あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、

2020年は新型コロナ感染症が世界を覆い、各国は国民の健康と経済、そして個人の自由及び権利のバランスをどう取るか、大いに悩まされることとなった。 そんな中でスウェーデンは他とは違うユニークな方針とったことで度々注目をあつめている。 「マスクは『偽の安心』を与えて、かえって危険」とは、かの国でコロナ対策の指揮を執る、スウェーデン公衆衛生庁の疫学責任者アンデシュ・テグネル氏の言である。公衆衛生庁は高度な専門知識を備えたエキスパートを多数有し、政府や議会から影響を受けることなく独立して国のコロナ対策の方針を決めていると言われている。 ところが先日、スウェーデン国王がTVインタビューにて「我々は失敗した」とお怒りの発言を下されたことが世界中で話題になり、 スウェーデン政府もさすがに事ここに至っては公衆衛生庁の下知に唯々諾々と従うだけというわけにもいかんだろうと思うようになったらしい。 ついに公共交通機関利用時はマスク着用を推奨とする方針へ転換した。 しかも、テグネル氏がスウェーデンメディアに「マスクなんか全然役に立たない」と述べた数時間後の発表だったそうである。スウェーデン政府と公衆衛生庁との間の関係悪化が懸念されるところだが、間で振り回されるスウェーデン国民もいい迷惑である。 ところで、外から見ると、スウェーデンも日本も今回「負け組」なんだそうだ。どうやらその記事のコラムニストは麻生太郎の「民度」発言が気に障ったらしい。

情報元へのリンク

あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、

http://www.congre.co.jp/jua2020/program/index.html

情報元へのリンク

headless 曰く、

GitHubは17日、ユーザーにcookie保存の合意を求めるバナー表示の廃止を発表した(GitHub Blogの記事、 Neowinの記事、 The Vergeの記事、 The Registerの記事)。

EUの法令ではWebサイトが機能上必要不可欠でないcookieを使用する場合、バナーを表示してユーザーが合意するかどうかを選択できるようにすることが義務付けられている。必要不可欠でないcookieの例としては、Web全体にわたるユーザーの行動を追跡して広告を表示するサードパーティーのサービスによるcookieなどが挙げられる。

cookieバナーはユーザーのプライバシー保護のために表示されるものだが、うっとうしく感じられることもある。GitHubではプライバシー保護とうっとうしさの排除を両立する方法を検討した結果、必要不可欠でないcookieを使用しないという結論に達したとのことだ。

headless 曰く、

米食品医薬品局(FDA)は14日、意図的なゲノム改変(IGA)を行った動物について、食品および潜在的な医療用品の原料として初めて認可した(ニュースリリース、 FOODBEASTの記事、 The Vergeの記事)。

認可された「GalSafe pig」は、糖鎖の一種であるα-Galが細胞表面に生成されないようゲノムを改変したブタだ。α-Gal症候群(AGS)の人がα-Galを含む畜肉などを食べると、肉アレルギーとも呼ばれるアレルギー症状が引き起こされる。GalSafeはAGSの人が食べても安全な肉を供給できるほか、拒絶反応の問題を解決した医療用製品の原料として利用できる可能性がある。

FDAでは認可にあたり、GalSafeの肉を一般の人が食品として消費しても安全なことや、環境への影響が従来のブタと比べて大きくないこと、GalSafeのα-Galが数世代にわたって検出限界以下であることを確認したとのこと。ただし、AGSの人にアレルギー症状を引き起こさないかどうかについては確認しておらず、医療用途で使用する場合は別途認可を受ける必要がある。

GalSafe開発者は当初、肉をスーパーマーケットなどで販売するのではなく、通信販売で提供する計画を示しているとのことだ。

headless 曰く、

厳しい感染防止策によりCOVID-19封じ込めに成功していたタイで19日、一挙に500人以上の新規陽性者が確認されたそうだ(Bangkok Postの記事、 バンコク週報の記事)。

多数の新規陽性者が確認されたのは、バンコクに隣接するサムットサコン県ムアン郡の中央エビ市場を中心とした地域。同県では過去250日にわたり新規陽性者が出ていなかったが、今週に入ってエビ卸売業の女性の感染が判明し、19日朝の段階で女性と接触歴のある家族や労働者8人の陽性が確認される。その後、1,192人を検査した結果、516人が陽性だったという。90%は症状が出ていないとのこと。

首都バンコクの水産加工ハブとして機能するサムットサコン県ではミャンマーからの出稼ぎ労働者が多く働いている。最初に感染した女性は海外渡航歴がなく、ミャンマーでは感染が拡大していることから、ミャンマー人労働者から感染が広がったとの見方が出ているようだ。同県では陽性者急増を受けて中央エビ市場や従業員宿舎エリアを封鎖。22時～5時の外出禁止を含むロックダウンを1月3日まで実施し、県外への移動も禁じている。

タイではCOVID-19パンデミック当初から必要に応じて店舗営業禁止や夜間外出禁止などを含むロックダウンを実施し、厳しい渡航制限や入国者全員に指定ホテルでの隔離14日間を義務付けるなどしている。その結果、世界保健機関(WHO)のリポートが週単位になった8月中旬以降、11月までは1週間の新規陽性者数が十数人～数十人、12月には増加したものの週100人を超える程度であり、累計陽性者数は4千人台。COVID-19対策に成功した例の一つとみなされている。

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headless 曰く、

米宇宙軍のメンバーは「Guardians」と呼ばれるそうだ(ホワイトハウスの記事、 宇宙軍のニュース記事、 The Vergeの記事)。

この呼称はマイク・ペンス副大統領が18日、宇宙軍発足一周年記念式典で明らかにした。ペンス氏によれば、陸軍のSoldiersや海軍のSailors、空軍のAirmen、海兵隊のMarinesと並ぶ呼称になるとのこと。

宇宙軍によれば、Guardiansの呼称は1983年に空軍宇宙コマンドがモットーとした「Guardians of the High Frontier.」にまでさかのぼることができるという。ただし、この呼称を聞いた人が映画「ガーディアンズ・オブ・ギャラクシー」シリーズなどを想起することは避けがたい。The Vergeの記事では逆にそれを狙った可能性も指摘している。

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あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、

米連邦地裁は１８日、司法省が起こしたアルファベット傘下のグーグルに対する独占禁止法（反トラスト法）訴訟について、２０２３年９月１２日に審理を開始することを提案した。
双方の弁護士から反対意見は出なかった。
連邦地裁によると、双方（司法省とアルファベット傘下のグーグル）は証拠などを開示する手続きが２０２２年３月に完了するとみているようだという。
グーグルに対しては、米国の３８州・地域も独禁法訴訟を起こしており、司法省とグーグルは、少なくとも一部の訴訟を統合する作業を開始した。

まあ裁判中に死亡の可能性があり収監されない可能性が高い例の上級国民刑事被告人と違って、アルファベット及びグーグル倒産の可能性は低かろう。
それだけは救いだ。

情報元へのリンク

情報元へのリンク

情報元へのリンク

headless 曰く、

Firefox 85では連続しないページ範囲を指定して印刷する機能がようやく利用可能になるようだ(Ghacksの記事)。

この機能はFirefox 85 Beta(85.0b3)で利用可能になっており、印刷プレビュー画面の「ページ指定」で「指定範囲」を選択すれば、ページ番号を「-」「,」で区切って指定できるようになる。たとえば、「2-4,8」とすれば2ページ目～4ページ目と8ページ目が印刷できる。印刷プレビューも指定内容が反映される。

このようなページ指定方法はシステムの印刷ダイアログボックスでサポートされており、Chromium系ブラウザーの印刷プレビュー画面では利用できる。しかし、Firefoxでは非連続ページを指定できないバグとして12年近く前に報告されていたものの、5か月前まで放置されていたようだ。システムの印刷ダイアログボックスから非連続ページを指定することは可能だが、指定ページを印刷プレビューで確認できないため実用性は低い。

Firefox 85安定版は2021年1月26日のリリースが予定されている。

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あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、

SOKA GAKKAI TOLD TO DISBAND
TACL-vol 1, no. 10 January 1992

Soka Gakkai, a 10 million member Japanese religious lay organisation, has rejected demands by its 700 year old parent Nichiren Shoshu sect that it disband. The conflict surfaced about a year ago when Soka Gakkai leader Daisaku Ikeda criticised what he called the luxurious lifestyles of priests at Taisekiji Temple, Nichiren Shoshu's chief temple at the foot of Mount Fuji, and their authoritarian attitude towards the lay organisation. The Soka Gakkai or 'Value-creating Study Society', was founded in 1930 by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. It claimed a membership of 3000 families in 1942, when Makiguchi, Josei Toda and other Soka Gakkai members were imprisoned by the Japanese wartime government. Makiguchi died in prison in 1944 but the movement was reconstituted under Toda after the war. By 1960, when Ikeda succeeded to the leadership, the Soka Gakkai had a membership of 750,000 households. In 1991, they claimed 13 million individual members in Japan, plus 1.26 million members in 115 countries overseas, including 600,000 in South Korea, 400,000 in Hong Kong and about 100,000 in the Philippines. Critics today doubt, that the membership actually exceeds 5 million in Japan.

But the Soka Gakkai is still the largest religious organisation in Japan and would be the richest and politically the most powerful. Its appearance is one of culture, humanitarianism, respectability, generosity and friendships between the association and the countries of its members. The first casualty of the Ideda-Nichiren war, may be the Komeito, or Clean Government Party (CGP), Japan's second largest opposition part, which was originally formed in the early 1960s by Junya Yano as the Soka Gakkai's political arm. Junya Yano lost his leadership of the CGP in 1989 when reports linked him to a businessman indicated for tax evasion. The first signs of open and public conflict between Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai, came in December 1990 when Ikeda was stripped of his title as 'sokoto', or head of all Nichiren lay believers, a position he held since his gaining the leadership of the Soka Gakkai in the 1960's. Since then, the most recent sign that all was still not well, was a mysterious newspaper ad addressed to all Soka Gakkai members from Taisekiji Temple saying that from 2 July 1991, all members seeking to make the 'Tozan' pilgrimage to Taisekiji for the viewing of the 'Daigohonzon' — a scroll carved by the sect founder, which is the central object of worship of the faith, would have to make arrangements through their local Nichiren temple instead of their Soka Gakkai branch.

Insiders in both camps immediately recognised this as a concealed announcement amounting to a declaration of war between them.

Isao Nozaki, Soka Gakkai vice-president said, "The priests are trying to assert their own authority and leadership over the Soka Gakkai movement...The presxent high priest and those around him have deviated from this spirit...They want to cut off Ideda and destroy the Soka Gakkai". Although the Nichiren headquarters have not spoken to the media, a priest, speaking privately, said the clergymen believe that Ikeda wants to destroy the Nichiren priesthood and create his own religion. 'Ikeda tried once before about 10 years ago...That time he failed and he had to back down. Originally the intent of the Soka Gakkai was to propagate Nichiren doctrine to the world, but they have become rotten.' By requiring Soka Gakkai members to arrange pilgrimages through local temples rather than the Soka Gakkai association, the Nichiren priests hope to separate sincere believers in their doctrine from Ikeda loyalists. They also hope that within a few years, after all the pure believers have quit Soka Gakkai, that Nichiren Shoshu will ex-communicate the Soka Gakkai.

Even though the appearance of the Soka Gakkai is one of culture and respectability, there is another side to this sect that is also creating problems.

- Soka Gakkai was condemned in 1988 by a tribunal in Tokyo for bugging the telephone of the private home of the General Secretary of the Japanese Communist Party.

- Ikeda was found 'comforting' Manuel Noriega (at this time a disciple of Soka Gakkai) when America sanctioned Panama.

- In March 1990, a swirl of accusations over a mysterious transaction involving the Soka Gakkai, the Mitsubishi Corp and two Renoir paintings in which nearly 1.5 billion yen had gone missing. Also involved in the fiasco are two Frenchmen who allegedly owned the paintings and have disappeared, because no one corresponding to their description has lived at their alleged addresses in Switzerland.

- The first evidence that politicians, who regularly use the stock market to raise campaign funds, received improper payments from Japan's top brokerage houses, came in August 1991 with the disclosure that the Soka Gakkai received more than 3 million dollars in improper payments. Because of the affiliation with the CGP, suspicions have fed renewed public outrage over what seems to be incomplete inquiries into these affairs.

- The organisation operates five cemeteries in Japan through a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corps. In May 1991, Soka Gakkai paid 640 million yen in profits from the sale of gravestones over the three year period ending in March 1990.

- In early 1990, the CGP was linked to the Parrot True Reason cult (PTR) in scandals that involved huge sums of money and therefore involving Soka Gakkai. The PTR, which was once an unknown group in Japan, but because of an obscure clause in the Japanese election law enabling a party that fields 25 people or more to have campaign vans and five free broadcasts per person on national TV, there is hardly a Japanese who has not seen the group dressed up in elephant costumes dancing on top of vans or listening to adherents exhorting the leader Shoko Asahara.

The innocent, kindergarten image of the PTR has been badly damaged, and it is now seen as a symbol of widespread aimlessness among the young and has caused considerable anguish to many Japanese parents. Mr Asahar has also been questioned over the disappearance, in mysterious circumstances, of a 34 year old lawyer, his wife and one year old son, who had been negotiating with cult members on behalf of parents demanding the return of teenage children converted by Mr Asahara.

He believes the supremacy of the parrot position in yoga and is believed by his followers to be able to levitate and to meditate under water for long periods without coming up for air. The parrot cult is perhaps the most visible of more than a thousand new religions in Japan. The linking of the CGP to the PTR has caused considerable damage to it.

- Equally damaging to the reputation of the CGP was an incident in early 1989, where just over 170 million yen in old but unused bills was found in an abandoned safe in a rubbish heap, which was traced to a chapter of Soka Gakkai. It had apparently been thrown out without being checked for its contents when the offices of the sects newspaper 'Seikyo Shimbun', moved in April 1989. It fuelled speculation that senior members of the group found more than just spiritual fulfillment through their faith.

- In France, the Soka Gakkai has about 6,000 members and about 10 centres. These are strategically situated in Essone, a region where 60% of the Grande Ecoles (specialised colleges) are located and 40% of French research takes place, and is close to the Centre of Nuclear Studies. In 1988, the association wanted to buy a Chateau situated just a few hundred meters from the Centre of Nuclear Testing in Bruyere, which is a very secret military site.

Soka Gakkai has also spread their influence into the General Council of Essonne (site of the instillations of the Centre for Nuclear Studies) by be-friending or making members of key people. French intelligence are concerned over these activities.

The Soka Gakkai, according to critics, is also known to play rough. In March 1991, 300 members of the Soka Gakkai Youth League allegedly, physically attacked 10 people at Kaishinji, a Nichiren temple in Fukuoka, and injured the chief priest and members of his family. The motive was, apparently, to intimidate the priests in the temple where about 100 families had severed ties with the Soka Gakkai.

A member of the Tokyo municipal assembly, recently published a 10 part series of articles harshly critical of Ikeda, said that he received threatening phone calls and a visit to his home by Soka Gakkai Youth League members. A similar occurrence happened to a free-lance journalist, who had to change his phone number after receiving more than 50 threatening phone calls a day, some of which were death threats.

The Soka Gakkai is secretive about its finances. Real estate and buildings, including the Tokyo headquarters and 800 elaborate meeting halls are believed to be worth more than 2 trillion yen (about 18.5 billion Aust. dollars). Outsiders say the organisation also holds 400 billion yen in time deposits and trust accounts. Other estimates of Soka Gakkai's annual income are in the range of 100-170 billion yen per year.

The largest source of income are the annual 'zaimu' donations by members each July, which are not taxable.. Money is also earned from publications and from sales of tombstones and gravesites.

There is little doubt that these scandals and the emergence of open dispute between the Soka Gakkai and the Nichiren leaderships is intensely traumatic for many ordinary believers, who essentially must now choose between the temple and the society.

Although officially denied, one Soka Gakkai watcher says 20,000 members have formally resigned and another 100,000 have been inactive. A Nichiren priest claimed that as many as 10,000 families had left Soka Gakkai within two weeks of July 1991.

This could deal a major blow to the CGP, which relies heavily on grassroots canvassing efforts of Soka GAkkai members. Members reportedly fell away in May of the same year, when the Soka Gakkai announced it would conduct its own funeral services for its members.

Although Ikeda resigned as president of Soka Gakkai in 1979, he remains president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), and he is still the real power behind the scenes. His role has been to give spiritual guidance and nourishment. Ikeda has had highly publicised meetings with ex-Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Philippine President Corazon Aquino and other world leaders. Under his leadership, SGI has become active in UN affairs and is a large contributor to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Ikeda, a recipient of the UN Peace Award and the UNHCR Humanitarian Award, has worked hard at his public relations image. While coveting a meeting with US President George Bush, and being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he does have some trouble with his image.

In 1988 one of his own followers, and a long-time Japanese Parliamentarian, Toshio Ohashi, then 62, denounced Ikeda in strong language. 'He's evil, a great hypocrite. On the surface he acts like a Buddha, but underneath he's a devil king. We have to bring him down.' Ohashi was excommunicated from Soka GAkkai.

It appears that now many more will be excommunicated from Soka Gakkai — or from Nichiren Shoshu. In May 1991 another forma Soka GAkkai member denounced Ikeda. Norio Okubo, 48, took rather drastic demonstrative action to make his point.

He hired a crane and, with it, attempted to scale the third floor balcony of a Soka GAkkai building in Shinjuku, Japan. He hung a screen up at the scene which read: ''I will protest against fascism led by Ikeda' (Daisaku Ikeda, honorary President of Soka Gakkai).

In the process of his very early morning protest Okubo stumbled and accidentally injured himself seriously in the abdomen.

A spokesman for Soka Gakkai commented at the time, 'His extraordinary action is troublesome for us.' The opposition of some lay members, and now from the Nichiren Priest, is bringing a lot more action that will be 'troublesome' for the exclusive and self-centred materialistic Buddhist cult with its promise of instant happiness through chanting. y

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あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、

Soka Gakkai's French Connection
Japan Times Weekly
Nov. 4, 1995

A strange thing happened at Fumihiro Joyu's first press conference at the Foreign correspondents' Club of Japan. A sleight-of-hand trick was performed in front of dozens of news cameras, and clearly, many people in the Japanese media were pretending not to notice.

Why did Joyu, the media spokeman of Aura Shinrinkyo, meet the foreign press April 4? Because he knew that the Japanese media would never report the evidence that he was prepared to present.

What Joyu claimed — and what was recorded on videotape by major networks — is that Aum's "self-defense" squads, which have been accused of various kidnappings and murders, were trained and organized by former members of the Soka Gakkai using methods developed by SG's own security forces.

Joyu identified 27 Aum self-defense personnel as former Soka Gakkai members, and charged that many of these individuals mysteriously disappeared after the Sakamoto and Kariya kidnappings and before the subway gassing. One member of Aum's self-defense team described his training in strong-arm tactics in Soka Gakkai, and claimed that identical techniques were used in Aum.

These revelations could still have a direct bearing on the puzzling series of violent crimes attributed to Aum. So why haven't they broadcast or reported by the print media?

Because, at the close of the press conference, a foreign male, posing as a Frenchman, claimed to have taken photographs that proved No. 7 Satyam was an operating chemical-weapons plant. The next part of his act was to accuse Joyu of lying. An investigation by the Weekly has shown that the cameraman was not French as he claimed to the Japanese media. The Embassy of Italy confirmed that he is an Italian citizen. A call to his talent agency revealed that he also worked as an advertising model for a major department store's menswear department a year before appearing as a dancer in a recent malt liquor commercial.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police categorically asserted that it was not physically possible for any photographer, much less a foreign one, to have taken the photos as claimed. The building's perimeter was heavily guarded, according to a police spokesman, and access was restricted to investigative officers.

An inquiry with district prosecutors indicated that any violation of restricted areas under police investigation constitutes a criminal offense (as well as grounds for deportation). So as not to further incriminate this individual, the Weekly is not releasing his name. (Several American and European journalists in Tokyo have also complained that they have been professionally slandered by this same person.)

What about the photos? The police are investigating their source. Why did this Italian poseur claim to be a Frenchman? According to European journalists, his past associations — which provided journalistic legitimacy to his media activities in Tokyo — were with Paris-based publications. Though his photos have also appeared in some Japanese magazines, his first major French association was with a Paris-based weekly magazine called VSD. What does VSD have to do with Soka Gakkai?

The acronym VSD, (pronounced vah-ess-day), which stands for Vendredi-Saraedi-Dimanche (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), is a racy scandal magazine (with an unusually large volume of stories on Japan) published by a Paris-based media group. In August. it was revealed that the VSD general director, Jean-Pierre Canat, is a high-level official of Soka Gakkai International France, and that the media group's companies have been used by the sect to penetrate French political circles.

The charges, published in the weekly L'Evenement du Jeudi, go much further: They allege that Canat may be linked to a break-in and eavesdropping at the EDJ offices, and that France's counterintelligence service suspects Soka Gakkai of having been engaged in espionage.

In an article titled Ombre Japonaise (Japanese Shadow), EDJ investigative reporter Serge Faubert explained that four auditors are currently reviewing the invoices of VSD to untangle Canat's web of financial dealings. When questioned by Faubert, the VSD president- general director, Francois Siegal, claimed the audit was ordered because Canat had led a high-flying lifestyle and became mired in debt. But it appears that the probe is being driven by France's counterintelligence service. It should be noted that the Aug. 17-23 issue in which Faubert's article appeared, and an earlier one exposing SGI-F, have mysteriously disappeared from the few Japanese libraries that stock French periodicals. The Weekly obtained a copy overseas.

The spying charges against Soka Gakkai International France, which claims 152000 members, were further detailed in a recent issue of the Shukan Bunshun. Quoting the newspaper Le Parisien, it reported that a secret network of Soka Gakkai operatives allegedly infiltrated the Mitsubishi group offices in Paris, which were used as cover for intelligence operations. It did not specify whether the secret agents were corporate employees sent from Japan or local hires, or a combination of both.

According to Le Parisien, the sect also tried to purchase a site next to one of France's most sensitive nuclear-research facilities. According to the Bunshun, the sect's spying had the support of Japan's diplomatic corps, specifically two former ambassadors of Japan to France, Akitane Kiuchi and Yoshihiro Nakayama.

In December 1992, Soka Gakkai-France pressed a libel suit against the newspaper Le Parisien in a Paris court for publishing charges that SGI-F agents had conducted nuclear spying. Nakayama filed a deposition as both an individual and a Japanese government official on behalf of the plaintiff, Soka Gakkai. He attested to its peace-loving principles and record of good works overseas.

Kiuchi, a former political secretary to the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka (who was linked to Soka Gakkai donations, in the book Tanaka Kakuei: Godfather of Japan, by Hirotatsu Fujiwara), joined the Foreign Ministry, and served as ambassador to Thailand and Malaysia before his appointment as envoy to France. He filed an affidavit certifying SGI's morals in November 1992, just four months after leaving his ambassadorial post.

Le Parisian won the libel case in lower court; Soka Gakkai, aided by the government officials' affidavits, managed to have the verdict overturned at the district level. In the near future, the case will be heard by France's Supreme Court, which will likely hear new evidence from the counterintelligence probe.

The sect's boldest intiative in France, according to Faubert of EDJ, has been its penetration of the human-rights group France-Libertes, led by Danielle Mitterrand. The Mitterrand affair started in 1988, when Kiuchi served as ambassador to Paris. In that year, an EDJ investigative team was tipped by an architect who complained that she had been cheated out of first prize in an architectural contest sponsored by the Mission of the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. The architect charged that Jean Pierre Canat had used his position with the VSD to influence the outcome, in revenge for her past criticisms against Soka Gakkai-France.

The subsequent media investigation revealed the sect's widespread use of bilateral cultural fronts to develop links with academic and political circles. The VSD opened the gates to the Bicentennial Mission, but it was just one of many stepping-stones for Soka Gakkai to political influence in Paris.

Since the mid-1970s, Daisaku Ikeda's key contact in France was the art critic and historian Rene Huyghe. As president of the Artistic Council of National Museums. Huyghe had organized several art exchanges — French painting ex

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