Be careful what you say; even phones have ears.

I have always been opposed to cell phones, although not for privacy reasons. Like the internet, like genetic experimentation, like so many new technologies, we haven't spent any time thinking about what they do to us, rather than what they do for us. As Neil Postman wrote in the 80s, technology is not neutral but always has a particular bias. In the case of television, for instance, the bias is toward entertainment. It doesn't matter what content you're presenting, if you present it via television, it will inevitably be squeezed into the mold of entertainment. Incidentally, this is one of the reasons that televangelism is so bad. Televangelists are entertainers above all else--and they have to be. If they weren't primarily presenting religious entertainment, their shows would be canceled for being bad (and boring) television.

Likewise, I've always been hesitant about technological "improvements"--not because technology is bad, but because we humans are bad and bound to abuse it. Case in point, the US government has vastly expanded its spying on its own citizens. They embrace every new technology (video surveillance, internet hacking, social media tracking, cell phone tapping, etc.) without making real (or any, for that matter) provisions to protect us, the people, from government abuse. Every unchecked power will be abused, regardless of legality.

In addition to real and potential abuse of government power, we ought to be aware of how we are creating opportunities for people (and unscrupulous government agencies) to violate and erase our privacy.

For instance, you probably know that nearly anyone can hack our computers and watch and listen to us through built-in mics and webcams. But did you know that your cell phone is perhaps an even worse offender?

In fact, cell phones are so dangerous to privacy that according to above article,

Christians in Iran have learned that they must take the batteries entirely out of their cell phones before they gather for home church meetings.  If they don't take the batteries out of their cell phones, there is a good chance that the secret police will show up and drag them off to prison.

I doubt anyone will change their habits as these sorts of stories become more common, but I do hope that we will at least begin to ask ourselves is newer is always better.

VIDEO: News story on cell phone tapping.

News to Know: Obama Lawyer admits forgery, IRS tries to lock you up

• The IRS may soon be able to revoke your travel plans at will. A new bill will allow the IRS to keep you from leaving the country by merely alleging you owe unpaid taxes. Land of the free, huh? And home of the brazen abuse of power.
• Obama's Lawyer admits his birth certificate is forged.
• It's old news for most of us, but in case you didn't know, Obama is Marxist radical Saul Alinsky's best student.
• New $2B spy center in Utah -- do you believe they aren't spying on you? How can one believe an organization with no accountability to keep its word? If there's one thing politics ought to teach us is that the less transparent departments, politicians, panels, etc. are, the more likely it is that they're corrupted beyond imperial Rome.