Monthly Archives: May 2023

The Survival of the Fittest Slave

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The Hungarian government seems to believe that we’re in for another “pandemic”, and that we should prepare for it. Our Hungarian correspondent László has the report.

The Survival of the Fittest Slave

Shut Up and Prepare for the Next Plandemic, Slaves!

by László

The obvious brief translation [from Newspeak] of the Hungarian FM’s below speech recently held at the WHO General Assembly: ‘The next plandemic is coming and we’re submitting to tyranny again.’

Newspeak is easy-peasy!

The translation of the article from Pesti Srácok:

Péter Szijjártó: Hungary is prepared for a possible new health crisis

Hungary has taken all the necessary and possible measures since the coronavirus outbreak to prepare for a possible next health crisis and to be able to protect people’s lives, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Geneva on Tuesday. According to the ministry’s statement, the minister pointed out at the World Health Organisation (WHO) General Assembly that the past three years have been challenging, one of the most serious being the coronavirus epidemic.

“The most important task for the international community now would be to prepare for a similar challenge in the future,” he warned, but said that to do so, “over-politicisation of international health must be avoided.”

“We believe that politics and ideology have nothing to do with saving human lives. If geopolitics is confused with health issues, it will cost many lives, and nobody wants that,” he said.

Szijjártó underlined that the experience of the successful Hungarian epidemic response is that it would have cost many more lives if geopolitical aspects had been taken into account when saving lives.

“If we had just waited for the President of the European Commission to order vaccines by text message, we would have saved many fewer lives”, he said.

He added that the government had instead acted by buying vaccines from the East [China], the effectiveness of which had been proven by Hungarian experts. The result was that Hungary was able to launch the fastest vaccination campaign in the European Union, the first among member states to lift restrictions and the first to deliver 8.6 million doses of vaccines to countries in need, he said.

The minister stressed that the pandemic had made it clear that it was vital to build strategic capacity that might normally be considered unnecessary or too expensive, as it could save lives in a crisis.

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/22/2023

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Images of an alleged explosion near the Pentagon that went viral turned out to be a hoax, and were said to be deep fakes generated by artificial intelligence. The Arlington Fire Department quickly issued a statement saying that no such explosion had occurred, but some media outlets were fooled, and published the images.

In other news, the Irish government ordered all distilleries and breweries to put labels on their products warning consumers that they may cause cancer.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, JW, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

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France is Concerned About Islamists

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French Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin has been in urgent consultation with U.S. officials about the danger of “Islamist” terrorism in Europe.

Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from Le Figaro:

In New York, Darmanin is alarmed over a “resumption” in Europe of an “Islamist terrorist” menace

May 20, 2023

The minister of the interior has asked the American government to strengthen its anti-terrorist cooperation before the Paris Olympics in 2024.

The French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, on a visit to the US, expressed alarm Friday over a “resurgence” of the “Islamist terrorist” menace in Europe and asked the American government to reinforce its anti-terrorist cooperation.

“We have come to remind them that for the Europeans and for France, the primary risk is Sunni Islamist terrorism and that anti-terrorist collaboration between the intelligence services is absolutely indispensable,” Gerald Darmanin stressed during an interview with Agence France Presse in New York. And, “at a time when the Americans, perhaps, have a more national view of disputes — white supremacism, mass shootings, conspiracy — they must not forget that for us in Europe, the primary menace appears to be Sunni terrorism,” the French minister insisted.

Gerald Darmanin completed his two-day trip to Washington, New York, and the UN, after boosting police and legal cooperation between France and the US, provided for in a 2016 agreement for the fight against terrorism and major crimes. He met with Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, then visited the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia. In New York he met with the NYPD Chief, Keechant Sewell, to discuss the maintenance of public order and security at major international events, citing the Olympic Games — 2024 in Paris (26 July-11 August 2024), the Rugby World Cup (8 September-28 October 2023) and the visit of Pope Francis to Marseille on 23 September.

“The threat resumes”

In this context, but without invoking precise dangers, Gerald Darmanin affirmed that “the risk is resuming concerning Islamist terrorism” which would again target France and its European neighbors. He pointed to “an internal danger of persons without networks who, becoming radicalized, go on to take action within a few hours, a few days… Someone who takes a knife, goes into a bakery, and kills people.” And “there is the external risk, people organized outside of France, who come to France to carry out an attack like the one at Bataclan,” in Paris on 13 September 2015.

Gerald Darmanin also deplored the “departure of the Americans from Afghanistan,” and that of France from the “Sahelo-Saharan Strip,” the “reconstruction of Daesh cells in the Levant, who make up these external dangers within the perspective of large events that France is organizing, represent moments of important risks of terrorist attacks.”

The End of Democracy in Sweden?

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Rasmus Paludan is the founder and leader of the Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party in Denmark and Sweden. Despite eleven Swedish court rulings affirming Mr. Paludan’s right to hold a public demonstration in which a Koran is burned, the police authority has denied him a permit in every case. The courts instructed the police to grant the permits, but the police ignored them.

The courts ruled not only that the police actions were illegal, but also that they violated the country’s constitution. So Rasmus Paludan has the right to burn Korans, but that makes no difference: in response to his action Muslims get angry, stone the police, and burn vehicles. Therefore Mr. Paludan’s blasphemy must stop, and hang the constitution!

The following report is from Samhällsnytt. Our Swedish correspondent LN has kindly translated it:

Reports: Police break the law to stop Paludan — on orders from the government

by Mats Dagerlind
May 21, 2023

Despite being convicted on at least ten occasions for stopping the freedom demonstrations of Danish-Swedish lawyer, party leader and Islamic critic Rasmus Paludan in violation of the Swedish constitution, the police continued to deny him a permit and even issued a special interim blasphemy law prohibiting the burning of a single book — the Koran. Whether or not Sweden will remain a democracy is now in question — the Court of Appeals will decide.

Paludan’s Koran burning triggered Muslim intifadas in Sweden of a kind previously associated with the Middle East. 200 police officers were stoned and some 20 police vehicles were stolen and/or set on fire.

The Koran riots last April were uncomfortable proof for the multiculturalist political and media establishment that the integration of non-Western migrants is working even worse than feared and that Islam is not compatible with the fundamental democratic values of the West.

Decides to shoot the messenger

But instead of acknowledging their political failure, they chose to shoot the messenger. Paludan was painted as a right-wing extremist for defending constitutional civil liberties against anti-democratic Muslim forces. The police were pressured by the government and opposition parties to stop Paludan’s progress.

With lies and excuses, the authority denied Paludan a permit to demonstrate in one place after another or sabotaged the demonstrations by moving them at the last minute to hidden parking lots where no one could attend.

Appeals to the courts and gets it right — ten times

Paludan, who is a trained lawyer, took the police actions to court and won at least ten rulings in five different courts, where they unequivocally clarified that the police had violated both ordinary laws and the constitution in rejecting Paludan’s applications for a demonstration permit. But, despite this, the police continued to deny Paludan a permit.

When the burning of Korans took on a further uncomfortable dimension for the political establishment by illustrating Sweden’s kowtowing to Turkey’s Islamist semi-dictator Erdogan in order to secure Sweden’s entry into NATO, the police chose to go one step further and issued a general ban on burning Korans. No other books were included in the ban.

Inside sources testify to political pressure

Sources inside the police now confirm the picture of an authority under pressure from the political establishment backed by the media to break the laws instead of enforcing them, and also for political purposes to silence uncomfortable opposition voices, a function that law enforcement often performs in totalitarian countries.

This is a development that the then-Social Democratic government and its supporting parties warned could become a reality if right-wing conservative supposedly “authoritarian” forces such as the Sweden Democrats gained political influence in Sweden. Instead, it is now clear in black and white that it is the left-liberal parties that have pushed Sweden in an authoritarian direction.

The investigation that reveals this has not been conducted by conservative media actors who might be suspected of having an interest in conveying a negative image of the left-liberal parties’ policy of appeasement towards Islam and authoritarian treatment of their political opponents. Instead, it has been carried out by the left-liberal Dagens Nyheter.

Dialogue police on the side of Paludan and democracy

Fredrik Jonsson works as a so-called dialog police officer. This is an often heavily criticized part of the police’s work, which involves grilling sausages, eating pizza, kicking a ball and dancing with thugs. The activities are justified on the grounds that they strengthen confidence in the police and Swedish society among “vulnerable” immigrant groups. Critics argue that the police instead make themselves a laughingstock and lose all respect among gang-bangers when they try to act as social workers.

Jonsson is not inherently fond of Paludan’s tactic of provoking and angering Muslims to show their true anti-democratic and violent face. But he still considers it serious that people think they have the right to act in the name of good when they restrict civil rights and freedoms in order to silence him.

“Paludan’s personality and his inflammatory style means that he obscures the view. Then you don’t see what this is really about, that Swedish freedom of expression is under threat,” he told DN.

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/21/2023

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During a photo-op at the G7 meeting in Japan, President Biden said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had given him a firm assurance that the American F-16s being supplied to him would not be used to attack Russian territory. Meanwhile, Estonia and Latvia plan to purchase German-made medium-range air defense systems.

In other news, a 3-year-old child in Indiana managed to obtain a firearm and fired a single round, wounding two people, one of whom was his mother. When the second victim went to the hospital to be treated, he was arrested on an outstanding murder warrant.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to AGA, Daniel Greenfield, Dean, Fjordman, JW, LP, McN, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

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Why Does Biden Want to ‘Include’ People Who Want to Kill Us?

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The following report by Clare Lopez was published earlier this month by Sharia TipSheet.

Why Does Biden Want to ‘Include’ People Who Want to Kill Us?

by Clare M. Lopez

Our articles this month focus on the Biden administration’s embrace of Islamic Movement/Muslim Brotherhood pet themes timed for the end of Ramadan on 21 April 2023. As many of us may know — but the Biden administration seems not to — the last day of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, is the Islamic commemoration of the 624 CE Battle of Badr, in which Muslim forces defeated Jews on the field of battle for the first time. President Biden’s announcement of a new inter-agency task force to tackle ‘Islamophobia’ was timed to mark this occasion along with a statement congratulating Muslims on their month of Ramadan. Although FBI ‘hate crime’ statistics show that Jews and other groups are far more often targeted than Muslims in America, the Biden administration seems determined to demonstrate its ‘inclusivity’ credentials.

Biden Establishes ‘Interagency Task Force With Senior Government Officials’ to Stop ‘Islamophobia’

In other news:

All the President’s Islamists

  • A good, comprehensive listing of the Biden administration’s extensive team of Muslim staffers, many of whom have long been affiliated in one way or another with Muslim Brotherhood front groups
  • Editor’s Note — With all due respect to the author, there are no ‘Islamists’. Jihad and sharia supremacy come straight from standard Islamic doctrine, not from fringe or ‘Islamist’ interpretations of Islam. As Turkish President Erdogan put it: “Recently the concept of ‘moderate Islam’ has received attention. But the patent of this concept originated in the West… Islam cannot be either ‘moderate’ or ‘not moderate.’ Islam can only be one thing.”

Biden Regime Taps Ilhan Omar to Speak at Religious Freedom Event, Then Hides Invitation

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/20/2023

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Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, said that his forces have overcome the last Ukrainian resistance and gained control of the city of Bakhmut. However, Ukrainian military authorities disagreed with his assertion, and said that Ukraine is still fighting in Bakhmut.

In other news, Canadian Prime Minister Justin “Baby Doc” Trudeau took the opportunity of a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to explain to her how misguided she was in her opposition to progressive gender-equity policies.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Dean, DV, JW, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

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Allah Frowns on LGBTQ

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As the Western civil order continues to deteriorate, before a totalitarian New Normal can emerge an inevitable conflict will break out between the Socialist intersectionals and the devotees of Mohammed. The two groups of religious fanatics are utterly incompatible with each other, and only one can emerge triumphant. The best outcome would be for each side to spray AK-47 fire at the other simultaneously, leaving the field strewn with the corpses of fighters for both groups. Alas, that outcome is very unlikely. For what it’s worth, my money’s on the Muslims.

The following report concerns friction between the promoters of sexual perversion and the soldiers of Allah. The incident in question occurred at a school in the Flemish city of Genk.

Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from 7sur7.be:

“Allahu Akhbar!” Students in Limburg school jeer and spit on LGBTQ flag

Two municipal employees and a volunteer from the LGBTQ+OGWA association were verbally attacked by students of a technical school in Genk (Limburg province) on Thursday. “Allahu Akhbar” was intoned by several dozen college students while spitting on the LGBTQ flag. “The atmosphere was deleterious,” testified one of the attacked persons. The images led to general indignation on social media.

May 13, 2023

An event to raise awareness on homophobia completely degenerated at Atlas Technical College in Genk. This event took place within the framework of the Global Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHO), which was to be celebrated May 17.

May 17 was chosen as a symbolic date to commemorate the decision of the World Health Organization on May 17, 1990 to no longer consider homosexuality as a mental disease.

“We were set up in the playground during the break distributing pamphlets and rainbow-colored hearts,” explains one of the people abused. “Not everyone agrees with us, but yesterday, the atmosphere was very electric. A group of youths gathered around our table and began to jeer us.”

Bottle throwing and spitting

A crowd formed, and more and more students gathered around the table. According to the targeted employees, there were more than a hundred at one point. The situation completely degenerated. “They kept on shouting, throwing bottles, and spitting on the rainbow hearts. We were aided by the professors present on the playground who supported us until the bell rang. At that time, most of the youths returned to class, and calm was restored.”

Municipal authorities strongly condemned the actions. “This behavior touches me profoundly. I am disconcerted,” laments Anniek Nagels (CD&V party), deputy to the mayor for the Culture of Living Together. “Genk is synonymous with a respectful society, where everyone can be themselves.” The city of Genk will lodge a complaint and consult with the establishment.

The school also disapproves of the behavior of the students. “We are shocked by what happened yesterday; it is completely unacceptable,” reacts the director general, Christel Schepers. “This does not correspond to what the school represents. That is why we are taking measures. We will initiate a dialogue with the students in the coming weeks, and we will address the question in collaboration with the city.”

Returning Germany to the Stone Age

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The generation of electricity using coal and natural gas is being phased out in Germany. Nuclear power plants are being decommissioned. The intention is that all electrical generation will be accomplished using wind and solar power. “Renewable” energy enthusiasts are certain that somehow, by waving their magical sustainable wands, enough electricity can be generated by these methods to power German homes and industry.

The latest word is that the current Green-dominated government is determined to burn its boats so that there can be no going back. Nuclear plants will not simply be decommissioned; they will be destroyed, to make sure they can never be used again.

Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from Pleiteticker.de:

Despite FDP protest: Environment Ministry confirms rapid nuclear power plant destruction with acid

  • The FDP and the Union are demanding that the shut-down nuclear power plants (AKW) be kept operational as a reserve for energy bottlenecks.
  • The Federal Environment Ministry (BMUV) has now confirmed a report by Pleiticker.de and “Schuler! Asking, what is” that the switched-off nuclear power plants are to be destroyed with acid.
  • The FDP economics expert Frank Schäffler protested: “The nuclear power plants must be able to be restarted at least in an emergency. That is the least.”

The last three German nuclear power plants that were shut down in April will be finally destroyed and cannot be started up again as an energy reserve for emergencies. This was confirmed by the Federal Environment Ministry in response to a request from the FDP member of the Bundestag, Frank Schäffler, which was made available to “Schuler! Fragen, was ist” [“Asking, what is”].

The answer states: “In the interest of radiation protection, in preparation for the dismantling, a particularly thorough decontamination, which may damage the components in the long term, is planned.” The background is the use of acids for the radioactive decontamination of the so-called primary circuit in the reactor.

It goes on to say: “According to the information available to the BMUV, the primary circuit decontamination of the Neckarwestheim II nuclear power plant is planned for the summer of 2023. In the Isar 2 and Emsland nuclear power plants, according to current planning, the primary circuit decontamination is planned for the first quarter of 2024.”

FDP protests: The FDP economics expert Frank Schäffler protests. Opposite “Schuler! Fragen, was ist” Schäffler said: “The nuclear power plants must be able to be restarted, at least in an emergency. That’s the least.” Schäffler appealed to the Greens to prevent the destruction of the reactors. “It doesn’t make much sense if €600 billion is spent for a 1.4% reduction in CO2 through a possible buildings energy act, if 6% more CO2 is emitted by switching off and restarting coal and gas-fired power plants. Even the Green coalition partner should understand that.”

That’s what Lemke’s ministry says: But the Ministry of the Environment, led by Green Minister Steffi Lemke, flatly rejects the initiative. When asked by the FDP deputy whether there were any considerations of prescribing “harmless” decontamination until final dismantling approval, the answer was: “Since the early primary circuit decontamination corresponds to the recommendations of the nuclear technical regulations… and the operators of the nuclear power plants for immediate decommissioning and are obliged to dismantle the nuclear power plants, a provision mentioned in the question would be illegal.”

There is no obligation on the part of the nuclear power plant operator to keep the reactors functional. “On the contrary, the obligation for immediate decommissioning and dismantling according to Section 7 Paragraph 3 of the Atomic Energy Act begins with the end of the authorization for power operation and also refers to measures that do not require a permit, in particular for preparation.” Since the acid decontamination does not require a permit, this means, the destruction of the reactors can begin immediately.

Afterword from the translator:

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/19/2023

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A church in southern Poland was vandalized in broad daylight, and statues of the Blessed Mother and Saint Anthony were destroyed. Meanwhile, the general public supports Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s call to reinstate the death penalty for the most heinous crimes.

In other news, 900 migrants arrived in New York City in a single day. Mayor Eric Adams warned that the crisis will cost the city more than $4 billion.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, Dora, DV, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

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BR-R-R-R-R-R!

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It’s brass monkey weather in Antarctica this fall.

Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from Report24. The translator’s comments are in square brackets:

Extreme cold in Antarctica is coming earlier than expected this year

Apparently there are too many measuring stations from different nations in Antarctica, so that fraud in the sense of climate madness is not possible. Since the beginning of May, temperatures as low as -76.4°C [-105.5°F] have been measured at the Vostok research station. However, is still autumn in the current season of the southern hemisphere. Low temperatures are unusual for this time of year. The norm for the location in May is -61°C to -64°C [-77°F to -83°F].

Climate fanatics might consider it a success. Is it because they glue themselves to the ground in European cities that temperatures are dropping at the South Pole? Hardly likely. However, it is a proven fact that the temperatures in the Antarctic in 2023 will be significantly lower than the ten-year average. Between 2005 and 2015, temperatures between -61°C and -64°C were measured for the month of May.

Extreme cold should not be reached for months

The lowest temperatures are usually measured in Vostok when the northern hemisphere has its hottest summer — i.e. July, August and sometimes September. The fact that the Antarctic winter broke out in May with such temperatures is considered a special feature. The Russian measuring station was set up in 1957 at a distance of 1,300 kilometers from the South Pole at an altitude of 3,500 meters. The previous negative temperature record is said to have been reached on July 28, 1997 with -91°C [-132°F] (Wikipedia speaks of “unconfirmed”, July 21, 1983 with -89.2°C is confirmed). The warmest day in recorded history was January 5, 1974 with “only” -14°C [+7°F].

Of course, spot temperature records are due to “weather” and not the “climate” that is supposed to be warming, and from which we are all supposed to die unless we regress to a pre-industrial age in trees and in caves. At least that is the plan of the climate apocalypticists — although many of them also dream of a depopulation of the earth.

Temperatures in Antarctica have been falling for 40 years

As early as 2021, scientists reported the “coldest winter season in more than 60 years” in Antarctica. Since this trend has been emerging since 2021, one could cautiously speak of “climate” here. It would be time for politicians to come to their senses and stop destroying the wealth of Western countries and citing some fictitious climate targets as the reason for doing so. [But that would throw a spanner into the works of the Evil Globalist Agenda, and we can’t have that, now, can we?]

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Thai Elections: Rinse and Repeat

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The recent Thai elections were quite a surprise. Our Bangkok correspondent H. Numan has the latest.

Thai elections: rinse and repeat

by H. Numan

Last Sunday we had the first free elections in a long time. The government was soundly defeated, as everybody expected. The incoming government will be a progressive government. Don’t be alarmed. It’ll be a Thai progressive government. You can compare a progressive Thai with a progressive Texas republican. Definitely not a ‘Western’ progressive. Even today a communist party is illegal in Thailand. We’re now in the honeymoon phase of a new cycle.

You see, Thailand isn’t a democracy. It’s a coup-o-cracy. I’ve lived for thirty years in Thailand, and witnessed many coups. At least four, plus several failed attempts. Ever since Thailand became a democracy (in a coup!), it has been the preferred way to change governments. I’ve counted the coups in Thailand and cabinets in The Netherlands since 1932. It’s about the same. We vote a government out of office, in Thailand the army does that for the people. Sometimes very bloody, like the 1976 coup. The most recent military coups were with a minimum of bloodshed and even welcomed by the population.

The current elections went as expected, but with a some surprises. Prayuth’s government lost by a landslide. The big man himself finished in fifth place. Rather embarrassing, but expected. No surprise here. All conservative (= military/royalist) parties lost in a big way. We also have a Democrat Party. They were wiped out in Bangkok, which used to be one of their strongholds. Oops! That party cannot be compared with your Democrat Party. Much more corrupt, far less democratic. Why did they completely disappear in Bangkok? They were the core of the yellow shirts, who caused so much grief and hardship in Bangkok. The voters remembered. Also not a big surprise. The Democrat chairman apologized for the abysmal performance of his party and resigned.

The big surprise was that the Shinawatras didn’t won outright. In the last two decades, when a Shinawatra ran for office, he or she won by a landslide. They didn’t this time, a first. The Pheu Thai Party came in second. Not bad, but not expected and will have serious consequences. For example, Thaksin Shinawatra announced his plan to return to Thailand. He misses his grandchildren so much that he is willing to go to jail. Yeah, and I have a bridge for sale. It was easy to say before the elections, when he could expect one of his children (three of them ran for PM) would be elected PM. I think his desire to see his grandchildren is a bit diminished now.

The winner of the election is the Move Forward Party with Pita Limjaroenrat at the helm. Granting Thaksin a full pardon is far more difficult for him, if not outright impossible. He doesn’t have filial obligations.

General Prayuth Chan-o-cha (retired) still has a few tricks under his shoulder boards. He was the guy who ousted the last democratically elected government and formed his own junta. He stayed in power for as long as he possibly could. After writing a new constitution he grudgingly allowed elections, which he narrowly won, last time. One of the tricks I expect him to use is the 60 day rule. The election committee — appointed by him — has sixty days to approve the election results. At this moment it is difficult to contest the election results, but in a few weeks? Who knows? Also, the time isn’t right to commit a coup. 60 days is a long time, in Thai politics.

Another trick under his shoulder boards is the senate. The PM has to be accepted and voted for by both houses. Prayuth appointed a number of generals as senators. It is not certain whether those appointees will vote for Pita Limjaroenrat. They announced they will abstain from voting for any prime minister, so as to remain unbiased. But we’ll have to see if that holds. Mr. Pita did throw a gauntlet in the senate by saying that they can vote for whomever they want for, but have to live with the consequences.

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/18/2023

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New research indicates that in the wake of Covid lockdowns, 25% of German fourth-graders are unable to read properly. Meanwhile, the German Catholic Church stands to lose about a third of its real estate, due to the accelerating departure of believers from the church.

In other news, taxes in the UK that were meant to target the ultra-wealthy will now impact 20% of taxpayers.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Dean, LP, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

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What Will the Culture-Enrichers Do When the Money Runs Out?

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Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this essay from Ansage:

What Do Migrants Actually Do When Germany’s Coffers Are Empty?

Immigrants are constantly pouring into the country — refugees, asylum seekers, “skilled workers”, “local workers”, family members who have been brought them with and internal migrants who are already registered in other EU countries. Germany is not only bursting at the seams, but the tax pot is also being properly emptied. As early as last year, around two thirds of all “Citizen Benefit Recipients” (formerly Hartz IV) had a migration background, and because a lot of other people have been registered in Germany since then, this rate may have increased by 1% or 2% since then — and the trend is of course rising strongly. To top it all off, not only do more and more people in this country “have to” be supported by the state in the form of citizen income, more and more retirees are also demanding their livelihood, for which the state has to pay in part or in full. In addition, there are all sorts of other transfer payments such as child benefit, BAFöG (student loan), heating cost subsidies or soon billions in costs for countless heat pumps. Since most baby boomers are not yet retired, these billions in benefits are just barely possible. But what happens when this source dries up one day and the coffers are simply empty? And because an unexpected number of immigrants are flooding the country at the moment, this could happen sooner than expected.

The state-supported Germans without a migration background, like it or not, will look down the drain or into an empty wallet. They have to see how they might somehow make ends meet, beg (usually from relatives), go to the Tafe (soup-kitchen) or simply cook on a “back burner”. Of course, one or the other will then inevitably — if possible — try to find work. Due to the current high state benefits, there are quite a lot of people, including Germans, who could work but don’t want to because they are better off or just as well off living in the social hammock. After all, work has to pay off. In Germany, not working is more worthwhile (and that doesn’t just apply to politicians).

Without an open money tap, Germany is unattractive for most

But what do the many migrants and Germans with a migration background do who are either unwilling or unable to work due to a lack of qualifications or because they have so many children? Apart from the many “anchors” and compatriots who are already here and form a welcoming social network in parallel societies, the high transfer payments are the only reason for most immigrants to gain a foothold here. Why else should they come — because of the (difficult for them) German language? Because of the bad weather? Because here their toddlers are already being drawn in by drag queens or kings, with a big clitoris, and having stories read to them? It is a truism that potential immigrants, above all from backward African and West Asian countries, will only be drawn to Germany as long as they can live splendidly here at state expense.

However, when the tide is low, many millions of migrants who live on social welfare and cannot and/or do not want to work will be here. How will they behave? What will they do? The following scenarios are conceivable: Either they will not shy away from committing crimes (unfortunately, a considerable number of them are already criminals anyway), integrate into clans and criminal organizations and start stealing or plundering. Or maybe they will strike their tents here and pitch them in another land; a large number of them would then very likely go back to their home countries, where there are usually still a few relatives left.

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