Notices by Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social)

@rysiek racism on fedi?! I thought that this is the last space, where racism could appear...

I probably don't have to explain Twitter, but just for completeness… Musk didn't buy Twitter to make money off of it. He is never going to make money off of it, and that will remain true regardless of how high or low unemployment is. Twitter is a propaganda tool for helping Musk and his allies destroy American democracy.
🧵4/8

Remembered hearing UK Parliament resorting to the #guillotine many years ago, except they were "colloquial" so presumably no tricoteuse knitting scarves on the back benches😎
https://erskinemay.parliament.uk/section/5252/provision-of-time-for-debate-on-bills/
#ErskineMay

Mum felt the world was edging towards war and felt sorry for the younger generations.
Tried to cheer her up by saying the antics of politicians & media sensationalism distorted reality (though personally not too confident we're immune from the clown show & can resist the siren's song of a "strong leader who'll fix everything")
Told her it was a wake up call for Japan to diversify away from over-dependence on car manufacturing & re-examine its strategic strengths such as in materials.

#Japan's "PM Ishiba... is exploring the possibility of a [phone call] with US Pres..., calling his imposition of reciprocal tariffs a "national crisis" that requires an "unprecedented" response"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250404/p2g/00m/0na/032000c

🔸Mum (who as a teenager survived Tokyo firebombing) was disappointed PM "was doing nothing to counter tariffs".
Told her PM would go thru the motions, but nothing would stick as it was like negotiating with a gangland boss. It would take time, but better for world to bypass USA.

Big turnout in Portland, #Maine

Infection status
Released Apr 4, 2025.
- As of period from Mar 24 - Mar 30, 2025 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 2.92
Change from prev. week -0.31
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001471932.pdf
🔸Small decrease
Saga at 2.62, Tokyo at 1.93, Akita at 1.54, Hokkaido at 2.87, Okinawa at 1.41
Nagano at 4.78

#Influenza (nationwide) 1.85
Change from prev. week -0.13
#Nagano at 4.0
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001471921.pdf
#CovidIsNotOver #Japan

Infection status
Released Mar 28, 2025.
- As of period from Mar 17 - Mar 23, 2025 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 3.23
Change from prev. week -0.62
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001464404.pdf
🔸Small decrease
Saga at 4.33, Tokyo at 2.31, Akita at 2.5, Hokkaido at 3.38, Okinawa at 1.09
Ibaraki at 5.28

#Influenza (nationwide) 1.98
Change from prev. week -0.25
#Niigata at 5.02
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001464464.pdf
#CovidIsNotOver #Japan

“According to a recent UN FAO report, up to 80% of #coffee price rises will trickle down to EU consumers over 11 months, while 80% of them will feed through to US consumers over the next 8 months … the residual impacts of price rises will last for four years, indicating that further hikes could be on the horizon”
“this may be the shift that has been needed for some time: to break through the artificial ceiling that has kept #coffee undervalued as a luxury product” https://perfectdailygrind.com/2025/03/how-much-should-coffee-shops-raise-prices/

@denny Was reminded of how UK ended up with Margaret Thatcher, Big Bang and yuppies.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/saatchi-saatchi-the-agency-that-made-tory-history-744791.html

The "geniuses" at the White House are trying to put a lipstick on this pig by posting this equation for the tariff supposedly charged by other countries, with impressive-looking Greek symbols.

As many have pointed out, the ϵ * φ factor is 1, since they chose ε = 4 and φ = 0.25; hence, the formula reduces to simply the trade deficit divided by imports, which has no relationship with the actual tariff rates charged by the country on U.S. goods.

https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/reciprocal-tariff-calculations
9/n

Note that the reciprocal tariff regime essentially means that foreign countries should pay the U.S. half of our trade deficit.

E.g., if they export $10b to us and we only export $2b to them, they (our importers really) should pay us half the difference =$4b. It's not half their profits or half their tariffs, it simply half of their export minus import revenues.

Mind-boggling and infantile.

Markets this morning are on track to wipe out nearly $2T from US stocks.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-tariffs-set-wipe-nearly-120038363.html
10/n

Storage area. We will be putting a lot of stuff in here. (I am not moving, I am helping a friend) #moving

@DrEvanGowan Can understand politicians indulging in sound bites, but as Rogé Karma writes in The Atlantic [Since US tariffs were based on a country's trade surplus vs USA] "there is no clear or obvious path that countries could take to get those tariffs removed even if they wanted to..." and "The only way you will get a tariff reprieve is by groveling at Trump’s feet" which is a strange thing for LDP's Takaichi, CDP's Noda, and DPFP's Tamaki to wish upon #Japan's PM
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/trump-tariff-theory-reality/682279/

@DrEvanGowan Can understand politicians reacting to media pressure for sound bites, but as Rogé Karma writes in The Atlantic [Since US tariffs were based on a country's trade surplus vs USA] "there is no clear or obvious path that countries could take to get those tariffs removed even if they wanted to..." and "The only way you will get a tariff reprieve is by groveling at Trump’s feet" which is a strange thing for LDP's Takaichi, CDP's Noda, and DPFP's Tamaki to wish upon #Japan's PM.

Touching on Trump's "America First" stance, Takaichi said "上等だ。日本もジャパンファーストで、製造業を国内にとどめ置く (Fine. Japan should also go "Japan First" and keep manufacturing industries in Japan)"

🔸Can just see collective face-palming at Keidanren and METI🙄
#populism

"高市氏、関税巡り「指揮見えず」政府対応を批判"
[Sanae] Takaichi [who had vied with Ishiba for head of LDP, thus PM post] criticized Japanese govt's response to US tariffs, saying ”leadership was absent” " and that Trade Minister Yoji Muto should have gone to US and talked to US Cabinet members before the tariff announcement.

🔸Hints of sour grapes, echoes knee-jerk opposition party reactions and lacking even a concept of a plan... apart from rabble-rousing😓
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/9120993effd85ba9bd1ac67efc6a983763a4eb7d
#JapanesePolitics #Japan

"Not a mild illness: As measles cases rise in Japan, expert warns of misinformation [spread by social media]"
"It frequently causes complications, with pneumonia and encephalitis killing 1 in 1,000 patients"
"...in the era when few were vaccinated...nearly 100 kids died [each year in #Japan]"
"WHO stated that the disease infected more people in Europe and Central Asia in 2024 than any time since 1997, cautioning that the risk of a global pandemic is rising"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250402/p2a/00m/0li/016000c
#measles

@janhoglund
Canada, Mexico and Japan are amongst 12 member nations of CPTPP, the successor to TPP which was aborted when USA under Trump1 withdrew.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_and_Progressive_Agreement_for_Trans-Pacific_Partnership
There seems to have been invitations to EU joining CPTPP as well, though not sure how that's moving.
#CPTPP #Canada #Mexico #Japan

News show presenter in #Japan explained how US raising tariffs would fuel inflation in the US, but since Japan imports animal feed from the US, Japan may be facing higher egg prices.
OTOH the presenter didn't say USD might fall wrt Yen as US economy crashes.
But then sources of US animal feed may disappear altogether🤷♂️
Time for Japan to develop domestic & alternative sources? i.e. strength/resilience through #diversity.