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Post by whatagain on Dec 12, 2019 17:52:28 GMT
Better red than dead was the slogan of some. Now we might say better to cope With putin than to rely on Trump.
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Post by patricklondon on Dec 13, 2019 6:10:34 GMT
Now we might say better to cope With putin than to rely on Trump. Indeed. To adapt a quote from Nye Bevan, why bother with the monkey when the organ-grinder's there?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 26, 2020 16:52:57 GMT
As we get closer to the municipal elections, it is obviously the election in Paris that is creating the most extravagant projects. Since mayor Anne Hidalgo is still dominating in the polls (frankly I support her -- she has done a good job), the two Macron candidates are coming up with weird ideas. Benjamin Griveaux, the official Macron candidate wants to create a sort of Central Park by moving Gare de l'Est to Porte de la Villette and turning all of the rail lines into a forest. imageshack.com/a/img924/5201/oFl6zb.jpgMeanwhile, Cédric Villani, the dissident Macron candidate (who is a math genius who won the Fields medal but who is also probably suffering from Asperger's) wants to move the Eurostar and the Thalys to a new station at Porte de la Chapelle or Saint Denis. Neither of these projects is likely to ever happen, the principal reason being that the SNCF has complete control over its stations and rails, and the city of Paris has no say in the matter. Obviously, it can be bought out at the right price. Griveaux estimates the price of his project at 1.5 billion euros. I am nevertheless quite happy to see such proposals made because little scraps will be remembered and reused. There is already a huge proposal for restructuring Gare du Nord in the works. Mayor Hidalgo opposes the project but is willing to negotiate. Basically, the plan is create a giant shopping mall on top of Gare du Nord, and access to the trains would be through this level (Arrivals would remain on the ground floor.). That is obviously an over simplification, but it gives the gist of the commercial scheme and the reason that a lot of people are against it. In any case, the verdict will fall in two months, and you can expect some major changes in Paris… in 5 or 10 years.
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Post by bjd on Jan 26, 2020 18:05:41 GMT
We have been getting papers in the mailbox with "communication" from the mayor and other municipal lists. Of course, the mayor is saying what a great job has been done, while the others says that more public input is necessary. Interestingly, none of them mention any political affiliation.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 27, 2020 10:31:06 GMT
I like trees as much as anyone, but also like structuring public transport, and think it should be in the heart of the city - of course there also have to be stations farther out. But making it central positions it as a rational choice as travellers can make the journey from city centre to city centre. I remember just catching the Thalys from Paris to Amsterdam from Gare du nord to Centraal Station...
I like mayor Hidalgo too.
Macron has a point against NATO, originally formed to counter the Soviet bloc. There is no more Soviet bloc. The military has a gift for self-preservation, although security concerns lie elsewhere nowadays. (I'm thinking mostly of terrorism, but more-informed people could doubtless add other considerations). And costs a fortune; it can also be a major and uncontrolled source of pollution.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 2, 2020 15:49:36 GMT
Just two months to the municipal elections, which will be far more important than such things usually are (I'll get to that.). I have started receiving tracts in the street, including one handed to me by Ian Brossat of the communist party today. He is actually the most famous communist in France (on TV constantly) and will probably be the general secretary some day if he sticks with it. At the moment, he is in charge of housing for the city of Paris (Mr. Stop Airbnb) and is a stalwart assistant of Socialist mayor Hidalgo. This already sends lots of people into a rage, because Paris is one of the only cities in France where the communists are still in a coalition with the socialists. In most of France, they spit in each other's face. And this coalition is continuing for the upcoming election. In a city like Paris, Ian Brossat has a lot going for him, since he is young and homosexual, which are two elements that appeal to numerous Parisians (which is sort of like San Francisco, it must be said).
Anyway, what is important about the municipal elections this time, more than future national elections, is the fact that this is the first real test of President Macron's political party after all of the things that happened in the last year. Since it is a brand new party, it has very few elected officials in most municipalities -- just the turncoats from a couple of years ago. (I can't think of another term to use that would sound less negative, but people change political party all the time in France, socialist to ecologist, right wing to far right wing, communist to something else, etc...) In any case, things are looking grim for Macron compared to how they could have been. I'm sure that he will still say that he won after the election, because he will be going from more or less zero mayors to quite a few, no matter what.
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Post by whatagain on Feb 6, 2020 17:12:53 GMT
The test is how many mayors RN will get
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Post by whatagain on Feb 20, 2020 9:56:52 GMT
Hihi A candidate for becoming mayor of Paris had to withdraw. He made a sextape with her mistress, sent it to her and oh strange her russian friend leaked it. I dont approve of breaking into private life but i do approve if arseholes get the heat for being so stupid.
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Post by bjd on Feb 20, 2020 11:55:51 GMT
The tape was actually made in 2018. I watched a TV debate about this: one woman defending the idea of privacy, ie Griveaux should not be punished for something done in this private life. This in fact seems to be the common opinion of politicians, who all defended him.
On the other hand, a journalist said that if you want to be in politics, especially now that social media is influential and people distrust politicians, anybody going into politics should know enough not to do anything so stupid. Furthermore, Griveaux based much of his electoral campaign on family life.
I agree with the second guy.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 20, 2020 12:39:44 GMT
Yes, he had just done a five page spread in Paris Match to show his perfect family, so he was beyond stupid.
Just about every politician from all parties supported him in saying that whatever he does in his private life is perfectly fine and that he did nothing wrong, but I am pretty sure that many of them are complete hypocrites and need to go on record saying things like that in case their own skeletons are brought to light or those of their close friends and allies.
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Post by lagatta on Feb 20, 2020 14:55:31 GMT
Yes, what bothers me the most about him is his manifest stupidity. Who wants someone so clueless as Mayor, who has to stand up to powerful interests? That story made the news here, amid much journalistic mirth.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 20, 2020 15:20:56 GMT
Obviously, sending a video where you are masturbating is not going to enhance anybody's reputation. I am mystified that with all of the reports about hacking personal details (this video was not hacked of course) and all the rest, no matter what platform you use, encrypted or not, there is every chance in the world that it will end up public if you are of any interest to the public (and sometimes you will be of interest even if nobody knows who you are if the content is sleazy enough).
The extra little item that sent this over the top is that the video and the sex messages were sent to a young woman who was totally happy to receive them, but a year later she was in a relationship with a Russian political refugee whose speciality is to provoke. While he was still in Russia, he did such things as to set fire to the entrance of the ex-KGB headquarters, sew his lips shut (with really big thread, if you have seen the photos), and to top it off, nail his testicles to the paving stones in Red Square (for some reason, I have seen no photos of this). So this latest little thing is what we call pipi de chat in France (cat piss) compared to the other stuff. He says he has other videos to reveal. Bring it on!
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 20, 2020 16:34:49 GMT
It's interesting that a would-be politician -- a species that thrives on attention -- chose to make a narcissistic sex video, whether or not he thought about it becoming public. I guess I can see where ex-mistress's current boyfriend's antics contained a political message, but they sound more neurotically close to the art of Chris Burden. I've never been able to see how any message these performances contain wouldn't be eclipsed by their shock value. (and how do you nail anything, much less testicles, to paving stones?)
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 20, 2020 17:53:09 GMT
That's why I wanted to see photos.
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Post by bjd on Feb 20, 2020 17:57:14 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 7, 2020 17:11:43 GMT
In just one week, we have the first round of the municipal elections, with some people saying that they should be delayed because of Covid-19. Whatever happens, it will always be fascinating to listen to everybody's excuses.
One interesting element is the fact that the incumbent always has a considerable advantage because most people like their mayor, both in big cities and small towns (villages are not allowed to have a political label). Many cities currently have a Socialist mayor, even though the party has sunk into oblivion since the presidential and European elections in recent years. It might prove that it is not dead yet since both Paris and Lille have socialist mayors who lead the polls for re-election. We'll see soon enough.
(Just for the record, I will be voting for our current Socialist mayor in Paris even though people say that she is a tough bitch, something that people would not say if she were a man. Women are not supposed to be tough, apparently.)
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Post by htmb on Mar 7, 2020 21:39:10 GMT
The term "tough bitch" can be a badge of honor. Tough bitches get things done (though I’m guessing that’s not a PC term).
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Post by fumobici on Mar 7, 2020 22:25:48 GMT
I think a "tough bitch" might be perfect for executive administration.
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Post by lagatta on Mar 7, 2020 23:57:03 GMT
Our mayor Valérie Plante gets that too (they are very much on the same wavelength). Did Mayor Catherine Trautmann get that in Strasbourg? I met her at a forum on urbanism in Montréal.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 8, 2020 5:00:04 GMT
Catherine Trautmann is running for mayor again!
No matter what, Paris will continue to have a woman mayor because all three front runners are women.
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Post by patricklondon on Mar 8, 2020 10:07:24 GMT
The term "tough bitch" can be a badge of honor. Tough bitches get things done (though I’m guessing that’s not a PC term). It can be an issue here, where Theresa May, as Home Secretary, was called a"bloody difficult woman" by a ministerial colleague: but then, what she was being difficult about was some policies not only he but also plenty of women objected to. And her current successor is under fire for a series of allegations of bullying and belittling underlings, to the point where (unprecedentedly) the senior civil servant in her department has resigned and is suing the government. But in his case, not only is she pursuing some crackpot ideas, but he has presided over some disastrous failures of common sense and basic competence in the administration on May's policies. There's something about that department.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 13, 2020 21:25:23 GMT
We have the first round of the municipal elections on Sunday. So far, they have requested that we bring our own black or blue ballpoint pens with us if possible for signing the voting register. (That is the only thing for which we need a pen -- there are no boxes to check on the ballots or anything.) On the news, though, they showed that most polling stations have bought thousands of Bic pens just in case, so if anybody needs a free pen, this is their moment. I hope they give the leftovers to the migrants although they probably don't need them since they do everything on their very sophisticated mobile phones. Maybe the schools can use them when they reopen.
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Post by htmb on Mar 13, 2020 23:01:03 GMT
Once the elections are over, how long before the new terms begin?
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 14, 2020 5:59:54 GMT
New terms, even for president, begin within a week in France -- the moment the government has officially validated the results.
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Post by htmb on Mar 14, 2020 13:37:34 GMT
Thanks. I knew it was a quick turn-around, just couldn’t remember how quick.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 15, 2020 9:13:33 GMT
So, I went and voted in the first round of the municipal elections this morning. It was like being in a giant board game because they had marked out one metre squares on the floor with masking tape, and you advanced square by square. Nobody touched my ID card or my voting card -- I just had to hold them up for them to be read.
Of course we won't know until tonight how many people stayed away from the polls. I suspect the number will be quite high because even many voters who have no fear of being contaminated probably took their children out to the country since all of the schools are closed.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 15, 2020 16:24:23 GMT
Boy, that's a graphic illustration of the new normal. The candidates must be pretty demoralized, since all their campaigning may well be wasted with the demographics all skewed.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 15, 2020 16:29:42 GMT
There were many calls to postpone the elections, but since things are likely to get much worse before they get better, the government decided that it was more important not to change the schedule.
But for the second round next week, it is uncharted territory if the situation deteriorates much more.
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Post by bjd on Mar 15, 2020 16:59:00 GMT
I went to vote this morning too. No square, just one line on the floor. They took my ID and voting cards to stamp. Basically business as usual although people stood a bit further apart in the lines and I took my own pen. Some left cleaning their hands with gel but I washed my hands when I got home.
Adding that I just heard that participation is only 34% at 5 pm. 16% down from 6 years ago.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 19, 2020 19:59:28 GMT
Even though more than 30,000 mayors were elected during the first round of the municipal elections (with more than 50% of the votes), they will have to wait until mid-May to be validated this time, instead of just the following week. And of course "mid-May" is just an approximate date.
As for the second round of the election for all of the cities that need it, the tentative date is 21 June.
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