lunes, 14 de noviembre de 2011
martes, 3 de agosto de 2010
Simposio Bolsa Bicentenario
‘Law & Order’ Probably Doesn’t Like You
By STANLEY FISHStanley Fish on education, law and society.
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Nothing personal. But now that Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order” has called it a day — or rather a 20-year run — it is time to notice what may be its most remarkable feature; not the brilliant formula that offers both the comfort of predictability and the promise of constant surprise (an episode almost never ends up where it seems to be going at the beginning), not the ability of the show to survive major cast changes without missing a beat, not the considerable accomplishment of making the arcane vocabulary of the law ( “fruit of the poisoned tree,” “asked and answered,” “prejudicial,” “allocute,” “goes to relevance”) as familiar to TV viewers as the jargon of sports, but the extraordinarily long list of professions, classes and category of persons it doesn’t like.
Begin with rich people. “Law & Order” hates rich people; they are arrogant, they are condescending, they consume conspicuously, and, worst of all, they believe they are above the law. In one episode, the head of a foundation is informed of a $400,000 problem. She retorts, “$400, 000 is less than I spend on sweatpants.” In another episode (“Venom”), a 64-year old woman who is bent on protecting her 27-year old husband says to one of the district attorneys: “You have no idea of what a woman in my position can do.” Actually they have a very good idea. Time and again wealthy people manipulate the system by getting well connected friends to intervene in cases or by hiring high-priced lawyers who know how to put up procedural roadblocks forever.
Worse than rich people are the children of rich people. They are spoiled, cruel, believe they can get away with anything and often do. Typically these kids go to expensive private schools, which, at least in “Law & Order,” are populated by blazer-wearing snob administrators and teachers who kiss up to the even snobbier parents of over-privileged brats.
jueves, 29 de julio de 2010
MADOFF - CLIENTES
Madoff's Clients
The list of individuals, banks, charities and investment firms exposed to losses in Bernard L. Madoff's investment funds continues to grow. This chart will be updated regularly as more clients are identified in the case, which investigators are calling the biggest Ponzi scheme ever.
Access International Advisors | Financial firm | $1.4 billion |
Alicia Koplowitz | Individual | $14 million |
Aozora Bank | Financial firm | $137 million |
Ascot Partners, run by Jacob Ezra Merkin, GMAC’s chairman | Financial firm | Most of the firm's $1.8 billion in assets |
Banco Santander, Optimal Investment Services | Financial firm | $3.1 billion of client exposure |
Bank Medici | Financial firm | $2.1 billion |
Banque Bénédict Hentsch | Financial firm | $48 million |
BBVA | Financial firm | $404 million |
Benbassat | Financial firm | $935 million |
BNP Paribas | Financial firm | up to $478 million |
Bramdean Alternatives | Financial firm | About 9.5 percent of assets |
Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations | Financial Firm | $1.4 million |
Carl & Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation | Charity | $145 million |
Carl Shapiro | Individual | $545 million |
Chais Family Foundation | Charity | Unknown |
Charity of Leonard Litwin, one of New York's largest apartment landlords | Charity | Unknown |
Clal Insurance | Insurer | $778,000 |
CNP Assurances | Insurer | $4.1 million |
Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun | Charity | $3.5 million |
Credit Mutuel | Financial firm | $124 million |
Dexia | Financial firm | $107 million |
Edward Blumenfeld, owner of Blumenfeld Development Group | Commercial real estate | Unknown |
EIM Group | Financial firm | $230 million |
Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity | Charity | $15.2 million, almost all of the Foundation's assets |
Fairfield Greenwich Group, run by Walter Noel | Financial firm | $7.5 billion |
Fairfield, Conn. pension fund | Pension fund | $42 million |
Fix Asset Management | Financial firm | $400 million |
Fortis Bank Netherlands | Financial firm | $1.4 billion |
Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation | Charity | $1.8 million |
Great Eastern Holdings | Insurer | $44 million |
Groupama | Insurer | $13.6 million |
Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America | Charity | $90 million |
Harel Insurance | Insurer | $14.2 million |
Henry Kaufman, former Salomon Brothers chief economist | Individual | Unknown |
HSBC Holdings | Financial firm | $1 billion |
Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation SKG | Individual | Unknown |
JEHT Foundation, will close | Charity | Unknown |
Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles | Charity | $18 million |
Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles | Charity | $6.4 million |
Jewish Federation of Greater Washington | Charity | $10 million |
Julian J. Levitt Foundation | Charity | $6 million |
KAS Bank | Financial firm | $9 million |
Kingate Management | Financial firm | $3.5 billion |
Korea Life Insurance | Insurer | $50 million |
Korea Teachers Pension | Pension fund | $9.1 million |
M&B Capital Partners | Financial firm | $187.9 million |
Madoff Family Foundation | Charity | $19 million |
Maimonides School | Charity | $5 million |
Man Group | Financial firm | $360 million |
Massachusetts state pension fund | Pension fund | $12 million |
Maxam Capital Management | Financial firm | $280 million |
Mediobanca | Financial firm | $671,000 |
Mirabaud | Financial firm | Several million dollars |
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group | Financial firm | $11 million |
Mortimer B. Zuckerman Charitable Remainder Trust | Charity | $30 million |
Natixis | Financial firm | $614 million |
Neue Privat Bank | Financial firm | $5 million |
New York Law School | Charity | at least $3 million |
Nomura Holdings | Financial firm | $302 million |
Norman Braman, former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles | Individual | Unknown |
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System | Charity | $5.7 million |
Notz Stucki | Financial firm | Unknown |
Phoenix Holdings | Investment firm | $12.4 million |
Picower Foundation | Charity | $958 million |
Pioneer Alternative Investments | Financial firm | About $280 million in assets |
Ramaz School | Charity | $6 million |
Reichmuth, the Reichmuth Matterhorn fund | Financial firm | $330 million |
Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, supports student exchange programs to Israel | Charity | $7 million |
Royal Bank of Canada | Financial firm | Under $40 million |
Royal Bank of Scotland | Financial firm | up to $609 million |
SAR Academy | Chartiy | About $1.2 million |
Senator Frank R. Lautenberg’s charitable foundation | Charity | Unknown |
Several brokers at Newmark Knight Frank | Commercial real estate | Unknown |
Société Générale | Financial firm | $13.8 million |
Stephen Siegel and other executives at CB Richard Ellis | Commercial real estate | Unknown |
Sterling Equities, run by Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets | Financial firm | Unknown |
Sumitomo Life Insurance | Insurer | $22 million |
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology | Charity | $6.5 million |
The Horowitz Association | Charity | Unknown, reports of up to $800 million |
Tremont Group Holdings | Financial firm | $3.3 billion |
Tufts University | Charity | $20 million |
UniCredit | Financial firm | $102.5 million |
Union Bancaire Privee | Financial firm | under $1.08 billion |
Unione di Banche Italiane | Financial firm | $85 million |
Wunderkinder Foundation, run by Steven Spielberg | Charity | Unknown |
Yeshiva University | Charity | $100 to $125 million |
Note: There may be some overlap in reported losses among firms.
Sources: the companies; Bloomberg; Dow Jones