Posted on 10/22/2010 6:52:40 AM PDT by EBH
* Marseilles, Paris's Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports affected
* Passengers forced to carry their own luggage off planes
* 3,000 of the country’s 12,000 petrol stations have run dry
* Disputes costing country £100million a day
Armed with pump-action shotguns, sidearms and stun grenades the officers look like they belong in a war zone.
In fact they are elite French policemen who were deployed to the historic centre of Lyon yesterday to deal with rioting students.
(Getty Image, go to link to see photos)
President Nicolas Sarkozy took the extreme measure in the face of growing protests against an unpopular law aimed at increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62.
Nicknamed ‘Sarko’s Stormtroopers’, the GIPN (National Police Intervention Group) faced down 2,000 youngsters in Place Bellecour where cars had been set on fire and shop windows smashed.
The elite unit, whose motto is Cohesion Brings Strength, was set up in 1972 to deal with terrorists and hostage takers.
‘Deploying them on the streets was a tactical decision deemed necessary because of the acts of violence and vandalism aimed at the community,’ said an interior ministry spokesman.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The problem wit these people is that most of those organizing this have no long-term plans for France whatsoever.Especially amongst the Socialist crowd and those coming from that most Augustinian district the B-13.
As far as they’re concerned they will loot France and bring it to its knees and they will doing the Anglo-saxon world a favor in the process.The problem with that logic is that there are plenty in the pretty-sphere who will do exactly the same in the States,the UK or Canada.
Again it is it their retirement and they want it now,so they can opt out of life.Which is fine by me but I don’t see why you have to bribe them for them to stay off the streets.
Rioting amongst the youth is because it is a disenfranchised population taught by teachers who again don’t see any kind of future for France.They have a sense of frustration at a society they don’t understand,so they automatically lash out at authority figures.
They’re not going to keep this up forever because the youth will eventually realize they’re being used and there is no actual reward for risking their necks.And most of the union workers are going to realize their putting their jobs at risk.
It is like any street fighting really,you might get some sense of accomplishment from the first few nights of running around like an idiot.I am sure a lot of them see this Anarchy is something more long-term and more friendly and more real then their lives that seem all but pointless.
In real life that doesn’t actually work out.
Thanks EBH. Next-gen won’t back ‘em, not after what’s going to happen. One way or another, either the riots stop, or the whole county will tear itself apart, leaving no one with any kind of retirement. All over a change of two years.
During the Reagan years here in the US, there was a union drive in Europe to force the gov’ts in at least a couple of countries to redefine full-time as 30 hours a week with no net pay cut. The ridiculous claim was, it would boost employment, when obviously the reverse is true.
I don't know if it is the same bunch, but there was a report that in some of the early-days riots, like '68, the capes their police wore had the hems lined with lead. When they swung those things at your head it had the same impact as a club.
ROTFLMAO
Cops in France and Germany don’t give a **** about you - it is - comply or get your head busted by a “matraque d’émeute”
More fun than a soccer match.
French Senate OKs Retirement Reform in Tense Vote
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/22/world/europe/AP-EU-France-Retirement-Strikes.html?_r=1&src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Findex.jsonp
PARIS (AP) — The French Senate, pushed into an early vote, approved on Friday a hotly contested bill raising the retirement age to 62, hours after riot police forced the reopening of a strategic refinery to help halt growing fuel shortages amid nationwide strikes and protests.
In tense balloting after 140 hours of debate, the Senate voted 177-153 for the pension reform. The measure is expected to win final formal approval by both houses of parliament next week.
Probably he should have upped the ante a little, move the age up to 65 in order to better match UK and Germany — and to send a message to the rioters, that s- don’t fly no more.
Thanks. I just called my hotel in Paris and they said that the strike will be over by November 3rd. I don’t know if it’s true, but my plans is that by noon on the 3rd I will be celebrating a Republican tsunami while eating a crepe in front of the D’Orsay.
A conservative government would NOT be trying to decrease the cost of having government employees pensions by raising the early retirement age from 60 to 62? I think that is the LEAST that they would do. Or do you think that they would not call out the troops to quell the riots?
Ya... its kinda like loosing weight... if you stick with a few simple principals, ie, eat just a few less calories than is required to sustain your present weight, choose good fats over bad, and slow carbs versus empty carbs, and add a little exercise, viola... you begin to loose weight. Only problem is, we don’t want to give up the yum-yums and we don’t want to exert any more effort than it takes to go from the couch to the fridge.
You can bring things under control... but there’ll be a lot of screaming’, scratching’ and biting... and maybe a few holes in a few heads... but it could be done.
As a matter of fact he does. I send him targeted emails on stuff that I don’t think he develops form emails for. I usually get an extensive, full explanation email back within a week. Pretty impressive.
They all appear to be well-fed in the picture. Starvation does not appear to be an imminent threat.
I have some relatives that live there their whole lives and one of them is Pricille. She works as a social worker and calls Sarcozy “sarcolovo”. She hates him much like the far left hated Reagan when he cut taxes.
After the Commie revolution is squelched, we'll meet at midnight at Rick's Place on the Left Bank for a glass of wine, some zither music.....and a chorus or two of La Marseillaise.
Leni
For those interested this channel is en direct(LIVE) 24/7:
http://www.bfmtv.com/divers/player_bfmtv.asx
Excellent coverage...
Hmm, interesting. And unusual, I believe,
“Elite French Military Unit” is some sort of oxymoron, isn’t it?
Like “jumob shrimp,” or “military intelligence?”
“Elite French Military Unit” is some sort of oxymoron, isn’t it?
Like “jumob shrimp,” or “military intelligence?”
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