Word: penned
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...Jean-Marie Le Pen laughing? Because the truculent, acid-tongued far-right leader sees himself as the real winner of France's parliamentary elections. The snap vote, called by Gaullist President Jacques Chirac in a disastrous blunder, not only ousted a center-right majority that Le Pen reviles, it also vastly increased the clout of Le Pen's anti-immigrant National Front, which polled nearly 15% in the first round of voting and played a decisive role in the June 1 runoff. Though only one party member was elected, because of the mechanics of France's majority voting system...
Which is exactly what Le Pen wanted, even though he campaigned fiercely against both the left and the center-right. Forcing Chirac to share power with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, he argued, would deprive the President of a "blank check to dissolve the French nation into the Europe of Maastricht," referring to the treaty decreeing that the European Union will have a single currency and thus much closer economic and political integration in 1999. Moreover, Le Pen believed the Socialist victory would provoke a political crisis in which voters would turn to his anti-Europe, France-first movement...
...least part of Le Pen's scenario seems to be taking place already: the Socialists last week asked to revise the rules for launching Europe's single currency--the euro--a move that could delay or even scuttle the project. The leftist government also announced plans to consider granting residency permits to thousands of illegal immigrants, fueling resentment that may further bolster the Front's support. Meanwhile, infighting among defeated conservatives may lead some factions to break a longstanding taboo by allying with Le Pen's movement. As it is, the party is now the third biggest vote getter, after...
...mere prospect of Le Pen's forces' grabbing a share of real power is enough to make any true democrat shudder. A former paratrooper who has been accused of torturing prisoners during the Algerian war in 1957, Le Pen raised his party's support from less than 1% in 1981 to its current 15% by exploiting public fears of France's 4 million immigrants, preaching racial inequality and dispensing thinly disguised anti-Semitism (he has dismissed the Holocaust as a "detail of history"). With unemployment at 12.8%, Le Pen is winning support for his calls to expel immigrants and give...
...taking a final exam in one of my Economics classes and I suddenly realize I can't answer any of the questions. I start to panic, wishing I had attended lecture or at least read the book I had bought at the Coop for $79. I'm biting my pen and randomly filling in blanks with formulas I learned in EC-10 when I suddenly realize that the entire class is starring at me because I am wearing nothing but underwear...