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☆ Army Ammunition Factory Tied to Mass Shootings Faces New Scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Ben Dooley | More About Ben Dooley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An agreement between the Army and one of the nation’s largest ammunition manufacturers is receiving new scrutiny because of a little-known provision allowing a government facility to produce hundreds of millions of rounds for the retail market. Over more than a decade, contracts between the Pentagon and a series of private companies have permitted an Army site, the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, to become one of the world’s largest commercial suppliers of cartridges for AR-15-style guns. Built during World War II near Kansas City, Mo., to supply the U.S. military, the plant has in recent years directed a majority of its production toward the commercial market, including sales to retailers, law enforcement agencies and foreign governments. A New York Times investigation published this month traced rounds from Lake City to a dozen mass shootings and many other crimes across the country since 2012.

Organizations: Army, Pentagon, Lake City Army, ., New York Times Locations: Kansas City, Mo, Lake City

Mass Shootings, Mass SalesIn June 2012, James E. Holmes, the Colorado graduate student, ordered 1,500 rounds of Lake City ammunition from the website BulkAmmo.com, which had been offering discounts on boxes of the 5.56. The tally includes shootings in a public place in which four or more people, not including the attacker, were killed. He did not use rounds from Lake City, but the tragedy drove a new push for gun reform — and a reflexive spike in ammunition sales. Vista Outdoor issued a statement attributed to Federal Cartridge, one of its many brands, saying it was proud of its ammunition production. backed down, and, within a year, Lake City green tips were tied to the shooting of five police officers and a deputy sheriff.

Persons: James E, Holmes, ATK, Mr . DeYoung, Vista, DeYoung, “, ” Organizations: Colorado, Lake, FedEx, Violence, Sandy Hook Elementary, Army, ATK, Walmart, Vista, Firearms, Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives Locations: Lake City, Aurora, Newtown, Conn, U.S

☆ Inside the Army Factory That Makes AR-15 Ammunition: 4 Takeaways
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Ben Dooley | More About Ben Dooley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

For most of that period, its commercial operations outstripped its military business. As those rifles have appeared in crimes, so has the plant’s ammunition. The vast majority of Lake City rounds sold by retailers have gone to law-abiding citizens, including hunters, farmers and target shooters. But some Lake City rounds have been seized from drug dealers, violent felons, antigovernment groups, rioters at the U.S. Capitol and smugglers for Mexican cartels. Lake City rounds have been tied to at least a dozen mass shootings involving AR-15-style guns.

Persons: —, Barack Obama, Marjory Stoneman Organizations: Army, Lake, U.S . Capitol, Los Angeles International Airport, Calif, Las, Baptist, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, FedEx, Robb Elementary School, Colorado Springs Locations: Lake City, Massachusetts, Lake, Aurora, Colo, San Bernardino, Sutherland Springs , Texas, Parkland, Fla, Pittsburgh, Midland, Odessa , Texas, Indianapolis, Denver, Buffalo, Uvalde , Texas, Colorado

It was the tail end of another long, hot Tokyo summer, and salarymen across the city were looking at their wardrobes with dread. Every year from May to September, Japan’s famously conservative corporate workers and government employees set aside their stiff, dark suits for more casual attire. Out go the neckties and starched shirts; in come short-sleeved polos and linen shirts, even the occasional Hawaiian. Uncomfortable though they may be, Japanese offices offer a model for how countries around the world can reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have contributed to record-breaking heat waves and extreme weather events. This August was the hottest ever recorded in Japan, according to its meteorological agency, and daily highs in Tokyo remained above 32 degrees Celsius, or 90 degrees Fahrenheit, into the latter part of September.

Persons: Japan’s Locations: Tokyo, Japan

The president of one of Japan’s most influential entertainment agencies resigned after an independent investigation confirmed the company’s founder, Johnny Kitagawa, had sexually abused young men in his care since the 1970s. His reputation as a hitmaker associated with some of Japan’s most popular boy bands protected Mr. Kitagawa from scandal, even after his death in 2019 at age 87. Under immense scrutiny, Johnny & Associates announced in May that it was forming an internal investigative panel to “prevent the recurrence” of future abuse. At a news conference on Thursday, Julie Keiko Fujishima, Mr. Kitagawa’s niece, acknowledged the results of the investigation and apologized on behalf of herself and the company. She also announced she had resigned as the company’s president on Wednesday.

Persons: Johnny Kitagawa, Kitagawa, Julie Keiko Fujishima, Kitagawa’s Organizations: Johnny & Associates Locations: Japan

The renewed discussion hasn’t done much to revive the prospects of Japan’s own Communist Party, however. Mr. Saito is not a fan of the group, which he sees as well-meaning but stale. And even in rich nations, he does not call for people to give up their creature comforts. He recently moved into a three-story home in an upscale neighborhood on the outskirts of Tokyo and drives a compact Toyota. Achieving degrowth communism, he believes, is less about personal choices and more about changing overarching political and economic structures.

Persons: Saito, Mahbub ul Haq Organizations: Communist Party, Chinese Communist Party, Toyota, United Nations Locations: Soviet Union, Tokyo, G.D.P

With threats growing in Asia, the leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet at Camp David on Friday, taking a major step toward a three-way military and economic partnership that would have been nearly inconceivable before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As the United States has tried to counter challenges from both China and North Korea, one key obstacle has been the tense and sometimes downright hostile relationship between Japan and South Korea, its two most important friends in the region. Now, Tokyo and Seoul are trying to quickly move past seemingly irresolvable disputes over the bitter history between them, as Russian aggression against Ukraine highlights their own vulnerabilities in a region dominated by China. President Biden hopes to cement the nascent improvement in relations when he hosts Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea at the Maryland presidential retreat. It will be the first time that leaders of the three nations have ever met outside the context of a larger summit, as well as the first time that Mr. Biden has invited world leaders to Camp David.

Persons: David, Biden, Fumio Kishida, Yoon Suk, Camp David Locations: Asia, United States, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, China, North Korea, Tokyo, Seoul, Maryland

☆ Roaring Back From Pandemic, Japan’s Economy Grows by 6 Percent
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Ben Dooley | More About Ben Dooley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It MattersJapan is the world’s third-largest economy, and the largest creditor by far. Covid didn’t hit Japan’s economy as hard as it did other countries. The anemic yen has been a double-edged sword for the economy, said Takahide Kiuchi, an economist at the Nomura Research Institute. “However, it could undermine consumption.”BackgroundJapan’s has long suffered from sluggish economic growth. Recent softness in China, Japan’s largest trade partner, is a particular source of worry.

Persons: didn’t, Takahide Kiuchi, ”, Japan’s, Izumi Devalier, Ms, Devalier, ” Mr, Kiuchi Organizations: Nomura Research Institute, Bank of Japan, Bank of America Locations: Japan, United States, China, Europe

To Americans eager for signs of life in an ailing cinema culture, the simultaneous box office success of the “Barbie” movie and the biopic “Oppenheimer” has been cause for celebration, with filmgoers embracing the jarring juxtaposition of the two very different blockbusters. In Japan, however, this jubilant fusion, including “Barbenheimer” double features and online mash-ups of Barbie’s pink fantasia with images of Oppenheimer-era nuclear explosions, have been met with a very different response: anger. For days, Twitter users in Japan, where nuclear bombings by the U.S. military during World War II killed hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been spreading the hash tag #NoBarbenheimer. And on Monday, the backlash ignited a rare display of internal Hollywood corporate discord, as the Japanese subsidiary of Warner Bros. criticized its headquarters’ handling of social media for the “Barbie” movie.

Persons: Barbie, “ Oppenheimer ”, Barbenheimer, Oppenheimer Organizations: U.S, Warner Bros Locations: Japan, Hiroshima, Nagasaki

☆ Japan’s Central Bank Loosens Its Grip on Easy Money Policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Ben Dooley | More About Ben Dooley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

No country in the world holds as much debt as Japan, which has well over $1 trillion in U.S. government treasuries alone. Even the slightest shift to Japan’s low interest rates reverberates well beyond its borders, with the potential to drive up rates globally. So, when the Bank of Japan on Friday slightly loosened its grip on a benchmark government bond, it was big news for world markets. The move was the latest signal that the country may revise its longstanding commitment to cheap money, meant to spur Japan’s laggard economic growth, as rising interest rates abroad have driven up inflation and weakened the yen. In an announcement following a two-day policy meeting, the bank said it would take a more flexible approach to controlling yields on 10-year government bonds, effectively allowing them to slip above the current ceiling of 0.5 percent.

Persons: treasuries Organizations: Bank of Japan Locations: Japan

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