January 20, 2015, 8:41 am
Eighty people hold the same amount of wealth as the world’s 3.6 billion poorest people, according to an analysis just released from Oxfam. The report from the global anti-poverty organization finds that since 2009, the wealth of those 80 richest has doubled in nominal terms — while the wealth of the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population has fallen. To see how much wealth the richest 1 percent and the poorest 50 percent hold, Oxfam used research from Credit Suisse, a Swiss financial services company, and Forbes’s annual billionaires list. Oxfam then looked at how many of the world’s richest people would need to pool their resources to have as much wealth as the poorest 50 percent — and as of March 2014, it was just 80 people. Four years earlier, 388 billionaires together held as much wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the world. Thirty-five of the 80 richest people in the world are U.S. citizens, with combined wealth of $941 billion in 2014. Together in second place are Germany and Russia, with seven mega-rich individuals apiece. The entire list is dominated by one gender, though — 70 of the 80 richest people are men. And 68 of the people on the list are 50 or older. If those 80 individuals were to bump into each on Svenborgia, what might they talk about? Retail could be a good conversation starter — 14 of the 80 got their wealth that way. Or they could discuss “extractives” (industries like oil, gas and mining, to which 11 of them owe their fortunes), finance (also 11 of them) or tech (10 of them). There might be some quiet voices in the room, though, because 11 of the wealthiest people on the planet were simply born into their money (19 others inherited their wealth and then made it grow). The remaining 50 names on the list, according to Forbes, are self-made billionaires. Oxfam notes that global wealth inequality is increasing while the rich get richer. If trends continue, the organization projects that the richest 1 percent of people will have more wealth than the remaining 99 percent by 2016. Here’s the list of the 80 people with as much wealth as the world’s poorest 3.6 billion people:
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| Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud | | | | |
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| Germán Larrea Mota Velasco | | |
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The Crimson Dining Room inside Castle Howard, York, Englan
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January 20, 2015, 8:42 am
Rich people. They’re not like us, at least when it comes to hiring help to take care of their offspring. Today’s reports of a sports agent who was trying to buy The Plaza hotel for billions but allegedly didn't pay his children's nanny minimum wage have drawn attention to the sometimes unfair ways domestic help are treated by the very rich. And among the many posts on a New York City mom’s Facebook page about strollers, sleep training and organic baby wipes are the posts of families looking for the "perfect" nanny. But the "perfect" nanny often does much more than tend to the children. Take the mom looking for someone to be "both a nanny at times and housekeeper." Or the mom who wants a nanny "fluent in both French and Spanish, but speaks perfect English." Another wants to know whether on the days when her child is at preschool should her nanny have to work late to make up for the hours she did not have to take care of the child? And these are nothing compared to some of the requests that the Abigail Madison Nanny and Household Staffing Agency has received. The agency places high-end household help paying $60,000 a year and up. Company owner Erin Maloney-Winder said while the vast majority of families she works with are "really nice people,” there are some she would "definitely call strange." Some of the strangest requests? There was the Manhattan mom who wanted a 50-hour-per-week nanny who would also home-school six children. For $450 a week. For reference, most nannies the agency places make $800 per week for two children and no home-schooling required. There was the Park Avenue family who requested a nanny for their 2-year-old child who would also be a professionally trained chef and work 75 per week over six days. And there was a family who requested their nanny bring all her own food to work for her 12-hour-per-day shift. She was never permitted to eat the fancy leftovers of the food cooked for the child, even though it was going in the trash. Also, the food the nanny would bring could not be microwavable. While Maloney-Winder said Abigail Madison didn't end up working with these families, the agency was able to fulfill one of the oddest requests it ever received. A Greenwich, Connecticut, family wanted a nanny who was also a professionally trained beautician. The nanny would be responsible for "fancy hairstyles for the mom and 9-year-old girl every morning. She would also be required to shave the dad's beard." And a tip for those moms looking for a nanny-housekeeper? Maloney-Winder said they're not an easy find. "Most won't do cleaning," she said.
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January 20, 2015, 8:47 am
Many of the world's most influential business leaders, politicians and celebrities are set to descend on the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos next week, where the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum has been held since 1971. There will be over 40 heads of state and government, as well as 2,500 business leaders at this year's event, according to the official program. The forum has also drawn its fair share of celebrities over recent years; in 2014, Oscar-winner Matt Damon and global rockstar Bono both made an appearance. This year proves to be no different, with famous faces expected from the world of politics, sports, film and technology.
From Wikipedia
Davos (Romansh: Tavau, archaic Italian: Tavate, local German pronunciation [daˈvoːs]) is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,211 (2013). Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range. At 1,560 m (5,120 ft), it is the highest city in Europe.
Davos is host to the World Economic Forum (WEF), an annual meeting of global political and business elites (often referred to simply as Davos) and the home of one of Switzerland's biggest ski resorts. At the end of every year it serves as the site of the annual Spengler Cup ice hockey tournament, hosted by the HC Davos local hockey team.
The current settlement of the Davos area started back in High Middle Ages with the immigration of Rhaeto-Romans. The village of Davos is first mentioned in 1213 as Tavaus.
From about 1280 the barons of Vaz allowed German-speaking Walser colonists to settle down, and conceded them extensive self-administration rights, causing Davos to become the largest Walser settlement area in eastern Switzerland. Natives still speak a dialect that is atypical for Graubünden, showing similarities with German idioms of western parts of Switzerland, especially the Upper Valais.
In 1436, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions was founded in Davos.
From the middle of the 19th century, Davos modeled on Sokołowsko became a popular destination for the ailing because the microclimate in the high valley was deemed excellent by doctors (initiated by Alexander Spengler) and recommended for lung disease patients. Robert Louis Stevenson, who suffered from tuberculosis, wintered in Davos in 1880 at the recommendation of his Edinburgh physician Dr. George Balfour. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote an article about skiing in Davos in 1899. A sanatorium in Davos is also the setting of the Thomas Mann novel Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain). Between 1936 and 1938, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, then at the end of his life, depicted Davos and the Junkerboden. His painting has a both romantic and pantheistic atmosphere and simplified formal structure.
In the natural ice era of winter sports, Davos, and the Davos Eisstadion was a mecca for speed skating. Many international championships were held here, and many world records were set, beginning with Peder Østlund who set four records in 1898. The only European Bandy Championship was held in the town in 1913.
Subsequently, Davos became a famous ski resort, especially frequented by tourists from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.[citation needed] After peaking in the 1970s and 1980s, the city settled down as a leading but less high-profile tourist attraction.
Davos has an area, as of 2006, of 254.5 km2 (98.3 sq mi). Of this area, 37.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 19.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (41%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).
The municipality is located in the Davos sub-district of the Prättigau/Davos district in the Landwasser valley. In terms of area, it was ever the largest city in Switzerland (until the merged municipality of Glarus Süd in 2010) and the largest in the canton of Graubünden. It consists of the village of Davos which is made up of five sections (Davos-Dorf, Davos-Platz, Frauenkirch, Glaris and Monsteinand) and the hamlets of Laret, Wolfgang, Clavadel and Spina in the main valley. In the side valleys there are additional hamlets including; Flüela, Dischma and Sertig.
Davos lies in a high valley, the connection to Klosters needing a pass of only some 70 m ascent from Davos Dorf. This tiny pass results in a flow direction of the river not corresponding to the main traffic routes of road and railway to the northeast but flowing in a southwesterly direction. Three long side valleys reach out to the south from the main valley.
Davos has a population (as of 31 December 2013) of 11,211.[2] As of 2008, 23.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.[9] Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of 5.5%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (86.3%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (2.8%) and Italian being third (2.7%).
As of 2000, the gender distribution of the population was 49.1% male and 50.9% female. The age distribution, as of 2000, in Davos is; 1,102 children or 9.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,435 teenagers or 12.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 1,733 people or 15.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,897 people or 16.6% are between 30 and 39, 1,806 people or 15.8% are between 40 and 49, and 1,498 people or 13.1% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 902 people or 7.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 677 people or 5.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 318 people or 2.8% who are between 80 and 89 there are 49 people or 0.4% who are between 90 and 99.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 36.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (30.1%), the SP (23.1%) and the CVP (7.4%).
In Davos about 74% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).
Davos has an unemployment rate of 0.85%. As of 2005, there were 239 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 86 businesses involved in this sector. 1,118 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 123 businesses in this sector. 5,565 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 615 businesses in this sector.
From the 2000 census, 3,950 or 34.6% are Roman Catholic, while 5,321 or 46.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 10 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, there are 439 individuals (or about 3.85% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 274 individuals (or about 2.40% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 8 individuals (or about 0.07% of the population) who are Jewish, and 79 (or about 0.69% of the population) who are Muslim. There are 56 individuals (or about 0.49% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 832 (or about 7.29% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 448 individuals (or about 3.92% of the population) did not answer the question.
Davos has a subarctic climate with an average of 126.7 days of rain per year and on average receives 999 mm (39.3 in) of precipitation. The wettest month is August during which time Davos receives an average of 135 mm (5.3 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.6 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 14.2, but with only 120 mm (4.7 in) of precipitation. The driest month of the year is April with an average of 55 mm (2.2 in) of precipitation over 13.6 days.
The ice stadium, including the largest natural ice skating field in Europe Davos is known throughout Switzerland for its famous ice hockey team, which is the HC Davos, who play in the Swiss National League A. Their home arena is the Vaillant Arena.
Besides being famous for cross country skiing, offering some 97 kilometres (60 mi) of pistes and the largest natural ice skating field in Europe. On that field a bandy tournament was held on the 6th of January to celebrate the 100 year anniversary tournament of the European Championships.
There are six main ski areas in winter, with a total of 200 miles (320 km) of slopes: Parsenn / Gotschna which connects to the partner town of Klosters from Davos Dorf Jakobshorn which can be reached from Davos Platz directly Pischahorn which can be reached by frequently running buses into Flüela valley Rinerhorn to start from Davos Glaris Madrisahorn located in neighbouring Klosters Schatzalp is privately owned by the Schatzalp Hotel and a speciality as a "decelerated" skiing area
All areas offer summer transport as well on to the main peaks from mid May until end of October. The remote side valleys heading towards the Engadin area are worth long hikes towards the passes of Sertig or Scalettapass, to reach for example Piz Kesch, an Ultra prominent peak. To the north there are no valleys, but a direct ascent to continue across a pass into the "Schanfigg" valley towards the rival resort of Arosa (to be reached in one day) or even continuing to Lenzerheide in a two-day hike.
Davos is home to seven sites that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. These heritage sites include the Town Archives, the Kirchner Museum, the Grosses Jenatschhaus (a type of charity house known as a Pfrundhaus) and the Forest Cemetery (Waldfriedhof). Several hotels and spas are also included on the list. The three hotels or former hotels are; Berghotel Schatzalp, the former Grand Hotel Belvédère and the Zürcher Höhenklinik von R. Gaberel
Davos hosts annual meetings of the World Economic Forum. The city was featured in an episode of Viva La Bam, when cities around Europe were visited. On 14 March 2003, a festival called Winterjam was held in the city and bands such as Sum 41, Crazy Town, and Guano Apes performed during this event.
Davos boasts several research institutes: the AO Foundation focusing on trauma and disorders of the musculoskeletal system, the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF), the WSL institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) and the World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC).
Notable residents and people connected to Davos
Paul Accola, born in Davos in 1967, former alpine skiing World Cup overall champion Skënder Zogu, born in Davos in 1933, the current first in line of succession to the former Albanian throne.
Iouri Podladtchikov, (Russian: Юрий Юрьевич Подладчиков, born 13 September 1988) is a Russian-Swiss snowboarder. Russian-born Podladtchikov grew up in Davos, Switzerland, and graduated from Sports Highschool Davos in 2008. In Sochi, Russia he won the gold medal for the halfpipe at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
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January 24, 2015, 9:51 am
"Cockroaches and socialites are the only things that can stay up all night and eat anything."- Herb Caen.
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February 2, 2015, 8:55 am
Number of dollar millionaires predicted to hit 1m within three years
Britain is home to 840,000 people who are dollar millionaires with £660,000 or more excluding their main home – a combined wealth of $3.5tn (£2.3tn). The number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs owning at least $1m) declined by 1.2% from the end of 2007 to the end of 2013 as financial crisis turned to recession, but it is now expected to reach 1 million in the next three years, the report by New World Wealth said. Falling equity and property prices over the six years cut the total number of HNWIs by about 10,000, although the number of billionaires and those with $100m or more increased as rich people from abroad came to Britain. “This decline would have been far greater had it not been for the migration of a large number of wealthy individuals into the UK during the period,” said the report. “We estimate that over 30,000 HNWIs moved to the UK during the review period. The bulk … came from the EU, Asia and the Middle East. Most of them settled in London and south-east England.” While HNWIs’ total wealth declined between 2007 to 2013 by 0.9%, UK GDP per head fell much more steeply, losing 16%. The share of the UK’s total wealth owned by HNWIs is now 38%, compared with the worldwide average of 34%. London is home to most of Britain’s wealthy, with 376,600 HNWI residents, or 44.8% of the UK total. But despite London’s status as a haven for the world’s wealthy, Edinburgh, Scotland’s financial centre, has a higher concentration of HNWIs than the capital. HNWIs make up 5.8% of Edinburgh residents, compared with 4.5% for London and Manchester. London and the south-east’s dominance of the nation’s wealth is underlined by rankings for the top counties for millionaires. The capital and surrounding counties such as Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire make up seven of the top 10, with Greater Manchester, Edinburgh and Lancashire the others. The home counties include nine of the top 10 small towns for millionaires. The top three are Windsor in Berkshire, Weybridge in Surrey and Sevenoaks in Kent. Hale in Greater Manchester was number 10 and Alderley Edge, Cheshire, was 11. Britain, including the Channel Islands, is the third biggest HNWI market in the world, behind the US and Japan. Real estate and construction is the main source of wealth for 18% of UK HNWIs, ahead of financial services (15%), retail (10%) and media (9%). So-called core millionaires, with assets of up to $30m (£20m), make up 64% of UK HNWI wealth. The number of “ultra-high-net-worth individuals”, with assets of $30m or more, fell 0.2% from 2007 to 2013, but the number of billionaires rose by a third, to 102. Those with $100m or more increased by 8%. The years since the financial crisis have been marked by rich people from abroad buying property in the UK for investment or basing themselves in London. Rich foreigners helped fuel a 30% increase, to $15bn, in spending on luxury goods such as cars, clothing and hotels from 2007 to 2013, more than offsetting the decline in overall HNWI numbers.
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February 2, 2015, 8:56 am
Study of rare surnames shows rich British families stay that way for generations – and that attempts to promote social mobility have been ineffective
Attempts to improve social mobility in Britain throughout the last 150 years have failed to make any material difference, according to new research. A study tracking 634 rare surnames, such as Pepys, Bigge and Nottidge, has shed new light on how wealth has been handed down since 1850. Researchers studied a variety of sources – including the censuses of 1841–1911, records of births, marriages, probates and baptisms, apprentice contracts, ship passenger lists and newspaper announcements – and concluded that, down the generations, the “iron law” of inheritance had consistently trumped all efforts to improve social mobility in England and Wales. Or, as Professor Gregory Clark and Dr Neil Cummins, the two economists behind the study, explain: “To those who have, more is given.” Publication of the study, in this month’s Economic Journal, comes at the end of a week in which the debate about Britain’s meritocratic credentials has dominated the headlines. The competition for the Oscar for best actor is being depicted in some quarters as a two-horse race between an Old Etonian, Eddie Redmayne, and an Old Harrovian, Benedict Cumberbatch, while a recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggested that the correlation between parents’ earnings and those of their children was higher in Britain than anywhere in the developed world. After examining the records of 18,869 people, and dividing them into three categories, the rich, the prosperous and the poor, Clark and Cummins agree. They suggest that the passing on of wealth is far more persistent over the generations than previously acknowledged, noting that there is a “significant correlation between the wealth of families five generations apart”. Put simply, the descendants of the wealthy of 1858 are still much wealthier than the average person in 2012. The economists calculate that this “elasticity” of intergenerational wealth is a remarkably stable 0.75. A zero rating would indicate that no wealth at all was transferred down the generations, while a figure of 1 would suggest the “perfect transmission” of wealth between parents and their children. Surnames studied in the rich category – whose probate values were among the top 5% of the national average – include that of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the famous Victorian civil engineer whose great- great-grandson, Sir Peter, is a TV producer and chairman of Arts Council England. The transfer of wealth between the generations carries additional benefits, according to the study. Not only are the descendants of those who were wealthy in 1850 still wealthy, but they have longer lifespans than average, are more likely to attend Oxford or Cambridge, live in expensive neighbourhoods, and go on to become doctors or lawyers. As Clark and Cummins observe: “What your great-great-grandfather was doing is still predictive of what you are doing now.” Strikingly, there is no evidence that wealth and status between the generations has declined since the Victorian era. The economists say that, despite the introduction of wealth taxes early in the 20th century, the arrival of mass education and the opening of the universities and professions to a modern meritocracy, social mobility rates have not changed “one iota”. “Wilson, Thatcher, or Blair – the noisy cacophony of Westminster politics – makes no difference to the iron law of inheritance,” Clark and Cummins write. They add: “There is no more popular political programme than that which calls for enhanced social mobility. Our data suggests there is also no programme more guaranteed to fail.” The findings appear to echo those of Thomas Piketty, the French economist whose bestselling book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, argues that the wealthy are becoming wealthier and the poor poorer. However, Clark and Cummins offer an important corrective to Piketty’s analysis. They argue that eventually wealth passed down the generations averages out, although the process takes centuries. They calculate it will take 300 years for descendants of rich 19th-century families to end up being of average wealth. “By 2300 the descendants of the current inhabitants of Kensington and Chelsea will be average in their social status,” the pair suggest. Nevertheless, Clark said he was struck by “just how stable the inheritance of wealth is across time and how immutable it has been relative to changes in social institutions.” Clark denied his findings suggested that bringing about a more equal society was a forlorn hope. “It shows that you have to do it directly, by taxing the rich and subsidising the poor,” Clark said. “Measures to promote social mobility have little prospect of succeeding. It’s always going to be the case that families with the greatest abilities will just pass them on to their children.”
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February 2, 2015, 8:57 am
19,000 people surveyed including 600 with rare surnames such Pepys Modern-day descendants just as rich as Victorian ancestors, study found Will take 300 years for offspring of today's rich to reach average wealth By Chris Pleasance for MailOnline
Wealthy parents pass on three quarters of their fortunes to their children meaning it will take 300 years for the offspring of today's super-rich to have average incomes, a survey has revealed. The sons and daughters of prestigious families are also likely to live longer than average, more likely to attend Oxbridge, live in expensive houses, and go on to become doctors or lawyers. There is also little difference in wealth or social standing when the richest families of the Victoria era are compared to their descendants today, according to the study. The study of 19,000 people, including 600 with rare surnames such as Pepys (after the noted diarist, pictured), found their modern-day descendants are just as wealthy as their Victorian counterparts Publishing their findings in the Economic Journal, Professor Gregory Clark and Dr Neil Cummins said: 'What your great-great-grandfather was doing is still predictive of what you are doing now.' The pair examined the records of 19,000 people, including more than 600 rare family names such as Bazalgette, the Pepys, and Bigge. Joseph Bazalgette was responsible for building the world's first sewer system in London in the 19th century, the Pepys family tree contains noted diarist Samuel Pepys, and John Bigge was a judge and royal commissioner. They found that, compared to their relatives in 1850, those living with that surname today are almost certain to have amassed fortunes well beyond the reach of the average Briton. For example Sir Peter Bazalgette, the great-great-grandson of Sir Joseph, is the founder of Endemol television production company which created Big Brother and Deal or No Deal. The company was floated on the Dutch stock exchange in 2005. It trebled in value and was sold for £2.5billion in 2007. Survey estimates three quarters of any fortune is passed from parents to their children, meaning it will take 300 years for the offspring of today's super-rich to be as wealthy as the average Briton The findings of Dr Clark and Dr Cummins, reported by The Guardian, suggest that the passing down of wealth has a far bigger impact on society than previously thought. The data showed a 'significant correlation between the wealth of families' even up to five generations apart. They estimate that three quarters of any estate is passed down to the offspring of wealthy families, despite inheritance taxes introduced in recent years. At that rate, it means that children of today's super-wealthy would take, on average, nearly three centuries to become as wealthy as the average Briton. Dr Clark and Dr Cummins said: 'Wilson, Thatcher, or Blair – the noisy cacophony of Westminster politics – makes no difference to the iron law of inheritance. 'Measures to promote social mobility have little prospect of succeeding. It’s always going to be the case that families with the greatest abilities will just pass them on to their children.' Richest 1% on track to possess half of all world wealth by 2016
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February 5, 2015, 5:57 am
The ladies who lunch have been having a rough time of it lately in the “Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis” Facebook group, whose mission is to mark, as one member posted recently, “All things Jackie.” Meaning not just her iconic style and faultless manners but also JFK’s trysts, the assassination — everything. Over the past few weeks, however, there has been some downright ugly brewing — even in this online Camelot. Trouble showed up in new member Dani (her real first name), 26, a self-described Republican, who is shown posing on her own Facebook page with a Remington 870 shotgun in hand. No question about it, she’s an outlier in this closed group that has grown by more than 500 percent in the past year, most of whom came of age when Kennedys ruled the Earth and who show no end to their adoration of the late first lady. Of all controversies (think the Bay of Pigs and Vietnam), Dani upset the group’s usual decorous behavior in a flame war over — Marilyn Monroe. Like many Kennedy debates, this one started with the sanctity (or lack thereof) of the late first couple’s marriage and spiraled into verbal fisticuffs. “Who are you to trash a mistress Jack was sleeping with by calling [Monroe] a tramp? It is well documented that [she] had emotional insecurities and was easily taken advantage of by several men,” Dani wrote, abandoning any pretense of showing respect to her elders. (Although a new member, she already had adopted the group’s reflexive familiarity of referring to all Kennedys by their first names. No “Mr. President” to be found in these threads; he’s simply “Jack.”) Soon enough, hundreds of posts overflowed on the group’s Facebook wall: Susan: “Dani, you seem so angry and I am beyond it. . . . No one takes up the air as you have.” Dani: “I’m tired of it all and I’m tired [of] stooping to other people’s levels just to defend myself and my opinion.” Some tried to use proper manners to change the subject. “So anyway, about Jackie. . . .” posted one of the few male members, to no avail. Finally, another member begged Dani: “Please keep all that ranting to yourself. . . . Miss [sic] Onassis would not approve – she would wince, you do understand, to be a part of a group where so much vulgarity is present.” At that moment the generally even-tempered moderator Steven L. Brawley jumped into the fray with a warning right out of “Emily Post”: “Isn’t life complicated enough without arguing with people on Facebook? JBKO would not be amused I’m sure.” To help his members remember just what group this was, he posted a photo of a button that asked: “What Would Jackie Do?” Some took the hint. One who goes by Sherry answered: “She would embrace this girl and mentor her. And handle it with grace and style.” Then, as suddenly as she had appeared, Dani threatened to quit the group, using very un-Jackie-like language that can’t be reprinted here. This proved to be the tipping point, as her threat was applauded by many in a series of equally ungracious posts, including this one from Heather: “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” Another posted a photo of Joan Crawford with the caption: “Bezerk!” With that, Dani’s name turned from blue to gray, signaling in Facebook-land that she had left the group. With Dani quickly becoming a distant memory, the banter continued a bit longer. “Can everyone please let this go?” Sherry asked. “Jackie I am sure would have — politely shifting to something positive and kind.” Then, she asked her fellow members to “never speak of this again. LOL, seriously.” Since then, moderator Brawley laid down Jackie’s law to his Facebook group: “Steven has final say and will delete any members, posts, or comments he deems inappropriate at his discretion.” Because, no doubt, that’s what Jackie would have done. As the first lady once said, “I want minimum information given with maximum politeness.” Not a bad rule, especially in this age of social media.
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February 5, 2015, 5:57 am
Conrad Hilton appeared in court on Tuesday after turning himself in over terror flight from London to Los Angeles last July Hilton family attorney Robert Shapiro confirmed the 20-year-old 'took a sleeping pill before the flight and wasn't himself' He also checked into a 30 day rehab program immediately after the flight Hilton said on the flight his family paid $300k for a similar plane incident in the past, this after threaning to kill the crew The first words Hilton said outside the courthouse were to a photographer, telling the man 'You're a scumbag' He was released on $100,000 bail and was forced to surrender his passport and remain in California with his next court appearance scheduled for March By Karen Mizoguchi for MailOnline Conrad Hilton Jr appeared in a Los Angeles court on Tuesday, nearly seven months after 'going insane' on an international flight back in July. The 20-year-old little brother of Paris Hilton created a raucous scene aboard an airplane while flying from London to LA, as he allegedly 'screamed and threatened flight attendants' yelling profane statements such as 'I will f**king own anyone on this flight; they are f**king peasants.' Hilton and his team are blaming his behavior on a sleeping pill and hoping that his recent stint in rehab will prove him to be a changed man. This as Hilton left the courthouse with a smug smile on his face before looking at one photographer and telling him; 'You're a scumbag.' The judge released Hilton on $100,000 bail, but forced him to surrender his passport and remain in the state of Californian until his next court appearance in March. Conrad - who is the grandson of famed hotel billionaire Conrad Hilton Sr - was 'ferociously punching the bulkhead of the plane, ten centimeters from a flight attendant's face' and 'went berserk causing children on the plane to cry.' Witnesses revealed to the gossip site that he was yelling offensive blurbs such as 'If you wanna square up to me bro, then bring it and I will f**king fight you' and 'I will f**king rip through you and kill you.' Also many on the same flight believed Conrad was smoking marijuana as they noticed a 'smell of weed seeping out of the bathroom.' When Conrad fell asleep, 'the captain authorized crew members to restrain him to his seat for the descent and he was ultimately handcuffed to his seat.' This was not the first time, the young hotel heir had caused a disturbance on a plane. Another source told the site: 'Conrad grabbed a flight attendant's shirt and said "I could get you all fired in five minutes. I know your boss! My father will pay this out. He has done it before. Dad paid $300k last time.' His father, Rick Hilton, has built a commercial real estate empire with his real estate brokerage company Hilton & Hyland and has an estimated net worth of $300m. The Hilton family's attorney, Robert Shapiro confirmed to the gossip site that 'Conrad took a sleeping pill before the flight and wasn't himself.' In documents obtained by TMZ, Conrad 'admitted to taking a sleeping pill before the flight and then bragged that he "buried" flight attendants' by telling the crew that he 'could get all of their jobs taken away in less than 30 seconds.' In his client's defense, Shapiro said there are 'numerous news reports and cases of people experiencing adverse effects including aggressive outbursts.' Barbara Leake recalls her family's night of terror surrounded by flood waters. Growing up on a farm at Oakhampton Road, Maitland was a carefree, happy adventure for the Hill family siblings. Barbara Leake and her family were forced to endure a night in the ceiling as the floodwaters climbed up the walls. But as Barbara Hill (now Leake) recalled, everything the family owned was lost in the February 1955 Maitland flood. At that time, Mrs Leake was 14-years-old, the oldest of four children, and unlike their experience in the 1949 Maitland flood, they had no idea what was about to rain upon them. “Mum decided to stay at the house despite being told to get out,” Mrs Leake said. “She thought it would be safe because in 1949 the house had two feet six inches of water inside and she decided we would stay and sweep out the water and mud as it came in and everything would go back to normal fairly quickly. “But this time it was quite different – the water came in up to the ceiling. “We had stacked the furniture but we were unable to save a thing, there was nothing left in our house.” The Hill family decided to go across the road to higher ground and to the safety of a neighbour’s veranda, and then on the roof. “As a teenager I remember thinking this is a bit of excitement, watching water go by, bloated cows and hay bales. “Then it got serious. We had been sitting on the verandah with our neighbours, the Braziers, when we were told to alert some older neighbours about a quarter of a mile walk up the road. “The water was up to our ankles at first and by the time we got back to the Braziers, the water was up to our knees and rising quickly. “Dad got a ladder so we could all climb onto the roof. There were 17 people on top of a weatherboard house. “The house started to rock under the force of the water. We had to climb across the ladder onto a brick house next door. I went first and held the ladder for everyone else. “Mum had packed her basket with bread, corned meat and a torch and it fell into the water. She was not happy about it. “By this time it was raining and dark so we removed a sheet of iron, climbed into the roof cavity and sat on the rafters for the night.” It was a scary time for all and Mrs Leake will never forget the roar of the flood waters and houses being washed away. “We had no idea what was coming. The water came in like an ocean, in waves. “These are childhood memories for me and when I think it about now it must have been hard on Mum and Dad. They had four children to keep safe, they lost all their possessions, it was pretty horrific, then they had to start again.” Everyone in that roof top survived and all were rescued the next day by a surf club boat which tore through the raging water to get everyone to safety. The Hill family was taken to Cobbs Hill near Maitland Hospital. Mrs Leake remembered staying at her grandmother’s house in Bulwer Street, Maitland for the next six weeks, where there had been no flood damage because it is the highest part of the city of Maitland. “Mum and Dad left Oakhampton after that. They bought a house in Brooks Street, Telarah and later moved to Lorn. “I was doing my intermediate certificate at the time at St Mary’s Dominican Convent in Maitland but because it had been flood damaged we had to attend school at Monte Pio at Campbell’s Hill, until St Mary’s was cleaned up. “I will never forget how I wrote about my experience in the flood and I received a good mark for it, although the teacher did not believe it was a true story at the time. “But I lived through it, along with a lot of others who did not go back to Oakhampton Road.” The Hill family home still stands in Oakhampton Road. The road was lined with houses in 1955 but many were washed away or demolished after the flood.
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February 5, 2015, 5:59 am
• F W Woolworth built Long Island mansion in 1916 after his previous home was burned down in mystery fire • Blaze erupted in first-floor bedroom of 16-acre estate on Wednesday morning, owners were out • 150 firefighters battled the flames which spread quickly, one was hospitalized with carbon monoxide exposure A mysterious fire has gutted the $90 million mansion built by five-and-dime creator F W Woolworth. One of the East Coast's most elaborate estates, the marble-pillared abode was constructed in 1916 - after the family's first property was mysteriously burned down. Ever since, it has been plagued by rumors of paranormal activity as people claim to hear the cries of Woolworth's daughter, who committed suicide in 1917, from the forever-locked Marie Antoinette room. On Wednesday, flames ripped through the 16-acre Glen Cove estate, leaving the current owners with millions of dollars worth of damage. The blaze erupted shortly before 11am in a first-floor bedroom, officials said. Flames quickly spread through a wing of the 25,000-square-foot 1916 structure while the owners were out. One firefighter was hospitalized suffering from carbon monoxide-related side effects after 150 officers from 10 different departments responded to the call. The groundskeeper, a part-time firefighter, alerted the fire service after seeing smoke billowing from the house while plowing snow, the Wall Street Journal reported. Newsday says the mansion has been owned by Martin Carey, the brother of former New York Governor Hugh Carey, since 1978. His accountant, Leonard Fritzson, said the family was distraught. The fire was not deemed suspicious. The cause is under investigation. The home was designed by noted architect C P H Gilbert. Woolworth's plans for the $9 million home were already drawn when his previous abode burned down. He requested marble walls, marble pillars, two greenhouses, a tea house, and a $2 million staircase - all in Italian Renaissance style. Over the years, it has been haunted by rumors of paranormal activity. The spirit of Woolworth's second daughter Edna is said to linger around the premises after she committed suicide on May 2, 1917. It is claimed she took her own life at New York City's Plaza Hotel, though many believe the never-unlocked 'Marie Antoinette' room in the mansion was in fact the place of Edna's death, while her father was hosting a party. Following the incident, a crack appeared in the marble family crest above the fireplace. Noises have been heard, 'spirit sightings' have been reported, and visitors claimed they heard a woman crying in the Marie Antoinette room.
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February 5, 2015, 10:44 am
The rich and famous expect perfection from everyone they work and deal with, but they also are willing to accept excellence. Fame and fortune are both mysterious and fickle. What is it that makes one person wealthy and famous, while the rest of his or her friends or colleagues are left behind? While it's true that money can't buy you happiness, at least on a long-term basis, it can definitely buy you the freedom to do what you want in life. And that is worth a lot. While most everyone harbors a secret (or maybe not-so-secret) desire to be either rich, famous — or both — this is particularly true for members of the Millennial generation. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 81% of Millennials said that getting rich is their generation's first or second most important life goal, and 51% said the same about getting famous. So, what is it exactly that the rich and famous do differently from the rest of us, and how can you adopt some of these habits in your own life? Consider these nine life hacks of the rich and famous.
1. Focus your attention on what's most important. The most successful people I know actively guard their time, focusing only on the people and things that are most important to them from moment to moment. They simply don't waste time doing things that don't help them achieve their goals.
2. Expect perfection (but accept excellence). The rich and famous expect perfection from everyone they work and deal with, but they also are willing to accept excellence. What they won't tolerate for one minute is less than the best effort or service from anyone.
3. Make lots of small bets. The rich and famous are not gamblers by nature — they achieved, grew, and maintained their wealth and fame by making many small bets, not one or two large bets that would expose them to excessive risk.
Integrity is one of the very most important qualities that truly rich and famous people have — it creates valuable trust that enables them to get deals done that others can't touch.
When you make your own rules — and get others to play accordingly — then you control the game, and to a great degree, the outcomes. This doesn't mean breaking the law, but instead optimizing your approach within it and pushing the envelope whenever possible.
6. Give more than you take. No one likes working with someone who constantly tries to take advantage of other people. The rich and famous know this, and they provide value greater than they take — so much so that they attract the most successful opportunities to themselves. People want to work with them.
Instead trying to succeed on a level playing field, find ways to tilt it in your favor, and then leverage the opportunities that result. You can tilt the playing field by anticipating the future course of business, and then positioning yourself in advance to be there when change arrives.
The rich and famous don't believe in luck — they know that they have to create their own opportunities, and then act on them. Luck is simply where preparation and opportunity meet.
9. Volunteer — and network. It's not a coincidence that the rich and famous are some of the largest donors to social causes, community-based organizations, and nonprofits. They are passionate about leaving the world a better place than they found it, and they put their time and their money where their mouth is. Not only do they change the world for the better as a result of these efforts, they extend their networks, which helps further build their fame and fortune.
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February 7, 2015, 6:46 am
Eric Sherman, Forbes Magazine
A new study from the Pell Institute shows that family income not only has a huge correlation with the chance that a kid gets into college, but of that person’s likelihood of actually graduating. (Hat tip to CNN Money.) In the American mythos of unlimited opportunity and upward mobility, higher education is supposed to be the key to success. Given lower-income kids the chance to go to college — any college — and then, if they apply themselves, they can get a good job with a solid economic future. That was the point, after all, of Barack Obama’s call for free community college. If you keep your grades up and graduate on time, there would be no cost. Statistics consistently show that people with a college degree will do far better monetarily over the course of their lives than those with only a high school education or less. So, there’s an understandable focus on opening the opportunity for higher education. Without opening that initial opportunity, you sustain a caste system favoring those from a more privileged background. Only 9 percent of U.S. kids whose families are in the bottom income quartile (less than $34,160 annual income) get a bachelor’s degree by age 24, versus 77 percent of those from a top quartile background ($108,650 or more). Even middle class ($63,600 to $108,650) and lower middle class ($34,160 to $63,600) kids are far less likely to graduate. Here’s the story in a graphic from Pell. But that is only the beginning. Just as those who are successful at making money often underestimate the effects of talent as well as various kinds of lifelong support and encouragement, so do those who have successfully risen through academic circles often fail to grasp their advantages. To hold out simply the opportunity for those from more modest or poor financial means to get into a college program as a way to address inequality is to ignore the issue of whether someone can actually get through, or what advantage the degree might be if it’s from a two-year rather than four-year program, let alone undergraduate rather than graduate degree. As the Pell report states, even if you look only at cases where students have entered college, there is an enormous gap by family income, one that has grown over the past four decades. Over time, things have developed in such a way that if your family is from the top quartile of income and you get accepted to college, you’re almost completely guaranteed to finish at least a bachelor’s. In the second quartile? Your chances are 50-50. The less money the family has, the smaller a statistical chance of getting through. No doubt that college costs are a big factor. The price of education is truly scary, as you know if you have children who attract tuition bills. That may be one of the factors driving the chance of students never finishing their degrees. The help for students in need just isn’t there. In 2012 constant dollars, the maximum Pell grant amount in 2012 was only 95 percent of what it was in 1975, although college costs were 2.3 times higher. In 1975, a maximum Pell grant could cover 67 percent of the average college cost. In 2012, it was 27 percent. Unmet financial need for those in the lowest quartile was, in constantly 2012 dollars, twice as large in 2012 as in 1990. Students from lower- and middle-income families face higher costs and have less assistance in grants, which means more loans. That puts them at an immediate disadvantage entering the job market because they have mortgaged a significant portion of their future earnings to enable them. All this is atop whatever additional advantages higher-income students have from economic privilege in not only entering and paying for college, but in being prepared for the levels of work necessary and having the background needed to succeed. In 2000, the U.S. was tied with Norway with having the largest percentages of 25- to 34-year-olds with the equivalent of a B.A., B.S. Now, we’re twelfth. Not only do these statistics bode ill for the issue of income inequality, but for international competitiveness, as well. It’s another example of the country focusing on feel-good measures that address real problems of inequality more in name than in substance.
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February 9, 2015, 6:52 am
In the last piece, a handful of psychologists weighed in on whether the super-successful C-suite crowd may suffer from depression disproportionately. And they seem to, for reasons that are counterintuitive, but pretty logical once you think about them. The related issue is how highly-successful people deal with their depression when it does strike – do the types of traits that help a person attain uber-success in the first place – i.e., motivation, stick-to-itiveness and resilience – also enable one to fight depression better? There are two opinions on this. Some say, “no,” since depression strips away those qualities as soon as it strikes, wiping out the very coping mechanisms needed to recover. “When the noonday demon strikes it wipes out all resilience and perseverance,” says Todd Essig, psychologist in New York City, and Forbes contributor. Others disagree, arguing that very successful people have larger reserves of resilience and motivation to begin with, and that these qualities remain at least somewhat more intact when depression strikes. So let’s consider this: There are some ways in which the super-successful may have a leg up when it comes to recovering, and these qualities are worth paying attention to, and perhaps even learning from.
They develop a GOAL with therapy Many people go to therapy with the foggy notion that they want to feel better – but they aren’t exactly sure what that looks like, says Richard Taite, founder and CEO of Cliffside Malibu treatment center, who has dealt with major depression himself, particularly in his own early days of sobriety. Taite knows from personal experience, and from seeing countless heavy hitters come through the treatment center, that one of the biggest differences in whether therapy is successful or not is whether a person outlines his or her goals before they go to therapy, or very early on in it. The power crowd is used to outlining goals, and therapy is no different, he says. “Don’t just be in therapy,” says Taite. “You have to find the psychologist who’s not only well-meaning, but actually has the ability to get results you want to get. And, you have to know what it is you want before you go in. “Figure out what you want: You want a loving relationship with your wife, to really take each other in, and breathe each other in? You want a good relationship with your children; you want to be at peace; you want genuine happiness? You can’t be in the victim position. That’s the most disempowering place you could be. You have to take care of your own side of the street. For a long time, it’s little wins, little wins, little wins – and then all of a sudden, you realize you’re changing, and you start to know how to act when depression hits. When you get in that space, you recognize it, and you know how to identify what’s going on, and move out of it.”
They’re willing to “go there” Funnily, when the super-successful come to grips with the fact that they’re going to have to delve into their pasts and figure themselves out, they’re often totally down with it. “I’m a psychoanalyst,” says Deborah Serani, psychologist and author of the award-winning book Living with Depression, “so we understand that well-being isn’t just about this moment, but you have to look at arc of a person’s life – you have to go back to early experiences. I find the big difference in the affluent individuals – they’re ironically more eager to explore that area than others who may not have means. It’s kind of like using the narcissism in a good way. Like, ‘we’re gonna talk about me? Great!’” And once they really start to do this, to think more deeply about their pasts and presents, it usually works out pretty well in the end. They learn to develop meta-awareness of any situation Exceedingly successful individuals are usually exceedingly intelligent, so when they stop self-sabotaging (and they are often very good at that, too) and start thinking about themselves and their lives in new ways – à la therapy – it can have powerful effects. Taite, who says he’s had lots of therapy over the years, has learned how to identify triggers for depression as soon as they start. Which can keep him from spiraling into a days-long depressive episode. He’s also seen similar changes in the hundreds of his high-functioning clientele. “I’m the most therapized guy I know,” says Taite. “I’m in therapy 4 hours a week. I’ll give you an example of how fast it works now. When my wife and I are fighting, it usually has nothing to do with my wife and me. It’s because my parents are in the f*cking room and her parents are in the f*cking room. So really there are six people in the f*cking room. So what my wife and I are really fighting about is ancient stuff. If we can just get the other four people out of the f*cking room, then we’ll be able to deal with what’s actually going on.” In other words, when past traumas creep back up and overwhelms you, you can fall back into a child-like place. “If something that is a four, rises to the level of a 10,” says Taite, “and is absolutely flooding you, then you know you’re ‘in your child,’ because if you were ‘in your adult,’ you would experience the four as a four. “ Knowing how to immediately identify when old traumas flood back, and how to pull yourself out of the situation, can prevent against a days-long (or longer) relapse.
They learn the dose of treatment that works for them Taite points out that when it comes to recovering from depression, you have to figure out the best combination of therapies – sometimes it’s psychotherapy alone, sometimes it’s medication, and sometimes it’s both. Or maybe it’s other methods. And then you have to figure out, along with your therapist, what will work for maintenance – and it may have to be tweaked every now and then. “You start with a couple or a few sessions a week, depending, and, then you titrate back,” says Taite. “I’ve tried one session a week for myself; it doesn’t work. I like three for me and one for us – my wife and me. That’s the dose that’s most effective.” Not everyone may have the luxury of three or four therapy sessions a week, but if you can put as many “treatments” into a week as you can – therapy, running, knitting, journaling, meditating, praying – that will set you up well for recovery.
They don’t see depression as a personality flaw Any psychologist you ask will tell you that depression isn’t about a person being weak or flawed – it just happens, and it takes a lot of work to recover. “With depression,” says psychologist Arnold Washton, ofCompass Health, “there are some people for whom biological factors appear to be overwhelming. They respond so well to medication or to TMS that it seems to be almost wholly biological. For other people, they’ve suffered a series of blows and losses, so it’s more psychological. But no disease has a singular cause: Just like the idea that pneumonia is pneumonia is pneumonia is inaccurate in medicine, it’s also not the case with depression.” Whatever the cause of your depression, it’s easier to recover when you view depression as a true disorder, rather than a shortcoming. “These are people with egos that can withstand a lot, says Constance Scharff, Director of Addiction Research at Cliffside Malibu. “At least with people I’ve spoken to, they’re more concerned about addiction because it’s a ‘sign of weakness.’ That’s not the case with depression. Their attitude is, ‘Would you criticize me for having diabetes? No.’ If you beat them up for a mental health issue, you’re going to get a lion back. They have different personalities than the average person.” Luckily, as more people come forward with their personal battles, the stigma is dissolving.
They own the “fake it till you make it approach” Once a person admits he or she is depressed and commits to recovery, the “fake it till you make it” approach can be helpful in overhauling negative thought processes. “We know from research that negative thoughts are a huge part of depression,” says Serani, “so recovery, then, requires an overhaul in thinking. Learning how to stop the loop of negative thoughts and reframing them to realistic, positive ones is the goal. One can achieve this by identifying the corrosive thinking (I’m never gonna get this account, who am I kidding?) challenging it by defusing its logic (No, wait a minute, I’ve been successful before. In fact, more times than not), and then replacing it with by grounding it in reality… If an uber-professional wants to “Fake it till you make it”, it can be helpful if they’re *not* in denial of their depression. Otherwise, it can spiral toward serious, life threatening levels if untreated depressive symptoms are ignored.” She adds that people in highly competitive business arenas may be particularly endowed with this capacity, since they are used to problem-solving on the fly. But as for anyone, getting help to replace old, negative thought processes with newer, more positive ones is an important first step in treatment.
They figure out that a better way actually does exist This is probably the most critical point, for any piece on depression, and for any person who’s depressed: Before you can get treated for depression you have to knowthat you’re depressed. But as simple as that sounds, it can be easier said than done. You first have to realize that there’s a better way to go through life. Many times, it takes a wakeup call like a trauma or a momentous event like the birth of a child, to make you realize that life doesn’t have to be blah, or worse, all the time. “Most people are just unaware,” says Taite. “I used to get out of the car to look at street signs. I had my windshield replaced; I had my headlights souped up, and I still couldn’t see. People kept saying to me ‘you need glasses.’ I finally went to an eye doctor; he said, ‘so how long have you been walking around blind?” How was I supposed to know? If you don’t know anything different….if you walk around not knowing that you’re blind, the only way you know is by getting woken up to it – for me, it was being a drug addict and self-medicating for 20 years. If I hadn’t found a joy for living when I did – my wife and my children – I was going to continue self-medicating. Sometimes it takes something really horrible to wake you up. Or something really wonderful, like the birth of a child.” Scharff, who herself has dealt with major depression over the years, adds that it doesn’t have to be a major life event that shows a person that there’s a better way – sometimes it just takes paying attention to the little things throughout the day that give us a glimpse of another way. “The human state of being is not miserable,” she says. “It’s also not joyful and leaping over the bushes – it’s somewhere in between. If you feel bad for more than half the day you should get help. And it doesn’t have to be a momentous event to wake you up – I think there are moments throughout day or week that for some reason we can hear it. In recovery, we call them moments of clarity. I’ve had people say to me at times in the past, ‘You need help.’ And I didn’t hear it. But then someone says it at just the right time, and you GET IT. If you love someone with depression, just keep saying it. They won’t hear it, and they won’t hear it, and they won’t hear it. And then all of a sudden, they hear it.” For more mental health resources, Click Here to access the Serious Mental Illness Blog
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February 10, 2015, 7:36 am
Connecticut History: Fenwick: Fenwick is a borough in, in the town of Old Saybrook. The population was 52 at the 2000 census, making it the least populous municipal...
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February 10, 2015, 7:36 am
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February 13, 2015, 7:18 am
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
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February 16, 2015, 7:29 am
NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) -- She bought draperies flecked with Swarovski crystals. The ceiling mural at her "Gone with the Wind"-inspired mansion featured her family in robes, gazing down from the heavens. And Claire Risoldi's grand Republican fundraising soirees included the time she surprised guests by getting married at "Clairemont," the 10-acre Pennsylvania estate now at the center of an alleged $20 million insurance fraud scheme. "I had a great life with Claire and I love her to no end. ... There is no one like her," her second husband, Thomas French, wrote in a suicide note this month, weeks after the couple and five others were charged. "I committed no crime and I can't bear seeing Claire ... (and the others) going through this mess." In a grand jury report, prosecutors with the Democratic-led state attorney general's office paint Risoldi as the matriarch of a family that lived large on the proceeds of suspicious fires -- three in five years -- and suddenly-missing jewelry. Risoldi, 67, has called the prosecution politically driven. At her husband's funeral Thursday, she greeted guests in a church lobby bedecked in a stylish fur jacket, spike-heeled boots, aviator sunglasses and her trademark bouffant hairdo. "She's a very colorful character, but she's a decent person," said Jack McMahon, one of several family lawyers working on the case. "(The report) is like a 47-page novella, but it doesn't spell out a crime." Risoldi, French and her two adult children, Carla and Carl, were charged with racketeering, theft, insurance fraud and other crimes. Two others, including the man who said he sold Risoldi $2 million worth of draperies, are charged with fraud. The tarp-capped white mansion -- a seeming homage to Scarlett O'Hara's Tara that Risoldi shared with her children and grandchildren -- now sits empty amid rolling farmland in Bucks County, a few miles from New Hope's quaint downtown in suburban Philadelphia. The family's insurer to date has paid $11 million for damage from the last fire in October 2013, just a few weeks after her surprise wedding to French. But American International Group balked at belated claims that someone -- Risoldi blames firefighters -- had also taken $10 million in jewelry. The grand jury report notes she had a fourth fire claim at a previous home where she also reported two bizarre break-in thefts. And, it said, she was always the last person to leave the house, and had highly flammable hairspray stockpiled near the point of origin. "These records proved to be a treasure trove of information revealing a long history of questionable claims that was startling to us in its depth and breadth," state prosecutors wrote in the grand jury report. Defense lawyers argue that all three fires at Clairemont were investigated by the insurance company and deemed accidental. Their experts blamed the last two on faulty wiring. The fire marshal's office has declared the causes undetermined, according to prosecutors. "All three of these fires were fully investigated and vetted by AIG," McMahon said. "Generally speaking, they don't like to just give you money." Risoldi grew up across the river in Trenton, New Jersey, where she ran a ticket agency and promoted rock concerts as a young woman in the 1970s. An August 1976 news article shows her standing outside a Cherry Hill, New Jersey venue called the Centrum, and described her plans to bring in acts ranging from Lawrence Welk to Sly & The Family Stone and Loretta Lynn. Risoldi at one point won a large anti-trust settlement against a large ticket broker, family lawyer Ronald Greenblatt said. She has not worked for pay in recent years, except to help out at her daughter's law office. Carla Risoldi, 48, a former county prosecutor, did not immediately return a call for comment. Carl Risoldi, a 43-year-old state turnpike worker, declined comment. However, family defense lawyers question the logic of any plan to profit from the mansion fires, since they say the money would only be spent to rebuild it. And they question why Risoldi would make up jewelry claims -- for diamonds, rubies, emeralds -- if it meant she couldn't wear the pieces again in public. "This is a woman who was fiercely proud of all the jewelry she has," Greenblatt said. "There's no way that she would ever not want to be in a position to show it off." She and French -- a 64-year-old architect, ex-Marine and retired sheriff's deputy -- had been together for more than a decade. If she was the extrovert extraordinaire, he was content to cook, garden and visit their place in Paris. "He appreciated the finer things in life. He cooked, they made wine together," said Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler, who attended the congressional fundraiser-turned-wedding. "I always liked the guy." McMahon said he spoke frequently with French in recent months, and believes the charges caused him to be "disillusioned and depressed" about the perceived abuse of power by a government that meant so much to him. French's note called the charges by the attorney general's office "unfounded." The office did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The trial has not yet been scheduled. Meanwhile, prosecutors have seized millions in assets, and a vehicle fleet that includes several Ferraris. There was nonetheless a brilliant yellow Ferrari parked near French's hearse outside the Catholic funeral Mass. "I am very sad to have done this," French wrote in his note. "Honestly my mental state can't absorb any more."
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February 25, 2015, 9:15 am
The Great Recession exacted a huge toll on people in every income group, and recovering from it has been a long and grueling process. To some economists, the recovery has exacerbated the very real trend toward income inequality in the United States. French economist Thomas Piketty has noted that between 2009 and 2012 incomes have grown, but almost all of those gains have gone to the wealthiest 1 percent. It's a claim that has been repeated often, but Steven Rose of George Washington University says it needs to be put in perspective. "Looking at this little spike between 2009 and 2012, and making a big deal of it, in my mind, is game-playing," says Rose, author of a new report on the issue. The wealthy did indeed reap most of the income gains between 2009 and 2012, Rose says, but only if you include capital gains like stock sales — which can be misleading. Rose says rich people made a lot of money in the stock market after 2009, but much of that was simply making up ground lost in the even bigger hit they took in 2008. What looks like income growth, he says, is simply a rebound from their earlier losses. "From 2007 to 2013, average incomes are down by about 10, 12 percent," Rose says, "but the incomes of the top 1 percent are down by nearly 30 percent." Rose says something else often is forgotten when talking about the years after the Great Recession: Working- and middle-class people lost income during the period, but some of it was offset by what are called government transfers — food stamps and unemployment compensation. He says that it also is clear some of the policies put in place by the Obama administration, including the payroll tax cut, actually have had positive impacts on people's incomes — and that this has been overlooked when economists like Piketty calculate people's income. Dean Baker of the liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research says that these are all valid points but income inequality remains a big problem. Baker says that since 1980 or so, a substantial amount of income growth has gone to people at the very top of the economic ladder. "I don't think it's any doubt that there's been very small gains to those at the middle," he says, "and those at the top have really been, disproportionately, the beneficiaries of growth." Rose doesn't deny that inequality is a problem and says he isn't trying to make the case that it's getting any better. But he says people on both sides of the political spectrum need to understand what really happened during the recession and in the years that followed.
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February 25, 2015, 11:52 am
Today’s perfect fusion of East and West Coast comes courtesy of Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines and her new hubby, uber-environmentalist and possible Dancing with the Stars hoofer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. We’ve learned exclusively that the couple has just put their recently purchased New England–style Malibu, CA, pad up for rent. The price? A casual $50,000 per month. Built in 1957, the 2,959-square-foot home was purchased by the Hines-Kennedy clan back in September for $4.99 million. Featuring six bedrooms and four baths, the farmhouse-style spread has an expansive yard, large heated pool with a fire pit, and a two-story treehouse. (Robert must really take that tree-hugger mentality seriously, huh?) There’s also a separate pool house with its own full kitchen, den, and loft, which is a prime spot for your summer guests to put up their feet. A golf cart is available if you feel like cruising around the property, as well as a variety of surfboards when you’re ready to catch some waves. But best of all, the home features private access to Little Dume, one of the most exclusive beaches in the ’Bu. The palatial pad looks like it could be plucked out of a ritzy Boston suburb and dropped right in the middle of the Los Angeles scene’s most exclusive beach community. It all makes sense — Robert is a Kennedy. The couple even married back in Hyannis Port at the Kennedy compound back in August, and it sounds like they may have a full house. In addition to Cheryl’s daughter from a previous marriage, Robert has six children of his own from two previous marriages. Oh, and Cheryl, who spoke out in support of writers at this year’s Writers’ Guild of America awards, is not the only Hollywood heavy hitter who’s macking on a Kennedy these days. Wild child Miley Cyrus is currently dating Patrick Schwarzenegger, the son of Ah-nold and Maria Shriver (a tried-and-true Kennedy). Quite the family tree. Cheryl previously put her Bel Air, CA, home on the market, where it was nabbed for $3.10 million. She bought the home for $2.35 million in August 2010 and sold it for $755,000 more just four years later — which makes us think this actress has some serious real estate savvy. After all, the couple’s Malibu home isn’t your everyday summer rental filled with mosquitoes and rickety lawn chains next to a dirty lake. But of course, this leads us to wonder, where will Cheryl and RFK Jr. be spending the summer if they’re not lounging beachside at this sprawling getaway?
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Jason Alden—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesAliko Dangote, billionaire and chief executive officer of Dangote Group, pauses during a session on day two of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2015. From Nigerian billionaires to Russian oligarchs, numbers that explain how wealth works in politics The world will always be divided into “the haves and the have nots,” but lately seems the ‘haves’ are capturing more and more of the world’s wealth. Yet, even the super wealthy are feeling the impact of political turmoil. Here are five stats that explore the plight—and flight—of the world’s richest. For a country that relies on oil for almost 70% of state revenue, crashing prices spell trouble. The stock index dropped 40% in 2014, while the currency has lost a fifth of its value over the last six months. But the person who has been hit hardest is the person who can most afford it. Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, earned Forbes’ “Biggest Loser” title—his wealth has fallen the most of anyone on earth in dollar terms. Yet he still has a $14.7 billion fortune and his companies account for a quarter of the market capitalization of the Lagos stock market. Even as youth unemployment and corruption remain staggeringly pervasive, economic growth has enriched the country’s elites. Nigeria’s population of high net worth individuals grew 44% between 2007 and 2013. (Forbes, Forbes, Financial Times, New World Wealth) 2. Oil prices and sanctions hit Russia Russia has also been battered by tanking oil prices, and sanctions have had an outsized impact on Russia’s wealthiest and those closest to Vladimir Putin (who are often one and the same). The country lost the most billionaires in 2014, down to 88 from 111. Between February and December of 2014, the combined wealth of the country’s 20 richest people shrank by 30%. In other words, .0000001% of Russia’s population lost $73 billion—a sum on par with the annual GDP of neighboring Belarus. It’s no wonder India overtook Russia for third place on the billionaires list last year. (Forbes, Forbes, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, World Bank) 3. The millionaire exodus Millionaires have been voting with their feet. Between 2003 and 2013, 76,200 Chinese millionaires emigrated, representing 15% of China’s total and the largest exodus of millionaires of any country. Over the same span, 27% of Indian millionaires, some 43,400 people, left as well. In third place, France saw 13% of its millionaire population leave, perhaps due to what they viewed as excessive taxation on the wealthiest. Russia came fifth in sheer number of departing millionaires; they accounted for 17% of Russia’s millionaire population. Where are they all heading? Mainly the UK, the U.S., Australia and Singapore. The number of UK fast-track or Tier 1 visas (which require a $3 million investment in British assets) provided to Russians increased nearly 70% last year. A few years ago, New York surpassed Moscow as the top city by billionaire population. Hong Kong, London, and Beijing round out the rest of the top five. Yet, unlike Moscow, where 80% of Russia’s billionaires reside, New York has less than a sixth of America’s. The United States spreads the wealth: 11 U.S. cities have 11 or more billionaires. California itself has 131—if it were a country, it would have more billionaires than any country except the U.S. and China. (Forbes, Knight Frank, Forbes) 5. Big money in Chinese politics While many of China’s wealthiest may have left the country, there are plenty who still fill the highest ranks of government. More than one in seven of the 1,271 richest Chinese are serving in Parliament or its advisory body. These 203 delegates are collectively worth over $460 billion. For some perspective, the richest representative in the U.S. government would be the 166th richest member of China’s government. Even as Chinese leader Xi Jinping clamps down on corruption and pressures elites to rein in their extravagance, China’s wealthy are still spending. Chinese now represent nearly a third of the world’s luxury sales, although roughly two-thirds of these sales take place outside the country
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