jmdeherrera

Silicon Valley is already a land unto itself, a parallel universe where twentysomethings become overnight billionaires, where cars learn to drive themselves, where code is the common tongue and nerds rule. Unemployment rates are low. Housing prices are sky-high. Not coincidentally, this mostly suburban expanse also has one of the largest homeless encampments in the United States—and a widening…

    Source: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

      David Tovar, Wallmart VS Timothy Egan, New York Times

Wallmart blog: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-23/walmart-fact-checks-new-york-times-river-red-ink-ensues

New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/20/opinion/timothy-egan-walmart-starbucks-and-the-fight-against-inequality.html?hp&rref=opinion

(Reuters) – Bank of Japan board member Sayuri Shirai said that aggressive monetary stimulus will remain in place well into next year as it would take longer than the central bank’s two-year timeframe to achieve its price target.

Shirai, among the most dovish policymaker in the nine-member board, also cautioned that some risks clouded the economic outlook, including soft exports and a potentially…

The town of Taketomi, population about 4,000, is spread out over six islands in the East China Sea. China is 400 km away, Tokyo 2,000 kms away. Residents fear the latter more than the former, says Josei Jishin (May 27).

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s determination to nullify the pacifist Constitution, coupled with his administration’s efforts to pressure the local school board into adopting an…

(Reuters) – The Bank of Japan is increasingly confident that the economy is weathering a recent tax increase and on its way out of deflation, but another threat to that optimistic scenario is lurking – weak exports.

If shipments abroad continue to fall short of the central bank’s forecasts, the recovery in the world’s third-biggest economy could stall and the BOJ might be forced to ease policy…

Former New York Times Tokyo bureau chief Henry S. Stokes is standing by a claim made in his new book that the Nanjing Massacre never took place, describing the event as a “propaganda tool of the KMT government.”

Kyodo News reported Thursday that Stokes’ book, titled “Eikokujin Kisha ga Mita Rengokoku Sensho Shikan no Kyomo (“Falsehoods of the Allied Nations’ Victorious View of History, as Seen by…

Japan’s annual current account surplus is the lowest on record, government figures showed Monday, as fossil fuel bills and a sliding yen overshadow rising exports.

For fiscal 2013, the value of the goods, services and investments that left Japan exceeded those coming in by 789.9 billion yen, plunging 81.3% from 4.2 trillion yen the previous year.

The figure was the lowest since the finance…

In its cover story for June, Sapio devotes 14 articles—including a contribution by former Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara—and 23 pages to wide-ranging discussions on the subject of immigration. It looks like substantial changes are coming, and coming soon. What form should immigration take? What are the merits and demerits?

Management consultant Kenichi Ohmae is, if anything, a pragmatic person. He…

Japan could boost its GDP by 12.5% if it closes the gender gap and gets more women into the workforce, a new report says.

The finding, by Goldman Sachs, echoes calls by economists and Japan’s prime minister for more opportunities for women, in a bid to lessen the impact of a shrinking and greying population.

“If Japan’s female employment rate as of 2013 (62.5%) rose to that of males (80.6%), this…

(Reuters) – For nearly two decades Shunji Usui has been a fixture at Urawa Red Diamonds matches at the Saitama Stadium in the suburbs of Tokyo, a face in the crowd among the most avid – and sometimes rabid – fans of any Japanese football club.

In recent weeks, though, Usui’s pride in the former Asian champions has been tempered by embarrassment that the team he loves has been held up as a symbol…