Protesters cut power to Paris train stations

[dArKeR]

Laurence Frost | Paris, France

French trade union activists claimed responsibility for surprise power outages on Monday that delayed hundreds of thousands of rail passengers in Paris. They warned of more protests over plans for the partial privatisation of the country's utilities.

The communist-backed CGT union said the outages were a response to attempts by the government to rush through new laws that would transform Electricite de France and Gaz de France from state agencies into listed companies.

Trains to and from Paris's St Lazare station were severely disrupted by the outages that began at 3.30am local time on Monday morning, while three other main line stations suffered partial power losses. All services were back to normal by about midday.

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=67540

[BayCityProgressive]

1. go france!

NO to privatization!

[geek tragedy]

2. Do people get arrested for breaking the law over there?

What better way to have a reasoned discussion about the future of the nation's economy than to make life more difficult for millions, break the law, and act like total assholes.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. France has a long tradition of citizens demonstrating, civil disobedience,

and tolerance.


Whereas Americans are likely to view any demonstration as an inconvenience that might slow their commute, the French are much more likely to ask the question: "Why are they protesting?"

[geek tragedy]

7. This wasn't a demonstration, it was

an act of sabotage. At some point this just leads to anarchy.

[DUJunkie]

10. What wrong with anarchy geek ?

n/t

[Feanorcurufinwe]

12. LOL

"At some point this just leads to anarchy."


Yeah -- at some point -- LOL. I suggest if you are that afraid of descending into anarchy, don't move to France. Actually, the US might be a little scary for you as well if you feel so threatened by civil disobedience, although that will change if Ashcroft gets his way.


I'm pretty sure Myanmar cracks down really hard on this type of thing, if you are looking for role models.

[geek tragedy]

14. Actually, the US is scary

because there is too much power being grabbed by the Bush regime. I think the US could learn a lot from the French in terms of social justice, but I also think that the unions in France engage in counterproductive measures.

I also think that rewarding lawbreakers (and I distinguish stuff like this from demonstrations and strikes) only encourages stuff like this that punishes regular working people.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

3. The French would be well advised

to examine what an outstanding success utility deregulation has been here in the US...excuse me, I meant outstanding failure.

[geek tragedy]

8. What's French for

"Granma Millie?"

[Feanorcurufinwe]

11. Maybe you should stick to English,

because I have no idea what you are talking about.

[geek tragedy]

13. It's from the Enron tapes

http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_business/article/0,2232,REDD_17527_2939671,00.html


In one transcript a trader asks about "all the money you guys stole from those poor grandmothers of California."

To which the Enron trader responds, "Yeah, Grandma Millie, man. But she's the one who couldn't figure out how to (expletive) vote on the butterfly ballot."

[Joanne98]

5. Go France

Give them Hell. :)

[TO Kid]

6. Their timing is off

Traditionally, the season brownshirt behaviour by unionists is the autumn.

[Sinistrous]

9. Hi. Would you expand on that a bit?

Your post states an interesting premise.

[TO Kid]

15. Their traditions...

My sister's been living in Paris for about 25 years now, and every fall there are wildcat strikes that shut down parts of the transport system. I was there for two weeks in 1998 and a different Métro route was shut down each day, I asked some locals why they were striking and the answer I got from everyone was, "C'est octobre". I later saw in the papers that they were striking because a couple of drivers were assaulted on the job, so naturally they did what they always do in French strikes- throw rocks and beat people up.

[Flagg]

16. The CGT (main union) are non violent.

They beat people up ?Who ? The Gendarmes ? What are you referring to ?
Total nonsense.

I'm afraid you don"t know what you're talking about my friend.