The timing of Oklahoma oil man Aubrey McClendon’s death by car crash was suspicious, but it doesn’t appear to be suicide.
Oklahoma City police had been investigating the deadly March 2 wreck that killed McClendon just a day after he was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly trying to rig oil prices.
He could have taken a lot of rich people down, had he turned.
This is bothersome when you consider this:
Last year, when hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek showed they could hijack the steering and brakes of a Ford Escape and a Toyota Prius with nothing but laptops connected to the cars, they raised two questions: Could hackers perform the same tricks wirelessly, or even over the Internet? And even more pressing: Is your specific car vulnerable, too?
If you own a Cadillac Escalade, a Jeep Cherokee or an Infiniti Q50, you may not like the answer.
Since then it has been done over the wireless internet.
The oilman was driving a Chevy Tahoe, which is just a less gussied up Escalade. I can’t imagine a more asshole-puckering experience than to be cruising along on the highway, see your car speed up, realize you have no brakes, and then watch your car steer right toward an overpass abutment, as you turn the wheel and stomp on the brakes to no effect.
Technology is great, but I now realize that there was a reason Gene Hackman’s character in the movie Enemy of the State only drove cars made before 1980. What this points out is that if we do go full on Communista, the initial purge of conservatives could just look like a bunch of car crashes. I suspect much of the machinery is already turn-key. It just needs the right socialist at the top.
You are only paranoid if they never come out to get you.
The paper listing new cars by their theoretical vulnerability is here.
[…] By Anonymous Conservative […]
Yes, technology is wonderful, but what about all of those unexplained, weird, strange things ?
Where shall I start? Ten years ago, last year, 6 months ago, last week, yesterday, 8 hours ago? If the enemy has it technologically figured out and can ALWAYS escape suspicion, let alone conviction, then I say: “Make that bourbon a double”, as I head off to the kitchen to pour it.
Tick tock, tick tock.
You know the man you talked about in the previous articles? Well there is now a bounty on his head as well as his wife:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3632805/Gang-lords-raise-300-000-bounty-assassinates-new-Philippines-president-Duterte-offered-reward-killed-drug-dealer.html
When K-selection goes all bets are off in regards to assassinations. With K-leaders being the target of various attempts on their lives.
What kind of lunacy would it be to have a car where the steering was electronic? If the electrics go offline, your steering wheel does not work?
If the car dies on the highway, you should still be able to brake manually, and pull to the side. Anyone who designs a car where you couldn’t should be tried for crimes against humanity.
I’m like Gene with the cars, I’ve never owned one newer than ’91. Originally it was because that was all I could afford, but as my income increased I bought tools instead of newer vehicles and got good at keeping the old cars running. Another reason to drive old cars is that the manufacturers are purposefully engineering the new cars to make them more difficult for regular people to repair. I’m now in a comfortable enough position in life where I could afford to buy a new car right off the lot, (with cash), but that to me would be like burning money, those new cars hold no appeal to me.
Part of the reason is that I’ve always worked in automotive jobs, so I’m very familiar with all the new cars and their features. They all have GPS as well as microphones and cameras. Tracking you. Most of the new ones have remote shut off, a malicious “feature” that allows the car to be deactivated if the owner fails to make his payments.
Having gps in the car might not seem like a big deal to most people because they’re already carrying one around in their cell phone, but not me. I’ve never owned a cell phone and manage to operate just fine without one. I live a fairly low tech lifestyle. I’m willing to boycot certain things that others find too convenient to live with out.
You know, r/K theory can be applied to car drivers as well. Look at the evolution of automotive features for example. Cars have become very forgiving, first antilock breaks and crumple zones, then airbags, now full curtain air bags and sensors that brake to avoid collision… They even have vehicles that automatically call the authorities once a collision has occured. -We are breeding drivers who are vastly less competant than the drivers of 20 years ago. (most of these guys can’t even work a stick shift anymore!) There’s no need to learn parallel parking anymore, the computer will do that for you… and driver skills could vanish completely once self driving cars become the norm. (Then the alcoholics can be drunk all the time. No need for sobriety.) Safer cars means less natural selection, bad drivers are no longer culled as often and as a result the modern driver is faster and more confident but less competent and less skilled.
Long live old cars.
Very interesting analysis of the effects of technology and free resources.
I’m with Gene, I have no use for a vehicle with an on board computer, for anti-fragile reasons. And now this one, too.