## F08 LiveFromFrance S02E08

Here we are, the Olympic Games have been held in Paris for two weeks! And just before the start, the Mayor of Paris and the Minister of Sport held a swimming competition... separately. The mayor won with a good crawl technique. But the Sports Minister won a kiss from President Macron... Ah, yes, you remember that theoretically we no longer have a Prime Minister and government... Theoretically, because Mad Macron is not very fond of theory, especially that of the Constitution, about the separation of powers, all that. So for him, nobody won the election and he will choose a prime minister later. He wants to see sport, to kiss and hug beautiful athletes with lots of medals. He wants his toys: the Olympics first! Domestic policy, security, international policy is nothing. Budget law is nothing. Oh no, sorry, he managed to say something wrong about the Western Sahara, considering that France's historical position on this delicate issue of the Moroccan border is wrong. France is now "en froid" with Algeria... Alg
eria which could provide gas, uranium... it's nothing. A simple misunderstanding, because mad Macron is always right, of course.

Just before the Olympics, there were votes in parliament to appoint the president of the National Assembly, secretaries, office, etc... With 3 blocs and no majority, it was very difficult to understand. No alliance can have a majority, but the former president of the assembly made a deal with the republican party, beating the left-wing alliance and the extreme right-wing party ...., which has no role in the parliament, but is still the first party in the assembly. OK, that's not bad and finally the left had more roles in the office than the Macron party and the right wing. The left has then nominated a candidate for prime minister, being the first alliance after the last elections... But Macron seems to be deaf. Will someone cure him? He was deaf during the pension protests and all the protests for social improvements, for environmental policy, ... Joe Biden may be senile, but there are many symptoms of illness with Macron. Egocentric, we knew that ... and for some French people it seems to be an important q
uality. But now we can at least have a dictatorial, narcissistic pervert... Maybe he could make a secret society with Putin, Trump. He was so cute with them! 

Did you notice that the last Tour de France cycling race started in Meloni's Italy and ended in Nice, one of the most conservative and racist cities in France? A symbol, perhaps? But before the Olympics, France has done many things: special laws for algorithmic mass surveillance, which may well continue after the Olympics, eviction of students from their homes to accommodate athletes and police, eviction of the homeless from Paris, use of undocumented workers on Olympic construction sites. Business as usual with the Olympics... But now we can say that it was a great success, especially the opening ceremony. As a French man, I liked it because it was a good idea to break up the traditional parade with shows and not to have too many speeches. We had metal music, opera, jazz, classical, pop, dance... and LGBTQI+ people to make the fascists and the far right mad, ha ha. A very good choice, but it could present Paris as... a French San Francisco. The controversial Last Supper scene, which was just another paintin
g inspired by the Last Supper of Christ, is still causing a lot of controversy. It was fun to see how conservative and important religion still is. But for the closing ceremony, everything was in order : A boring show with old stars from the French Touch electro music, . just as usual in every Olympics.

I was in Paris during those two weeks and Paris was very different: Everyone spoke different languages, not just French or English. People in the streets were smiling. There were not many people in the metro or on the streets, but many people who wanted to help. No or almost no construction and almost clean streets. No, it wasn't New York or London... Just a different Paris, without Parisians. But it was not the Paris for tourists because it was difficult to see the main monuments and museums. I spoke to a restaurant owner I know and she told me that during the day Paris was empty, but at night it was very different with late dinners and parties. It seems that for many people Paris has never been more beautiful than during these Olympics. I can only see that a lot of construction work has been completed, but it's still complicated if you're on a bike or just walking... And don't be misled by the marketing of the Paris Olympics. Paris is not the most gay-friendly city in the world. The month-long polemic over
 the opening ceremony shows that the French are still conservative people. The organizers have received many death threats since that day. And during those days, the far right expressed its anger about migrants in Britain. In France, we have seen many incidents in recent months, including in Lyon. I don't want to be always negative, but if France has welcomed the world of sport, there is a lot to be done behind this "sportswashing". 

And we still have Mad Macron, no prime minister, a budget in deficit, more people below the poverty line...See you next month to have some news about that, and the Paralympics.

2Dɛ

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