Around the World

Some countries are moving forward. Here is an anti-government rally that took place earlier today in Iran:
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And here are American soldiers standing in line at the first fast food outlet to open in Baghdad:
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Other countries are moving in the opposite direction. What is happening in France is incomprehensible, to me at least. The government is proposing a reform of the pension system for public employees that would extend to forty years the period they are required to work in order to be eligible for full pension benefits. This would bring public employees’ retirement benefits in line with prevailing practices in the French private sector. The reform is prompted by the enormous deficits that the current rules will bring about as middle-aged workers retire. The result has been widespread strikes and riots. Most of the rioters don’t look as though they have imminent concerns about retirement; they are indistinguishable from the anti-globalists that show up whenever an economic conference is held in Europe:
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