GoNative,
Sorry, my skiing season have started so I don't have much time hanging out here anymore. Which is cooool. Not that hanging out here isn't cool but skiing is just too good
Anyway, if I lived in Australia, I would think it was totally OK to say things like "Curry murders are crazy. These racists are sick." Because it is and they are. But the moment I say "Australia is backward compared to other countries. Look at the curry murders!" That becomes bashing. There is a fine line between them.
Comparing Japan with Russia isn't very, mmm what's the word, I'll just say reasonable. The situations in Russia and Japan are completely different. And you don't have any ground to your claim that Japan is a pedophiliac photographers' heaven. You are welcome to prove me otherwise though.
I am strongly against the law that prohibits simple possession of child pornography. At least in Japan. It's not because I want to see them. (Duh, do I even need to say this??? But it seems...) It's about citizens' rights and about the Freedom of Speech. It's just too dangerous and totalitarian.
I find the French law that "prohibits" burka is a bit backward and totalitarian. How can you "prohibit" people from wearing a certain kind of outfit? What's the difference between Arab countries that regulate what kinds of clothes their citizens can wear and the French?
However, different countries have different circumstances and I understand that France, and many European countries, have serious immigration problems. And sometimes there needs to be tough measures.
Likewise, in the countries where rape rates are 70 times higher than Japan, I understand there is a need to take radical actions. But when I see some western country arrests their citizen for possessing MANGA where there is no VICTIM, and convicts them and classifies them as a felon and a sex offender, I get a feeling similar to the one I get when I come across news about sex and women in some Muslim countries.
The issue is kinda religious I think, and my religion (Zen) tells me it's all about the balance.