A lone man on a unicycle tootled by a bored-looking posse of police officers in an otherwise empty Victoria Park in the warm winter sun at midday, highlighting just how thoroughly authorities had closed the city to protesters.

A week earlier, protesters had gathered here before marching into the city in an anti-lockdown “freedom rally” that turned violent at times and provoked outrage from authorities and fellow citizens alike.

On Saturday, police ringed the city and flooded its parks and public spaces, determined to prevent a repeat of the event.

Taxis and ride-share services were banned from taking passengers into the CBD and police stopped cars at roadblocks on major roads, checking identification and turning away those without a valid reason for travelling into the exclusion zone.

 

Eight people were arrested across Greater Sydney and more than 250 penalty infringement notices were issued in the high visibility operation, which saw more than 1300 police deployed across the CBD and surrounding suburbs.

Most of the infringements were issued to people for travelling outside their local government area, contrary to the stay-at-home orders, police said.

Olive New watched the operation unfold on her doorstep in St Peters opposite Sydney Park where she has lived for 40 years. Ms New said she welcomed the police presence.

 

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/anti-lockdown-protest-never-arrived-but-the-movement-is-just-getting-started-20210731-p58epo.html

 

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A grassroots movement has sprung up on the French left that is looking to avoid another showdown between French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, seen by many as the inevitable rematch in France’s 2022 presidential election. By uniting the left and the Greens behind a single candidate, the nascent movement hopes to offer a viable alternative. But not everyone is convinced.   

Weary of the eternal divisions splitting the left and the likelihood of another Macron-Le Pen run-off in the second round of the 2022 presidential election, a group of young French activists has decided to shake things up with what they are calling a "popular primary".

Among the founders of the Rencontre des Justices (roughly, Meeting for Justice) collective behind the primary are Mathilde Imer, who helped establish the Citizens' Climate Convention on environmental action, and Samuel Grzybowski of the association Coexister, which supports interfaith dialogue.

The group received the support of 178 left-wing and green MPs on July 30. They also have the backing of a number of well-known figures including former presidential candidate Noël Mamère of the Green party, noted French climatologist Jean Jouzel and actress Juliette Binoche.

"We want to go beyond the parties to find a candidate that can bring together all the key elements of the major demonstrations during Macron’s five-year term," explains Grzybowski, speaking with FRANCE 24. Macron’s first term saw the birth of the populist Yellow Vest movement; protests against pension reform and police brutality; and demonstrations for more action on the environment.

The organisers of the primary believe that the same citizens who have mobilised for such causes in recent years might be able to form what they call a "justice league" in the face of the "right-wing" and "neoliberal" blocs represented by Le Pen and Macron, respectively.

"We are at a turning point and the next decade will be decisive for ecology and solidarity. Despite our past differences, it is now essential that we come together to meet the major challenges of the next 10 years, starting with 2022,” the group says on its website.

There are normally two rounds in a French presidential election, with all eligible candidates facing off in the initial round. An absolute majority of all votes cast – i.e., more than 50 percent – is required for a candidate to win the election outright. If no candidate wins 50 percent, the two candidates with the most votes face off in a second round of voting.

Candidates despite themselves

"We were inspired by the main demands of civil society to draw up a joint framework of 10 radical measures," says Grzybowski.

These measures are undeniably left-wing: They include the introduction of a climate law that would adopt all the proposals in the Citizens' Climate Convention; the provision of a universal income from the age of 18; a reduction in the overall wage gap; equal parental leave; a reduction in working hours; and a crackdown on the trillions sitting off-shore as a result of tax evasion by the wealthy.  

In total, 13 political parties – from the left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party to the liberal Green CAP21 party – took part in meetings to draw up a proposed framework, but stopped short of endorsing the idea of holding a primary.

Citizens have also been invited to propose their own candidates. "This is something new because everyone, by registering for free on our platform, can propose the person of his or her choice whether or not he or she is a member of a political party," says Grzybowski.

This has created a sprawling list of names and some confusion, since most proposed candidates have not been consulted as to whether or not they would be interested in running. France’s former minister of justice, Christiane Taubira (in the lead with 13,063 endorsements), La France Insoumise MP François Ruffin (8,963 endorsements) and economist Gaël Giraud (5,215 endorsements) have all been nominated.

At the end of this initial stage, which should run until October 11, the five women and five men who have received the most nominations will become the official candidates of the popular primary – provided they accept their nominations.

This is the main challenge for the organisers: to convince the representatives of the Green and left-wing political parties to take part in an unprecedented primary – which will take place at the end of November – and to recognize the results.

‘Not realistic’

"We call on them to assume their responsibilities. If they want to be part of history, they will have to put aside their specific party interests and think of the greater good. The one who wins our primary will have a real chance to win both the Green and Socialist votes in 2022. Divided, it is certain defeat," says Grzybowski.

The organisers of the primary are also counting on popular pressure. They hope to have at least 300,000 supporters registered to their platform before the beginning of October, putting them in contention with the 237,000 who support La France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon for president and the few thousand voters registered for the Green primary in September.   

But despite Grzybowski’s resolute optimism, reality can be cruel. No party has formally committed to take part in the popular primary and several candidates have already dismissed any possibility of participating.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, likely presidential candidate for the Socialist Party, declared on May 2 that she was "not in favour of a primary" while Mélenchon himself has claimed since the autumn of 2020 that he will remain his party’s candidate.

 

Read more:

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210731-french-leftists-unite-with-greens-to-avoid-2022-repeat-of-the-macron-le-pen-presidential-duel

 

Read from top.

 

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The month of July 2021 in France is not at all representative of that experienced on a European scale. The reason: recurring cold drops, often causing gray and rainy weather. Z500's negative anomaly conforms to the shape of the Hexagon.

 

 

France is in the middle of the only notable negative temperature anomaly in the southwest of the continent, when the rest of the continent experienced a warmer-than-normal month of July (+3 to + 4 ° C anomaly from the south from Finland to northern Ukraine).

 

 

The latest Tweets from Gaétan Heymes (@GaetanHeymes). Forecasting engineer and snow specialist @meteofrance. Former wintering (TA69) in #TerreAdelie ...

 

 FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW !!!!!

                         

As you can see in this picture, the northern tropical jet stream has totally ignored France and the Polar jet stream is non-existent, leaving France open to the ire of the arctic...

 

jet stream

Hi, this is Jules Letambour... I got intrigued by the cover of Charlie Hebdo and though I give you some information.

 

On ira où tu voudras, quand tu voudras (L’été Indien) comes from a song by Joe Dassin...

 

The song can be heard at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKT79lr87uQ

 

Below is a rough Translation/adaptation (by Jules Letambour)

   

You know I've never been happier than that morning

We were walking on a beach a bit like this

It was autumn, an autumn with the weather beaming

A season that only in North America exists 

 

 

 

Over there we call it an Indian summer

But it was just ours to be

With your long dress you were a stunner

like a watercolor by Marie Laurencin

And I remember, I remember very well

From what I told you that morning

A year ago, a century ago, an eternity as well

 

 

 

We will go where you want, when you want

And we'll love each other again, then love dying

All life will be the same as this morning 

In the colors of an Indian summer

 

 

 

Today I am far from this autumn morning

But it's like I'm there

I think of you

Where are you

What are you doing

Do I still exist for you?

 

 

 

I see the wave that won't reach the dune

Like the wave I turn back, you see

Like the wave I lie on the beach

And I remember

I remember the high tide

Of the sun and the happiness that passed over the sea

An eternity ago, a century and a year out of reach

 

 

 

We will go where you want, when you want

And we'll love each other again, then love dying

All life will be the same as this morning 

In the colors of an Indian summer

 

 

Talala….talala…  Jules.