Reflection

My favorite article I read was about German teenagers getting rid of bad habit of smoking. It got my interest because smoking is becoming serious problem among teenagers.

My favorite article that was posted by fellow student is The Demjanjuk trial one year on. It is always interesting for me how German court of law portrays war criminals.

For me it was surprising that writing this blog would help me to understand better German culture. I thought it was just a useless project, but it wasn’t, or maybe was?

The only thing I think should be improved is that article reflections should be written in German. That’s only if I don’t have to do it.

Wife of German terror cell leader gets prison term

Wife of German terror cell leader gets prison term

In Berlin German court ruled that German-Turkish woman was found guilty of collecting money for terrorist groups such as the Islamic Jihad Union, the German Taliban Mujahedeen and al Qaeda. She was also found guilty of distributing radical Islamic texts. The women’s husband is 29-year-old Fritz Gelowicz, terrorist that planned attacks against US targets in Germany.  The court sentenced her to two-and-a-half year jail term.

I think the women deserved harsher punishment for what she did. There are a lot of young Muslims who become radical because of jihad propaganda. Most of the people who promote radical Islam are the families of terrorists. Society, law and justice finally go after terrorist families too. Just recently after terrorist act in Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, local patriots who called themselves Black Hawks threatened terrorists and their families. Their first act was throwing a grenade into house of one of the terrorist, but no one was injured.

I believe that United States anti-terrorist agencies should too focus not only on terrorists, but also on their families. For instance Osama bin Laden’s family, which is one of the richest families in Saudi Arabia. The flow of money and information that supports radical Islam should be choked as cruel as possible.      

German Youth Got Smarter

More German youths say no to cigarettes

German Center for Health Education reported that only 13% of German teenagers started smoking. It is the lowest percentage for last 30 years. The increase of awareness about the health consequences of smoking is due to smoking prevention programs effective work. The Center for Health Education's Director, Elisabeth Pott, said: "For most young people, smoking today is totally ‘out’; Not smoking has become mainstream in our society, especially among youths and adolescents."

In United States smoking is still a problem, but it’s getting better. More and more Americans are starting to strive for healthier lifestyle. It seems that teenagers don’t think that smoking is cool anymore. However, even though U.S. spends same amount of money on anti-smoking programs, they are not as effective as German programs.

In my opinion smoking is a problem which is never going to be solved. The only way to solve the problem is to make smoking harmless, which is almost impossible. The percentage of smokers will be less if society fully disapproved this bad habit. When I was a teenager and tried smoking older kid caught me and promised me a beating if he sees me smoking again. I never smoked since, maybe that would be the best prevention program.

V-Day is not so bad for Austrian Men

Many women buy Valentine's Day gifts, study shows

In Austria Federal Economy Chamber’s Viennese branch researched that this year almost the same amount of women will buy gifts as men. Not too shabby for Austrian men. The survey showed that 55% of men will buy gifts for Valentine’s Day compared to 42% of women. Also the research found that flowers are the most popular present, also popular gifts are chocolate, perfume and dinner invitations. The least popular gift item in the study was jewelry.

 I chose this article because the Valentine’s Day is coming up and it’s scary. In my opinion research is truthful, because Austrian women seem to be more feministic in the world then other women. It is relevant for many women to understand that equal rights should be equal and men want gifts too on Valentine’s Day. In my opinion Austrian women set high standards for the world on Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day is special for everyone around the world and I hope everyone will be loved and in love on that special day. Enjoy this beautiful and romantic holiday and cherish each other’s hearts with or without the gift. The most beautiful gift is just to tell to your special one in your life “I Love You” 

Unrespected Foreigners vs. Respected Citizens

Foreigners alarmed by Swiss expulsion vote

This is my second article review for German project. Even though this article about Switzerland, I must do it. Article talks about issue that not only Swiss, but many other countries are facing “What to do with immigrants that break the law?” Well, it was a no-brainer for Swiss “On Sunday some 53 per cent of voters backed a rightwing initiative for the automatic expulsion of non-Swiss offenders convicted of crimes ranging from murder to breaking and entry and social security fraud.”

     In my opinion Swiss made a right decision, this is a good example for other countries with the same issues. I believe that when you enter, as a guest, another country you need to adapt or respect their rules of living. I am not saying you have to kiss their ass and beg for mercy, but you just have to obey the rules. The only thing Swiss are asking is to obey the rules and do what you want to do on your spare time. Swiss respect foreigners, they just disrespect criminals. The only country that disrespects foreigners is Norway. It sounds retarded but this is how it is, Norway deported a “Norwegian Citizen of the Year.” Swiss seems like stand by their motto-“One for all, all for one”, and that why it is one of the richest and one of the least problematical countries. 

Germany wants to withdraw themselves from error.

German minister visits Afghanistan amid troop withdrawal debate

            The article I read in Deutsche Welle talks about visit of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle Afghanistan to discuss with Hamid Karzai political and social challenges. The article mentions that Germany is planning to withdraw most of its troops by the end of 2011. The final date of withdrawal will be proposed by defense and foreign ministry officials to be agreed upon by Chancellor Angela Merkel on January 28.

 I chose this article because there is a lot of talk about withdrawal among countries that sent their troops to Afghanistan. Germany is one of them and it’s sad. It seems that everyone understands that there are no relevant social and political changes in Afghanistan, but everyone wants to leave everything as it is. Taliban movement will just have to wait to spread their wings again and once it gets strong, it will cause more terrorist acts in Europe and United States.

In my opinion it was error that Germany and other countries sent their troops to Afghanistan. Invasion of Afghanistan had negative effect on fight with terrorism. Instead of fighting with terrorists, troops fight with people who love their country and protect it at all costs. United States, Germany and others have to learn from the errors made in Afghanistan and provide more effective way to fight terrorism.

German Politics

This is my current events project and I hate it, but I have to do it. So in this blog I will try to keep up on current political events in Germany. I hope you will like my blog and learn about German political system.