Isn't Paris Romantic?

Dear American friends and family~

No---there ain't no burnin' or riots going on near where we live!

So please stop worrying, writing anxious e-mails, and urging me to take refuge in Switzerland. The last thing to get burned around here was a pit full of garbage in some French hillbilly's back yard.

That said: If I were young , poor, and marginalized, didn't have the right to vote, and had no way of making the government pay attention to me, I might be out in the streets burning too. Especially if Nick Sarkozy (the French Interior Minister) came to my neighborhood and called me scum. (Very nice touch Nick. Thanks.)

Everyone seems to forget that rioting is ALWAYS a symptom of a much greater problem brewing in a community. What really needs to be looked at is the poverty, unemployment, racism, discrimination, and other factors going on in France. Everyone keeps talking about the smoke and fire an not about the REAL cause of all this mayhem.

I'm NOT saying that rioting is the best response---but ask yourself----if you're life was filled with poverty, sadness, and violence, and the government of your country ignored your peaceful cries for help, what would YOU do? Peace rallies barely make the morning news----but fires ALWAYS draw attention.

Enough already.