GOOD DAY FOR: Naked appeals, after an Australian “clothes optional” resort announced plans for a month-long nude “anything goes” party in March to combat the hard times hitting the tourist industry Down Under. “Tough economic times call for stiff measures,” said Tony Fox, the owner of the White Cockatoo resort in Queensland state. Australia saw a 7.6 percent drop in overseas visitors in September. (Reuters)
BAD DAY FOR: Japanese social security, as cuts in welfare and rising expenses in Japan are pushing senior citizens into lives of crime. Criminal offenses by those 65 and older—mostly pick-pocketing and petty theft—have doubled in the past five years, to 48,605 cases. “Some elderly, particularly men who lost their wives, even turn to crimes to be put in jail so they can be fed three times a day,” said Masahiro Yamada at Chuo University in Tokyo. (Bloomberg)
