“If you don’t take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits”

From The Telegraph: “A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing ‘sexual services’ at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.”

Update:

Tom has some interesting Rants on the implications of this.

Update:

A was forwarded a bit of different report on this issue, a translation from a Berlin report on the same story. The translator adds the observation that “there is less to the story than meets the eye” and that the Berlin newspaper in quesstion is a bit tabloidish as well. I don’t speak German, so can’t personally vouch for the translation. Thanks to Xrlq for the translation and pointer.

Update:

A very useful clarification and commentary on the entire story, which casts serious doubts on the initial story from the Telegraph is reported here. Conclusion: “The article in the Daily Telegraph seems to have been cobbled together from several German sources.”