Four before the Apocalypse

1. Icahn has newz. Poynter

2. Google gives up on news print. Boston Phoenix

3. Ebersol is out at NBC. LA Times

4. Remember the time in Tora Bora when we almost got him (long before we did) Reporter in Exile

Our man in Bangkok

Todd Ruiz, former Pasadena Star-News City Hall reporter, lives in Thailand, where he samples real street food on a daily basis - not the kind that comes in a fancy truck, but the kind that comes from someone who pays a monthly bribes to keep his gutter-side restaurant open.

From the post:

So I noticed foodie Evan Kleiman of KCRW in that other City of Angels has unilaterally declared May 1st Global Street Food day. Good to see America tasting some of its much-celebrated diversity. Although the hipster horde of Los Angeles may have recently discovered catering trucks serving up lengua and all-things con carne, the joys of street food are largely absent from the American diet. I'm sure health codes and dysentery dissonance are factors.

But while Americans focus on 'square' meals in carefully scheduled nutrient-consumption rituals, much of the world cruises through life grazing from stalls, booths, mobile kitchens and gutter-kettles tended by stooped oldsters.

With the men in black

For several weeks, former Pasadena Star-News reporter Todd Ruiz has been filing dispatches from the front lines of the sometimes violent anti-government protests in Thailand at his Reporter in Exile blog. His connections got him an exclusive look at the "men in black," a "secretive and heavily armed" band of fighters who used violence to bolster the officially "nonviolent" red shirt movement.

From the story:

'Not Terrorists Not Violent; Only Peaceful and Democracy,'' read a banner hanging outside the barrier of jumbled tires. Inside, it was an open secret who the gunmen were; no less secret were the perimeter bombs, connected by dirty gray cables, designed to inflict heavy casualties on any advancing government army soldiers.

Some of the men held their firearms tightly concealed under jackets. Just after sunset, oblong packages wrapped in black plastic were carried into tents in Lumpini Park from elsewhere in the camp. Running at a crouch, we were moved to a different tent nearer the memorial statue of Thai King Rama VI. The Ronin moved between tents often in this way to avoid detection from government snipers.

Twenty-seven men crouched in darkness inside the tent. Newspapers covered any illuminated displays from radios or other electronics, and we were asked to turn off our cell phones. One gunman suggested army snipers would kill them all at first light if they had the chance.

''Don't worry; safe. Thai-style,'' their combat medic said to us in English, gesturing to layers of tarps obscuring the ground from potential snipers where we were camped with them.

The story was published in Asia Times.

Thai army assault on anti-government protesters

On May 19, hundreds of Thai soldiers moved in to clear anti-government protesters from downtown Bangkok. Reporter in Exile blogger Todd Ruiz filmed the operation, which left at least 15 people dead:

Dawn-to-dusk footage from the Bangkok crackdown from reporterinexile.com on Vimeo.

Ruiz on KPCC*

Reporter in Exile blogger Todd Ruiz will be on KPCC's "Air Talk" with Larry Mantle at 11 a.m. today to talk about the rising violence in Thailand.

*Ruiz got bumped.

Tying the Intertubes

The Thai government has turned to online censorship in its effort to quell an anti-government uprising. Todd Ruiz at Reporter in Exile has the scoop - here's an excerpt:

Blocking URLs to prevent the flow of information is like trying to dam a river with your hands. You just get wet and look stupid. Especially since any of the thousands of proxy servers so easily circumvents your finest efforts.

That hasn't stopped the censorship-loving Thai government, which steers all TCP/UDP port 80 traffic through its Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, from dropping the ban hammer on thousands of websites, YouTube videos and news sites since the red crisis began mid-March.

All in the name of protecting those delicate, vulnerable Thai minds from the weighty burden of critical thought.

The complete post is here.

Four in the morning

1. In the new media world, everyone loves "collaboration" - but is it really worth the hassle? Nieman Journalism Lab

2. L.A. writer Nicky Loomis offers an updated take on dating etiquette, in the era of pervasive online sharing and TMI texting. Pasadena Star-News

3. Pasadena-expat Todd Ruiz tracks the rise of the anti-government Reds in Thailand. Reporter in Exile

4. Finding an audience for "hyperlocal" in Chicago. TechCrunch

Bangkok explosions

At least five explosion hit Bangkok, killing one and wounding 75 others, according to the New York Times.

Reporter in Exile blogger Todd Ruiz, former Pasadena Star-News reporter turned expat, is providing updates here.

Protests in Thailand turn violent

A cameraman for Reuters is among the 15 people killed as anti-government protesters and army troops clashes in Bangkok. AP has the latest. Todd Ruiz is following the action over at Reporter in Exile.

A Pasadena journo in Bangkok

Todd Ruiz, former City Hall reporter for the Pasadena Star-News and current expat, is filing dispatches on the anti-government protests in Thailand from his home in Bangkok. From the latest entry:

A red riot of celebration erupted along Rajdamnoen as demonstrators hoping to bring down the government reveled in their strength of numbers and unity.

Turnout is difficult to gauge and always subject to spin, especially in a country where sources can essentially smile and say whatever they want without being pressed further. The government is playing it down in the tens-of-thousands range; UDD organizers are claiming half a million. Based on my own experience with such things, I'd estimate well over 100,000.

Most of the red constituency are readily filed into handy categories. "Rural" and "poor" being the adjectives within easiest reach.

Ruiz is blogging at Reporter in Exile. His latest updates can be found here and here.