N. Korean Defectors Often Find Life Less Than Ideal in South : Tim Peters is a Christian activist who works with North Korean arrivals. He says many are shocked to discover that they must now compete to be hired - and that it can be too easy to be fired. In the North, jobs are assigned by the state, and partly because of inadequate electricity and raw materials, many workers actually do little work. "In North Korea, the culture of work is you don't do a darn thing unless you're told to do it," he said. "In South Korea, if you are not doing something, the boss is saying, 'why don't you take initiative, why don't you do that?' Well, you take six months of this in a Korean workplace, and this guy is out on his ear, because he looks like a sloucher, a loafer." An official at the Unification Ministry in Seoul acknowledges 20 to 30 percent of North Korean arrivals are unemployed - compared with less than four percent overall in the South.

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The Sellouts, The Reformers and the Revolutionaries: One popular Shanghai blogger, who declined to be identified, compared Zhao to an airline passenger who stands up and curses hijackers. “He makes the other passengers uncomfortable and nervous,” the blogger said. “What he is saying might be right, but it makes the situation unpredictable, and perhaps more dangerous for everyone.” Biff- This paragraph is the only part of the post which caught my eye, but catch it it sure did... haha...

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The '1421' Myth Exposed: In his book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World Menzies claimed Chinese admiral Zheng He had circumnavigated the globe, in the process “discovering” most of the world. Subsequent media coverage has failed to accurately present to the public the large body of evidence that Menzies’ claim is a fabrication, without any basis in fact. The purpose of this website is to present that evidence, and ensure that history is not rewritten by publishers more interested in short-sighted marketing campaigns that ensure their financial security, rather than intellectual integrity and public enlightenment.

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Japan's no-name boom: The average stock price on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) rose by about 40% in 2005. Reflecting the increasingly upbeat outlook, the bourse has continued to rally, with the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average reaching its highest level in six years to top the 17,000 mark on March 31, the final day of fiscal 2005. Industrial output in 2005 posted its highest level since 2000. Unemployment declined for the third year in a row in 2005, to 4.4% from 4.7% in 2004 and from 5.4% in 2002. The jobless rate for February stood at 4.1%, the lowest in seven years and seven months. Pay raises offered in this spring's annual wage negotiations are believed to have been higher than last year. ...In the late 1960s, the average life expectancy of Japanese people was 69.2 years for men and 74.7 years for women, compared with 78.6 years for men and 85.6 years for women in 2004. People aged 65 or over accounted for only about 7% of the total population in the late 1960s, but now they make up 20%. The unemployment rate was only 0.7% in 1970.

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Myanmar's junta fears US invasion: A high-ranking officer of the Karen National Liberation Army, an armed insurgent group, based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot claims that the SPDC has recently deployed artillery outposts along the entire border with Thailand. Between Mae Sot and Mae Samlep alone there are 10 or more such outposts, he contends. Such artillery is relatively useless against mobile, hit-and-run guerrilla forces operating in the jungle-covered area, and are clearly intended to provide a defensive perimeter against foreign attack from Thailand or the US, or both in cooperation. Many also view the regime's recent establishment of the new bunker-fortified, inland capital in Pyinmana as partly motivated by the junta's fears of a possible US invasion. The leaked Defense Department document confirms that analysis in stark detail.

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Japan backs 'patriotic teaching' : Conservative groups have long argued for a revision of the current law, saying pupils should learn national pride as Japan assumes a more active diplomatic and military role on the international stage. Opponents fear the changes might foster a revival of militarism and anger neighbours China and South Korea.