Tag: Foreigners

Crushing The Peasants

Behind Enemy Lines

Here we go again:

Despite having many of their demands met when French President Emmanuel Macron caved to the increasing public pressure, the yellow vest squads are still out in the streets calling for his resignation. It seems that the French government has had enough of this unrest and is preparing new legislation aimed at tossing the unhappy peasants into the dungeon if they don’t go home and shut up.

Governments never seem to learn:  the harsher the punishments you heap on people you’re oppressing, the more violence will be inflicted on you in response, eventually.  You heard it here, first:  if the gendarmes start shooting, I wouldn’t be surprised if a whole bunch of WWII-era weapons are unearthed (sometimes literally), to make an appearance at a forthcoming demonstration, or when somebody faces one of these new punishments.

Vivez les giles jaunes!!  

More Royal Pussification

Pussification Parade

Oh FFS:

Meghan has banned Prince Harry from drinking tea and coffee, a royal insider has claimed.
The reformed party animal had already reportedly given up alcohol out of sympathy for pregnant Meghan, but now he’s drinking mineral water instead of caffeine, the Sunday Express reports.
The Duke of Sussex’s new health kick meant he looked fitter and bright-eyed at Sandringham for Christmas – and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by the royal family.
A source told the Express: ‘Considering he’s been a pretty brutal drinker since he was a young teenager, it’s quite an achievement.’
The Duchess of Sussex, 37, has also introduced Harry to yoga and has encouraged him to exercise more, showing him an alternative way to live claims the source.

Prince Harry The Pussywhipped.  If the Royal Ginger has any gumption left at all, this is not going to end well.  You heard it here first.

Quick Question

Behind Enemy Lines, Crime, Gummint, The Gun Thing

This one’s for the BritGov.

So, about that law you have which prevents law-abiding Brits from buying or owning handguns… how’s it doing to reduce handgun ownership and usage Over There?

Not too well?  You mean, only criminals  are getting their hands on the things?  And wait… don’t tell me… they’re shooting people and committing crimes and such?

Well, paint me  pink and call me Rosie.  Who could have foreseen such a thing?

Kinda Trumpy

Politics

The world needs more — a LOT more — of this:

Right-wing nationalist Jair Bolsonaro, who has vowed to crack down on political corruption, violent crime and ignite a moribund economy with deregulation and fiscal discipline, after being sworn in as Brazil’s president today.
The former Army captain and seven-term fringe congressman rode a wave of anti-establishment anger to became Brazil’s first far-right president since a military dictatorship gave way to civilian rule three decades ago.
Addressing a joint session of Congress minutes after taking the oath of office, Bolsonaro, a former Army captain and admirer of the country’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship, vowed to adhere to democratic norms.
He said his government would be guided by the promises he made to Brazilian voters fed up with graft, high levels of violent crime and a still-sputtering economy.
‘I will work tirelessly so that Brazil reaches its destiny,’ Bolsonaro said after being sworn in. ‘My vow is to strengthen Brazil’s democracy.’
On the economic front, the new leader promised to ‘create a new virtuous cycle to open markets’ and ‘carry out important structural reforms’ to shore up a yawning public deficit.

And it gets better:

Last week, the former army captain said that upon taking office he would issue a decree guaranteeing Brazilians without a criminal history the ability to possess firearms. During the campaign, Bolsonaro argued that one way to confront street crime would be to arm more citizens.
Possession of firearms is currently tightly restricted in Brazil, though drug traffickers and other criminal gangs are heavily armed with automatic weapons. Brazil is the annual world leader in total homicides – more than 63,000 in 2017 – and a majority are from firearms.
Bolsonaro has frequently argued that police who fatally shoot criminals during operations should be decorated, not prosecuted. To that end, he has said they should be shielded from prosecution, possibly by having such cases be investigated in a separate process outside the criminal justice system.
Such ideas terrify human rights groups and people who live in poor neighborhoods, where shootouts between police and traffickers often leave criminals, officers and innocent bystanders dead. Some Brazilian police forces, particularly in Rio de Janeiro, are already among the most lethal in the world.
Bolsonaro has frequently expressed adoration for U.S. President Donald Trump, and he is poised to follow him in foreign policy. He has promised to move the Brazilian Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; push back on China, Brazil’s largest foreign investor; ditch regional trade treaties he thinks are bad deals for Brazil; and take a hard line on leftist governments, including that of neighboring Venezuela.

All excellent stuff.

Anyone seen his Missus, by the way?

I think he has the right perspective on just about everything.

Solutions

Hunting

The late (and much-missed) Col. Jeff Cooper once said this about violence:

“One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that ‘violence begets violence.’  I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does.  I would like very much to ensure — and in some cases I have — that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.”

[pauses to let the applause die down]

So when you set yourself up as a “saboteur” — of a perfectly-legal institution, mind you — and part of your modus operandi  is violence, do not be surprised if violence is visited on you in turn.  Such as in this instance:

Hunt saboteurs claim they were attacked after one suffered a bloody eye as violence broke out between supporters and placard-wielding protesters during traditional Boxing Day hunts around the country.
Riders with packs of hounds – following scent trails laid in advance to comply with the 2004 Hunting Act forbidding the hunting of foxes with hounds – set out under cloudy skies this morning in order to maintain the tradition.
But scenes of chaos erupted in Elham, Kent, as a saboteur was hospitalised after allegedly being thrown in front of a passing car ‘that deliberately swerved’ before being punched and kicked by a group of hunt supporters.
A hunt saboteur posted an image of his bloodied eye after allegedly being ambushed by ‘two or more men’, according to the Hunt Saboteurs Association.
A spokesperson for the group said: ‘A group of drunken hunt supporters attacked the saboteurs and their vehicle as they tried to leave’.
And the group claimed a 19-year-old female demonstrator was allegedly punched in the face by a hunt supporter in Tenterden, while a band that had turned up to play reportedly had their equipment damaged.

And we have this as evidence:

But let’s make sure that we don’t just see pics of the loonies.  Here are a couple of the hunt supporters:

And for my Murkin Readers unfamiliar with the ancient custom, let’s make one thing perfectly clear about all this protesting:  it has nothing  to do with protecting foxes, although that’s the pretense.

It has everything  to do with with abolishing an activity largely enjoyed by the upper- and upper-middle classes — in other words, it’s a class  issue.

The very fact that hunting was originally banned by a Labour government headed by the loathsome Tony Blair is sufficient proof thereof.

And all I can say to the hunt supporters is:  keep up the good work of thrashing the “sabos” at every opportunity.

Still Revolting

Gummint, Politics

…and it doesn’t seem like the 21st-century French Revolution is going to end anytime soon, either.

It doesn’t look like there is anything President Macron can do to appease the mob because their protest has no focal point. The demonstrations are an expression of the frustration and anger felt by ordinary Frenchmen at how the government has taken them for granted in creating policies and new taxes they feel they were not consulted on. From refugees to a falling standard of living, the French people feel betrayed and no government giveaways are going to assuage their anger.

For details on the policies and new taxes, feel free to peruse Erik’s take at No Paseran!

I think the events Over There reveal a systemic difference between the U.S. and France.  In Europe, the people basically let the elites run all over them (for hundreds of years Euros seem to have had little problem with their “betters” telling them what to do) right up until the situation becomes intolerable, and then they explode:  heads roll, protesters take to the streets, whatever.

On our side of The Pond, we Murkins just elect people like Trump from time to time, to try to reverse the trend of oppression.  This seems to let some of the steam out of popular resentment — which is also why we respond so strongly when the elected fail or falter in their mission.

I’m not sure that Murkins have the spunk to rise up as violently as the Frogs.  Perhaps it’s because we have so many guns — not that we’re ready to use them, but their very presence acts as a damper on ourselves.  Instead of rioting, we form a Tea Party movement and get politicians to follow its precepts.

It’s one thing to march in yellow vests, blockade streets, break windows and deface monuments.  It’s another thing altogether to break out the AKs and ARs and start a truly  violent revolution.  That’s not to say we couldn’t, under truly intolerable circumstances, but I think we all agree that most of us — even the most fire-breathing — would shrink from taking that final, and very deadly step until that time.

Under these circumstances, our government and elites should be grateful  for the Second Amendment instead of trying to shut it down all the time.  That said, our elites would ultimately prefer that the State is the repository of all guns so that they and only they can go to the guns, which of course is the current state of affairs in Europe.

An interesting mental game is to wonder what the gilets jaunes would do if France had a Second Amendment as robust as ours or whether, if they did, the State would be as oppressive towards them as it has been.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll head off to the range.  All this intellectual activity requires some physical release.