Things are not looking good for France as a fourth night of riots, violence, looting and general chaos is worsening. “President Macron was last night facing calls to impose a state of emergency after marauding gangs of rioters – some armed with stolen rifles – clashed with police in a fourth night of mayhem.”

(Via Daily Mail) – […] Rioters were again seen rampaging through the streets of Marseille, Lille and Paris, amid claims looters broke into a gun shop and stole hunting rifles while others ransacked a police station. Cars, buses and government buildings have been set alight and fireworks have been launched at police.

There were more than 3,800 fires on public roads last night, while more than 500 buildings were set alight.

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If you overlay the U.S. intelligence leaks as a potential excuse for the U.S. not getting deeper into the never-ending Ukraine conflict we support, then the comments by Emmanuel Macron about the EU not wanting to get involved with U.S. interests in Taiwan make more sense.

On his flight back from Beijing, French President Macron told traveling media, Europe needs to reduce dependency on the United States.  Remarkably, this is what President Donald Trump has been saying for years as part of his overall EU and NATO policy. However, this could also be an indication of a strategic Taiwan pivot by the U.S. as shared from the Foggy Bottom diplomats who love their French connections.

(Via Politico) – Europe must reduce its dependency on the United States and avoid getting dragged into a confrontation between China and the U.S. over Taiwan, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview on his plane back from a three-day state visit to China.

Speaking with POLITICO and two French journalists after spending around six hours with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his trip, Macron emphasized his pet theory of “strategic autonomy” for Europe, presumably led by France, to become a “third superpower.”

He said “the great risk” Europe faces is that it “gets caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy,” while flying from Beijing to Guangzhou, in southern China, aboard COTAM Unité, France’s Air Force One.

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This is the funniest thing in months.  Take the time to enjoy and laugh folks… Really, take the time.

French President Emmanuel Macron is in Beijing for an official state visit and his geopolitical priority is to break, or at least weaken, the China-Russia alliance. Yes, the western alliance sent diminutive Macron for this task.  That is funny enough… but what comes next is buckets funnier.

In order to give power to their position, the brilliant NATO minds decided that President Macron should take European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as a way to express the united ‘western alliance’ message that Macron was intended to leverage in his efforts.  Obviously cunning Panda knew the intent, and the way China literally diminished the effort is not only funny in diplomatic action, but also in the optics they present.  LOOK:

Upon arrival in Beijing, and customary with keeping good panda face, Macron “was given the full red-carpet treatment this week in Beijing, fêted at a state banquet, and greeted by military parades and firing cannons on Tiananmen Square. When Macron’s plane touched down, China’s foreign minister personally welcomed him.”  However, “when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived, she got the ecology minister — at the regular passenger exit.” [link]

Big Panda is subtle like a brick through a window. lolol.

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The labor unions are trying to maintain the momentum against French President Emmanuel Macron’s unilateral decision to raise the retirement age.  However, despite nationwide majority support, on the 11th day of a national strike there are fewer protests disrupting commerce.

On the positive side, the offices of Blackrock were targeted and torched.  So, we know the focus is generally on the right multinational target.  Meanwhile, President Macron is in Beijing, China, getting slapped around by the panda paw.

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PARIS (Reuters) -Clashes erupted in Paris next to a Left Bank brasserie favoured by French President Emmanuel Macron during a day of nationwide protests against a pension bill that he has pushed through despite widespread opposition.

La Rotonde, whose awning was briefly on fire as protesters threw bottles and paint at police, is well known in France for hosting a much-criticised celebratory dinner for Macron when he led the first round of the 2017 presidential election.

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For his opening monologue and first interview tonight, Fox News host Tucker Carlson outlined the ramification of non-western nations now trading in alternative currencies to the U.S. dollar.   {Direct Rumble Link Here]  As the dollar diminishes in value, and as an outcome of Biden using U.S. treasury bonds as part of the sanction regime against Russia, various non-western nations now perceive holding dollars as exposing themselves to risk.

Carlson is joined by Luke Gromen who accurately notes the dollar as a global trade currency may continue, but foreign nations holding U.S. treasury bonds as an asset will likely start contracting.  The result of U.S. treasury bonds returning after maturity with no repurchase, would be an inability of the U.S. to borrow against their sale. This could, perhaps likely will, severely diminish the amount of money the U.S. congress can spend.  WATCH:

None of this should come as a surprise to those who have paid attention. Factually, in March of last year, one month after the Russian sanctions were announced, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Deputy Managing Director said the sanctions against Russia are likely to undermine the US dollar’s global dominance as a trade currency.  Everyone could see this coming.

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No, despite the historic rhyming, we have been assured it remains 2023 not 1629.  However, King Charles has cancelled his trip to France amid an angry revolution that has broken out in several regions of the country, including Paris.

(International News) – United Kingdom King Charles III’s state visit to Paris has been postponed amid the mass protest against the unpopular pension reforms.

The King had been scheduled to arrive in France on Sunday on his first state visit as monarch, before heading to Germany on Wednesday.

This decision was taken by the French and British governments, after a telephone exchange between the President of the Republic and the King. According to the French president’s office, this State visit will be rescheduled as soon as possible. (link)

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History tells us the French ‘do revolution’ quite well, the current status of the protests against President Macron’s unilateral pension reform cuts are no exception.

Worker strikes have hampered France for over a week in protest to: (1) the pension reform; and (2) the undemocratic way it was enacted via unilateral fiat by the French President, Emmanuel Macron.

Today the worker strike turned to massive protests in the streets throughout several regions.

As the day wound down, those protests then turned violent as the ultra-left-wing “Black Bloc” anarchists began attacking police.

(Reuters) – PARIS, March 23 – Police fired tear gas and fought with violent black-clad anarchists in Paris and across France on Thursday as hundreds of thousands of protesters marched against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the pension age.

The ninth day of nationwide protests, mostly peaceful, disrupted train and air travel. Teachers were among many professions to walk off the job, days after the government pushed through legislation to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.

Demonstrations in central Paris were generally peaceful, but groups of “Black Bloc” anarchists smashed shop windows, demolished street furniture and ransacked a McDonald’s restaurant. Clashes ensued as riot police drove back the anarchists with tear gas and stun grenades.

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Garbage is piling up on the streets, ports are blocked, fuel is running in short supply, transportation of essential goods and services have been brought to a standstill; these are the outcomes of a general labor strike that has been happening in France as a result of protests to Emmanuel Macron’s unilateral pension reforms.

It might seem like a small issue pushing the retirement age back two years for French citizens, but it’s not really about the pension reform – the bigger issue is about this “new democracy” in the aftermath of new powers assumed by the French president during COVID-19.

President Macron used a special constitutional article to push legislation through Parliament last week without a vote.  He now faces two efforts to engage a no confidence vote with only tepid support from his totalitarian allies in government.  The people of France are not only unhappy with the pension reform outcome, but they are also furious about the nondemocratic process – a familiar and growing sentiment that extends far beyond the borders of France.

While the protests did carry the customary French socialist-leaning violence, the issues underpinning the anger are felt by more than just the radicals.  The larger network of ordinary French workers has now begun using the power of the people to shut down the economics of society.

Trash is piling up in the streets as sanitation workers refuse to work {LINK}.  Ports and critical energy infrastructure like refineries are also shut down, and things are starting to get sketchy amid the social and economic fabric that generally goes unnoticed.  Indeed, you might say, ‘the peasants are revolting‘.

(Reuters) – Several French refinery sites were still blocked from delivering products after two weeks of strikes in France, causing production to be disrupted while the government requisitions workers at the Fos refinery, and power supply was also disrupted.

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Following upon the heels of Joe Biden attending a meeting of NATO’s “eastern flank” partners, colloquially known as “the Bucharest-9”, and against the backdrop of China stepping into the picture with “no separation” support for Russia, the Pentagon is noting the anniversary of the Ukraine conflict by indicating additional U.S. troops maybe needed on the NATO eastern flank.

It is important to mention that Ukraine is NOT a NATO country.  The U.S. and Western media tend to avoid noting this uncomfortable fact, but NATO has no obligation to defend Ukraine.  Some might ask why NATO is even involved at all.

With that in mind, France 24 notes there is a possibility of a brigade sized reinforcement group inbound to this region [LINK HERE].  The Pentagon press release is below:

(Pentagon) – […] In response to the most urgent danger to European security since the end of World War II, we have moved swiftly with our allies to further unify and strengthen NATO. The Alliance has bolstered its defenses on the Eastern Flank. Meanwhile, the United States has deployed or extended more than 20,000 additional U.S. forces to Europe and forward-stationed the first permanent U.S. forces on NATO’s Eastern Flank. NATO is more united than ever, and the U.S. commitment to defend every inch of allied territory remains ironclad.

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The team at Rumble Video have taken a strong position in defense of free speech, an open internet and protection of a diverse public square.

Apparently, the French government demanded that Rumble remove content the government does not support. [Source] Rumble said no.

Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski then followed up delivering a statement via Twitter: “The French Government has demanded that Rumble (@rumblevideo) block Russian news sources. Like @elonmusk, I won’t move our goal posts for any foreign government. Rumble will turn off France entirely (France isn’t material to us) and we will challenge the legality of this demand.”

Pavlovski and Rumble being transparent and making the demand from the French government public raises a few questions.

Rumble said ‘no’, but who said ‘yes’?

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