THOSE PRYING EYES

Poor Michael Phelps.

The Olympics superstar is lightning fast in the water, but he's shown himself a bit slow in grasping this dry-ground reality: in the early 21st century, there's no escaping the prying eyes of camera phones or videocams. They're everywhere.

A while back in the UK, the young Phelps got caught on someone's cellphone camera as he manfully handled a bong to help get the marijuana into his 6-foot-plus swimmer's frame. Now Kellogg has dropped him as a sponsor of their cereals, on account of his not being a proper role model for kids or an appropriate ambassador for what passes today as "wholesome grains." (Yeah, like THAT'S an agribusiness aim.)

So here's my question: how far will we go and how long will we all permit spying to rule our days? Raising a cellphone and clicking away in a crowd seems harmless enough at a concert or a celebration, but what of the "innocents" caught doing what seemed harmless enough but later turns out to be a crime, or at the very least, an embarrassment that requires beaucoups des explanation? Are we not obligated to give them a fair shake, some means of defending themselves against camera-slinging invaders?

To that, I say yes. We must devise ways to protect people from slingblade picture-taking. As a citizen of our increasingly small and dangerous planet, I want no part of using private cellphones or videocameras as extensions of law enforcement. For my part, I would even do away with traffic cameras, despite the rich income they bring for cash-strapped communities these days.

Granted, Michael and his bong-wielding buddies were flirting with getting caught by smoking marijuana at all, but let the police do the enforcement--not the teeny-bopper who may have been under-age and crashed the scene in the first place.

Come on, People. Spying with cellphones and videocameras is NOT fair game. There are no Olympic medals for it. Not yet, anyway.