If you’re like me, you’ve gotten a few e-mails from companies you’ve done business with at some point in the past few years, informing you that
the vendor they use to send out e-mails – a company called Epsilon – had their e-mail database hacked, and you might now expect to get a lot of spam and phishing e-mails. They claim that no personal or account information was compromised, but you’re certainly ripe for the cyber-picking. Companies affected include Citigroup, Chase, Barclays, U.S. Bancorp, Capital One, Walgreen, Kroger, Marriott, TiVo, Verizon…. And lots more, no doubt. So it would be pretty easy to, say target you with phishing e-mails tied specifically to the companies you do business with. So, watch out when your credit card company send you a legitimate-looking e-mail saying you need to click on a link and fix your account. Though I’m sure you already knew that.

If you plan on flying today, good luck. Especially if you’re flying Southwest (though you know if they’re having these problems, so are the the rest of them. Flying just all it’s cracked up to be). I advise you to pay close attention to the part where they tell you how to put on the oxygen mask upon losing cabin pressure (my favorite part is when they say that if you have small children, screw ’em and save yourself).

Congratulations to libertarians, teabaggers, and the champions of deregulation. While the invisible hand of the market may not be enough to lift up your flight and keep it in the air, no doubt after enough planes fall apart mid-air, prices will drop (so to speak).