Rebecca's belief that there is one or more database containing
information about her personal family and spending habits is quite
correct- and while the Infamil coupons MAY have been printing out on
everyone's receipt at her grocery store, there are definatly plans to
use the store loyalty cards to influence not only the spending habits of
shoppers, but even more insidious, to discourage the less affluent
customer from shopping in that establishment.  If you prove, based on
your demographic profile as defined by your purchases, to be a highly
desirable customer, you will get deep discounts on store purchases-
offered at the point of sale or in the mail to your home
("customer-specific pricing") and if you are a so-so customer, you will
get so-so discounts.  But if you seem to be, well.... poor?  You tend to
buy a lot of the sale items and not so many luxuries? No discounts for
you- you pay full price.  (To my mind this calls into question the old
adage- "Work hard and you can get ahead in America..". but I digress...)

Anyone who is interested can go to:  http://www.nocards.org/
and learn more about it.
There is technology in place to track your habits, not only store
purchases through the store's "loyalty" cards, but plans to imbed tiny
chips into products so they can be tracked after they leave the store.
In fact they have been attached to Gillette razors and quietly sold at
WalMart and other stores, along with other even more intrusive
activities, such as taking the picture of every person who picked up a
package of Gillette razor blades, again in in WalMart, and comparing
those images to those that went through the checkstand, to establish a
data base of potential theives.  (I even heard a discussion about the
fact that the "government" could ostensibly determine if one was
harboring an undeclared "boarder" based on the amount of toilet paper
you purchase- especially if a "spike" is observed.  I know- creepy.

This might not seem breastfeeding related- I don't know.  What WOULD
evil men do to make a buck off of babies?  Pretty much anything, as we
already know.  So the name of the game is keep your eyes and ears open
and stop saying "They wouldn't do THAT, would they?  .... they would.
Off my soapbox - excuse the rant?
Sue Jacoby, IBCLC
Clovis, CA

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