10 or 11 steps, German, or French?

10 Steps to Germanize Yourself

11 Steps to Frenchify Yourself

Apparently, a "know-it-all" in German is called a "Klugscheißer" (“smart shitter”). Who knew? Read the whole thing for more fun facts (I'm pretty sure it's meant to be humorous. And while many a truth is spoken in jest, I'm sure it's not 100% universally so. I'm just say'n. Don't want any German or French hate-mail! ;))
     

The French Republic and Religion

Here is an interesting perspective:

I never knew how differently France and America value religion

I made my first trip to France in December 2003, when I visited my French cousins in Paris. At the time, newspapers were headlined with the motto of the French Republic, but with the last word changed: “Liberté, Egalité, Laicité.”

That was the buzzword at the time: laicité, or secularism. A law was being advanced to forbid students at public schools from displaying any religious symbols — no headscarves for Muslim girls, no yarmulkes for Jewish boys. The law passed, and it's still in effect.

I debated the law with my cousins around the dinner table, and it became clear that we came from starkly different societies. If the US enshrined freedom of religion, France seemed to be embracing freedom from religion. People’s religious affiliations should not be present at all in the public sphere, my cousins said.

Now I'm back in Paris. I joined my French cousins Ivan and Katia at the huge march that followed the deadly attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket. Religion was again at the forefront of the national conversation in France.

“I am here because I want the religion and the religious people to stay away from the Republic,” Ivan said. “If we want to live together, we have to respect laws of the Republic and keep religion home.”

My cousin Katia mentioned a recent train ride she took. “A lady came with a black dress. Only her face was not covered … and she had black gloves,” she said. “It hurts me. And the same thing about Jewish people with a [yarmulke] and a hat. I can’t stand that.”

“What does that say to you?” I asked. “What message are those people putting out?”

“I’m different and I’m showing it,” she said. “They want to belong to community, which I understand, but why showing it to others? This I don’t understand.”

The word "community" has come up a lot on my visit here. We often talk in America about the Muslim community or the Jewish community, taking for granted that our ethnic or religious identities don’t negate our identities as Americans. But in France, I’ve learned that “community” is something of a dirty word.

The French Republic rests on the notion of secularism, that your "community" is France itself. To many, belonging to a community in France carries the connotation that you wish to be apart from French society. [...]

Read the whole thing. It would seem that there are many younger people there looking to belong to a community, and some of them are looking for it in religion.

     

EU Member Nations to Sacrifice Sovereignty?

They may find it difficult not to:

Euro crisis: It's still not over

[...] Banking union: European Union leaders are expected to discuss plans to form a banking union in Europe when they hold a summit June 28-29.

The EU proposal would include a single deposit guarantee organization covering all banks in the union, something similar to the FDIC in the U.S..

There would also be a common authority and a common fund that would deal with bailouts needed for the cross-border banks that are major players in the European banking system.

In addition, there would be a single EU supervisor with ultimate decision-making powers for the major banks, and a common set of banking rules.

The move would represent a step towards greater centralization of European authority. But it remains to be seen if all 17 eurozone governments will agree to sacrifice sovereignty for the sake of the union. [...]

I've posted previously that those who've created this crisis are now using it to consolidate their power. Sure looks like it.

The article also mentions that France as well as Greece, are having elections on June 17th, which are expected to move both further left politically, probably in the hopes of avoiding austerity measures. I suspect that further consolidation of the EU will then be offered as the only possible solution. We shall see.
     

The French pay less taxes than we do?

What! Socialist France, less taxes? Take a look:

Is France Doing Better Than The U.S.?

Why does it appear France is bouncing back more quickly from the recession than the United States?

France has long been known for having an economy that suffered from too much government interference, too-high taxes and destructive union activity. Yet it grew 1.4 percent in the second quarter of 2009, while the U.S. economy continued to decline.

The United States and Britain have had the largest "stimulus" programs of the major economies (as measured by increases in government spending and deficits relative to gross domestic product) and yet they are not moving toward recovery as rapidly as most other countries that had far smaller stimulus programs or none.

[...]

... France has sharply reduced its corporate income-tax rate so it is lower than the U.S. rate. France also has been reducing its individual tax rates so that many Frenchmen now pay a lower maximum tax rate than do the taxpayers of New York, California and many other states.

If the tax-rate increases proposed by the Obama administration and the Democrat Congress are passed into law, all upper-income Americans will be paying higher personal tax rates than the wealthy in France.

[See the table in article for a tax and finances comparison]

However - the economic reforms in France have not been sufficient to keep large numbers of wealthy French from moving much of their savings and investment to other countries.

Rather than make their tax laws sufficiently competitive to keep their capital at home, the French have been on a crusade to force other countries to raise their tax rates and engage in widespread tax information sharing.

These bad habits have been picked up by many in the U.S. Congress as it pushes for legislation to discourage the free movement of capital along with the destruction of financial privacy. The result will be slower economic growth throughout the world, less job creation and more economic misery. [...]

As the French make changes in their own economy, perhaps we should emulate their successes, rather than their failures. The article goes on to say that other countries offer more attractive models, but that France is continuing to work on theirs to make it more workable and attractive, thanks to French think-tanks like the Institute for Economic Studies-Europe and other groups too.

There really is a lot be learned here from the French. Is our government paying attention? Or are they too busy maintaining and orchestrating a crisis, as an "opportunity" to further their agenda of expanded government control and interference in our lives?

The energy policies of France, and the protection they afforded France from the effects of the recession, are also worth noting.

     

France to rejoin NATO militarily

It seems French President Sarkozy wants France’s full “reintegration” into the military command structure of NATO, after an absence of more than 40 years:

France in NATO: Why It Matters

[...] Indeed, Sarkozy’s main argument for rejoining NATO is that, given its current level of engagement, France must have a voice at the top in order to defend its own interests. In recent years, France has gradually rejoined the political and operational elements of the Alliance; it now sits on 36 of NATO’s 38 committees. But it has remained absent from the permanent military command structure, which means that it does not participate in the strategic planning that goes into operational deployments. Sarkozy says this must change.

But Sarkozy also has other motives for reaching out to NATO. Full membership of the Alliance will, for example, enhance French military interoperability with the United States and other NATO allies, thereby contributing to the badly needed modernization of French forces. Moreover, Sarkozy hopes that full NATO membership will provide the French defense industry with access to the mammoth US defense procurement market, which accounts for almost half of global defense expenditures.

[...]

Sarkozy has won some important concessions from the United States, one of them being that Washington drop its opposition to ESDP as a quid pro quo for France’s rejoining NATO. At the 45th Munich Security Conference in February, US Vice President Joe Biden declared that America would “warmly welcome” France’s full return to NATO and added that “we also support the further strengthening of European defense” and an “increased role for the European Union in preserving peace and security.”

The Americans have also given in to Sarkozy’s demands for a more prominent French role in the Alliance. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said that France would take over leadership of Allied Command Transformation, a key NATO command post in Norfolk, Virginia, where the alliance’s long-term strategy is discussed. France will also lead the Allied Joint Command Lisbon, which is responsible for NATO’s Rapid Reaction Force and its satellite reconnaissance system.

But France’s return to NATO also has the potential to increase tensions with the United States and other NATO members like Britain. For example, French Defense Minister Hervé Morin says that France rejects a global role for NATO and that the Alliance should remain Eurocentric. He also says that Russia should be consulted before the alliance expands any further. Those positions could put France on a collision course with the White House, which has bigger plans for NATO and has criticized France and Germany for their deference to Russia on questions of European security. [...]

The rest of the article also gives many possible reasons the French may want this, with embedded links. When France achieves a majority Muslim population in 15 years time, it will be interesting to see how the alliance holds up, and what they will do with all the military technology and knowledge they will have gained from us.
     

Green Energy, Blackouts, California and France

Pat's latest post, Nuke the damn windmills!, has excerpts from William Tucker at the American Spectator. Tucker talks about how California poured huge amounts of money into "green" technologies that did not pay off, and how that lead to California's engery crisis (the brown-outs and rolling-blackout of the '90's), and it's current high energy costs and floundering economy. It was one of the big reasons we left California.

Now, the Democrat's Stimulus plan is taking the entire nation down the same path that California has gone. Aarrgh!

It's worth reading the article just for that, but there was also this tidbit about France, which I found fascinating:

[...] Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that France, unlike the rest of the world, has not yet fallen into a recession. The reporter attributed this to France's high level of government employment, but a much more likely explanation is France's complete conversion to nuclear energy. With 80 percent of its electricity coming from nuclear and the rest from hydro, France pays the lowest electrical rates in Europe -- and has the lowest carbon emissions on top of that. [...]

I can be quite critical of the French sometimes, but when they do something right, it's worth taking notice of it and learning from their worthy example.

Authentic American environmentalists would be advocating following France's example in this. Instead, I fear the leaders of the American Environmental Movement are really just "watermellons": green on the outside, red on the inside. They don't want to see us solve our energy problems, they just want to sabotage our current economy and system of government, making it unworkable, so they can then replace it with something else.

On energy matters, I would take the French way over the California way any day. The French way is demonstrably workable; it has a track record of success. The California way is Pie in the Sky; we've seen the results of that.

How long will it be before our government in Washington D.C. gets a clue?
     

Oy! The French are expressing doubts already

From the Brussel's Journal, an excerpt from L'EXPRESS: Saint Barack

[...] Rapidly, the world will learn that this man was elected to defend the interests of his country above all. It's fine if, for now, the universal order of the day is that what is good for America is good for the world. It remains to be seen how long this illusion will last.

Nothing like that European optimism, is there? Well the French can always work on electing minorities in their own country. Ditto the rest of Europe.

Follow the link if you want to see the nasty cover L'EXPRESS planned to use if McCain won. There is no pleasing some people.
     

"Yes We Can!" becomes "Oui, nous pouvons!"

Has Obama's victory underscored racism in France? Some are saying yes:

French elites brandish anti-racist manifesto

PARIS – Inspired by Barack Obama, the French first lady and other leading figures say it's high time for France to stamp out racism and shake up a white political and social elite that smacks of colonial times.

A manifesto published Sunday — subtitled "Oui, nous pouvons!", the French translation of Obama's campaign slogan "Yes, we can!" — urges affirmative action-like policies and other steps to turn French ideals of equality into reality for millions of blacks, Arabs and other alienated minorities.

"Our prejudices are insidious," Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a singer and wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy, said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, which published the manifesto. She said she hoped the "Obama effect" would reshape French society.

Nations across Europe rejoiced over Obama's victory, seeing it as a triumph for American democracy and a world weary of President George W. Bush. But Obama's election also illustrated an uncomfortable truth: how far European countries with big minority populations have to go getting nonwhites into positions of power.

[...]

The manifesto calls for affirmative action policies like those the United States used years ago to encourage greater minority representation in the workplace and in universities.

Sarkozy has suggested affirmative action for France, but later backed away from the idea since it goes against France's ideals of egalitarianism, which dictate that the country not classify its citizens according to race. This idea that everyone is just "French" means there are no census or other national figures calculating how big the country's minority groups are.

The manifesto urges term limits to make way for more minority candidates, and presses the government to improve schools in working-class neighborhoods. [...]

They have been talking the talk. Perhaps now they will have to walk the walk. Sarkozy's new wife, Italian singer-model Carla Bruni certainly seems to think so. She's quoted extensively throughout the article.

One large obstacle to affirmative action in socialist France has been the very powerful labor unions. They currently represent the white population. Will they change to allow more jobs to be created, or will they force older members to take early retirement? Or will they resist all change? It will be interesting to see what happens.
     

Europe's NAFTA: the "Mediterranean Union"

This article from the BBC is a basic introduction to the Mediterranean Union:

Sarkozy opens Mediterranean talks

[...] French President Nicolas Sarkozy has opened a summit of 43 leaders in Paris to launch a new union between Europe and Mediterranean rim nations.

The union will tackle such issues as regional unrest, immigration and pollution.

Mr Sarkozy said its aim was to ensure the region's people could love each other instead of making war.

Earlier, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders expressed their optimism over the chances for Middle East peace.

Mr Sarkozy said the group "will build peace in the Mediterranean together, like yesterday we built peace in Europe".

Welcoming the presence of Arab states alongside Israel, Greece alongside Turkey and Morocco alongside Algeria, he added that the group would not be "north against south, not Europe against the rest... but united".

[...]

But critics have dismissed the new union as lacking substance, and diplomats say there are continuing disagreements over key issues such as how to address the Middle East peace process and a possible role for the Arab League.

The only leader boycotting the Paris meeting is Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who has described the union as a new form of colonialism.

France and Egypt plan to co-chair the new organisation for the first few years.

[...]

Mr Sarkozy said the role of Europe and France was to help achieve peace through economic development, political initiatives and providing guarantees for all stakeholders.

He said the main problem was one of confidence.

"How can we achieve peace in this part of the world unless we build confidence, unless we extend the hand of peace and take the initiative?" he said. [...]

It all sounds very high minded. The article gives specific examples of some good things being achieved, and how the MU relates to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

I have posted previously about some people's concerns that there is a darker side to the Mediterranean Union, where it's laws and the European Unions laws could be merged, and used to stamp out free speech and political opposition.

World wide I expect we are going to see more joint political ventures such as NAFTA and the MU. There is potentially much to be gained by making cooperative agreements with neighboring countries. All such cooperative political entities can be used for good or bad purposes, depending on who is steering them, and to what ends. Like all things political, it needs to be watched and monitored. The stated goals are admirable, but it's the details, and how they are implemented, that are going to matter to the citizens of member countries.
     

Will Sarkozy force Ireland to vote again?

It seems that some in the EU want to force the Irish to vote again on the Lisbon treaty, because they didn't come up with the "correct" outcome the first time. From Michael Huntsman at the Brussels Journal:

Sarko Wants to Give Dublin the Mugabe Treatment

Would Nicholas Sarkozy be hot-footing it to Dublin in the dog days of summer if Ireland had voted 'Yes' in its Referendum on the EU Constitution? Of course he wouldn't. He is only going because even he can smell the raspberry the Irish blew at the EU last month. Having spoilt France's grandiose plans for jobs for the boys, expect a whole lot of angry finger-wagging.

As his own spokesman Axel Poniatowski has made clear on his behalf, there is no other choice for the Irish but to hold a second referendum and, regardless of EU and French protestations to the contrary and regardless of whatever emollient nonsense Sarkozy utters in public, behind the scenes Brian Cowen will indeed have to put up with some serious pressure from this angry voyou from Paris to get it right in a second vote and to hold that vote sooner rather than later. Fortunately others are doing their democratic bit. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) The president of Poland is now refusing to put his signature on the Lisbon Treaty, because the Irish voted "no" on it. Both Ireland and Poland know from experience about being dictated to and dominated by an empire, and they clearly see the danger.

The article rightly points out the irony of the EU condemning Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, while simultaneously pressuring the Irish to vote again. The only difference is Mugabe uses violence to get what he wants, whereas the EU will deploy threats via "diplomacy" to try and bully the Irish.

Disrespecting the vote of the Irish makes a sham out of European democracy; it renders the act of voting meaningless. And I expect that it is always a mistake to bully the Irish. They like to be "charmed". If you try to force them or punish them, they're likely to dig their heels in and fight.


Related Link:

Ireland votes "no" on EU superstate
     

France regulates country music dancing

What is big government and taxes for, if not regulating and financing dangerous activities like Line Dancing to American Country Music:

Oui-Ha! France brings line dancing craze under state control

[...] The French administration has moved to create an official country dancing diploma as part of a drive to regulate the fad. Authorised instructors who have been on publicly funded training courses will be put in charge of line dancing lessons and balls.

The rules, which come into force next year, come after the rapid spread of country and western in France, where an estimated 100,000 people line dance several times a week. Jean Chauveau, the chairman of the country section of the French Dance Federation, said: “It's growing at a crazy rate. There are thousands of clubs and more are springing up all the time.”

He said the French shunned the square dancing that is popular among country and western fans in the United States because it involved physical contact. “They don't want to take anyone by the hand or anything like that,” he said. But they were passionate about line dancing, where participants follow the steps without touching anyone else. “I think this corresponds to the individualism of our times,” Mr Chauveau said.

[...]

Mr Chauveau said the trend illustrated France's “complicated and ambiguous” relationship with the United States. “We love American magic and the American dream,” he said. “But we hate Americans when we confront the hard reality of their behaviour throughout the world. We go for the cowboy hats but not George Bush.”

In a peculiarly Gallic approach to the phenomenon, French civil servants say line dancing should be submitted to the same rules as sports such as football and rugby. This means imposing training courses for line dancing teachers and a state-approved diploma for anyone who wants to give lessons or run clubs.

Amateur instructors will have to take 200 hours of training under the new rules. Professionals will get 600 hours, including such subjects as line dancing techniques, “the mechanics of the human body” and the English (or at least Texan) language. They will also learn how to teach line dancing to the elderly.

The cost of the courses, about €2,000 (£1,570) for the professionals and €500 for the amateurs, will be largely met by taxpayers. Mr Chauveau said the regulations highlighted the French state's obsessive desire to organise all public activity. [...]

Government controlled line dancing, an expression of the "individualism of our times"? Those funny European ideas. It just makes me think of that expression, "Big hat, no cattle".

But just when you think you've found another good reason to despise the French, they go and do something like this:

French Families Honor US Fallen At Normandy

I can get annoyed by the things they say and do sometimes, but things like the above link make it hard to stay mad at them. How can it be possible to remain continuously vexed with a country whose citizens donate their time to something like Les Fleurs de la Mémoire? Our relationship with France has always been... complicated. And it probably always will be. It's part of what makes the French French.
     

Conservatism and France: What's next?

Not a new political party, but a new political "movement". Tiberge at the Brussels Journal gives us the details:

France: A New Movement Forms

After conservative victories in Italy and England, are the French finally finding their way to a new and healthy alternative to both Jean-Marie Le Pen and Nicolas Sarkozy?

The websites are talking about a new movement that has been formed the Nouvelle Droite Populaire (NDP), composed of defectors from Le Pen's Front National, members of Bruno Mégret's MNR (National Republican Movement), and other nationalist, sovereignist and regionalist groups, parties and individuals. This is not a political party but an assembly of like-minded individuals who espouse a policy of both decentralization, i.e., regionalism, and nationalism. After an initial meeting on March 29 to lay the groundwork, a second meeting on April 27 adopted the official name which translates as New Popular Right. Their website outlines the group's goals: [...]

Read the whole thing. There does indeed seem to be a backlash of sorts brewing in Europe, as some of the Europeans find their backbone. Good!

A new book: "Islam for Pigs, Apes, Mules and Other Beasts: 250 Questions about Islam"

In response to the controversy over a movie about Muslims that is soon to be aired in Holland, an author renames the title of his upcomming book about Islam to ride the wave of controversy. Elaib Harvey at the Brussels Journal reports:

Islam for Pigs

Reported via the Dutch blog Klein Verzet is the story of Professor Hans Jansen who seems to have put the cat amongst the pigeons by renaming his forthcoming book “Reading the Koran for Unbelievers.” In the light of the Dutch Government's panic about Fitna, the film made by Geert Wilders, it appears that he has changed the name to, “Islam for Pigs, Apes, Mules and Other Beasts: 250 Questions about Islam.”

Now Professor Jansen seems to be pretty serious about his work, and currently holds his tenure at Utrecht University, his CV seems kosher, [...]

Interesting. The full article has some excerpts from the book.


Another interesting article by Tiberge at the Brussel's Journal has a look at the growing Islamic population of France:


The Islamification of France

The article has another graphic, and a link to a large listing of Mosques in France. This news isn't new, but I like graphs and maps.

The French go about their business as usual

cartoon: Al-Jarida, Kuwait, January 15, 2008
From Tiberge at the Brussel's Journal: Sarko and the Saudis

[...] This is the sixth Muslim-Arab country Sarkozy has visited (if my count is accurate) to whom he has either promised or given nuclear energy for peaceful use. Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and now Arabia. He is scheduled to visit the Emirates where he will make the same offer.

This is the first time I recall him saying that nuclear energy is a right. It’s quite a sweeping statement. He means, of course, for peaceful purposes, but the underlying potential for something far more sinister cannot be disregarded.

Business was also part of his agenda. Besides a criticism of the price of oil, which he considers to be too high, Nicolas Sarkozy promised, on leaving Ryad, “large contracts” for French businesses, and spoke of “potentially 40 billion euros,” especially in armaments.

It might be worthwhile to point out that the news reports mention nothing about Sarkozy having criticized the treatment of Christians in Saudi Arabia. He was critical of the price of oil, and discreetly critical of the condition of women, but not a word on the fate of Christians. [...]

France has an agenda very different from the Anglosphere. This isn't surprising. It just must not be forgotten.

We hear so much about how "conservative" France's President Sarko is. Yet what they mean by conservative is very different from what we believe the term to mean. Here is another article by Tiberge. And the title isn't referring to Sarkozy's sex partners:

Who Is Sarkozy in Bed With?

[...] Nicolas Sarkozy has no interest or affinity for ANYTHING that isn't left-wing. Yes, he’s accused of being a “capitalist” because he sails on the yachts of his rich friends. And he’s accused of being friendly to religion because of ONE speech he gave in Rome (that will turn out to benefit Muslims, most likely). And he is accused of being an ARCH CONSERVATIVE because he wants to deport 25,000 illegals a year, allowing the remaining 575,000 on French soil to collect welfare. [...]

The article reports on an event in France where Tony Blair made a very socialist speech (and btw, say's in America he would be a Democrat), and was joined by Sarkozy on the stage, who praised the speech of his fellow socialist.

And then there is Sarkozy's ideas of freedom of religion... read the whole thing. It's not long, and full of insights. I don't find this surprising; one expects socialists to be socialists. It's just important to remember that what's called conservative in Europe is... not what we would call it. And France is definitly marching to the sound of a different drummer, as they are about to take the lead of the European Union. I see the potential for France to make a lot of big messes.
     

What to expect from the new president of France

From John Fund at the Opinion Journal:
L'Adulte:
Can Sarkozy reform France?

Conservative Nikolas Sarkozy's comfortable victory over Socialist Ségolène Royal in France's presidential race may indicate that Europe's slowest-growing major economy is finally ready for some change.

[...]

By French standards Mr. Sarkozy is positively effusive about the need for the two countries to emphasize their points of agreement. "My dedication to our relationship with America if well known and has earned me substantial criticism in France," he said. "But let me tell you something, I'm not a coward. I embrace that friendship. I'm proud of the friendship . . . and I proclaim it proudly." He then went on to say that France's foreign policy had often suffered from an arrogant and insensitive approach, a clear reference to the haughty attitudes of retiring president Jacques Chirac and his prime minister, Dominique de Villepin.

But the clearest break that Mr. Sarkozy represents from leaders like Mr. Chirac is in his background. The son of a Hungarian immigrant, he has always been viewed as an outsider by French elites. He failed to attend the prestigious National School of Administration, where almost every leading figure in French politics, including purported populist Ségolène Royal, went.

It is difficult for Americans to appreciate just how removed from the French people the nation's bureaucratic elite is. Its arrogance is mind-boggling.

[...]

Mr. Sarkozy acknowledges he is now part of the elites of French society, but he pledges he will govern in a way that is beyond their interests. "If I'm elected," he told reporters before yesterday's balloting, "it won't be the press, the polls, the elites who chose me. It will have been the people." His clearest break with much of French elite opinion came last week when he made a dramatic speech about a "moral crisis" the nation entered in 1968, when the "moral and intellectual relativism" embodied by the 1968 student revolt that helped topple President Charles de Gaulle from power the next year. Today, many philosophers and media commentators routinely pay homage to "the élan of 1968" and lament that the revolutionary spirit of the time did not succeed in transforming bourgeois French society more than it did.

Mr. Sarkozy took on that '60s nostalgia. He labelled Ms. Royal and her supporters the descendants of the nihilists of 1968, and even appealed to France's "silent majority" to repudiate the false lessons of that period. He claimed that too many Royal backers continue to hesitate in reacting against riots by "thugs, troublemakers and fraudsters." He declared this Sunday's election would settle the "question of whether the heritage of May '68 should be perpetuated or if it should be liquidated once and for all." [...]

(bold emphasis mine) Amen to that! I don't expect miracles from this; France will still be France. But that doesn't mean the situation won't improve at all. Just as Angela Merkel of Germany has been an improvement over her predecessor, Sarkozy may well be an improvement over his. Lets hope so!

He certainly faces a lot of challenges. Already violent riots and arson have begun, as predicted (or threatened?) by socialist loser Segolene Royal. Many more photos of the riots can be found at the flickr.com link below:



Welcome to Sarkoland

Click on the link and look what Sarkozy will have to deal with.
The legacy of 1968. I don't envy him.