Iraq elections

The article i have chosen is an interview with an Iraq expert, Brian Katulis. The interview revolves around the recent election that has taken place in Iraq. The initial impression of the election turnout seems to be good. The numbers show that 60 percent of the eligible voters cast their ballot. These numbers are slightly lower than the election of 2005. With the recent up-rise in violence, these numbers are higher than expected.

Katulis goes on further saying that election day was a great success for Iraq. The real test however, will come in next few months. The new leaders of the country will have to show that they are have the ability to stabilize the region and protect its citizens on its own. The minority groups in the country are hoping that they can because they have been under constant persecution since before the war started.

The election results could spark more violence throughout the country. There have been millions of weapons entering the country for the past six years and these weapons may be in the hands of rival political groups. Depending on who wins, there could be some type of retaliation involved. The challenger, ( former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi), has already indicated that he would accuse the other side of election fraud.

Katulis says that the country is still completely divided along several lines. The differences stem from ethnic and religious differences. These differences have led to the political transition to become very stagnant. It seem that the internal power struggle has left the country in the current position.

He also believes that some Americans are not going to be able to let go of Iraq's future. He feels that since America has put so much into this war, that the American public will not want to leave the country when it is time. He also says that President Obama will enact his troop withdraw on schedule.

I chose this article because i find it very interesting to see how other countries view the Iraq war. I can't think of anyone i know that has not been effected by this war in some way. I never have really thought about what other countries think about this war. I think that we are nearing the end of a very difficult journey and we need to concentrate on how we can take care of our soldiers coming home and not care what others think. Even though I don't think that their opinions matter, it is still interesting to hear it.

I found this article at:http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,682599,00.html

Lufthansa strike

The management of the oldest airline company in Germany caught a break this week. The nearly 80 year old company Lufthansa was staring at a huge loss in profits until one woman decided to step in. Frankfurt labor court judge Silke Kohlschitter was able to bring the representatives of the union and management together this week. The pilots were already 18 hours into the strike when negotiations were reopened.

The two sides were able to reach an agreement on the most important issues which were: salary increases, better working conditions, and more rest time for the nearly 5,000 Lufthansa pilots. Several other issues were placed aside and still remain unsolved at this time. The pilots however, are once again flying passengers to and from destinations.

This agreement could not have come at a better time for the German airline because for the first time, they are seeing profits dwindle. This can be linked to a number of reasons. One reason is of course, the current economic situation in the world. More and more company's will no longer shell out more money for their business travels. They now choose coach tickets over the more expensive first class. The company also spent 16 billion euros on a fleet of new aircraft that have yet to be completed. They can not turn those planes into a profit until they are airborne. The end of the strike could not have come at a better time for Lufthansa and it will save the company more than 1 billion euros in lost profits.

I chose this article because it truly shows that the economic crisis we are facing at home is also a global crisis. It seems that the German airline company is facing many of the same finical troubles that many Americans are seeing as well. The company tries to improve itself by purchasing new and badly needed aircraft only to have profits drop at the worst possible time. The pilots are asking for what they think is fair compensation for the job they perform and the company is trying to enact cost saving measures to keep it afloat. Hopefully this economic downfall can somehow turn itself around in the near future. I know that we are all ready to hear some good news come out of the business world.

I found this article at:http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,681193,00.html

This article is about the German government deciding if they want to keep nuclear power plants open. Several of the plants were supposed to be shut down by the end of 2010. These plants have been in service since the early 1970's. It was decided at a high end meeting between German government officals, and members of the energy utilities board to keep all 17 power plants online (according to Spiegel).

The atomic power plants seem to be have been given an extension until an alternate source of power can be created. All of the power plants were given a certain number of "energy production credits" in order to determine how long the plant was to operate. According to Spiegel, the newer power plants would be able to share thier credits with the older atomic plants. The details of these shares would have to be worked out between the energy companies. There are some in the government who feel that this is a "dirty deal" made by government officals in order to make a profit from power plant lobbyists.

I chose this atricle because the enviornment is indeed a global issue. I know that in the United States there has been a huge movement over the past several decades to clean up the earth. I never followed another countries outlook on the issue and it appears that the US and Germany are on the same page, in theory. Many of the German people seem to be upset about the announcement of the power plants remaining open as opposed to cleaner sources of energy. However, the government has a completely different plan than the people of the country. In this way Germany is much like the United States. Although we have both have a system of government that allows the people to voice thier opinions, it often falls on deaf ears.

I found this article at http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,673875,00.html

Google and Full body scanners

I did my article on an interview between Spiegel and the German Justice Minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger. They began to talk about how the Justice Minister believes that Google is slowly becoming a Monopoly much like Microsoft was seen as one. She feels that Google is also on the boarder of invading peoples privacy by using the Google earth technology.

I feel that she has some legitimate concerns with the way Google operates this program. You can find just about any place on the planet with this technology and get a birds eye view at any time. She also brings up a good point about how difficult it would be to place laws on something as widespread as the internet, because the jurisdiction is international.

The second half of the interview is the Justice Minister talking about the use of full body scanners in airports. It is hard to tell if she is opposed to the idea or not. It sounds like she wants to make the airports safer but is trying to keep peace with people that feel that these devices are an invasion of privacy. Personally I would not mind them at all. I would much rather know that I was that much safer on an airplane than feel embarrassed that someone might be looking under my shirt. She also talks about trying to improve security measures so that these scanners are not necessary to begin with. This is also a good idea.

I found this article at http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,671426,00.html

German Events

I am going to try to find articles that compare German culture and American culture.