The Korchnoi-Karpov extravaganza redux
Hello fellow kids, it's Friday, and Bad News: This week's Sock Hop has been canceled! Don't ask.
Scaling down the Covid Rules
Starting next Saturday (a week from tomorrow) Thailand is easing off all the coronavirus muckety-muck and folderal:
Vaxxports and Covid test results not needed for anyone entering Thailand.
Also, bothersome security guards at 'crowded public venues' like popular shopping markets and sports events have been firmly instructed to stop asking patrons for their vaxxport and/or test results.
No more cockamamie 'self-isolation' for those who seem 'just a little bit sick' when they arrive.
However that said
Anyone entering Thailand who seems a little bit under the weather must be detained for a short time and firmly instructed to
wash their hands, stay a metre away from everyone - and wear your damned mask!
And
The junta's controlling Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) and
the junta's "State of Emergency" declaration of March, 2020, will rmain in place and operational.
All of these rules have, as of 6 a.m. Friday (today) resulted in
4,676,338 novel coronavirus infections requiring hospital care and
32,686 deaths by SARS Cov-2 in Thailand (pop. 69.8 million).
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2397843/
Completely by coincidence, but at exactly the same time as the Thai junta's announcement:
Japanese prime minister Kishida announced that Japan is to reopen borders to independent travellers.
It is a major policy shift after nearly two and a half years of strict Covid-19 restrictions.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/09/23/national/kishida-japan-border-opening/
Which seemed to do little. As of this morning, the Rona outbreaks in Japan caused
20,840,785 virus infections requiring hospital care and
44,071 deaths by Covid.
According to the geekkeepers Japan (pop. 125.8 million) is the ninth worst-affected country and the worst in East Asia.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/09/23/national/kishida-japan-border-opening/
On the other hand, there is this from "medical experts" and the Gang of 97:
Study: Dieters with diabetes should set aside steak, but can eat mashed potatoes.
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2022/09/21/dieting-protein-intake-calorie-restriction-diabetes-obesity-study/5381663767684/
Asian bourses slip after Fed hike
And yet again, the Thai baht leads Asia in currency exchange losses - down 0.6% to 37.38 per U.S. dollar
The (only) difference between today's situation and the 1997 'tom yam gong' disaster is that today's currency crisis is such a slow (but steady) drop.
There is a chance the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on September 28 will raise the rate by 0.25% to 1.00%.
Analyst, CGS-CIMB Securities
Alleged 'drug tycoon' arrested
Narcs in Bangkok cuffed Tun Min Latt, a 53-year-old drug trafficking suspect they had been watching for months - maybe longer.
Three Thai confederates were also arrested. All four are charged with money laundering and conspiracy to traffic drugs. But those are preliminary charges.
The anti-drug police said that
so far
they have seized 200 million baht (US$5.4 million) worth of "drugs and other items" from the group.
In Myanmar, the heavily junta-connected 'businessman' is also well known as a suspected arms dealer, with close personal ties to the junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. He heads the Star Sapphire Group, the largest known arms broker in Southeast Asia. Latt is routinely identified by free Burmese media as a "regime crony". He also has been called the 'Bagman of the Tatmadaw'.
A report by the United Nations Human Rights Commission names Latt and Star Sapphire as the 2017 financiers behind the army's unbelievably brutal campaign to kill or boot residents (Rohingya) of Rakhine state = a campaign backed by Aung San Suu Kyi.
In those good old days, Latt's daddy was army lieutenant colonel Khin Maung Latt, loyal to the army government and rewarded with the sinecure title of 'director general, Hotels and Tourism Directorate. He was internationally suspected of involvement in Golden Triangle narcotics trafficking (heroin) and money laundering through the hotels.
Like father, like son? Nothing has been proved.
The U.N. report identified
crimes against humanity including murder; imprisonment; enforced disappearance; torture; rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence; persecution and enslavement.
https://www.ohchr.org/sites0/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/FFM-Myanmar/EconomicInterestsMyanmarMilitary/A_HRC_42_CRP_3.pdf
The weak baht
The steady fall in the value of Thai currency against the U.S. dollar has experts at the Bank of Thailand and inside the Finance Ministry concerned.
The ruling junta's token 'finance minister' Arkhom Termpittayapaisith stated the obvious.
The depreciating currency has added to inflationary pressures. But her5e's the problem:
We need to determine whether the declining value of the baht is linked to the country's economic fundamentals or external factors including the fast-strengthening U.S. greenback.
"There is not much the ministry can do to intervene, so the planned talk will be a joint analysis to see whether the baht is depreciating too fast and how its decline in value is affecting the economy, businesses and consumers."
When asked if the drop in the baht's value is likely to be a short- or long-term trend, Arkhom said the currency will eventually strengthen as the economy improves.
Banker and steadfast coup loyalist Arkhom said when the U.S. Federal Reserve is finished hiking interest rates in a bid to control inflation, the Thai currency will adjust accordingly. Which means little. The U.S. Fed hiked interest rates yet another 0.75% on Wednesday.
Which is actually gobbledygook.
Thailand Swears Central Bank Autonomy as Baht Extends Slump
Where by "Thailand" Lil Mike's Bloomberg.com means the not entirely healthy temporary 'caretaker' prime minister and ex-bff of Prayut, Prawit Wongsuwsn (photo below).
Who said, no, really, this time I really promise "I won't meddle with the central bank and how it handles the currency."
His junta loyalist finance minister has openly called on the Bank of Thailand to 'curb extreme volatility'.
At present, the baht is at the lowest exchange rate against the U.S. dollar since 2006, because of the newest interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-22/thailand-vows-central-bank-autonomy-as-currency-extends-slump
Fat Leonard caught and held in Venezuela
The head of a gang that looted the U.S. military of millions of U.S. dollars fled before his sentencing, and was on his way to Russia.
He stole US$10 million in in scheme of over-charging the navy for maintenance fees at Laem Chabang port.
A Thai woman accused of participating in the scam is among those facing trial in the U.S.
Real name; Leonard Glenn Francis. Now the U.S. government has to try to extradite him.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2397958/
WEEKND READING
What '60 Minutes' Could Learn From Oriana Fallaci
You don't have to be a strong critic to know that the Leslie Stahl interview with Biden about "will you defend Taiwan" was a total flop. It leaves more holes than a southern Ontario groundhog breeding field.
This article rather glorifies the Italian Princess of Interviews but makes some great points.
1. Why didn't Leslie Stahl/‘60 Minutes' have follow-up questions?
https://thefederalist.com/2022/09/19/what-60-minutes-could-learn-from-oriana-fallaci/
Sidebar:
Medical breakthrough? Or political?
XiNN employee suddenly and unexpectedly grows a spine.
Iranian President Scrapped Interview With CNN's Amanpour After She Refused to Wear Headscarf During Hijab Protests.
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/iranian-president-scrapped-interview-with-cnns-amanpour-after-she-refused-to-wear-headscarf-during-hijab-protests/
Pfizer Sued Over Fellowship Offered Only to Blacks and Hispanics, Specifically Excluding Asians and Whites.
Anti-racism. And by the way all Asians are actually white. Which is exactly what the government of South Africa stated in order to support apartheid.
Pfizer Sued Over Fellowship Offered Only to Blacks and Hispanics, Specifically Excluding Asians and Whites
Pfizer is being sued for excluding whites and Asians from its prestigious "Breakthrough Fellowship," a nine-year program that includes a fully funded master's degree and guaranteed employment with the pharmaceutical giant.
... Because Pfizer accepts reimbursements from the government, the lawsuit says, "All its operations -- including the fellowship -- are covered by" Title VI and Section 1557. That means the company could lose federal money if it does not change its application criteria, which explicitly restrict the Breakthrough Fellowship to "Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, and Native American" students.
https://tinyurl.com/2y4evh5w
Another year, another chess drama
Tech is at the heart of the biggest chess drama in years
World Number One player Magnus Carlsen, playing white, sat down for a game against U.S. grandmaster Hans Niemann - and after several moves Carlsen stood up and walked away.
So the story, up to now...
We think this American professional chess player Niemann was sitting on his anal beads.
We actually think that. Sounds uncomfortable. But bluetooth man!
And we think that his anal beads were occasionally vibrating from an off-stage mate with a bluetooth vibrator controller and we think the time and intensity of the anal-bead vibes were a signal, telling the anal-bead, um, wearer what his next move ought to be.
We know that the opponent of "our" professional chess player resigned and quit and got up and walked away. In mid-match.
We know but we cannot say who provided the initial intelligence about anal beads and remote vibrators. We know that Elon tweeted a "joke" that from now on, professional chess players would have to bend over for a cavity inspection before being allowed to play the match.
We know that the professional chess player who was left at the table after all of the above denied or pretended to deny that he was sitting on remote-controlled anal beads.
We know that the group FIDE is the equivalent of a North Korean dictator for all of professional chess, worldwide.
We know that a FIDE states that no professional chess player is allowed to criticise any other professional chess player, especially the current or most recent opponent.
We know that the U.S.A. grandmaster Hans Niemann was thrashing the world's best player Magnus Carlsen of Norway in a match streamed on Twitch and we know Carlsen walked out of the tournament but tweeted, "I hope to be back."
We know that several people asked Carlsen if he thought Niemann had placed bluetooth-controlled anal beads in a place where the sun never shines.
We know that careful Carlsen endorsed a video which stated: "I prefer really not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble." In other words, "Yes."
We know that Alurring Arabelle got it right:
Techcrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/21/tech-is-at-the-heart-of-the-biggest-chess-drama-in-years/
Chess Base: https://en.chessbase.com/post/is-hans-niemann-cheating-world-renowned-expert-ken-regan-analyzes
Just braggin'
The last time that world chess shenanigans hit front pages around the world for days on end, I was there and inside the camps of both players and the FIDE overseers.
Baguio City, Philippines, July 1978, World Chess Championship, Kremlin-communist superboy Anatoly Karpov vs. virulently anti-communist Viktor Korchnoi - both of them Russians.
Korchnoi's people claimed Karpov was receiving signals through the colour of the yogurt he ate during matches. Also, Karpov's chair (flown from Moscow) was electronically rigged to send signals.
This went on, daily, for 105 days, and was hilarious. There have been books written about it.
Karpov won, finally.
A Youtube headline: The Dirtiest World Chess Championship EVER
Editor, Daily Fishwrap
America's newspaper of record:
Border Town Puts Up 'Martha's Vineyard' Sign In Hopes Government Will Come Pick Up All Their Illegal Immigrants.
https://bit.ly/3Uxuz0E
Weak baht delenda est
Take a moment if you don't get it right away. It's pretty much a Thai satire.
