An occupational hazard for foreign journalists is traipsing into “exotic Japan” and getting lost in a forest of stereotypes, fuzzy data and tarted-up headlines.Such is the case with the media’s renewed obsession with reports that the Japanese have given up on sex. This canard emerges every couple of years, but it’s snowballing anew thanks to an Oct. 19 Guardian headline screaming: “Why Have Young People in Japan Stopped Having Sex?” The references to dominatrixes-turned-sex counselors, men who g

Viewpoints Oct. 28, 2013

The Afghan people’s most dangerous foe is not the Taliban. It’s not Pakistan or al-Qaida. No, it’s their president, Hamid Karzai.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Kabul earlier this month and spent more than 24 hours with Karzai, trying to work out an agreement that would allow a modest contingent of U.S. troops to remain in the country after 2014, to continue protecting Afghans from their enemies.The two men said they came to agreement on several important issues. But the pact remains

Viewpoints Oct. 27, 2013

PARIS ― Our standards for heroism really have tanked, and a new Hollywood movie has driven that point home ― at 180 mph.Ron Howard’s breathtaking new movie, “Rush,” is the story of the famous 1976 season of Formula One legends Niki Lauda and James Hunt, during which world champion Lauda had a near-fatal crash at Germany’s Nrburgring track. The film underscores just how easily impressed we’ve become as a society since the Lauda-Hunt era. I walked out of the theater wanting to punt a Bieber.Just 4

Viewpoints Oct. 27, 2013

A new report has sent a jolt through the world of spies and spy-handlers, with revelations of a major betrayal by a key ally of the United States and the West. That ally is Turkey, a member of NATO, a candidate for membership in the European Union and nation with close ties to the United States and, until a few years ago, a good friend of Israel.The well-connected Washington Post writer David Ignatius reported the shocking news that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave Iran the names

Viewpoints Oct. 27, 2013

The minimum wage has put a floor under workers’ wages since taking effect 75 years ago on Oct. 24, 1938. But at $7.25 an hour, today’s federal minimum wage is the same as it was in 1950, after adjusting for inflation.Too little, too late minimum wage raises are the next best things to eliminating it for minimum wage opponents.“If we would have had our druthers,” said Murray Weidenbaum, chairman of President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, “We would have eliminated it.” But, as the

Viewpoints Oct. 25, 2013

You might think the International Committee of the Red Cross would have plenty to do just providing humanitarian aid to people in war zones. And so it does. So why is the organization poking its nose into the debate over violent video games?As it turns out, that’s also a pretty good use of its time.Among the millions of young people who play such games today ― virtually capturing, torturing and killing enemy combatants ― are some of the soldiers, military officers, government leaders and opinion

Viewpoints Oct. 24, 2013

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has launched an inquiry into the unseemly clash between high-ranking prosecutors involved in the probe into the National Intelligence Service’s alleged meddling in the December presidential election. The inspection should be carried out swiftly to help prosecutors get their act together. Inspectors should first determine whether Cho Young-kon, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, stonewalled the probe into the spy agency. The allegation against

Editorial Oct. 23, 2013

A clash is looming between the government and physicians over the introduction of telemedicine, the delivery of medical care using telecommunications technologies. Telemedicine enables patients in remote regions to receive care from doctors without having to travel to visit them. Yet it is banned in Korea, a country known for its advanced ICT infrastructure. Economic ministries have long sought to lift the ban to increase medical welfare for people and curb medical costs. They also believe telem

Editorial Oct. 23, 2013

President Obama and the Democrats won; Republicans and the “tea party” lost. And both sides are gearing up for next time.Now that our recent brush with financial crisis is behind us, it’s time to start planning for the next one.That’s the problem Congress set up in the stopgap deal that ended the 16-day government shutdown and averted a collision with the debt ceiling. After all the sound and fury, the two parties agreed only on continuing federal spending at its current level until Jan. 15 and

Viewpoints Oct. 23, 2013

The Food and Drug Administration has outlawed the only over-the-counter asthma medicine in the U.S. It has also banned a number of other asthma medicines that patients like and that doctors have prescribed for them.In imposing these prohibitions, the FDA hasn’t denied that the banned asthma medicines are safe and effective for their intended use. (Disclosure: While serving as administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs during President Barack Obama’s first term,

Viewpoints Oct. 23, 2013