tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post6223743993703808012..comments2024-03-28T09:55:42.123+00:00Comments on Capitalists@Work: Pinning Hopes on Macron, Were They?CityUnslickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929544047783163175noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-85813371424842313572018-12-08T13:35:31.852+00:002018-12-08T13:35:31.852+00:00First death?
https://twitter.com/MrD1924/status/1...First death?<br /><br />https://twitter.com/MrD1924/status/1071371538966839297<br /><br />https://twitter.com/hashtag/gilets_jaunes?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hashAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-75312021535364476242018-12-08T13:31:44.991+00:002018-12-08T13:31:44.991+00:00Rubber bullets
https://twitter.com/Steph_Roy_/sta...Rubber bullets<br /><br />https://twitter.com/Steph_Roy_/status/1071379975381622785Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-81165228840745752062018-12-08T10:09:59.175+00:002018-12-08T10:09:59.175+00:00Thanks, anon - very much loops back to what we wer...Thanks, anon - very much loops back to what we were saying about Momentum and their strange silence on this <br /><br />we are of course deep into the territory where almost anything can sound plausible (exactly Putin's strategy) - <i>wars and rumours of wars</i>, to quote the Good Book - but the next 48 hours may well be very telling<br /><br />also - what about UKIP on Sunday ??<br /><br />Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-173219114737353612018-12-08T08:45:37.096+00:002018-12-08T08:45:37.096+00:00Fake but plausible posting linked below? I thought...Fake but plausible posting linked below? I thought Salford was west of Mcr last time I looked. <br /><br />I note a remarkable absence of media items about France this morning, nothing to see here etc. Anyone know if D-notices really have been handed out?<br /><br />https://postimg.cc/QVthyKsw<br /><br /><i>"The Government is treating this as a security threat to all European governments, are trying to prevent a "European Spring" type situation and (BBC) are preparing multiple [re-written stories in case a major incident forces them to break the D-notice - it involves framing it as far-right, portraying the violence as perpetrated by FN supporters and fueled by Russian fake news"</i> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-6808975795072555162018-12-07T20:49:44.174+00:002018-12-07T20:49:44.174+00:00"folded like a damp tissue": this is so ..."folded like a damp tissue": this is so common that I can't decide whether in suchlike cases They threaten his life (or his wife's or his children's) or just point out that They've got the dirt on him and he'll be looking at ruin and a very long jail sentence.<br /><br />I observe mildly that there's no sign of Trump's wall yet.deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-10061456754298051112018-12-07T13:46:04.176+00:002018-12-07T13:46:04.176+00:00May of course has a spiritual forebear who was may...May of course has a spiritual forebear who was maybe even worse- Tsipras, who won an overwhelming mandate to oppose the EU austerity plans while remaining in the EU and euro, then discovered the EU wouldn't let him do it and folded like a damp tissue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-15717573546974120302018-12-07T12:41:09.615+00:002018-12-07T12:41:09.615+00:00Elby wonders why the French keep electing Napoleon...Elby wonders why the French keep electing Napoleon.<br /><br />Anyone?<br /><br />Macron was elected do that Le Pen wasn't. He's even more of a vacuum than May and that's going some. Elby the Beserkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15060519682739666145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-49501306612836785732018-12-07T07:05:54.839+00:002018-12-07T07:05:54.839+00:00I was speaking last night with an old French colle...I was speaking last night with an old French colleague. He was more than normally glum about the whole gilet jaunes thing. I quote: “this is the beginning of a war between the French and the immigrants. There’s a profound feeling here the government is not on our side. We are taxed like hell to support huge numbers of people who are among us, but not with us.” I asked why in that case he didn’t vote for le Pen. “She is not serious. We need someone capable.”<br /><br />Gulp. Sebastian Weetabixnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-42761778340775925842018-12-06T23:49:06.546+00:002018-12-06T23:49:06.546+00:00"the last technocratic centrist in the tradit..."the last technocratic centrist in the tradition of Bill Clinton, Tony Blair ...": in what sense are a couple of dud lawyers technocrats?deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-90576588571125339292018-12-06T23:04:20.588+00:002018-12-06T23:04:20.588+00:00I read a French summary of Macron's policy pos...<br />I read a French summary of Macron's policy positions before the election. I couldn't believe it. Early in the document there would be something like "we will raise taxes as necessary to fund public services" and then a page or so later "we will reduce the overall tax burden as circumstances permit". Contradictory pairs like this kept cropping up for almost every contentious issue. It was obvious that Macron's options were going to reduce to a) pick one side and alienate the other or b) do nothing and alienate everybody. In fairness to Macron, he seems to have found c) attempt a certain amount and alienate everyone.<br /><br />Y Ddraig Gochnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-63804179338379265182018-12-06T23:00:13.995+00:002018-12-06T23:00:13.995+00:00And if AFP are right the army are moving into Pari...And if AFP are right the army are moving into Paris. Surely the US must tell Macron of very grave consequences if he moves troops against civilians?<br /><br />Maybe Mike Leigh will get an idea for a film.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-2283777362599109182018-12-06T22:46:52.958+00:002018-12-06T22:46:52.958+00:00Odd how the usual suspects like Ms Nougareyde are ...Odd how the usual suspects like Ms Nougareyde are decrying rather than welcoming this most spontaneous of colour revolutions, isn't it? <br /><br />Some interesting video coming out<br /><br />Ambulance drivers supporting the protests<br /><br />https://twitter.com/keg2014gek/status/1069813766232014848<br /><br />Firemen supporting the protests (and confronted by police)<br /><br />https://twitter.com/personalKF/status/1070798948447723520<br /><br />Firemen turn their backs to officials<br /><br />https://twitter.com/Brevesdepresse/status/1069000202814660614<br /><br />Twitter are working overtime deleting accounts showing this stuff<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-40831135926987718992018-12-06T20:14:27.615+00:002018-12-06T20:14:27.615+00:00Well that's what the proles think of punishmen...Well that's what the proles think of punishment taxes for greenism. (David Attenborough take note.)E-Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16657071992016670517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-76544247689599063902018-12-06T17:25:55.892+00:002018-12-06T17:25:55.892+00:00You could step on to today's Guardian piece by...You could step on to today's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/06/macron-clinton-blair-backlash" rel="nofollow">Guardian piece by economics editor Larry Elliott</a>:<br /><br /><i>"Macron was hailed as a new breed of politician but he was really the past ... the last technocratic centrist in the tradition of Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder.</i><br /><br /><i>... the real role model ... was Schröder who pushed through tough labour market and welfare reforms in the early 2000s designed to make Europe’s biggest economy more competitive ... because German workers have accepted wage cuts and reduced spending power. [but] Politicians need to realise that the financial crisis and a decade of flatlining living standards have made a difference to what is and what isn’t politically feasible."</i><br /><br />I don't follow the Macron story, so don't really know if this is a fair kicking, but it does have the ring of the truth.rwendlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07861901317813829419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-91309974246914337212018-12-06T11:01:29.038+00:002018-12-06T11:01:29.038+00:00“French voters have stalled the national populist ...“French voters have stalled the national populist wave… Emmanuel Macron emerged to transform a sclerotic political scene, dazzling the world and many in his country with a youthful energy… a weakened Macron will now provide new fodder for extremists and populists across the continent..”<br />We’ve seen much assorted soggy-Left claptrap from Natalie Nougayrède since she became a Guardian columnista, and this stuff is par for the course – or even more redolent than usual of bovine excrement. Far from being any sort of authoritative voice on French opinion, she’s deluded. Only last week (28th Nov), her fellow Guardian writer Marion Van Renterghem (who she?), wrote about her similar infatuation with the charismatic Apollo, but had to confess that, “Macron’s popularity has plummeted to 26%. Opinion polls for the 2019 European parliament elections predict that Le Pen’s National Rally will be level with Macron’s La République En Marche – if not far ahead. According to political scientist Pascal Perrineau, he has lost three parts of his voter base: the left and the centre-left through his fiscal measures in favour of the rich; pensioners who have suffered cuts; and the middle classes and young voters. With these last ones, the bottom is falling out of Macronism..”<br />Unlike Nougayrède I do not claim to have my finger on the French pulse; but I just got back from France, where anyone I spoke to (mainly my friends & neighbours) was happy to slag off the “youthfully energetic” President. My commune was one of many which voted FN last year – and too many commentators prefer to neglect the fact that the FN came 2nd in that Presidential first round, falling at the 2nd round because the entrenched Left & Right parties combined to defeat it, and Le Pen suffered one disastrous interview. Last Sunday, before lunching with my neighbours, the TV was showing an extended interview with Marine Le Pen: the French MSM share their UK colleagues’ distaste for those dreadful populists, of course, but they cannot afford to ignore or attempt to sideline her and the Rassemblement National… I’d have to grit my teeth to vote RN – far too Socialist for my taste – but from a purely personal and English viewpoint I wish them well next year.Tony Harrisonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-32955694435644153642018-12-06T08:33:56.289+00:002018-12-06T08:33:56.289+00:00Much is made of populists like Corbyn, Le Pen et a...Much is made of populists like Corbyn, Le Pen et al. Macron is little different, a similar cult of personality that seems to have captured Madame Nougarède and others. One man can't make a difference against France's conservative people where change, even small, is viewed as a threat rather than an opportunity.<br /><br />The quid pro quo was France would tame its public finances in return for German cooperation on the Euro and budgetary areas. Berlin must look at the riots over petty fuel duty increases and think "nein danke" when Paris asks for fiscal flexibility. In short Macron can't deliver his side of the bargain when it comes to EU reform.Macroffnoreply@blogger.com