Rakhmetov
20th October 2010, 17:24
"The long-haired beast smoking pot and blocking traffic is more a hell of a threat to the system than the so-called politicos with their leafleting and their preaching of the coming workers' revolution. Politics is not who you vote for or who you support. Words don't radicalize people. People become radicalized by the emotional involvement of action." ----- Jerry Rubin 1968
"It's Baghdad here," said Lionel Philippe, who arrived at Orly after much difficulty because of protesters blocking access to the airport — only to find his flight to Biarritz cancelled.
The Daily Mail's coverage reads like a horrified 18th century English account of the French revolution (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1321779/France-strikes-Sarkozy-committed-pension-reform-despite-violence.html).
"Their faces contorted with hatred, hundreds of thousands of protesters yesterday wreaked havoc across France, burning schools and cars, and fighting running battles with riot police.
Bloody clashes erupted in 300 towns and cities, sparked by austerity measures aimed at dealing with the global financial crisis."
But writing in the Guardian, Tariq Ali, who led student protests in the UK in the 1960s, has been cheered by the sight of the French protests, and wonders why the English aren't more militant.
:And what a joyous sight: school students marching in defence of old people's rights (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/19/protest-against-cuts-french). Were there a Michelin Great Protest guide, France would still be top with three stars, with Greece a close second with two stars.
What a contrast with the miserable, measly actions being planned by the lily-livered English trade unions. There is growing anger and bitterness here too, but it is being recuperated by a petrified bureaucracy. A ritual protest has been planned, largely to demonstrate that they are doing something. But is this something better than nothing?"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/oct/20/french-strikes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101020/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_france_retirement_strikes
"It's Baghdad here," said Lionel Philippe, who arrived at Orly after much difficulty because of protesters blocking access to the airport — only to find his flight to Biarritz cancelled.
The Daily Mail's coverage reads like a horrified 18th century English account of the French revolution (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1321779/France-strikes-Sarkozy-committed-pension-reform-despite-violence.html).
"Their faces contorted with hatred, hundreds of thousands of protesters yesterday wreaked havoc across France, burning schools and cars, and fighting running battles with riot police.
Bloody clashes erupted in 300 towns and cities, sparked by austerity measures aimed at dealing with the global financial crisis."
But writing in the Guardian, Tariq Ali, who led student protests in the UK in the 1960s, has been cheered by the sight of the French protests, and wonders why the English aren't more militant.
:And what a joyous sight: school students marching in defence of old people's rights (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/19/protest-against-cuts-french). Were there a Michelin Great Protest guide, France would still be top with three stars, with Greece a close second with two stars.
What a contrast with the miserable, measly actions being planned by the lily-livered English trade unions. There is growing anger and bitterness here too, but it is being recuperated by a petrified bureaucracy. A ritual protest has been planned, largely to demonstrate that they are doing something. But is this something better than nothing?"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/oct/20/french-strikes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101020/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_france_retirement_strikes