In a lot of ways, France is one of the most conservative countries in Europe when it comes to protecting their traditional way of life.  After all, they have an entire division of scholars, the Acadamie Francais, dedicated to the preservation of what they call official French from slang language from other countries.  If France doesn’t like le hamburger, then they’re going to stop you from using it.  France doesn’t like the burqa, a traditional Muslim face covering that is usually compared to a beekeeper suit in the West.  In true Academie style, France passed a ban on anyone covering their face in public, and that ban goes into effect today.

All this fuss in France, which has pushed itself into the limelight of a culture war between the ultra-conservative in the Islamic community and, well… everyone else who has ever campaigned for the rights of women in general.  It also forces Islamic immigrants and French nationals into disagreement thanks to a toothless law against face covering.  Belgium and several German states also have laws on the books affecting the wearing of niqabs, and Italy is looking to add similar legislation.

Under the law, French police officers can’t force a woman wearing a niqab from uncovering her face, but they can force her to attend reeducation classes and fine her, as well as fining her husband and religious leaders for “forcing” her to wear the submissive garments.

Tags: Islam, burqa, France, France bans burqas, Muslim headscarves, France bans Muslim head coverings, France bans facial coverings, France bans Muslim veils, veils banned, France bans traditional Muslim garb, niqabs, France bans niqabs, culture wars

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]