AMD 1

Hallo!

Für mein Abenteuer mit Deutsch, ich habe Der Spiegel gelesen. I chose the top 3 articles on the Germany section of the online version of the primary newspaper outlet in Deutschland. The drei articles involved an influx in Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants, Deutschlands policies regarding international spying (Specifically, the US agency, the NSA), and a former Deutsch Fußballspieler becoming the first Fußballspieler in the history of organized soccer in Deutschland to acknowledge his homosexuality.

Der erste article I read was entitled, "The Americans Lied - 'No-Spy Deal on the Rocks." Now this is a current event in both countries after an NSA analyst leaked the already known fact that the Amerikaner "National Security Agency" was wiretapping and monitoring American citizens. Now, if the agency was willing to do that to its own people, it shouldn't be surprising that we did it to others...including the Chancellor of Deutschland's personal Handy. A deal between the Deutsch Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) and the Amerikaner NSA was supposed to be completed to stop surveillance of the other nation, but the deal fell through. Die Deutschen believe that die Ameriakaner are stonewalling the deal, which I can safely say is probably what is going on, and Angela Merkel even went as far as to call out the United States, criticizing its breach of privacy of die Deutschen. Is this some shock to the political sphere and intelligence community that this was happening? Absolutely not. Ever since 9/11, die Amerikaner have joked about the NSA tapping our phones and listening for code words like "bomb." Die Kinder would joke and say the word and wait for the door of their house to be kicked in. The reason there is so much outrage is that Merkel can use the current climate to strengthen her position and appear to be hard on the US, even though she has always known this was going on. A leaked GCHQ document from British intelligence actually showed proof that Deutschland is conducting the same mass spying network that the NSA had established Stateside. In conclusion, politicians are all the same, no matter the nation.

Die zweite article I read was entitled "Disasterous Impression: Cities Say Immigration Debate Overheated." This article deals with the influx of the Roma populations from Eastern Europe crossing into Deutschland to look for new fortune and a new start. Now the Roma have a very negative reputation amongst non-Roma populations in Eastern Europe, so I had to be careful of biased reporting or opinions in the piece being related to racism, but the issue is pretty common here in the United States. All you have to do is replace Roma with Mexican, and the political debate is the exact same. In Deutschland, the cities are claiming that a recent hamper to the economy cannot be directly linked to the influx of Eastern Europeans. Critics of the immigrants claim that these people can become leaches to a generous welfare system already in place in Deutschland, which has the potential to harm die Deutschen. Same thing goes in the United States. More conservative groups claim that illegal immigrants from mainly Mexico are harming American wages by working for far below a living wage (out-competing the Amerikaner in the labor market) and taking advantage of our schools and hospitals. My opinion on this has always been that, yes, they are from a different country, but they are still human beings, so maybe you can turn a blind eye to the poor trying to care for their families and maybe focus on some bigger money sinks, like a massive war on the other side of the world. Just a thought.

Die letzte article that I read was entitied, Breaking the Silence: Broad Support for Footballer's Coming Out." Surprise! It's another article that die Amerikaner can relate too! See, we aren't so different, after all. In Deutschland's case, its ex-national team spieler Thomas Hitzlsperger. Thomas decided to reveal his orientation in preparation for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, a nation that has been pushing some disturbingly homophobic legislation right before the games. In the United States a few months ago, the first homosexual pro-athelte to come out was Jason Collins, a basketball player in the NBA. This is one of those issues that is surpirsing to be an issue at first glance, but once one becomes immersed in the sporting culture, they can quickly realize how the prospect of being considerered "less than a man" could destroy the reputation of a player, sadly enough. The National Hockey League just became the first professional league to have an LGBT "ally" on each of its dreißig teams, so baby steps are being taken across the Western World. It is important to note that Hitzlsperger had retired at the end of 2013, which could have also influenced his timing of the announcement, since the news could have caused problems within the teams and controversy that mught have distracted his teammates. Whatever the reason, it is still pretty awesome to start to see Spieler stand up for who they are.

Thomas Hitzlsperger

Dankeschön!

Alex Bedard

Article 1: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/us-german-no-spy-deal-in-danger-of-failure-a-943614.html
Article 2: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cities-say-southeastern-european-immigrants-not-a-massive-problem-a-942663.html
Article 3: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/ex-german-football-pro-hitzlsperger-acknowledges-homosexuality-a-942611.html