Sunshine and Light

We don't need no water, let the....

So I'm reading LeMonde (with the help of a free online translator, I'm not that good) about the riots in the suburbs of Paris. Some things that really struck me

• No screaming headlines about the riots. Actually the first story is about airport taxes
• No front page pictures from the riots
• The major headline about the riots questions the police tactics and whether they're being too harsh on the rioters
• And this part I'm a little shaky on, but it appears that two men have already been tried in connection with the riots and they got...2 months in prison for one, and 3 months suspended sentence with community service.

Those last two freak me out. Wait, I can't emphasize this enough, let's try again: FREAK ME OUT. Better. Anyway, rioters have burned 600 personal vehicles, a car dealership, and a gym, damaged 27 buses, and disrupted metro service, and the French are concerned that the poor rioters may be treated too harshly? F that, somebody send these people a Texas ranger. (One riot, one ranger).

And then after all that, the police finally get (one of) their man and they're out in time to join last night's riots again? What kind of goofiness is that? Shouldn't the French courts at least try to make sure that their rioters are late for the car burning? I hope I have misunderstood that last piece. Because these are the people who have tried about 47 times to find Lance Armstrong guilty of doping. But then again, he's an American, he must be guilty.

I wonder how long until we talk about the good old days when Paris was safe to visit.

For those who are interested, Theodore Dalrymple has a lengthy post which makes him look like Nostradamus. It was written in 2002 precisely about the ghettos from which the current riots spring.

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 11:34 AM