Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Bank woes and 'christian' hackers

This is going to be a complaint post. First, my bank apparently found out last summer that a some of the customers's bank card numbers were stolen along with thousands across the country. They said they notified us about this last June. I don't recall getting a letter telling me about this. If I had, I would have immediately cancelled that card and gotten another one. Apparently, our numbers were only stolen, not used. So, a week or so ago, I did get a letter telling me that some of the cards had been showing some activity and so the bank were going to cancel the cards, effective this last Monday. They were going to send new cards which we would have to call in to activate and then go to the bank to get new pin numbers. Sure enough, this last Monday, my card was no longer valid. However, I have not received my new card yet. Nor has at least one of my friends who also uses this bank. I called the bank just a few minutes ago and was told that the cards were mailed out last Friday and everyone should have theirs by this Friday. Ok, I can live with that. But, here is the problem. Since, for whatever reason, I did not know that my card number had been stolen, I did not check my accounts that closely. I know, I should do that weekly anyway, but, I trusted the bank and did not see any large amounts going to places that I did not authorize. And, since Katrina, a lot of my important papers were lost. I do not have a year's worth of bank statements to check. Now, I can go to the bank and get them for $2.00 a page, which will be around $100 or so. Because, you see, their online banking page only goes back 3 months. Big help there. So, I suppose I will be ordering those copies just to be sure.

Now for the other complaint. There is a woman who I met on Paltalk who has a blog that I read daily. This woman had the 'audacity' to question a well-known online minister's view on something. I actually heard a man say that this was the reason that women should not preach. This woman are not preaching, nor do they want to. This woman had legitimate questions about something this well-known apologist said and has/had on his website. All this happened weeks ago, the two have talked and still disagree. That should have been the end of it. However, there is a troll who has made it his life's mission to harrass this woman every chance he gets. On Paltalk and on her blog via her comments section. She deletes his comments and blocks his IP to prevent him from commenting again, and he somehow gets around the block. This person, who loudly proclaims his 'christianity' has no qualms about also being a hacker. He has bragged about it to several people. He has hacking programs that allow him to go invisibly into a chatroom, where he sits and records what is said. He then edits the recordings and plays them in other rooms.

So, my question is, would a Christian do this? And, why is he doing this? Is he jealous of the people he is recording? What should be done with someone who does this? Banning? He can get around a ban. I think I know, from listening to him for several hours over a couple of years, why he is doing this. And, to be honest, he is not the only one causing problems. The people who allow him to post things in there rooms should be ashamed of themselves. For example, he admins in several rooms. Before he signs onto Paltalk and goes into a chatroom, the conversations are good and disagreements are handled in an adult manner. But, as soon as this person comes into the chatroom, he will put something in the banner that is meant to cause strife and division. And, if noone reacts or comments on whatever is there, he will come to the mic and say...'what do you think of what's in the banner?' or something like that. He will do this several times, until an argument is started, people get their feelings hurt, or some of the people leave and go into another chatroom. Before this man came on the scene, these people, as diverse as they are and with differences in some points of doctrine, were able to discuss things rationally. Since he has been here, the group has split and some have even left Paltalk with no intention of returning. Since he has come on the scene, some people cannot discuss any differences, without insulting. People who have had issues with someone else, who before this troll, were able to lay those issues aside. Now, some use what this person does. They listen to and replay his recordings over and over. They laugh and ridicule others. They allow this troll to insult others in their chatrooms. This troll will go into a room, invisibly of course, with people who he does not like with the sole purpose of recording something he can later use.

How Christian is that? Would a Christian be a hacker? Would a Christian continually cause division and strife among brothers? And, more importantly, would a Christian allow this? Why do others who claim to be saints, allow this? Why has none of the many other Christians who know this troll and know what he is doing, not sat him down to tell him that he is wrong in what he is doing?

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