Given the degree to which the Americans have been slagging off the French, I think the French would be well within their rights to ask for the Statue of Liberty back.

Anyway, as far as the banning of headscarves is concerned - well - I'm not a supporter of it. Part of me thinks that a bit more secularity couldn't hurt, but on the other hand you've got the whole civil liberties issue. I guess another angle would be is that in the vast majority of schools you are not allowed to wear hats, so the whole ban is a way to eliminate the double standard. And it's not as if they can't put the headscarf straight back on after school.

If it were up to me, I'd allow headscarves and other non-intrusive religious apparel, but I don't think the school ban will have a huge effect, one way or the other.