Macron V Le Pen

[an_droo]

Well now Xavier Bertrand has thrown his hat into the ring that could change things a little, will be interesting to see how things develop.

[Jane_Williamson]

That’s the guy.

[Peter_Bird]

Hi John, found this article which just about says it all for me.

Bonnamy: «Le fiasco AstraZeneca révèle la faillite de l’européisme et du...

[John_Scully]

Thanks Peter. I could only take a few paragraphs before I had to stop. Too many throw away comments.

For example, “Et ce, alors que la dangerosité du vaccin n’est pas du tout établie.”. Personally I prefer the idea of proving a vaccine is safe rather than assuming it is safe and hoping for the best.

Then we get into WWII («6 juin 1944 au soir, le débarquement en Normandie est suspendu après plusieurs cas de mal de mer.») just like we so often do in the Mail and Telegraph.

Then there’s some blather about France following Germany, “L’Allemagne a pris (comme d’habitude) sa décision unilatéralement, sans concertation avec la France” Did any other country that paused vaccination “consult” France? No other country that paused vaccinations is mentioned, so IMO it’s actually the author that’s fixated on Germany, not Macron.

Then there’s an objection the the European Medicines Agency’s name being in English " (dont le nom officiel est en Anglais, malgré le Brexit).

So, I skipped to the conclusion and I wasn’t disappointed.

Ironie de l’Histoire: de nombreuses générations d’imitateurs français ont affublé Jean-Marie Le Pen d’un accent allemand, afin de le caricaturer sous la forme d’un nazi. Pourtant, politiquement, il aurait été bien plus pertinent et lucide d’attribuer cet accent allemand à ceux qui furent les hôtes de l’Élysée, de Matignon et de Bercy, depuis 1974, car ce sont eux qui souffrent de névrose allemande. Il aura fallu un coronavirus issu d’une chauve-souris chinoise et un vaccin à base d’adénovirus de chimpanzé pour que tout le monde le comprenne.

“chauve-souris chinoise”

I suspect Ian Dunkin-Doughnuts has a French cousin who’s done a global replace of “Britain” to “France” in a Daily Fail article and flogged it to le Figero Good luck to him.

As they say in Private Eye, I’m cancelling my subscription.

[Geof_Cox]

Yes - Le Figaro is the most right-wing of the big French newspapers (though not generally as bad as the Mail or Telegraph).

[graham]

@John_Scully

Ian Dunkin-Doughnuts

you forgot the extra “i” in Iain, John… goes with the “me, me, me”

[John_Scully]

I actually did have a subscription Geof, their daily news emails are quite good. But I never read anything like that article before. I particulatly liked tweeting Colonel Michel Goya, qui a connu bien des guerres… and lost all of them I can see him swigging port 30K behind the frontlines.

[Fleur]

@Geof_Cox

Le Figaro

I used to be a Figaro abonnée but there were too many pieces by professional “spécialistes de philosophie politique”, like Jean-Loup Bonnamy, and the comments were often rabid anti EU.
I am now an abonnée of le Monde which I used to think was too far to the left, but turns out to be OK, with longer, better written articles on the whole and commenters who I often agree with!

[anon88169868]

@John_Scully

Personally I prefer the idea of proving a vaccine is safe rather than assuming it is safe and hoping for the best.

At what level though John - nothing is absolutely safe and proving a negativ is difficult and the best approximation can only be had after a long period of collecting data.

Breathing can kill you - but not breathing generally gets the job done faster.

[John_Scully]

I agree Paul, all risks are relative but M. Bonnamy’s theory that something is safe until proven otherwise doesn’t sit well with my instinct for self-preservation

[Annej2003]

Hi Jane - how/where do you get one of those ?!!

[Jane_Williamson]

The BBC is wise to VPN’s, so please do not rely on one to get the BBC I Player.

[graham]

@Annej2003

how/where do you get one of those

There’s a thread on VPNs here for you to look through:

Best VPN service - currently!

[13] If you use a VPN like I do, you’ve probably been through a bunch of them. They work well for a while then all of a sudden they don’t. This is especially true for streaming services. Currently I’m using Private VPN, it’s simple to set up and you can switch easily between servers. UK, US whatever you like. I’m happy with it for the moment at least. https://privatevpn.com/rt/syI [59]

[plod]

I thought the joke about Dunkerque was funny and apposite. People are quite happy to post articles from the Guardian, which is every bit as partisan as the other newspapers.

[ChrisM]

@JaneJones

You need a VPN (which is legal), virtual private network

If you want to watch BBC iPlayer, don’t choose the brand PIA VPN (PrivateInternetAccess.com) as BBC have identified it and blocked it. Best to get a recommendation from someone who can verify their VPN company works for iPlayer … once your conscience has resolved itself…

[JaneJones]

@Jane_Williamson

The BBC is wise to VPN’s, so please do not rely on one to get the BBC I Player.

We’ve been doing so with no problems for 12+ years…

[John_Scully]

Sorry Ron, I missed the Dunkerque reference. I did get the Normandy one though.

To be honest and at the risk of sounding a bit severe, I think the appropriate comment for any colonel who wasn’t actually part of the debarquement to make is thank you - to all the brave men who did. Not to make jokes about them getting sea sick. He’s a bit too gung ho for me I’m afraid. Here’s his Wiki entry.

Michel Goya

[John_Scully]

I think it depends on your VPN provider. We use NordVPN and sometimes I have to change server a few times to find one the BEEB has got the IP address of.

[Jane_Williamson]

You’ve been lucky. there have been stories here where people have not been able to access it.

[Pedro1877]

Starts at 29mins 47secs. Definitely worth checking out.