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Thailand’s Fervent Love for Guns

A Thai man looks at weapons displayed at a gun shop in Bangkok.

A Thai man looks at weapons displayed at a gun shop in Bangkok.

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BANGKOK – According to data provided by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health and Metric Evaluation, Thailand has the highest reported rate of gun-related deaths in Southeast Asia.

This is almost 50 percent more gun homicides than the Philippines, and with 7.48 registered violent gun deaths per 100,000 people, the figure is also twice as high as that of the US, which had 3.55 deaths per 100,000 people in the same year.

As the US State Department’s Bureau for Diplomatic Security wrote in its 2013 safety report for overseas staff: “Thailand has a fervent gun culture on par with the United States and has become a world leader in firearms-related homicides.”

But that’s not all. The Southeast Asian nation also has a high gun-ownership ratio. According to Thailand’s Interior Ministry, there are currently more than six million registered guns in a country with a population of 66.7 million – meaning that about one in ten people in Thailand legally own a gun.

A ‘Thriving’ Black Market

In fact, the total number of firearms in circulation is believed to be much higher once you include the many weapons that are sold illegally in the country’s black market, Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs in Chiang Mai, told DW.

In light of this, Gunpolicy.org, a website run by the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health, estimates that the actual number of guns (both licit and illicit) held by Thai civilians is around 10 million.

One important reason for the discrepancy is that Thailand’s Interior Ministry has no records of weapons held by insurgents in the country’s deep south. At the root of the conflict are decades-old separatist demands, with many residents of the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat – home to a Muslim, Malay majority in the predominantly Buddhist nation – calling on Bangkok to grant them at least local autonomy.

But that’s not the only reason. As counter-terrorism expert Tomas Olivier points out, the Thai government has also played its part in exacerbating the gun problem. “For decades, Bangkok has contributed to the growth of the actual amount of firearms by covertly supplying civilians in these southern provinces with weapons in order to strengthen their strategic counter-insurgency campaign,” he told DW.

Zachary Abuza, a Southeast Asia security expert and professor at the Washington-based National War College, agrees, indicating that in many cases firearms are supplied by the government or military to “defense volunteers” in order to defend themselves from insurgent attacks. As a result, this has led to the creation of what experts describe as a “flourishing illegal arms market.”

Legal Weapons

Owning a firearm in the Southeast Asian country has been legal since 1947. However, only licensed gun owners may lawfully acquire, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition. And the Act Controlling Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, Fireworks and Imitation of Firearms only allows for people to obtain licenses to own guns for purposes of self-defense, protection of property, sports or hunting. Applicants must be at least 20 years old and pass a background check which considers personal conduct, living condition, income and criminal records.

Licenses are also needed for owning firearms as keepsakes. Such licenses cost 1,000 Baht ($28) per person. As for the actual price of a gun, experts say that it costs about $600 to purchase a firearm. “That’s a hefty, but not an insurmountable sum for the average Thai,” John J. Brandon, the senior director of The Asia Foundation’s Regional Cooperation programs, told DW.

Easily Available Guns

However, not all Thais go through the legal channels to get their hands on a gun. “Despite these rules, it is fairly easy to acquire a gun in Thailand. Especially in shops along the Thai-Myanmar and Thai-Cambodian border, they can easily be found,” said Chambers.

Siegfried Herzog, head of the regional office of the German foundation Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung in Bangkok, has a similar view. “Guns are easily available in Thailand, and a huge number of people possess deadly weapons illegally.

“Some of these firearms were smuggled across the border. Others were imported for the police or military but then somehow found their way into private hands,” he told DW. In fact, experts claim that military, police and paramilitary officials not only have easy access to such weapons, but have also been known to sell these to non-state officials.

Armed Robbery and Vendettas

But who is responsible for the high homicide rate? The Thai government does not provide a specific breakdown of gun-related murders and acts of violence. But some experts point to the Malay-Muslim insurgents in the deep south as well as the mafia syndicates across the country as significant arms-bearing groups.

However, other analysts such as Herzog say they believe that a lot of the violence is perpetrated by individuals, given that business disputes, robberies, fits of passion, personal vendettas and loss of face are often named as the main reasons for gun-related deaths.

And then there is the issue of contract killings. “In Thailand the number of hitmen is relatively high compared to other countries, although no estimates are available. The starting price for a ‘hit’ is about 50,000 baht (around $1,400). Hitmen are accessible and fairly cheap,” explained Chambers.

‘No one has taken Responsibility’

As for the state’s handling of the situation, experts point out that it has “occasionally” ordered the surrender of handguns and rifles, threatening legal action, but stress that such orders have not been consistently implemented all over the country.

Moreover, gun-related deaths are usually examined on a case by case basis and not as a larger social issue, say analysts. “There seems to be apathy among state officials about changing gun policy,” said analyst Chambers, who believes that the solution would be to bar civilians from owning guns.

“No one has taken responsibility, no one has really taken up the issue,” lamented Kasit Piromya, a former foreign minister. The minister was quoted by AFP news agency as calling for tighter gun controls, as well as an amnesty for illegal weapons.

Bangkok’s Stance

Security analyst Olivier, who is also CEO of security consultancy Lowlands Solutions Netherlands (LSN), says that the general opinion, also within the Thai government, is that parallel to a more comprehensive debate on gun control, Thailand is in urgent need of immediate “quick impact” measures to tackle traditional Thai gun culture.

For instance, Olivier argues that enhancing the national gun registration laws, introducing so-called ballistic gun data and a more thorough system to fight the organized crime syndicates, especially in the central province of Uthai Thani, are viewed as essential measures to effectively tackle the issue.

But it seems that this is easier said than done. As analyst Herzog points out, the main obstacles to achieving this are continuing difficulties to seriously crack down on illegal firearms. “Strengthening the capacity of the respective authorities together with further steps towards more transparency and proceeding with the development of a strong rule of law would therefore be crucial to address the issue,” he stated.

By Gabriel Domínguez

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

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Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

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Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

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Washington — Trump Media,  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.

The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.

The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.

The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.

trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.

Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.

trump

Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.

The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.

musk trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.

He also welcomed back a vast list of previously banned users, including Trump, and endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE | AP

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

Supreme Court

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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Scientists Awarded MicroRNA The Nobel Prize in Medicine.

US Inflation will Comfort a Fed Focused on Labor Markets.

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