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A review of last year's trends, statistics and major developments in Japan's property market, and a look to industry experts in an attempt to see what they believe the coming year holds for the market.
This is part two. Click here to read Part 1 - What Does 2019 Hold for Japan Real-Estate Investment?
2nd Tier Cities' Residential Properties Continue to Draw Attention
As projected in last year's summaries, the more stable and higher yielding residential market continued to draw attention, and funds, away from the commercial arena in Japan – again, due to fears of economic volatility, which normally strike office and commercial markets first and foremost, and also due to the fact that over 20% of households in the country reside in private rental properties (non-wooden structures), a number which is projected to continue and grow. The lack of asset supply on the market, however, which has begun to plague investors in 2017 became a real issue last year, and further added to price inflation, far beyond any rise in wages and rents, which served to further compress yields. Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka have been on the main brunt of these price hikes, with Osaka, as pegged last year, overheating to nearly Tokyo-ite proportions. Lack of access to financing anywhere out of Tokyo still creates somewhat of a damper on what could potentially be a much bigger success story for Japan's regional cities. As things stand, it is only the largest foreign investors who are able to finance purchases in these cities, while the rest of the investor cadre is forced to buy their properties in cash, unless they're buying super-central, expensive and low yielding Tokyo assets – and even in those cases, many of them are facing insurmountable challenges in accessing reasonable term loans from Japanese financial institutions, in most cases.
Regardless, however, the lack of available and affordable assets, and over-heated demand in Tokyo, as well as the higher yields out of the city, have continued to buoy Japan's regional cities, who are slowly but surely cementing their positions as mature economies. These cities are starting to cater more and more to non-resident foreigners, and not only to local investors - and are reaping the results in the form of ever-increasing inbound investment to the point where prices continue to rise and yields continue to compress. Regardless of this, however, and even with Tokyo now flagged as lowest on office rental yields in the Asia-Pacific region aside from Hong-Kong, this doesn't seem to have deterred interest in the city, which is still one of the world's most popular investment destinations.
The Osaka Story
Osaka, Japan's second most popular property market internationally, still has lower office rents when compared with Tokyo, but has enjoyed similar property price hikes, which means that, as postulated by investors at the end of 2017, yields in the city have dropped to similar levels as in Tokyo. Regardless, however, both cities continue to top the recommended Asia-Pacific investment destinations lists by most publications, and are expected to continue to attract attention. There are far fewer office assets available for purchase in Osaka, when compared with Tokyo, but retail, hotel and residential properties in the city continue to hold major interest from overseas investors, and will most likely heat up even more in 2019 in those same sectors. Most investors interviewed are adopting a "buy and hold approach" to commercial property, with buying becoming more difficult and rare – with only a very low percentage of those queried indicating that they have any intention of selling their commercial assets in both cities. On the residential and hotel front, however, buying is still very much on equal priority for investors.
Occupancy Rates Soaring – Rents Rising and Expected to Continue
Despite some fears concerning over-supply, vacancy rates continue to drop nation-wide in all of Japan's big cities, which continue to absorb smaller dying townships due to the national decline in population – particularly for grade A buildings in large metropolitan city centres, more specifically Tokyo and Osaka, again. And, since new supply isn't expected to hit the market before 2020, tenants are finding it difficult to secure the spaces they're interested in, particularly in the office sector. The biggest unexpected surprise in those two cities has been increasing rents – as high as 3-7% in Tokyo, which was projected to flatten out in 2018. This has now led to an amended expectation of even higher rent hikes in 2019 – between an average expectation of 3% year on year in Tokyo, 4% in Nagoya, and a whopping 7-11% in Osaka, Sapporo and Fukuoka. In the hotel sector, as well, the expected additional 6,000 rooms or so, confirmed as entering the market this year, aren't likely to alleviate the pressure on occupancy in light of the Rugby World Cup and upcoming Olympics in the next two years. Tokyo hotel occupancy is already around 80% on average throughout the year, with the rest of the country at a comfortable 70%. The same cannot be said for Japanese traditional inns (Ryokans) and natural hot spring resorts (Onsens) unfortunately, which, although growing in occupancy as well, are still averaging less than 50%, most likely due to their seasonality and the severe lack of catering capacity to non-Japanese speaking foreigners in the vast majority of sites. And, while Tokyo's hotel market is most likely now peaking, and isn't considered as opportune as it was until 2018, the rest of the country's hospitality segment is still ripe for the picking, and will most likely generate very healthy returns in coming years – particularly with the new casino legislation now in the making, which may just send the numbers of wealthy gambling tourists, most notably from China, through the roof.
Nagoya Emerges
Nagoya, which is one of Japan's main industrial and commercial metropolitan centers, conveniently located between Tokyo and Osaka, and soon to be the beneficiary of the newest and fastest bullet train line from Tokyo, is doing phenomenally well, with 75% occupancies for office properties overall, general occupancy rates across all property types now the highest since 1993, and grade A office space at a historical high occupancy of 99.4%(!!!) Here, as well, CBRE expects even these already expensive rental spaces to go up by approximately 2.8% in 2019, as demolished properties along the new train line being built will mean more office tenant relocations.
Approaching the 2020 Olympics, Japan has also seen a substantial rise in visitor numbers and expected to continue to see strong growth through to the event itself. Tokyo still holds the top spot for preferred city for hotels. While, some observers believe it is too late to get into the hotel sector in Tokyo, others believe the increase in tourism numbers could boost growth in Osaka and regional cities suggesting underlying growth for hotel opportunities for investors. According to Nomura Research Institute, the weak yen and relaxed visa criteria account for the increase in number of travelers to Japan, impacting growth mainly in business hotels, but also in Japanese-style hotels, lodging houses and resorts.
Getting Creative with Converted Properties
Considering Japan's notorious obsession with the fresh and new, which is very prevalent in the real-estate sector as well, and the increasing lack of vacancies, it is perhaps no wonder that many investors have chosen to tear down or convert old buildings into newer, higher yielding constructions – whether it's C grade blocks in less than ideal locations, which are being converted into B grade buildings, shoddy old hotels converted into co-living share houses near universities, and so forth. Similarly, as shared office space continues to become a popular trend for bootstrapped startups and small business operators, many office and other properties are being converted into co-working floors and even entire structures.
The E-Commerce & Logistics Boom Continues on Track
As projected in last year's summary, e-commerce retail has continued to explode throughout the country, as it does in the rest of the world, and the cleanup of contaminated land near large cities, which was a unique and creative take by some investors as late as last year, has now become far more commonplace. Added to that is the concept of moving from large scale distribution and shipping centers located in the outskirts of the city to central city build-to-suit smaller facilities, which are a logical step for an e-commerce business that does well and isn't likely to belly-up over the next few years. In this area, as well, it is widely believed that an economic downturn, or even a mild recession, isn't likely to damper growth significantly, considering the constant expansion of online services provided to consumers - and so investment in logistics facilities is considered to be a reliable, stable investment for many years to come, to the point where developers are now more than happy to build such facilities even without pre-commitments or leases from potential tenants.
The traditional retail sector, as a direct result of this e-commerce boom, has been suffering, again, as projected last year, with major brands focusing primarily on the very top locations nation-wide, and forsaking more out of the way shopping and retail centers, which are increasingly seen as risky prospects, and rents trending lower as a result as well. And while slight growth in salaries and tourist numbers have served to somewhat dampen the blow, the soon-to-come consumption tax hike, scheduled for this year, is forecasted to hit this particular market hard.
This blog was co-authored with Ziv Nakajima Magen - Nippon Tradings International
(Sources – "Emerging Trends in Real-Estate, APAC" - PwC/ULI, CBRE, Nomura Research Institute, Mitsui Fudosan)
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What Does 2019 Hold for Japan Real-Estate Investment? - Part 1
Real Estate in Japan - Investing with Confidence
History and the rise of Japan properties
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Nippon Tradings International
Priti Donnelly Nippon Tradings Ziv Nakajima Magen Nippon Tradings Japan Real Estate 2019 Nippon Tradings Blog
"(Tokyo) Rental growth has picked up in early 2017, and we expect further gradual increases" Savills
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Tokyo units prices have increased over six months


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Refugees question The Elders and UNHCR about their future
Kofi AnnanLakhdar Brahimimigration crisis
From alternative pathways to safety and resettlement to the prospect of peace in Syria, refugees in the Middle East have many questions about their future. Elders Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi join Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to offer some answers.
We have been refugees in Lebanon for 5 years, is there any hope for peace? – Refugee from Homs, Syria.
Lakhdar Brahimi
Former Algerian freedom fighter, Foreign Minister, conflict mediator and UN diplomat; an expert in peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction.
Syria: time to put an immediate halt to all the fighting
As the violence engulfing Syria continues, veteran mediator and former UN Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi calls on all parties to end the violence, prioritise the needs of the Syrian people and for European governments to agree a coordinated respon
Show political courage over the refugee crisis
The Elders urge European leaders to show political courage over the refugee crisis in a debate with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein and the Director General of the International Organization for Migration Bill Swing.
Refugee Crisis: how language contributes to the fate of refugees
Europe is currently facing a crisis of conscience as refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Africa seek asylum. Michael Diedring and John Dorber of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles explain how calculated use of language on the crisis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Living In Ireland: Third World ?
I was listening to a local radio phone in this morning here in the West of Ireland. They were discussing the problems with water supplies in rural areas. It was shocking to hear that in several areas there are dozens of houses with undrinkable water - they have to buy bottled water. Also there are other areas in County Mayo where the water is turned of for most of the day. There are no water rates payable in Ireland - the water supply is mainly controlled by local Councils with financial help from the government via taxpayers money. As someone said on the radio - if this was Ethiopia people would be sending aid to help - but Ireland is supposed to be oe of the richest countries in GDP terms in the world !! What is going wrong?


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Collaborative Law: What is it? Is it the right process for you?
By Melissa Doss|2020-09-15T20:06:30+00:00March 28th, 2020|Lawyer, Uncategorized|
Collaborative Law: What is it? Is it the right process for you? By: Anne Brockman If you and your spouse are considering a divorce, you might be fearing constant court litigation, fighting, and never ending confusion. Despite trying to settle outside of the courtroom, some divorce proceedings do require litigation and extensive court proceedings. However, [...]
By Melissa Doss|2018-09-10T14:27:38+00:00September 10th, 2018|adoption info, Lawyer, news|
By TOM LATEK, Kentucky Today FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – A new committee created as part of the adoption and foster care reform legislation passed in the spring met for the first time on Monday. The committee selected co-chairman – Sen. Julie Raque Adams and Rep. David Meade – by acclamation. Meade, who was instrumental in [...]
By Melissa Doss|2018-07-20T17:48:09+00:00July 20th, 2018|adoption info, Custody, Divorce, Lawyer, news, Partnership agreement|
Jason Griffith, Opinion contributor for Cincinnati.com provided an insightful piece on this new legislation that took affect this month titled "Opinion: Black fathers benefit from Ky.'s new joint custody law". House Bill 582 makes Kentucky the first state to have a shared parenting from the beginning. On July 14, Kentucky became the first state with [...]
By Melissa Doss|2018-07-20T17:37:03+00:00July 20th, 2018|Custody, Divorce, Lawyer|
House Bill 528, signed by Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin in April, states that there will a presumption that joint parenting and equally shared custody is in the best interest of the child. If one of the parties involved believes custody should be different form that, they will have to prove it. Manda Barger and Chris [...]
By Melissa Doss|2018-06-11T18:48:35+00:00June 11th, 2018|Divorce, Lawyer, modifications|
IRS overhaul throws divorce calculations into turmoil BY KATE ROCKWOOD - original article here In the often messy financial negotiations that are part of divorce, one rule has always been clear across state lines for 75 years: Alimony was deductible for the payer, and the recipient paid income tax on it. Now, President Donald Trump's [...]
What is Lasting Power of Attorney?
By Melissa Doss|2018-04-25T15:44:08+00:00April 25th, 2018|guardianship, Lawyer, modifications, Wills|
You may not realize it, but a Lasting Power of Attorney is probably as important a document as a Will. What's a Lasting Power of Attorney? A Durable Power of Attorney is a legal document that authorizes one person to act on behalf of another person in financial and legal matters. It is called "Durable" [...]
Before You Use DIY Legal Sites, Consider These Risks
By Melissa Doss|2018-03-15T17:41:53+00:00March 15th, 2018|Lawyer, modifications, Opinion, Uncategorized|
I get a lot of people that ask me to review legal documents that they have purchased online or borrowed from a friend. I almost always find areas for improvement or subject matter that is just plain wrong. I came across this article on Entrepreneur.com an had to share it. By Autumn Gentry and Keith Dennen [...]
Divorcing your Business Partner
By Melissa Doss|2018-03-15T17:33:00+00:00March 15th, 2018|Divorce, Lawyer|
When people get married, they always hope for 'happily ever after,' the sad fact is that 52 percent of all first marriages and 70 percent of second and third marriages end in divorce. Divorce is difficult for everybody involved. When one or both spouses own a business, the process can be that much worse. Your [...]
Resources for victims of domestic violence
By Melissa Doss|2018-01-22T17:17:25+00:00January 22nd, 2018|Divorce, Lawyer|
I recently read an article on Lex18.com about a woman that was trying to divorce her incarcerated husband but was being forced by the courts to pay for his attorney. As it turns out, the husband received a 10 year sentence for beating her and firing a gun at her. Since he is in prison, [...]
Is a Prenup Right For You?
By Melissa Doss|2018-01-15T17:37:28+00:00January 15th, 2018|Divorce, Lawyer, Partnership agreement|
Did you know that Prenuptial Agreements were not enforced in Kentucky prior to 1990? The courts maintained that Prenuptial Agreements promoted divorce. Thankfully times have changed and prenuptial agreements are very common in today's marriages. Once thought of as the "get out of jail free cards" of the married world, these commonplace agreements are used [...]


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Audio-Technica Launches Flagship 50 Series with New AT5040 Cardioid Condenser Vocal Microphone
— The ultimate studio condenser vocal microphone, the AT5040 represents a milestone in design, build quality, and the depth, presence and purity of its sound quality —
San Francisco, CA 10-27-2012 – 133rd AES CONVENTION — Audio-Technica (booth 705), a leading innovator in transducer technology currently celebrating "50 Years of Passionate Listening," is launching its flagship 50 Series of elite studio microphones with the AT5040 Cardioid Condenser Microphone. A-T's ultimate studio vocal microphone, the hand-built AT5040 side-address condenser offers remarkably musical high-fidelity performance, with profound realism and depth, presence and purity of sound. Featuring a proprietary breakthrough element design, the AT5040 employs four ultra-thin (2 micron) rectangular diaphragms that function together providing combined surface area unachievable in a standard round diaphragm. Designed as a first-choice vocal microphone with smooth top end and controlled sibilance, the AT5040's large-diaphragm characteristics and fast transient response also make it ideal for recording acoustic instruments such as piano, guitar, strings, and saxophone.
The first of A-T's design criteria for the AT5040 was purity of sound. To achieve this, A-T engineers developed a four-part rectangular element, the pinnacle of recent breakthroughs in sound-capture technology. Four exquisitely matched diaphragms function together (with outputs proprietarily summed) as a single high-performance element – effectively the largest element Audio-Technica has ever created. By using four diaphragms as a single capsule, the AT5040 achieves remarkably large surface area without the increased weight and decreased transient response that are the expected limitations of expansive size.
Another key AT5040 design feature is advanced internal shock mounting that effectively decouples the capsule from the microphone body. For additional isolation, each AT5040 is also provided with Audio-Technica's new AT8480 shock mount. Featuring a proprietary design, the AT8480 was engineered not only to isolate the microphone, but to rid the apparatus itself of any unwanted resonances and other audio aberrations that could be transmitted to the microphone. It also features a unique locking mechanism that holds the microphone securely in place.
Every AT5040 is hand-assembled and inspected for 100% quality control and is housed in an elegant case of aluminum and brass with gray chrome plating for durability and low reflectivity. Discreet components have been selected for optimized capsule performance; in fact, every aspect of microphone has been carefully considered to minimize any effects on the audio signal. To protect the AT5040, each microphone comes in a custom-designed hard-shell carrying case, padded with die-cut foam compartments for the microphone and shock mount.
The AT5040 Cardioid Condenser Microphone, the first model in Audio-Technica's new flagship 50 Series of elite studio microphones, will be available January 2013 with a U.S. MSRP of $2,999.00. For more information, please visit www.audio-technica.com.
Celebrating 50 years of audio excellence worldwide, Audio-Technica is a leading innovator in transducer technology, renowned for the design and manufacture of microphones, wireless microphones, headphones, mixers, and electronics for the audio industry.
Audio-Technica is exhibiting at Booth 705 during the 133rd AES Convention in San Francisco, CA.


The Canon AE-1 features in many top-N lists of "best film cameras" of the last 50 years or so. The "program" version was introduced in 1981 and has a mode that sets both the shutter speed and aperture automatically. It also has user-friendly interchangeable focusing screens. I've noticed that these are more or less a "dime-a-dozen" when it comes to junk camera sales, so they really shouldn't be terribly expensive. I liked the photos that came from my A-1 more than my AE-1, however.


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Uncle Anesthesia es el quinto álbum de estudio de los Screaming Trees, banda de grunge originaria de Ellensburg, ciudad cercana a Seattle, considerada casi unánimemente como cuna del movimiento grunge. El disco fue editado el 29 de enero de 1991 en el sello Epic Records, y contiene dos de las cuatro canciones que aparecían en el anterior EP de la banda, Something About Today: "Uncle Anesthesia" y "Ocean of Confusion". Este trabajo fue grabado en junio de 1990, convirtiéndose en el último de la banda con Mark Pickerel en la batería, siendo sustituido poco después por Barrett Martin.

El disco fue producido por el afamado productor de heavy metal Terry Date junto con el vocalista de Soundgarden, Chris Cornell. A pesar de la potente discográfica que tenían a sus espaldas, el disco no logró grandes ventas más allá de las de los fanes de toda la vida. Sin embargo, "Bed of Roses" fue editado como sencillo convirtiéndose en un éxito menor en las estaciones de radio estadounidenses.

Lista de canciones

Formación
 Mark Lanegan - Voz
 Gary Lee Conner - Guitarra y coros
 Van Conner - Bajo y coros
 Mark Pickerel - Batería
 Chris Cornell - Productor y coros
 Terry Date - Productor y coros
 Scott Miller - Coros
 Jeff McGraph - Trompeta

Posicionamiento
Sencillos - Billboard (Norteamérica)

Álbumes de Screaming Trees
Álbumes de 1991
Álbumes en inglés

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Billy Kidd at Sushi Marquee's Lip Sync Competition!
JOIN BILLY KIDD THIS WEDNESDAY AT 9PM FOR THE EPIC LIP SYNC CONTEST AT SUSHI MARQUEE! GRAB THE BEST SUSHI IN TOWN AND BRING A ROUTINE FOR THE LIP SYNC BATTLE. YOU COULD WIN TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS IN CASH! THE PARTY GOES ALL NIGHT! SUSHI MARQUEE LOCATED AT 3625 The Star Blvd IN FRISCO.


Known in his lifetime as Mountain John, no one did as much to foster appreciation for the natural beauty of the American landscape as John Muir. The Scottish-born naturalist walked thousands of miles across the United States, but loved, above all, California, the Sierra Nevada, and Yosemite. His prolific writings---three hundred articles and ten books---and passionate prose about nature and our place in it were read by millions of nineteenth century Americans, leading to the creation of our national park system. He also founded the Sierra Club, which carries on his program of conservation and preservation 125 years later. His words ring truer than ever today, potent reminders to protect the natural splendors of our land and to root our spirits in nature.
Set of 12 cards with printed envelopes, 4.75 × 6"


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Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn (born 1949) is an American playwright, writer, poet, and multimedia performance artist.

Biography
Hagedorn is an American of mixed descent. She was born in Manila to a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Spanish Filipino father with one Chinese ancestor. Moving to San Francisco in 1963, Hagedorn received her education at the American Conservatory Theater training program. To further pursue playwriting and music, she moved to New York City in 1978.

In 1978, Joseph Papp produced Hagedorn's first play Mango Tango. Hagedorn's other productions include Tenement Lover, Holy Food, and Teenytown. Her mixed media style often incorporates song, poetry, images, and spoken dialogue. From 1975 until 1985, she was the leader of a poet's band—The West Coast Gangster Choir (in SF) and later The Gangster Choir (in New York).

In 1985, 1986, 1989, and 1994 she received MacDowell Colony fellowships, which helped enable her to write the novel Dogeaters, which illuminates many different aspects of Filipino experience, focusing on the influence of America through radio, television, and movie theaters. She shows the complexities of the love-hate relationship many Filipinos in diaspora feel toward their past. After its publication in 1990, her novel earned a 1990 National Book Award nomination and an American Book Award. In 1998 La Jolla Playhouse produced a stage adaptation. In 2001, the play adaptation premiered off-Broadway at The Public Theater.

Hagedorn worked with playwrights and artists Robbie McCauley and Laurie Carlos as the collective Thought Music, which later expanded to include visual artist John Woo as well. Together Thought Music created a number of works including Teenytown (presented at La Mama in 1987) and class (presented at The Kitchen in 2000). Thought Music together investigated race, class, sexism, and the role of immigrants in the United States. Hagedorn, with Thought Music and on her own, has also collaborated with Urban Bush Women on works including Heat and Lipstick.

Hagedorn, alongside bell hooks, June Jordan, and seven others won the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund annual Writer's Awards in 1994 and received $105,000 each.

In 2006, Hagedorn was one of the first eight playwrights to receive the Lucille Lortel Foundation fellowship.

In 2021, Hagedorn was the recipient of the Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation's 2021 Idea Awards for Theatre where she received The Tooth of Time Distinguished Career Award and $20,000.  Hagedorn, in collaboration with Two River Theater, is also working on a musical detailing the rise of Jean and June Millington of Fanny.

Hagedorn lives in New York City with her daughters.

Literary works

Chiquita Banana. Third World Women (3rd World Communications, 1972)
Pet Food & Tropical Apparitions (Momo's Press, 1975)
Dangerous Music (Momo's Press, 1975)
Mango Tango (Y'Bird Magazine January 1, 1977)
Dogeaters (Penguin Books, 1990)
Danger and Beauty (Penguin Books, 1993)
Charlie Chan is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction (editor) (Penguin Books, 1993)
The Gangster of Love (Houghton Mifflin, 1996)
Burning Heart: A Portrait of the Philippines (with Marissa Roth) (Rizzoli, 1999)
Dream Jungle (Viking Press/Penguin), 2003)
Toxicology (Penguin Books, 2011)

Anthologies that include Hagedorn's work
Four Young Women, ed. Kenneth Rexroth (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973).
Time To Greez! Incantations From the Third World, eds. Janice Mirikitani, et al. (San Francisco: Glide Pubs., 1975).
American Born and Foreign: An Anthology of Asian American Poetry, eds. Fay Chiang, et al. (New York: Sunbury Press Books, 1979).
Breaking Silence: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Poets, ed. Joseph Bruchac (New York: Greenfield Review Press, 1983).
The Open Boat: Poems From Asian America, ed. Garrett Hongo (New York: Doubleday, 1993).
Stars Don't Stand Still in the Sky: Music and Myth, eds. Karen Kelly and Evelyn McDonnell (New York: New York University Press, 1999).
Stage Presence: Conversations with Filipino American Performing Artists, ed. Theodore S. Gonzalves (San Francisco and St. Helena: Meritage Press, 2007).
The Soho Press Book of 80s Short Fiction, ed. Dale Peck (New York, NY: Soho Press, 2016).

References

Sources
 Seiwoong Oh: Encyclopedia of Asian-American Literature. Series: Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Literature. Facts on File, 2007

External links

 Manila Noir
 Guide to the Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn Papers at The Bancroft Library
 Finding aid  for the Roberta Uno Asian American Women Playwrights Scripts Collection, 1924–2002, featuring Mango Tango (1978), Where the Mississippi Meets the Amazon (with Ntozake Shange and Thulani Davis) (1978), Holy Food (1988), and Airport Music (with Han Ong (1993) at the Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst
 Modern American Poetry
 Jessica Hagedorn & The Gangster Choir - Tenement Lover (MP3 file) from the LP "A Diamond Hidden In The Mouth Of A Corpse" (1985) hosted on UbuWeb.

1949 births
Living people
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American women novelists
American women poets
American writers of Filipino descent
Filipino emigrants to the United States
Filipino novelists
Filipino people of Chinese descent
Filipino people of French descent
Filipino people of Irish descent
Filipino people of Spanish descent
Filipino women writers
Writers from Manila
Postmodern writers
American women dramatists and playwrights
Writers from New York City
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
20th-century American poets
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
21st-century American poets
American Book Award winners
Novelists from New York (state)


Leading Australian health organisations are calling for action on a smoking ban in Victoria's outdoor dining and drinking areas.
If you do choose to drink, here are some ideas to try to help limit how much you drink.
After years of drinking Coke almost every day, Luke Sultan has managed to cut soft drinks and other sugary drinks out of his diet entirely.


Extra-long bloom time and exceptionally bright colour!Large, sunny yellow blooms are the quintessential flower to announce the arrival of spring. Use them in beds, borders and throughout your lawn. They naturalize in your landscape and multiply annually.


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Table of Contents » Title 52. Police (State) » Chapter 1. Department of State Police » § 52-8.4. Powers and duties to promulgate regulations; inspection of certain records
Title 52. Police (State)
Chapter 1. Department of State Police
§ 52-8.4. Powers and duties to promulgate regulations; inspection of certain records.
A. The Superintendent of State Police, with the cooperation of such other agencies of the Commonwealth as may be necessary, shall promulgate regulations pertaining to commercial motor vehicle safety pursuant to the United States Motor Carrier Act of 1984. These regulations shall set forth criteria relating to driver, vehicle, and cargo safety inspections with which motor carriers and transport vehicles shall comply, and shall be no more restrictive than the applicable provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations of the United States Department of Transportation. These regulations shall not apply to hours worked by any carrier when transporting passengers or property to or from any portion of the Commonwealth for the purpose of (i) providing relief or assistance in case of earthquake, flood, fire, famine, drought, epidemic, pestilence, or other calamity or disaster or (ii) engaging in the provision or restoration of utility services when the loss of such service is unexpected, unplanned or unscheduled. The suspension of the regulation provided for in this subsection shall expire if the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation determines that it is in conflict with the intent of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
B. For the purposes of this section:
"Commercial motor vehicle" means any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on the highways in commerce to transport passengers or property if such vehicle (i) has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight, whichever is greater, of more than 10,000 pounds when operated interstate or more than 26,000 pounds when operated intrastate, (ii) is designed or used to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver, regardless of weight, or (iii) is used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placards by regulations issued under authority of Article 7 (§ 10.1-1450 et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 10.1.
"Motor carrier" means a common carrier by motor vehicle, a contract carrier by motor vehicle, or a private carrier of property or passengers by motor vehicle. This term also encompasses any agent, officer, representative, or employee who is responsible for the hiring, supervision, training, assignment, or dispatching of drivers.
"Transport vehicle" means any vehicle owned or leased by a motor carrier used in the transportation of goods or persons.
"Safety inspection" means the detailed examination of a vehicle for compliance with safety regulations promulgated under this section and includes a determination of the qualifications of the driver and his hours of service.
C. Except for those offenses listed in § 52-8.4:2, any violation of the provisions of the regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall constitute a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 for the first offense or by a fine of not more than $5,000 for a subsequent offense. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate offense; however, any violation of any out-of-service order issued under authority of such regulations or under authority of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations shall be punished as provided in § 46.2-341.21 and the disqualification provisions of § 46.2-341.21 also shall apply to any driver so convicted.
D. The Department of State Police, together with all other law-enforcement officers certified to perform vehicle safety inspections as defined by § 46.2-1001 who have satisfactorily completed 40 hours of on-the-job training and a course of instruction as prescribed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in federal motor carrier safety regulations, safety inspection procedures, and out-of-service criteria, shall enforce the regulations and other requirements promulgated pursuant to this section. Those law-enforcement officers certified to enforce the regulations and other requirements promulgated pursuant to this section shall annually receive in-service training in current federal motor carrier safety regulations, safety inspection procedures, and out-of-service criteria.
E. Any records required to be maintained by motor carriers pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Superintendent under the authority of subsection A of this section shall be open to inspection during a carrier's normal business hours by specially trained members of the Department of State Police specifically designated by the Superintendent. Members of the Department of State Police designated for that purpose by the Superintendent shall also be authorized, with the consent of the owner, operator, or agent in charge or with an appropriate warrant obtained under the procedure prescribed in Chapter 24 (§ 19.2-393 et seq.) of Title 19.2, to go upon the property of motor carriers to verify the accuracy of maintenance records by an inspection of the vehicles to which those records relate.
Any person holding a valid commercial driver's license shall be exempt from the hours of service of drivers provisions as defined in regulations promulgated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (49 C.F.R. Part 395) while operating a commercial motor vehicle during planting and harvest periods to transport:
1. Agricultural commodities from the source of the agricultural commodities to a location within 150 air miles (176.2 miles) from the source;
2. Farm supplies for agricultural purposes from a wholesale or retail distribution point of the farm supplies to a farm or other location where the farm supplies are intended to be used within a 150-air-mile radius (176.2 miles) from the distribution point; or
3. Farm supplies for agricultural purposes from a wholesale distribution point of the farm supplies to a retail distribution point of the farm supplies within a 150-air-mile radius (176.2 miles) from the wholesale distribution point.
1986, c. 640; 1988, cc. 14, 718; 1990, cc. 24, 870; 1991, cc. 382, 505; 1993, c. 108; 1994, c. 71; 1995, cc. 145, 151, 744, 803; 1996, c. 302; 1997, c. 283; 2002, c. 828; 2004, c. 23; 2015, c. 258.


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Minorities find opportunity in agriculture
by TIM HEARDEN
Daily Astorian
Mar 13, 2014 Updated Dec 20, 2018
Jesse Larios was rambunctious as a youngster growing up in California's Imperial Valley, so his mother would send him off with his father to work with cattle at a local feedlot.
"I just didn't want to be home, so my mother would say, 'Go with your father,'" he said.
It didn't take long for young Larios to develop a love for animals and agriculture, and after earning a college degree, he became a second-generation employee at the Foster Feed Yard in Brawley, Calif.
Now 45 and the company's manager, Larios and his wife, Briana, also raise and show their own beef cattle and goats, which they market throughout the Southwest.
"I was born into it," said Larios, whose family emigrated from Mexico when he was 2 months old. "As a young man, I grew up wanting to be a cowboy."
Larios' up-by-the-bootstraps experience typifies the increasing ethnic diversity within America's farming population, as more and more Latinos, American Indians, Asian-Americans, African-Americans and those who identify with more than one race own and operate farms and ranches.
Numbers increase
Nationwide, the number of Spanish, Hispanic or Latino-owned farms ballooned from 55,570 in 2007 to 67,014 in 2012, according to the USDA's latest Census of Agriculture. American Indians remained the nation's second-largest nonwhite group with 37,857 principal operators, up from 34,706 five years previous, according to a census summary released Feb. 20.
Growers of Asian descent numbered 13,699 in the 2012 survey, 4,820 of which were in California. That's up from 11,214 and 3,684, respectively, in 2007, the government reported.
In all, 8 percent of the nation's 2.1 million principal farm operators are minorities.
The growing diversity is evident when looking at the faces of vendors at America's burgeoning farmers markets, said Bob Young, an economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation.
"These efforts that the USDA has had and others have had in promoting diversity have paid off in those numbers, or they seem to be paying off," Young said.
Among Hispanic-owned farms, most earn less than $50,000 a year, but together they generated more than $8.6 billion in crop value in 2012, up from $6.6 billion five years earlier. A slight majority of Hispanic farmers lists other jobs as their primary occupation.
For many, their stories are similar to that of the Larios family -- they started as farmworkers and saved enough money to buy or lease some land and start their own operations.
From worker to owner
Adrian Renteria, 57, ran across the U.S-Mexico border near Tijuana with a couple other young men in 1974 when he was 17 years old. From a farming family, he "just wanted to know the United States, a bigger world" and make some money.
He worked his way north and ended up in Orondo, Wash., north of Wenatchee, where he settled into orchard work -- pruning, thinning and picking apples, pears and cherries.
"I was a fast worker and helped everybody, whoever needed work," he says.
He married a local woman, gaining his green card and later U.S. citizenship.
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Renteria became a foreman, saved his money and in 1989 bought his first semi-truck and worked as a truck driver. A year later, he bought a 21-acre orchard in the Palisades near Wenatchee. He owned 43 acres before losing part of it when apple prices tanked in the late 1990s.
Recently, he sold the rest of his orchard and bought two homes and nine acres of cherry orchard on the south edge of East Wenatchee. He and a hired hand do the pruning, and he still hires out his trucking services.
"For me it's been easy to do all that stuff because I've been a farmer since I remember," he says.
Opportunities await
Some immigrants sold land in their home countries to afford to farm here, said Navid Khan, deputy agricultural commissioner in Butte County, Calif. Khan is a third-generation rice and walnut grower whose family emigrated in the 1920s from the Punjabi region of what is now Pakistan.
Khan's great-uncle, Kalu Khan, initially worked for other farmers and ranchers in the '20s while scraping together enough money to buy a plot in nearby Glenn County. Khan credits his uncle, Tariq Khan, for building the business before recently dying of cancer.
"He embodied the can-do attitude," Khan said of his uncle. "He built it from the ground up."
While farm ownership is becoming more diverse, the increases reflected in the census may also be partly the result of greater efforts by the National Agricultural Statistics Service over the past decade to find and count historically underrepresented growers, spokeswoman Sue King acknowledged.
The effort began in earnest with the 2007 census, and the agency built on its relationships with various ethnic groups to encourage responses to the 2012 census, too, King said.
In addition, the University of California Cooperative Extension touted the census to Latino, Hmong, Mien, Chinese and other ethnic farmers during food safety courses, said Shermain Hardesty, who leads the small farm program at UC-Davis.
Help to succeed
The government's efforts on behalf of ethnic farmers go beyond merely trying to count them all. Scores of extension service and other programs exist to help fledgling growers succeed.
In one case, some farmworkers-turned-produce growers along the California coast were struggling to meet input costs, so the UC Extension has been helping them plant additional varieties that are harvested during non-peak seasons, enabling the growers to get higher prices, Hardesty said.
The Imperial Valley's Larios remembers that as children, he and his friends developed negative attitudes toward farming because they saw their parents working long hours for little pay.
"We never saw the opportunities of managerial positions," he said.
That changed when he went to California State University-Fresno, where he earned a degree in economics. Many of his classmates were also Hispanic, he said.
"I used to have horse blinders on me, and all of the sudden my eyes were opened up to the opportunities not only in livestock but in agriculture," Larios said.
"There have been many opportunities for me," he said. "I think the opportunities have always been there, and now that some ag leaders have been more noticeable, I think the next generation of Hispanics are noticing there are opportunities out there. We'll see more and more Hispanics getting involved."
Capital Press staff writer Dan Wheat contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in Daily Astorian.
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This time the Kenyan presidential election could have been about issues – By Andrew Green
Raila Odinga - the main man of the CORD campaign (photo by Will Boase).
Since multi-party democracy returned to Kenya in 1992, voting at election time has largely divided itself along ethnic lines. In 2007, when President Mwai Kibaki narrowly edged out Raila Odinga under a cloud of suspected vote tampering, the country descended into violence. The perception of blatant manipulation fomented bloodshed, as ethnic groups attached to the candidates attacked each other. Peace came slowly and only after a coalition government was formed elevating Odinga to Prime Minister.
In the aftermath, a country fearful of further division began making changes to the electoral process. Transparency was the watchword, with a new constitution establishing an Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. A presidential debate was also introduced, so candidates could communicate their proposals and people had more opportunities to make a decision based on policy instead of affiliation.
The new processes finally acknowledged that the Kenyan electorate is looking for substance. But even with the new procedures and institutions in place, voters aren't getting an issues debate – at least not from the frontrunners.
Raila Odinga, who is in the running again as the head of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), maintains a slim lead in most polls, though under the 50 percent margin that would avert a run-off election between the two top finishers. The other frontrunner, Uhuru Kenyatta – son of the country's first president – heads the Jubilee Coalition, while six other candidates round out the field.
The Prime Minister's campaign is convinced he can still win a first-ballot victory. If he does manage this, it will have to come from a huge turnout in his strongholds, though, because little effort is being made to change voters' minds in other areas. As the candidate hopscotches the country, he is not using issues to engage undecided voters or the electorate that has defaulted to his opponents because of ethnic affiliation.
Supporters of Uhuru Kenyatta at a CORD rally (Photo by Will Boase).
In its final month, I have been following the campaign as it travels around Kenya. Last week Odinga's team announced a rally in Embu, a town in central Kenya at the edge of Kenyatta's heartland. By noon a small crowd rested in the shade of the concrete grandstand, as the candidate's team pitched tents and rolled out a red carpet. Though Odinga wouldn't show up for another four hours, the group of voters had time to burn. They were Kenyatta supporters almost to a person, but they were also unemployed and bored and several were willing to give Odinga a chance to persuade them why they should change their vote.
Specifically, they were looking for a jobs plan – an explanation of how Odinga would bring industry to Embu and its outlying areas so they could get to work. Instead, they got a series of speeches from local candidates and leaders excoriating Kenyatta, followed by a short message from Odinga himself. Job creation was mentioned, but only in broad strokes, as if he was just reading from his manifesto. Then the candidate was off, a cloud of dust from his helicopter coating the people sheltering in the grandstand.
The Odinga campaign is content to operate under the traditional system of personality politics. The real work went into building the national coalition, with an expectation that the ethnic bases would follow their leaders. It seemed Odinga was in Embu mainly to remind people that current Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka is running on the CORD ticket for the same seat. Embu is near Musyoka's hometown. During the stop it was Musyoka's face that was plastered on cars and hung on walls. That, more than issues, was supposed to convince Kenyatta supporters to change their vote.
It also explains the prominent inclusion of Moses Wetangula in the CORD alliance, with his influence in the Luhya community – the second largest in Kenya.
The decision to run on personalities and coalitions is clearly a strategic gambit. But Odinga has the team in place and the resources to run a different kind of campaign. To send volunteers out to explain his platform in detail.To take advantage of technology and provide savvy voters with a wealth of information and encourage them to engage more with the campaign. To run the kind of issues-based effort the changes to the political system were clearly trying to inculcate.
Ahead of the election, advisors said Odinga was focusing on engaging voters, participating in radio call-in shows and holding town hall meetings. But as election day draws closer, the campaign has shifted exclusively to rallies. Though largely substance-free, they project strength and pressure supporters to come out and vote.
Odinga addresses his supporters. Most campaigning is now taken up by rallies (photo by Will Boase).
It's a strategy they're convinced will work. And despite the changes to the system, it likely will. There has not been enough change to erase the notion that voting is an ethnic affair, even in an electorate that is demanding details.
In the aftermath of the country's first-ever presidential debate earlier this month, polls tipped Kenyatta and Odinga as the night's victors. While the two got the most screen time, they stuck largely to the platitudes they have been issuing at campaign rallies and in their literature.
On street corners in downtown Nairobi the following afternoon, though, it wasn't Odinga and Kenyatta people wanted to talk about. It was Peter Kenneth. At a gathering of vendors, civil servants and students, calling itself the People's Parliament, they were raving about Kenneth, the businessman turned politician, who used the debate to speak with precision about a range of issues and ask pointed questions of his opponents.
Viewers were impressed, but no one was planning to vote for him. The reason being that they don't believe he has a real chance of winning. A vote for Odinga or Kenyatta felt like more of a guarantee of victory – even if that victory doesn't necessarily come with the policies the voter is looking for.
Still, the chatter about Kenneth could signal the beginning of the end of the kind of campaign Odinga is running. If in five years voters find little has changed, they might start to ask more of a candidate than where he is from and who is in his alliance. A sparkling debate performance could then deliver more than a bit of street corner kudos.
Andrew Green (words) and Will Boase (photos) are following the CORD Presidential campaign for the Kenya elections.
A full set of Will's photos can be viewed on Flickr here.
What Space for African Eyes? Travel Writing ...
Kenya transfixed by its illiberal and rightwing ...
Kenya will decide and the world will be watching: the 2013 elections | TransConflict 28 February, 2013 at 07:42
[…] the run-up to the elections, Kenya's politicians have again been accused of choosing to engage in personality politics rather than addressing the issues at stake. This has led to questions on the validity of the […]
Kenia, la política formal contra la real | El Europeo. 28 February, 2013 at 11:57
[…] donde el debate de las ideas prevalece sobre cualquier otro. Sin embargo, un pequeño seguimiento de la campaña permite demostrarnos que nada ha cambiado en […]
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Quantitative easing (QE) affects banks' profitability in three main ways.
First, as QE drives up bond prices, banks holding such bonds see their balance sheets strengthened.
Second, QE reduces long-term yields and thereby reduces term spreads. With this, the lending-deposit ratio spread falls, making it harder for banks to generate net interest income on new loans.
Last, QE improves the economic outlook, which should help banks exposed to the economy find new lending opportunities and should reduce problems with non-performing loans. The effects of QE on bank profitability are therefore not one directional. If anything, the immediate effect should be positive.
Banks themselves have been quite negative about the impact of QE on their net interest income, but they have also acknowledged its positive impact on capital gains (ECB Bank Lending Survey).
We show that lending-deposit spreads for new lending have fallen significantly. Looking at actual bank profits, net interest income has been stable. Moreover, bank profitability has increased mostly as a result of efforts to clean balance sheets of impaired assets (at least until the end of 2015). This is consistent with a reduction in non-performing loans (NPLs), particularly in countries where NPL levels were abnormally high.
Moreover, we show that bank profitability in some countries has been a concern for many years now, starting well before the QE programme. The main drivers of low profitability have been non-performing loans, legal risks and other problems unrelated to net interest income, which has remained fairly stable.
Overall, we cannot yet see any major bank profitability issue arising out of the ECB's QE programme.
European Central Bank policy is and remains controversial. Since the start of the crisis, the ECB's balance sheet has doubled. The quantitative easing (QE) programme that started in the second quarter of 2015 increased the size of the ECB's balance sheet by just over 9 percentage points to 28 percent of GDP.1. Beyond the risks arising from sovereign bond holdings, the debate on QE mainly centres on four aspects. The first is the question of whether the programme actually contributes to inflation. The second is the question of when is the right moment to end it, irrespective of whether it actually works. Third, there is an important debate about whether QE unduly 'dispossesses' savers. Finally, there is the question of whether QE should be ended earlier because of its impact on financial stability and, in particular, the profitability of banks and insurers. Depending on the weight given to each of these four aspects and how they are assessed, different conclusions have been drawn regarding ECB policy. This paper focuses on the fourth aspect and in particular the impact on banks2. In the introduction, we briefly review a few arguments around the first three aspects.
There is a surprisingly broad consensus about the effectiveness of the ECB's QE programme. Studies have documented the positive impact on prices of assets and the reduction and flattening of yield curves, and have also cautiously found support for a positive impact on investment and consumption (see, for example, German Council of Economic Advisors, 2016; Praet, 2016; Draghi, 2016; Demertzis and Wolff, 2016)3. And indeed, since the announcement and start of QE, growth has picked up, the main contributors being gross capital formation and household expenditure (see charts in the Annex).
There is less consensus on the right moment to exit the programme. The German Council of Economic Advisors (2016) argues that the ECB should taper its Asset Purchase Programme (APP) and that the current monetary policy position is no longer appropriate for economic conditions. Inflation measures such as the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) might provide an inaccurate picture because of volatile energy prices and, moreover, financial stability risks are high. By contrast, the latest CFM4 survey results show that 77 percent of macroeconomists disagreed or strongly disagreed with the view that "…exceptionally loose monetary policy by the European Central Bank is no longer appropriate". Figure 1 illustrates that HICP and core inflation remain very low compared to the ECB's inflation goal, so that further monetary support is warranted.
There is less of an academic debate on the "expropriation of savings"5 because this is a mostly politically driven issue. By its very nature, monetary policy will have an impact on the relative wealth of savers and investors. An unexpected decrease in the interest rate is an effective policy tool for the ECB because it does make savings less attractive and investments more attractive. This question therefore ultimately becomes a question of why nominal yields are relatively low and whether the ECB has reacted to that low-yield environment or is the primary driver of it. The recent increase in long-term yields is one sign that political decisions, the amount of public investment and the expectations of market participants can quickly increase long-term yields, despite continued central bank action. We have argued elsewhere that perhaps more important than continuous central banking activity are structural and investment policies that lift long-term growth prospects and thereby drive up real returns (Wolff, 2015; Claeys, 2016)6.
On the impact of monetary policy on bank profitability and bank balance sheets, there is an increasing literature on the channels at work and the empirical evidence7. Three theoretical channels can be identified: the impact of monetary policy on net interest income, on non-interest income and on loan loss provisions. There are good arguments that both the level and the shape of the yield curve can have a major impact on interest margins. In addition, QE has an immediate effect on bond prices, supporting banks that hold sovereign bonds. Finally, there are various macroeconomic feedback channels because QE should support the economy, thereby reducing NPL rates and reducing the need for provisioning. It would go beyond the scope of this briefing to discuss all the channels in detail, but a summary is provided in the Annex.
Source: European Central Bank and Bloomberg. Measures of expectations: Survey of Professional Forecasters and 5-year Inflation Linked Swap rates. Notes: 1) 'Whatever it takes'8; 2) Announcement of PSPP; 3) Start of PSPP; 4) CSPP and expansion of PSPP.
1 See Figure A1 in the Annex. The APP/PSPP (Asset Purchase Programme, Public Sector Purchase Programme) share in the balance sheet amounts to just over 9 percentage points. The Corporate Sector Purchase Programme (CSPP) amounts to very little by comparison. Nevertheless, the corporate sector has responded to the programme and the issuance of corporate bonds has picked up.
2 The European Parliament requested that the study focus on the impact on banks.
3 See Marx et al (2016) for a comprehensive summary of the latest attempts to quantify the effects. Efforts to quantify the impact show that effects are material. Andrade et al (2016) estimate a maximum effect on inflation of 0.35 percent and 0.6 percent on the level of GDP (original APP only ie early PSPP). Cova et al (2015) are more optimistic, with the effects being 0.8 percent and 1.4 percent on inflation and the level of GDP respectively. Praet (2016) and Draghi (2016) evaluate all QE up to the time of writing to have had an impact of 0.5 percent on average annual inflation for the period between 2015 and 2018. The cumulative effect on GDP for the same period is 1.6 percent. See also Claeys and Leandro (2016) for an early assessment.
4 http://cfmsurvey.org/. The latest thinking of European macroeconomists German Council of Economic Experts' view of ECB policy Monday, November 7, 2016.
6 Available at http://bruegel.org/2015/11/schriftliche-stellungnahme-bundestagsanhorung-niedrigzinspolitik-der-ezb/ and http://bruegel.org/2016/09/low-long-term-rates-bond-bubble-or-symptom-of-secular-stagnation/.
7 See for example, Agur and Demertzis (2015) for a summary of the literature; Alessandrini and Nelson (2012) for the overall effect of the yield curve on bank profitability; Borio et al (2015) also provide a detailed discussion of various channels.
8 Refers to the speech given by Mario Draghi on the willingness of the ECB to act, now known as the "whatever it takes" speech.
The spread between long- and short-term bond yields is important for bank profitability as banks engage in maturity transformation. This spread should have narrowed following the start of QE (PSPP), but it should be acknowledged that it is also influenced by forward guidance and expectations of conventional monetary policy. Term spreads fell from very high levels in the periphery countries during 2013 and 2014 (Figure 2), but have increased since the announcement and start of QE9. Since the ECB announcement of the expansion of the PSPP and the March 2016 decision to include corporate bonds, term spreads have been on a declining, though volatile, path. However, in the latter part of 2016, term spreads increased again. Broadly speaking they have regained the same level as at the start of QE. It is difficult therefore to discern a strong and lasting effect of QE on the term spread.
Source: Bloomberg. Note: 1) 'Whatever it takes' (see footnote 8); 2) PSPP announcement; 3) Start of PSPP; 4) CSPP and expansion of PSPP.
Source: European Central Bank. Notes: 1) 'Whatever it takes' (see footnote 8); 2) PSPP announcement; 3) Start of PSPP; 4) CSPP and expansion of PSPP. Spread NFCs: Loans other than revolving loans and overdrafts, convenience and extended credit card debt, Total initial rate fixation, Total amount, New business coverage, Non-Financial corporations (S.11) sector, denominated in euro; Overnight deposits, Total original maturity, New business coverage, Non-Financial corporations (S.11) sector, denominated in euro. Spread HHs: Lending for house purchase excluding revolving loans and overdrafts, convenience and extended credit card debt, Total initial rate fixation, New business coverage, Households and non-profit institutions serving households (S.14 and S.15) sector, denominated in euro; Overnight deposits, Total original maturity, New business coverage, Households and non-profit institutions serving households (S.14 and S.15) sector, denominated in euro.
Profits are affected when the lending-deposit rate spread narrows, as banks borrow short term (typically through deposits) to invest in long-term assets. The lending-deposit rate, and therefore the margin for banks to make profits, continues to decline. For the euro area as a whole, this reduction in the lending-deposit rate is visible for new lending to households and the non-financial corporate sector (Figure 3). In terms of new lending, the lending-deposit spread in September 2016 amounted to 1.77 percent for households and 1.55 percent for non-financial corporations.
Nevertheless, the impact on total profitability depends also on the number of loans issued. Loans to households continue to grow at a rate of two percent and loans to non-financial corporations are now starting to show a positive growth rate (see Figure A4 in the Annex).
Quantitative easing also affects asset prices through what is known as the 'portfolio balance' channel. As banks sell these assets to the central bank, they reallocate the cash obtained to riskier assets in order to generate greater profits. But the immediate effect of quantitative easing on bank profitability is known as the 'scarcity effect' (Montecino and Epstein, 2014). As securities of different maturities are imperfect substitutes, the increase in the central bank's demand for long-term securities should make them less available in the market and should therefore also increase their price (all things being equal). This effect is possible because the central bank is a large player that aims to use QE to shift bank incentives. Montecino and Epstein (2014) assessed the level of profitability of US banks that sold directly to the Fed as part of the Large-Scale Asset Purchases (LSAP) programme10. They found that by comparison to banks that were not part of LSAP, their profitability went up by 0.35 of a percentage point. This is economically a significant number in an era when profitability hovers around zero.
9 The uncertainty relating to negotiations with Greece in the summer of 2015 may be the explanation for that.
10 Data shows that the ECB did not buy these assets from domestic banks with the exception of Spain (Hüttl and Merler, 2016).
Finally, improved macro conditions increase the demand for credit and the quality of credit, benefitting banks.
But what does the data on bank profitability actually show and how do banks perceive the current situation?
In its regular Bank Lending Survey, the ECB asks banks how they perceive the impact of QE on their profitability. Figure 4 shows that since the end of 2015 banks in the euro area have on average taken an increasingly negative view about their ability to generate profits, because of QE.
The banks also acknowledge that capital gains are positive (the first effect) but consider this to be outweighed by the negative effect on net interest margins (thus the total is negative in Figure 4). It would be important to see whether these perceptions match reality.
Source: Bank Lending survey, ECB (results of surveys in April and October, 2015, 2016). Notes: The y-axis shows the difference between the share of 'increase/improve considerable/somewhat' responses and 'decrease/deteriorate considerably/somewhat' responses11. Answer to the question 130: "Over the past six months, has the ECB's expanded asset purchase programme led to a change in your bank's assets or affected (either directly or indirectly) your bank profitability? Is it likely to have an impact here over the next six months?".
On average, banks use deposits to fund their loans. Since deposits are short-term whereas loans mature over the long-term, banks rely on the term structure to generate profits. As we have shown, the term spread has narrowed and so has the loan-to-deposit spread. Accordingly, we would expect lower profits from standard bank lending.
The ECB publishes aggregate, consolidated data on banks' profitability, balance, sheets, asset quality, liquidity and solvency. Banks' total profits, as well as those relating to operations and strictly interest income-generating business, are the most relevant indicators. We consider two main profit indicators: i) total profit before tax; and ii) operating profit. The difference between the two indicators is that the former includes credit loss expenses and impairment losses on financial investment, in addition to operating profit. Furthermore, we break down operating profit into its constituent parts (Figure 5), specifically net interest income, the main item relating to the lending-deposit spread, and other categories, namely, net commission and fee income, operating expenses and a residual. The difference between operating profits and total profits (allowances/provisions for credit losses arising from bad debts, ie an estimate of the debt that is unlikely to be recovered) is indicative of the deteriorating quality of credit that affected bank balance sheets during the crisis.
Figure 5 shows that net interest income and operating profits have been fairly stable. Net interest income is the variable that should be directly affected by the documented decline in the term spreads. It is surprising that nothing is visible in the aggregate data. There could be two reasons for this. First, a falling term spread (and loan-deposit spread) only applies to new loans. Since loan growth is weak, this would mostly affect the rolling-over of existing loans. The low spread therefore only gradually feeds into net interest income. Moreover, it is possible that banks increasingly manage to compensate for the falling spread through fee increases (loan origination fees, net of loan origination costs, are recognised as interest). Second, banks have been able to successfully profit generation to the QE environment.
Source: European Central Bank, consolidated banking data. Note: Definition of bank size based on assets as a percentage of total consolidated assets of EU banks – Large (greater than 0.5 percent), Medium-sized (between 0.5 percent and 0.005 percent), Small (less than 0.005 percent).
Source: SNL Financial, Bruegel calculations.
Source: European Central Bank, consolidated banking data.
Nevertheless, total profits have been volatile and at times negative. Medium-sized banks appear to have been hit hardest in this respect. The main drivers of this volatility and the losses have been losses arising from provisioning for non-performing loans,which accounts for the difference between the two types of profits shown. Legal costs are categorised as operating expenses and are therefore part of the operating profit. Figure 5 shows that euro-area banks, irrespective of size, have made progress in reducing the burden arising from loss provisioning. In the case of small banks, this gap has even been eliminated.
The second quarter 2016 data on bank profitability12 confirms that net interest income remains stable and total profits have even recovered (Figure 6).
A closer look reveals some differences between countries in terms of total profits before taxes (Figure 7). In particular, the data confirms that profitability is in particular low in Germany (0.34 percent of total assets in 2015) and Italy (0.29 percent). However, as already noted, net interest income (and operating profits) have remained very stable over time in all countries. What has changed is total profits over tax, which reflects the quality of credit on banks' balance sheets. We see that Italy and Spain, the two countries among the five we consider that have the greatest number of non-performing loans (Figure A.5 in the Annex), have seen negative profitability.
The aggregate macroeconomic pictures could give a distorted picture because they do not capture bank-specific developments. In Figure 8, we therefore examine the distribution of profitability of banks since before the financial crisis13. We observe that during the years of the crisis the difference in profits earned by banks has become greater, with an increasing number of banks reporting negative profits. This trend however is starting to reverse as the variability of profits is now decreasing and profits appear more concentrated again. There does not appear any sizeable shift of average profits over time.
11 The data used to compute the differences consists of weighted average frequencies of five responses based on the share of each country in the total loan outstanding amounts of the area aggregate and of each bank in the total loan outstanding amount of the BLS banks sample. The sample group comprises about 140 banks from all euro-area countries and takes intoaccount the characteristics of each country's national banking system.
12 This data covers 36 of the 129 banks supervised by the ECB, representing 32 percent of consolidated euro-area banking assets in 2015. We look at a group of stable composition, even if incomplete, to ensure comparability.
13 56 banks of the 129 supervised by the ECB which represents 70 percent of consolidated euro area banking assets in 2015. We look at a group of stable composition, even if incomplete, to ensure comparability.
The ECB's policy has been heavily criticised for different reasons. One of the most frequently voiced criticisms is that its policy is undermining the profitability of banks. As a consequence, according to this argument, ECB policy itself would become less effective because weak banks will shy away from lending and will not engage in new lending if deposit-to-lending spreads are low.
The lending-deposit spread has fallen significantly for new lending and is now as low as 1.55 percent and 1.77 percent for new lending to companies and households. This corresponds to banks' replies to the ECB's bank lending survey, which finds that they consider that the APP is negatively affecting their net interest margins. However, there are also differences between countries.
A look at the aggregate bank profitability figures, however, shows that banks' net interest income has been extraordinarily stable and has not (yet) fallen as a result of QE. Total profits in different countries vary significantly. Such differences are mostly explained by provisioning for non-performing loans. Anecdotal evidence suggests that banks also have been able to raise fees to compensate for falling interest margins.
Finally, QE has overall positive macroeconomic effects and its announcement has lowered long-term yields and, correspondingly, increased sovereign bond prices. Both effects support bank balance sheets by improving the economic outlook.
Overall, in our assessment, the effect of the ECB's QE programme on bank profitability has not yet had a dramatically negative effect on bank operations. In the future, the ECB might want to consider steps comparable to the Bank of Japan, which has aimed to increase the steepness of the yield curve to support long-term yields (above 10 and in particular 15 years and more). The ECB would have to evaluate the extent to which such higher long-term yields would deter current investment and benefit banks and insurers.
Figure A1 shows the evolution of the ECB's balance sheet since its inception. The yellow shaded area shows the effects of QE on the total amount held. It corresponds to about a third of the current total.
Source: Eurostat, ECB (insert shows how littleCorporate Sector Purchase Programme amounts to up to October 2016).
Figure A2 shows an updated graph for GDP growth in the euro area and its contributors. Gross fixed capital formation and household consumption remain the two main drivers of current growth.
We see in Figures A3 and A4 that both gross fixed capital formation and lending have been consistently improving since the start of QE. More specifically, lending to non-financial corporations has been falling steadily since 2012, only to stabilise in the second half of 2015 following the start of the PSPP. Lending to households has held more robustly, and has indeed increased since the announcement of the PSPP: from a yearly growth of around 0% to one of 2%. This credit took mostly the form of mortgages which was helped by the stabilisation or even increase in house prices. Credit, therefore, has been important in reversing and sustaining the contributions of consumption and investment to growth.
Figure A5 shows the progress made in terms of dealing with impaired assets at the EU level. We observe that Spain had both a lower level of NPLs and has managed to implement the reforms made. Italy has a much larger amount of impaired assets and has been slow to implement successfully these reforms. The other three countries, (Germany, France and the Netherlands) have not had levels of NPLs that affected their profitability.
Source: Eurostat. Note: 1) 'Whatever it takes' (see footnote 5); 2) Announcement of PPP; 3) Start of PSPP; 4) CSPP and expansion of PSPP.
Source: Eurostat and European Central Bank. Note: 1) 'Whatever it takes' (see footnote 5); 2) PSPP Announcement; 3) Start of PSPP; 4) CSPP and expansion of PSPP.
Source: European Central Bank. Note: peak year to 2016Q1.
Krishnamurthy and Vissing-Jorgensen (2011) have outlined the different channels through which Quantitative Easing (QE) may affect medium and long-term interest rates. The seven theoretical channels are summarised below.
The signalling channel concerns expectations on future actions of the Central Bank. It predicts that long-term bond yields will reduce should unconventional monetary policy be perceived as a credible commitment. A large purchase of long-term assets may signal that commitment, as a future raise in interest rates would imply losses for the central bank. This impact is expected to be larger on intermediate-maturity rates.
Quantitative easing can reduce the duration risk, causing a decrease in long-maturity bond yields relative to short-maturity yields. The duration risk channel anticipates that QE will decrease the yield on all long-term nominal assets, with larger effects on longer-duration assets.
By trading less liquid long-term securities for more liquid reserve balances, QE increases liquidity for investors, reducing the liquidity premium. The liquidity channel thus predicts that QE increases yields on the most liquid assets relative to other less liquid assets.
The safety channel suggests that QE policies involving Treasury and agency bonds lower the yields on safe assets relative to less safe assets, such as lower-grade corporate bonds or MBSs. By increasing the supply of safe assets, clientele demands for this type of assets are met, thus reducing their safety premium.
A specific channel is related to the purchase of Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) solely. The prepayment risk premium channel implies that QE policy through MBS purchases lowers Mortgage Backed Securities yields relative to other bond market yields. This channel is more relevant for the US than the euro area.
The default risk channel addresses the reduction of default risk and default risk premium motivated by the spurring effects of unconventional monetary policy in economic activity. Under these conditions, it is expected that default risk of companies will decrease, leading to a decrease in rates. A reduction in investor risk aversion is also expectable, with a negative impact on default risk premium.
Finally, Quantitative Easing may impact the real economy via the inflation channel, as the possible expansionary effects of QE can increase inflation expectations.
The authors note that, as a given interest rate may be affected through a variety of channels, one cannot infer the overall effect of QE from examining a specific asset type.


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we work for private Casa owners in Cuba from 2001. HolaCuba beongs to Caribation Network, a caribbean initiative of real estate stakeholders.


text:
Debunking LGBT Myths and Why Policing Homosexuality is a Joke
'Policing homosexuality is totally a joke - how do you identify a gay/ lesbian individual? How do you criminalize their sexual practices unless you have the evidence?'
by Hendri Yulius
The national meltdown over Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Indonesians unfortunately continues. It is now entering the second stage in which criminalization is considered a primary solution to protect the moral fiber of Indonesian youth, and to protect national security against the infiltration of foreign values.
A group of academics and activists of the Family Love Alliance (Aliansi Cinta Keluarga/AILA) is requesting the Constitutional Court to annul some articles in the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP) – in order to criminalize sexual practices between adult homosexuals. Having seen that the Alliance has constitutional grounds, the Court has held five hearings in which the experts and protesters were presented during the sessions to spell out their positions pertaining to LGBT issues.
In the last hearing dated Aug. 1, 2016, in addition to the old assumption that homosexuality is contagious and sinful, the group argued that LGBT individuals—particularly gay men and female-to-male transgender (waria)— could trigger a significant increase in HIV infections in the country. They credited various sources, and argued that homosexuality was "contagious." They also blamed gay men as the sole cause of a rise in HIV/AIDS infections.
I want to address four main arguments that they presented in the last hearing, specifically the following:
1. Besides HIV infections, gay sexual relationships have allegedly given birth to new disease called Kaposi Sarcoma
2. An individual can allegedly be 'gay' after experiencing anal sex pleasure, and it is difficult to convert him back to becoming heterosexual
3. The destruction of Sodom by God had something to do with LGBT
4. Although the protesters did not mean to criminalize LGBT people, they urged the government to have a clear and official stance on it to protect Indonesians.
Origin of HIV
In the early 1980s, in the U.S., HIV and AIDS were associated with gay sex, and was even dubbed as "GRID - Gay Related Immune Deficiency". In 1981, the U.S. Center for Disease and Control (CDC) found cases of a rare lung infection in five young, healthy gay men in Los Angeles, which was followed with other signs that their immune system was not working.
In a New York Times article dated May 11, 1982, Lawrence K. Altman wrote that this serious disorder of the immune system known to doctors for less than a year, had so far afflicted around 335 people and killed 136. It was later dipped the 'HIV/AIDS epidemic'.
Despite the name change however, the fact that it was found among American gay men for the first time did not change the assumption that the virus originated from male homosexuals. In recent research using the earliest known sample of the virus, scientists has constructed a 'family-tree' to track down the origin and evolution of the virus.
Due to its mutation rate, the virus evolution is particularly rapid and once it infects new individuals, it diversifies. However, in 1999, Simian Immunodeficiency Viruses (SIV) found in a chimpanzee, according to scientists, was almost identical to HIV in humans. This discovery then led to another question on how the virus was transmitted to humans.
Studies have since revealed that the first transmission of SIV to HIV in humans occurred around the 1920s in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It is surprising that the protesters did not really examine the report on HIV and AIDS released by the Ministry of Health. The report by the Data and Information Center of Health Ministry highlights 'unsafe heterosexual practices' as the dominant medium of HIV transmissions from 2010-2014.
HIV itself in Indonesia was first reported in Indonesia among drug users in 2000 (SBS 2016).
Secondly, Kaposi Sarcoma (KS) is obviously not a new illness because of gay sexual practices. Generally, it is a type of cancer that usually appears as tumors on the skin, mucous membranes, lymph nodes, or other parts of the body.
According to the National Cancer Institute in the US, There are different types of KS, such as:
Classic KS found most often in older men of Italian or Eastern European Jewish origin
African KS commonly found in young adult males who live near the equator in Africa
Immunosuppressive Therapy–related Kaposi Sarcoma, an associated condition in any immuno-compromised patients, such as transplant recipients who are taking immuno-suppressant medications
Epidemic KS which occurs in patients with AIDS
Non-epidemic gay-related Kaposi Sarcoma which is very rare
Third, one of the protesters argued that anal sex pleasure will convert an individual to be gay and hence, it is difficult to convert him 'back' to heterosexual.
This claim neglects the common fact of homosexual practices in Islamic Boarding Schools known as pesantren, in which the men involved do not label themselves as 'gay'. Handsome younger santri (student) or mairil, for example, will become target of senior santri or warok
Yet in these cases, homosexual practices are used to bolster their strength and masculinity, as well as to signal power relations between men, between the juniors and seniors.
Similarly, in prison, due to 'the absence of women', homosexual practices often occur among male prisoners without labeling themselves as 'gay'. In her book, Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Male (2016), Jane Ward shows that biker gangs, fraternity, and military hazing rituals — where the juniors are made to touch each other's penises and stick fingers up to their fellow anuses — do not automatically change the participants' identity from heterosexual to be gay.
So now, the difficult question in criminalizing homosexuality is: are they going to criminalize the identity or the sexual practices?
On one hand, gay sex is not always about anal penetration. There is a wide range of sexual practices as in heterosexual couples. For example, nipple-play and mutual masturbation do not require penetration. On the other hand, anal penetration does not exclusively belong to gay men. Plus anal sex between two men does not indicate that they are automatically gay.
Fourth, the destruction of Sodom has nothing to do with LGBT. The term LGBT was mentioned by one of the protesters who is obviously lost in history.
Although male same-sex relationship and practices could easily be found in ancient times, the term homosexuality itself was first coined in 1869 by a Hungarian physician, Dr. Karoly Benkert. The invention of homosexuality marked sexual desires/practices as a personal identity and created a sexualized subject.
Therefore, many scholars have debated about the scapegoating of homosexuals in the destruction of Sodom, since the term homosexuality and LGBT did not even exist when the Holy Book was written.
According to Foucault, sexual desires and practices began to be labeled, named, and pathologized only in the 18th and 19th century when the fields of medicine, psychiatry, and criminal justice increasingly made sex as an object of inquiry, control, and management to regulate the State's population.
Hence, progressive religious scholars re-interpreted the Holy Text and argued that the destruction of Sodom has nothing to do with homosexuality, but the inhospitality and hostile acts of the people toward outsiders.
'A joke'
Fifth, Singapore and India also have penal codes criminalizing anal intercourse and 'gross indecency' or 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature' between males both in public and private sphere (Section 377 and 377A). These penal codes are products of the British colonials that were influenced by English common law, which stems from medieval canon law.
However, there are discrepancies between the written law and the implementation. In Sexual State (2016), scholar Jyoti Puri vividly shows that this penal code in India actually was used primarily to prosecute sexual assault on children, instead of adult homosexual practices.
Furthermore, she revealed that since the Indian Penal Code provides narrow definitions of rape in Section 375 and does not acknowledge sexual assault on children, Section 377 has been used as the only way to prosecute sexual violence against male children, male adult, and aggravated sexual assault against girls and women.
In Singapore, according to a spokesman for Singapore's State Courts, between 2007 and 2013, there were nine people convicted under this law. Nevertheless, if you go to Tanjong Pagar or Chinatown, you can easily find gay bars and saunas there.
Policing homosexuality is totally a joke — how do you identify a gay/ lesbian individual? How do you criminalize their sexual practices unless you have the evidence? How do you get the evidence, unless you observe them having sex in front of you?
The AILA's strategy is no different from the strategy of associating Islam and the Mediterranean with 'the Other'. In The Homoerotics of Orientalism (2014), Joseph Allen Boone discusses the circulated online cartoon of turbaned face Osama Bin Laden sodomizing a donkey after the US invasion of Iraq.
Here, Boone argues that this depiction of sodomy implicates xenophobia and homophobia to disperse the East and the West, and solidify the imaginaries of the West toward the Middle-East or 'the Other'.
And since sexuality is a political ammunition, what the AILA does is not that much different.
They frame homosexuality as 'perversion, sinful, backwardness, and illness' to justify criminalization and rehabilitation, and frame their arguments using negative examples, while neglect the positive contributions of LGBT individuals in real life.
In Paul Beatty's The Sellout (2015), the main protagonist stated that "But if you really think about it, the only thing you absolutely never see in car commercials isn't Jewish people, homosexuals, or urban Negroes, [but] it's traffic."
That is also exactly how the AILA's framing strategy is.
Hendri Yulius obtained his Master's in public policy from the National University of Singapore, is the writer of Coming Out and a lecturer of gender and sexuality studies. He is currently pursuing his Masters of Research in Gender and Cultural Studies in The University of Sydney.
This story was previously published in Rappler.com, a Manila-based social news network where stories inspire community engagement and digitally fuelled actions for social change.
Gay Issues LGBT
7 Things Indonesians Say to Single Shame You
by Ruby Astari – February 9, 2018
French TV Series Gives a Glimpse of Second Wave Feminism in the Country
by Lathifah Indah – August 2, 2018
WWW: Women on the Web are Not Welcome
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Stéphane Tésorière, CEO of WinMediaAs IBC2015 gets closer, we continue our series of short Q&As with manufacturers about their plans and offerings, to help you get the most out of the annual trade show. Stéphane Tésorière is CEO of French-firm WinMedia.
Stéphane Tésorière: Business has been good — we've been doing well in all our markets with major wins in Europe, Asia, Europe and Africa. We have implemented complete WinMedia solutions at JDFI in Asia, MFM in Morocco, CHGA in Canada and Grenoble TV in France to name just a few. Our continuous effort to develop a strong network of subsidiaries and partners boosts our presence worldwide and it is beginning to show encouraging results. Local and thematic channels have been a major part of our business this last year.
RW: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend at IBC2015?
RW: What new products will WinMedia be showing?
Tésorière: We will have a full demo of our latest updates to WinMedia 2015 (V2.15). These include new versions of WinMedia Radio, WinMedia Web and WinMedia Visual Radio. WinMedia 2015 enables broadcasters to manage radio, TV, Web and social media activities from a single platform. The latest version of WinMedia Radio offers a revised graphic user interface, optimized audio quality, improved visibility, time zone management, and automatic sound clip creation. WinMedia Web includes fully customizable Web and mobile application templates, intuitive CMS, and easy insertion of ads, podcasts, stream players and more. Also, WinMedia Visual Radio enables broadcasters to turn radio shows into visual productions. We will also be showing WinBizz, which optimizes business management and real-time online ad booking as well as WinPublish, a cost-effective suite of CG graphics.
RW: How do these products differentiate from other products available on the market?
Tésorière: WinMedia 2015 proposes cutting-edge technologies that lead to more efficient workflows. By sharing the same database and the same media asset management core, it emphasizes collaboration and creates a truly unified environment. There is no longer the need to piece together applications and accept the shortcomings of integration workarounds since WinMedia 2015 covers the entire production chain and facilitates fast content delivery to multiple devices. Furthermore, it is completely scalable, enabling businesses to start small and expand to an enterprise-grade solution.
RW: Why should attendees visit your booth?
Tésorière: All WinMedia solutions will be on display at our booth and this unique setup allows our top-level technical staff to offer personalized demonstrations based on each customer's requirements.
RW: How has IP technology affected you?
Tésorière: First of all, it has drastically simplified on-site deployments and allowed us to further improve workflows, deliver greater quality and offer unprecedented reliability. It also gives us the ability to imagine an increasing number of connected solutions to revolutionize tomorrow's radio.
RW: The Internet has changed the way people do business. Some would say that it has rendered shows such as IBC obsolete. Is this true?
Tésorière: For manufacturers and customers nothing beats face-to-face communication. For customers it provides an opportunity to actually see the products in action and to fully understand their respective features. Shows are also an effective way to meet new distributors and to organize training sessions for our current distributors.