www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Martha Stewart

Discrimination against persons of Polish (and other Slavic and Jewish and Arabic and Haitian, etc.) descent?

Say it ain't so!

Steve

Dear Alex,

You posted:

"Actually, I was angry at myself for the way I didn't properly handle my conversation with the Administrator.

And after I'd promised myself I'd never become emotional about things again."

Isn't it against Natural Law for you to keep that promise?

It's simply part of your charm. :rolleyes:

Steve

Insert the name Oprah Winfrey. Do you think they would have pursued this? She ( Martha) is also a big contributor to the Democratic party. Could that have something to do with this?

Nicky's Baba

Dear Baba:

I think the party thing is really not an issue but the point about Oprah is an excellent one.

Yours,

kl

There is an old Jamaican proverb that says: "The higher the monkey he climb, the more you see him de tail".

If one is visible, one can become a target of whatever faction decides to go after you. I don't think that Martha has done anything worse than any one of the NY stockbrokers or traders has done.

Remarkably, on the news this morning, I heard that worldcom, the parent of MCI, has lost a billion dollar contract as a result of the stock and accounting chicanery. But the appendage to the story was, that they aren't in that bad shape: they just got a billion dollar contract to provide telecommunications services in Iraq.

Whatever happened to that legislation that would have prohibited convicted corporations from being on the GSA schedule and doing business with the Federal or state governments? It's like the old view of confession: do the crap and then go get absolved on Saturday afternoon, go to communion on Sunday and then back to business as usual on Monday.

I don't think Martha is any better or any worse than a lot of other "monied" folks who lose their financial perspective when they get the zloty.

And yes, she does do good stuff with food and decorations. And gardens.

As for the Patriot Act, it is clearly a violation of the principles of the US Constitution against unreasonable search and seizure. Credit records, internet visits, book purchases, telephone records, etc. are all fair game based not upon a court order where there is reasonable cause, but rather upon the suspicions of one or another law enforcement organization. This is truly frightening. And now, they want to expand it! I'm all for tracking down the Al-Quaeda or the other loonies, but I want safeguards that some zealous Fascist who wants to investigate me for whatever reason, needs to get a court order to do so. Based upon probable cause and not some vague suspicion.

Blessings!!

Dear Steve,

O.K. - I can live with that!

I like being passionate about things. It's the spice of life, no?

Alex

Dear Dr. John,

Yes, that is the point exactly - Martha hasn't really done anything than the other like-minded investor folks haven't done, but she got caught with her hand in the jar and she is a solid target and is viewed by such by a number of interests who would love to get her.

But it does seem that the tide of public opinion has started to turn against her - but perhaps that is only for now.

Alex

I think she is being scapegoated by the SEC and DOJ because they can't make it stick against the Enron and Worldcom execs. She probably didn't intend to engage in insider trading here ... the amount was so small, and really irrelevant. If she wanted to engage in insider trading, she would have every opportunity to do so with the stock of her own company. She probably decided to trade this stock in 15-20 seconds based on a call from her broker. She's no deer in the woods, she used to be a stockbroker herself (so much for homespun....) and she's an extremely shrewd businessperson, but I think she's being unfairly chased for this. There are much bigger fish to fry than this one, and the fact that they are having difficulty getting the bigger fish into the frying pan (because some of those fish were smart enough to never have themselves copied on memos and emails) led to this misguided enforcement action against Martha Stewart, IMO.

Dear Brendan,

I guess one just never knows which specific topic will get you to post here!

But do you think what Martha did later with the so-called revised e-mails and letters will hurt her more than the original charge of insider trading?

Is it something she can get out of with some good lawyering?

Are you in the running as her defence counsel?

Alex