A first-hand talented account by Kai Maristed on the Paris events.
(Pay particular attention to the horses’ eyes…)
Those talking heads who say they saw the insurrection coming? – in this amplitude, in this form? are lying. Or, at best, kidding themselves.
A few facts, as the rain and the sanitation trucks collaborate to try to clean the trashed streets of Paris:
Yesterday didn’t quite add up to the apocalypse that some, including members of the government, had feared. No one died. Perhaps thanks to a change of strategy: the 89,000 police and gendarmes mobilized in all France, roughly twice as many as the week before, were more widely dispersed and quicker to search and seize (flashbombs, hammers, ‘boules’, masks etc) than on December 1. They made almost two thousand arrests, again more than double the week before.
The government’s agreement to major yellow vest demands (tax repeals, raising the minimum wage etc.) seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Irrelevant? The number of demonstrators nation-wide: 36,000, same…
View original post 384 more words
Equinoxio 
I subscribe to Kai’s blog so saw this. I’m glad you reposted.
I’m staring out the window to the remaining dead oak leaves which held on through wind and snow. Today, finally, temps above freezing and sunny. 2018 will, no doubt, go down as an interesting year in the history books. J.
Haha! I do see that some of us flutter around the same blogs… 🙂 Common interests maybe? 😉
Glad it is warming up for you guys. Here, temp is dropping. (12-13C for us IS cold!)
History books… I hope it won’t end up in total disaster. Brexit looks to be steering with abrupt exit. The Italians are watching the French budget slide so they can have more leverage with Brussels…
Darn!
Take care “Juanita”
Thank you for sharing
Thank you to the author and to you for visiting. 🙂
🌹🌹🌹
What are they on about?
Dignity maybe? GDP per capita has been flat in real terms for the past 10 years, and not much growth before that. I’d say 40% to half the population can’t make ends meet. (And we’re talking France, Europe!) And in the meantime taxes are increasing al the time… up to 50% of earnings. People are fed up. Perspectives are not very good.
Whatever the valid reasons for unhappiness, violent protest is childish and unjustified.
Absolutely. Worse even, it justifies violence on the street as an alternative to democratic elections. And the violence is turned against the cops. (With faulty equipment) and small businesses, or the poor guy who came Christmas shopping and left his car on the street. It is becoming very serious… 😦
The only way to stop such behaviour is to squash it with all necessary force and repercussions. Trouble is, nobody has the guts to do that these days.
Nope. And when they do catch ’em, they release them. The assassin who just killed several people in Strasbourg, had been sentenced 27 times for xwy crimes, misdemeanors, etc. What was he doing on the street?
Such people have forfeited the right to life, liberty and rations, and should be converted into something useful like compost.
(PS. Such a shame that Mars exploration is at such an early stage… Now would be the time to emigrate…) Cheers.
Constant refreshment at a Mars bar! Now that seems tempting!
It is a long trip, but that would leave all the idiots behind. (Hopefully?)
Um. What sort of lunatic would undertake a trip like that? Would you really want to be in the company of such?
Haha! Not really. I would miss Paris. 😉
I’ll be curious how this story continues to unfold Brian….ahhhhhh the world. But now off to the pool ☺️💫👍
Who knows. I just read first-hand account by a Lady cop who was in Saturday’s fighting, it is blood curdling. She says: “we were the prey and they were the hunters”. A cop… 😦
(Enjoy the pool)
I have been following this on the Canadian news. Although I am 100% behind protesting, violence is abhorrent to me.
Agreed on both counts. There are severe problems in French society. e.g. median income is 1600 Euros, 50% earn 1600 Euros or less. Think 1600 US dollars in terms of purchasing power… many people really can’t make ends meet. But the violence of the last few weeks? No.
Thanks for the visit.
TY for the interesting posts!