Loose Ends... Vol. LVIII

Election results are coming in from Japan as they held their elections for the House of Representatives, the lower house in the legislative Diet. It appears the the Democratic Party of Japan has won in a landslide which will almost certainly lead to the installment of Yukio Hatoyama as Prime Minister. This is a crushing defeat for the Liberal Democratic Party who has been the ruling party since November of 1955 (with minor exceptions).

The DPJ appears to have gained 195 seats while the LDP will lose 177 seats (there are 480 seats in the House).

The DPJ ran largely on a platform of reform with a challenge to the status quo. Assembled via the mergers of several anti-LDP parties over the last few years, the DPJ lacks a cohesive political ideology. Instead, they will seek to stimulate the economy, push for government reform, and advocate more socially liberal positions shaking of the stiff and stuffy conservatism of Japan's past.

This will be an interesting story to watch as the new ruling party establishes its international policies - particularly in regard to the United States. It is also worth noting that the Japanese hold a significant amount of U.S. debt. It has been rumored that the new party may be less interesting in buying or even holding such a large volume. With many campaign promises for free government services, a liquidation of U.S. Treasuries may be a strategy for the new government.

Read more here, here and here.

*****

I read this story today about a New Hampshire court ruling that a ten-year old girl must attend public school. This is obviously a discouraging ruling, so I went ahead and read the judge's order. The case is not cut and dry, but it contains some disturbing attributes.

The girl's parents are divorced. The mother currently home-schools the child and the father does not agree that this should be continued. A counselor and a guardian ad litem have concluded that the girl is progressing well in terms of education and aptitude. She already attends public school for some classes, including drama, where she receives social interaction. However, they expressed concern that the girl is too rigid and adult-like in her religious beliefs. She receives religious instruction from her mother.

Since the parents could not agree on schooling and the counselor and guardian ad litem both feel that the child could benefit from increase social interaction (including an exposure to other systems of belief), the judge ruled that the girl must attend public school. This is still distressing. However, it raises an interesting aspect of state intervention which I had not thought of before. When there is a dispute between parents who are divorced, the court can and does intervene in parenting decisions. If the parents were still married, there is no doubt that this would never be an issue for the state unless it could be determined that the child was being harmed.

*****

I have a few more articles which I'll prepare on the health care debate culminating with policy recommendations (instead of just complaining). Nicole is also working on some very interesting research which will be on its way soon!