So Martha is going to jail - anyone besides me think this is a bunch of bull hockey? That'll teach her to be an uppity woman and try to run with the big dogs - Back, back I say - Back in the kitchen with you, woman!!

And everyone is saying "Who will be the next Martha Stewart? Who will show us how to decorate? And make foo-foo nonsense?" Who cares?! I just hope her business stays afloat the 5 months she's in the pokey (I'm sure she can run it the 5 months of home confinement) 'cause I need a new set of sheets; and her's are decent quality at a decent price. (Undoubtedly made by slave labor in some 3rd world country.) There are times that I hate being civilized.

And all this bs is over money. And the stock market; which, of course, is all about money. I swear, I'm just going to keep all my money in a sock under the mattress (yeah, it'd all fit in one sock!) Stock market is a crap game; I have no respect for it, or the commodity market for that matter. A whole bunch of people tryig to make a buck for doing nothing; well, nothing except risking their money on a gamble. The thing is; for one person to make a buck in the market, someone else has to lose one. I don't want to play that game; never have. No; no thanks, I'd rather farm. At least with Mother Nature, you know that your livelihood isn't just a game to her. At least, I don't THINK she thinks it's a game!!

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2004

Answers

Martha made a big mistake by not just saying oops, sorry about that, paying the fine, and getting over it. Now she has to deal with jail time (actually probably not). With all the other folks who deserve a little more attention for fraud over the last couple of years (umm, Kenny Lay for one), I think Martha's situation was just a big bunch of smoke and diversion.

I have alternately liked her and been put off by her. But I think (without assessing her personality) she's done the world more good than any harm. And I subscribe to her magazine!

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2004

Another big mistake she made: donating too much to the Democrats.

The one lesson I learned from all this above all else is Never ever talk to federal investigators,and if forced to, never say word one without a trusted and capable attorney in attendance.If they can do this to her, they can do it to any one of us. She didn't think she had anything to hide so blabbed to him when she should have known better. You all know how I feel about the travesty of this whole thing, and how I feel about Martha. It's a stinking crock.

I hate the stock market too; I think the whole system is based on illusion and greed. We do have some stock in Whole Foods, have had it for years, cuz we believed in the concept, but that company since going public ain't nothin to write home about anymore either. As soon as a company goes public, it must by the very nature of the system of stockholdings, become so entirely focused on profit for profits sake alone that it loses what soul and ethics it ever had in the first place. Business and capitalism, IMO, does not have to be ugly and greed-based, and again IMO, performs better IN THE LONG RUN when it is not, but that is sadly how it usually manifests in today's world, with no limits on corporate behaviour anymore by our flaccid and useless Congress.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2004

BTW, when first read the thread title, I thought it said that Marcia was going to jail! OMG, I flashed, she finally snapped and killed her daughter-in-law!

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2004

Martha put an extra 85 cents on MSO the day she was sentanced. She will weather this in better than typical Martha style and be much better off afterwards. Some of us are betting that her book deal will make slick willys look like a free Pueblo pamplet. :>)

-- Anonymous, July 22, 2004

I am actually not thinking of the money aspect, I'm more concerned with the emotional, mental and political ramifications.

-- Anonymous, July 22, 2004

anybody here?

I just finished watching Larry King interviewing Martha; it was quite good. She comes across very down-to-earth I think, considering. :) I really do feel for her, everything being relative.

We have put the house up for sale; our agent seems to think this place is worth alot more than we do. Well, we'll see; we have no need or desire to be greedy, but when we tell her that, she looks at us like we're from another planet. Our new (old) house in Minneapolis closes next Friday.

I am alone in the house tonite for the first time in ages. Ali is at a do in town with friends from "allova" North America, will be attending a performance by a good friend who is an unschooler from Canada who makes his living by being a professional juggler and diabloist. Bren went with Lo to her gig in southern MN.

I had two glasses of wine tonite; first time alcohol touched my lips in one year and 4 months. It is an experiment, to see if it grabs my self-control again. So far, not so exciting, actually.

My name on AIM is rustytrailer, in case anyone wants to chat.

Loves ya,

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2004

I think martha is making an excellent choice to do her 5 months while appealling. % months can be done standing on her head and if her appeal is successful, doing those months will just make her stock that much moreappealing to investors.

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2004

What's AIM?

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2004

I just got around to reading this thread...finally!!! And no, EM, I'm not going to jail ...YET :-)!! Believe me, both Harry and I have said to each other that we should do something drastic, like "eliminating" our soon-to-be-ex DIL, but then we realize that we'd be in separate jails!!!

I also believe that Martha's sentencing is a bunch of ca-ca! She's not really my favorite person knowing how she treats some of the locals around here, but I do like most of her ideas and I guess that I do envy her abilities. I truly hope her company survives. Maybe I'll re-subscribe to her magazine :-)!

Any bites yet on your house, EM?? Wish I could get AIM chat with webtv...I can only use MSN .

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2004

ROFLMAO @ "Marcia going to jail". Too funny. I actually sympathise with Martha even though I still think she and Kathy Lee Gifford are the AntiChrists. And I do get tempted by her magazine (see? See? TEMPTING ME!!! :o) ) because of the natural based crafts and decor stuff. Did anyone see the Barbara Walters (or was it Diane Sawyer?) interview where she said she was not afraid and yet knew very little about prison..had done NO research on the subject to prepare herself. I kind of felt sorry for her because she was trying to talk about business instead and it was like she was in denial or something. I mean jeez..not everyone in prison does white collar crime..what she think she's gonna do set up a quilting bee or something? She's been very independent and well heeled and used to throwing the orders for a long time now...prison is not exactly a day spa and she will not be telling guards and wardens what to do..they will be telling HER! I dunno how that will go over. I think to throw her in for telling a lie and making a small potatoes profit is overkill but since it was so public the judge probably didn't want the taxpayers to think he was soft on celebrities. If it was some unknown dude there probably wouldn't be jail time. Jeez, child molestors or rapists get "months " of prison time. This is no comparison if you ask me and complete over kill at the publics expense.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2004

Sheepish,AIM is AOL INSTANT MESSENGER.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2004