RELATED-PARTY TRANSACTIONS (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 Non-executive Chairman	Dec. 31, 2011 Northstar	Dec. 31, 2011 Chief Executive Officer	Dec. 31, 2007 Chief Executive Officer	Dec. 31, 2011 Chief Financial Officer	Aug. 13, 2010 Synthonics	Dec. 31, 2011 Chief Executive Officer	Dec. 31, 2011 Mr. Carlos Campbell, Director	Dec. 31, 2011 Agribusiness Operations
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Base annual salary						$ 1,991,751	$ 500,000
Incentive compensation threshold, increase in per-share book value as % of annual total return of S&P 500	80.00%				80.00%
Incentive compensation award, % of increase in per-share book value, used to compute award	7.50%				7.50%
Incentive compensation award earned					509,000
Threshold of Total Return on Certain Investments over which Consulting Compensation is Applicable			20.00%
Professional and Contract Services Expense			155,000,000
Loan made to related party				165,000
Ownership percentage by noncontrolling owners											12.00%
Loans Receivable, Related Parties, Maximum Allowable				250,000
Basis spread over LIBOR				9.20%
Deferred compensation	36,315,000	37,879,000
Deferred compensation arrangements, fair value of company stock allocated	465,000
Shares held for beneficiary of deferred compensation plan									19,940	2,644
Amount invested in related party								$ 2,060,244
Convertible preferred shares received from related party in exchange for investment								273,229