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Zuckerberg continues to ‘colonize’ Hawaii
The Facebook founder expands his not-so-virtual empire with his latest land purchase
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has bought another 110 acres of land on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, assuming ownership of territory that includes a reservoir and a pristine forest, despite protests from locals.
The social media tycoon and his wife now own 1,400 acres of land on the island, much of it protected agricultural and conservation land. The latest addition to their $100 million Ko’olau Ranch includes the Ka Loko reservoir, where a dam collapsed in 2006 after 40 days of rain, killing seven people, local media reported this week. The disaster was blamed on the previous owners, from whom the Zuckerbergs bought the property in November for $17 million.
The billionaire has previously faced accusations of trying to “colonize” Kauai. The couple’s actions on purchasing their first mansion on the island in 2014 were hardly neighborly, with the billionaire opting to build a wall around the 707-acre property to block locals from accessing Pila’a Beach, which had been a spot loved by locals and travelers alike. Zuckerberg was subsequently accused of attempting to force tenant farmers from their land – a quest he finally gave up three years later, apologizing in the local paper for his attempted takeover.
The Zuckerbergs also own most of Kahu’aina Plantation and Larsen’s Beach, having acquired an additional 600 acres in April for $53 million. The security team assigned to protect the pair and their investments costs more than half as much, running to $23 million, according to local media.
That team is probably worth the money, given how many signatures have been accrued on a Change.org petition asking the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to “Stop Mark Zuckerberg from colonizing Kauai.” Over a million people have signed the petition at the time of writing.
The Zuckerbergs are far from the only tech billionaires expanding their footprints across Hawaii’s tropical paradise islands. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought a $78 million estate on Maui in November after leaving his wife, staking claim to a marine fishing reserve with his partner Lauren Sanchez.
His presence can’t be sitting too well with the locals, as even they are not permitted to fish or conduct commercial activity in the area. He also recently snapped up a huge piece of property for his parents on the island. Meanwhile, Oracle’s Larry Ellison owns almost the entire island of Lanai.
**Happy New Year**
In France, instead of fireworks they celebrate by burning cars
Hundreds of vehicles torched on New Year’s Eve
France’s interior minister praised the ‘decrease in violence’ despite
damage to hundreds of cars
A total of 847 cars were set ablaze in France in the early hours of the first day of the new year, the Interior Ministry said, with hundreds of people detained over the destruction.
The mass burning of parked vehicles has become an infamous and much lamented ‘tradition’ in France, where hundreds of vehicles are torched almost every New Year’s Eve.
This year, however, fewer cars were damaged than before, according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who attributed the decrease to a bigger police presence and speedy action by relevant public services.
Darmanin thanked police and civil security personnel on Twitter for the “decrease in violence.” Despite the efforts of security officials, hundreds of cars were still set ablaze – but Darmanin noted the number was smaller than in 2019, when more than 1,300 vehicles were torched.
Some 95,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed to the streets of the French cities on Saturday night to maintain law and order, as well as enforce the government’s Covid-19 restrictions that put a cap on participants at gatherings. Around 32,000 firefighters and civil security officials also aided in dealing with the nighttime incidents.
In the French city of Strasbourg alone, 87 cars were set on fire, around 30 people were arrested and four police officers were injured, according to the French media. The city saw the rioters mounting particularly fierce resistance and clashing with law enforcement, including by pelting the officers with firecrackers.
The total number of detentions and arrests was also slightly higher than in 2019, with 441 people arrested throughout France.
The practice of car-torching became popular among youths in poor French neighborhoods in the 1990s and it became particularly widespread on New Year’s Eve. It also reached an unprecedented scale during three weeks of riots that engulfed the suburbs of the French capital, Paris, and other cities back in 2005. At that time, 8,810 vehicles were burned.
Chaos spreads from France into Germany on New Years Eve
City descends into violence & chaos on New Year’s Eve
Police in Germany are tallying damage and searching for suspects
following celebrations that spiraled into riots
The German city of Leipzig saw its streets turn into an arena for intense clashes between police and rioters on New Year’s Eve as hundreds gathered in the city’s east.
Soon after the clock struck midnight, the Leipzig police began receiving the first reports about violence and property damage. Officers had to respond to almost 170 calls in Leipzig and its surrounding areas in just over two hours on Saturday (Friday???) night, police said in a statement. They called it a “sharp increase” in comparison to an “ordinary Friday night.”
A crowd comprising “hundreds” of people gathered at Eisenbahnstrasse Street in the city’s east, with the area quickly becoming an arena for clashes between rioting revelers and law enforcement. Police vehicles were pelted with various objects, including firecrackers. The rioters also set up barricades from shopping carts and set them on fire.
Photos from the scene showed officers in riot gear moving through thick smoke coming from the burning barricades. The Eisenbahnstrasse has previously gained notoriety due to local crime rates and the drug trade. It was even dubbed Germany’s “worst street.”
So, it sounds like this is the domain of Muslim migrant street gangs. But, European media would never make that distinction.
Police said several of their vehicles were damaged but that the clashes resulted in no injuries and were under control at around 2am local time. It is still unclear who initiated the violence and what motivated the rioters.
It is not the first time Leipzig has seen clashes on New Year’s Eve. The city has for some time been known as a center of left-wing violence. Last year, unknown assailants set vehicles belonging to the German Army – the Bundeswehr – on fire. Two years ago, the city saw riots in the Connewitz district – an area which saw a massive police deployment this year and remained largely peaceful on Saturday night.
Leipzig was not the only German city that witnessed clashes between rioters and police on New Year’s Eve, as similar incidents were reported in Stuttgart and Dresden but they were smaller in scale.
And in America, CNN hosts celebrate New Years
by getting drunk on live TV
Anderson Cooper tries to stop colleague’s drunken rant
against NY Democrat mayor
Andy Cohen refused to stop talking despite his uncomfortable co-host’s attempts
to end the conversation
Fireworks are set off at midnight during the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration © AP / Ben Hider
CNN host Anderson Cooper awkwardly tried to shut down his co-host’s drunken rant about New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio during the network’s New Year’s Eve coverage.
After Cooper and fellow CNN New Year’s Eve Live co-host Andy Cohen downed shots – presumably with tequila – on live television, Cohen unloaded on the Democratic mayor as Cooper repeatedly tried to get him to stop.
“Let me tell you something. Watching Mayor de Blasio doing his victory lap dance after four years of the crappiest term as the mayor of New York… The only thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is what a horrible mayor he has been,” Cohen shouted with slurred words, as Cooper begged, “Don’t go on a rant. Don’t, don’t, don’t… Is that how you want to start the new year?”
Cooper became increasingly uncomfortable as Cohen refused to cease the rant, grabbing his co-host by the coat as Cohen celebrated the fact that he wouldn’t have to watch the outgoing mayor celebrate “as the city comes apart” next New Year’s Eve.
Actually, he didn't look all that uncomfortable to me at any time in the sequence. He looks too drunk to be uncomfortable. Have you ever seen a live program where the hosts are drunk? A national program? Take a look for yourself.
After serving two terms as mayor of New York City, de Blasio was succeeded by fellow Democrat Eric Adams on January 1. De Blasio has been described as one of the worst mayors in the city’s history for overseeing a significant rise in crime and disorder in the city after taking over from the previous mayor, Mike Bloomberg.
