"French go on strike over plan to raise retirement age" by Christina Okello, Associated Press | June 25, 2010
PARIS — Trains stood still and children played instead of studying as workers around France went on strike yesterday to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to raise the retirement age to 62.
See: Today's Globe Goals: French Flood
Neighboring countries suffered along with Paris commuters, as walkouts by drivers delayed or canceled trains from Italy and Switzerland. Some flights were dropped or delayed.
Boisterous crowds of protesters filled Marseille’s port and wide Paris avenues, as unions staged nearly 200 marches in several cities over a broad change to the money-losing pension system, part of efforts around Europe to cut back on growing public debts....
I'm SO ENVIOUS!
The ranks of demonstrators swelled in comparison with a similar protest May 27. The Interior Ministry put the number of protesters around France at 797,000 — double the number in May....
Demonstrating his concern about the state of public finances, Sarkozy is canceling the annual garden party for Bastille Day on July 14, citing the high cost of the glamorous event, an annual mainstay.
And he WOULD NOT WANT to be giving the French any IDEAS from the PAST!!!!
Yup.
France has one of Europe’s lowest retirement ages, allowing workers to retire at 60 in most sectors. The government says the change to the money-losing pension system is an obligation, given France’s burgeoning deficit and its aging population.
Interesting: The French Pentagon
Slow Saturday Special: British and French Belch Fart Mist
Yup, ALWAYS PLENTY of MONEY for WAR CEREMONY!
Unions say money for the pension system should come from higher taxes or charges on those who are still working, and see cost-cutting in the pension system as an attack on a hard-fought way of life.
SCREW THAT!
Reign in the imperialistic militarism and war-profiteering first!
Sebastien Sihr, secretary general of the SNUipp union, called the change “a step backward.’’
“They are refusing to imagine other sources of funding,’’ he told the Associated Press at the Paris march, where a crowd of thousands whistled and cheered, waving red, white, and blue balloons under a hot sun....
Sounds like FUN!!!!
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Must be why they MSM dropped that and offered you filler instead.
"Noriega money-laundering trial starts" by Associated Press | June 29, 2010
PARIS — As Manuel Noriega went on trial in France for money laundering, the former Panamanian dictator was not allowed to wear his trademark military fatigues and appeared confused about the most basic of biographical information: his age.
Also see: Noriega is the News
The most important thing going on in France right now, BG?
Noriega, who is in his 70s, took the stand only briefly yesterday to give his name and age, but he appeared feeble, his shoulders trembling as he addressed the three-judge panel.
Noriega’s lawyers, meanwhile, complained about conditions in the prison where he is being held. The former military strongman, who spent 20 years in US custody for drug trafficking after being deposed in the 1989 invasion of his country, could return to prison for 10 years if he is convicted as charged in France.
That way he WILL NEVER TALK and even if he does, he crazy and senile now!
Noriega is not permitted to wear his military uniform in France because he is not considered a prisoner of war — an issue hotly contested by his lawyers.
The former dictator started his brief testimony yesterday with a stumble, when he was asked about discrepancies in his date of birth on different legal documents.
That is what YEARS of ISOLATION (itself a form of torture) will do to you.
Speaking through a translator, Noriega initially said Feb. 11, 1936, then immediately corrected himself, saying he was born in 1934.
Translation; He MADE a MISTAKE!!
There has long been confusion surrounding Noriega’s true date of birth.
Oh, that is true of all those cats down there.
Just look at a baseball roster sometime. Remember the Almonte kid that lied about his age and won the Little League World Series? Who is he pitching for now?
The French indictment says Noriega was born in 1938, although his legal team says he was born four years earlier. As a youth, he claimed to be older than he was to win a scholarship to a military academy in Peru, and his age remains in dispute.
Not here. I don't care how old he is give or take. End of dispute.
And just to shame the AmeriKan MSM:
"General strike set for today in Greece" by Associated Press | June 29, 2010
ATHENS — Greek public services will close down today and most transport will be disrupted by a new general strike against proposed pension and labor reforms.
The debt-ridden country’s two major private and public sector unions bitterly oppose draft legislation that will increase retirement ages and make it cheaper for companies to fire workers.
Related:
"Greece... the most expensive military budget in Europe in per capita terms, and second only to the United States in the alliance"
Also see: Today's Globe Goals: Greece Going Down
Well, you can see why.
Parliament will start discussing the proposed reforms today. Despite opposition from several of its own lawmakers, the center-left government — which holds a seven-seat majority in the 300-member house — is expected to win the final vote.
And you thought you were electing change!
Greece is caught in a major debt and deficit crisis. It only avoided bankruptcy last month after receiving the first installment of a $136 billion emergency loan package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. In return, Athens passed painful austerity measures, cutting pensions and salaries and raising consumer taxes.
Today’s strike will leave state hospitals with only emergency staff. Schools, tax offices, and municipal offices will close. There will be no news broadcasts, and no newspapers will be published tomorrow as the main journalists’ union has joined the strike.
Don't you feel ASHAMED of YOURSELVES, Globe!?
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Also see: A Case of Newspaper Rape
Yeah, I guess you do anyway.
Update:
"ATHENS, Greece — Dozens of masked youths clashed with police at a union protest Tuesday in Athens during the country's fifth general strike this year against the cash-strapped government's planned pension and labor reforms.
Riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse troublemakers who threw chunks of marble smashed off metro station entrances and set rubbish bins on fire. Running clashes continued along a major avenue — lined with shuttered shops and banks — as rioters armed with wooden clubs made repeated sallies against police....
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