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Germany

Germany's Minister Of Family Affairs: Classic Fairy Tales Are Sexist

DIE ZEIT, SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG (Germany)

BERLIN - Lotte, the daughter of German Family Minister Kristina Schröder, is not yet two years old, but her mother is already busy helping her grow up to be a modern woman. Toward that end, Schröder says she is very selective when choosing her classic children's books, including the legendary Grimm’s fairy tale collection that include Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel.

Though she didn't single out any particular tale in the 19th-century German series, Schröder told Die Zeit that Grimm’s stories are often “sexist” and contain "very few positive female role models."

[rebelmouse-image 27086108 alt="""" original_size="360x480" expand=1]

Rapunzel in Dresden (photo: Kay Komer)

In general, she told Die Zeit, she didn’t see why in stories and explanations given to children God was almost always portrayed as a male figure. She also believes that telling children Biblical stories should be paired with stories based on evolutionary history.

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, Schröder also has a problem with her copies of the Pippi Longstocking books by Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren, which uses the nickname “Negro King," for Pippi’s dad. Though the publishers have long since changed the name to South Seas King, the Schröder household seems to have older editions of the series. So when the expression comes up in the text, Schröder replaces it with something else “to protect my child from picking up expressions like that.”

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Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

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