Free Republic

When David Lipton, a promising economist, was finishing his graduate work at Harvard in the early 1980s, he faced one of those potentially life-changing choices. He had one job offer from the International Monetary Fund in Washington, the multinational institution that for 70 years has served as a lender of last resort and dispenser of orthodox economic advice to countries that get into financial trouble. There was also an offer of a teaching job from the University of Virginia. Unsure of which path to take, he turned for advice to an intellectually restless and charismatic assistant professor, a Frenchman named...

Prime minister Shinzo Abe rejects criticism of a policy that has seen only 11 people given asylum in the past year. Japan must improve the living standards of its own people before it can consider accepting Syrian refugees, the prime minister, Shinzo Abe said, as he announced $1.6bn in new assistance for Syrians and Iraqis caught up in conflicts in the Middle East. Abe’s consistent refusal to consider allowing even a modest number of refugees to relocate to Japan has prompted criticism of the country’s strict policy on asylum: last year, it received a record 5,000 applications but accepted just...

In Brief Japanese researchers have successfully grown kidneys from stem cells that worked as they were supposed to after being transplanted into rats and pigs. The Breakthrough With all the parts, grown, the kidney was placed inside a rat, then the pathway was added, followed by the bladder they’d grown—the new bladder was then connected to the rat’s native bladder. After sewing up the rat, they found the whole system worked. The team then repeated what they had done with a much larger animal, one much closer in size to humans—a pig—and found the same results. The paper was published...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined leaders from Brazil, India and Japan on Saturday to push for seats in a revamped UN Security Council that they said would do a better job of addressing global crises. Meeting on the sidelines of a UN development summit, the so-called G4 said they were “legitimate candidates” to become permanent Security Council members and backed each other’s candidacy. […] There have been mounting calls for changes to the powerful UN council, which has been deeply divided over how to address the war in Syria, now in its fifth year with more than 240,000 dead. …

In reviewing Japan’s just released balance of payments details showing the weekly transactions in Japanese stocks by foreign investors, we were shocked to see that foreign money has headed for the Japanese exits at a rate never seen before, not even in 2008-2009. Could this mark the inevitable “end game” for Japan as it finally recons with it’s unsustainable debt situation with foreign investors fleeing the country so fast they forget to say “Arigato”? It could, but we don’t think so. Rather, previous times of mass movement out of Japanese stocks have typically coincided with some sort of bottom in...

Around the start of this year, the weekly magazines — Shukan Taishu, Asahi Geino and Shukan Jitsuwa in particular — were brimming with articles feting the centennial anniversary of the Yamaguchi-gumi, which had gone from being a small group of tough guys on the Kobe waterfront in 1915 to Japan’s largest designated criminal syndicate, with an estimated 23,000 members. Nine months later, the gang is back in the news, this time with stories about its big breakup. On Aug. 27, a total of 13 gang affiliates, based in Kobe, Awaji Island and other cities in Hyogo Prefecture, as well as...

Friday, September 18, 2015 We're Turning Japanese Now Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog It's an article of American faith that Japan is an incredibly strange place. The world has been mapped and GPS'ed to death ruining much of the thrill of discovery. There probably aren't any hidden cities with remnants of lost civilizations lurking in the deserts of Africa or the jungles of South America. That just leaves the land of the rising sun as the X on the map, the strange place that suggests that the world that we know all too well, might still...

During a 1988 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump discussed the prospect of running for president someday, saying, “probably not, but I do get tired of seeing the country ripped off.” Though the billionaire businessman admitted that he didn’t have “the inclination” to run, he also said he “would never want to rule it out totally” for the future. “I just probably wouldn’t do it, Oprah. But I do get tired of seeing what’s happening with this country,” he said. If Trump was fed up with the state of the nation back then, he must be livid now, which would...

Vatican City, Sep 17, 2015 / 05:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Collected by a Salesian missionary to Japan in the early 20th century, letters and documents showing the history of Christians in the land of the rising sun have been recently restored by the Vatican archives and library. The collection conveys the story of the persecution of Christians in Japan, a story that Pope Francis has often recalled when speaking of the "hidden Christians" who knew how to keep and pass on the faith in a time of persecution, and even when deprived of priests. The Vatican Library and Secret...

Visibly straining as he holds it aloft, a Japanese fisherman grimaces as he proudly displays a terrifyingly large fish caught in the waters off Japan. With a gaping mouth large enough to swallow a small child, this creature - believed to be a wolffish - would not look out of place in a science fiction film. The massive catch was reeled in by Hirasaka Hiroshi, a fisherman who has made a career of landing and then eating unusual fish. Normally growing to about 1.2m in length, the wolffish Hirasaka caught measured close to two metres

The Defense Ministry has selected Boeing Co.'s KC-46A Pegasus aircraft as its new in-flight refueling vehicle, in line with a decision by the U.S. military to deploy the Boeing air tanker. It is set to be deployed by the end of fiscal 2018. The KC-46A Pegasus was selected as the next Air Self-Defense Force refueling aircraft because it can refuel U.S. fighter planes heading to combat zones in the event of a Japan-U.S. joint military operation, which could be made possible by the new security legislation under deliberation in the Diet. The highly contentious bills would remove Japan’s long-held ban...

Tokyo (AFP) - Japan has lodged a protest with Russia after scrambling four jet fighters to intercept a foreign aircraft -- believed to be Russian -- which briefly violated its airspace, officials said Wednesday. The foreign ministry made the protest shortly after the plane entered Japanese airspace off the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, near a disputed island chain, on Tuesday afternoon.

These are times not to tarry in the winds of fear but to concentrate now completely on the harvesting of souls for the gifts shall follow and be enacted with this movement( I see a Pendulum) for it is the heartbeat( Mercy /|\ Grace)and The "T"estimony of My Son. You see you are more than able bodied fishermen and greater than just an apostolic order for I created you bigger,wider,deeper and for greater things than these for My hand is upon you heavy now in these last hours and the fields are not only ripe but must be taken in...

Many social sciences and humanities faculties in Japan are to close after universities were ordered to “serve areas that better meet society’s needs”. Of the 60 national universities that offer courses in these disciplines, 26 have confirmed that they will either close or scale back their relevant faculties at the behest of Japan’s government. It follows a letter from education minister Hakuban Shimomura sent to all of Japan’s 86 national universities, which called on them to take “active steps to abolish [social science and humanities] organizations or to convert them to serve areas that better meet society’s needs”. The ministerial...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Mount Aso, a volcano located on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu, erupted on Monday, Japan's Meteorological Agency said, sending up huge plumes of grey ash and smoke. Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire" - a horseshoe-shaped band of fault lines and volcanoes around the edges of the Pacific Ocean - and is home to more than 100 active volcanoes.

You are my children I care for you , your very breath is proof of this and though you may not feel your heart beating within you truly your very Life is a ( (( Constant )) ) for without My spirit within you all you are would cease to exist therefore Praise My Name for as your Lord truly I AM your Savior and My Grace is upon you even now . . . Do not lose your Grace(Shepherd) for I AM sovereign over all, so your choice should always be intimacy ! My sheep know my voice

Widespread flooding and landslides in north-east Japan have forced more than 90,000 people to abandon their homes. The city of Joso, north of the capital, Tokyo, was hit by a wall of water after the Kinugawa River burst its banks. Helicopter rescue teams have been plucking people from rooftops.

Washington - There has been an astounding 32 per cent increase this year in the number of students flocking to American universities for higher studies. It is the biggest increase from any single country for the year, although in overall terms, China still tops the table in a big way. Figures just released by the US Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) indicate that 149,987 Indian students are currently enrolled in American universities of a total of 1.05 million. Chinese students number 301,532. When it comes to the highly-coveted STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) stream, it is Indian students...

Airbus said on Tuesday its defence division would not bid for a Japanese air-to-air refueling tanker aircraft deal estimated to be worth over a billion dollars because the terms of the tender favoured its U.S. rival Boeing Co. Japan's government had said in June that it wants four tankers to supplement its existing four Boeing 767-based tankers. On Tuesday, a Japanese Ministry of Defense spokeswoman confirmed that a request for proposals (RFP) has been issued, but was unable to provide any other details or respond to the Airbus decision. In a statement, Airbus said the RFP allowed Japan to buy...

Richard E. Cole On Monday, one of the last two surviving members of the WWII “Doolitte Raiders” will celebrate his 100th birthday. As one of the original Doolittle Raiders, retired Lt. Col. Richard Coledefied all the odds in what was considered a suicide mission to bomb Japan in 1942. Mr. Cole was co-pilot for Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, who led 16 B-25 bombers on the mission that is considered an event that changed the nation’s morale following the devastating attack on Pearl harbor. He was one of 80 fighters who volunteered for the dangerous, top-secret mission. The Raiders planned...