Column: Dick Trail: From personal privacy to world affairs (2/17/26)
Column: Dick Trail: From personal privacy to world affairs (2/17/26)
http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/3066321.html
Publish Date: 2026-02-17 13:11:00
Source Domain: www.mccookgazette.com
It seems that we have no choice but to watch the investigative trauma of the search for the abducted Nancy Guthriemother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie. The Tucson, Arizona, Sheriffs Department and our Federal FBI seem to be turning over every approach possible to finding who did it and to determine if 84-year-old Nancy is still alive. Sure, it tugs at our heartstrings to see her famous family members suffer at the loss of a loved one, but there are numerous others, some known to us but mostly unknown, going through similar hard times. We pray to the Lord to deliver us from evil, with us meaning others as well as ourselves.
It has been eye-opening for this old guy to note that the signals put out by my heart pacer can be tracked by others. Sure, I have a monitor placed on the headboard of my bed and understood that it was to monitor my heart pacer by someone, far away, to see if things are in order, but I had no clue that it might be monitored by others, such as law enforcement, as I move about day by day. Yes, I realize that my cell phone contacts and messages are available to anyone who might be interested, including my wife, so I conduct those with nothing to hide. Having my heart monitor included in that as public information was a surprise, but that is life in our current interconnected world.
Im reminded of an office supervisor job that the Air Force assigned to me years ago. I had about six long-time civilian government employees working in my office, keeping information in aircraft flight manuals up to date to keep pilots understanding the complicated aircraft that they were flying. It wasnt long before I discovered that certain of my assigned employees were also using our government-paid-for phone lines to conduct illicit romances in their spare time. (Cell phones werent invented yet!) One of my men also had a business on the side, dealing with real estate, renting to others and keeping up with the maintenance of his rental…
