Somewhere in my stash of percussion instruments and noisemakers is an old novelty item: a battery-operated phone bell.  The idea was to hide it in your jacket, so people would think you had a phone in your pocket.  The surprise and merriment that followed would make you less unpopular.

Today, of course, everyone has a cell phone tucked in a pocket.  Well, almost everyone.

Our new president yearns for the joys of cell phone and email, but must do without for security reasons.  The digital gizmos, though handy-dandy, hooray, cannot be made private.  Some of you may recall that those upper crust loveydoves, Charles and Camilla, discovered that their frank chats on the mobile could be enjoyed by tampon fanciers everywhere.  Obama has learned from their example, and knows that he’d better stick to the land line when calling the Windsors.  He does still have his Blackberry, at least for now.  His security team is a bit anxious about it.

You and I are not in positions of power, so it doesn’t matter if our conversations or communications are kept private.  Only mockable fuddy-duddies still use paper mail or land lines.  Right?

(Posted by Doug Skinner)