd reason.)
3. Try to get a human on the phone these days.
4. ‘They’ are pushing digital ID for all government service access (DMV, medicare, social security, paying taxes, etc.). So what about us who live off of those services after a long life of paying hard-earned money into ‘their’ systems? I haven’t owned a ‘smart’ phone for years and miss land lines.
We are being literally forced into a digital gulag that is dependent upon the grid functioning, the internet functioning, etc. What better way to kill us all or at least get us hostile and unhappy? I can’t think of a better way. Especially when the new proposals are to throttle consumer energy and water usage while building city-width-and-breadth data centers in the desert where I live that don’t even have to pay taxes.
Frankly, I find all of this extremely unsettling and pray daily and nightly for love, compassion, kindness, ease, grace, and peace… not to mention Real guidance…
It is very unsettling. Check out https://www.oraclegirl.org/ in case it may resonate.
I understand what you mean about the world transformation. I have always enjoyed change but the madness of today can hardly be thought of as normal.
Indeed, for me living off the grid and many miles from towns “locals” just aren’t on the menu.
My landlord and I discuss the “customer service” problem. Seems like a true lack of desire to actually help is missing and many who try just don’t know their job very well.
No problem with “cash” up here on the mountain.
Try to find something that can bring some positive into your life.
I MISS THE OLD DAYS (song)
https://old.bitchute.com/video/o2Z7IlZLjadH/
Your tunes have great words. We must be around the same generation. Indeed, today is Literal Madness. I have begun doing what you said regarding “Try to find something that can bring some positive into your life.” I’m ready to put cheesy flyers up all over the place that say: “Pro Drummer Seeking Musicians to Jam With.” The scamdemic really fucked me up mentally and emotionally like so many others and I just kind of gave up on people. The one guy I was collaborating with remotely (he was from Australia) must’ve died or something, just disappeared one day prior to putting out an album together.
Time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldXspadaMLA
Nice video. Pretty emotional song hey? I would love to hear some fills and high hat, etc. segues. You hold a good beat.
Used to have a couple of bands back in the day. Tried the flyer thing up here on the mountain and the only guy who called was unable to “feel” what I was playing. Wanted more “cover song” stuff.
Yeah, folks can just fade away hey?
Try some practice with this song of mine. A positive relationship song that can help get you up. But DO NOT post it anywhere if you record your practice. My lawyer is VERY strict about that. If you feel you would like to, we could exchange emails and I’ll give it a listen and maybe then you can post it if you want.
EJ
IT’S THE WAY
https://old.bitchute.com/video/yZkfJ0KwdZPg/
I’ve never sung, so I’m lucky I can play what I did while singing! 🙂 Anyways, I can do fills and stuff, played on 13 albums in the day, just no singing. I did rock and alternative stuff. They guy in Australia was lighter music than I’m used to but here’s the last thing we did before he disappeared. I’ll listen to your tune and see what I feel. Heart Plane (song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i84s8Hl1ulg
Though I’ve never been into soloing, I can do some chops still (musical masturbation in 6): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVJhgOcTvTI
Regarding your tune… In order for me to play with music in the internet realm, I need to know the bpm for the tune to set the click track in my DAW. Your tune changes tempos based on your emotion and such, which is fine, except I’m kind of meter crazy. It would probably be different if you and I had jammed together for some time. I’m out of practice playing with others, as it is. If you want to share a track that is clicked in, I’d check it out. I appreciate you responding.
Couldn’t understand the lyric :-/
Yeah, my “studio” is a 30 year old cassette tape recorder. No board, click tracks, nothing. I put the videos together in iMovie 6. As simple of a process as possible. Sorry.
I’ve been crying “go old school”, “leave the cities” & “ditch the cellphones” for I-don’t-know-how-long.
I don’t have a cell phone, and I’m avoiding getting one for as long as possible. I’m satisfied with only having a wired “landline” telephone and wired desktop computer to connect with the world beyond my home.
I use a credit card for most of my purchases and then only use cash for private peer-to-peer transactions. I believe as soon as you give cash to most businesses, the cash is likely going to go *out of circulation* and into some banking institution. And if that’s the case, who knows if it will ever be put back into circulation again. At least with private peer-to-peer exchanges there’s a chance of it staying in circulation for a little while.
While I did engage in “Cash Fridays” for a while, I knew it was just a matter of time before society at large would go cashless — largely because most people *will not* give up their cellphones — and it’s their cellphone use that’s enabling this worldwide economic conversion.
I largely live in either rural or small-town America, so I haven’t had too many encounters requiring me to scan QR codes. However, I’m prepared to walk away if that ever becomes an issue.
Regarding subscription services, I stopped using MS-office when they converted to subscriptions only. I largely use Notepad or Wordpad, if I have to type anything at all. Otherwise, I hand-write a lot — in journals, on wall calendars, and make tons of to-do lists & other notes on scratch/copy paper. And I do all of my financial bookkeeping for our household and business manually on those green columnar spreadsheets. (And I don’t do online banking anymore — not since 2020.)
While our family is currently using paid-for streaming video services (which I’m happy to disconnect once my family says let’s do it), we’ve also been building up our own physical media library. That, coupled with a big screen, video projector and surround-sound system, and plenty of air-popped popcorn makes for a fun Family (or Private Personal Community) Film Night in our barn.
(And we have quite the arsenal of board/parlor games, playing cards and jigsaw puzzles — and CDs & LPs with their respective players.)
Carriew
“… I stopped using MS-office when they converted to subscriptions only. I largely use Notepad or Wordpad,…”
You might want to try LibreOffice, they make a windows version and it’s free. You can also save stuff in Microsoft word format wiyh it. Writer is better then word, and they have an excel and power point app.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOffice
You can also probably get olde Word versions at Winworld and run them in compatiblity mode if they don’t like modern windows (they probably will just run but I don’t know)
Regarding your physical media collection- congratulations on being ahead of the curve. I ripped all my media disks into files on an external hard drive and play them with KODI running on a raspberry pi4 (about the size of a cigarette packet) and it runs mp4, iso of the disk, or any of the other files I might have ripped. I just use the blue USB to connect the drive.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qcF3t_OlNkI&pp=ygUHS29kaSBwaQ%3D%3D
Ripped files are easier to move around then my disk collection 🙂
Part of the issue is that WE think we NEED their crap.
Basically if you pack sandwiches from home and carry a water bottle you don’t need to buy their stuff. If it’s hard to buy stuff maybe you can do without it.
People need to get used to doing without stuff or they need to accept that they must play in the playground the corporations set up…..the power dynamic depends entirely on how much you want their crap.
The crypto stuff and the online super secret messaging and the secret web browser and dark internet agora’s and all the other stuff is an attempt to get around the fact that most of us are addicted to buying useless shit we don’t need…..if 30 ir 40 % of people saud they would never fly again because of security theater the show would be over
Get used to being poor and you will be much freer
As long as Restaurants and such are willing to take cash, I will continue to educate them. When they fail to accommodate me I will no longer do business with them.
Very good attitude- they need out money more then we need their slop
Thanks for this view from abroad, James. Here in New England (USA), I’ve seen “plastic only” just once or twice, although admittedly I don’t get out much. On the other hand, people expect to use plastic even at the farmers’ market! I’ve been pleased to see two restaurants I frequent encourage cash by offering a cash discount. Their reason, though, is to raise awareness about the hit they take for credit card fees and to reduce that hit. Whatever works.
The problem as I see it James is that you are not politically correct yet.
You need to get up to speed with the 21st century times. 🙂
Here in southern Ontario the move to CBDC is moving along quietly behind the scenes waiting to be sprung upon the general public (mostly normies) at the most opportune time.
I viewed cell phones 25+ years ago when they started to come on the scene the same way I view them today.
I saw them first as a dog leash. People were expected to carry them at all times so they
could be at the beck and call of anyone you gave your number to.
Nothing of importance ever needed to be discussed in the phone call, simply picking up the phone was enough to relay compliance and obedience.
Nothing has changed today in this respect.
Cell phones have continued to function as dog leashes (calls and social media apps) but have also morphed into digital payment devices.
I held off buying a cell phone for more than 10 years and recently ‘upgraded’ my phone because it was built to become (and did become) obsolete.
The built-in batteries make them very difficult to change.
I had no choice but to buy a new phone or do without.
I still use my phone as a camera 95%+ of the time. It stays in my house most of the time unless I need to take a photo somewhere or show someone a photo.
I never pay for anything with my phone.
I refuse to give any company my cell phone number so they can’t ‘text’ me any codes
to confirm my identity.
But that doesn’t stop the government, banks and other institutions from harassing me with codes that need to be sent to my landline, to confirm my ‘ID’.
It’s a joke really, because ANYONE can pick up the phone at my home and punch in the code they are waiting for. 🙁
Ah but when CBDC arrives all that will change. 🙂
Fawlty Towers,
If you have a Smart Phone, meaning that it is hooked up to the Internet (Dumb Phones are not capable of hooking up to the Internet), then, “Big Brother” is collecting data on you. They can track that phone at any time and turn it on to record your conversations. They may also be able to access your photos.
I switched to a Dumb Phone years ago because my Smart Phone was turning itself on and often doing things I did not want it to do. Once you get on a number of Shit-lists (one might be AE911Truth.org) you become a “Person of Interest” or as I like to call it “An Interesting Person”. Some say that if you are not on a government Shit-list then you are not doing anything interesting, and boring people don’t have have to worry (at lest for now)
On Jan 6, 2020 people participating in a peaceful protest relative to Voter Fraud went to D.C. hoping to get Congress to delay Certificating the Election until after a Congressional Investigation was done. Simply because they carried a Smartphone it was determined that they were there, thus guilty , and then the Smartphone was used to track them down. Close to 1000 people went to Jail without a trial and some were there for more than 4 years. Amazingly Trump did grant these people a Presidential Pardon, yet the perpetrators of the real crime of Treason have yet to be prosecuted.
Anyway, if these people had left their Smart Phone at home, in the hotel room, in the car, or trashed the damn thing immediately after the event they likely could have avoided 4 years of unjust detainment.
All I can say is that that Smart Phone is not your friend, and that you should learn to live without it.
Truth seeker
There are no dumb phones being made anywhere in the world as far as I know
The “dumb” phone is just a low powered smartphone without the screen and without easy access ti the features and the only privacy advantage is that you won’t be using it for emails or discord or whatever dem kids is doing in phones these days….the feature phones most people call “dumb” have GPS and blue tooth and all the rest of that tracking stuff.
The only unyrackabke electronic signaling device I know is (maybe) a pager
Thanks TruthSeeker.
Yes I am aware of all the stuff you mentioned above.
I didn’t fully explain how I use my phone (or rather, don’t use my phone).
I mentioned that it stays in my home 95%+ of the time.
Both when it’s in my home and when I take it when I go out, I do NOT turn on the phone. There is no connection to the internet or a cell tower. It stays in airplane mode. No one can call me.
I don’t even have a phone plan with data!
Once in a blue moon I may use Wifi in the home or out.
That’s about it.
The rest of the time I use the phone to take music videos (my practice) or photos.
So I’m a very unorthodox cellphone user.
Vietnam freezes 86 million bank accounts and requires fingerprints and facial recognition to unfreeze. The man narrating told people to do it….but use cash. As if they couldn’t just freeze it again once you’ve sold your soul.
https://odysee.com/@StopTheCrime:d/Vietnam-CLOSES-86000000-Bank-Accounts-Submits-to-OECDs-Power-Grab:2
Love your show James. I agree a cashless world is a problem but I also admit I’ve given up on trying to opt out of technology. I use the credit card and take the cash back reward.
I guess bitcoin payment was not an option for you at any of these restaurants? I thought it might be in Malaysia. I don’t bitcoin since I don’t want to be kidnapped and tortured for my seed phrase.
I use cash whenever possible, and thought to ask a grocery clerk if she sees very many others doing that. Her surprising answer was “a lot.” That’s heartening. However, the biggest concern in my life is the app subscriptions – primarily the enforced subscriptions to InDesign and Microsoft Office. No similarly-featured alternatives exist, and this situation is obviously monopolistic. It should be illegal for features of those programs to be endlessly proprietary if there was any regulatory action still possible from the public-private partnerships that function as “government.” Those two subscription apps funnel all of my creative computer-based work into the “cloud,” (clever euphemism for Big Brother’s computer) as food for Palantir’s AI/surveillance monstrosity. Without a significant sacrifice of capability, one can no longer choose to keep creative mental work, the most personal and individual of all human activities, private. All other enslavement aspects of the digital gulag pale before that one, as far as I’m concerned.
Isja
“….Microsoft Office. No similarly-featured alternatives exist, and this situation is obviously monopolisti….”
LibreOffice does stuff just fine AND IS FREE TO GET AND USE.
Free as in license and free as in no money.
I don’t use indesign but afaik it’s just desktop publishing? There are plenty of FREE alternatives and probably some paid (but sofftware free) alternatives.
https://alternativeto.net/software/adobe-indesign/?platform=linux
There are alternatives to every piece of software people currently pay subscriptions for…..people just cant be bothered to change their work flow just like card swipers cant be bothered to go get some cash.
That’s fine, I don’t care what software people use but it’s kinda weird how much people complain about something they can fix with a tiny bit of adjustment…..if I had to use some janky windows software for work I’d just run a microserf windows “virtual machine” in my Linux box
https://itsfoss.com/adobe-alternatives-linux/#fastcomments-widget
The monopoly exists only in peoples minds and habits.
“….All other enslavement aspects of the digital gulag pale before that one, as far as I’m concerned…..”
The digital gulag is basically the monkey shoving his hand down a hole and grabbing something then wondering why he is trapped. As of now no one makes people use the prison-ware to exist or live or even thrive. It’s just EASIER to use it.
You can also make or buy a NAS storage and make your own cloud storage for home network or access over the internet (best via VPN) or a DAS storage that is totally offline and you plug into your box.
There are plenty of private cloud options, and having home storage is ridiculously cheep now compared to a few years back…..you can even encrypt everything if your on the paranoid side.
It does , however, put the responsibility of regular back ups and such on the user….most people honestly can just but a hard drive dock and a spinning hard drive and copy their stuff into that and then copy THAT a hard drive to one or two back up copies. (Keep at least one copy off site)
It’s harder and more expensive then just using other peoples computer (the cloud) but you can keep everything private (even encrypted) and safe.
“You can also make or buy a NAS storage and make your own cloud storage for home network or access over the internet (best via VPN) or a DAS storage that is totally offline and you plug into your box.”
What language is this that you’re speaking? Recently, I got excited about switching to Linux. Then it was, “Oh, btw, it is much harder with a Mac, and we don’t recommend people try it.” All the app alternatives I’ve tried are significantly more clunky and less fully-featured than the ones that gleefully scarf up your data for a fee. Try sending a LibreOffice doc to someone who doesn’t have that program and it’ll be an unformatted mess. I’ll keep trying, though I continue to resent the seeming fact that nothing with equivalent capabilities and ease of use are allowed to exist.
Isja
If you’re sending “an unformated mess” then you are probably not saving it as a Word doc….though word opens .odt documents just fine in my experience. The “save as” menu will let you save it as various flavors of word document, but the default is .odt (open doc format) which i have seen Word open just fine.
You might have some issue with fonts displaying, unless you’ve installed Microsoft fonts which is very easy.
“….All the app alternatives I’ve tried are significantly more clunky and less fully-featured than the ones that gleefully scarf up your data for a fe…..”
Maybe you have a very specific need (in which case use windows or Mac – bare metal or in a Virtual box ) but I have never “not been able” to do anything proprietary software does.
Is the actual problem your WORKFLOW or it WONT DO a what you need?
If it flat out won’t do it (which would be weird but possible) then run Mac or windows and accept the loss of privacy for the feature you value more. Or run these OS in Virtual Box for that job.
“…What language is this that you’re speaking? …”
I speak the language of a person who has access to Google,
🙂
You do NOT need to be hacker man to look up YouTube tutorials or read a thread about how to do something. Linux nerds like to pretend their super smart and skilled but even professional IT people mostly look shit up online- not kidding.
The issue is how much TIME people are willing to spend learning stuff….just as card swipers are not willing to spend time getting cash out low tech people are not willing to spend the time reading or watching how to do techie jobs. Not everyone wants to change their oil or fix their car or cook supper- so they choose to pay someone else and accept what their given.
THATS A CHOICE in both cases- everyone gives something up for what they value more.
“…..Recently, I got excited about switching to Linux. Then it was, “Oh, btw, it is much harder with a Mac, and we don’t recommend people try it.”….”
That’s fine- if you value having Apple or Microserf lay out your work flow then you have to pay the price of less freedom. If you value not having to look up stuff that’s fine- the price is less freedom.
Alt software is just as good but if you want to spend your time doing stuff on corporate apps then you pay the price of having someone else decide what’s what- kinda like if I cook dinner you get whatever slop I cook because you didn’t want to cook yourself. 🙂
Not getting at you personally because it’s a big thing I see people want to have the ease and the services the “people farmers” provide without living on the farm.
Ps
NAS – some hard drives in a machine that stores your data and is accessed via network (local or internet) “NETWORK attached storage “
DAS – a machine you store data on that is not in a network and you plug your PC into it to use the data there DIRECT access storage IIRc
You can buy them prebuilt
Thanks so much for all the good information, Duck! I feel like I’ve got all I can do to just create content, so yeah – I do look like a whiny little twit to anyone who has all this figured out. My son is like you – he learned all about computers by osmosis when he was about 12 and now he’s a corporate techie. Where did he come from?? I joke that if the rest of the world was like me, we’d all live in caves lined with books.
“….joke that if the rest of the world was like me, we’d all live in caves lined with books….”
Honestly we may be heading back there- and I will be fine with it TBH. Most people would be better off without the internet anyway and it’s always mostly been enemy territory.
Got to admit I do admire artists- I play with water color but don’t have the gift of making anything inspired. I have an artsy kid who has a foaming at the mouth hatred of AI for what it does to art.
You should get your techie kid to make you a good set up for self storage though- if you can’t get free labor why’d we change all those diapers? Lol
Isja
On word I am sure the only reason it exists as it does is because the IT people dont pay their own money and a lot of the problems are taken care of by Microsoft
Anyone spending their PERSONAL money on a Microsoft office subscription either has a VERY specific use case (I can not imagine one but it probably exists) or is just burning money because they don’t care…..if I was still using windows I’d go ti winworld and grab an ancient version if all I was doing was writing stuff. New word opens old word docs all the way back to word 1 iirc and one good tbing is Microsoft generally makes old stuff run in compatibility
The only good thing about windows is they have good backward compatibility, unlike Mac in the little I’ve ever used it.
Btw what Linux distro did you pick?
I like LMDE because Ubuntu is getting a bit bloaty.
Linux distro??? 🤔😆
Aldi (a national grocery store) has a special registrar for cash and I would estimate that about half their customers are cash.
I even have Costco taking Cash because I got pissed off at Citi Bank. Citi-Bank sends me a new application every month, but I don’t get un-pissed very easily, and I spend a lot less money this way.
On a similar theme. Well known airline Ryanair is going digital only from November. Options to print a paper boarding pass will be removed. All passengers will need to use the Ryanair app on their smart phone. Back up facilities will be available at the airport for anyone who has lost their phone or if the battery has died. Currently 25% of passengers use printed boarding passes. A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “Passengers who don’t have a smartphone can ask a friend or family member to download the boarding pass for them. That’s ok then? Time to boycott Ryanair I suppose but on many routes there is no alternative. Warning! – article below contains nuts. https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanair-flight-smartphone-only-boarding-pass-b2816272.html
Dear James,
I am Ecuadorian. I went through some of the thoughts you expressed one night, about three years ago, when I was in a small, remote village in the mountains of Chile, surrounded by simple people who seemed far removed from the technology and madness of their capital, two hours away. Trying to buy some food for my daughter and granddaughter in a very humble shop, I realised that I had run out of local cash and began to sweat. My concern lasted only a few seconds. Then, with much hesitation and as a last resort, knowing they would likely say no, I offered a card for payment (I used to travel a lot and had never taken such a brave step as yours to refuse them). In that humble and remote place, the shopkeeper, who looked like a very poor farmer, took the card as if it were the most normal thing in the world, took out a device that was new to me at the time, and, in the total darkness of his shop with only a dim light bulb on, swiped it through the reader. I cannot deny that I felt relieved to know that my granddaughter would not go hungry, but I was also overcome with sad thoughts about the digital dominance and control that rules the world. I used to travel a lot before; I loved it. Now the charm is gone. You don’t know which airport you’re in because they’re all the same; the monopoly reduces you to a single continental owner of cafés, restaurants, and shops, and the same thing happens outside, in the cities-one flavor for everything. What I miss most, however, is human contact. There are no people to talk to, neither on the plane, nor at the airport, nor in the cities. Everyone has their heads buried in screens, looking annoyed or bored, anxious and smiling, yes, for selfies for social media, where they appear to be enjoying their adventure, until the camera clicks. Furthermore, with all the knowledge we have gained from following investigators like you for years, almost everything has its background and horror. Yes, it’s a question of age, as I was born in a different era and was lucky to see and feel different, but that’s what travelling means to me now.
Not to be a troll but this new subscription cashless society reminds me of the South Park episode joking about freemium services.
This shifts the field for global power players…
Taken from Corbett’s Recommended Reading, Listening and Viewing
Sept 7, 2025 – By Irina Slav – OilPrice.com
Russia-China Gas Deal May Seal New Gas World Order
~~~ Russia and China agreed to build Power of Siberia-2, shifting over 100 bcm/year of gas toward China and cementing a new east-focused gas order.
~~~ Europe will rely more on costlier LNG, worsening its energy-price disadvantage versus China and eroding industrial competitiveness.
~~~ U.S. LNG may face weaker Chinese demand….
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Russia-China-Gas-Deal-May-Seal-New-Gas-World-Order.html
For those who do not know, James Corbett has interviewed the writer, Irina Slav. (She’s in Bulgaria.)
The problem as I see it goes like this.
Technology is moving like a speeding bullet.
Entrepreneurs, programmers etc. are dreaming up and putting into practice Orwellian schemes SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY CAN.
They have no interest or regard for privacy.
Then along comes bankers, governments, the WEF etc. etc. and they say
“Great idea! We can use this to further control the masses. Keep up the good work!”
Bingo, here comes CBDC’s, QR code payments, fingerprinting, eye scan tech. etc. etc.
Why? It all starts with techies dreaming these things up and showing their bosses what they have created.
The masses just go along for the ride with no idea how they will be totally enslaved.
They are always 4 or 5 steps behind the ball.
The scariest part is how fast this is all playing out.
In less than a generation the entire world seems to be moving in lock step
with this nightmare.
The fallback excuse is always the same: Security.
You do want to be safe don’t you?
FT
True
The Unabomber wrote that everyone will tend to use any tech that makes their job / life easier….. peoples natural laziness is going to be the downfall of many folks.
Each little step feels very easy and easy ti step back from but most people will tip toe right over the edge because it’s convenient and easy and they don’t have to bother working stuff out themselves
Yep, The Unabomber put some fear into those Techies for a while there. He was on the corrupt FBI, most wanted list for 12 years before his brother ratted him out. His targets were selected because of the harm he determined that they were responsible for. I don’t agree with him being the self appointed Judge, Jury, and Executioner, however he did have an IQ of something like 180. AI will soon exceed that and the Machines will likely make the Unabomber look like a staint
Prior to the Political Assassination of Charlie Kirk I could not have told you who he was. This is likely because I watch very little TV. None the less it gained my interest when I realized that someone hired a professional assassin squad to kill him and that the FBI (cover-up team) was sent into to push photos of the “Pasty”.
At no point was the Pasty seen with a gun, and the video showing this kid climbing down off the roof shows no gun, yet somehow the gun ends up in high grass where it can be found by some local moron who can be played by the FBI.
I found out that Charlie was wearing a bullet proof vest because he was getting death threats. As it turns out he was very popular on College Compasses partly because he was well funded by the Israel Lobby. Over time he began to question the Genocide in Gaza and recently he refused money from the Israel Lobby. Taking money from the greatest Terrorist organization in the world has it’s consequences even if he did not know what he was doing at the time.
I think it was CBS that had Nut-head-yahoo on for a good 10 minutes just to rattle on about how preposterous it was to even think that Israel Mossad had made the hit. Their is no better liar and deceiver than BI-Bi, yet he seems to get all the TV time he wants here in the States. Indeed, the Terrorist of Terrorists wants you to know that you are next if you speak as to why you think Israel made the hit. All I hear on ABC “News” is that the shooter is not cooperating with the prosecution (I guess they didn’t brainwash him enough).
Anyway, it appears to me that the Terrorist State of Israel and it’s planners of evil around the world wanted to create chaos on the streets pitting those who oppose Trump’s Marshal Law in Cities where he has no jurisdiction (unless invited in) against those on the Right who support most of what Trump is doing on Emigration and MAHA, And, Charlie Kirk was regarded as a big Trump supporter. Yep, the Israel Lobby needed Charlie out of the way before he could do too much damage to them.
This 31 year old man was having open dialog with the other side and was beginning to see the truth. Nut-head -yahoo thought that they owned him and all they needed to do was give him more money, but when he refused to take more money from the devil they used the money to hire a hit squad, cover-up squad, and all the things they need to distort reality.
If Trump were smart he could see that this was a professional Assassination and that the FBI was brought in to plant false evidence and set up a Pasty. There is no way this 22 year old kid pulled off this perfect shot which should be a warning to Trump that they (Massod) can get him too. If it were not for Gerry Ford (who was on the Warren Commission in 1963 and later President in 1974 where he signed legislation that made it unlawful for a President to take out the Leader of another Country) Trump would have the authority to take him out first.
I agree there looks like some weirdness happened wiyh the shooting but I promise you that you can take that shot with that rifle if your an average shooter…..maybe not with a scope set up for someone else like his was, but the shot was not a super hard one.
I am also not sure a soft vest would have stopped that round, either. The shooter was probably aiming for his chest and it went high.
Below is a link to a story on why Charlie Kirk feared for his life.
https://needtoknow.news/2025/09/charlie-kirk-refused-netanyahu-funding-offer-was-frightened-by-pro-israel-forces-before-death-friend-reveals/
Great article, well written.
For some reason it reminds me both of that scene in Falling Down when Michael Douglas misses breakfast and pulls out a gun, but also a random X-Files episode I watched recently called “Rm9sbG93ZXJz”.
A weird mixture of dark, terrifying, absurd and somehow quite funny.
Or take a Sharpie along and mess with every QR code you see.
I expect the day to come in the not-to- distant future (x number of years) when we will receive a letter from the government/banks informing us that we have ‘x number of days’ to deposit all of our cash into our bank(s) and or exchange it for some form of electronic money instrument being used at the time, after which point in time all cash will be worthless.
Corbett’s article “Public Life Is Now A Subscription Service” came to mind today when I saw this…
Wednesday September 17, 2025 (FOMC Powell today) – Zero Hedge
Watch:
‘Dysto-Pee’in’ Toilets Won’t Give You Toilet Paper Unless You Sit Through Advertisement Or Pay Up
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/watch-dysto-peein-toilets-wont-give-you-toilet-paper-unless-you-sit-through
[Short VIDEO & Images]
EXCERPTS
In a bizarre scene straight out of a sci-fi flick, some public bathrooms in China are now holding toilet paper hostage behind advertisements, according to frustrated users venting on an anti-consumption subreddit.
China Insider shared a chilling video – branded “dystopian” by appalled viewers – showing people scanning QR codes on toilet paper dispensers to watch a quick ad before a stingy few squares are doled out. Want more paper or to dodge the ad? Cough up 0.5 RMB, roughly 5 cents, to bypass the nonsense. Chinese officials claim this setup curbs waste, pointing fingers at folks allegedly swiping excessive amounts of free toilet paper…
…”This wouldn’t work in the UK, either the machine would get smashed in shortly or there would be poop smeared everywhere,” another quipped.
This isn’t China’s first foray into high-tech restroom antics – back in 2017, Beijing’s Temple of Heaven park rolled out toilet paper dispensers with facial recognition tech, raising serious questions about privacy and control, according to Metro….
Speaking of invasion of privacy, I was glad to see that The Corbett Report web site has ZERO trackers. One of the only sites I visit that is free of ads and trackers. Good for you, Mr. Corbett! I use a blocker called, Privacy Badger which can be found under the “Tools” menu at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff dot org). They also have no trackers on their website.
Haha to comment above about using a sharpie on QR codes. I learned about that in a New World Next Week episode, but I couldn’t find it.
Just because we’re hypnotized, don’t mean we can’t dance.