"ScratchMonkey" > wrote in message
. ..
> "Edwin Pawlowski" > wrote in
> om:
>
>> Just because you don't agree with a law, you
>> don't have the right to break it.
>
> So founders of the US were wrong and had no right to violate the King's
> laws? The US should accept its punishment and rejoin the UK as a colony?
> Rights transcend laws. If a law says you can't speak your mind, the right
> enumerated by (not granted by!) the first amendment overrules the law.
>

But who defines what is and isn't a right?


>> She did something out of greed, got caught, paid her time. Move on.
>> She let greed take the place of common sense.
>
> Define "greed". Everyone has self-interest. Everything you do is guided by
> it, even so-called altruism.

That's probbaly true in a technical sense, but there is a huge difference
between doing something to help others becaiuse it makes you feel good, and
doing something to harm others to make money.

>
> Martha's plight was a witch hunt, pure and simple, instituted by greedy

So what *is* the definition of greed? You seem to know.

> federal prosecutors looking for ways to further their careers. But unlike
> Martha's, their greed was sated only by hurting others.
>
> In the bizarre world of the SEC and FTA, common sense isn't. Insider
> trading is an Alice in Wonderland bureacratic ruling (not a law except in
> that Congress has abdicated its power to bureacrats to avoid
> accountability
> by the electorate).

There's nothing bizarre about it. It's quite simple and easy to understand.
Certain information about companies is public and available for all to base
investment decisions on. Other information is not available to all - it is
available only to those involved in the operation of the company - insiders.
If they are permitted to buy and sell stock based on this information, it is
blatantly unfair. When Martha sold her stock based on inside information,
she was in effect saying to who ever bought the stock: "I know this stock is
worth a lot less than the current price, and you don't. So **** you, I am
going to take your money."

I agree that she was singled out because of her fame and probably also
because she is a woman. But so what? She did it, and the fact that others do
the same and get away with it is no excuse.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.