Oil Supply, A.I Escaping, and More Censorship - all the dashboard lights are on!

If you think the Government, or some tech bro is going to swoop in and save you from what's clearly happening in the world right now, then this might not be the conversation for you. The truth is, we've been let down - by our leaders, by industry, by those who were supposed to be looking out for us, and tbh, by our own hubris. We can either cower in the corner and hope that it's someone else's problem, or we can pay attention, speak up where it counts, and at the same time, put things in place to look out for yourself, your family and your immediate community. That's what we're doing anyway.Links that we mention:Make sure you subscribe to Gather Right Here for more conversations like this: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHUf7RidISBk0LECGk1qtoADr Shane Simonsen interview about creating truly resilient food systems on Canadian Prepper: https://youtu.be/Rgzwdl0Fp_A?si=o6V6_VImGNX2NHSJMichael Shellenberger after his meeting with Australian Labor staffers: https://x.com/shellenberger/status/2109858705252725031/video/1

Why are AI giants suddenly screaming for regulation, and how does that connect to your food security? We track the stories that we're paying attention to this week.While we spend our days managing the spring cycle here on the homestead, the global news cycle never stops - so between the birth of new piglets or policy changes that affect our autonomy, we connect the dots between our homesteading lifestyle and the broader issues impacting our right to speak and live freely. Check out Fridge Power from Bluetti: https://rusticspirits.me/bluetti-fridgepower. Make sure you use RSHFP6% for an additional discount at checkout.J oin the conversation and become a Rustic Spirits Member to support our work: https://rusticspirits.me/community Links to things we mention this week: Scott Kuru - It's Already Worse Than Anything They've Told You About Our Fuel — And It Doesn't Stop Here: https://youtu.be/KioeF0NEXoE?si=PKl8y2s_t2qgSlcU Aus vs the Agenda on X - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denies explicitly linking Labor’s censorship regime to combating “misinformation and disinformation”: https://x.com/ausvstheagenda/status/2102972404645654850 David Shoebridge Statement: https://x.com/MikeNayna/status/2102723262488957166?s=20 Free Speech Union's Submission on the Digital Duty of Care Bill: https://x.com/FSUofAustralia/status/2102541725210460445?s=20 David Koch's open letter to the RBA: https://x.com/CampbellNewman/status/2102231822000439737?s=20 Canadian Prepper's post about Trump renaming AI: https://x.com/PrepperCanadian/status/2102419104313352543 NPR interview with Tucker Carlson: https://youtu.be/pHhJM3Fg9jw?si=UGJC2V6erjJvbjy2

The government wants power to decide what counts as "harmful" online, no vote required. We break down the Digital Duty of Care Bill, the Strengthening Enforcement Bill that just passed, and why Labor keeps using kids' safety to sell control.Two separate bills, both amending the Online Safety Act, are moving through Parliament right now. One just passed the Senate. The other is a draft everyone's arguing about, and most people online are mixing the two up.We break down what each bill actually does, the "disallowable legislative instrument" clause that lets the Communications Minister add new "harms" without new legislation, and why the government is blaming "the algorithm" for its own falling popularity instead of its content strategy (or lack of one).We're going to be following this closely as it goes towards a vote.Links we mention during this episode:Anika Wells interview: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/media/2026/09/05/anika-wells-interviewPeta Credlin segment including different interview with Anika Wells: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5DQCYkpIsEMichael Shellenberger on Australia's new proposed legislation and participation in global censorship. Follow this thread: https://x.com/shellenberger/status/2097854587646464227If you want to watch ad free, this episode is available for free on our Patreon: https://rusticspirits.me/membership

Is it better to live in blissful ignorance, or fully plugged in to the 24 hour news cycle. After finding ourselves almost at our limit, and due to take a holiday anyway - we conducted a little experiment ... what really happens when you switch off for a few days .. or even weeks.

It's Census Night this coming week (Tuesday, August 11th) and what for most Australians used to be a quinquennial event, evoking a sense of civic duty and pride, has for many turned into yet another data and privacy gathering exercise foisted upon us amongst a landscape of cameras, facial recognition, digital-I.D. and movement tracking. Public sentiment about the census has shifted in large part from national pride to cynicism, skepticism and distrust. So we take a look at what your legal obligations are and why, for many, census night may be fraught with anxiety and uncertainty. We also check in on the Price of fuel now that the so-called "relief" the government so gEneROusLy gave us by temporarily removing part of the fuel excise has disappeared - oh, and they upped it at the same time, because, you know ... inflation. And we reflect on the hundreds of comments we received from our Homesteading channel this week in response to our deep dive into the freedoms that so many of us supposed we had - and it turned out we didn't. Like giving away excess eggs, or saying no to a particular utility or service.