Evil Penevil

Just to make things clear- both April 1 Stickman columns were deliberate pranks on his part. He posted the columns in the April 1 tradition of fake news. Evil

Some years ago, when April 1 last fell on a Sunday, Stickman had an article about the Thai government forbidding foreigners to take Thai women back to their hotel rooms. Many, many of his readers as well as posters on the various boards were fooled. Some posters with a sense of humor "doubled down" on the Stickman article and claimed to have seen the official announcement of the hotel ban, which lent credibility to the Stickman report. One explanation of why so many were (are?) gullible is that Stickman's column and the boards are widely read internationally and April 1 is not a big thing in some countries. A lot of people outside the English-speaking countries are unaware of the April 1 tradition of fake stories in the media. Evil

If you come across posts about bars closing; prices for anything soaring or plummeting; the Thai government changing rules for foreign visitors; etc., ask yourself: what's the date today? Don't feel bad if you fall for it, every year thousands do. There have been years when millions have believed April Fools' stories. Remember, too, that some members only post wind-ups, no matter what the date Evil April Fools' Day seems like the perfect time for pranks. For big-name brands, the holiday presents an opportunity to have some fun – or to tarnish their image. Still, companies often feel compelled to make their own mark on the day despite infamous instances where April Fools' fakeries have flopped – or worse, backfired. April Fools' Day can give companies and brands an "opportunity to connect with their customers through humor – a great way to show your brand’s personality and fun side. And if done well, it can create a very memorable moment for the brand," Rebecca Rosborough, global chief commercial officer for online brand management platform Frontify, told USA TODAY in the past. "However, it is often hard to do it in a way that will resonate with everyone and not offend anyone," she said. Most April Fools' Day announcements are harmless and simply result in the company or brand getting some attention. A 2022 example of one that did more, Rosborough said, was 7-Eleven's introduction of the Tiny Gulp, a serving of "just 0.7 ounces, it's the perfect little sip," the company said on social media. "While the bit was clearly just for fun, it served to reinforce one of the brand’s iconic offerings," the Big Gulp, Rosborough said. LINK to videos Not all April Fools' go so well. Here's a few examples. Elon Musk: Telsa goes 'bankrupt' Tesla faced a string of bad news including the March 2018 fatal crash involving a Model X SUV driver. It didn't help when Elon Musk tweeted about Tesla going bankrupt. The prank "backfired immediately, causing the stock to drop 7%," Rosborough said. "And although he tried to inject humor in the way he phrased it, his 'Easter Eggs' pun wildly misfired." What might Musk have planned for this year remains to be seen. Last year, Tesla posted on X, the social network Musk bought in April 2022 when it was called Twitter, a 38-second crash test video in which the company's Cybertruck never actually crashed. That led some who have been waiting for the vehicle to arrive to complain in comments, "Yeah, if you could stop teasing the Tesla community and I, that’d be great.” Volkswagen gets a new name – not Ahead of April Fools' Day 2021, German automaker Volkswagen published on its website what was thought to be a draft press release about plans to change the name of its American division to "Voltswagen," the swapping out of the "k" for a "t" as a commitment to electric vehicles. While some Volkswagen officials in Germany were telling The Wall Street Journal the announcement was an early April Fools' Day joke, other officials maintained the change was legit. After the company's stock began to rise, and VW's communications teams and journalists wasted a lot of time, the company confessed the whole thing really was a joke. Volkswagen's prank is an example of one that truly went too far, said Columbia Business School professor and corporate strategy expert Rita McGrath, who talked to USA TODAY in 2022 for a story about April Fools' pranks. "(It) was a mistake," she said. Target limits self-checkout to 10 items or less: What shoppers need to knowIKEA slashes prices on products as transportation and materials costs easeBabies R Us opening shops inside about 200 Kohl's stores across the countryWalmart expands same-day delivery hours: You can get products as early as 6 a.m.Get your 'regency' on: Bath & Body Works unveils new 'Bridgerton' themed collection The Taco Liberty Bell: April Fools' prank rang true, for awhile Taco Bell cooked up an April Fools' surprise in 1996 running full-page advertisements in The Philadelphia Inquirer and other newspapers including The New York Times and USA TODAY about its purchase of the Liberty Bell – and renaming it "the Taco Liberty Bell" – to "help the national debt." Members of Congress called the National Park Service to confirm the deal was not real, The Washington Post reported. The park service held an impromptu press conference to deny the deal, too. After Taco Bell admitted the whole thing was a hoax, the company offered to donate $50,000 towards preservation of the bell. The hijinks paid off. The free publicity generated by the incident was worth $25 million in advertising and sales at Taco Bell increased by $500,000 and $600,000, on April 1 and April 2, compared to the prior week, according to the Chicago Tribune, which also ran the ad. Google: April Fools' Day email 'Mic Drop' Historically, Google had been an active participant in April Fools' pranks until the 2020 with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, tech news site 9to5Google noted. The company may have wished it hadn't introduced a new Gmail feature called the Mic Drop in 2016. The feature made "it easier to have the last word on any email," Google said, by adding a GIF of a yellow animated minion (from the animated "Despicable Me" and "Minion" movies) dropping a microphone. But a bug added the Mic Drop to many emails unintentionally and it had to be turned off. "We love April Fools jokes at Google, and we regret that this joke missed the mark and disappointed you," the company said at the time. Richard Branson's UFO landed ... with a thud for police The billionaire and founder of The Virgin Group, who in 2021 got to travel into space, has enjoyed April Fools' pranks for years, too. His most famous one: the 1989 flying of a "UFO," actually a hot air balloon with flashing lights, over London. Police were mobilized and the army had been alerted, Branson said in a blog post from 2021. When it landed – the day before April Fools' Day because of weather, The Christian Science Monitor reported – a door opened and someone wearing an E.T. costume walked out. "The police surrounded us and then sent one lone policeman with his truncheon across the field to greet the alien," Branson wrote. Initially, "the police didn’t see the funny side of it and threatened to arrest us for wasting their time," Branson wrote. "Thankfully, they soon joined in the fun and left with smiles on their faces." Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

I went to high school in Park Forest and university in Evanston. Did you recognize the Easter Bunny? Hint: it's a dumb bunny. Evil

I'd only want cream filling in the first one! Speaking of cream filling, the latest U.K. export to the U.S. is deep-fried Cadbury filled eggs. Cadbury eggs have been an Easter favorite of mine since I was a kid. But deep-fried??? No, thank you! Evil

Which do you prefer? or ?

Maybe, maybe not. The U.S. has a "fair use" exception to copyright protection that allows portions of a copyrighted work to be used without permission under certain circumstances. It's complicated and Johnny Somali and Jino would have to first request that YouTube and X take down the videos with the alleged infringements, but it's not at all certain YouTube and X would comply. YouTube and X could claim fair use regarding the copyrighted video footage. The creators could then bring a civil suit against the creators of the vids containing the alleged infringements, but it's very unlikely creators like J and J would do so or that they would prevail in court if they did. For more information, take a look at 17 U.S. Code § 107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use. A Google search for "fair use" will turn up hundreds of articles and thousands of comments on fair use. Evil

Not really. I didn't link to videos with Johnny Somali or Jino as the creators and they can't earn money unless they are the creators. I linked to clips on X and YouTube that excerpted some of the worst parts of J and J's live streams. These clips don't register as "views" for J or J. The creators of those clips could potentially earn money, but they are so small-scale they don't meet the criteria for money-earning status. The poster of the Osaka video clip on YouTube is called Green Cyclist and has only 157 subscribers and 11 videos on his channel. Because of the extreme nature of Johnny and Jino's live streams, they are allowed on only one platform, Kick. Unless a member of Thailand-247 watches the live streams on KIck, there's no possibility for them to earn money. One could possibly argue that excerpt clips such as I posted can indirectly help creators like Johnny and Jino by spreading their "fame," but I doubt any Thailand-247 member will head to Kick and pay to watch their live streams. Evil

For anyone who's bothered by the Pattaya vloggers, get a load of these guys. The idiot in the video is named Jino, the sidekick and cameraman of the infamous livestreamer Johnny Somali (real name Ismael Ramsey Khalid). Jino was on Khao San Road in Bangkok and had been provoking the hell out of Thais, yelling that he wanted to fight and then kicked over something (unclear what) to emphasis his point. He changed his tune quickly when the door staff at a nightspot and a bunch of other Thais seemed more than ready to give him a fight. Jino apologized profusely and offered to pay for any damage. That's the definition of a total loss of face, but it's not something Jino is smart enough to understand. He did post later on the Net that he couldn't "troll" in Thailand because the locals turned against him so quickly and overwhelmingly. Johnny Somali caused a lot of uproar in Japan for provoking Japanese people in even a worse manner. Do a search for "Johnny Somali Japan" for the details. But Johnny not only got his ass kicked, he was arrested, fined, sentenced to six months in jail and deported from Japan. He then went to Israel, where locals also, shall we say, confronted him physically. The knockout punch comes at about 1.30 in the clip below. These guys make the Pattaya vloggers look like third graders. Evil

One more Russian Tourist Allegedly Assaults Pregnant Shopkeeper in Koh Phangan After Refusing to Remove Her Shoes Surat Thani— On March 18th, 2024, Thai social media posted a story of a Russian female tourist allegedly kicking an 8-month pregnant shopkeeper after refusing to take her shoes off at Koh Phangan, Surat Thani. At 1:00 PM, Koh Phangan police received a report from Mrs. Satika, a pregnant 34-year-old shopkeeper at a natural products store in Koh Phangan that she allegedly was physically assaulted by a foreign tourist.

Some other instances: Another even more serious assault by a Swiss man on a frail Thai woman as Uli Fehr has his visa revoked American Fugitive Arrested in Pattaya for Allegedly Running Illegal Property Business in Phuket and Surat Thani Frenchman’s trial unveils multi-million euro Rolex replica ring Cash and carry con: Middle Eastern man caught stealing from Ang Thong store Bangkok Cops probe groping incident by foreigners on Khaosan Road Nanny-napped: Israeli woman detained in Thailand for unauthorised nursery NORWEGIAN AND KAZAKH WOMEN GET CAUGHT DRIVING TAXIS IN THAILAND

I thought the same. Grabbing a cop's gun can have fatal consequences in almost every country with armed police. Evil

Another incident in Phuket. That's heavy duty stuff- disarming a Thai cop and taking his gun, which apparently fired without harming anyone. READ MORE

This is one of my favorite YouTube channels. Would anyone like to be a cop in the U.S. these days?