Macron will speak again today, so the new cases numbers is still on yesterdays numbers… We guess its to not give us a chance to guess what he will say. But I guess some stuff will be a bit easier from next week. We are under the 5000 new cases a day.
Maybe stores can open again? A café perhaps with the restrictions as before the last lock down and all after 30th of November?
We will see
Björn
Modern times, a new lifestyle… Or?
To think that people will stop party is one of the most stupid ideas politicians adopt at the moment, and the max amount of people too meet at the same time.
Sport, must have the best lobby in the world. Country after country push for opening up sport arenas and sport events and manage to do so. 1000 in France at the moment, but at the same time a glass of wine at a café, outside, is marked with death. How much Covid viruses spread through a growling sports crowd (whom also attack streets and people if they loose the game), and how much from a crowd of 2,4,6 or 10 at a table will be discussed. Also how do covid spread when people been forced inside in a closed environment instead of sitting outside and wear a mask when moving around.
At the same time the crazy idea of open borders. EU should decide to close borders, all borders for two weeks, maybe longer and not leave this crazy change of rules to each country, and they change them based on different statistics. And even worse like France with a sandbox tactics, If you ban us we ban you, so open up for us we open up for you. Even if there is a wide spread infection risk. Why? Allow travels within the countries border but no cross border leisure/business travels for X amount of weeks.
Or, stop to give a fu** and let nature decide and take out the weak, at the end that is what will happen.
And don’t let me start on the French Governments take on home working!!!! Work as much as possible from home. But they as the employees, NOT force the employers. The result is that people must go in their offices, on crowded metros and buses. When those are needed for people who can’t work from home. 99% of all office staff can work from home with the technical solutions in place year 2020. This is just the result of the absurd hierarchy within the French offices. Further north in Europe home working no longer a big thing. It is normal.
So Olivier Véran, Élisabeth Borne and Macron, put the restrictions where people get infected not swing in blind.
Björn
Picture screen dump from France24 direct during Macrons speech.
So, the Presidents speech to the nation today sounded more like an election speech to save his Mayor candidates on the 28th of June when France vote for the Mayor seats. Not much on the rules for normal people, starting next week.
First to hold a speech on Sunday saying that we are supposed to go back to work from Monday is not well prepared, it’s stupid. People do not prepare for going to work and school opening in 10 hours.
But good to hear that the globalist Macron promised to not take down historical monuments and that the French must support the police.
Then why he had to speak about the green movement and save the environment is for me a mystery, not what the people want to know right now.
Me, who already have OK to work from home Monday and Tuesday will do so, and then we will see. I have to plan a medical visit and see what my doctor say how I shall continue my life now when Paris is supposed to be open as normal from tomorrow.
Let´s see
Björn
Besides being a pop band and the former Prime Minister of Sweden favorite band a buzz is also an rumor flying around and from yesterday the word is that on Friday the strike takes a new turn here in Paris… Well, if true we had 4 normal days. But seriously, the big unrest, sorry, demonstrations been on Thursdays since the beginning of December 2019, awful enough, but on a Friday? People want to go home, prepare the weekend and maybe even start the weekend with a small apéro after work. Apéro, the French AW (After Work), normally also includes food. Not only, as in Sweden, the famous “I stay for one beer”, and 6 beers later you find yourself out clubbin’.
So the unions here have decided to attack the weekends and go crazy on a Friday. Merci Beaucoup!!! For me another issue raised, my French Classes start on Friday and Inlingua is located kind of behind Champs Elysees. A total blockage of Champs Elysees is not unheard of when the Unions and Yellow west movement destroy peoples way back home after work so I don’t know if I shall cancel or not. If I cancel today the lesson is moved into the future but if I cancel tomorrow it’s “used”, strike or no strike.
And in all this I start to think that with Marine Le Pen in charge some order will return to the streets of Paris, remember that Macron did not win the President election cause people loves him, the reason were they don’t like the alternative, in this case Le Pen. But I’m sure she would have contracted the Légion étrangère to take care of the strike horny part of the population.
Yes, that is how tiered I am of the Unions and the Pension discussions in France at the moment. I am so sorry, I will be nicer to you all when life is back to normal.
Björn
I usually never give a New Year Resolution but at least I tried to think positive when opening my bottle of Veuve Clicquot Brut on New Years eve and decided that 2020 will be the year when I don’t higher my blood pressure with things I actually can’t do anything about.
Things in 2019 I was more upset by than what was good for me: Greta Thunberg, The Paris Strike, The closure of Le P’tit Boulevard, Ligne 13 at the Metro, Really stupid Eurovision Fans, The fees for Dentists, the fact that HR can’t explain all the deductions done on the pay slip, the pay slip never arrive on, for me, time, the Afghan immigrant problem so over the top badly handled by the Swedish Government and the fact that the Afghans end up in camps in Paris… Yes, there was a lot of things in 2019 taking up energy and time.
But this resolution, now 8 days old, cracked like the mirror in the Agantha Christie thriller. The strike gives me cerebral haemorrhage and Greta Thunberg keeps annoy me une masse (but I have managed to not blog, tweet or scream on Facebook about it so far this year).
Ligne 13, as someone said in the beginning of the French strike, “Who knew we would miss ligne 13!” – and that is true… Who knew?
But I know I have some huge decisions, far from New Years resolutions made in a fog of Madame Ponsardin special lemonade, in front of me this year, most likely you will notice it when we get there.
Until then I keep on counting minutes it takes to get to work and back home from work. So far an “easier” ride in the mornings than trying to get home. I will try to send bill to Macron for lost hours when the strike is over, cause he is obvious more interested in whats going on in Australia than in the Country he is supposed to Govern.
Have a nice day
Björn
Pardon my French, but this fu***** strike! Seriously, the whole of Paris will spend the weeks up to Christmas AND Christmas in bed sick based on over crowded buses, long walks in the “fantastic” winter weather.
And to find out that none of the commercial unions don’t protest…. For me it’s mind blowing. If I was the owner of a shop, weeks before Christmas and the transport industry decided to strike… I mean, people do not shop when it’s impossible to bring your purchases home, so the income must drop. So, fire the store staff and blame the transport unions, maybe Mr Macron will wake up and not run around trying to save Russia and Ukraine.
Another thing I don’t get is that French people whom literally protest about everything buy this situation. It’s against all the rules you learn about the French.
Stop strike! NOW!
Björn
Not much to say really, first we voted for Eurovision and now for the European Parliament. The favorite won in Eurovision and the favorites… Not so much won in the EU election. At least not in all countries.
The two I am more connected too, Sweden and France ended up in a split. As always, in Sweden, all parties say they won even if the lost votes since the last election. I am surprised to find Centern, The Green Party and Liberal party with so much support. None of them is even close to have any confidence in my book.
In France, O la la, Macron only second, I don’t care who won in France as long as Macron failed… I wished for a bigger difference and his liberal views to end up like 4th of 5th party in France. But still not winning is a step in the right direction.
And all art is not pretty….
Björn
As said yesterday I really don’t want this site to be about anything else than the fun parts of life but I dedicated the blog posts over two days to politics cause I feel it’s needed after the retire at 75 proposal last week.
So I continue where I stopped yesterday with the new extreme Liberalism movement sweeping over Sweden but also France with Macron in power.
Let me start with saying that I don’t think Macron would have reached the Presidency going up against any other French politician than Le Pen. And his popularity is much higher outside France than within the country.
And his goal, without a doubt, is to make Europe a United States of Europe with EU as the only Governmental body and at the end the French population will say stop to that so not even he can believe he will succeed with that mission.
But with Merkel gone Macron see his chance to take over as the “President” of the European Union something his burning ego for sure will take on even if he most likely then will face a French public accusing him for ignore France before power in Brussels.
What is more interesting is his “Europe open border” politics, well adapted by the liberals in Sweden who very naive see this move by Macron as globalism and humanity. I do not suggest I am right but I will present you with my theory on Macron and his struggle to stay in power.
His view on open borders to Europe is his chance to meet Le Pen on his own turf, France. Fact, France, as one of the major colonizers in history is in many ways obliged to take in immigrants from the former colonies and many of them North African and Middle Eastern. By open borders and an even distribution of immigrants within the EU members states he will be able to show the French public that France take in less immigrants since he got into power. And to stay in power he must do that cause France is one terror attack from a presidency under Le Pen. A risk he can’t ignore.
So when the Europeans see Macron as a leader and as a person with fresh ideas democratic views and care for refugees and immigrants I wish they looked a bit into what his goal and objectives might be or shall we say her goals and objectives? Cause if the above is my theory on Macron and his take on liberalism I am at the same time 100% sure that the one really governing France is his wife Madame Brigitte Macron.
Björn
