Reply #88: As Ralph Nickleby said to his nephew, Nicholas,

[mojowork_n]

...in the finely appointed confines of his law offices:

'Young man, you don't know how the world works.'

(As Smike was gnawing on a leathery crust, in the garret.)

I'm not trying to point out that there are inequalities on the planet, or that a whole lot depends on which social circles you travel in.

Al Gore was honored at the same event Mrs. Kazakhstan Uranium Mining was at, along with the Barrick CEO. There's not necessarily any guilt by association there. Her web page suggests that she's an accomplished, responsible person, with an admirable social conscience.

But -- the point that the original poster of this thread was making was that $131 million dollars, to broker a billion dollar Central Asian mining deal, that's one *FAT WAD* of pay back.

If someone's trying to suggest Barack Obama profited unreasonably from his (fully aware, or completely clueless?) association with the indicted Chicago businessperson, how do thousands of dollars stack up against:

$ One Hundred and Thirty One Million dollars. To get on a jet and fly to Central Asia with the husband, and sweet talk a President for Life.

That's all I was trying to say.

The Barrick Mining angle is just frosting on the cake, recalling Bill's good buddy's (George, Sr.) incomparably *worse* gold mine windfall.

One ex-president setting an example for another?

Maybe that's just the way the world works, as the senior Dickens' character in my subject line would undoubtedly insist.