Apparently, the Russian mafia doesn't like spam anymore than the rest of the public does. In fact, one Russian mobster got so angry over his spam that he found a very simple way to make sure that his email never gets hit with Vagra spam again.
I can't say that I am too terribly surprised by this. It is appalling that school administrators are now starting to read the contents of the cell phones they seize, and put them into the student's permanent record, but it is not surprising. Public schools do stuff like this, and worse, routinely to their students. If you are shocked, then you haven't been paying attention. If you haven't been paying attention, aren't shocked, and are a parent with kids in public schools, then you are part of the problem.
Robotic spouses? I don't see it working. They were talking about this on the radio today, and saying that emotion would be the killer application for robotic spouses, aside from the working genitalia. The problem I see is this. Divorce attorneys could hire people to hack the robotic lovers of rich people, and make them seek a divorce. On top of that, they could do things like program them to record tons of embarrassing details, all of which they could rip out of the robot's memories, and post on YouTube.
The Army is facing more social breakdown now, and especially in the future. Having never been in the Army myself, I don't have firsthand experience with this, but my best friend is currently serving in Iraq, and having major spiritual issues with dealing with the vice present around him. I suspect that if what he has told me on numerous calls and emails is true, there is much to the accusation that the culture is once again breaking down.
Re: Army breakdown. I don't get your point. In the enlisted ranks at least, military service has always has a certain amount of morality baselining associated with it. Guys raised in small-town america, away from home for the first time mix with new friends from the big city. During times of hardship the lowering of morality is always greater. REM WW1: How can you keep them down on the farm after they have seen Paris? It is the same argument. I suspect it was even true for relatively victorian soldiers in the war of 1861.