France is burning

The situation in France is pretty crazy. I don't quite understand why it took them 12 days to declare a national emergency.

I wonder what would have happened to FEMA if they had taken 12 days to respond to Hurricane Rita? Worse yet what would have happened if the Govenor of Lousiana had taken 12 days to declare parts of Louisiana a national disaster area and then FEMA took another 12 days to respond... Yikes, a lot of lives would have been lost and we wouldn't hear the end of it in the news.

Here are some of the latest news stories related to the situation in France:

What's wrong with Europe?
France invokes Emergency Law
French Riots undermine confidence in Euro

While I am not fond of French politics, I do hope they get control of the riots. I just read this article about how the extra security is not preventing the rioting. Quite frankly when I read this statement:

"Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, tacitly acknowledging that France has failed to live up to its egalitarian ideals, reached out to the heavily immigrant suburbs where the rioting began. He said France must make a priority of working against the discrimination that feeds the frustration of youths made to feel that they do not belong in France."

The first thought to run through my head was,
"That's all nice and good, but... Oh my goodness, France is going to completely burn to the ground."

If I were in the French government I would have sent the military over there immediately and declared marshall law to get some control over things. It is ashamed that so many innocent lives in France are being hurt by these riots. I REALLY hope the French government gets control of things.

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