Key Lime Martinis. Certainly not the only ingredient to a good evening, but a deceptively tasty one.

The war on terror continues. Despite some very thoughtful and well-reasoned posts at sites I greatly respect, tonight I’m celebrating the latest step in the war on terror: the indictment of Martha.

Overshadowed by the War on Islamic Terror, the other war on terror has languished. In the 1990s a group of elitists focused on personal gain decided to ignore the law and defraud millions of Americans of their savings. Without thought for the lives they were destroying, they lied and cheated and created a noble fiction to justify their plunder. It’s a new economy. We don’t need products or deliverables. We just need illusion. The illusions of stability, of income, of openness and of growth, inter alia, served their purposes and they prospered.

Their only obstacles: little laws. Really old laws at that. Paternalistic laws that talk about the old economy, not the new economy. The Crash and the Depression were old economy things; Infinite Growth was a natural byproduct of the new economy and thus those laws passed by our grandparents’ parents were as obsolete as the bricks and mortar of the buildings they were written in.

The problem not seen by the accountants (and too many lawyers): the laws defined the rules of the game. Without the laws, the equity market is transformed from something akin to a game of chess to something closer to a game of poker. In chess all the pieces and players are known, and all the players can make informed decisions; in poker the cards are hidden and the players make their decisions on limited knowledge and the ability to read a bluff. It’s the difference between investing and gambling. With the dark forces running loose, the Enrons and the ArthurAndersons and the Marthas controlled the house. Some people still thought they were playing chess, but in a game where the rooks were illusory, the bishops were really queens and pawns could be hidden up one’s sleeve.

Participating in the stock market became as intelligent an investment as gambling in a casino where you have to trust the dealer to tell you what cards you’ve drawn. Imagine sending money to someone you don’t know and trusting them to tell you whether you’ve won or lost without oversight or accountability. Anyone who enjoys this though should feel free to send me $20 via PayPal and I’ll deal up a few hands of Blackjack. Results will be e-mailed to the losers within 48 hours, guaranteed.

But back to my rant: the terrorists of Wall Street showed as little concern for their victims as their Islamic brethren did. At least a conman generally picks a target with money. These people looted the aging pensioners and retirement funds with the same glee as they took from the large banks and corporations. It was the financial equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction. Impossible to responsibly aim and resulting in wanton destruction of guilty deserving and innocent alike.

While Martha may not be the worst of the lot, she is one of the most visible and the actions she’s alleged to have done are the same as theirs. She allegedly put her own personal profits above her partners’ and lied for personal gain. She sold a product with a defect allegedly known only to her and her elitist cohorts; a defect that rendered the merchandise worthless.

I’m not convinced that these laws are right. I think the word ‘paternalistic’ above was pretty damn accurate. But I won’t play the game if I don’t know the rules. Right now I don’t trust the other players in the market, think the house has no oversight whatsoever, and havn’t been in the market for over two years.

I’ve lost coworkers to the Islamists. But I’ve had more acquaintances lose their life savings and jobs because of the Wall Streetists. Statistically I’m more likely to be destitute and homeless then to be tortured for my cultural upbringing or personal beliefs. It’s much more likely I’ll die in a household accident than in a terrorist hijacking or bombing. And thanks to the WallStreetists, the health insurance I’ll need if the Islamists ever make it to California is barely affordable for me and unaffordable for countless others. The reality is that my fears and concerns focus on the economy, not some pathetic third-worlders with delusions of relevance, because the economy is what threatens me day-to-day. That is my terror.

I don’t know if Martha is guilty. If she is I hope she rots in a simply but tastefully decorated cell for a long, long time. If not, maybe she’ll use her vast wealth and new experiences to lobby for reforms of a criminal justice system that destroys defendants financially long before the right to a fair trial can ever become relevant (yes, that’s the former public defender getting a jab in). Either way there are still a lot of WallStreetists running loose out there.

As the other amendments get slowly bumped off, downsized or just ignored, the big One just keeps plucking along. Nice of the Eighth Circuit to give it it’s due.

“Whether we believe the advent of violent video games adds anything to value of society is irrelevant. Guided by the First Amendment, we are obliged to recognize that ‘they are as much entitled to the protection of free speech as the best of literature,”’ Judge Morris S. Arnold wrote.

There was a nice post here about a year ago on the same issue (same case even). I’m still amazed at the people who can’t understand clear language and people who think that ideas communicated electronically are somehow different then ideas communicated on paper. Fiction, including games, is as deserving of protection from the big One as non-fiction, including alleged news reporting. It even protects little blogs. Pffft.

Drifting around a lot and not getting much work done. Seems to be hard to focus with a wood chipper doing it’s business outside the window all afternoon. But the postponement of work is giving me time to do some other things. Admiring new graphics and redesigns. Enjoying someone’s return. Respecting an anniversary. Generally just bopping around and reading interesting sites.

The Coming Month Shall Bring Winds Of Change In Your Life.

So sayeth the sages, mystics and busboys of the ancient and wise order of Chinese fortune cookie chefs.

The few of you who know me in real life know that I’m a very private person, hence the liberal self-editing that goes on here. Because of that, normally I’m very respectful of the desires of others for privacy, hence a lot of the other editing that goes on here.

But I also absolutely disgust hypocrites and internal inconsistencies. Someone screaming to a crowd that people are staring at them deserves to be stared at despite their stated wishes.

Back to the point: I’ve been reading all the reporting on the new Los Angeles litigation Streisand v. Adelman. [My blawging on the substantive issues is over at beachlaw.] OK, she doesn’t like the fact that a photo of her residence was identified on the web. But then she goes ahead and lets her minions do their utmost to publicize the fact. The photo is now being redistributed in countless sites and aggregators (Does 1 through a gazillion? Can Bloggers get Streisand Doe status as popular as -zilla status was last summer). The complaint seems entirely drafted for news-reader consumption, containing such insightful and relevant pleading elements as “Plaintiff will donate such sums to charity” three of the five times she asks for ten million dollars in damages.

Nice article bashing Babs and her arguments by Chris Clarke at Counterpoint.