just joking, Amazon

You have to be careful what you search for on Amazon: they really think you must like it. Every time I go now, the site is recommending The Princess and the Wolf and similar books. And my new supposed taste for shlock romance novels is probably being counted in my database in the NSA panopticon machine.

Some years ago I remember reading about a couple of 11-year-old kids who made up a fake brother for the Baskin Robbins birthday club. I was in this club once too: you get a coupon in the mail for a free ice cream cone shortly before your birthday. Maybe it’s been abolished by now.

7 years later, the “brother” received a letter saying he hadn’t yet registered for the military draft! (The USA abolished the military draft in ’73, but Carter restored the requirement that all 18-year-old males register for a possible draft in times of emergency). In response to questions from reporters, the Pentagon admitted that it had once purchased Baskin Robbins birthday club lists to search for possible scofflaws. Not that the Pentagon is likely to buy Amazon preference lists, but you never know.