Absolutely agree
Problem is that I am on here all too rarely and whilst @Stella@vero and many others do a stirling job in āenforcing the party lineā re behaviour, posting etiquette and of course, alerting me and Mr H to āThings That Need To Be Dealt Withā, Stella canāt be everywhere (!) and Vero also has a full time job!
So, if any of you regular contributors would like to (gently and politely) remind posters why we think itās such a good idea and post the link to the explanation post, weād all be very appreciative!
I did try a while back but had a lot of responses that people werenāt comfortable with it
No problems for me, I am quite happy for folks to see my ugly mug, I do believe also that it gives more of the dinner party atmosphere that you and James aim for. We all from time to time sit down at a table with people we donāt know, seeing their āfacesā leaves me feeling that they have nothing to hide and are quite comfortable being open and sharing with others.
Of course if there is someone on the most wanted list, or royalty, posting here then I do understand their need for anonimity
Je nāavais pas lu cela fleurā¦jāai lu dans un journal britannique que sa femme et lui avaient ete gazes et quāil a ādebordeāā¦il a dit quāil avait mal reageā¦
These yellow vests seem to be attracting the dregs of society, a friend got held up in a big traffic backlog leaving Bordeaux at the start of December. The car infront of him had an Asian family in it. He couldnāt believe the abuse these poor people got from the yellow vest bully boys.
I donāt know what the answer is to this serious problem but it will make a lot of people think twice about visiting France.
I very much like the corkscrew image, and the mention of personal images supporting the ādinner-partyā ethos and spirit of good-natured fun.
But I canāt help my having a mental image of sitting facing the corkscrew at dinner, and wondering if anyone (not me I insist, but maybe an inebriated and disinhibited guest) were to reach under the table and twist his screw, would both his arms go up in unison?
Perhaps this is why it is polite to keep oneās hands visible during the meal at dinner-parties, lest debauchery prevail!
Avid reader of general discussion posts but still guilty of no photo or contributions! However, as a Bordeaux based wine producer, would love to help you on your upcoming project. Please donāt hesitate to contact me, guess you have my e-mail or Vignobles Pion on facebook. Bon week-end
I think the best response to the ridiculous fund set up for the boxer, was the president of the southern Provence-Alpes-CĆ“te dāAzur region, Renaud Muselier, setting up a collection for the over 1000 injured Police, which rapidly exceeded a million euros. It was interesting to note, that at the very start of the trouble in Paris, the main news reports showed the Police firing gas etc at demonstrators and using their batons. It only emerged days later, that the Police were pelted with steel Boule balls, and cobble stones, before they started to defend themselves with riot guns, gas and batons. The Police and GJ missed a great opportunity to take criminals off the streets. Had they liaised before hand, they could have directed the Police to the violent criminal infiltrators, and removed them. As usual, they are nearly always the same far right or far left cretins, that use any and every opportunity to infiltrate demonstrations and cause mayhem.
Well said Stephen - Have you noticed that over the last few Saturdayās there is a growing number of First-aiders, all dressed identically (pale grey tee shirts with a cross on the back) and well protected with helmets. I assume they are all āCroix Rougeā volunteers - they appear to be well trained, disciplined and try very hard not to get between the unruly elements and the police. It would have been unbelievable a few months ago that we would see such scenes on the streets of Bordeaux - I am having enormous difficulty believing that, according to several surveys, the GJās have the support of the majority of the French Public. All the people l speak to, neighbours, friends and family, all say the same thing - Supported them at the beginning, applauded the concessions they achieved but do not understand the purpose of the continuing āstruggleā nor the need for violence and civil disorder and have lost patience and no longer support the movement. However, most would be interested to see a legitimate political movement, along traditional lines, emerge from the chaos. I suppose the upcoming European Elections will give us a good indication if they are a viable political party. I do believe that if they concentrated on consolidating their gains and established a manifesto together with a charismatic and intelligent leadership they might mount a challenge to the other parties - maybe as part of a Coalition. But the violence must stop soon.
I think the public still support the GJ but with reservations, because of the sheer violence, and destruction of private and public property. Whilst it is almost certain that the majority of protesters were and are peaceful, there will always be a criminal infiltration element. I have never understood the lack of liaison between protest groups and authorities. 95% of the damage and violence could have been easily avoided. The biggest mistake was allowing the vandalising of Frances biggest military monument. That caused a far bigger back lash than the GJās realise. A friend of mine, who is ex foreign Legion and Police was horrified, as were my neighbours. They simply could not understand it, and nor could i. In many ways it legitimised any following Police actions in a lot of peoples minds. Of course it probably wasnāt GJās that committed the crime, BUT, itās their demonstration so itās their responsibility, and could easily have been prevented, as they have since shown. Thankfully. The problem is the violent element is still there, and until they deal with it, they will continue to lose support. Having been in the situation of being outnumbered by literally 100ās to one at demonstrations, but with no protection at all other than your colleagues, a cork helmet, and a piece of wood, i know how the Police feel. Itās not something i would want to go through ever again.
To Dan Wood re First Aiders at the Gilets Jaunes demonstrations.
As a Croix-Rouge franƧaise first aider for many years I can assure you that they have nothing to do with the French Red Cross, and could be leaving themselves open to prosecution for false usage of the symbol which is protected by law (internationally I believe). Many of them in fact use the symbol with a fine diagonal cross superimposed expressly to avoid this confusion.
This is my first post, forgive me if I have been a bit abrupt, but you can probably tell that the neutrality of the Red Cross movement is important to me.