Note that it’s not my insinuation. I think it quite possible that he simply has cultivated good information sources. It’s not “insider trading” if you’re an outsider.

The late John W. Campbell once pointed out that organized crime beats the hell out of disorganized crime. Organized crime mostly sells things to people who want to buy, although he noted there are exceptions, and they kill each other. Disorganized crime endangers the lives and health of ordinary people.

Michael Dukakis was on C-Span (or perhaps C-Span II) a couple of months ago, pointing out that as a candidate for president, he was only the second person of greek ethnicity to run for national office, the first being Spiro. He said no matter where he went, the greeks came up to him and thanked him, because they had felt so ashamed when Spiro was found to be dirty.

Dukakis came across very well in that broadcast. They say Hillary comes off better in person than in speechifying, and even an inspirational speaker like Barack come off much better when he just talks instead of giving speeches. Maybe that’s the secret to successful campaigning: you don’t campaign, you just go around meeting people and talking to them. If we could just get everyone to buy into that theory, this campaign would be much less unpleasant.

Some rich people get their money all at once by inheriting it, by winning the lottery, or by joining a Silicon Valley startup that is an incredible success. By definition, conservatives don’t want to take risks, so most of these seem to be Democrats.

Most millionaires get to be millionaires by owning a small business, spending less than they make, and reinvesting the difference. If they take risks, sooner or later they lose, so it’s usually the conservatives that become the millionaires.

George Soros got rich by speculating, mostly in companies located in the former Warsaw Pact countries. It would be unkind to point out that many companies in those countries are controlled by organized crime. However, I will note that if you remove the element of chance, gambling can be highly lucrative.

Some other rich democrats got that way by being politically connected. In addition, some are quite good at eliminating unnecessary expenses. When Geraldine Ferraro ran for VPOTUS, someone pointed out that her husband, John Zaccaro, had forgotten to file any income tax returns. Gee, that forgetfulness would save you a lot of money. And more recently, he’s engaged in creative financing, “borrowing” money from the estates of old geezers.

Republicans like to point to big city politicians, most of whom are Democrats, and most of whom appear to be corrupt. Democrats point to corrupt Republicans in private enterprise. It’s all Willie Sutton’s Law. If you’re looking for someone who’s corrupt, you will find they’re attracted to money like skeeters to a light bulb.

I HATE that!!! The “old” stadium is 24 years old, and must be demolished and replaced!!

But, Indiana members of the Republicans-are-all-evil/Democrats-are-all-virtuous crowd can rejoice: all the excitement generated by the still-alive Democratic presidential primary should (imo) buoy Jill Long Thompson into the Democratic nomination for governor, and then in the November race I think she has an excellent chance of defeating Daniels

(actually, I don’t have a problem with Mitch, other than he DOES pop up in a sort of funny, 2-dimensional way, in Assassins’ Gate….and as bloodless as he is to begin with, he cannot withstand further diminution!)

The property tax reform package will begin hitting my agency’s budget in 2010 and I can expect to loose at least 5% of my usual tax revenue and maybe as much as 10%.

I have spent much of the last year trying to get a bond issue issued. Your Man Mitch’s new Finance Commissioner has decided to change the rules. I can’t even count the number of times in recent months I have heard this from most of my county’s county level elected officials: “It’s not that we don’t support libraries, but…”

And yes the legislature did pass a law limiting sheriff income to no more than that paid to the county’s prosecutor.

To: Republicans are evil/Democrats are virtuous crowd

From: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/17/AR2008031702969.html?wpisrc=newsletter

Bear Stearns’s clients include some of Wall Street’s top investors, such as George Soros, the billionaire hedge fund manager.

Years ago, I went with my erstwhile wife and our best friends to see Raging Bull. They thought it was great. I thought it revolting, in the way of glorifying a despicable pig. To this day, I don’t get it. I’ve got no problem with violence in movies, but that seemed entirely gratuitous, and the dialogue seemed to be more or less improvisations on the F word.

I’ve got a Leonard Maltin movie guide (really handy for crosswords, and free from the discard bin at the library). That prig consistently underrates movies because he’s put off by explicit violence, but he loves Raging Bull and slags Taxi Driver. Incomprehensible. I think the murder of Mr. Tyrell by Roy Batty may be the most cinematically perfect act of violence, although retiring Zhora through all that plate glass and Leon beating the shit out of Deckard give a run for the money.

“Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!”. Harm no humans, but where’s the dramatic tension in that?