Not all mass murders are in Texas
Good morning y'all of y'all, with an extra dab of treacle for the birthday boys and girls and others of America.
For all the rest, get to mine face and get to work.
Read this during your flight delay.
Because you will have a flight delay.
On this day in 1979:
Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years they sold over 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital file versions. And then the Apple iPod happened.
There's a story about July 4 that a lot of FSOs say, "Yeah, that's true, I was there."
Away back in the early 1980s, the president of the United States appointed a new ambassador to Singapore, a rich guy who had donated generously to the election campaign.
He settled in, and issued an order to his staff that he wanted a July 4 Independence Day party on the embassy grounds and inside a secure embassy area.
Invitations were duly sent, and the hot dogs and Budweiser stocks were laid up.
And on the evening of July 4, the ambassador was a very perplexed man because out of all the invitations sent to the elite important and government Singaporeans, there attendance was close to zero. He wanted a fast answer from his staff on why the damned Singaporeans had let him down to badly, and was shocked almost almost out of his BVDs to learn that July 4 was not a holiday in Singapore.
Supposedly a true story, and by the way, U.S. Independence Day is also not a holiday in Thailand, just like another 196 nations.
So to those working today, so sad, and to those with the day off to watch the fireworks, Happy July 4.
♪ ♬ ♩ Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen, Friendly old girl of a town...
Not really.
Danish guy strolled into the 'No Guns Allowed' Fields shopping mall in the capital city on Sunday, unpacked his little friend and opened up on the shoppers and staff. Cops arrested the 22-year-old who did it.
Details to follow, but there are 'several' shoppers and mall employees dead.
CORONAVIRUS CHINA XI JINPING
Oh, did this cause a panic?
A member of the Chinese colony of Hong Kong's pro-communist political party had a short tête-à-tête with President-4-Life Xi Jinping and then tested positive for Covid.
Xi, a former exchange student in Iowa state, seems okay.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/covid-19-hong-kong-lawmaker-positive-photo-xi-jinping-2787281
THAILAND CORONAVIRUS
Breaking news... The coronavirus epidemic is not over.
The pandemic is (supposedly) over but no one told the Covid
The coronavirus is going to plague us (pun intentional)... well, probably forever. This is the medical news of the novel virus for the 24 hours of Sunday:
2,328 new cases
19 deaths
24,989 active cases
678 serious cases
2,043 recovered
Plus the rest of the world.
Even shamans can't stop the virus.
PHOTO: A man wearing a ghost costume takes part in the weekend's annual Ghost Festival in Loei province.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2338792/
Canada, in particular, is not taking the 'post-pandemic' declaration very well. But it's complicated.
Canada's emergency rooms bear the brunt of a 'perfect storm'
The situation, clinicians say, is tied to a resurgence of viral infections such as Covid-19 among adults and children and a push by others to seek care delayed by the pandemic, and exacerbated by the high number of healthcare workers who are sick or burned out.
PHOTO: Canada's second most-hated man called 'Justin' (right) and finance minister Chrystia Freeland made one of those bothersome political 'inspection tours' of the Children's Hospital in Ottawa.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/canada-hospital-emergency-rooms-perfect-storm-covid-19-staff-2787536
Now that St. Fauci says it's okay...
German health minister orders use of Covid-19 treatment drug Paxlovid. aka ritonavir, which Thailand has been using since the first Covid outbreak.
THAILAND PROTEST
Majority agree with designation of Bangkok protest sites: Nida Poll
Result of a Nida Poll survey released on Sunday claims that a solid, nay Uuge majority of Thais support the junta's new programme to fence anti-Prayut demonstrations into seven scattered 'free speech areas' in Bangkok.
The poll was conducted on June 27-29 by telephone interviews with 1,310 people aged 18 and above.
55% - strongly agree
29% - agree moderately
9% - completely disagree
7% - somewhat disagree
PHOTO: Lan Khon Muang outside Bangkok's City Hall is already prepared as one of the 'free speech' sites for anti-Prayut protesters.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/2338812/
So, that is apparently the public's opinion. But wait!
Political analyst/columnist Paritta Wangkiat isn't at all sure. She says:
City protest plan needs a few tweaks
Occupying the streets seems like the only choice for protesters.
Hard to impossible to argue against that.
NAKHON PATHOM NKP MONEY LENDING
A loan shark was shot and killed early Sunday in That Phanom district of Nakhon Pathom in the Northeast.
Police said Tossapol Panlam, 20, was known as a money lender. A customer shot him in the rib cage and he died on a road near the Mekong River.
His 33-year-old criminal friend was also shot in the head and body in what police said was a separate incident - which began as a heaten argument over late-night drinks.
Oh! NOW they tell us?! At the very bottom of Page Two:
Health Department warns of cannabis' harmful effects
Smoking cannabis can cause users to develop asthma, bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Napapan Nanthapong, director of the department's Bureau of Environmental Health, said marijuana smokers face developing diseases, while children and infants who inhale the second-hand cannabis smoke face developing psychological problems.
The U.S. government's National Institute of Health points out:
Since marijuana users generally inhale more deeply than tobacco smokers, they may be exposing their lungs to even higher levels of these dangerous substances.
Good to know.
The War On Drugs Hasn't Ended, Episode et ɔndrɛd ɛn fɔti siks
Khao San cannabis retailers instructed to register at district office
https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40017210
ASEAN LAOS
Probably. Are there any other questions?
Will Laos default on its debt?
The country's finances are in trouble, but it may yet turn the corner
The Lao kip has lost 36% of its value against the dollar over the past year (see chart). Petrol is hard to find and increasingly unaffordable. Over the past six weeks Laotians have had to queue for hours to fill their tanks.
https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/06/30/will-laos-default-on-its-debt
THAILAND INFLATION POLITICS
Korn Chatikavanij, who at one time was the minister of finance when his Democrat Party ruled, offers loud advice to the Bank of Thailand:
Hike interest rates. Quickly. Double them, then double them again.
Thailand official policy rate is one half of one percent, which will not help to fight inflation.
PHOTO: Korn has quit the Democrats to form the new Kla Party, which he leads.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2332438/
https://www.facebook.com/KornGoThailand
CANADA POLITICS TRAVEL
Canada calls the cops to break up long lines of passport applicants
Children suffer most
As Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, Canadians are returning to international travel in droves, applying for a passport for the first time or renewing passports that expired during the pandemic. This has sparked long lineups at passport offices. In some cases, the police have had to be called due to altercations.
The government knew this was coming and waved it all away.
The union representing more than 2,000 Service Canada workers raised concerns with the government last year about an expected increase in passport requests.
PHOTO: These people want a passport. Tough luck.
https://bityl.co/CsXy
Pope cancels visit to Congo and South Sudan, citing health issues
Vatican blames 'intense knee pain'
Pope Francis is set to send Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to Kinshasa and Juba, after having to postpone his Apostolic Journey.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-06/pope-to-send-cardinal-secretary-of-state-to-south-sudan-drc.html
[Monday morning joke]
UP IN THE AIR
A cook tosses noodles at his roadside food stall in the Yaowarat area of Bangkok aka Chinatown.
Most street food stalls such as his rely on LPG gas for cooking even as energy prices climb, forcing many eateries to raise menu prices.
U.S.A. CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE
The Second Amendment covers weapons.
So effective immediately, it's completely legal to carry your switchblade in Virginia state.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/the-second-amendment-isnt-only-guns-virginias-switch-blade-ban-died-today/
Columnist Charles M. Blow of The New York Times buys straight into the silly, disproved 1970s trope:
Women will save us from toxic all-male cabals
America will rue the day that it did not elect Hillary Clinton president in 2016.
It simply feels in this moment that women, more than men, have a clarity about the danger we face and the courage demanded to fight it.
TECHNOLOGY
The United States Open Technology Fund has opened access to free VPN software for Russians who are blocked from internet access by censors.
Tech firms Psiphon and nthLink have also been providing sophisticated anti-censorship applications to people in Russia, with OTF estimating that some four million users in Russia have received VPNs from the firms.
https://www.techradar.com/news/the-us-government-has-a-secret-weapon-against-russia-vpn
The Patriot P400 seems like a perfectly serviceable SSD. (Tom's Hardware)
1TB for $100 and transfer rates up to 5GB per second. It's DRAMless, so not suitable for server, but for most desktop use should do fine.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/patriot-p400-ssd-review
OpenSea (NFT marketplace) ran into supply chain problems of a different sort. (Bleeping Computer)
An employee at their email provider made off with their customer list. If you use OpenSea - which I do, for work - you will have already seen messages from OpenSea telling you not to trust messages from OpenSea.
It's all quite meta.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/opensea-discloses-data-breach-warns-users-of-phishing-attacks/
Facebook parent company Meta slashes hiring plans by 30% amid 'serious' signs of economic turmoil
https://justthenews.com/nation/economy/facebook-parent-company-meta-slashes-hiring-plans-30-amid-serious-signs-economic
Facebook announces death of its crypto system
Novi is dead, awaiting burial on August 31
She's dead, Jim.
https://justthenews.com/nation/economy/facebook-announces-end-short-lived-crypto-system
In fact, Nvidia, AMD, and Apple are all cutting back on 5nm production for their next-generation parts. (Tom's Hardware)
Thanks to our leaders for running a pump-and-dump scam on the entire global economy.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-apple-nvidia-reportedly-reducing-5nm-tsmc-orders
GLOBAL WARMING
The New York Times and hired analyst Coral Davenport have fallen into deep depression.
The U.S. Supreme Court has taken away President Joe's authority to mandate the emissions of power plants.
He has few tools left to combat climate change.
PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden and coal-fired power plants.
https://bityl.co/D1fy
U.S.A. ARMY RECRUIT
The U.S. Army has run short of soldiers and is having horrible problems trying to recruit more, so effective immediately, U.S. Army recruits will NOT require a high school diploma or a GED (equivalent).
Naturally, there's a catch.
But NO! This is not the same as McNamara's decision to enlist 100,000 known dummies, which led to the My Lai massacre and numerous other Effups.
https://sofrep.com/news/army-drops-requirement-for-high-school-diploma-or-ged-but-theres-a-catch/?utm_source=jeeng
U.S.A. GUNS CIVIL RIGHTS
Stephen Hunter: The massacre spree that never was
Stephen Hunter retired as the Pulitzer Prize-winning chief film critic of The Washington Post in 2008 and is the author of the Bob Lee Swagger novels. His most recent is Targeted, published earlier this year. Inspired by recent events, he sent us this column.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/06/stephen-hunter-the-massacre-spree-that-never-was.php
I'm on board! I was right inside New York City the last time:
Order needs to be restored in NYC schools if we want students to learn
https://nypost.com/2022/06/17/chancellor-banks-needs-to-install-a-serious-discipline-code/
TECHNOLOGY
QUESTION: Why is the U.S.A. government or any government even involved in such an issue?
Internet on the go: FCC greenlights Starlink service on moving cars, boats and planes.
https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/networking/internet-on-the-go-fcc-greenlights-starlink-service-on-moving-cars-boats-and-planes/
We may be underestimating how many cold, giant planets are habitable.
[And none of them have a global warming problem?}
https://www.popsci.com/science/super-earths-liquid-water/
AFGHANISTAN POLITICS
The Taliban held a large (by Kaul standards) party of their own - no wine spitzers, no toasting.
Then they demanded more, and more pleasant international recognition.
QUOTE
We ask regional and international countries, especially Islamic countries ... to recognise the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan ... release all sanctions, unfreeze (central bank) funds and support in the development of Afghanistan.
UNQUOTE
But know this: No policy changes, and forget about re-opening any girls' schools.
PHOTO: The Taliban flag, with a Koranic verse, flies from every marketplace in Kabul. Or else!
The full Crutchley column is at
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2337753/
U.S.A. SPORTS DRUGS
Baltimore Ravens quarterback died last month at age 26 because of his combine use of fentanyl with cocaine.
We know this for certain.
https://theweek.com/news/1014847/baltimore-ravens-linebacker-jaylon-fergusons-cause-of-death-released
IMPORTANT
Denver police, already unpopular if not openly despised, 'requested' that Avalanche (aka Nordiques) fans not celebrate too hard.
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/06/23/colorado-avalanche-stanley-cup-watch-party-celebration-police/
Tampa Bay media call it 'an era that ended in heartbreak'.
https://www.tampabay.com/sports/lightning/2022/06/23/lightning-game-ends-in-controversy-and-now-an-era-could-end-in-heartbreak/?itm_source=parsely-api
GLOBAL WARMING
The BBC has launched its first Green Sport Awards - to celebrate those people in sport helping to contribute to a more sustainable future.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/61912411
