Somebody's WATCHING me

I came across this commentary article, “I always feel like somebody’s watching me” by Leonard Pitts and shortly after, I have chills down my spine. In this article he is convinced that the advancement of technologies has driven America to a place of secret free and that we are moving towards a full surveillance society. With technology, he said that “in the beginning was the fingerprint” and now in the 20th century scientists uses DNA as a means of identification in place of a simple fingerprint.

The feds are building databases and some Americans like me are getting worried. CNN and The Associated Press recently reported that the FBI will award $1 billion, 10 year contract for the creation of an electronic file that can store fingerprints, DNA and interestingly, physical characters. Physical characters including but not limited to eye scans, facial shape, scars, TATTOOS etc. He said, “Government will also have on file the shape of your iris, the scar from childhood appendectomy, and the butterfly tattoo on your inner thigh.” I agree that this is a movement for a surveillance society because of the massive storage of our personal information being held by the government.

Nowadays, there is a camera on almost every corner to monitor closely our actions. Eventually they will be able to track us anywhere we go, anytime of the day and our daily activities will be noted on file. Will we have the word privacy at all? The answer is “probably not”. With the advancement in technology, we won’t even know that everything we do is being recorded and that our privacy has been violated. How can we be definite that our information will not leak out to others? We are told VERBALLY or by writing that it is confidential and is used only to pull out the criminals in society but is it really and fully protected from the underlying scams/scandals of government? Sure, it’s an absolute comfort to everyone that we have the most updated technology to ferret out the criminals but for whatever else reasons behind it, it’s costing our right to be left alone. It will not be a long time that when it comes to government, nothing you do will be a secrete.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-pitts_17edi.ART.State.Edition1.458b79f.html

Economy Fitful

Today, I percieved an article, " Economy Fitful, Americans Start to Pay as They Go" in the New York Times newspaper. There is certainly no doubt that the United States is spurring into a recession. In the 1950s and 1960s credit cards were very popular. It acted as quick money that came in handy when ever they needed it. People went out to buy new furniture, appliances for their house, and began dinning out when they wanted to rather than yearning for their payday. By the 1980s, in addition to their income, millions of people started to invest thier money in the stock market hoping for the market to go sky high so they can take home a loaf sum of money. However, the free spending days from use of credit cards are slowly shifting off. With the number of jobs the United States lost, the housing prices depreciating and the excessive increase in debt, people are spending with limitations within their household income. Therefore, the will from Americans to save has sloped down slightly to the negative, suggesting that the Americans are spending more than their disposable income. 34 Million households took their homes over the last four years by refinancing and borrowing against their equity. Meaning that they were borrowing heavily against their assets to finance their day to day life. Currently, more Amerians are heading towards discounter stores like Walmart, T.J max, Target, etc. who are thriving in business and brand name stores are decreasing in consumer spending. Not many Americans have the choice to choose to save money or invest in the stock market. Credit cards no longer satisfy people's urges to get what they desire when they want, because what the American can not afford, they can not buy. Sadly, Americans are facing limitations within their economy.

I think this article is interesting because it gives you a comparison of the percentages on how many Americans took advantage of the " pay later" ideal in the 1900s and 20th century and how it is haunting them now. This article will help the American's decision to vote for the future President. It allows us to focus on his/her promises and proposals, and hopefully it will be carried out to get the United States out this recession.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/business/05spend.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin