the Sarkozy years

[disownedspirit]

looks to me like sarko is trying to push through measures which are unpopular whilst he can still claim to be popular
the new anti union laws (the 'service minimum') is being pushed through in the holidays and it is not a very well thought out law, xavier betrand the miniser for it couldnt say what would happen to the 'service minimum' if 90% of the workforce were on strike. also the way the universities are going to be funded is deeply unpopular with the students
senior members of rachid datis office have already resigned, the UMP are trying to claim that these senior civil servants couldn't work with someone african , true? possibly but still not a great start
and now you have ghadafi jnr saying all sorts of things about the deal the french govt did to get the bulgarian nurses released even drawing criticism from the UMP (and making kouchner look a tit)

but if i had to put my fiver on the first thing to really rock the Govt it would be on the teachers

but villepan and chirac in prison

of course you can take notes general

 

[guinnessdrinker]

I don't know what you're talking about and I never studied French. Is that what you're trying to say?

do you actually know which country we are talking about?

 

[guinnessdrinker]

french democracy is doing well. sarkozy has just given himself a 140% pay rise and now earns more than 19000 euros per months, without counting the usual expenses. also, the Balladur committee (edouard balladur was a former presidential candidate in 1995, backed by sarkozy) wants to abolish the current system of presidential candidates being backed by 500 signatures of local mayors, senior local councillors and regional councillors, by a special body of 100 000 special electors, whoever they are, with the power to dismiss out of hand any candidates they don't like, for whatever reason.

it is doing well, indeed.....

 

[chymaera]

I have to give French TV their due. On a news bulletin recently they showed a train driver refusing to shake Sarkozy's hand, and give him a long tirade telling Sarko exactly what he thought of him.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

he visited corsica on wednesday to hold the weekly council of minister. he had the whole centre of Ajaccio, the regional capital closed off wifh riot police and ordinary policemen every 5 meters and all demonstrations banned. knowing the corsicans, I can see why.... (some dynamite was thrown at a riot police van overnight)

 

[chymaera]

he visited corsica on wednesday

I get the impression Corsica is France's Northern Ireland.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

I get the impression Corsica is France's Northern Ireland.

it's a bit different. think of sicily instead. they tend to kill only each other in the traditional vendetta way. but they love to blow up buildings. a lot of the nationalistic talks is just an excuse to grab power for speculative gains along the coast, especially.

 

[nino_savatte]

I get the impression Corsica is France's Northern Ireland.

No, that was Algeria.

 

[chymaera]

No, that was Algeria.

The "Troubles" were somewhat of a minor affair compared with Algeria.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

The "Troubles" were somewhat of a minor affair compared with Algeria.

corsica is a pain in the arse for the french, but is very minor compared with the "troubles".

 

[nino_savatte]

The "Troubles" were somewhat of a minor affair compared with Algeria.

Hmmm, only if you start at 1970 and work forward. The "Troubles" was a shitty euphemism employed by the state and the press to play down the situation. I always thought that the "Troubles" sounded more akin to a tummy bug or something.

 

[The Boy]

it's a bit different. think of sicily instead. they tend to kill only each other in the traditional vendetta way. but they love to blow up buildings. a lot of the nationalistic talks is just an excuse to grab power for speculative gains along the coast, especially.

I particularly liked the bomb attack on the local tax office - one of the 3000 or so separatist groups claimed it was carried out as the tax offices were a symbol of the french state's domination of corsica. Of course, it had nothing to do with anyone wanting their tax records destroyed or anything like that

 

[chymaera]

Hmmm, only if you start at 1970 and work forward. The "Troubles"

That was the era I was referring to.

 

[nino_savatte]

That was the era I was referring to.

In which case you're attempting to detach one 'era' from its entire history; that is to say, the history of the Irish struggle against the British. You edited out the most important bit: the "Troubles" being coined as a euphemism to avoid facing up to the reality of the situation and the history of which it was a part.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

hey guys, can we go back to a sarkozy based debate?

 

[chymaera]

hey guys, can we go back to a sarkozy based debate?

We could start a book on when the first assassination attempt is going to be.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

We could start a book on when the first assassination is going to be.

 

[nino_savatte]

Lots of strikes taking place and more are planned.

The government has said it will not be budged from plans to overhaul the so-called "special" pension systems enjoyed by 1.6 million rail, energy and other workers.

Invoking social equity, Sarkozy has begun moves to lengthen contribution periods for these workers from 37.5 years to 40, closer to other public and private sector employees. Today some railway staff can retire on a full pension at 50.

Hours before the rail strike began, Sarkozy re-asserted his determination to see the reforms through, arguing that he had a strong electoral mandate to enact the changes.

"I will carry out these reforms right to the end. Nothing will put me off my goal," he told the European Parliament during a visit to Strasbourg.

"The French people approved these reforms. I told them all about it before the elections so that I would be able to do what was necessary afterwards."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hQa4BsfsO2cGkA_kkWhYqd_Z__PQ

Courage!

 

[chymaera]

Lots of strikes taking place and more are planned.

That should make my next trip to Brittany in a few weeks "interesting".
(A faction of the extreme left use the bar I go to. Bonjour Kamerad.

 

[nino_savatte]

Victory to the workers!

 

[guinnessdrinker]

what's really shocking about the proposed reforms is the fact that he wants to change the contract that the railway and tube workers signed to allow for early retirement (50 or 55 years depending) to 60 without their consent. it's one to introduce parity of retirement age for new recruits, it's another thing to change a signed contract halfway through without agreement from the workers themselves.

 

[skyscraper101]

There was a good piece on Newsnight about Sarcozy last night.

For what its worth, he seems like the lessar of many evils to me but I don't have a massive insight into French politics. But, then people like me make for half the voters I would guess - people who don't really know anything but vote on policy and delivery.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

There was a good piece on Newsnight about Sarcozy last night.

For what its worth, he seems like the lessar of many evils to me but I don't have a massive insight into French politics. But, then people like me make for half the voters I would guess - people who don't really know anything but vote on policy and delivery.

indeed, you don't have any insight in french politics. and it's not just the railway workers, it's also the students protesting against uni reforms.

 

[BlackSpecs]

Victory to the workers!

The thing you need to understand about the French is that they act purely for their own benefit. When I first arrived here I looked at their social system and thought to myself how fantastic it is to have a society that looks after oneandother . How wrong I was ...... ! The individual is king and will protect his/her interests regardless of the people around them .

You would be surprised how many other "workers" I talked to today that are sick and tired of others disrupting their lives and paralyzing the entire country ( yet again) when they try to get on with things and move France into the next century ! .... This country might witness a nation-wide strike but it is not because of popular support but because a few can do so .

 

[_angel_]

Did anyone see tonights BBC News reporting of this?

 

[nino_savatte]

Did anyone see tonights BBC News reporting of this?

I did and it was a fucking disgrace (though only to be expected from the Beeb).

 

[nino_savatte]

The thing you need to understand about the French is that they act purely for their own benefit. When I first arrived here I looked at their social system and thought to myself how fantastic it is to have a society that looks after oneandother . How wrong I was ...... ! The individual is king and will protect his/her interests regardless of the people around them .

You would be surprised how many other "workers" I talked to today that are sick and tired of others disrupting their lives and paralyzing the entire country ( yet again) when they try to get on with things and move France into the next century ! .... This country might witness a nation-wide strike but it is not because of popular support but because a few can do so .

I only have your word that you've spoken to "workers". Even the opera singers and judges have gone on strike. If this drags on, Sarko is going to find himself having to explain why he's fucked things up so badly.

He wants confrontation, that's plain to see. I also noticed that Sarko has been using propaganda squads at the Metro stations to hand out leaflets about why the workers are "so wrong".

 

[nino_savatte]

There was a good piece on Newsnight about Sarcozy last night.

For what its worth, he seems like the lessar of many evils to me but I don't have a massive insight into French politics. But, then people like me make for half the voters I would guess - people who don't really know anything but vote on policy and delivery.

Codswallop, he's a neo-liberal who is hellbent on destroying worker's rights. He wants to transform France into a nation of homeowners - which is against the grain of French (as well as Continental) culture.

The Beeb presented the case of the State and we heard hardly anything from the unions. That's fairly typical. I can still remember Orgreave.

 

[Belushi]

I did and it was a fucking disgrace (though only to be expected from the Beeb).

They keep showing the same talking head as evidence that the French public are against the strikers.

 

[nino_savatte]

They keep showing the same talking head as evidence that the French public are against the strikers.

I actually caught World News America on BBC News 24 before going to bed and the presentation had been altered to appeal to an American audience (they used phrases like "Mass Transit"). It certainly played to people's prejudices of the French.

But why "World News America"?