Big Brother is Watching You

In our lifetimes we have seen the proliferation of surveillance cameras all over the place. People were worried about it at first, but they seem to have gotten used to it by now and just take it for granted. I remember a few years ago when a lady disappeared from an all night gas station where she worked alone. I don't think they ever did find out what happened to her. There were no cameras at this particular location and everybody was like, "Why not?" There was talk for awhile about passing a law requiring all businesses to have those cameras, but nothing ever came of it. Last I heard they were talking about installing facial recognition devices at airports to speed up the screening process, but I don't know if they ever actually did it. Sounds like the Chinese have gotten ahead of us on this one.

I don't know about Finland in particular, but most European countries have a different grade structure than we do. There is nothing like our high school or middle school. There are 10 elementary grades, and then the kids are given aptitude tests, the results of which direct them either to college or trade school. Speaking of middle school, I almost called it junior high because I remember when they changed it in Cheboygan. The old junior high building had gotten too small, and they were considering whether to add on to it or build a whole new middle school. The middle school option was projected to cost two million dollars more, so naturally, that's the option they chose. One day somebody in the bus garage was asking what the difference was between a junior high and a middle school. "About two million dollars", I replied laconically. Cheboygan used to have four elementary schools that fed into one middle school but, last I heard, they were down to one because enrollment had declined that much. I seem to remember that they had restructured the middle school grades as well, but I don't remember exactly what they did to them.

Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a gun ad on TV in my life. I don't know if that's a law or what.

Going to our grand daughter's place for Christmas dinner tomorrow if we don't get snowed out. They are predicting heavy lake effect in some locations. It's not supposed to be severe in Cheboygan, but my grand daughter lives in neighboring Emmet County where it might be.

"Merry Christmas to all and, to all, a good night."