State of Emergency Begins in France

PARIS — Rioters defied a state of emergency that took effect Wednesday, as they looted and burned two superstores, set fire to a newspaper office and paralyzed France's second-largest city's subway system with a firebomb.

However, the number of car burnings — a barometer for the unrest — dropped sharply, suggesting the movement lost steam. Overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, youths torched 617 vehicles, down from 1,173 the previous night, national police spokesman Patrick Hamon said. Incidents were reported in 116 towns, down from 226 the night before.

President Jacques Chirac announced extraordinary security measures, which began Wednesday and are valid for a 12-day state of emergency, clearing the way for curfews after nearly two weeks of rioting that began in neglected and impoverished suburban neighborhoods with large Muslim communities.

The French capital and its suburbs, as well as more than 30 other cities, were covered by the state-of-emergency decree, according to a government bulletin published Wednesday. It empowers officials to put troublemakers under house arrest, ban or limit the movement of people and vehicles, confiscate weapons and close public spaces where gangs gather.

Towns included on the list stretched from Nice on the Mediterranean to Strasbourg on the German border and Le Havre on the English Channel, giving an indication of how widespread the unrest has become.

while your(sic) using a couple of people who are or were born of immigrants from a certain area as an example, all is well. however, i would ask you why the entire region south of our border cant seem to progress on any level at all with any reasonable time limit? you can always find a big pearl in a sea of pearls, but compared to other areas pearls, are they really big?

I am not advocating our copying the governments south of our border, but submitting that people from that area, motivated to come here, (and who abide by our laws in doing so), can become or can raise good U.S. citizens.

You can just as well ask your question of people migrating here from Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Vietnam, or numerous despotic or benighted societies past and present.

Do you really not know what principles Alberto Gonzales (White House counsel to GWB) and Miguel Estrada (GWB nominee to Federal court, blocked by Democrats) stand for? Like Alexander Hamilton (West Indian bastard child), they are newcomers who have deeply absorbed the philosophical principles and historical experience that underlie the founding of our nation.

"FOX is turning into cable's PEOPLE magazine with all the twits doing missing women and children shows."
That is a great analogy. I agree totally. Even Hannity on radio and on TV has devoted way to much time to the Aruba story. The sad thing is their are millions of people (even freepers) that like this type of programing. Just read the Aruba discussion threads on Freerepublic. If you dare say anything about the over-coverage of missing beautiful people you will get a thrashing.

Thanks.

Lol. I know what you mean about the Arubuuuuuhhhh story. I am really sick of it. Who cares?

I've been in the "beautiful-people" doghouse before. :o)
I disliked Princess Diana (Wo, did I get static for not liking the quintessential "beautiful" person!) AND I thought that Scott Peterson might not have killed his wife.
A year before his wife was killed, EXACTLY A YEAR, in December, a young woman's corpse washed up in San Francisco from the bay. She had the exact same remains as Lacy, top of the corpse only, bones, etc. The woman had been the same coloring, size, shape, age -- and HER small son was missing too. She had been an illegal and her sister had reported her missing.
It was SUCH an exact duplication from Lacy Peterson that the media thought, at first, that the same killer had struck again, only this time the victim was a young, pretty, white woman with family and the EVIL husband to blame.
I thought that it might constitute "reasonable doubt." Nope, Peterson was as hated as O.J. was loved. The jury decided before it even heard the case.

The Aruba gal is gone. I don't care. There are too many other things to care about. Sorry, Charlie. :o)

Remember the Elian Gonzalez story? Wow. I thought he should have gone home to his dad....the next day. Was I ever trashed for that simple opinion.

Oh well, I have thick skin.....matches my thick skull. :o)

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