The Burqini...

The burqini as a fashion statement might not warrant much discussion, but it seems as a practical garment for swimming that allows Muslim women and girls to enjoy the wonders of water whether it be in a swimming pool or at the beach has become a bit of a flash point, at least in France.

The burqini is a head-to-toe swimsuit that apparently meets all the strict dress requirements for Muslim women to be seen in public. It was designed by an Australian, Aheda Zanetti, and would appear, at least to my unfashionable eye, to be a practical solution to the issue at hand.

However, it would seem that the French are somewhat more fashionable that I and have banned the burqini from being worn in French swimming pools. The reason, the suit is unhygienic, and therefore it is a public health issue. I am wondering exactly what hygiene issues are involved that would make the wearing of the burqini in a public pool any less hygienic than a naughty 10-year-old taking a pee in the pool.

Yet, it would seem that the rationale is that larger garments would conceivably carry more bacteria. This sounds pretty weak as an argument considering the last time I swam in a public pool it was like jumping into a bottle of chlorine. Then again, I am not a scientist with knowledge of the intricacies of burqini hygiene.

Interestingly, reports out of France say that the move as received widespread support from the French population and there has not been a significant backlash form French Muslims in response to the ban.

The Mayor of a regional Italian town, Varallo Sesia, has also banned the burqini from the local swimming pool as well. The reason is also related to hygiene matters. However, the mayor is also a member of a party that is staunchly anti-immigration and his comments might suggest that there is more at play than just hygiene.

The mayor is alleged to have said words to the effect that the sight of a masked woman at a swimming pool would scare young children, and imagine a western woman wearing a bikini in a Muslim nation as she would be at risk of decapitation, among other punishments. The idea being that the local mayor is only banning the wearing of the burqini and not arresting or punishing its wearers.

Are these valid arguments? Or, would the governments seeking to ban the wearing of the burqini be better served by continuing to trot out the hygiene excuse and ratchet that up with a few scientific studies?

Life in a multicultural world.

Stupid is as Stupid Does!

If this report turns out to be true, then some people are just too stupid for words. I do not know Wulan Guritno other than from the gossip columns and from her appearances on TV and film.

The times I have seen her on the idiot box (AKA television) she seemed to be well-spoken and smart. Now, looks can be deceiving and perhaps we have all been deceived.

Guritno is now suspected of forging her high school certificate. Why would she want to do this? It seems that she intended to run for a parliamentary seat on behalf of the National Mandate Party (PAN). Simply, any prospective candidate must have at least a high school qualification before they can qualify to stand in the election.

It seems the actress forged her qualification. The qualification was allegedly issued by an Italian based academy. The forgery mistake was supposedly to basic for words, the qualification was in the wrong name, specifically it was in the name of someone else (supposedly her sister).

It seems that the Indonesian Election Commission (Komisi Pemilihan Umum / KPU) is set to strike her off the list of candidates unless she can come up with something that is able to stand the scrutiny of a validity check.

This is certainly a potentially embarrassing moment and one that begs the question, "if you had a high school qualification then why would you need to fake one?"

Oh well!

Gypsies -- Roma

This is one of those moments where you read the sentence, shake your head, read it again, and then go, what?

Italy's highest court, the Court of Cassation, has handed down a decision which essentially says that it is OK to discriminate against gypsies because they are all thieves. Hey, did I fall asleep and wake up in the dark ages?

Italy is now governed again by the billionaire telecommunications expert and alleged corrupter Silvio Berlusconi. However, it is the Interior Minister who has decided that all of the Roma that are resident in Italy must be fingerprinted, including all Roma children.

The ruling was not about the fingerprinting issue per se but rather it overturned the convictions of a group of six people who signed a pamphlet which essentially said that all gypsies must be removed from Italy because where ever there are gypsies there are robberies. One of the six, Flavio Tosi, has since become Mayor of Verona.

The fact that the Court made the decision that it did would suggest that any legal action taken against the fingerprinting measure would be likely to fail as the Court appears inclined to accept the proposition that all Roma are thieves.

The Court of Cassation held that Mr Tosi was not a racist, but that he had "a deep aversion [to Roma] that was not determined by the Gypsy nature of the people discriminated against, but by the fact that all the gypsies were thieves". The Court then went on to say that his dislike of the Roma was "not therefore based on a notion of superiority or racial hatred, but on racial prejudice".

Yep, if you're lost a little on this reasoning then join the queue. This seems to be an exercise in hair splitting between the words hatred and prejudice.

It should not be too long and the government in Italy might require Italian Jews to wear a big yellow Star of David on their clothes. If Italians are going to start fingerprinting people then it must be non-discriminatory and all Italians must be fingerprinted and not just selected racial groups.