I think a bigger issue Parisians are seeing red over is the private contractors acting as RATP 'police', being paid on commission and working in incredibly dodgy ways. Have experienced it myself, and some of the stories I've heard in response when recounting mine have been really shocking

So it's been wall to wall on the news with people driving emotive and simplistic arguments that just aren't workable and they'd never have to deliver on. All amplified by foreign political influence campaigns. The aim is simply to make people angry as part of jamming up the French government.

And when it's put to them like that, and they spend some time trying to find additional options and fail, then out of those they prefer later retirement age.

It just makes sense given we live longer.

But I think it's one of those 'wedge issues' picked up and stoked by extremists to drive division

Yeah, even fairly moderate French friends get irate about it, but then I offer them the available options...

Would you prefer to:
1. Be made to die at the same age people used to when current retirement age set
2. Have a lower or shorter pension payout
3. Pay more tax
4. Retire slightly later

With a supertax on apostrophes?

The big 5 consultancies are, as we speak, purchasing job lots from Epson and preparing to launch 'Information resilience consulting', where they send a load of grads in to print your stuff for a few million a pop

Ugh, they just knock 'em out these days eh?

And the geolocation and browser data that goes with those stats? All 100% your genuine solid gold UK IP addresses and no headless browser bots?

Quotation marks could have made this headline a whole lot clearer ! 😉

Really good piece from Jane Bradley and co at NYT.

Earlier this summer Democracy for Sale revealed how anti abortionists, including ADF, were pumping money into the U.K.

Free Speech Union still hasn’t responded to our queries. Funny that…

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/us-antiabo...

Do read this great article.

Future coverage of right-wing free speech campaigners should note:
- They are often more than happy to crack down on the free speech of their opponents.
- They may have ulterior motives, such as - in this case - the rollback of abortion rights.

If you wondered why Nigel Farage turned up in US Congress in September speaking about "freedom of speech", this story has the answer

His appearance was orchestrated by a powerful American anti-abortion group that is trying to increase its influence in the UK by influencing the free speech debate

I’ve always been a fan of knowing where your food comes from — but having made friends with a beef farmer means I’ve looked into the eyes of the actual bull that ended up as today’s Sunday lunch.
It means I also know the land he grazed, the feed he was given, and the way he lived. And I like that

One for my Francophile BlueSky friends 😂

Another one for the list

In 🇫🇷 the Covid vaccine is free, flu vaccine free to high-risk groups, around €10 for everyone else. This year's campaign starts on Wednesday

Details- www.thelocal.fr/20250912/sta...

Same, though is spread wider than Substack - various Ghost blogs, Patreons, and other platforms.

But that PWCT magazine would go great for 3 years, then be bought by a media mogul who’d clear out expensive clever writers, who’d all leave to start blogs 😜

I doubt he even knows or had any say in the decision.
All this stuff is run by the Project 2025 minions who have burrowed into all the departments.

I guess it's ideal for soulless people, which does seem to be the type who are going crazy for it.
I'm happy if we can pack them all off over there tbh, as long as they go fully.

Yikes. Get well soon Pat.

Astounding that even that doesn’t qualify you.

I live in France now, and will just rock up to the pharmacy in our village tomorrow when I go to the market, for my six monthly booster, without appointment. I’m not in any vulnerable group, but understand real herd immunity!

I'm astounded the UK is restricting booster access so much... and that private providers like Boots are profiteering so extremely without any flack for it in the media.

Surely it'd be better value for the DoH to get as many boosters in as many arms as possible, to reduce pressure on hospitals?!

Folks, that wasn't a 'just a nasty cold' after the return to school/work...

😂

The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 has been awarded to Venezuelan democracy activist María Corina Machado.

The Nobel Committee recognised her “struggle to achieve a just & peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

In other words, exactly the opposite of what Trump is doing to the United States.