Thailand prepares to accept 100,000-plus refugees from Myanmar fighting. 2nd
THAILAND WEATHER
Completely free info and medical advice today from the Fishwrap mainframe:
Thai hostage of Hamas tells his story
The government of Thailand has ordered all Thais in Israel, especially the abductees of October 7, not to talk, ever, about their experience.
Gong Saelao, one of the farm labourers from a southern Israel kibbutz, has defied that order.
Gong was one of 23 Thai hostages released from Gaza after the Hamas raid, with eight still held captive. Nearly 30,000 Thais were working in Israel before the onset of war.
Benar News: https://t.ly/9Lgmn
The China Convergence begins with that quote from N.S. Lyons:
I do believe this is the longest thing I’ve ever written, but also the most important. Read with a stiff drink.
 ... I can already predict and describe the winner set to prevail in this epochal competition between these two fiercely opposed national systems. In this soon-to-be triumphant system...
GLOBAL WARMING THAILAND EAST ASIA
We need climate adaptation now -- Easier said than done
What It Feels Like
Local communities need to rethink their livelihood strategies. Likewise, governments need to consider climate risks and impacts and integrate adaptation plans into development plans.
The urban poor will be most affected as they are faced with higher costs of electricity and water.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2771528/
[The writer is head of the EU-funded Strengthening Urban Climate Governance In Thailand.
Kavi Chongkittavorn, veteran journalist and analyst of East Asian geopolitics, writes this week of ASEAN and its juggling of a 'triangular power game'.
The triangle faced by ASEAN ia a rising China, a trusted Japan, and a declining America are three cogs dictating the global geopolitical landscape in Southeast Asia in the months, if not years, to come.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2773194/
Camera.org is the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis. It has published a longread centring on sexual atrocities by Hamas and then focuses on
The Rape Deniers, most of them Team Hamas fans and/or simply Jew haters. The story has one, almost buried detail which, of course, the current government of Thailand has banned:
 Video from October shows Palestinian attackers ecstatically trying to decapitate a Thai worker in with a garden hoe.
Full, mostly distressing report: https://www.camera.org/article/the-rape-deniers/
The article has numerous links for those who might want to dive more deeply.
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To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone, [Reba McEntire]
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Thailand is prepared to accept 100,000 refugees fleeing fighting from Myanmar.
-- Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, minister of foreign affairs, Thailand
https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/advanced/2774153/
Three years ago, 14-year-old Ethan Crumbley took a pistol to his suburban-Detroit school to kill four people and wound 7 -- and now he's serving life in prison for it.
But in a landmark case, his father and mother each have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and awarded prison terms of 10-to-15 years for paying no attention to their obviously distressed and murderous son. Father James didn't even look at mother Jenny during their trial, the first of its kind anywhere in the United States.
The case is distressingly similar to the rampage of a 14-year-old Thai who killed two and tried to murder more at the luxury Siam Paragon Mall. In that case, the youth's parents pled to the public that they should have done more to restrain their child. There have been demands to prosecute the parents, but so far, nothing.
Sky News: https://shorturl.at/ezJM9
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From The Guardian: https://shorturl.at/dmnsH
TECHNOLOGY
RIP. Died, aged 94 at home in Edinburgh (a burgh in Scotland) Nobel laureate and physicist as well as the most humorous geek since invention of the wheel, Peter Higgs -- discoverer of the Higgs Boson. (The Guardian)
 "My greatest achievement", he said in a recent interview, "was pure happenstance -- the particle I found had the same name as me."
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/09/peter-higgs-physicist-who-discovered-higgs-boson-dies-aged-94
Hollywood in a panic as all signs point to a "full-scale depression" in the industry.
From January: More and more customers are cancelling their streaming services.
And Hollywood bet everything on streaming services. https://t.ly/Hf7jR
Customers canceled their streaming subscriptions at a higher clip than last year as services like Disney+, Netflix and Hulu jacked up their prices, according to a report.
Defections across premium streamers rose 6.3 percent in November, from 5.1 percent a year earlier
Deadline from March 18: Industry heading for a "major contraction," some call it a "full-scale depression."
SKYNET SMILES Elon Says
By the end of next year (i.e. 20 months from now) AI will be smarter than any human on the planet.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/04/elon-musk-ai-will-be-smarter-than-any-human-around-the-end-of-next-year/
 In his conversation with hedge fund manager Nicolai Tangen, Musk said
 AI is the fastest advancing technology I've seen of any kind, and I've seen a lot of technology. Computers dedicated to AI are increasing in capability by a factor of 10 every year, if not every six to nine months.
One codicil
 People could not get enough Nvidia chips. This year, it’s transitioning to a voltage transformer supply. In a year or two, it’s just electricity supply.
Which leads to the feeling that governments will make sure AIs get all the power they need while forcing us to get used to brownouts?
GLOBAL WARMING USA POLITICS
In America, about two to three percent of voters name 'climate change' as their top issue.
https://archive.is/aQjSe
Say This For Soccer (Daily Mail)
The fans are diehards. And a little terrorist threat or two won't persuade them from staying away from the game.
Defiant football fans flock to Champions League clashes involving Man City and Arsenal despite ISIS threats: 'I thought about it for a second, then said f*** it, I'm coming to London to drink beer!'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13289221/We-plan-place-Met-Police-tell-football-fans-tonights-Champions-League-clashes-involving-Man-City-Arsenal-safe-despite-ISIS-threats-thousands-fans-flock-pubs-outside-Emirates-drink-pints-defiance-terror-cell.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
Best Sports Headline of the day (because it's true) https://shorturl.at/BDJ28
The Masters 2024: Elite showdown amid golf's divided landscape
Two Bay Area (San Fran area) railway workers have been charged for building secret apartments inside disused train stations. (The Real Deal)
They built two apartments for a total of $50,000. They shouldn't be arrested, they should be running the state.
Or both. That would work.
https://therealdeal.com/sanfrancisco/2024/04/06/two-bay-area-railway-workers-charged-for-building-secret-apartments-inside-train-stations/
You guys ever played Scrabble with a Gen Z-er? (NotTheBee)
It's a terrible time, mostly because they're not allowed to be on their phone.
So now Mattel has come up with a wonderful new version of Scrabble just for Gen Z, Scrabble: Snowflake Edition.
What's next, Participation Trophy Spin The Bottle?
https://notthebee.com/article/mattel-launches-new-inclusive-version-of-scrabble-which-is-less-competitive-than-the-original-game/