Good idea!

Mr. Obama grows increasingly frustrated with the spill in the Gulf. According to news he has told aides to "Plug the damn hole." This is pure genius, and BP taking his lead on this with their "top kill" maneuver, a fancy name for a big mud pie in the tube. And I am moved to wonder if it might be the very watchword of the Obama presidency--

 

For instance, when unemployment is at a recent high and many seasonal jobs are going to Mexican workers who arrived on this side of the border by alternate means, "Plug the damn hole" in the border security. Right?

 

And, when the national debt has topped all previous records and spending continues to hemorrhage out of the US Treasury, "Plug the damn hole" in the national coffers.

 

Ok, and, since every time our President stands up in front of the cameras and opens his mouth, Wall Street tanks and China buys more of the American dream, so the next time you see him walk into a room with a speech in his hand, wad it up, and "Plug the ..."

Paradise for Crooks

It is now easier than ever to make a decent living as a crook thanks to the Internet, social networking websites with loose data policies, and information aggregating sites like spokeo.com.

I looked up my profile at spokeo and, in spite of my own paranoid stance on posted personal information, I found my city and street, my phone number, my marital status. Spokeo pulls information from many public sources including property records and buying patterns.

Here's where it gets wierd. I sometimes buy baby powder to douse my stinky sneakers. Spokeo gave me children. I buy chlorinators to manage my swamp cooler. Spokeo got me a swimming pool. All this is only in the electronic record, there are no kids or pool. Maybe if I order a replacement tri-star hood ornament, Spokeo will get me that Mercedes...Or, if I subscribe to Shooting magazine, Spokeo might give me a Glock!

In fact, if I were to tweak out my facebook profile just a bit, I might meet some fascinating people: street corner entrepreneurs, bank executives, Federal agents, foreign agents!

And here is the point. If I am dumb enough to list my street address and post that I am going to Hawaii for two weeks, I deserve to come back to an empty house. DUH!!

But the other side of it is scariest, and we have no control of it. Crooks and worse can build up whole false identities with the aid of the Internet. We know about predators already masquerading as teenagers. But info-bots like spokeo and others actively and aggressively build these identities for them. A couple more iterations and we will not be able to tell who is legit unless we gave birth to them.

Oh, and if you buy baby wipes, maybe not even then.