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Post by lagatta on Feb 14, 2019 0:35:47 GMT
Ilan's given name means tree or tree of life in Hebrew. I suppose he was Tunisian like Gisèle Halimi? There was more than one tree at the memorial, located where he was murdered (or rather, finally died). Then there was an elderly lady who was friendly and open to everyone, and as a Shoah survivor, deeply antiracist. Murdered by a violent Islamist. This really affected me as she reminded me so much of a good friend of mine in Paris, who was a hidden child. I couldn't bear the thought of my friend, who is deeply critical of how Israel treats the Palestinian people, being assaulted or killed because she was assumed to be close to the Likudist government, which she utterly rejects.
There is another memorial to Ilan at a little park near his family home in the 12th.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 15, 2019 15:47:52 GMT
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Post by whatagain on Mar 15, 2019 18:03:52 GMT
Nord presse is the French counterpart of le Gorafi. Gorafi is inverted figaro which is legit and sud presse un belgium is printing several newspaper. So both are fakes. But bouteflika could very well be dead ;-)
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 15, 2019 18:46:45 GMT
Well, he is as good as dead but Algeria is a subject that the French press or leaders cannot touch for historical reasons. Therefore there are a lot of people wondering how on earth French politicians can talk about Venezuela without inhibition but refuse to give an opinion about what is happening in Algeria.
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Post by lagatta on Mar 16, 2019 2:24:09 GMT
He is either dead or comatose like several Soviet leaders and Ariel Sharon (I'm certainly missing some).
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 24, 2019 5:40:11 GMT
Chinese president Xi Jinping is starting a state visit to France today in Nice -- with an "official" side visit to Monaco for the first time. The Chinese are probably planning on buying Monaco. More interesting, France is continuing to intensify its fusional ties with the EU because the state dinner in Paris tomorrow is being co-hosted by Macron, Merkel and Juncker. That has never been done before.
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Post by bjd on Mar 24, 2019 6:52:31 GMT
I suppose they are setting themselves up as a counterpoint to the "bad" Europeans like the Italians, Hungarians, Poles and others who seem to be moving away from the initial core values of the EU. Mind you, the Italians have just signed a separate deal with the Chinese.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 12, 2019 15:39:32 GMT
I have to admit that I am a bit amused that France stands alone among the 28 members of the EU in opposing a new trade agreement with the United States. It must be pointed out that the opposition of France will not change anything because this is one of the votes that only needs a majority rather than unanimity.
So, what gives?
France says that it refuses to sign an agreement with any country that does not respect the Paris environmental agreement (COP21) of 2015. And as we know, there is only one country in the world that has pulled out of the agreement. There is a second reason -- France does not want to sign anything under the preliminary threat of trade sanctions that Trump has already announced before the beginning of negotiations. However, all of the rest of Europe is willing to kneel before the American master.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 12, 2019 16:03:42 GMT
Yes, those sanctions are beyond stupid.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 12, 2019 16:41:07 GMT
However, all of the rest of Europe is willing to kneel before the American master. And that is how Trump continues to get away with his evil power-grabbing shit. Good for France!
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Post by kerouac2 on May 6, 2019 15:01:23 GMT
We are now less than three weeks away from the European parliamentary elections and the disintegration of the traditional political parties continues. The big difference with this election, though, is that it is currently the only proportional election in France. Any list that gets at least 5% of the vote will have some representatives in the European parliament. This awakens all sorts of minority ideas in the country. Five years ago, there were no fewer than 20 different lists in France. Filing a list ended last week, and this time there are 33 different lists, which is getting beyond ridiculous. Three of them, for example, are rival "yellow vest" lists, because since the yellow vests have been demanding just about everything as well as the opposite, there is no way that they could ever agree on a common platform. On top of that, the far right wing and the far left wing lists also have at least one yellow vest celebrity.
In terms of being serious, only about 6 lists have a chance of getting more than 5%. Macron's party and the RN (former National Front) are neck and neck at about 21-22%. The LR party, which used to be dominant (Sarkozy, Chirac...) is at 13% and the Greens are at 8%. LFI, the main left wing opposition to Macron is also close to 8% and the Socialists (François Hollande being the last president) are at 5.5%. So those should all be going to Strasbourg and Brussels.
There is a big battle among the others anyway, because any list that gets 3% will have its campaign funds reimbursed. Only about 2 other lists have a shot at this.
Basically, it is just an ego trip for the little guys.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 15, 2019 16:40:04 GMT
It's rather a shame that New Zealand prime minister Lucinda Ardern had to come all the way to Paris to obtain a platform for the Christchurch Call. In a perfect world, more important countries would have been lining up to support such an appeal.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 15, 2019 18:49:30 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 19, 2019 13:31:16 GMT
One more week until the European parliamentary elections. Even though it was obligatory to provide an advertising panel for each list that registered for the election, more than half of the panels are empty because they are such fringe groups that they can't even afford to print posters. And even some of the lists with posters give instructions on how to print your own valid ballot, because that list will not provide ballots at the polling stations. Everybody would like to get panel #1, but the numbers are assigned by a random drawing.
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Post by bjd on May 19, 2019 15:18:12 GMT
I finally received my voting card yesterday but haven't noticed many posters yet.
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Post by lagatta on May 19, 2019 15:33:07 GMT
I see that Manon Aubry is NOT related to Martine Aubry, unlike the Le Pen dynasty.
How many people, even if they are not radical animal-rights supporters, will vote for that adorable little dog?
Jacinda Arden.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 19, 2019 15:45:16 GMT
I imagine that the animaliste list will get at least 1% of the vote if they provide ballots. There are enough militant vegans and confused old people and Brigitte Bardot fans to get that many votes.
But the lists need at least 3% of the vote to get their election expenses reimbursed. So this is all money going -- poof! -- into the great nowhere when it could have been contributed to specific causes.
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Post by lagatta on May 19, 2019 17:17:58 GMT
And the cute little dog! I could see voting for them as a protest vote if there were nobody else I could stomach. Vote for Livia!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 11, 2019 15:25:45 GMT
So, the French parliament has confirmed the GAFA tax this week since it got tired of waiting for other EU countries to get their act together. Steam is already coming out of Trump's ears as well as threats out of his mouth. The tax will be retroactive to January 2019.
Nevertheless, the UK, Spain, Italy and Austria are still thinking about it in the EU. In the rest of the world, New Zealand and South Korea are interested whereas Australia chickened out.
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Post by bjd on Jul 11, 2019 15:39:34 GMT
Ireland will certainly not participate -- they keep taxes low so that these big companies put their offices there.
Actually, I was surprised at how relatively little money the government thinks it will get from this tax. I mean 500 million € is peanuts compared to their earnings. Just look how much Bezos paid out to his wife in a divorce settlement -- billions.
Of course Trump is having a shitfit. It's mostly American companies who are aimed at because they are the biggest.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 13, 2019 18:45:15 GMT
Maybe I shouldn't have laughed when Trump announced the creation of a Space Force in the armed forces. Now Macron has announced that a space division is being added to the air force in France.
Of course, if you think about it, flying planes and building death stars is not quite the same activity, so maybe there should be some sort of division.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 14, 2019 0:18:12 GMT
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Post by bjd on Jul 14, 2019 6:01:14 GMT
I wonder if they used a young Trump as a model for that? Mind you, it's an Australian ad, but you never know.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 16, 2019 12:20:20 GMT
France is starting its new obligatory "universal national service" soon. At the moment it is in a test phase for volunteers so they can fine tune the content. All young people are supposed to do this for a month around the ages of 16-17 with the objective of mixing the social classes and trying to be useful. So they won't be learning how to shoot rifles or use bayonets but will probably find themselves in a lot of nursing homes and doing environmental work, while also learning first aid and that kind of stuff.
I always enjoy short propaganda films, so here is the latest one from the government.
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Post by bjd on Jul 16, 2019 12:55:51 GMT
Not a bad idea. My husband always said that doing his military service was an opportunity to get to know people he never would have met otherwise. I believe that was the only positive thing about it for him.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 16, 2019 12:59:42 GMT
Many many men have said that. Farm boys met university students and lots of others discovered that other ethnic groups were not as scary as they thought.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 16, 2019 15:01:41 GMT
Does this also apply to the overseas departments?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 16, 2019 15:13:18 GMT
Yes, everywhere in France. One of the first test groups was in French Guiana.
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Post by mossie on Jul 16, 2019 19:28:34 GMT
An excellent idea, because it will also tear the spoilt little snowflakes away from their mummy's apron strings and get them to stand on their own two feet.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 25, 2019 18:04:40 GMT
I admit that I was highly amused when President Macron pulled the Iranian minister of foreign affairs out of his hat at the G7 meeting in Biarritz today. It appeared that the orange man was not happy. He just said two words. No, not "fuck you" but "no comment."
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