Notices by Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social), page 8

Sunset on Category 1 Hurricane #Milton in the Gulf of Mexico. Likely to intensify into a category 4 major hurricane.

#HurricaneMilton #weather #WX

Commentator on TV news show lamented there was nary a peep from Japan's media re WorldSkills 2024, the international vocational skills competition, held in Lyon where Japanese competitors gained 5 gold medals (China: 36 gold, Korea: 10 gold) noting the lack of media interest in Japan's future ability to earn its keep.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/worldskills-lyon-2024-talented-winners-long-lasting-legacy-302253395.html

WorldSkills 2024 results:
https://api.worldskills.org/resources/download/23580/25614/26579?l=en

BTW Aichi, #Japan, will host the 2028 WorldSkills competition
https://worldskills.org/media/news/worldskills-japan-will-host-49th-worldskills-competition/

"When encouraged to ”show your unique Ishiba colors and work hard,” Ishiba replied...”If I show them, the public will be happy, but the party will be angry” " #politics
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241005/p2a/00m/0op/018000c

"Pundits...talk about “the art of the possible” when they want to explain why a politician seems to be contradicting themselves"
https://politicaldictionary.com/words/art-of-the-possible/

🔸Not hopeful that opposition parties can stop emulating a herd of cats before the 27 Oct general election & present a clear vision for #Japan

@Fripi i know, freaking crazy fundamental asian christian cults 🙈
But there is still a difference. Korea has developed formalized forms of political protest and people are engaging in it, whereas in Japan seem to me like they just play dead.
And there is political power shifts through a change of political parties (see picture).
and a more recent event was the successful impeachment of Park Geun-Hye
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Geun-hye

there's no point holding a grudge. begin your revenge immediately

"The News Publishers’ Association, a New Zealand sector group, said in a written statement Friday that Google’s pledge amounted to “threats” "
https://apnews.com/article/google-news-zealand-media-digital-bargaining-meta-26a85c5690378316d1b7e770529462b5
🔸Google searches seem to cough up too many hairballs to be useful anyways.
#NewZealand #google

Infection status
Released Oct 4, 2024.
- As of period from Sept 23 - Sept 29, 2024 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 3.58
Change from prev. week -0.77
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001312105.pdf
🔸Downward trend of 11th wave continues.
Saga at 2.03, Tokyo at 3.04, Akita at 3.98, Hokkaido at 4.35, Okinawa at 2.11, Miyagi at 5.98.
#Influenza (nationwide) at 0.63, but Okinawa still outlier at 17.18!!
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001312210.pdf
#CovidIsNotOver #Japan

Fleeting memories of a late summer holiday as a kid in Lebanon; probably in 1972 as muzak was playing "Popcorn" and bellhop murmured "Okamoto" whilst hauling our bags into the hotel lift as if the Red Army terrorist was a soccer star.
We hired a taxi in Beirut and visited Baalbek, Byblos & Jeita.
A couple of years later, civil war shattered the Paris of the Middle East.
Didn't understand then why the vibrant mélange of a city had polarised; just that adults go crazy.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Baalbeck

Wow! a Grateful Dead zoetrope!
(from Science Girl on X, who got it from Visual Feast, who got it I don't know where)
#Rock

Not sure what triggered the memory of Monty Python's argument sketch.
Watching too many glib politicians and/or business leaders on telly, perhaps. Or eating too much cheese?🤔
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDB5gbtaEQ

ABC7: SoCalGas cuts service indefinitely for 135 Rancho Palos Verdes homes amid land movement https://abc7.com/post/amid-land-movement-gas-shut-off-135-homes/15117149/ #PortugueseBend

@HayiWena @ai6yr

But not everything is moving at exactly the same speed and in exactly the same direction ... there's got to be some distortion.

"[SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son] said, ”There is no need to fear. ASI (artificial superintelligence) systems will take care of us and be in harmony with us. This world of superintelligence will come within 10 years” "
#FamousLastWords #hubris #softbank
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20241003_B06/
🔸More urgent than ever to tax obscene wealth to stop these dangerous delusions😡

"Citing progress by Japanese companies in developing smaller, energy-efficient systems, [SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son] said, "Many people say these are beautiful and Japanese-style efforts, but to me, it's just an excuse" for working with a limited budget"
"...and reiterated his ambition to realize artificial superintelligence "10,000 times smarter than humans" within the next decade"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241003/p2g/00m/0bu/054000c
🔸More money than sense begets creepy hubris.

@Corax42 @David
Am reminded that: "Mice are not, as is commonly assumed on Earth, small white squeaking animals who spend a lot of time being experimented on.
In fact, they are the protrusions into our dimension of hyper-intellegent pan-dimensional beings" (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)🙂
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/guide/mice.shtml

"Democrats are in control [of the US Senate] now by only the slimmest of margins, and their chances of keeping that majority most likely hang on the fate of Senator Jon Tester of Montana, who is currently trailing in his re-election race"
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/politics/tester-senate-harris-republicans.html
🔸"Experts on US politics" wheeled in by Japanese media seem to be blindsided by the top job contest and seem oblivious of how the outcome of US Senate & House elections will affect US policies domestic & foreign😓
#uspol #Japan

@3TomatoesShort I do remember it was utterly hilarious :blobcat_smilehappyeyes:

Here is another outstanding image of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) taken yesterday from the Canary Islands by professional photographer Marina Prol.

@vrruiz
#Comet
9/n

Sunset on Typhoon #Krathon (#JulianPH) south of #Taiwan. Winds exceeding 220 km/h, pressure 935 hPa.

#TyphoonKrathon #台風18号 #weather #WX

"Japan's incoming PM, Shigeru Ishiba, said Monday that a general election will be held on Oct. 27"
"[This] triggered an immediate backlash from the opposition bloc, as Ishiba...had said during the LDP leadership campaign that he would [call for a general election] only after allowing sufficient time for debate on various issues"

🔸Much horse-trading seems to have taken place with LDP executives "to keep [LDP] together after a divisive leadership race"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240930/p2g/00m/0na/019000c
#Japan #politics