Paris rioters get an edge with cell phones

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press

Wednesday November 09, 2005 12:30

by pat c

The French rioters certainly do not rely on pigeon post for communication. By using mobile phones and email they have managed wrong foot the French police.

"As violence continues to rage in the suburbs of Paris, tension runs high between the rioting immigrant youths and the French authorities. But while public opinion may be divided on whether resorting to violence will finally shed light on how the rioters believe they have been marginalized from mainstream French society for so long, one thing is for certain: Their number continues to grow in no small part due to their ability to band together via mobile phones and e-mail. What is more, in that war of information, the rioters have an edge over the French authorities.

Government officials have readily acknowledged the power of technology that has banded the disgruntled youths in such large numbers and with such anger. In fact, French police have publicly admitted that nightly broadcasts on television of vandalism by young Arab and Muslim men have only further fanned the flames of rage across the country and indeed beyond French borders. "

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Comments (5 of 5)

So the secret is to ignore them then is it?

by wee willy winkey

Wed Nov 09, 2005 14:10

Sounds consistent. Ignore the poverty, the exclusion, the non-integration, the unemployment, the drug addiction, the debt, the gangs, the organised crime, the evictions, the overcrowded slum buildings that burn down on hot summer nights, the tinderbox of inequality that led to the riots...

Then to make the riots go away, ignore them too.

my God, you are a genius!

willy

Wed Nov 09, 2005 14:30

i posted an intro and link to this article because i found the use of tech by the rioters interesting. the views in the story are those of the author; not mine.

go to the url you can also comment there (at the end of the page) on any disagreements you have with the story.

Anonymous insults

by Coilín ÓhAiseadha

Thu Nov 10, 2005 04:27

Note how easy it is to be sarcastic to other users while hiding behind a pseudonym.

Would "Wee willy winkey" like to sign his or her name to future comments?

(If your real name is Wee willy winkey, I apologise for any offence. That would explain everything.)

Best,
Coilín.

no offence meant, comment was aimed at original source not at the poster.

by wee willy winky

Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:58

Wee Willie Winkie
Running through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs
In his nightgown.
Rapping at the windows,
And crying through the lock,
"Are all the children safe in bed?
For now it's eight o'clock"

:- "to Winkle" was an early twentieth century slang expression thought to be based on the german word "winkel" meaning corner, it was used to mean a lucky escape. "You winkled out of that old bean!". And it was just about the time of the introduction of zepelin warfare that the rhyme wee willy winkie became popular. Please note this was before "willy" came to be understood as slang for the "male member".
Other wartime rhymes exist as well:-

"Willie saw some dynamite,
Couldn't understand it quite;
Curiosity seldom pays:
It rained Willie seven days"

& the imperialist story teller supreme, Rudyard Kipling also wrote a short story entitled wee willy winky. & we can't underestimate the influence of this nursery rhyme on the wonderful childrens' novel by R. Dahl, _"Willy wonka's"_ chocolate factory. In the last few days of course, I've realised that this rhyme is not as popular amonst the young as it was in previous generations, and colleagues on the other side of the Atlantic have no idea what it means, it take "wee willy winky" to mean something along the lines of :-
"little scottish or plausible ulster protestant wanker".

I apologise for any offence caused. I'm an old man, settled in my politically incorrect ways.

French bloggers held after Paris riots

Fri Nov 11, 2005 12:08

Now the French cops are going after bloggers. The full article is at the link below.

pat c

***************************************

French bloggers held after Paris riots
John Plunkett

Wednesday November 9, 2005
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Two bloggers have been detained by authorities in France on suspicion of encouraging people to take part in the Paris riots. A 16-year-old French teenager and an 18-year-old of Ghanaian nationality are being questioned by Paris prosecutors, according to reports.

One of the blogs was called "sarkodead", a reference to the interior minister and presidential contender, Nicholas Sarkozy, who referred to the rioters in disparaging terms and has been singled out for criticism by many French bloggers.

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Paris rioters get an edge with cell phones

Comments (5 of 5)