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The simmering conflict marks another non-confirmation between the social scene and recent stock market highs. A little less than a year ago, Socio Times argued that France’s riots expressed an emerging bear market in social mood (see November 11, 2005 entry).

As the rally in stocks pressed higher, the French government was able to quell the worst of the violence, but this article makes it clear that the threat is anything but vanquished. In fact, beneath the surface, the tension remains and the potential for larger scale uprisings is growing. According to the World Tribune, France's huge Muslim minority community has come under the influence of agents who are influenced and financed by Al Qaida. Muslim youngsters are being trained in urban warfare, and  they are becoming increasingly lethal. In fact some neighborhoods are becoming “autonomous zones,” which police and government workers are “too scared to enter. The police union is demanding the Interior Ministry supply officers with armored cars.” European law enforcement also says that France “could be a model for other countries” like Britain and the Netherlands.