The U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 20 passed two Hong Kong bills supporting the ongoing pro-democracy protests, sending them to the White House for the president to sign or veto. The House voted 417 to 1 for the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which unanimously passed the Senate a day earlier. The House unanimously passed another version of this bill earlier in October. The Act would require the State Department to review each year whether the city, which reverted to the Chinese rule in 1997, retains sufficient autonomy to justify its special economic privileges with the United States.
Who would have thought that the once-humble laser pointer, used in lecture theatres across the world, could be used by those getting up to such mischief by protesters in Chile. Hong Kong, well, yes, but Chile, well, that’s a surprise:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/watch-chile-protesters-kill-police-drone-using-hundreds-laser-pointers
“As the protests have raged, the repression unleashed on demonstrators has become increasingly brutal and high-tech. Chile’s protesters, however, have responded with a combination of ingenuity, persistence, and equally high-tech tricks to fend off police attacks. Such was the case earlier this week in footage that quickly went viral on social media Wednesday that appeared to show a police unmanned aerial system (UAS) being disabled as protesters aimed run-of-the-mill green laser pointers—the type available in any Office Depot or Staples—at the law enforcement-grade drone. The video, which NextGov reports first made its appearance Tuesday night on Reddit, shows the drone hovering above a sea of demonstrators as the lasers are trained on it. Soon, multiple other lasers are trained on it and when the drone attempts to escape, the lasers have an almost tractor beam-like effect, forcing the UAS to falter before it helplessly descends to the ground. Laser lights at demonstrations didn’t first appear in Chile. The pointers have had a ubiquitous presence at the raucous demonstrations in Hong Kong, where protesters have also used the lasers to disable surveillance cameras equipped with facial recognition technology. And as Defense Maven reports, U.S. Army Stryker vehicles are also being equipped with laser weapons that would be used to disable and knock out incoming flying drones.
So, Janet Albrechtsen thinks we should become a republic because a relatively minor Royal (8th in line to the throne) is in the spotlight (Australian 21/11/19). Of course, were she an American, I doubt that she would be calling for a return to the monarchy because of the various matters being revealed in the impeachment process against the president! She forgets that we have our own constitutional arrangements which are subject only to the Australian people and to no one else. We have nothing whatsoever to do now with the British parliament and because we, not anybody else, have opted to remain under the Crown, the Governor-General, as representative of the Queen, is our executive head of state. We therefore have the best of both worlds. We have a system that blocks politicians from absolute power, and we have the independence to decide for ourselves on whether we wish to retain our current system or move to another. It is the people’s choice, not the Queen’s, not the politician’s and certainly not that of Janet Albrechtsen or her friends in the media. Only the people.
Philip Benwell
National Chair
Australian Monarchist League
Things must be getting pretty crazy, when the big O himself, Obama says, “Hey fellow Globo-commos, slow down a bit, you are moving too fast, and might scare the sheeple”:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/11/16/obama-signals-concern-about-radical-2020-field/
“Former President Barack Obama warned a group of leftist donors that Democrats must be cognizant of public sentiment going into the 2020 election, taking a veiled shot at far-left candidates like Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) by noting that Democrats “have to be rooted in reality.” The former president spoke to a group of liberal donors in Washington, DC, on Friday and suggested that the far-left ideas articulated and pursued by some of the candidates in the Democrat primary could turn away potential voters. “Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision we also have to be rooted in reality,” Obama said, according to the New York Times. “The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.” Obama refrained from naming a specific candidate, but he, according to the Times, “cautioned that the universe of voters that could support a Democratic candidate — Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans — are not driven by the same views reflected on ‘certain left-leaning Twitter feeds’ or ‘the activist wing of our party.’”
We don’t hear a lot about Wales, but rest assured, it too is facing the twilight of the West, suffering from the same philosophical diseases as everywhere else:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/11/16/welsh-separatist-leader-wales-turned-into-nation-of-sanctuary-refugees/
“Liz Saville Roberts, who leads the Welsh separatist party Plaid Cymru in Britain’s House of Commons, has called for her small country to become a “nation of sanctuary” for the world’s refugees. “We live on an island of Britain,” the London-born ex-teacher told a BBC Question Time audience. “In terms of managing immigration this is way easier than for many other nations,” she added — although despite the seeming logic of this statement the United Kingdom does in fact have the joint-highest illegal alien population in all of Europe. [Immigration] has become desperately political. Now, forgive me, now, to be referring to Wales again, but this is equally true for other areas in the United Kingdom… 96 per cent of people in Wales were born in the United Kingdom, and yet we hear this same argument there, but we’re dependent so much on people to come in for clinical staff, for food processing, for catering — we’re going to be in trouble if we don’t have these people still coming in,” she claimed, appearing to suggest in the same breath that immigration to Wales is both too limited to be of any concern, and also absolutely vital to the health service and for a steady supply of cheap waiters and factory workers. “Now, I am proud to see that my party would like to see Wales as a nation of sanctuary for refugees,” she added, passing over the fact that the economic migration to Wales which she initially mentioned has little bearing on the question of refugees, which in Continental European countries including Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden remain overwhelmingly jobless. “But I think there is a time now, rather than [immigration] being a political football — and this is a political par excellence of our time, and it is ugly — that we start talking about immigration in terms of these are other human beings, and how we manage with that in the world, rather than using it as an excuse for closing down our doors, becoming more inward-looking, and more turning in ourselves, because I fear for the future if we continue with this narrative,” she concluded. Despite the Plaid politician’s rhetoric, however, the reality is that Britain’s doors have not been closed or even closing for generations, with net immigration currently running at or near record annual highs and the country’s demographic make-up transforming rapidly. Quite how Wales, with a population of just over 3 million, could possibly retain any semblance of identity or even survive economically if turned into a “sanctuary” for tens of millions of global refugees, remains unclear.”
To The Australian Reactions to remarks by British eco-warrior Roger Hallam about the Holocaust seem excessive and unjustifiable ("Holocaust not unique: eco-warrior disowned", 22/11). His point that there have been a number of large-scale killings of peoples in history and that the Holocaust is another but not, in that context, unique, is surely correct. The scale and irrationality of subsequent attacks on him are extraordinary. My goodness, a rebuke from the German government and the withdrawal of the German version of his book, and all because of a sensible if controversial comment! German Greens co-leader Robert Habeck's claim that there must be no "downplaying of the Holocaust" is contemptible in a nation that routinely jails Holocaust revisionists and thus affronts disgracefully the vital principle of intellectual freedom. It's time this sacred cow was laid to rest.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic
Socialism, if humans were rational and not subjected to unending manipulation, should have died in the 20th century, but it is making a comeback, especially with young people at universities… this is one of the reasons why we need to close down the universities and put in place new training institutions, without the Humanities and Social Sciences:
https://mises.org/wire/4-reasons-why-socialism-becoming-more-popular
“The supporters of socialism are not simply the young, but rather, disproportionately those among the young who are college-educated. And the more college they have, the hotter for socialism they get. According to a 2015 poll , support for socialism grows from 48% among those with a high school diploma or less to 62% among college graduates to 78% among those with post-graduate degrees. Those on the left probably stop thinking hard about now and jump immediately to the conclusion that support for socialism is just a natural outgrowth of big brains and elite educations. But there is, in fact, a less obvious but ultimately far more compelling explanation that also manages to account for the general fact that more education correlates with more leftism: something — something bad — is happening at universities themselves to pull students toward the (far) left. We have already seen above that what’s not happening at universities, even elite universities, today is a whole lot of education in important subjects like history. What we are getting instead is a lot of groupthink and indoctrination. Universities have always skewed a bit left. But beginning in the early to mid 1990s (for reasons I’ve explained in some detail elsewhere ), ideological diversity began to vanish entirely, as the leftward deviation turned tidal. As documented in a 2005 paper from Stanley Rothman et al., as of 1984, 39% of university faculty were left/liberal, and 34% were right/conservative. By 1999, those numbers had undergone a seismic shift: faculty was now 72% left/liberal and 15% right/conservative. Since 1999, the imbalance has become starker still. A comprehensive National Association of Scholars report from April 2018 from Prof. Mitchell Langbert of Brooklyn College, tracking the political registrations of 8,688 tenure-track, Ph.D.-holding professors from 51 of U.S. News & World Report’s 66 top-ranked liberal arts colleges for 2017, found that “78.2 percent of the academic departments in [his] sample have either zero Republicans, or so few as to make no difference.” Predictably, given the composition of the professoriate, survey data also indicates that students’ political views drift further leftward between freshman and senior year. In light of this data, it should not be a surprise to us that students who have gone to college in this age of ideological extremism have come out radicalized and … socialized.
Here are some of the latest items on the Trump impeachment saga. People on our side are basically sitting it out until Trump strikes back, or just gives up and offers his neck for execution. There does not seem to be any reason for the impeachment other than, we are the Democrats and we will not permit anything we deem undesirable to exist. It is as simple as that. How then can America survive as a unit in any form? It cannot, and should not. It is time to start divorce proceedings.
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/11/13/the-latest-false-news-on-the-trump-impeachment/
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/rich-noyes/2019/11/12/impeachment-frenzy-nets-aim-destroy-trump-96-negative-news
“As the media are all out to get Trump, there is no way to get any valid information about the so-called impeachment. But you don’t have to pay too much attention to notice that the Democrats and the presstitutes are constantly changing the focus. The alleged whistleblower, who only had hearsay information, if that, has dropped out of the picture, being too compromised by his affliations and prior meetings with Adam Schiff during which the “whistleblowing” was planned as an attack on Trump. The Democrats and presstitutes then shifted focus to state department types who also heard second hand from “staff” about the alleged conversation containing a quid pro quo, a claim unsupported by the transcript of the telephone call or by the President of Ukraine. So now a new alleged phone call has emerged, or been invented. The acting ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, a sleazy State Department type, today (Nov. 13) testified that a member of his staff heard Trump in another telephone call asking Sondland about the Ukraine investigation of the Bidens. This second-hand information is described by the presstitute media as a “bombshell.” God help us. It is nothing of the sort. But the presstitutes will repeat it until it is.
In the name of political correctness, if the past is allowed to exist, it must come with a health warning, naturally:
https://summit.news/2019/11/14/disney-puts-outdated-cultural-depictions-trigger-warning-on-old-movies/
“Disney’s new streaming service includes trigger warnings on old movies that caution the viewer about “outdated cultural depictions.” The launch of the new Disney+ service in the United States made available many classic films, but they could not be presented without the need to genuflect to political correctness. Movies including Dumbo, Lady and the Tramp, The Aristocats, Peter Pan and The Jungle Book all feature the trigger warning in their plot descriptions due to negative racial stereotypes like the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp, the Native American characters in Peter Pan, and the crows in Dumbo. “This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions,” reads the disclaimer. Movies deemed too controversial due to their stereotypical depictions of non-white people, such as the 1946 film Song of the South, are not included as part of the Disney+ service. There is a constantly increasing number of movies and songs that are being forgotten or done over in order to conform to the ever changing social mores of progressivism. John Legend and Kelly Clarkson recently released a re-recorded version of Baby, It’s Cold Outside, completely changing some of the supposedly “misogynistic” lyrics. The song was a total flop, receiving almost twice the number of thumbs down than thumbs up on YouTube. Get woke, go broke.”
To The Australian Telling the truth about Aboriginal matters will not lead in the direction espoused by Chris Kenny ("Truth is at the heart of an indigenous voice", 23-24/11). It is not good enough to complain about "dishonest conservative opposition" without specifying what that is and why it is dishonest. Secondly, the people whom he describes as "constitutional conservatives" are not really such at all. The conservative position, well expressed recently by Greg Sheridan ("A constitution that distinguishes us by race: this way madness lies", 14/11), is that constitutionally all citizens are to be treated equally, regardless of their ethnicity or where and when their ancestors lived. The controversial Uluru statement (its claim to come "from the heart" is questionable and it could perhaps more accurately be characterised as political propaganda) very definitely does seek to unjustly extend especial privileges to a group that has its own ethnicity or racial mix as well as having (not always wholly by any means) "traceable inheritance rights to this land". As is typical of proponents of Aboriginal constitutional recognition, Kenny does not really address the powerful arguments against it which are now on the public record.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic
To The Australian Ian Maloney's assertion (25/11) that "a constitutionally established voice to parliament" would not "diminish the parliament's authority" is unconvincing. There is already a peculiarly powerful push in many quarters in support of what is really a policy of Aboriginal separatism. How many MPs or which parties could be expected to resist this, once such a significant change to the constitution has been effected? How firmly would parliament resist unjust and selfish demands from the constitutionally entrenched "voice"? Scott Morrison and his government need to pause for reflection on this issue. They have already done damage by appointing known partisan activists to the ministry and to the new committee. A much more impartial and truth-based approach to "Aboriginal rights" is required. Justice demands it. The future security and political stability of this nation needs it.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave
This time round I am going to get on the winning side, and not have the next five decades of my life wrecked by being a loser. China has won, it is done and dusted, there is no fight left in Australians, if there ever was, and we should get down on our knees and beg China for our pitiful lives, like I do every night before sleeping! There, I have said it, I repent, forgive me! Can I now have a big wad of money please? My 30 + pieces of silver too, just like all of those academics, business folks and pollies got, and get?
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/chinese-australian-billionaire-chau-chak-wing-un-fbi-case-2018-5
https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/where-is-australia-china-makes-a-bold-play-for-the-south-pacific-s-treasure-islands-20191115-p53b4g.html
https://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2017/chinas-operation-australia/hard-power.html
Then, we have those few remaining pests, the die hards from a Bruce Willis movie, wanting the last dregs of Australia to resist the inevitableness of China, China, China:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-17/andrew-hastie-james-paterson-refuse-to-repent-china-criticism/11712160
Democrat presidential hopeful and dopeful, Elizabeth “false news Indian” Warren, plans to tax the rich out of existence. Now I know that at first blush that might sound good, but the way the system is set up, it is likely to lead to social disaster, since the rich are rich because they are totally ruthless, so they are going to fight back, and if necessary, bring down the temple. The thought had occurred to me that it is a pity that social credit was not being proposed here, but immediately I was in horror of such a thought, for these people would finish off the movement for all time if they ever embraced it. Better to keep it up our sleaves to rebuild after the collapse.
https://www.infowars.com/some-would-be-taxed-over-100-under-elizabeth-warrens-plan/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/elizabeth-warrens-tax-plan-would-bring-rates-over-100-for-some-11573819200
“Potential tax rates over 100% could result from the combination of tax increases the Massachusetts senator proposes for the very top tier of investors. She wants to return the top income-tax rate to 39.6% from 37%, impose a new 14.8% tax for Social Security, add an annual tax of up to 6% on accumulated wealth and require rich investors to pay capital-gains taxes at the same rates as other income even if they don’t sell their assets.
Consider a billionaire with a $1,000 investment who earns a 6% return, or $60, received as a capital gain, dividend or interest. If all of Ms. Warren’s taxes are implemented, he could owe 58.2% of that, or $35 in federal tax. Plus, his entire investment would incur a 6% wealth tax, i.e., at least $60. The result: taxes as high as $95 on income of $60 for a combined tax rate of 158%. The rate would vary according to the investor’s circumstances, any state taxes, the profitability of his investments and as-yet-unspecified policy details, but tax rates of over 100% on investment income would be typical, especially for billionaires. Warren has promised free healthcare, childcare, housing, and education, amongst other things, and has promised to do so without raising taxes on the middle class. Her plan to pay for Medicare for All without raising taxes on the middle class can’t even be done, and that’s just one proposal. Warren’s plans to pay for all of her proposals are clearly more radical than she wants us to believe. “Under current law, investors without dividends can add their annual gains to their fortunes and pay little or no income tax,” Rubin explains. “After Ms. Warren’s one-two punch, some billionaires who generate pretax returns could pay annual taxes that would leave them with less money than they started with.”
To The Age Chris Zappone is no doubt right to warn against various acts of misinformation and disinformation that taint discussion in public forums ("When the language of democracy is hijacked", 25/11), but his assertion that often the most vocal defenders of intellectual liberty and freedom from censorship are really opponents of "sensible debate" looks well over the top. So does the claim that there is a "linguistic sham growing and invading our national conversations." Journalists need to be cautious when assessing arguments, yes, but they also need to be fully committed themselves to free speech and to defending those who in various contexts genuinely honour that principle.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave
First, go to this site and see how you go determining the real photograph from the photo-shopped one:
https://landing.adobe.com/en/na/products/creative-cloud/69308-real-or-photoshop/index.html
It fooled me too. Consider then the emerging significance of the ability of IT for reality manipulation:
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/technology-spurs-our-ability-deceive
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2019/11/technology-spurs-on-our-ability-to.html
This shows how the law can be used to produce a one world legal system, or regulation, regardless of national boundaries:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/court-justice-european-union-limits-free-speech
“On October 3, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in a judgment that Facebook can be ordered by national courts of EU member states to remove defamatory material worldwide: "EU law does not preclude a host provider such as Facebook from being ordered to remove identical and, in certain circumstances, equivalent comments previously declared to be illegal. In addition, EU law does not preclude such an injunction from producing effects worldwide, within the framework of the relevant international law which it is for Member States to take into account." The ruling came after the Austrian politician Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, chairman of Die Grünen (The Greens) party, sued Facebook Ireland in the Austrian courts. According to the Court of Justice of the European Union: "She [Glawischnig-Piesczek] is seeking an order that Facebook Ireland remove a comment published by a user on that social network harmful to her reputation, and allegations which were identical and/or of an equivalent content. "The Facebook user in question had shared on that user's personal page an article from the Austrian online news magazine oe24.at entitled 'Greens: Minimum income for refugees should stay'. That had the effect of generating on that page a 'thumbnail' of the original site, containing the title and a brief summary of the article, and a photograph of Ms Glawischnig-Piesczek. That user also published, in connection with that article, a comment which the Austrian courts found to be harmful to the reputation of Ms Glawischnig-Piesczek, and which insulted and defamed her. This post could be accessed by any Facebook user."
It was done in both Britain, Australia and across the West by the Left, who have used immigration as a political weapon in their hateful war on traditional society and values, in the name of globo-commo society:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/are-democrats-gerrymandering-population-their-open-borders-plans
“In an impassioned interview with Fox Business' Trish Regan, 'Die Hard' actor Robert Davi accused Democrats of "gerrymandering the population" with policies that encourage and protect illegal immigrants. “Every single thing that they do,” Davi began. “The Democrats and the cabal of the GOP globalists, they’ve let down the American people for gerrymandering the population.” As The Daily Caller's Virginia Kruta notes, Davi also referenced the Immigration and Naturalization Act, passed by former President Lyndon B. Johnson and “argued by Teddy Kennedy,” saying that they had promised the law would not encourage further illegal immigration. “This is what’s happening, it’s pure and simple,” Davi continued.
The Hong Kong protests, which started as most of this “coloured revolution” globalist backed protests, began as something seemingly innocent, involving umbrellas, has now spiralled into violence, with setting things on fire being the latest strategy. Thus, an older man who disagreed with the protesters was set on fire. Another old man had his head smashed in by a brick, which could have been accidental. Lots of other things have been smashed and set on fire. So much for peaceful democratic protests, it is much like the mischief that our Left and antifa get up to here. Yes, the universities, and university students are in the thick of it, as always, and this will continue as long as these moribund institutions exist.
There are many points to fairly criticise China on, such as its imperialism and colonialism, but, China is aided by local traitors, and I bear them no hate. For the money, Hong Kong is part of China, under China’s laws, and it is simply civil disobedience to be undertaking the actions these protestors are doing. China is no a democracy, so let’s live with that.
Remarkable restrain has been exercised by China, but I expect its patience is growing thin.
https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/hong-kong-protests-horrific-moment-protesters-set-man-on-fire/news-story/d2edbf72537b852db2aaa3a6ee212710
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2019/nov/17/hong-kong-protesters-set-bridge-on-fire-amid-clashes-university-video-report
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/17/asia/hong-kong-protests-november-17-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.breitbart.com/news/protesters-set-fire-to-hold-off-police-at-hong-kong-campus/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk-6atPXx1U
Only the finest transgender news fit to print. Like the great advances that trans women are making, first in sport, and now in rightfully claiming roles in Hollywood:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50214341
https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-10-30-biological-male-transgenders-take-female-roles-hollywood.html
https://www.amren.com/news/2019/10/homosexual-male-cast-as-cinderellas-fairy-godmother-in-upcoming-live-action-movie/
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/homosexual-fella-cast-as-cinderellas-fairy-godmother-in-upcoming-live-action-movie
“The role of the fairy godmother in Sony’s upcoming live-action Cinderella movie will be played by a homosexual man. Billy Porter, 50, has been known for his current role as Pray Tell in the FX ballroom drama Pose, as well as for the extravagant hats and dresses he wears. Due to be released in 2021, Sony’s version of the classic Cinderella tale has been billed as a modern story that features an orphan girl who finds true love with a prince despite years of enslavement by her wicked stepmother. The role of Prince Charming reportedly has not yet been cast. The Emmy Award-winning Porter plays the role of a fairy godmother who grants a wish to Cinderella, who is played by popular Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello. According to a statement from Sony, Cabello will be “integrally involved in the music for the film.” The production is being directed by Kay Cannon, who has helmed the Pitch Perfect movie franchise, as well as several television productions.
Wow, this is pure concentred evil, and it is a disgrace that the sheeple are not out on the streets in the millions to protest this.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/pelosi-scraps-presumption-of-innocence-trump-needs-to-prove-he-is-innocent?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro
“House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) suggested to CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday that President Donald Trump needs to prove that he is innocent in the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. This is contradictory to the U.S. criminal justice system, which is based on the presumption of innocence. Pelosi, who made the remarks on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” made similar remarks last week while responding to a reporter’s question about the public believing that Democrats are “dead set” on impeaching Trump without looking at all the facts. “It’s called an inquiry,” Pelosi said on Thursday. “And if the president has something that is exculpatory, Mr. President, that means you have anything that shows your innocence, then he should make that known and that’s part of the inquiry. And so far, we haven’t seen that, but we welcome it. And that’s what an inquiry’s about.” Pelosi then repeated that sentiment on Sunday in response to Brennan asking her, “Do you think you’ll go through all of this and not vote to impeach the President?”
