The Paris Riots

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It’s been 10 days of rioting and I have yet to comment on it, guess that will be changing tonight.

Most of you know the sequence of events so far.

Oct 28th:

Clichy-sous-Bois, France – Dozens of youths went on a rampage, burning vehicles and vandalising buildings in a tough Paris suburb on Friday in an act of rage following the death by electrocution of two teenagers trying to flee police.

Twenty-three cars were gutted by fire and the windows of a shopping centre were smashed in the riot in Clichy-sous-Bois, which finally ended before dawn. No arrests were made and there were no reports of injuries.

According to police, the violence erupted after two boys, aged 14 and 16, died when they scaled a wall of an electrical relay station and fell against a transformer.

The two had been trying to escape from police responding to the attempted robbery of a nearby work site, officers said. A third boy who had also jumped the wall was seriously hurt.

Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the three had not been “physically pursued” by the police.

He added that measures should be taken to counter such urban violence, and said he aimed to equip police cars with cameras and officers with “non-lethal weapons.” – Sapa-AFP

So a couple kids running from the police get themselves killed and now they want to riot and tear everything in the area THEY LIVE IN apart. Sounds smart. Just look how well South Central Los Angeles has done since their riots…turned everything around there. Sigh.

Oct 29th

CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS, France, (AFP) – A Paris suburb suffered a third night of arson and arrests sparked by the electrocution deaths of two teenagers, police said.

The violence on Saturday night was significantly less than on the two preceding nights, police added, but 13 youths were arrested and 20 cars torched.

Earlier Saturday an atmosphere of quiet rage hung over a peaceful procession of 500 people paying homage to the teenagers whose deaths sparked the rioting in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.

“Let us show that despite our grief and our anger we know how to stay dignified,” said the Socialist mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois, Claude Dilain, outside the town hall before the march led by the dead boys’ families began at around 10:00 am amid a very light police presence.

I guess they didn’t listen to the Socialist mayor of Clinch-my-Balls.

Oct 30th

I love this, the fault for the riots are due to the “tough” anti-crime laws put in place recently. Guess this will teach the frogs.

CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS, France : Tough new French anti-crime policies are partly to blame for riots that gripped a Paris suburb at the weekend, after the accidental deaths of two teenagers who thought they were under police chase, the opposition and rights campaigners said.

Later on the 30th

CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS, France (AFP) – Police clashed with angry youths in a Paris suburb for the fourth straight night, police sources said, with accusations over the use of teargas in a mosque set to exacerbate the situation further.

Six police officers were slightly injured after being hit by projectiles, the sources said.

Eleven people were arrested after the violence in which eight cars and 16 rubbish bins were torched, departmental security spokesman Jean-Luc Sidot said.

Damn those froggy police, to think they would use teargas against rioting people…the tyranny!

Oct 31st

BOBIGNY, France — French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy defended his tough anti-crime policies yesterday after a fourth night of riots in a Paris suburb, in which tear gas was fired into a mosque during evening prayers.

Mr. Sarkozy vowed to investigate the tear-gas incident and repeated his “zero tolerance” policy toward violence that began when two teenagers were fatally shocked after clambering into a power substation while apparently fleeing from police.

The level of violence yesterday was lower than on the previous four nights, with police firing tear gas canisters and rioters hurling Molotov cocktails at a police station in the suburb, Clichy-sous-Bois.

Twelve arrests were made in the northeastern town, the local authorities said.

Overnight Sunday, youths there threw rocks and set fire to cars, where many immigrants and poor families live in high-rise housing notorious for youth violence.

Glad to hear the violence was lower on the fifth day, only a few molotov cocktails thrown at the police…nothing to see here.

Nov 1st

PARIS (Reuters) – Dozens of vehicles were set ablaze in a sixth night of rioting in poor Paris suburbs, officials said on Wednesday, as youth unrest caused mounting strains within France’s conservative government.

A heavy police presence kept a tense order in Clichy-sous-Bois, where the clashes broke out last week after two teenagers of African origin were electrocuted while apparently fleeing the police.

But the street fighting spread to other parts of the poor suburbs ringing the eastern side of the capital, police said. A total of 34 people were detained by police overnight, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told Europe 1 radio.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin urged a return to calm on Tuesday evening after meeting families of the two youths along with Sarkozy, his main political rival now under heavy fire for his tough line against the rioters.

Squabbling broke out within Villepin’s government when Equal Opportunities Minister Azouz Begag openly criticized Sarkozy for calling the protesting youths “scum”.

“I talk with real words,” Sarkozy fired back in an interview in the daily Le Parisien. “When someone shoots at policemen, he’s not just a ‘youth’, he’s a lout, full stop.”

And there you go, the PM meets with the families of the criminals and then the Government gets pissed at the mayor for calling scumbags, scum. I wonder why this could be happening in France?

Nov 2nd

PARIS (AFP) – Violence broke out in impoverished Paris suburbs for the seventh straight night, with rioters clashing with police and leaving a trail of torched cars and vandalised premises.

In Aulnay-sous-Bois in the worst-affected area of Seine-Saint-Denis, a police station was briefly besieged by gangs of youths while a gymnasium and a garage were set ablaze and a commercial centre vandalised, a fire service spokesman said.

A total of 40 vehicles, including two buses, were torched before midnight in nine towns in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, a high-unemployment largely-immigrant department, according to local police who made 15 arrests.

Two primary schools were also damaged in the area northeast of the French capital.

Elsewhere a France 2 TV crew were forced by hooded youths to abandon their car, which was then set ablaze by 40 rioters.

Those kids attacking a police station are just misunderstood, they want more Socialism and they want it NOW!

Increasingly observers are pointing to France’s failure to address deep problems of poverty and immigration.

The violence has so shaken authorities that President Jacques Chirac came forward on Wednesday to call for calm and vowed to investigate the teens’ deaths.

“Tempers must calm down,” a spokesman quoted him as telling his cabinet.

Chirac warned that “an escalation of disrespectful behaviour would lead to a dangerous situation” and asserted that “there can be no area existing outside the law” in France.

Too funny, Chirac talking about the law.

Nov 3rd

PARIS — Rioters fired at police, stoned commuter trains, and torched a school, shops, and hundreds of vehicles in tough immigrant suburbs yesterday, spurring authorities to deploy 1,000 riot police on an eighth night of street violence.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin held emergency meetings aimed at avoiding a crisis that the French have feared for years: large-scale disturbances in restive slums where youths of African and Arab descent feel rage against society.

”Order and justice will be the final word in our country,” said Villepin, who met with Cabinet ministers and mayors from affected communities. ”The return to calm and the restoration of public order are the priority, our absolute priority.”

But after dusk fell yesterday, new outbreaks took place in half a dozen communities in the heavily industrial, immigrant-dominated area north and northeast of Paris. Five police officers were injured by projectiles, and cars and buses were torched and vandalized, authorities reported.

The violence seemed less intense than in the previous night, when hundreds of young men rampaged in 20 working-class communities that are a few miles north of the Paris city limits, but a world away from the capital’s glittering buildings and tourist attractions.

Police made more than 41 arrests early yesterday morning and last night; four officers and two firefighters were injured in the fighting. Shots were fired at police in four separate locations late Wednesday and early yesterday, but no one was hit, authorities said. Traffic was interrupted on a commuter rail line to Charles de Gaulle International Airport northeast of the city early yesterday after rioters hurled rocks at two trains.

This report also included this curious fact:

On the day the teenagers died, police in nearby Epinay arrested three men who allegedly beat a visiting photographer to death. The man worked for a lighting company and had stopped his car at a housing project to take pictures of light fixtures when he was assaulted in front of his family, police said.

Nov 4th

France’s wave of riots spread to new towns and entered a ninth day yesterday as officials warned it will take time to contain the rampaging violence.

Bands of youths torched more than 600 cars overnight and into the day near Paris ? including several vehicles set ablaze outside a court where previously arrested rioters were facing charges.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin kept a low profile while other officials in President Jacques Chirac’s administration debated what is fueling the rampage by hundreds of young people in largely Muslim and African-immigrant areas.

The rioting began Oct. 27 in reaction to the accidental electrocution of two teenagers of African descent, who were apparently fleeing police.

Yesterday, the violence spread to Rouen, Marseilles and Dijon.

In Dijon, teens set fire to cars ? apparently angered by a police crackdown on drug trafficking, according to Paul Ronciere, the region’s top government official.

In Aulnay-sous-Bois, hooded teenagers hurled Molotov cocktails and stoned police.

Officials warned yesterday that the rioters had turned their rage against ordinary citizens ? including a woman on crutches who was set ablaze.

A judicial official said the woman was trying to get off a bus in the Paris suburb of Sevran on Wednesday when youths doused her with flammable liquid and set her on fire with a burning rag. She suffered severe burns.

At what point do these freakin froggies come to the conclusion that to restore order there will need to be bloodshed on the side of the scum and not the police? 9 days later and women are getting burned alive but still this government just wants to talk about what makes the kids mad.

Nov 5th

Rioters razed two Parisian schools and burned hundreds of vehicles on Saturday, in the tenth straight day of violence that is spreading from poor suburbs to cities and towns throughout France.

Young men and boys continued to wreak havoc into the early hours of Sunday, speeding on motorbikes and in cars from one spot to another to lob Molotov cocktails at buildings and cars and pelt police with rocks.

An extra 2,300 police officers patrolled alongside their colleagues in the capital and surrounding communities, which have born the brunt of the violence since it began on Oct. 27 in poor northeastern suburbs with large immigrant populations.

Patrick Hamon, a spokesperson for the national police, said the rioters had torched at least 607 vehicles by 1 a.m. local time on Sunday, including 13 in Paris itself.

Earlier in the day, they burned to the ground two schools in the Paris suburb of Essonne. No one was injured.

And finally some of the good people in this area come forward

On Saturday morning, more than 1,000 people held a silent march through one of the hardest-hit suburbs, Aulnay-sous-Bois.

Loubna Hamidi, a Muslim woman in a veil, condemned the people behind the violence as she and other marchers crunched through shattered glass, past the carcasses of burned-out cars, and in front of businesses and buildings hit by Molotov cocktails.

“I’m very angry and I’m ashamed because they are Arabic like me but they are not my brothers,” she told CBC News. “When they do this, they are not my brothers.”

Gotta leave you with this great quote from Emperor Darth from the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler:

We?ll go one step further and warn our fellow Americans against visiting Frogistan, period. It?d probably be a lot safer to go to Damascus or Beirut instead. At least there, you can expect somebody to shoot at the ones trying to set you on fire, rather than trying to ?dialogue? and ?understand the grievances? of the ?poor, misunderstood? ragheads.

I’m just waiting for France to blame all of this on Bush, because we all KNOW everything is Bush’s fault.

Is anyone surprised that the Religion of Peace is seeking to subjugate and frighten the weak French government by force? The French will appease them just as the left in our Country does. We got 9/11, they get weeks of rioting.

My favorite so far is this one where the AP translates what was written on the wall: (click it to see the larger view)

Other’s blogging:

Captain’s Quarters
Bloggledygook
Shrink Wrapped
The Counterterrorism Blog
Winds Of Change
Uncorrelated
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
The Belmont Club
Jihad Watch
Atlas Shrugs
Riehl World View
FulloseousFlaps Dental Blog
Six Meat Buffet
A Blog For All
Big Lizards
Weapons Of Mass Destruction
T. Longren
In The Bullpen
Don Surber


Damn those froggy police, to think they would use teargas against rioting people…the tyranny!

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Paris riots coming to America soon. . . What is the plight of the black man? Consider this.

I write the following because Tom Birdsong, Assistant Managing Editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, on Wednesday, November 9, 2005, said, “No one is going to write about your family’s plight.” Thereafter, Mrs. Estelle B. Richman’s staff (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania‘s Secretary of Welfare) became very rude and indifferent to our emergency situation. In fact, Ms. Richman’s chief of staff, Linda Hicks no longer accepted our calls. Christian Bowser actually laughed about our situation. Inez Titus, became even more stubborn with her unlawful position. The Executive Director for Western Pennsylvania Department of Welfare, Tim Cornell (Mrs. Titus’ supervisor) has yet to return any of our calls.

Nonetheless, a man was shot to death in a cinema lobby shootout after watching gangsta rapper 50 cent’s movie “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” prompting the Loews Cineplex at the Waterfront in West Homestead (just east of Pittsburgh) to stop showing the film. I was there with my family (common-law wife and three minor children). That is, although determined eligible, my family has again been denied the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (“LIHEAP”) federal entitlement for the fourth or fifth straight year. Without heat during the cold winter months a theater provides temporary shelter (allowing my family opportunity to give relatives “a break” from our nightly sleep-overs).

What happened at the Waterfront? Shelton Flowers, 30, of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, was shoot three times and died later at a local hospital. Flowers had just watched the movie and got into a confrontation with three men in the bathroom. A fight ensued and spilled out into the concessions area, where Flowers was shot. Immediately, Loews Cineplex pulled the movie as a precaution. The R-rated movie is based on Curtis “50-cent” Jackson’s own life which includes drug dealing, time in prison, and getting shot nine times. Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom, Inc., removed billboards for the movie near some inner-city schools after Los Angeles area community leaders complained last month.

Wilkinsburg, just east of Pittsburgh, is a town that was once synonymous with white supremacy. It is a town that had a mere 502 black residents in 1950 when its population hit 31,000, and only 224 more black residents 10 years later. But, over the next few decades, almost like a prophecy, the black population rose to 90 percent. That is, just a little more than 200 years ago Andrew Levi Levy, Sr. named the town “Africa.”

The borough grew from Levy’s land and other plots (such as the curiously named “Pious Purchase,” and others called Rippeyville, McNairsville and Sterrett Township). It was incorporated some 118 years ago and given the name Wilkinsburg after Judge William Wilkins, the Secretary of War under President John Tyler. Nonetheless, many of its current residents still believe Wilkinsburg is no different today than it was in the 1920’s when hooded knights of the Ku Klux Klan cavorted. They say whites still control the town with black “puppets” politicians.

While other cities the size of Pittsburgh has seen a steady growth in gun crime, our gun violence trajectory appears to have exploded. Community activists, politicians and crime experts all have brainstorm strategies for stemming violence. The residents here had hoped for a comprehensive plan of action that would have addressed part of the root causes that lead our neighbors to take up guns. But, the answer given is more of the same. The local politicians have taken a page from the George W. Bush handbook (Madison Avenue to sell our reputation).

We have our three rivers, a beautiful skyline, a romantic culture district, a few of the country’s best hospitals, excellent universities, and the like. But, there’s never anything mentioned about our blighted downtown business district, the high unemployment rate of black males, increased gun violence, and the growth of conservative republican complacency.

It’s no secret any more that economic conditions for blacks in Pittsburgh and its surrounding communities is precarious. Black residents rank low compared to the national average of income, employment, and education. We have chronic problems of gang and drug violence, family breakdowns, soaring incarceration rates for young black males, and abysmally failing public schools. Wilkinsburg residents are, in fact, the best example of the 13 percent of the United States’ black population still living chained in by a Bush presidency, with our eyes riveted on the wall of the white media (Madison Avenue) in front of us, where we see nothing but shadows made by powerless leaders hiding behind us.

We could debate endlessly the role of such squeamishness in concealing and exacerbating the problem with race relations in both Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania. We could also discuss the minor role played by gangsta rap music. But, what we should consider is how right-wing conservatives, such as Senator Rick Santorum, have convinced so many blacks that shadows from behind (self-indulgent grab for expensive cars, clothes and money of black republican conservatives living in our affluent North Hills neighborhoods) are reality.

Many of the black residents of Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities believe a lot of the Madison Avenue nonsense. They believe things that are just not true. And, the Republicans gets their strength from this.

The bottom line: The root cause of the shooting at the Loews Cineplex is the apparent political cleansing of true democrats from local politics. Gerrymandering and electoral manipulation (just plan “punk ass” democrats) have left the city with zones of endemic poverty, an absence of social services, crumbling infrastructure, and appalling schools. After the radicalized poverty of black America was laid bare in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina almost everyone expected some change from white America. But quickly the Bush administration and the Republican party have lapsed back into policies to further divide America.

In the 1990’s white America built prisons to house the disproportionately black inmates it had planned to toss into jail (in the years that followed) to reassure the affluent majority it complacency with race issues. One of every eight black males between 25 and 29 years old is behind bars on any given day according to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit group that seeks to reduce incarceration rates. If this rate continues, one of three black males born today will be imprisoned at some point in their lifetimes.

A local daily “conservative right” newspaper, “The Pittsburgh Tribune Review” recently feature an article written by Walter Williams, a professor of economics at George Mason University. In the article “Ammunition for Poverty Pimps” Mr. William suggested the Census Bureau’s 2004 current Population Survey found two segments of the black community. One segment suffers only 9.9 percent poverty rate and another suffers 39.5. He surmised that one would be a lunatic if they believed white people practice discrimination. He concluded, among other things, that the only distinction between the two segments was marriage. Adding, “If today’s black family structure were what it was in 1960, the overall black poverty rate would be in or near single digits.”

I guess Mr. Williams failed to consider the proof that demonstrates blacks are denied opportunities in forms of employment, education and even human treatment. For example, on October 18, I borrowed a little more than $50 to buy a bus ticket to travel halfway across the state for an oral test given by the Pennsylvania Civil Service Commission. I was well dressed in a dark business suit and could have been easily mistaken as a black republican conservative. However, while on the elevator headed for the floor for the testing, a white woman asked me if I was allowed on the floor where the testing was being held. She suggested that because I was black, “I had no business on their elevator.” She ordered me off the elevator on a lower floor and said that she would have to call up stairs to let the staff know I was on my way.

Soon thereafter she was advised that I was scheduled for an oral test on the floor I was trying to get to. But, she still refused to compromise. She announced that I wasn’t permitted to travel through their office without an escort. Interestingly, it was additionally odd that the State required a monitor to sit in with me during my testing.

Nonetheless, getting back to the LIHEAP issue, the federal entitlement program provides waivers and reduced heating rates to low-income households. It is a federal program that assists those who cannot pay their bills. Eligible households can receive assistance through a direct payment to energy vendors that supply their fuel, or through a crisis component during weather-related emergencies. To be eligible for the program, household income cannot exceed 135 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines: $12,920 for a one-person household; $17,321 for two persons; $21,722 for three persons; $26,123 for four persons; $30,524 for five persons. For larger households, the guidelines increase by $4,401 for each additional person. Homeowners, renters (including those whose rent includes heat), roomers and subsidized housing tenants may be eligible.

I have a good understanding of the program because I was previously employed by Allegheny County as a planner and wrote grant applications for the agency that implements the program. However, in 1989, I was fired in retaliation for organizing a union. The political sub-division said I was terminated for being tardy four times in a four-month period. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (“PHRC”)identified a white female working in the same office as having been tardy 71 times during the same time period and not disciplined. But, the PHRC ruled it was bad management and not discrimination.

Ever since my termination the political-subdivision has found some way to retaliate against my household, i.e., always reaches from any available loophole to frustrate the process and deny my family the federal entitlement. In the past, I have complained to the State, federal government (FBI), courts and media to no avail.

Consider this, when the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan passed through Western Pennsylvania in September 2004, the LIHEAP offered free water heaters and furnaces. Income restrictions were waived allowing the affluent to participate. My family was denied relief because the deed to the house is recorded in our minor son’s name. But, LIHEAP allows renters and other non-homeowners to participate.

The current issue involves Duquense Light Company’s termination of our electric service immediately following the close of last year’s LIHEAP program (March 31, 2005). Although they already had $371 as a security deposit the utility company terminated service and demanded $866.01. And, despite the fact that we didn’t have any electrical service, the next month we received an unexplained bill for almost twice that amount actually due: $1,646.17. Because we are current living on “food stamps” we were forced to go without electric until the start of the 2005-2006 LIHEAP program.

As a “food stamp” participant we received our LIHEAP application early and returned it weeks before the November 7 start. In fact, as we do each year, we contacted Mr. Cornell’s office to advise him of our situation (requested that he process our application to allow the electrical service to be restored on November 7 without a 72-hour wait). Mr. Cornell didn’t respond.

Mrs. Titus, Mr. Cornell’s assistant did call on November 7, just before the closing (3:00 p.m.) of her office. She advised our application would be denied – “Duquense Light now demanded $2,600.” To memorialize the outrageous response I requested permission from Mrs. Titus to allow a “three-way” connect with the local media (Channel 4). I called Channel 4 because I was given its “gold medal” for outstanding community service in 1989. However, during the three-way conversation Ms. Titus refused to acknowledge her previous position (Duquense Light demand of $2,600). She would only say our family was being denied the federal entitlement. Immediately, I voiced a complaint to Mr. Cornell’s secretary. She suggested that I call Harrisburg (Department of Welfare’s main office). She provided me the number.

Precious Perry answered the Secretary of Welfare’s telephone. She transferred me to Ms. Richman’s chief of staff (Linda Hicks). Mrs. Hicks promised to have Christian Bowser call before five p.m.. But, it never happened. At 9:00 a.m. the next morning (November 8), I called Mr. Cornell’s office and left another message requesting a return call. I also called Mrs. Hicks again and questioned why Mrs. Bowser never called.

This time, Mrs. Hicks promised to have Ms. Bowser call before 11 a.m.. Mrs. Hicks asked us to “call back if Mrs. Bowser failed to call.” It never happened.

I did call Ms. Hicks at 12:00 noon but she rushed me off the phone. She gave me Mrs. Bowser’s telephone number and requested that I call her directly. I called the number but got Mrs. Bowser’s voice mail. I left a message explaining the situation. Mrs. Bowser never called back.

On November 9, 2005, I called Mrs. Hicks again to advise Mrs. Bowser’ failure to call. But, Mrs. Hicks quickly rushed me off the phone again. She said that she would no longer address the issue. She said “communicate with Ms. Bowser from that point.”

Thereafter, I called Mrs. Bowser’s and spoke with her secretary. I left another message. Even more frustrated now, I called the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I spoke with Mr. Tom Birdsong. I advised him of our situation and asked if he would investigate the issue in a “confidential” manner. He said that he would forward the information to Larry Walsh. I informed him that in the previous years I have communicated with Mr. Walsh but nothing was done. I even told Mr. Birdsong that I once connected a Post-Gazette columnist, Tony Norman, and allowed him to participated with a three-way telephone call (allowed him opportunity to monitor a call to prove how rude the LIHEAP program staff was acting). Mr. Birdsong said he would have Mr. Walsh call.

At approximately 4:00 p.m., I was finally able to get Mrs. Bowser on the telephone. She laughed at our situation!

After laughing, Mrs. Bowser would only reiterated Mrs. Titus position, “Duquense Light can demand funds that are not owed.” She added, “Mrs. Titus’ position is final.” She said she would have Mrs. Titus send us a rejection letter.

Immediately, I called Mr. Birdsong. But, he became rude. The conversation concluded with Mr. Birdsong saying “No one is going to write about your family’s plight.”

50 cents, during an interview on ABC’s “The View,” said he was saddened by the fatal shooting: “I feel for the victim’s family in this situation.” He added, “But you know, these weren’t kids. This was a 30-year-old man (who) had a dispute with three other guys.”

I’m older than 30. But, what is rage? How come I’m able to control my anger? Would I have controlled my anger if one of my family members was hit by a stray bullet during the shootout?

http://www.kstreetfriend.blogspot.com

Here in the USA when people riot, not very often, they get shot because we have a lot of guns and we know how to protect ourselves from the f&*%$#N a&& holes.