Why Voters From Kenya to Korea Embrace The Accused

True, fear of a Japan scenario seems odd in America, which has proved itself virtually shock-proof in recent decades. In a new report, RBC Capital Markets takes a stab at the growing paranoia, noting that while U.S. house prices are off 7 percent from the 2007 peak, that "pales into insignificance next to the Japanese Bubble," which saw prices plunge 20 percent or more.

The Japanese banking crisis also came after seven years of weak growth, while the United States was growing robustly as recently as last fall. America's budget deficit is also less of a burden—2.8 percent of GDP—or about half of Japan's burden in 1996. RBC argues that U.S. bankers are more accountable, and its central bankers more aggressive, than peers in Japan, where a culture of shame and caution let the crisis fester.

Still, even a doubter like RBC says there's about a one-in-three chance that the United States could still go the way of Japan, which is pretty scary, given that Japan's sluggish phase lasted 17 years.
—Rana Foroohar

Medicine: No Silent Treatment
Smut isn't the only thing that sells well online. STD treatments also trade briskly in the anonymous e-commerce world, where the afflicted can avoid the shame of being spotted at a local clinic. The problem, says a new study from Britain's University of East Anglia, is that do-it-yourself remedies are often unregulated, untested—and unclear about the side effects. Researchers found 52 U.K. and U.S. vendors selling 77 dubious medications, many claiming natural or herbal ingredients, to treat genital warts, herpes and gonorrhea. More than half promised results, but hardly any offered evidence of effectiveness beyond breathless testimonials—misleading because many STDs have periods during which they show no symptoms. "You think you've treated yourself," says the study's coauthor, Dr. Roberto Vivancos, "but the infection is still there, silent." Worse, fewer than a quarter of the remedies offered advice on how to avoid reinfection or infecting others. Fewer than one in 10 recommended seeing a doctor. "There are no alternative treatments shown to be effective," says Vanessa Cullins, VP for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood. You might be better off sticking to smut.
—Roxana Popescu

Dining: Gratuitous Technology
Americans are obsessed with saving time, but there are some things we still haven't streamlined. Like sit-down dining. In many restaurants in Europe, a waiter brings the check along with a panini-size wireless device, and customers swipe their own credit cards. It's a rare example of the world's outpacing the land that invented the drive-through. Now American eateries are starting to play catch-up. National chains like Hooters and Legal Sea Foods have been experimenting with wireless credit-card readers for months. Legal Sea Foods aims to be entirely pay-at-table by 2009. B.R. Guest Restaurants, owner of 17 upscale eateries in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas, recently launched its own pilot program. By next year, says Tanya Steele, editor of Epicurious.com, "I think you'll see them at mid- and even high-end restaurants."

Economically, it's a no-brainer. European data show that the scanners actually increase tips by 9 percent, because preset tip buttons ensure that servers aren't shorted by sloppy math. Another benefit of scanners: they reduce the risk of identity theft. "The restaurant business is one of the only industries left where a person takes your credit card and disappears," says Roger Berkowitz, president of Legal Sea Foods. If only those machines could pick up the tab, too.
—Tony Dokoupil