Shockingly, France doesn't take credit for success

As the one year anniversary of widespread civil unrest in France approaches, there is renewed fear of rioting in the predominantly Middle Eastern and North African housing projects that surround Paris and other major French cities.

Last year's riots triggered Europe -wide consternation over what is seen as an increasingly dangerous inability to assimilate immigrants with Muslim backgrounds into European society.

Although it needs to be pointed out France's poor, jobless minorities riot with about the same level of intensity in response to police "oppression" as America's middle class, white college students do in response to their basketball team winning the national championship.

Granted American students don't go for two weeks -- they have Econ sections they can't miss. But if they did make it a fortnight, I bet they wouldn't score a big, fat goose egg on riot deaths like the angry French protesters did last year.

When these nouveau French get together and decide to make trouble the only real threat they pose is to parked cars and windows. Sure that's an important part of the riot, but contrast that with the last time police behavior sparked a major civil disturbance in the United States: 60 dead in three days.

The toothlessness of the French rioter is even more surprising when you consider most of them immigrated from countries where joyous religious celebrations often yield scores of dead.

If you substitute "French rioters" for "French army" you could make many of the same jokes.

So cheer up France. Your Muslims might wrap their women in beekeeper uniforms and shun your fine Bordeauxs, but don't for a second think they haven't been influenced by the ways of your great nation.