Friday, June 12, 2009
Most banks still getting weaker, analysis shows
First-quarter reports show bad loans increasing at 60% of banks
Bad loans on real estate continue to push harder on the nation's banks.At the end of the first quarter, six out of every 10 banks in the U.S. were less well prepared to withstand their potential loan losses than they had been at the end of 2008, according to a new analysis by msnbc.com and the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University in Washington. Overall, bad loans rose another 22 percent in the quarter as the recession continued.
Msnbc.com is publishing information on the nation's 400 largest banks as well as all banks with high ratios of troubled loans to assets. Information on the financial health of more than 8,000 banks nationwide is available at the updated BankTracker site published by the American University group.
The analysis relies on information reported through March 31 to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., calculating each bank's troubled asset ratio, which compares troubled loans against the bank's capital and loan loss reserves. A similar ratio, known as a Texas Ratio, is commonly used by bank analysts as a snapshot of a bank's financial health, though it can't capture all the nuances of a bank's condition.
Although much attention has been focused on surprising profits at U.S. banks in the first quarter of 2009, under the surface lurks an industry still suffering from the recession. If you set aside the 10 largest banks, the rest of the industry lost money in the quarter, primarily because of very large losses at a few banks.
Tokyo breaches 10,000 level as Shanghai skids after data
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian shares ended mostly higher Friday, led by Tokyo where the Nikkei benchmark closed above the 10,000 level for the first time in more than eight months.
China shares were among the biggest regional decliners, uninspired by upbeat figures on industrial output and retail sales for May that had been widely circulated in reports days ahead of Friday's official release.
Sentiment in Japan improved on data showing that industrial output in the No. 2 global economy rose 5.9% during April from March, better than the government's preliminary reading of a 5.2% increase.
How Confident are You that finding Osama bin Laden is a U.S. goal?
美國‧獨立日慶祝活動‧美邀伊朗出席
（美國‧華盛頓）美國大使館已開始邀請伊朗外交官出席7月4日美國獨立日慶祝活動，顯示了奧巴馬政府對伊朗採取的新政策的一部份。
美國國務院發言人凱利表示：“我們的大使已開始發出邀請柬。我們並不清楚受邀人士的確切數字。”
他說：“其實，這只是總統企圖跟伊朗接觸及建立良好關係政策的一部份。”
國務院5月杪已向駐外使領館發去電報，授權使領館邀請伊朗外交官參加7月4日的美國獨立日慶祝活動。
這是30年來伊朗外交官首次受邀出席有關慶祝活動；美方通常會在派對上以熱狗和其他美國傳統節日食品來款待嘉賓。
售伊朗飛機零件
羅國男子監35個月
不過，另一方面，一名羅馬尼亞裔美籍男子伯塞斯庫，因非法出口軍事及雙重用途的飛機零件給伊朗，被判監35個月，3年緩刑。
美國司法部指出，伯塞斯庫被控有預謀地出口，令這批貨物得以從美國運往出口至伊朗，違反了美國對伊實施的貿易禁運，他已在4月2日俯首認罪。
新加坡‧亞洲生活成本最高城市‧東京續居首位
（新加坡）人力諮詢顧問公司ECA國際於週四（6月11日）公調查報告顯示，由於歐美經濟衰退，亞洲貨幣強勢推高亞洲城市的生活費用指數，東京蟬聯亞洲生活成本最高城市，新加坡排第10、台北第11。
報告指出，新台幣兌美元匯率在最近幾個月大幅下滑，但台北仍在全球亞洲生活費最昂貴的城市排名第11，在全球排名第76名。
ECA國際於週四公佈全球和亞洲生活費用指數報告，這份報告是針對全球370個地點的125種一籃子生活消費貨品和服務，向各地跨國公司外派人員進行調查。
E C A國際亞洲區域總監關禮廉表示，亞洲貨幣持續保持強勁是導致過去12個月訪客成本高昂的最主要原因。
全球排名躍升第2“東京仍是亞洲生活成本最昂貴的城市，在全球排名也從去年的第13名，躍升為第2名；這主要是日圓兌換其他主要貨幣匯率持續上升所致。”
此外，日本的名古屋、橫濱和神戶，也分別包辦了全球和亞洲生活費用指數最高的第3、4、5名，及第2、3、4名。
調查顯示，中國大陸的北京、上海、深圳和廣州，都擠進亞洲生活費用最昂貴的前10名，分別排名第5、第6和第8、第9。
調查指出，香港的生活費用也跟著推高，排名亞洲生活費最昂貴城市的第7名，全球排名也從去年的98名，大幅躍升到第29名。
報告說，儘管新元走軟，但新加坡的物價下跌幅度仍比不上其他亞洲城市，因此新加坡仍排名亞洲生活費最昂貴的第10名，在亞洲前10大昂貴城市之列，在全球排名第72名。
報告顯示，蒙古首都烏蘭巴托，是亞洲生活費指數最低的城市，貨品和服務採購成本約為東京的三分之一。
中國‧博物館照開放讓遊客觀摩‧央視直播挖掘兵馬俑
（中國‧西安）秦兵馬俑一號坑繼1985年第二次發掘後，時隔24年，週六將迎來第3次發掘，裡頭隱藏著怎樣的秘密，人們期待著。
兵馬俑一號坑將在當天下午1時啟動第3次發掘，屆時，中央電視台等將進行現場直播。
由於當日秦兵馬俑博物館正常開放，遊客們也可以現場觀看發掘。
即將發掘的200平方米區域，位於秦兵馬俑一號坑中間偏西北處。
目前，館方已做了充份的前期發掘工作，發掘區域已被清理平整，在一些隔梁夯土上，許多黑色灰燼顯得特別引人注意，據稱是當年兵馬俑坑曾被火燒所留下的印證。
在清理平整的這一區域，已見到一個“武士俑”斜躺在地下，令人驚喜的是，它還隱約帶著一點點經彩繪的顏色，隱藏在土內的盔甲是否為人們帶來更亮麗的色彩，很令人期待。
據專家介紹，在目前發現的兵馬俑坑中，一號坑最大，東西長230米，寬62米，距地面深約5米，總面積達1萬4260平方米，而目前僅僅發掘了三分之一。
Glenn Beck - 9-11 truth movement wants to destroy America
Glenn Beck When Things Go Bad, The Jews Become Scapegoats
Check it out this link : http://tinyurl.com/n233r8
The Fight Over Bringing Old Accusations to Court
Sex-Abuse Scandals Lead States to Revise Statute of Limitations; Opponents See Risk in Relying on Stale Evidence
If it is too late to bring a criminal case against a child abuser, should it be too late to sue in civil court?A handful of legislatures have grappled with that question, and a pair have said better late than never.
Two states have created litigation windows that open up a new time period for victims of childhood sexual abuse to seek redress in civil courts. In 2002, California allowed victims one year to file cases against their abuser or the employer, no matter when the abuse had occurred. Delaware followed suit in 2007, giving people two years to bring accusations in civil court. This year, New York state legislators have been debating a one-year statute. Other states are mulling similar measures.
Statutes of limitations, for criminal or civil actions, help avoid circumstances in which evidence is incomplete, documents have disappeared and testimony relies on faded memories.
But triggered by high-profile scandals of abuse at the hands of Catholic priests, some of which occurred decades ago, a few states have seen the need for "window laws'' that temporarily open the courts again to allow past grievances to be remedied through civil actions, though not criminal prosecutions. Supporters say these laws can benefit people who might not have known years ago or didn't disclose that they had been harmed.
Yet, such laws inevitably raise questions of constitutionality and fairness.
Defense attorneys say many of the abuse cases that were brought in California and now in Delaware name perpetrators and religious superiors who are dead or retired. The only point, says some attorneys, is to wrench money from the Catholic church. "It's almost impossible to defend the cases," says Mark Chopko, the former counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who says he has been a consultant on more than 1,000 abuse cases.
The Most Rev. Nicholas DiMarzio, bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y., has been an outspoken opponent of the bill in Albany. "Clearly this is aimed at the Catholic Church," he said. "People believe we have deep pockets and are responsible for individuals that might have been representing the Catholic Church." Sexual abuse is a much bigger problem in public schools, he said.
The issue is the subject of debate beyond the Catholic Church. In New York, the proposed law to create a one-year window on civil suits is being supported by some Jewish groups, who say that childhood sexual abuse is a little-known problem in the Jewish community. But opponents say the legislation would force Jewish institutions into settling cases from years past, bringing financial ruin to schools and synagogues.
Legislatures have created window laws before, particularly when people have become sick years after the harm was caused. State laws passed after the Vietnam War allowed lawsuits by veterans and their families who had developed cancer and other ailments linked to Agent Orange. Some states have created window legislation for those harmed by asbestos, injured by medicines taken by their mothers during pregnancy or exposed to environmental dangers, such as the polluted New York state neighborhood around Love Canal.
Courts have generally upheld statutes of limitations, in part, to give potential targets of lawsuits a sense of relief, known as "repose" in the court system. "If 25 years have gone by and a defendant can be sued, there's an aspect of this that can seem unfair," says Peter H. Schuck, a professor of law at Yale University, though he doesn't have a position on the legislation.
A more practical rationale underlies the notion of time limits, too. The idea is to bar lawsuits for acts performed so long ago that defendants no longer could mount a reasonable defense. A business owner, for example, would have difficulty building a defense against an accusation, filed 30 years later, by a former employee who says he got hurt on the job, long after witnesses scattered and the company's paperwork was discarded. Says Mr. Schuck: "You don't want legal disputes to be resolved on the basis of stale evidence."
There are some crimes that are viewed as so heinous, namely first-degree murder, that they often don't have a statute of limitations. In many jurisdictions, murder charges can be brought whenever prosecutors believe they have enough evidence, no matter how much time has passed.
But the criminal charge of rape or sexual assault is subject to a statute of limitations in many states, though often a relatively lengthy period, such as 10 years in some states.
Efforts to open a "window" to criminally charge people for rapes committed years ago have met with resistance in court. In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected retroactively extending time limits on criminal prosecution of sexual abuse against minors. The court said California unlawfully changed the legal consequences of the crime after the fact. The Supreme Court chose not to take up the issue of civil lawsuits, but California state courts have upheld the constitutionality of retroactive civil actions.
The California legislation ushered in more than 800 lawsuits, compelling the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to issue a report that named clergy who had been accused of abuse. Some who were still working in ministry were removed from their posts. That diocese alone paid a settlement of more than $660 million in 2007 to people who said they had been abused.
Plaintiffs attorneys say that the nature of sexual abuse -- which some victims, such as children, are too ashamed to report -- compels state governments to give victims an added legal opportunity to confront their abusers.
The California law ushered in litigation that revealed the names of alleged perpetrators and compelled schools, dioceses and other organizations to handle abuse complaints more quickly and openly, says Marci Hamilton, a Cardozo Law School professor and longtime advocate of lifting limitations on abuse cases.
Matthias Conaty, 40 years old, who says he was abused by a Capuchin Franciscan friar starting when he was 9, helped lead the effort to get the Delaware law passed. Last year, Mr. Conaty sued his alleged abuser, religious orders, a school and the Diocese of Wilmington, accusing them of gross negligence. Mr. Conaty is seeking unspecified monetary damages and the release of all documents related to the alleged abuse of children.
An attorney for the diocese couldn't be reached for comment on the case, which is still pending. An attorney for the friar said she had no comment on Mr. Conaty's case.
"It's really in the public interest because it's about protecting children today," Mr. Conaty says. "Some institutions have changed the way they screen people. They've been much more responsive to small complaints."