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Sewol Disaster Hits Japanese Local Economy

The April 16 tragedy of the MV Sewol in the territorial waters of South Korea has been exercising an impact on the local economy of Tottori Prefecture. This has occurred mainly due to the fact that the accident, in which more than three hundred people appear to have lost their lives, has deeply undermined the South Korean public’s faith in the safety of ferry boats.

A Return to Vietnam

The first impression one encounters in Ho Chi Minh City is the swarms of motorbikes. I’d seen pictures of this, but nothing quite prepares you for the spectacle of thousands of the little scooters flowing along the streets and even sidewalks like an endless river. By some estimates there are five million motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh, a city of about eight million, which works out to one for practically every able-bodied adult in the city.

Their Own Worst Enemies

It is apparent that early 2014 has already been an exhilarating period for the Japanese hard right. They have one of their own as the nation’s prime minister, his popularity has been enduring, his coterie filled with fellow travelers, and the liberal opposition beset by a degree of disarray that has probably never been seen before in postwar Japan.

Aborted Tech Transfer from Nazi Germany U-234

Much has been written about the application of ‘stealth technology’ in modern warfare, the rendering of a military vehicle virtually invisible to detection by radar systems. The advanced materials have been built into virtually everything, from revolutionary fighter aircraft, pilot-less drones, and warships. If we look back in time, we find that the origins of this unique form of ‘radar camouflage’ has its humble beginnings in Japan in the early 1940s.