What Happened to Liberte'?

On April 11, 2011 France banned the Burqa, the head to toe garment with a mesh screen to look through and the niqab, the face curtain with slits for the eyes to see where one is going.  Of course these are two wearing apparel items worn by some Muslim women.  Women who continue to wear these items can be arrested and fined 150 Euros.  No jail.  This applies to visitors as well.  There are five million Muslims (give or take) in France and reportedly between 350 and 2000 women might be affected by this new burqa, niqab law.  It is somewhat surprising that most French women who cover their faces for religious reasons in France are young and many are converts to Islam.  Even more are second, third or fourth generation French citizens. They love France and have no intention of moving.  People who force a woman to cover her face are subject to one year in prison and a 30,000 Euro fine. How ironic.  Now a body of mostly men and most probably white ones are trying to force a dress code on women who are all of a certain religion.  Is there a fine for that? No, I did not think so. Public opinion in Paris is mixed on this unusual law.  There is an organization, a French one, that is offering to pay the fines for anyone who chooses to cover her face. That is if she is arrested by gendarmes who I would think have much better things to do, than to harass women who are not hurting anyone or anything. The Qu'ran does not speak of face coverings as part of Islam.
So what is Sarkozy afraid of? Terrorism, Immigrants and Islam, that's what. But this is no way to fight back.
He is being ridiculed  by many in other parts of the world.  The head scarf, or hijab has already been banned in schools some years back. Whether one agrees or not is irrelevant.  An individual has the right to dress as he or she sees fit unless it impedes the rights of others. Sarkozy says that this law protects French society.  From what?  To me it is just a another way to say 'we do not like Muslims', just the way we did not like the Roma, and we are not going to accept them into French society.
Spain and Holland are considering following suit in this law.
Syria has banned the veil in public universities.
I  think this law will cause more trouble than Sarkozy ever dreamed of.

Anniversary of First Human in Space

Remember Yuri Gagarin?

He was the first human to orbit the earth.  The U.S.S.R. successfully sent Mr. Gagarin into space for 108 minutes fifty years ago.The United States was somewhat shocked when it heard this news.  We thought that a country that could not manufacture television sets for its populace, would never be capable of putting someone in space. This Russian achievement really catapulted the space program in America.  John F. Kennedy was president at the time and started a program to put a man on the moon.  Thus began the space race, in the confines of the Cold War, between the U.S.S.R. and the United States.

Sadly Gagarin died in a flight test crash  in 1968 at the age of thirty four. However his memory is kept very much alive in Russia. Russians are very proud of him.  He is a sort of hero.  A statue of him is in a very visible spot in Moscow.  To mark the anniversary of his space flight, there were special programs in Russian schools, and television programs dedicated to space flight and in particular Mr. Gagarin's.  Now there is a movie made entirely in space from the International Space Station of Mr. Gagarin's odyssey and what he saw.  This cosmonaut must have been made of steel because there was no provision for the re-entry of hisVostok I.
He had to eject himself out at four miles from earth and open a parachute to return home.  Busy!

Commemorating the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

This year marks the centennial observation of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, the worst tragedy in New York City history until September 11, 2001.  The Triangle Fire burned for thirty minutes, starting on the eighth  floor of the Asch Building, located on the northwest corner of Greene and Washington in Greenwich Village, on a Saturday afternoon on March 25, 1911, killing 146 people. The majority of those who perished were young immigrant women, most still in their teens and twenties. One young woman, an immigrant from Russia, was working at Triangle for only two days when the fire started. Those who jumped out  the windows to escape the flames rather than burn alive, died when they hit the sidewalk.  The doors were locked from the outside, so access to the stairs was impossible.  The only way out were the elevators, which were overloaded and insufficient. The elevator operators made three trips up and down to get people out before the intense heat bent the metal mechanisms of the shaft, and rendered it useless.  Some panicked and jumped down the elevator shaft into flames.  These brave women, who were trying to organize, worked , some say nine, some say fourteen hours a day with one half hour break for lunch. The lighting was poor, it was hot in the summer, cold in the winter, (as in all sweatshops) their every move was watched and they were charged for the thread and needles they used. For working in these horrible conditions they were paid the princely sum of two dollars a week.  But that was not bad enough.  The doors were locked so no one could leave five minutes early, or sneak a piece of cloth or finished blouse under her arm on their way out. I saw a PBS documentary on this fire and it affected me deeply.  I will never forget it.  I think of those young women every day.  Their lives had to have been unbearable to make the difficult journey to America and they must have had hopes and dreams for their future.

After the Triangle tragedy, many labor reforms were enacted  with penalty if not obeyed. The owners of The Triangle were not charged with anything at the trial that ensued, because they had broken no laws.  But  later they were indicted for manslaugter, but only fined a paltry sum instead. In 1913, one of the owners was fined twenty dollars for locking the doors on his new factory.

Today the building is known as the Brown Building, a National Historic Landmark, and a New York City Landmark.

Six heretofore unidentified victims were identified this year and honored with headstones at their gravesite.

All week there are to be commemorations public and private in New York City.