Steam train trip-tickets all tone
The Ides of July are upon us.
The graphic report above for Thursday's combat against the coronavirus is there, this morning, for a reason.
Which we now present.
Thai doctors, virologists and other medical specialists finally turned on junta on Thursday evening.
The daily coronavirus numbers being fed to the media and public are bogus.
Actual daily infection rates today are about at least 20,000, probably 30,000.
In coming days, daily infections will be 50,000.
For now, most Thai and foreign (tourists) patients show only mild symptoms.
Said Associate Professor Doctor Nitipatana Chierakul, head of the division of respiratory diseases and tuberculosis at Mahidol University's Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital:
Considering the number of positive Covid-19 antigen test results counted and reported by the 'ministry of public health' last week, the average number of infections via antigen testing alone should be about 20,000 per day.
One of the most interesting aspects to this turn against the junta's information drives:
There was no reaction (yet) from junta spokespersons or the man supposedly in charge, ex-general Prayut.
It has appeared for two years that Thailand's ruling junta has no alternative, no Plan B to deal with the unspeakably horrible place it has dumped us.
Oh, and did you hear? Vaccines don't work well against Covid:
It must be true because Doctor Anthony Saint Fauci said it.
https://bityl.co/DF17
All vaccines have side effects, of course. Just like, all viruses have mutations built in. But the moralizing and self-righteous censorship regarding this vaccine has been particularly egregious. But, as with Fauci's recent remarks, there seems to be a bit of a climb-down going on.
Where 'drastic restrictions' means border closures, flight halts, 'Papers Please', home isolation, masking at gunpoint... etc. etc.
But wait! If Doctor Professor Faculty Director...Yong Poovorawan is so 'well-known' why does it take a newspaper to tell the public that he is well-known?
And he now is openly defying the junta, by calling the current (April 15-July 15) outbreak of Covid-19 and mutations as "Thailand's sixth wave" of the disease.
The one that is going to get far, far worse than it is.
Professor Yong Poovorawan is currently Head of the Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
Why are Doctor Yong and a tonne of associates frustrated, exasperated and alarmed about the daily reporting of Covid stats?
Simply because it's bad science. The heads of their agencies are using weak or flawed data to make critically important public health decisions.
That includes decisions on masks, inoculations and tourism.
Complacent Bank of Thailand
Spokesmen for the central bank said on Thursday there are "no plans" for urgent steps to combat inflation.
In one word:
Asked whether the bank's monetary policy committee would have an off-cycle meeting to review the policy rate, an official said "No" in a message to reporters.
HOWEVER
The BoT's next scheduled policy review will be on August 10.
Economists expect a hike in the key rate from the current record low of 0.5%.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2346128/
JUST FYI
Here are the current foreigh-exchange ratea, as of this morning.
One item to note: The U.S. dollar and the euro are now identical.
U.S.A. WORLD INFLATION
U.S. media headlines state, that given the 9.1% jump in inflation in June, "Bidenflation will be in double digits by next month."
Which is silly. U.S. inflation is already in double digits.
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/u.s.-producer-price-index-jumps-more-than-expected-in-june
BANGKOK MOVIE FESTIVAL
There is arguably no film festival, anywhere on Earth, as outright corrupt as the Bangkok Film Festival. So here we go again.
... Don, who is both an experienced festival selector and an independent film producer, said that details such as the scale of the event and programming sections have yet to be finalized.
"It will definitely be an international event," he told Variety. Previous editions ran to a selection of 70-80 film titles.
https://variety.com/2022/film/asia/bangkok-world-film-festival-revived-1235315457/
ELEPHANT RESCUE
[NOTE: August 12 is the birthday of the Queen Mother Sirikit and is marked in Thailand as Mother's Day.]
Hey, Prayut! How's that War on (some) Drugs working out for you?
Gunman hopped up on meth kills three, wounds three others in Chiang Rai
The man ran through Mae Suai district town, shooting as he went.
He has been arrested.
https://www.thaipbsworld.com/3-die-in-chiang-rai-shooting/
Meanwhile, to the west.
Khon Kaen police shot a male suspect, who was holding a female hostage, in the shoulder while the hostage was making a run for it.
Dramatic video here, and not graphic:
One of my favourite songs. Done sadly.
I SEE BAD TIMES TODAY: 'Inflation is Heating Up': CPI Hit 9.1% in June, Highest Rate in 41 Years.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/07/inflation-is-heating-up-cpi-hit-9-1-in-june-highest-rate-in-41-years/
I SEE TROUBLE ON THE WAY: Protesters Demanding Return of Frozen Funds Attacked by China's Security Forces.
Masked Chinese government thugs crush mass protest by bank depositors demanding their life savings back
Video showed protesters demanding that local authorities help them retrieve their savings. Some held banners that said: "Henan banks, give me my money back!", while others demanded that prime minister Li Keqiang, personally intervene.
AND
Shades of Tiananmen: A number of angry commenters posted on the Weibo account of the US embassy, urging Washington to pay attention to the plight of the victims.
The Guardian provides the best coverage of the day:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/11/china-violent-clashes-at-protest-over-frozen-rural-bank-accounts
Says a Bangkok-based freelance economist
Bank of Thailand can't afford to hold policy interest rate
Which is 0.5%
Like all countries in the world, the Bank of Thailand (and Monetary Policy Committee, or MPC) believes they can run monetary policy independently based on local economic conditions.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2345678/
Ivana Trump, the ex-(first) wife of former President Donald Trump, has died at age 73. Which is pretty young for a wealthy woman.
The cause of death is a mystery.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/pub-ivana-trump-wife-president-trump-dies-age/story?id=86834496
Eat This, Not That
Trader Joe's Chicken Caesar Salad Is Being Recalled In 3 States
One of the three states is Oregon.
https://www.tastingtable.com/926715/trader-joes-chicken-caesar-salad-is-being-recalled-in-3-states/
THE GREATEST LIE EVER TOLD: "We're from the government, and we're here to help you."
It's all about 'Ring' doorbells and Amazon's dive into the Nanny State.
https://bityl.co/DDwK
https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/senator-criticizes-rings-new-security-measures-calls-for-company-to-go-further/
Like it or not, Amazon can give Ring footage to cops without your permission - or even a warrant.
Applies to all the U.S.A. and all of Canada.
https://www.vox.com/recode/23207072/amazon-ring-privacy-police-footage
Rapper Bryson Gray on the Joe-Hunter organisation.
Lyrics are displayed, which is good, because the guy's fast.
Bryson Gray was the first rapper to record and distribute 'Let's Go Brandon'.
ECONOMY
Short video:
The U.S.A. economy by the way just hit a 40-year high of 9.1% inflation. But the video is self-explanatory about Thailand.
This just in ... this morning.
Producer Price Index Shoots Up a Near-Record 11.3% in June, Smashing "Expectations"
"Unexpectedly," the Experts and Masters of the Universe were wrong again.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/14/producer-price-index-june-2022-gain-11point3percent-on-surge-in-energy-costs.html
GLOBAL WARMING
With all that global warming that's going on, Beemers now come equipped with seat warmers. Sold by subscription.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/12/23204950/bmw-subscriptions-microtransactions-heated-seats-feature
Related
50 Years of M
BMW M, or to give its full official name, BMW M GMBH, the specialist tuning arm of BMW, started out with just a handful of enthusiastic employees who happened to know a thing or two about getting the most out of a BMW.
Responsible for creating some of the world's most sought-after performance cars, BMW M was originally set up in the early 70s to facilitate BMW's motorsport programme.
It has since gone on to produce BMW M cars for the road, which sit at the top of the range as high-performance models. Discover our comprehensive timeline of M car history (inside).
https://www.bangkokpost.com/auto/review/2343657/
WEEKEND READ
WTH Happened to Boris Johnson?
A fascinating deep dive into what the hell is going on in the UK.
At the end of the day, Johnson brought himself down. There's a lesson there for all the actors on the North American political stage.
Why Biden Could Come Back From Saudi Arabia Empty Handed.
The U.S. Left's war on American energy production is a license for OPEC - and the Saudis in particular - to print money. Why would they help Biden (at their own expense) out of the hole he dug himself?
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Why-Biden-Could-Come-Back-From-Saudi-Arabia-Empty-Handed.html
The Best (and Worst) Languages in the World
This guy Gavin McInnes is pretty good.
His "worst" is Taiwanese. But he also hates Mandarin.
Take Taiwanese for example. The Taiwanese were the indigenous people Chiang Kai-shek almost wiped out to create modern Taiwan.
Like Chinese, their language has different meanings depending on the tone it's said in. "RIce" is different than riCE" is different than "rICe" and so on. Only, where Chinese has four tones per word, Taiwanese has eight. Eight? Now I have to do tongue exercises when I wake up just so I can say, "GOod morNING."
https://www.takimag.com/article/the_best_and_worst_languages_in_the_world/
Surrendering to Death
Eagles of Death Metal recently finished a Canadian tour and I got to sit down with vocalist Jesse Hughes and discuss the Bataclan attack in Paris that killed 89 of his fans. You'd think he'd want to avoid the topic, but he was actually eager to get into it. He sees it as a catharsis.
https://www.takimag.com/article/surrendering_to_death_gavin_mcinnes/
TECHNOLOGY
Skynet Smiles:
A self-aware robot taught itself how to use its body.
https://www.popsci.com/science/self-aware-robot-learning/
Google is slowing down hiring for the rest of the year. (WSJ)
That doesn't sound particularly significant, but the company hires about 10,000 people per quarter.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-to-slow-hiring-for-rest-of-this-year-11657672312
The Chinese Wikipedia section on Russia was a work of elaborate fiction. (Vice)
Apparently one woman wrote or edited 300 separate articles, inventing politics, history, and references from whole cloth. All the articles linked together and confirmed each other's details, making the fable tricky to spot unless you looked, well, anywhere other than Wikipedia.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkgbwm/chinese-woman-fake-russian-history-wikipedia
