The Political Thread

[The Legendary Shark]

"It's a big club and you ain't in it." - George Carlin.

[Funt Solo]

"I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member" - Woody Allen (as Alvy in Annie Hall).

[Hawkmumbler]

I must say, from a person outside the tent looking in, the entire yellow vest uprising in France is a strangly cathartic one. Tens of thousands of people from all walks of working class life, from the far left to far right, for once putting aside their collective differences (for better or ill, certainly a thin spectrum of anti-immigration neo-nazis attempting to manipulate the situation in their favour isn't doing the movement any favours) to say fuck you to unfair tax rises.

[JOE SOAP]

"I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member" - Woody Allen (as Alvy in Annie Hall).

Ref: Groucho Marx

[sheridan]

I must say, from a person outside the tent looking in, the entire yellow vest uprising in France is a strangly cathartic one. Tens of thousands of people from all walks of working class life, from the far left to far right, for once putting aside their collective differences (for better or ill, certainly a thin spectrum of anti-immigration neo-nazis attempting to manipulate the situation in their favour isn't doing the movement any favours) to say fuck you to unfair tax rises.

And then killing people over it.



Also... anti-pollution taxes are unfair?

[sheridan]

"I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member" - Woody Allen (as Alvy in Annie Hall).

Ref: Groucho Marx

I did wonder when I saw Woody Allen credited...

[The Legendary Shark]

Pierre: "I 'ate zeese unjust taxes."
Jaques: "Moi too. We should protest."
Pierre: "Oui! But, 'ow will we know oo is oo?"
Jaques: "We should all wear ze yellow vests."
Pierre: "Formidable!"
Both (chanting): "Down with zis kind of thing!"
President: "Uh-oh, zis looks bad."
Ministres: "Oui, but 'ow do we stop eet?"
DGSI: "Make zem look bad."
President: "But 'ow? Zey are just ordinary folk."
DGSI: "Pah! Simples. Louis - 'ere, take zis yellow vest and bag of rocks."
Pierre: "Down with zis kind of... Ow! Oo smashed that window!?!"
Jaques: "I got glass on me!"
Louis: "Down with zis kind of thing! Ha, ha, ha!"
Sûreté: "Right you two, come wiz me."
Pierre: "What?"
Jaques: "But we did not do nothing!"
Sûreté: "Men in yellow vests are throwing ze rocks. You 'ave yellow vests."
Pierre: "We all 'ave yellow vests!"
Jaques: "Careful, now..."
Sûreté: "Do not resist, creeps!"
Pierre: "Zis is an outrage!"
Jaques: "It's not so bad. At least zis cell gets ze sun in ze afternoons."
Pierre: "Hmph. "Yellow vests," ee says. Bloody idiot."
President: "He, he, he. Merci."
DGSI: "No problem. Can we 'ave some more money?"
President: "I don't see why not, I will just raise ze taxes a bit."
DGSI "Ha, ha, ha."
President: "Ho, ho, ho."
Ministres: "He, he, he."
Pierre & Jaques: "Boo, hoo, hoo."

[CalHab]

Here in the UK, our own yellow vest protesters are taking the opportunity to shout racist abuse at reporters:
https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1074688060418334722

Lovely bunch.

[Hawkmumbler]

Well it took less than 48 hours for that to go sour. There is a yellow vests anyi-austerity march in Manchester on monday, be keeping my eye on that, hope mone of that nastiness kicks off.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Another few chips removed from my rapidly diminishing faith in humanity.

[TordelBack]

We had one In Dublin at the weekend too, to judge by the feeds of various Facebook friends. Apparently the hundred-odd bandwagoners ncluded pro-Palestine (yay) and anti-flouride (nay) groups. Nothing like sending a clear and unambiguous message of solidarity to their French brethren.

I'm all for mass protest, and nobody is better at it than the French, but it depresses me that it's the mildest possible environmental levy that has occasioned it, rather than the imminent global crisis itself. Very soon we are going to have to rethink distribution of national resources completely to tackle climate change and its inevitable effects, and I can promise you that the rich aren't going to be funding it in any fair or significantly impactful way - it'll be us lot who'll bear the brunt, and we'll be watching our lifestyles and our imagined futures disintegrate.  This isn't even the beginning.

[von Boom]

and we'll be watching our lifestyles and our imagined futures disintegrate. 

Along with our teeth if the anti-flouride had their way.

[Professor Bear]

it depresses me that it's the mildest possible environmental levy that has occasioned it

I would have preferred Americans finally snap over the way slaves were treated, but in the end what did for their tolerance of the British was a tax on tea.  Greatness from small beginnings and all that.

[JayzusB.Christ]

It's looking very like no deal then.  Scary times.

[moogie101]

It's looking very like no deal then.  Scary times.

Nah, clearly this is all just posturing on behalf of May to try & push her shitty deal through as well as to convince the EU she's serious about walking away with "no deal" to try & get more concessions to help sell it to the hard-line Brexiteers.

I'm just amazed that despite not having done anything for the last two years, there's only 100 days left & yet they're all off for a three week Christmas holiday.