Driving on a solitary stretch of a California highway, a friend found himself keeping company with a formidable chain-link fence along the left side of the roadway. Heavily reinforced with razor-sharp barbed wire, it apparently surrounded a government installation. Many miles later he noticed an enormous white sign too far away to read. Curious, my friend pulled to the side of the road and tool out his binoculars.

“Private Property,” the sign read. “Use of binoculars strictly prohibited.”