Month: December 2013

Open thread: marine protected areas

I have written a number of times before about the unsustainable nature of global fisheries and the sorts of policies that might help combat that.

Marine protected areas have an important role to play in that effort. They constitute sanctuaries in which fish are protected from the hugely destructive fishing technology that is now deployed. Their more extensive establishment could play an important role in maintaining the viability of many important species.

Odd fact about the yakuza

Yakuza operate much more openly than their counterparts in other countries. Crime syndicates have offices registered with local public-safety commissions. Membership is not in itself a crime. The biggest and richest group, the Yamaguchi-gumi, shelters behind a high-walled compound in a grand neighbourhood of Kobe.

See also: Yakuza

Also: “These lesser [sokaiya] cousins of the yakuza extract tens of millions of yen from companies in return for not disrupting annual meetings”.