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Rival campaign convoys sent loud messages across Bangkok early Saturday in a last-minute dash for votes in what many analysts expect to be a cliffhanger election.
Thai hip-hop sensation Rap Against Dictatorship has also weighed in with a new caustic attack called "250 Bootlickers" -- aimed at a rubber-stamp upper house which will be instrumental in appointing the next prime minister.
General Prayut, who toppled the last civilian government, hopes to return as a civilian premier after Sunday's poll with the help of the Senate, whose members will be appointed by the junta's number two over the coming days.
The track, released late Friday on YouTube, has already been viewed nearly 114,000 times.
"Bootlickers, bootlickers... constitution of bootlickers," Liberate P raps in a coruscating chorus.
"Why bother campaigning when there is still the night of the howling dogs," another member says, referencing a Thai idiom for last-minute vote-buying.
Surrounding the rappers are symbols and statues, a who's who of Thai politics including billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and Prayut -- all works by artist Headache Stencil known as "Thailand's Banksy".
Artists and musicians have been skewering the junta in increasingly bold ways as the election nears.
RAD's first song "What My Country's Got?" -- a indictment of military oppression -- garnered 60 million views and earned a rebuke from Prayut, though the rappers faced no legal censure.
"The new generation has a chance to bring change to the country," RAD's Hockhacker told AFP on Friday, adding the party he will vote for "is not supporting the junta".
Thailand's traditional split between Thaksin-aligned and pro-junta factions will be tested by the entry of more than seven million first-time voters aged between 18 and 25, and new parties joining the fray.
The most prominent is Future Forward, led by telegenic billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who has commandeered the hearts of millennials with slick campaigns and calls to unwind junta power.
A commenter on RAD's video says he hopes the rappers' message "will reach Thai eligible voters... and I wish change would happen tomorrow".
There has been a shooting at the North Harris campus of Lone Star College in Texas, CNN reports. SWAT teams evacuated several buildings on campus, which was placed on lockdown.
The shooting was believed to be between two people, both armed with guns. Witnesses report that there was a dispute between the two before the shooting began. One gunman was wounded and taken into custody, while another was apprehended after fleeing into the woods. Two other people were also wounded after being caught in the crossfire, and a fourth suffered a heart attack.
Lone Star College has and enrollment of 90,00 students and six campuses across Texas. The North Harris campus is in the Houston area. Four other schools in the area were also locked down after the shooting was reported.
"Anyone involved with law enforcement for any amount of time is usually prepared for any scenario, but nobody can prepare for something like this." - Las Vegas Metro Sheriff Doug Gillespie. A police lieutenant for Las Vegas Metro Area police killed his wife and elementary-school-age son before killing himslef inside thier home, which he had set on fire, according to CNN. The names of the officer and his family members have not been released yet, but it has been confirmed that his wife had also worked as a Las Vegas police officer.
VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announces the VIA VB8002 Mini-ITX board targeted at media server markets. The VIA VB8002 brings the superior performance efficiency of the VIA Nano processor to consumer-focused server products that require the right blend of power efficiency and raw processing performance.
The VIA VB8002 Mini-ITX board continues VIA's drive into compact, power-efficient multimedia server markets and is designed to meet the needs of consumers who not only want to securely store, manage and share their media libraries, but also stream high quality content in their homes.
"The VIA Nano processor is ideally suited to server applications that require superb performance in tandem with great power efficiency," said Daniel Wu, Vice President, VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. "We are convinced that the VIA VB8002 board will be applauded by system integrators as the most well balanced, feature-rich media server platform available."
Equipped with the advanced 1.6GHz VIA Nano processor and unified VIA CX700M2 media system processor, the 17cm x 17cm Mini-ITX form factor VIA VB8002 brings superb multimedia performance to a comprehensive feature set, offering system integrators the ultimate media server solution.
With an onboard digital HDTV encoder for high-definition video resolutions, VIA Vinyl 7.1 channel HD audio for a rich audio experience and a range of consumer I/O options including composite and component RCA ports, DVI and S-Video ports, S/PDIF audio, and onboard connectors for LVDS and TV out, the VIA VB8002 is well equipped for today's digital media applications.
Building on the market-leading energy efficiency of the VIA C7 processor family, the new VIA Nano processor uses a 64-bit, out of order, superscalar architecture that has been specifically designed to deliver truly optimized performance for the most demanding multimedia and entertainment applications.
The VIA Nano processor places significant emphasis on high-performance floating-point execution, using a completely new algorithm for floating-point calculations that helps facilitate smooth playback of high resolution, advanced video codecs.
The excellent computational performance of the VIA Nano processor is coupled with aggressive thermal and power management, naturally resulting in a market leading performance-per-watt ratio. Thus the VIA Nano processor addresses the need for enhanced stability and lower energy consumption in consumer device design.
The VIA VB8002 Mini-ITX board is powered by a 1.6GHz VIA Nano processor and the VIA CX700M2 media system processor, bringing advanced digital multimedia performance and support for a wide range of digital media technologies appropriate for the wider consumer electronics market.
The VIA VB8002 integrates a number of digital media features, including an onboard HDTV encoder which utilizes an advanced ASIC with VIA's Advance ProScale Technology to scale regular input resolutions up to standard HDTV resolution output. The VIA UniChrome Pro II integrated graphics processor (IGP) supports hardware MPEG-2/-4 and WMV9 acceleration and includes the Chromotion CE engine for crystal clear video playback.
A plethora of I/O configurations are possible with back panel I/O connectors for DVI, S-Video and component and composite RCA outputs as well as coaxial and optical S/PDIF connectors for unparalleled display and TV connectivity. On board pin headers include support for LVDS and TV out for SCART (with optional D-terminal also included). Two S-ATA ports provide ample storage while onboard Gigabit Ethernet ensures fast data transfer speeds and smooth media streaming.
The VIA VB8002 supports Microsoft Windows XP, XPe, CE, and Linux operating systems.
A hunting guide was killed Friday by grizzly bears in the wilderness east of Grand Teton National Park, according to Wyoming wildlife authorities, who said they later located and killed a mother and cub that they believe carried out the attack.
Mark Uptain, 37, and a client were field-dressing an elk the client had shot when the pair of bears attacked, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department said Monday. The client was injured but managed to escape and alert authorities, who located Uptain’s body the next day. The guide’s injuries were consistent with a bear attack, the department said.
Authorities set foot snares at the site on Saturday, and on Sunday, a team of five officers found a yearling trapped in one and its mother nearby, the department said. She charged the officers, who shot her and tranquilized the young bear. Officers killed the yearling after locating evidence at the scene, including cub-size paw prints, that indicated it was also involved, Hovinga said. He said the department is “confident” the bears killed were the attackers, but it is conducting DNA and other forensic tests to confirm the conclusion.
The fatal attack came amid a temporary freeze on what would be Wyoming’s first grizzly hunting season in more than four decades. It was set to start Sept. 1 and would have taken place outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton in a region that includes the area where Uptain was killed. But the hunt was suspended two days before its start by a federal judge who is weighing lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s decision in 2017 to remove federal protections from Yellowstone-area grizzlies.
Several conservation, wildlife and tribal groups seeking to return the bears to the endangered species list argue that the population remains fragile, in part because of rising human-caused mortalities. As the grizzly population has grown and spread farther beyond the national parks, bears are being killed in greater numbers in car collisions, for preying on livestock and during run-ins with hunters.
Proponents of the hunt, including guides and outfitters, say there are too many grizzlies in the region and contend that hunting will make recreation safer for humans by removing “problem” bears and making grizzlies more afraid of people.
Earlier this month, a Minnesota man who was hiking in Wyoming was injured by a bear officials have said they believe was a grizzly. Fatal grizzly attacks are far more rare. The last one in Wyoming took place in 2015, inside Yellowstone.
Uptain’s client, Corey Chubon of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., told Orlando’s WKMG-TV that he pointed a pistol at one grizzly but that the animal knocked it from his hands and “swung me around in the air.” He said he then tossed the pistol to Uptain before mounting his horse and riding to a higher area with cellphone service.
“They thought there was some type of competition for their food, and they were coming to claim their food,” Chubon told the station.
A gun was found at the scene, Hovinga said, but there was no indication it had been used. A can of bear spray had been discharged, and the spray was found on the female bear, he said. Wildlife officials in the region recommend that hunters and hikers carry bear spray, which is similar to pepper spray and has been shown to be an effective deterrent.
On social media, the attack heightened the debate over the grizzly hunt, with some holding it up as evidence of the human threat to the animals and others pointing to it as proof of an overpopulation of bears. Hovinga declined to comment.
“We are treating this incident as a unique event and totally and completely separate from any litigation or trying to propose a grizzly bear [hunting] season,” he said.
With the coming of Scott Darling, brought in to be the Canes’ No. 1 goalie this season, Ward found himself in a most unusual role. Long the franchise goalie, he was relegated to being the backup as Darling started eight of the Canes’ first 10 games.
In 11 previous full seasons, Ward played in 88 total games in October. This is different.
When the season began Oct. 10, against the Minnesota Wild at PNC Arena, Darling was in net. It was the first time Ward had not started a Canes home opener in his career, and he watched as Carolina rallied for a 5-4 shootout victory.
Ward’s first start came on the road against the Edmonton Oilers on Oct 17. He was back in his hometown and finished with 48 saves in the Canes’ 5-3 win.
Ten days later, he was back in net against the St. Louis Blues at PNC Arena. He faced 34 shots in a 2-1 loss as the Blues scored the winning goal midway through the third period when the Canes couldn’t clear the puck from their zone and Brayden Schenn had an open shot from the slot.
The loss to the Avs was a tough one for the group. It was 2-2 after the first period, and Colorado took charge in the second, getting goals from Blake Comeau and Gabriel Landeskog for a 4-2 lead.
Peters used his challenge on the Landeskog goal, claiming the Avs were offside crossing the offensive blue line, but the goal was upheld on review. Under the altered NHL challenge rule, an unsuccessful challenge for offside results in a delay-of-game penalty and the Avs added a power-play score by Mikko Rantanen for a 5-2 lead.
“We got the double whammy,” Peters said.
Derek Ryan’s goal late in the second gave the Canes a fighting chance, but Varlamov shut them down in the third period with 22 saves.
The Canes made a change in goaltender coaches this season, bringing in Mike Bales, who worked for the Pittsburgh Penguins – and goalies Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury – on Stanley Cup-winning teams the past two seasons. He’s still getting a feel for his two new goalies, of what’s the appropriate amount of work.
Darling’s numbers through eight games aren’t dazzling: a 3-3-2 record, 2.70 goals-against average and .897 save percentage. Darling and Ward both will need to be better.
Ward, 33, said he has enjoyed being around Darling, who at 6-6 and 232 pounds all but dwarfs Ward, who is 6-1 and 185 pounds.
Ward said he isn’t sure how many games he’ll be slotted into – he has never played fewer than 28 in a full season – and said there is no long-range goaltending schedule that is set.
The game against the Blues was a night after the Canes won 6-3 in Toronto. It was the first of 18 back-to-back sets for Carolina, its most since the 2013-14 season.
Regardless of who’s No. 1.
Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale, Ariz.
Kevin Dahl is executive director of Native Seeds/SEARCH, a nonprofit outfit dedicated to rescuing vanishing crops by preserving and planting seeds. As agriculture has moved increasingly toward genetic monoculture, many alternative crops are in danger of being lost forever--a fate Native Seeds/SEARCH hopes to forestall by building its seed bank of diverse strains. Help out Native Seeds/SEARCH and fill your belly on Friday, April 8, by attending Flavors of the Desert, an annual fund-raiser featuring a sumptuous banquet prepared by Sous Chef Catering using native ingredients such as Zuni tomatillo, T'toi shallots and Taos blue corn. The menu includes green chilies stuffed with goat-cheese pate, turkey adobo with blackberry sauce, and prickly pear mousse pie with mesquite cookie-crumb crust. For more info on the dinner, contact Diana Peel at 622-5561. (Full disclosure: Ms. Peel happens to be my big sister. Please don't hold it against her.) Springtime also brings a fresh crop of chiles, beans and other goodies. Stop by Native Seeds/SEARCH's store, 526 N. Fourth Ave., or browse the Web site at www.nativeseeds.org to see the rich bounty in stock.
Why do you guys have so many seeds?
Because the Southwest had--and has--a rich agricultural heritage. Our region is the arid part of North America, from Northern New Mexico to the Tarahumara country in Mexico. We've collected from maybe 30 different cultural groups--some really wonderful stuff.
Why is seed collection important?
The seeds have values at several levels. They grow well in our region, so for people who want to have a vegetable garden here, they're very helpful. They take less water; they understand the bugs, so they're resistant to pests; they grow well in the soils that we have. They're very diverse, because the native farmers didn't really narrow the genetics of the material they were growing with. So they provided a large palette of genetic material that's useful to modern agriculture, where traits from these crops can be bred into modern crops. For instance, a sunflower that was grown by the Havasupi, who live at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, has provided resistance to a pest that devastated the Australian sunflower crop.
Are we seeing more monoculture these days?
Since World War II, it's been the modus operandi of modern agriculture. It's very efficient and very effective, but it can also be very vulnerable. So rather than providing a diverse ecosystem where predators and pests work things out, the plant scientists have to be working to protect these crops.
And once you lose a plant, there's no getting it back.
Once you lose a gene, you don't get it back. In a sense, we've been a rescue operation, as people in the Southwest don't farm as much as they have in the past.
How many different varieties do you have?
Somewhere over 1,900. We call them "accessions," which means it was collected from a particular farmer, and it's a particular type. It might be very similar to another variety we collected from another farmer, but it might be different, too.
What's going down at the farm these days?
The farm got as much water did. We planted cool-season crops--beans and fava--and we're getting ready to plant the warmer season crops in May or June.
What's on the menu at Flavors of the Desert?
It'll be a scrumptious treat for people to attend because it (will feature) some very interesting traditional foods but cooked maybe not in such traditional manners, but by a master gourmet. Sous Chef has done wonders in the past with her marvelous creations.
How else can people help out?
Everyone in Tucson should stop by our store on Fourth Avenue sometime. The first thing they'll notice is that it smells wonderful. And it's different every week, too, depending on what herb we're packing up or mesquite flower or corn meal or whether the garlic's come in or the smell from the chile ristras. Even the crafts that we sell have wonderful smells.
What's the coolest item you've got on the shelves these days?
Some very hot chiles. We have more chiles than will fit in your article, but a couple that are real popular that people should know about are chipoltes, which have gotten some notoriety. Chipoltes are smoked jalapeño, and they're just delicious. People should also know about chiltepines, which are the local wild, real-hot chiles about the size of a pea.
Of all the pet names Elva had; 'Hero Duck' had to be my absolute favourite. The story goes, one day early 2014, Elva made a purchase. In that store, receipts were still hand-written, by a sales rep whose life mantra, I assume, was "Mi cyaa bother." When asked what name she should write on the invoice, Elva said E. Ruddock. The sales rep wrote what she heard, And couldn't care less that it was the most ridiculous pairing of two words in the history of language.
Elva may have said E. Ruddock, but the sales rep heard 'Hero Duck'. And that's what she wrote. Hero Duck had just purchased a pair of batteries.
On that day, Elva's alter ego got a name. And it was most appropriate. The woman who had long before been doing superhuman things would continue to live a life full of heroism.
To most Jamaicans, Elva had a voice and an energy long before she had a face. We would all tune in to FAME FM on a Friday morning just to hear the most unrelaxing "RELAX!" come out of her mouth. You knew laughter was in your future after that. She had a way with words, bringing humanity and humour together like only Elva could. She'd say crazy things like, "If you don't have a valentine on Valentine's Day, don't be sad. A lot of persons don't have AIDS, on World AIDS Day either." Every Friday morning we found ourselves saying, "Wah Elva really jus say?" as we wiped tears of laughter from our eyes.
Us marketers in corporate Jamaica latched on to the magic of Elva early. She was our go-to host for everything, from staff parties to road races to product launches. So many of us trusted our brands to her, with every confidence that she would show up on time, and make our event fun. Let's be real. Elva was the reason people watched the Bashco show. Who else could make milk, mosquito zappers and plastic table mats must-see-TV?
'Twas no coincidence that this May baby was born on Labour Day. Elva put in the work. She was good at what she did and used her time and talents to write, host, act, do marketing, MC; and the list goes on.
No superhero is worth their salt unless they have a disguise, and Hero Duck was not to be outdone. The woman was the wigged wonder.
She proudly championed the cause for false hair-wearing females everywhere. She used to joke that her man would never get bored because she would allow him to date seven different women - one for each of her wigs.
Elva was the quintessential 'real know real'. Social media is flooded with folks celebrating the memory of the true connection they made with her. People are telling inside jokes they had and personal, heartfelt moments shared just between the two of them. Elva gave you 100 per cent of her true self. Her relationships were meaningful and if she loved you, you felt it.
Hero Duck, you had the last laugh, beloved. You lived, out loud, on your terms, playing by your rules. You laughed through it all, and kept us laughing even when we didn't feel like. You straighten that wig and put on your cape and fly, Hero Duck. Fly.
- Patria-Kaye Aarons is a television presenter and confectioner. Email feedback to [email protected] and [email protected], or tweet @findpatria.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminisced the contribution of the Indian Air Force in various wars from 1947 until now in context with the upcoming Air Force Day which is celebrated on October 8 to commemorate its inception in 1932.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed the Indian Air Force (IAF) for protecting the nation during wars and for its contribution towards disaster relief operations.
“The Air Force that was established in 1932 with six pilots and 19 soldiers, is today one of the most powerful and courageous forces in the world,” Modi said in his monthly radio programme, “Mann Ki Baat”.
He reminisced the contribution of the IAF in various wars from 1947 until now in context with the upcoming Air Force Day which is celebrated on October 8 to commemorate its inception in 1932.
Modi explained how the IAF airlifted troops and equipments when the country was attacked by Pakistan in 1947.
“In 1947, when Pakistan attacked Srinagar, the Air Force helped the Army reach the war zone in time... In 1965 also, the IAF gave a befitting reply to the enemies.
“Who doesn’t remember the fight for Bangladesh’s independence in 1971? In 1999, the Air Force had a significant contribution in the Kargil war,” he said.
He thanked the IAF for its involvement in relief operations.
He also mentioned an option granted to women officers for permanent commission.
“They have made sure that there is gender equality in their line-up by opening doors for the country’s daughters in all their departments.
“Now the Air Force is giving them the option to join permanent commission along with short service commission which I had declared on August 15.
“India can now proudly say that it is not just men power but also women power has a contribution in its armed forces,” Modi added.
The early morning vote means Democrats may pass bill by Christmas deadline.

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