The results of coming local elections in Osaka and Aichi prefectures could have a great impact on the shape of Japan’s local government. The people concerned need to carefully watch and consider the moves of two men ― Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto and Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura. Hashimoto has the idea of dissolving the Osaka city and integrating the Osaka city and prefectural governments into a met

Viewpoints Jan. 13, 2011

For eight years, Ed Rendell was governor of Pennsylvania. The eight years before that, he was mayor of Philadelphia. In all that time, he never got the national attention he’s received in his last two weeks as governor, since unburdening himself about what he called “the wussification of America.”He was upset that the NFL postponed the Dec. 26 game between his beloved Philadelphia Eagles and the v

Viewpoints Jan. 13, 2011

The ugly American ― the stereotypically brutish, ethnocentric, bumbling traveler abroad ― is dead. He’s gone the way of global U.S. hegemony, the strong dollar and mid-20th century American naivete.Thirty years ago, the streets of major European capitals were awash with wide-eyed, culturally entitled, middle-class American tourists who were members of the first generation to take advantage of fore

Viewpoints Jan. 13, 2011

By its nature, an intelligence service is antithetical to the transparency and accountability that are hallmarks of a democracy. When the Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947, diplomat Dean Acheson wrote, “I had the gravest forebodings about this organization and warned the president that as set up neither he, the National Security Council, nor anyone else would be in a position to know

Viewpoints Jan. 13, 2011

Undoubtedly, one of the last things an incumbent president would like to hear of is his lapse, be it ongoing or imminent, into lame-duck status. Who would? Actually, President Lee Myung-bak was previously quoted as saying there would be no such thing until his last day in office.But it is a matter of time before a rapid decline in the presidential power manifests itself in various forms. It usuall

Editorial Jan. 12, 2011

The cost of renting a home is going through the roof. But top economic policymakers do not appear to be much concerned about the rise in rent. They are either ignoring what has developed into a crisis or are ill-informed about it.According to a survey of housing-price trends by Kookmin Bank, rents rose an average 0.2 percent throughout the nation during the week ending on Jan. 3. The bank said the

Editorial Jan. 12, 2011

When most Americans hear the words “public lands” they think of our national parks or national forests or perhaps even our national wildlife refuges. Yet, what might surprise them is that the largest category of our publicly owned land is administered by a little-known agency, the Bureau of Land Management, with a big mandate ― taking care of 400,000 square miles, an area nearly four times the siz

Viewpoints Jan. 12, 2011

In his desperate challenge to the opposition-dominated city council over the school free lunch issue, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has proposed a referendum in the capital city. Thus he is offering himself as the gladiator for the conservative forces in what can be a preview of the 2012 presidential election. The 50-year-old mayor in his second term said he could not tolerate the lives of the 10 million

Viewpoints Jan. 11, 2011

Kang Hee-rak was the chief of the National Police until half a year ago. He is known for strong emphasis on clean service of the entire 150,000 members of the force. Kang now faces arrest in connection with a lobbying scandal in which a catering service businessman bribed a large number of police officers, administration officials and politicians.Yu Sang-bong, 65, who was indicted under arrest lat

Editorial Jan. 11, 2011

On Christmas day, China’s central bank raised interest rates for the second time in 2010 to check rising consumer prices and the heated real estate market. It would not be surprising to see the central bank lift the rates again in the near future. The move has left me wondering whether allowing interest rates to play their due role in the economy through liberalization, as opposed to raising them

Viewpoints Jan. 11, 2011