Sri Lanka down to last day of petrol
Good morning all, friends, enemies, good, bad....
Wednesday morning has arrived in Thailand, just as it will for the entire world on May 18, 2022.
THAILAND DICTATORSHIP CORRUPTION
The past three years of coronavirus panic, economic fright, lockdowns and direct harm to children did not mean everything stopped in its 2019 track. The novel virus has made the rich even richer, the powerful much more potent, and the corrupt more depraved than ever. Especially when the country and citizens needed it most, the bent, amoral corrupt 'leaders' looked away and increased their banditry.
Suspicions spark call to halt EEC water bids
Major project comes under the microscope
["EEC" is the junta's brainstorm Eastern Economic Corridor, and the billions of investment it will bring]
A parliamentary committee claimed it has spotted massive corruption in a simple EEC project - supplying water in the drought-prone area.
Members are demanding that Prayut launch a new round of online bidding as an alternative in order to attract more bidders and promote competition.
The scheduled contract signing on May 3 was suspended when the opposition Pheu Thai Party spotted obvious "irregularities", amidst accusations that the terms of reference were tweaked in favour of the winner.
The issue may haunt Prayut for months to come.
Pipeline centre stage for censure debate
The opposition [in parliament] will soon highlight the bidding process for the eastern region water project.
There are multiple reasons why this is happening.
Yes, why do you ask?
Could It Happen Here?
200 Dead, as Sri Lanka Literally Runs Out of Gas
Sri Lanka down to last day of petrol
Sri Lanka's new prime minister says the country is down to its last day of petrol as it faces its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years.
PHOTO: Naturally, the announcement of a gas shortage caused instant queues at all Colombo petrol stations.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61474732
A report by a risk consultancy has said that rising fuel and food prices are set to stoke a rise in civil unrest in developing middle income countries, with Egypt and Tunisia among the states which will take the hardest hit.
Southeast Asia will also face social unrest.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/09/big-risk-of-unrest-in-asean-if-food-inflation-surges-says-economist.html
America vs Asian-Americans and just-plain Asians
An attempt mass murder at a church in Laguna Woods, south of Los Angeles in California, killed one parishioner, wounded others.
The Geneva Presbyterian Church is especially popular among the area's Taiwanese and Taiwanese-Americans.
Guy by the name of David Chou reportedly told detectives that he was so concerned and mixed-up by all the China-Taiwan news that he just had to take out some of the church's attendees. Because they were mostly Taiwanese and he really, really hates those Taiwanese.
Chou was tackled by several of the ethnic Chinese men and hogtied, because when seconds count, police are only minutes away.
Eyewitness and participant Jerry Chen: "The pastor hit the gunman with a chair when the shooter paused to reload his weapon, Chen said, and other members of the congregation tackled him."
PHOTO: Police arrived with all their war stuff after the shooter was subdued and neutralised but felt they had to look busy.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-15/multiple-people-shot-at-church-in-laguna-woods-o-c-sheriff-says
WITH VIDEO:
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/15/us/orange-county-california-church-shooting/index.html
[NOTE:] The U.S. media has not mentioned the melanin content of the incident.
As one bored U.S.A. headline writer put it:
SOCAL SHOOTING POLITICALLY MOTIVATED: Gunman targeted Taiwanese church.
Out on a limb:
SOCAL shooting politically motivated:
Gunman targeted Taiwanese church.
https://bit.ly/3Lz7x3P
And (from the above) s-l-o-w-l-y, ever so agonisingly, the story of the attack on the Orange County Taiwanese Presbyterian Church emerges:
"I want to pause and just tell you that Dr. Cheng is a hero," Sheriff Barnes said. "Dr. Cheng charged the individual, the suspect, attempted to disarm him which allowed other parishioners to intercede, taking the suspect into custody."
[COMMENT: What a shame there were no police or deputies to "intercede". Good grief.]
Oh, just by the way...
Dr. Cheng was hit by gunshots and died at the scene.
Oh, just by the way, local cops have ordered witnesses and survivors to shut their gobs and don't tell anyone what happened. Only the fuzz are allowed to talk.
Well, David Chou won't be spluttering his version of what happened, which is a Good Thing.
ASEAN MYANMAR U.S.A.
Biden and Blinken and the American team were unhappy with the empty chair that symbolised Myanmar (Burma) at Biden's summit in Washington late last week.
ANALYSIS
American inattention to the regional crisis is reflected in its prioritisation of gaining some agreement on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, attempts to redirect ASEAN state foci from Beijing to Washington.
The empty chair gesture was by nature empty without a greater emphasis on Myanmar as a political priority.
The Summit should have been an opportunity for the Americans to place greater attention on Myanmar, who because of Ukraine has been given a layer of cover since February 24 to avoid the kind of international attention its human rights atrocities would otherwise attract.
That empty chair symbolized American inattention to the region.
Thailand's junta again cuts economic growth prospects
Thailand's [alleged] government has revised down the country's economic growth projection for 2022, due to concerns over fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war and the Covid-19 outbreak situation in China.
The National Economic and Social Development Council, the government planning unit, lowered its growth outlook of Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) to 2.5-to-3.5 per cent, down from its previous prediction in February of a growth rise of 3.5-to-4.5 per cent.
Five days to go (including today) until Thailand's first semi-meaningful election since the military takeover 8 years ago.
Opinion:
As Bangkokians Gear Up to Elect Their Own Governor After 9 Years, People in the Provinces Continue to Wait for a Chance to Vote
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/opinion/2022/05/15/opinion-as-bangkokians-gear-up-to-elect-their-own-governor-after-9-years-people-in-the-provinces-continue-to-wait-after-a-century/
PHOTO: Workers prepare one of the many official polling places for Sunday's election.
https://www.thaienquirer.com/40162/interpreting-myanmars-conspicuous-absence-from-the-us-asean-summit/
THAILAND CORONAVIRUS TOURISM
Thailand to welcome its 1 millionth tourist later this month
Thailand is on course to welcome its millionth tourist of the year later this month following the easing of travel rules.
... By comparison, Thailand only welcomed a total of 428,000 foreign arrivals for the whole of 2021.
PHOTO: This is not the one millionth tourist of the year. Not yet.
https://www.huahintoday.com/thailand-news/thailand-on-course-to-welcome-one-millionth-tourist-later-this-month/
The one millionth tourist will (supposedly) get a key to the country and a swag bag.
https://www.tatnews.org/2019/12/thailand-lays-out-red-carpet-to-welcome-its-39th-millionth-tourist/
THAILAND BANGKOK SINKING
It's good to be Number One!
Bangkok, Jakarta, and Manila are among top sinking Asian cities
It is no secret that Bangkok is up there on the list as one of the fastest sinking cities in Asia, if not the World.
By 2030, some six hundred million Asians will be affected by rising sea levels.
And global warming. Don't forget global warming.
https://aseannow.com/topic/1259821-bangkok-jakarta-and-manila-are-among-top-sinking-asian-cities/
Well, nothing like this would ever happen in Thailand, right? RIGHT?
Very VERY much Related:
Sri Lanka's neighbour, India, the world's second largest grower and exporter of wheat, has just outlawed all wheat exports, trying to hoard its wheat for its own consumption.
A notice in the government gazette signed by Santosh Kumar Sarangi, the Director General of Foreign Trade, said that a "sudden spike" in the global prices of wheat was putting India, neighboring and other vulnerable countries at risk.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/india-bans-wheat-exports-food-security-threat
THAILAND CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN
I just chatted recently with a woman of a major dive operation. She said they were at only about 30% capacity, and she certainly wasn't smiling about prospects.
Like many countries, the lockdowns of Thailand did enormous economic damage for little or no health benefit. And so they continue.
TECHNOLOGY
Is this a quick response to inflation threats?
Or is it preparation for the likely Chinese attack on Taiwan - which provides close to 100% of the world's computer chips?
Samsung prepares to raise chip production prices by up to 20%. Samsung has been relatively stable with its pricing throughout 2021, while other firms pushed ahead to increase prices.
Multiple risks including the Ukraine war and lockdowns in China make it harder for Samsung to weather the storm.
Something to look forward to. Allegedly.
Python is slow but is about to get faster. (ZDNet)
Python 3.11 is expected to be 1.25x faster than Python 3.10.
PyPy - which already exists - is 4.5x faster than Python 3.10.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/programming-languages-python-is-slow-but-its-about-to-get-faster/
