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COMMENTARY

Feb 3, 2009

Opening gestures show Obama's optimism

By Tom Plate

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Saying the right thing is not quite the same, to be sure, as doing the right thing, especially when you're the president of the United States. But it is much better than saying the wrong thing and then actually going on to do the wrong thing. We don't have to go back very far...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 2, 2009

Chance to lift social equity in Latin America

By Marcelo M. Giugale

WASHINGTON — In 2009, Latin America will move from a period of expansion to one of adjustment. Because of the global financial crisis, growth will slow down, unemployment rates will rise, and poverty will increase. And there will be fewer public resources to face enlarged social needs.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 2, 2009

Oceania presses Fiji leader for free election this year

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY — An Australian newspaper has fired an editorial salvo at the military government of the Republic of the Fiji Islands while reminding the world of what happens when a country tramples on media freedom.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 1, 2009

Pros and cons of the euro at 10

By Michael Boskin

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The beginning of 2009 will long be remembered for terrible economic news and controversial economic policy in virtually every country. It also marks the 10th anniversary of the euro, the common currency further knitting together several hundred million Europeans in their economic...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 1, 2009

Obama magic unlikely to work with India

By Harsh V. Pant

LONDON — While the rest of the world swoons over the new U.S. president, India is conspicuous by the discomfort that the new political dispensation is generating in the corridors of power in New Delhi.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Feb 1, 2009

The day the music died America's apple-pie order began to crumble

By Roger Pulvers

A long, long time ago . . . I can still remember How that music used to make me smile. I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride, But something touched me deep inside The day the music died.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 30, 2009

A whale of a shortsighted subsidy program

By Janell Duey

BEPPU, Oita Pref. — After stepping off the train and onto the platform at Ogata station, in the Tosa area of Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku, travelers are greeted by a sign with two whales: "Welcome to Ogata, where the whales also greet you."

COMMENTARY

Jan 30, 2009

Dreaming of a pound floor

By David Howell

LONDON — These are dark times, especially for Britain: The pound sterling is dropping like a stone; the huge British financial sector, a major part of the British economy, has shrunk dramatically; unemployment is rising; and the stock market is looking sicker by the day. Britain is now officially in...

COMMENTARY

Jan 29, 2009

Pakistan key to Afghan war

By Brahma Chellaney

U.S. President Barack Obama is right to talk about "the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan" and the need to evolve an integrated U.S. strategy toward these two closely tied countries. But even as he has embarked on some major steps, his evolving strategy does not suggest a meaningful...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 28, 2009

Fight prostitution by punishing the solicitors

By Heleen Mees

AMSTERDAM — Prostitution is virtually the only part of the personal services industry in the Netherlands that works. One can't get a manicure in Amsterdam without booking an appointment two weeks in advance, but men can buy sex anytime — and at an attractive price. The legalization of prostitution...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 28, 2009

China's clout grows as U.S. economy weakens

By John F. Copper

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After 9/11 when China sided with the United States in the war on terrorism, Chinese leaders expected a quid pro quo: Perhaps Washington might make some concessions on the "Taiwan issue." But then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell emphatically dismissed this idea.

COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE

Jan 28, 2009

Can Japan afford the DPJ?

With the Aso administration's approval rating continuing to plunge, there appears to be a growing likelihood that the No. 1 opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, will defeat the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the next general election and take the reins of government under the leadership...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.

Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Yamagata’s Zao Onsen Ski Resort is a classic beauty

Yamagata’s Zao Onsen Ski Resort is a classic beauty

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