A Million Euros for the Roma

A member of the Front National, Yann Redekker, writing at his blog, Vox FN, quotes an article from Le Point dated October 25, 2010. It concerns the payment by France of one million euros towards the resettling of Roma gypsies in Rumania:

Minister of Immigration Eric Besson announced on Monday the implementation in 2011 of a new plan to help the Roma gypsies, who have been expelled from France, reintegrate themselves in their homeland, notably Rumania. France will launch this one-million euro program "without delay" rather than wait for a European plan "to increase the use of structural funds by the member States towards the integration of the Roma", according to a communiqué from the minister. The French program will "offer the Rumanian nationals illegally in France a veritable accompaniment to their reintegration through the perennial creation of activities and jobs." In addition, the communiqué says that "some French territorial collectivities could become involved."

Note: In other words, having expelled several thousand Roma, France is now commited to paying their expenses IN THEIR HOMELAND! But why France and not Rumania itself? An article from the Telegraph indicates that Rumania is willing and able to take care of them. And furthermore, why should French "collectivities" - meaning departments and regions - get "involved"?

The communiqué goes on:

"Eric Besson has asked the director of OFII (French Bureau of Immigration and Integration) to organize a mission in Rumania in the coming weeks, in order to finalize a partnership with the Rumanian authorities." As a result, France will place a technical assistant at the disposal of the Rumanian government as of January 1, 2011. This person will work with the secretary of State in charge of the social integration of the Roma.

The OFII financed 146 reintegration plans in Rumania amounting to 709,560 euros in 2009, and 73 others since the beginning of 2010 amounting to 354,780 euros. Between January 1 and October 17, 2010, 8,601 Rumanian nationals have been sent back home, of whom 1,154 were forced, and 7,447 were voluntary departures.

The article closes with an indication that the responsibility for reintegrating the Roma belongs to the host countries provided the Roma lived there legally for at least three months.

Note: Totally confusing. The host country is accountable only if the Roma were there legally. But what if they were there illegally? Then who is responsible? Would it not be the original homeland, such as Rumania or Bulgaria?

The issue here is that France has to bow to Brussels and pay dearly for its decision to deport the Roma. What has France gained by this expulsion? A severe black-balling by Brussels, a treasury poorer by one million euros, a responsibility to re-settle people who are not French and who were in France illegally, and the realization that there is no sovereign French State.

Here is Yann Redeker's comment:

You could fall off your chair reading this. While France is in the middle of one of the worst periods of her history, in terms of social and societal issues, the government, to please the Empire of Brussels, opens its pursestrings (and the purse is not at all full) to finance "plans" that are phony from the start, since we all know very well that the goal of the expelled Roma is to come back here as soon as they can! Deplorable!

An English-language article in the European Voice describes the assistance being given to the Roma, including (in the last paragraph) mention of France and the changes to be made made to French immigration laws "to ensure they fall in line with EU free movement rules".

What are these changes? I can't answer that precisely, but they are being made in response to threats from Brussels, specifically from Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner of Justice who spent most of September engaged in open conflict with Nicolas Sarkozy over the expulsion of the Roma, drawing comparisons with the Second World War. When he promised to change the French law, she backed off, saying she was satisfied.

An article in Ouest-France has the following:

On Friday (October 15), before the ultimatum from the EU expired, France promised to modify its national laws as a result of the controversial expulsion of the Roma gypsies. This will avoid any more fulminations from Brussels and bring closure to an exceptionally contentious debate.

The changes to the French national law mean that the European directive of 2004 on the freedom of movement of EU citizens will be transposed into French legislation.

Note: This is not news. Most European directives have to be transposed into the existing laws of the member States. In this way, sovereignty is gradually snuffed out.

The French have stated that measures assuring greater transparency will be inserted into their national law.

The 2004 directive imposed strict procedural guarantees for European citizens sent back to their homeland, such as the Rumanian and Bulgarian Roma who have been leaving France since August.

However, according to Le Figaro, Minister of Interior Brice Hortefeux had insisted that the expulsions were justified by the 2004 directive which stipulated:

"The member States can prevent freedom of movement and residency of a citizen of the EU or of a member of his family, whatever his nationality, for reasons of civil order, public safety or public health."

Did Sarkozy expel the Roma to show off how tough he is on immigration? And if so, has he been play-acting with Viviane Reding? Or did he really believe he could legally expel them, and has he learned (as if he didn't know) that France is no longer a sovereign State? The Roma are given money to leave France, but once back home in Rumania, they are still wards of the French State, thanks to the one million euro mentioned above. Furthermore, if they want to come back to France, they will be given the necessary funds for the return trip! How many times can one Rumanian gypsy receive money from France?

In the end though, it was so much easier to expel (or pretend to expel) the Roma than to expel North Africans. France is not under threat from Rumania or Bulgaria, but one can only imagine the reactions of Algeria and Morocco if a French leader ever attempted to repatriate large numbers of citizens from former French colonies.

Below, the EU Parliament displays their "displeasure" over the expulsion of the Roma. Their signs read "Equal Rights for All Citizens".


Below, a scene in the city park of Issou, where gypsies set up a large camp and left mountains of trash, early in September, disrupting the re-opening of schools. The politically unaffiliated mayor of the city, Martine Chevalier, was firm in her decision to expel them and to refuse to negotiate with them. At one point the gypsies, armed with baseball bats, threatened to attack pedestrians. After about two weeks, they moved on to another city run by Socialists. I have no more news of their fate. The story of the invasion of Issou was carried by Novopress.

Who Is After François Desouche?

I took a short break from blogging after François Desouche returned. The ultimate cause of the disappearance of FDS and another right-wing site called ILYS (I like your style) has not been determined. There is still speculation about sabotage by enemies of these sites, but nothing definite. In fact, the latest note from FDS itself is more confusing than ever.

Initially, the following explanation appeared soon after FDS returned:

Wednesday morning, very early, we realized that François Desouche had been removed from the Internet by its host. The reason given was that articles subject to copyright had been partially reprinted by FDS without authorization.

A few hours later our Facebook account was suspended.

The night before we had received an e-mail from Eric Mettout, editor in chief of l'Express.fr:

"Hello. You post some of our articles at your site, without having the basic courtesy to ask us for authorization. The latest one was on Kanye West. Please remove all of our articles from your database, and keep me informed."

Another message from him on Wednesday afternoon at Twitter:

"fdesouche was suspended the day I asked that thief not to reprint and truncate our articles on his rag. Too bad."

FDS then lists the measures it will take to prevent a repeat of this week's mishap: it will publish as few quotations as possible, it will publish a title and a link and then print only the best of its readers' comments.

Note: This struck me as odd, because FDS usually posts an excerpt and a link anyway. The full article is always available at the source. Furthermore, do those messages from l'Express sound legitimate? I guess they are, since I have no news of a denial.

You can read more about Atlanta-born rapper Kanye West at Wikipedia.

FDS gloats just a bit at the disappointment the Left must have felt when the site was restored, and wonders what exactly is wrong with being concerned about France's future and with exposing contradictions, ambiguities and errors.

A second post at FDS, dated October 28, gives more information, but it is still very inconclusive and even mysterious:

According to our information, the American host of FDS was contacted by one Gabriel Dufflot, an executive at Agence France Press (AFP), regarding twelve articles reprinted without the agency's authorization. Following this injunction, the American host suspended the site, until FDS removed the articles. This has been accomplished. The host then restored the site.

So, it was AFP that intervened to protect the copyright of its dispatches. Except that... several AFP dispatches, partially reprinted, are still at the FDS site. Why were just those twelve links singled out by the press agency?

AFP was contacted and averred that no action was ever taken against François Desouche. "If there are sites that do not respect the copyright, we have a standard procedure with letters from lawyers, warnings and a meeting," explained Erik Monjalous, business administrator for AFP. That was never the case for FDS. The person in charge of "pirating" at AFP, Luca Giovannini confirmed that there was never any legal action taken against this extreme-right website and that contacting the host would be "the last resort, something that has never been done so far."

Moreover, no one by the name of Gabriel Dufflot works for AFP. How could the American host have been duped by an individual passing himself off as part of AFP? The mystery remains, and those that hold to a conspiracy theory are enjoying themselves immensely.

I cannot answer any of these questions. First, it is l'Express that accuses FDS of printing articles without authorization - a ridiculous accusation, since FDS is a blog and does what blogs do - it prints excerpts of articles from the MSM. Then it is Agence France Press that contacts the American host - except that Agence France Press denies this completely and insists that had there been a copyright problem, a procedure would have been followed long before the site was actually suspended. The fact that Kanye West's name was mentioned may be of no importance at all, or it may mean something. Could West have been outraged by an article about him at FDS, and contacted the American host? This is wild speculation. Where is Hercule Poirot when we need him?

François Desouche Suspended

The website François Desouche is currently "off the air". The message reads: "This account has been suspended." There is speculation at Le Salon Beige that FDS did not pay its dues, in which case we can assume the site will be re-activated once the dues are paid. There is always another possibility... Only time will tell.

French readers can keep up with the news at Islamisation, Le Salon Beige, Novopress, Bivouac-Id, and Yves Daoudal.

Update: As of 4:30 a.m., the site is still shut down. There are now about 19 comments at Le Salon Beige, many of which state that if the site has really been censured it is because of the comments by FDS readers, not known for sugar-coating their speech with regard to racial and ethnic issues. Despite my distaste for many of the comments, I have always found a wealth of emotional reactions, information, humour, links and analyses among the vast array of messages that are regularly posted. These comments are a mirror of the inner thoughts of millions of Frenchmen who are not free to speak. Let's hope FDS is back soon and still "free".

Banning Herbal Remedies

I need more information on this before I reach for my gun unnecessarily. According to Novopress (and a slew of articles in English all over the Internet), the European Union will ban all plant-based medications as of April 2011! What is this about? I don't follow the daily goings-on of the EU, but I happened to see this and my eyes popped.

Here is the article from Novopress:

In five months, practically all plant-based preparations, as well as the right of herbalists to prescribe them, will be forbidden in the European Union. This is a victory of the multinational pharmaceutical industry over safer and traditional medicines.

It's the result of European Directive 2004/24/CE that modifies Directive 2001/83/CE for products that have as their base traditional medicinal plants (THMPD), adopted on March 31, 2004 and slated to go into effect next April 1. The text regulates the use of plant-based products, traditionally known for their health benefits, which were formerly readily available.

The directive stipulates that all plant-based products will henceforth be subject to the same procedures as medicines. And little does it matter that a plant has been in common use for thousands of years. These procedures are particularly costly - according to the estimates, the cost will vary from 90,000 to 140,000 euros per plant. Most producers of medicinal plants will find this cost impossible to bear.

Here we have a decision where health is clearly not the main objective. The main objective is to protect the world of free trade by favoring Big Pharma and Agribusiness.

Novopress wonders if they will next ban tomatoes grown in our own gardens.

In America it has been a long and continuous struggle to keep herbal medications on the market. Politicians are frequently bombarded with demands from their constituents to vote against any bill that would subject herbs to government regulation. So far, it's been a close call, but now with the EU lowering the boom, it may be only a matter of time before we face the same ordeal.

I am very much in favor of herbal medicine as an OPTION, not as something forced on you. People are different, and each person reacts differently to different herbs. Much of alternative medicine is herbal based. I take a compound that contains plants - marigold, tomato, carrots, black berries, etc... for my eyes. So far I do not have macular degeneration or glaucoma. I do have cataracts, but the product does not claim to prevent cataracts. I also take a "super food" - a powder containing a multitude of herbs and vegetables, that provides some basic vitamins and minerals. Recently I took milk thistle and artichokes as a liver cleanse. And now I take an iron supplement made from beets.

The herbal remedy business has to regulate itself without interference from the FDA, because ultimately federal regulation will kill the herbalists for reasons described above. We will have to get prescriptions for these products, for one thing, and often FDA regulations insist on certain additives and molecular manipulation that result in a far worse product than the one made by a reputable vitamin/herbal manufacturer. I stress REPUTABLE, because herbal companies, like others, can cut corners and sell a corrupted product.

Millions of people in America use alternative medicine, if not exclusively, as a complement to regular therapies. Millions of people in America suffer terrible (sometimes fatal) drug reactions and allergic reactions to prescription drugs. Millions of people in America are addicted to prescription drugs. So the alternative therapies are a very user-friendly and welcome option. They are not for everybody and they are certainly not for every illness. But they should be available without hassle.

One of the world's most famous herbalists is a Frenchman named Maurice Mességué:



Maurice Mességué (born 14 December 1921, in Colayrac-Saint-Cirq) is a well-known French herbalist and author of several best-selling books on herbal medicine and cooking with herbs. In his autobiography he claims to have treated, among others, Winston Churchill, President Herriot of France, All Khan, King Farouk, Jean Cocteau, Chancellor Adenauer of Germany, and the future Pope John XXIII.

In 1971, he was elected the Mayor of the town of Fleurance.

Mességué practiced a form of herbalism passed down through his family. Some of the practices involve, among other things, soaking the patient's feet in a strong decoction of locally gathered herbs. (Source: Amaluxherbal)

His autobiography is entitled Of People and Plants.

Maurice Mességué is mentioned in many of the books I own on herbs and herbal medicine. I wonder what his thoughts are on this new freedom-destroying directive from the loathsome European Union.

The photo of Maurice Mességué is from Babelio.

Read through this English-language article for information on petitions and contacts.

Note: I hope it's clear that I am not encouraging anyone to act foolishly. Taking herbs requires knowledge, either from an herbalist, a good set of text books, friends with direct experience or doctors who practice integrative medicine. I have done a fair amount of experimenting on my own, but that is me. I don't expect anyone to imitate me. I am not a doctor or a scientist. I intuitively felt that natural alternatives to prescription drugs were a benefit, if the prescription drug caused unbearable side-effects or was ineffective. But the natural way is not always effective either, so the patient has to try more than one option.

My feelings on herbs like medical marijuana are very mixed. People high on pot can be a danger to others. This is not true of chamomille or milk thistle or artichokes or beets or grape seeds, etc... Therefore some regulation is necessary. But to legalize medical marijuana may make the problem worse, since there will be no way of knowing for sure that the "patient" really needs it. The doctor prescribing it may become almost an accomplice, just as doctors are who prescribe large doses of tranquilizers and uppers and downers, etc... On the other hand, medical marijuana may really relieve pain in cancer patients. I don't know enough about this...

Quick update: Here is another English-language article dated September 12. It covers the same material and adds that it's a done deal if there is no major protest between now and April.

Counter-Demonstrations

A short article in Novopress (local Lyons edition) confirms again that the vast majority of rioters were immigrants, primarily North Africans. The affirmation was based on another article in Le Progrès:

Who are the troublemakers that have been swarming throughout Lyons since last Tuesday? In most cases, until last night (Thursday October 21, when the crowds were more mixed) they were young persons of North African origin, 14 to 18 years of age. Among those who were arrested, some were already known to the police, others not at all. Most of them - but not all - were enrolled in trade schools in the Lyons region. A spokesman for a teachers' union said that there was "a much heavier atmosphere in the schools than in previous years due to reforms that created organization problems. The pupils felt the tension in the teachers and it rebounded onto them." The agitators were not only males. All observers were struck by the great number of girls present in the streets. (...)

Novopress adds a quote from Le Parisien:

In a communiqué, Philippe Meunier, the UMP deputy from the department of Rhône said he favored:

"(...) expulsion from France of vandals of foreign nationalities (...) We are faced with predators whose only objective is to destroy, pillage and attack the French population."

He also recommended "severe punishment for these criminals."

Note: He recommends expulsion only of those who have foreign nationalities. Those who are naturalized French citizens can, however, be stripped of their citizenship, though that is not very likely to happen.

As far as I know the deputy did not recommend that the borders be sealed or that all immigration stop.

In retaliation for the pillaging of the city by the ghetto youth, the members of the Bloc Identitaire of Lyons decided to stage their own counter-demonstration on October 22. According to Novopress (the news agency for the Bloc Identitaire):

Four hundred young residents of Lyons gathered to express their exasperation: their patience had run out. They paraded in the streets of la Presqu'ile, chanting things like "La racaille, t'es foutue, les Lyonnais sont dans la rue" or "Maîtres chez nous"! for about an hour.

Note: Roughly translated the slogans said, "Thugs, you are washed up, the people of Lyons are in the streets" and "Masters in our house".

La Presqu'ile is an historic quarter of the city.

According to the police, 328 of the demonstrators were arrested without incident. Surprisingly, the proportion is much greater than among the vandals. Is it better to be a vandal? Those arrested were taken to the Marius-Berliet police headquarters in a special convoy of eight buses, and were released just before 9:00 p.m. after an identity check.

This spontaneous rally was supported by the merchants and citizens of Lyons, traumatized by the violent vandalism and destruction by gangs of thugs while the demonstrations against retirement reform were going on. If calm is not restored in the city streets, other demonstrations by the Bloc Identitaire are likely to be organized.

Note: A last-minute addition to the article, dated October 25, gives this information:

Out of 328 arrested, 12 were considered to be the leaders of this demonstration. They were not released but held for 43 hours in custody. And their homes were searched! Even though the demonstrations took place in the greatest calm.

Below, a two-minute video of the counter-demonstration. They sing the Marseillaise, the police watch them, then at the very end the police seem to be rushing one of them. The reason for this action is not clear.



I say "bravo" to the Bloc Identitaire. They may be a small group, but they are resolute in their determination to represent the oppressed ethnic French population. They make noise, and the old saying: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" hopefully applies here.

Renaud Camus on the Riots

Writer Renaud Camus has no doubts about the nature of the riots. This communiqué #1117 is from his website. He entitles it "The War in Lyons":

(We) express our exasperation with the mendacious obstinacy - even if it is by omission - of the media, who continue to speak of the very grave events in Lyons, without ever mentioning their essentially and almost exclusively ethnic nature, except through the few cryptic allusions that have become de rigueur. The scenes of devastation are, in truth, one more manifestation, and one of the most violent, of the hateful aggression of counter-colonizing forces against the indigenous population and its property.

It is in complete conformity with the warrior tradition of conquerers that the fight for territory takes on a systematic character of pillage and razzias, which are not separable, in their minds, from military actions. On the contrary, they constitute one of the fundamental aspects of the conflict.

Thus, for a long time now, any traveler could attest to the fact that the historic center of Lyons, capital of the Gauls and capital of the Resistance, was an occupied zone, at least during the day and at ground level. There's nothing surprising, except of course for journalists nourished daily on the blinding milk of organic sociology, that this de facto occupation turns into a true conquest at the first opportunity.

(We) consider that one of the most depressing things about the current situation, for the indigenous people, is that the ruin and sack of their country are taking place in silence - from the media, from those entrusted with writing history - without ever being designated, named or recognized. Worse still, it is happening amidst the debilitating babble of deceiving words, invented not to be intelligible, forged not to be shown, cleverly dressed up to hide the truth and to put you to sleep.

Lyons - What Really Happened?

No one seem to know for sure. And this applies to the other cities as well. Was this rioting staged? Semi-staged? Spontaneous? Was the bulk of the damage done by the "young persons" of the ghettos, or by the high-school students protesting retirement reform? What do 16-year-olds know or care about retirement reform? The message boards are full of speculation. Was this set up by Sarkozy, so that he can appear to be cracking down on crime? Or to gain support for his social reforms? Or to destabilize? But France is already destabilized, so what is the point? Possibly to frighten people into rallying behind Sarkozy simply because he is a known quantity.

I found this event confusing, and difficult to encapsulate accurately.

I have received via e-mail some links that may be of interest to those who read French. One of them is comment #770 by a François Desouche reader named Herr Satz:

In the coming days, we might witness an increase in acts of violence alongside these demonstrations. Our "young persons" have tasted blood, and now want more, while the powers that be allow the situation to become more poisonous (deliberately?).

It's difficult to determine the political tactics behind this obvious laxness.

While the high-school movement will predictably decline on its own with the arrival of the vacation period, and the kids with blond hair will soon return to the warmth of their homes with Mom and Dad and their video games, nothing indicates that our good old "vandals" will not continue on their rampage.

With the high schools closed for vacation, the police, deprived of all legitimacy, could then intervene should our brave young Arabs continue to go shopping.

Note: The above is barely a translation. He does not say "Arabs", he says "pépites", which can mean a gold nuggets, or chocolate chips. Since the French have been told to think of immigrants as a great good fortune for the country, possibly Herr Satz is referring to them as gold nuggets (sarcastically, of course). If, however, there is a reference to skin color - brown, or at least tawny, then he could be calling them chocolate chips (facetiously, of course). As for "going shopping", he uses the expression "faire leur souk" - to go to the souk, referring to the pillage of shops and the theft of merchandise. And why do the police no longer have legitimacy? Because without ethnic French kids to arrest, they are powerless. They are presumably under orders not to harm the Arabs (or whoever the "young persons" happen to be - Arab, Berber, black, etc...)

If a French reader would like to help me out with the translation, please do.

Note: Please see the first reader's comment below for a clarification of "pépites".

Herr Satz goes on:

A small eruption of violence just before the vacation would be a very good strategy for Sarkozy: he would discreetly ask the police to do everything in their power, on Friday afternoon (October 22), to trigger a little bit of pillaging by the "CPF" (i.e., the immigrants), and to set the suburbs on fire, at the very moment when the real young people (i.e., the white French students) have temporarily put aside their demands while they enjoy their vacation.

Note: CPF = "chance pour la France". The phrase was coined by someone in Chirac's administration to refer to the great good fortune that immigration represented for France. It is constantly used ironically by the bloggers.

The downtown areas will be freed, no radical chic young whites wearing hoods will be mingling with the jihadists, and everything will be done to restore a healthy political scene in anticipation of a ministerial shake-up oriented clearly towards the Right.

But Herr Satz isn't sure of his own speculations:

However, I wouldn't bet on this scenario, because right now there's only a 50-50 chance for it to come true. For one thing, Sarko does not have the "cojones" to pull off a stunt like this, but on the other hand, his popularity rating went up sharply after the riots of 2005, and provoking new ones could help him regain some lost ground.

It's hard to know what will happen, but in two days we will be set.

Note: La Toussaint (All Saints' Day) vacation begins on Saturday October 23 and ends on Thursday November 4. So this weekend we will know if what he says has any merit. The radio has been announcing all day (Thursday and Friday) that riots are going on still in Lyons and other cities.

Below, a confrontation between police and white French students.


Turning to another website, Lyon Capitale, an article dated October 19 gives many details of what actually happened in Lyons, plus it provides several photos that prove that this was urban violence of great magnitude:

Between 18,000 and 45,000 persons headed for Place Bellecour on Tuesday october 20, where the youth confronted the riot police. Six cars were burned and 21 others turned upside down. Nine stores were pillaged. Seventy-four persons were arrested by the police.

Note: Discrepancies in the figures are normal - the organizers inflate the numbers, the police always give smaller figures.

The article then gives a blow-by-blow account of the happenings of the day, in reverse chronological order.

The demonstrators against retirement reform were of two types: the adult members of the labor unions and the high-school students who must have been incited to join in. In addition there were the "casseurs" - the vandals from the ghettos who are always ready to destroy property and fill their pockets with stolen cell phones, wallets, camcorders, jewelry, etc...

Incidents and destruction of property took place all morning. The riot police used tear gas in large quantity. Almost 1000 young persons - mainly high-schoolers, confronted the police. (From reading this account, it seems that the face-to-face encounters were between police and high-school students, not between police and immigrants.)

The police estimated that there were 18,000 anti-reform demonstrators, including 4000 high-school and university students.

At 1:25, the vice president of the Regional Council took the microphone from the CGT labor union. He asked the demonstrators not to give in "to the provocations that are coming from all directions". He exhorted the union members to place themselves between the high-schoolers and the police. "Of course, there are stones thrown, but by responding with tear gas, the riot police agitate everybody. It's provocation," affirmed a delegate of the CGT.

At 6:20 the Communist deputy from the department of the Rhône, André Gerin, strongly condemned "the criminal acts" that had been committed in Lyons all during the day:

"Vandals, thugs, gangs, organize criminal acts. They destroy, they burn for no reason but to discredit, ruin and break the popularity of peaceful demonstrations. They want to turn public opinion around. It's a windfall for the government."

Note: An interesting comment, because it implies that Sarkozy has everything to gain from the violence. The unions are discredited, and he will have his reforms. But this means that the real criminal is Sarkozy who benefits from this mass destruction. The high-schoolers will soon forget all this, and the vandals "recruited" from the ghettos will get a lot of freebies.

Or is that just too cynical? Note that André Gerin, though a Communist, has been outspoken against the burka, and on other similar issues seems to have a streak of patriotism in him.

By 7:50 in the evening there had been 75 arrests in Lyons. The prefect of the Rhône, Jacques Gérault, reacted vigorously: "For the first time, we have had to deal with the violent actions of almost 1300 vandals. Twenty-one cars were overturned, eight businesses damaged, nine stores pillaged. One hundred seventy persons were arrested since last Thursday (October 14) including 74 today (one third of these were known to the police). They are thugs from the suburbs who take advantage of the situation."

Jacques Gérault also launched an appeal to parents "that the young people do not allow themselves to be snatched up by a movement that can manipulate them."

Note: Which "young people" is he referring to? The white students, I should think...

The director of public safety for the department, Albert Doutre, said that "another limit had been crossed. We had to deal with behavior that was like urban guerilla warfare. The destruction in the streets was systematic.We had to use the GIPN," he added.


Note: The GIPN are special police forces ready to intervene if necessary 24/7.

For a slide show, click here.

Here is one comment from a Lyon Capitale reader who was there:

I was witness to a great many of these scenes, since I was a demonstrator. I can already say one thing: the persons I saw being arrested were certainly not vandals. And you can see it on the videos. They were just high school students. The riot police charged at everybody, except the vandals. It's scandalous. It was all the fault of the police. They guided the vandals, I'm sorry but that's my feeling.

Yesterday evening about 8:00 p.m. I walked through Lyons, towards Carnot, Bellecour and Hotel de Ville. The city was little by little dressing its wounds.

I saw many things, things I had never seen before with my own eyes, I'm overwhelmed, shocked by the attitude of the riot police, etc... I think, as do many others, that the whole thing was set up, that the vandals were guided. Why? To frighten the population and the demonstrators. But the population is not getting over its anger, and this violence will engender another. For strategic purposes...

Thanks to the government, thanks to the media, for having brought a bazar to France. Thanks to those manipulated, thanks to all. The ancients used to say: it will end badly for some...

Note: "Bazar" refers to a souk. It can also mean chaos.

The New York Times has a lengthy article that describes the event as a major confrontation between the government and the unions, in which the high-school students are performing the requisite rite of passage that street demonstrations offer. The article has very little to say about violence by immigrants.

Below, destroying cars:


Below, a photo from the NYT:



As I post, I saw this short item in Lyon Capitale, dated October 22, announcing that he police have arrested at least 35 members of the "extreme-right". As before, when they arrested the students, they seem to be acting under orders to arrest certain people, and not others. But more clarification of this is needed:

A police van for 35 people was taken to Ampère. As with the students yesterday, the activists ("militants") of the extreme-right have been sent to the police headquarters. The police commissioner in charge of operations explained to our reporter that he had already checked this group of "140 individuals" at Quai Rambaud, at 3:00 p.m. "If I have to check you a second time, I'll take you into custody for the crime of assembling", he warned them. A warning was not enough, and the police blocked 125 activists at place Ampère. A second van has just arrived and a third one is on its way. About twenty activists are still wandering about in the neighborhood, escaping from the police.

Note the tone of the last sentence: as if the greatest danger were a few right-wingers wandering about.

On a similar note, the police arrested eight persons said to belong to "an anarchist movement". They had been carrying iron bars.

Rioting in Lyons - Videos

Those interested in videos of the rioting in Lyons and Paris can turn to François Desouche. Below, one of the videos - about two minutes in length - that captures the noise and chaos of the disruption. The high-school students were marching in protest against the retirement reform bill, when they were invaded by those who wait for such opportunities. There were many arrests and about twenty-five persons were slightly injured. The last few seconds of the video show similar violence in Nanterre, near Paris.

Guerilla Warfare in Lyons

The following appears at today's edition of Novopress. You should know that there have been student demonstrations in France over the government's plans to reform retirement. These demonstrations, as so often happens, provided a good excuse for gangs to move in and create mayhem:

Lyons is in a state of shock. Multicultural gangs taking advantage of demonstrations by high school students protesting the plan to reform retirement, set fire to the streets of the downtown area and caused blood to flow. Cars, trash cans, trucks, city property, have all been destroyed. Many businesses were attacked. Faced with urban warfare of this magnitude, the mayor of Lyons, Gérard Collomb, on a trip to Asia, announced his decision to return to his city by Wednesday morning, due to this emergency.

In the neighborhood of Croix-Rousse, in the 1st, 7th, and 8th arrondissements, there were multiple incidents. In Lyons, as in the Défense area of Paris, Foot Locker stores, that sell articles coveted by the thugs of the ghettos, were targeted by the rioters. The CNIT (center for new initiatives and trends) was partially closed as a security measure.

"Under the cobblestones, the beach", was the dream of the rioters of 1968. In 2010, under the cobblestones, the thugs?

According to LCI, about sixty hooded thugs with iron bars went in the direction of Nanterre after tearing up the Foot Locker store in the Défense sector of Paris:

"There was some damage," explained the assistant manager of Foot Locker, "but our security guard intervened quickly. The young persons destroyed most notably the store windows, the mannequins and the metal curtain protecting the store", which remained closed today (Tuesday) while damage was being assessed. "They were young little guys wearing hoods who ran away when we intervened; they weren't very mean, and I did not see any iron bars," he said, toning down the story.

Note: I will try to have more later.

Candidate Bardot?

Brigitte Bardot has written yet another letter to Nicolas Sarkozy. I'll never know why, but she must feel that by bringing him face to face with his failures she can trigger a change. As always with Bardot, this is about the suffering of animals ritually slaughtered to produce halal meat - not just for Muslims as we now know - but for all of France (and for much of the world). A previous letter in which she berated him and his ministers for their indifference and cowardice was posted at GalliaWatch in July. Here is her latest reprimand, taken from her website, in which she announces her intention to run for president of France in 2012!

Mr. President,

I have to admit that you are incapable of doing what you say you will do and of keeping your promises. It's appalling, scandalous, but that's the way it is!

On December 22, 2006, you wrote to me: "I want the halal slaughterhouses to begin now, concretely and rapidly, to implement a generalized procedure that stuns the animal before slaughter." You used even stronger language on September 27, 2007, at Elysée Palace, when you assured me that it was your job to "definitively impose" the stunning of animals during Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter.

Not only have you done nothing, but your successive interior ministers made the decision for you by firmly opposing a generalized stunning of animals before bleeding them.

Because of you, in our slaughterhouses the animals' throats are slit while they are conscious. Their throat is cut, but they can still feel pain until they lose consciousness... These barbaric procedures are unworthy and unacceptable in our so-called civilized era!

Mr. President, you do not keep your word, it's a fact, everyone knows it, but what makes it even worse is that you refuse to tell the truth to your fellow citizens.

Today, the derogation allowing for slaughter without stunning is no longer an exception "limited" to ritual slaughter, but a general rule, even though the French people do not know they are consuming meat produced from cruel slaughtering methods. The European Union is concerned about this development that affects our country, and it is looking into labeling that would specify the method of slaughter.

Note: This implies that the E.U., which is very pro-Muslim and pro-halal, finds nonetheless that the French have gone too far in making halal the standard for everyone.

Your Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux declared that he would oppose this measure of transparency for the consumer. His staffers are going even further, since they are now working on a "halal referential", that would ban all forms of anesthesia for animals. The last straw is that the Muslim authorities did not ask for this. They acknowledge that there is nothing in their sacred texts that forbids the stunning of an animal before the blood-letting. Here, we have gone far beyond collaboration and this is certainly not helping to make our nation great!

Since you do the opposite of what you say, and since your ministers hide the truth from the French people, I am going to study the proposal from the "Alliance Ecologiste Indépendante" that I become their candidate in the 2012 presidential election... Somebody's voice must be heard in defense of the animals, since nobody, on the Right or Left, gives a damn!

I no longer have faith in you, but you could limit the damage by reminding your interior minister that France is a secular country. This would be a lesser evil.

Brigitte Bardot

If you click the link provided above to her website, you will see graphic images. At the bottom of the page is a link to her letter in PDF format.

The leaders of the AEI (Alliance Ecologiste Indépendante) are denying that they asked Bardot to be their candidate. Antoine Waechter, one of the two party chairmen declared:

"I don't know what misunderstanding could have led to such a supposition. The question was never raised by the offices of the AEI, and no measures regarding BB were ever submitted to me. (...) Mme Bardot's action is respectable, but not sufficient to warrant a presidential campaign."

And yet, according to Au Feminin:

Last September Mr. Waechter had written a letter to BB. A copy was sent to Agence France Press, and the least one can say is that it was not indifferent to the fame and the commitment of the former sex symbol:

"We will present candidates throughout the country in the 2012 legislative election, and we're looking for the best person to represent us in the 2012 presidential election. We have you in mind, and would like to discuss it with you."

Caught in the act of lying, Mr. Antoine Waechter! But why?

Note: I cannot answer the question. If she is telling the truth, and it appears she is, it could be the AEI is angry that she broke the news instead of the party itself. But she did not say she was a candidate; she only said that she would study their proposal. So I don't see why the AEI is backing off.

Var Matin published an interview with Bardot following her announcement to consider the offer from AEI. It is too long to translate, but here are a couple of passages:

- What got into you?

- My decision to be the AEI candidate in 2012 is above all aimed at stirring up the hornets' nest. Sarkozy is incapable of doing what he says, of keeping his promises. Somebody has to be heard. To think that I have to go into politics that I hate... but that's how laws are passed. The influence of my Foundation is unfortunately not enough.

- Isn't it an anachronism to find you in the camp of the ecologists, when everyone expects you to be on the side of the "hard" Right?

- You can say that I am neither on the Right or the Left, but on the side of the animals and of nature. I don't care a fig about the rest!

- Seriously, will you see this through?

- As I said, I'm thinking about it... Do you realize that for thirty-seven years I have been looking after the animals, and there is still no improvement. I'm 76, and I've had it. I'm not going to live fifty more years, so I really must get things moving! The politicians must react. Generally, I first write them a letter, then I insult them. Now I've decided to run (laughter).

- You thanked Carla Bruni for her position on furs. Will she extend a friendly hand to you?

- Pffft... No. Last June I sent her the first Bardot hand-bag made by Lancel. Two and a half months went by before she deigned to thank me. And it was only because I spoke about her lack of politeness to the media. I expect nothing from her, any more than from her husband who is happier taking care of the Roma than the animals.

Note: Bardot's candidacy, if it materializes, will be purely symbolic. It will be the anti-halal ticket, and as such it has much importance, but I doubt that she will make much of a dent in the voting results. We don't know what her position is on other issues, if indeed she has a position on any issue besides animal welfare. Will she come out against immigration, against public money being used to build mosques, against subsidies and medical care for immigrants? In the interview above she said she had no interest in anything but the animals. Does she realize that the lot of the French people has to improve before the animals can really be helped? The people have to regain pride in their country, their farms, their countryside, their culinary traditions, before they can give compassion to the animals. Children have to be properly cared for and educated, so that they grow up with a sense of responsibility towards the animals and nature. A lot of work has to be accomplished before halal becomes a dim memory.

In the name of "compassion", the French opened their borders to Muslims. The animals are paying the price for this "compassion" in suffering and blood. The French people are, in a manner of speaking, also being bled, as their numbers dwindle in favor of the "new blood" of immigrants.

The ritual slaughter thus becomes symbolic of the greater destruction of an entire civilization.

The Pride of the Republic

In September, when schools re-opened, Nicolas Sarkozy made a trip to Marly-le-Roy, in the department of Yvelines, west of Paris. The school he visited is called an "internat d'excellence". We would call it a magnet school for gifted children. An "internat" is a boarding school, something that is still much more common in France than in the U.S.

Many of the students were children of immigrants. The president laid it on thick. But this is what we had to do in the public schools beginning way back in the late 60's when the demographics (to put it gently) began to change. Flatter them, pander to them, build up their self-esteem, and in so doing, rob them of any realistic self-analysis, deprive them of the intense satisfaction that only comes with achievement after hard work and self doubts, relieve them of all fear of failure, thus making the whole operation invalid from the outset. However, the topic of educational leveling is more complicated than that, and will wait for another time.

The JDD (Journal du Dimanche) had this account:

Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to show that he was not a "rich man's president". While visiting a new magnet school reserved for meritorious youngsters from under-privileged environments, he lauded the merits of this type of establishment. "This is a project that is dear to my heart," he assured them. For him it is about giving more opportunities to "children of the neighborhoods" since they are the "pride of the Republic". Created as part of Fadela Amara's plan called "espoirs banlieues" (hope for the suburbs), the magnet schools are just one government measure for developing social diversity in the preparatory classes for the "grandes écoles".

Note: The "grandes écoles" are schools of higher learning, equivalent to universities, but often considered to be academically superior. The graduates of these schools, who must pass a test in order to be accepted, are usually assured a position somewhere in the vast French network of government employment.

Fadela Amara, born in France, of Algerian origin, is Sarkozy's minister of urban policies, a position that is now under the Ministry of Labor, Social Relations and the Family.

In a speech strongly focussed on equality, the occupant of Elysée Palace proved himself to be very ambitious: "This is a place for all young people who want to pull themselves up, who want to succeed and who make an effort. We are going to give them an extra opportunity," promised the president. "You should be proud of your background," he declared to pupils most of whom were from immigrant families. "I want all this talk about poverty, fate, and giving up which associates origins and neighborhood with failure, to stop (...) A critical step in this process will take place here," he reassured them.

When schools re-opened, eleven magnet schools also opened their doors, in addition to the one in Sourdun (Seine-et-Marne), that has been operating for a year. Eventually the government plans to recruit up to 20,000 middle-school, high-school and university students. "Equality is not giving the same thing to everybody, it's giving more to those who have less", Nicolas Sarkozy, the ardent defender of meritocracy, said in summary. The 139 pupils of Marly-le-Roi, who came from Trappes, Villiers-le-Bel, Etampes, and other cities in the Parisian region, were chosen from 383 candidates.

The president also spoke of the ERS (establishments of social re-insertion), the first of which is to be inaugurated on Monday September 13. Young people, "who have experienced total failure in the regular educational system" will be sent there. About twenty of these ERS are to be created. Their mission will be to prepare these young persons for a "re-introduction into the educational system." If the experiment works, Nicolas Sarkozy is hoping that one ERS will be implanted into every school district. (...)

Note: If the students in these ERS have totally failed in the regular system, it is most likely because of their conduct (which, in turn, is related to a refusal to integrate into an alien culture, and to a low level of intelligence to begin with). In this case, the ERS is actually comparable to what we call a "boot camp" - a special school for teen-age thugs, truants, and general disrupters of order. Probably one IS needed in every school district.

The photo shows Sarkozy with a few of the lucky ones. Notice that they are all girls. This may be to show off that there is no gender bias, but more likely it is a reflection of the reality of inner-city schools. Most students are girls. The boys are in boot camps, in jail, or not in school at all. It is also possible that more girls are being born. I don't know if there are statistics on this, but there were many more girls than boys in my school district after 1968, and as time went on, the situation worsened. Girls filled most classes, with the boys in a tiny minority. At graduation, long lines of girls, short lines of boys, received their diplomas.

Note too, the blissful look on the face of the tall man in the background. Is he a politician? The school principal? No matter, he has the proud look of a new father. The red-haired woman, clearly moved by the occasion, looks like Fadela Amara.

One final comment: The French are clearly imitating us. We have managed to destroy our once-efficient public school system by implementing a curriculum based on liberal ideologies. Included in this vast chaotic failure are the magnet schools, that attracted as many bad students as good ones, and eventually wiped out the better ones. The predictable outcome of mixing the bad with the good is that the good will quickly disappear. Then everyone will be bad, and equality will have been achieved. That's how it's done, folks.

Posting Issues

I've become aware that the archive feature of Blogger does not operate satisfactorily. When you click a month and year in the right margin, you are supposed to get a full and complete list of all the articles for that time period. Instead you get a partial list. Some, but not all, of the missing articles may appear in the previous month's listing. This means that some articles are not available anywhere in the archives unless you happen to know the perma-link. While most readers don't make extensive use of the archives, everyone should have access to all articles. This is a new problem since years ago it did not happen. It could be an issue of pagination. It could be that my articles are too long. But I still feel that everyone should have easy, obstacle-free access to all articles. The same problem exists with the so-called "labels". You should get a complete list of all articles that carry a certain label, but often it is only a partial list. I have, for example, hundreds of articles labeled Nicolas Sarkozy and Jean-Marie Le Pen. Apparently Blogger sets limitations on such things.

On a different note, recently I received some comments complaining that François Desouche was "off the air". However, when I checked, the problem had been resolved. I did not post those comments; however, if things like this happen, I like to be made aware as soon as possible. FDS has had many difficulties in the past, but always manages to come back.

René Galinier - Not Quite Free

René Galinier is only half-free. He has been released from prison on the condition that he not return to his home in Nissan-lez-Enserune. According to an article at the website devoted to his case:

(...) A strict judicial surveillance and the forbiddance of a return to his home in Nissan are the two conditions for his release. This is a humiliation for this sick man and it places him in the worst psychological state, preventing him from preparing his defense in a trial that shouldn't be taking place at all, since it is certain that a jury will acquit him. He is being charged with attempted voluntary homicide; the case is likely to be tried by a criminal court.

The author of the article then adds that the demonstrations set for October 16 in 50 cities have been suspended. Instead they will wait to see if impartiality gets the upper hand over judicial harassment, and if not, there will be a major demonstration in November at Béziers - site of the prison where he spent two months.

Readers' comments are divided over whether or not they should continue to put pressure on the courts, or just wait. Waiting wins out. René Galinier is safe somewhere (his exact whereabouts are not known) and will probably benefit from some peace and quiet.

I'm surprised at the charge of "attempted voluntary homicide". Even if one feels he acted rashly, there was no premeditated intent to kill anyone. He was acting in self-defense. In America voluntary homicide is called "first-degree murder", and is a capital crime. Had he actually killed the girls, we might charge him with second-degree murder or with manslaughter, but we could not charge first-degree murder because there was no "malice aforethought". The French courts are going to have to prove INTENT. He did not set out to kill anyone that night. His home was broken into. He could have invited the two girls in for tea, yes that's true, but his natural and normal instincts were to grab a gun and shoot. And, as a reader reminds us, he DID call the police first.

The only case the court has is one of "racism" because of a remark he made: "sale race" (dirty race). They may try to convince the jury that this remark proves he had a pre-existing prejudice that predisposed him to commit murder. An argument that is weak as water. He needs a very good lawyer. The real question remains unanswered: Will the two culprits be brought to trial as well? Or is Galinier just being used by the justice system as a kind of scapegoat, in order to avoid any trouble with the gypsies? They cannot release him to go home, because he may be killed. They cannot arrest the two girls because violence may break out. So Galinier is a diversion, until they figure out what to do.

Sarkozy the Catholic

On Friday Nicolas Sarkozy paid a visit to Pope Benedict in Rome. The hypocrisy behind such a journey was wryly noted by many critics from different perspectives - the "laïcards" (secularists) at Riposte Laïque believe he disgraced France by making the sign of the cross four times and reciting the Pater Noster, something the head of a country where "laïcité" reigns supreme must never do (they say). Others, closer to Catholicism, feel his trip was pure publicity designed to win over disgruntled Catholic voters who are now sorry they voted for him in 2007. Still others are critical of his unexpected request for a rosary from the Pope, to give as a gift to his wife's grand-niece. Does one ask the Pope for a gift? I don't know, but it would never occur to me to do it. The Pope graciously gave him the rosary, probably feeling it was better to give it than refuse. Who knows, it may bring solace to the girl. And France could use another rosary.

In an analysis of Sarkozy's latest electoral manipulations, Yves Daoudal, writing in his weekly journal Daoudal Hebdo #98, enumerates some of the feats Sarkozy is performing in his bid to be re-elected in 2012. First, he pretends to deport the Roma gypsies. Yes, they are deported, but if they so choose, they can return to France after their "vacation" in Rumania.

Then he turns to "Sarko the Catholic":

On a visit to Vézelay he rhapsodized over the Christian heritage of France, announced he would order restoration work to be done on Vézelay and, speaking of the "the long mantle of churches, basilicas and cathedrals on our territory," misquoted a line from an 11th century monk. The actual line reads: "You would have thought that when the world shook itself, it threw off its old clothes in order to cover itself in a white vestment of churches."

The mantle covering France is therefore white, not long. But Sarkozy probably finds the mantle a bit too long...

Daoudal then relates that while in Vézelay, Sarkozy attended a screening of the movie "Des hommes et des dieux" (Of Gods and Men), about the monks of Tibéhirine in Algeria, who were killed in still unexplained circumstances. Among other comments made by the president, who had visited Tibéhirine when he was still Interior Minister, this one stands out:

"In Tibéhirine, I understood the invincible strength of love and true meaning of the word 'tolerance.'"

And he did not fail to add that "brother Christian de Chergé does honor to secular and republican France." (sic)

Finally the visit to the Pope:

This is the crowning achievement of all that preceded it and set the stage for this great event. On September 8, Nicolas Sarkozy announced he was going to meet Benedict XVI. The Vatican spokesman drily responded to journalists: "If the French president has a request, it will be taken into consideration, according to the usual procedure." The uncouth man then condescended to make an official request. And, on September 28, the Vatican announced an October 8 meeting. Since I am writing this on October 6, I don't know what our president will say. But I'm sure it will be beautiful and very Catholic. Unfortunately, we won't have a photo of him with the world's most beautiful woman: for the obvious reason that the third wife of the twice-divorced president is not going on this trip...

Now, of course, we all know what Sarkozy said and did. Here is a short adaptation of the account of the trip from JDD:

Sobriety, serenity and spirituality. For his second visit to the Vatican, Nicolas Sarkozy avoided the errors in protocol of December 2007, when he was accompanied by a vulgar comedian named Jean-Marie Bigard, and by his wife Carla Bruni. The couple had not been married in a church.

Nicolas Sarkozy entered the room known as the "Little Throne Room" where a slightly tense Benedict XVI awaited him. "Hello, Mr. President", said the Pope, warmly shaking his hand. Nicolas Sarkozy answered: "I am very happy to see you once again". Benedict recalled his fond memories of his 2008 trip to France. "It is France that has a wonderful memory of your visit. It was a great success," complimented Sarkozy who was more and more relaxed. The two men went into the library for a discussion about which little is known except that it dealt with international matters.

The two exchanged gifts. Mémoires d'outre-tombe and Le Génie du Christianisme, two original editions by Chateaubriand (who was ambassador to the Holy See) offered by Sarkozy; a porcelain and an engraving of Saint Peter's offered by the Pope.

But the president wanted more. After the exchange of gifts, he leaned towards the successor of Saint Peter and asked for a rosary for his wife's grand-niece. No sooner said than done. Rather than being offended by this small twist on protocol, Benedict XVI had a secretary bring in a rosary. The Pope does not refuse the French president anything.

The article then describes the circumstances in which he made the sign of the cross four times, and his recitation of the Pater Noster, just before leaving the basilica.

Other websites have had much to say about this visit. A comment by Robert Marchenoir at Le Salon Beige indicates that Sarkozy's request for a rosary was completely out of line:

- This was gross. The gifts offered weren't enough for him. He felt perfectly entitled to ask for another. With the excuse that it wasn't for him. The Pope did not offer gifts to Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, he offered them to the President of the French Republic. What does the grand-niece of Madame have to do with this?

Not to mention the electoral objective of his action.

Another comment:

- If he thinks we're going to vote for him as a result of this visit, he is sadly mistaken. Those who turned in a blank ballot (in 2007) did so because of the non-negotiable points and because of his wretched record as minister of the Interior. The points are still there, but in addition we have had to put up with his crazy ideas and his flashy life-style that we did not know about at the time.

Note: The non-negotiable points of the Church relate to ethical issues such as cloning, abortion, euthanasia, etc... Catholic voters who wanted to vote for Sarkozy in 2007 had to wrestle with themselves before going to the polls that day. Some abstained, some left the ballot blank, but many did vote for him.

Really, they think Catholics are idiots. The Holy Father must have laughed to himself even though his affection for the former Eldest Daughter of the Church is still great and he must feel great pity for us.

But Nicolas Sarkozy is not the only French president to have asked for a rosary. According to another comment:

- On this topic, I have an anecdote in the same vein on a meeting between François Mitterand and Pope John-Paul II (if my memory serves me correctly, there was a story on this in Paris-Match at the time). Danielle Mitterand did not dare ask the Pope for a rosary, so her husband asked for it instead on her behalf.

It's interesting that two of the most disastrous presidents in recent French history asked for a rosary. And in both cases it was for someone else. Maybe it is not unusual to ask the Pope for a rosary, but when a head of State does it, the effect is an embarassment for his country.

More of a faux-pas, I feel, was his comment about Christian de Chergé, reported above. To say that this monk brought honor to secular and republican France is to insult the monks and the Cistercian order. He should have said that Christian de Chergé brought honor to France. But that would have been too traditional...