Notices by Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social), page 11

Our political class really don't understand that the railways should be a public utility; prices should be about encouraging more use, not trying to manage (via market means) a strained resource for profit.

but as out political class, who hardly use the train(s), are unconcerned that normal people are being priced off the tracks.

Its not just a Q. of nationalisation, its a Q. of realising that rail is a vital public aspect of the green transition!

#railways #climate
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/jul/31/rail-fares-increase-great-britain-past-year-data

"With Trump’s cutbacks, crew heads for ISS unsure of when they’ll come back..."
https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/114955782763511665

Cue David Bowie's "Space Oddity"...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo

Japan's transport ministry seems determined to press on with building a transportation system of autonomous freight vehicles on dedicated highways conveniently forgetting that Japan has an under-used rail freight network[1] as well as a maritime network of ferries.
https://mastodon.social/@thejapantimes/114951287001561552

It seems govt has money for big-ticket construction projects, but somehow money is tight for social services🙄

1. http://www.japaneserailwaysociety.com/jrs/freight/jpfrght1.htm

Infection status
Released Aug 1, 2025.
- As of period from Jul 21 - Jul 27, 2025 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 4.12
Change from prev. week +0.99
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001528485.pdf
🔸6th week of increases
Saga at 5.92, Tokyo at 3.44, Akita at 3.0, Hokkaido at 1.23, #Okinawa at 14.13, #Miyazaki at 10.07

🔸#Influenza monitoring paused until Sept 2025
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001488357.pdf
#CovidIsNotOver #Japan

"When tsunami alerts went out across a wide area of Japan on July 30, many foreign tourists were left in the dark to the threat and the recommended course of action due to the language barrier"
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15939560
🔸Lack of multi-lingual push-type info is worrying as #Japan will probably host over 40 million visitors this year with govt aiming for 60 million by 2030... and Nankai Trough megaquake is overdue.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15909900

Tom Lehrer (April 9, 1928 – July 26, 2025) — much admired mathematician, musician, singer, songwriter and satirist — died today at his home in Cambridge, MA.

Lehrer is best known for the pithy, humorous songs that he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s, mixing science, humor and political satire with mathematical precision.

Tom never finished his Ph.D. at Harvard, but spent ~30 years teaching math and musical theater at MIT, Harvard, Wellesley and UC Santa Cruz.

RIP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer
1/n

@Nickiquote Thanks to Daniel Radcliffe. 😀
https://youtu.be/rSAaiYKF0cs

"...it is astonishing that former faction forces, including those involved in the slush fund scandal, are moving against Ishiba..."
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250730/p2a/00m/0op/004000c
🔸The ruling party has split in the past. Ishiba himself once left the LDP (for which he hasn't been forgiven by the old guard), but returned to the fold like so many others. As the blame game for lost elections heats up, perhaps another split and birth of a right-wing coalition is in the offing🤮

Japan's TV Asahi reported a case of wireless earphones igniting; probably due to recent hot weather causing the lithium ion batteries to overheat.
Probably not a good idea to potter about in the sun with wireless earphones attached to lugholes.
https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_society/articles/900170200.html
#WirelessEarphones #FireRisk #Japan

For some reason Japan's "deal" re the US tariffs reminds me of the "Fly in Soup" joke with the waiter responding "Hush, o verily esteemed one. The prix fixe diners will want one!" with aspects of "Schrödinger's cat", i.e. all's well in (intentional?) vagueness until the box is opened and the Great Pumpkin wakes up.

"Fukushima fuel debris removal set for delay to FY 2037 or later"
"Toyoshi Fuketa, head of the decommissioning work at the supervising body, [said] ”The difficulty of retrieving the first handful of debris has become apparent” "
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250729/p2g/00m/0na/027000c
🔸Haven't seen mention of where or how fuel debris (if it *can* be removed) will be stored. If PM's office is designated, it'll truly become "radioactive"...
https://apnews.com/article/japan-fukushima-radioactive-soil-reuse-ishiba-2051abad89c15a5560a9ec06a7ce1282

@DrEvanGowan Managed to trim the shrubs early this year before temperatures reached danger levels, but invasive creepers and grasses are starting to take hold. Might venture out if the temperature drops a couple of degrees, but hearing reports of gardeners being hauled away with heat stroke makes leaving nature to take its course until the onset of winter an attractive option.

"Ishiba favorite to retain Japan PM role..."[1] says one headline whilst another states "Japan PM Ishiba faces renewed calls to resign over election loss"[2], but it's interesting to see who are calling for his resignation in terms of cui bono...

1. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250728/p2a/00m/0na/006000c

2. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250728/p2g/00m/0na/030000c

Pondering about systems of government, came across an interesting conversation between Garry Kasparov and pollster Frank Luntz about how the latter sensed "more than 10 years ago, that something had gone very wrong in [USA] politics."
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/07/road-map-restoring-american-democracy/683583/
Neither admitted to having a roadmap out of the mess, so not much as a flickering candle at the end of the tunnel.

@FlockOfCats A chip butty but with wasabi! Sounds great!
...but probably better texture with freshly fried chips than the crunchy packaged ones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_butty

🇨🇦 🇺🇸 🤔 International Incident? Overreach?

🚨 ⚠️ "Quebec man warning Canadian boaters after he was detained by U.S. Coast guard, put in jail cell"
The US Coast Guard deliberately capsized his boat and he ended up in the water.
#québec
#Canada #Sports #Fishing #USA
#Boating

https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/quebec-man-warning-canadian-boaters-after-he-was-detained-by-us-coast-guard-put-in-jail-cell/

Diese Woche stehen drei #Konzerte für mich/uns an.
2x Klassik (meine Frau ist begeisterte Pianistin) und 1x Metal.....öhm.....eher nix für meine Frau... 🤷♂️😀
Heute erstes Konzert war in Bochum von #HayatoSumino aus #Tokyo in #Japan.
War prima.
Mag ja gerne #Klavier und Violine live hören.
Erstes sowieso täglich, da meine Frau 3 Pianos in ihrem Zimmerchen stehen hat. 🫣😀

#GooglePixel6a #klavierfestivalruhr

"Reflections In A Palace Lake (京都慕情)" was an instrumental piece by The Ventures written by John Durrill, Gerry McGee, Mel Taylor, Don Wilson with lyrics added by Haruo Hayashi (林春生) which became a hit song for Yuko Nagisa (渚ゆう子) in 1970.

This version arranged by Abe Umitaro (阿部海太郎) with singer Kaori Takeda (武田カオリ) was used as the closing theme for the NHK drama/documentary "京都人の密かな愉しみ - Le Charme discret des gens de Kyoto".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9XNssqVmXs&list=RDEM5IuBmL7px_uxec6c2u4POA&index=16

The starvation of Gaza, announced by the Israeli government since October 2023.
Front page of Dutch newspaper @trouw.nl today.

Nippon TV screened the original "Jurassic Park" film yesterday probably to promote the latest sequel.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/

Can remember seeing it in Hibiya when it was first released in Tokyo, in 1993. Only front row seats were available in the packed cinema, so got a cricked neck and experienced being virtually trampled by a virtual T-Rex. IT colleagues enthused about the dinosaur's skin texture🙄. Happy memories.
Happy memories.