There’s just no substitute for theft

European emotional blackmailers grab the nettle and advance their careers by abusing themselves in dramatic, public ways.

No, we aren’t talking about ingénue would-be supermodels, we’re talking “just plain folks” parasitically asking what their country can do for them:

For two months the van was parked outside the Packard Bell computer factory in Angers, western France. Inside were three former employees on hunger strike: Tony Berthelot, Bruno Mouillé and Betty Bergeon.

The trio said they were subsisting on fruit juice and water in protest at the way Packard Bell had handled their voluntary redundancies, claiming they had not received adequate support in the search for other work.»

Copycats, alas no. I think we see evidence of the Stockholm syndrome at work here whenever the state or public give in.

The fuse is lit!