JarJar Nixon's Blues Kitchen

http://www.moneyshow.com/msc/investors/article.asp?aid=tptp092707-4494&iid=tptp092707&scode=008330#

Chinese Banks: World's Top Subprime Mess

Nicholas Vardy, editor of the Global Guru, says bad loans on the books of Chinese banks pose a far greater threat than US subprime mortgage debt.

Eye-popping market capitalizations notwithstanding, Chinese state-owned banks are a financial disaster that makes the US current subprime sector look like a rounding error. Estimates of bad loans on the books of China's banks by the leading rating agencies in the world range from 40% to 60% of China 's current GDP.

That would be the equivalent of about $5.6 to $8.4 trillion of bad loans in the US banking system. By way of comparison, the US savings & loan scandal of the early 1990s cost the US government less than 3% of GDP. No wonder that Moody's Global Credit Research rated the average bank financial strength rating of E+ for Chinese banks, one of the lowest on Moody's global scale.

Yet the initial public offerings (IPOs) of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China, China Construction Bank Corp., Bank of Communications Ltd., and China Merchants Bank Co., have raised more than $47 billion from share sales since June 2005. ICBC has a market capitalization larger than Citibank itself. [These banks are traded in Hong Kong but comprise 25% of the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index ETF (NYSE: FXI)—Editor.]

[And] indeed, the growth in profits of Chinese banks is impressive. ICBC's first-half net profit rose 62% from a year earlier to $5.4 billion. Bank of China's net profit for January-June rose 52% to $3.9 billion. Record profits are fueled by record loan growth.

And those who have invested early have seen their original stakes double or even triple in value. It's always hard to argue with a skyrocketing share price. (FXI closed above $173 Monday, just shy of its all-time high—Editor.)

China bulls will argue that—thanks to a combination of capital injections and improved operations—a bank like ICBC has cut its non-performing loan ratio to about 4% from a high of 34%. Yet Moody's notes that many former non-performing loans have been simply reclassified as "special mention" and often represent a huge part of Chinese banks' borrowing activity.

The reality is that once the Chinese locomotive slows, the risk of bad loans skyrockets. Fitch estimates that even in a moderate economic slowdown, 10% of loans could turn bad. A severe slowdown would send the entire banking sector into a tailspin.

And the repercussions are likely to be much worse: loans to the Chinese private sector and non-financial government enterprises now are clocking nearly 160% of GDP versus about 120% in 2000. Much of China's $1.3 trillion in reserves could be eaten up by banking bailouts.

As one analyst put it: "China's leaders make loud and frequent noises about how they are pushing ahead with the reform of the country's government-controlled banking system. But many Western bankers say that it could take as long as 15 to 20 years before the banks develop a Western-style credit culture and efficient operations."

Here's the problem: this analysis was published in the International Herald Tribune on April 22, 1995. The world's number-one subprime problem won't disappear overnight.

September 25, 2007, 10:25 AM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played their first show in three years last night (Sept. 24) at Asbury Park, N.J.'s intimate Convention Hall, which served as a warm-up for a fall tour that begins Oct. 2 in Hartford, Conn. Seven songs were premiered from the album "Magic," which also lands Oct. 2 via Columbia….

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003646169

Job Announcement: Vietnam Program Director, VIA (San Francisco, CA)

VIA (or Volunteers in Asia), a non-profit organization that provides
US-Asia public service and educational exchange opportunities, is
currently seeking to fill the position of Vietnam Program Director in
our home office in San Francisco.

Since 1963, VIA has provided Americans with an opportunity to work and
live in Asia while meeting the needs of local institutions. In 2007,
VIA placed 60 English language and English resource volunteers in
Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Myanmar, and Laos. VIA's S.F. office has a
staff of 10 with 3 field representatives in Asia. VIA offers excellent
benefits and an informal work environment in downtown San Francisco.
Travel to Asia is required one to two times a year.

Vietnam Program Director Job Description

Location: San Francisco, California

Primary duty is oversight of VIA's long-term and summer program(s) in
Vietnam. Other duties include organization-wide projects. The program
director works in close cooperation with two other program directors,
the outreach coordinator, the executive director, the development
director, the finance director and the board.

Key Responsibilities:

Program Management (40%)

* Maintain communication and provide support to volunteers,
in-country representative, summer program coordinator(s) and host
institutions
* Conduct ongoing program development and evaluation of long-term
and summer programs
* Conduct in-country conference in conjunction with in-country
representative and volunteers
* Select, supervise, and support full-time in-country representative
and summer program coordinators
* Represent VIA in meetings with school administrators and relevant
government offices in Vietnam
* Write and negotiate contracts with host institutions
* Respond to all field emergencies
* Keep abreast of changes, news, and issues in Vietnam

Training (15%)

* Conduct Vietnam-specific volunteer training sessions three times a
year for long-term and summer volunteers (in San Francisco, Vietnam, and
Thailand)
* In collaboration with other staff, make arrangements for volunteer
training sessions including but not limited to: transportation, lodging,
meals, insurance, scheduling and guest speakers
* Update and create training materials for volunteers

Outreach (in coordination with other staff) (15%):

* General outreach to prospective applicants, university campuses,
and community groups
* Participate in the design and creation of ads, flyers, brochures,
and website
* Arrange and conduct interviews and select volunteers

Alumni and Donor Relations (20%)

* Manage program grants by preparing biennial grant renewal and
annual grant reports and maintaining communication with program officers
* Provide regular program updates/summaries and volunteer
biographies to Development Director
* Assist Development Director in researching grant opportunities,
writing grant applications, and planning other fundraising activities.
* Assist Development Director and Outreach Coordinator with
organization wide publications
* Maintain relations with 200+ Vietnam program alumni through
re-entry and/or reunion events, a biannual alumni newsletter, and
regular emails

Administrative (10%)

* Work with home office staff on long-term strategic planning,
policy, office management, and budget issues
* Prepare and track program, field, and shared budgets
* Provide regular program updates to home office staff
* Prepare and participate in quarterly board and committee meetings
* Network with Vietnam-related or peer organizations

Qualifications:

Required:

* Experience working and living in Vietnam
* Strong organizational, management, and leadership skills
* Willingness and commitment to making decisions by consensus
* Excellent oral and written communication skills
* Ability to travel frequently and independently throughout Asia

Desirable:

* Alumni of VIA's Vietnam program
* Experience in cross-cultural training, facilitation, and/or TESOL
* Strong Vietnamese language skills
* Strong computer skills and familiarity with Microsoft Word, Excel,
Adobe Indesign and Photoshop, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Fireworks.

Salary and Benefits:

VIA's regular office hours are 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday through Friday.
This exempt, salaried position will require some evening or weekend
work, along with international travel.

Benefits include 27 vacation days, 10 official holidays and 15 sick days
each year; health, dental and vision insurance for employee and
dependents, disability insurance, 403(b) plan and annual trips to
Thailand and Vietnam.
Starting salary is $37,000.

To Apply:

Application Deadline: September 20, 2007 Interviews to be scheduled
between September 24 - October 3, 2007.

Approximate Start Date: Mid- to Late February 2008

Please submit your cover letter with attached resume by email to:

Christine Tran, Vietnam Program Director
Email: vietnam@viaprograms.org

Calista whacking on a pinata during her BBQ b-day party last weekend...her eighth b-day and her third here in Seoul...

Caused by ongoing seasonal rains, the ceiling collapsed on our model wooden ship from Vietnam.

Our ceiling collapsed recently, in the dining room near the fireplace.

14-SEP-2007 Intellasia | Thanh Nien | Dale Carnegie
Sep 14, 2007 - 7:00:04 AM


Vietnam's first Dale Carnegie affiliate opened in HCM City's Wednesday to offer professional business and performance courses.

Nguyen Tran Khanh Linh, general manager of the Dale Carnegie Vietnam, spoke at the opening ceremony of the Dac Nhan Tam Entrepreneurs School, and elaborated on the programmes offered.

The courses include Effective Communications & Human Relations, Leadership Training for managers, Sales Advantages, and High-Impact Presentations.

The training system, which is based in New York, focuses on giving people in business the opportunity to sharpen their skills and improve performance in order to build positive, steady, and profitable results.

Thus far, it has over 200 branches in some 75 countries with over eight million undergraduates and graduates working as executives and leaders in global companies.

Recent graduates worldwide have the chance to apply for an international
fellowship with Human Rights Watch. Deadline: October 5.

The Alan R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellowship is open to any eligible
candidate, regardless of nationality. Fellows work full-time for one
year with Human Rights Watch in New York, Washington, D.C., or London.
Tasks include monitoring human rights developments in various countries,
conducting on-site investigations, and drafting reports on human rights
conditions.

To get more fellowships and awards news for journalists, NGOs and
others, please log on to:
http://voiceofsouth.org/fellowships/
<http://voiceofsouth.org/fellowships/>

Lest we forget America's greatest cartoonist of the 20th century:

http://www.pogopossum.com/index.htm

4 September 2007
Xinhua News Agency
English
(c) Copyright 2007 Xinhua News Agency
HANOI, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- the Vietnamese government decided recently to make Hue city of the central Thua Thien-Hue province become the first festival city of Vietnam, newspaper Vietnam News reported Tuesday.

Naming Hue city the first festival city of the country will help the city further brand itself and attract tourists. That will also help Thua Thien-Hue province promote developing its tourism industry, the paper said.

Hue city began to attract both domestic and foreign tourists to its famous cultural and historical sites since it held its first Vietnam-France cultural festival in 1992. After that, the city held the Hue festivals once every two years since 2000. The success has helped the city upgrade its infrastructure, and preserve its culture and historic architecture.

Hue city is a famous resort, for its historical and cultural architecture, such as the forbidden city of Hue.

The Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen will perform in the afternoon on Friday, October 26 at the Jazz Improv LIVE! 2007 Convention & Festival.

For further information about the Jazz Improv LIVE! 2007 Convention &
Festival, visit:

www.jazzimprov.com/live

For further information about the Sun Ra Arkestra, visit:

www.thesunraarkestra.com
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