Notices by Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social), page 15

@jaz If it's an ōen-jōei (応援上映, cheer screening) event reactions to on-screen events are expected/encouraged, though being Japan there's probably an official script somewhere with precise timings & well-rehearsed "reactions"😜
But as Wikipedia says, cheer screenings "contrast starkly with typical film screenings in Japan during which absolute silence is the norm"
Hope you enjoy the movie!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheer_screening

I had a conversation on politics w a stranger (he was living in the states from Hungary) about Trump.

He gets his news on #YOUTUBE
and believes Biden

is the criminal and I’m wondering how #GOOGLE

justifies making money
as they help get the real criminal elected #trump
#disinformation

The answer is #GREED #sociopathic

I know it’s #Facebook and #X too.

How can we navigate
more successfully
the line between
lies and free speech
For #democracy worldwide?

@murodegrizeco The mayor of Amity Island in "Jaws" comes to mind:
"Mayor Vaughan of Amity, Long Island, was presented with evidence that a man-eating shark was feasting on the locals, yet he insisted that the beaches remain open. The original book gives him criminal reasons for this decision, thanks to his connection to the mob. The Jaws movie explains that his decision is based on the economic well-being of the town."
https://www.cbr.com/jaws-mayor-vaughn-why-beaches-open/

"[COVID-19] has not yet lost its ability to cause major outbreaks—and kill thousands—"
"2 main factors in the ebb and flow of SARS-CoV-2 are the emergence of new viral variants that escape immune responses, and waning immunity from previous exposure to the virus and vaccines"
" “[It] can be quite a nasty disease still,” [Oxford Univ epidemiologist Christopher Dye] adds. “And then there’s the question of Long Covid..."
https://www.science.org/content/article/why-covid-19-surging-again-and-do-shots-still-make-sense?
#CovidIsNotOver

Today’s picture of Tropical Storm #Shanshan near the Northern Mariana Islands

#台風10号 #weather #WX

Local Daiso store already had a corner set up for tacky Halloween decorations!🦇🎃😬

Wondering who the early adopters Daiso is hoping to catch are.🤔

#Japan

Infection status
Released Aug 23, 2024.
- As of period from Aug 12, 2024 - Aug 18, 2024 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 8.50
Change from prev. week -1.96
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001292681.pdf
🔸3rd week of overall decrease, but numbers rising in north of Japan.
Saga at 13.5, Tokyo at 3.63, Akita at 12.84, Hokkaido at 9.79, Okinawa at 5.82.
#Influenza monitoring paused by Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry until Sept.
#CovidIsNotOver #Japan

@nutmeg They are almost all very thoroughly embarrassing themselves right now. I will never unsee the way they descended on Biden, an aging man trying to remain in good health, and surrounded him like sharks sensing blood in the water — something they have never done to Trump. I ask myself who raised people who can behave this way? And whether they, most of whom are on the younger side, ever reflect on the fact that they, too, may one day be old and would not want that treatment?

Tonight DNC went hard after middle age white guys. Middle age white guys are the only demographic that still strongly favors Trump, and it does so by 2 to 1. Walz's ex-players with their beer guts, ironworks, ex-marines, former Trump voters, and of course Walz himself. The clear message is that you can be masculine and be a good person. It is cool to be kind. If Harris/Walz can make inroads into this demographic the election could become a blowout, and it would be an excellent thing for society.

"...setup errors in the retrieval device forced [TEPCO] to suspend the first attempt to remove [melted nuclear fuel] debris"
"TEPCO plans to connect 5 pipes, numbered from 1 through 5...and use them to push the debris retrieval device into the No. 2 reactor's containment vessel"
"But the pipes were mistakenly placed in the order of 2, 3, 4, 1 and 5"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240822/p2g/00m/0na/020000c
🔸Wondering if the incompetency is intentional as removing the debris raises the problem of finding a final disposal site🤔

Drew-Baker was the first person to discover how porphyra worked, which enabled Segawa Sōkichi (with Drew-Baker's advice and the assistance of other marine biologists) to save the seaweed industry in Japan (which in the post-war period likely saved many livelihoods and many lives).

#seaweed #nori #onigiri #makizushi #Japan

“Opinion: What’s behind the AI boom? Exploited humans”

https://www.siliconvalley.com/2024/07/30/opinion-whats-behind-the-ai-boom-exploited-humans/amp/

> In Iceland, we visited data center workers who documented the energy-intensive nature of these centers, which consume more electricity than Icelandic households combined.

One of the reasons why this shit makes me so angry. This is directly threatening Iceland's energy transition as it's soaking up all excess capacity

"Prolific Japanese voice actress Atsuko Tanaka, known for her role as Motoko Kusanagi in the Ghost in the Shell anime, has passed away at 61"
https://gizmodo.com/atsuko-tanaka-rip-ghost-in-the-shell-frieren-bayonetta-nier-naruto-2000488927
#AtsukoTanaka #田中敦子

"46 people...began vomiting and had diarrhea after playing in a river in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture"
"The prefectural govt is [testing] water quality...for suspected infectious diseases"
"While beaches...are regularly surveyed for water quality, waterfalls and rivers are reportedly not tested"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240821/p2a/00m/0na/003000c
🔸Was warned not to drink from streams in Hokkaido some years ago due to possible Echinococcus infection. Realized that nature is not benign.
#Kumamoto #Japan #river #infection

@Professor_Stevens

I've always thought truth excluded subjectivity (neat trick if we could ever manage it).

I think the truth is the truth regardless of our ability or motives to perceive, discover or occlude it.

Dems need to come up with a better defense for this particularly pernicious strategy.

Japan Meteorological Agency forecasts above-normal temperatures for Sept to Nov 2024 with 50% probability for
regions north of Fukushima and Yamagata Prefectures and 60% probability for the rest of #Japan
Link: https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#5/34.5/137/&elem=temperature&pattern=P3M&term=0&contents=season&lang=en

Was hoping only 2 months more of enduring the heat & humidity, typhoons...and insufferable politicians/pundits.
It's going to be a long summer, though it's supposed to be autumn already😬
#endurance #我慢

Disney, endlessly lampooned for its streaming "terms of service" refuge in a restaurant lawsuit (plaintiff was grievously injured), backs down before a judge slaps it down. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/disney-stops-claiming-disney-terms-require-arbitration-in-allergy-death-case/

Maybe I'm getting old ... but search is very very very broken. It's not that I encounter nonsense from time to time, often I just can't find what I'm searching for at all.

I need a reference librarian, but not just for publications. And some of this information is in danger of just vanishing forever (see reddit)

Does anyone think the internet is worth saving?

"Currently, the central government holds 53.4% of the Tokyo subway operator's shares, while the Tokyo metropolitan government owns the remaining 46.6%. Both plan to sell 50% of their combined holdings"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240820/p2g/00m/0bu/033000c
🔸Tōyōkeizai article (in Japanese) of 27 Feb said that central govt & Tokyo had the Cerberus dustup with Seibu in mind for keeping 50% of the shares.
BTW "Cerberus" seems a hell of a name for a private equity firm😎
https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/736927
#Tokyo #metro #Japan

"Seven & i Holdings Co. said...it has received a proposal by Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. to acquire all of its outstanding shares"
"...sources have indicated that...the offer may be too low to be feasible"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240819/p2g/00m/0bu/023000c
🔸Didn't know that Japanese convenience store Circle K Sunkus, which FamilyMart absorbed in 2016, had licensed its name from Alimentation Couche-Tard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_K_Sunkus
#Japan #conbini