All Eyes Are on You!

Sting couldn't have put it better: "Every breath you take, Every move you make, Every bond you break, Every step you take". However, when he wrote the song, it was more about an obsessed lover than the current state of the US government. By now, most people know about George Bush's "anti-terrorist" eavesdropping, but most people aren't aware that we're being watched every moment of everyday and have been for decades. Ever get that feeling someone's watching you? You will now.

One of the earliest forms of human tracking came with the introduction of credit cards. That tiny piece of plastic holds so much information about you, it's ridiculous. Your name, address, telephone number, social security number, where you work, how much you make a year, everything you've ever purchased, every bank transaction...hell, it probably has your mother's maiden name on there, too. What's the point of traveling with a passport is all you need is your "Visa" (sorry for the pun).

Then GPS. Thanks to GPS, you can be found anywhere in the world as long as your cell phone is on or as long as you're using your GPS car guidance system. Sure, they're convenient and pretty affordable, but to what extent will you go for convenience before your whole life is public. Just like the credit cards, that little chip in your phone allows the government and cell phone companies to hold just about every little detail of your life. Who's listening in? Who knows where you are?

Cameras. Cameras are everywhere these days. I understand that we need them for security reasons and they're great for identifying thieves, but do they really need to be everywhere? They're on street lamps, in traffic lights (that white flashing light in the red stop light that some states have started using), building lobbies and elevators, banks, bathrooms, dressing rooms, offices, banks, supermarkets, zoos. The list could go on and on. And thanks to webcams, we can see right into people's homes. They're willingly allowing people to look into their private lives without considering what's really happening.

And of course, my husband's favorite--E-Z Pass. A number of states have some form of E-Z Pass, a prepaid toll medallion that you place in your front window. It's a good idea on the surface--no more waiting in long lines or having to worry about having enough change for the tolls--but deeper down it's quite a conspiracy. I know a number of people who have been nabbed for speeding because they have gone from one toll plaza to the next too quickly. E-Z Pass actually tracks your speed, and you will be ticketed. And again, if you have one, you can be tracked, pinpointed at any moment if necessary (or unnecessarily as the case usually is). The funny thing is, the government is trying to make it so that everyone has to have an E-Z Pass. Every few months they shut down a couple more good old-fashioned change tolls, and they make it quite inconvenient to get to the ones that still exist. Now we have high speed E-Z Pass drive throughs. Five lanes of traffic (or more) can fit under one of these E-Z Pass canopies, and it's all in the hopes of "alleviating traffic". Nice idea, but people are catching on to your true intentions.

Now President Bush has been eavesdropping on potential terrorist phone calls, and claims have been made that if they were able to do this prior to 9-11, the bombings may have been prevented. Perhaps if you had looked at the intelligence reports that came in saying we were going to be bombed on September 11th, they would have been prevented as well. But, hey, GW just wanted a reason to go to war and save his Daddy's oil fortune. Ain't that right, GW? But now you're justified in tapping into people's lives because they may be terrorists? Sure, better safe than sorry, but how realistic is that list of "terrorists"? Not too long ago a child was detained at an airport because he had the same name as a supposed terrorist on "the list". I was smart when I was four, but I wouldn't be able to bring down a plane (hell, I still sucked at chemistry in high school and college), and I certainly doubt that child could have either.

Today Bush is calling it "terrorist surveillance", which he said he cleared with lawyers and certain members of Congress and the Supreme Court. Well, either way you look at it, it's eavesdropping. Just like when you were a kid and you tried to pick up the other line when your mother was on the phone with the principal because you did something bad. You almost always got caught. Well, GW, you got caught, didn't you? And now America is really pissed at you. Not only have you been invading and terrorizing the Middle East with your own agenda, but now you've tapped into our private lives just a little too much, and people don't like it.

So, children, today's lesson is, don't say anything you don't want anyone else to know. Someone's listening. Don't photocopy your butt on the office copier, because someone is looking. Everything is trackable, everything can be heard and everything can be seen. All eyes are on you, and there's nothing you can do about it unless you step up and take a stand. As my husband would say, "The chip is coming! They're going to start implanting up with ID chips that can track us wherever we go." Don't laugh, there is some truth to it--they already have doggy LoJACK (chips implanted in dogs--and cats--that carry medical history, owner information, etc. in case they get lost). Who's to say we're not next? Convenience isn't all it's cracked up to be, but if you don't think so, drop me a line the next time someone's listening in on your conversations or sending you speeding tickets from E-Z Pass.

Pirate fact: Initially hunters of cattle and pigs on the Island of what is now known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Buccaneers got their name from the meaning of the French word "boucan" (which means barbecue), as they were frequently seen barbecuing their meat on grills (they learned this form of cooking from the Arawak Indians). The buccaneers were driven out by the Spanish, and the persecuted hunters banded with groups of runaway slaves, deserters, and others who hated the Spanish and sought vengeance on their vessels. The word buccaneer soon became common, and by the 17th century was used to describe pirates and privateers who had bases in the West Indies.
(Thanks to http://www.piratesinfo.com/detail/detail.php?article_id=61)

Lucky number 13?

It's Friday the 13th, and New York is as wacky as ever (or as usual, I should say). Nothing seems out of the ordinary yet, but of course, we almost all have the thought, "What's going to happen today?" As if Friday the 13th isn't freaky enough, we're on the brink of a full moon, so the vibes are shaking and the balances are off. In keeping with Friday the 13th curiosity, a co-worker sent and email today that contained an article on the origins of why Friday the 13th is so unlucky. It wasn't much more than I already knew, but a section of the last paragraph is what got my attention: "Yet the number 13 has a lesser-known role as a lucky number: At the birth of our nation, thirteen colonies formed the original United States of America..." And my reply to that is, look where we are today. Lucky? Uh, no, Ted, no.

Where to begin? Where to begin? Ah yes...volcanic eruptions! Not only is Mt. St. Helens in a constant state of eruption (yes tremors, steam and ash all make up eruptions), now Augustine Volcano in Alaska may erupt as well. On Wednesday, five miles of ash was spewed into the sky. Luckily it did not effect air travel, but hell, five miles of ash is pretty impressive for a volcano that hasn't erupted in 20 years. The last time it did in 1986, Augustine spewed seven miles of ash into the air. America is not a place one connects with volcanoes, but anything is possible these days. The next thing you know, the land around Old Faithful Geyser will cave in creating the country's largest sink hole.

And what's with the recent wildfires in the Midwest? No rain and no humidity make for extremely dry and dangerous conditions. And all the while homes are burning and land is being destroyed, California is being drowned in mud and rain. Is it just me or does their seem to be a problem with distribution in this country. As if giving to rich instead of the poor isn't bad enough, now they're controlling Mother Nature, too? I wonder how much she's being paid off.

We just had the mining disaster in West Virginia. What a way to ring in the New Year, right? Twelve people died and the only survivor is being kept alive in a medically induced coma. Luckily, he is responding to stimuli, but no one knows how much he will recover overall. I'm sorry to say it, but big business needs to stop digging and drilling and start looking into new ways to get energy resources. If soldiers aren't dying in Iraq for President Bush's precious oil, they're dying in West Virginia digging for another resource we can do without. Do you know how much damage coal does to the atmosphere, let alone people's lungs?

And America's biggest current blunder--President Bush. Need I say more? Since he's been in office, we've lost thousands of lives on September 11th, we've lost even more lives in his personal war against Iraq (weapons of mass destruction, my ass!), we've lost lives, homes and businesses to a record long and dangerous hurricane season, and it just seems to keep happening. Can we really afford to keep going like this?

Look at our overall past: the country was founded by religious rejects fleeing from their persecutors; we had a revolution and a civil war less than 100 years apart; we've experienced a depression, two world wars, the assassination of presidents, as well as attempts on others' lives; we've had slavery of both blacks and whites; the destruction of Native American livelihood and Japanese concentration camps. The scary thing is, we;ve only been in this country since the 1600's. I'm not talking about a long period of history. Just about 400 years is not a long time when you look at the rest of the world. It's going to be the fall of Rome all over again--the rise of a great world power, only to fall to it's own demise.

So, is 13 a lucky number? In the case of the United States of America, I think not. We've had a rough and unhappy past, and all too quickly for such a young country. I know that our Pilgrim ancestors did not exactly have our current state in mind when they landed here, but we have to look at our past and see what we've done to this country. What used to be so beautiful is now a giant strip mall surrounded by factories and oil refineries. This isn't the place it once was, and it never will be again. Is it really bad luck or just bad management. Grab your kid's history and do the research. You'll be surprised.

Pirate superstitions: Old Sea Proverb "Friday is an unlucky day to start a Voyage"; whistling onboard was thought to bring doom to any ship; Church Bells heard at sea mean someone on the ship will die; red heads bring bad luck to a ship (oh, woe is me!); a coin placed under the masthead brings good luck; the first nail nailed into a ship was tied with a red ribbon to ward off storms; red sky in morning, sailor's warning, red sky at night, sailor's delight.