Kervarker

Dianav writes "

The CSA, based in Paris, which decides for the attribution of frequencies, decided not to give Radio Lengadoc the authorisation tohave its own frequency in the Montpellier area. It must be known that this station is in Occitan mostly, so the decision is not surprising, given the antiminority policies in France.
The Town Council in St Nazaire, Brittany, decided to expell the Diwan school, which teaches in breton, after the Conseil d'Etat ruled last week that the principle of it was unconstitutional. The Mayor belongs to the Chevenementiste party, a french nationalist party. 80 school children will suffer from this decision (source: AFP www.afp.fr). It has to be noted that the unconstitutionality is based on the second article of the French constitution, which states that French is the only official language of the State; the article was added in 1992, to fight agains english, on the understanding that it would never be used against minority languages.
Seen on french TV, on France 3, a state channel, in a programme called 'On ne peut pas plaire a tout le monde': as the Bogdanov brothers were explaining they spoke 6 languages including Gascon, a dialect of Occitan. When they spoke it, the presenter (Ariane Massenet) burst out laughing and asked them: "Is that really a language, or do you use it only to milk your cows ?" Such racism is not uncommon on French television.
"