Selling Out in France

Wow! As if they're attempt to smear Lance Armstrong wasn't enough, here's another wacky story from those crazy French! If your ultra-liberal economic policies aren't working out, your country is in financial straits, and you need to solve the problem quickly, what do you do? Why, it's very simple: sell your highways!

The French government has received preliminary offers from 18 bidders hoping to take control of its three main motorway operators.

Critics of the sale of France's motorways have claimed that the number of potential bidders proves the assets are being sold too cheaply.

The government aims to raise between 11bn and 13bn euros (£7.5bn-£8.8bn) and use the cash to cut national debt.

But opposition parties have accused it of selling off the "family silver".

So does this mean that the French government doesn't have to pay to guard these roads when the next foreign invasion force shows up?

Note that in the picture, there aren't trees on either side of the road. That's going to make the Germans angry; the Wehrmacht prefers walking in the shade.