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France CPE Riot Watch: Villepin Rejects Resignation Speculation
French Prime minister Dominique de Villepin speaks during a press conference. Villepin, fighting for his political life over an aborted youth jobs reform that brought millions on to the streets, appeared to rule out resigning over the crisis.
ASSociated Press: French PM Rejects Resignation Speculation
Some 2,000 angry students massed on railroad tracks in Paris Thursday, halting international train traffic in a fresh push to force a new youth labor law off the books.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin refused to say whether the measure would be repealed.
Villepin spoke more clearly about his own destiny, brushing off growing speculation that he would resign.
President Jacques Chirac “gave me a mission, and this mission, I will lead it to the end,” Villepin told a news conference. “All the rest is pure speculation and fantasy.”
Well, President Chirac “PIMP SLAPPED” Villepin last week when he agreed to modify the CPE and Villepin still wants to stay for more abuse.
WOW!
Students invade the Toulouse train station, southwestern France, Thursday April 6, 2006. Students and unions have been in a weeks-long standoff with the conservative government over the law, which will make it easier for companies to hire and fire young workers.
Calling for calm, he said he was listening to the voices of discontent over his reform aimed at denting sky-high joblessness among youth by making it easier for employers to hire and fire younger workers. Lawmakers from the governing Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP, met for a second day with unions and students in search of a way out. Protesters are demanding the measure be withdrawn.
“The immediate priority, as we all know, is restoring calm,” Villepin said. “It is time to get out of the crisis.”
Well, Villepin is right about restoring order and to get out of crisis mode. And he may have been right in principle with the CPE and reducing youth unemployment.
But, the French people are used to socialism and want the easy redistributive life.
Villepin relentlessly defended the job proposal for weeks until Chirac signed the controversial measure into law last weekend but ordered the talks with labor and student groups.
Villepin refused to prejudge the outcome of negotiations, appearing to back down from his previous, inflexible stance.
“I am pragmatic. In this time of dialogue it is important to be open,” he said. “I am listening.”
But the prime minister insisted that the 23 percent youth unemployment rate, which climbs above 50 percent in depressed, heavily immigrant neighborhoods, is at the heart of many French problems, including riots last fall.
“It is my responsibility, as head of the government, not to allow such a situation go unanswered,” he said. “Our country today needs action.”
France does need action.
But, it appears it will be Nicolas Sarkozy who will next lead the country and not Dominique de Villepin.
Stay tuned……..
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: Students Protest CPE By Blocking Roads and Trains
France CPE Riot Watch: French Unions Set April 15 Deadline for CPE Repeal
France CPE Riot Watch: Second Straight Day of CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
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
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: Students Protest CPE By Blocking Roads and Trains
A group of students invade the railway tracks as police stand by at the Gare du Nord train station, in Paris, Thursday April 6, 2006. Students and unions have been in a week-long standoff with the conservative government over the law, which will make it easier for companies to hire and fire young workers.
ASSociated Press: Students in France Block Roads, Trains
Students protesting a new labor law put more pressure on France’s embattled government Thursday by blocking roads, trains and a convoy of parts heading to the factory that builds the world’s largest airliner.
About 100 students blocked a highway used by trucks carrying Airbus A380 parts to the factory outside Toulouse, in southwest France. The pre-dawn protest was calm but prevented the delivery for about two and a half hours, police said.
Students who participated in massive nationwide street demonstrations that drew between 1 million and 3 million protesters Tuesday were using wildcat disruptions around the country Thursday as they tried to force the government to repeal a law that will make it easier to hire and fire young people.
Demonstrators burst onto tracks at two Paris train stations, and police in riot gear pushed them back. Protesters also slowed traffic around Paris’ Orly airport, forcing some harried travelers to drag their luggage on foot.
Obviously the Chiracx government cannot maintain civil order in France. Last Fall it was the Muslim immigrant youths who ravaged and burned automobiles.
In response, Prime Minister Villepin proposed a change in the youth employment law, the CPE First Contract. This has met with protests/demonstrations and lawlessness.
Will the Chirac government capitulate to the the students and labor unions.
You betcha……just a matter of time.
Stay tuned……
A student steps on a railway track with stickers on her shoes reading ‘withdraw CPE’ during a protest at the Gare du Nord railway station in Paris April 6, 2006. Students across the country continue to press for a withdrawal of the controversial CPE, a youth hire-and-fire law.
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: French Unions Set April 15 Deadline for CPE Repeal
France CPE Riot Watch: Second Straight Day of CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
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
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
Iran Nuclear Watch: John Bolton – “Bush Administration is Considering Other Diplomatic and Economic Options to Deter Iran”
U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, seen here in this file photo in Berlin from Jan. 13, said Thursday that it would be ‘simply prudent’ for the Bush administration to consider other options for dealing with Iran, in the event that diplomacy in the U.N. Security Council fails.
ASSociated Press: Bolton Hints at Other Options for Iran
The Bush administration is considering other diplomatic and economic options to deter
Iran from developing nuclear weapons if diplomacy at the United Nations Security Council fails, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said Thursday.“It would be, I think, simply prudent to be looking at other options,” Bolton told reporters.
Prudent, measured responses have been the hallmark of the United States in dealing with this Iranian uranium enrichment crisis – unlike Iran.
He said the United States could suspend import allowances for Iranian rugs and pistachios, which were relaxed years ago in hopes of stimulating small business in Iran, and consider a crackdown on alleged financial crimes similar to U.S. pursuit of alleged fraud by North Korea. There are steps other governments could take as well, Bolton said, including financial and travel restrictions.
The United States has had no diplomatic and few economic ties with Iran since the 1979 storming of the American Embassy in Tehran.
The United States accuses Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons under the cover of a legitimate civilian energy program, and has long favored using the punitive deterrent powers of the Security Council to bring international pressure to bear on the clerical regime.
The Iran case is now finally before the Security Council but Bolton did not sound confident the strategy will work.
Bolton said the “obvious difficulty” represented by the three-week delay and hefty diplomatic muscle required to win a first, mild rebuke to Iran from the Security Council last month “says something about the difficulty of the road ahead.”
Obtaining the agreement of Russia and China to punish Iran through the United Nations Security Council is dead. Those countries simply have too many economic and political ties to sanction Iran.
What Bolton is outlining is the next course of action against Iran – outside the United Nations.
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Successfully Test-Fires a “Top Secret†Missile
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “Defenses Can Withstand Any Invasionâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Blix – “Iran is at Least Five Years Away from Developing a Nuclear Bombâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Tests More Weapons in “War Gamesâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “Successfully Fires a High-Speed Underwater Missileâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Brits in Secret Talks About Iran Military Strikes
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Tests New Stealth Missle
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Plans “War Gamesâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “Enrichment Matter NOT Reversibleâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Security Council Permanent Members Agree on a Statement
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – Military Strikes Would NOT Stop Uranium enrichment
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Gearing Up for Uranium Enrichment
Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Security Council Stalled But Diplomats Express Urgency
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – The West Should Apologize to Iran
Iran Nuclear Watch: Big 6 Meeting Yields Nothing
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Wants IAEA Supervision and Inspections
Condoleezza Rice Watch: Iran is the “Central Bank of Terrorismâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – “Iran’s Nuclear Fuel Program IRREVERSIBLEâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Security Council Divided Over Response to Iran Nuclear FLAP
Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “Iran Still Considering Uranium Enrichment DEALâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Rebukes Iran Over Withdrawl from Uranium Enrichment Negotiations
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Builds a Secret Underground Command Center
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens “OIL†Weapon
Iran Nuclear Watch: Israel – “America Needs to Get Its Act Together.â€
The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
Technorati Tags: Iran, Russia, China, SergeiLavrov, UnitedNations, UnitedNationsSecurityCouncil, ZhouWenzhong, NicholasBurns, EuropeanUnion, MahmoudAhmadinejad, ManouchehrMottaki, JacquesChirac, Chirac, France, Iran, Nuclearweapons, nuclear, AbdulQadeerKhan, AliLarijani, CondoleezzaRice, JohnBolton, RezaVaidi, GholamHosseinMohseniEjehei, SergeiKiriyenko
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Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: McKinney Apologizes to the House
ASSociated Press:McKinney Apologizes for Incident With Cop
Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., expressed “sincere regret” Thursday for her altercation with a Capitol police officer, and offered an apology to the House.
“There should not have been any physical contact in this incident,” McKinney said in brief remarks on the House floor. “I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize.”
McKinney’s comments came after the case had been referred to a federal grand jury for possible prosecution.
She had previously insisted she had done nothing wrong, and accused police of “racial profiling.” She is African-American and the police officer is white.
A little too little and a little too late.
And did she apologize directly to the officer whom she assaulted?
Flap doesn’t think this lame apology will carry much weight with the federal grand jury.
Stay tuned…..
Michelle Malkin has MCKINNEY: “I APOLOGIZE”
***update: video of McKinney’s bodyguard threatening a reporter (hat tip: Peach Pundit)***
Expose the Left has the video of Cynthia McKinney’s desperate and despicable attempt to save her political hide.
Previous:
Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: Federal Grand Jury to Hear McKinney Case
Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: Georgia GOP Seizes on McKinney
Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: Thyroid Problem?
Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: Admits to Misusing Taxpayer Funds
Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: Capitol Police Ask for ARREST WARRANT
Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: News Conference Today – “NOTHING New!â€
Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: News Conference Today – “Something New?â€
Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: McKinney a Victim of a Racist Capitol Hill Police Officer
Representative Cynthia McKinney Watch: Going to Jail?
Technorati Tags: CynthiaMcKinney, DannyGlover, HarryBelafonte, CapitolPolice, NancyPelosi
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Illegal Immigration Watch: Republicans to Filibuster Immigration Bill
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee addresses the delegates of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn. on Saturday, March. 11, 2006.
Washington Times: Senate GOP to filibuster alien bill
Senate Republicans will filibuster their own immigration bill today in the face of steadfast refusal by Democrats to allow amendments to the bill that many conservatives view as granting amnesty to illegal aliens.
As an alternative, Majority Leader Bill Frist reached an agreement last night with fellow Republicans on a new comprehensive immigration plan that includes increasing border security and a guest-worker plan, but still does not resolve concerns about amnesty.
The new plan would allow illegal aliens who have been in the United States for more than five years to remain in the country working while applying for U.S. citizenship. Those who have been here between two and five years would have to apply for citizenship at a point of entry, but could remain working. Anyone here for less than two years would have to leave the country, but they could still apply for citizenship from their home country.
The Senate Democrats wanted an up or down vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee passed bill to further fracture the Republican majority. But, it appears GOP leader Frist has outmanuvered Senate Democrat leader Reid with a new compromise immigration plan.
Will the Senate Democrats reach across the aisle to embrace the new GOP measure?
Doubtful.
The result: Stalemate with votes to end debate failing.
Senate leader Frist should then call up his bill (without amnesty and guest worker provisions) for an up or down vote. This will force the Democrats to vote against more border security and enforcement.
Mr. Frist declined to tell The Washington Times last night how he would vote on the alternative measure.
If neither of those bills receives enough votes to move forward, senators will have an opportunity before the end of the week to vote on a border-security-only bill introduced last month by Mr. Frist.
Stay tuned…….
Previous:
Illegal Immigration Watch: McCain – “Not Enough Votes for Senate Judiciary Committee Billâ€
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Majority Leader Frist Wants Immigration Bill Vote this Week
Illegal Immigration Watch: FAQ About Illegal Aliens
Illegal Immigration Watch: Los Angeles Latino DJs Spur Protests
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
Technorati Tags: illegalimmigration, HR4437, illegalaliens, California, Mexico, Congress, UnitedStatesSenate
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Michael Ramirez on Barry Bonds
Previously on Flap:
Barry Bonds Watch: The TRUTH About Barry Bonds and Steroids
Technorati Tags: MichaelRamirez, BarryBonds, MajorLeagueBaseball
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Day By Day by Chris Muir