AIG shares up, Moody's sees government repayment

Shares of American International Group Inc. climbed Tuesday after Moody's Investor Service analysts said they believe the company will have the resources to fully repay the federal government.

As of Sept. 30, AIG owed the government $122.31 billion, which includes loans, interest and money the government spent buying investments from AIG.

The insurer has been working for the past year to sell assets and streamline operations in an effort to repay the government debt. Last week it reported that it was profitable for the second straight quarter.

The Moody's analysts said AIG continues to stabilize its core insurance operations and has made progress on its restructuring plan.

They said they believe AIG "can generate sufficient value to fully repay the government's senior secured loan and to repay much or all of its preferred equity stake, giving the government incentive to continue supporting AIG and its various creditors."

A material decline in the value of AIG assets, however, could reduce the government's incentive to support other creditors, the analysts said.

Moody's maintained the current ratings on AIG, a long-term issuer rating of A3, an investment grade rating and a short-term issuer rating of Prime-1, the highest level. The outlook remains "negative."

AIG's shares were up $1.58, or 4.4 percent, to $37.76 in afternoon trading.

The government bailed out AIG in September 2008 as the financial crisis spiraled out of control. The insurer has received aid packages with a total value of more than $182 billion. In return for that financial support, the government received an 80 percent stake in AIG.

The company's financial stability was undermined by its underwriting of risky credit derivatives contracts. A collapse in the value of those contracts was the primary driver of AIG's near-collapse.

Recovering financial markets and changes in accounting rules have helped AIG write up the value of its remaining risky assets.

Those assets could again lose value or AIG could be forced to take losses as it sells them off. AIG had $1.1 trillion in derivative contracts sitting on its books as of Sept. 30, many of which are tied to risky mortgage debt.

Hollywood: Same As It Ever Was

Even with Oscar buzz and box office success, “Precious” isn’t likely to blow up the careers of its female stars. Black actresses still have a hard row to hoe. Just ask Angela Bassett—and Cicely Tyson.

With Precious, Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry are attempting to change both the Oscar game and what audiences have come to expect from black movies.

Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire, is extremely powerful, but I sincerely doubt it will change anything for black actresses in Hollywood. The film is strong, but not that strong.

Even if totally successful on every level—from box office receipts to a cultural shift away from the paralysis of self-pity—Hollywood will continue to go along as it has gone. Too many people are satisfied with the cardboard darkies that supposedly represent black women on film in the past.

When one looks at Byron Hurt’s Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes or his equally important Barack & Curtis, the problems with the media depictions of black women should become clear. Most people, black, white or whatever else, should be disturbed by the reduction of black women into beautiful but lascivious sperm buckets, overweight hams or abrasive bitches “deserving” of beat-downs. This caricature of black womanhood is as far removed from life and human dignity as molasses are from the taste of salt.
The Full Story

Paterson: New York State Will Be Broke Before Christmas

Governor David Paterson is dead serious about cutting $480 million in aid to local school districts.
Delivers Scary News To Legislature, Says Only Way To Fix Problem Is To Have Immediate Cuts To Education, Hospitals

Albany Gov. David Paterson called an unusual joint session of the Legislature Monday to implore recalcitrant lawmakers to close the state's huge budget gap before New York runs out of money.

To some lawmakers it's nothing more than a photo op to help Paterson get re-elected. But the governor is dead serious. He said if the Legislature doesn't cut the budget now the state could run out of money by next month.

"We're going to run out of cash in four and a half weeks. We are going to run out of money. Unless we do something about it, (it will) threaten generations," Paterson said.

And so began what is turning out to be a tense tug of war between Gov. Paterson and the Legislature.

The governor says $3.2 billion in cuts must be enacted how -- or else. The cuts range from $500 million in agency spending to over $1 billion in already committed in aid to school districts and hospitals.

"I will mortgage my political career, but I will not mortgage the fate of the State of New York," Paterson said.

But Senate Democrats, with their tenuous 32-30 hold on the upper house, are terrified to make school and hospital cuts because, they said, the cuts could mean increases in local property taxes.

And that could mean suburban Democrats on Long Island, in Westchester and other parts of the state could have trouble getting re-elected next year.

Remember, high property taxes led to the ouster of many suburban Democrats last week, including Westchester County Executive Andy Spano. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi could also lose once absentee ballots are counted.

"Personally, I do not favor mid-year school cuts," said State Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx.

"Last year, in the midst of this financial crisis, the Senate and the Assembly together with the governor decided to raise spending by $12 billion," added Sen. Andrew Lanza, R-Staten Island.

"I'd rather present 96 or 97 percent of a check to school districts, to hospitals than to have them call up and say where's my check? And the state says, sorry, we didn't have any money," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan.

The governor has ordered lawmakers into special session Tuesday to close the budget gap. Right now there is no agreement and he could flex his muscles by keeping them here until there is.

Also on the agenda Tuesday are bills to legalize gay marriage, toughen drunk-driving laws, impose a cap on state spending and reform the state's public authorities.

Suspected gunman in custody at school

A suspected gunman was in custody and no one was injured after a principal was held hostage Tuesday at a school in Pine Plains, N.Y., officials said.

The principal was held hostage for nearly two hours at Stissing Mountain High School, about 90 miles north of New York City.

The suspect was taken into custody after state police isolated him to one room of the school and negotiated with him, a spokesman for the sheriff's department told CNN.

Pine Plains Supervisor Gregg Pulver said he had been told the gunman was a parent of a child at the school, which was surrounded Tuesday by nearly 100 state, county and local police officers.

Parents waiting in a nearby lot applauded when they heard the situation had been resolve safely, said Nancy Kotzur, a Pine Plains resident who has two sons at the school.

"Now we're waiting for the children to be released," Kotzur said.

The gunman was at the school when it opened at 7:45 a.m., a time when as many as 500 children and 100 staff also were at the school, Pulver said. There was no immediate word on a motive for the hostage-taking.

BREAKING: Possible hostage situation in Jeff City

 


Updated 12:12 p.m.

Police say there's no confirmation of shots fired or hostages taken at a Jefferson City office building near the Governor's Mansion that's been under lockdown.

Employees in the 10-story Governor Office Building were told over the intercom to remain in the offices with their doors locked. Police were gradually evacuating the building.

The Governor Office Building primarily houses the staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities. It also is home to the state's consumer advocacy office and a development finance board.

Employees connected with each of those offices were reached by telephone. None of those employees said anything unusual had happened.

------------------------

Earlier

Two SWAT teams are entering the building.

No shots fired, authorities confirm.

Here's how it started. A woman on the building's 5th floor overheard something on an intercom that led her to believe there was a hostage situation.

A security firm was contacted, which called Jefferson City police, leading to the lockdown.

We'll update as more information becomes available.-------------------------

Statehouse correspondent Jason Noble just called in to report a possible hostage situation in Jeff City.

Noble said law enforcement officials told him the event is occurring in a building known as the Governor's Office Building across the street from the governor's mansion on Capitol Avenue (not the state Capitol building).

(UPDATE: Here's Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder on Twitter talking about the incident.)

In the background as Noble talked: a law enforcement helicopter. He said officers with assault rifles were visible with one standing on the lawn of the governor's mansion itself. Lots of police cars, too.

But at the same time, Noble said office building workers could be seen in windows. One man held a cup of coffee in his hand. Police were not waving reporters away from the scene, which was a bit unusual.

More as we get it.

ICE Returns 16th Century Hebrew Bible

The Jewish library in Vienna

History sometimes has a way of righting itself — even if it takes a while.

That seemed to be the case Monday when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials returned to Vienna’s Jewish community a 16th Century Hebrew Bible that had been looted by the Nazis 71 years ago during “Kristallnacht”, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York said.

ICE officials turned over the book to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan during a repatriation ceremony.

Authorities said the bible dates back to the year 1561 and was donated to the Jewish community library in Vienna in 1908. On Nov. 9, 1938, the Nazi Gestapo seized the library during “Kristallnacht”, a violent and coordinated attack on Jewish people.

Earlier this year, authorities said, a New York City auction house, Kestenbaum & Company offered the bible up for sale. ICE determined the book had been stolen by the Nazis and the owner of the bible, a Swiss consignor, agreed to turn it over to the Jewish community, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“Seventy one years ago today, on Kristallnacht”, the Nazis carried out a violent and coordinated attack on Jewish people, ransacking the places they lived, worked and gathered,” said New York U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. :The passage of time does not diminish our remembrance, or the duty to return all surviving works of art and precious symbols stolen by the Nazis.

Video: Drunk woman falls onto Boston subway tracks

Spoiler alert: she survives.

In the clip, 27-year-old Charice Lewis is shown perilously weaving about on a Boston subway platform before falling onto the tracks. As Lewis stumbles around on the track, hugging the rail and unable or unwilling to reach the horrified bystanders trying to frantically alert the conductor and reach out to the girl, the train rapidly approaches. Police say that the woman, who was treated for “scrapes,” had been drinking heavily for a long period of time.

Luckily for Lewis, the conductor manages to grind the speeding train to a halt just short of where she stood on the track. The train operator, who was not named, describes the experience:

“The people were waving, but they were waving too much, and they were really, really close to the yellow line, which you are not supposed to be. It was telling me, ‘Slow your train down. Slow your train down.

“As I was approaching, the lady pops her head up, and I was like, ‘Oh my God. Someone is in the pit.’ I threw it into emergency, exactly what I am supposed to do, and it stopped just in time not to hurt her.

“After the fact, she came up with a big smile on her face.”


EMBED-Subway Stops Inches Before Woman on Tracks - Watch more free videos