• France,  Politics

    France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract

    March 28, 2006 /

    French students hold a banner picturing France’s Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy as they demonstrate against the new youth contract for first-time job seekers called CPE (First Labour Contract) in Marseille March 28, 2006.

    Reuters: A million French protest against youth job law

    At least one million people marched in French cities and unions staged a one-day national strike on Tuesday, urging the government to scrap a youth jobs law in one of France’s biggest protests in decades.

    Unions and student groups said 3 million people took part in rallies across the country, including 700,000 in central Paris, where police used tear gas against hundreds of youths who threw bottles and Molotov cocktail petrol bombs.

    One union official said demonstrations against Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin’s CPE First Job Contract were among the biggest since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958.

    The Interior Ministry put the national turnout at 1,055,000, twice that of a day of action a week ago. Unions and police habitually give widely diverging estimates.

    Interesting. Folks are demonstrating/protesting in France because of job security issues surrounding their youth and immigrant workers and in Los Angeles they are protesting the right to enter and work in the United States illegally. But, are these protests effective? Will they change government policy makers minds?

    Union and student leaders say the CPE will create a generation of “throwaway workers” by making it easier to dismiss employees under 26 during a two-year trial period. Villepin hopes it will reduce youth unemployment of almost 23 percent.

    “We’re demanding the complete withdrawal of the CPE. You can’t treat people like slaves. Giving all the power to the bosses is going too far,” said Gregoire de Oliviera, a 21-year-old student protesting in Paris.

    French students shout slogans at a nationwide protest demanding the government to scrap a contentious youth job law in Paris March 28, 2006.

    Villepin, 52, has stood firm over the plan but the strong turnout increased pressure on him to amend or withdraw the measure and calls for his resignation grew. He made a new call for talks with unions, but they rejected his appeal.

    The protests forced the Eiffel Tower to close to tourists, while commuters around the country faced delays on public transport and airports were disrupted.

    The difference in part between Los Angeles and Paris is that the United States government is responsive with a balance of power between legislative and executive branches. Parliamentary systems can be bureaucratic and non-responsive to voters immediate concerns.

    Flap bets that Villepin capitulates.

    French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin (L) speaks with Minister for Employment, Social Cohesion and Housing Jean-Louis Borloo (R) as he arrives at the French National Assembly to attend the questions to the government session March 28, 2006.

    Stay tuned…..

    France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots

    France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities

    France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract

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  • Politics

    Caspar Weinberger RIP

    March 28, 2006 /

    Reuters: Former defense chief Caspar Weinberger dies at 88

    Caspar Weinberger, who as Ronald Reagan’s defense secretary oversaw a massive U.S. military buildup, died on Tuesday at age 88.

    Caspar Weinberger Jr. said his father had been suffering from pneumonia and high fever for about a week and died at 5 a.m. EST in the intensive-care unit of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, about 40 miles from his home in Mount Desert.

    Weingberger’s wife of 63 years, Jane, his son and daughter, Arlin, were at his bedside when he died.

    “He was just a worn-out guy,” his son, Caspar Weinberger Jr., told Reuters.

    As head of the Pentagon, Weinberger strongly opposed concessions to Moscow in arms control negotiations and pushed hard for increased defense spending, such as Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, a program to develop a land-and space-based missile shield commonly known as “Star Wars.”

    “He should be remembered as a world statesman, a great American patriot,” the son said. “What he did with Reagan really brought down the Soviet Union. They stuck to their plan and simply outspent the Soviets despite all sorts of doubts here.”

    Cap will be among friends, Presidents Nixon and Reagan, and join Lyn Nofziger who passed away yesterday.

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  • Illegal Immigration,  Politics

    Illegal Immigration Watch: Los Angeles Latino DJs Spur Protests

    March 28, 2006 /

    NUMBERS: Mayra Ortiz, left, a 10th grader from Southeast Learning Center, holds a Mexican flag near the front of a crowd of thousands.

    Los Angeles Times: How DJs Put 500,000 Marchers in Motion

    He’s one of the hottest Spanish-language radio personalities in the nation. So when Los Angeles deejay Eddie Sotelo joined hands with his radio rivals to urge listeners to turn out for a pro-immigrant rally in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, organizers hoped for a big turnout.

    But many said Monday that they were stunned by how many responded to the call to march against federal legislation that would crack down on undocumented immigrants and penalize those who assist them.

    GETTING THE WORD OUT: One of the chief promoters of the rally was DJ Eddie Piolin Sotelo, who is working at Spanish-language KSCA-FM.

    The promoters included such on-air celebrities as KHJ’s Humberto Luna, KBUE’s Ricardo “El Mandril” (The Baboon) Sanchez, Renan “El Cucuy” (The Boogeyman) Almendarez Coello — whose often risque show has cast him as a sort of Latino version of Howard Stern — and Sotelo, better known to listeners as “El Piolin,” or Tweety Bird. Coello’s and Sotelo’s morning talk shows are among the highest-rated programs in any language in Los Angeles.

    “They were the key to getting so many people out,” said Mike Garcia, president of Local 1877 of the Service Employees International Union. “If you listened to Spanish-language media, they were just pumping, pumping, pumping this up.”

    As the illegal immigration debate continues demonstrations and protests must be civil. The debate is healthy and there are immigration issues that have been for too long ignored by the Congress.
    There will be more demonstrations/protests and the Latino media will again play a role.

    Meanwhile, Diaz and Rodriguez planned to announce today their next major action: a call to boycott work, school and all consumer activities May 1. They are calling it “The Great American Boycott of 2006.”

    FLAGS FLY: Approximately 300 students from several high schools in Oxnard marched to that city’s Plaza Park. According to Oxnard Sgt. Whitney, there were no arrests or injuries.

    DESTINATION: Alhambra High School student Joe Olmos, center, waves a Mexican flag on the lawn in front of Los Angeles City Hall. Many walked several miles to reach the demonstration’s final stop.

    Stay tuned…….

    Previous:

    Illegal Immigration Watch: United States Senate Judiciary Committee Approves an Immigration Bill

    Illegal Immigration Watch: The United States Senate Judiciary Committee Takes Up the Debate

    Illegal Immigration Watch: 500,000 Rally to Protest Immigration Bills

    Illegal Immigration Watch: Democrat Senate Minority Leader Threatens Filibuster of Illegal Immigration Bill

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