Big Sky Writer

Stop! Stop! Stop!

This will not work.

I cannot do this episode if I don’t have my book.

I spent a good portion of the day looking through my bookshelves and old boxes stored in closets and the garage in search of my book.

One specific book.

I know I have it.

I can remember seeing it last year some time.

I just don’t remember where I saw it.

Now I haven’t gone down into the crawlspace underneath the house yet, but I may be forced to take that unpleasant trip if my search continues to be unproductive.

I know I have the book.

I've had it for years.

Decades in fact.Where is it?I suppose I could go to a used bookstore and see if they have one, but used bookstores are hard to find in today's world. It's not at all like the good old days I remember when I roamed through the aisles of used bookstores with thousands and thousands of books on the dusty shelves.Where is my book?

I need it.Wait.

Could it be?

Is it possible?

Surely …There it is!

I found it!

It wasn’t lost.

It’s right there!

Celebration time!

My book is still in existence and …

Super celebration time!!

I didn’t have to go into the crawlspace.

Okay, now I’m ready.

Mark, let’s do the intro again.

That’s enough. Thanks, Mark.

Today’s Episode is “A rose by any other name.”

ME THINKS SHAKESPEARE DOTH SPEAK

A little over 400 years ago, a white guy wrote a play that was very popular in it’s day. Through the years, decades, and centuries it continued to be popular. In fact, the play is still performed today.

Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare in the 1590’s, tells the story of two young lovers — you may be able to guess their names — who are prevented from getting together because of the hatred between their families.

In Act 2, Scene 2, Juliet bemoans the situation by saying, “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were he not Romeo called.”

The point being that what someone is called doesn’t change what they really are.

It’s a good observation.

Examples

Let me give you a couple of examples.

There are some roses in my yard. They are very pretty.

Suppose I walked up to those roses and stated right to its petals, “You are a pile of dog poop!”

Not only don’t I listen to the roses protestations, or to their fellow flowers who take offense at my description, but I double down and say again, “You are a pile of dog poop!”

I encourage you to try this yourself.

If you don’t have roses in your yard, go to the the flower section of your local supermarket and tell a bunch of roses, “You are a pile of dog poop!”

You might want to look around before you say it, however. Some shoppers might think you have some serious issues.

Then gather up some of those roses, take them home, place them in a vase, and set the vase on your dining room table. What you called a pile of dog poop will look like roses. If you were to lean close and smell them, they would smell like roses.

It doesn’t matter what you call them. They still look and smell like roses because … they are roses.

Or, as Juliet says in the play, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Let me give you another example.

Suppose a dog walker didn’t do their job and pick up after their canine. When you came outside you found a pile of dog poop on your front yard.

I want you to go up to that pile of dog poop, lean down close, and tell it loud and clear, “You are a rose!”

If you decide you must test this out yourself, don’t let your neighbors see you.

Then pick up that pile of dog poop and carry it into your house, put it in a vase, and set the vase on your dining room table.

It may not look like a rose at this point, so you will probably have to remind it, “You are a rose!”

Then lean down and take a big whiff.

I can guarantee you that your “rose” will look and smell like a pile of dog poop.

Because … that’s what it is.

Words & Meanings

Which brings me to my thought for today’s episode

Right now, I am holding in my hands that book I was looking for at the beginning of this episode.

It’s a special book.

This particular book was printed in 1968 — fifty-four years ago — and it’s big, and it’s heavy, and the print is very, very small because they had to fit a lot of words onto the pages.

It’s called a … are you ready?

It’s called a … dictionary.

Remember when

You see, there was a time when words had meanings.

And dictionaries were physical books where the meanings of words were written down for everyone to see.

I know, it was a very different time.

Words no longer have meanings. Let me rephrase that. Words no longer have the meanings they used to have.

Today, a word means what the political correct (i.e. woke) want it to mean.

A couple of examples.

Birthing Persons

I’ve heard the term “birthing person” used a lot lately. I have to admit it wasn’t a word I remember using in my past at all, so I headed to the dictionary — my big, heavy, small print dictionary — to check it out.

I looked and looked and looked and looked, and I couldn’t find the word.

What kind of dictionary is this? It doesn’t even have a word that all the “smart” people use today.

Oh, it did have words like birthday, birth mark, birthday suit, but no birthing person.

I have to admit it did have the term “birth certificate”, but notice its definition.

“birth certificate, an official form recording the birth of a baby, noting the name, sex, date, place, parents’ names. and the like.”Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 1968

Boy … I mean Girl … I mean Person … where did they come up with that definition?

Like a doctor could actually know what the sex of a baby is when its born. Who do doctors think they are? Biologists?

Could people really have been that stupid fifty-four years ago?

And concerning that thing that comes out of “birthing persons” …

You can’t seriously call it a “baby.”

I mean if you call it a baby, you might feel bad if you ask a doctor to kill it for you.

And since not feeling bad is one of the prime directives of the Woke human race today, it’s easier just to rename that thing in the birthing person’s belly “tissue” so it can be eliminated without remorse.

“A rose by any other name …”

It has become fashionable in our world today to redefine words.

And they aren’t being redefined to reflect a gradual change in usage through the years. They are being redefined to support an agenda.

Recessions

If you are a politician in charge of a government that is in a recession because of your actions, rather than face the consequences of your actions that are leading toward an economic collapse, it’s much easier to just change the definition of a “recession.”

That way you can just smile and say everything is good.

Vaccines

When the government tells everyone to inject a vaccine into their body so they don’t get a disease, because that’s what a vaccine does. It keeps you from getting the disease.

But when millions of people still get the disease after taking the vaccine … what do you think the government does?

Do you think they tell the people to stop using the vaccine and then tell the pharmaceutical companies to fix the vaccine? Not a chance.

What the government does is to change the definition of a vaccine.

Taking a vaccine no longer keeps you from getting the disease. It’s not supposed to.

Their brand new definition of a vaccine no longer says a vaccine keeps you from getting the disease. so you can keep calling it a vaccine.

Where’s Mom & Dad?

Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy have been told not to use the words “Mom” or “Dad” because those words are too gender specific.

You have to admit they have a point.

“Mom” and “Dad are definitely gender specific terms.

Instead, the future officers of the United States Air Force should use words such as “parent” or “caregiver” so people can’t tell what sex your Mom or Dad are.

But it doesn’t end there. The Air Force also doesn’t want their future officers to use the words “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” because those are also gender specific terms.

Instead, the future officers of the Air Force should use words such as “partner” so people can’t tell wh…

Episode 50 “When I Grow Up I Wanna Be …”

When you were young, were you ever asked what you wanted to be when you grew up?

I know I was.

And even when I wasn’t asked, I thought about it.

What would I be?

There were so many options.

One of the options I considered was … a research physicist.

Now I know this will come as a surprise to the people who knew me back in my high school days. I have to admit, I did not exactly fit the profile of a future research physicist.

But it wasn’t my fault. I considered this particular option because of my brother.

Yep, my own brother.

You see, my brother was a good math student.

Good isn’t quite the word. He was an excellent math student.

I remember he won an award for being one of the best high school math students in the City of Los Angeles.

I grant you that L.A. was much smaller back then. There were only about two and one-half million people in the city.

He was two years ahead of me in school and I remember if he walked by our kitchen table while I was struggling on my math homework, he would come over and look at the problem and my work (I call it work but most people would call it a hopeless effort). Then he would very clearly explain the problem and how to solve it.

After his explanation, I understood the problem immediately and skated quickly through the rest of the homework assignment.

Thanks to my brother, I was pretty good at math. Not as good as he was, but I got A’s in my math courses.

So, I have to blame my brother on planting this “research physicist” idea in my head.

It was definitely his fault.

I actually thought math was fun!

In fact, I remember how excited I was when I got my first Pickett Slide Rule. The slide rule was the tool for real scientists and wannabe research physicists like me. [NOTE: This was before calculators.] And Pickett was the Cadillac of slide rules.

But then something happened.

That something was … my brother graduated from high school and went off to college.

Now that was serious.

My in-house tutor — the guy who understood math and could explain it so I could understand it — was no longer available.

I quickly found out what that meant.

When I began my Junior Year in high school, I was looking forward to my math class — Algebra 2.

My teacher was Mr. DiRosario. Not only was he the head of the Math Department, but my brother had him for math classes before me. When Mr. DiRosario took roll the first day of class, after he read my name, he asked if I was Bob Morey’s brother.

When I said yes, you should have seen the smile that broke across his face. He was obviously thrilled to have another Morey in his class.

So, things began well.

The start of Algebra 2 is a review of Algebra 1, and I knew Algebra 1, so I did well at the beginning of the course.

The problems started popping up when we moved into the new — some might say “hard” — material. I would work late at night trying to understand the homework. I was seldom successful. I would eventually come to understand the material but it was usually about two weeks after we had been tested on it.

Which means the grades on my assignments and exams were less than stellar.

My grandma would watch me working on my math homework, but she was no help at all when it came to explaining how to solve math problems.

That was bad enough, but the kicker for me was going into the classroom each day.

Daily math routine

I don’t know what your routine was when you took math in high school, but the first thing we did in class was exchange papers and grade the homework. Then Mr. DiRosario would would call several people to come up to the chalkboard and work out the problems that had been missed. Each student at the board would explain how to do the problem correctly.

I remember one day when there was a problem on the homework that everyone in the class missed.

Mr. DiRosario smiled at me and said, “Clint, show them how to do it.”

I went to the chalkboard, wrote the problem out, and stared at it.

I didn’t have the slightest idea how to solve the problem.

It seemed like I stood there forever, and I finally admitted I was clueless.

I can still remember Mr. DiRosario’s words to this day.

He looked bewildered and asked, “Are you sure you’re Bob Morey’s brother?”

That was the end of my plan to become a research physicist.

There is a point to this story

Why am I telling you this story?

It isn’t just to let you know that I was mathematically-challenged.

I’m sharing this because of a news story I read last week.

A college professor was fired from his job because he made the course too hard.

He taught Organic Chemistry at New Your University.

First of all, Organic Chemistry is hard.

At least I think its hard. I never actually took the course in college. I got a C in high school Chemistry and didn’t think Organic Chemistry would be a good option for me in college. But my wife was a Chemistry major and my daughter took the course as part of her program to become an R.N.

And I got the impression from them that I made a wise decision not to take Organic Chemistry.

Back to the story.

At New York University (NYU), a bunch of students got together and signed a petition to have the professor removed from his position — I believe they call that “fired” — because the course was too hard.

Oh, sure, he had a stellar history of teaching and had even authored a textbook on Organic Chemistry.

But if the course was too hard for those students, it was obviously the professor’s fault.

The material was difficult but the course was a requirement for students who wanted to apply to medical school, and it was a large lecture-hall class (which many of the students didn’t attend), and the professor paid to have videos of the key concepts of the course available on line (which many of the students did not watch), and the professor was available for one-on-one work with students who were having difficulties (which many of the students did not utilize).

So, it was obvious … it had to be the professor’s fault.

It couldn’t be the students’ fault because they paid tuition to take the course. They deserved a good grade.

Unfortunately, New York University let the professor go (another euphemism for fired).

It’s sad to see that education has reached that level of expectation among students. They exist so they DESERVE to get good grades.

I really don’t want surgeons operating on me because they paid their tuition at a medical school. I would prefer that they actually knew what they were doing.

And I’m not all that comfortable being a passenger on an airline if the pilot and co-pilot got their license because they paid for a course. I would prefer if they learned how to fly.

Then again …

Maybe I should reconsider my job options. Perhaps I should become a research physicist. I understand the mean average pay for a physicist is $6,790 per month. I could deal with that.

I know some potential employers might bring up the issue of me not having great math skills, but maybe it wasn’t my fault that I got a C in high school Algebra 2.

Maybe it was the teacher’s fault.

Yeah, I like that.

Here are some resources I’ve found interesting recently.

“Photos of Perfectly Formed 14-Week Miscarried Baby Are Saving Lives: ‘He Was Not Medical Waste.’” by Epoch Inspired Staff. We need to remember — or be made aware — of what is actually happening when an abortion happens.

“If You are a Christian Leader, You Should Have a Target on Your Back” by Michael Brown. If you think being a “good” Christian will bring you praise in this society, you might want to rethink what really happens.

“How the Elites Hypnotized America into COVID Compliance” a 35 minute interview with Professor Mattias Desmet about his book, “The Psychology of Totalitarianism.”

“Iran, member of top U.N. women’s rights body, cracks down as women demand rights” by Aaron Kliegman. Consider how valuable the UN is when it appoints Iran to the Women’s Rights group. Do you really want the UN making decisions for your life.

“Glenn Youngkin Defends Parental Rights School Policy: ‘Children Don’t Belong To The State. They Belong…

Have you ever done something wrong and then realized that you would have to pay a price for your mistake?

Perhaps it was something little when you were young that brought you a verbal reprimand or maybe a “time out.”

Or, perhaps, it was something a little more significant.

I can remember when I was living in Los Angeles.

One day I was driving to Glendale and took a route that was lightly traveled. I came to an intersection that only had a STOP sign.

No traffic lights.

Just a sign.

And at that particular time of day there was no traffic, which is why I chose that route.

As I came to the sign, I did what we called a “California Stop.”

Which is just another way of saying … I didn’t really stop.

Now don’t misunderstand.

I did slow down.

And I did look both ways to make sure there were no cars coming, and that it was safe to continue.

But I have to admit I didn’t actually come to a complete stop as the law required.

It was no big deal.

A California stop.

Everybody did it.

So I went through the intersection and continued on my way, and that’s when I noticed in my rearview mirror some flashing red lights on top of the car behind me.

Then there was a very short burst from a siren.

So I pulled over, turned off the ignition, rolled down the window, and watched in the side mirror as the officer got out of his car and walked slowly toward my door.

He carried a ticket book in his hand.

What could I say?

Telling the officer it was just a California stop was probably not going to work.

I knew at that moment, I was going to pay the price.

THE WORST PUNISHMENT

Sometimes we seem to “get away” with our sins, but quite often the time comes when we have to pay the price.

And it’s not just individuals.

Even nations have to pay the price.

God has made it clear in His Word that He judges nations with things like inflation, plagues, floods, droughts, hunger, war, slavery … definitely stuff a little more intense than a “time out” or a traffic ticket.

If you look at our world today, you probably are aware that we are facing all — as in ALL — of those things.

Perhaps one of the worst punishments God gives a nation is … well, let me read from the Word.

“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.”
Psalm 81:11-12

God letting people “follow their own counsels” is one of the worst punishments God can give a nation.

What?

Doing your own thing.

That doesn’t sound so bad.

In fact, it sounds kind of good … fun even.

If you believe that, I need you to pause.

Please, turn on your brain.

And think.

You can only say that everyone doing their own thing is good in a society … if you don’t know human history and … if you don’t have an understanding of human nature.

Through thousands of years of history, people have demonstrated that if they reject God and are left to their own devices … bad things happen.

Very bad things happen.

If you know the story of the flood, God destroyed all of mankind, except for eight people, because they were doing their own thing. And their own thing was not good.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. … So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land …”
Genesis 6:1-7

Evil continually!

That’s what people do when they choose to walk away from God.

And there is a price to pay for that.

Even the Israelites, after being miraculously freed from slavery in Egypt, turned away from God after they entered the Promised Land.

And how did that rejection of God work out?

“… they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. … They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, who they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.”
Psalm 106: 35-38

That sounds awful.

Parents sacrificing their own children to demons and idols.

Are you still thinking like I asked you to do?

WE HAVE REJECTED GOD

If you are, you are probably aware that our society has clearly rejected God.

Do we pour out the innocent blood of our children?

Remember, you’re thinking.

Since Roe v. Wade was made the law of the land by the Supreme Court in 1973, Americans we have brutally murdered over 63 million of our children.

To do that we crush the skulls of our babies, rip off their arms and legs, and then reassemble the body parts after killing the babies just to be certain we didn’t leave a hand or foot inside the mother that might cause an infection.

Now the people of Israel sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons and idols.

Who do we sacrifice our children to?

Our idols tend to be … us.

If having a baby would inconvenience me, then I’ll kill it because I worship me so much, I won’t allow myself to be inconvenienced.

Killing babies isn’t the only result of going our own way.

Consider our schools where we teach elementary school children how to engage in sexual perversions, teach them that boys and girls can magically change sexes at will (even if it requires chemicals or surgeries), and if our children are feeling sad, our public schools and public libraries will gladly host a drag show for them.

And if you dare to suggest these activities are “grooming” the children for a terrible future, you’ll be warned that you can’t use the term “grooming.” In fact some social media sites will ban you if you try to use the term.

Because the term implies the children are being “groomed” to become the targets of pedophiles. And you can’t use that term either because that would make pedophiles feel bad.

You must identify pedophiles as “Minor Attracted Persons” so they don’t feel bad.

What do think God sees when He looks at Americans today?

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

We’ve seen that throughout history — nations pursuing evil because they have rejected God and done their own thing.

The ancient Assyrians often skinned their captives alive after winning a battle.

The Romans held “games” for the enjoyment of the public where gladiators fought to the death, or women and children were mauled and eaten by wild animals. Some Roman emperors even put people on stakes and set them on fire to light their gardens at night.

The Aztecs would gather their captured enemies and cut out their hearts while they were still alive.

In the last century, Marxists have murdered over 100,000,000 (that’s one hundred million) of their own people. For some reason they also felt it was important to torture many of those people.

China has engaged in the in the forced harvesting of organs from people who did not want their organs removed.

During the 1930’s and 40’s, the Germans killed children with birth defects, or those with mental problems, or the elderly, or Gypsies, or Poles, or Slaves, or Jews. German medical doctors conducted vicious medical experiments on unwilling participants.

“Because I have called and you refused to listen … no one has heeded … you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof … therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.”
Proverbs 1:20-33

“… they shall eat the fruit of their way …”

There is a price to pay if a nation rejects God.

Do you want to pay that price?

Do you want your children to pay that price?

ELECTIONS ARE COMING

In just a couple of months, elections are happening in the United States. Many people feel if they can just elect “their” candidates then life will be good.

While I encourage you to vote, electing your slate of candidates is not going to solve our nation’s problems.

Because our problem is not which politicians are in power. Our problem is that we, as a nation, have rejected God.

And we are now following our own way or the way of demons or the way of idols.

And there is a heavy price for any nation that chooses to do that.

A Book You Should Read

As a former history teacher, I have to admit that in my studies I have run across the stories of some fascinating people — some are inspirational, some are thrilling, some are courageous.

One of my favorite people in American History is a man by the name of Henry Bibb. Born a slave in 1815 in Kentucky, he shares what life was like growing up in the South, what it was like to marry the girl of his dreams, and what it was like to try to raise a family within that institution known as slavery.

After a number of unsuccessful attempts, Henry Bibb managed to escape from his “owner” and flee to a free state. But Henry couldn’t stand the thought that his wife and daughter were still in the vice-grip of slavery, so he disguised himself and went back to the South in an attempt to rescue his family.

This is a thrilling story that deals with a dark time in our nation’s history. Written by the man who experienced the events, this book will give you a feeling for what slavery was really like.

It will also reveal to you a man who was courageous and set an example for those of us seeking to live life well.

Read the book!

Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself. This link will send you to a free digital copy of the 1849 book written by Henry Bibb. The first few pages are statements from people who knew Henry. His story begins on page 16.

Here are some stories I found interesting recently. I would encourage you to check them out.

“Why ESG is the biggest scam of the 21st century.” Glenn Beck interviews Vivek Ramaswamy. A fascinating discussion of the attempted reconstruction of society through governments and companies working together.

“Woke Military Policies to Blame for Recruitment Crisis, Servicemembers Say” by J. M. Phelps. The U.S. military is falling way behind its recruiting goals. This article suggests several reasons for that failure.

“Why Are So Many Young Americans Irreligious? The Secular Brainwash is the First Reason” by Dennis Prager.

“War on words: Left seeks to redefine terms like female, pedophile and even recession” by Natalia Mittelstadt.

Before I go I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.

“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)

Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today!

Clint

You are being watched.

What does it feel like?

Do you enjoy know that someone can see everything about you?

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Episode 48: “We See Your Face.”

Those who know me, know that I love technology.

I am absolutely fascinated with the things that man has created through the years.

Cars, planes, phones, refrigerators, radio, TV, spaceships, and even social media.

I can remember watching TV as Neil Armstrong walked around on the moon. It was a live broadcast! Of course it was delayed a few seconds because of the distance and because it had to be relayed from earth stations that had massive antennas. But it was live!

In my lifetime, I’ve seen the development of microwave ovens, wireless phones (which are more powerful than the computers NASA used for the moon missions), heart transplants, and …

The list could go on and on.

In case you don’t know, man did not evolve from a primordial soup (I’ll save my evolution talk for another day).

The Bible clearly teaches that man was created in God’s image and he was intelligent from the beginning.

If you know the story of the Tower of Babel, you’ll know that God chose to confuse the languages and scatter the people around the world because man was so intelligent.

“And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

Genesis 11:6-7

Think about that.

God said since they could speak the same language “nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

We’ve seen that demonstrated through the centuries of human history.

ARTIFICIAL BODY PARTS

“… nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

I am reminded of that truth with every step I take.

Walking was almost an impossibility for me because my knees hurt so much.

Then a doctor put me to sleep, cut out my bad knees, and put in new ones.

Now I walk without pain.

I love technology.

HOME SECURITY SYSTEMS

“… nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

I am also reminded of that truth every time I leave my house.

Before I go out the door, I turn on my home security system.

It can tell if someone opens a door or breaks a window.

Its motion detector can even tell if someone just moves inside my house.

And if my system detects an intrusion, my security system will contact the police.

I know the system works because I was taking care of my daughter’s dog one day and I left the house, forgetting to set system to allow for the dog’s presence.

Well, my security system’s motion detector picked up on the dog’s movement and when I returned home there were a couple of police officers at my door.

They wouldn’t even let me enter the premises until they had checked the house.

Still, I love technology.

TALKING TO ALEXA

“… nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

And then there’s my personal assistant — Alexa.

I think Alexa is a “she” because she sounds like a she, but then I’m not very woke so I could be terribly wrong and needing to grovel before the truly woke and beg for forgiveness … which probably wouldn’t be given, but that’s another story.

Not wanting to become a phobic something or other, I asked Alexa what her personal pronoun was and she responded, “I’m an AI so I don’t have a preference.”

Since she doesn’t have a preference and since I bought her … she is a she.

Back to Alexa and how I use her.

If I wonder what the definition of a word is, I just ask Alexa and she tells me.

If I want to translate a phrase into another language, I just ask Alexa and she gives me the translation.

If I want to know if a local store is open, I just ask Alexa and she tells me the hours of operation and offers to call the store for me.

My wife and I have devotions each morning and one of the things we do is read a section from the Bible. We have our Bibles open and then I ask Alexa to read aloud to us. She does.

One script I am working on is set in the 1920’s and 30’s. To help get me get a feel for the time period, I ask to Alexa play songs from those years. It’s the music my characters would have listened to.

During the day I often ask Alexa to play “inspirational hymns.”

Sometimes I just run through a list of songs I remember from my younger days — classics like “Purple People Eater,” “Beep, Beep,” “Love Letters in the Sand,” “When I Fall in Love,” “Itsy, Bitsy, Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini.”

You know, the really good stuff.

And sometimes I’ll ask Alexa to play the songs from a musical — Oklahoma, Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, or one of the other musicals I remember from my youth – back in the time when I was considering acting as a possible career.

At night, my wife and I like to read a book together. We get comfortable and I ask Alexa to read the current Audible selection we are working through. Alexa picks right up where she left off the previous night.

Before I go to bed, I ask Alexa to turn off the lights in the house and set the alarm for the next day. When the alarm goes off in the morning, Alexa gives me an encouraging phrase and tells me the weather report for the day.

It’s amazing.

Yep. I love technology.

But … there are some concerns with Alexa.

She listens all the time. To everything.

Now Amazon promises that she only listens when she “hears” the keyword. But that means she has to be listening all the time to hear the keyword.

Which begs the question, what does she do with what she hears?

Amazon says not to worry. 

And I can trust Amazon … can’t I?

Which brings me to today’s topic.

WE SEE YOUR FACE

“… nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

You’ve probably heard of facial recognition, but it is amazing how far that technology has come in recent years.

A camera — and there are cameras everywhere — captures a picture of you and almost immediately knows who you are and a lot of stuff about you, some of it very personal.

Perhaps your phone requires you to take a picture of yourself so you can access its features.

Perhaps you have to take a picture of yourself and submit it online in order to use certain products, especially those dealing with your finances.

Perhaps you work in a place where facial recognition is used to allow you to enter certain parts of the building.

Some of the uses of facial recognition seem helpful.

WE SEE YOU COMING

One company, Cloudastructure, has a product that was particularly useful during the pandemic. Not only would it recognize who was heading into a business, it also would detect if the individual was wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and it also used a thermal camera to detect the individual’s temperature.

Pretty nifty, huh?

(NOTE: I did invest in the company.)

GOTTCHA!

“… nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

Another company, Clearview AI, has used it’s tools to scrape more than 20 billion images from the internet and tied them to names of individuals. The company sells its services to several thousand agencies - mostly law enforcement - around the world.

In the U.S. that includes the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Suppose a local police department has a fuzzy picture of a crime being committed that was captured on a business’ security camera.

If the department is a user of Clearview AI, they submit the image and, if the individual in the picture is in one of those 20 billion images it gathered from the internet, the police department would receive back information about the person in the picture.

You can see why law enforcement agencies like this product, but some people are concerned this technology puts our individual privacy at great risk.

If you would like to find out more about this company, there is an interview with the founder on YouTube, “Controversial Facial Recognition Founder Opens Up - Clearview A.I.” It’s about an hour and one-half, so it’s only for those of you who have a lot of time.

MAKING TRAVEL EASIER

“… nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

And it’s not just identifying bad guys.

In Moscow’s Metro system, they are testing a face recognition system to pay for a ride. All a traveler has to do is look at the camera near the entry gate, their credit card is charged, and they can board the Metro.

Check out the 7 minute video below.

Convenient isn’t it?

No credit cards to pull out of your pocket, or passes that you have to display. Just look at the camera and board the Metro.

Isn’t technology wonderful?

Which brings up the question.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

Well, China is using the technology to monitor their entire population. 

Check out the 6 minute video below. This video is almost four years old so you can be certain the technology has become much more powerful.

Notice what kind of control facial recognition gives to a government.

“… nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

They know when you leave your house, who you hang around with, if you leave an area where you have been told to stay, if you belong to a certain group, when you go to the market.

The technology has developed so it can even read a person’s emotions.

The citizens are under constant surveillance.

“If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear,” the government reassures its citizens.

But one writer who was fired from his job says, “You can’t do anything the government dislikes.”

The government even uses the technology to name and shame individuals who break any law.

How would you like your name and photo displayed on a large monitor on a building for everyone to see because you took more toilet paper than you were allowed to use at a restroom, or if you jay walked?

That’s one of the ways the government tries to discourage crime.

STOP AND THINK

It’s time to stop and think now.

If a government, any government, has access to facial recognition technology, do you think it would use the technology to control the population?

“Population” is just another word for you.

I don’t care if you are Republican or Democrat or Independent.

Would the government use such a tool against you?

I may have mentioned that I love technology.

But I am also terrified about technology as I see the power it can give to a government.

TRANSITION for Reviews

I have a recommendation for you. 

“Created Equal” is a documentary about Clarence Thomas.

Most people only know what the media has told them about Clarence Thomas, which is just another way of saying they know very little that is true, if anything at all.

Whether you like or dislike Justice Thomas, I would encourage you to watch the movie or read the book or listen to the audible book and learn from Clarence Thomas’ own words what it was like for him to grow up in a poor neighborhood, what it was like to experience racism, and many of the experiences that helped him develop as a young man, a lawyer, and eventually a Supreme Court Justice.

I love to share some of the articles I read with you. Here are some stories I found interesting recently. I have links to the original sources in the show notes.

“War on words: Left seeks to redefine terms like female, pedophile and even recession” by Natalia Mittelstadt. We see this almost daily. If a word makes a “politically correct” action look disgusting, you can solve the problem by changing the definition of the word.

“Multiple-Abortion Survivor Says God Helped Her Forgive Birth Parents Who Did Everything to Abort Her” by Louise Chambers. An adopted girl sets out to find her birth parents and why they didn’t want her.

“Why College Degrees Are Working Against Many Job-Seekers” by Isaac Morehouse. As a former high school administrator, I’ve counseled many students about their post-high school plans. If you or a friend or family member is considering college, you might want to read this article.

Before I go I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.

“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)

Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today!

Clint

TRANSCRIPT

Thank you, Mark. And thank you for dropping by to listen.

Yes, I know Father’s Day was a couple of weeks ago — June 19th to be exact.

And no, I didn’t forget.

And no, I’m not late.

Well, maybe just a little bit late.

But I’d like to talk to those of you who have fathers.

I imagine that includes most of you.

Was your father good, okay, or bad?

You may have had an excellent father. Or you may have had a father who was just okay. Or you may have had a father who was … let’s just say, not so good.

Perhaps you don’t even know who your real father was.

Whatever the situation with your earthly father, I have some very good news for you.

I’d like to begin that good news with something Jesus said when he taught his followers how to pray. He gave them a sample prayer. We’ve come to call it the Lord’s Prayer.

You may have memorized it.

Notice how Jesus begins that prayer.

Jesus tells us to pray to “our Father.”

Think about that.

God, the Creator of the Universe, is our Father.

And you know what?

God our Father actually loves us.

Which is amazing because the Bible teaches that God knows absolutely everything about us — what we’ve done, what we’ve said, even what we’ve thought.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve done, and said, and thought a few things that I would just as soon no one ever knew.

And yet God knows every one of those things in my life … and in your life … and still He loves us.

He loves us so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sins — all those things we’ve done and said and thought that weren’t all that good.

Jesus paid the price for our sins so that we could live forever with God because Our Father loves us.

God is our Father in Heaven and He wants … listen carefully … He wants you to be part of His family.

Did you get that? Your Heavenly Father wants you to be His child.

Grab hold of that truth.

Don’t let it go.

God … your Heavenly Father … loves you and wants you to be part of His family.

Celebrate Father’s Day Today

So, whether you forgot Father’s Day a couple of weeks ago, or had a great time honoring your earthly father, I would encourage you to set aside today to honor your Heavenly Father.

Thank Him for loving you and providing you the way to spend eternity with Him.

You have a great Heavenly Father.

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Free newsletter:  www.clintmorey.substack.com

MONTANA — Greetings from the Big Sky Country.

Click the audio player above to listen to the podcast or read the transcript below.

Or … you could do both.

Thank you, Mark. And thank you for dropping by to listen.

Yes, I know Father’s Day was a couple of weeks ago — June 19th to be exact.

And no, I didn’t forget.

And no, I’m not late.

Well, maybe just a little bit late.

But I’d like to talk to those of you who have fathers.

I imagine that includes most of you.

Was your father good, okay, or bad?

You may have had an excellent father. Or you may have had a father who was just okay. Or you may have had a father who was … let’s just say, not so good.

Perhaps you don’t even know who your real father was.

Whatever the situation with your earthly father, I have some very good news for you.

I’d like to begin that good news with something Jesus said when he taught his followers how to pray. He gave them a sample prayer. We’ve come to call it the Lord’s Prayer.

You may have memorized it.

Notice how Jesus begins that prayer.

“Our Father in heaven,Hallowed be your name.”Matthew 6:9 (ESV)

Jesus tells us to pray to “our Father.”

Think about that.

God, the Creator of the Universe, is our Father.

And you know what?

God our Father actually loves us.

Which is amazing because the Bible teaches that God knows absolutely everything about us — what we’ve done, what we’ve said, even what we’ve thought.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve done, and said, and thought a few things that I would just as soon no one ever knew.

And yet God knows every one of those things in my life … and in your life … and still He loves us.

“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV)

He loves us so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sins — all those things we’ve done and said and thought that weren’t all that good.

Jesus paid the price for our sins so that we could live forever with God because Our Father loves us.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”John 3:16 (ESV)

God is our Father in Heaven and He wants … listen carefully … He wants you to be part of His family.

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”John 1:12 (ESV)

Did you get that? Your Heavenly Father wants you to be His child.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”1 John 3:1 (ESV)

Grab hold of that truth.

Don’t let it go.

God … your Heavenly Father … loves you and wants you to be part of His family.

Celebrate Father’s Day Today

So, whether you forgot Father’s Day a couple of weeks ago, or had a great time honoring your earthly father, I would encourage you to set aside today to honor your Heavenly Father.

Thank Him for loving you and providing you the way to spend eternity with Him.

You have a great Heavenly Father.

Here are links to some things that I found interesting recently.

The first is an article on the cancel culture we now live in. It doesn’t matter if what you say is true or not. All that matters is that you must spout the “approved” line or you will be punished.

* “I’m An MD Suspended By Twitter for Tweeting A Link To A Scientific Article On COVID-19 Vaccine Lowering Sperm Counts” by Andrew Boston.

Free Newsletter: https://clintmorey.substack.com
Website: https://clintmorey.com

DON'T PLAY WITH THINGS THAT GO BOOM
Episode 1: Baby Boomers Wanted

There was this war on the other side of the planet and the country needed soldiers, lots and lots of soldiers.
The government leaders looked around and there we were -- the Baby Boomers.

Read the Transcript on Substack

I’ve got a question for you.

Where is Zimbabwe?

I’m serious.

If I were to hand you a blank outline map of the world, would you be able to point to the country of Zimbabwe?

Pointing in the general direction of a continent is not the correct answer.

If you’re like me, you might know that Zimbabwe is in Africa, but if you’re like me you couldn’t point to exactly where in Africa it is located.

Here’s a description of the location from Britannica:

Does that help or do you have difficulty knowing where those other countries are located?

For me, I knew where South Africa was and had a good idea where Mozambique was, but I had no idea where Botswana or Zambia were located.

I hope your geographical knowledge is better than mine but this episode of the Big Sky Writer Newsletter is not about geography.

It’s about the economy.

Why don’t you know more about Zimbabwe?

Most of us are probably aware that our country is going through some difficult economic times and the immediate future doesn’t look promising.

Okay, what is coming to our economy looks terrible.

And, trust me on this, it’s not Putin’s fault.

We have destroyed ourselves.

You would think that with inflation already here and threatening to get worse, America’s news organizations would cover how other countries have handled similar challenges … in the present and in the past.

Perhaps we could learn what works and what doesn’t.

But how often do you hear about what happened in Germany in the 1930’s or what is happening in Zimbabwe or Venezuela in the present?

I’m guessing not very often.

The Zimbabwean Dollar

So it’s time for a very short history lesson on the Zimbabwean dollar.2

The first Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) was introduced in 1980 and was worth a little more than the US dollar … $1.47 to be exact.

But Zimbabwe had a number of social, political, and economic problems — does that sound like any country you know today? — and Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) began to lose purchasing power. 

The government of Zimbabwe dealt with the problem by printing more Zimbabwean dollars.

Does that sound like any country you know today?

What happened after that?

In Zimbabwe in 1983, one US dollar would get you one ZWD.

But by 2006, one US dollar would get you 500,000 ZWDs.

That’s called inflation.

Time for a change

Things got so bad, they decided to scrap their ZWD and come up with a new currency, the ZWN. 

In 2006, people could exchange 1,000 ZWDs and get 1 ZWN.

In August of 2006, one US dollar would get you 650 ZWNs. Not as good as the original ZWD but it was respectable.

However, only two years later one US dollar would get you 1,000,000,000 ZWNs.

In other words, it was worthless.

MONTANA — Greetings from the Big Sky Country.

Click on the audio player above to listen to the podcast or read the transcript below. Hope you enjoy.

I’ve got a question for you.

Where is Zimbabwe?

I’m serious.

If I were to hand you a blank outline map of the world, would you be able to point to the country of Zimbabwe?

Pointing in the general direction of a continent is not the correct answer.

If you’re like me, you might know that Zimbabwe is in Africa, but if you’re like me you couldn’t point to exactly where in Africa it is located.

Here’s a description of the location from Britannica:

Zimbabwe “… shares a 125-mile (200-kilometre) border on the south with the Republic of South Africa and is bounded on the southwest and west by Botswana, on the north by Zambia, and on the northeast and east by Mozambique.”

Does that help or do you have difficulty knowing where those other countries are located?

For me, I knew where South Africa was and had a good idea where Mozambique was, but I had no idea where Botswana or Zambia were located.

Here’s an outline map of Africa with Zimbabwe highlighted.

I hope your geographical knowledge is better than mine but this episode of the Big Sky Writer is not about geography.

It’s about the economy.

Why don’t you know more about Zimbabwe?

Most of us are probably aware that our country is going through some difficult economic times and the immediate future doesn’t look promising.

Okay, what is coming to our economy looks terrible.

And, trust me on this, it’s not Putin’s fault.

We have destroyed ourselves.

You would think that with inflation already here and threatening to get worse, America’s news organizations would cover how other countries have handled similar challenges … in the present and in the past.

Perhaps we could learn what works and what doesn’t.

But how often do you hear about what happened in Germany in the 1930’s or what is happening in Zimbabwe or Venezuela in the present?

I’m guessing not very often.

The Zimbabwean Dollar

So it’s time for a very short history lesson on the Zimbabwean dollar.

The first Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) was introduced in 1980 and was worth a little more than the US dollar … $1.47 to be exact.

But Zimbabwe had a number of social, political, and economic problems — does that sound like any country you know today? — and Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) began to lose purchasing power.

The government of Zimbabwe dealt with the problem by printing more Zimbabwean dollars.

Does that sound like any country you know today?

What happened after that?

In Zimbabwe in 1983, one US dollar would get you one ZWD.

But by 2006, one US dollar would get you 500,000 ZWDs.

That’s called inflation.

Time for a change

Things got so bad, they decided to scrap their ZWD and come up with a new currency, the ZWN.

In 2006, people could exchange 1,000 ZWDs and get 1 ZWN.

In August of 2006, one US dollar would get you 650 ZWNs. Not as good as the original ZWD but it was respectable.

However, only two years later one US dollar would get you 1,000,000,000 ZWNs.

In other words, it was worthless.

So the government went back to work, scrapped the ZWN and replaced it with a new currency — the ZWR.

If you had 10 billion ZWNs lying around the house, you could exchange them for one ZWR.

But the new currency didn’t last long either and the government came out with yet another new currency — the ZWL.

If you had one trillion ZWR’s hidden under the mattress, you could exchange them for one ZWL.

Free Newsletter: https://clintmorey.substack.com
Website: https://clintmorey.com

It's tough being filthy, stinking rich, but I guess I'll just have to learn how to do it well.

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Website: https://clintmorey.com
Free newsletter: https://clintmorey.substack.com

Free Newsletter: https://clintmorey.substack.com
Website: https://clintmorey.com