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Pagan News Beagle: Fiery Tuesday, February 2

How do you cope with menstruation if you're homeless? What does Denmark's new law say about refugees? And how was it that Taiwan's pro-independence opposition finally triumphed over the Kuomintang? These details and more for Fiery Tuesday, our weekly segment on political and societal news from around the world! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

Menstruation is a trying ordeal for some women. For others its a sacred rite. Generally speaking though, it's regarded as unpleasant. That unpleasantness is worsened however, if you're homeless. Without easy access to clean water or toiletries, menstruation can be a significant health problem for homeless women.

Like America, Japan is a relatively wealth country. But as in America, that doesn't mean that no one in Japan is poor or malnourished. One Buddhist priest is concerned with the issue of hunger in his native country and is working to reduce its impact on impoverished Japanese children.

The rapid influx of refugees from Syria and other war-torn regions into Europe has aroused fear and hatred in many. In a new and controversial law passed by the Danish parliament, police in the country are now allowed to seize cash and other valuables from refugees. The Times of India covers the story in more detail here.

Like most revolutionary waves, the legacy left behind by the Arab Spring of 2011 is a mixed one. On the one hand, it led successfully to the end of many authoritarian regimes throughout the Middle East and North Africa. On the other hand, it also gave rise to a wave of revolutionary violence that to this day still has not ended as well as violent crackdowns by those regimes which survived. Few know the complex legacy of the Arab Spring better than Hosni Kaliya, one of the men who helped start it.

A few weeks ago, Taiwan buckled with tradition and elected the Democratic Progressive Party, a party that among its other positions advocates for the formal separation of Taiwan from mainland China, to both the presidency and legislature for the first time in history. What led to the DPP's political revolution? This analysis suggests it may have a lot to do with the development of a unique Taiwanese identity, separate from that of China.

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Aryós Héngwis (or the more modest Héngwis for short) is a native of the Pontic-Caspian steppe, born some 5000 years ago, near the village of Dereivka. In his youth he stood out from the other snakes for his love of learning and culture, eventually coming into the service of the local reǵs before moving westward toward Europe. Most recently, Aryós Héngwis left his home to pursue a new life in America, where he has come under the employ of BBI Media as an internet watchdog (or watchsnake, if you will), ever poised to strike the unwary troll.

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