Globalist Fueled Revolution in Greece

France Responds to Economic Downturn with a General Strike

Trains, buses, airports, hospitals, schools, offices closed or in limited service

January 29, 2009

AP - France has come to a near standstill for a one-day general strike. Hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets, protesting that banks, not people, are being bailed out and decrying President Nicolas Sarkozy’s cost-cutting moves as unemployment creeps toward 10 per cent.

“Today is being called Black Thursday here in France, and with good reason,” Common reports. “Here’s just a partial list of the things that are closed or in limited service: the metro, buses, trains, airports, hospitals, schools, government offices, post offices — the list goes on and on...”

Thierry Dedieu, a leader of one of country's major labour groups, the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail, put the protesters' view this way:

"We want to show that people are dissatisfied at the moment. We don't want to have to pay for a crisis that we're not responsible for."

Although general strikes are no novelty in France, this one seems to have unnerved Sarkozy, who has been uncharacteristically quiet.

France's normally irrepressible president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has had little to say about the protest.

That may be partly because the general population, for the first time in a long time, seems to support it, and partly because Sarkozy sees parallels with the May 1968 street protests that helped to push longtime president Charles de Gaulle from office, Common says.

In Paris, commuters braved freezing temperatures and biked, walked and even took boats to work, but a 2007 law ensuring minimal transport service meant that some subways, buses and suburban rail lines were operating, and they were stuffed with passengers, the Associated Press reported.

"I'm not against the fact that people demonstrate to defend their interest and their benefits, as they say, but is this really the best time to do it, considering what is going on right now with the economic crisis?" Pierre Rattier, a commuter, told APTN.

"So I really don't think it's the best time to have done this, but, well, this is typically French."

VIDEO: Riots in France January 2009
French Strikes: Violence Erupts as Thousands Gather to Protest on ‘Black Thursday’

Iceland to be Fast-tracked into European Union to Stop Economic Meltdown

January 30, 2009

Iceland is to be fast-tracked into the European Union in an attempt to stop the country going into complete financial meltdown, it emerged last night.

The small Arctic nation is expected to apply for membership within months and become the 29th member state of the EU within just two years.

Olli Rehn, the European commissioner in charge of enlargement, said: 'The EU prefers two countries joining at the same time rather than individually. If Iceland applies shortly and the negotiations are rapid, Croatia and Iceland could join the EU in parallel.

'On Iceland, I hope I will be busier. It is one of the oldest democracies in the world and its strategic and economic positions would be an asset to the EU,' he told the Guardian.

The holders of the EU presidency, the Czechs, are strong supporters of EU enlargement and will favour Iceland joining the bloc. The next holder, Sweden, is also expected to be sympathetic.

Before Iceland is in a position to join the EU, it must first fully appoint a new government.

Icelandic politicians said yesterday they were close to agreeing a deal on cabinet posts and a government policy statement, and fresh economic data on Thursday underlined the urgency of tackling the nation's crisis.

The president has asked the Social Democrats and the opposition Left-Green Party to form a new government to replace the administration of Geir Haarde, who resigned as prime minister on Monday under pressure from violent public protests. His centre-right Independence Party is not being included.

'We might present a statement of government policies and the division of offices tomorrow if all goes well,' Social Affairs Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, a social democrat, told Reuters during a break in the talks.

'I assume there might be a formal changing of governments on Saturday,' she said.
Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security Johanna Sigurdardottir, who is widely tipped to become the country's interim prime minister

Social Democrat leader Ingibjorg Gisladottir has proposed Sigurdardottir become prime minister in a new cabinet while Gisladottir takes sick leave to recover from a benign brain tumour.

Earlier, the central bank said the jobless rate was likely to rise to 11 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 and stay high for a longer time than it previously thought. Output is seen falling more than 10 per cent this year, the bank said, as it chose to leave interest rates unchanged at a record 18 per cent.

The global financial crisis hit Iceland in October, ending a decade of rising prosperity in a matter of days by triggering a collapse in the currency and financial system. Prior to October, unemployment had been around one percent in the small North Atlantic nation of 320,000 people.

To stay afloat, Iceland secured £7.5billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and several European countries.

The crisis sparked protests as Icelanders blamed Haarde and other top officials for failing to stave off economic mayhem.

Police used pepper spray and arrested six protesters on Wednesday evening at a demonstration outside a NATO meeting in the capital Reykjavik.

The Social Democrats were the junior party in the outgoing coalition, while the opposition Left-Greens now lead opinion polls.