Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Obama to take oath on Abe Lincoln's Bible
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Barack Obama will take the oath as US president on the same Bible used to swear in president Abraham Lincoln, the committee planning his inauguration said in a statement Tuesday.
The presidential inaugural committee said the Lincoln Bible would be borrowed from the collections at the Library of Congress.
"President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress has made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in," said Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett Beliveau in a statement.
With Obama's swearing-in on January 20, the historic Bible with its gilded edges and burgundy velvet binding will see its first use during a presidential inauguration since 1861 when Lincoln, the 16th US president, was sworn in.
"The president-elect is committed to holding an inauguration that celebrates America's unity, and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful connection to our common past and common heritage," Beliveau said.
Lincoln, from the state of Illinois which Obama represented in the US Congress, presided over the country's biggest domestic crisis, the American Civil War, and ended slavery, but he was killed by an assassin's bullet in 1865.
There is no constitutional requirement that a Bible be used during inaugurations, but US presidents traditionally have used Bibles for their swearing-in ceremonies.
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Fake Chocolates
PARIS - Ten tons of chocolate bonbons could stuff a lot of stockings this holiday season _ but instead they will be under the lock and key of French customs agents.
The French customs service announced Tuesday that officers at the giant Rungis international market outside Paris seized nearly 33,000 boxes of gold-foil-wrapped morsels, on suspicion that they were counterfeit Ferrero Rochers, a popular Italian chocolate brand.
Lab tests and an examination by Ferrero itself found that the seized candies were harmless but low-quality copies. They arrived in France by refrigerated truck from Turkey and were seized in late November.
Legal proceedings are under way between Ferrero and the chocolates' importer, said Sophie Hocquerelle, a spokeswoman for the French customs office.
"It was the first time we had ever seized chocolates," Hocquerelle said _ and what a seizure: 10 tons of coconut-filled dark chocolates and milk chocolate balls worth an estimated euro223,500 ($312,230).
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Madoff Fund Operator De La Villehuchet Found Dead
Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- A New York-based money manager who may have lost $1.4 billion of client funds invested with Bernard Madoff apparently killed himself in his Madison Avenue office, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
“Our investigative premise is that it was a suicide,” Kelly said today in an interview. The body of Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, 65, a co-founder and chief executive officer of Access International Advisors, was found today. The company raised money mainly from wealthy European investors. Madoff was arrested on Dec. 11 for allegedly running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
The death of de la Villehuchet, who founded Access in 1994 with Patrick Littaye, came as lawsuits mounted in connection with investors victimized by Madoff. Fairfield Greenwich Group, a hedge-fund firm that had $7.5 billion invested with Madoff, has been sued for allegedly failing to protect their clients’ assets. A New York woman who says she lost most of her savings is seeking $1.7 million in damages from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for Madoff losses.
The tally of investors hurt by Madoff continues to grow. Pedro Almodovar, the Spanish film director known for movies such as “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” has about $280,000 at risk, El Economista reported.
Credit Lyonnais
De La Villehuchet was found “with his feet propped up on his desk, a trash pail nearby to collect blood,” and no sign of a second person, Kelly said in the interview.
The money manager had “multiple stab wounds” to his arms and wrists, and a box-cutter and pills were found nearby, Kelly said at a news conference. No suicide note was found.
Before he founded Access, De La Villehuchet was chairman and CEO of Credit Lyonnais Securities USA, the U.S. investment banking arm of the French bank, according to Access marketing documents. Prior to joining Credit Lyonnais in 1987, he ran Interfinance, an international broker firm specializing in French, Belgian and Italian stock markets that he founded in 1983.
Access managed $3 billion and had 26 employees according to marketing documents dated September, and its LUXALPHA SICAV- American Selectionfund invested solely with Madoff. Access said last week that it was working with lawyers to assess the situation. UBS AG was LUXALPHA’s administrator until this year, and is no longer involved with it, said Karina Byrne, a UBS spokeswoman.
Clients of Madoff had at least $36 billion with his firm, according to a Bloomberg tally that may include some double counting. Before his arrest, Madoff, 70, confessed to employees that his “giant Ponzi scheme” may have cost as much as $50 billion, according to an FBI complaint.
His misconduct may have stretched back to at least to the 1970s, two people familiar with the government’s inquiry of Madoff said last week. Madoff is now under house arrest at his New York apartment.
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Cabinet appointees donated heavily to Obama
President-elect Obama’s Cabinet appointees and advisers contributed more than $53,000 to his presidential campaign, according to research by The Hill.
Several Cabinet appointees contributed the maximum of $4,600 allowed for an individual donor. The list includes former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who is slated to become Obama’s U.S. trade representative, and Karen Mills, a Maine venture capitalist who is slated to lead the Small Business Administration.
Several Cabinet appointees contributed the maximum of $4,600 allowed for an individual donor. The list includes former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who is slated to become Obama’s U.S. trade representative, and Karen Mills, a Maine venture capitalist who is slated to lead the Small Business Administration.
Others who maxed out their contributions are Eric Holder, nominated to be attorney general, and Susan Rice, U.N. ambassador-designate.
It’s not uncommon for those chosen for Cabinet positions to have donated heavily to the campaign of the presidential winner. While campaign contributions don’t hurt in Cabinet selections, they are more a reflection of “ideological agreement, friendship or party loyalty, rather than in return for campaign support,” said Kenneth Gross, who leads Skadden Arps’s political law practice.
“The president-elect’s sole criterion for assembling his Cabinet is looking for people of outstanding qualifications and excellence to serve the American people,” said Tommy Vietor, Obama’s spokesman.
While several of Obama’s Cabinet picks maxed out their contributions, many donated in the $2,000 range, such as Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), Obama’s choice to become secretary of Labor.
Other Cabinet choices, however, made no contribution to any presidential candidates. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), designated to become secretary of the Interior, did not contribute anything to Obama’s campaign. Salazar endorsed Obama in December 2007.
Salazar joins the ranks of other Cabinet picks who did not donate to any campaign, including Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), Timothy Geithner, retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki and retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Jones.
As The Hill reported last week, several of Obama’s Cabinet appointments and advisers contributed to his rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), during the Democratic primary. Clinton, now Obama’s pick for secretary of State, donated $2,300 to Obama after she dropped out of the race.
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D), tapped by the president-elect to be his Agriculture secretary, endorsed Clinton and donated to her campaign after he dropped out of the presidential race.
Another Clinton donor slated for an Obama administration role is Carol Browner, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration. Browner, who contributed $2,300 to Clinton’s campaign, will advise Obama on energy and climate change issues. Meanwhile, Lisa Jackson, tapped by Obama to head the EPA, also contributed to Clinton.
It’s not uncommon for those chosen for Cabinet positions to have donated heavily to the campaign of the presidential winner. While campaign contributions don’t hurt in Cabinet selections, they are more a reflection of “ideological agreement, friendship or party loyalty, rather than in return for campaign support,” said Kenneth Gross, who leads Skadden Arps’s political law practice.
“The president-elect’s sole criterion for assembling his Cabinet is looking for people of outstanding qualifications and excellence to serve the American people,” said Tommy Vietor, Obama’s spokesman.
While several of Obama’s Cabinet picks maxed out their contributions, many donated in the $2,000 range, such as Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), Obama’s choice to become secretary of Labor.
Other Cabinet choices, however, made no contribution to any presidential candidates. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), designated to become secretary of the Interior, did not contribute anything to Obama’s campaign. Salazar endorsed Obama in December 2007.
Salazar joins the ranks of other Cabinet picks who did not donate to any campaign, including Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), Timothy Geithner, retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki and retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Jones.
As The Hill reported last week, several of Obama’s Cabinet appointments and advisers contributed to his rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), during the Democratic primary. Clinton, now Obama’s pick for secretary of State, donated $2,300 to Obama after she dropped out of the race.
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D), tapped by the president-elect to be his Agriculture secretary, endorsed Clinton and donated to her campaign after he dropped out of the presidential race.
Another Clinton donor slated for an Obama administration role is Carol Browner, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration. Browner, who contributed $2,300 to Clinton’s campaign, will advise Obama on energy and climate change issues. Meanwhile, Lisa Jackson, tapped by Obama to head the EPA, also contributed to Clinton.
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