No. 897   /  Dec. 8, 2002
(Uploaded Dec. 13)

◇  Koizumi’s Half-Hearted “Structural Reforms”
  　   Compromising With the “Special-Interest” Lawmakers
          Bearing Responsibility for the Confusion of the Committee
                   on the Privatization of the Public Highway Corporation

◇　Editorial:  Can They Give Up Protectionism?
　　　　 The Farm Ministry is Talking About Abolishing the Rice-Reduction Subsidies

◇　Series: Looking at the Book “Kokumin no geijutsu” (National Art)
　　　　 More Nonsense From “Tsukuru-Kai” (Group for Textbook Reform) (#4)
                  －Prettifying Ancient History:
                   Were the Pyramids Really the Result of “Free Labor”?

 ◇　The Disintegrating Democratic Party
        －The DP’s Pseudo-Opposition Essence is Revealed
           －The Collapse of this Unprincipled Hodge-Podge Party   

◇　What About the Promise to Return to N. Korea? 
　　　   The Koizumi Government Lies About the Abduction Issue 

◇　Regional Reports: After Us the Deluge
　　　           The Rights and Wrongs Discussion about
                           the Second Tokyo-Nagoya Highway      (Shizuoka)　

◇　The Korean Presidential Election Gets Underway
          The Choice Between the “Sunshine Policy” and Hardline Measures
          A Struggle Between the Two Main Bourgeois Parties

◇　Koizumi’s Risky “Playing With Fire”
　　　　  Dispatching an Aegis Battleship to the Indian Ocean

◇　Haider’s Party is Defeated in the Austrian Election
　　　   But Xenophobia is Still on the Rise

◇　The Increasing Use of Part-Time Labor
         The Reality and Prospects for Struggle (Part One)
          －In 6 Years a 3.2 Million Increase in Part-Time Workers
            －The Widening Wage Gap With Permanent Staff

◇　Book Review:  Introducing Writings on the Subject of Economic Crisis
         “Marx and Engel on the Crisis in England” by Miyake Yoshio

◇　Reading Marx But Not Understanding Him
　　　   BJCP Chairman Fuwa Tetsuzo’s Views on Das Kapital

◇　Union Bureaucrats Aim for Self-Preservation
　　　   The Meaning of the Boom in Union Mergers