Bits and Bites From Around the World > Zuckerberg Colonizing Hawaii; New Years: Car-Burning Celebration in France; Riots in Germany; In NYC, Something Very Different

..

Zuckerberg continues to ‘colonize’ Hawaii

The Facebook founder expands his not-so-virtual empire with his latest land purchase

FILE PHOTO: Hanalei Beach, Kauai, Hawaii, US, August 22, 2018. © REUTERS/Sue Horton

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

FILE PHOTO. ©  Global Look Press / Keystone Press Agency / Sadak Souici

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

©  Global Look Press / Sebastian Willnow

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.

Contract Security Firm Sallyport - No Scruples, No Oversight

US firm at Iraqi base hushed up probe into human trafficking & alcohol smuggling – report

Joint Base Balad, Iraq. © Sgt. Quentin Johnson / Wikipedia

A US firm, paid $686 million to secure an Iraqi base for F-16 fighter jets, ignored security violations, human trafficking allegations and alcohol smuggling by its staff, according to an AP investigation. Those who uncovered the wrongdoing were fired.

The investigation centers on Sallyport Global, which was contracted by the US government to help secure Iraq's Balad Airbase by keeping F-16s and their Iraqi pilots safe.

The $686 million contract also required investigations into potential crimes and contract violations, and for any breaches to be reported to the US government.

However, Robert Cole and Kristie King, the investigators tasked with that job, would soon realize their findings were extremely unwelcome by Sallyport.

The news agency interviewed two former internal investigators who were fired by Sallyport, as well as a half-dozen former or current staff members. It also obtained documents as part of the probe.

Alcohol smuggling

Although alcohol was restricted at the base, Cole and King discovered that staff frequently flew in smuggled alcohol in such large volumes that a plane once “see-sawed” on the tarmac due to the weight.

According to documents and witnesses, alcohol was everywhere on the base. Empty suitcases were reportedly loaded on to Baghdad-bound round-trip flights, returning with booze-filled plastic water bottles which evaded security – a serious risk in a war zone.

Steve Anderson, who worked on flight logistics for Sallyport, said he was told by managers to sign off on manifests he knew had been falsified to hide alcohol and guns.

When he raised concerns, it was suggested that he find a new job. His position was soon eliminated.

In one allegation, informants told the investigators that “flight line” staff responsible for directing airplanes on the runways and handling cargo, were showing up to work drunk. At one point, they reportedly passed around a bowl of gummy bears soaked in vodka.

Prostitution

When Cole and King were aiming to get to the bottom of the alcohol smuggling, they came across a prostitution ring in Baghdad, the customers of which included Sallyport employees, according to informants.

They also learned that four Ethiopians who had previously worked as prostitutes at a hotel had moved to Balad and were plying the same trade while also working as housekeepers for Sallyport.

That investigation, along with the alcohol smuggling probe, was shut down by a Sallyport executive in Virginia before it could continue.

However, Sallyport Chief Operating Officer Matt Stuckart said the prostitution allegations were not substantiated.

“It is absurd to suggest that the company would shut down an inquiry into a matter of such gravity,” he said.

There were also allegations that Sallyport staff members were involved in human trafficking for prostitution.

Theft & security breaches

The AP investigation details an incident which occurred on July 13, 2015, in which a truck driver lost control of his vehicle, taking it onto the tarmac and stopping about 45 yards from a jet in the “no-go area."

Three months later, Cole reported the theft of an armored Toyota SUV assigned to VIPs. His chief suspect was a Sallyport bodyguard. However, the Toyota was recovered within days and Cole was called off the case.

A former senior manager for Sallyport defended taking Cole off the case, telling AP that negotiations with militias were sensitive and needed Iraqi cooperation. Although he said the chief suspect – the bodyguard – was ‘banned’ from the base, Cole later saw him walking around freely.

On November 15, 2016, rogue militia stole three enormous generators using flatbed trucks and a 60-foot (18-meter) crane, driving directly past Sallyport security guards unchallenged.

Despite requirements to report major security breaches, none of the incidents were reported to the US government until earlier this year, after an auditor began asking questions.

‘We knew too much’ 

After uncovering the information, Cole and King reported it to the correct channels. However, those channels never reported it to the US government and the two investigators were abruptly fired on March 12 and immediately flown out of Iraq.

At the time of their sacking, King and Cole had been looking into allegations that Sallyport manager were falsifying timesheets and people were getting paid without working. They were set to interview those whom they considered to be suspects.

The investigators said company lawyers had ordered them to keep two sets of books at the time, which they believed to be an attempt to deceive auditors.

“One for the government to see and one for the government not to see,” King told AP.

“I feel like they got us out so quickly because they feel like we knew too much,” he said.

King said he and Cole eventually realized that Sallyport was hiding all of the information from the US government, calling the revelation “mind-blowing.”

Meanwhile, Sallyport's COO Stuckart says the company stands by its security procedures and received “high marks” from the US Air Force.

He said the company has a “strong record of providing security and life support services in challenging war zones like Iraq and plays a major but unheralded role in the war against ISIS [Islamic State/IS].”

“The company takes any suggestion of wrongdoing at Balad very seriously,” he added.

Balad Airbase is controlled by the Iraqi government, and has hosted US forces off and on since 2003. The base was evacuated in June 2014, when IS began overrunning Iraqi territory. Sallyport was tasked with keeping the base safe after the Americans returned.

Sex, Gluttony and Golf: Chinese Communist Party's Deadly Sins

China's ruling Communist Party has adopted new rules on clean
governance and discipline, according to state media

AFP 
China's Communist Party has banned its members from "extravagant eating and drinking", engaging in "improper sexual relationships with others" and playing golf, state media reported Thursday.

The ruling party's Political Bureau adopted new rules on clean governance and discipline earlier this month, the official Xinhua news agency said, describing the measures as "a moral ethical code that members must abide by".

Party members were already barred from "keeping paramours and conducting adultery" but the new rule on sexual activity was stricter, Xinhua said.

Hmmm. I wonder what is included in 'improper sexual relationships'? Is this an attack on homosexuality? I don't hear the western media screaming yet?

Playing golf and excessive eating and drinking were explicitly listed as violations of discipline for the first time, it added.

OK, excessive eating and drinking I can probably live without, but 'no golf'! This could destroy the Communist Party from within!

The regulations -- which apply to everyone in the 88-million-strong Communist Party -- also forbid forming cliques within the party and nepotism.

I'm surprised that there are only 88 million Communists in China; I thought it would be 10 times that number. I believe that if you want to work and advance in any government position, you probably have to be a Communist.

Since ascending to the party leadership in 2012, President Xi Jinping has launched an austerity drive and a sweeping crackdown on corruption, with thousands of officials falling from power.

China's Communist Party has 88 million members (AFP Photo/Liu Jin)

But critics of the campaign liken it to a political purge targeting Xi's opponents.

Spending on luxury goods and in high-end restaurants has plummeted amid the crackdown, with government officials intimidated by high-profile corruption prosecutions.

The document did not detail punishments for violating the new rules, but the party maintains its own feared internal disciplinary system, which operates without judicial oversight.

Party discipline superseded criminal law, Xinhua said.

The Communist Party has long had an ambivalent relationship with golf, which is a lucrative opportunity for local authorities and a favoured pastime of some officials, but is also closely associated with wealth and Western elites. 

This is Communist paranoia. They see anything western as an attempt by western powers to destroy China, including western religion. Wherever Communism exists, or has ever existed, paranoia is/was extremely prevalent.

Central authorities ordered a nationwide moratorium on new golf courses in 2004, but development continued as revenue-minded local officials went their own way, even offering tax breaks for operators of new courses in places such as Hainan province.

The number of courses in China has grown from fewer than 200 at the time of the ban to more than 600 this year, according to Xinhua.