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Lonely year for French president at time of crisis
By SYLVIE CORBET | Associated Press – 31 mins ago…
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PARIS (AP) — The sounds of raucous protest echo in the Presidential Palace, unemployment is rising to levels not seen in over a decade, and his country’s economy has been called a potential time bomb at the heart of Europe.

Francois Hollande, among the most unpopular French leaders in modern history, remains calm.

Lacking the early-career charisma of President Barack Obama or the hard-nosed reputation of Germany’s Angela Merkel, Hollande rose to power in the Socialist Party as a consensus-builder — someone who went out of his way to avoid confrontation. But the amiability that propelled him to the presidency a year ago is turning against Hollande, as poll after poll finds deep disappointment among many who believe he is incapable of the swift, determined choices needed to yank France out of a malaise he himself says threatens generations to come.

“I remain solid and serene,” Holland told a handful of journalists in his office at the Presidential Palace, above the shouts of a crowd demonstrating against his plan to legalize gay marriage. Without camouflaging the difficulties, he admitted it’s been a trying year. “I grasp the seriousness — it’s the task of the president to remain steady and to see further than the storms of a moment. It’s called perseverance.”

Judgment, he said in the interview earlier this month, will come only at the end of his five-year term.

But, seated comfortably in his office armchair, Hollande insisted he was anything but indecisive.

“My will is to pull the country together and restore its confidence. This will take time, but I have no other goal,” he said. “You can criticize my decisions, think that I’m on the wrong path, say I’m foundering, but if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that I’ve made major choices for France in the past year.”

He cited the accord reached in January between unions and business leaders to relax some of France’s famously strict labor protections. Hollande had championed the agreement, saying the costs and difficulties of hiring in France were hurting its ability to compete globally. But unemployment has only risen since then, and the brief optimism generated by the agreement — which is expected to become law by next month — has since faded. This week, it reached 10.6 percent, the highest level since 1999.

Hollande talks a lot about the French intervention in Mali, by far his most popular act in office. But, despite Hollande’s best efforts, France was alone among European countries in sending soldiers, and French forces outnumbered any Africans sent to win Mali back from the militants who threatened to seize the entire country.

“I became president at an exceptional time,” said Hollande, who tends to speak deliberately and formally even in relaxed settings. “Exceptional on the economic front: a long crisis, a recession in Europe, unemployment at historic levels. Exceptional because I was forced to engage France in Mali. Exceptional because populism is taking hold, not just in France, but throughout Europe.”

Bernard Poignant, a Socialist who is Hollande’s friend of 30 years and also one of his advisors, said the president started his term at a hugely difficult moment for his leftist base.

“Traditionally the left, when it comes to power, is generous, redistributive of wealth,” he said. “Today, it’s the reverse. The right emptied the coffers and now the left must fill them.”

Economists say that France’s predicament stems neither from the country’s right or left, but from generations of benefits that few politicians are willing to take away. Hollande’s predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, only half-heartedly tried to raise the work week from 35 hours, then pulled back even before strong opposition emerged.

Hollande cautiously broached the idea of pulling back some of the subsidies that now go to all parents of young children, exempting families who earn high incomes. But the 35-hour work week remains in place, as does the retirement age of 62. Health care remains universal and nearly all treatments are reimbursed at least partially. Hollande has said he will not thin the ranks of government employees. France will remain among the countries with the highest percentage of public workers in the world — about 20 percent of the workforce gets a government paycheck and a government pension.

Hollande was elected as “president normal,” an unassuming contrast to Sarkozy’s flashy, aggressive style, and his dramatic divorce and marriage to the model and singer Carla Bruni. But a year into his term, his amiability has managed to turn most of the country against him, even within his own camp. Numerous Socialist lawmakers are openly speaking against him, for example, for demanding they publish their assets.

The president appears to relish simple, easy contact with the French. He can spend hours happily shaking hands, telling stories, joking. But those moments are becoming increasingly rare.

“He is consumed by his responsibilities, too consumed, in my opinion,” said Poignant. “The political climate is such that the president is becoming the target of protests. We have to protect him for security reasons: It is very difficult for him to be close to the French.”

Only about one in four French approve of the job Hollande is doing, lower than either of his conservative predecessors.

He says he is willing to wait for that to change, describing his five-year term in two phases: things will be very difficult in the first phase, then a return to growth and the Socialist preference toward more government spending. His advisors — and most economists — say privately they don’t expect much good news for France before 2015.

“The French have always turned to the president. He is accountable to them, and that’s as it should be. My actions are measured at this particular moment in our country’s history,” he said. “I remain in control of myself, confident in what I think.”

http://news.yahoo.com/lonely-french-president-time-crisis-062542859.html

Russia to Get New ICBM Later this Year

RS-24 Yars ballistic missiles

RS-24 Yars ballistic missiles
© Photo Defense Ministry press service
22:51 18/04/2013

MOSCOW, April 18 (RIA Novosti) – The first modernized intercontinental ballistic missile, Yars-M, will enter service with Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) later this year, RVSN Commander Col. Gen. Sergei Karavayev said on Thursday.

A defense industry source previously told RIA Novosti the Armed Forces will take delivery of a fifth-generation Yars-M missile before the end of the current year.

Karavayev declined to provide any details, including the missile’s specifications.

The existing RS-24 Yars (NATO reporting name, SS-29) is a MIRV’ed ICBM that is heavier than the Topol-M (SS-27 Stalin) and can carry up to 10 independently targetable warheads.

The RVSN previously said that the Topol-M and RS-24 ballistic missiles will be the mainstay of the ground-based component of Russia’s nuclear triad and would account for no less than 80 percent of the RVSN’s arsenal by 2016.

Karavayev also said the Tatishchevo RVSN Division, near the city of Saratov in southwestern Russia, at present has 60 Topol-M missile systems.

The Topol-M missile, with a range of about 7,000 miles (11,000 km), is said to be immune to any current and planned US antiballistic missile defense. It is capable of making evasive maneuvers, and carries targeting countermeasures and decoys.

By 2020, the RVSN are expected to be equipped with over 170 Topol-Ms (mobile and silo-based), as well as 30 SS-19 and 108 RS-24 missile defense systems in nine divisions.

http://en.rian.ru/military_news/20130418/180717057/Russia-to-Get-New-ICBM-Later-this-Year.html

Obama, the Black White House Whining Monkey, Promises War with Iran “Within One Year”. Change, U can believe in!
http://www.davidduke.com/?p=38861

Administrator Mar 15, 2013 |

The Zionist Supremacist controlled puppet American president Barack Obama has intimated that he will order an attack on Iran within a year “should diplomatic efforts fail” to prevent Iran from allegedly obtaining an “atom bomb.”

Obama made the remark during an interview on Israel’s Channel 2, ahead of his visit to Israel.

What this means is that a war with Iran is now almost inevitable, because that nation is not developing an atom bomb at all—as all intelligence reports have already confirmed many times over.

For Obama and his Zionist controllers to demand a “diplomatic solution” to a problem which does not even exist, is nothing but a blind and an excuse to wage war against the Iranians.

It is impossible to reach a “diplomatic” solution to the mythical “Iranian atom bomb” and the lack of progress which must inevitably result from such nonsense will then be presented to the American public via the Jewish-Supremacist controlled mass media as the “reason” for a new catastrophic and costly war in the Middle East—all to save Israel once again.
In the interview with Channel 2, Obama claimed that Iran could “produce a nuclear weapon in just over a year.”

This outrageous claim is obviously just his Zionist wire pullers speaking, as the US National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate panel during an annual report on global threats on Tuesday this week that Teheran had decided not to build an atom bomb.

Clapper further said “we do not know if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons.”
His assessment reiterated last year’s analysis from intelligence agencies stating “Iran’s nuclear decision-making is guided by a cost-benefit approach” which had subsequently precluded efforts to build a bomb.
“…We have not changed our assessment that Iran prefers to avoid direct confrontation with the United States because regime preservation is its top priority,” Clapper said.
Obama’s claims are therefore a straight forward lie, and he is simply echoing what the Jewish Supremacist warmongers who seek yet another war, have told him to say.
Obama went on to say that “should diplomatic efforts fail this year or early next year, America will be forced to carry out military action against Iran.”
Obama said that Washington was in ”constant coordination with the Israeli government” concerning Iran and a variety of other issues, and that he is in close consultation with Netanyahu — to whom he consistently referred by his informal moniker, “Bibi.” He said the two have a “terrific, businesslike relationship.”

US takes the lead in killings of children. Last year 2,000 children have died in the U.S. in their own homes, they were not shot! 300 000 were raped! Bann this bastards! not guns!

Annually 3.3 million reports of violence over about 6 million children are received. Last Year over 2,000 children have died in the U.S. in their own homes …and they were not shot! 300 000 were raped!

http://english.pravda.ru/society/family/28-12-2012/123333-usa_child_killings-0/
28.12.2012

Over the past 10 years, four times more children died in the U.S. from domestic violence than soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan during the war. This is the worst death rate in the developed world. This means that the myth that adopted children would be better off in the U.S. than in Russia is doubtful. In addition, no one knows what awaits these children in the U.S.

Last year, BBC journalists conducted an investigation and came to the shocking conclusion that in the last 10 years, over 20,000 children have died in the U.S. in their own homes at the hands of family members.

In December, the U.S. organization Childhelp that helps children affected by violence released a new report. The authors of the report wrote about a “hidden epidemic of child abuse in the United States.” Annually 3.3 million reports of violence over about 6 million children are received. Every day in the country more than five children die for reasons related to violence. The authors of the study concluded that the U.S. set the worst record in all developed countries.

The most widespread child abuse is neglect of their lives and interests (78.3%) followed by physical violence (17.6%), sexual violence (9.2%) and psychological violence (8.1%).

Over 80% of the children who died of violence were under 4 years old. In approximately 60% of cases death certificate do not specify that the cause of death was abuse.

14% of men in U.S. prisons have experienced childhood abuse, as well as 36% of female prisoners. Annually in the U.S. economic loss associated with violence against children amounts to over $ 120 billion.

Last year, BBC journalists conducted an investigation and came to the shocking conclusion that in the last 10 years, over 20,000 children have died in the U.S. in their own homes at the hands of family members.

Journalists call poverty the main reason of such cruelty towards children, which sounds bizarre when we speak of the most developed country in the world. However, the situation is different from state to state. In particular, the authors compared the indicators in Texas and Vermont.

Texas has a much lower tax rate and, consequently, lower level of government support. As a result, children from Texas are twice more likely to drop out of school than children in Vermont and four times more likely to end up in prison. Texas has at least two times more children’s’ deaths caused by domestic violence than Vermont.

Journalists explain this difference by the fact that most troubled families need help but do not receive it. The children, in turn, are not protected by the government against domestic violence.

The authors of the documentary warn that blaming parents and social workers is the easiest way that would not produce the desired effect. There is a need in a special program at the federal and state level aimed at reducing children’s mortality.

In this regard, the main argument of the defenders of the adoption of Russian orphans by Americans that in any case they will be happier in the U.S. than in Russia is very doubtful.

The fate of the children adopted to the U.S. from Russia in the last 20 years is unknown because there is no reliable information. According to the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Russian Federation Pavel Astakhov, officially, 60,000 adopted Russian children left for the U.S. He believes that the number is much higher, minimum 100, 000, since in reality there is no statistics. 15 years ago 14,000 Russian children left for the U.S. each year. The fate of many of them is unknown. The Office of the Commissioner was trying to figure it out, but without success.

The fate of 400 Russian children taken to the U.S. in recent years is also unknown. The statements that they are all alive, well and happy are, at least, unjustified.

Pskov newspaper “Courier” once wrote about the relatives of Dima Yakovlev, the boy who died in the United States. His grandmother wanted to take care of him, but was denied this right. Earlier she was given custody over Dima’s sister. Dima’s brother (their mother was deprived of parental rights) was also prepared for adoption. His fate is unknown. Upon learning of the tragedy of Dima Yakovlev, another woman told her story to the newspaper. A few years ago, her two children were taken away from her. First, they were sent to an orphanage, but six months later they were given to adoptive parents in Italy. The mother knows nothing about their fate. Pskov social services received only one letter from Italy that, according to the agreement with this country, contained information about the life of the adopted children. This letter remained unopened because local officials do not speak Italian.

Russian officials in orphanages benefit from giving orphans to foreigners because of financial reasons. For Russian adoptive parents this procedure is free, while foreigners pay more, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. Russian officials have no interest in the further fate of Russian orphans. The stories of adoption of Russian children have too many stakeholders on both sides.

Svetlana Smetanina
Pravda.Ru