Hacking Around

Q: What do Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, Francois Hollande, president of France and Charles Reilly, Jr., your scribe, share in common?    

 A. We three have been subjected to invasions of privacy.  Our communications have been interrupted; we've been spied upon. “Hacking” is not good by anyone’s standards except for the Benedict Arnolds of our day who pose as heroes by opening up someone else's mail in the name of transparency.

Spying is not news of course. Our own National Security Agency (NSA) has been looking over the shoulders of friends and foe alike since forever. So have the intelligence agencies of virtually every other nation in this world.  The difference is that here in the good old USA we are better at it because we have the dollars and the technology to stay ahead of the pack. That is until we are betrayed by one of our own. Then the whole thing is a pretty sad mess. 

It's one thing to be linked with Angela and Francois when it comes to being in good company, quite another to be victimized by having your privacy violated and having to pay tech people to clear up the damage. Yes, losing my address book was bad, almost as bad as the insensitivity of my carrier, AOL.com. They offered no help at all unless I would sign up for a monthly fee looking forward.  As my IT put it to AOL “you are holding his personal address book hostage; you are blackmailing him.”  Words fell on ears that did not hear.

There is general sadness these days about the loss of “ethics”, “integrity” and others words that once epitomized quality of life. They are pretty much gone with the wind. This particular hacking of my computer was a deeper wound because it came as we were announcing to the world the birth of our first great grandson, Charles Henry Williamson. As a consequence an exceptionally large number of people were inconvenienced. Again, I apologize to each of you. 

As for AOL.com., well, you can pretty much read my mind.