Smile! You're on your landlord's secret camera!

I read an article today about a landlord hiding in an air vent, spying on tenants and capturing nudity and private acts on his camera.

No, I'm not making this up. The article is here: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/sleazy-aussie-landlord-caught-hiding-in-air-vent-to-spy-on-naked-tenants-ncxdc-112511

While I think we can all agree that this is a huge violation of privacy and the landlord needs to be prosecuted, there are several other things wrong with this picture (or pictures as the case may be in this particular situation).

Cameras are everywhere. They are mounted at traffic intersections just waiting to catch someone run a yellow light or not stop far enough back at a red light. You may not even know it, but chances are they are hidden throughout your place of employment. Gone are the days of covertly adjusting a piece of underclothing or sticking your finger in your mouth to get a piece of food that's lodged between your teeth. And don't even think no one's watching when you discreetly attempt to correct a wayward wedgie.

If the mounted rolling observation cameras don't get you, don't worry. Someone will come along with a smart phone ready to snap, snap, snap away at anything that looks even remotely interesting and post it on the Internet. An innocent late-night trip to Wal-Mart can land you a spot on "People of Wal-Mart" if you're not careful. Cameras are everywhere, and public humiliation is only a click away. No one is safe.

Given these circumstances, we may as well just throw in the towel on natural human tendencies that we consider to be taboo. Because someone is always watching.

In the case of the landlord hiding in the air vent, his "watching" was clearly wrong. But what about mounted cameras and people snapping pictures on smart phones and posting it to the Internet? Is this type of watching good, bad, or indifferent?

What do you think?

When Trying to be a Good Wife Goes Bad.

Attempt to be a good wife: I planted my own jalapenos this year so I could make my husband dishes featuring fresh cuts his favorite hot pepper. Not only would I be saving money, but everyone knows fresh veggies are better than the ones you buy at the store.

Where it started to go wrong: None of my peppers bloomed until September. In a haste to use as many as I could, I made large portions of chicken and beef dishes with lots of jalapenos in them.

Where it ended up going really wrong: My husband now has a stomach ulcer, and the doctor has advised him against spicy foods.

Luckily, he appreciates where I was going with the original thought. Next year I will need to plant only one jalapeno plant. :)