From the bankruptcy beat:
Kerner Optical shut down. The original Industrial Light and Magic (in a building labeled "Kerner Optical" to hide from industry snoops and avid fans), the practical effects (in contrast to computer effects) shop became a department of a diversifying ILM, which sold it off in 2006. It struggled along on the margins of bankruptcy before filing for Chapter 11 early this year and closing for good in August, its final words a
bitter letter about an uncooperative creditor. The
Kerner Optical site (entirely in Flash) is still up, where you can see its credits (up through 2008) and view its demo reel.
Souvenir hounds and budding SFX shop owners can have a blast at the
liquidation auction, and bid on a
box of skulls, a
pizza oven,
studio props,
stage props,
leftover models, and tons of shop tools.
posted by ardgedee
on Oct 14, 2011 -
19 comments
Since 2005, it has been nearly impossible to discharge student loans in bankruptcy.
HR 2028 and
S.1102 aim to make private student loans again dischargeable in bankruptcy.
[more inside]
posted by gauche
on Aug 3, 2011 -
64 comments
In 1976, at the age of 27, Patricia Rose began a relationship with the married, 62-year-old billionaire
John Kluge. At the time, Kluge owned
MetroMedia, a company that started life as the Dumont TV network and would go on to become Fox television. Previously, Patricia had been married to British pornographer Russell Gay. She had posed nude in
Knave Magazine and had a bit part as a
belly dancer in
The Nine Ages of Nakedness. In 1981, Patricia Rose and John Kluge married. Soon after, construction began on the
Albemarle Estate, a 29,000 sq ft., 45 room home in Virginia. Patricia and John were
the 1980s power couple. In 1990, they divorced, and Patricia kept the house and went on to found the
Kluge Estate Winery. Now, everything has come
crashing down.
posted by Jasper Friendly Bear
on Jun 25, 2011 -
35 comments
Today, Judge Donovan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles
ruled [link is to pdf of decision] that
DOMA is unconstitutional. 19 judges join his opinion.
[more inside]
posted by insectosaurus
on Jun 13, 2011 -
35 comments
The Higher Education (Debt) Bubble - "[H]igh and increasing college costs mean students need to take out more loans, more loans mean more securities lenders can package and sell, more selling means lenders can offer more loans with the capital they raise, which means colleges can continue to raise costs. The result is over $800 billion in outstanding student debt, over 30 percent of it securitized, and the federal government directly or indirectly on the hook for almost all of it. If this sounds familiar, it probably should...
[more inside]
posted by kliuless
on May 17, 2011 -
185 comments
UAL (United Airlines)
dumps four pension plans[optional audio interview with Businessweek expert] ; bankruptcy court authorizes shifting of USD 5 billions (allegedly largest pension default in U.S. history) in pension obligations to the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. As a result the burden of private failure and incompetency will be shared by all taxpayers (whose taxes finance PBGC which is already operating on a
23 Billion deficit) and by beneficiaries of the pension plans who
will see their pension severely cut : pilots from 100K to 30K pensions but also less privileged workers will be hit. For instance Mrs Tamuk, spokeswoman from
Association of Flight Attendants said her pension will be reduced from $1,700 a month to $800 a month.
posted by elpapacito
on May 11, 2005 -
94 comments
An umbrella that melts in the rain WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Half of all U.S.
bankruptcies are caused by soaring medical bills and most people sent into
debt by illness are middle-class workers with health insurance, researchers said on Wednesday.
"Our study is frightening. Unless you're Bill Gates you're just one serious illness away from bankruptcy."
posted by Shanachie
on Feb 2, 2005 -
69 comments
An interesting study by The Century Foundation. I found it while perusing the NY Times op-eds...specifically,
Bob Herbert. It seems that "Household debt and personal bankruptcies are reaching record highs despite low interest rates and rising real estate values."
posted by BlueTrain
on Aug 9, 2004 -
59 comments
Americans are not going broke over lattes! Salon (warning: ad click-through required) interviews the author of a book who contends that American middle class overconsumption is a myth. This made me really think about how I relate to my $$$, and what I think is pushing me deeper into a hole. According to this author, kids are forcing people into bankruptcy, and it's not because we buy them gameboys and expensive clothes. The author also claims that credit card companies and mortgage lenders need to be regulated by the govt., as they are feeding off of middle class hardships. It's also making me wonder why real estate developers aren't building small homes anymore, at least in my state of the union.
posted by archimago
on Oct 14, 2003 -
91 comments
Need some office equipment? Maybe you'll want to check out the
8863 items from
Arthur Andersen being auctioned off, starting tomorrow. Lots of printers, monitors, servers, apparently
not much cable management, but no shredders that I've seen yet. Then again, I haven't looked through the
6 meg Excel spreadsheet of all items either. Just the ticket, in case you need
18 floors(600,000 square feet) worth of furniture and equipment. A cold, hard footnote to a
pathetic and shameful story of integrity squandered.
posted by dglynn
on Sep 30, 2002 -
16 comments
Enron 'Crooked E' For Sale "The ultimate symbol of the bankrupt power trader -- one of the ubiquitous chrome signs dubbed "the Crooked E" for its distinctive slant and commentary on the company's questionable dealings -- is on the auction block." The sign is only one of thousands of items up for sale September 25th and 26th, at the
Houston Radisson Astrodome hotel.
posted by gummi
on Sep 17, 2002 -
7 comments
Get laid off in public. Vanguard Airlines suspends operations; posts its system-wide pink slip on its HOME PAGE for you all to see. "Wages and salaries owed you as of today are "prepetition wages" and likely will not be paid for a matter of months, if not longer.... Any Vanguard stock you hold (including stock purchased in the Employee Stock Purchase Plan) is almost certainly worthless and it is likely you will be entitled to claim a capital loss on such stock this year." But not all is gloomy: the CEO "wish[es] you the best in your future career. You will be in our prayers." Aww, shucks.
posted by PrinceValium
on Jul 30, 2002 -
29 comments
WorldCom goes boom. (NY Times link.) Another big firm with accounting, ahem, "issues" declares bankruptcy. If you're comparing these disasters by size, this one completely blows Enron and Global Crossing out of the water.
posted by mrbula
on Jul 21, 2002 -
14 comments
A week before filing for bankruptcy protection, energy giant Enron Corp.
donated $100,000 to the Democratic Party committee that helps Senate candidates, campaign finance reports show. Enron has been talked about
before, so do people think this is an important sum of money, if not why is CNN covering it?
posted by rhyax
on Dec 28, 2001 -
13 comments
Excite turns out the lights. For the last four years
Excite's portal page has been my daily stop for news, stocks, showtimes, weather, etc. But they've been turning off services for weeks, and now the whole portal seems to be dead. Are free news portals soon to be quaint memory? [more inside]
posted by y6y6y6
on Nov 29, 2001 -
35 comments
Bye-bye Feed. No press release to link to, so I might be jumping the gun a bit, but my sources say everyone at Automatic Media was fired. That includes all of Feed and the production guy for Suck, though it appears Suck will be going on alone. Apparently, the line is is they’re looking for some quick cash to keep going, but I’m afraid I’ve heard that line often with no results. Supposedly they’ll announce it tomorrow, since no one will be around to update the site. Very sad day.
posted by capt.crackpipe
on Jun 7, 2001 -
40 comments
