Last week South Korea officially recognized an Ethiopian as a refugee and granted him citizenship. On the first sight, this is a quiet normal event given that South-Korea has become a fairly wealthy and industrialized and therefore attractive immigration country. Well, the first sight can be fooling. The decision is noteworthy because it is the…
USA – Unlimited Funds for Political Lobbyists
A highly controversial ruling of the US Supreme Court has the potential of fundamentally changing the rules of the political game in the United States. Arguing with the freedom of expression, the court allows the unlimited financial interference of private corporations in political affairs. The majority of conservative judges act in line with the idea…
Russian parliament – show-business and politics intermingled
Nikolai Rastorguev, one of the more famous Russian rock singers, is to become a member of the parliament on behalf of the party ”United Russia”. He is the next in a string of appointments of famous show-business persons without any political experience. Rastorguev will share the responsibility with beauty queens, a ballerina, a boxer, two…
Japan – Gas Guzzlers Subsidized as Energy-Efficient Cars
Cash for clunker programs are now being phased out in Europe and the US. Maybe this is the reason why Japan – whose manufacturers of small cars particularly benefitted from such incentives – is now starting its own cash-back program. Buying efficient new cars is subsidized with almost 3000 US$. In the program’s terms, efficiency…
Brasil – Police Units, Which Actually Protects the Populuation
According to a new strategy, the recently created ”peace-establishing police unit” does not only fight delinquency during the day but in five ”test-favelas” keeps present also at night. As a consequence the population no longer has to fear to be punished for their cooperation with the police by the criminals. The change is not only…
