France’s ‘yellow vests’ block borders ahead of Christmas
By AFP – 22 DEC. 2018
Paris (AFP) – Three days from Christmas, French “yellow vests” turned out in small numbers for a sixth Saturday of protests in cities and border points as a fatal road accident brought the death toll to 10 since the movement began last month.
Near the border between France and Spain hundreds of protesters disrupted traffic as they gathered around an autoroute toll booth.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the “yellow vests” who retreated to a bridge, throwing objects on the road, an AFP photographer at the scene said.
“The autoroute is now being cleaned to allow traffic to resume normally,” local authorities said.
France borders the Catalan region of Spain, and the French protesters were joined by dozens of Catalan pro-independence activists, also wearing yellow vests.
The separatists often block highways to protest against Madrid’s rejection of Catalonia’s independence referendum in October 2017.
Even though their goals are different, “this demonstration at the Boulou (toll booth) is symbolic, it shows the solidarity between the Spanish Catalans and the French,” said Marcel, a 49-year-old winegrower.
Roadblocks by protesters were also reported on autoroutes near the border with Italy and at a bridge in Strasbourg near the German border.
A driver died overnight when his car slammed into the back of a truck stopped at a roadblock set up by “yellow vest” protesters at an autoroute entrance in Perpignan on the Mediterranean coast, prosecutor Jean-Jacques Fagni told AFP.
There have now been 10 deaths related to the protests since they began on November 17.
– Macron effigy –
In Paris, the scene of violent clashes during previous demonstrations, around 800 protesters joined rallies scattered around the city, police said at mid-day.
But the French capital’s iconic Champs-Elysees avenue was calm, with most shops except for some luxury boutiques open for business in the busy weekend before Christmas.
David Delbruyere, 48, was one of about 20 protesters near the Arch of Triumph, the fifth time he has come to the French capital for a demonstration as he remains “disgusted” with conditions in France.
Paris police said 65 people had been arrested, including a “yellow vest” leader, Eric Drouet.
Authorities were also stationed at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris which has been closed to visitors over fears of unrest.
A Facebook event organised by Drouet had listed thousands of people “interested” in joining the Versailles demonstration but only around 60 have shown up.
Further demonstrations of several hundred “yellow vests” were reported in Lyon, Marseille, Rouen and Bordeaux.
And in Angouleme in southwest France, a puppet effigy of President Emmanuel Macron was decapitated Friday night during a “yellow vest” protest, regional authorities said Saturday.
Meanwhile, police stepped in with tear gas to disperse around 80 protesters who had gathered Saturday outside Macron’s home in the Channel coast town of Touquet.
The number of protesters has however fallen significantly since last week, when Macron, a pro-business centrist, gave in to some of their demands.
Since the peak on November 17 with 282,000 demonstrators, the turnout has fallen to 166,000 on November 24, 136,000 on the first and eighth of December and 66,000 on December 15.
The movement characterised by the high-visibility yellow vests worn by the protesters originally started as a protest about planned fuel tax hikes, but has morphed into a widespread demonstration against Macron’s policies and top-down style of governing.
On Friday evening, the French Senate approved Macron’s measures to help the working poor and pensioners — just hours after they were adopted by the lower house of parliament — which aim to quell “yellow vest” anger and should come into force early in 2019.
burs-adm-sab-ito/boc/wai
SCHUMER SHUTDOWN: Cryin’ Chuck Says Dems Will Block Government Funding
By
Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor to take full credit for the impending government shutdown.
The Democrat leader said his caucus refuses to fund the government all because President Trump wants $5 billion dollars to begin construction on the border wall with Mexico.
In 2013, Democrats blamed Ted Cruz for shutting down the government because of his attempt to block Obamacare funding. But now in 2018, when Senate Democrats are using the exact same strategy, it’s somehow Republicans’ fault.
Trending: Facebook Allows Terrorist Who Beheaded Canadian Tourist To Keep Account & Actively Post
The facts are clear, the GOP Congress sent a bill to the Senate that would fund the government. Democrats are refusing to pass the bill.
There’s no doubt, it’s a Schumer Shutdown.
And don’t forget, Mitch McConnell passed a funding bill with wide Democrat support earlier in the week.
Wonder what Mitch is saying to Chuck here…
THE NEW YORK TIMES WAS AGAINST WAR IN SYRIA BEFORE IT WAS FOR IT
What a difference a year can make for The New York Times
By Joe Simonson
What a difference a year can make for The New York Times.
As President Donald Trump announced his decision Wednesday to withdraw the nation’s 2,000 troops from Syria, a bipartisan cadre of opinion-havers attacked him as recklessly abandoning allies in the region and jeopardizing America’s influence over foreign affairs.
One newspaper was particularly harsh: The Times.
Quickly after Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced his resignation (in part as a protest against Trump’s decision on Syria) Thursday, America’s paper of record quickly produced a scathing editorial, proclaiming “Jim Mattis Was Right.”
“Who will protect America now?” The Times asked.
The editorial frets about how American troops leaving Syria “hampers morale” of “allied forces like the Kurds.” (RELATED: Trump Explains His Decision To Withdraw From Syria)
“It could also risk getting American soldiers killed or wounded for objectives their commanders had already abandoned,” writes The Times.
Yet almost a year ago, on Jan. 19, 2018, that same editorial board raked the president over the coals for even daring to continue America’s policy of military adventurism.
The Times expressed concern that more American troops beyond the 2,000 initially deployed could soon be sent overseas in a mission without any clear goals.
“Syria is a complex problem. But this plan seems poorly conceived, too dependent on military action and fueled by wishful thinking,” The Times said.
While on Thursday The Times worried that leaving Syria could leave the Kurds vulnerable to Turkey, at the beginning of 2018, the paper also believed that the U.S. would be setting up a clash between the minority group and a NATO ally.
“Turkey, which views the Kurds as an enemy, has threatened a cross-border assault. All of this raises the grim possibility that American troops will clash with Turkey, a NATO ally,” The Times wrote last January.
Nowhere in Thursday’s editorial does The Times ever point to an alternative timeline for withdrawal for American forces in Syria. Such an omission is quite startling, considering last January the paper’s chief criticism of sending forces to the region was setting up just another forever-war in the Middle East.
One thing is clear from these two diametrically opposed editorials: The job of The Times isn’t to provide valid criticisms of Trump, but to simply oppose him at all costs.
Breaking: Democrat Financier GEORGE SOROS Found Guilty in France for Insider Trading
December 22, 2018
It’s been quite a week for Democrat financier George Soros.
Earlier in the week The Financial Times of Great Britain named Soros their man of the year for funding open borders fanatics and anti-Western causes around the globe.
And, now this…
George Soros was found guilty this week of insider trading in France.
He will be fined $2.3 million for his crime.
The New York Times reported:
After a 14-year investigation, a French court today convicted the American financier George Soros of insider trading and fined him 2.2 million euros ($2.3 million), the amount prosecutors said he had profited from the trading. Mr. Soros, who was not present in the courtroom, called the verdict unfounded and said he would appeal.
Mr. Soros, chairman and president of Soros Fund Management, is one of the world’s richest fund managers, and probably its most famous. He is best known for making huge and very successful speculative bets in currency markets, and for his extensive philanthropy, most notably in countries of Eastern Europe.
Prosecutors accused Mr. Soros of buying stakes in four formerly state-owned companies in France, including one of the country’s leading banks, Société Générale, for his Quantum Endowment Fund in 1988 based on confidential information. The stakes were worth a total of about $50 million at the time.
Alyssa Milano mocks amputee veteran’s massive border wall crowdfunding, gets Twitter-flogged
Actress Alyssa Milano (L) / Brian Kolfage Jr. (R) © Reuters / Danny Moloshok /Mike Segar
Actress Alyssa Milano waded out of her depth as she slammed the border wall crowdfunding, implying the money should instead go to veterans. She was instantly reminded the campaign was started by a triple amputee vet.
The actress-turned-Democratic firebrand was left red-faced as after she took aim at the crowdfunding campaign to build a border wall between the US and Mexico, now at over $13mn. In a tweet on Thursday, Milano wrote: “Oh, yes! Let’s #GoFundTheWall while not taking care of our veterans. Cool. Cool. Cool.”
It was not long before the tweet ignited a firestorm on Twitter, as many noticed Milano hand’t done her homework, as the GoFundMe page was started by Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, a Purple Heart recipient, who lost three limbs in a rocket attack in Iraq.
The campaign, with a designated goal of $1bn, started less than a week ago and has already shot up to be one of the five top GoFundMe campaigns ever.
Milano’s fellow Hollywood celebrity and outspoken conservative James Woods led the backlash against her, pointing out who started the fund.
Many actual veterans chimed in, tweeting at Milano that they have backed the crowdfunding campaign, while others accused her of preying on the cause she did not seem to care about before.
“Bring Vets up when it’s convenient for you. Any other day you could care less,” one Guser wrote.
People argued that building the wall and helping veterans are not incompatible tasks and can both be done at the same time.
Milano, one of the most prominent #MeToo movement stars, has been rallying behind virtually every anti-Trump and pro-Democratic cause, often using her Twitter with its 3.48 million followers to spew vitriol at Trump, calling him a “piece of sh*t” and “evil creature” for the treatment of caravan migrants at the US-Mexican border in November.
However, just like this time, back then Milano was accused of hypocrisy and poor research. She was reminded that border agents used the exact same means – pepper spray – to repel rock-throwing migrants at the border when Obama was in office.
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Another Saturday in Paris: Smoke & scuffles, more than 100 Yellow Vests detained
The atmosphere at the Yellow Vest protests in the heart of the French capital has become more strained as demonstrators engage in scuffles with police officers.
Tensions rose hours into the rallies and police resorted to force against the rioters near the artistic Montmartre district in the north of the capital.
Scuffles also broke out near Madeleine Church, some 2km from Montmartre. Protesters were also seen near the iconic Louvre Museum and Sacre-Coeur Basilica. More than 100 people have been detained, according to the Paris Police Prefecture.
Some 2,000 people in fluorescent vests – clothing usually worn by drivers that has now become an emblem of the rallies – were marching in the capital Saturday, according to the city’s police prefecture. The number of participants in the streets has notably diminished, however.
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Yellow Vest protesters changed their usual meeting place. Instead of the Champs-Elysees, where violent clashes have occurred, they rallied in Montmartre. Yet, the district wasn’t the intended venue for the rallies. Initially, they were called to march towards a French symbol of power and a major tourist site – the iconic Versailles Palace. Located some 20km west of Paris, the palace was once besieged during the French Revolution.
As in previous weeks, the protests have also spread beyond the capital. Across the whole country 23,800 protesters tuned out, BFMTV reported. Some 300 demonstrators gathered in front of the city hall in Marseille. People also marched near a local police station, demanding the release of two Yellow Vests who had been detained earlier in the day.
Protesters also gathered at the A9 highway toll of Le Boulou in southern France. Waving Catalan flags and carrying a banner saying “All united” the rally was apparently a nod to Friday’s protests in Barcelona.
Protesters wearing “Yellow Vests” wave Catalan flags at the A9 highway toll of Le Boulou
France has been hit by a sixth consecutive weekend of Yellow Vest rallies. Previous protests turned violent, with demonstrators hurling stones and fireworks at police, while law enforcement resorted to using tear gas and water cannon. The mayhem has left almost 3,000 people, both protesters and police officers, injured. Over 4,500 have been detained and placed into custody since mid-November.
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Shutdown Averted? Schumer, Corker Strike 11th Hour Deal
by Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/21/2018
Update2: The Senate has voted to proceed with debate on the House-passed spending bill after Vice President Mike Pence broke a 47-47 tie.
Outgoing Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) – who contributed to the Kavanaugh confirmation spectacle – said “there is no path forward for the House bill.”
Update: The House has voted to meet tomorrow at Noon, 12 hours into the potential government shutdown.
McConnell, meanwhile, said that the Senate voted to proceed “in order to maintain maximum flexibility” to cut a later funding deal. That said, there is no agreement on funding, which CNN’s Manu Raju suggests means there is no chance Trump gets his $5 billion in wall funding.
Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) said Friday that Senate leaders have an “agreement” in place for a House-passed stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown which includes funding for President Trump’s border wall.
Emerging from a meeting in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) office, Corker said that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and McConnell are expected to enter into an agreement on the Senate floor, according to The Hill.
“This is will be an agreement between McConnell and Schumer about what next happens on the Senate floor. You’ll see them to enter into a little discussion,” said Corker. “It charts the course forward that gives us the best chance of actually coming to a solution.”
Corker suggested that a government shutdown may be averted – citing meetings with White House officials.
“Some of the folks at the White House seem to be optimistic,” he said, adding that President Trump “is very aware of what’s happening.”
The potential breakthrough comes after Schumer met with Vice President Pence, incoming White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House advisor Jared Kushner on Friday afternoon.
The negotiations later moved over to the House, with Pence, Mulvaney and Kushner huddling in Speaker Paul Ryan’s ceremonial office with Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Freedom Caucus leaders Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker (R-N.C.).
Corker warned that the danger of a partial government shutdown is not completely gone. –The Hill
“It’s just how we’re going to proceed in a manner that we think is best,” said Corker. “The first discussion is not substance, it’s process.”
Meanwhile, looks like Trump may go medieval on illegal border crossers…
Report: Facebook-Owned WhatsApp Used to Spread Child Pornography
By Tom Ciccotta
Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp has a child pornography problem, according to several reports.
According to a report from TechCrunch, mobile messaging application WhatsApp is being used to spread child pornography around the world. The app features end-to-end encryption, which means that WhatsApp, and its parent company, Facebook, do not have access to user conversations.
TechCrunch’s investigation revealed that Facebook could easily do more to police the spread of this content on the platform. Although messages on the platform are private, the names of the groups in which the child pornography is spread are not. A simply scan of the existing WhatsApp groups led TechCrunch’s team to several that blatantly advertise their focus on child pornography.
TechCrunch’s investigation shows that Facebook could do more to police WhatsApp and remove this kind of content. Even without technical solutions that would require a weakening of encryption, WhatsApp’s moderators should have been able to find these groups and put a stop to them. Groups with names like “child porn only no adv” and “child porn xvideos” found on the group discovery app “Group Links For Whats” by Lisa Studio don’t even attempt to hide their nature. And a screenshot provided by anti-exploitation startup AntiToxin reveals active WhatsApp groups with names like “Children
” or “videos cp” — a known abbreviation for ‘child pornography’.
Facebook doubled their content moderation team from 10,000 to 20,000 in 2018. However, WhatsApp is monitored by a separate, smaller, staff that is inadequate for the app’s 1.5 billion users.
In a statement, WhatsApp claimed that they are working to prevent child sexual abuse on their platform. They claimed that they have banned 130,000 accounts for such violations in the past 10 days.
WhatsApp has a zero-tolerance policy around child sexual abuse. We deploy our most advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to scan profile photos and images in reported content, and actively ban accounts suspected of sharing this vile content. We also respond to law enforcement requests around the world and immediately report abuse to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Sadly, because both app stores and communications services are being misused to spread abusive content, technology companies must work together to stop it.
In early December, Tumblr announced that they would be banning all adult content in an effort to prevent child sex abuse.
Maddow’s latest crystal ball reading: Putin ‘ordered’ Trump to withdraw from Afghanistan
Rachel Maddow (R) and a US soldier in Afghanistan © AFP / Theo Wargo; Reuters / Shamil Zhumatov
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow – a pioneer of Putin-ate-my-homework journalism – has predictably mused that Donald Trump is considering pulling troops out of Afghanistan on the orders of Russia’s president. The evidence speaks for itself.
In a segment on her critically-acclaimed show, “Watch Me Scream ‘Russia’ Until I Dislocate My Jaw”, Maddow made an adroit observation of seismic proportions: Reports that Donald Trump is mulling a partial withdrawal from Afghanistan emerged only hours after Vladimir Putin said that the US keeps promising to leave the country but never does! In layman’s terms: Putin ordered Trump to pull troops out of Afghanistan, during a live broadcast? It seems Maddow believes that she decrypted their top-secret communications channel.
Apparently she cannot fathom that there may be any non-Putin related motives for leaving Afghanistan after 17 years. But in August, the MSNBC host accused Trump of “flip-flopping” after announcing that more US troops would be deployed to Afghanistan.
So Rachel Maddow opposes sending more troops to Afghanistan – but anyone who wants to withdraw US forces from the country is a Putin stooge. A daunting pickle, indeed.
As Vox pointed out at the time, Trump “spent years railing against the war in Afghanistan and calling for a US withdrawal from the country.” Before moving into the White House, he made it clear to lawmakers that his administration would not send US troops to fight abroad unless “absolutely necessary.”
ALSO ON RT.COMPutin: ‘US right to leave Syria, but no signs of pullout – remember Afghanistan’
Maddow’s other celebrated Russiagate hits include having a stroke – live on television – after discovering that Russia shares a border with North Korea. She also famously revealed that Rex Tillerson was hand-picked by Putin to serve as Secretary of State – you know, the guy who allegedly called Trump a “f*cking moron”.
Imagine Maddow’s on-air meltdown if Trump really does withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
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