I'M BEING SO NAUGHTY!

I can be bad sometimes. Really bad.  And this is one of those times where, as the comedian Flip Wilson (remember him?) used to say, "The devil made me do it."

Flip Wilson

And not only am I being naughty, but I am taking sweet pleasure in doing so.  You know, the kind of pleasure you derive from someone elses misery.  But not someone you like or respect or admire. No, someone who you feel has gotten away with something for far too long and deserves his/her comeuppance.  (Now,that's an old word--does anybody still use that word?)  You know, their "just deserts," another old saying for a punishment or retribution that one deserves, but has so far been able to escape.

It's like I have this evil little fellow on my shoulder that is whispering in my ear saying, "Go ahead and tell everyone how you really feel."  Even though I know that by doing so, I'm bound to offend someone, somehow. But I just have to do it, regardless.

Today I learned that HSBC reported that a former IT employee of a Swiss subsidiary HSBC Private Bank, Herve Falciani, stole information on 24,000 customers with Swiss bank accounts. 

The thief stole the information back between 2006 and 2007!  No doubt there will be an investigation to see if HSBC failed to meet legal requirements to prevent data theft. The privacy of their clients has been seriously intruded upon and although they deeply regret it, shares in HSBC were down 0.1 percent at 6.98 pounts ($10.48) on the London exchange today.

Now,I know it's wrong to steal and fortunately none of these accounts have been compromised. The bank contacted all of the customers involved and will not allow any unauthroized access to these accounts.

However,  and this is where the fun begins, the theft could leave some of those (rich international) account holders exposed to prosecution by the .......

Recently, data theft from banks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein was offered to foreign governments (Germany is one of them) seeking to track down nationals who avoided paying their taxes by hiding money in Swiss accounts. And I say, "Rightly so!"  These millions (I don't know, perhaps billions) of dollars are just what our elective countries need during these fiscally trying times when many of their citizens are struggling to make ends meet, overtaxed, and unemployed.

I'm beginning to get that same warm feeling I get at the ending of a good crime novel.

How about you?