A Ponzi scheme targeting the Persian-Jewish community in Los Angeles was shut down by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC obtained an emergency court order on April 13 to stop the scheme.
According to the SEC, Shervin Neman, also known as Shervin Davatgarzadeh, allegedly raised more than $7.5 million from investors in the Persian-Jewish community, of which he is a member, by posing as a hedge fund manager.
Neman, 30, of Los Angeles, told investors that he had a hedge fund called Neman Financial L.P., which invested in foreclosed residential properties that would be quickly flipped for profit, as well as in Facebook shares and other high-profile initial public offerings, according to the SEC.
Instead he allegedly used the investors’ money to pay off other investors and finance his extravagant lifestyle. Neman spent nearly $1.6 million of investor funds to buy jewelry and high-end cars, as well as to finance his wedding and honeymoon, other vacations and VIP tickets to sporting events, according to the SEC.
Judge Jacqueline Nguyen of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the SEC’s request for a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Neman.
“By exploiting investors’ trust in him, Neman was continually able to raise more money to pay back existing investors and finance an extravagant lifestyle,” Michele Wein Layne, associate regional director of the SEC’s Los Angeles office, said in an SEC statement.
The problem with April Fools news jokes online is that the fake news stays live long after April 1. Case in point, I just got around to reading a feature on the ” title=”fun read” target=”_blank”>this piece. And it’s unlikely that anyone who knows even a little about Judaism would be confused by all the apparent contradictions. But, still, if I hadn’t noticed that the date at the top of the feature, I would have been left wondering whether I was wrong to consider this a joke. (Maybe Father Sarah was part of a group of Messianic Jews.)
So what about all those people who don’t know anything about Judaism? Would they be ” title=”Jim Wallis joining the Tea Party” target=”_blank”>Jim Wallis joining the Tea Party to “California’s lost Jewish mission Read More »
Fans of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team marched through Jerusalem chanting racist slogans, a month after attacking Arab workers at a shopping mall.
The fans marched from Sacher Park to Teddy Stadium on Sunday for a game against the Hapoel Acre team. Fans reportedly beat an Israeli woman, 50, for objecting to the crowd’s anti-Arab chants, including “Death to the Arabs,” Haaretz reported.
Police reportedly have opened an investigation into the assault, which included knocking the woman on the head with a pole from a team flag and spitting at her.
Last month hundreds of fans from the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team chanting anti-Arab slogans assaulted Arab workers at a Jerusalem shopping mall following a local game. Sixteen fans were arrested; six were banned from future games.
A senior Israeli military officer caught on tape hitting an activist in the face with the butt of his rifle has been suspended pending the results of an investigation.
The International Solidarity Movement posted on YouTube a video of the incident, which took place Saturday during a protest bike ride in the Jordan Valley.
Approximately 200 activists, including Palestinians from the West Bank and foreign activists, rode their bikes along Route 90, the Jordan Valley’s main north-south route, to protest what the ISM calls on its website “regular harassment and attacks from Israeli settlers and soldiers.”
Israel Defense Forces soldiers halted the activists, who were blocking the main thoroughfare to traffic and began taking away their bicycles. The video shows Lt.-Col. Shalom Eisner hitting an activist in the face with his M-16 rifle. Four activists were wounded in the incident, according to Haaretz.
Central Command Chief Ma.-Gen. Nitzan Alon late on Sunday ordered an immediate investigation into the incident. In addition, Military Judge Advocate General Brig.-Gen. Avi Mandelblit ordered a criminal investigation against Eisner.
“This event does not reflect the IDF’s values and will be thoroughly investigated and handled with the necessary severity,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz said in a statement.
Eisner reportedly said he regrets the incident, but said the video represents one minute out of a two-hour event in which the protesters attacked the soldiers, breaking one of Eisner’s fingers and injured his wrist. He is seen later in the video with his wrist and finger in a white bandage.
According to Ynet, Eisner said he did not use a water cannon that he had at the scene in order to disperse the protesters because there was an ongoing dialogue and he wanted to end the event peacefully.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the incident, saying: “Such behavior does not characterize IDF soldiers and officers and has no place in the Israel Defense Forces and in the State of Israel.”
More than 1,600 Palestinians in Israeli jails reportedly are set to launch a hunger strike on what is called Palestinian Prisoners Day.
The coordinated hunger strike is scheduled to begin Tuesday, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported. But it is unclear whether Fatah and Hamas prisoners will begin the hunger strike together, Ma’an reported, citing Issa Qaraqe, the Palestinian Authority prisoners’ affairs minister. Fatah officials believe that starting the hunger strike on Prisoners Day will harm negotiations with Israeli authorities, according to Ma’an.
The mass hunger strike is calling for an end to solitary confinement and isolation; to allow families of prisoners from the Gaza Strip to visit their loved ones; and to allow prisoners to have newspapers, learning materials and specific television channels.
The news agency reported, citing the Gaza-based Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, that four Palestinian prisoners now on hunger strikes are in an Israeli prison hospital and two others are in solitary confinement. The six are being held in administrative detention. A prisoner can be held in administrative detention without charges for up to four months; it can be renewed.
Two high-profile hunger strikers were released after cutting deals with Israeli authorities.
Khader Adnan ended his 66-day hunger strike in mid-February when Israeli prosecutors agreed that his administrative detention would not be renewed. Hana Shalabi, a member of Islamic Jihad, agreed March 29 to end her 43-day hunger strike and be freed in exchange for spending the next three years in Gaza.
President Obama responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that world powers gave Iran a “freebie” by agreeing to hold more talks.
“We’re going to keep on seeing if we make progress. Now, the clocking is ticking and I’ve been very clear to Iran and to our negotiating partners that we’re not going to have these talks just drag out in a stalling process. But so far at least we haven’t given away anything,” Obama said late Sunday during a news conference in Cartagena, Colombia.
“The notion that somehow we’ve given something away or a ‘freebie’ would indicate Iran has gotten something. In fact, they’ve got some of the toughest sanctions that they’re going to be facing coming up in just a few months if they don’t take advantage of these talks,” Obama added.
Talks between Iran and the six world powers – the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany – on Iran’s nuclear program resumed on April 14 after more than a year’s hiatus. The sides agreed to meet again on May 23 in Baghdad.
“My initial impression is that Iran has been given a freebie. It’s got five weeks to continue enrichment without any limitation, any inhibition,” Netanyahu said Sunday in Israel.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes; the Western world fears that Iran may be enriching uranium in order to produce a nuclear bomb. Netanyahu has called on the international community to halt Iran’s nuclear production by force if necessary, and has warned that the window in which to prevent Iran’s production of a nuclear bomb is rapidly closing.
It was a delight to research—eating pastries in Budapest and talking about food! I like the Cafe Noe I write about here…. it’s a nice, intimate place with a hidden little terrace garden.
Enjoy! Oh—and here is Rachel’s recipe for matzo apple cake, which is nice and light and good all year round.
Rachel’s Matzo Apple Cake:
Ingredients:
– 3.3 lbs apples
– sugar
– Cinnamon
– 6 eggs
– 6 Tbsp. sugar
– About 5 oz ground walnuts
– Matzos
– Approx. 1-1/2 cups of white wine, sweet or dry
Grate the apples and mix with sugar and cinnamon to taste
Separate the eggs and beat the whites until stiff.
Beat the yolks separately with the 6 Tbsp of sugar, then mix the yolk mixture with the ground walnuts and the beaten eggwhites.
In an oiled baking pan, place a layer of matzo that has been well moistened with wine. On top of this place a later of the apple mixture. Cover this with another layer of wine-moistened matzo, then cover that layer with the nut and egg mixture. Add more layers, making sure that the top layer is the nut and egg mixture.
Bake in a moderate oven (325-350 F) for about 35 minutes, cool and cut into squares. It’s good lukewarm, room-temperature, or even cold.
It is a simple story really: an officer loses his head during a provocative demonstration and hits a demonstrator with his rifle. Direct damage: the demonstrating activist is hurt and hospitalized. Collateral damage: the officer is suspended. More collateral damage: Israel’s image suffers.
Publicity
The camera is an effective weapon in the war of attrition waged against Israel. That IDF officers still don’t always recognize this, and still fail to behave accordingly, is mostly a sign of unprofessional work. The officer, Lt. Colonel Shalom Eisner, was not supposed to hit the activist with his rifle in such manner, even if cameras were not present. But being honest I must admit that it is not the unnecessary hitting that I find shocking. Situations like the one in the Jordan Valley often end with some level of pushing, shoving and mild violence. The officer didn’t shoot or torture anyone. He was using excessive force while trying to prevent antagonistic activists from blocking a road (so he says – we still need to wait for more comprehensive investigation for us to have a higher level of confidence in the details). This looks bad, it feels bad, it probably hurt, but the activist was released from hospital quite promptly.
Thus, it is the lack of soldierly professionalism I find most disturbing: an officer at this level should be the one with the cooler head, the one restraining other, lesser officers and soldiers when the goings get tough, the one remembering where the fire is coming from during battle. It is coming from the cameras.
So the officer encountering activists and anarchists and juvenile attention-hungry demonstrators should always beware of the camera. Think about it: What were these demonstrators doing in this remote road, what were they looking for, what were they trying to achieve, what was their goal? It was the video. If this was a battle, it is one in which the IDF lost for no other reason than lack of professionalism.
Morality
The Prime Minister of Israel condemned Eisner’s use of excessive force. Benjamin Netanyahu was always very good at understanding the PR war, and was quick to recognize the damage this incident could cause.
“Such behavior does not characterize IDF soldiers and officers and has no place in the Israel Defense Forces and in the State of Israel”, the Prime Minister said. But the reasoning for such condemnation remains somewhat vague: Why should “such behavior” have “no place” – is it because hitting an activist is immoral, or is it because it is dumb?
In the coming days, one will hear a lot about morality and the occupation and integrity and democratic values and respecting the freedom of protestation. These are all important and worthy topics of discussion that have nothing to do with Lt. Colonel Eisner’s moment of brutal outrage. This could have happened anywhere, against any demonstrator. It is about keeping one’s cool after hours of provocation, under pressure, in the too-warm weather of the Jordan Valley. Allowing the public to demonstrate is essential, refraining from using excessive force against demonstrators is crucial, tolerating opposing views, as naïve or annoying as they might be, is vital – but letting activists block main roads is not always as important, and tolerating every desire by every quirky group to express its political beliefs at all times and in all places is also not always possible. And yes, when activists from Denmark or whatever country come to Israel, and refuse to clear the road after being specifically asked to do so by soldiers or policemen, they are probably asking for trouble.
Suspension
Politicians and activists of Israel’s right were quick to defend Eisner. Some hard core extremists – expectedly and regrettably – argued that Eisner’s deeds were really justified. But most defenders of Eisner were not trying to argue that his behavior was tolerable. They were merely asking that Eisner would not be judged based on a ten-second video clip and were condemning the “kangaroo court against a person who is devoting his life to our homeland, without an inquiry and without learning what happened”, as MK Zvulun Orlev of the Jewish Home Party phrased it. While it is easy to sympathize with such pleading – I don’t know Eisner but am certain that he is a dedicated public servant – a kangaroo court is unavoidable in this kangaroo world of PR wars. Eisner’s deeds were only significant because they were made public – and Eisner’s punishment will only have meaning if it is made public, fast. Should a good officer pay such high price – maybe end his years-long career – over one moment of hasty reaction? Probably not. But that is not a discussion anyone should be having now. That is a topic for a more discreet discussion later.
And three more short comments:
1.
That Eisner is wearing a yarmulke is not going to help him much. You can already see the signs: religious politicians defending him, turning him into a cause, secular-leftist politicians also making him a symbol of IDF religious radicalization.
2.
That Central Command’s relatively new chief, General Nitzan Alon, is considered by some settlers to be an “extreme leftist” complicates things even more. In his long service in the West Bank, Alon encountered settlers yelling “traitor”, attacking his vehicle, picketing his home, waving signs against him. Now he had to suspend a yarmulke-wearing officer for beating a lefty-activist. This can easily become yet another excruciatingly boring right-left war over Alon’s credentials and policies (though that Netanyahu quickly backed up Alon’s decision might be helpful in preventing it from happening this time).
3.
20-year-old Danish activist Andreas Ayas told Army Radio today (yes, the interview was done by the radio of the same IDF from which Lt. Colonel Eisner hails) that he wasn’t surprised by the officer’s actions, since he and his friends had “seen this kind of violence many times before”. I do not believe him – and for one reason: if such violence had been used “many times before”, similar videos would have emerged far more often. Rarely can anyone find an activist protesting in the West Bank without a camera.
Smadar Shir of Ynet supports Israel’s decision to deny entry to dozens of pro-Palestinian activists who were part of a coordinated demonstration.
When a US embassy official refuses to grant a certain person a visa because he was born in Iran or “has the face of a terrorist” in his passport photo, that’s apparently fine. Yet when we dare to prevent the entry of the pro-Palestinian fly-in because the passenger list includes kind souls whose official profession is hatred for Jews and for Israel, all the bleeding hearts rise up against us.
The president’s flawed approach to North Korea, Syria and Iran is leading him into disaster, writes Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post.
[I]f Tehran accepts Obama’s bargain, the momentum the administration has managed to build up behind sanctions, and the resulting pressure on the Iranian economy, will be broken. If the regime then cheats, or refuses to negotiate a more lasting solution to its pursuit of nuclear technology, Obama will end his term with Iran closer to a an atomic bomb than it was in 2009.
The deep-pocketed businessman’s transfer of affections from Gingrich to other GOP candidates is a welcome move to those seeking to oust Obama and his fellow Democrats in November, writes Robin Bravender in Politico.
The wealthy couple’s shift to supporting the GOP establishment is a promising sign for party operatives, who are hoping to corral some of the deep-pocketed donors that have spent millions on warring super PACs so far this election cycle. It’s also a positive signal for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, whose campaign is counting on Adelson and other wealthy GOP donors to get behind him as he goes up against President Barack Obama’s hefty war chest.
Writing in the Huffington Post, Steven Strauss outlines a series of steps the US could take to transform the current upheaval in the Middle East into a genuine push for regional peace.
The time has come to shape the future. Consider America’s greatest foreign policy successes: Japan’s post-WWII rebirth, Europe’s post-WWII revival through the Marshall Plan, China’s reintegration into the world system post-1979, and integration of former communist bloc countries after the Warsaw Pact collapse. They occurred because these countries shared a vision, and were willing to work to achieve it. The U.S. offered that vision, together with support to make it a reality.
The Japan-based photographer Jono David has used some of his thousands of images of Jewish heritage sites around the world to create a “Jewish Geography” game played via an ITunes app…. He has just let me know that the app can be downloaded for free—but just for 24 hours, from 7:00 p.m. Monday, April 16 to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, 2012, Japan Standard Time.
Here’s what Jono says:
Jewish Geography. You know the game. Or do you? Uniquely different than the familiar “Do you know so-and-so?” degrees of separation kibitzing, this fun and challenging app quiz game measures by how many degrees you’re separated from your own Jewish geographical knowledge. Challenge yourself or compete against friends and family. The more you play, the more you’ll know, and the fewer degrees you’ll be separated from Jewish Geography!
