Do some French people see what's going on? Yellow Vest Protests

[Hi_Henry]

Wow, this is spreading !!! Fire fighters, ambulance drivers .... next might be doctors and nurses ?

When I saw this photo first thought that came to my mind was Ukraine. Where is Mrs. Nudelman with sandwiches ?

"embedded with the protests, "
And this is where the problems for the Common Man will begin. I bet the Security Services are working over time mapping the leadership networks etc. to corral this. Then they will put in their own or blackmail those that are there to do their "special projects".

PS: I would not be surprised , though there will be no way to know for sure, if some of "special refugees" from Africa will not be called up to duty to carry out a special mission for XXXXX (your guess is as good as mine).

 

[Ca.]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1069920418784530433

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced the suspension of fuel tax hikes which triggered massive unrest across the country, AFP reported citing government sources.

France’s government officially canceled a meeting with Yellow Vest protestors scheduled for Tuesday, France24 reported.
Philippe’s office has said the prime minister would announce some “measures” favoring the protesters. Culture Minister Franck Riester previously told reporters Philippe may make “a strong conciliatory gesture in the coming days,” but did not provide any details.

Earlier on Monday, it emerged that protesters representing the movement have pulled out of the planned meeting with the Prime Minister. Two of the protest leaders, Jacline Mouraud and Benjamin Cauchy, told AFP they had received threats from hardline protesters who warned them against entering into dialogue with the government.

The "Yellow Vests" have been protesting about a controversial fuel tax since mid-November. Massive rallies hit Paris and France’s major cities, with protesters demanding to drop the tax rise.

President Emmanuel Macron repeatedly said he will not back down on taxes, but on Monday the government signaled that it is ready to make some concessions. Also that day, he held an urgent security meeting and cancelled a planned visit to Serbia to tackle the crisis.
The protests quickly spread across France, sometimes snowballing into major clashes between police and rioters. In late November, the Yellow Vest rallies in Paris quickly descended into chaos turning city streets into a ‘warzone’. Numerous cars and trash bins were torched, and windows were smashed.

The French government mulled a state of emergency on the back of Paris riots, but Deputy Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that was “not on the table for now.”

Experts suggested the protests are targeting government policies in general rather than fuel taxes as such. Jean Bricmont, a French writer and political commentator, told RT there is not much that French authorities could do to defuse tensions as Paris “has to obey the orders from the European Commission.”

Bricmont suggested that Macron “doesn’t realize the depth of the crisis” and has nothing to offer to resolve it. Two-thirds of the French support the upheaval, according to a new poll by OpinionWay. The survey asked over 1000 people and 66 percent answered that they stand for the protesters.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1069917931662909442

Slanted Opinion by Leonid Bershidsky

France Faces a Typical Facebook Revolution

Street riots in Paris are less about a tiny fuel tax hike than the power of social networks to radicalize their users
Corrected December 4, 2018, 9:38 AM GMT+1
The liberating role social networks played during the Arab Spring and the Russian protests of 2011 and 2012 was widely lauded. Little of that enthusiasm is on display today amid the violent “yellow vest” protests in France – even though Facebook is still doing what it does best: let people channel their rage.

In a 2011 paean to “the Facebook revolution,” Chris Taylor of the tech news website Mashable wrote that Facebook was “democracy in action.” Philip Howard of the University of Washington, who researched the social network’s role in the Arab Spring, said the same year that social media “carried a cascade of messages about freedom and democracy across North Africa and the Middle East and helped raise expectations for the success of political uprising.”

At the end of 2011, I took part in the Russian protests following a rigged parliamentary election. Facebook played a central role in organizing them. The emerging pattern – leaderless protest networks developing on U.S.-owned platforms; meme-like narratives fueling popular indignation; nebulous, quickly radicalizing, demands fueled by lots of underlying anger – led Russian President Vladimir Putin to suspect the U.S. of organizing action in different parts of the world according to the same playbook. He was as naive as the observers who thought Facebook’s role in these popular uprisings had anything to do with freedom or democracy.

Soon after the countries that underwent Arab Spring revolutions began reverting to authoritarianism or plunging into chaos, concerns emerged about the ability of social networks to shape democratic transitions. But Facebook and other platforms were never any good at that: What they did was help to get people get more and more excited about things that bothered them. By amplifying messages and inflating opinion bubbles, they whipped up a frenzy where there had been mere grumbling.

It’s happening again in France, a country impossible to describe as an autocracy and one where the U.S. has no reason to foment a revolution.

It all started with the government’s decision to raise taxes by 7.6 cents per liter on diesel and 3.9 cents per liter on gasoline. This isn’t a major outrage. For someone filling a 50-liter tank with diesel every week, the hike means 15.2 euros ($17.3) a month in extra costs, less than two McDonald’s meals. But the protests, set off in mid-October by a viral Facebook rant by accordion player Jacline Mouraud about the government’s anti-car policy, have escalated until they produced the country’s worst urban riot in more than a decade. Over the weekend, 133 people were injured, including 23 police officers.

As in previous protests, these disturbances are largely leaderless; they don’t need France’s political or media infrastructure to develop. They have, however, thrown up some unlikely opinion leaders, whom protesters follow and whose views get endlessly amplified through “yellow vest” Facebook groups. One of them is Maxime Nicolle, also known as Fly Rider, a 31-year-old Brittany native who has regularly done Facebook Live webcasts from the increasingly violent protests. He has emerged as one of the amorphous movement’s eight spokespeople empowered to negotiate with the government.

“Self-appointed thinkers became national figures, thanks to popular pages and a flurry of Facebook Live,” Frederic Filloux, now a researcher at Stanford and formerly a journalism professor at Sciences Po in Paris, wrote on Medium. Nicolle’s “gospel is a hodgepodge of incoherent demands but he’s now a national voice.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has described the “yellow vests’” manifesto as “a little of everything and no matter what.” And indeed, the original demands – the repeal of the fuel tax for cars, a minimal value-added tax on food, lower fines for traffic violations, pay cuts for elected officials, and more efficient government spending – have now been muddled by added calls for better public services, the dissolution of parliament, and Macron’s resignation. This is now about anger that flows freely in all directions. As Filloux puts it: “As the absolute amplifier and radicalizer of the popular anger, Facebook has demonstrated its toxicity to the democratic process.”

There’s nothing democratic about the emergence of Facebook group administrators as spokespeople for what passes for a popular movement. Unlike Macron and French legislators, they are unelected. In a column for Liberation, journalist Vincent Glad suggested that recent changes to the Facebook algorithm – which have prioritized content created by groups over that of pages, including those of traditional media outlets – have provided the mechanism to promote these people. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg thought he was depoliticizing his platform and focusing on connecting people. That is not what happened.

“Facebook group admins, whose prerogatives are constantly being increased by Zuckerberg, are the new intermediaries, thriving on the ruins of labor unions, associations or political parties,” Glad wrote.

Whether the anger unleashed by France’s tiny tax hike is real or at least partially induced by Facebook echo chambers is by now difficult to figure out without exact scientific methods. Nevertheless, it’s time to cast away any remaining illusions that social networks can play a positive role in promoting democracy and freedom.

A free society can’t ban Facebook, or even completely regulate away its hate-enhancing function; but it should be aware of the risk Facebook and similar platforms pose to democratic institutions. Ironically, the threat to authoritarian regimes is less: they have learned to manipulate opinion on the platforms with propaganda, trolling, bullying and real-life scare tactics against activists.

A country like France can’t resort to such techniques. That means more work for police and more tough decisions for politicians unwilling to submit to mob rule – until populists, bolstered by the social networks, start winning elections. Averting that result will require people to realize what the platforms really do, and start quitting them in droves.

 

[Gwelan (too)]

There is one cool thing with these events, they take us OUT of normal life : people are out of their homes and they talk together, and they learn what they never saw on TV and realize that the situation is far worse than what they thought. They start to identify the key actors and think by themselves about what should be done for their life to be different, a better society for all. They were asleep, and suddenly, they realize that it's the way the world goes which must change. We are allready far from just a request for no taxes. Everyday, the understanding is growing, and so are the demands. The politicians don't understand anything anymore, and some begin to be a bit affraid for themselves. (They are right to be). In this situation, the most intelligent answer that Macron said today is : I will never undo what I've done the last 18 months. Obviously, the people are going to be very happy with that kind of answer. There is a famous song from a (almost) national singer - although he was from Belgium and called Johnny !!!!!!! ALLUMER LE FEU !! I don't know how to translate it as it has so many sub-meanings in it !

In America, most of protests are made inside the constitution : it's always about america. The problem here, is that , most of the time, protests use to question the foundations of the nation themselves. This time I believe we are going for something like that. Interresting, isn'it ?

 

[angelburst29]

05/12/2018 - 'Gilets jaunes': which other Countries has the French Protest Movement spread to?
'Gilets jaunes': which other countries has the French protest movement spread to?

While spokespeople for the "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests) called for protesters to mobilize in France for further demonstrations this weekend, the movement has been spreading to other countries around the world.The movement started on November 17 on social media as a response to hikes in fuel taxes and has since snowballed to include protests against social inequalities.

While spokespeople for the "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests) called for protesters to mobilise in France for further demonstrations this weekend, the movement has been spreading to other countries around the world.

The movement started on November 17 on social media as a response to hikes in fuel taxes and has since snowballed to include protests against social inequalities.

Here we take a look at where the "gilets jaunes" have been sighted beyond France's borders and what they have been calling for.

Serbia
A member of the opposition in Serbia on Tuesday donned a yellow vest in the Serbian parliament to protest high fuel costs.

"We want normal prices for gasoline, or you will have yellow vests on the streets of Belgrade and Serbia," warned Bosko Obradovic, head of the nationalist right-wing Dveri.

It came as French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday postponed his trip to the Balkan country for several weeks as he sought a way out of the crisis prompted by the movement.


[URL='https://twitter.com/euronews']euronews ✔ @euronews
https://twitter.com/euronews/status/1070279158763307009
A member of the opposition in Serbia donned a yellow vest Tuesday in protest of high fuel costs.

http://euronews.com/live
https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1070279158763307009
6:30 AM - Dec 5, 2018

Iraq
Demonstrators in Iraq used the yellow vest symbol as they took to the streets in anti-government protests in the southeastern city of Basra on Tuesday.

As many as 100 people later stormed the office of Basra Governor Asaad al-Eidani demanding basic services including water and electricity.

One organizer, Naqeeb Luaibi, told NBC News that the choice of outerwear was already familiar to Iraqis before the "gilets jaunes" movement.

He explained demonstrators speaking out against government corruption dressed similarly in 2015. "We thought that we would be more organized if we wear these vests," he said.

Belgium
The yellow wave spread north from France and reached the centre of Brussels last Friday.


Remy Buisine ✔ @RemyBuisine
https://twitter.com/RemyBuisine/status/1068488620221366272
#Bruxelles - Manifestation en cours des #GiletsJaunes belges proche des lieux de pouvoir.

1,286
7:55 AM - Nov 30, 2018

Local media estimated around 300 to 400 protesters marched in the Belgian capital.

Demonstrators blocked Rue de la Loi, where EU institutions are based, as well as the surrounding area of Trône. Police fired tear gas and water cannons at the crowds and two police vans were set on fire.

Germany
Despite the movement being small-scale compared to the one in neighbouring France, yellow vest protests have sprung up in several German cities, in this case, linked to right-wing groups in the country.

Right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Doris von Sayn-Wittgenstein has declared her support for the "gilets jaunes" on Facebook: "One thing must be given to the French: in fashion, they show taste, I'm wearing yellow now, and you?"

Spain
Spain, which was affected by border blockings carried out by the French yellow vests, doesn't have an established movement but the idea has seduced many.

Some on social media claim to be "Chalecos Amarillos" (yellow vests) and a call went out to demonstrate on Saturday in the centre of Madrid.

An activist claiming to be from the movement told El Confidencial digital newspaper that he has received support from different profiles including farmers, industry workers in northern Spain who were unemployed, port workers and taxi drivers, angry at a decline in their living conditions.


Juan De La Familia Lankamp @csijuanivoox
https://twitter.com/csijuanivoox/status/1070066717743824896
#chalecosamarillosespaña #CHALECOSAMARILLOS

3
4:26 PM - Dec 4, 2018

Hungary
The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) asked its supporters to wear yellow vests at a demonstration on Saturday.

The protest opposes a draft law that would allow companies to ask employees to work up to 400 extra hours per year.

MSZP's reasoning was what worked in Paris, would work on the streets of Budapest.

Further action in France
In France, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on Tuesday announced some concessions that included a six-month suspension of controversial increases to fuel taxes.

While this was the first major u-turn for Emmanuelle Macron's administration, many said they did not go far enough.

"The French don't want crumbs, they want a baguette," yellow vest spokesman Benjamin Cauchy told French news channel BFM.

Eric Drouet, one of the movement's most famous instigators, called for a "return to Paris" on Saturday, "near the places of power, the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, Concorde".


03/12/2018 - 'Gilets jaunes': who are they and what do they want? Euronews answers
'Gilets jaunes': who are they and what do they want? | Euronews answers

France will suspend controversial increases to fuel taxes that have sparked three weeks of protests by the 'gilets jaunes' (yellow vests) movement — marking the first major U-turn by President Emmanuel Macron's administration.

The fuel tax hikes will be suspended for at least six months, announced Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in a televised speech on Tuesday, adding that anyone would have to be "deaf or blind" to not see the anger.

"No tax is worth jeopardising the unity of the nation," he said.

The French economy has been badly hit due to three weeks of 'gilets jaunes' (yellow vests) protests, said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday.

Le Maire said that sector revenues, particularly retailers, hotel chains, high-street stores, and restaurants, have been hit by between 15 and 50%.

The 'gilets jaunes' movement started on November 17 on social media as a response to hikes in fuel prices and has since become a wider protest of social inequalities.

Graffiti is seen on a vandalized wall at the Arc de Triomphe the day after clashes with protesters wearing yellow vests, a symbol of a French drivers' protest against higher diesel taxes, in Paris, France, December 2, 2018REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Riot police had a tough time controlling protesters on Saturday who wrought havoc in Paris' fanciest neighbourhoods, setting cars on fire, looting shops and cafes in some of the worst riots the capital has seen since the 1968 student protests.

However, the 'gilets jaunes' have no defined leadership or an official group, which has made it harder for the government to engage with them.

So who are the 'gilets jaunes' and what do they want? Euronews gives you answers to some of the pressing questions about the rising anti-government movement.

How was this group born?
Discontent was triggered by the government’s measures to keep increasing a direct tax on diesel, a fuel commonly used by motorists in France, as well as the carbon tax. Protesters see these as disproportionately affecting those who use their cars to get to and from their jobs every day.

To add to this, French President Emmanuel Macron suppressed a tax on wealth, which only applied to people who possessed taxable net assets of more than €1,3 million. Macron's economic reforms are seen as favouring the wealthy.

Who are they?
The 'gilets jaunes' are a very heterogeneous group whose supporters span across age, job, and geographical region and comprise unemployed youth, retired people with very low pensions, and people who earn the minimum wage.

There are also far-right and far-left militants who've joined the protests. But some protesters have sought to distance themselves from these radical and violent fringe elements of the movement.

The movement has also become politicised by leaders such as the Front National's Marine Le Pen or the leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon — who've expressed public support for the group.

A yellow vest hangs inside a vandalized store front the morning after clashes with protesters wearing yellow vests, a symbol of a French drivers' protest against higher diesel fuel taxes, in Paris, France, December 2, 2018REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

A French interior ministry spokesperson told Euronews by text message there were 136,000 protesters nationwide from which 10,000 were in Paris on Saturday.

A recent poll by Harris Interactive for French media RTL and M6 found that 72% of French people support the 'gilets jaunes'.

But 85% of people who participated in the poll were against the use of violence.

What do the 'gilets jaunes' want?
A demand to stop rising tax hikes on fuel was only the beginning. As time progresses and protests continue, the list of demands has only increased.

In a statement sent to media outlets, the 'gilets jaunes' movement made public a list of 40 demands they were planning on presenting to the government, including changes on housing, taxes, health, education, and public finances.

In another article, published in the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, a collective of gilets jaunes made another set of longer-term demands.

"We ask to know what the taxes are being used for, a social national conference, regional debates on 'territory and mobility', regular referendums on social and societal questions in the country, the adoption of proportional representation for legislative elections so that the population be better represented in parliament."

More immediately the movement is asking for the freeze of tax hikes on fuel and the cancellation of technical controls on vehicles.

"We want to reach an agreement quickly so the economy of the country can get back in good shape before the festive season," wrote the representatives.

But their core goal can be resumed to one thing: stop the rise of already high living costs and bolster spending power for the middle-class.

Cleanup operations continue under the message, "The Yellow Vests will Triumph" written on the Arc de Triomphe, the morning after clashes with protesters wearing yellow vests, a symbol of a French drivers' protest against higher diesel taxes, in Paris, France, December 2, 2018REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

What has the government done to defuse the violence?
In his first major u-turn after 18 months in office, President Macron decided to suspend the controversial increase to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to three weeks of violent protests.

In a televised speech on Tuesday (December 4), Prime Minister Philippe said they would use that time to discuss other measures to help the working poor and the middle class who rely on vehicles to get to work.

Other measures Philippe announced to combat the rising anger are:

1) A freeze on the rise of electricity and gas until May 2019

2) A suspension on the reform of MOT tests that was planned for next year

3) A consultation with citizens on taxes so the government can be more transparent in this area.

Reaction to the u-turn


Marine Le Pen ✔ @MLP_officiel
https://twitter.com/MLP_officiel/status/1069911920327712768
6 mois ?
6 mois...
Sûrement un hasard si ça nous porte juste quelques jours après les élections #Européennes2019... MLP #moratoire https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/societe/gilets-jaunes-le-premier-ministre-va-annoncer-un-moratoire-sur-la-hausse-des-taxes-sur-le-carburant-1543907252 …

2,563
6:10 AM - Dec 4, 2018
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"Six months? six months...That's surely very random if it brings us to just a few days after the (European) elections" said Marine Le Pen, president of the far-right National Rally party.

"A very shy step but nothing on salaries, nothing for pensioners, nothing to increase the government's revenues (the wealth tax) and restore our public services!" tweeted the secretary of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel.


Fabien Roussel ✔ @Fabien_Rssl
https://twitter.com/Fabien_Rssl/status/1069922656194101249
Un premier pas bien timide mais rien sur les salaires, rien pour nos retraité-es, rien pour augmenter les recettes de l’Etat #ISF et restaurer nos services publics ! #moratoire #SMIC #GiletsJaunes

110
6:53 AM - Dec 4, 2018

LCP ✔ @LCP
https://twitter.com/LCP/status/1069953995119173632
#GiletsJaunes "La question du pouvoir d'achat n'est pas traitée par le gouvernement", insiste @faureolivier#QAG #DirectAN

73
8:58 AM - Dec 4, 2018

"The purchasing power question was never addressed by the government," secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, told French media.
[/URL]

 

[angelburst29]

Back-dated November 16, 2018 - What are the 'Gilets jaunes' so upset about? Euronews Answers
What are the 'gilets jaunes' so upset about? | Euronews Answers

France will suspend controversial increases to fuel taxes that have sparked three weeks of protests by the 'gilets jaunes' (yellow vests) movement — marking the first major U-turn by President Emmanuel Macron's administration.

The fuel tax hikes will be suspended for at least six months, announced Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in a televised speech on Tuesday, adding that anyone would have to be "deaf or blind" to not see the anger.

"No tax is worth jeopardising the unity of the nation," he said.

The French economy was badly hurt following the third week of protests by the gilets jaunes.

The movement started online as a protest against rising fuel prices but has spread to include people angry about higher living costs.
Demonstrators have blocked major roads across France and held violent protests in some of Paris' fanciest neighborhoods.

Some protesters have sought to distance themselves from the radical and violent fringe elements of the movement.

How did the 'gilets jaunes' movement start?
Discontent was triggered by the government’s measures to keep increasing a direct tax on diesel, a fuel commonly used by motorists in France, as well as the carbon tax. Protesters see these as disproportionately affecting those who use their cars to get to and from their jobs every day.

Their core demands are to put a freeze on fuel tax increases — due in January — and measures to boost spending power.

The hike in fuel prices is due to three things (two of which were decided by the government), Mathieu Chassignet, an expert on transport, told Euronews.

Volatile crude oil prices

Fuel prices are displayed at a petrol station in Nice, France, November 9, 2018

A rise in crude oil prices in 2018 is the first reason why fuel prices have been high this year. The cost surged to a bit more than €80 per barrel in October although it has since dropped to the low 50s, high 40s in November. With a weak euro in regards to the dollar, this increase has been strongly felt by motorists.

“The price of crude oil increased a lot from July to October this year, it only started going down this month,” said Chassignet.

Carbon tax
The second thing is an increase in the carbon tax, which is meant to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Introduced in 2014 under the Francois Hollande government, the carbon tax falls under the domestic consumption taxes (TIC) umbrella.

The government has the objective to keep increasing this tax for the next few years (going from €39 in 2018 to €47,5 in 2019).

Diesel and petrol taxes
Thirdly, the adjustment of the diesel tax with the petrol tax has particularly made diesel prices go up.

Since the beginning of this year, the diesel tax went up by 7.60 cents per litre, while the tax on petrol went up by 3.90 cents per litre.

How can you break down the price paid at petrol stations?
According to a government breakdown on the prices of fuels, taxes make up 60% of the total price. The rest is subject to the price of the oil barrel.

Fuel is subject to two taxes. The first one is the domestic consumption tax on energy products (TICPE), which comprises the carbon tax and a value-added tax (VAT).

What are the taxes used for?
The TICPE helps finance the general budget of the state — including eco-friendly projects — territorial authorities, and transport infrastructure. The government expects it to bring in around €7.8 billion in 2019.

But environmentally-friendly projects are not only financed through this tax. Other taxes also contribute to the transition towards greener technologies.

Why did the government decide to take these two measures?

Chassignet said that the government was increasing the carbon tax so the country could keep its commitments towards fighting climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

Demonstrators wearing yellow vests are evacuated by police as they demonstrate before the arrival French President Emmanuel Macron at the city hall in Albert, France, November 9, 2018.REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

As for the alignment of the diesel tax with the petrol tax, it became a government measure after studies showed that diesel was as polluting as petrol, said the expert.

“So a heavier tax on diesel is meant to encourage people not to buy diesel cars,” he added.

French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne said the tax on diesel would increase by 6.5 cents per litre in January 2019. The tax on petrol is set to increase by 2.9 cents at the same time.

The ministry expects the alignment of the petrol and diesel tax in 2022, leaving it at 78 cents per litre.

What will the government do with the surplus money coming from the taxes?
The government says they plan to use the extra revenue in eco-friendly projects that fight climate change.

“Economic theory shows that if we increase the carbon tax, then CO2 levels will go down,” says Chastignet.

"Even though the government does use the tax revenue to fund environment-friendly projects, there needs to be more transparency in how else they are using the extra money," he said.

Why is kerosene, fuel used by planes, not taxed?

An advertising poster for Airbus is pictured at the Airbus A330 final assembly line at Airbus headquarters in Colomiers, near Toulouse, France, November 26, 2018.REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

The highly-polluting kerosene cannot be taxed on international flights because a tax exemption was decided by an international agreement. A ratification of this agreement would need a unanimous vote by all 191 member states of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

However, it is possible to tax domestic flights, said Chastignet. But this hasn't been put forward by the government yet.

What is the government doing to help the people who heavily depend on their car to go to work?
There are government plans in place that are meant to help people who heavily depend on their vehicles for transport, such as a financial incentive to exchange old polluting cars for newer eco-friendly models. The government also offers a subsidy called "ecological bonus" to drivers who rent or buy an electric car.

What other demands has the group added?

A protester wearing a yellow vest, the symbol of a French drivers' protest against higher diesel fuel prices, holds a flag at the approach to the A2 Paris-Brussels Motorway, in Fontaine-Notre-Dame, France, December 4, 2018REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

In a statement sent to media outlets, the 'gilets jaunes' movement made public a list of 40 demands they were planning on presenting to the government.

Here are some of the key ones:

Housing
1) No more homeless on the streets

2) Better insulation in housing so that households can pay less on heating

3) A freeze on rent, especially for students and vulnerable employees

Taxes
1) Higher taxes for bigger corporations and less for smaller entrepreneurs

2) No taxing at the source

3) Cancel all hikes on fuel taxes and instead tax kerosene — fuel used by planes

Salaries and pensions
1) Raise the minimum wage to €1,300 (net)/month

2) Pensions should not be less than €1,200/month

3) Salaries and inflation should be adjusted to inflation

4) More permanent contracts known as CDIs in France, less CDDs (fixed-term contract) — which lead to more precarity

5) Maximum salary fixed to €15,000/month

6) Protect French industry — say no to offshoring

Health
1) Same social security system for everybody

2) A rise in handicap allowances

Public finances
1) End to austerity politics

2) A decrease in the price of gas and electricity and to renationalise both utilities.

In another article, published in the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, a collective of gilets jaunes made another set of longer-term demands.

"We ask to know what the taxes are being used for, a social national conference, regional debates on 'territory and mobility', regular referendums on social and societal questions in the country, the adoption of proportional representation for legislative elections so that the population be better represented in parliament."

More immediately the movement is asking for the freeze of tax hikes on fuel and the cancellation of MOT tests.

"We want to reach an agreement quickly so the economy of the country can get back in good shape before the festive season," wrote the representatives.

What has the government done to defuse the violence?

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe attends the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris, France, December 4, 2018REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

In his first major U-turn after 18 months in office, President Macron decided to suspend the controversial increase to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to three weeks of violent protests.

In a televised speech on Tuesday (December 4), Prime Minister Philippe said they would use that time to discuss other measures to help the working poor and the middle class who rely on vehicles to get to work.

Other measures Philippe announced to combat the rising anger are:

1) A freeze on the rise of electricity and gas until May 2019

2) A suspension on the reform of MOT tests that was planned for next year

3) A consultation with citizens on taxes so the government can be more transparent in this area.


05/12/2018 - France delays Food Price Rise for Farmers after protests
France delays food price rise for farmers after protests

PARIS (Reuters) - France, reeling from violent protests over the cost of living, said on Wednesday it will delay a planned rise in minimum food prices, incurring the wrath of the main farmers group which urged street action next week.

A powerful constituency in French politics, farmers have long complained of being hit by a price war between retailers, which has benefited consumers but hurt producers.

A "field-to-fork" law adopted early last month sought to ease the burden. One of the key measures, a 10-percent increase in the price floor for food products, was initially due to be adopted at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

But Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume said mass demonstrations led by the so-called "yellow vest" movement, convulsing the country since Nov. 17, had forced the government to postpone the decision.

"This was postponed because of other issues," Guillaume told CNews TV, referring to the widespread protests over fuel taxes which have dominated the government's agenda.

The minister said the decision would be implemented by the government in January or February, before the end of annual price negotiations with supermarkets that started last month.

The government's spokesman later said the measures would be presented again "in the next weeks", with one government source citing the date of Dec. 19.

It remained unclear when the measures could be implemented.

FARMERS TO PROTEST
France's largest farm union FNSEA had warned farmers would see a delay in the adoption of the measures as a "disastrous signal". The union on Wednesday called for protests all next week to denounce the delay as well as excessive taxes and what they call increasing hostility towards farmers.

"We are not joining the movement of yellow vests, we will express the difficulties specific to the agricultural sector," an FNSEA spokeswoman told Reuters.

French retailers federation FCD, which includes big names like Carrefour and Casino, also urged the government to adopt the measures as fast as possible because they needed time to adapt, stressing the need to implement them before the close of negotiations with suppliers.

The "yellow vest" protests began last month with the aim of highlighting the squeeze on household spending from increased taxes on fuel, but have tapped into growing discontent over President Emmanuel Macron's leadership.

Selling at a loss is forbidden in France. It has set a level, called "resale at a loss threshold", below which retailers are not allowed to sell a product.

The government intends to raise that floor by 10 percent and limit discounts to 34 percent of a product's price and to 25 percent of available volumes.

Analysts say the measures, to be applied for a two-year trial period, would reduce aggressive price competition among French retailers and accelerate food inflation. However, many retailers said the final impact on consumers' total spending would be minimal.

 

[Gwelan (too)]

For the non-French reader who, might get lost in this profusion of details, the simple idea to understand this movement of yellow vests and the huge support that it has in the polls, is the following one : France is at the point where, for an important part of its population , a home of which both work does not anymore succeed in buckling its budget of the month. It is to say that we live from now on in a system in which less and less people can derive a decent living from the work. That’s all.

This situation affects almost all sectors, not only the homes. The small companies are also impacted, as the farmers or even the policemen among whom some officially declared their support to the movement and go on strike not to have to fight against it in the streets.

This situation is growing in a prosperous society where money is displayed everywhere without restraint (and especially – this must be underlined - in the ruling classes), with well known privileges for the richest without being subjected to tax, as it is the case for most of the big fortunes of the country or the big companies, that they are French or foreign.

The claimings of the yellow vests leave obviously in all directions because they are not professional politicians and so little used to be heard that they do not even know how to say it. But their situation has been deteriorating for such a long time that they eventually totally lost confidence in the official system of representation (labor unions, deputies, etc...), and thus, they don’t only want to,change their own situation, but also the political staff that they consider unrepresentative of their concerns , and even the republican institution which has cut itself from those that it was supposed to serve.

In this context, the answer of the staff in charge , Macron ahead, is appalling, mixing arrogance, contempt, humiliation and provocation, where, in agreement with their mandate, there should be only respectful listening, service and compassion. All of them complain and denounce the violences, but their words, their acts and their decisions prove that it is the only thing which they can hear.

A dialogue of three months was proposed by the government to approach the thorough questions, if only demonstrations and blockings stop, which is very improbable. We shall thus know, at the latest in the next three months, if a reconciliation of the parties is possible, or if, on the contrary, a divorce is pronounced between the people of France and his leaders, leading towards an uncertain future …with still a hope for a better, anyway.

 

[Ca.]

Since the beginning I started to notice that many of the french people are showing solidarity, by displaying the yellow florescent vest.
Ether by wearing the color, or displaying it on the dash broad of the there cars.

So I as well, did the same. And I found mixed reactions. Some smile's, and some frowns, of what seemed like irritation of denial.

But mostly more in unison then division.

Viva La France!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1070651215380402176

https://twitter.com/x/status/1070689317524246528

https://twitter.com/x/status/1070706906631680000

 

[loreta]

It is very sad to see all this "revolutionary" energy that will be crush by the army and the state. The power is happy, I think, of all of this chaos. It is sad because we are like in a spiral, as humanity, or a vicious circle, and all this genuine desire to change things is there but manipulated and at the end nothing happens, just violence and more control, worst every time. No matter the revendications, no matter the true and right desire of the Gilets jaunes, no matter how people is tired of the situation, nothing will be for the better. Saturday they expect violence and deaths. And they will put tanks on the street.

The power is ready to fight let me tell you. This video (in French) where Edouard Philippe is saying that the Gilets jaunes (he does not employ this expression but the word people) are people who want to broke anything, dangerous. They will put 12 tanks on the street plus enormous number of police man.

Gilets jaunes : à quoi vont servir les blindés de la gendarmerie face aux manifestants ?

 

[Ca.]

It is very sad to see all this "revolutionary" energy that will be crush by the army and the state. The power is happy, I think, of all of this chaos. It is sad because we are like in a spiral, as humanity, or a vicious circle, and all this genuine desire to change things is there but manipulated and at the end nothing happens, just violence and more control, worst every time. No matter the revendications, no matter the true and right desire of the Gilets jaunes, no matter how people is tired of the situation, nothing will be for the better. Saturday they expect violence and deaths. And they will put tanks on the street.

The power is ready to fight let me tell you. This video (in French) where Edouard Philippe is saying that the Gilets jaunes (he does not employ this expression but the word people) are people who want to broke anything, dangerous. They will put 12 tanks on the street plus enormous number of police man.

Gilets jaunes : à quoi vont servir les blindés de la gendarmerie face aux manifestants ?

And so it begins.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1070720834027876352

https://twitter.com/x/status/1070785325881090048

https://twitter.com/x/status/1070433282121195520

https://twitter.com/x/status/1070792066865745923

Translated from Russian by Microsoft
Dozens of Iraqis dressed in yellow jackets protest in front of the provincial council in Basra to protest the harsh living conditions, including the lack of drinking water. #GilletsJaunes #YellowVest

 

[Ursus Minor]

If Macron has been put into power to do business as usual while keeping the people quiet and distracted, then he's a failure and the elites' victory over Marine LePen has been shortlived.

But what if he was installed to test the waters and enforce martial law on France, if only for a couple of months?
France could be a testing ground for all of the E.U.

If you can do it there you can do it anywhere...

Mind you, the manifestants do not even know that their general election has probably been stolen...

 

[Gwelan (too)]

We can also think about Macron as the Rothchild’s man for a more integrated Europe : a kind of killer of France as a state. As we know that a chaos must prevail before a new order may be accepted, and that there is six months left before european elections : he may be right on schedule for now.

 

[angelburst29]

December 6, 2018 - Fearing 'Act IV' of unrest, France to close Eiffel Tower, Louvre, at weekend
Fearing 'Act IV' of unrest, France to close Eiffel Tower, Louvre, at weekend | Reuters

PARIS - France will close the Eiffel Tower and other tourism landmarks in Paris and draft in thousands more security forces on Saturday to stave off another wave of violent protests in the country over living costs.

With protesters from the “yellow vest” movement calling on social media for “Act IV” - a fourth weekend of protest - Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said 89,000 police nationwide would be deployed to stop a repeat of last Saturday’s mayhem across France.

About 8,000 of these would be deployed in Paris where rioters torched cars and looted shops off the famed Champs Elysees boulevard, and defaced the Arc de Triomphe with graffiti directed at President Emmanuel Macron.

Slideshow (6 Images)
Fearing 'Act IV' of unrest, France to close Eiffel Tower, Louvre, at weekend | Reuters


December 6, 2018 - France to deploy 89,000 Security Personnel ahead of Saturday Protests
France to deploy 89,000 security personnel ahead of Saturday protests | Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said 89,000 members of the security forces would be deployed nationwide on Saturday, including 8,000 in Paris, where armored vehicles will also be out on the streets.

“We are facing people who are not here to protest, but to smash and we want to have the means to not give them a free rein,” Philippe told TF1 television’s evening news program on Thursday, revising an earlier figure of 65,000 forces.

Philippe said about 10 armored vehicles belonging to the gendarmerie would also be used, the first time since 2005 when riots broke out in Paris’ suburbs.


December 6, 2018 - France's CGT Union calls 48-hour energy strike in support of yellow vests
France's CGT union calls 48-hour energy strike in support of yellow vests | Reuters

France’s hard-left CGT trade union on Thursday called on its energy industry workers to walk out for a 48 hours from Dec. 13, saying it wanted to join forces with ‘yellow vest’ protesters.

The CGT said President Emmanuel Macron’s long-term energy-transition plan would hurt jobs and increase France’s energy dependency on neighboring countries.

It urged its workers at state-utility EDF (EDF.PA), gas and power supplier Engie (ENGIE.PA) and all other companies in the sector to down tools. It had already called a 24-hour strike, but said it was extending that.

The union said its members were “joining the protests which the country is currently experiencing.”

It said it challenged “the choices of the Elysee and Matignon (President and Prime Minister’s offices), which are increasing inequalities and no longer allow a large part of the population to live with dignity.”

French authorities are worried that another wave of “great violence” and rioting will be unleashed in Paris this weekend by a hard core of several thousand ‘yellow vest’ protesters, an official in the French presidency said on Thursday.

There was no immediate reaction from the yellow vest movement, an amorphous group with no formal leader which so far has not associated itself with any political party or trade union.


December 6, 2018 - French Finance Minister: prepared to step up tax cuts, spending cuts
French finance minister: prepared to step up tax cuts, spending cuts | Reuters

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday that he was always prepared to step up the government’s tax cutting plans as long as they were accompanied by spending cuts.

“If we need to accelerate tax cuts, whether for companies or households, I am in favor,” Le Maire told an economics conference, as the government struggles to quell a grassroots movement against fuel tax hikes.

“But in this case, it must go hand-in-hand with a decrease in spending,” he said.

Le Maire also said he wanted workers’ bonuses to be made tax exempt as soon as possible, in a gesture to the movement protesting against weak purchasing power.

 

[Adaryn]

"Yellow vests": D-1 before a high-risk Saturday, Macron will speak later

Emmanuel Macron will only speak "at the beginning of next week" on the "yellow vest" crisis that is tearing France apart and staggering the world, in order not to "put fuel on the fire" before a Saturday of high-risk demonstrations.

While tension and anxiety are at their highest at the top of the state, National Assembly President Richard Ferrand announced Friday at the AFP that "the president, lucid about the context and the situation", had decided to wait before taking the floor as requested by part of the opposition and demonstrators.

Three weeks after the first major mobilization against the fuel tax increase, the government is preparing for the worst and fears a new outbreak of violence for the "Act IV" of the "yellow vest" movement.

An "exceptional" force of 89,000 law enforcement officers, including 8,000 in Paris, will be deployed throughout the country to try to avoid the same riots as last Saturday, particularly under the Arc de Triomphe.

In Paris, for the first time in decades, the State will even hire "VBRG", the gendarmerie's armoured wheeled vehicles, to maintain order, particularly against small groups of extreme left and right-wing people determined to fight them.

On Thursday, all members of the government multiplied their calls for calm and responsibility, now supported by most opposition parties, trade unions and even the bishops of France.

"We must save the Republic. It is now under threat," said Senate President Gérard Larcher (LR).

Several majority leaders report "worrying upsurges". Elected officials and their families have been intimidated. Mr. Macron's close associates received death threats right down to their phones.

- "We can't stop them anymore" -

"If I don't get my ass kicked by the end of the term, I consider myself lucky. I tell myself that it will happen in this violent climate of hysterization," says one LREM MP.

In Le Figaro on Friday, Jacline Mouraud, one of the movement's representatives, warns: "Yellow vests, we can no longer stop them".

The government's concessions, which definitively abandoned, after 24 hours of extreme confusion, any increase in the carbon tax on fuels in 2019, seem to have had no effect.

Except for having weakened Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who had been in the front line for a few days and who was defending a simple suspension of the increase before being brutally disowned by the Elysée.

Emmanuel Macron is more than ever the number one target of the "yellow vests". On all the roadblocks, calls for resignation are coming in. His lightning visit to the prefecture of Le Puy-en-Velay, which was set on fire on Saturday, ended with a flood of insults and threats.

On social networks, the watchwords evoke an overthrow of institutions: "Dissolution of the National Assembly", "Manu, we're coming", "Macron's departure party", or "Tous à la Bastille".

"He is aware that for the moment he is the embodiment of what the protesters are carrying. But he never gives up," says a close friend of the president.

In the meantime, Paris and other major cities are preparing to experience another black Saturday. The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre will remain closed, as will the shops on the Champs-Elysées, the main point of tension.

In Bordeaux, about ten cultural establishments and public spaces will be closed. Six Ligue 1 football matches have already been postponed.

The executive fears an alliance between the ultra-right, ultra-left, the most uplifted "yellow vests" and young people in the suburbs, some of whom looted last Saturday in the capital.

There are also fears of expansion into other sectors, including farmers, road transport operators and education, where the situation is very tense.

More than 700 high school students were arrested by the police on Thursday during the fourth day of high school mobilization, once again marked by incidents and violence.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

 

[Gwelan (too)]

In the mean time on the top floor , Rothchild is playing Monopoly with his buddies, masters of the world. The odds has not exactly been in his favor recently : he just lost 4 houses and a hotel avenue des champs elysées.

On the first floor, one of his main pawn who thought of having already arrived is going to have troubles.

If the game keeps going on like this, he is going to end up as tourist guide in the Amish territory.

 

[Adaryn]

Interesting development. Some YVs are not fooled and see what is going on - the manipulation and infiltration of this legitimate movement by questionable groups and individuals, and the use of the latter by the executive itself:

The "free yellow vests" call not to demonstrate in Paris on Saturday

They don't want to have "deaths on their conscience".

On Friday, December 7, one of the initiators of the "yellow vests" movement, Jacline Mouraud, and the "free yellow vests", called the French to demonstrate in the provinces for the "act IV" of mobilization, but not in Paris, where the rally is a "trap" of the executive that leads a "strategy of chaos".

"We call on the French not to demonstrate in Paris, it's a trap," Benjamin Cauchy, one of the founders of this collective launched in opposition to the initiators of the "yellow vests" movement, whose line they consider too radical, said at a press conference. "The government is trying to make us look like thugs, which is not the case.
(...) We are committed citizens who respect human life and we do not want to have deaths and injuries on our conscience. Perhaps the president wants to have some, to be the chief general who will come to save France from chaos," he added.

"I don't see the point in walking to Paris, it's all an act. This is not a game, everyone must now understand, everyone must take into account what we've achieved and the fact that we're given the right to discuss," added Jacline Mouraud, another founder of the collective. "They give you the right to discuss, go ahead, this is only the beginning of what we can get. But vandalizing, no way," she said.

Macron and the strategy of degradation

"Locked in his castle", Emmanuel Macron leads, according to them, "a strategy of chaos, of the degradation of this social revolt".

"We have gone from social protest to the beginning of an insurrection, he must open his eyes. Just because he was elected does not mean he is above the people. He is the representative of the people, he must hear his fellow citizens and their gnawing powerful anger," Benjamin Cauchy said. "The France of the forgotten is the France of the territories and it is in the territories that, in a pacifist way, the French will demonstrate their discontent," he said, calling for "calm, respect for public property, respect for law enforcement agencies.

These actions in the regions will be "peaceful actions in front of the places where power is represented, the prefectures, we will continue to make filtering barriers, free tolls, in order to be as pleasant as possible with the French and to keep their sympathy", he detailed.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator