Tag: John Oliver

Ring Doorbell Camera

Police Surveillance Technology

 In the New York Times, Emily Keegin offered Welcome to My Museum of America. She put together “a collection of 25 objects that reveal something special about us.” Along with the $4.99 Costco Rotisserie Chicken, the Plastic Lawn Flamingo, and Personal Injury Lawyer Advertisements (for sure), she offered up the Ring Doorbell Camera.

“Have we always been so scared of strangers? And when did we, as a country supposedly built on individual liberties, become so enthusiastic about Big Brother-style surveillance? Maybe we are still haunted by the ghost of Michael Wigglesworth and the Massachusetts Puritans who looked out from their chapels and saw only ‘a waste of howling wilderness.’ Maybe we still believe that safety can be found only beneath the eye of a benevolent and omniscient lord. The Puritans had God. We have Jeff Bezos. In a nation plagued by loneliness, perhaps it’s time to start answering the door.”

My wife and I had a couple of passing conversations about them. She thought that if we had had one, we would have captured the late Nick, the absentee landlord of the property next door, when he damaged my wife’s car more than once. But my discomfort was great.

Mass surveillance

And it got worse when I saw Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s segment on Police Surveillance Technology. “In recent years, the prevalence of local mass surveillance systems has exploded thanks to cheaper technology and increased funding from the federal government. And this all tends to get presented as a boon to public safety. Local news loves to cover cities’ real-time crime centers…

“Here’s one in Cooper City, Florida. And in that story, the town’s then mayor offered this upbeat assessment. ‘Everyone is being watched. And if you’re doing nothing wrong, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, but when you’re doing something wrong, we’re going to find out. We’re going to have the wherewithal to come and get you. We’ve got essentially Big Brother on steroids.'”
Oliver got into how the technology is used as a “digital form of stop and frisk, ” often hooked into surveillance cameras. “Increasingly, they’re able to use those owned by private businesses or homeowners. There are an estimated 85 million in this country, and police now routinely request access to them.”

Oliver has also noted the technological shortcomings.  “The way Shot Spotter works is it basically sets up microphones all over a city, which alert police if they sense a loud noise that could be a gunshot… Unfortunately, the technology seems nowhere near as good as you’d want it to be for that kind of response. An AP investigation found the systems can miss live gunfire right under their microphones or misclassify the sounds of fireworks as gunshots. While other reports found Spotter being activated by cars backfiring or even people using a nail gun.”

ALPRs
“And there is a similar issue with… automated license plate readers or ALPRs. And cops will claim that they’re a way to find stolen cars or those engaged in suspicious activity.
“The most popular are made by a company called Flock. And here is how they work. Flock license plate readers don’t just scan tags looking for stolen cars or vehicles on a hot list. The cameras take a photo of every car that passes, stamped with the precise time and location. The more cameras you pass, the clearer the picture of your movements. All of that data is saved in a database for 30 days, shared with connected police departments, allowing the government to go back in time to see where your car was and when. No warrant required, whether you’re suspected of a crime or not.
“A randomized trial in Vallejo, California, found that 37% of all ALPR hits from fixed readers like those attached to a street light, and 35% from mobile ALPRs, like those on cop cars, were misreads, which is an astonishingly high error rate. And that has had real consequences.”
CBS News has had several stories like this one in several jurisdictions: Privacy groups raise red flags over police misuse of Flock cameras, usually for personal use. The Oliver story touches on that as well.  Common Cause is advocating to tell Congress: Defund Flock’s surveillance cameras nationwide.
From the NYT: Flock Cameras Can Track Every Car in America. Police Love Them. Citizens Don’t. “In Texas, there’s one thing liberals and conservatives agree on: They don’t want cameras trained on their cars.”
Atlas of Surveillance
Oliver pointed to the Atlas of Surveillance, Documenting Police Tech in Our Communities with Open Source Research. It shows Albany County, NY using Flock, and the state using other technologies.
Oliver: “It is worth remembering, even when these systems work perfectly, they can still be wildly invasive. Cameras and license plate readers can track your movements wherever you go, which means they could find out if you, say, attended a protest or visited an abortion clinic.” 
“And some departments can then use all the data fed into them to engage in our final and maybe dumbest use of this tech. It’s called predictive policing. Basically using all that data to figure out which areas or individuals might be likely sources of crime.
“Shot Spotter and license plate readers are disproportionately used in communities of color. And cameras are often associated with
You should watch the whole thing. It may have you think differently about your Ring Camera. I’ll pass, thank you.

June rambling: Tony Stark and Elon Musk

250 to 250 Project videos (Heather Cox Richardson)

An essay on A. R. Moxon’s blog, The Reframe, connects how our system works to the stories we tell in our mass media. Make a hero out of Tony Stark, he claims, and you’ll wind up with an Elon Musk.

Spying on kids to save kids from spying is very, very stupid

In Gaza, Fathers Can’t Promise Their Children Food, Safety, or Even Survival

Medicare Advantage Organizations Overturned Nearly All Appealed Prior Authorization Denials for Skilled Nursing Facility Admission, Raising Concerns About Initial Denials

JD Vance says Nixon’s Watergate scandal would be ‘12-hour news story’ today

Feral Hogs: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

American Zoo – a frightening documentary on the Catskill Game Farm

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine calls on lawmakers to get rid of the state’s death penalty

Tell Publishers: Don’t Block the Wayback Machine!

Videos from the 250 to 250 Project that Heather Cox Richardson and others are producing to honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. “We designed the videos to emphasize the agency of Americans—mostly everyday Americans—to change the country. Each falls into a category that defines what it means to be an American, including community, democracy, innovation, mobility, civil rights, education, conservation, and creativity.”

The Knicks Just Gave Us a Teaching Moment. Let’s Not Waste It

Amer

Amer Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil: NYC, July 3, 1981

Cheers creator James Burrows dies at 85. He also directed episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Taxi, and Frasier, all of which I watched religiously,  plus Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Will and Grace, Rhoda, Phyllis, and Laverne & Shirley, which I saw occasionally.

Archaeologists Unearth Hundreds of Artifacts at Fort Ticonderoga, the Site of America’s First Offensive Victory of the Revolutionary War

Alan Greenspan, Fed Chairman Through Prosperity and Crisis, Dies at 100: The pre-eminent economic policymaker of his time and a skilled political operator, he favored market-friendly stances that would later come to be associated with destructive financial forces.
Where does punctuation come from?!
Why Is a Basketball Team Named After Pants, and Why Cops Stereotypically Eat Donuts, and A Random Quack of Kindness, and The Island the U.S. and Canada Both Want
Older, not better

Disenfranchisement machine is besieging the courts; he demands control of state elections—or else; Steve Bannon calls for ICE and others to be at “every precinct” for the midterms: “If you’re armed or not, that depends upon what your state laws are.” These 19 election deniers and vote suppressors are on the ballot in the midterms.

Court allows regime to end removal protections for Syrian and Haitian nationals. Know that, per the Kagan dissent, the decision was racially motivated based on comments such as suggestions that Haitians in Ohio were “eating the dogs . . . [and] cats.” Yes, immigration is about race.

Overruling Wary Intel Officials Who Withheld Kushner’s Top Secret Clearance

Seeking to Use “Domestic Terrorism” to Target Nonprofits and Activists

Moving forward with a State Department plan to strip the CDC of its oversight on global health programs.

American emergency podcast: The movement to kill FEMA

Raving about vandalism even though he’s responsible for the pool’s issues.

Did we finally learn something about his health

MUSIC

Blackbird -New York Vocal Collective

Ode to Birds and Rainbow by Takashi Yoshimatsu

Mother Nature – Angélique Kidjo

Beginnings – Chicago

Rebel – Songs in the Key Of Resistance

Whiter Shade of Pale – Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds

Human Mind – Mavis Staples

Resurrection – Robbie Robertson

Coverville 1583: The Alison Moyet/Yaz/Yazoo Cover Story

Sweet Dreams – Eurythmics

The Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi

The Royal Scam – Steely Dan 

Criminal — Fiona Apple

Vertigo – Billy Eckstine

Peter Sprague Plays Valse Warm  and Hanalei Town

Let’s Stay Together – Al Green

Marnie – Nat King Cole

Rubberband Man – Spinners

I’m A Man – Chicago

Mississippi Queen – Mountain

Bohemian Rhapsody – The Muppets

On My Own – Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald

Old Lady Grey: Dee Palmer (1937-2026)

TED Recommends for Black Music Month: How Black girls can reclaim their voice in music by Kyra Gaunt

Clive Davis, Hitmaking Titan of the Music Industry, Dies at 94

May rambling: the Great Society

No one wants a permanent gerontocracy

LibrariansHeather Cox Richardson: “On May 22, 1964, in a graduation speech at the University of Michigan, President Lyndon Johnson put a name to a new vision for the United States. He called it ‘the Great Society’ and laid out the vision of a country that did not confine itself to making money, but rather used its post–World War II prosperity to ‘enrich and elevate our national life.’ That Great Society would demand an end to poverty and racial injustice.”

Pope Leo Warns of Risks From A.I. in 42,300-Word Encyclical

Structured Settlements & Factoring Companies: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

FOTUS claims Congress said yes to his big dumb arch—102 years ago

No one wants a permanent gerontocracy

Newark’s Mayor Arrested at Protest Outside ICE Detention Center; Gov. Sherrill denied access to facility; migrant jail detainees launch hunger, labor strike over conditions behind bars

Elon Musk is mad that mythological movie characters aren’t white

Tennessee Man Jailed for Sharing Charlie Kirk Meme Receives $835K Settlement. Larry Bushart missed the birth of his granddaughter and lost his job as a result of his 37 days in jail.

Anderson Cooper’s emotional farewell to 60 Minutes after 20 years

Veteran 60 Minutes Journalist Sharyn Alfonsi Says ‘Wall Has Come Down Between Editorial Independence and Corporate Interests’

Mark Evanier’s Trip Back East, mostly to see Jack Kirby’s name on a street sign, and a story about his  Uncle Nathan

Kobe Bryant + Kyle Busch =/= Abraham Lincoln + John F. Kennedy

“He Breathes, He Writes”: The Voluminous Memory and Deep Empathy of Ironweed Author William Kennedy

Is Kingston The New ART CAPITAL of Upstate NY?

Only In Monroe with Stephen Colbert

The Most Valuable Background Actor in History? and Don’t Let the Moose Lick Your Car and The Day America Locked Canada Out of Its Garages

I’ve been away

I’ll likely write about it in dribs and drabs. But this was oddly relevant.

Wordle 1,800 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩AROSE 94

🟨⬜🟨⬜🟩CLIME 4

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩NIECE

Wordle 1,801 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜AROSE 97

🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜TULIP 1

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 VISIT

MUSIC

Paul McCartney’s Joyous Performance in the Finale of ‘The Late Show’

Orion and Pleiades by Toru Takemitsu

Laurie Anderson: Tiny Desk Concert, May 22, 2026

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #4: This Heat (And Related Artists) and #5: Jonathan Richman

Top Of The World – Greenvines Duo

I Can’t Stand The Rain  – Ann Peebles (1974)

Coverville 1581: The Janet Jackson Cover Story and 1582: The Bob Dylan Cover Story IX

Come On – The Rolling Stones

West End Girls – Pet Shop Boys

K-Chuck Radio: S-S-S-S-S-Saigon…

Nik Durga: New Zealand Music Month and the songs I didn’t grow up with

Greatest Love Of All – Whitney Houston

WHERE THE HELL IS OUR CONGRESS? | A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

May rambling: Not Wisdom

RJ wins another SDMA

What I Can’t Show You (John Green visits Koidu Government Hospital and sees the Maternal Center of Excellence for the first time), and Despair is Not Wisdom (Hank Green).

The FDA withdrew studies showing that the Covid and shingles vaccines were safe.

Gas Station Drugs:  a world of questionable supplements and boner pills, and The Hadow Docket: a shortcut to the Supreme Court – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

I Was Told I Had 6 Months to Live. That Was 20 Years Ago. — Here’s what two brain surgeries taught me about public health and care access.

I caught myself thinking: “Some of these research papers are awfully good for what might be a student’s first effort.”

Some white nationalists swoop in after natural disasters, trying to soften their image while offering help (Lesley Stahl/60 Minutes)

8647

Demand destruction vs fuel-superseding infrastructure: Will FOTUS Hormuz us into the full Gretacene?
AI

Silicon Valley Is Bracing for a Permanent Underclass. AI is pushing millions of employees to the edge of a cliff as most sectors are racing to replace jobs with AI. As a wise friend of mine noted, “We need programs and plans to ensure everyone is active, connected, engaged with society when millions have no work. Some countries will get this right, while others will slide into a dystopian abyss of depression, isolation, and anger toward technology that will not bode well for a peaceful, productive humanity.”

I got punished for paying off my car loan two years early

A rare archaeological site in the Sonoran Desert was bulldozed by a DHS contractor involved in building the latest sections of the border wall.

Free Phone Calls Saved Incarcerated People and Their Loved Ones $622.5 Million

Young Boy Finds the First Ancient Greek Artifact Discovered in Berlin

New Musicals ‘Schmigadoon!’ and ‘Lost Boys’ Lead List of Tony Nominees

The Song That Puts You to Sleep (On Purpose) and The Cartoon That Shut Down Boston and Operation Mincemeat and The Part of Canada That Doesn’t Want You

MUSIC

Not Me No Way – Rebecca Jade, who won Best R&B, Funk or Soul Song  at the 35th Annual San Diego Music Awards

This Is How We Walk on the Moon – Arthur Russell

Rounds by Jessie Montgomery, for piano and strings, inspired by poet TS Eliot

Moonage Daydream –  David Bowie

Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) – Bobby Womack

Peg – Steely Dan

 

At The Ballet – Audra McDonald, Megan Hilty & Kelli O’Hara

All You Need Is Love – Peter Sprague,  featuring Rebecca Jade

 

Suffolk Suite by Doreen Carwithen

If You Don’t Know Me by Now -Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Man On The Moon – R.E.M.

Coverville 1579: Cover Stories for Lesley Gore and Christopher Cross

Horses and Divorces – Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert

This Year – the Mountain Goats

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #2: The Bonzo Dog Band and #3: Midnight Oil and

Bastards of Young – the Replacements

Moonshadow – Yusef/ Cat Stevens
Dream Walkin’ Mashup – Peter Sprague and Leonard Patton

Theme from The Love Boat – WDR Funkhausorchester

Everyone’s Gone to the Moon – Nina Simone

Common – Maren Morris featuring Brandi Carlile

Time – Tom Waits

I Wish I Was the Moon –  Neko Case

Addicted To Love – Robert Palmer

Man On The Moon – Megan Moroney

Aloha Bossa Nova – Peter Sprague, featuring Allison Adams Tucker

Eclipse – Pink Floyd

March rambling: Clean up the faux king mess on aisle 47

272-867-5309

Just a couple of the many signs seen at the No Kings rally on Saturday, March 28, at the New York State Capitol in Albany: “Clean up the faux king mess on aisle 47.” “So many wrongs – so little cardboard.”

 

War Becomes Spectacle in His Horrific Propaganda Promoting War in Iran

Volume in stock and oil futures surged minutes before his market-turning post. (If you can access Substack, read Paul Krugman’s Treason in the futures market.) 

Ever find yourself watching regime officials and thinking, “What’s wrong with these people?” Three writers offer their answers. “The transition to pathocracy begins when a disordered individual emerges as a leader figure. While some members of the ruling class are appalled by the brutality and irresponsibility of the leader and his acolytes, his disordered personality appeals to some psychologically normal individuals. They find him charismatic. His impulsiveness is mistaken for decisiveness; his narcissism for confidence; his recklessness for fearlessness.” – Steve Taylor, “The Problem of Pathocracy“

Robert Mueller: The former Marine overhauled – and, supporters say, helped save – the FBI after the 9/11 attacks. Then he took on FOTUS in the probe of a lifetime.

Sen. Whitehouse to uncover connections between FOTUS, Russia, and Epstein. (48:10)

What to do with the new FOTUS-signed paper currency

J.D. Vance and Police Stings: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Also

“Humanity has just endured the 11 hottest years on record,” said the secretary-general of the United Nations after the release of the new UN climate report. “When history repeats itself 11 times, it is no longer a coincidence. It is a call to act.”

An investigation by The New York Times found extensive evidence that
Cesar Chavez, the United Farm Workers co-founder and a civil rights icon, groomed and sexually abused girls who worked in the movement for years.

Understaffing as a form of ensh!ttification

Valerie Perrine, Oscar Nominee and Superman Actress, Dies at 82. I saw her in Superman I and II, The Electric Horseman, and Lenny.

Chuck Norris, Black-Belt Action Star of Movies and Television, Dies at 86. I never saw a Norris movie; it wasn’t my thing.

The global nonprofit organization Cancer Support Community (CSC) is taking over one of music’s most unforgettable phone numbers. Anyone impacted by cancer can call CSC-867-5309 (272-867-5309) to receive immediate support, trusted information, and personalized guidance from trained specialists.

What’s the hardest MLB outfield to play in?

‘I’m Dead. Don’t Send Me Any More Mail.’ My relationship with my landlord was among the most reliable of my life. I miss her.
Dick Van Dyke – A Century On Screen

The Conspiracy That Led to the End of the World and The Day It Rained Blobs of Goo and The Man Who Made the Front Page Twice and When an Olive Garden Review Became Internet Famous and How Ignoring Orders Gave Us an Idiom and Because Not Everyone Can Be a Burger King

MUSIC
Heavy Foot – Mon Rovîa
Perspective – human/puppet duo of Sammy J and Randy Feltface
Days We Left Behind – Paul McCartney
Bein’ Alive – Melissa Etheridge
Irish Rhapsodies by Charles Villiers Stanford. 4: The Fishermen of Lough Neagh

Louella  – Marcia Ball

Tales: A Folklore Symphony  by Carlos Simon, “a four-movement piece for orchestra that explores African American folklore as well as Afrofuturist stories.”

Company (Broadway show) Tiny Desk Concert

I Believe – Andrew Rannells and the Broadway Company of The Book of Mormon (LIVE on The Late Show)
Little Green  – Joni Mitchell
Coverville 1573: The 2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees and 1574: The Wilson Pickett Cover Story II
Green Onions -Booker T. & The MGs
Comedy Tonight from  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum – Jason Alexander
The Albums of My Life: The WHEN HARRY MET SALLY Soundtrack, which I had never heard until now
I Got Rhythm from the musical Crazy for You
 Green River – Creedence Clearwater Revival
K-Chuck Radio: Many Rainy Nights in Soho
These Dreams – Heart
September again and again
True Love – Tobias Jesso Jr.
Kung Fu Fighting – Carl Douglas
Sondheim/Webber medley – Will Anderson and Rachael Joyce
Rick Beato reacts to the experimental math rock band from Quebec: Angine de Poitrine
Loving You – Minnie Riperton
Start a Band, Even if You’re Terrible
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