Here’s a radical idea- How about you all stop doing shitty things in the name of your faith and/or God, stop trying to force people to live in accordance to your God’s ideas and your faith, and then we won’t have to have acrimonious debates about which brand of kool-aid is currently the worst.
Bonus idea- Stop having secular leaders speak at fucking prayer breakfasts.
You are welcome.
henqiguai
So, I guess the President said something not in accordance with
teahadist dogma at the (idiotic) Annual Prayer Breakfast?
Mystical Chick
Yep Yep – I am so f’ing over this crap. And so in favor of separation of church and state. Jeebus.
(Waves to John!)
Big ole hound
The more that the “evangelical” factor gets into our politics the more screwed up it gets, most recently this great need for Israel to survive in order for the fabulous “end times” to occur. Lets speed up this process and get rid of all of these fools by shame or some shit.
D58826
I’m not a bible thumping god botherer but this always seemed like a good way to live ones life:◄ Micah 6:8 ►
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
A bit more of the ‘humbly’ part might be in order from the christian rightwing
Howard Beale IV
I think it was in 2013 Tony Perkins was trying to get a US WI judge impeached for saying the Prayer Breakfast was unconsitutional.
@henqiguai: Obama made mention of the Crusades during the Prayer Breakfast, which caused all of the Talebangicals to find the nearest fainting couch and start rendering their garments.
MikeInSewickley
Amen. Pardon the Pun.
Also – the movie “Escape From LA” was a really bad movie. But it is relevant to this thread. If you recall, it had a fire and brimstone born again as President played by Cliff Robertson who did all kinds of horrible things like… deport foreigners and people with no jobs, executed folks like there was no tomorrow, ban swearing and smoking, start a war with Cuba…
Sound familiar with this American Taliban bunch?
Baud
This. Shitty things should be done for their own sake. Leave God out if it.
Iowa Old Lady
@Howard Beale IV: Remember when W said the Iraq War was a crusade? What an idiot that man was.
Big ole hound
The House of Reps is now a three party parliament. Boehner has to keep lining up with the far right religious wing of his party in order to get anything on the agenda so the minority Dems, and Obama are winning the war. Chess versus checkers. Divide and conquer.
Bobby Thomson
@Howard Beale IV: only a muslin atheist would think the Crusades were bad.
Botsplainer
OT – this TurboTax fraud thing is really bad. I spent 4 hours on the phone to the IRS yesterday (3.5 of them on hold on the practitioner priority line) about my youngest daughter’s return being filed by somebody who isn’t her. Thankfully, I’m admitted to tax court, have a CAF number and was able to spoof my way in by pretending I was working a corporate issue on an issued letter – that rep got me around a system block and into a longer queue. Guy told me that these identity theft cases are all they’re working at the moment, and it is an overwhelming number.
Nearest I can guess, some asshole in a nice suit in Intuit’s TurboTax division came up with a plot to make even more money off the poors by putting their refunds on prepaid debit and Amazon cards with inadequate ID controls. In that moment, they created a laundry for monies to be scammed off of all the stolen identities over the past few years.
This will have massive implications for Q1, as lower income taxpayers rely on their refunds for bigger purchases and important services.
JPL
I find it unfortunate that the President didn’t mention how many speeches that Hitler gave in the name of the Lord.
The Republican candidates for President should read a few of the speeches that mass murderer gave, before hitting the campaign trail.
henqiguai
@D58826(#4):
[Bad attitude alert] “Humble” is for rabbits; and other prey. But maybe that’s just me…
thundermonkey
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”
-Steven Weinberg
JPL
@Botsplainer: Was it last years return information that was hacked. I have to admit that I haven’t read about that potential hack but have used turbo tax in the past.
also, I don’t file online. I still mail in my returns
Amir Khalid
À propos of something previously discussed: A week before the premiere of Fifty Shades Of Grey, director Sam Taylor-Johnson has announced that movies of the remaining two books in the series have been green-lighted. That should make a nice Blu-ray boxed set for the discerning fan or film erotica.
WereBear
Jiminy Christmas. That will set them back a few years.
Though I’m sorry for the hell everyone is going through, I hope that asshole in a nice suit is sweating bullets right now.
Iowa Old Lady
@Botsplainer: I haven’t seen much news about the TurboTax fraud. I just googled it and found stories saying some its use was temporarily halted in some states because of an uptick in suspicious filings. Then it apparently resumed. If this is very widespread, people will panic and TurboTax will really take a hit.
Baud
@Botsplainer:
Thank God the GOP cut their budget.
Baud
@Amir Khalid:
Maybe a nice Eid gift for some Malaysian we all know and love?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I would tremble for my country if I believed in a just god.
Botsplainer
@JPL:
According to the rep, they didn’t need much – if they had name, date of birth, SSN and a home address that matched the previous return, they were good to go. When I did mine, TurboTax got my PIN (income lines for me and my wife from the previous return) and filled it in.
Starfish
Jesus pancakes are better because they have risen.
Botsplainer
@Iowa Old Lady:
TurboTax mistakenly thinks that the problem is one of data security. It isn’t that.
The problem is the refund debit and Amazon reward cards. This is going to continue because they’re operating the laundry.
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
Yes, do send one to the prime minister, Najib Tun Razak. I’d like to see him explaining how a copy happened to arrive in his mail.
JPL
@Botsplainer: Since I don’t file online, just use turbo tax for calculations and stuff, I should be okay… at least, I’m hoping. I already have to deal with the anthem problem. thanks
Starfish
@Botsplainer: Isn’t this a way for people who do not have bank accounts to actually get their refunds faster? Do people have an easier time getting government checks cashed?
Infamous Heel-Filcher
This.
It was really amusing the other day when I was on the phone with USAA talking about their home loan options, and the rep kept giving generally applicable answers “but make sure you check with your tax professional”. I finally had to say “look, man, my tax professional is the 1040EZ instruction booklet”.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I was surprised to hear Lawrence O’Donnell get wound up about Obama’s speech, he was getting pretty close to calling for a clash of civilizations, then I remembered that every Ash Wednesday he goes on his show with a forehead smudge much bigger and darker than those I remember– Melinda Henninberger (sp?) the odious “women’s issues” columnists for WaPo, did the same thing during the great Obamacare birth control debate. I wonder if they go to the same church. My recollection is that the smudge faded as the day went on.
Every once in a while, O’Donnell reminds us that he’s basically Tweety with complete sentences and less spittle, and more smug.
Botsplainer
A second problem may exist with mailed tax reporting documents with full SSNs splattered all over. My daughter’s W2 sheets haven’t arrived here, nor did they come to her apartment. I suspect they’ve been misdirected, either by physical mail theft or by an absurdly easy forwarding order.
Benw
@Baud: but, but, then it’s harder to tell yourself you are a good person when you do shitty things!
Peale
@Botsplainer: it sounds bad. I don’t think it will matter if you used TT before, either. It sounds like they are just filing fraudulent tax returns using TT. Lots of tears I assume with people finding out that they will have to prove that they didn’t file.
lamh36
@Amir Khalid: rumor on entertainment blogs is that this movie is already getting flop reviews. Add to the fact that the stars reportedly couldn’t stand each other on set and even on this press junket are cringe worthy in their lack of chemistry. The director and the author were openly fuming on set. Also too, the books themselves are really bad, IMHO.
I guess they are assuming that the books fan will flock to film and they probably will, but if the chemistry really ain’t there then sequels may go str8 to video.
I know I’ll be seeing Colin Firth in Kingsman instead
NotMax
Commie.
;)
Botsplainer
@JPL:
If you’ve been ripped off already, it won’t matter – they’ll just reject your paper return until you prove you’re you, and I’m anticipating at least a 180 day hold on any refunds due those filers.
In other words, this can affect even lifelong paper filers.
patrick II
Two points.
1.
I think it is presumptuous of Erick Erickson, or anyone else to think that Christ’s truth, or God’s truth can be fully comprehended by Erick and therefore we get Erick confusing Erick’s truth with the Almighty’s truth. Two different things — which Erick and his fellow traveler’s can’t fathom.
Second.
Although most of the right wing complaints are about the Obama’s Crusades remarks, I think they are hiding what really sticks in their craw but don’t want to say. Some versions of Christianity, especially Southern Baptist, were used to justify slavery — and it sticks in their craw because they still use it that way — but don’t want it said out loud.
Benw
@Starfish: oh man that’s good. They tend to get pretty stale if you leave them out for 3 days, though.
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: and more smug
Lots more. Boatloads more. I find him absolutely insufferable.
Donald
The only thing wrong with what Obama said is that he didn’t go far enough. You don’t have to go back to the Middle Ages or even the Jim Crow era to find Christians behaving badly in the name of Jesus. The Christian Right supported Latin American death squads and equally vicious groups like Renamo and UNITA in Africa back in the 80’s. This is morally the same as supporting ISIS. And at present, a recent poll found that a majority of churchgoers supported the CIA’s torture program. I’m a Christian myself, so all this depresses me.
Peale
@JPL: no. It’s not like they are filing accurate returns for you. Having enough of your identity to create a return is enough. So if your ssn, birthday are available to them, they are close to being you and you may find that yu have become an online filer.
Amir Khalid
@lamh36:
It looks like the Malaysian Board of Film Censors did the nation’s moviegoers a real favour by banning the movie. And I say that as someone who usually wishes they didn’t exist.
Peale
Ok. I think this is a bunch of crap, but Jesus, Obama, next time us your prayer breakfast speech to talk about the danger or porn for children or some other moral issue people like to get worked up about. I’m going “own goal” with this one.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Meh. I suspect 90% of the country has no idea what we or Bobby Jindal are talking about.
Botsplainer
@Starfish:
Absolutely. And with adequate controls like requiring that there be a physical (not POB) address, proof of residence via utility bill copies, a scanned photo ID or some other proof, it would have worked well to weed out the frauds.
That wasn’t what happened. They just turned loose a bunch of wild bitcoins, basically.
MattF
@Botsplainer: Hard to exaggerate how much this sucks. I’ve been e-filing federal and state taxes for many years, and I’m… reluctant… to go back to the days of ‘return receipt requested’ postcards. Bah.
ETA: At least I can still use TT to do the returns.
WereBear
Just last night I realized here I’ve been thinking the clash between religion and science got settled during the Enlightenment.
But it was only the first inning.
The Dangerman
I agree. In a perfect world, there would be far less political discussion of religion and public discussion of “adult issues” (starting with V1agra ads on TV).
Also, I’d crap unicorns.
TR
New book coming out with a history of the origins of these prayer breakfasts and politicians attending them, plus more in the same vein:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kevin-k-kruse/one-nation-under-god-corporate/
MattF
On topic, I’ve gotten really tired of winger tantrums. I suspect I’m not the only one, but with the media uninterested in reality, how would we know?
Booger
@Howard Beale IV: Rending. Rending is to tear; rendering is to cook down to obtain grease.
patrick II
@Peale:
I couldn’t disagree more. Obama should not keep editing himself from saying important and relevant things because of the outrage of the right. What he said is necessary for many people to hear because religious righteousness continues to be a serious problem, not just for this country, but everywhere.
The Dalai Lama
Pope Francis: (stolen from James Fallows):
If the great religious leaders of the world can make the same point, I have no trouble with Obama agreeing. The yelping you hear is from the self righteous who most need to hear but are least likely to listen.
SiubhanDuinne
@Booger:
While the organ pealed potatoes,
Lard was rendered by the choir;
While the sexton rang the dishrag,
Someone set the church on fire.
“Holy smoke!” the preacher shouted
As his wig flew in the air;
Now his head resembles Heaven
‘Cause there is no parting there.
Baud
@Amir Khalid:
If I know anything about world leaders, this is probably more accurate.
MattF
@patrick II: Well, yes. I’d add a footnote to any quoted use of the word ‘compassion’ by a right-winger: ‘This word means more than merely feeling sorry for anyone who the speaker believes is destined to burn in Hell for eternity’.
Schlemazel
The is unpossible! Not having secular leaders providing lip service to your religion of choice is the worst insult possible! It would be the first step towards Sharia Law (DUN-DUN-DUNnnnnn) and a sign that your religion of choice is persecuted! PROSECUTED I TELLS YA!
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Botsplainer: I’ve been hearing about fraudulent returns for several years now. It’s one reason I really push to get my return in as early as humanly possible.
I haven’t trusted Intuit since the C-Dilla flap. Combine yet another very bad idea from them in with the Anthem hack, and a whole lot of people are probably going to be very surprised when they get around to doing their taxes.
A Ghost To Most
Thanks John, for saying what I have been shut down here for saying.
Botsplainer
@MattF:
Do them as quickly as possible. There’s a shitload of SSNs, DOBs and residential addresses floating around in Assange and Anonymous’ “information must be free” space, and TT doesn’t recognize the problem with easy and security free issue of the prepaid debit cards. They still are working to clear the notion that they’ve been hacked. They just may not have gotten around to you yet.
As far as I’m concerned, their problem is much, much worse, and one of gross malfeasance toward people who aren’t its customers.
Mike in NC
A wise man once observed that religion is the opiate of the masses. Now so more than ever.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@JPL: Check with the IRS now. The problem isn’t that TurboTax let the data out. but that they’ve made it obscenely easy to get the money without proving you’re the actual taxpayer. These thieves have been doing this on a smaller scale for years. The Anthem hack gave them a whole new set of data to use. The hackers accessed customer names, email addresses, Social Security numbers, income and other employment information, street addresses and birthdates. That’s all they need.
jake the antisoshul soshulist
@lamh36:
I actually read about 3 pages before I quit. The prose reminded me of what you got in 1930s pulp magazines. Plus by that point I loathed Christian Grey so much that I found the idea of reading about him having sex with anyone revolting. I am not interested in BDSM at all, so that did not intrigue me either. Now, it might be a little bit interesting if Christian Grey were the submissive and Ana were a closet dominatrix.
I you look at online booksellers, the “women’s erotica” selections do have a disturbing amount of BDSM, particularly “paranormal romance”. Are fantasies of being dominated really that common among women?
Morzer
@Starfish:
Three days is a hell of a long time to wait for pancakes though.
Morzer
@Mike in NC:
These days religion is the mope-iate of the asses – the whole sad, sordid crew love nothing more than to publicly pity themselves if anyone dares to point out that they and their religions have lousy track records and have done an immense amount of harm to people who might have otherwise lived out their lives peacefully and happily.
MattF
@Botsplainer: I’m still waiting for a form from a broker. Fortunately the IRS now requires broker forms to include current basis values for securities, so, for me, filing just comes down to copying numbers off the forms I get.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Botsplainer:
I would anticipate a hold on refunds going through TurboTax’s card refund system.
My Federal return is already deposited, I suspect because I have used the same bank account ever since eFiling began. Easy confirmation, in my case.
Schlemazel
@Botsplainer:
I got hit by Turbo Tax last year. When I went to e-file I was told I had already filed. I talked to the IRS then & was told a) I had to file by mail, b) the IRS was eating the loss from the fraudulent refund and c) it was Turbo that made it possible. They sent me a PIN number by paper for this year
What gets me is they have had at least a year to make changes that would reduce or prevent the abuse and done nothing at all then wait till the middle of the filing season to shut it down.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I didn’t know about the TT thing. Fortunately, my wife and I got our return back this week and are off to a fancy dinner tonight to celebrate.
elmo
So glad my refund is already in the bank! First full year with a mortgage, and I didn’t adjust my withholding. Big money for me, and what a heartache if some hacker had stolen it.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@jake the antisoshul soshulist: I’m going to repeat my recommendation from last night:
Talking Sense About ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, or, Fanfiction, Feminism, and BDSM
gogol's wife
@thundermonkey:
What b.s.
WereBear
Spoken like a man. Men are expected to be sexual beings, while women are supposed to be the ones who contain and channel it, all while being told “good girls don’t” and often, “good girls don’t want to.”
Progress is being made, but in the meantime, there’s a heckuva market among the unhappy. And if a vampire slinks through your window and gives you a massive orgasm… it’s not your fault.
Morzer
@WereBear:
Isn’t there a difference between asking whether women want to be sexual and whether they want to be sexually dominated? You seem to be responding to the first question, but jake actually asked the second.
WereBear
@Morzer: By being sexually dominated, the women don’t have to worry about guilt.
catclub
@Botsplainer: Of course, wouldn’t it help the fraud victims if they had only a very small or zero refund coming? proper withholding is very difficult, I know.
Also, forced savings is usually helpful, but in this case someone is stealing that forced savings, so maybe not as good a plan as thought.
ruemara
Hmm. Filed via TT and my return plus Amazon card are nearly here. Sorry there’s been such problems but unfortunately, this the brave New paperless society.
BubbaDave
@thundermonkey:
Or patriotism.
Or ideology.
Basically, anything that makes people believe in something more important than themselves will also make them believe in something more important than other people. In the words of Dorothy Sayers, “…the first thing a principle does — if it really is a principle — is to kill somebody.”
Christianity has Martin Luther King, and Torquemada. Islam produced both el-Kader and bin Laden. The Progressives supported both universal sufferage and eugenics. Basically, there is no idea so noble that humans can’t screw it up.
Glidwrith
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: How can you check if someone already filed in your stead? I just hit the IRS web-site and besides personal info, you also need the exact amount of refund.
Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)
@jake the antisoshul soshulist:
@Morzer:
As WereBear said, it’s the modern version of the good old-fashioned “rape” fantasy. Society no longer requires that women be beaten to a pulp before they can lay back and enjoy it (some of that 1970s and 1980s “women’s erotica” is CREEPY AS HELL now) so now the domination part is more prominent without physical harm being emphasized. Progress!
Ruckus
@Botsplainer:
Always knew that trusting some software company with my info would bite me in the ass. So, I’ve always either had a CPA friend do my taxes(when they were complicated) or done them myself from the instruction sheets and only filed on paper.
Schlemazel
@Morzer: @WereBear:
Yes, I think there was a misunderstanding about the reply. werebear was saying what they said in the second post in the first post but just not as simply as in their second.
Were also appears to be correct that the current thinking is domination takes away the sin of sex for some (maybe many?) women. I think rape fantasies are an extreme of this thinking; nobody would willingly be violently violated but being able to say “There was nothing I could do” would explain it. I wonder if in societies where female sexuality is expected and accepted domination is as big a fetish
Yatsuno
@elmo: Half the time they don’t want your refund. What the identity thieves do want is enough information to create a bogus return under your SSN, file, get the refund, and leave you holding the bag when the refund proves to be erroneous. That’s a lot of how it used to be.
And (rant time!) yes ID theft is eating up A LOT of our time. I had 5 cases alone yesterday. And resolving an ID theft case takes a MINIMUM of 180 days. The Turbo Tax and Anthem hacks are just going to exacerbate this issue. And oh yeah, there was no temporary hiring this year. So good luck getting through at the phone number or visiting your local office. And yes the Republicans will treat this as us being incompetent and cut our budget even further. There is a very real possibility I might lose my job over this if the budget situation gets any worse, because I’m one of the last hired. So yeah. This tax season is going to suck the whole way round.
Villago Delenda Est
@D58826: The “Christian” rightwing consists of Mammon worshiping scum who should gathered on the floor of some large stadium, the exits barred, and then you unleash mechanical velociraptors to deal with them.
catclub
@Ruckus: I file on paper. I am peeved that I would have to pay to file electronically.
All that is needed is to know what values are in each line of the fillable pdf, and a way to make it secure. I should be able to use my CAC card! (CAC card is computer id for federal employees.)
Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)
@WereBear:
It’s kind of funny on a thread that’s nominally about religion that some guys are surprised that some women were raised in repressive (usually) religious traditions and their sexuality sometimes reflects that repressive (aka dominating) upbringing.
BubbaDave
@Villago Delenda Est:
REAL progressives would know that we should release free-range organic velociraptors. Go back to Twitchy, you Koch-head!
Zinsky
I think the pseudo-Christians in the GOP need to be reminded of which “Judeo-Christian nation” incinerated 100,000+ innocent people at Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the thousands of innocents immolated by napalm in Viet Nam or the thousands of indigenous people slaughtered in cold blood as we stole the land they had lived on for hundreds of years as we stole North America. Of course all that slaughter of innocents was “different”, because we are so holy or pure of heart or Jesus and the Holy Spirit or something…Amen.
Villago Delenda Est
@BubbaDave: Look, I don’t want the ASPCA on my ass for cruelty to velociraptors, which might ingest some fundie and have to deal with the prions.
Denali
@BubbaDave,
Unfortunately, there is a lot of truth to what you wrote. People can be immensely good and terribly evil – both in the name of a principle or sometimes just because. Sigh.
Howard Beale IV
@Booger: So i mistyped. I’d rather see Rupert Murdoch die of a hospital-acquired infection and his empire spectacularly crumble from its own hubris.
WereBear
@Mnemosyne (iPad Mini): Yup, but men get sold an entirely different script. One which is, in its own way, also horrible.
Keith G
What a silly and reactionary rant. As long as there are opinion leaders holding prayer meetings, I think it’s a good idea for secular leaders to go there and tell them a secular point of view.
What Obama did was wonderful. The reaction to him is expected. It’s called give and take. I’ve noticed online that there have been some people defending Obama as if he were a child needing their protection. He knew what he was doing. It was a well thought out statement and he knew what was going to happen in responce. This was a purposeful lecture by a community elder. This is how societies function.
Villago Delenda Est
@Keith G: Yeah, but Obama didn’t really present a a secular point of view. He presented an informed, intelligent Christian point of view that has been echoed by known Muslims such as the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis. The usual TRUE reactionary twits are jumping up and down like Homer Simpson late for a Chili cookoff.
WereBear
@Villago Delenda Est: I hesitate to call what President Obama is doing “trolling” because that describes assholes poking people with sticks because it’s the only way they get noticed.
But I wonder if he’s been waiting for this time; he’s not worried about being re-elected or the upcoming mid-terms at this point. He can just speak and act like a rational human being… and watch the wingnuts freak out.
I am enjoying it immensely!
grondo
Well, what’s the point of possessing the One and Only, Absolute Truth if you can’t beat other people over the head with it?
trollhattan
@WereBear:
Trolling would have involved bringing his prayer rug.
Svensker
@BubbaDave:
What you said.
WereBear
@trollhattan: Har! Most excellent!
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Glidwrith: Sorry, wasn’t thinking about the long wait times on the phone right now. So I’ll revise that to:
If you know you’re affected by the Anthem hack, get your return in now. Do whatever it takes to get any remaining 1099s (W-2s should be in your hands by now), get the forms done, and find a local CPA you trust to eFile it for you so you can get a fast acceptance. Ask the CPA about filing with what you have and amending when the rest arrives, just to make sure you’re in the process.
It’s not as urgent for the rest of us, but I would still advise filing ASAP just in case.
Crza
@Yatsuno: That’s what we’re seeing too (I work at Indiana’s tax agency). The time/money spent by us to combat fraud has skyrocketed in the past two years. Went from the occasional case, maybe a few hundred a year or so, to tens of thousands of fake returns. It has been so overwhelming that it still feels like we’re scrambling to combat it.
One thing though: did Turbotax really *get hacked*? Or, as news stories are currently putting it (and I’ve not heard otherwise internally) is it just that the fraudsters are using TT more often than other software to file the fake returns, while the actual id theft is actually coming from completely different sources?
If TT wasn’t hacked, then this stuff is nothing Indiana hasn’t seen for the past couple years. Plus the fraud returns come from ALL tax software, not just TT, so I have a hard time caring too much here about TT specifically… instead ALL software devs need to think about what they can do to help combat fraud. Also, it would mean no one’s id has been compromised as a result of using TT, so there would be no need to suddenly stop using TT to e-file your return.
Right now the Anthem story is much scarier to me because *holy shit* how many stolen ids does that add up to?!
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Crza:
The second. It seems that TT has been sloppy about verifying identities of eFilers, so it’s easier to launder the money through their prepaid debit card program. I know TaxAct also has a prepaid debit card option, but I have no idea how they verify identities.
opiejeanne
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I just realized that the Anthem hack just happened this week. I don’t know how I missed it, but it hasn’t been mentioned on the news when I was watching.
And oh crud, our Blue Cross Blue Shield cards say on the back that the program is administered by Anthem. Better call our CPA.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Oy. I’m pretty much a Luddite. My insurance is through Anthem and they’re saying it will be a while, maybe a couple of weeks, before they can say who was affected. Any advice on what I can/should do? I did read a story that said don’t wait for Anthem to offer help. I’ve checked all my accounts– bank, investments, credit cards– I’m heading to my bank because I think they’ll do a free or cheap credit check for me.
A quick google search suggests identity theft insurance is a questionable move. Maybe for me it’s not now?
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@opiejeanne: We heard about it last week because my husband’s employer uses Anthem. Fortunately for my sanity, we opted out of the health insurance, as we’re covered under his retirement plan.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Anthem is providing identity theft insurance to anyone affected. You probably should sign up for a month or two while you wait for Anthem. Some banks have people who will walk customers through all the steps. Call each of your credit cards and investment accounts and ask what they recommend. They will probably already have something in place for this sort of data breach. Use two-factor authentication for any accounts with online access. Get online access set up if you haven’t already. (As we learned years ago from the Sears online account system, if you don’t do it, crooks will find a way to do it for you.) Request fraud alerts on your files with the credit bureaus.
I’m sure I’m leaving something out, but asking your bank and card companies for help will probably fill in anything I’ve forgotten.
Good luck!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Thanks! I’m gonna start making calls
Tree With Water
Reverend Lovejoy, after fielding the first 10,000 phone calls from Ned Flanders, “..And then one day, I just stopped caring”.
Imagine no religion, it’s easy if you try.
BubbaDave
@Villago Delenda Est:
Just blame the prion disease on Big Pharma forcing you to vaccinate the velociraptors.
Heliopause
Small problem, John; Jesus.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Not to mention Peter: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
And Paul: “I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel.” Paul’s got a million of those, by the way.
debbie
@Villago Delenda Est:
He also presented an historically accurate picture of the Church’s misdeeds. Denying the truth doesn’t make it so.
thundermonkey
@BubbaDave:
That’s an insightful point, thanks for posting it.