The news these days is too often troubling, but once in a while, just once in a while, an item comes along that just can't help but make you chuckle.

This is one of those; in the Netherlands on Saturday, a massive, road-blocking protest by Extinction Rebellion nuts was dispersed. By force. With water cannons. Two thousand four hundred arrests were made. About damn time.

Eco-activists affiliated with Extinction Rebellion’s Netherlands arm, Greenpeace and other organizations took over a highway near The Hague to protest the Dutch government’s subsidies for the oil and gas industries, according to Reuters. In addition to using the water cannons to disperse the protesters, authorities detained around 2,400 protesters.

Minors were among those detained, and no injuries have been reported, according to Reuters. A report surfaced earlier in the week that outlined about $40.5 billion in oil- and gas-related subsidies provided by the Dutch government, particularly related to shipping, according to ABC.

The only sad part is that the Dutch authorities didn't have enough paddy wagons to go around:

Over 10,000 activists marched on the A12 highway in protest, according to Reuters. The protesters ignored warnings from authorities instructing them not to do so, and the disruption garnered a considerable police response.

Commotion in the Netherlands this weekend as Extinction Rebellion activists are blocking traffic in The Hague. Police are using water cannons on the activists.

Last night Extinction Rebellion also locked to A12 highway before being detained by the police. pic.twitter.com/MsyShBB5Y8

— Dumayu (@DumayuReporting) September 10, 2023

This kind of thing has happened here, too, although in the case of climate protesters, not yet on this scale. Somehow I doubt that the response in, say, Portland or San Francisco would be the same. This also comes hot on the heels of eco-nuts from Extinction Rebellion supergluing their hands to the Speaker's station in the UK Parliament chambers. The superglue they used, incidentally, was almost certainly manufactured from materials that are a product of—you guessed it—petroleum.

Eco-nuts have the same rights, of course, as anyone, including the right to free speech and to petition their government for a redress of grievances. And before anyone points out that this didn't happen in the United States, under the protection of our Bill of Rights, I would hasten to point out that the first ten amendments to the Constitution did not create those rights out of thin air to apply only to American citizens. The Bill of Rights instead recognized natural rights that by the fact of birth belong to everyone, everywhere, regardless of whether their local government recognizes them or not.

But they do not have the right to block roads, to block any access to facilities, or indeed to interfere with anyone else going about their daily business. The blocking of roads, in particular, could result in disaster, as almost happened in Britain last summer when protestors prevented a woman from taking her baby to a hospital. That is the endangering of life by callous disregard and should be prosecuted as such.

Eco-nuts seem to be really big on proclaiming what they will or will not allow the law-abiding populace to do. The Dutch authorities have obviously had enough. Ditto for German citizens. It's nice, now and then, to see some of these people receive a little of the second half of the "F*** and find out" meme.

The Swedish Doom Pixie was not available for comment.