Jack W8KR resigned FOC

 Jack W8KR gave me an e mail to let me know he would resign FOC several days ago. Having had his wife's and his own health issues, possibly with his inactivity on the air, the club transferred him to the associate member, which turned out to be temporary for only 6 months. At the time of my resignation, it was permanent. The club might intend to activate metabolism in membership in a sense. New and young members are not always making credit to the club more than old timers like Jack, if I am allowed to tell my view. 

I have never heard such a bug user like him sending perfectly beautiful code from the old fashioned key. In 2010s when we used to meet often on 20m, he was a real great ragchewer. Whenever he called me with that bug key, I was always felt enchanted by his beautifully flowing CW. He was talkative and had a lot of topics to talk about. It was a real pleasure for me to talk to him in our morning hours. Since I quit radio already, I won't have a chance to see him in that way any longer. I hope he would overcome the hand issue which has prevented him from operating CW in the way it used to be. I am sure his keying itself would be a great advocate of this art of communication to the beginners.  

It was very courteous for him to let his sponsors, including myself, know of his resignation. I felt it was just like him. Kind, loyal and courteous.

I wonder if I have done the same thing when I got out of the club. Maybe, no. I was occupied with own problem so much that I have not imagined of those who had kindly made sponsorship in 1988 would feel to hear about my resignation. By hat time, there were only few sponsors in the club, mostly SK. Rod K5BGB has sent me a mail expressing his embarrassment at the news. I was sorry for him.

I also told him, besides ham radio, he has a lot of things to do and to enjoy. If he won't be active on the air any longer, he could spend the time he used to do with ham radio for the other purposes. In my resignation from the club and quitting ham radio as well, I have experienced the 2nd retirement myself.

Good health and much happiness to him and his wife Eileen!

Again regarding the Art of Fugue and the meaning of polyphony

I have been concerned why a style of music, the fugue, attracts us so deeply. At least, it is one of my most favorite music styles. It is told to have been thoroughly completed by JS Bach. His unfinished work of "Die Kunst der Fuge" is regarded his real achievement in that composition mode. 

It is a question why the fugue or, in broader sense, the polyphony fascinates our mind. No definite answer yet. As I told in a previous post, the polyphony is identical to or, at least, comparable to the mechanism our consciousness works. Different ideas or thoughts are coming up in mind repeatedly. In case of polyphony, with different tune/tonality. They are compiled in a mass. The flow of compilated thoughts must be an aspect of our consciousness.

It's enough to soapbox on the relationship between our concsiousness and polyphony.

The performance of this work extends to various instruments/ensemble. I have been listening mainly to string quartet version. The performance by Juliard String Quartet has been the best choice for me. Very excellent combination of modern and authentic performance. For the past few days, however. I listen to a rendition by two harpsichords. The players are Ton Koopman and Tini Mathot.  

What I liked it is, in short, that they are keeping constant tempo among contrapuncti. Even in each contrapunctus. As a characteristic of harpsichord rendition, it is dynamically fairly flat, far from romanticism. These characteristics may keep our mind absorbed in the essence of the music. Not emotionally excited. It is another point which attracted me is that Bach might have composed this with a keyboard as well.

Whenever I listen to this piece, it inspires me a lot that the last contrapunctus in a 3 voice fugue ends abruptly with the motif of BACH. They say it was not intended but only a result of accidental abandonment. Bach was going to finish it later. Still this ending is symbolic from our perspective of life. Our life could be forcefully ended regardless what we may wish for the rest of our life. We should learn that from this ending.

The 1st contrapunctus of this renditon. You may listen to further with different videos uploaded by the same person.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKr89xxnMM8&list=PLWX0mJtyf2ceho-yYTx7K6dVyaWJk53TQ

Debt reduction by inflation

The US has the historical large amount of the debt now. Now, with the fault of invasion to Iran, the petrodollar recycling is going to shrink. The adminitration seems to cover the expenditure by causing more inflation. Of course, without testifying that.

It is even much worse in our country. The government debt is over 210$ of GDP. In addition to the consumption tax cut as well as more expenditure for the military expansion, the administration plans 370 trillion JPY investments by 2040. I could not help judging they are nullng the debt by hyperinflation.

 

Opposing to the sanctions on the ICC head et al by the Trump administration

The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the head and another lawyer of International Criminal Court, ICC. They have previously done the same sanctions on other 11 personnel.

ICC has been established in 2002 pursuant to the ICC Rome Statute. It is to research and punish any serious war crimes in the international community. Now 125 countries have ratified the Rome statute with the USA, Russia and China excluded. The aim of ICC is to uphold the rule of law in the world. Its function is limited to the areas/countries in its jurisdiction. It is not intended to violate the sovereignty of the nations not ratifying the Rome statute. 

As told above, sanctions by the Trump administration is not justified. Since the beginning of this year, it is rather the US which has impinged the sovereignty of Venezuela and of Iran. Those countries have been attacked in preemptive manner and their political leaders have been kidnapped or even killed. These behaviours are definitely against the rule of law in the international community. 

The Trump administration is trying to defund and to dismantle ICC. What they insist seems to be ostensible reasoning. They must fear their military actions would be punished by any international organizations like ICC in the future. I could not help imagining this is their real reason.

I hate living in the world where military and economical power rules even if it is not accomplished at present. ICC is an important organization to go toward the goal. I absolutely approve ICC and the personnel working there in order to maintain and improve the rule of law in the world.    

 https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/08/19/world/politics/icc-us-sanctions-multilateralism/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_type=image&fbclid=iwy2xjawt2frdwzg9mawv4dg4dywvtajewagjyawqrmxz3s3fqzulqwggzoejevmpzcnrjbmfwcf9pzbaymjiwmzkxnzg4mjawodkyaaeek9ks1e1ym0j-wol_bv8npiavl4gncisog_jds8gnd64rybj2c7jmlgpwlm8_aem_ebq_1wghf68gulako4x2wa#Echobox=1787121649-1

Cherishing every moment

It is mid summer here. Pretty hot in the mid day but not so much in the morning/evening. I am still working hard at the garden/farm while it remains not very hot. Staying on a small chair pulling and cutting weeds. It passes 3 or even 4 hours without being conscious of that. 

Not so often as before, I still cook some dishes. Boiled chicken breast meat with yuzu pepper dressing. Too hot for my wife but pretty good for me insensitive to pepper.

Tomatoes are pretty successful this year. It is always difficult for me to grow large size tomatoes. They could rupture with much rain fall. I have chosen a strain which is resistent to such a problem this year and they have bored quite some fruits. Harvesting a large one with 4 inches in diameter, I have made a salad with it. Pretty sweet and juicy.

 

Peaceful and uneventful days are going on. Still feeling it won't last forever. I try to cherish every day or even every moment.   

Father's 107th heavenly birthday

It was my father's 107th heavenly birth day yesterday. As already reiterated it in this blog, he was born in 1919, the year of end of the WWI. Losing his parents early in his life, he has strived through the WWII era. Getting married to mother immediately after WWII, which had imposed him military duty and forced him to waste his precious time of youth, he finally built own family even in extreme poverty. 

Recently, I have discussed with my brother, a psychiatrist, how we were raised by parents. We were really poor but, strangely enough, not conscious of that in young days. Maybe, my parents were living in a kind of ethos that there were something more important than economical wealth in our lives. It might have made us free from the sense of poverty in life. I am not boasting this. They have not left us anything of richness but only that attitude of living. I owe it to them, especially my father.

 This photo has been posted before. The only family photo for possibly the golden wedding anniversary for my parents. Now all of us, their children, are as old as my parents at this time, 80, 77 and 72 resectively. May we go through the rest of our lives as they did.

For the past week or two, I have been working in the garden/farm. Sitting on a tiny chair and pulling the weeds, I often remember of my parents. I am keeping this propery as my parents used to decades ago. It is a small work but surely an honor to spend the last chapter of my life in this way. 

Until we might see again like at this wedding anniversary.   

A big earthquake in Kumamoto

 This afternoon, they have had a big earthquake with magnitude 7.1 in Kumamoto Pref, an area of southwest Japan. It has left extensive damages in the wide area. At a big shopping mall, the 2nd floor has collapsed and dozens of people, mainly the personnel, have been confined in the building. A high way was destroyed. Houses fell apart. No exact number of casualties is not reported yet. It is quite plausible that large number of people have been killed or injured.

I could not seismologically explain what has caused it. There is, however, the Median Tectonic Line, MTL, crossing Kumamoto Pref. MTL is recognized as a geological terminology but a fault, running from the central part to the southwestern part of our country. There have been a number of big earhquakes at various places along it in hundreds of years interval. It is really the largest fault. 

Around this earthquake epicenter, there are 3 nuclear power plants, NPPs, located. Actually, 3 of them are running at present. Ikata NPP is very close to MTL, only 6km away from it, in Ehime Pref. of Shikoku Island. It is an isolated place where they could hardly rescue or support the NPP once a serious accident should occur. In addition to the other 2 NPPs, it should be stopped as soon as possible. Actually, only 10 years ago, they have had a couple of big earthquakes comparable to this one. The faults directly cause earthquakes are not MTL itself but it is highly suspected the area along MTL is "activated" now. At least, in geological time span.  

Needless to say, the people affected by this disaster should be rescued soon. Without life line, it might be very tough for them to get through the situation in this hottest season of a year.