What country has nuclear weapons and isn’t afraid to use them? Why, France, of course.

Guardian

France has secretly modified its nuclear arsenal to increase the strike range and accuracy of its weapons. The move comes weeks after President Jacques Chirac warned that states which threatened the country could face the “ultimate warning” of a nuclear retaliation.

A military source quoted yesterday by the Libération newspaper claimed France had tinkered with its nuclear weapons to improve their strike capability and make this threat more credible.

Which countries are most in range of this threat? Why, the EU countries. No more lip from you, Poland!

As the French celebrate the storming of an empty prison by the wretched refuse of their teeming shore, I feel bound to make a call that I have made before.

It’s time for a change in government in France. Time for the Sixth Republic.

The French change republics as often as they change underwear. Why should they change now?

• The EU Constitution was voted down, despite the government’s single minded determination that France should led a united Europe.
• Corruption is wide spread in the government.
• The French continue to maintain a nuclear weapons program despite the lack of a threat, making France a rogue state in the community of nations.
• Under the Fifth Republic, France has gone from being a world power to being an afterthought on the world stage.
• An American has beaten France at its own Tour for five times and may do it for a sixth time.
• The pride of the French Navy is an aircraft carrier that is a decade old and has made only three successful cruise. The vast majority of the time it has languished in port due to its inferior design and construction flaws.
• And so on.

There is no reason for the continued existance of the Fifth Republic. Time for the French people to revolt, and establish the Sixth Republic, cleaner, greener, nicer, non-nuclear, and a welcomed partner in world affairs.

I guess we know where the DeGaulle is. Highly provocative, sailing off our East Coast.

Copyright 2005 by Action News. All Rights Reserved.

Nine French fighter jets and a French weather plane had to make emergency landings at Atlantic City International Airport. Bad weather prevented them from flying back to their aircraft carrier, which is off the east coast. They landed because they were running light on fuel. Now the problem is everyone is waiting for officials from the French embassy to show up with money to buy more gas. [Cash please. No checks.]

The French planes are here for the air show at McGuire this coming weekend. We look forward to seeing them there.

BBC

Dominique de Villepin has been named as France’s new prime minister, following the country’s rejection of the EU constitution in Sunday’s referendum.

How could the French President appoint a man as Prime Minister who is so patently anti-American? This is not at all helpful for Franco-American relations. de Villepin’s immoderate use of language about the United States and his clearly duplicitous dealings with the United States and its enemies should have disqualified him from serving in this post. The President of France has a moral and ethical obligation to pursue policies and appoint individuals which would narrow the gap between our two nations.

France already suffers from a world-wide opinion of it as a rogue nuclear state, as well as a state that pursues a foreign policy bereft of international sanction. Its unilateral military interventions and neo colonialist policies have made it nearly a pariah in the world. Only a foreign policy dedicated to rapprochement with the United States can restore any of France’s former prestige on the world stage. This appointment does not pursue that goal, but make it much more difficult to achieve.

Reuters

President Jacques Chirac inaugurated the world’s highest bridge on Tuesday, a creation taller than the Eiffel Tower, longer than the Champs Elysees and designed to end a traffic bottleneck in southern France. Conceived by British architect Norman Foster, the slender white viaduct in the picturesque Tarn Valley will provide a new motorway link between Paris and the Spanish border, easing congestion in the Rhone valley during the busy summer months.

Chirac unveiled a simple commemorative plaque before plunging into a throng of white helmeted construction workers, as an air display team flew past the bridge trailing red, white and blue smoke — the colors of the national flag. The French leader hailed the viaduct as a “marvel of art and architecture,” a monument to French engineering genius that was a “miracle of equilibrium.” “The French people are rightly proud of the exploit carried out here…which speaks for France,” Chirac told a reception, saying the structure gave France a bold, successful and modern image.

The highest of the bridge’s seven concrete pillars stands at 1,125 feet, 62 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower. At almost 1.5 miles, it is longer than the Champs Elysees and slightly curved to afford drivers a dramatic view of the surrounding countryside and the ancient town of Millau with its medieval bell tower.

Now, this would be the same France where their fancy schmancy new airport fell in a few months ago, right?

I cannot wait to drive over this bridge… [/sarcasm]