French police moved to dislodge protesters blocking roads and fuel depots on Tuesday as the government took a harder line on the so-called “yellow vest” movement against environmental taxes on fuel.
“We hear but we don’t care” is the best policy to make people wearing yellow vests more angry. The problem is tax justice, we’ve done nothing to fight the rise of inequalities. #GiletsJaunes#TaxesCarburantspic.twitter.com/IjQGHbxUZm
Between Macron and Mélanchon a wasteland at the left of the political spectrum has been up for grabs. The latest pretender, a party launched by an essayist, an environmentalist and a leftist economist, has just held its first meeting.
The French left was devastated in the 2017 presidential and legislative elections. The dominant party on the left, the Socialist Party (PS) – the party of presidents François Hollande, François Mitterand and countless other powerful politicians in recent decades – lost 90 percent of its deputies and was forced to sell its historic headquarters in the centre of Paris.
“It’s hopeless,” said Noémie, a 20-year-old philosophy student. “But for the first time in a long time, we want to hope again. I read Raphaël Glucksmann’s book, “The Children of the Void”, and I found it very interesting. This movement is made up of people who are already engaged and who want to go into politics to get things moving. I like their approach.”
Changing Places
Just a week after its founding, Place Publique – a party founded by, among others, essayist Raphaël Glucksmann, economist Thomas Porcher and ecological activist Claire Nouvian – has attracted 10,000 members. On Thursday night, about 1000 of them flocked to Montreuil, a town east of Paris, for the first meeting of the movement that seeks to address “ecological, social and democratic emergencies in Europe” [ . . . ]
The neighborhood is still very lively and multicultural, as we approach the New Morning, one of Paris mythical venues. While we park our bike outside, we learn that we are a little early, or the others a little late, depending on the point of view. The entrance of Studio Bleu is packed, there’s an audition taking place later. A few seconds later we enter the confined space of a large studio. The majestic figure of Oum rise above her seven musicians. The Moroccan singer is rehearsing for her gig at the festival Au Fil des voix. We find ourselves a spot out of the way to listen and watch discreetly. It’s always a privilege to see artists working.
After two songs, we can start setting up for the Cargo ! session. The idea was to keep it simple, with Oum and just two musicians, but we can see than the singer would love to play with all her talented musicians. Of course we’re on board with this new plan, we’ll make it work with the gear we have, we’ll improvise. With this talented bunch, it’s nothing difficult, the musicians find their place instinctively around Oum to create a nice acoustic balance, they play at the right volume so that every instrument can be heard, without drowning the vocals.
We shoot two songs, like we did last time. It’s a simple, delightful moment, filled with great music and laughters. We thought we’d have a hard time recording propely so many musicians, so many different instruments. But in the head it goes smoothly and we can enjoy this beautiful performance Oum and her musicians are offering us.Thanks to Mounir, Oum and her musicians
Monsieur Pas de Merde really likes the sounds these Parisians make. Orouni remind me of London’s hipster indie iconoclasts “The Leisure Society,” with a similar mix of strings and wind instruments – très groovy.
Orouni claim influences of Leonard Cohen, The Kinks and Stereolab. Their mix of minimalism and lush arrangements also recall The Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Supergrass, Belle & Sebastian, and (Monsieur Pas de Merde favorite) – ’60s Brit Invasion legend, the Zombies!
Learn why you’ve probably never learned about the Belleville Commune in French history class.
Belleville, which encompasses most of the 20th arrondissement of Paris, is a neighborhood that feels a bit like its own country. And that’s not just because the “Beautiful City” is currently Paris’s Chinatown, or, more accurately, its Little Saigon.
This sprawling quartier built on a hill was actually once a suburb of Paris, which was accumulated by the French capital in the early 1800s. But in 1871, the citizens of Belleville worked together with members of the Parisian working class to overthrow the French government in the quartier and form the Commune of Belleville, which lasted for 72 days and resulted in one of the biggest massacres in French history. In one week, known as “the Bloody Week,” more than 15,000 people were killed in Belleville’s fight for working class independence. This event even went on to inspire political leaders like Karl Marx when he wrote his infamous Communist Manifesto.
If you’ve enjoyed this little history lesson, don’t miss more videos from anti-tourist Messy Nessy Chic, including this adventure into the Paris catacombs to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Among the problems with Donald Trump’s latest tantrum against France was his unfortunate timing.
Among the problems with Donald Trump’s latest tantrum against France was his timing. As the American president mocked our French allies yesterday – complete with an all-caps missive that read, “Make France Great Again!” – France was recognizing the three-year anniversary of an ISIS terrorist attack in Paris that killed 130 people.
Trump may not have realized the significance of the date, but he didn’t bother to check, either. Reuters reports that this did not go unnoticed.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who attacked his French counterpart in a series of tweets on Tuesday, should have shown “common decency” instead since the country was mourning the anniversary of deadly attacks in Paris, a French government spokesman said.
In five posts sent on the same day France marked the anniversary of the 2015 attacks that killed 130 people, Trump blasted the key U.S. ally over its near defeat to Germany in two world wars, its wine industry and President Emmanuel Macron’s approval ratings.
“Yesterday was November 13, we were marking the murder of 130 of our people,” French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told Reuters. “So I’ll reply in English: ‘common decency’ would have been appropriate.”
It’s a difficult sentiment to disagree with. [ . . . ]
