Teach First makes the grade in Germany
Similar to the United States’ “Teach for America” program, Germany’s “Teach First” organization focuses on improving the education of challenged, mostly low-income schools. Graduates from elite Universities who wish to give back to the community are placed almost as (it seems to me) communication teachers – bridging the gap between the students, mostly from multicultural […]
“No” to dual citizenship
German-born children of foreign parents will have to choose between citizenship in their birth country and their parents’ country. The article on immigration talks about three German states that proposed to allow German-born children of foreign parents to keep dual citizenship, but were denied. Chancellor’s conservative position on immigration is in line with her earlier […]
Gender Gap in Germany
This article highlights the growing wage gap between women and men in Germany. According to this article women on average earn about 23% less than their male colleagues. This number is 5% higher than EU’s average, and somewhat higher than that of last year. This article suggests that many believe that reducing the gender pay […]
Merkel gegen türkische Gymnasien in Deutschland
Angela Merkel spoke out against the suggestion by Tayyip Erdogan to open solely Turkish high schools in Germany. Not only German politicians were against his suggestions; the Türkischen Gemeinde in Deutschland also said that exclusive high schools were counterproductive towards integration. Read the full article here.
“Tuerkei will mit Merkel ueber Visa reden” (“Turkey wants to talk with chancellor Merkel about visa”)
The article “Tuerkei will mit Merkel ueber Visa reden” (“Turkey wants to talk with Chancellor Merkel about visa”) addresses the issue of visa-free travel into the EU. Turkish citizens are dissatisfied by the fact that they still have to apply for a visa to travel to EU countries, even though Turkey has applied to become […]
Germany’s Record Debt In 2010
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was approved for the borrowing of 80.2 billion Euros ($109 billion) for 2010, making it the highest borrowing figure in record. The government blames this accumulating debt on the global downfall of the economy. However, there are plans to reduce the budget deficit and a bill known as the “debt brake” […]
Skinhead Converts to Judaism
Pawel was a neo-Nazi skinhead until his skinhead girlfriend found out that both she and he had Jewish roots. Now they are Orthodox Jews raising their two children in a Jewish home in Poland. In Dan Bilefsky’s article “Changing Face in Poland: Skinhead Puts on Skullcap”, Pawel’s reaction reminds me of Lois’ reaction in the […]
“Sarrazin vergrault tuerkische Waehler” (Sarrazin Scares Away Turkish Voters)
The article “Sarrazin vergrault tuerkische Waehler” (Sarrazin Scares Away Turkish Voters) discusses how SPD member Thilo Sarrazin recently made inappropriate, racist comments about integration, more precisely about German-Turks. An example of a comment he made is “kleine Kopftuchmaedchen” (small head scarf girls). People cannot understand how Thilo Sarrazin can still be allowed to be part […]
Mouthpieces for Turkish Interests
Recently leaders of Turkish decent around Europe have been enticed to join in all-expense paid events in Istanbul. These events were organized by the Turkish government and led by the conservative-religious Justice and Development (AKP) party with a wide array of speakers. The conferences outraged the Turkish-German politicians present who felt the agenda of these […]
US-Turkey relations
This article summarizes the crucial role Turkey plays in a diverse set of important areas, seen form the US point of view. “Given Turkey’s history as a secular democratic stat that respects the rule of law, but is also a majority Muslim nation, it plays a critical role…in helping to shape mutual understanding and stability […]