Why would any sane person dedicate their life to 'public service'. In the majority of the 'civilized world', meaning that portion which operates under a more-or-less democratic system, Politicians work long hours for negligible direct reward. End result, they are looking to maximise their 'expenses' and 'allowances' and are highly partial to the odd junket or two to build up relationships with folks who will employ them in other capacities... What we should do is pay them a very good salary and ban them and their family from receiving any perks or benefits or taking on any outside roles. Build in a satisfaction vote at polling time, and if the incumbent has done a good job they can be voted a bonus at the end of their term. Of course that would mean that the vast army of lobbyists, analysts, opinion peddlers, marketeers and PR people across the country would be redundant, and the 'hospitality industry' would lose a big chunk of business, but hey we would actually be paying people to represent us instead of 'fact-finding' in Bora Bora! Until then, it's a human type compromise - we get by with good enough and the odd bad apple gets found out sooner or later...

Define Privacy for goodness sake! If you are worried about targetted advertising, stay off the damn net. If you care if someone knows your favorite color don't fill in questionairres. The amount of useful information someone - (conspiracy theorists enter your preferred bogeyman here) can deduce from online search queries and your browsing habits is about as significant as the initial letter of your mothers maiden name - jack sh*t - unless they already have a huge amount of collateral information. On the other hand if you are really paranoid you could spend all day building a false web identity... or you could get a life. If you are of interest to 'those people' they can find out what they want to know with minimal effort, so chill and accept the trade-off. Google finds you info and maybe sets you up for advertisers, spooks etc. Is it worth the price - You decide - just like a grown up, you pays your money and takes your chances.

In the good old days, I just used to change my car when the ashtray was full, but now nobody is smoking. Is the filling rate the same for cigarette butts versus gum wrappers and if not does anyone know the conversion factor? I mean I really don't want my warranty to expire...

No, it was originally about how some people "Can't see the Wood for the trees..."