Princess Baj collapses - prognosis is negative
Do the math, my kids. Today is Friday, December 16. How many days until Christmas, eh?
Princess Baj collapses - prognosis is negative
Thailand's most popular, admired member of the royal family. And arguably the smartest.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha, 44, first child of King Vajiralongkorn and his [now divorced] first wife Princess Soamsawali - and first grandchild of the late King Bhumibol the Great and Queen (now Queen Mother) Sirikit.
She is known everywhere as "Princess Baht" - in English Princess Paht.
Cornell University lawyer. United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia.
A People's Choice as next monarch and first ruling Queen of Thailand.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2461382/
PHOTO: Princess and her father King Vajiralongkorn at a recent event in Bangkok.
She was out running with her dogs in Khao Yai National Park yesterday when without any warning fell over because of a heart attack.
She was helicoptered to the country's No.1 heart-treatment facility, Bangkok Hospital - and then to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, centre of the top heart surgeons.
She is on ECMO treatment. Her heart and lungs are not functioning.
ECMO: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Simplest explanation:
The ECMO machine is similar to the heart-lung by-pass machine used in open-heart surgery. It pumps and oxygenates a patient's blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest.
There are several reasons why the fate of Princess Baj is quite a big deal.
Princess Baj is generally thought of, throughout Thailand, as the country's first (next) female monarch.
Change in the weather
It's not quite (officially) winter, but the kids wrap up.
Children wear warm clothes to guard against the cold spell at Klong Bangping School in Samut Prakan. The mercury is forecast to drop by a further 1-3C today in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces, and even lower in the North and Northeast.
SPORTS SOCCER WORLD CUP
All the rest of you can go home.
Here are the two teams that will meet Sunday in the final match of the World Cup - 10 p.m. Thailand time.
And here is the forecast for Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar
(26 Canadian is 79 real degrees)
The Fishwrap Recommends:
Leave a little early to get a good parking spot.
ProTip
Get all your money down now! Most of the bookies at the stadium are bent.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/63980941
Also
https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/Soccer/2022/12/14/qatar-France-beats-Morocco-World-Cup-semi/3861671044839/
The United Kingdom had former tennis star Boris Becker locked up securely for financial fraud.
Today they will release him and deport him.
PHOTO: Yes, it's what Boris looks like today.
https://t.ly/mD8T
'Chinese triad' investigation
Thailand's DSI, the closest thing to the U.S. FBI, shoved the Royal Thai Police aside yesterday and took over all investigation into operations of alleged Chinese tongs and triads.
The police investigation has got nowhere.
One (1) Thai-Chinese man, Chaiyanat "Tuhao" Kornchayanant, has been tossed into isolated jail cell, and police have seized 3.2 billion baht* in various assets. No charges have been announced.
The suspicion is that Tuhao runs the Golden Triangle meth-and-heroin operation.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2461312/
China is totally fixated on selling a submarine to Thailand and collecting 13 billion baht for it.
Thailand is obsessed with replacing the unacceptable made-in-China Yuan-class engine with one that's made in Germany.
This article is a week old but describes the situation.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2457090/
WEED POT CANNABIS MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
[AFP] Bangkok becoming a weed Wild West
Amid legal vacuum, vendors enjoy high times but no one knows how long they will last.
PHOTO: Marijuana vendors in Bangkok are enjoying the current boom, but many worry that everything could go up in smoke once cannabis legislation is passed.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2461302/
Attack in the South
Separatist rebels attacked a military outpost in far-South Yala province.
M-79 grenades and a pipe bomb wounded four of the home-guard troops.
The attack was likely planned by the BNR group, which is based in Malaysia.
A short time later, the separatist group attacked a nearby militia-ranger checkpoint.
RIP Actress-model Linda Khathancharoen succumbs to cancer
A star of the 1980s, Linda (third from right in photo) was well known for her roles in soap operas, and won an award for her acting in the Channel 3 drama, Songkram Phisawat. Her best-known movies were Kaew and That Woman Named Boonrod, both in the 1980s.
She battled cancer and other ailments for the past 15 years. The immediate cause of death was pneumonia.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/arts-and-entertainment/2447592/
The U.S. Federal Reserve (central bank) raises rates, forecasts more hikes, and warns:
'This gonna hurt'
[REUTERS]
The Fed projected at least an additional 75 basis points of increases in borrowing costs by the end of 2023 as well as a rise in unemployment and a near stalling of economic growth.
https://t.ly/qdf3
Binance bank run
Did you get your crypto stuff out and exchanged yet?
Binance Holdings Ltd. founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao said outflows from the largest cryptocurrency exchange have "stabilized" while warning of worse to come.
Binance crypto exchange withdrawals reach $3.7 billion in a week
https://t.ly/MnA2
A Roaring Good Time
The dinosaurs are back in Bangkok, this time on the 8th floor of the massive, riverside Iconsiam mall, at an exhibition called Jurassic Dinosaur Adventure Park. Rug rats can climb a 3-metre artificial volcano - starting today, through February 24.
Exactly what it is. Say it out loud. Shout it! SCAM CON SCAM
SBF's crypto con
https://nypost.com/2022/12/13/sbf-still-pretending-his-crypto-collapse-was-a-mistake-charges-show-it-was-a-con/
Is SBF going to jail? Heck, will SBF even be charged?
Here are the [possible, pending] charges decided by a U.S. federal grand jury in Manhattan, New York City.
In brief
Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried misappropriated billions of dollars of customer funds deposited into the cryptocurrency exchange that he founded, FTX, and lied to investors and lenders about the company and about his cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research.
He also (allegedly) also defrauded lenders to Alameda Research and equity investors in FTX.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/criminal-charges-against-democrat-megadonor-sam-bankman-fried-unsealed-faces-life-in-prison-denied-bail
Sam Bankman-Fried faces up to 115 years in prison if convicted of the following crimes:
Count One: Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud on Customers; up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Count Two: Wire Fraud on Customers; up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Count Three: Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud on Lenders; up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Count Four: Wire Fraud on Lenders; up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Count Five: Conspiracy to Commit Commodities Fraud, up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Count Six: Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud, up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
Count Seven: Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
Count Eight: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Violate the Campaign Finance Laws; up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
A judge denied Bankman-Fried bail due to him being a “great” flight risk.
PHOTO: Surrounded By Heavily Armed Law Enforcement, handcuffed SBF perp-walks into a New York City court.
No shots were fired.
The Fishwrap: Working to stay ahead of the headlines
So what are all these sudden references to the Tehran Construction Crane?
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iran execution: 23-year-old man publicly hanged from a Tehran crane amid protests
... protests challenging the country's theocracy, publicly hanging him from a construction crane as a gruesome warning to others.
There are photos. There is video. You won't see them here but if you absolutely positively need to see photos and videos of a man hanging from a construction crane until he's dead, Google will help you.
This photo (below) is the setup.
Help for searching:
The pro-government Mizan news agency published a collage of images of Rahnavard hanging from a metal crane, his hands and feet bound.
The Tulsa, Oklahoma Zoo is asking the public to name the penguin chick.
What, exactly, is wrong with Chicky McChickface?
PHOTO: 'Chicky' takes its first swim.
https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3678072f69d76f62089de0/african-penguin-colony-thrives-at-tulsa-zoo
The Real War on Women
The Cambridge Dictionary, once trusted by many people, updates its definition of 'woman'
And turns 'social media' decidedly un-sociable. ('The Telegraph' is an English publication from England.)
Its online version updated to say that a "woman" could be transgender people.
Example: Mary is a woman who was assigned male at birth.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/13/cambridge-dictonary-definition-woman-trans-female-update/
Oh, also cute.
The League of Never... oh, Yet Again Trumpers
Republican primary voters have high interest in Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a potential 2024 presidential nominee and view him more favorably than they do former President Trump.
PHOTO: Trump attended a rally in Ohio to support Republican candidates, ahead of midterm elections.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/not-again-trumpers-11671056847?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb
WEEKEND READS
Where is Sombath Somphone?
The popular Lao activist was disappeared from a Vientiane highway while driving home exactly 10 years ago.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-63949456
CHINA TAIWAN USA WAR
Beijing's nuclear strategy has long been surprisingly modest. So why did it just double its nuclear arsenal?
Presumably... to become the next nuclear superpower.
... And of course, this signaling comes amid rising military and political tensions between China and the United States, and growing speculation about a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan -- a conflict that could end up involving the use of nuclear weapons.
Xi's got to have it
https://tinyurl.com/3ukar4az
CORONAVIRUS CHINA
CHANGE: After backlash, China stops counting asymptomatic Covid-19 cases.
There are signs that the government in scaling back on its strict policies. In the past few weeks multiple testing facilities that would screen citizens before they were allowed into public spaces have been shut down. On Monday China discontinued an app the government was using to track travel and quarantine individuals who had visited high risk areas.
PHOTO: Policies that required PCR tests to enter public spaces have been relaxed.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2022/12/14/stops-counting-asymptomatic-covid/4911671032672/
It's 1965 in the U.S.A. and the Vietnam war has begun.
And don't none of you hippie-dippy young'uns think you're going to get a Beatle Haircut at Dom's, 'cause that ain't gonna happen.
