Chinese Banks With Massive 300 Billion Yuan Capital Shortfall

 

A massive lending binge over the past couple of years has left major Chinese banks undercapitalized according to a new report from Caing, which has gone through the latest financial reports.
Sure, profits are surging, but the bottom line is that these banks are likely to need 200-300 billion yuan (up to $45 billion est.) in 2010 in fresh capital. To put that into perspective, that's half as much as all the money raised by mainlaind Chinese public companies last year.
Specifically:

Industrial Bank's capital adequacy ratio slipped to 10.63 percent at the end of the first quarter of this year from 10.75 percent at the end of 2009, with its core capital level dimming from 7.91 percent to 7.59 percent. The minimum capital requirement for joint-stock banks was raised to 10 percent by China Banking Regulatory Commission late last year. For six largest banks, it is 11 percent.

China Citic Bank's capital adequacy dropped to 9.34 percent at the end of March, down 0.8 percentage point from the end of last year. The Bank of Ningbao had mixed performance: its core capital level dip from 9.58 percent at the end of last year to 9.07 percent at the end of the first quarter while capital adequacy ratio climbed from 10.75 percent to 10.88 percent during the time frame. 

J. Weisenthal

Commercial Chinese Banks Short of Capital

After a lending binge in 2009, many commercial Chinese banks now face capital shortages

(Beijing) - First quarter reports by five joint-stock banks, the second rung of China's bank industry ladder after the five biggest state-owned banks, have revealed that behind the rapid growth in net profits, capital adequacy ratios have fallen. Some banks have dipped below the regulatory capital requirement.    

On April 28, China Citic Bank, China Merchants Bank, the Bank of Ningbo, Industrial Bank and Shenzhen Development Bank filed their first quarter report to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
China Merchants Bank, the country's sixth largest lender, reaped 5.91 billion yuan in net profit, ranking the first among the five joint-stock banks. China Citic Bank posted 4.08 billion yuan, coming second. Industrial Bank registered 4.079 billion yuan, the third, followed by Shenzhen Development Bank with 1.58 billion yuan in net profit and the Bank of Ningbo with 498 million yuan.
In terms of net profit growth rate, China Merchants Bank, Shenzhen Development Bank and the Bank of Ningbao registered over 40 percent quarterly growth compared with the same period in 2009. Industrial Bank's net profit grew 38.68 percent compared with a year earlier while China Citic had the slowest growth pace of 26.5 percent.  

Industrial Bank's capital adequacy ratio slipped to 10.63 percent at the end of the first quarter of this year from 10.75 percent at the end of 2009, with its core capital level dimming from 7.91 percent to 7.59 percent. The minimum capital requirement for joint-stock banks was raised to 10 percent by China Banking Regulatory Commission late last year. For six largest banks, it is 11 percent.
China Citic Bank's capital adequacy dropped to 9.34 percent at the end of March, down 0.8 percentage point from the end of last year. The Bank of Ningbao had mixed performance: its core capital level dip from 9.58 percent at the end of last year to 9.07 percent at the end of the first quarter while capital adequacy ratio climbed from 10.75 percent to 10.88 percent during the time frame.
Shenzhen Development Bank fared worst among the five. Its capital adequacy ratio fell to 8.66 percent at the end of the first quarter from 8.88 percent at the end of last year as its core capital dropped to 5.46 percent at the end of the first quarter from 5.52 percent at the end of last year.

The only bank with relatively abundant capital was China Merchants Bank, which saw its capital adequacy ratio rise from 1.08 percent to 11.53 percent in the past three months. In March, China Merchants Bank, the country's sixth-largest bank, raised 22 billion yuan to consolidate its capital base in a rights issue in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Banking analysts estimated that China's listed banks will have to shore up capital by raising about 200 billion to 300 billion yuan in 2010. The figure was equal to the nearly half of the money raised in the mainland stock markets last year.

4月28日晚，中信银行股份有限公司（601998.SH/00998.HK，下称中信银行）发布2009年年 报和2010年一季度业绩报告。
中信银行2009年录得净利137.42亿元，同比增长3.21%。2010年一季度因净利息收入和手续费收入增加，录得净利40.84亿元， 增幅达26.5%。

2009年资产总额增幅41%，年底达到1.67万亿。2009年上半年信贷快速投放和10月收购中信国金后并表的影响下，中信银行资本充足率 和核心资本充足率均大幅下降，2009年底分别为10.14%和9.17%。

2010年一季度末，资本充足率继续下跌至9.34%，已低于监管要求，核心资本充足率为8.31%。年报同时显示，2009年年底，中信银行 存贷比为79.62%，已高于监管机构75%标准。中信银行表示，年初发布的次级债发行计划能使资本充足率达到监管要求，同时3年内的股本融资计划正在进 行。

2009年实现利息净收入342.2亿元。其中，生息资产规模增长对利息净收入的正面贡献为80.6亿元，部分弥补了去年净息差下降的影响。 2010年净息差和生息资产齐升，利息净收入102.07亿元，同比增长41.2%，手续费收入增幅达42%。

年报显示，2009年净息差5月触底后回升，全年平均净息差为2.58%，12月份净息差升至2.65%。2010年继续回升，3月净息差达到 2.76%。2009年净利差为2.39%，比上年下降0.55个百分点。

中信银行表示，去年对地方融资平台投资较为审慎，政府融资平台投放占贷款总量的15%。对于近期房贷新政，中信银行表示，对90平米以上首套房 贷款利率提高到正常利率的0.8倍，二套，三套房分别提高到1.1倍和1.2倍以上。

中信银行2009年上半年信贷投放迅猛，截至2009年末，中信银行集团贷款总额达10656.49亿元人民币，同比增长45.90%。

资产质量方面，2009年末拨备覆盖率达到162.28%，提升13.25个百分点，不良贷款余额和不良贷款率实现“双降”，其中不良贷款率达 到0.90%。2010年3月末，资产质量继续双降，不良贷款余额85.03亿元，不良贷款率为0.80%，拨备覆盖率达到185.01%。■

Rare Stuffs From UK Reissue Specialist - Satintones

Satintones Sing! -- The Complete Tamla & Motown Singles (limited edition)

Satintones

 Tamla/Motown/Ace (UK)

 

The complete Tamla and Motown singles of The Satintones -- the soul, R&B & popular music juggernaut's first male vocal group -- and a treasure trove of rare post doo wop from the end of the 50s/beginning of the 60s! It's fascinating for stuff for the history here -- the group is hugely under-anthologized in a world of myriad Motown compilations -- which is a real shame, as you'll hear in this sweet set -- with numbers that that rely on the doo wop influences and pronounced group efforts as well as tunes more devoted to lead vocal performances -- with a slew of early Berry Gordy productions and compositions. The set includes the then legally challenged Shirelles knockoff/answer song "Tomorrow and Always" Includes "Motor City", "Going To The Hop", "Sugar Daddy", "A Love That Can Never Be", "Foot Stomping Time", My Kind Of Love", "Boogie Woogie Heart", "Because I Love You", "You Can't Beat My Lovin" and many more. 26 tracks in all.

It is a limited Release edition of  only 3000 copies.

Get It From :- http://www.dustygroove.com/

強姦有理 反抗有罪

 

強姦犯生殖器折斷亡 被奸女子判有罪

　　河南洛陽市一女子因為太漂亮， 在被強暴時，不主動配合強暴,眼看著就要插入，女子突然一個打挺導致強暴 者生殖器官折斷，因失血過多而身亡。昨日洛陽市洛龍區法院審結此案，判決該女子構成 過失致死罪，緩刑3年， 並賠償被害人江某家屬經濟損失8.8萬元。

　　河南洛陽市一年輕女子在被強暴 時，因不配合激烈反抗導致對方身亡。 昨日，洛陽市洛尤區法院審結了這起「不配合強姦致死案」。本是受害者的宋麗，最後被判處有期徒刑三年，緩刑三年執行。

　　
 2009年2月21日22時，洛尤區關林鎮一女青年宋麗加完夜班 後， 單身一人走在回家的路上，被剛吃完宵夜喝過酒的公務員江某盯上，江某遂摀住宋麗的嘴將其拖進路邊樹林深處實施強姦，眼看著就要插入，女子突然一個打挺導致 江某生殖器官折斷，又在明知李某喝酒有醉意的情況下，因怕名聲不保未及時拔打 120求救，導致江某失血過多而死亡。

　　
 2010年3月26日，洛陽市洛尤區人民檢察院向洛尤區法院 提 起公訴，指控宋麗犯有故意傷害罪。

　　公訴機關認為，宋麗明知自己的 行為會造成他人身體上的傷害，卻放任這種結果的發生，最終造成他人死亡的後果，其行為已構成故意傷害罪。


　　宋麗的辯護律師認為，宋麗由於 天黑加上慌張，沒有發現強姦者受傷，更重要的一點是宋麗當時是處女，事後發現身上流的血以為是處女血， 在不知道強姦者的受傷的情況下，所以錯過了救人時 間。另外強姦者因事前服用偉哥（法醫鑒定書標明），興奮過度而沒有意識到自己受傷流血， 這是死者強姦不慎致死。所以並不是因宋麗主觀上故意傷害導致江某死 亡。

　　
法院認為，被告人宋麗應當預見 強姦者江某可能造成「一日二變」的結果，可宋麗在被奸時因疏忽大意沒有預見，導致江某死亡。如果宋麗在被強姦後發現江某昏迷及時報案或者拔打120，或許能及時搶救過來。但被告宋麗因顧 及自己名譽而延誤報案求救，最終錯過最佳搶救時間而導致江某死亡。

　
　另外，鑒於被告人宋麗在案發後 認罪態度較好，同時，被告人積極進行民事賠償，已取得被害人家屬諒解，有明顯悔罪表現，及被害人江某有部分責任，故從輕處罰。 (文中人物均為化名)

「強姦犯生殖器折斷而亡 被姦女子被判有罪」是最近流傳一單假新聞，大家都看不出背後其實是在諷刺中國的司法制度，有如揭發豆腐渣殺害無數 兒童的譚作人被判五年，有如今次為了自己兒子喝了結石奶粉，以及為被姦少女李蕊蕊伸冤的趙連海，和「強姦犯生殖器折斷而亡」比較，本質上有分別嗎？

Hugh Hendry Slams The Investment Industry: "I Don't Sell Dreams, I Live In The Real World"

 

Hugh Hendry's interview on Investment Week:-

Hugh Hendry is not one to mince his words. The outspoken hedge fund specialist, formerly a partner at Odey and more recently a co-founder of investment boutique Eclectica, has previously appeared on Newsnight and presented a Channel 4 documentary on the banking crisis. Here he explains why he has been punished for good performance, why China could be the next Japan, and why he would insure you against the UK defaulting on its sovereign debt 

Do you think China is a bubble waiting to burst?

I fear it could be, because it has not demonstrated an ability to create wealth. It has demonstrated an ability to create GDP growth, which is a function of spending money. The priority of economic management at the macro level should be to have a high re-occurring level of household disposable income, which manifests itself in a high level of consumption as a percentage of GDP.
The scorecard for China using that metric is really bottom of the class. Over the last 30 years, that ratio has almost halved and we are talking about consumption being 35% of the economy. Now when I say that, people scoff and ask, how can you celebrate the venality of consumption?  Isn’t there nobility to building bridges? However, infrastructure projects and steel plants that are publicly commissioned and have very uncertain economic paybacks ultimately require a subsidy from the household sector. If you build a high-speed rail link and anticipate it improving the productivity of the economy over the next 10 years, but actually it does not, it means you will have to raise Government borrowing or tax the population to sustain the negative cashflow.

But is this all about producing more of everything and increasing their economic footprint?
Well, yes. They are pursuing an Asian model and at the forefront of that model is Japan. My interpretation of all of that is, again at the macro level, profit has been displaced by the notion of sovereign power and accumulation.
If you define success on those criteria, they are clearly top of the class. But then we have witnessed Japan fall from being the unquestioned economic superpower – as it was in the 1980s – and it has now suffered two decades of profound reversal. I think the Chinese have to be concerned about that, because it has a portent their model is so similar.

Turning to specifics, will the distortions in Chinese foreign exchange rates based on the renminbi cause much of the pain to come?

Two precedents seem to describe a situation evident in China today. The experience of the US in the 1920s was one of economic disequilibrium and the economy became the world’s largest creditor nation, but at the same time had the ability and the insistence, that it would run persistent trade surpluses.
That does not wash in the world of equilibrium analysis of economics. Trees do not grow to the sky and the fact everyone owes you money means they require the resources and the ability to repay you your money. They can only find that resource to repay you by trading back with you and earning a trade surplus in return.
It takes the world into conflict and typically liquidity is used as a balm to keep an unstable world together. But that balm of liquidity finds its way into speculative asset prices and therefore makes the society vulnerable to reversal. It found its way into Wall Street, which crashed and the US went from first to last. It took 50 years before we saw the world repeat that folly, and that folly was demonstrated in Japan.

2001 is the fulcrum point where things really started to go right in China – they gained entry into the World Trade Organisation [and this coincided] with America really stepping onto the gas with regard to household debt and financing and mortgage market. And that was very much to the benefit of the Chinese.

Looking specifically at those equity markets – they do not appear enormously overpriced at around 20 times earnings do they? Especially if earnings power ahead in the next few years?
This is back to the silly Slater notion of PEG ratio analysis, which has the flaw that it is not predicated on the accumulation of wealth. This saw Next become a retail empire in the 1980s by having not one but three stores in every high street. The same applied to Starbucks. Again it is this mechanistic notion of generating incremental revenue or earnings growth or GDP growth – at the expense of declining returns on marginal investment, which sows the seeds of its own destruction.

Let’s switch now to some of your own funds and what you are doing with them? We hear a lot about your high profile funds but one of your first was your European unit trust, which has in absolute returns terms been a success, but we do not hear much about it.
I set this up in 2005. In 2007 we made 5.5%, which was nothing to write home about to be honest, as the market was up over 10% that year. But in 2008 in sterling terms, our fund only lost 5% and the stock market lost 25%.
In 2009 our fund made 7% – so we went plus five, minus five, plus seven, which is a remarkably robust performance. Yet the assets invested in that fund have fallen from $80m to £3m. So I have been punished but I am not quite sure why I have been punished. The answer to it reveals the malaise that exists in the investment industry.

What has gone wrong with the investment industry in your view?
It is a malaise and the end of an era. We have leveraged society – in the 1970s total debt to GDP in the US was 1.3. Today it is 4. So leverage has gone up a factor of three.

Equities are a real asset and the subject of a very positive spin on that leverage and therefore it is no surprise stock markets have typically gone up in real terms by a factor of nine. That is without precedent in the 400 years of economic history we have of available.

We have created a hunger just to make money, speculative money and damn the consequences almost – we are either all investing in houses or stocks, soon to be Chinese stocks with Anthony Bolton. But, it has also created a Pavlovian response where every crisis was an opportunity to buy more. I think time is receding, it is passing, it is leaving us behind. My difficulty is that I do not sell dreams. I live in the real world.

How does this enthusiasm for debt and equities relate back to your European fund and its relative neglect?
At best we are agnostic with regard to Europe. In my darker moments when I drop my guard, I am profoundly concerned and troubled by the economic model Europe is pursuing, and that makes me a very good gatekeeper for managing European assets. It means I am very quick to sell things and therefore I can protect capital. It means I have to be convinced – I am sceptical.

I think it provides an edge but it not a marketing edge. In fact you cannot sell the European product clearly by saying Europe sucks.

I am keen to understand how you actually invest. Let’s take the European unit trust as an example. What goes on in the engine room?
In the engine room of the fund we develop a prejudice with regard to the colour and direction of the global macro economy. We think those weather patterns, if you will, actually influence companies.
With this in mind, how do you pick companies?I am concerned a society that has leveraged three times has therefore created a third presence – debt – within the economy and an inflated sense of the economy. There is a degree to which it has boosted the reputations of perhaps otherwise mediocre businesses.
As we take away this economic module the debt provided, it reveals a more sobering environment where actually it is just tough! So that manifests itself today in the sense we are concerned about the world being profoundly deflationary and therefore are reluctant to take a lot of economic risk. So the businesses we select to buy today are large-cap names, so I can sell them and not be trapped in them. They are businesses that have a lack of economic sensitivity. I have a tremendous amount invested in the tobacco industry. I think it could survive a consumer depression.

Let’s finish by looking again at the bigger, macro, picture. I suppose we could summarise your views thus – deflation is still a very real risk in the West. There is the real chance of asset bubbles, particularly in the East. What about sterling? Should we be selling it because of our indebted state?  
There is a hysteria concerning sterling with regard to other currencies, especially the euro, which I do not share. Our economy is troubled and thankfully we have an independent monetary policy that does not avail itself to places like Greece. So when people get very concerned about the sovereign credit risk of the UK, and they compare it to Greece, I think they are horribly wrong.
If you wanted insurance on the UK defaulting on its debt I would write you that insurance. The UK will not default on its debt. I think it is just a preposterous assumption.

You are asking me about currency however, and sterling continues to look as if it will weaken. Clearly, there is uncertainty with regard to politics – sterling will continue to weaken against the dollar and possibly to parity versus the dollar. The dollar will surprise people by being profoundly strong, but in the context of further deflation and further falls in asset prices.

Everyone’s favourite future bogeyman is inflation. Jonathan Ruffer, in an interview recently, suggested over the medium to long term, there is a real chance of inflation picking up sharply, with the RPI [retail prices index] back above 10% or even 15% – back to the 1970s and stagflation. I am guessing you do not think that will happen given your deflationary views on debt? 
If you want to create inflation, you will have to do away with free and independent capital markets. It is very hard to create inflation with free and independent capital markets because of people like me and Jonathan.

We have had quantitative easing, what has happened in the UK? Sterling has fallen and the existing stock of Government debt has fallen in price. So rates are going up. That acts as a counter and a check. We now have credit rating agencies, which come in and counter it, so it is very hard.

If you want to create inflation, what you will see is that we will have a ban on short selling. We will have a ban on naked credit default swaps. We will have the re-imposition of exchange controls. I think that could reside in the future.

So, you would put RPI in five years time at 15%?
If all of the things I say come to pass  I anticipate having a lot of inflationary traits. But some of the smartest minds in the marketplace have gone for logic rather than irony… what I am saying is you have to respect policy makers. They are wise, educated, hard working, and diligent. None of them wants to be the person who goes down in history as being the architect of hyper inflation. They do not want that. To get them to do it, to go nuclear, you have to press them to the edge and I think the place closest to the edge is Japan.

Japan? Are the risks of hyper-inflation really that great in an economy rocked by deflation?
Japan features prominently in a lot of the positions we are adopting today. Japan will of course reject the notion of overseas finance and therefore likewise could pursue fiscal austerity.
In that environment you would find Japan could print -5%, -6% nominal GDP very, very quickly. In that environment there is a paradox – the yen would appreciate, which runs very counter to most people’s logic. So I think you could have a coincidence of -5%, -6% Japanese GDP, you could have dollar/yen in the low 70s if not in the 60s. That would be an environment in which they would go nuclear.

New Chinese Proverb:- "wise men not invest in over-capacity"

Hugh Hendry's full article in the Telegraph:-

Hugh Hendry wonders whether professional money managers' infatuation with China could prove unrewarding?

 

Hugh Hendry warns of investrs' infatuation with China

 

Robert Prechter, the eminent American observer of social and economic trends, wryly contends that stock markets usually deceive those people who argue for outcomes based on seemingly logical causation.

Could our professional money managers' infatuation with China prove similarly unrewarding? China's economy is certainly on a tear; economic growth has averaged 9pc a year over the past 10 years, compared with a paltry 1.9pc for the British economy. Last year, despite the credit crunch, China posted a remarkable growth rate of 10.7pc against a British contraction of 3.2pc. This is impressive stuff.

 

The spell cast by a contemporary cult is undoubtedly hard to resist and some brave souls, willing no doubt to extrapolate present trends forward, are even proclaiming that China will usurp the United States as the world's largest economy. Goldman Sachs' chief global economist, Jim O'Neill, even taunts the naysayers, saying, "You either get it or you don't." Such is his conviction.

However, the composition of China's growth has undergone a potentially treacherous change: in the absence of expanding foreign demand for its exports, it has instead come to rely on a massive surge in domestic bank lending to fuel its growth rate.
Indeed, when measured relative to the size of its economy, the 27pc point jump in bank loans to GDP is unprecedented; at no point in history has a nation ever attempted such an incredible increase in state-directed bank lending.

What a turnaround: from an export juggernaut to a credit addict. Who would have thought it necessary back in 2001, the year everything all started to work out for China?

That was the year the Chinese gained entry into the World Trade Organisation. The ascension to the WTO also coincided with the American Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy response in the aftermath of the NASDAQ crash. Exports surged, especially to the US, and China's current account surplus increased from a modest 2pc of its economy to a monumental 11pc, all by 2007.
This appetite for cheap Chinese exports, which had at one point seemed insatiable, means that we in the West have come to owe our largest Asian trading partner quite a hefty sum of money. China has become the world's biggest creditor, after amassing nearly $2.3 trillion of foreign exchange claims on us. However, the spectre of a creditor nation running persistent trade surpluses has ominous historical portents. It has happened only twice before, with the US economy in the Twenties and with the Japanese economy in the Eighties.

Economics is a cruel master and in both of the previous examples a failure to allow exchange rates to adjust to the new reality created a large speculative pool of credit that, in turn, led to overvalued domestic assets and, eventually, an economic crisis. Never forget that in economics, first can become last.

The China bulls assure us that this time it is different. Yes, the banks are lending money at breakneck speed, but look at what they are doing with it! They suggest a new era reminiscent of Protestant Capitalism. They want us to believe the atheist Chinese are prepared to work harder and defer their gratification for longer.
Undoubtedly, China's state planners have favoured investment over consumption. High-speed rail networks, first-class infrastructure projects and the urban migration of 55 million people every year are common explanations for the ability of the nimble Chinese to overcome the frailties of this global economy. But can too much of a good thing be bad for you? The goal of economic policy, after all, is to maximise households' wellbeing and consumption. Unfortunately, unlike in most countries, China's share of consumption within its economy has fallen relentlessly, reaching 35pc of GDP in 2008. Something isn't right.

The ancient ethical system of Confucius is silent on the subject of modernisation. There is no proverb counselling that "wise men not invest in over-capacity". Perhaps there should be: in China, investment spending has tripled since 2001 and the consequences are staggering. A country that represents just 7pc of global GDP is now responsible for 30pc of global aluminum consumption, 47pc of global steel consumption and 40pc of global copper consumption. The overriding problem is that the Chinese model leads to a deflationary spiral that is perpetual in nature. Domestic consumption never grows fast enough to absorb the supply, prompting the planners to commit to ever-higher levels of investment. Over-capacity inevitably plagues many sectors of the economy and Chinese profitability is already low.

Remember, it is one thing to create economic growth, but it is another thing to truly create wealth. If I commit to building a new commercial property in Shanghai I will undoubtedly contribute to GDP growth. However, if I have no tenants and the city already has a vacancy rate of 20pc, then I am probably destroying wealth.
Adam Smith taught us that real wealth comes not from piles of gold or their modern-day equivalent, the foreign exchange reserves amassed from a profitless succession of current account surpluses.
Rather, Smith suggests that real wealth is founded on the skills and productivity of a country's citizens. This is the central concern regarding the sustainability of the Asian economic model. Power without profit can prove ephemeral. This is an axiom the Japanese are all too familiar with. We cannot say we have not been warned.

An Alternative Way To Pay Alimony To Wife

 

Here, My Dear (expanded 2CD edition) (Japanese paper sleeve edition) - Marvin Gaye

CD  2CD gatefold - Motown/Universal (Japan)

Wonderful stuff --it was initially a commercial failure, while receiving some critical favor from music writers. However, critical recognition of the album has improved significantly following further examinations by critics and compact disc-reissues. In 2003, the album was ranked number 462 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time

This is the legendary two-record set that Marvin wrote and recorded as an alimony payment to his ex-wife Anna Gordy

(the story's pretty long, and you can get into it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here,_My_Dear-- suffice it to say that when stars get a divorce, watch out!) Although the album was thought of as a no-brainer quickie at the time -- and predicted to fail so that Anna wouldn't get any cash from it -- the record is an extremely well-crafted one, filled with extremely personal songs that also have a warm soulful finish, in the style of Marvin's work on the LP I Want You (which is kind of a nice bookend to this one -- as it was an extended love poem to the young girlfriend that caused him to split up with Anna!) Hard and soulful, the record's a searing testimony to the relationship between Marvin and Anna, and a painful document of the troubles between them -- set to some mellow grooves that are easily some of Marvin's greatest of the 70s! The set's filled with great "lost" Marvin Gay songs, too -- like "Sparrow", "When Did You Stop Loving Me", "Anger", "You Can Leave, But It's Going To Cost You", and "Time to Get it Together". Expanded CD features the famous 12" instrumental version of "A Funky Space Reincarnation" -- plus a full set of 12 bonus alternate mixes produced by the likes of Mocean Worker, Easy Mo Bee, Leon Ware, Marcus Miller, Prince Paul, Bootsy Collins, Slaam Remi, and The Randy Watson Experience -- including "Anger (alt extended)", "Here My Dear (alt mix)", "Time To Get It Together (alt extended mix)", "Falling In Love Again (alt version)", "I Met A Little Girl (alt version)", "Sparrow (alt version)", and "Anna's Song (inst -- alt version)". (SHM CD pressing!) 

Get It From:- http://www.dustygroove.com/

為什麼今天的人民政府還要它的人民下跪？

3月，中國西南大旱，河水乾枯，田地荒蕪。在廣西東蘭縣蘭木鄉一條山道上，15名 古稀老人每日往返12至24公里到供水點 挑水度日。一天，老人們遇到媒體記者，突然雙膝一屈下跪說：「請代我們向政府求情，我們實在挑不動水了，希望政府盡快修通村道。」

當地政府 旋即回應，老人們是「刁民」，下跪事件是精心策劃，但政府「寬宏大量」，不予追究。 老人們則堅稱，下跪乃是自願行為。
也是3月，媒體報導稱山西近百名兒童在注射疫苗後或死或殘。山西官方遲遲未承認問題，結果6名受害者家長帶標語到省衛生廳請願，由於沒負責人出來接 待，受害者家屬一度跪在大門口前抗議。

4月，遼寧省莊河市逾千名村民，在市政府大樓前集體上訪，申訴村官涉嫌挪用征地賠償、非法集資及受賄，求見市長主持公道被拒後無奈下跪哀求，但官員 仍不理會。「千人集體下跪求見市長未果」圖文並茂在網上曝光後，輿論狠批地方官員漠視民怨， 驚動官方。市長孫明近日被責令辭職，並被追究責任。

類似老百姓向父母官下跪請願的新聞，幾乎每天都在神州大地上演。有雲男兒膝下有黃金，只 跪蒼天和娘親，到底是什麼原因讓老百姓一次次地向父母官下 跪？

跪求政府的傳統，在中國由來已久。古代老百姓在地方遭了不白之冤，只能長途跋涉上京告狀，攔官轎下跪 喊冤 (think:- old folks begging Hisa/Najib for citizenships)，若有幸碰到個清官，的確可以請官老爺主持 公道。

如今，無論是上訪還是叫屈，民眾之所以來到政府部門求助，顯然也是因為常規救濟通道都已被堵塞。如果 到了衙門還是申訴無門，他們就只能下跪，希望得 到同情和幫助，也說明他們還對政府抱有信任，希望用合法的方式解決問題。
如果說在古代，百姓見官下跪是符合封建時代的倫理綱常，

那為什麼今天的人民政府還要它的人民下跪？

更何況很多時候，這只 是民眾的一廂情願，悲情一跪 並不保證就能感動官員和政府。否則1989年六四事件前，在北京人民大會堂前跪諫的學生，也不會因領導人不 出來接諫書而徹底對政府絕望，造成最後天安門廣 場變成學生的墳場。
中國總理溫家寶早前撰文懷念中共已故總書記胡耀邦，講述他當年陪同胡耀邦在春節前後出訪貴州、雲南、廣西貧困地區的往事。胡耀邦曾說：「領導幹部一 定要親自下基層調查研究，體察群眾疾苦，傾聽群眾呼聲，掌握第一手材料。對擔負領導工作的人來說，最大的危險就是脫離實際。」
溫家寶一直把老長官的教誨銘記在心，出任總理後每年過年都到農村、礦場、工廠向基層民眾拜年，考查民情。中國國家主席胡錦濤也是如此。比起胡溫兩位 無時無刻心繫人民的領導人，那些讓老百姓跪在門外的地方官員，能不羞愧？

要知道，官員吃的是老百姓的俸祿，是人民的公僕，為人民服務是天經地義。辦好了事， 是分內之責，無需感謝；不辦事或辦了壞事，理所當然應該受到批評 或懲戒。可悲的是，這些「常識」對許多官員來說是，只是天方夜譚。

宋育晶

Every Picture Tells A Story

The Worst Trades Of All Time

 

1/13

 

Robert Citron: The man who brought California to its knees with 292% leverage.

In 1994, Robert Citron was Treasurer-Tax Collector and the only Democrat to hold office in Orange County, California. Through a series of highly-levered deals that included repo agreements and floating rate notes, Citron was able to at one point achieve leverage of 292%. The funds he managed were worth around $8 billion and if interest rates went up, he stood to lose big time due to his collateral which consisted almost primarily of US Treasury bonds.

Well guess what? Interest rates rose and as a result, Citron lost Orange County lost a boatload of money. From Wikipedia:

"The county's finances were not suspect until February 1994. The Federal Reserve Bank began to raise US interest rates, causing many securities in Orange County's investment pools to fall in value. As a result, dealers were requesting extra margin payments from Orange County. These extra margin payments were funded in part by another bond issue made by Orange County; the size of that bond issue was $600 million. However, this fix proved to be only temporary. In December 1994, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) realized what was going on and blocked the "rolling over" of $1.25 billion in repos ("rollover" essentially means issuing of another repo when the previous one ends, but, at the new prevailing interest rate).

At that point Orange County was left with no recourse other than to file for bankruptcy."

 

 

 

Late last year, we created a presentation on some of the greatest trades of all time. It featured men who had achieved billions of dollars through their financial aptitude, brilliant investment strategies, and some luck.
However, with every winning trade comes a loss to another party, and today we focus on... the losers.

Here are the individuals and institutions that lost hundreds of millions, to billions, of dollars. All by letting one group or individual gamble with their money.

Be it excessive leverage, poor decision-making, or outright illegal activity, this is a story of epic failure.

Robert Citron: The man who brought California to its knees with 292% leverage.

In 1994, Robert Citron was Treasurer-Tax Collector and the only Democrat to hold office in Orange County, California. Through a series of highly-levered deals that included repo agreements and floating rate notes, Citron was able to at one point achieve leverage of 292%. The funds he managed were worth around $8 billion and if interest rates went up, he stood to lose big time due to his collateral which consisted almost primarily of US Treasury bonds.

Well guess what? Interest rates rose and as a result, Citron lost Orange County lost a boatload of money. From Wikipedia:

"The county's finances were not suspect until February 1994. The Federal Reserve Bank began to raise US interest rates, causing many securities in Orange County's investment pools to fall in value. As a result, dealers were requesting extra margin payments from Orange County. These extra margin payments were funded in part by another bond issue made by Orange County; the size of that bond issue was $600 million. However, this fix proved to be only temporary. In December 1994, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) realized what was going on and blocked the "rolling over" of $1.25 billion in repos ("rollover" essentially means issuing of another repo when the previous one ends, but, at the new prevailing interest rate).

At that point Orange County was left with no recourse other than to file for bankruptcy."

Jerome Kerviel: Derivatives arbitrage totaling over $60 billion

Kerviel made headlines last year as the trader at "a french bank," which ended up being Societe Generale, He lost approximately $6.5 billion just like Leeson and others in this list through arbitrage of equity derivatives. Unauthorized trades totaled as high as $66.7 billion. Kerviel was ultimately charged with creating fraudulent documents and making attacks on an automated system.

Nick Leeson: Wiped out the world's oldest bank, Barings

Leeson is most likely the most popular guy on the list. He started his career trading derivatives at Barings Bank and was eventually moved to Singapore where he enjoyed a lavish lifestyle and made plenty of money. That is, because he hid mounting losses in a special account known as the "five eights" account. He was eventually caught and sentenced to five years in a Singaporean prison where he acquired cancer and his wife left him.

Tim Geithner: Plowed $6.6 billion into a dead, unpopular automaker

Consider this: when was the last time Chrysler made a car you would actually buy? I'm dead serious. Who buys a new Chrysler, excluding the Jeep brand? Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner must not have thought of this when he wrote Chrysler a check for $6.6 billion to keep the company afloat via a new company.

This isn't the first time Chrysler has needed help. In 1979, then-President Jimmy Carter approved a $1.5 billion loan package for the automaker called the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee.

Since 2009, Chrysler has yet to fully recover and continues to be a money-losing business. Kyle Bass once said that this country needs to consolidate its auto industry. There is no longer room for three major players and perhaps, not even two. Ford will stick around, but it remains to be seen if Chrysler and GM can survive despite their divine intervention.

John Rusnak: Lost $691 million and thousands of jobs trading FX

Rusnak was a currency trader at Allfirst Bank who placed bets he couldn't handle. He was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for bank fraud and lost Allfirst a total of $691 million. As a result, Allfirst was sold by parent company AIB Group to M&T Bank. Over 1000 employees lost their jobs as a result of the case.

Joseph Jett: The hacker who lost it all

After GE purchased investment firm Kidder Peabody, it ended up finding out the company was more trouble than it was worth. Joe Jett, an MIT and Harvard Business School graduate, worked for Kidder in its fixed income department. He exploited a weak computer system to emulate trades to appear as if he was making sums of money. He appeared to have made $264 million when in reality, he had $75 million in losses that he covered up.

After becoming a rising star in the company, he was fired for reportedly causing over $250 million in losses according to then-GE CEO Jack Welch. As a result, the SEC charged him with record-keeping violations and ordered him to forfeit $8.2 million in bonus pay in addition to a $200,000 fine.

John Meriwether: The hedge fund that almost blew up the entire global economy.

This story is one that's appeared in many a book about finance. It goes something like this:
Back in 1998, John Meriwether's hedge fund, Long-Term Capital Management, had levered up 100:1 on Russian bonds. Russia defaulted and as a result, the fund lost $4.8 billion in a matter of months. A consortium of Wall Street banks was brought together by the New York Fed in order to bail out the hedge fund and save the economy. Firms like Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse were all forced to post hundreds of millions of dollars to keep the firm afloat. Over $1.9 billion in principal was completely wiped out, making Meriwether the laughing stock of The Street.

Yasuo Hamanaka: Attempted to corner the copper market and lost

This Japanese copper trader used to be employed by the Sumitomo Corporation, which was one of the larger trading firms in Japan. Back in 1996, Mr. Hamanaka attempted to corner the copper market and was unsuccessful. At stake? $1.8 billion in authorized trading with losses as high as $2.6 billion. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and was released in 2005.

Andy Fastow: Enron's CFO Cooks The Books, Funnels Money, And Cheats His Way To Riches

The downfall of Enron will forever be known as one of the greatest crimes (and tricks) in modern finance. As Enron's Chief Financial Officer, Fastow was responsible for unloading balance sheet debt into special investment vehicles, including the famous JLM and Raptor vehicles. He also set up off shore entities, directed traders on how they should make money, and lied to investors all in the name of Enron.
When the government went after Enron, he was able to cop a plea agreement that required him to serve a maximum 10-year prison sentence and forfeit $23.8 million in assets. He got six years and is awaiting release in 2011. His losses? Billions of dollars, wiping out shareholders completely, and costing thousands their jobs.

Peter Young: 80,000 investors get cheated

Young was a fund manager at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (DMG) and had access to quite a bit of capital. He was known for making big, speculative bets in European markets. He set up shell companies so that he could circumvent financial regulation and place big bets on specific companies. After these bets, regulators came looking for answers and trading was shut down temporarily. Parent company Deutsche Bank was forced to offer DMG a $300 million cash infusion, only to have $400 million withdrawn from its funds in the ensuing weeks.

DMG was forced to pay a $1 million fine and investors profits were cut short after the bank announced to 80,000 investors that money was lost due to trading irregularities. Together, the three European funds Young managed were worth a combined $2.5 billion.

Bernard Madoff: The greatest Ponzi scheme of all time

You know the story by now, so let's review:

• Former head of NASDAQ starts up Madoff Securities in mid-1980s.
• For years showed investors great returns, told them to keep their money in the fund.
• Turned out he didn't have anywhere near as much money in the fund as he claimed he did, bilked investors out of billions when it was discovered he was running a Ponzi scheme.
• Goes to jail for the rest of his life, assets and cash divested to claimants in case.
• New York Post has a field day with its headlines.

David Lee: An explosive natural gas play

Image: Wikipedia

Lee, a natural gas trader for Bank of Montreal, ended up losing his bank $237 million due to his trading in natgas derivatives. He originally lost up to $853 million using a scheme to disguise his losses - a recurring theme in our presentation.

According to Reuters, it went down like this:
 

"Lee overvalued the positions on BMO's books by regularly recording inflated values that were then purportedly validated by Optionable Inc," the SEC suit said.

It said the three Optionable traders "schemed with Lee to have Optionable simply rubber-stamp whatever inflated values Lee recorded." 

 

 

V. Veneziani

 

 

 

Goldman Sachs' Sinister Subsidairy

Somali Pirates Say They Are Subsidiary of Goldman Sachs

Could Make Prosecution Difficult, Experts Say

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA – Eleven indicted Somali pirates dropped a bombshell in a U.S. court today, revealing that their entire piracy operation is a subsidiary of banking giant Goldman Sachs.

There was an audible gasp in the courtroom when the leader of the pirates announced,
“We are doing God’s work.  We work for Lloyd Blankfein.”

The pirate, who said he earned a bonus of $48 million in dubloons last year, elaborated on the nature of the Somalis’ work for Goldman, explaining that the pirates forcibly attacked ships that Goldman had already shorted.

“We were functioning as investment bankers, only every day was casual Friday,” the pirate said.

The pirate acknowledged that they merged their operations with Goldman in late 2008 to take advantage of the more relaxed regulations governing bankers as opposed to pirates, “plus to get our share of the bailout money.”

In the aftermath of the shocking revelations, government prosecutors were scrambling to see if they still had a case against the Somali pirates, who would now be treated as bankers in the eyes of the law.

“There are lots of laws that could bring these guys down if they were, in fact, pirates,” one government source said.  “But if they’re bankers, our hands are tied.” 

Andy Borowitz

A Great Blue Eyed Soul LP - The Letter/Neon Rainbow

The Box Tops - The Letter/Neon Rainbow

The Letter/Neon Rainbow is an album by American Blue Eyed Soul band Box Tops, released in 1967. Following The Letter reaching number one on the singles charts, The Letter/Neon Rainbow was quickly assembled for a follow up. The album peaked at number 87 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts in 1968. Most of the backing tracks were performed by session musicians, however the original group played the hit The Letter. The session musicians likely consisted of guitarists Reggie Young and Bobby Womack, bassist Tommy Cogbill, pianist and organist Bobby Emmons, and drummer Gene Chrisman. Although lead singer Alex Chilton (16 at the time) had already written a number of songs, none were included on the Box Tops' debut LP, perhaps due to his relative inexperience with songwriting. Chilton later had a significant songwriting role in the cult power pop band Big Star, and after the dissolution of the group continued to develop his career as a solo artist. The Letter/Neon Rainbow was re-released in 2000 on the Sundazed label with four additional tracks. These included the mono single versions of The Letter and Neon Rainbow, the 1969 single Turn on a Dream and a previously unreleased track Georgia Farm Boy.

01 The Letter
02 She Knows How
03 Trains and Boats and Planes
04 Break My Mind
05 A Whiter Shade of Pale
06 Everything I Am
07 Neon Rainbow
08 People Make the World"
09 I'm Your Puppet
10 Happy Times
11 Gonna Find Somebody
12 I Pray for Rain
13 Turn on a Dream
14 The Letter
15 Neon Rainbow
16 Georgia Farm Boy

蒼井空ＡＶ魔女空搖頭晃奶裝可愛大破偉大祖國的互聯網金盾

蒼井空ＡＶ魔女空搖頭晃奶裝可愛大破偉大祖國的互聯網金盾

或許，該是我後知後覺了，A對我說，近日在內地網絡中熱烈討論的，除了是有關青海地震消息外，就是日 本AV女優蒼井空在上周日開設了 Twitter帳戶，引來內地網民千方百計越過當局對互聯網的封鎖，「翻牆」圍觀偶像，並且向偶像問好。

這件事也令蒼井空受竉若驚，更在Twitter中，答謝中國來的支 持 者：


「あっと言う間に、1万越してしまいました。凄いです。ありがとうございます。早く日本でも、このツイッターが知られますように、 笑。そして、中国の皆様、謝謝☆」
「說話間，就已超過1萬啦。好厲害。謝謝。早點讓這個twitter也被日本知道，笑。那麼，中國的諸位，謝謝☆。’」


之後她又以翻譯軟件留言：




「我使用的是翻譯。謝謝。在中國我的球迷。 I use a translator in chinese. Thank you for my fans in China。」




A說，更令人意外的是，今次篬井空現像的討論，竟登陸了內地官方網站，人民網有人貼上「苍 井空能带给我们多少快感」為題的討論區文章，探討有關現像。A說現在內地網絡，仍在熱烈討論蒼井 空的Twitter，或許連中共也想不到，可以公 然挑戰中共網絡金盾的，除了美帝谷歌、維權人士外，今天，又多了一個新的「敵 人」，那就是來自東瀛的「魔女」，足以號召網民紛紛翻牆，衝破互聯網的封鎖！

AV女優可以為中國引來突破網絡自由的力量，相信，中共發夢也想不到呢！

色即是空 空即是惜—記香港色情影院

2007年，政府為新填海工程清拆皇后碼頭。打着集體回憶的旗號，各團體軟硬兼施，紛紛抗議。簽名、露宿、靜坐、絕食，連周潤發也親身到場簽名支持。

2009年，政府為建高鐵香港段清拆菜園村，社會發展與文化保育再次發生衝突。不少人攜了相機去菜園村拍照，為正在消失的老新界留念。也有不少媒體訪問當地居民，蝸牛婆婆的故事令不少市民潸然淚下。

一度風行香港的色情影院近年紛紛結業。沒有鐵路在其地下興建，填海工程與它也扯不上邊。無人殺而自殺的伯仁無人關心。坦白說，我只去過皇后碼頭三次，高鐵 事件前從未聽過「菜園村」三個字。色情影院哩，每天我卻總要在它的大門前既緊張又興奮地瞥一眼，一讀那些似懂非懂的影片名字……

末代色情影院

在柯士甸站下車，走五分鐘來到官涌街。算不上寬闊的道路兩旁泊滿汽車。街上有這樣一間小店，店面不到一百方呎，匾額上有海灘、酒杯和士多啤梨圖案，上面寫 道：「官涌戲院　中午12:30起不停播映　一張戲票　全日任睇」。戲院門前停一個售貨架，上面全是20元一張的色情光碟和錄影帶。唯一的女職員除售票 外，亦兼做播放工作。「上午10:45開場，晚上 11:30完場。早場15元，看一齣，12:30後全日40元任睇。」她淡然道。

放映時間表是這樣的：

12:30 鹹鹹濕濕誘鬼你塞1:31　我很寸可是我很淫亂

2:29　色情快餐車

放映時間以分鐘為單位。這是由於影片連續播放，毋須考慮觀眾出入場時間的關係。

我買了一張戲票。那不是電腦票，而是早已印好，一張張撕出來的老式票，上面印有日期和號碼。「日活院線有限公司　翻印必究」，票的一隅寫道。影院與店面只一破布相隔，從布外可以聽到女優的喊叫聲。

進入戲院，裏面約有二十人，一律為男性。不少年過半百的叔叔正聚精會神地盯視熒幕。也有約三四十歲的，入場似乎為冷氣多於觀戲。院內煙味甚濃，畫面質素很差。影片講述主角屋內鬧鬼，兩隻男鬼赤條條地走來走去。鬼們的身型像舒適寶海報中的郭富城。

從五十年代說起

官涌戲院是全港唯一一家現存的色情影院。我之所以撰文紀念，只因回憶於我來說非常重要。活生生的人的生活痕迹是美好的、有味道的──即使那影片不是3Ｄ，不是高清，只是劣質錄影帶，連女優的面容都無法清楚看見。

香港早於五十年代已輸入色情影片。當時的社會風氣比今日保守得多，雖說是「色情」，卻不能與現在的同日而語。那只不過在其中有接吻、愛撫、露胸等鏡頭而 已，主要仍以劇情為賣點。中文大學日本研究系教授吳偉明認為，即使到了七十年代，大批以性為號召的本土「艷情片」或「風月片」（如呂奇與李翰祥的作品）也 不過是賣弄風騷，大膽程度有限。以現今的標準來看只屬「二級Ｂ片」。

四十五歲的網誌作家阿四以前曾是「色情電影」的坐上客。他亦表示，早期它們與一般電影其實分別不大。

「票價和一般電影沒分別，不會較便宜，也不會較昂貴。」他說。「等入場時也和看普通電影無異。」他憶起以前在海運戲院看屬於主流的色情電影《偷試雲雨情》 時，還可見到女性結伴入場觀看。類近的知名色情電影如《蜜桃成熟時》、《艾曼妞》、《碧麗莎的情人》等，情況亦大致相同。

八十年代開始，日本向香港及亞洲各地大量輸出色情片，並取代歐美，成為香港上映色情片的最大來源。吳偉明認為1980年代前半的日本軟性色情片雖不一定比 歐美大膽，但意淫挑逗程度較優勝，而且同是東方人面孔及胴體，加上粵語配音，令香港觀眾更為受落。及至九十年代，本土色情片雖大行其道，但日本作品在港上 畫的數目卻不減反增。若干年份日本色情片更佔在港公映電影總數的半數以上。此外，今日仍為人津津樂道的「一票多片」模式，以及色情專門院線制度，其實亦引 入自日本。由此可見，當年日本色情電影業在港的影響力是何其巨大。

踏入全盛時期

或許不少七十後男性對三大色情電影院線名稱「日活」、「巨人」與「奧斯卡」早已耳熟能詳。據吳偉明所言，它們都是一些殘舊的中小型戲院，大部分座落在舊區 （如元朗、荃灣、筲箕灣、觀塘等）或旺角的橫街後巷（如官涌戲院）。三條院線中，今日僅存日活院線。它亦為三者中最知名，其名字取自兼拍成人電影的日本五 大電影公司之一日活株式會社。

曾經紅極一時的色情影院眾多，較重要的有油麻地的油麻地戲院、太子的太子戲院、深水埗的星輝戲院、西營盤的金陵戲院、銅鑼灣的東京戲院……篇幅所限，無法 逐一列舉。那個年頭，色情影院如雨後春筍般湧現，高峰時期全港數目達四十所以上，「梗有一間喺左近」。少男與叔伯們心儀的那些影院名字實在是無法盡錄的。

真正的黃金時期則始於1987年11月11日—那是政府成立電影三級制的日子。今日常有電影人投訴其作品被無故評為三級，最近「無除衫無除褲」的彭浩翔作 品《志明與春嬌》便是一例。但與之相反，三級制本來可說並非為限制不雅作品而是為推廣不雅作品而設的。該制度成立後，許多原來必須刪剪甚至禁播的電影得以 重見天日，以「原汁原味」招徠觀眾。新法例實施兩個月後，二百部送檢影片內即有逾半數為三級影片。 1992年，著名影評人李焯桃在本報專欄「觀逆集」中亦曾撰有一篇題為〈三級標記持續吃香〉的文章。社會對色情電影需求之殷切由此可見一斑。不過色情始終 還是有底線的。「四仔」在本土戲院一直以來始終是「違禁品」。2001年12月就曾有金陵戲院因播映四級電影而遭檢控的報道。據聞該戲院當年預備了兩部投 影機，平時用一部放「四仔」，倘發現疑似「放蛇」的可疑人物，便立刻改用另一部投影機播放三級片。只是此佚事的真偽大概已無從稽考了。

推出長者卡買一送一優惠

2000年東京戲院結業；2006年金陵戲院結業；2007年太子戲院結業；2008年星輝戲院結業；自此全港只餘官涌一家色情影院。

衰退的原因無他，不少人都能猜到──日本ＡＶ既推出ＶＣＤ、ＤＶＤ，還能隨意下載（儘管非法）。當躺在家裏就能免費看高清時，誰還會花錢到戲院看劣質錄影帶？於是這個行業便只有沒落的份兒。

對於漸次消逝的色情影院，是否覺得可惜？

「不可惜。根本就不可能返回以前要付費才看一場『鹹片』的年代。」阿四道。

2006年色情戲院每天還有約七十多名觀眾，到2008年便只餘下五十多名。2010年我拜訪官涌的這一天，只有二十多名。

一天一票，顧客可自由出入影院，觀影至肚餓外出填肚後再度酣戰亦無妨；持長者卡人士，二人同行一人價錢。哪個都阻止不了一落千丈的色情影業生意。

對，歷史那偉大的進軍是誰都阻止不了的。阻止不了的事還有可惜可言麼？

「很多『行街』營業員會來涼冷氣，一個《東方日報》的攝記也是常客（應是在工作與工作間找個歇腳地）。」售票小姐道。傳聞還有人會入場「刨馬經」、睡午覺、捉象棋……今日的色情影院儼如一個退休老人。

家母說，人總是在事物將要失去時，才懂得珍惜。菜園村亦然，皇后碼頭亦然，誰曾經在清拆前關心過它們？

「色情影院確是香港男性的集體回憶，只是礙於話題令人有低俗之感，是以主流媒體報道甚少。」吳偉明道。

「我想看『鹹片』在香港世俗眼光來說是較低層次的回憶吧，香港人還是比較保守的，就算關心也不會拿出來討論！」阿四道。

我則覺得它沒有被提出，是因為它沒有政治利用價值。或許這看法太過「陰謀論」也未可知。

希望讀過這篇文章的男人，下次說到集體回憶這四個字，也請記住，曾經有這樣一類型戲院，為廣大同胞付出過半世紀的努力：一票全日無限入場、時間表是為每分鐘計算、播的不是菲林而是影帶、分明不是色情電影卻要改個色迷迷的名字……


楊天帥

 

KCPO:- It is buy again for the short term 26/4/2010

The weekly chart ADX has begun falling and now is below its 20's which is confirming the absence of trend in this market. Though both the Stochastic and the MACD remain negative, price has initially fallen below the lower Bollinger Band which would make a great short signal, but it managed to closed back up above it. Since the weekly chart ADX is telling us this market is "un-tradable", so we would have to concentrate on the daily chart.

As almost always in a listless market, there will be many false breakups or breakdowns. Last week, the market gaped down below its recent range as marked out by 2 horizontal lines but with no follow through action. And on last Friday, the market again reversed and went back and closed above the lower Bollinger Band by which you should closed off short positions. During the breakdown on last Monday, the D- did not break above its prior peak, thus offering no complimentary confirmation on the down move.

As at present, the immediate situation tends to put back the favor to the bulls as the Stochastic has crossed up and the MACD has also followed suit. For the more bravehearted traders, you may engage some long positions and keep 2494 as stop. As the ADX has begun to drop, indicating the prior down cycle may has ended, but the D- still dominate over the D+, you would want to be careful with long trades.

Since there are contradicting readings in the daily and weekly chart, so you should keep your trading time parameter  short term. Pay attention to the Stochastic, be ever ready to take profit or cut loss when it turns. We would have to wait again to see whether this will develop into something big or would this be just another small of those 3-5 days kind of trades.

FKLI - Sideway But Don't Fall Asleep 26/4/2010

This market is caught in another one of those range bounding situation. Prices is contained within the upper and lower Bollinger Band which the falling ADX is offering their confirmation. While the MACD continues to fall with the gap with its moving average is still widening, the Stochastic has already staged a positive cross up. With 2 contradicting indicators, it is again offering another confirmation to a sideway market.

If you are still holding onto the previous long contracts, then place stop at 1346. At this time, you should not trade big as there is no trend yet. Use the red horzontal line I have marked out on the D+ recent peak, any D+ or D- break above that level would warrant for new or additional decision.  The Bollinger Band has started to tighten and the current price consolidation are telling us this market is preparing itself for a sizable move is ahead. So you should sit up and keep both your eyes wide open.

The weekly chart flat ADX is confirming the lack of trend in the daily chart. The Stochastic remains positive and rising. The MACD, though positive, maybe is making its turning soon. But as long as price maintains above the upper Bollinger Band, I cannot find any concretely bearish about the chart.

So you can either maintain your earlier shorts positions until it hits the stop or you may want to decide close them off until another a more solid signal appears on the scene. But overall, the earlier discussed bearish bias should be maintained unless the divergence is erased.

中國真的是一個世界強國了！

我們對於暴發戶的批評,在中 國一個本來十多億貧民的地方,忽然躍升儲備2萬多 億元的國家,

有財冇品,

極權獨裁,又為了要掩飾這種不堪,不惜殘民造假,謊話連篇,倒頭來只有換來世人嘲笑,奉勸那些盲動愛國人士,要真正愛這個國家,不 是盲目的為其失誤辯護,而是要認清事實,加以監督,口誅筆伐,盡一己中國人的責任.

熱烈恭賀中國以面不紅,眼不眨,耳不赤的驚世超級大國形象向世 人 展示其抄襲力量

繼上海世博歌曲《 2010等你來》被揭發是抄襲日本歌手 13年前作品之後，又有人發現，世博中國館建築，以及吉祥物「海寶」，也有抄襲日本建築大師安籐忠雄作品與美國黏土動畫人物 Gumby之嫌。中國造假之風藉世博走向世界。美國女記者昨在世博記者會舉證。 台灣網友一語中 的：中國體現了「山寨大國的實力」。
歌曲的抄襲是難以否認了。因為《 2010等你來》與岡本真夜的歌《不變的你就好》有 97%的相似度，新加坡音樂人顏毓添仔細比對兩首歌後說，從第一個音符到最後一個音符都幾乎一樣，「肯定是抄的」。世博的回應忙說這首歌不是「世博主題 歌」，而只是世博的「階段性歌曲」，意指這首歌是為了倒數 30天所作的推廣歌曲，開幕日 5月 1日之後，就不用了，也就是不要「等你來」了。但世博主題歌是甚麼？而為甚麼這之前中國官方媒體又熱播這首歌說是「被欽點為 2010上海世博會序曲」呢？


至於中國館這個建築物和吉祥物海寶，則已成定局，很難被當作「階段性」的物體了。而且建築物和吉祥物，只是與被懷疑抄襲的原物體相似度高，不似歌曲那樣音 符、旋律均相同，很難咬定是「抄襲」，因此世博方面也就沒有回應了。


筆者比較了有關建築物的照片，世博中國館與 1992年西班牙塞維爾世博會的日本館有相似之處，而與 2006年日本建築師高松伸發表的木構架建築的概念圖片就極為相似，很難說世博中國館的建築意念不是從日本建築師的意念而來。也有學者認為日本文化受唐朝 影響甚深，中國館的建築概念也源自唐朝。然而，唐朝的建築概念在中國已經斷層，而在日本則有所傳承。因此，雖都源自唐朝，但中國館襲自有唐朝傳承的日本建 築大師的作品，應無疑義。


至於吉祥物，筆者也比較了海寶與 Gumby的照片，確有頗大相似度。不說抄襲吧，至少是模仿之作。

諷刺的是，上海世博參展者知識產權服務中心剛於 4月 15日正式啟動，而第一個幾乎可確定侵犯知識產權的，就是世博自己欽定的歌曲，而中國館建築與吉祥物也有侵權嫌疑。


世博的抄襲大戲被揭發後，內地網民紛紛以「惡心」、「頭暈」、「丟臉」、「白癡」來形容主辦當局的遴選把關不力。但深層次去看，則不能怪罪主辦當局。真正 的問題出在政風所帶來的整個社會風氣。


中國政治一片造假之風。統計數據造假， GDP造假。國家統計局說 2009年房價上漲 1.5%，土地勘測規劃院說 2009年全國住宅平均價上漲 25.1%，同是政府機構，兩個數字相差如此之大，哪個才是真？王家嶺 煤 礦的救援奇蹟涉嫌造假。胡錦濤說全國人民選他當國家主席，也是公然造假。在政治假風吹襲之下，社會上的假酒、假藥、假食品、假奶粉、假飲料以至假文憑、假 論文、假教授、假發明大為流行。中國真的成了一個山寨大國。世博正正展現這山寨大國的實力。有幾樣抄襲的東西對山寨大國來說是很正常的事。


其次是政治上對自由的扼殺。沒有言論自由、學術自由、表達自由就沒有創意。愛爾蘭作家 George Moore（ 1852-1933）說過一句話：「你畫多糟沒有關係，只要不和別人糟得一樣。」創意來自個人自由的獨創性，多糟的創意也是獨創，也值得鼓勵。而在沒有自 由的社會，北韓十萬人演出的《阿里郎》也是不具創意之作。


其三，是中國特色的社會主義之最大特色，就是在「一切向權看」的基礎上「一切向錢看」。「向權看」扼殺思想自由、閹割獨創性，任何有思想的人都要放棄獨立 思考跟從中共的主旋律；「向錢看」就是鼓勵以抄襲、竊取知識產 權 來牟利。權錢社會不鼓勵獨創。

以上三個因素，造就「權傾一切」、「錢傾一切」的大國，必然是抄襲大國。

Are Americans Turning Sissies ?

'South Park' airs 'censored' episode after threat

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES, April 21 (Reuters) - Satirical animated TV show "South Park" beeped out the words Prophet Muhammad and plastered its Wednesday episode with the word "CENSORED" after being issued a grim warning by a U.S. Muslim group.

The irreverent comedy show on Comedy Central also substituted a controversial image seen last week of the Prophet Muhammad in a bear outfit with one of Santa Claus in the same costume.
It was not immediately clear if the move was a bid to tread carefully following the warning against the "South Park" creators, or if they were poking fun at the fuss.

The little-known group RevolutionMuslim.com posted a message on its website earlier this week warning creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker "that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show."

The website posted a graphic photo of Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who was killed in 2004 by an Islamic militant over a movie he had made that accused Islam of condoning violence against women. It also posted a link to a news article with details of a mansion in Colorado that Parker and Stone apparently own.
Most Muslims consider any depiction of the founder of Islam as offensive.

The website warning followed the first in a two-part episode of "South Park" a week ago in which Prophet Mohammad was depicted in a bear outfit.
"South Park" has a history of biting satire against politicians, celebrities and the media. The two Colorado filmmakers are known to often work on "South Park" until just before they air, enabling them to react to current events.

In Wednesday's new episode, Jesus Christ was depicted watching pornography and Buddha was portrayed snorting cocaine.
The head of Revolution Muslim, Younus Abdullah Muhammad, 30, defended the Web posting by his group.

"How is that a threat?," he told Reuters earlier on Wednesday. "Showing a case study right there of what happened to another individual who conducted himself in a very similar manner? It's just evidence."