the french protests

VOANews: Protesters, Now Joined by Unions, Reject French Concessions


The French protests

Want the skinny on the Yellow Vest protests? Consult a travel agent

What's happening in France can't be termed a protest; there is no single cause being represented. As is common with most large, seemingly spontaneous mass movements, multiple factions and goals are represented, and when something gets going, it attracts other somethings.

But if you're a traveler, there's reportedly no need to worry about your safety in France. The travel agencies have the skinny on the movements of the uprisers.

CNTraveler, Dec. 7:

• As with most European movements, the yellow vests will alert the media before a protest or strike, so you can plan around it.

Considerate, given the reported level of urgency, rage and angst, don't you think?

• "Outside of Paris, you’re only likely to see any sign of the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) when you join or leave the autoroute, when the worst that is likely to happen to you is a polite man gives you a flyer explaining their requests,"
• Red Savannah's Adam Coats was on a road trip this weekend, zipping around Bordeaux, and said that his travel route was not affected at all, and that the protests he encountered felt "good-spirited."

And, contrary to some reports, the police have not joined the revolution:

Factcheck:

• A video of French riot police taking off their helmets has been widely shared and presented as proof of police support for the “yellow vests” protests. The video actually portrays an agreement between protesters and the police, whereby the latter took off their helmets in exchange for the protesters’ peaceful dispersion.

But the unions are now getting onboard:

VOA News: Protesters, Now Joined by Unions, Reject French Concessions 

• Students set fires outside high schools to protest a new university application system.
• Small-business owners blocked roads to protest high taxes.
• Pensioners marched to protest the president's perceived elitism.
• And Wednesday, France's largest farmers union said it will launch protests next week, after trucking unions called for a rolling strike.
• Trade unions so far have not played a role in the improvised movement, but are now trying to capitalize on the growing public anger.

And here is irony:

CANews: The protests are jeopardising a fragile economic recovery in France just as the Christmas holiday season kicks off.

• Retailers have lost an estimated one billion euros in revenue since the protests erupted and shares in tourism-related shares saw their worst week in months.

Shop keepers don't have time to join street protests or they might be out protesting against the protests!

More from CANews: A common feature of mass protest is counter-productive infiltration:

• The government had warned that far-right, anarchist and ant capitalist groups would likely infiltrate protests and many of the skirmishes saw police tackling gangs of hooded youths, some of them covering their faces with masks.

Now that Macron has removed the fuel tax, what more do they want?

• Increase to the minimum wage, lower taxes, higher salaries, cheaper energy, better retirement benefits and even Macron’s resignation.

But those complaints are not unique to France,are they?

Having been involved in many a street protest myself, I can't fault well-meaning French people for trying, but extremists will definitely infiltrate a sincere people's movement, and it's possible for innocents to find themselves in over their heads. Considering what the whole world knew about Macron before the election, it's surprising that it's taken so long for a public reaction, maybe too long.  Any changes now are likely to be sops, and once things settle down, it will be back to business as usual.

Heck, we had 10,000 people on the streets of Ottawa alone protesting Bush's planned assault on Iraq, not to mention many thousands more across the country. And you can see where that got us.

​The problem is that eventually we all had to go home and look after our jobs and families, and pretty soon it was like it never happened, especially when we read the news and found the numbers played down and the vandalism played up.

Not surprisingly: Russia is being blamed for using social media to spread disinfo about the French protests. Who needs Russia for that? The "presstitutes" are perfectly adequate liars.

France 24:

• According to the UK's Times newspaper, hundreds of online accounts linked to Russia were used to stoke the demonstrations.
• Citing analysis by New Knowledge, a cybersecurity company, the Times said the accounts spread disinformation and used pictures of injured protesters from other events to enhance a narrative of brutality by French authorities.

Haha, New Knowledge says it specializes in disinformation. Good one. It's also been able to raise $10 million to do so. Interesting that when you visit its corporate website, a New York Times advertisement pops up. Isn't that some kind of incest?