Why are we giving away our privacy so willingly when the dangers are so horrendous?
You're being watched. Almost everywhere you go. Video cameras proliferate like sex-crazed rabbits. Satellites can probably count the hairs on your head. Those obscene, ubiquitous cellphone cameras are catching you from every angle, whether you know the owner or not — whether you want to be shot or not.…
Article comments
26 - Dr Dreadful
Ruvy,
My last name means 'rocky outcrop or crag' and I'm pretty sure the Vikings didn't spell it the way I spell it.
I'm pretty sure the Vikings aren't upset about it, either. And you know Vikings. If they're upset about something, you know about it.
At least you do in that split-second of remaining consciousness as your newly-independent head makes its final brief journey from your neck to the ground.
27 - Dr Dreadful
'Hussein', BTW, which Ruvy never bothers to translate for us, means 'handsome one'. So perhaps a more fitting rendition of the President's name is 'blessed handsome one'. Or, in a more loose translation 'how did that bugger get to be so good-looking?'
Reuven, apparently, means simply 'behold, a son'. Fitting enough, I suppose.
28 - Baronius
Wikipedia gives this definition: "a grilled or toasted sandwich made with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian or Thousand Island dressing". On top of that, Ruvy's dad spelled his name wrong.
Now that's satire.
29 - Dan(Miller)
Doc -- yes, but you neglect to point out the meaning of "Obama," which is bent. Therefore, Barack Hussein Obama presumably means, "Blessed (and) Handsome (but) Bent one."
Oh, well.
Dan(of he who grinds flour)
30 - Ruvy
Baritone [Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]: Believe it or not, the world does NOT revolve around either you or Israel. That your country, which is little more than a blip on the map gets the kind of attention it does, I guess, speaks well of Israel's Chamber of Commerce,
Nope, Baritone. The world certainly doesn't revolve around me, an insignificant speck of nothing in the mountains of Samaria. But it sure as shit does revolve around Israel. And certainly not due to our efforts or to anything we are owed. Let's have a look a random but fairly objective measure - references on Google.
China - 820 million references
America - 646 million references
Russia - 224 million references
Europe - 613 million references
Moslem - 2.83 million references
Arabs - 10.7 million references
Christian - 388 million references
India - 646 million references
Hindu - 31 million references
Total - 3,381.53 million references
Jew - 15.4 million references
Israel - 254 million references
Total - 269.4 million references
Total references - 3,650.93 million references
Percentage of references to Jew or Israel
7.3%
For a people that makes up about .2% of the world's population covering some 10,000 sq. miles (out of 57 million sq. miles), that is one hell of a percentage of references, wouldn't you say? By our percentage of the world's population, we should be getting about 7.5 million references, and no more.
I know why, Baronius certainly knows why; but I'll let you puzzle it out for yourself.
31 - Ruvy
Reuven, apparently, means simply 'behold, a son'. Fitting enough, I suppose.
Lay off translating the Hebrew, DD. Reuven means 'look! a son!' Behold in Hebrew is hini - something you do not find in my name. My dad never spelled 'Reuven', and he certainly never spelled 'Ruvy'. He (or rather my mother) gave me a different name, one I have ditched since arriving here. 'Ruvy' is the nickname I got from a ship's cook in the Israeli navy when I was working next to him as the dishwasher/baker. It is the one I prefer. Reuven is the name I was given when the mohel took his (or rather my) tip some 5.7 decades ago. It was written in Hebrew on a certificate which I have somewhere or other.
Now what kind of outcropping does your name mean again, DD? Oh yeah, put your sword away first, before we discuss this.
32 - Andy Marsh
Gotta like that...blessed, handsome and bent! I've actually been described like that!
33 - Baritone
Cindy,
It's a gift.
34 - Baritone
Bar,
I pretty much agree with you. I suppose we shouldn't dismiss it altogether. Afterall, someone might be listening. How they interpret and what they do with what they hear is, perhaps, the scary part. Getting it wrong can be far worse than getting it right.
Perhaps I'm naive in this regard, but my innocuous little corner of the world could hardly be of any interest to any prospective eaves droppers.
BTW - I have done just as you describe from time to time. It does give one a bit of a thrill in the knowledge that I might be freaking out some nosey bastard.
Let us know if they come to get you. I'll do the same, if able.
B
35 - Baronius
My life is so boring, I don't watch it.
36 - Dr Dreadful
Ruvy, whatever. 'Behold' and 'look' are similes in my book.
It's not a sword, it's an axe.
Israel gets more than its fair share of attention because three of the world's major religions are somewhat preoccupied with the speck of ground she sits on. This is because of a series of historical accidents which have no little to do with a certain J. Maccabee, the vexing question of foreskins, and his ideas as to where Emperor Antiochus IV could stick them.
37 - Mark Schannon
Behold, look, an outcropping of an axe as the comments pile up while I wasn't beholding or looking. Actually, I don't much care about what's on the Internet about me because, except for Ruvy, I'm probably older than the lot of you & there's not much a Demo or Repulicrap can do about my rants.
I am much more concerned about the world we're leaving your children (ain't got none of my own) where a less benign administration than Dick "Off With His Head" Cheney could imagine would be able to routinely round up and incarcerate whomever it pleases because we've gutted all constitutional safeguards.
If people aren't worried about that...you ain't been paying attention.
And I thought Ruvy's rescue of my pulling 27 aged virgins out of my ass was pretty funny...until everyone decided to misread him & miss the humor.
But what do I know. My name means "He Who Has Wisdom Beyond The Ken of Mortals & Who Shall Have Unlimited Virgins...that is if the bride approves...which she won't...so I'm just Wiser than Ken."
In Jameson Veritas
38 - Ruvy
a grilled or toasted sandwich made with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian or Thousand Island dressing".
That's not satire - that's the definition of a vomitrocious defilement of Corned-Beef-on-Rye - feh!. And Reuben is the typical goyisher misspelling of the Hebrew reúven.
39 - Elvira Black
Privacy, schmivacy...why DO you guys spend so much time in the loo?
Women take forever "powdering their nose" in public toilets, on the other hand.
I think that's because men need to get some alone time. They always need to get some alone time.
Nice piece though...
40 - Clavos
They always need to get some alone time.
True.
I wonder if their female companions have anything to do with that?
41 - Mark Schannon
Elvira, thanks. I don't know why we love our loos...we just dos.
Clavos, I don't think it has anything to do with women. I did it when I lived alone. Go figure.
In Jameson Veritas