Privacy? Forget About It
Most of us have learned to be very careful when we’re online. We don’t give out our social security number or any private information that we don’t want others knowing. As a result, we’re safe from strangers knowing all kinds of things about us that we want to keep private, right? Wrong.
Most of us have learned to be very careful when we’re online. We don’t give out our social security number or any private information that we don’t want others knowing. As a result, we’re safe from strangers knowing all kinds of things about us that we want to keep private, right? Wrong.
I was googling something the other day when an ad on the right side of the page caught my eye. It was a service that could search for people and find out all kinds of things like where they lived, their e-mails, their birthdays, the names of their spouses and children, and much more.
I wasn’t tempted to check out someone else, but I was curious about how much this company knew about me. For free, they gave me the names of my wife and kids, and promised to give me more information if I used a paid service. Since my primary job is saving my readers from doing anything foolish, I checked the box and committed to a small fee. They listed my age and date of birth, and my address and phone number. They also told me I didn’t have any liens on our property, they did a criminal check, and gave me the names of neighbors. It seems that it would be a lot more neighborly just to introduce myself to my neighbors in person, but I’m obviously not living in Cyber Space 2010.
They had my correct age and date of birth, and, if they want to send me a birthday present, they’ve got my address. They know how much we paid for our house, and the size of it. Actually, they were somewhat short on the house size. They didn’t count our finished basement. Maybe their electronic spies missed it when they made their cyber visit. And they gave us an extra bedroom. I hope this doesn’t mean that they think there’s an extra room that they can use for one of their people to spend the night.
They said I had no criminal record, so I guess they don’t count parking tickets. They claim there are no registered sex offenders in our neighborhood. In terms of other crimes, burglary and vehicle theft are listed as “average.” I don’t know if this means that the crooks do an average job when they steal something, or if we have the average number of thefts in our area. They had all kinds of statistics including the claim that a whopping 52% of my neighbors have masters’ degrees. If they’re so smart, why can’t they remember to put on their turn signals?
I immediately realized that if I can find out so much about me, so can everyone else in the world. And no, I still wasn’t tempted to check out anyone else. The whole thing made me feel like I’d be peeking in someone’s window, going through their garbage, or tracking down their old math teacher. So I called the company to cancel everything. I asked the woman on the phone, “Don’t you feel like this whole thing is a bit creepy?”
Not surprisingly, she did not, and said she’s a customer as well as an employee. She touted the ability to check out a possible employee like a nanny. She also said you could find an old friend whom you had lost touch with. My feeling is, if I’ve gotten along this well without them, I can stay out of touch. I added, “Aren’t you concerned about that annoying kid from elementary school tracking you down?”
She answered, “If you’re worried about somebody like that finding you, you can check the box that doesn’t allow your records to be public.”
I responded, “I’m not worried about the annoying kid from school finding me. I was the annoying kid.” I was just using that as an example.
So, I resigned my membership a few minutes after I had joined. However, we all know that there are many companies like this that can tap into our computers and find out all kinds of things about us: what products we buy, whom we e-mail the most, and probably if we picked up after our dog this morning (I did). It doesn’t seem to matter how careful we are, “they” will find out more about us than they should. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if I get an email in a few minutes from one of these companies saying something like, “Who are you kidding? Those socks you’re wearing don’t go with your pants.”
Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from “Sesame Street” to “Family Ties” to “Home Improvement” to “Frasier.” He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. He can be reached at . Check out his website at and his podcasts on iTunes.
Cleaning House (Physically and Mentally)
My son’s been visiting for the last week. This is a big deal, as we only see him once or twice a year. He travels the world with his job, and like many young people these days, seems to have few days off. My daughter’s been able to spend two weekends here during her brother’s visit, and it’s a rare treat to have them both together with me again.
My son’s been visiting for the last week. This is a big deal, as we only see him once or twice a year. He travels the world with his job, and like many young people these days, seems to have few days off. My daughter’s been able to spend two weekends here during her brother’s visit, and it’s a rare treat to have them both together with me again.
We were talking the other day about clutter. This subject always comes up during my son’s visits. To say he’s a minimalist would be a vast understatement. He claims this has come about in reaction to his childhood with ME, the woman who thinks that if one is good, two are better. (If you like it, buy it in three colors). I always point out that everyone ends up blaming their mother for SOMETHING. When one lies down on some therapist’s couch one day, one must have something to say, after all. And being a minimalist as a result of a parent’s fault isn’t so terrible, not like becoming a serial killer.
My daughter lives closer and sees us more frequently these days. She decided a while back to stop badgering me about— well mostly anything. She crosses the cattle guard, lets the city stress seep from her pores. After a couple of hours of decompressing, I think she enjoys her time here, relaxing in the country as much as possible, winding down from her stressful job.
The conclusion I came to is that we all have different kinds of clutter in our lives. Zack and I have THINGS. Not only do we stop SEEING some of it after a while, but, living as we do, we need plenty of tools and supplies. (I justify a lot of it this way, when I can get away with it). The kids, on the other hand, have clutter in their heads, on their computers, and in cyberspace. There’s just so much information out there. It’s overwhelming. I can filter it out and say, “Enough!” I can turn off my computer and simply stop the input. But my kids today use all this for their work and to keep up with a quickly changing world. It’s like a train wreck; they can’t look away.
All working people carry a to-do list in their heads, always have. (My hard copy is pages and pages long, a whole other problem, one I should likely discuss with a trained therapist. But that’s for a different column). In this modern age of multitasking and information overload, it’s possible to expand on and on and on — to the point of being totally overwhelmed. My kids’ iPhones and Blackberries never stop. I listened one night to the blips and bleeps from these machines as my precious children slept, the ever-present “smartphones” by their sides, tiny, portable computers keeping them ever connected to their jobs and responsibilities. There are alerts of incoming emails, texts, messages, and reminders of all kinds. When I threaten to hide the phone while she sleeps, my daughter tells me I cannot, because her alarm is there too. Her brain is programmed to ignore the nocturnal noises yet awaken to the alarm. I worry about the quality of her rem sleep.
This can’t be healthy. There’s no 9-5 for these kids and so many like them. Their jobs are ever present. Even during the weekend or on vacation, they’re connected, at the continual mercy of insistent co-workers and supervisors who need to know this or that JUST THAT MOMENT, like the world would end otherwise. Why are these people working late at night after a full day? How productive can they be 24/7? Have they never heard of down time? Don’t they WANT any? I suppose there will always be folks with no other life who are willing to work continually, making job security precarious for others who actually require sleep. I predict a whole new realm of psychological problems stemming from this phenomenon. Car accidents caused from texting and driving are just the tip of the iceberg.
I once held an executive position in which I was told by a board member (who probably hadn’t held a real job in over forty years) that if I was able to do my job between 9-5, I wasn’t doing everything. My answer was that if I could NOT do that job during those hours, there was something wrong with the organization of my time. It wasn’t exactly rocket science. But that position didn’t come with an iPhone. Things are different now in the “real world”. Because my son’s job takes him all over the globe, he often receives calls in the middle of the night from people who are awake when he should be sleeping. The question in my mind is, “How much will people be willing and able to give to these constant demands over the long haul?” Is this just the way of the future? Will humans simply adapt, with the “fittest” surviving and the others falling by the wayside? (Will one group be more “successful” but perhaps the other stay sane?)
My son’s concern over the actual, physical clutter in my home is endearing (often to the point of insanity). He believes with fewer things in my life, I’ll have more time for what I enjoy. And he’s probably right. (We’ve already cleaned out the kitchen, removed boxes and boxes of extra supplies — OK, antiques and what I consider “collections.” And to him it still looks crowded). My concern over the digital/media clutter in his and his sister’s lives is just as valid. I believe it’s more insidious than the physical kind of clutter. (He argues this point). I suppose there’s no escaping it in this modern age, but my first motherly instinct is to kidnap them, drive my truck or tractor over the laptops, Blackberry and iPhone, and keep them on the ranch with me forever, watching the grass grow.
Gene Ellis, Ed.D is a Bosque County resident who returned to the family farm after years of living in New Orleans, New York, and Florida. She’s an artist who holds a doctoral degree from New York University and is writing a book about the minor catastrophes of life. Check out Genie’s blog at .
Obama’s Second Stimulus: A Looming Disaster
Obama loves to blame former President Bush, claiming he inherited this horrendous recession. However, the facts show this just isn’t true. While the housing bubble burst in 2008, and a slight recession began in the Bush administration’s last year, it was nothing compared to the past year.
Since Obama took office, the nation is distressed watching more people lose their jobs. This spiraling recession has gone from mild downturn to disaster. Obama cavalierly declared during the early days of his term, that if Congress failed to pass his economic stimulus plan, the unemployment rate would climb above 8 percent. Congress believed him, giving him all the new spending he demanded by passing the $787 billion pork-laden stimulus bill. Yet the unemployment rate then promptly climbed to over 10 percent.
In December 2008, Bush’s last full month in office, unemployment stood at 7.4 percent. Actually, the picture under Obama is even bleaker than it appears. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the real unemployment rate is 17.3 percent when you take into account those discouraged and disheartened folks who have giving up on looking for work. And if unemployment figures were still calculated as they were in 1981, the first year of the Reagan term, unemployment now would be 21 percent.
To counteract his rapidly declining job-approval ratings, Obama has frantically started pushing a second spending package. This time he won’t call the bill a stimulus package or say where the spending will go. Obama and his press secretary are now selling it as a package of “targeted ideas that will have a positive effect on private hiring.” Americans know big government spending plans don’t work. Obama is in a sticky predicament, and rather than openly running on his unpopular ideas, he is attempting to deceive the American people with new names for failed policies.
One of the unreported results of the original stimulus package is that it has wreaked havoc on state government budgets. It earmarked $200 billion in bailout cash to help balance state budgets. This policy is akin to giving an alcoholic a year’s supply of beer money. Yet, here we are a year later, and the combined deficit for states has reached a staggering $260 billion.
Rather than using federal dollars to repair their balance sheets, states used the money to fund temporary fixes. Now these states are hooked like a drug addict and begging for another quick fix from Obama. If Obama bails these states out again, he will prolong the waste and forestall necessary reforms.
Obama is so preoccupied lobbying for his health care bill; he is neglecting to focus on job creation. Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, who has supported Obama’s healthcare bill to the scorn of his constituents, has even expressed, “I think it was a mistake to take health care on as opposed to continuing to spend the time on the economy.”
As Obama considers this new spending package, which increases the debt burden, he is ignoring the advice of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Remember, this year Bush’s growth-promoting tax cuts are set to expire. The Chamber says if Obama allows the tax cuts to expire, then he will be setting up the stage for a double-dip recession. Obama is already stressing a weak economy.
If Obama wants to create jobs and improve the economy, he needs to create a stable and secure environment for companies. If Obama doesn’t realize the folly of his policies soon, his party will rightly deserve a strong rebuke from the American people in this November’s elections.
©2010 Floyd and Mary Beth Brown. The Browns are bestselling authors and speakers. Together they write a national weekly column distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Floyd is also president of the Western Center for Journalism. For more info call Cari Dawson Bartley at 800 696 7561 or e-mail cari@cagle.com.
Floyd’s latest book (with Lee Troxler) is “Obama Unmasked,” from Merril Press. Mary Beth’s latest book is featured at www.condibook.com. Time magazine wrote of Floyd: “Brown has stature among devoted conservatives that almost matches his physical heft (6 ft. 6 in. and 240 lbs.)” See more at Floyd’s blog at www.2minuteview.com. To comment on this column, e-mail browns@caglecartoons.com.