A Warning to Us All

The photo shows the latest inhumane project: massive steel bars prohibiting houseless people from sleeping under bridges to get out of the rain. The money spent on top-of-the-line steel fencing could be used to build affordable housing, but that might be considered empathy, which Musk considers “the fundamental weakness of western civilization.”

Musk and Trump have dismantled federal cybersecurity agencies and the consumer protection bureau to fund more tax cuts for billionaires. So now we are all more vulnerable to hackers. 

This morning my email and credit card were hacked, and in minutes I had over a thousand emails, among which I found bills for $1566 and $1, both fraudulently charged to my credit card. I contacted the bank and the credit card people; I changed my passwords on everything I could remember; the activity died down. For the moment. 

I’ve set a calendar reminder to change my passwords every six months. I set up alerts on my bank account and credit card to let me know instantly by text when charges are made. 

In the global sense, we are all more insecure than we have been in my long lifetime. Climate catastrophe and war is more likely. Government services and the postal service are being gutted or dismantled. My pittance of an income, for which I paid a portion of my salary from the time I was sixteen years old, is now apt to be disrupted or cut to nothing. What cybersecurity we had has been dismantled. 

Do what you can to protect yourself. It will get worse before it gets better.