Sometimes you have to have faith.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Plan!

We have created this site as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions. This is a place where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This particular thread is – for the moment – TRUST THE PLAN Thursday. You are welcome to say what you think, in a civil and courteous manner that loves your neighbor. Free speech matters! Courteous speech makes it happen.

Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.

You are you. AI is AI. Keep your identity. Don’t “Borg Out” on us!

And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.

That was stolen from Wheatie.

Let’s steal her rules, too.

• No food fights.
• No running with scissors.
• If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.

Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.

Our Mission Orders

Just to make sure you can see that…..

Retrocultural Reminders (Future Proves Past, Past Anchors Future)

Pontifications

The Curse of “Obama Brakes”

You may be able to tell how much of an “old man boomer” I am, simply by the fact that I discovered an Obama-era “feature” on vehicles in just the last few years, and mostly in just the last year or so.

Technically, the feature is called a “start-stop system“, an “idling stop”, or a “micro-hybrid”.

My name for this feature, in honor of the administration that imposed it on us, is “Obama brakes“.

The first time I experienced Obama brakes was in a foreign country, which I will not name, but which has always been way too bought into the whole global warming, net zero, “bad carbon” insanity. I was being driven around by a lady with a fairly new and somewhat strange-looking car, which kept conking out at intersections.

It was horrifying. At first I thought she had bought a lemon, but it was soon clear that, no, this car was behaving exactly as expected. It conked out and restarted very “dependably”.

The lady was quite apologetic that the vehicle would lurch to a stop when she braked slower than a certain speed, and then, when she took her foot off the brake, the engine would roar back to life and the car would lurch again, this time forward. The “feature” was unnerving as hell, and in my opinion, contributed greatly to a minor fender-bender she had with a small pillar in a parking garage, as she tried to maneuver around it at low speed.

When I left, I was quite relieved, but also very worried, that eventually this horrible “feature” would make it to America. Little did I know that Obama brakes were already here, and had been for some time.

Fast forward to 2026. Recently forced to drive a 2025 vehicle, instead of my beloved older one, I was unsettled to learn that it, too, had Obama brakes.

Thankfully, there is a hidden way to turn off the Obama brakes, but it must be done every time one starts the vehicle, because Obama brakes are on by default, every time you turn on the vehicle. Manufacturers don’t have to do this, but if the Obama brakes are not on by default, then the fuel savings are calculated by a method that disadvantages the fuel efficiency numbers. Translation – EPA stacks the deck to force automotive manufacturers to force people to use the Obama brakes. Even if you can turn them off, they come back like a vampire the next time you turn on the engine.

I had several bad experiences with the Obama brakes – particularly at intersections where the engine would conk out in the middle of the intersection. The delay in restarting the engine is noticeable, unpredictable, and in some circumstances, actually dangerous, IMO. The woke AWFUL and old shoe boomer geezer “can’t make a left turn if another car is coming a half-mile away” meddling communists say that fraction of a second doesn’t matter – well, to this XY man, who can actually make a safe left turn through oncoming traffic, IT DOES.

There IS some kind of radio frequency interaction of Obama brakes with street light systems, but it’s actually rather half-assed. About 30 seconds before many lights change, the engine will start again – but not always. In general, the engine either starts back up too soon, too late, or not at all. And conking out in the middle – that’s CRAZY.

Even worse, as of 2025, there seemed to be little or no AI/SI or even just old-school machine learning about stopping or starting the engine. It would be awesome if there was actual learning – both based on user timing and behavior, AND possibly on actual location and direction. I mean, if I was involved with design of Obama brakes, that’s what I’d be doing. Make the Obama brakes as painless as possible.

Will Trump get rid of Obama brakes? Let’s see. They do save energy and increase fuel efficiency, but they need to be way better, IMO. And being able to turn them off permanently would be helpful for seniors, for new or bad drivers, and for others where SAFETY from a dependable idle is more important than FUEL ECONOMY.

Maybe if TRUMP can task American auto makers with putting “superintelligence” SI on the job, and making this feature awesome, we can call the result TRUMP BRAKES and everybody will want them.

So – what do YOU think about Obama brakes?

W