← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Bardamu
Thread ID: 17114 | Posts: 23 | Started: 2005-03-05
2005-03-05 00:38 | User Profile
[url]http://news.ft.com/cms/s/76a76de4-8c82-11d9-a9e4-00000e2511c8.html[/url]
[I]I'm glad she's out. Martha was railroaded. There are guys at my job who express heart-felt hatred for her. I never understood this exactly. Sure, she is a stuck-up, overly prim, rich bitch, but since when has this been a crime? I figure that the reason people came to hate her was because the television pundits told them to, which is cowardly. But then I will admit never watching television so maybe I missed something here. Was MS really so detestable? [/I]
Martha Stewart is released from prison By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Martha StewartMartha Stewart, the wealthy entrepreneur whose corporate and personal worlds were rocked last year by a felony conviction, was heading home early today after spending five months at the minimum-security federal womenââ¬â¢s prison in Alderson, W.Va. ADVERTISEMENT
Ms. Stewart left the prison in a small convoy of vehicles around 12:30 a.m., emerging from a black sport utility vehicle a half-hour later at the Greenbrier Valley Airport. Clad in jeans, high-heeled boots and a floppy gray-knit poncho over a green long-sleeved top, she briskly strode the few yards across the tarmac to a waiting private jet, accompanied by her daughter, Alexis Stewart.
Ms. Stewart answered no questions from the reporters cordoned off nearby, but she beamed and waved for their cameras before climbing the few steps into the aircraft. The plane quickly taxied into the darkness and took off for what was widely reported to be Westchester County Airport, the closest large airfield to her home in Bedford, N.Y.
In a message posted on her Web site, marthastewart.com, Ms. Stewart said that her experience in prison ââ¬Åhas been life altering and life affirming.ââ¬Â
ââ¬ÂSomeday, I hope to have the chance to talk more about all that has happened, the extraordinary people I have met here and all that I have learned,ââ¬Â her statement said. ââ¬ÅRight now, as you can imagine, I am thrilled to be returning to my more familiar life. My heart is filled with joy at the prospect of the warm embraces of my family, friends and colleagues. Certainly, there is no place like home.ââ¬Â
Ms. Stewart, 63, still has to serve five months in home detention at her Bedford estate to complete her sentence for lying to government investigators about the timing of a 2001 sale of nearly 4,000 shares in ImClone Systems, a biotechnology company.
Once the chairman and chief executive of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she had to give up both titles after she was indicted in 2003. The share price in her company, which represented the bulk of her fortune, crumbled amid the scandal and she had to settle for the title of ââ¬Åfounder.ââ¬Â
Convicted last March and sentenced in July, Ms. Stewart immediately appealed her convction. But with the prospect that further uncertainty over her legal fate would continue to undermine the eponymous business she embodied regardless of her title, Ms. Stewart decided to enter prison in October to serve her sentence without waiting to see if she would prevail in the higher courts.
And it appears that Ms. Stewartââ¬â¢s strategy has paid off.
Her companyââ¬â¢s share price rose steadily during the five months she was in prison, closing on Thursday at $33.95, up from a low of $8.25 last May. Ms. Stewart remains the largest shareholder, with about a 60 percent stake.
Ms. Stewart said that one reason she chose to begin serving her sentence last October was so that she could be out in time to plant her spring garden, but she will plenty more to keep her busy.
Ms. Stewart is to star in two new television series and plans to resume writing her monthly column and working at her office, one of the few places where she can go other than her home on her 153-acre estate. She must wear a monitoring bracelet and cannot work away from home more than 48 hours a week. She will be allowed, however, to be filmed at her estate, which she bought in 2000 and was in the process of renovating when she left for Alderson.
ââ¬ÅThe anticipation of these new beginningsââ¬âa new house, a new gardenââ¬âhas certainly sustained her spirits,ââ¬Â the editor in chief of Martha Stewart Living magazine, Margaret Roach, wrote in this monthââ¬â¢s issue.
But Ms. Stewartââ¬â¢s release from prison does not mean the end of her troubles. Beyond the appeal of her criminal case, she faces a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused her of insider trading. She is also battling a shareholder lawsuit.
Moreover, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia reported $60 million in losses for 2004, though the company declared that it was focused on the future, ââ¬Åwith Marthaââ¬â¢s return to the company and our capacity to plan no longer clouded.ââ¬Â
Investors, who have shown faith in Ms. Stewart during her incarceration, will now be assessing how her return will affect her companyââ¬â¢s health, particularly its ability to attract advertisers to its magazines.
Many analysts have lately been saying that her companyââ¬â¢s stock has become overvalued. But her investors are clearly putting faith in the recognition that through the years, Ms. Stewart has proven to be a consummate trendsetter, and that her company finally has its brand name back.
é The New York Times Company
2005-03-05 03:08 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Bardamu]... Ms. Stewart is to star in two new television series and plans to resume writing her monthly column and working at her office, one of the few places where she can go other than her home on her 153-acre estate. She must wear a monitoring bracelet and cannot work away from home more than 48 hours a week. She will be allowed, however, to be filmed at her estate, which she bought in 2000 and was in the process of renovating when she left for Alderson. ...[/QUOTE] I don't like many of the rich and shameless. But, I've always admired Martha Stewart. She's lived her life on her own terms and lived it well. This sordid stock market business is terribly unfortunate. I hope she has learned her lesson. She should have her lawyers handle that nonsense so she can keep it all at arms length.
ââ¬ÅI do as I please, and I do it with ease.ââ¬Â - Martha Stewart.
Yes, you do Martha!
All the best. :thumbsup:
2005-03-05 03:09 | User Profile
Good, another pro-Martha OD'er. :thumbsup:
2005-03-05 04:50 | User Profile
I want to be pro-Martha. Her prosecution was and is about as unjust as it gets. Her story is inspirational. But what do you make of the photos in Christopher Byron's Martha Inc? First you see her socializing with Sam Waksal (her downfall), then there is a photo of her at a social event with Mort Zuckerman on her arm. And I believe her first husband might have been Jewish. Can you admire someone who hangs out with Christkillers?
2005-03-05 12:45 | User Profile
[I]I'm glad she's out. Martha was railroaded. There are guys at my job who express heart-felt hatred for her. I never understood this exactly. Sure, she is a stuck-up, overly prim, rich bitch, but since when has this been a crime? I figure that the reason people came to hate her was because the television pundits told them to, which is cowardly. But then I will admit never watching television so maybe I missed something here. Was MS really so detestable? [/I]
Hmmmââ¬Â¦ I wonder if the media used the same strategy against ââ¬Ësomeoneââ¬â¢ else and how many ââ¬Ësapsââ¬â¢ fell for it.
Think: Dan Rat and other media giants... :wink:
2005-03-05 13:18 | User Profile
I don't know, Gabrielle, but I wouldn't be too concerned about it. That and the fact the Democrats picked the worse candidate they could were a big help to Bush. It kept him from having to address any serious issues. Instead, the lemmings were focused on stupid stuff of no relevance.
2005-03-05 16:01 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Jack Cassidy]I want to be pro-Martha. Her prosecution was and is about as unjust as it gets. Her story is inspirational. But what do you make of the photos in Christopher Byron's Martha Inc? First you see her socializing with Sam Waksal (her downfall), then there is a photo of her at a social event with Mort Zuckerman on her arm. And I believe her first husband might have been Jewish. Can you admire someone who hangs out with Christkillers?[/QUOTE]
These unjust prosecutions, I can't exactly feel outraged about Lundel and then blink at Stewart's, can I?
2005-03-05 16:41 | User Profile
I've never been able to summon much dislike for Martha. When I was living in Westport (full of Jews, BTW), I would share an occasional beer at the local tavern with some of the guys who worked on her estate. They always had an amusing story about her latest tantrums.
Still, there's a certain something about her that I like, though I can't put my finger on it. I think she has a lot of White-itude (as OD's Hugh Lincoln would say). Party on, Martha. :thumbsup:
2005-03-05 16:56 | User Profile
Indeed, she percolates with White-itude. There was one article in the local commissar sheet (the SF Chronicle) where the author was gleeful that Martha should be subject to the cavity search upon entering prison. All this because she lied to the FBI? No, the real reason is her high levels of White-itude.
2005-03-05 17:07 | User Profile
What happened to Martha was a complete travesty of justice.
She is a beautiful white woman who was dumped by her old jew husband for a much younger woman.
There is no reason in the world to hate her.
2005-03-05 17:13 | User Profile
This is the first time I have read you affirming a position on this website. Way to go. :thumbsup:
2005-03-05 18:08 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Bardamu][I]I'm glad she's out. Martha was railroaded. There are guys at my job who express heart-felt hatred for her. I never understood this exactly. [/I][/QUOTE]
You have a right to remain silent, you do not have a right to lie, as Martha did.
Insider trading, of which she wasn't charged but probably is guilty of, is also illegal and immoral. The concept of publicly traded companies would collapse if insider trading were legal. Insider trading amounts to looting of investors.
2005-03-05 18:09 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Jack Cassidy]I want to be pro-Martha. Her prosecution was and is about as unjust as it gets. Her story is inspirational. But what do you make of the photos in Christopher Byron's Martha Inc? First you see her socializing with Sam Waksal (her downfall), then there is a photo of her at a social event with Mort Zuckerman on her arm. And I believe her first husband might have been Jewish. Can you admire someone who hangs out with Christkillers?[/QUOTE] I dare say that few of us have the luxury of not associating with the children of Satan... this is especially true in business. Let us indulge in our relief that our White Sister came out of this ordeal relatively unscathed. Let the ââ¬Åevil onesââ¬Â seek out another scapegoat for their alter of misery.
:thumbsup:
2005-03-05 18:25 | User Profile
I am no fan of Martha Stewart, her friends or her lifestyle. However, I did think she got a bad break on her sentancing. As someone who worked in the court system for years, I can say that a first-time offender who commits a non-violent, largely technical offense should get probation rather than prison. She was a victim of the fact that it was a "celebrity trial."
Of course, I am shedding no tears, but justice is justice. In many states first-time burglars don't get prison sentances, why should the preppy broad? What she should be sent up the river for is pretending to to a WASP aristocrat. She is a middle-class Polish gal from Nutley New Jersey. I know Nutley well and she has no excuse for putting on airs. It ain't no Kennebunkport.
2005-03-05 18:27 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Happy Hacker]You have a right to remain silent, you do not have a right to lie, as Martha did.
Insider trading, of which she wasn't charged but probably is guilty of, is also illegal and immoral. The concept of publicly traded companies would collapse if insider trading were legal. Insider trading amounts to looting of investors.[/QUOTE]
What is it called, lying to investigators, do you recall?
The thing that I object to was the how the media hated Martha Stuart, really much worse than OJ Simpson. But you are doubtlessly correct about insider trading being the looting of investors, altho I understand that it is a very generalized concept that almost any investor that has conversations can be charged with,when it becomes a question of selective enforcement.
2005-03-05 18:44 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Happy Hacker]You have a right to remain silent, you do not have a right to lie, as Martha did.
Insider trading, of which she wasn't charged but probably is guilty of, is also illegal and immoral. The concept of publicly traded companies would collapse if insider trading were legal. Insider trading amounts to looting of investors.[/QUOTE]
"NEW YORK (AP) - Federal authorities charged a government witness against Martha Stewart with perjury on Friday, accusing him of giving false testimony in the domestic entrepreneur's obstruction of justice trial.
Prosecutors said they had discovered false statements made on the stand by Larry F. Stewart, a national ink expert who works at the Secret Service. Larry Stewart, who is not related to Martha Stewart, testified at the trial about a worksheet prepared by her broker, Peter Bacanovic."
"Bacanovic was cleared on the only charge related to the worksheet - a charge that he added an "at 60" notation to support a cover story for why Martha Stewart sold the stock.
Larry Stewart's testimony was intended to show that the "at 60" ink was different from ink Bacanovic used on other marks on the worksheet.
The government said it had uncovered eight separate false statements made by Larry Stewart on the stand about two subjects: that he participated in an August 2002 examination of the worksheet, and that he was familiar with a book proposal on ink analysis.
The government asserted that Stewart, who is no relation to Martha, actually had no knowledge of the proposal.
Larry Stewart surrendered to federal agents earlier in the day and was expected to appear in court later Friday."
[url]http://whitebear.forumhoster.com/in...topic=7166&st=0[/url]
She never did anything wrong! The evidence was fixed, the experts lied about the evidence, and the black juror hated her. She is completely, 100 % innocent!!
Don't believe the lying media! Stand up for white people!
2005-03-05 18:53 | User Profile
More truth:
This says it better than I ever could:
"Prosecutor James Comey said that this case is about lying to investigators and to investors. Prosecutor James Comey is absolutely right. If this government protected investors, Martha Stewart would be free to protect their interests.
Martha Stewart was not truthful to investigators because they falsely claimed that she was guilty of securities fraud. Having acted like it was a crime to receive a casual stock tip, Martha Stewart lied because pompous Prosecutors who feed off the generosity of the Federal Government, were threatening to destroy her life. Ms. Stewart is not a fool. A stockbroker in her earlier life, Martha Stewart clearly understood the rules against insider trading, so when her stockbroker called with a "great tip" she knew that it was possible to allege that she was committing securities fraud by engaging in illegal insider trading and she naturally lied to avoid the perception, and that is not a conspiracy.
If your broker at Merrill Lynch called you and told you that insiders in a stock you owned were trying to sell their shares, what would you do? Would you be guilty of committing securities fraud if you sold your shares? That is what the government would like to suggest and under these circumstances, I would advise you to do whatever it takes, to protect yourself from the conspiratorial rants that improperly threaten your life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. "
[url]http://skakel.tripod.com/martha.htm[/url]
" A Secret Service ink expert who testified at Stewart's trial was charged Friday with two counts of perjury for lying repeatedly on the stand, prompting the domestic diva's legal eagles to immediately request a new trial. Larry Stewart (who's no relation to the homemaking maven) apparently got a little carried away after the prosecution called him as their "national ink expert," and allegedly stretched the truth about a few details relating to evidence in the case.
Stewart was tabbed by the government to offer his opinion on a worksheet allegedly falsified by broker Peter Bacanovic to back Martha Stewart's cover story that she had a preexisting agreement to sell ImClone if it dropped below a certain price.
The so-called ink expert claimed on the stand that he had worked on two ink-analysis studies of the worksheet in August 2002 and January 2004.
As it turns out, Stewart, the laboratory director at the Secret Service, did not work on the studies, according to the prosecutors, who said they were notified of the discrepancy last week by the Secret Service. "
If Martha was such a criminal, tell me why this scumbag would do this to her? Was there a conspiracy to destroy her? If so, why?
[url]http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14166,00.html[/url]
"We also think this order (pdf) by the Judge in the case is very unfair. U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum ruled that Morvillo cannot argue to the jury that Martha is being prosecuted for asserting her innocence which is her protected right of free speech under the First Amendment. The Judge also ruled that Morvillo can't ask jurors to speculate as to why Stewart was not charged with insider trading."
Please note the judgeââ¬â¢s name, 'Goldman'. Also, note the two very important points that she would not allow Marthaââ¬â¢s lawyer to make in Marthaââ¬â¢s defense.
[url]http://talkleft.com/new_archives/005135.html[/url]
2005-03-05 22:17 | User Profile
Recent Martha Stewart biographies have depicted her not only as a first-class bitch, but as a bitch who deserves to be enshrined in the bitch's hall of fame. Stiffer of comman workmen, mercenary, sadistic in her dealings with family and friends, runner-over of puppies, foul-mouthed, Martha has done all. Some of the allegations are certainly true, and Martha gave money to the Hillary Senate campaign. Her daughter dated a a black with Mom's approval. Probally Martha's perceived whitedom had something to do with her getting the hatchet from the Feds. One wonders if she wouuld have been put to the wall if she had been of minority ethnic stock. Probally not.
2005-03-05 22:22 | User Profile
Martha Stewart was railroaded, because she is a white Gentile. I can't believe there are people out there stupid enough to believe that a woman with her kind of money would lie about a petty $200,000 stock transaction. That doesn't make very much sense, in my judgment. In the meantime, why don't we ever see anything on TV or in the news about the lying, thieving Jews who have stolen so much money from investors and working class employees? There is no one on OD, I'm sure, who doesn't know the answer to that one. The mere fact that the Televitz tells us to hate Martha Stewart is reason enough to admire the woman, as far as I'm concerned.
2005-03-05 22:25 | User Profile
Martha Stewart's accusers -- the enforcement arm of USAZOG's federal government -- have no credibility with me.
[QUOTE=Happy Hacker]You have a right to remain silent, you do not have a right to lie, as Martha did.
Insider trading, of which she wasn't charged but probably is guilty of, is also illegal and immoral. The concept of publicly traded companies would collapse if insider trading were legal. Insider trading amounts to looting of investors.[/QUOTE]
2005-03-05 23:02 | User Profile
Valley Forge,
Yes, Martha Stewart was railroaded. I do not think she did anything wrong.
I like Martha Stewart, she promotes the art of homemaking something sadly lacking today. And that is a good thing.
The main lesson one learns from these events is do not talk to cops.
2005-03-06 01:47 | User Profile
[QUOTE=CornCod]I am no fan of Martha Stewart, her friends or her lifestyle. However, I did think she got a bad break on her sentancing. As someone who worked in the court system for years, I can say that a first-time offender who commits a non-violent, largely technical offense should get probation rather than prison. She was a victim of the fact that it was a "celebrity trial."
Of course, I am shedding no tears, but justice is justice. In many states first-time burglars don't get prison sentances, why should the preppy broad? What she should be sent up the river for is pretending to to a WASP aristocrat. She is a middle-class Polish gal from Nutley New Jersey. I know Nutley well and she has no excuse for putting on airs. It ain't no Kennebunkport.[/QUOTE]That she was a Polish girl from a blue collar neighborhood yet was able to make herself into a refined New England blueblood is the reason, I believe, many here champion her, because of this white-itude. The highest form of being white is embodied in the WASPish aristocratic classes. I.e., she made herself more white. Her one failure was cavorting with the Yids. American, and especially British, upper classes were positively anti-Semitic (duh, they had the greatest experience with them and knowledge of them). So, the moral or the Martha story is that whether or not you're a Polish Catholic New Jersey, you should hope to be mistaken for a New England Congregationlist anti-Semite.:thumbsup:
2005-03-06 17:17 | User Profile
I don't think there's any real question of if Martha lied, and that's what she was charged with. The only real debate in court was how much she lied.
I think those of you who defend Martha tend to take the position that it's okay to lie to "the man." Some of you may take the position that Insider Trading should not be a crime, and for that reason it's okay to lie about it. But, I generally have little patients for liars, including those who lie to coverup their criminal behavior, or alleged criminal behavior.
Your right and prudant choice when dealing with investigators and police is to keep your mouth shut if you're at all a target. Don't lie. They may lie to you, but that doesn't make it legal or morally right for you to lie.
People don't get convicted for being rich and white. What happened to the argument that the rich can buy off the justice system? Whites get convicted when they're accused of being racist, but I didn't see the prosecution play that card.
She lied and that's why she was convicted.
Yes, other people get away with lying and insider trading. But, the men related to Marth's case were convicted. Why aren't you folk crying for them and for all the non-celebs convicted for similar crimes?
Yes, other people get away with lying and insider trading. But, why would you defend Marth by pointing to people who did similar things and got away with it, like the Enron upper-management who lined their pockets with millions while Enron was sinking. They were telling people that the company was doing great so they could continue to pocket bonuses and sell their shares at high prices until the whole thing exploded on the backs of small people who lost a lot.
Like anti-death penalty people who defend convicted murderers, I think some of you fail to see the sometimes invisible victims of these crimes.
BTW, Martha Steward should never have owned Inclone shares in the first place. She bought them only because she had an insider source and so to avoid conflict of interest, she should have invested elsewhere.