And the Rest of It

A few more items ...

 

German farmers have had it:

The German establishment has been caught off-guard by the sudden emergence in force of major agrarian discontent as thousands of farmers took to the streets of Berlin and other regional centres Monday morning to protest the abolition of diesel fuel subsidies by the country’s green-left government.

Hundreds of tractors were seen simultaneously in the cities of Berlin, Leipzig, and Chemnitz as farmers rallied against government plans to abolish subsidies on agricultural diesel and introduce new taxes for their vehicles with farmers’ groups proclaiming the matter a clear red-line issue for their industry.

An estimated 500 tractors rolled into Leipzig alone as the dispute tests the resolve of Berlin’s already shaky traffic light coalition government, constantly in turmoil over poorly planned energy policy and a fiscal dispute that threatens Germany’s financial stability. 

At the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin early this morning, hundreds of farmers shouted the slogan “Zu viel ist zu viel!” (Too much is too much!), with the farmers’ spokesman saying this is only the beginning of their opposition to the diesel austerity.

 

 

 Kid gloves:

A Madison man charged with firebombing the North Side office of an anti-abortion group pleaded guilty Friday to attempted arson.

Hridindu Roychowdhury, 29, now faces at least five years in prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 14 by U.S. District Judge William Conley. The maximum sentence he faces is 20 years, but he is unlikely to receive anything approaching that under advisory federal sentencing guidelines.

 

 

On the Korean Peninsula:

South Korea's defence minister threatened on Wednesday to unleash a "hell of destruction" on neighbouring North Korea in retaliation for any reckless actions.

The heightened rhetoric comes after North Korea said last month it would no longer abide by a military pact between the neighbours in 2018 that aimed to reduce tension.

Pyongyang's step came after South Korea said it would partially suspend the deal, following the launch of a spy satellite by the North.

"North Korea has only two choices - peace or destruction," a South Korean defence ministry statement quoted the minister, Shin Won-sik, as saying.

"If North Korea makes reckless actions that harm peace, only a hell of destruction awaits them."

The remarks, made during a meeting of top military commanders, come less than a week after Shin visited the South's missile command, which he said would be tasked with "lethally striking the heart and head of the enemy" in the event of a war.

 

 

Russia is adamant that discussion is futile:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has declared that all territorial disputes between Moscow and other countries, including Japan, as "over."

Lavrov made the remarks, which could suggest Moscow will never discuss with Tokyo the issue of sovereignty over Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, during an interview Monday with the state-controlled Channel One television network.

The former Soviet Union seized four islands after Japan's surrender in World War II, and disputes over their sovereignty have prevented Tokyo and Moscow from signing a postwar peace treaty.

"We don't have any territorial rows with the NATO side," Lavrov said, referring to a recent remark by President Vladimir Putin that Russia recognizes no territorial issues with any NATO member.

He continued, "Generally speaking, we don't have territorial disputes with any countries, including Japan."

 

Oh, but you do, Russia. 

The Savior of all is Jewish but don't tell some that:

The war on Christmas has a long and ignoble history, but pro-Palestinian supporters trying to disrupt Santa Claus when he is Ho-Ho-Hoing with kids at a Canadian mall takes it to a whole new level.

This past weekend saw mobs descending on malls in Ottawa and Toronto; a threat in front of a policeman to put someone “six feet deep” and the chant of dishonest propagandists proclaiming, “Jesus was Palestinian.”

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At Ottawa’s Bayshore Mall at the weekend, pro-Palestinian demonstrators decided it would be a good idea to harass shoppers and children, because, you know, it’s the run up to Christmas so why not inject a little hate into the proceedings.

“While you’re shopping, bombs are dropping,” said the protesters on a video posted to Twitter, now X, while a mother can be seen trying to put a small child on Santa’s lap amid the mayhem.

Meanwhile, others chanted, “Jesus was Palestinian.”

This seems to be becoming more popular of late and understandably so. If you can make the claim that the little divine infant child was, in fact, a Palestinian, then obviously it is going to attract support for your current cause: Jesus was a Palestinian. Jesus was born at Christmas. Targeted airstrikes on Palestinians in Gaza at Christmas are therefore wrong.

Couple of problems with this though and not just with faulty logic. According to the Gospel accounts in Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a town now in the West Bank and under Palestinian control. But in A.D zero it was known primarily as being the city of the Israelite king, David, in the region of Judea.

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And the birth of Jesus appeared to fulfil a prophecy that the ruler of Israel would be born in the town.

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,” says the book of Micah.

And, as it’s Christmas, what about the chorus in the carol The First Noel which announces the news: Born is the king of Israel.

So, if these protesters want to claim Jesus as their own, they are also going to have to claim him as the ruler of Israel. This might not fit into their worldview.

It was a hundred years after the death of Christ, following a Jewish uprising, that the Roman rulers of the region decided to rename the area Syria Palaestina.

However, for the anti-Israel protesters, it doesn’t matter that the propaganda is untruthful, only that it is chanted again and again.

But this historical revisionism also underscores a deeper lie and a deeper desire for Hamas and its followers. If Jesus was Palestinian then there can have been no land called Israel, no land in the past and no right to exist in the present or the future.