France to close embassies in fear of cartoon backlash

Why is it the longer that we live, the less likely we are to get alone.
The world lacks tolerance in the areas where it should be, and gives all to where it shouldn't.
Stay safe kids

France announced Wednesday it will close 20 embassies across the Muslim world on Friday after French weekly Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed naked, amid growing unrest over an anti-Islamic film that has left dozens dead.

 

The French foreign ministry announced Wednesday that France will close 20 of its embassies in Muslim countries this Friday following the publication of controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons by satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Major protests in the Muslim world generally take place after Friday prayers.
The illustrations, which show the Prophet Mohammed naked and refer to the incendiary US-made film which has been fueling deadly unrest among Muslim communities for over a week, hit newsstands across France on Wednesday.
The magazine's editor, Stephane Charbonnier, told reporters that the pictures, which are printed on the back page, will "shock those who will want to be shocked."
But the French government condemned the

EU working on consumer labels for Israeli settlement products

I think the world is very tired of the "rigged" game that Israel plays and is not accepting it any longer.

Denmark is fronting an EU initiative to help consumers boycott Israeli settlement products.

Its foreign ministry is funding an event in Brussels on 23 October to get EU diplomats and NGOs, such as Oxfam and Crisis Action, talking about EU-level guidelines for consumer labels on settlement goods.

The move comes after EU foreign ministers in May said they will "fully and effectively implement existing EU legislation" on the subject.

The EU says settlements are illegal. But its regular complaints about settlement expansion fall on deaf ears.

"The [October] workshop is designed to put the issue back on the agenda and to put action behind the words of the May conclusions ... We want to make it easier for consumers to vote with their wallet," a Danish diplomat told EUobserver.

France, Finland,

France shooting: alleged violent past of son of Alps murder victim

Another plot twist

The son of one of the victims of the British family massacre in France had allegedly attacked his parents and threatened to kill them in the past, it has emerged.

Seven-year-old survivor 'remembers' Alps shooting

Seven-year-old Zainab, the eldest daughter of the British-Iraqi couple shot dead in the French Alps last week, started speaking to investigators after coming out of an induced coma, a British daily has reported.

On Monday the Times quoted an unnamed source as saying Zainab had “expressed fear, said she was terrified and seemed to remember what she had been through”. The same source added that police had “been able to speak to [Zainab] but this was just an initial meeting. They could not go into any detail and the child was very tired.”

The Times exclusive also highlighted a series of “secret meetings” that the slain father took part in days before the grisly murders, quoting people who had observed the family at the Village Camping Europa, one of the two campsites the family stayed in during their French holiday.

Zainab had been in hospital in Grenoble after being bludgeoned over the head and shot in the shoulder during the attack.
French state prosecutor Eric Maillaud had previously said

French Alps shootings: hiker says he thought girl was dead

A French hiker who was one of the first to reach the forest clearing where a British family was murdered has described how the seven-year-old girl, who was shot, badly beaten and left for dead at the scene, showed no sign of life.

The witness, named only as Philippe D, said: "She wasn't responding to our calls. I tapped her hands but she did not respond. I even spoke a few words in English, because I saw the car was registered in Great Britain. But there was nothing. To me, she was dead."

He then went back down the hill leading to the Alpine beauty spot near Lake Annecy to call the emergency services, who discovered the Iraqi-born British engineer Saad al-Hilli, 50, his dentist wife, Iqbal, 47, and her 74-year-old mother dead from bullet wounds in the car. Each of the victims had been shot twice in the head.

The body of a French cyclist who had been shot seven times, twice in the head, was found nearby.

The first to discover the bloodshed was a British former Royal Air Force pilot who was cycling up

Alps shootings: Zainab al-Hilli brought out of coma

Update on the shootings in France

A seven-year-old girl shot and injured in an attack in the French Alps which left her parents dead has been brought out of a coma.

French prosecutor Eric Maillaud said Zainab al-Hilli, from Surrey, is still under sedation and will not be able to be questioned for several more days.

But police hope she will will eventually be able provide more information about the shootings.

Mr Maillaud said her four-year-old sister Zeena has returned to the UK.

Zeena lay undiscovered

Hollande faces questions on tax pledge

Good luck, President Hollande, David Cameron is surly trying to undermine your efforts and that in turn makes it that much harder for you to enact, what would definitely help France.
It's how they play the game, to make sure you don't make a winning move.
Here's hoping you play for the "people of France" and don't bow down to those that would make you kiss their feet.
"The People" deserve a real leader to look up to, and not just another ass kisser. For their sake I hop you are THAT leader.

President François Hollande’s socialist government was facing mounting questions on Thursday night over whether it was preparing to back down on its controversial 75 per cent marginal tax rate for the rich.

How much threat to the rich could there really be? How many people actually make a million dollar salary per year?
I'm fairly sure, Banker bonuses don't fall under the salary category, but rather under profit share.

Responding to reports that the rate would be reduced to 67 per cent, that all non-salary income would be exempt and couples would only be exposed on joint income above €2m, officials said no decisions had yet been made on how the tax would be levied.

Official: Family feud suspected in brutal murder of 4 in French Alps

I think the key word is Iraqi here. Honor killings are something that at least need to be considered here.

(CBS/AP) ANNECY, France - French prosecutors focused Friday on a feud between brothers as they searched for a motive in the slayings of a British-Iraqi family vacationing in the French Alps.

Two young sisters survived the deaths of their parents and an older woman in the family car late Wednesday, as well as a French cyclist whose body was found nearby. The children, apparently the only witnesses to the shootings on an isolated Alpine road, were under police and consular protection Friday, held in separate places.

The girls are being held separately only because the oldest of the 2 was shot in the head and she is in the hospital in a medically induced coma.
The 4 year old has already been traumatized enough, and does not need to see her sister in this state.

Prosecutor Eric Maillaud said British police have reported that the girls' father had been feuding with his brother over money. A family friend said the father of the two men died recently — while public records showed the brother had left the victim's small aeronautics design firm.

"This seems to be credible information coming from the British police. The brother will have to be questioned at length," said Maillaud. "Every lead will be meticulously followed."

It could possibly be over the "rights of the first born" and the jealousy that that entails.
Iraqi's do not hold the same "divide the wealth" tradition that Americans or that of the rest of the "civilized" world do.
I hope for the little girls sake that the Uncle is not involved and am left to wonder if the elderly lady that was killed was the mother of the 2 brothers

But French police said Friday they are not focusing on any particular lead and are still open to the idea that there was more than one person involved in the murder. On Friday, police increased security around the two children — both potential witnesses — fearing that the shooter or shooters may be at large.

Maillaud said Friday that investigators are looking for a green or dark colored 4x4 vehicle and a motorbike in connection with Wednesday's killings. Maillaud also confirmed that the 4-year-old's UK-based uncle is offering his help to British police.

For the first time in nearly two days,

France shootings: Girl hid under bodies in car

This poor baby, yesterday it was reported that her sister had died, that report ended up being false, she is in a more stable condition this morning and holding on.

A four-year-old girl has been found hiding inside a British-registered car in which three bodies were discovered eight hours earlier, French police say.

The three are thought to be British - a husband and wife, and a grandmother. They were found near Lake Annecy, a popular tourist destination.

The girl had been under the legs of one of the women. An older girl from the family was found shot outside the car, in a critical condition.

A local cyclist was killed nearby
“She was hidden under the bodies for some eight hours and didn't move for the whole time”

French police say they are shocked and baffled by the brutality of the shooting, in the middle of the afternoon, in a popular tourist region, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Annecy.

The girl found away from the car - thought to be seven or eight years old - was shot three times and seriously injured, and the younger daughter - only four - hid beneath her mother and was not even found until midnight, our correspondent says.

In the UK, Surrey police have said they are assisting

Afghanistan, August 2012: Return of the Fallen

Two months ago, I met a young man named Micheal. He had just come home from his 3rd tour of duty. This tour was served in Afghanistan.
It was supposed to be his last tour, but he'd only been home a week, and had already made the decision to re-up. Not because he missed it, or his buddies, but because he felt he had failed, and he needed to fix it.
To me he looked like he was just a child, all except his eyes. They held so much pain, that they could have been mistaken for someone very old, whose last days had been to much pain to bare.
Michael was a Medic, and one of the last things that he had to do before he shipped out to come home, was to work on a little two year old girl. She was very bad off, because of the blast from an IED. He needed to place an IV, but he couldn't get the needle to go though her skin. He told me it was like leather from the sun. He couldn't believe it because she was only a baby. He knew he had, to have, been hurting her, but she never made a sound. After 10 or 15 minutes of trying he finally called over another Medic to see if he could get an IV started. He couldn't, he did finally penetrate her skin with the needle but she was so little, he missed her vein. The little girl stared at Michael, the whole time he was stroking her cheek, while the other Medic was trying. Finally Michael said after another 15 minutes of trying the other Medic succeeded, and just as he did the little girl gave Michael the briefest of smiles,(or at least he thought/hoped she did) let out a last little breath of a sigh and died. He felt like, if only he could have gotten the IV in, she might have had a chance. If he hadn't failed, and it hadn't taken so long for him to call over the other Medic, she might have lived.
What this story hasn't told you, is that she was missing an arm, and bleeding profusely from a chest wound. But to Michael those didn't kill her, he did, all because he couldn't get that IV in. She was with him all the time in his mind and when he came home, nothing would take her place. So he chose to go back to try again.


These soldiers to, have a story, and even though I can't tell you what it is, I ask, would you please, honor them with your presence, and attention, like you did for Michael and the little girl. Your kindness would be appreciated.

In August, the 143rd month of the conflict, 53 coalition forces based in Afghanistan were killed -- the most in a single month since last September. Of these, five were from New Zealand, five from Australia, three from the UK, one from France, and the rest from the United States -- 50 men and 3 women ranging in age from 20 to 55. Collected below are images from the many ceremonies honoring the return of these 53 fallen soldiers. While the photographs may bear some similarities, keep in mind that each one represents a separate individual life lost in Afghanistan just last month. [41 photos]

Fire Breaks Out At Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant, Injuries Reported

Oh crap, that's not good.
It sounds like a chemical fire. I wonder if Hydrogen Peroxide can blow up?

Breaking news from now from France 24, which follows the massive7.9 Costa Rica earthquake moments ago.

•BREAKING FRANCE: FIRE BREAKS OUT AT FESSENHEIM NUCLEAR PLAN, INJURIES REPORTED
Fessenheim is France's oldest nuclear power plant located in the Alsace region.

More:

Eight employees working on the nuclear site Fessenheim in Alsace, were victims of an incident Wednesday. At the origin of their injuries, a release of hydrogen peroxide vapor, "following the injection of hydrogen peroxide in a tank," said Europe 1 prefecture of Haut-Rhin.

Two people were slightly burned and six other inconvenience. They were supported by relief.

Fifty firefighters were deployed to the site.

Follow the live France 24 feed for the latest news after the jump:

Will Americans Follow French Example Of Mass Civil Unrest?

http://www.infowars.com/will-americans-follow-french-example-of-mass-civil-unrest/

This will happen here to and the military that has been serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, are the ones that will try to quell the situation.
In light of all that has come out about the military soldiers behavior pattern in Iraq, how comfortable are you with the fact that they to can now cruise your streets, courtesy of Homeland Security's changing of the Constitution?
Apparently our government still considers it just a god damned piece of paper that they can ignore at will.

How will Americans react when the government begins to impose the same austerity measures that are causing riots, street battles, fuel blockades and other assorted chaos in France? Will we witness mass civil unrest or will the sleeping middle classes continue to scratch their butts and watch Dancing with the Stars


Four months later and citizens of one of the most prosperous countries in the world with the highest standard of living have shut down France after six days of strikes and protests in response to government plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67

Over a thousand gas stations have now run out of fuel across France, with strategic reserves set to last just a few weeks. Flights and trains have been disrupted, organized slowdowns have snarled highway traffic. The French are showing Americans how it should be done, by uniting peacefully to shut down an entire country. This is genuine people power – the French are sending a message to the establishment that they will no longer play ball until the looting stops

With the Obama administration set to seize private 401(k) pensions and turn them over to the Social Security Administration, how long will it be before Americans stir from their slumber and realize that their economic future and also that of their children is in immediate peril?

When will Americans begin to understand that the onset of another government bailout in the form of QE2 represents the biggest bank robbery in history?

Clarke and Dawe ask the million dollar questions

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/05/20/2905304.htm


John Clarke and Bryan Dawe calculate the cost of the European debt crisis

You wanna bet Germany already got wind of these facts?
And you thought you were the only one thinking about how they were going to pay the bailout back.

Keeping Pace With the Global Economy

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/todd-harrison-random-thoughts-bkx-global/5/25/2010/id/28467

EU warns 5 major eurozone nations on budgets

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/EU-warns-5-major-eurozone-apf-380714428.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=

We're all going down together kids.
But hey the banks survived.

The European Union on Wednesday warned Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands that they are relying too much on a strong economic recovery to meet debt reduction targets.

European Commission reports say that the five largest nations that use the euro have "rather optimistic" growth forecasts in their programs to cut budget deficits to the EU limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product.

It said budget figures could be worse than they expect if growth remains slow.

Sarkozy Plans to Tighten Grip on State-Owned Firms

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-04/sarkozy-plans-to-tighten-grip-on-french-state-owned-companies.html


French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to expand government control over state-owned companies, naming board members to represent its interests and increasing financing to manufacturers in a bid to stem industrial decline.

“The state must completely overhaul its shareholder’s role in the big industrial companies,” Sarkozy said today in southern France, according to a copy of a speech e-mailed by his office. “The state will now be represented by at least two administrators in each company it has shares in,” he said.

The state is the majority shareholder in Aeroports de Paris SA, Electricite de France SA and Areva SA. It’s the biggest investor in France Telecom SA, Air France-KLM, Thales SA, GDF Suez SA, Renault SA, and shipmaker STX France.

Sarkozy’s push follows criticism of Renault, in which the government holds a 15 percent stake, for moving jobs to lower- cost countries. In January, Sarkozy said he “doesn’t accept” that Renault has two-thirds of its employees outside the country, while rival automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen has two- thirds of its workers in France.

Angela Merkel dashes Greek hopes of rescue bid

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/feb/11/germany-greece-merkel-bailout-euro

Angela, could you please get a message to Barry,
WE "The People" wish you would take notice of the fact that Germany will not finance another country's lifestyle off of the sweat of their own taxpayers brow.
WE would like to be treated accordingly and really consider it not much to ask considering the financial state of out country.


"Germany cannot justify its taxpayers having to finance the lovely lives of the Greeks," said a senior diplomat.