France's burqa ban went into effect months ago, but the first fines are just now being levied for violation of the law. I find the ban deeply disturbing, and ethically on about the same level of actually requiring women to wear burqas. While I certainly understand the reasoning behind the law, which is supposedly to keep women from being forced by men to wear such "backward" dress, it is also blatantly discriminatory. Read more about it here.
In a slight change of pace from my normal worldly reportings: some good news! This article details how Munich's Oktoberfest became a magnet for the gay community. The fact that gays from around the world are able to gather in a traditionally conservative region without backlash (at least to my knowledge) is great. I initially clicked on this article because last year I went to Oktoberfest... in Peru. It was a very strange experience, including guinea pigs (a Peruvian national dish called cuy) dressed up in lederhosen. Anyway, gay rights aside, I find it interesting that such a specifically German event can be converted to so many different themes.
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