Scatter Shots

1. The French. Most of the time I love all things French. I'm not just talking gastronomy, the arts, or haute couture (I leave that to the other side of my family) but also the alluring language. There isn't anything finer than an afternoon or evening being spell bound by a French film. Well, ok, there's the wine too, but you get the drift. It's a country that at times has been light years ahead of the rest of the continent. Last week, the French lower Parliament voted 335-1 to ban Muslim women from covering their face in public. Whoa, mama. In September, the new law goes to the French senate for final approval. The rotten smell of assimilation pervades Paris. So you get the heebie jeebies from bourqas? So what. On the tolerance scale, the French government laid a goose egg. Black eye intact, the proposed fine that will be levied on any woman caught wearing a bourqa in public ( I confess I would love to free my sisters so they can feel the wind in their hair and the sun on their faces) is $198.00. A provision to this law is that if you are found guilty of forcing a woman to wear a bourqa in public, you, sir, will be fined $19,000. and quite posssibly sentenced to eating French baguettes in the slammer for a year. Oh, I get it now. The French are 'saving' Muslim women from continued enslavement in France. Somehow, the words 'vive la France,' catches in my throat.

2. Because this is an equal opportunity blog: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani vs the Law. And if you know the song, you know who usually wins. In Iran, Sakineh was accused of committing adultery and soon after being flogged 99 times confessed to her crime. Really? After 99 lashes, she confessed? Huh. No eyewitnesses, the courts need at least 3-4 men or 2 women (because 2 women=1 man) to confirm the allegations but hey no problemo...with a wink of the eye, the Tehran court made up of 5 men sentenced Sakineh to death by stoning. Then something extraordinary happened. Her son came forward and pleaded for her life and her innocence. With the news outlets alerted, Amnesty got involved. Since the beginning of the year, there have been 126 executions in Iran. Tehran back-pedaling from the stoning sentence, is now considering a gentler, kinder form of death: hanging. A sordid side-bar...men who want to get out of marriage often accuse their wives of adultery. Merde. Wake me in a century.

3. And on the 8th day, Tilda made the film, 'I am love.'

4. The 'Kids are all Right.' Indeed they are. Hello Ramona.

5. The Swedes have set film box office records in Europe with the Larsson trilogy beginning with: 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo etc.' Hollywood perceiving that Americans are too impatient (oh please) or too lazy to read subtitles will grind out their version for a 2012 release. Do yourself a favor. There is only one Noomi Rapace. Noomi Rapace=Lisbeth Salander. The Swedes got it right.