40 Million Credit Cards Can't Be Wrong.

So someone hacked into Master Card and got credit numbers for 40 million of us. Hard to imagine how many bad things might come of it. Most likely, a large number of us will discover some weird activity on our accounts -- only the discovery will come when you're stranded in the creepiest gas station in the universe, a thousand miles from home, with the guy behind the register grinning and saying your card has just been shut down, and, by the way, you'll have to pay for the gas and Mountain Dew in cash.

____==___

So an intrepid hacker or two found their way into our credit. How does that crime compare to the 150 million dollars L. Dennis Kozlowski and Mark H. Swartz stole from Tyco when they were its top executives? Not to mention the 430 million more they made by selling shares after they had artificially inflated the stock.

Rage your hand if you're surprised. Kozlowski's lavish parties and other ego stroking behavior attests to the power one derives from looking a little like Dick Cheney, a subtle cross between Phil Collins and Jim Belushi (do I really need to link you to all these sour pusses?).

____===___

When was the last time someone stole something from you? When did you last steal?

Note on focusing on people's looks: I'm am finding it so difficult to comprehend the magnitude of making 430 million dollars in stock sales that I must fall back to what I do understand: the durability of pop stars from the 80s (yes, Dick C. was a star even then).