Whenever I read about disturbing cultural practices, I always think of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. If a practice is cruel and unnecessary we should be willing to condemn it whether its part of our own culture or someone else's.

Well... Europe does have some frighteningly far right factions. Like facism far-right. But that is an entire continent. The Scottish themselves seem very cool.

Yeah, not really.

Take a deep breath. No one is accusing Germany of being fascist.

Why are some Canadians uninsured? This is an actual question coming from a clueless American—no snark or anything. I thought their single payer system is like the UK?

I think the point of the story was surprise that Germany still had such archaic laws on the books. The country is usually seen as more progressive.

EU labour laws are generally strong relative to the US, but that doesn’t always carry over to feminist concerns outside the workplace. It’s not always easy to quantify and compare either – take abortion rights. In Germany, abortion after the first trimester is restricted to situations where the mother’s health is in…

Overwhelmingly, throughout Germany, the Flüchtlinge have been welcomed by the country’s citizens and processed by the understandably overwhelmed local authorities as quickly as possible. Even in small towns where space is contested already because small, housing has been found for everyone.

Still needs parliamentary approval, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Sorry, while the rape statute is clearly archaic in that it requires a physical defence, molestation is not legal in Germany. It qualifies as (sexuelle) Nötigung ((sexual) duress, § 240 German penal code) and possibly Körperverletzung (assault/violation of the body), § 223 I GPC.

Genuine question; why would you think that Germany is “more progressive than that”?

But, but, this is Germany!!! It’s in Europe!!! It’s a Western country!!!! It’s a first world country!!! Everybody knows that we don’t have problems with violence against women in first world countries!!!!!! What about those women in third world countries!!!???? Why don’t you care about them!!!!!?????? STOP COMPLAINING…

Holy shitting cockfuck this is awful. So basically, the place is a sexual assault free-for-all?

We had Stephen Harper for TEN YEARS!

So in some ways I think of Trudeau as being kind of like our Obama moment (obviously that was a way bigger deal in the US) - you were coming off 8 years of Bush, we were coming off 10 years of Harper.

It’s not a “phobia,” it’s a cultural code regarding personal space.

I mean, the WHO’s job is to dole out health advice. What else are they supposed to say?

She has the right to do it, and you have the right to not like it.