What does the word spooks mean to you?

I watched an interesting film at the weekend called The Human Stain, starring Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman and Wentworth Miller which is about a college professor who is accused of racism. Hopkins plays the older version of the professor (complete with Welsh accent) who notices two of his students never seem to attend his classes so he asks if they are real people or “spooks”. Next thing you know, the two absent students have reported him for making racist comments.

I was a tad confused by the whole thing until they explained “spooks” was a racist slur and of course the absent students were African American - something the professor didn’t know since they had never been to his class. However, the whole absurdity surrounded the meaning of the word “spooks” itself as the professor was simply enquiring whether his students were real or “ghosts”.

It all just seemed so crazy to me because I had never heard of “spooks” being used in that manner before and it just goes to show how words can be interpreted differently in other countries. To me the word refers, first and foremost, to ghosts or otherworldly spirits. Secondly, it is a slang word for spies.

In the movie, the racial slur appeared in the dictionary so I pulled my dusty copy of the Oxford dictionary of the shelf to check for myself. No racial slurs are mentioned so it is obviously not used as a racial insult in this country which is just as well since we have a television programme with that very name. It’s about espionage. Hmmm…. Would it have to be renamed if it aired in the US?

Now, I’m wondering how many other words I’ve used that may or may not have a racial overtone in different parts of the world?

My worst enemy just has to be procrastination. I’m so bad for saying I will do something and then keep putting it off. The trouble is when I first decide on a new project or whatever, I’m so fired up with enthusiasm but when the moment comes - I can’t be bothered. I wish I knew how to keep that initial enthusiasm burning until the task is done.

How many times have I said on this blog I want to stop eating crap and eat healthy stuff? Have I done anything? That would be no. I need to stop eating junk and start exercising. I need to stop making excuses and letting myself down.

Appetizer
Name something you would categorize as weird.

People who cover their entire bodies in tattoos - imagine how that will look when you are eighty!

Soup
What color was the last piece of food you ate?

Brown - a chocolate biscuit

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone?

Ten. I love being on my own. I can get things done without constant interruptions. I take calls and deal with customers all day long so being alone means quiet!

Main Course
Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______.

Politics bore me and I’m tired of hearing about the US elections. They don’t apply to me.

Dessert
Describe your sleeping habits.

I’m a very light sleeper. It takes me ages to fall asleep and I wake up at least two or three times a night. Sometimes I have bouts of insomnia which are not fun.

I started having problems with my Mastercard last night when I tried to put money into my phone. The transaction kept failing on O2’s website but it had been previously accepted by Blockbuster. When I first received my credit card about a year ago, I tried to activate it by phone but it couldn’t be done because I had answered one of the security questions wrong. Of course, they wouldn’t give me any more information and told me to go into my bank. I did that and was assured the card had been activated.

While I was on the phone with the fraud dept on Friday night, I had to verify a few details and that’s when I discovered they had my date of birth wrong. I’m assuming it was a typo error since they had entered “01″ instead of “10″ for the day. It has never been a problem until now because you never had to activate cards by phone before and my Mastercard was the only card I had ever had to do that with.

I’ve been stressing out all night over the situation and totally imagining the worst. I headed into town this morning, armed with my passport which has just expired (great timing!) because as a govt employee, I know my birth certificate is next to useless and wouldn’t be enough. Birth certs are easily forged and most places will ask for passports instead these days which is another reason to make sure you have one even if you never use it abroad.

Long story short, the guy at the bank updated my date of birth for me and ensured I had taken all the necessary steps to report the fraud. He checked my replacement debit card was on the way and phoned Mastercard to see if there was a problem with my card. They assured me everything was fine and the problems were probably down to the fact I hadn’t used the card in more than a year. I guess it flagged up somewhere but they never admitted to that. I was advised to try and use it an shop which I promptly refused to do since I didn’t need the embarrassment on top of everything else. I came home and tried it again on O2 and it was accepted instantly. Coincidence? I’m sure they had some kind of block on it in case it wasn’t me and once they had verification from the bank that I was definitely using the card myself - the block must’ve been lifted.

I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon researching identity theft and safe ways of shopping online. The problem is I have no way of knowing how my debit card information was taken. As mentioned in my previous post, sites like Amazon were named as possible culprits but I have been using Amazon for years with no problems. Other sites named were Ebay and PayPal. I haven’t used Ebay for a long time but I do use PayPal frequently. Again, I have no proof either site was to blame. I have always been very careful when shopping online and only use sites I am satisfied are secure but of course, no site is 100% safe. However, internet shopping seems to be the overall common denominator here.

I’m feeling quite paranoid at the moment but I really don’t want to lose the convenience of shopping online so it means I have to take even more steps to satisfy my details are not being stolen. I have done a complete virus and spyware check on my Windows laptop which I still use and nothing has come up, however I have decided all my online shopping will now be done on my Mac. The security features on my Mac are far more advanced and I know I’m less likely to fall victim to spyware if at all. I did a lot of research on viruses and spyware when I first got my Mac to make sure I was doing everything possible to protect myself, hence the reason I decided against installing Vista alongside it.

I am removing my debit card details from every site I have them stored and replacing them with my credit card details. In the event this happens again, I won’t risk having my bank account cleared out, plus my credit card protects me from fraudulent use. My debit card will only be used in shops and cash machines which means if my details are cloned again, the internet won’t be the culprit again.

From now on, I will only use cash machines inside banks or shops where tampering would be noticed. I am also considering opening another current account which I will keep topped up with £100 for example and only ever use that account for internet purposes. I’m not sure yet.

I have registered for PrivacyGuard at my bank which means my identity will be protected for a monthly fee (of course!) and I will be able to access my credit profile online, as well as being alerted if anyone attempts to use my name and address to get credit from anywhere. If I do have any problems with my identity, the bank will step in and resolve any issues that arise and restore my credit rating.

I’ve spent a lot of time on the Home Office site, reading about identity theft and the consequences it has on you if you become a victim and one of the things they advise is for you to keep a very close eye on your credit rating. There are companies who will provide you with that info upon request and you will be able to scrutinise it in detail yourself. No one knows better than you if you’ve applied for credit cards, loans, benefits or bank accounts recently.

I never thought this would happen to me and I was very lucky to catch it so quickly. The people who are doing this charge a very small transaction against your account as a test and once they get more confident, they set about clearing out your bank account, including your overdraft. With me, they bought bus tickets for £4.50 and then used it to purchase a licence from Vbulletin for around £70, which included an overseas fee of £1. There were five other transactions pending when my debit card was cancelled so who knows how much they would’ve gotten in the end.

I cannot emphasise strongly enough how careful you need to be because your identity is the most expensive thing you own!

There’s nothing like starting your weekend by finding out someone has been helping themselves to your money!

I got an email from Blockbuster advising me they were having trouble collecting their monthly payment which confused me since I know there is definitely money in my account and my card wasn’t near the expiry date. Out of curiosity, I logged on to my bank account and discovered a couple of overseas transactions that weren’t mine.

WP STAGECOACH SERV
MC WWW.VBULLETIN.COM

I did a Google search for the Stagecoach name and ended up straight into Martin’s Money Tips website forum full of stories of people finding similar transactions to the above. I phoned my bank straight away and they confirmed someone had been buying bus tickets with my account details. I was connected with the fraud dept who took a few details and immediately cancelled my card. I will get my money back but I just dread to think what could’ve happened if I hadn’t checked my account tonight.

The forums at Martin’s Money Tips are naming a few sites that may have been to blame and one of them is Amazon. I have been using Amazon Marketplace lately and I’m a bit concerned they aren’t as secure as they should be. It seems to be chip and pin cards that are affected. I’m careful when I enter my pin in shops and most of the time, they are big name shops like HMV and Boots so I can’t see how they could have been at fault.

The only other concern is cash machines but I tend to use only two. One inside my bank and another outside the shop across the road. I’m now considering only using cash machines inside the bank.

So, everyone, please keep an eye on your bank accounts and if you see anything suspicious - call them right away!

Recent newspaper reports have revealed an Islamic plot to destroy an number of major oil refineries in different parts of the UK - one of them being in my home town. A computer data stick was found with very detailed information on these sites when terrorists were arrested for planning to blow up seven transatlantic planes with liquid explosives inside soft drinks bottles.

The oil refinery in question employs 1,000 staff and sits next to a town of 17,000 people which includes myself, my entire family and basically everyone I know in this world.

A video was also found with the suspects claiming responsibility for the destruction and explaining how they are waging a “holy war” against “non believers” and how “there is no God except Allah”. Apparently, Allah likes it when people kill in his name and won’t be satisfied until the West converts to his law. Like that is going to happen..

I pride myself on my diversity and I’m interested in a lot of cultures in the world but when I’m up against crap like this, I find it very hard to remain tolerant. Part or me knows these people are fanatics and are in no way a true reflection of their religion but another part of me wants to deport every single one of them out of the UK so my loved ones will be safe.