Japan’s Air Self Defense Force announced that Fiscal Year 2011 was a record setting year for intercepts of foreign military aircraft entering Japan’s air space.
425 Japanese fighters were scrambled (usually F-15 Eagles), which is 39 more than 2010.
247 intercept missions were against Russian aircraft. 156 missions against Chinese aircraft.
The JASDF says Russia and China […] Continue Reading…
April 27, 2012, Spain’s National Statistics Institute announced that Spain’s unemployment rate is officially at 24.4%, the highest ever for Spain, and currently the highest in Europe!
That’s 5.6 million people out of work in a country with a population of 46 million people!
The 24.4% rate is for the first quarter of 2012. It’s a […] Continue Reading…
April 28, 2012, Mujahideen Spring Offensive rolls on.
In Kandahar Province, two cops and two Mujahideen were killed. The anti-government freedom fighters tried to blow up the provincial government building, but were caught in a firefight with security guards.
In Wardak Province, ten cops were killed on April 27, after they drove over a mine.
Also on […] Continue Reading…
International Security Assistance Force announced that four more U.S./NATO personnel were killed on April 26, 2012. They were killed by an explosion.
At least 131 NATO service members including 88 U.S. troops, 15 British troops and 28 soldiers from the other occupying countries have been killed since the beginning of 2012.
Reports are confusing, ISAF might […] Continue Reading…
April 27, 2012, Japan’s Diet (parliament) has passed a bill that allows near martial law like conditions in response to a major epidemic.
The Japanese government can now set up a special task force to deal with an outbreak of unusually virulent influenza. A state of emergency can be declared if the epidemic threatens the […] Continue Reading…
April 27, 2012, Japan’s House of Councillors passed a bill that would merge the country’s two postal service providers into one privatized corporation.
There is already a 2005 law that requires the Japanese government to give up all financial control of their postal system by September 2017.
This new bill, a resolution to the 2005 law, […] Continue Reading…
More than a year after the March 11, 2011, earthquake/tsunami and nuclear disaster, 1,618 people have died.
Japan’s Reconstruction Agency announced on April 27, 2012, that living as refugees was the cause of their deaths.
Most had lost their homes and were living in makeshift housing. The Agency determined that extremely stressful and unhealthy conditions causes […] Continue Reading…
“Most financial crises are caused by a mix of stupidity and greed and recklessness and risk-taking and hope….You can’t legislate away stupidity and risk-taking and greed and recklessness. What you can do is make sure when it happens it does not cause too much damage and to do that you have to make sure […] Continue Reading…
April 26, 2012, Badakhshan provincial officials report that Mujahideen attacked a police check point. At least three police officers were killed, three others were wounded and 16 others were taken prisoner.
On top of that 21 police officers have gone missing. Officials say the check point had a total of 43 cops, which means all […] Continue Reading…
April 26, 2012, Kyoto-based video game maker Nintendo reported its first ever loss.
Nintendo officials say they lost $530 million USD in fiscal year 2011. Japan’s fiscal year ends in March.
2011 sales crashed 36%. However, total sales was still about $7.9 billion USD.
Company officials blame the sales crash on the high asking price for their […] Continue Reading…