Christian,

Is the prose at the bottom of your reply a sample of what the youth's are saying?

If so, please send more!  (Regardless of what side you're on.)  It is the usually the fate of slogans, chants and fighting songs that they soon fade into the dustbin of history.  They are soon replaced by more cunning ones written by professional agitators or provocateurs.


Tracy Johnson
Measurement Specialties, Inc. 

BT







NNNN


> -----Original Message-----
> From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Christian Lheureux
> Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 12:39 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [HP3000-L] OT: Riots in France (was: RE : [HP3000-L] 
> Paging Christian)
> 
> 
> OK, since a few people on a few lists I subscribe to have 
> enquired about my own health and the situation in my country, 
> here is what happens.
> 
> First, I want to emphasize that I'm alive and well and in 
> perfectly good health. The nearest riot is about 25 km (15 
> mi.) from where I live.
> 
> There are riots in housing projects located around most major 
> cities. While these events are very spectacular (burned cars, 
> schools, etc.), it is not correct to say that Paris is 
> burning, much less France. Basically, bands of 
> disenfranchised and disoriented young people (mostly male 
> teenagers) are setting on fire any symbol of wealth and 
> authority they can put their hands on : cars, police 
> stations, schools, anything. IMHO, these young people harm 
> mostly themselves and the institutions and people designed to 
> help them. You've got to know that they strike within their 
> own housing projects, never outside.
> 
> Though dire for the people who live in these housing 
> projects, the current situation in France is not a revolt, 
> much less a revolution. It brings me back childhood memories 
> of seeing the Watts uprising in, I believe, 1968. Of course, 
> L.A. was not burning at that time, much less the USA. 
> Nevertheless, that was the impression our TV news was 
> conveying. More recently, I also have memories of the Brixton 
> riots just outside London sometime in the mid-80s, I think. 
> In that way, the current situation is certainly not an 
> intifadah. After all, these young boys are mostly attacking 
> symbols of authority. They are certainly not freedom 
> fighters, not even terrorists.
> 
> The sad thing is that, though some motives may be genuine 
> (what can you do when you're 18, you can't find a job, your 
> dad can't find a job and there's just no future ?), pure 
> hooligans are taking advantage of the temporary lawlessness 
> to commit real, hard crimes. Like Interior Minister (and 
> probable Presidential candidate in 2007) Nicolas Sarkozy 
> correctly said, "When you douse a person with a flammable 
> liquid and set her on fire, you're a criminal".
> 
> Considering the violence of the fights, it's a miracle that 
> there's only been 1 dead so far.
> 
> Some of these young boys would also just try anything to get 
> media attention. That's merely a highly twisted version of 
> the "15 minutes of fame".
> 
> At that point, I want to say loud and clear that when a fire 
> truck and its crew gets stoned when entering a cité to put 
> out a car fire (purposefully set to drag the fire brigade 
> into an ambush), that's not acceptable. When a police car 
> with crew inside gets almost flattened by a washing machine 
> dropped from the 7th floor, that's not acceptable. When 
> police officers doing their job get shot at with live ammo, 
> that's not acceptable.
> 
> That is why the Government's first priority is to restore 
> order in the housing projects known here as "cités", which 
> are part of suburbs known as "banlieues". Like in the US, the 
> Government sends in the National Guard to restore order, the 
> French Government sends in the CRS (Compagnies Nationales de 
> Sécurité), a specialized police force whose main task is to 
> restore order. It would not serve the vast majority of 
> law-abiding, hard-working citizens living in the cités to let 
> lawlessness settle in durably.
> 
> IMHO, the riots will achieve nothing. Of course, if these 
> young boys wanted media attention, they got the lion's share. 
> Consider that the prime-time news on mainstream TV channels 
> here devote about half of their typical 30-40 minutes to 
> these riots. But .... 1) these young people mostly hurt 
> themselves and their own neighborhoods; 2) next time a 
> possible employer reads on a resume an address that belongs 
> in one of these housing projects, he or she'll think twice 
> before hiring the person; and 3) the people who have managed 
> to save a little money will be rushing for the exit and take 
> advantage of any opportunity to live anywhere but in the 
> cité. The net result will be more ghetto-like cités, with 
> less population, but even more disenfranchised. And in 4 or 5 
> years, more riots, more burned cars and schools, etc. It's a 
> tight circle, and it's getting damn vicious.
> 
> The situation can be summed up as follows :
> 
> "Cause tramps  like us ... Baby we were born to run" ... run 
> as fast as we can, to put a maximum distance between the cité 
> and ourselves. "It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling 
> out of here to win" ... No need for more comment, I guess.
> 
> Bottom line : as long as you Americans, Britons and all other 
> visitors avoid these suburban housing projects (and my best 
> guess is that you will), you're fine and safe.
> 
> And you're welcome.
> 
> Don't hesitate to reply me privately for more comment. I'm 
> willing to share and exchange opinions.
> 
> Christian "Faith will be rewarded" Lheureux
> 
> > -----Message d'origine-----
> > De : HP-3000 Systems Discussion
> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] De la part de Tony Summers
> > Envoyé : mardi 8 novembre 2005 15:17
> > À : [log in to unmask]
> > Objet : Re: [HP3000-L] Paging Christian
> > 
> > 
> > I too have heard that that French are revolting :)
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion
> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Lalley
> > Sent: 08 November 2005 13:44
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: [HP3000-L] Paging Christian
> > 
> > 
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