In times when people discuss the meaning and the qualities of gin and tonic on 60pages, and when Europe is outraged about the US surveillance on phone and internet communications (at least they are in France, since yesterday), my post is about some kind of combination of both … not exactly about drinks and surveillance but about food and surveillance.
I read this story in an artist book by John Knight, called “COLD CUTS”:
“The FBI sifted through customer data collected by San Francisco-area grocery stores in 2005 and 2006, hoping that sales records of Middle Eastern food would lead to Iranian secret agents. The idea was that a spike in, say, falafel sales, combined with other data would lead to Iranian agents in the region. The data mining operation was eventually stopped after FBI officials determined it was possibly illegal to place someone on a terrorist list because of what they ate.
– Congressional Quarterly, 2007”
It’s quite possible, that sometimes, Iranian caviar from the caspian sea, probably the best available, is served together with a glass of gin and tonic, probably one of the best drinks, according to 60pages … And maybe somebody is watching.