Mannequins are Watching You

The Washington Post has an article (SF Chronicle has it without bs registration here) about retailers cracking down on excessive returns. Privacy groups are concerned about… privacy. Retailers say that the system is designed to stop crime. If this is true, then Washington Post registration is designed to save children. Retail monitoring comes down to control. They want to screw you but they don't want to get screwed back. The answers to this system are clear: Stop buying useless crap. Stop buying what you don't need. Stop feeding the Third World. And the clearest lesson from this article: Stop using credit cards. Take care of your stuff because The Man is tired of pretending to be nice to customers. For the truly anti-corporate citizen, here's two more tips: Put on a tinfoil hat and shed your container.