Eenie Weenie Weenie - Git’cher Foot Long Hot Dogs, Rightcheer.
Good Morning Kids [Pause for kids' response]
Today is Saturday, and it is the next-to-last Saturday before the Claus man's day.
That's correct. You have one, frantic week to attend to your Christmas shopping. Or hold it off a bit and give all your presents on New Year's Eve, which is a holiday in Thailand, unlike Christmas.
Long Live Their Majesties
A vigil outside Chulalongkorn Hospital greets the king and queen, who were briefed on the condition of the king's daughter 'Princes Paht'.
The Royal Household Bureau announced yesterday it was preparing rooms for the public and for diplomats to sign their regrets.
The alleged 'prime minister' Prayut and his professor-wife were the first to sign.
https://www.matichon.co.th/court-news/news_3727388
TTIT This tweet is true. Also true:
'The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok' refuses to print or broadcast the current story of Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
Which is not at all difficult to know and report.
Russian basketballer electrocuted in Pattaya
Alex Sobolev, 19, died when he took a break and leaned against a lamp pole on the grounds of the Pattaya Technical College.
His Russian basketball club had come to Pattaya on holiday and were holding a practice.
The young Russian was a frequent visitor to Pattaya, and had joined the Pattaya Basketball Club.
The city ordered the temporary closure of all baske tball courts at the college.
PHOTO: Pattaya deputy mayor Manote Nongyai (white shirt) and EGAT experts found that insulation on the connected, electrical wire had peeled away and turned the lamp pole into a tragedy waiting for a victim.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2462094/
TRUE STORY
Terrible news, about the Russian dying, said Manote.
But the real tragedy here is that the story will leak out to the world's media and that will be a horrendous blow to the international image of Pattaya as a tourist destination.
Related - Junta-approved Saturday headline
Pattaya hopes for busy December
Domestic tourists hesitant while waiting for stimulus
PHOTO: The Return of the Tourists to Pattaya's Walking Street hasn't yet happened.
>
Prayut returned from Brussels
And he was mad as all heck
Many members of parliament have stayed away from sessions - effectively a strike to force Prayut to dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election.
PM requests MPs fulfil duties in parliament
Empty seats prevail.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/2461572/pm-requests-mps-fulfil-duties-in-parliament
SPORTS SOCCER WORLD CUP
BREAKING
This just in
From The Department Of Sports And Politics Don't Mix
AL RAYYAN, Qatar
The World Cup [up to now, at least] kept political messaging away from soccer, so that fans could enjoy "a little moment of pleasure and joy."
-- Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA
UPDATES as they occur
REUTERS: https://t.ly/ebhf
Cable and satellite-TV firm True says everyone everywhere can watch the World Cup final tomorrow night.
The broadcasts continue under a dark and cash-flow cloud, over just who owns the broadcast rights.
True Corp, as of this morning:
Teeradet Dumrongbhalasitr, co-president of True
Corp: "True will not charge IPTV operators who broadcast tonight's [third-place] match between Croatia and Morocco or tomorrow night's final between Argentina and France.
Both games are scheduled for a 10 p.m. kickoff (Thailand time).
Amazing Amazon
is hard at work on a cartoon for kids and Amazon Prime, Blue Origin Space Rangers. You are not supposed to laugh, but who won't?
The show will figure cartoonish American gridiron football star Michael Strahan who (NOTE) has actually flown to space, and Amazon's top poobah Jeff Bezos - who has never flown to space and heads this 'Blue Origin' dealio, which has been totally completely unable to lift anyone and anything into space.
The cartoon show is to be called (not a joke) Blue Origin Space Rangers.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/rocket-report-spacex-may-launch-twice-in-18-minutes-the-us-electron-is-nigh/
More details at
https://www.animationmagazine.net/
GLOBAL WARMING
Japan reactivating nuclear power plants
To solve the energy crisis' Japan turns back to reliable nuclear energy.
At present, Japan has only nine nuclear reactors in operation.
The government has confirmed a major nuclear power policy shift to tackle an energy crisis, more than a decade after the 2011 Fukushima disaster prompted it to idle most of its reactors.
The Japan Times: https://bit.ly/3huCTPS
More at:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/japan-reactivating-nuclear-power-plants/2741531
MYANMAR LGBTQ PRISON
A court in Mandalay sentenced 27-year-old Sue Sha Shinn Thant to three years in prison for helping to fund an alleged "anti-Tatmadaw terrorist group" in the Mandalay region.
Then the judges heard that he is gay and called him back to the courntroom.
"That will be the three years we gave you for terrorism, plus 22 years, for 25 years total."
[Below] Pride supporters march in Yangon, a rare event since the Burmese army established a military government in 2020.
https://tinyurl.com/z8ek5acf
Unconfirmed, but major news it true.
Japan mulls taking in some Rohingya to reduce burden on Bangladesh
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/japan-mulls-taking-in-some-rohingya-to-reduce-burden-on-bangladesh/2763867
CentralWorld, the massive shopping mall in Bangkok's Ratchaprasong area, is home to one of the few public skating rinks in the city. Although not a very large rink [suitable for peewee hockey], the twinkling blue lights in the trees add a nice touch. Your options for ice skating in Bangkok are pretty limited.
GLOBAL WARMING
WELL, Yeah: Greenhouse gases are good.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/12/greenhouse_gasses_are_good.html
And meanwhile, in Washington (the capital city of the U.S.A.)
The Upper House, generally known as "the Senate" went all calm and pacific as senators discussed a few proposals to simple ban TikTok. Everywhere.
"TikTok is a Trojan Horse for the Chinese Communist Party. It's a major security risk to the United States, and until it is forced to sever ties with China completely, it has no place on government devices." -- Senator Josh Hawley
You know what happened, right? The influential media defender of the Chinese Communist Party and its columnist stepped up to defend the CCP -- CNN being today's version of Joe Stalin's reliable The New York Times at the Holodomor, and its Soviet-loyalist Walter Duranty reborn as "Oliver Darcy".
https://victorygirlsblog.com/senate-votes-to-ban-tiktok-on-government-devices/
BONUS
If Not TikTok, Then What’s An Alternative?
The above report contains and details a pallet-load of software that can easily replace TikTok.
CORONAVIRUS USA
True Story. Straight outta North Carolina, yet again.
Ukrainian orphan girl denied life-saving kidney-transplant surgery because she's unvaxxed.
Doctors at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, told the adoptive parents of 14-year-old Yulia that they would not be moving forward with the surgery because she has not received the Covid-19 vaccine.
https://thepostmillennial.com/ukrainian-orphan-girl-denied-life-saving-surgery-because-shes-unvaxxed
SHOCKER: Avatar: The Way of Water is a ‘damp squib.’
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221213-avatar-the-way-of-water-is-a-damp-squib
Kevin Reynolds' 1995 film Waterworld was, at the time of its release, ... Michael Cimino's even more notorious 1980 turkey Heaven's Gate.
How can anyone, anywhere believe you can negotiate with this regime?
Iranian footballer sentenced to execution for 'campaigning for women's rights.'
Amir Nasr-Azadani, who once played for the national under-16s team, was arrested in September for allegedly taking part in an “armed riot” in Isfahan in which three members of the security forces were killed.
The 26-year-old defender with Iranjavan Bushehr FC was charged with “rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine security and therefore assisting in moharabeh”.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/12/13/iranian-footballer-amir-nasr-azadani-sentenced-execution-campaigning/
The charge of moharabeh means "waging war against God" and carries the death penalty in Iran.
So very similar to the Thailand junta's recurring charges of sedition.
The Mahsa Amini protests have been going strong for three months now, and show little sign of slowing down despite Tehran’s increasingly harsh measures.
TECHNOLOGY
The governor of the U.S. state of Georgia has banned TikTok on all state-issued devices, especially mobile phones and tablets. [11alive.com]
"Every executive branch agency, department, division, bureau, board, authority, and commission in Georgia shall prohibit the use of TikTok, WeChat, and Telegram on all systems and devices (including laptops and mobile devices) that are issued owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the state or used for state businesses."
https://www.t.ly/fLpU
https://www.11alive.com/article/tech/kemp-tiktok-ban-state-issued-devices/85-0092620b-6958-4e22-93fc-795e229e4d6e?ref=exit-recirc
The meaning of all of the above.
SUNDAY READ
SPORTS SOCCER WORLD CUP
Forget about France and Argentina: The World Cup final will be won by Qatar.
https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/the-world-cup-final-will-be-won-by-qatar-that%27s-why-the-real-challenge-is-not-between-argentina-and-france/
The World Cup final match will see two of the strongest players in the world compete, namely the French Kylian Mbappé and the Argentine Lionel Messi, both strikers of Paris Saint-Germain owned by Qatar Sport Investments.
Off the pitch, Morocco emerges a winner in the World Cup
Ultimately, the effects of Morocco's off-the-pitch success may ripple much longer than the fallout of its stellar performance in the stadium.
There are people alive today who know about Kay Kyser, or sort-of remember, probably because Grandma told them.
And there are people alive today who should know.
NOTE: The 'New Time' for 'Hello Mr. Kringle' is 1939.