Sick Sarkozy

Sarkozy Is Sick, He Needs To Resign, Never Run For President

Riots In France

I wish the riots in France would calm down, but they sure have helped me learn things about the French society I did not know. Peaceful channels for protests and empowerment have to be created. So violence is not the effective option. And obviously the French police are not ethnically diverse.

Europe needed immigrants for cheap labor, said another contributor to the BBC forum, Housam of Swindon, who was offended by French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy's description of the rioters as "rabble."

This Interior Minister guy Sarkozy who is one of the two people who might become president of France in two short years is a nutcase. If the social alienation of these young Muslims, born and bred in France, was the gasoline, Sarkozy has been the spark to the riots. This is an irresponsible person. He is sick in his mind. He is racist. He is a panderer.

Mr. Ajir, a 29-year-old social worker, lives in La Courneuve, a suburb north of Paris where an 11-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet earlier this year. During a visit to the projects where the boy was shot, Mr. Sarkozy vowed to clean them with "a Karcher," the brand of a German-made high-powered hose. Some observers say that comment, which got widespread coverage in the French media, planted the seeds of the current violence.

I just did a search on him on Google Images Search, and the guy also looks predictably dumb. He might give Dan Quayle a scare. How did this person end up in the cabinet in the first place? This does not reflect well on the French.

"The indigenous Europeans always want it all: they want the immigrants to do the menial jobs they hate but they are not ready to deal with them on equal grounds as human beings. Indigenous Europeans still live with the colonial mentality of superiority. When the French revolution started against inequality, rioters were also accused of being "scum".

Chirac has talked of restoring law and order, and that is acceptable and desirable language but incomplete, as it does not give a sign that he intends to tackle the riots from many different angles. In a private meeting with the Latvian prime minister Chirac did discuss the alienation theme, but he should be doing it on national television, if only to counter the incendiary, racist remarks by Sarko.

The deaths proved a flashpoint for the frustration and fury of second- and third-generation north and black African immigrants, and spread nationwide, fuelled by the hardline interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, calling the rioters "yobs" and "scum".

To the politicians, the political solution should be the weapon of first choice, but so far that has not been the case.

"Put this in your notebook ... ," said a third, rattling off a string of obscenities about France's tough-talking interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy...... The target of their rage is Sarkozy, who angered many in the suburbs by calling neighborhood toughs "scum." ..... "If they fire Sarkozy, we'll head straight to the police station and pop champagne with them," said Bidou, 22, his baseball cap cocked to the side.

• Chirac-Sarkozy – Good Cop Bad Cop? Israel Hasbara Committee (subscription), NY
• Sarkozy under fire as violence spreads The Age (subscription)
• French youths say they're marginalized Seattle Post Intelligencer
• · Suburbs promised funds and housing improvement Guardian Unlimited
• French Minister Sarkozy Performs Miracle On National TV. Big Fib (satire)
• Rivalry between ministers clouded early rioting MSNBC
• Curfew ordered in riot-hit French town Times of Oman
• Angry youths vent anger at France, insisting riots will turn to ' ... Hindustan Times
• For police on front line, a tough, and scary, task International Herald Tribune, France
• French rioters shoot police as unrest intensifies Euronews.net
• The sickness in France's heart International Herald Tribune, France
• French bloggers at odds over riots BBC News
• Opinion: Europe's Lost Future Deutsche Welle, Germany
• Colour-blind policy has fed Muslim radicalism Times Online
• The Fall of France Canada Free Press, Canada
• Paris: The Hand That Lights the Fire PEJ News
• The fires of disintegration Los Angeles Times, CA
• French Youths Say They‘re Marginalized Herald News Daily, ND
• French integration model fails Leading The Charge, Australia
• FRANCE: Discrimination fuels riots Green Left Weekly
• Sarkozy urges university reform Financial Times, UK
• Policemen shot as French riots rage on Scotsman, United Kingdom
• Arson attacks reach central Paris CCTV, China
  
• Sarkozy's tough talk misses mark BBC News, UK
• Rioting in France worsens, no end in sight North Korea Times

Free Trade: Got To Walk and Chew Gum At The Same Time

I have struggled to recoincile three issues: education, health and free trade. (Takes Two Arms And Two Legs To Swim)

• US faces daunting challenges in Latin America Xinhua, China
• Bush Arrives in Brazil, Faces More Opposition to Trade Proposal Bloomberg
• Leaders deadlocked over free trade zone Scotsman, United Kingdom
• Leaders Fail to Agree on Free Trade Talks ABC News
• Bush's trade initiative picks up little steam in Argentina San Jose Mercury News, United States
• Rioters shatter Bush's hopes of forging free trade coup The Observer, UK
• Summit's protesters claim victory Scotland on Sunday, UK
  

Reminds me of 1999 and Seattle. I followed the protests closely, and I agreed with most of the criticisms of those who protested. The number one criticism was that the WTO functions in a highly undemocratic way. I could not agree more.

Free trade is sound economic theory. But its political application has been failing. In the American context, the Republicans push for free trade and vigorously work against both education and health. The Democrats are not creative and bold enough on education and health.

The diagram above is my way of saying the economy, be it micro, macro, or globo, has three broad components. Financial capital, physical capital, and human capital. So far the free traders have only been concerned about the financial capital part. The most ignored has been the human capital part. That fundamental imbalance hurts the cause of free trade.

There are several aspects to the human capital part. Education and health are the obvious ones. But there should also be talk of migration. The rich countries should be more welcoming of immigrants. Labor mobility has to be better channelled.

Another is the politics of farm subsidies. Free trade asks for those to be reduced and finally ended in the rich countries. But so far the rich countries have been resisting for political reasons.

So I don't think if the question is if free trade is good or bad. The question is are the political aspects of free trade being handled well. Short answer: no.

And when you expand free trade onto countries that have autocratic, unresponsive governments, you end up with multi-nationals looting the local resources and giving back little in return. Spread of democracy is key to the future of free trade.