UPDATE: French Lorry Drivers block fuel depots
The Times: Lorry drivers joined the protest movement today as ministers struggled to restore order with at least 35 motorways partially or completely blocked, along with at least 18 motorway sliproads. Barricades were erected across dozens of other roads around the country. — h/t to GWPF for the latest
The climate change collectivist overlords were always going to overdo it
Changing the global climate is such a ridiculously ambitious task that there was never any real limit to the imposts that would be demanded. So the zealots and the rent seekers would take what they could get, and then ask for more in escalating cycles, until the people finally rose up in revolt.
Apparently, the French have hit that point. Its spontaneous chaos, violence, and blockades. But the protest is supported by nearly 4 out 5 people:
Gilets jaunes protest likely to continue
Saturday: 227 protesters were injured, the majority of which were caused by drivers attempting to force their way through blockades; one 63-year-old woman attending the gilets jaunes protest in Savoie was killed after a driver “panicked” and accelerated into protesters. 117 people were arrested and 73 were later taken into police custody. Police in Paris deployed tear gas to disperse blockades.
A number of French petrol stations joined the gilets jaunes protest, with branches in Brittany, Dordogne and Normandy closing for the day. The SGP Police-FSMI FO police union urged its members not to issue any tickets on Saturday, in solidarity with the protest. Several high profile politicians, including Jean-Luc Melenchon, attended gilets jaunes blockades.
By Saturday evening more than 1,400 blockades were still active, with protesters declaring their intention to stay overnight. The gilets jaunes protest has drawn strong support from the French people, with 78 per cent saying they believed the blockades were justified.
This is also a story about the power of free speech
A woman gets fed up with the hypocrisy of being told to buy diesel cars to help the environment, only to find that now she is punished for the exact same thing after diesel manfucturers got caught cheating on their emissions tests. But it’s about many other ways too, like by a “forest of radars”. That was October 18th. Then Jacline Mouraud’s video went viral and Saturday over a quarter of a million French people walked the streets in protest.
This is world where Youtube gives enormous power to people to say something that rings. The mainstream media gives up on this kind of power every single day. Youtube is now well known for censoring non-PC organizations and groups and demonetizing them. But as long as anyone can post a video, anyone can start a revolution.
As long as we have free speech…
You can switch on subtitles and auto translate (it’s only so good)
This is about renewable energy
It’s a giant leaderless group wearing yellow vests — a symbol of workers against the overlords. The irony is the French government apparently commanded car drivers to carry them, so everyone is “equipped” with protest material:
Alex Ledsom, Forbes
The French have taken to the streets today in a mass protest against the government’s increase in petrol taxes. President Macron has defended the plan as part of a wider movement to shift France towards a transport policy based on renewable energy sources. The question is, who will win?
The ‘gilets jaunes’ — so named after the high-visibility orange vests motorists are required to wear when they break down — parked up their cars in the early hours of this morning on all main arterial routes through major cities. Leaving just one lane open for most of the day, thousands of French people have been hanging out on motorways all day, protesting at what they perceive to be year-on-year hikes hitting the people hardest who use their cars to get to work. Interestingly, the ‘gilets jaunes‘ have no discernible leader, and no political support; it was organised by a series of Facebook groups talking to one another, which has made it difficult for the police to understand where they should have stationed officers this morning.
Monraud’s video
Mouraud’s video went viral, and has been viewed by more than six million people. “I have a thing or two to tell you,” she starts out. The stream of accusations includes the price of fuel, the “hunt” for diesel vehicles, the “forest” of radars, the number of traffic tickets, the possibility tolls may be charged to enter large towns and rumours of mandatory bicycle registration.
“What are you doing with the dough, apart from changing the china at the Élysée and building a swimming pool?” Mouraud asks Macron.
She is a hypotist and spiritual medium, so Macron’s team went for the standard tool, the ad hom attack:
A senior adviser to Macron spoke scathingly of “this Madame Mouraud who generates spirits from under her fingernails”. He expressed consternation that a video “stuffed with lies” has reached such a wide audience, saying: “I have the feeling that our democracy is also at stake.”
It’s a powderkeg:
A poll published by Ifop on November 14th indicates two-thirds of French people expect a “social explosion” in coming months.
IS this Macron’s Climate Waterloo asks Geoff Chambers?
According to the IEA, France is sitting on 80% of Europe’s frackable gas – enough to keep the country self-sufficient in energy for centuries. But the Macron government has just banned, not only fracking, but any extraction of any fossil fuels whatsoever on mainland France.
The left in France has been tying itself in knots, supporting the popular movement against rising fuel prices and at the same time calling for a rising tax on carbon. Even the productivist communist party is resolutely green (in anti-capitalist way, of course.) Already the Rassemblement National (ex- Front National) is the most popular party among working class voters.