Mixed results follow as Germany grants working rights to European neighbors

People from Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia will have the same rights as others in the European Union to work in Germany. Up until now, they've needed work permits.

As of May 1, Permits will not longer be needed but officials have warned that the move will affect the German labour market as immigrants will be willing to work for less wages.

Proponents of the law, say that the law could bolster Polish-German integration.

"The German government economy needed well-educated and well-trained workers and these could be found in Poland. The German-Polish border regions in particular would benefit from liberalized labour laws," Gunter Pleuger, president of the Viadrina Europe University said.

Joachim Moller, director of the Institute for Labour Market and Careers Research said he also saw the development positively.

"The fear that opening up the labour markets for citizens of the new EU member state could lead to low wages in a broad fashion  is something I do not share," he said.

It was widely agreed upon by experts that the new move will help German economic development.

Another example of media changing German history

Thinking back, I remember quite a lot about Anne Frank, the Nazis and WW2 in general from my days back in grade school. As an added bonus, I recently visited her home in Amsterdam so I like to think I know a little more about history from that era than the average student. But something that that everyone can love about history is that as new information is unearthed, history itself is constantly being revised. Among some of my favorite historical myths that are quite interesting was learning the unfortunate truth that Christopher Columbus didn't in fact discover america. This information, although not as revealing, illustrates that whether you have reminiscent moments such as mine or not, we can all admire news coming out of Germany this week in the form of a new book that makes new claims about Anne Frank and the SS officer that arrested her more than six decades ago.

Karl Josef Silberbauer, A member of the Gestapo in the Netherlands in1944, got a tip that jews were hiding in an attic at an Amsterdam home. The man was responsible for extracting of the jews and sending them to the nearest concentration camp. That much we know, but what has been revealed in Peter-Ferdinand Koch's new book "Enttarnt", is that after the war, Frank's pursuant became a spy for Germany's version of the CIA; Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).

I know what your thinking. This isn't breaking news who cares! Well, the information revealed might not be Earth shattering, but it demonstrates two different reasons why this information is relevant. First, this is yet another textbook example of how media changes the status quo. Authors are taking it upon themselves to go "digging" and often stumble upon interesting information that history might have forgotten, they then proceed to publish the information in a book or what have you, and everyone benefits. A second reason why this information is important is because it demonstrates a situation where a member of a terrorist organization -- yes, I view the Nazis as a terrorist organization -- becomes a member of Germany's post-nazi era foreign intelligence agency. Shouldn't these people be punished for their role in the Holocaust? Or at least, we could make it harder for them to find more work after all is said and done.



Either way, This is revealing information that is important. I love how media can add different perspectives to things such as history. No matter how big or small the information is, as long as it's shared, we should all be not only grateful but thankful information like this can be revealed.

Negative German sentiment towards Google causes the company to back down

This week, Google has been busy with its usual business of mapping the country from top to bottom via its street view. Although nearly 20 cities within Germany have been thoroughly mapped by the company, Google will cease collective further data in Germany. There appears to be no information released (press releases, statements, etc.) about why they have stopped, but the article makes it clear that there has been at least 250,000 requests made by German cities to blur their streets and homes which could be the reason why.

Google has been playing nice lately since they've been caught stealing information from local Wi-Fi signals. They do give people the option of being excluded from Google's street view. They also have a policy now, like I said before,  where they will blur your home upon request.

If you thought this was the first time Google has been in trouble with a country, you couldn't be more wrong. Last March, they were fined $ 142,000 in France for violating privacy laws there. That is a fairly reasonable punishment for the corporation who has been completely from countries such as China.


But I'm sure China is just acting in the interests of their citizens. I mean, after all, Google has always boasted positive reasons for their systematic mapping of basically every inch on the planet (give or take a few inches).

"Our business priority is to use our Google cars to collect data such as street names and road signs to improve our basic maps for our basic maps for our users in a similar way that other mapping companies do," a spokesperson said.

I hope they're not referring to companies such as OnStar and TomTom, because I'm pretty sure none of those business are driving cars all over the world mapping the world. I'm not insinuating that Google is up to no good and has evil intent, but they certainly have the means for diabolic operations.

This is just a postulation, but there are people out there who really do think that Google is poised to take over the world. Just because it's actually quite interesting to hear their argument, I've posted one of the many videos you can find via Google ironically enough, that ponder this strange scenario:

AT&T agrees to buy T-Mobile USA from German-based Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion

The move, approved by the boards of both companies today, will make AT&T a major player in the wireless telecom sector pending regulatory review.

The move will affect over 130 million people if it is approved. The two companies have stated that it will take them in excess of 12 months to get through all the bureaucracy if the deal is indeed agreed upon.

Of course there couldn't be news this big without controversy. As reported by Endgaget.com, the move will install a de facto GSM monopoly in the United States as there will only be major carriers. Horrible.

But don't worry! At&t paints the situation as a "rosy garden of straight-forward synergies". Yea, right.

The company touts many advantages of its customers thanks to its newly annexed spectrum. T mobile's sprectrum will not compliment At&t's 700MHz licenses as it moves to 4G.

If none of this happens however, and the agreement doesn't pass with regulatory approval, At&t will owe T Mobile $3 billion in breakup fees. Interesting.

Heres a quick video with all the details and the deals affect on Germany and the stock markets:

Germans REstart photo booth craze in Europe

"Photoautomat" as its said, was popular among teens and children in the '70s but with photography as a hobby being  rediscovered by Germans -- Berliners in particularly -- the booths have made a resurgence in bars  and art galleries all over Europe. There's no doubt in my mind this trend will likely hop the pond very soon.

Booths are popping up in various places all around Europe. Bars and clubs and even interior galleries of museums in Paris are often inundated with socialites and jet-setters who often use the booths.

There are 11 booths in Germnay and they are maintained by the same two guys that accidentally kick-started the trend in 2005: Asger Doenst and Ole Kretschmann.

Getting the idea after they restored one for fun in 2003, it took two years and a lot of trial and error before they could start their business venture and bring them to the streets of Germany.

For two euros, anyone can step inside the booth, envision it's 1970 again, take some zany photographs, and receive their retro black and white photos within seconds.

Now, these men and their volunteers maintain these booths -- and they are in need of daily repair -- for free; that is, they don't make money from them. That's love, especially when you consider that Doenst personally thinks that Berlin is "disgusting"; which is the reason they require so much cleaning.

Whereas photo booths in the rest of Europe are becoming poplar in clubs and bars, these booths in Germany are in the public along sidewalks and shopping centers. Perhaps they could find a way to profit from their idea is by better researching their local logistics and potentially exporting it to America

For example, I've been to Germany, and just like these booths they also have public toilets that are literally just giant rooms you walk into -- once you pay of course -- where you can freshen up. They could contact the city and perhaps integrate photo booth technology in those bathrooms as opposed to having actual photo booths from the '70s that require constant work.

Here are some things I found doing a simple search for technology available regarding photo booths:

As well as the article referenced:

http://www.thelocal.de/lifestyle/20110310-33591.html

Germany asserts itself, Spearheads economic reform of EU

This week, German business, as well as their strongest lobbying groups have pushed for stronger financial responsibility within the European Unions. For months, Germany has been arguing the importance of a bailout fund and for every nation trading the Euro to be involved.

In January, Germany's finance minster agreed with Chancellor Merkel's plans to pursue a plan to establish a Bailout Fund for the European Union. Now, It seems those plans have materialized into a collective agreement including a provision asking nations to openly face sanctions if they violate the economic plan's budgetary rules.

Through a press release sent out on Friday, Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, hoped the right signals would be sent to neighboring countries to show financial markets that Europe is resolved to defend its currency.

"The incentive for solid fiscal policy must be strengthened through debt breaks in national constitutions. If a country breaks the stability and growth pact, sanctions must come automatically," it read.

Another interesting side to this story is that Germany also advocates the end of financial help to countries in need. At this stage in development they said, the European Central Bank should stop buying their debt.

Nations undergoing conflicts or central bank problems, the article has said, opposed Germany, and the overall idea advocating reform.

The economic world gets a little smaller...

The New York Stock Exchange Euronext and Germany's Deutsche Borse reach a deal to merge this month creating "the world's largest market for stocks, equities and derivatives."





This consolidation has staggering implications if it actually happens. The NYSE is an American institution and if this merger went through that would literally change overnight. "Deutsche Borse is larger than the NYSE so its shareholders would have 60 percent of the new company," the article said. That might not seem like such a bad thing, but this move would almost surely mean thousands of jobs would be on the chopping block; that, as history has shown, is almost a  guarantee with mergers. 


A merger of stock exchanges has happened before. The London Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange merged. It is unknown to me how the move affected the local areas but Proponents of such mergers say this will improve relations between the two countries and open up more relationships between Germany and the U.S.