French Stage Sit-In to Protest Violence
"..angry residents of riot- torn suburbs staged a sit-in Friday near the Eiffel Tower"
"..Some of the 200 demonstrators- a small turnout in protest-friendly France, waved white flags. " [hmmm….are those standard issued?]
"There is a need to respond strongly and rapidly to the undeniable problems faced by many residents of underprivileged neighborhoods around our cities," Chirac said. "Whatever our origins, we are all the children of the Republic, and we can all expect the same rights." [Why does Chirac's quote remind you of every Democratic Congress-person you have ever heard?]
[This whole thing in France reminds me of how it would be treated on an American Univserity campus- you have the hand wringing President, the limp-wristed liberals calling for "peace" and "understanding", you have the police on trial for giving one of the rioters a few lumps. Chirac would be right at home in Iowa City]
The unrest has weakened in intensity across the rest of France -- and fewer cars burned _ 463, down from 482 the previous night,
[When the only way you can descirbe something as "weakend" is when burned cars drop from 482 to 463, you know there is a problem. Not to be outdone, Paris is setting the pace]
In suburban Paris, however, the number of car burnings increased to 111, from 84 the night before.
[but don't worry- the French are not going to put up with it (by "it" I mean giving a few lumps to one of these idiots)
Police on Thursday suspended eight officers, two of them who allegedly beat a man who was detained, causing "superficial lesions" on the forehead and the right foot, the Interior Ministry said. Three of the officers were released Friday; the five others were expected to appear before a judge before being placed under investigation _ a step short of formal charges, said prosecutors on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.
So to recap:
Trending Upward:
Parisan Burned Cars
Yellow Streaks on spines
Prosecutions of public defense officials
Trending Downward:
Non-Parisan Burned Cars
French Self-Importance
Supply of White Flags