POSTMODERN QUISLING
Foxconn Founder Gou Urges Taiwan to Restart Talks With China

Cindy Wang
Mon, July 17, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou called for Taiwan and China to resume direct talks, while also criticizing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party for causing tensions with Beijing.

Writing in an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Monday, Gou said he had “long advocated the immediate resumption of direct cross-strait negotiations between Taiwan and China as the only way to truly ease tensions and to preserve Taiwan’s democracy, freedom and rule of law.”

He said the two sides should work together under the one-China framework, a reference to the belief among Taiwan’s opposition that China and Taiwan have agreed that they are one nation but that they have different interpretation of what that country is.

Gou added the government of President Tsai Ing-wen and others in her party “have greatly aggravated the threat of war, isolated Taiwan internationally, damaged our economy, scared away investors and made Taiwan less secure.”

Gou has been the subject of speculation that he may run as an independent in the presidential election in January next year, especially after the opposition Kuomintang nominated New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih as its candidate.

He made an unsuccessful bid for Taiwan’s top job in 2019. The 72-year-old, whose company assembles the bulk of Apple Inc.’s iPhones in China, traveled to the US earlier this year in an apparent effort to rev up his bid to become president.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has refused to deal with Tsai because she rejects the view held by Beijing that there’s just one China. Beijing has pledged to bring Taiwan under its control someday, by force if necessary.

The Kuomintang, which lost a civil war to China’s now-ruling Communist Party before fleeing to Taiwan in the late 1940s and 1950s, also accepts the notion there’s one China.

Lai Ching-te, the vice president who is leading the race to succeed Tsai as president, has described himself as a “political worker for Taiwanese independence,” though he’s largely avoided making similar comments on the campaign trail.


He has also said Taiwan is already a de facto sovereign nation and therefore does not need to declare independence.

--With assistance from Debby Wu.

How the wreckage of the Titanic was found during a secret US Navy mission to recover nuclear submarines


Gabbi Shaw
Updated Mon, July 17, 2023 

The wreckage of the Titanic.AP Photo

It took 73 years to find the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean.


The ship was finally found in 1985 by explorer Robert Ballard.


Decades later, Ballard revealed that the dive was actually a secret Cold War Navy mission.

Almost immediately after the Titanic sank in April 1912, there were attempts to recover the wreckage and the bodies of those who had gone down with the ship. But the limited diving technology of the time prevented this from becoming a reality for more than seven decades.

In 1985, the wreckage was found during a joint exploration by former Navy officer and oceanographer Robert Ballard and French oceanographer Jean-Louis Michel. But the dive initially had nothing to do with the Titanic at all — it was a secret mission to find the wrecks of two nuclear submarines, the USS Scorpion and the USS Thresher.

Of course, nobody knew that until 2008, when Ballard revealed the true nature of the mission to National Geographic.

"The Navy is finally discussing it," Ballard told National Geographic in 2008.

Robert Ballard during a book tour in 1987.Bettmann/Getty

Originally, Ballard met with the US Navy in 1982 to secure funding for a new type of submersible technology that would allow him to find the Titanic. The Navy agreed to fund the project — but only if it could be used to find the sunken submarines. The USS Thresher sank in April 1963, and the USS Scorpion followed two years later, in May 1965. They remain the only nuclear submarines the Navy has ever lost.

The Navy agreed that Ballard could search for the Titanic if there was any time left in the mission after finding the subs — and after confirming whether or not the Soviet Union had played any part in sinking them.

"We saw no indication of some sort of external weapon that caused the ship to go down," Ronald Thunman, the then-deputy chief of naval operations for submarine warfare, told National Geographic.

A shot of the Titanic wreck in 1996.Xavier Desmier/Gamma-Rapho/Getty

With 12 days left in the mission, Ballard was able to find the Titanic using a hunch that the ship had split in two and left a trail of debris.

"That's what saved our butts," Ballard said. "It turned out to be true."

According to Ballard, the Navy was nervous that people would catch on to why they were actually scouring the ocean floor.

"The Navy never expected me to find the Titanic, and so when that happened, they got really nervous because of the publicity," Ballard said. "But people were so focused on the legend of the Titanic they never connected the dots."

So, 23 years later, Ballard revealed the truth about his mission. He also wrote about his experience finding the ship in his book, "The Discovery of the Titanic."

"It was one thing to have won — to have found the ship," he wrote. "It was another thing to be there. That was the spooky part."

 

Congressmen to EPA: Don’t Trust Texas to Run Carbon Storage

Mitchell Ferman
Mon, July 17, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- Two Texas Congressmen are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to reject their state’s effort to oversee underground carbon storage and are calling for an investigation, arguing local regulators can’t be trusted to protect the public.

The EPA currently regulates underground carbon storage across most of the country except in North Dakota and Wyoming, which have been approved to oversee their own efforts. The EPA has minimal staff to regulate subsurface carbon storage, and companies are increasingly interested in capturing carbon and storing it underground due largely to economic incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Texas Democratic US Representatives Joaquin Castro and Lloyd Doggett said in a letter Monday to EPA boss Michael Regan that they are concerned over their state’s enforcers, the Texas Railroad Commission, which is in charge of regulating oil, gas and related activities. They want federal regulators to investigate Texas’ permitting and enforcement of subsurface injections to ensure it adheres to environmental justice standards.

“The Railroad Commission of Texas can’t be trusted to uphold the standards that protect health and safety in communities with carbon capture infrastructure,” Castro said in a statement. “Moreover, Texas regulators are unwilling to meet their existing obligations to plug abandoned oil wells. The EPA must not give the commission more oversight over carbon storage wells and related infrastructure, which are disproportionately located in communities of color already exposed to dangerous levels of pollution.”

A commission spokesperson said in an email that the agency’s “top priority is ensuring the safety and security of Texans and the environment, while also providing a predictable regulatory environment that allows our state to be the nation’s top producer of reliable energy.”

SPACE WEATHER 

'Cannibal' coronal mass ejection that devoured 'dark eruption' from sun will smash into Earth tomorrow (July 18)


Harry Baker

LIVE SCIENCE
Mon, July 17, 2023 

An image of the sun with a white ring surrounding the flash of a solar flare

A "cannibal" coronal mass ejection (CME) birthed from multiple solar storms, including a surprise "dark eruption," is currently on a collision course with Earth and could trigger a sizable geomagnetic storm on our planet when it hits on Tuesday (July 18).

CMEs are large, fast-moving clouds of magnetized plasma and solar radiation that occasionally get flung into space alongside solar flares — powerful explosions on the sun's surface that are triggered when horseshoe-shaped loops of plasma located near sunspots snap in half like an overstretched elastic band. If CMEs smash into Earth, they can cause geomagnetic storms — disturbances in our planet's magnetic field — that can trigger partial radio blackouts and produce vibrant aurora displays much farther away from Earth's magnetic poles than normal.

A cannibal CME is created when an initial CME is followed by a second faster one. When the second CME catches up to the first cloud, it engulfs it, creating a single, massive wave of plasma.

On July 14, the sun launched a CME alongside a dark eruption — a solar flare containing unusually cool plasma that makes it look like a dark wave compared to the rest of the sun's fiery surface — from sunspot AR3370, a small dark patch that until then had gone largely unnoticed, according to Spaceweather.com. On July 15, a second, faster CME was launched from the much larger sunspot AR3363.

A simulation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center showed that the second storm will catch up with the first CME and form a cannibalistic cloud, with a strong likelihood of it hitting Earth on July 18.

Related: 10 signs the sun is gearing up for its explosive peak — the solar maximum

A video clip of two coronal mass ejections erupting from the sun and combining into a single cloud

Both CMEs came from C-class solar flares, the mid-tier of solar eruption strength. On their own, they would be too weak to trigger significant geomagnetic storms. But their combined size and speed mean they are likely to trigger a G1 or G2 level disturbance, the two highest classes for a geomagnetic storm.

Cannibal CMEs are rare because they require successive CMEs that are perfectly aligned and traveling at specific speeds. But there have been several in the last few years.

In November 2021, a cannibal CME smashed into Earth, triggering one of the first major geomagnetic storms of the current solar cycle. Two more CMEs slammed into our planet in 2022, the first in March and another in August, but both only triggered minor G3-class storms.

Cannibal CMEs become more likely during the solar maximum, the chaotic peak of the sun's roughly 11-year solar cycle. During this time, the number of sunspots and solar flares increases sharply as the sun's magnetic field becomes increasingly unstable.

Scientists initially predicted that the next solar maximum would arrive in 2025 and be weak compared to past solar cycles. But Live Science recently reported that the sun's explosive peak could arrive sooner — and be more powerful — than previously expected. Weird solar phenomena, such as cannibal CMEs, further indicates the solar maximum is fast approaching.

related stories

—See the 'monster' sunspot that launched the Carrington Event, the most devastating solar storm in recorded history

—10 solar storms that blew us away in 2022

—1st mission to 'touch' the sun discovers a mysterious source of solar wind

Earth has already been hit by five G1 or G2 geomagnetic storms this year, including the most powerful storm for more than six years. These storms have superheated the thermosphere — the second-highest layer of Earth's atmosphere — to its highest temperature in more than 20 years.

The number of sunspots is also increasing as we approach solar maximum, reaching its highest total for almost 21 years in June.

Thai alliance reaffirms backing for Pita's second PM bid


Thailand's parliament votes for a new prime minister

Updated Mon, July 17, 2023 
By Orathai Sriring and Panarat Thepgumpanat

BANGKOK (Reuters) -An eight-party alliance seeking to form Thailand's next government reaffirmed its backing for Pita Limjaroenrat to become prime minister, Pita said on Monday, despite his defeat last week in a parliamentary vote.

Pita, leader of the progressive Move Forward party - the surprise winner of a May 14 election - failed in his initial bid to win the requisite support of more than half of the combined lower house and military-appointed upper house, or Senate.

The legislature will hold another vote on Wednesday.

After a meeting with the alliance, Pita said his re-nomination for prime minister could not be blocked by the Senate.

He also said his candidacy should not be affected by a complaint against him that was filed to the Constitutional Court.

However, Pita added that if he failed again he would let Move Forward's ally, the Pheu Thai party, "take action".

"If there is no substantial improvement, I have to think about this country... I'll step aside and let the second party try to be the manager of the next cabinet," 42-year-old Pita told reporters.

At the weekend, he raised the prospect of a political ally leading the new government if he failed to become prime minister.

Pheu Thai won the second-largest share of votes in May's election. One of its prime ministerial candidates, real estate magnate Srettha Thavisin, could be nominated for the next leader in the third vote for prime minister, if any.

In last week's vote, Pita secured 324 votes, with only 13 senators backing him and the rest voting against him or abstaining, which his party said indicated some were acting under duress.

Pita, a liberal from the private sector, has won huge youth support for his plan to shake up politics and bring reforms to sectors and institutions long considered untouchable.

That includes a law that prohibits insulting the monarchy -by far Move Forward's most contentious policy and a big obstacle in its attempts to persuade legislators to back Pita.

(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Alex Richardson)


Thai Pro-Democracy Leader Pita to Take Another Shot at PM Job



Patpicha Tanakasempipat
Mon, July 17, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Thai pro-democracy leader Pita Limjaroenrat will attempt a second time to become the nation’s prime minister, after a previous try last week was thwarted by conservative lawmakers and military-appointed senators.

Pita, 42, the leader of the Move Forward Party that emerged as the single-largest party in the May general election, hopes for his support base to increase in the vote due July 19. He had secured 324 nods last week, 51 short of the number needed to secure the premiership.

“The eight-party coalition agreed to nominate me to be Thailand’s 30th prime minister on July 19,” he said after a meeting coalition partners on Monday evening. The allies reaffirmed their support to his candidacy, quelling speculation that there was rift within the group.

His comments came on a day when members of the 250-strong Senate cited parliamentary provisions to say that he can’t run for a second time, which adds a new hurdle for Pita’s attempt at government formation. Any delay in putting in place a new administration will hurt an economy that is already grappling with the effects of a global downturn in demand for goods.

Addressing some senators’ claim that he cannot be nominated again, Pita said a prime minister nomination is different from a motion, which if it fails cannot be raised twice in the same parliamentary session.

The main obstacle to Pita’s bid is the old guards’ opposition to Move Forward’s agenda to amend the lese majeste law, or Article 112 of the Thai criminal code, which penalizes criticism of the king and other royals.

Pita, who Monday reiterated that he won’t back down from that campaign promise, also said he will eventually step aside to let a coalition partner take the lead. That will happen only should he fail in his second attempt, and also if a bill brought by Move Forward to strip the Senate of its voting power fails to be passed.

On Wednesday, Pita will still be the lone candidate for the top job, with the conservatives, including the Palang Pracharath Party, yet to name a candidate to challenge Pita.

The Move Forward party won 151 seats in the May 14 election, making it the biggest winner. Pita cobbled together an alliance of eight parties that hold more than 60% of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives. But he still needs the support of senators to reach the minimum 375 combined parliament votes to become prime minister. One senator resigned last week.

On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court is also due to meet to consider a petition from the poll panel seeking Pita’s disqualification as a lawmaker, because it found he was in breach of election rules.

--With assistance from Pathom Sangwongwanich and Suttinee Yuvejwattana.

Leader of winning Thai party, rebuffed last week, to try once more to become prime minister

Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of Move Forward Party, center. and Leader of Pheu Thai party Chonlanan Srikaew, left , wave to supporters after meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 17, 2023. The top candidate to become Thailand's next prime minister, Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, who was rebuffed last week by an initial vote of Parliament, declared Monday he will remain a candidate for a second round of ballot but acknowledges he may have to make way for a political ally if he cannot attract substantially more support. 

(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Mon, July 17, 2023 

BANGKOK (AP) — The leader of the progressive party that won a surprise victory in Thailand's May elections said Monday he will make a second bid to become prime minister after being blocked last week by the country's royalist and military establishment. But Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party, said he will make way for a political ally if he is unable to attract more support.

Parliament failed last Thursday to confirm Pita as prime minister even though his party captured the most seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. After the polls, Move Forward assembled an eight-party coalition with a combined 312 seats, a clear majority in the lower house, giving it the right to nominate a new prime minister.

However, selection of a new prime minister requires a majority of votes from both the lower house and the 250-seat Senate, which was appointed by the previous military government. Only 13 senators voted for Pita, giving him 324 votes, significantly short of the 376 needed for confirmation.

Many in the Senate, which represents the country’s traditional conservative ruling class, oppose Move Forward's goal of reforming powerful institutions including the monarchy, military and business monopolies.

Pita, a 42-year-old Harvard-educated businessman, declared after meeting with his coalition partners on Monday that when Parliament votes again on Wednesday, “the candidate for prime minister will still be me, for the second time.”

There are doubts that he can secure much more support, and some of his coalition partners have hinted they would like to see him step aside sooner rather than later.

Pita said that “If there is no improvement, no substantial improvement” in the vote, he would let the second-largest party in the coalition take a try at winning the prime minister's post.

That would mean the Pheu Thai party, the latest in a string of parties linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and has long been a target of royalist power holders.

Pita faces another threat to taking power, aside from the defiant senators.

Thai media report that the Constitutional Court will meet Wednesday morning to consider whether to accept a referral from the Election Commission alleging that Pita violated the constitution and should immediately be suspended from Parliament. It accuses him of violating a prohibition on politicians holding shares in a media company. The media company is no longer operating, and Pita says the shares are part of his father’s estate and don’t belong to him.

His supporters see this as the kind of dirty trick that has been used before by the ruling establishment against its challengers. For more than a decade, the ruling elite have repeatedly utilized the courts and nominally independent state agencies such as the Election Commission to issue rulings to cripple or oust political opponents.

Some senators have expressed outrage at the condemnation they have received for blocking Pita’s selection. Shortly after his bid fell through, two trending hashtags on Twitter urged the boycott of businesses associated with those senators and the exposure of their mistresses.

Several senators said they are launching criminal and civil suits to stop actions they said damaged the country and the good values of Thai people.

“It’s time to clearly show that senators will no longer tolerate this,” said Seree Suwanpanont, one of the most vocal opponents of Move Forward and Pita. He vowed to take action against all “those barbarians who just want to say anything they want, defame anyone they want.”

 

Thailand’s Pita Should Get More Chances in PM Vote, Poll Shows



Suttinee Yuvejwattana
Sat, July 15, 2023 

(Bloomberg) -- Pita Limjaroenrat, whose political party won the most seats in Thailand’s general election, should get more chances to secure enough votes from lawmakers and become prime minister, according to an opinion poll.

He was backed by more than 60% of the 1,310 participants nationwide in the July 11-12 survey by the National Institute of Development Administration to be given additional opportunities. About 43.2% in the NIDA poll said coalition parties should continue to nominate Pita until he gets the top job, while 20.7% said he should be proposed as the top candidate one or two more times.

Pita is the sole candidate put forth by the election’s coalition winners to become prime minister. Yet, the 42-year-old leader of Move Forward Party had been thwarted by conservative parties and the military-appointed Senate in his first attempt July 13 to assume the position.

He posted a video message on Saturday, showing his willingness to step aside and let his coalition partner Pheu Thai Party form the next government, should he fail in attempts to secure the top political office. Parliament will meet again on July 19 to elect a new leader.

According to the poll, Pheu Thai’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra has the highest chance to become the next prime minister if Pita fails again to secure enough support. Paetongtarn, the youngest daughter of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, had the nod from 38.6% of survey participants. Srettha Thavisin, another of Pheu Thai’s premier candidates, was second with 35%.

Thursday’s vote undermined the popular choice of the people, who handed an overwhelming victory to pro-democracy parties in the May election. While Pita’s Move Forward and seven of its allies held 312 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, they were outnumbered in the joint parliament sitting that included members of the Senate.

Thai PM frontrunner says only one more shot at forming govt

AFP
Sat, July 15, 2023 

Pita Limjaroenrat's Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats in May elections but his campaign to lead the next government was knocked back by military-appointed senators

 (Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

The liberal frontrunner to become Thailand's next prime minister said Saturday he would withdraw his candidacy if parliament did not endorse him next week, after military-appointed lawmakers foiled his first attempt.

Pita Limjaroenrat's Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats in May elections, buoyed by young Thais eager for progressive reforms after nine years of army-backed rule in the kingdom.

But the Harvard-educated millionaire's campaign to lead the next government was knocked back Thursday by senators in parliament who consider his pledge to reform strict royal defamation laws a red line.

The legislature holds its second ballot for a new prime minister on Wednesday, and Pita said he would support a candidate from coalition partner Pheu Thai if he again failed to win the needed votes.

"I'd like to apologise that we haven't succeeded," he said in a video address posted to social media.

"I'm ready to give a chance to Thailand by letting the party that has the second most votes... be the one to form the coalition."

Pita was 51 votes short of the 375 lawmakers he needed to support his candidacy during the first ballot.

Just 13 senators voted for him, with many voicing their opposition to MFP's pledge to soften the kingdom's royal defamation laws.

After the first ballot, the party ruled out compromising on its proposed revisions to the laws, which currently allow convicted critics of the monarchy to be jailed for up to 15 years.

- 'Help with this mission' -

All 250 senators were appointed under the junta-drafted constitution, which political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said was a reliable impediment to MFP's reformist platform.

"It is a way for the authority and the regime to stay in power in the long term and to prevent a pro-democracy government that can stand against them," he told AFP on Friday.

Pita urged his supporters on Saturday to get "creative" in urging senators to throw their support behind him in the next round.

"I alone can't change the senators' mind. Therefore, I ask everybody to help with this mission," he said.

"Send a message to the senators in every way possible, every way you can think of."

The MFP's largest coalition partner Pheu Thai is seen as a vehicle for the Shinawatra political family, whose members include two former prime ministers displaced by military coups in 2006 and 2014.

Property tycoon Srettha Thavisin, 60, is widely tipped to be Pheu Thai's candidate for prime minister if Pita's bid fails again.

Liked by business leaders among Thailand's influential elite, he has been touted as a potential compromise candidate.

- Wave of support -

Pita rode a wave of support that saw voters emphatically reject almost a decade of army-backed rule under Prayut Chan-o-cha, who took power in the 2014 coup.

But the MFP's reformist agenda has drawn strident objections from conservative supporters of the country's establishment.

Thursday's vote on Pita's candidacy came just a day after Thailand's top election body recommended the Constitutional Court suspend Pita as an MP -- providing more fuel for senators already poised to vote against him.

The electoral commission recommended Pita's suspension from parliament over allegations he broke campaign rules.

The recommendation followed a probe into Pita's ownership of shares in a media company, which MPs are prohibited from holding under Thai law.

The station has not broadcast since 2007, and Pita has said the shares were inherited from his father.

The Constitutional Court has also agreed to hear a case alleging that the MFP's position on royal defamation laws is tantamount to a plan to "overthrow" the constitutional monarchy.

Thai prime minister hopeful says he's open to let partner party contend for the job if his bid fails
 

Supporters of the Move Forward Party protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, July 14, 2023. The protesters are irate that Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party that placed first in May's general election, failed to be named prime minister by Parliament on Wednesday because only a handful of members from the non-elected Senate gave him their support.

 (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Sat, July 15, 2023 

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s rocky road to naming a new prime minister took a fresh turn Saturday as the candidate who led his party to first place in May’s general election said he is open to bowing out of contention if he cannot win a second round of voting in Parliament.

Pita Limjaroenrat, the 42-year-old leader of the progressive Move Forward Party, said he would be willing to let a coalition partner party field its candidate. However, he indicated the political battling could continue for weeks.

Lawmakers on Thursday failed to confirm Pita as prime minister despite his party's surprising victory in the May polls, when it garnered 151 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. It then assembled an eight-party coalition that together holds 312 seats, a clear majority in the lower house, giving it the right to nominate a prime minister.

To be elected for prime minister, a candidate needs to win a majority of votes in a joint sitting of the lower house and the 250-seat Senate. Thursday's vote to confirm Pita won only 324 votes, significantly short of the 376 needed, largely because he failed to bring enough members of the Senate over to his side.

Move Forward’s coalition leans liberal, with strong support from pro-democracy activists. The Senate’s members, who are not elected but appointed by a military government, represent Thailand’s conservative royalist establishment. They and other opponents of Move Forward cited the party’s proposal for minor reforms to the country’s monarchy system as the reason for rejecting Pita.

A second round of voting is expected on Wednesday.

Pita, in a video posted Saturday on Facebook, said that if it becomes clear his party has no chance of getting its candidate approved, it will hand over the opportunity to the Pheu Thai Party, the second biggest in its coalition, with 141 House seats.

Pita was Move Forward's only candidate while Pheu Thai has floated three names for a possible prime minister: real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin; Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daugther of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted by a 2006 military coup; and Chaikasem Nitsiri, the party’s chief strategist.

It remained unclear on Saturday which one Pheu Thai would nominate.

Pita said that while Move Forward is committed to form a government as the winner of the election, its struggle goes beyond the 14 million voters who backed the party and the 27 million in all who cast votes for the eight parties in its coalition.

“This is a fight of all people in Thailand," he said. "The voice of the people must be the voice that shapes the future of this country.”

He called for political compromise and said: “We don’t have much time left, as I’m well aware that Thailand cannot go forward for long without a government of the people."

On Friday, Move Forward announced it is seeking to change the law to take away the Senate’s de facto veto power over who can form a new government and submitted a draft amendment to the Constitution.

Pita said Saturday that if all fails, he will step aside to let Pheu Thai take the lead in nominating a prime minister. His coalition would remain intact, according to a memorandum of understanding its members agreed to.

In a statement released after Pita’s video, his party spelled out the next steps. If Pita fails to win outright in a second round, but gains “significantly” more votes, it will have him contest a third round of voting. At the same time, if the second vote does fall short, the party will continue to push for the amendment to get rid of the Senate’s role in selecting a prime minister.

If the amendment succeeds, Pita’s nomination for prime minister will be submitted for another vote, perhaps by September. If that fails, Move Forward will step aside — while remaining in the coalition — to let Pheu Thai submit its candidate for prime minister.

Thai PM Candidate Pita Willing to Let Ally Form Government

 

Patpicha Tanakasempipat
Sat, July 15, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s frontrunner for prime minister Pita Limjaroenrat said he is willing to step aside and let his coalition partner Pheu Thai Party form the next government, should he fail in his attempts to secure the country’s top political office.

In a video message posted on Saturday, Pita said he will renew his candidacy for prime minister when the parliament meets again on July 19 to elect a new leader, while acknowledging that time was running out for him to secure the top job. The 42-year-old leader of Move Forward Party had been thwarted by conservative parties and the military-appointed Senate in his first attempt July 13, despite being the lone candidate.

Pita urged supporters to help him on his “missions” and try “every way possible and every method imaginable” to convince senators to back his nomination in the second joint sitting of the National Assembly on July 19. His party is separately trying to push through a bill that seeks to strip the Senate of the power to vote.

His message came amid speculation that the conservative Palang Pracharath Party might nominate former army chief Prawit Wongsuwan to challenge Pita next week, in a move that could lead to a minority-led government backed by the royalist military establishment. The prolonged political uncertainty has weighed on the currency, stocks, and bonds in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.

Thursday’s vote undermined the popular choice of the people, who handed an overwhelming victory to pro-democracy parties in the May election. While Pita’s Move Forward and seven of its allies held 312 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, they were outnumbered in the joint parliament sitting that included members of the Senate.

Even if Pheu Thai were to stake claim for government formation eventually, the party that finished in the second-place in the May 14 general election will still need to muster enough support from the Senate to succeed. But Pheu Thai may draw less resistance from the conservative senators as its agendas are seen less reform-oriented than Move Forward’s.

Only 13 senators voted for Pita on Thursday, with the rest either abstaining or voting against his candidacy over his party’s push to reform the so-called lese majeste law that punishes anyone defaming or insulting the Thai king or other royals. That proposal was the subject of hours-long deliberation by conservative lawmakers and the reason why they could not support Pita.

“If we have tried our best in these two battlegrounds and it becomes evident that Move Forward Party has no chance at forming the next government, I’m willing to give Thailand a chance by letting Pheu Thai Party take the lead of the eight-party coalition,” he said in the video, adding that every Move Forward lawmaker will vote to endorse a prime minister candidate from Pheu Thai when the time comes.

“But until that day, we’re certainly not giving up,” he said. “I’m asking you to fight together until the end.”

It is not clear who among Pheu Thai’s three candidates for prime minister will be its top choice to take over from Pita if it comes to that. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, youngest daughter of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who hasn’t set foot in the country since 2008, was consistently the country’s most favored prime minister choice in most pre-election surveys. Former property tycoon Srettha Thavisin is another prominent candidate.

Bloomberg Businessweek

Opinion

Letters; Stand with UPS workers


Abby Drey/adrey@centredaily.com

CDT readers
Sat, July 15, 2023

On July 5, UPS walked away from negotiations with 340,000 of their workers organized with the Teamsters.

UPS didn’t just walk away from those workers: they walked away from our communities. By risking a national strike instead of bargaining in good faith, UPS sent a message they’ll prioritize stock buybacks — like the $8.6 billion paid out in 2022 — over our communities.

Despite company propaganda, they aren’t doing right by their workers. UPS employees kept our economy and our communities afloat during the pandemic, delivering COVID-19 vaccines they weren’t yet eligible to receive. Many of them continue to work six days and upwards of 60 hours a week, forced to work more to keep up with demand and to make ends meet.

The Teamsters have shared how many part-timers rely on government assistance, even as UPS makes record profits. Businesses shouldn’t be able to rake in the cash while passing the cost on to our communities.

The UPS contract expires July 31. It’s up to UPS to come to the table and reach a fair deal with their workers. If UPS refuses to do so, it’ll be up to us to stand with our local UPS workers organized with Teamsters Local 764, because they’re not just fighting for themselves. Their fight against corporate greed, for dignity on the job, and for a livable wage, is a fight for all working families.

Connor Lewis, State College. 

The author is the president of Seven Mountains Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Influencers thinking about using the SAG-AFTRA strike as a stepping stone should think twice about the bridges they're burning

Palmer Haasch

Mon, July 17, 2023 

Influencers thinking about using the SAG-AFTRA strike as a stepping stone should think twice about the bridges they're burning

Influencers should take note of the SAG-AFTRA guidelines for their profession during the strike.

Influencers who cross the picket line will be barred from future entry in SAG-AFTRA.

That's a door they should leave open, even aside from the reputational hit of scabbing.

As actors joined writers on the picket lines last week, it became apparent that promotional cycles for films were going to look a lot different — and that there was an ongoing opportunity for influencers to make more content. Still, they should probably reconsider before signing any new deals with struck companies.

Striking actors are barred from promoting their films per strike rules, and this week Disney's "The Haunted Mansion" premiere went on without its cast. Instead of stars, it featured prominent Disney characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as well as a smattering of influencers making TikTok content from the red carpet.

Some of them sustained backlash for covering the premiere during the strike. Per Deadline's reporting, those who worked the premiere were "already in the clear" per SAG-AFTRA rules.

@lyssynoel I attended Disneys Haunted Mansion Premiere 🖤👻 thank you so much @Disney for inviting me! The movie was amazing! #hauntedmansion #disney #hauntedmansionpremiere #disneyland #hauntedmansiondisney ♬ Grim Grinning Ghosts - From "The Haunted Mansion" - The Melomen & Paul Frees & Betty Taylor & Bill Lee & Thurl Ravenscroft

Influencers, now a crucial part of studios' marketing strategies, became eligible to cover brand deals under a contract with Hollywood's largest union in February 2021. And in light of the strike that began on Friday —over demands for better residual pay and the use of AI — the organization released an FAQ for influencers that explicitly states what they can and cannot do during the strike.

Brand deals covered by the SAG-AFTRA Influencer Agreement are still acceptable, as are already-in-effect contracts to promote struck work. But new agreements to promote struck companies or their content are understandably off the table, per the strike. Influencers are also barred from participating in conventions, like this week's San Diego Comic-Con, to promote or on behalf of struck companies.

Actors won't be promoting their work during the strike, but influencers would be wise to think twice before rushing in to replace them on the red carpet. According to guidelines, strike rules apply not only to current SAG-AFTRA members, but also to potential future members, who'll be barred from joining the guild if they cross the picket line. Any influencer, whether or not they're thinking about pursuing a career in acting, would be wise to leave that door open — who knows whether TikTok will even be around in a few years, after all? And anyway, they might want to join the union as a content creator in the future.

Creators should also keep in mind that losing out on future SAG-AFTRA membership isn't the only consequence of crossing the picket line — they'll also risk ostracizing themselves from their peers in the industry.

"Fall on the right side of history. Do the right thing. It's really quite simple," film influencer Reece Feldman (@guywithamoviecamera) said in a TikTok announcing his solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. "Support the works, support the union, support the people that make your favorite shows and movies. That's it."

Opinion
Voices: The truth behind the Hollywood strike hate

Noah Berlatsky
Mon, July 17, 2023

(AFP/Getty)

The movie and television actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, declared a strike after talks with the studio broke down. The actors joined the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since May. It’s the first time in 63 years that both groups have been on strike.

Actors had barely picked up picket signs before they came under political attack from the right. Jon Miltimore, managing editor of the Foundation for Economic Education, sneered in response to a pro-union tweet by John Cusack that “Hollywood millionaires talk about labor like they’re labor leader Jimmy Hoffa.” Republican Senator Ted Cruz mocked a picture of actor Mark Ruffalo on the picket line, tweeting “You wouldn’t like me when I’m whiny.” How droll. Others railed against “Hollywood elitist hypocrisy“ and claimed well-known actors were virtue signaling.

Conservatives claim to be attacking rich entitled millionaires when they go after Hollywood actors. But don’t the American right usually love rich people? Ted Cruz has boasted about being friends with billionaire twitter CEO Elon Musk (who whines about twitter’s fortunes all the time). Cruz also joined wealthy real estate heir - and former president - Donald Trump and Republicans in the Senate and House in pushing through a massive tax cut for the rich. If the right thinks the wealthy are whiny hypocritic elites who need to shut up, it has a funny way of showing it.

It seems conservatives dislike wealthy people who are leftists (like Cusack and Ruffalo) or who support unions. But conservatives also, consistently, attack Hollywood elites – by which they tend to mean actors and celebrities. They’re generally less focused on studio executives like Warner Bros’ David Zaslav, who made $498 million between 2018 and 2022.

So why should Cruz and company support tax breaks for the ultrawealthy like Zaslav, but see Cusack and Ruffalo as entitled? The issue is that actors and celebrities are workers. If you are on the side of capital, workers are not supposed to be wealthy, and aren’t supposed to be demanding better wages or benefits. Workers are supposed to do what they’re told and accept whatever conditions capitalists choose to impose.

the union has more than 160,000 members, 

including those who struggle to clear the $26,000 per year in earnings 

Actors and sports stars are unusual in that they are workers who can make very large salaries – and who are in highly unionized professions. When quarterback Colin Kaepernick led protests against racist police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem, conservatives like Fox News Host Bill O’Reilly were quick to label him as “disrespectful.” One common talking point in connection with the protests was that Kaepernick and other athletes who were kneeling should be grateful to the United States for giving them the opportunity to make money. But, in addition to a seeming desire for people to stay in their rightful place, I think the outrage was because the football players were workers. Workers (especially Black workers) aren’t supposed to dictate terms, or talk about politics, or ask for anything. They’re just supposed to put their heads down and obey.

We are seeing this dynamic again with the writers’ strike. People like Ted Cruz attack Mark Ruffalo for being entitled; they may say that he’s harming rank and file workers by supporting a strike that puts less wealthy actors out of work. But the fact is, it’s the rank and file who voted for the strike. And they voted for it because they want to increase minimum film payment rates, and to prevent studios using AI likenesses of background actors without payment or consent. Those are issues that affect less affluent actors much more than they are issues for stars like Mark Ruffalo.

Those criticizing union strikes while applauding billionaires want workers to be thankful they’ve been allowed to retain the fruits of their own labor, and most definitely do not want them to demand more or speak out against injustice.

Those attacking actors on picket lines are not doing so because the actors are wealthy, which many of them aren’t. They are doing so because actors are workers, and therefore should not speak out. It seems, however, SAG-AFTRA disagrees. That’s why its members, famous and not famous, wealthy and poor, are on the picket lines.

How Fran Drescher became the voice of labor in America

As labor unrest rolls across the country, union members hope the SAG-AFTRA president is exactly what the doctor prescribed.

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher slams studios when announcing actors’ strike: ‘Shame on them’


Christopher Wilson
·Senior Writer
Updated Mon, July 17, 2023 


In a 1994 episode of “The Nanny,” the titular caretaker played by Fran Drescher is pressured by her wealthy Broadway producer boss to cross a picket line where he’s hosting a premiere party. She refuses, saying that her mother taught her to never, ever cross a picket line.

Nearly three decades later, Drescher — who created and starred in the series — is at the center of the biggest Hollywood strike in over half a century

SAG-AFTRA, the actors' union that Drescher leads, announced its strike on Thursday. It is joined by the Writers Guild of America, which has been picketing since May. Together, the two unions have brought Hollywood to a halt.

Why is Hollywood on strike?

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher with Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's national executive director and chief negotiator, after negotiations ended with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on July 13. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

The demands of both unions are centered around residual payments from streaming services, data transparency and — crucially — concerns over the studios using artificial intelligence to replace human writers and actors.

While many of the faces of the strike are wealthy A-list actors, the union has more than 160,000 members, including those who struggle to clear the $26,000 per year in earnings needed to qualify for health insurance, a key issue Matt Damon raised recently on the “Oppenheimer” red carpet. When the strike was called, Damon and his castmates walked out of the film’s London premiere before the movie was screened.

'She has brought us all together'

Drescher and Charles Shaughnessy in the sitcom "The Nanny" in 1997. 

(CBS via Getty Images)

Drescher ended up in this position after narrowly defeating actor Matthew Modine to win the presidency in 2021 despite a lack of labor experience. “What I don’t know, I promise you I will learn very quickly, and what I do know cannot be taught,” she said at the time.

Drescher was criticized last week for appearing in a selfie with Kim Kardashian during a fashion event in Italy, but she defended the move, saying she was there for work and was in contact with SAG-AFTRA staff throughout the trip. She earned rave reviews for her speech Thursday announcing the strike, clips of which immediately went viral.

“Eventually, the people break down the gates of Versailles,” Drescher said. “And then it’s over. We’re at that moment right now.”

Drescher has, in recent years, described herself as “anti-capitalist” and criticized “the big-business sociopaths, who pray to the money gods.” And in the run-up to the strike, she was vital in galvanizing the union, which voted nearly unanimously to authorize the strike.

“It’s pretty amazing what Fran has done,” actor Shaan Sharma, a member of the negotiating committee, told Variety. “She has brought us all together.”

A summer of labor action

Meredith Stiehm, left, president of Writers Guild of America West, with Drescher at a rally outside the Paramount Pictures studio in Los Angeles on May 8. 

(Chris Pizzello/AP)

Writers and actors are generating most of the headlines, but it’s a “hot labor summer” in a number of industries.

Thousands of hotel workers have been striking in California. And there is the looming potential of a Teamsters strike if the union cannot agree to a new deal with UPS by a July 31 deadline. Even a relatively brief strike by UPS workers could snarl supply chains, delay deliveries and have a major economic impact.

Labor unions have become much more popular over the last decade, according to polls, and now enjoy broad public support. Drescher has consistently tied the negotiations in Hollywood to the wider worker movement.

"The eyes of labor are upon us," she said after the press conference.

"It's very important that everybody appreciate that we're not just sticking up for ourselves, but we're sticking up for everybody else, because it is a slippery slope into a very dangerous time, and a real dystopia if big business, corporations, think that they can put human beings out of work and replace them with artificial intelligence. It's dangerous, and it's without thinking or conscience or caring."

When will the strike end?

Drescher and Crabtree-Ireland with SAG-AFTRA members during a press conference on July 13 announcing the strike.

 (Chris Pizzello/AP)

There is no timetable for when the shutdown in Hollywood might end. Just before the actors went on strike, Deadline spoke to an anonymous studio executive who said the studios and streamers planned to hold out until the writers caved.

“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” the executive said.

Disney CEO Bob Iger, meanwhile, called the union demands "disturbing" and said actors and writers weren't being "realistic."

While the resolution of the strike will determine Drescher’s future as a labor leader, there is one interesting historical note: The last time both the actors and writers struck at the same time was 1960, when the Screen Actors Guild president was Ronald Reagan.

Actors are demanding that Hollywood catch up with technological changes in a sequel to a 1960 strike

David Arditi, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Texas Arlington
Mon, July 17, 2023

As this picket sign says: lights, cameras, no action. 

Katie McTiernan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

For the first time since 1960, actors and screenwriters are on strike at the same time.

As with many of the other strikes that have rippled across the United States over the past three years, this walkout is over demands for better pay and restrictions on their employers’ use of technology to replace paid work.

The actors’ strike began on July 14, 2023, after their union, SAG-AFTRA, voted to end negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major production studios. The main concerns of the union – which represents 160,000 actors and people in other creative professions – center around compensation on streaming platforms, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, and artificial intelligence.

Screenwriters, who have been on strike since May 2, have similar concerns.

The two strikes have halted U.S. TV and movie production. Premieres are being canceled, and Emmy-nominated actors aren’t campaigning for those prestigious TV awards.
Rewind to the rise of TV

Ever since Louis Le Prince filmed the first movie, “Roundhay Garden Scene,” in 1888, actors have earned a living through their work being shown on screens small and large.

The first hit shows on TV aired in the mid-1940s, but actors initially earned far less from television than movies. Around 1960, with the advent of hits like “Leave It to Beaver,” “Beverly Hillbillies” and “Bonanza,” TV became very profitable. TV’s growing prestige and economic heft gave television actors newfound power at the contract negotiating table.

Actors demanded that their craft be compensated for TV shows about as highly as for their film appearances. Led by future President Ronald Reagan and Charlton Heston – who went on to serve as a National Rifle Association president – the Screen Actors Guild went on strike on March 7, 1960. Among that union’s top demands: health care coverage and residuals for movies aired on television, reruns and syndication.

Residuals are a form of royalty paid to actors when movies and TV shows air on television after their initial run. That can include reruns, syndication and the broadcasting of movies on television.

The actors union’s strike, which coincided then as today with a screenwriters strike, successfully negotiated a contract with executives that resolved the residuals conflict and secured health care coverage for its members.

That contract applied to broadcasting and, years later, cable TV.

But it doesn’t work for streaming, because streamed shows aren’t scheduled. Whereas “Friends,” a sitcom that initially aired on NBC, is available today on Max, formerly HBO Max, through syndication, and its actors receive relevant residuals, “Orange Is the New Black” originated on Netflix. Because it never runs on a different platform via syndication, the actors in its cast earn paltry residuals in comparison – even though viewers are still watching the show’s seven seasons.

Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of “Squid Game,” forfeited all residuals when he cut a deal with Netflix. It earned Netflix nearly US$1 billion, but Hwang got none of that bounty.

Actors Charlton Heston, right, and future President Ronald Reagan, second from right, shake hands with leaders of the Association of Motion Picture Producers after the Screen Actors Guild ended its 1960 strike against seven movie studios. 

Bettmann via GettyImages

Fast-forward to 2023

As I explained in my 2021 book, “Streaming Culture,” streaming has fundamentally changed the production and consumption of both TV and film while blurring the lines between them.

People consume different types of media through subscriptions and streaming technology than they do while watching broadcast TV and cable television. Actors and writers are concerned that their compensation hasn’t kept up with this transformation.

And the actors who are on strike argue that the formulas in place since 1960 to calculate residuals don’t work anymore.

Residuals paid for roles in broadcast TV shows are based on the popularity of those programs, with actors earning far more for hits like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “NCIS” than for duds. Hit shows can have a second life on streaming platforms and result in actors getting paid again for that earlier work.

In contrast, streaming residuals pay a flat rate for foreign and domestic streams. A streaming original film or TV show earns a set amount for residuals in its domestic market and second set amount for foreign markets. This fee doesn’t change based on popularity or the number of times a production is streamed.

But streaming has changed more than residuals for actors and writers. It has also transformed how TV shows are made.

Ejecting regularly scheduled shows

Many TV seasons have grown shorter since streaming became the norm, falling from 20 or more episodes to 10 or fewer per season.

That’s because streamers started making shows with lower budgets, as it costs less to produce fewer episodes. The studios also cut costs by hiring fewer writers.

Since actors are typically paid per episode in which they perform, their salaries have dropped by virtue of having fewer appearances in even the most popular shows.

The gaps between seasons have also grown longer and more unpredictable. Every season of the nine-year run of “Seinfeld” on NBC began in the fall and ended the next spring, then picked up again the next fall.

Streaming shows are far less predictable.

Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” paused for more than two years between seasons 3 and 4.

The same streamer aired the first season of “Lord of the Rings: Power of the Rings,” in September 2022, but Season 2 won’t be released until late 2024.

As gaps between seasons grow, some actors are having a harder and harder time making ends meet.

Another change has to do with the question of whether particular shows will keep going. In conventional broadcast or cable television, networks determine whether they will renew a show during the period known as “sweeps,” at the end of a TV season. Since streaming television has no defined seasons, these decisions can drag on.

This can leave actors and writers in limbo. And their contracts often stop them from working on other shows between seasons.

Will AI erase actors?

Although residuals and the number of episodes have until now been negotiable, perhaps the strike’s biggest issue is the studios’ use of artificial intelligence

Actors fear studios will use AI to replace actors in the future. Without a contract that says otherwise, once a studio films an actor, it can potentially use the actor’s likeness in perpetuity. This means a background actor could be shot for one episode of a TV show and continue to be seen in the background for seasons without pay.

That hasn’t happened yet, but many actors are certain it will.

Actors object to the possibility that studios will seek to “own our likeness in perpetuity, including after we’re dead, use us in their movies without any consent, without any compensation to our performers, especially background performers,” said actor Shaan Sharma, best known for his role on “The Chosen.” “It’s inhumane. It is dystopian.”

Until now, actors and writers say, the studios have refused to negotiate over AI with actors or writers. But both unions see AI as a threat to their members’ livelihoods, a point SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher made on MSNBC.

As Drescher continually points out in her media appearances, 99% of actors are struggling on working-class incomes. Meanwhile, studio executives continue to increase their own pay. For example, in 2022, Netflix co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos earned roughly $50 million each. Warner-Discovery CEO David Zaslav earned $39 million.

No ‘pause’ for widening inequality gap

The gulf between what actors and top executives earn is a major difference between today’s actors and writer strikes and the 1960 strikes. In 1965, executives made 15 times the average salary of their workers. By 2021 those top execs were earning 350 times more than the average worker – including actors.

And while today’s biggest stars, like Pedro Pascal and Natasha Lyonne, earn millions for every performance, most actors struggle to make ends meet.

In Los Angeles, actors earn an average hourly wage of $27.73.

Meanwhile, studios are pulling in huge profits. For example, Netflix and Warner Bros. earned $5.2 billion and $2.7 billion in 2022, respectively.

Watching union action on repeat

As I explain in my new book, “Digital Feudalism: Creators, Credit, Consumption, and Capitalism,” striking actors and screenwriters are part of the wave of labor unrest in recent years. In my view, U.S. workers are rejecting a system that expects workers to buy more on credit while making a living with increasingly precarious jobs.

From Starbucks baristas to Amazon’s union organizers to the workers planning the pending UPS strike, more and more Americans are fighting for higher wages and more control over their schedules.

In fighting threats to their livelihoods, actors and screenwriters are the latest example of a national movement for stronger labor rights.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. 

It was written by: David Arditi, University of Texas Arlington.

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