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RAS BOL! The Yellow Vest Brigade

yogi bear up the cagire

Life President⭐
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
16,279
Location
St Gaudens France
A nice bit of anarchy in France today. We are fortunate to live in a democracy which allows free speech and the right to demonstrate. That should not permit restrictions on other people freedom to circulate and commerce to work properly. The demonstrations today were supposed to be 'non political' what I saw today was well (politically) organised. Both the extreme-right and the extreme-left were backing today's action. I trust, when they spoke together they will have found they had a lot in common!
1f603.png
I certainly don't agree with everything Macron's government does but they are legally elected, so if you disagree, voté them out next time. Please don't confuse protest with anarchy.
Whilst there should be sympathy for those who are struggling to make ends meet, I'm left wondering whether those unaligned individuals with genuine concerns, who attended todays demos, were not being exploited by others with political ends. Les Gilets Jaune (yellow vests), from what I heard and saw, blocked the entries to three supermarkets in Saint Gaudens and in the end the total number of protesters were about 280,000 in the whole of France.
Looking at news broadcasts there were two things that struck me. Firstly, there was absolutely no political identification on any of the protesters today. This is very unusual in a french demo and clearly intentional as to make believe that all the protesters were non-aligned. Secondly, and the give away. was that all the barricades appeared almost identical in construction, indicating to me that there was serious organisation behind the action and not a spontaneous reaction from a number inindividuals.
 
You don't recall French farmers burning trucks full of English live stock and threatening the drivers with violence back in the 90's then?
The French have a long history of this sort of thing and why not when it usually ends up with them getting their own way.
 
They said on the news this morning that the demonstrations were about the price of fuel going up sharply. Mainly aimed at Macron for the tax on fuel. Diesel has gone up 16% this year.
 
A nice bit of anarchy in France today. We are fortunate to live in a democracy which allows free speech and the right to demonstrate. That should not permit restrictions on other people freedom to circulate and commerce to work properly. The demonstrations today were supposed to be 'non political' what I saw today was well (politically) organised. Both the extreme-right and the extreme-left were backing today's action. I trust, when they spoke together they will have found they had a lot in common!
1f603.png
I certainly don't agree with everything Macron's government does but they are legally elected, so if you disagree, voté them out next time. Please don't confuse protest with anarchy.
Whilst there should be sympathy for those who are struggling to make ends meet, I'm left wondering whether those unaligned individuals with genuine concerns, who attended todays demos, were not being exploited by others with political ends. Les Gilets Jaune (yellow vests), from what I heard and saw, blocked the entries to three supermarkets in Saint Gaudens and in the end the total number of protesters were about 280,000 in the whole of France.
Looking at news broadcasts there were two things that struck me. Firstly, there was absolutely no political identification on any of the protesters today. This is very unusual in a french demo and clearly intentional as to make believe that all the protesters were non-aligned. Secondly, and the give away. was that all the barricades appeared almost identical in construction, indicating to me that there was serious organisation behind the action and not a spontaneous reaction from a number inindividuals.


Utter guff.
 
You don't recall French farmers burning trucks full of English live stock and threatening the drivers with violence back in the 90's then?
The French have a long history of this sort of thing and why not when it usually ends up with them getting their own way.
I certainly wouldn't condone those actions in the 90's any more than I would condone some of yesterday's actions. As I said above, everyone has the right to protest, it's when those protests become unlawful that probems arise. It's very true that France has a history of direct action and it's at this point one needs to think about whose liberties you are actually protecting. I can understand the concerns and worries of many individuals who demonstrated yesterday but as is always the danger these movements get hijacked by others with a strong and sometimes very nasty political agenda.
My wife was in conversation with her brother (who lives in the Lot et Garonne) this morning. He told her that he was stopped by the protesters yesterday and handed a leaflet. This was blatently anti-semetic, showing a cartoon of Macron as a puppet being controlled from above by a hook-nosed banker, with the name Rothschild.
I'm not sure the SNCF, with their action earlier this year got all that they wanted...... was it a good idea to take on a young government who also had need to flex its muscles? I haven't looked too deeply into it but I think the rising prices at the pumps also have an environmental aspect to them.
 
We had some (high viz) yellow vest people stop`for a late breakfast break outside our house earlier. Not connected with the French incidents thought,they were workmen who've been widening the pavements at the top of our road since last week. :Winking:
 
A nice bit of anarchy in France today. We are fortunate to live in a democracy which allows free speech and the right to demonstrate. That should not permit restrictions on other people freedom to circulate and commerce to work properly. The demonstrations today were supposed to be 'non political' what I saw today was well (politically) organised. Both the extreme-right and the extreme-left were backing today's action. I trust, when they spoke together they will have found they had a lot in common!
1f603.png
I certainly don't agree with everything Macron's government does but they are legally elected, so if you disagree, voté them out next time. Please don't confuse protest with anarchy.
Whilst there should be sympathy for those who are struggling to make ends meet, I'm left wondering whether those unaligned individuals with genuine concerns, who attended todays demos, were not being exploited by others with political ends. Les Gilets Jaune (yellow vests), from what I heard and saw, blocked the entries to three supermarkets in Saint Gaudens and in the end the total number of protesters were about 280,000 in the whole of France.
Looking at news broadcasts there were two things that struck me. Firstly, there was absolutely no political identification on any of the protesters today. This is very unusual in a french demo and clearly intentional as to make believe that all the protesters were non-aligned. Secondly, and the give away. was that all the barricades appeared almost identical in construction, indicating to me that there was serious organisation behind the action and not a spontaneous reaction from a number inindividuals.

If of course you do vote for something by a clear majority and that is not adhered to......Then not only do you have a moral right, you have an obligation to use violence against any democracy deniers......Celebrities would be top of my list. The Roman use of Proscription would get my vote.
 
If of course you do vote for something by a clear majority and that is not adhered to......Then not only do you have a moral right, you have an obligation to use violence against any democracy deniers......Celebrities would be top of my list. The Roman use of Proscription would get my vote.

Macron would make a poor man's democrat.Not really sure what those who voted for him wanted,though many clearly did not want the FN.
 
If of course you do vote for something by a clear majority and that is not adhered to......Then not only do you have a moral right, you have an obligation to use violence against any democracy deniers......Celebrities would be top of my list. The Roman use of Proscription would get my vote.

This is why referendum (apart for certain non-controversial issues) is such a poor (and in some ways strangely undemocratic plebiscite). In France and the UK we have the ability to vote and change governments (President) every five years. With a referendum how do we indicate the possibility of changing our minds, when circumstances change? Brexiters want us to believe the vote is for ever.................is that democratic??? Violence must be a very last resort and even then in a situation where democracy is not an option. The 'gilet jaune's aims now appear very confused, it started with a complaint about the rise in tax on petrol and diesel. Now there are all shades of opinion from those demanding a general reduction in taxes, raising wages or just bringing the government down. The protest which started with a spontaneous outpouring on social media now seems to have degenerated into something much uglier, as the report below suggests. https://france3-regions.francetvinf...os-racistes-1579817.html?fbclid=IwAR0RWBFWfjN
 
Macron would make a poor man's democrat.Not really sure what those who voted for him wanted,though many clearly did not want the FN.

Sorry TUIB they didn't want the PS (Socialist Party) either.............nor a more extreme version. Macron, for all his faults, is trying to drag the french (against their will?) into the 21st Century. Wasn't it de Gaulle who spoke about the french being ungovernable?
 
Sorry TUIB they didn't want the PS (Socialist Party) either.............nor a more extreme version. Macron, for all his faults, is trying to drag the french (against their will?) into the 21st Century. Wasn't it de Gaulle who spoke about the french being ungovernable?

Indeed, if you read that Guardian article I linked to, one of the people interviewed said she was considering voting for the FN next time. Incidentally,last night I asked my wife again why she'd voted for Macron (and as I thought) it was to stop MLP.That wasn't a good enough reason for our two young adult daughters to vote for Macron in the second round (They abstained).

See there's more yellow jacket trouble in Paris this time.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46328439
 
As if I didn't have enough to worry about with Brexit. Frightening, shocking and shameful scenes again in Paris today. Both the extreme left and extreme right have given support to the 'gilet jaune' will be interested to see their response to today's events and whether they totally condemn the violence? If I heard correctly the ex second-in-command at the FN, Florian Philippot claimed tonight that Macron's government had lost all legitimacy. Well Mr Philippot, who, in your opinion has legitimacy? The rabble who have been rampaging, sacking and pillaging in the streets of Paris today? Leader of the extreme left, France Insoumise is quoted as saying the protests are “a process of citizens’ revolution”. These really are worrying times...... EVERYWHERE.
 
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Les Gilets Jaunes are still active around Bezeirs ,Yogi.Driving from SC to Cebazan earlier we arrived at the motorway toll in Bezeir West only to be waved through,without having to pay, by a yellow jacketed individual.There were a lot of her chums at the next roundabout busily organising what looked like a barbecue (it was lunchtime). :Winking:
 

Thought the stuff on French news earflier (TF1 +TF3)was interesting too.There also a lot of disinfomation (fake news if you prefer :Winking: ) about. J. was listening to France -Inter earlier and apparently they were saying the border was blocked,It wasn't.They were also saying that there was a heavy gilets jaunes presence in the region.There wasn't.
 
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