TallGuyJohninBKK

October 4, 2024 "In a classic example of how political ads mislead viewers by using out-of-context quotes, a TV ad from former President Donald Trump’s campaign cites the New York Times as saying Vice President Kamala Harris “is seeking to significantly raise taxes.” Period, end of sentence. The rest of that sentence in the Times said: “on the wealthiest Americans and large corporations.” There’s more context that was left on the cutting room floor. The ad twice features a clip of Harris saying, “Taxes are going to have to go up.” In the July 2019 event, Harris actually said, “Estate taxes are going to have to go up for the richest Americans.” ... The ad has aired in the swing states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada, according to AdImpact, a political ad tracking service. Nearly every citation in the ad is problematic. (more) https://www.factcheck.org/2024/10/trump-ad-on-taxes-uses-deceptive-political-playbook/ The latest in the unceasing flow of misinformation (false and misleading info) from the Trump campaign.

Another example reason on why there should be regulations restricting the posting of fake content to social media: Image of Donald Trump wading through flood water is AI-generated | Fact check A Sept. 30 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) appears to show former President Donald Trump walking through a flooded street while wearing an orange life vest. ... The post was shared more than 160,000 times in two days. The image was also shared on Instagram. Our rating: Altered Experts and an AI-detection tool confirmed the image is AI-generated. There's no evidence Trump waded through flood water in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. (more) https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/10/03/ai-image-trump-hurricane-helene-fact-check/75483588007/ https://checkyourfact.com/2024/10/04/fact-check-does-this-photo-show-donald-trump-walking-through-hurricane-helene-flood-waters/

These are the reasons California passed the laws they did and they were signed into law by the governor: Political consultant fined $6M for using AI to fake Biden's voice in robocalls to voters Sep. 26, 2024, The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday finalized a $6 million fine for a political consultant over fake robocalls that mimicked President Biden’s voice, urging New Hampshire voters not to vote in that state’s Democratic primary.' https://nypost.com/2024/09/26/business/political-consultant-fined-6m-for-using-ai-to-fake-bidens-voice-in-robocalls-to-voters/ Political consultant behind fake Biden AI robocall pleads not guilty to first six charges June 5, 2024 (CNN) — The political consultant behind a robocall that used artificial intelligence to impersonate President Joe Biden pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the first six charges he faces in New Hampshire, according to a court spokesperson. Steven Kramer, who worked for Rep. Dean Phillips’ longshot Democratic primary campaign against Biden, previously admitted that he was behind the robocall. On the call, a voice that sounds like the president urged more than 20,000 voters not to vote in the January primary and instead “save” their vote for the November election. Phillips’ campaign denied having any role in the robocalls and distanced itself from Kramer. On Wednesday, Kramer appeared in Belknap County Superior Court where he’s charged with three counts of felony voter suppression and three misdemeanor counts of impersonation of a candidate. https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/05/politics/biden-ai-robocall-political-consultant-plea/index.html

And the reason for this kind of legislation aiming to combat so-called deepfake content is the example of what happened earlier this year in New Hampshire: Telecom company that sent Biden ‘deepfake’ calls to NH voters hit with fine August 21, 2024 The telecom company that delivered robocalls mimicking President Joe Biden’s voice to New Hampshire voters two days before the state’s presidential primary is being ordered to pay $1 million to the Federal Communications Commission. Under the terms of the settlement announced Wednesday, Texas-based Lingo Telecom will also revise its business practices. In January, the company delivered tens of thousands of robocalls to New Hampshire voters that included an artificially created voice that mimicked Biden. The message used the Biden catchphrase, “What a bunch of malarkey,” before encouraging recipients to skip the state primary and save their votes for November. ... Steven Kramer, the political consultant accused of coordinating the calls, is facing multiple charges of voter suppression in New Hampshire, as well as potential civil fines from the FCC, for his role in the misinformation effort. https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2024-08-21/telecom-company-that-sent-biden-deepfake-calls-to-nh-voters-hit-with-fine

What the above posts don't make clear is the one law that was the subject of this court ruling was only one of THREE related laws recently signed by the governor in California. And this court ruling only applies to one of those, AB 2839. The other two remain in effect, though apparently won't apply for the upcoming November election because they weren't "urgency" measures: "AB 2655 by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) requires large online platforms to remove or label deceptive and digitally altered or created content related to elections during specified periods, and requires them to provide mechanisms to report such content. It also authorizes candidates, elected officials, elections officials, the Attorney General, and a district attorney or city attorney to seek injunctive relief against a large online platform for noncompliance with the act." AND AB 2355 by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) requires that electoral advertisements using AI-generated or substantially altered content feature a disclosure that the material has been altered. The bill authorizes the Fair Political Practices Commission to enforce a violation of these disclosure requirements by seeking injunctive relief to compel compliance or pursuing other remedies available to the commission under the Political Reform Act. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/09/17/governor-newsom-signs-bills-to-combat-deepfake-election-content/

The California law in question, which sounds pretty reasonable and valuable to me: AB 2839 - Protecting Democracy against Election Disinformation and Deepfakes "California is entering its first-ever generative artificial intelligence (AI) election, in which disinformation powered by generative AI will pollute our information ecosystems like never before. In a few clicks, using current technology, bad actors now have the power to create a false image of a candidate accepting a bribe, a fake video of an elections official “caught on tape” saying that voting machines are not secure, or generate an artificial robocall in the Governor's voice incorrectly telling millions of Californians their voting site has changed." PROBLEM Those trying to influence campaigns—conspiracy theorists, foreign states, online trolls, and even candidates themselves—are already creating and distributing deepfake images, audio, and video content, in the US and around the world. This generative AI-fueled disinformation can affect voter behavior and undermine faith in our elections. With this expected onslaught already starting, voters in 2024 will not know what images, audio, or video they can trust, and their faith in election integrity and our democracy will be significantly diminished. https://a28.asmdc.org/ab-2839-protecting-democracy-against-election-disinformation-and-deepfakes

Of course the Trump and Co. folks in the world don't want state laws that aim to prevent election-related misinformation, because the Trump campaign and its right-wing surrogates have been an unceasing flood of misinformation and false or misleading claims this year. Examples: Fact check: To attack Harris, Trump falsely describes new stats on immigrants and homicide https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/29/politics/fact-check-trump-harris-immigrants-homicide/index.html Fact check: New Trump attack ad deceptively edits out key words from Harris and The New York Times https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/04/politics/fact-check-trump-ad-harris-taxes/index.html Trump Ad on Taxes Uses Deceptive Political Playbook https://www.factcheck.org/2024/10/trump-ad-on-taxes-uses-deceptive-political-playbook/ Trump repeats baseless claim about Haitian immigrants eating pets https://archive.is/g1XUn etc etc etc... Re the California law: "The law makes it illegal to create and publish false materials related to elections 120 days before Election Day and 60 days thereafter. It also allows courts to stop the distribution of the materials, and violators could face civil penalties. The law exempts parody and satire." https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/california-election-ai-deepfakes-law-potential-legal-challenges/ As reported below, it's a perplexing ruling that appears to give permission for all kinds of election-related misinformation to be conveyed via video format. But the court still ruled for some reason: "Mendez ruled that one aspect of the law did pass muster: If content is audio only, a disclosure must be read at the start and end of the recording, and at two-minute intervals if the recording is longer than two minutes. “The court acknowledges that the risks posed by artificial intelligence and deepfakes are significant, especially as civic engagement migrates online and disinformation proliferates on social media,” Mendez wrote." https://www.courthousenews.com/federal-judge-stops-implementation-of-california-misinformation-law/ The above news report doesn't give any explanation of how/why the judge decided that election-related digitally manipulated (faked) video content shouldn't have the same kinds of disclosure safeguards.

I wasn't worried before... But after reading the following headline here: Bangkok Will Not Flood, PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra Assures I'm moving all my belongings to high ground!!!!

Funny that we have all the aviation officialdom puffery in the OP... But absolutely no mention of this news item amid heavy rains from just a few days ago:

I live in the same general area and have for almost the past two decades. And while there always are problems, I must say, the last major round of sidewalk reconstruction in the lower Sukhumvit area has proven to be the best and most durable that I've seen during my time here. Before, they just laid new tiles down onto dirt or sand, which quickly became uneven and unstable once the rains came. But this last time, they actually laid down a concrete base level first before putting down the paver tiles... Which in the areas I traverse, thus far has meant that they have remained in pretty good and stable condition overall.

I had an item I ordered prepaid from Lazada recently that arrived to my home broken and leaking, as could be seen from the exterior of the package. Thus I refused acceptance of the package, which I had already paid for via bank card. At that point, via the Lazada messaging system, I tried to contact the Thailand-based seller. Over multiple days, the seller never even acknowledged the Lazada messages. During that same time, I repeatedly tried calling Lazada's customer service phone number during their normal business hours. Every time, I got a recording and told to hold for the next available operator. Then within a few minutes each time, the call was just disconnected, dropped. During that time, I also tried to contact Lazada via their online chat support channel during the business day when they claim to have live chat support operators. Each time, all I got was an automated chatbot response system that didn't offer any kind of option for my situation. Never was able to connect to a live chat person. Lazada, IMHO, is a AGGRAVATING MESS if you have to deal with any problems with their orders.

The above cited article also quotes one Canadian source as saying it's been recent changes to Canada's own immigration policies that have driven the [relatively small -- 19K+ for the past year] influx of illegal Canada to U.S. border crossings. "NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said changes to Canada's immigration policy have helped fuel an exodus to the U.S. of students and temporary foreign workers. "It is quite possible that people are now finding themselves in this dire situation and looking elsewhere to establish themselves," she said."

Voter roll purging part of a broader Republican campaign: Republicans are suing more election officials over voter rolls in several battleground states September 20, 2024 Washington (CNN) — Attempts by conservatives to purge state voter rolls ahead of the November election, including from Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, are ramping up, prompting concern from the Justice Department that those efforts might violate federal rules governing how states can manage their lists of registered voters. .... Questioning the accuracy of voter rolls has long been a hallmark of right-wing efforts to raise doubts about the integrity of elections and featured prominently in 2020 when allies of the former president pushed false claims that scores of fraudulently cast votes helped Joe Biden win the presidency. [emphasis added] ... The right-wing effort to purge voter rolls has largely centered around claims that noncitizens are casting illegal votes in favor of Democrats. But reports of noncitizen voting in US elections are extremely rare. The right-leaning Heritage Foundation’s database of confirmed fraud cases lists fewer than 100 examples of non-citizens voting between 2002 and 2022, amid more than 1 billion lawfully cast ballots. [emphasis added] https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/politics/attempts-to-purge-voter-rolls-increase-as-election-nears/index.html

And as for your "calamity,": From the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice that focuses on voting rights issues: Noncitizen Voting Is Already Illegal — and Vanishingly Rare April 17, 2024 The Brennan Center is part of a broad coalition tracking election-related disinformation. A big rumor we’ve identified rattling around the murkier regions of social media is that hordes of noncitizens are voting. That’s false. A lie. An urban myth. But it has also, somehow, become the glue that’s holding together disparate wings of the Republican Party. ... In 2017, my colleagues Myrna Pérez (now a federal appeals court judge) and Douglas Keith conducted an exhaustive study of 42 jurisdictions in the 2016 general election. They found that “election officials in those places, who oversaw the tabulation of 23.5 million votes, referred only an estimated 30 incidents of suspected noncitizen voting for further investigation or prosecution. In other words, even suspected — not proven — noncitizen votes accounted for just 0.0001 percent of the votes cast.” [emphasis added] (more) https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/noncitizen-voting-already-illegal-and-vanishingly-rare

More misleading nonsense..... as previously reported here, since the Alabama action didn't just target individuals who were believed to be non-citizens: "Last month, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced that he had begun inactivating the voter registrations of 3,251 people who had been previously issued noncitizen identification numbers. A Justice Department review of the purge also identified multiple native-born and naturalized citizens who were incorrectly identified as potential noncitizens during the voter purge. A coalition of voting rights groups separately sued Allen earlier this month over the move, alleging he illegally targeted and intimidated naturalized citizens." https://abcnews.go.com/US/doj-sues-alabama-election-official-allegedly-purging-voters/story?id=114317068 That's in addition to the fact that Alabama's entire attempted purge of its voter rolls, according to the Justice Department, would violate federal law by being done too close to the upcoming federal election. The only "calamity" here is that right-wing Republican election officials or Republicans at large in various states are attempting to force voting roll purges that end up targeting Americans who are legally entitled to vote.

Trump 2018: Trump on Kim: Tough talk ... ‘and then we fell in love’ September 30, 2018 WHEELING, W. Va. (AP) — President Donald Trump told a cheering crowd at a campaign rally that there was once tough talk “back and forth” between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “and then we fell in love.” Trump said at the Saturday night rally in West Virginia: “He wrote me beautiful letters and they’re great letters. We fell in love.” https://apnews.com/article/4d56f6e8f99d4eefb2f22b7a6dd072d0 Trump 2024: Huh???

Trump backs out of "60 Minutes" interview after appearing "scattered" and incoherent in Wisconsin ... ""Where's my apology? They should apologize. They were wrong on everything. So I'd like to get an apology,” Trump said at a press conference in Milwaukee on Tuesday in which he repeatedly fumbled his words and showed signs of potential cognitive decline. The 78-year-old first confused the leaders of North Korea and Iran, and then suggested that 34 soldiers who suffered traumatic brain injuries from an Iranian attack during his presidency were merely experiencing "headaches." As The Washington Post reported, Trump "was especially scattered and hard to follow" at Tuesday's event. Several of his remarks were unintelligible, including a claim that Democrats want to "keep Black and Hispanic children trapped in family government." (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-backs-out-of-60-minutes-interview-after-appearing-scattered-and-incoherent-in-wisconsin/ar-AA1rANcy

All of the above leads me to believe one of two things. Either.... A. There are a handful of AseanNow member/posters here who are in fact ghost writing Trump's Truth Social posts (instead of Trump himself).... because what is written above in black and what a few AN posters here constantly bleat are virtually verbatim the same. or B. Those same AN posters are seriously challenged for being able to express any original thought on these topics, other than with the exact same sordid right-wing cliches that Trump feeds them....

As I said above, never been... But I thought I read in the past here about Phil ATMs often being non-working and/or hard to find, unlike Thailand.... The Thai cards charge foreign ATM usage and foreign currency fees. My U.S. cards, of which I have several, don't. What would be the point of bringing those kind of Thai bank cards?

I've got an upcoming first-time trip to the Phils for a week or so (accompanying my Thai wife on her business trip). I have a no fee / fee reimbursing U.S. debit card that should make withdrawing local funds from a Phil ATM no problem, apart from using the card itself there for POS purchases. But if anyone here is familiar, I could use some guidance on what the best value / most reliable / easiest to find working Phil bank ATMs are for foreigners to use.... We're gonna be staying in the Makati area... so not out in the boonies. TIA.

What's with this? Never heard of this below before... So just getting on the plane and arriving visa-exempt isn't sufficient anymore??? https://etravel.gov.ph/frequently-asked-questions

While entertaining, I think it's only fair to point out that the above headline could be used for almost any / every day in which Trump happens to be in the news for whatever reasons! 🙂

Nice turn of a phrase, regarding the juxtaposition of Trump supporters and the notion of "truth"!

Don't worry, John.... Rudy is still on Team Trump, even though it's thus far cost him his rights to practice law in New York and Washington DC, and is en route to potentially ruining him financially. Being in cahoots with Donald Trump is "great" for one's prospects.... That would seem to be a major part of the reason that Giuliani's daughter doesn't want Trump back in charge of the U.S., fearing he'd ruin the country the same as his involvement ruined Rudy. AND Judge ends Rudy Giuliani bankruptcy case, says he flouted the process with his lack of transparency July 13, 2024 NEW YORK (AP) — A judge threw out Rudy Giuliani ’s bankruptcy case on Friday, slamming the former New York City mayor as a “recalcitrant debtor” who thumbed his nose at the process while seeking to shield himself from a $148 million defamation judgment and other debts. [emphasis added] U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane criticized Giuliani for repeated “uncooperative conduct,” self-dealing, and a lack of transparency. The judge cited failures to comply with court orders, failure to disclose sources of income, and his apparent unwillingness to hire an accountant to go over his books. ... Giuliani is now free to also pursue an appeal of the defamation verdict, which arose from his efforts to overturn Republican Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss. (more) https://apnews.com/article/giuliani-bankruptcy-freeman-moss-2020-election-3cf8d70d1dc2608705c9f938bbb8941d

Rudy Giuliani’s Daughter: Trump Took My Dad From Me. Please Don’t Let Him Take Our Country Too “Nothing I have experienced prepared me for the very public and relentless implosion of my father’s life,” writes Caroline Giuliani, announcing her support for Kamala Harris. By Caroline Rose Giuliani September 30, 2024 "While Kamala Harris has gained extraordinary momentum by infusing this election with vitality and hope, I worry that too many Americans remain disconnected from the visceral, psychologically draining memory of Trump’s deeply destabilizing presidency. If enough people truly remembered what that chaos felt like, another Trump term wouldn’t even be on the table. But for those open to seeing the bare and unvarnished truth, there are unmistakable reminders of Trump’s destructive trail all around us, and it has broken my heart to watch my dad become one of them. As Rudy Giuliani’s daughter, I’m unfortunately well-suited to remind Americans of just how calamitous being associated with Trump can be, even for those who are convinced he’s on their side. Watching my dad’s life crumble since he joined forces with Trump has been extraordinarily painful, both on a personal level and because his demise feels linked to a dark force that threatens to once again consume America. Not to disregard individual accountability in the slightest, but it would be naive for us to ignore the fact that many of those closest to Trump have descended into catastrophic downward spirals. If we let Trump back into the driver’s seat this fall, our country will be no exception." (more) https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/caroline-giuliani-trump-kamala-harris# For the record, Giuliani's daughter is an avowed liberal: Political views "Despite coming from a prominent Republican family, Giuliani has supported Democratic candidates.[28] During the 2008 United States presidential election, while her father was seeking the Republican nomination, she joined a Facebook group supporting Barack Obama called One Million Strong for Barack, and posted on her profile that she was a "liberal."[29][30][31] Giuliani left the Facebook group after online activity was reported in the media.[32] She supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election, while her father was a vocal supporter of Donald Trump.[29][22][33] In 2016, when questioned about her political beliefs conflicting with her father's, she stated, "he knows and is fully comfortable with it and thinks I have a right to my opinion."[34][35][36] ... She accused the Trump administration of stoking "the injustice that already permeated" society, and criticized Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his policies that rolled back protections for the LGBTQ community, women, immigrants, people with disabilities, and people of color.[29][38][39] She went on to endorse former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris for the 2020 United States presidential election, and praised Biden's plans to combat climate change.[29][22][40] ... On September 30, 2024, Giuliani endorsed vice president Kamala Harris for the 2024 United States presidential election, writing in Vanity Fair: "I’ve been grieving the loss of my dad to Trump. I cannot bear to lose our country to him too."[42][43] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Giuliani