Al Jazeera English: Thai PM declares state of emergency

[SealLion]

Well, folks. IT's Al Jazeera Time, once again.

But before I start on my news commentary involving my opinion on what I read on different sites, let me just start with making a comment on something here that I strongly feel I need to speak of.

Firstly,
if some of you are in disagreement with what-ever I say, then for the love of God, post here and make your perceptions or other ideas known. Don't go Reporting in the Contact Forms and start bitching and bawling about such-and-such.

Secondly,
Be a man.
Show some courage.
post your disagreements, rather than hide in the Contact Forms as Unregistered.

Don't be a lowly coward and bitch and bawl till your eye's turn red.

This is a discussion forum, not a bitching forum.

I might be outspoken on different issues, but that's a good thing when one is outspoken.
It demonstrates you at least have an opinion and that you can make your views known and aren't afraid to speak them.

Regardless of what opinion you have and what shapes it, if at least you have one and speak it openly, that is powerful stuff.

People respect others for stating their opinions, ...even if they don't agree with each other.

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, let's begin the 6 o'clock news, yes??

Apparently, in Thailand there's an uprising. From what I've been reading on AJE, it doesn't bode well for either side in the uprisings.

MP's have been scrambling up fences to escape the ravaging clutches of angry protesters and military officials in Thailand prevent mass rallies of protest.
Sounds like trouble to me.

Here's a quick peek to get started.

Thailand's prime minister has declared a state of emergency in the capital and surrounding areas to give the army broader powers to gain control of escalating street protests.

According to the news reports, the protests are over demands for new elections being rejected.
The protesters in Thailand are known as Red Shirts.

Those same protesters are loyal to a person called Thaksin Shinawatra, He was the deposed prime minister.

Apparently, those protesters feel that the country is run, once again, under a dictatorship.

So the new government called a State of Emergency and forbids the usual gatherings, has the usual curfews, and so forth.
YOu know,...the usual dictatorship stuff: Imprisonments without trial, etc...etc....

( Thailand's prime minister) .....said the mass rallies were unconstitutional and had tarnished the country's image, eroding investor confidence

Firstly, I can imagine they were unconstitutional since they were no doubt made a governmental decree preventing people from holding protests against this new dictatorship.

Makes sense, yes??

Secondly, I can also imagine that investor confidence would be eroded since most investors don't really like upheavals.

It demonstrates instability. But that's only true for some investment. Not all.

Large international corporations that want to make money, like dictatorships.

For any country that has a dictatorship, it ensures for those large multi-national corporations, such as natural resource production companies, whether it be logging, mining, or anything else, is favorable to them.

You know why...it's been discussed before a few times. Those companies can skirt around some environmental legislations, labor legislations, royalty-taxes ( to some extent perhaps)---or at least maybe not have to pay as much taxes as they would in their home country, have cheaper labor costs, cheaper production costs.

And if there's an oil spill perhaps, there's great potential to skirt around that as well. That international company can make an easy settlement of the issue and give a token payment of injuries sustained to those affected.

I recall that a UK-based oil production company did exactly that with an African state it did business in. I do believe that I made a Wikileaks post about that at one point, too.

It (the UK-based oil company) avoided environmental and health related legislation issues all too easily, in which, if that same oil production company did that exact same thing at home, boy would it have been slapped a few fines and maybe have it's operational officer sent to jail or something.

So you see, there's tonnes of advantages for large international conglomerates to make business in dictatorship-run countries.

I don't know for sure, so I"m just gonna take a guess here, but maybe when the Thai government says that investor confidence is being eroded, that may not be applicable to all investment.
It may only be applicable to some foreign investment.
That's my opinion.

thirdly, when there's a dictatorship, that governing council in office can do pretty much anything it pleases:

A state of emergency allows authorities to suspend certain civil liberties and ban all public gatherings of more than five people.

Yes. Of course it can ban this'n' that as well as suspend certain civil liberties.
It can control reporting over the governments actions. In essence, eliminate criticism and ensure that the PR machine of the governing dictatorship continues unabated and make the government look good in the eyes of people it controls.

North Korea is a great example.
Who's God in North Korea??........Kim Jong-il

North Korea is an extreme example. Nevertheless, I think that I've made my point, yes??
There's statues of his father everywhere. Statues of his son too are everywhere. Basically, they are gods in that country and his son rules it like it's his own little kingdom.

That's what happens when power gets into politician's heads.

So when dictatorships rise in Thailand, is it any wonder that fears might arise in people's minds there thinking that some government / military official can do, and interpret some new constitutional amendment anyway they might feel appropriate since their interest is highest??

That's a rhetorical question which you can answer yourself.

Red shirt leaders vowed late on Tuesday to itensify the protests,....

My only concern here is that with intensified protests comes the police baton and beatings.

Remember the uprisings in Tibet and how the Chinese military and police responded with further Tibetan protests a year or 2 ago??

Something like that is what I'm referring to.

Thai police beatings and suspensions of civil liberties. News black-outs and so forth.

anyways...here's the link. Enjoy

Al Jazeera English - Asia-Pacific - Thai PM declares state of emergency

[desodorante]

Well, I know nothing about Thailand's political situation, but it is more likely to be critical if there are such protests.
On the other side, 3 weeks of violent protests are as problematic for the government as they are for the people, the economy and the welfare of the state and the nation.

I am not taking sides on this but here is my opinion:
a)3 weeks of protests: order must be restored. At least the military waited.
b)Protests should continue in a more pacific way, most likely they have a point

Also keep in mind that this is not a kids tale, where the good fights the evil. There is always an interest, the red shirts them self could be worst than the government, but that we do not know.

[slikrapid]

Don't go Reporting in the Contact Forms and start bitching and bawling about such-and-such....post your disagreements, rather than hide in the Contact Forms as Unregistered.

not sure what you mean by that, can you elaborate with some example?

MP's have been scrambling up fences to escape the ravaging clutches of angry protesters

lol, nice to see them taste some fear, maybe that will teach them to respect/reconsider the citizen needs/wishes, though they probably were in no serious danger as the other mp's managed to persuade the protesters to leave peacefully

and military officials in Thailand prevent mass rallies of protest.
Sounds like trouble to me.

the whole current government seems to be there (unelected) just because they managed to use the 2006 coup and took power, fixed the constitution (in their favor, no doubt) and trying to resume as if nothing happened

basically the situation was never really stable, it just gave such impression and this may have been used to lure different investors to get their money and then allow for an outbreak like the aforementioned one to possibly crash the stock market value(s) and those 'in the know' will profit from it

the solution is probably a quite simple one: hold new elections with all sides (red, yellow & currently ruling) having their monitoring representatives so that they later can't claim the elections were a fraud - naturally, this won't solve attempts at buying votes or false propaganda, but at least would show who the citizens decided to choose as their representatives

btw, imo probably none of these parties have a genuine interest in citizen demands/wishes, but that seems to be the only option at a stable operating country with implemented democratic standards - it all seems too familiar in the setup: you have the current administration aligned with corporate elitist and military interests ('right'), then the yellow shirts aligned with the monarchy and red shirts supposedly aligned with the 'poor' people (yet they are most likely, at least their leadership, nothing more than another batch of revolutionaries, in other parts of the world known as 'reds' and/or leftists)

in other words, same old story: left vs right with variations in the middle...and while they fight their battles, the monarchs (with their 'divine' rights & bloodline) will continue to rule over the masses, sometimes visibly (as in monarchies like thailand), other times less visible (as in the UK) - everybody else seems to be expendable, rises & falls, but the royalty seems to be impervious/immune to such outcome, allowing them to keep their hands clean in public, as others do the dirty work, and receive oaths of allegiance (and/or worship and/or subservience) from their subjects/servants


corruption, disorder, chaos, injustice, wars, fighting, entertainment, shocking news, and a plethora of other distractions are used to obscure real issues, the puppeteers and the fabric of the society and of the human existence, as the outcome is a controllable/steerable arena (order from chaos) populated by drones and molded lives, with preset choices under the rules of engagement (legislation, education) with the illusion of freedom

[SealLion]

not sure what you mean by that, can you elaborate with some example

Sorry, slik.
I can't.

Suffice it to say that somebody was less than fearless to post their disagreement in the most recent news
I don't know who he/she/ or it was, and I don't even really care.

Anyways....let's get back to the news.


Slik, you mentioned this.

basically the situation was never really stable, it just gave such impression and this may have been used to lure different investors to get their money and then allow for an outbreak like the aforementioned one to possibly crash the stock market value(s) and those 'in the know' will profit from it

Now, I'm trying to figure out how one could profit from stock market crashes if they, .....let's say.,,,,.have been manipulated.

Maybe this happens on the on-and-off occasion, most especially with the newest so called Global economic crisis. But for a corporation that doesn't receive, let;s say financial benefits to help prop itself up in the markets as was seen throughout Europe and even in some countries in North America recently last year, I'd like to know how any one company could benefit via the financial markets through this tactic.

Could you elaborate, please??


Also desodorante, you mention this:

,,,,,There is always an interest, the red shirts them self could be worst than the government, but that we do not know.

very true, I think. I think that's an interesting point. It can and has happened numerous times throughout history.

[slikrapid]

Now, I'm trying to figure out how one could profit from stock market crashes if they, .....let's say.,,,,.have been manipulated.

Maybe this happens on the on-and-off occasion, most especially with the newest so called Global economic crisis. But for a corporation that doesn't receive, let;s say financial benefits to help prop itself up in the markets as was seen throughout Europe and even in some countries in North America recently last year, I'd like to know how any one company could benefit via the financial markets through this tactic.

well, all it takes is an event of significant impact on the economy or an area of the economy (or any other area that has dealings with stocks or that can influence those that have/deal in stocks) - if the event is negative it causes instability, investor insecurity and so on, which lowers the values of related stocks - if the trend is continuous or crosses a certain threshold, the stock owner will start selling them in order not to loose too much value - then enter 'those in the know' who buy (at a low price) all they can from these targeted owners - at some point the (outside) situation stabilizes and the stocks again start gaining value, as their current one is probably not realistic as it was caused by that event - thus now the new owners have stocks of high value that have been purchased when they had a low one, meaning the difference in value is pure profit - in a normal situation this would be called a 'smart' or lucky investment, but with prior knowledge of the outcome (or that event going to happen) its not fair play, aka fraud

the current economic crisis was artificially created and probably the biggest winners are those companies that got their bailouts and naturally banks that collected from many ruined (smaller) companies

an example of inside knowledge with the enron bankruptcy:

In August 2000, Enron's stock price hit its highest value of $90.[9] At this point Enron executives, who possessed the inside information on the hidden losses, began to sell their stock. At the same time, the general public and Enron's investors were told to buy the stock. Executives told the investors that the stock would continue to climb until it reached possibly the $130 to $140 range, while secretly unloading their shares.

As executives sold their shares, the price began to drop. Investors were told to continue buying stock or hold steady if they already owned Enron because the stock price would rebound in the near future. Kenneth Lay's strategy for responding to Enron's continuing problems was in his demeanor. As he did many times, Lay would issue a statement or make an appearance to calm investors and assure them that Enron was headed in the right direction.

By August 15, 2001, Enron's stock price had fallen to $42. Many of the investors still trusted Lay and believed that Enron would rule the market. They continued to buy or hold their stock and lost more money every day. As October closed, the stock had fallen to $15. Many saw this as a great opportunity to buy Enron stock because of what Lay had been telling them in the media. Their trust and optimism proved to be greatly misplaced.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron#Peak_and_decline_of_stock_price

another example may be that of the rothchilds & the london stock exchange just after the battle of waterloo, you can read about it on alternative sites

and there are probably many other ways being used & abused to directly/indirectly profit from stocks, some may even say thats one of the reasons why stock (markets) exist in the first place (another reason may be to gain ownership of other companies)

[saebrtooth]

Suffice it to say that somebody was less than fearless to post their disagreement in the most recent news
I don't know who he/she/ or it was, and I don't even really care.

Think on the bright side, althoug the person does not feel confident enough to reveal themselves at leaset they are engaged in a serious topic

Now, I'm trying to figure out how one could profit from stock market crashes if they, .....let's say.,,,,.have been manipulated.

That person/company would make bet that the market goes down. By shorting stocks, futures, forex and buying put options or other derivatives
link

They would have to have the funds to push the market so unless ur Bill Gates, Warren Buffet or the currren top dog Carlos Slim Helu you would need to be some sort of conglomerate to pool those funds in order manipulate a large market.

When they think the prices are at a low they would just close their short contracts and pocket the difference. Of course market manipulation can be for making the stock market go up too.

---------- Post added at 09:35 ---------- Previous post was at 06:41 ----------

Just to add a bit more info I remember afte 911 it was revealed that unusually large orders were made betting that the market was going down, or rather crash. However no one came to collect the goodies. Just search for 911 stock market crash short. There are always records of who puts what orders. I wonder why the US Government didnt chase those obvious links down? Just wondering.

And for all those people who think that 911 disaster was just a shonky paramilitary al'qaeda operation where no one knew and it was all-of-the-sudden thing, it just shows that many organisations knew of this pending event and wanted to profit from it.

Just to answer a bit of my own question: It would be really impolite of the US government to bit the hand that feeds then right? But not tracking them down just shows how civilized they are doesnt it?