What's in the news?

[gaggedLouise]

Oh wait, are you French?

No, from Sweden, but have visited France many times, and fluent in French.

[gaggedLouise]

According to the police, most of those clashing and rioting next to the Arch of Triumph are not even real yellow-jackets. They're just the usual crass who love a good fight in the street and flock to a flashpoint like this one. 

[gaggedLouise]

Video of the clash at the Arch of Triumph. Looks like there are some people in yellow vests there anyway, I don't suppose those are the cops, are they?

[Icelandic]

According to the police, most of those clashing and rioting next to the Arch of Triumph are not even real yellow-jackets. They're just the usual crass who love a good fight in the street and flock to a flashpoint like this one. 

I honestly question how accurate those kind of statements are, especially coming from the police. A lot of people who the Yellow Jackets are angry at might not understand how anyone could be so enraged towards them. Same as any other conflict really. And it is in the governments interest to downplay this kinda stuff.

[gaggedLouise]

I honestly question how accurate those kind of statements are, especially coming from the police. A lot of people who the Yellow Jackets are angry at might not understand how anyone could be so enraged towards them. Same as any other conflict really. And it is in the governments interest to downplay this kinda stuff.

Fair enough, Macron and other politicians have a motive to cast most of these street adversaries as wreckers with little or no political ideas behind their protest - except maybe a blind nostalgia for the good old days.

[Icelandic]

Fair enough, Macron and other politicians have a motive to cast most of these street adversaries as wreckers with little or no political ideas behind their protest - except maybe a blind nostalgia for the good old days.

Oh I wasn't criticizing you or anything like that. I just think that in general, a lot of people are not able to understand the motives of people whose motivations differ so drastically from there own. Hell, even people who use these kinds of events to just rob places might still be angry about the things happening around them, and are justifying their criminal actions through their rage rather then just being like "Now's my chance!"

And of course, my own conspiratorial mind says that it's a lot safer for the government to deny importants to the Yellow Jackets. If people think that the Yellow Jackets are not going to be anything big, then they are not as likely to join themselves.

[Tolvo]

George H.W. Bush, 41st president of the US, has died at age 94.

Basically the first bit of news I saw this morning was my timeline on twitter all rejoicing with memes of this. Reminds me a lot of right after Scalia's death.

[Callie Del Noire]

George H.W. Bush, 41st president of the US, has died at age 94.

Fair Winds and Following Seas Lt Bush, we have the watch.

I didn’t alway agree with his actions but he served the country well and took a lot of crap for stuff that wasn’t his doing in office

[TheVillain]

Fair Winds and Following Seas Lt Bush, we have the watch.

I didn’t alway agree with his actions but he served the country well and took a lot of crap for stuff that wasn’t his doing in office

And he turned out to be a heck of a lot better of a President then any Republican that's come after.

[Tolvo]

Though amusingly enough Kissinger is now trending on twitter. Whenever someone dies who many consider a monster, Kissinger starts trending because people hope he dies soon after.

[Icelandic]

Yea honestly it aint a good look for Twitter right now.

It shouldn't be too much of a moral leap for twitter to ban people actively praising the deaths of others. Although that company has no morals so oh well.

[RedRose]

Every occasion, from New Year's Eve to 14 July to demos, attracts "casseurs". As their name indicates, they just… break things. Burn things. Trash shops and cafés. Hit people, sometimes. I'm reading the Figaro updates too. Some gilets jaunes managed to attack an airport and delay some flights from the tarmac. Others tried to target the unknown soldier grave. My friend posted that she can smell tear gas into her apartment.

[Tolvo]

Every occasion, from New Year's Eve to 14 July to demos, attracts "casseurs". As their name indicates, they just… break things. Burn things. Trash shops and cafés. Hit people, sometimes. I'm reading the Figaro updates too. Some gilets jaunes managed to attack an airport and delay some flights from the tarmac. Others tried to target the unknown soldier grave. My friend posted that she can smell tear gas into her apartment.

We have these in the USA as well. Usually we call them sports fans.

[gaggedLouise]

Every occasion, from New Year's Eve to 14 July to demos, attracts "casseurs". As their name indicates, they just… break things. Burn things. Trash shops and cafés. Hit people, sometimes. I'm reading the Figaro updates too. Some gilets jaunes managed to attack an airport and delay some flights from the tarmac. Others tried to target the unknown soldier grave. My friend posted that she can smell tear gas into her apartment.

Apparently some even managed to scrawl threats against Macron on the Arch of Triumph as well as the inadvertently comical line: "Triumph of the Yellow Vests!" (the videos of the clashes with police there look like anything but a triumph).

Lots of personal threats against Macron too, and inevitably the guillotine is invoked (the death penalty was abolished in France almost forty years ago). Madame Macron is getting dragged into the insults too. In one scrawl that I saw on twitter, somebody had boasted: "Macron, we will fuck your widow!" - both a death threat against the president and a sexist slur on his wife for being around twenty-five years older than him. Bastards.

[gaggedLouise]

Though amusingly enough Kissinger is now trending on twitter. Whenever someone dies who many consider a monster, Kissinger starts trending because people hope he dies soon after.

"The Kissinger effect"? :)

What are the chances that the Bush family will follow McCain's example and block Trump from the funeral? We know that just about no one in the Bush clan respects Trump, while Laura Bush and Michelle Obama have become good friends and their husbands seem to connect fairly well too. Trump could land in the unenviable position of getting barred or told to stay away from a string of high-profile statesman funerals in his own country.

[Lustful Bride]

hmm this project sounds interesting.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/this-town-is-running-an-experiment-that-could-help-bring-internet-to-millions-of-people/ar-BBPUPtl?ocid=spartandhp

[RedRose]

Brigitte must be used to it by now… She's extremely impopular and if she reads comments on basically anything, there are always things like that. I've seen the usual comments about Macron being secretly gay, doing stuff with his government, surrounding himself with guys who all look the same etc. Random ex:

[gaggedLouise]

Brigitte must be used to it by now… She's extremely impopular and if she reads comments on basically anything, there are always things like that. I've seen the usual comments about Macron being secretly gay, doing stuff with his government, surrounding himself with guys who all look the same etc. Random ex:

*nods and reads in French*

[Shekinah]

Brigitte must be used to it by now… She's extremely impopular and if she reads comments on basically anything, there are always things like that. I've seen the usual comments about Macron being secretly gay, doing stuff with his government, surrounding himself with guys who all look the same etc. Random ex:

If you come to a demonstration wearing gasmasks and masks to hide your face, it kinda is obvious you're only there to get into trouble with the police and destroy things.
Seriously wondering how many of those yellow vests are actually there to just to riot and ruin the entire purpose of the demonstration.

[Tolvo]

"The Kissinger effect"? :)

What are the chances that the Bush family will follow McCain's example and block Trump from the funeral? We know that just about no one in the Bush clan respects Trump, while Laura Bush and Michelle Obama have become good friends and their husbands seem to connect fairly well too. Trump could land in the unenviable position of getting barred or told to stay away from a string of high-profile statesman funerals in his own country.

Trump announced he'd be going, and the Bush family do still work with Trump and support him they usually publicly try to hide that. They have mostly the same politics after all. Just the Bushes usually try to keep up a public appearance while Trump doesn't so associating with him is damaging. It is honestly strange that Trump was banned from McCain's funeral(His family and admin weren't they mostly went just he was not invited) since Trump and McCain agreed on most things and McCain mostly voted in support of his policies.

[gaggedLouise]

Trump announced he'd be going, and the Bush family do still work with Trump and support him they usually publicly try to hide that. They have mostly the same politics after all. Just the Bushes usually try to keep up a public appearance while Trump doesn't so associating with him is damaging. It is honestly strange that Trump was banned from McCain's funeral(His family and admin weren't they mostly went just he was not invited) since Trump and McCain agreed on most things and McCain mostly voted in support of his policies.

There are some general things they had in common, within economic and tax policies, aiming for major tax cuts and such - but those are common to all front-rank republican politicians after Reagan, aren't they? The major difference between Trump and the Bushes is in how Trumnp deliberately tries to personalize and polarize every issue - he wants it to be about him and his self-image. The Bushes were not interested in that. Also, Trump tries to have every corner of American life and society politicized - to serve him and his notions. It was last seen when he presided over the traditional presidential reception before Thanksgiving, to talk to the troops and pardon the turkeys. His reflexes made him turn even those feel-good moments into political bickering and slagshots at his absent opponents: when he was on the phone with some soldiers he turned the talk again and again back to his own political pitches and slogans, and so on.

Even when he was asked what he was thankful for, he flatly boasted: "I am grateful for having been given the chance to make things so much better for America, you can all see what a massive improvement there's been thanks to me!!". You can't make this shit up, neither the Bushes nor Reagan would ever have stooped to turning the Thanksgiving session into a series of whistle-stop speeches. I think this whole approach to politics - personal, vindictive and looking for excuses to attack people - is deeply alien to the Bush family and was alien to McCain (who was also personally attacked by Trump a couple of times, of course)

[Tolvo]

The thing is a lot of people don't care as much about Trump being such an egotistical jackass. A lot of people care more about his actual policies and beliefs which he shares mostly with Reagan and the Bushes. Their social politics are pretty similar. And in regards to body counts the Bushes and Reagan have way more than Trump(Though if he gets a second term that might change). They're all pretty bloodthirsty people who care more about their money than other people, Trump just wears it on his sleeve. Ironically, in that regard Trump is more honest than them.

[gaggedLouise]

The thing is a lot of people don't care as much about Trump being such an egotistical jackass. A lot of people care more about his actual policies and beliefs which he shares mostly with Reagan and the Bushes. Their social politics are pretty similar. And in regards to body counts the Bushes and Reagan have way more than Trump(Though if he gets a second term that might change). They're all pretty bloodthirsty people who care more about their money than other people, Trump just wears it on his sleeve. Ironically, in that regard Trump is more honest than them.

Trump hasn't been in office near as long as they were, and crucially he hasn't got around to starting a war he would be remembered by. I think those are the big reasons that his "political bodycount" so far is lower than any of theirs.  But he's gone much further than any of them in challenging US political institutions, trying to delegitimize the news media, fighting with judges to present them as unworthy cowards, kicking people out when they don't obey him and lowering the bar of personal conduct and tone of the presidency. I think that matters a great deal too, it's also an "achievement".

[Tolvo]

Those are all horrible things Trump has done yes. Like I've said many times I think Trump is a horrible monster I want to see him in prison the rest of his life. I just think people have very short term memories though when it comes to the horrible acts of presidents whenever they die or a new horrible president is in office. Ten years from now will we get people going "Well Trump wasn't this bad! When you get down to it he just was about American values and-" etc etc. Though I also feel this way about Democratic presidents since they do some really horrible things as well. In general there is this desire to erase the horrors people have committed and remember them fondly which I think does a disservice to the world and the people they hurt and killed.

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/world/2018/11/30/world-aids-day-2018-30-hiv-aids-facts-and-faqs-30th-anniversary/2150044002/

Oh yeah since it is World AIDS Day, some information and news on AIDS.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-national-geographic-investigate-neil-degrasse-tyson-claims-1165582

Also in other news Neil Degrasse Tyson is being investigated due to sexual assault allegations. We have known about this for a while but now it is out in the open and he is being investigated.

[gaggedLouise]

Those are all horrible things Trump has done yes. Like I've said many times I think Trump is a horrible monster I want to see him in prison the rest of his life. I just think people have very short term memories though when it comes to the horrible acts of presidents whenever they die or a new horrible president is in office. Ten years from now will we get people going "Well Trump wasn't this bad! When you get down to it he just was about American values and-" etc etc. Though I also feel this way about Democratic presidents since they do some really horrible things as well.

I certainly wasn't a fan of George W Bush, at the time I thought he was the worst president the US had had since Nixon and possibly even since the 1920s. He often seemed simplistic, crude and undiplomatic, yes, even a hyppcrite sometimes. And the Iraq war was a serious mistake from day one, in my eyes at the time. But at least GWB respected the political and constitutional framework in a whole different way than Trump does, and didn't try to substitute his own toss-up "alternative truths" for easily assured facts. Trump's whole rethoric is built on distorting facts and firing back at anyone who tries to talk back at him or rein him in. Of course this is because he had zero experience of being inside the political machinery, of holding an elected office, before he was nominated: he thinks like a typical CEO - but it still makes a massive difference.