French ban petrol in cans amid fear of New Year riots

OK, they're kidding right? They think that getting rid of gas cans is going to stop riots on New Years eve? Hello!! Have the French ever thought about addressing the real problem. You know, the fact that radical islam has moved into the neighborhood...

Fears of a new outbreak of street violence in France have prompted many areas to ban the sale of petrol in cans.
Setting fire to cars on New Year's Eve has become a tradition among lawless youths on estates with large immigrant populations in the Parisian suburbs and Strasbourg.
The wave of rioting that swept the country for three weeks from the end of October has led to widespread concern that troublemakers may try to stage a show of strength this weekend.
The bans affect most areas around Paris and several provincial cities that suffered during the earlier riots. Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister, insisted that November's state of emergency would not be lifted at New Year.
This allows local administrators to impose curfews and other restrictions, although most take the view that tensions would be heightened by putting the measures into effect.
The petrol ban is separate from the emergency powers. Mr Sarkozy has dismissed criticism of his policies by Left-wing politicians and sport and entertainment figures.
The former tennis player Yannick Noah, born in France of Cameroonian and French parents, said in a controversially censored magazine interview that he would leave the country if Mr Sarkozy succeeded in his ambition of becoming president.
Other personalities who accuse the minister of inflaming opinion in the suburbs include Lilian Thuram, the most-capped player in France's football squad, the film director Luc Besson and the rapper Joey Starr.
Mr Sarkozy has been roundly condemned for dismissing troublemakers as racaille, meaning rabble but often translated - and understood - as scum.
But in an interview, he said the word was not in his normal vocabulary but was used by a woman of North African origin begging him to rid her estate in Argenteuil, north of Paris, of criminals. He replied: "Yes madam, trust me, we will get rid of this rabble."
Mr Sarkozy said that he probably had a much better idea of life on the estates than Thuram, who had not lived on one for some time but enjoyed the life of a successful, well-paid athlete in Italy.
"He is a great footballer," Mr Sarkozy said, "but that does not make him an intellectual guru."
Mr Sarkozy defended his handling of the riots, saying that nothing he had said or done during the unrest, or in 30 years in politics, was contrary to French republican principles.
The riots had been controlled by effective policing and had not been accompanied by anything like the bloodshed experienced abroad.
Repeating claims made in an interview on the Arabic television channel al-Jazeera, he also said no politician in France had fought harder against racial discrimination.
Mr Sarkozy described attempts by radicals to discredit him by circulating posters showing his face and the words "Vote Le Pen" - a reference to the far-Right National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen - as smacking of fascist tactics.

Well, the very fact that al-jazera is for Mr. Sarkozy, says a lot right there. Of course his main critics are athletes and entertainers, who else. Sounds like they still can't get it together over there and address the real problem...Socialism. Just doesn't work, folks. Keep in mind that our democratic party here wants us to be just like them. Think about it.