Friday

Many in Japan have been rather less than supportive of the former hostages in Iraq, according to a New York Times piece today:

The young Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq returned home this week, not to the warmth of a yellow-ribbon embrace but to a disapproving nation's cold stare.

Treated like criminals, the three former hostages have gone into hiding, effectively becoming prisoners inside their own homes.

The article goes on a bit, but the basics are that the three hostages defied government authority by going, so are being treated as misbehaving children by some, exacerbating their ordeal.

One of the things I love about alternative media is how much less cookie-cutter it can be. For example:

The only thing is, some "special interests" are more special than others, and they use their bullying pulpits to kneecap the competition rather than simply to bag another set of goodies.

But at their root, it's all with the same goal in mind—to hang on to market share and consumers not by improving products or prices or services, but by using the legal system to stick it to your competitors.