Kazuo Ishiguro gets the Nobel prize

This year's Nobel prize winners were revealed. Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel prize in literature.

The Guardian: Kazuo Ishiguro wins the Nobel prize in literature 2017

Ishiguro is a British writer, but formerly a Japanese. He was born in Nagasaki in 1954. He went to the UK in his childhood because of his father's work. He learned English literature and was naturalized to the British in 1983.

One of his representative work is "Never let me go." It was published in 2005. It describes some young persons long living at an institution. The intention of the administrator of this facility was hidden at first. But later, it is revealed that the residents were grown up to give organs to wealthy people.

The storyline is similar to other thrillers. But the atmosphere around the story is unique. Casts are confused, even partially accepting their fate. I watched this work on the TV cinema. The original novel was a little difficult for me.

Congratulations, Mr. Ishiguro. I will read other stories written by him.

Monarch Airlines bankrupt

Recently, bankrupt of budget airlines (so-called low-cost carriers) occurred in succession.

Monarch Airlines had to cease all of the services due to money short. It made more than 100 thousands of passengers worry about getting home. A total of 300 thousand cancellations occurred. After that, Ryanair was threatened to be sued by the Civil Aviation Authority for persistently misleading passengers.

International Business Times: From Monarch to Ryanair and Air Berlin: Are budget airlines flying into trouble?

Air Berlin also filed for insolvency in this August due to the withdrawn investment of Etihad Airways. In Japan, Skymark Airlines met bankrupt in 2015.

Budget airlines set the fare for boarding at the rate as low as possible. They are struggling to reduce the cost. It leads to the lack of flexibility in accidental situations. Previously, I wrote an example.

My past entry: A particular reason for delay in LCC

As well, they have no surplus cash because most of them are start-up companies. Thus, a small additional expenditure will be enough for them to be bankrupted.

However, airline transportation is now an essential infrastructure. Companies are responsible for the stable offering of transportation. In the case of Monarch, I hardly understand the fact none could prevent such as mass stasis of passengers. The governments and alliances of airline companies have to ensure the sustainability of airline transportation for preventing the chaos, I believe.

Tillerson says Trump moron?

Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, is suspected to conflict with Donald Trump.

According to CNN, he called Trump a moron. Previously, many officials in the US government quitted because of deteriorating relationship with Trump. But Tillerson denied the possibility of resigning.

The Guardian: Rex Tillerson says he won't quit but doesn't deny calling Trump a 'moron'

On the other hand, he did not directly deny that he had said "moron" to Trump, according to the media. What is in his mind is unsure.

Donald Trump also denied the conflict with Tillerson and requested the media to make an apology for the false report. But, no one has canceled their comments.

I believe Tillerson is a skilled person about diplomacy and defense policy. It is not surprising that he has been annoyed by Trump's unstable and defiant comments. Indeed, he deems Trump as a moron, I guess.

But it is another issue whether he drops out from this position. If Trump still trusts Tillerson enough to permit him to do based on his own decision, Tillerson will be able to continue cooperating with Trump. Otherwise, he can no more be patient to the boss' clumsiness.

The presence of Tillerson has a crucial role for Japan and South Korea for maintaining the situation of the Korean peninsula. As a Japanese, I hope Tillerson to keep working. Excellent subordinates are needed for the strange boss.

Anti-abortion law passed the House in the US

A newly anti-abortion bill passed the House in the US.

The bill, named Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act prohibits abortion to a fetus which is older than 20 weeks without some exception such as the risk for mother's life. It will illegalize some abortions and make mothers get the birth the chide.

With Trump’s backing, House approves ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy

The establishment of this bill is one of the promises of Donald Trump who has gained the support of conservative Christian voters. Traditionally, Republicans are against abortions while Democrats accept them. It was natural for the ruling Republican Party to struggle for passing the bill.

However, the majority of Senators are opposed to this bill. Therefore, it is doubtful this bill will be enforced. Some Democrats say the argument is a waste of time.

One of the concepts of this bill is a hypothesis that a fetus can feel pain at 20-weeks. But this idea is not authorized by relevant academic organizations. I am also skeptical of this idea. It is known that a fetus under 22 weeks cannot survive out of the uterus even with artificial supports. According to this fact, fetus under 22 weeks has not been an independent life yet. Such fetus never feels its emotions, I reckon.

In Japan, there were many illegal abortions conducted by non-licensed clinicians the other days. As a result, many mothers, most of them were poor, were killed by medical complications with abortion. Thus, too strict legislation will lead to the mass criminalization of poor people. If this act is realized, illegal and risky abortion will increase, I am afraid.

On the other hand, Japanese tend to underrepresent the value of the life of children. Now, "Mother Protection Act" regulates the abortions for medical reasons. This act was originated from "Superiority Protection Act" in 1996. Its title, as well as some contents, is quite discriminative. Even now, there is a scarce discussion about abortion. Some mothers take her child's life for various reasons. In these cases, they tend to be given relatively slight punishment by the court verdict.

Child protection is a crucially important issue. A balanced discussion is necessary for the better management of unexpected pregnancy.

Gun shooting in Las Vegas

At night on Oct 1st, 2017, a man caused a massacre at the music festival in Las Vegas. He seemed to shoot some modified rifles for several minutes, leading to at least 59 dead and more than 500 injuries. It marked the deadliest gun crime in the US history.

International Business Times: Las Vegas mass shooting: Stephen Paddock massacres at least 59 from window of Mandalay Bay hotel

When the police reached the field of the case, the suspect had already taken his life with a gun. Therefore, the background of the case remains unknown. The suspect was a 64-year-old man. He was an ex-accountant and was said to have a certain amount of estate. He was gambling thousands of dollars for recent months. His relatives have no idea of the motivation of his crime.

After the tragedy, Islamic State (IS) commented that the suspect recently became a Muslim. But, Muslims never commit suicide, excepting suicidal bombing. The FBI seems not to trust IS' declaration.

Nevada state has no strict gun controlling legislation. People who want to possess a firearm can purchase it from another individual without any official permission. However, I think this fact is not directly connected to the occurrence of the case. Also in other states, malicious people can gain firearms if they truly want.

It is also rare that elder people who are not poor commit a violent crime. What is clarified is too limited for us to understand the case.

Pray for the victims, and I hope similar tragedies will never occur.

AI can predict whether your relationship will be over?

Recently, topics of AI is increasingly mentioned in the media. It reflects the current trend of research. Thus, many researchers are enthusiastically considering the future utilization of AI.

AI can predict the future based on the past data. Its range is not limited to weather or the stock market, but also human relations. Here, a study was conducted at the University of Southern California to qualify the ability of AI to predict the outcome of the couple relationship. There were 134 couples which were involved in this study. AI analyzed their voices to predict whether the couple would survive for years. The precision rate was superior in the AI to human therapists.

The Conversation: AI can predict whether your relationship will last based on how you speak to your partner

If the result is reliable, it means that AI can interpret the human emotions through the tone and intonation of the voices. It is important because previously computer analysis did not cover non-verbal communication and contextual thoughts. In addition, there is a hint in daily conversation to predict the future. If this technology is realized, your sweetheart would record your voice not to keep your voice in her memory but to evaluate your patience.

AI is now mimicking human mind. And it can calculate the meaning of it with superior preciseness than human instinct.

Sex robots save your life?

Recently, I mentioned the danger of sex robots to kill you. While coming sex robots will be connected to the internet, there is a risk of being compromised by a malicious hacker.

My past entry: Sex robot kills you?

In contrast, some claim that utilizing sex robots expand your life. Many sex robots will be purchased by lonely people such as widows. They mitigate the clients' suffering, leading to the life expectancy. Robots to care people with dementia or other medical condition is underdeveloping in real. It is not so surprising if they equip the program of sexual aid.

International Business Times: Sex robots of the future could raise life expectancy and improve mental health

In my opinion, sex robots are no more than a substitute for a tool for masturbation. Excessive masturbation will do damage your communication skill in the bed. Their market will be limited even in the future.

On the other hand, robots equipping sophisticated communicative function may use body touching or other ways which ignite our sexual instinct. Although caring robots have no vagina, some clients would like to kiss the robot. There may be a point of discussion whether the robot should move its tongue in this situation.