France’s Burqa Ban Begins

France’s controversial ban on full-face veils went into effect which makes the public wearing of burqas and niqabs subject to a fine of 150 euros ($217) and a Good French Citizenship course. And you thought Americans were nuts? Individuals charged with forcing women to wear full-face veils could receive a much larger fine and maybe even jail time.

A leaflet informing police how to implement the law said it did not apply to private homes, hotel rooms, private office spaces, car interiors, and mosques, and that officers could not remove a veil by force, but would only be allowed to warn law breakers that they could be brought to a police station. Perhaps a stern letter?

According to reports, despite being home to Western Europe’s largest Muslim minority, France has only about 2,000 women who wear full-face veils on a regular basis, and critics believe President Nicolas Sarkozy is “play[ing] up the Muslim question because he is an unpopular president in need of an easy vote-winner.” Well, he could also bomb Libya -- oh, hold on...

In related news, 59 people participating in a banned protest to protest the ban were arrested on Saturday by French police.

Before you get too silly about it, remember that American women wear veils too. They're called Revlon and Cover Girl.

Paris liberated

Tuesday September 12, 1944
Guardian Unlimited

Advanced elements of the Second French Armoured Division entered the city last night about ten o'clock, fought their way through the German positions, and reached the headquarters of the French Forces of the Interior (the resistance), in the Place de I'Hôtel de Ville.

De Gaulle had escaped from Bordeaux on June 17 and broadcast from London that night to the French people. With a group of other correspondents I set out for Paris this morning in a jeep, sandwiched between units of the French armour.

First it was a tear across the open countryside, and then the villages grew closer and closer together, blending into a metropolitan whole. At the street corners the people had equipped themselves with boxes of tomatoes which they handed out as soon as there was the slightest check in the traffic.

The more enthusiastic of the people, in fact, threw them at us, but the majority were more careful and made sure they were not wasted by pressing them in our hands. It is a tomato-growing district. Tomatoes were all they had and we could have them, but they wanted to make sure they were not wasted - huge, luscious things, more beautiful than any I have ever tasted.