Army Ranger’s Widow Dragged Out Of Book Signing After Confronting Rumsfeld
August 29, 2011 No CommentThis is the widow of the Army Ranger I wrote about recently. I’m glad that she got the all-too-rare opportunity to tell one of these callous warmongers to his face what she thinks of him and his enablers: Two people were removed from Friday’s Donald Rumsfeld book signing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, including the Yelm widow of an Army Ranger who blames the military for her husband’s suicide. Security officers for the former secretary of defense escorted Ashley Joppa-Hagemann out by the arm, she said this evening. She and Jorge Gonzalez, the executive director of Coffee Strong, a Lakewood-based anti-war group that links soldiers with benefits and counseling, confronted Rumsfeld as he promoted his memoir, “Known and Unknown.” According to an account posted today on Coffee Strong’s web site : Mrs. Joppa-Hagemann introduced herself by handing a copy of her husband’s funeral program to Rumsfeld, and telling him that her husband had joined the military because he believed the lies told by Rumsfeld during his tenure with the Bush Administration. Joppa-Hagemann complained about Rumsfeld’s response to her account of Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann’s multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and his death at age 25. He belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.The web site said Rumsfeld’s only response was to callously quip, ‘Oh yeah, I heard about that.’ Despite the reply, Mrs. Joppa-Hagemann continued to lay the blame directly at the feet of Rumsfeld and the military for not providing enough care for soldiers and veterans returning from deployments in combat zones. However, within moments Ashley and Jorge were dragged from the Post Exchange by a group of 5-6 security agents and military police officers, and told not to return. A base spokesman said the pair were causing a minor disturbance.“Two people were quietly and peacefully escorted out of the PX after they caused a disturbance at the book signing,” public affairs officer Bud McKay said. Joppa-Hagemann said the pair spoke calmly and weren’t trying to make a scene. She should have been allowed to finish talking to Rumsfeld, she said.The pair did take a picture with Rumsfeld, after Gonzalez unbuttoned his shirt to reveal an “Iraq veterans against the war” T-shirt.
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Report is expected to claim police were complicit in cover-up of sexual abuse by priests and lay members of the church County Donegal in Ireland is about to have its bucolic image shattered by a report into how paedophiles, both clergy and laity, abused children for decades. An investigation into clerical sex abuse in the Catholic diocese of Raphoe in County Donegal is about to report its findings, which are expected to be damning. Meanwhile, new evidence has emerged from victims of a parallel paedophile ring operating in the same Gaelic-speaking corner of the Irish Republic. A number of survivors of abuse have told the Guardian that lay members of the church as well as priests sexually exploited them for years in the county. And as with the expected conclusion of the report into Raphoe, they say the national police service, the Garda, was complicit in a culture of cover-up that allowed the perpetrators to carry on abusing them. Speaking for the first time about his abuse as a child and the subsequent cover-up, John O’Donnell revealed that he had been abused since he was nine by a lay member of a local church choir. “He assaulted me from when I was nine until I was 15, until I was old enough to know it was wrong. This man took advantage because I was adopted and regarded as something lower than most kids in the area. “The abuse took place at his home and in a shop he ran. It went on from 1965 to 1972.” O’Donnell said that in 1973 he went to a local Garda station to report that he had been raped by the man, who has since died. He said the reaction to his claim was violent. “A local guard was outraged that I was naming such a fine upstanding member of the community as a child rapist. The officer slapped me on the face and told me to get out. He said to me that I was adopted and not worth anything. From that day on I never fully trusted a member of the Garda Síochána.” For years, O’Donnell said, he hid what had happened to him, and got married and raised a family without discussing it with his loved ones. It was only in the late 1990s when revelations of widespread child abuse rocked the Irish Catholic church that he decided to face up to what had happened to him. “I found out that my abuser was still in the church choir and I was outraged because he was working with children. So I drove up to a parochial house in the area and tried to speak to the parish priest about this man. At the time I had finally got somewhere with the gardaí and they had questioned this man in a Donegal police station. I informed the parish priest about this but he wouldn’t even let me across his door. He kept saying: ‘No, no, no … I am not speaking to you about this.’ He didn’t want to know, and bear in mind this was only back in 2005.” O’Donnell has claimed that other victims in this corner of Donegal are coming forward, with a picture emerging of an organised paedophile ring. Police are investigating their claims. The Guardian has spoken to a number of other men in Donegal who have made similar allegations of an abuse ring and a cover-up spanning decades. Throughout the decades of denial, the young men who were preyed upon by paedophiles in the county, both inside and outside the church, had one champion – a retired police detective, Martin Ridge. Ridge moved to the county at the end of his career, and became so disturbed by official indifference that he wrote a book about the children’s experiences, Breaking the Silence. He predicted that the Raphoe report would be “damning” and expose the same culture of “local denial and cover-up” that was found in other Catholic dioceses across Ireland. Ridge admitted the police force he served in all his working life would not be spared withering criticism in the Raphoe report. Two years ago the Murphy report into widespread clerical abuse of children in Dublin, Ireland’s largest Catholic diocese, found that senior Garda officers colluded with four archbishops and top clerics in covering up the sex crimes of priests on a massive scale in the city. “There were 45 victims of three different paedophiles, one of whom was a priest, another a school teacher. None of the victims wanted to be interviewed in local gardaí stations. The question has to be asked as to why they did not trust the local force when this was going on,” Ridge said. The ex-Garda officer too has confirmed that an investigation is now under way into the alleged ring of abuse in north-west Ireland involving both priests and non-members of the clergy. It is understood to include an investigation into how a convicted child sex offender got a job in a local youth hostel after he was released from prison in 2006. O’Donnell, meanwhile, opted to remain living in Falcarragh, County Donegal, despite the climate of cover-up and fear he has had to endure. Surveying the natural beauty of the area, with its stunning mountains and seascapes, the 55-year-old said: “Yes, it’s a beautiful area with amazing views and scenery … it would be even more beautiful but for some of the bastards still living here.” Ireland Catholicism Children Child protection Europe Religion Christianity Social care Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Republicans Complain About Cuts to FEMA Hurricane Relief…You Know the Cuts They Wanted
August 29, 2011 No CommentAfter sleeping through the worst part of the hurricane last night, I woke this morning to the Washington Post reporting that disaster relief will have to be pulled from the Midwest to handle the East Coast hurricane problems. “With less than $1 billion currently available for federal disaster assistance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is temporarily suspending payments to rebuild roads, schools and other structures destroyed during spring tornadoes in Joplin, Mo. and southern states in order to pay for damage caused by Hurricane Irene.” In the most recent budget negotiations the White House and lawmakers agreed on roughly $38 billion in cuts to federal spending to departments and agencies. The Republican Chair of the House Appropriations Committee blames the need for moving funding around from Joplin and the Midwest to the east cost on the President’s cuts in FEMA. “On Saturday, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) urged the Senate to quickly approve the House GOP version of the annual Homeland Security spending measure that includes $1 billion for additional disaster funding this year and $2.65 billion for fiscal 2012. “Time and time again, the [Obama] administration has ignored the obvious funding needs of the Disaster Relief Fund, purposefully and irresponsibly underfunding the account and putting families and communities who have suffered from terrible disasters on the back burner,” Rogers said. “Now the administration has let the fund reach critically low levels, putting continued recovery at risk, without a plan for the future or a clear method for dealing with new disasters.” The House Appropriations Committee details some of the $38B cuts in this PDF including “reduces FEMA first responder grants by $786 million, eliminates $264 million in funding that was previously targeted to earmarks, and rescinds $557 million in unobligated and lapsed balances from prior year funds.” These were cuts approved by Chairman Rogers own committee that he’s blaming on the President. The Continuing Resolution set to maintain our country until we were able to pass an actual budget was passed earlier this year. According to Chairman Rogers’s own Committee Summary of the bill the CR also reports (emphasis mine) “The National Weather Service, of course, is part of NOAA — its funding drops by $126 million. The CR also reduces funding for FEMA management by $24.3 million off of the FY2010 budget, and reduces that appropriation by $783.3 million for FEMA state and local programs. ” In that same WaPo piece tea party Republican Rep. Eric Cantor says that they will get the money needed for FEMA from other places. I guess he means the needs for the east cost are going to come from Joplin. Cantor was also caught with his tea party cuts around his knees earlier this week when the Virginia earthquake hit it was also discovered that Cantor was holding disaster aid for earthquakes hostage unless there were other spending cuts. In related news the New York Times reported a few weeks ago the disapproval rating for the tea party has doubled since last year to 40 percent.
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Monday's Washington Examiner notes that NBC's Ann Curry made the Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women, but Curry somehow tried to claim that she “didn't ask” to be co-host of Today. (Ahem, cue “Curry and her agent were expressed unhappiness”
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Man tricked security firm employees by wrapping prosthetic limb in bandage, allowing him to remove it and flout court curfew Private security firm G4S has sacked two members of staff who tagged a man’s false leg, allowing him to remove it and flout a court-imposed curfew. Christopher Lowcock, 29, fooled the two employees by wrapping a prosthetic leg in a bandage when they set up the tag at his home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. He was then able to remove the limb and break a curfew imposed for offences involving drugs, driving and a weapon. G4S sacked the pair for committing a serious disciplinary offence, it said. In a statement, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said procedures “were clearly not followed in this case and G4S have taken action against the staff involved”. “Two thousand offenders are tagged every week and incidents like this are very rare,” a spokesman added. G4S revealed managers became suspicious last month but when they returned to Lowcock’s home he had been returned to custody accused of a driving-related offence. The company revealed the second employee who went to check on the monitoring equipment at Lowcock’s home was also sacked for failing to realise he had fooled them into tagging his false leg. A spokeswoman for the company said it placed electronic tags on “70,000 subjects a year on behalf of the Ministry of Justice”. “Given the critical nature of this service we have very strict procedures in place which all of our staff must follow. “In this individual’s case two employees failed to adhere to the correct procedures when installing the tag. Had they done so, they would have identified his prosthetic leg.” The two staff involved had committed a serious disciplinary offence by failing to follow procedure and had been dismissed, she said. The MoJ said contractors were expected to adhere to “the highest standards of professionalism” and strict guidelines had to be followed when tagging offenders. The company also handles immigration detainees and was involved in the controversial death of Jimmy Mubenga, an Angolan national who was deported from a commercial flight from Heathrow last October. Passengers told the police they saw three G4S security guards heavily restraining Mubenga, who had been complaining of breathing difficulties before he collapsed. Three guards were interviewed by police and released on bail. G4S Helen Carter guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …WaPo: Arne Duncan Offered to Meet Matt Damon at the Airport Before Protest
August 29, 2011 No Comment
Washington Post education columnist Valerie Strauss reported Monday that people in the Obama administration made several desperate attempts to lobby actor Matt Damon just before he spoke at last month's “Save Our Schools” rally in Washington D.C., blasting an emphasis on standardized tests and insisting he would never have become a movie star under that kind of education system. Citing unnamed sources in sensitive spots, Strauss claimed “Duncan was willing to meet Damon at the airport when he flew into the Washington region and talk to him on the drive into the city, according to the sources. Damon declined all of the requests.” This the way Democrat politics work. Liberal actors parachuting in for protests get White House political officals and cabinet secretaries hovering for a chance to prevent any rumbles in the liberal media. The media was obviously pro-Obama enough that the Damon protests didn't attract network news coverage. The cable channels offered some buzz, including Larry O'Donnell on MSNBC on August 2 claiming ” Matt Damon takes on the political myth of the incompetent public school teacher clinging to tenure and ruining education in America.” Strauss had more: Damon flew to the teachers march on the day of the event from Vancouver, where he has been filming a movie called “Elysium.” He came at the request of his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, a child development expert and professor at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., who was involved with the rally. Damon refused to meet with administration officials before the march. His criticism of Obama administration policy has clearly been on the White House’s radar. Damon spoke out earlier this year on education reform. In a March interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan, he said President Obama had disappointed him on a number of issues and criticized an administration-encouraged initiative to link teacher evaluation to the standardized test scores of students. It’s a bad idea, and Damon said so. Two months later, President Obama noted Damon’s dissent. In his comic address to the White House Correspondents dinner in May, Obama said: “I’ve even let down my key core constituency: movie stars. Just the other day, Matt Damon — I love Matt Damon, love the guy — Matt Damon said he was disappointed in my performance. Well, Matt, I just saw ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ so…right back atcha, buddy.” Fast forward to July. Leaders of the teachers march, who had tried for months through letters and blogposts to get the attention of the White House, were, on July 28, suddenly invited to a meeting with administration officials for the next day, the day before the march. The offer was declined, the leaders said, because they were busy with an education conference at American University and preparations for the rally. They asked if administration officials could meet with them after the march, but the answer was “no.” The Post publicized the Damon protest on July 31 on page A4, which in classic Post fashion, was a rally of “public education advocates,” not a bunch of lefties who thought Obama was too centrist: The speakers included a long list of longtime education advocates and a few Hollywood celebrities whose mothers are teachers or public education advocates. “The Daily Show's” Jon Stewart sent his support by jumbo-size screen rather than driving to the march because, he said, “the dog ate his car.” Actor Matt Damon elicited cheers when he commiserated with the crowd. “This has been a horrible decade for teachers,” he said. “The next time you feel down or exhausted . . . please know there are millions of people behind you.” With that send-off, they marched off the lawn, up 17th Street and around the White House, many chanting, “Education under attack! What do we do? Stand up, fight back.” They also joked as they tested the microphones: “No testing, no testing, 1, 2, 3.”
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Recently freed artist breaks his silence after his release, attacking Beijing in Newsweek article Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has launched his first scathing attack on the Chinese government since his release from secretive detention in late June, accusing officials of denying citizens their basic rights. In a strongly worded commentary published late on Sunday on the website of Newsweek magazine, Ai – whose detention prompted an international outcry – branded the capital, Beijing, as “a city of violence”. He criticised the government for rampant corruption, the judicial system and its policy on migrant workers, all issues that have inflamed social tensions in China. Ai’s commentary signals his growing impatience with the strict terms of his release from 81 days in captivity in late June. It also presents Beijing with a direct challenge on how to handle the country’s most famous social critic. “Every year millions come to Beijing to build its bridges, roads, and houses … They are Beijing’s slaves,” Ai wrote. “They squat in illegal structures, which Beijing destroys as it keeps expanding. Who owns houses? Those who belong to the government, the coal bosses, the heads of big enterprises. They come to Beijing to give gifts – and the restaurants and karaoke parlours and saunas are very rich as a result.” Under the conditions of Ai’s release, he is not allowed to be interviewed by journalists, meet foreigners, use the internet or interact with human rights advocates for a year, a source familiar with Ai’s detention told Reuters. Despite this, the artist has spoken out on his Twitter account on behalf of detained dissidents and his associates who were also held during his incarceration. They have since been released. “Beijing tells foreigners that they can understand the city … Officials who wear a suit and tie like you say we are the same and we can do business,” he wrote in Newsweek. “But they deny us basic rights.” When contacted by Reuters on Monday, Ai confirmed he had written the commentary, saying it was one based on his impressions of living in Beijing, adding that he did not know what the consequences, if any, would be. He declined to elaborate, saying he was still restricted from speaking to journalists under the terms of his release. The 54-year-old endured intense psychological pressure during his detention and still faces the threat of prison for alleged subversion, according to the source. In the commentary, Ai alluded to his time in detention, saying “the worst thing about Beijing is that you can never trust the judicial system”. “My ordeal made me understand that on this fabric, there are many hidden spots where they put people without identity,” Ai wrote. “Only your family is crying out that you’re missing. But you can’t get answers from the street communities or officials, or even at the highest levels, the court or the police or the head of the nation. “My wife has been writing these kinds of petitions every day [while he was in custody], making phone calls to the police station every day. Where is my husband? Just tell me where my husband is. There is no paper, no information.” Ai’s detention provoked an outcry from many western governments about China’s tightening grip on dissent that started in February, when dozens of human rights activists and dissidents were detained and arrested. The artist, famed for his work on the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium in Beijing, was the most internationally well-known of those detained, and his family has repeatedly said he was targeted for his outspoken criticism of censorship and Communist party controls. When Ai was released on bail, Beijing said he remained under investigation for suspicion of economic crimes, including tax evasion. Ai told Reuters earlier that he had not received a formal notice from the authorities to explain the allegation. In the Newsweek article, Ai wrote that none of his art represents Beijing. “The Bird’s Nest – I never think about it,” he wrote. “After the Olympics, the common folks don’t talk about it because the Olympics did not bring joy to the people.” He wrote about the “secretive way” people came up to him in a park last week, giving him a thumbs up or patting him on the shoulder. “No one is willing to speak out. What are they waiting for? They always tell me, ‘Weiwei, leave the nation, please.’ Or ‘Live longer and watch them die,’” Ai wrote. He previously had said he would never emigrate, but the latest article left that in question. “Either leave, or be patient and watch how they die,” he wrote. “I really don’t know what I’m going to do.” Ai Weiwei China Human rights Protest guardian.co.uk
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Beyoncé told photographers she had a surprise before outlining a baby bump under her gown Not every baby manages to be the indisputable star of a major music awards show several months before he or she is even born. But then this newly announced pregnancy is the product of modern music aristocracy, Beyoncé and Jay-Z. A potential lifetime of headline-hogging began as Beyoncé posed for photographers in a flowing red dress outside the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. Saying she had a surprise, she flattened the gown to outline an unmistakable bump. It that wasn’t enough, performing during the ceremony the R&B singer told the audience: “I want you to feel the love that’s growing inside of me.” She finished the song by removing a sequinned tuxedo jacket to rub her belly. In the audience, Jay-Z, her rap superstar husband, was hugged by his friend, Kanye West. The very public announcement managed to overshadow three awards for Katy Perry, including the prestigious video of the year gong for Firework, and a pair for Lady Gaga, who opened the show dressed as a male alter ego. British singer Adele won three technical awards for the video accompanying her song, Rolling in the Deep. The awards show involved tributes to Amy Winehouse, who died just over a month ago. Russell Brand, a friend, told the audience that those addicted to drugs should seek help, as he once did: “A lot of people just get the disease, not many people get the incredible talent that Amy was blessed with. Let’s remember there is a solution. That solution is available.” The veteran singer Tony Bennett aired a snippet of the duet he recorded with Winehouse, due for release on what would have been her 28th birthday, 14 September. The US singer Bruno Mars played a cover of Valerie, one of Winehouse’s hits, finishing with the line. “Amy, we’ll miss you baby”. Beyoncé Jay-Z United States MTV Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
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Prisons chief claims sentencing norms are being ignored by courts in favour of ‘naked popularism’ Magistrates have denied accusations from the president of the Prison Governors Association that there has been a “feeding frenzy” of disproportionate sentencing of those convicted in the aftermath of the recent riots. Eoin McLennan-Murray claimed courts had shown “naked popularism” in their punishments and that it was probable some people were being treated unfairly. There had also been far more use of people being remanded in custody pending further hearing of their cases. He first criticised the courts to the Independent on Sunday , saying: “It’s like when you’ve got sharks and there’s blood in the water and it’s a feeding frenzy. There’s a sentencing frenzy and we seem to have lost all sight of proportionality,” McLennan-Murray said. “It’s appealing to the populist mentality, and that’s not the best basis on which to sentence people. The norms of sentencing are being ignored.” Speaking on Radio 4′s Today programme on Monday, McLennan-Murray said there had been a seven-fold increase in the use of remand. He said this was putting pressure on prison places, adding: “This kind of speedy, across-the-board justice probably means a number of people are dealt with unfairly.” But the chairman of the Magistrates’ Association, John Thornhill, called the claims “unreasonable and unfounded” and said he was “angry and concerned” by the claims. He told Today it was “just not the case” that normal sentencing was being ignored. “The sentencing guidelines are very clear. Let’s remember that these are serious offences. In most cases people are charged with burglary and in some cases aggravated burglary,” he said. “In a very short period of time far more people – a seven-fold number – were arrested for seven-fold the amount of serious offences. So it would be expected we would have seven-fold sentencing.” He added that criticism of magistrates was “totally misdirected” because “the vast majority of sentences have been imposed by the professional judiciary, not by the lay magistrates”. The prison population in England and Wales reached a record high for the third consecutive week last Friday as courts continue to jail people involved in the riots. The total number of prisoners hit 86,821, after a further 167 people were jailed. The population is now only 1,500 short of the usable operational capacity. The Prison Service has already warned t here could be unrest in jails as convicted rioters and looters are imprisoned. A Guardian analysis of 1,000 riot-related cases heard by magistrates found those already sentenced were receiving prison terms 25% longer than normal and a 70% overall rate of imprisonment which compared with a “normal” rate of just 2%. Prisons and probation UK riots UK criminal justice James Meikle guardian.co.uk
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Finance minister faces tough policy decisions after winning race to succeed Naoto Kan as leader of governing party Yoshihiko Noda, Japan’s finance minister, is almost certain to become the country’s seventh prime minister in six years on Tuesday after winning the race to succeed Naoto Kan as leader of the governing party. A nationally televised vote involving nearly 400 MPs from the Democratic party of Japan (DPJ) was held on Monday after Kan honoured a promise to step down last Friday following the passage of key bills to fund post-tsunami reconstruction and support renewable energy. Noda was declared the winner after defeating his nearest rival, the trade minister, Banri Kaieda, by 215 votes to 177 in a runoff held after none of the original five candidates won more than 50% of votes in the first round. Noda, 54, will be faced with a long list of policy headaches once the DPJ has used its majority in the lower house on Tuesday to formally elect him prime minister. The nuclear crisis is far from being resolved and tens of thousands of people living along the devastated north-east coast have yet to be permanently rehoused. Japan has so far failed to stem the rise of the yen or agree on how to fund soaring health and social security costs in one of the world’s fastest-ageing societies. Noda’s victory raised the prospect of a tax increase to pay for reconstruction from the earthquake and tsunami, which is projected to cost almost 20tn yen over five years. “Let’s do the utmost to tackle what we have promised and if there’s not enough money, we might ask the people to share the burden,” Noda, a fiscal conservative, said before the vote in a reference to future tax rises. He also inherits an economy that has shrunk for three quarters in a row, and is saddled with a national debt twice the size of Japan’s US $5tn economy, the highest in the industrial world. Last week, Moody’s Investor Service cut Japan’s credit rating, citing the country’s formidable debt, political instability and the absence of credible plan to revive the world’s third-largest economy. Many voters, particularly those affected by the 11 March tsunami and resulting nuclear crisis, see the vote as a self-indulgent power play carried out at a time of national crisis. The leadership election quickly became a struggle between rival groups in the DPJ after the party’s most powerful faction leader, Ichiro Ozawa, refused to support the early favourite, the former foreign minister Seiji Maehara. Ozawa, who has been suspended from the party pending an investigation into a funding scandal, effectively ended Maehara’s chances when he decided to back Kaieda. The prospects for Noda’s political longevity are not bright. He commanded scant support among the public going into the vote, and must quickly orchestrate a working relationship with opposition parties, which can block legislation through their control of the upper house. Political precedent is also working against him: his five predecessors have all been forced out of office after about a year. Noda made much of his humble upbringing in Chiba, near Tokyo, and even managed to inject humour into the proceedings when he likened himself to a loach, an unattractive, bottom-feeding freshwater fish. “I know I look like one so if I become prime minister, we can’t expect an immediate rise in our support rate, so I would not call a snap election,” he said. “But a loach has its own qualities, even though it can’t do as a goldfish does.” Although polls indicate widespread public support for Kan’s nuclear phase-out, criticism of his handling of the immediate aftermath of the nuclear accident and the reconstruction effort has sent his approval ratings to below 20% in recent days. Noda supports the phase-out, but wants existing reactors to be checked quickly and restarted to avoid a power shortage. Like Kan, he has floated the idea of a grand coalition that would involve appointing opposition politicians to cabinet posts – although other parties have given the idea a lukewarm response. Kan had survived a no-confidence vote in June by promising to step down once parliament had passed three laws instrumental to the rebuilding effort and the promotion of renewable energy. The last two pieces of legislation were passed last Friday. Analysts described Noda as the preferred candidate among investors given his preference for higher taxes over more borrowing. “Of the five candidates, Noda was the best choice for Japan’s economy,” Takuji Okubo, chief economist at Societe Generale Securities in Tokyo,” told Reuters. “If Noda had lost, it could have led to speculation of a vacuum in Japan’s currency market intervention, but Noda is likely to keep trying to tame the yen’s appreciation.” Japan Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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