Mood is no longer suicidal depression but is definitely more detached and less interested in things, vaguely floaty and unreal but that’s an improvement. Especially in dealing with crap at work – less stressy, as long as I don’t get the boot for slacking 
Out for drinks last weekend with my significant other – first time in months (shocking I know) – and somehow managed to spill all the stuff that’s been going on in therapy, which made her worry more, which is why i don’t talk abut that stuff. Anyhow, managed to convince her that I’m sorted for the mo – it’s a life skill in itself. So hopefully that’s under control for the time being.
And of course as we’re all probably aware by now the government will be keeping track of us more from midnight last night. But hey, it’s ok – not the content, just where you’re logging on from, which sites you’re visiting, who you’re emailing/texting/phoning. Is it any wonder paranoia reigns supreme in this country? Fortunately, the only people who will be able to access this info are those who need to. Reassuring, as those who need to cover everyone from MI5 to the Post Office, BT to the local councillor. So we can sleep easy, knowing that the post office isn’t going to lose anything, politicians are all scrupulous and the government has guaranteed all info will be securely stored. Phew!
It’s a fine line between hoarding info to help with criminal investigations/national security and invasion of privacy/destruction of civil liberties. But we don’t need to worry about that – we live in a free society where if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear. Allegedly. I wonder if that was Stalin’s line? Not that I’m comparing Mr Brown to Stalin, fortunately we’re a long way from anything that bad in the main. However the digital realm is where many of us now spend quite a bit of out lives, and unfortunately it’s much easier to abuse power here than on the streets. Much easier to hide these breaches of privacy and much easier to affect people’s lives in subtle ways. It’s obvious from news recently – blacklists available to employers of potential employees who have caused trouble previously (ie stood up for themselves against bosses who thought it was ok to trample over their rights as employees), loss of data by various government departments, etc etc. The fact that every IP address you visit is logged, that every IP address you use is too is concerning – not least because this isn’t faceless, numeric data. People are linked to this data, and the number of people freely allowed to access this data means there WILL be instances of info being accessed illegally, sold and passed around for gain. it’s only a matter of time.
On another note, you have to read this – it’s the antithesis of my rambling ran
Filed under: depression, life, mental state, relationships, work , Bruce Sterling, depression, government spying, life, paranoia
