The Off Topic Topic

[mongers]

Does anyone know a source that would tell me that total amount of property owned by mobsters that was nationalized by Castro?
....

12/6 or twelve and six.

[Admiral Yi]

12/6 or twelve and six.

I don't get it.

[mongers]

12/6 or twelve and six.

I don't get it.

Pre-decimal UK coinage, so 5/8ths of a pound sterling.

Just a wild guess on my part, could be more. 

[Syt]

[celedhring]

My dog is totally like that.

[Josquius]

I stupidly joined a gym.
Tried to go for the first time today.
Couldn't get in the door.
Dammit. I'm still counting this as an exercise today.

[Syt]

I stupidly joined a gym.
Tried to go for the first time today.
Couldn't get in the door.
Dammit. I'm still counting this as an exercise today.

Have you checked if they maybe have a larger door in the back that you could get through?

[Liep]

I stupidly joined a gym.
Tried to go for the first time today.
Couldn't get in the door.
Dammit. I'm still counting this as an exercise today.

Have you checked if they maybe have a larger door in the back that you could get through?

[DGuller]

I stupidly joined a gym.
Tried to go for the first time today.
Couldn't get in the door.
Dammit. I'm still counting this as an exercise today.

Have you checked if they maybe have a larger door in the back that you could get through?

[Josquius]

[CountDeMoney]

Does anyone know a source that would tell me that total amount of property owned by mobsters that was nationalized by Castro?

I found this source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3369434/Give-empire-built-blood-money-Notorious-Mafia-figure-s-family-tell-fight-Havana-hotel-casino-Castro-s-clutches-Obama-s-end-embargo.html) that says Meyer Lanksy's family is claiming 7 million dollars, and this article (https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/04/18/cuba-you-owe-billion/jHAufRfQJ9Bx24TuzQyBNO/story.html) which lists the top 50 claimants.  But I haven't found anything that shows mob property as a percentage of the total.

The context is we were discussing my parents' upcoming trip to Cuba at lunch, I mentioned nationalization, he counted countered it was "mostly mob money," (later amended to "a lot") and I recalled Raz said something similar a while back.  So I'm looking to debunk.

$7 million from Lansky out of $7 billion total is a start, but I'd like something comprehensive.

I have all my Cuba docs in storage at the moment so I can't give you the exact numbers, but after Batista fell, Lansky and Trafficante were pretty much the only mobsters left that hadn't already dumped their assets by the time they were actually nationalized.  Trafficante had a few properties and the Capri alone was worth about $6M at the time of nationalization, and the Riviera was worth so much more, so $7 million for Lansky is actually a bit of a lowball number considering what he sunk into construction, which was probably around $15m.

Thing is, the mob didn't put all their money into casinos and hotels, and not all casinos and hotels involved the mob--so getting a total percentage of how much the mob truly lost is tough.  And, not all of Lansky's money in Cuba was Lansky's--not only did he funnel money from other other mobsters into the casino industry, he was using Cuban government money as well.  By the time the big hotels were being built in the boom of the mid- to late 1950's, Lansky was working with the Batista government to make sure Cuba was floating well over 50% of casino construction costs in loans.

Next time I dig that stuff out I'll pull out references for you, but the mob's property was a just small percentage of total nationalized assets, even if you include the well-known hotels, casinos and other assorted establishments; unfortunately, there was so much cross-pollination at the time, it's tough to come up with a hard number.  Lansky helps Pan Am's hotel division invest and refurbish in a government-owned hotel property, and they in turn grant third-party control of the new in-house casino to a Lansky management interest.  It's technically owned by the government, ostensibly managed by Pan Am, but a Lansky front is the day-to-day casino manager...so is it a mob asset, even though InterContinental (née Pan Am) is the one claiming nationalization losses?  Same goes with Hilton: his last big hotel in Cuba had plenty of mob money invested in it as well--but Hilton Hotels doesn't exactly open their books when it comes to maximizing shareholder value for the mob.  So, tough to figure out what was mob property and what wasn't in Cuba in 1960.

A lot of those claims listed in the Boston Globe piece take all sorts of cunty Minsky lawyer bullshit into account, from insurance to retirement income and other nifty little douchebaggy financial gimmicks, like interest.  Coca-Cola originally claimed $17m, and now it's claiming $27m?  Douchebags.  El Jefe Maximo laughs at their hubris, as it is he who is The Real Thing^tm.

[Admiral Yi]

Thanks.

[Liep]

Is it normal to isolate patients when they come home if they've been hospitalised in another country? Or is it just that Spain is a cesspool?

[The Larch]

Wut?

[Liep]

Wut?

My mom had to be isolated because, according to Danish health staff, all hospitals in Spain are filled with infectious diseases.