Cindy Lou, They Are Watching You

Trey Smith

The Department of Homeland Security is casting a very wide net these days. Recently, it was reported that the agency provides its analysts with a 39-page "Analyst's Desktop Binder" that, among other things, contains lists of both key and innocuous words to be used to keep an eye on all of us who utilize the internet. Use one of these words in the most innocent of ways and chances are that your communique will wind up in some national database!

To provide an example of what I'm talking about, I have created a message posted on the Facebook wall of 16 year old Cindy Lou H. The words in bold red are a few on the all-important security list.

Sorry I haven't joined in the conversation lately, but I'm just getting over an attack of the stomach flu. Let me tell you, it was one nasty infection. I felt like I had come down with the plague or something! LOL

Nana thought it might be nothing more than a case of food poisoning, but it's not like I ate an apple with a worm in it! Ooh, that's gross.

Well, you all know the drill when you catch a virus like this. You feel sick as a dog! You lay around dealing with wave upon wave of nausea and puking. It's like the germ has decided to target your gut and you can't wait until you get some relief! After a while, you feel like you're being held hostage by this little microbe thingy you can't even see.

Enough about that. Dad just left for the airport to pick up Uncle Steve. He's getting back from visiting my cousins (his kids) in Yuma and El Paso. Uncle Steve texted me last night and said he took a side trip to some town in Mexico and he's bringing me back a surprise. I wonder what it is.

Cindy and Guy are coming by later to take me out to celebrate my amazing "recovery" from the flu. I hope we go to Subway because I'm itching for that new pork sandwich they've been advertising lately. After that, I think we might drop by the gym and exercise.

That's all for now. I'll try to update later tonite.

Of course, now I have really gone and done it. By sharing this information with you and using so many of the watch words, the Department of Homeland Security will be watching me too! They probably were watching this blog anyway because another of the provisions in the aforementioned manual directs staff to monitor ANYONE on the internet who writes ANYTHING that could be construed as criticizing the government.

I think I fit that definition, don't you?