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Ring Cameras – Redux

About a year ago I posted a blog article: 1984 – Ring Camera

In this article I revisited a novel that has had a reoccurring presence in my life, George Orwell’s 1984.  In the novel cameras and microphones are everywhere, neighbors spy on neighbors, family spy on family, spouses spy on spouses.  In my post I tied these ubiquitous cameras of 1984 to the explosion of cameras in our society, specific door bell cameras such as Amazon’s Ring camera.  My general thesis was that we were bringing 1984 on to ourselves by installing these cameras, ourselves, everywhere.

I recently came across a review of these type of cameras from Wired:  Why We Don’t Recommend Ring Cameras.

I will leave it you dear reader to read the article and evaluate their arguments. But their bottom line can be summarized with their closing paragraph:

“If you’re looking for a home security camera, whether it’s a video doorbell or an outdoor camera, we would like to remind you that there are many, many alternatives. Ring cameras are cheap and ubiquitous, but contributing to a just society is also a factor in keeping your family safe.”

Perhaps I should not worry about such things, but recent events make me frequently think we are not far from sliding down the proverbial slippery slope into a totalitarian society. Little things do add up.

And so it should not go.

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Bowdler’s Day – July 11

Given that the Puritans and prudes are trying ban any book that has offended at least one person, this Bowdler’s Day is definitely a time to reflect on “what the hell are we doing?”  Have we gone mad?  It has been a while since I have read Fahrenheit 451, but I am betting there are passages in it that would have the namby pambies burning it today. It was banned in apartheid South Africa  and many United States schools back in 1954. Just to name one banned book that is now considered iconic.  I wrote about this extensively in Banned Books, Burned Books.

“Bowdler’s Day is celebrated on July 11, the birthday of the physician and philanthropist who published a censored edition of Shakespeare’s works, Thomas Bowdler. Depending on whom you ask, Bowdler is either a prude or a genius. During his career, he heavily edited Shakespeare’s famous works to make them more family-friendly. He regularly censored violence and intimacy from literature, so that they could be read by more people. These versions were also cheaper than the original editions. Bowdler’s Day is celebrated by students, readers, and anti-censorship activists.”

The above is from website National Today.  To read more about Bowdler’s Day just click More on Bowdler’s Day

And so it should not go.

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #899

yeah I know you did not ask!

I posted a random thought yesterday that read, “Sometimes when I am listening to really good music that moves me, I think, if life has any meaning at all, it is music.”

To which one of my muchísimo subscribers responded, “For me, it’s the music of nature. Sitting on the deck this morning, no one is mowing and all I hear all the birds and the rustle of leaves.”

For me the sound of suburbia has always been the drone of gas engines on lawn mowers, and the 2-cycle engines of  weed eaters and leaf blowers.  Of course, that is getting a bit better as more and more folks are adopting electric lawn mowers and other electric yard tools… at least around here.

The latest “sound of suburbia” for me is the all too many delivery trucks driving much too fast on the shady, tree lined streets of our neighborhood full of children and old folks.

During the pandemic the sound of this neighborhood actually reminded me a bit of my youth as I could hear children playing outside.  Apparently, now they have all gone back inside with their video games.  Oh well.

But when it is quiet, I love sitting on our patio listening to the chirping of the birds, watching the antics of the squirrels and chipmunks and marveling at the acrobatic aeronautics of the humming birds and bumble bees.  And let’s not forget Princess Lily keeping us safe from those same squirrels and chipmunks.  It is good to have a purpose in life.

Occasionally, life really is good.

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Post Reunion Letter to Carr Family from Crew Member USS Carr

This is a letter sent to the Carr family from a former crew member of the USS Carr a few days after their inaugural reunion in Checotah, Oklahoma, the home of Paul H. Carr and much of the Carr family a couple generations ago.

Click the letter to open in new tab. It will be bigger and easier to read.

Click the letter to open in new tab. It will be bigger and easier to read.
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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #9,809

yeah I know you did not ask!

Way, way back in the day, but not quite Mr. Peabody way back, I used to have a t-shirt that had written large upon on it, “Nuke a Gay Whale for Christ.”

I loved it because it satirized multiple  tropes current at that period of time. I always wondered, though, why they did not get the ubiquitous milk of this time period in there somehow…Got Milk?

What brought this up is that I saw a bumper sticker today that I have seen a few times before.  It reads in large letters, “JESUS LOVES YOU“, and below that in a smaller font is “But I am his favorite.”

I have never quite figured out if the folks displaying these bumper stickers are evangelizing, satirizing or both. Or perhaps, given the epidemic of narcissism in this country, they really believe they are the favorite of one branch of the Christian trilogy.  Going even further afield, perchance, the bumper sticker is referring to that well known playboy, the Mexican Mac Daddy, the gardener named Jesus.

On so it goes upon the highways and byways of the metropolis known as St. Louis.

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Quote of the Day – David Marrs Rush

“The job is not done until all the tools are put away.” ~~ David Marrs Rush

I am sure this quote is not original with my father, but it was one of his favorite sayings.

The picture of him is from 1948 at Navy boot camp.  The uniforms were a bit different back then!  He would have been all of 17 years old in this photograph.  I am not sure of all of the story as to why and how he managed to join the military so young. He always said he grew five inches and put on 25 pounds in boot camp as it was the first time in his life he got three squares a day.  A bit of an exaggeration I am sure, but there is some truth in there.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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USS Carr Crew Reunion with Carr Family

This last weekend Señora and I went to Checotah, Oklahoma. On the very long shot chance you do not know about Checotah, it is the birthplace of yours truly.  Way back in 1952 there was actually a three bed hospital in Checotah on 3rd street where I was born, delivered by Dr. N. E. Cornstubble.  It is also the home of Carrie Underwood and the Steer Wresting Capital of the World, having many champion steer wrestlers from around Checotah.  When I was a kid there was a rodeo arena within walking distance of my grandmother’s house, and we used to walk down there to watch them practice.  If you are a fan of cowboy clothes you will know about the line of cowboy shirts from Wrangler named Checotah.

My great grandparents and grandparents farmed/sharecropped in this part of Oklahoma, ending up in Continue reading “USS Carr Crew Reunion with Carr Family”