august: cleveland county

This month, the biggest issues in German politics were the German-Turkish relationship and press freedom in Germany. The German comedy program extra3 made a satirical video about Turkish President Erdogan. This led to the German ambassador to Turkey being called in for a lecture, and prompted German comedian Jan Boehmermann to recite a poem about the leader that was quite nasty. The biggest part of the issue is that there is a section of German law that prohibits insulting foreign leaders. There's been a ton of coverage in both German and English, so have fun!

The Atlantic
Newsweek
bento - What young Turkish-Germans think about Erdogan (German)
Poll: The majority of Germans think Merkel is wrong about Erdogan (German)
German reporter forced to leave Turkey (Older, but still interesting)
Commentary: Give Back Your Medal of Freedom, Merkel! (German)

The rest of my links for this month don't follow a theme - they're just things that I found interesting:

bento reported on how the German emo kids of the 2000s turned out.
Berlin has truly out-Berlined itself: a vegan restaurant opening was shut down by the police.
Angela Merkel gave a speech on the 500th anniversary of the Reinheitsgebot (German Beer Purity Law)
The 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster is especially pertinent in eastern Germany, where the government gave children contaminated milk.
This article about how German coalitions are often named after rather obscure national flags was interesting, since I find the practice both amusing and confusing.
Erfurt got free WiFi in all its trams! This almost makes up for them taking the cozy East German-era trams out of service.
In adorable news, the governor of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, is now godfather to one girl from a set of quadruplets born to a refugee family in Jena late last year.

Finally, I can't decide if I like this band or not:

I love a good listicle. As such, I thought I'd put together my top twitter accounts for German news and politics in English and German. The accounts are in no particular order; they're mostly ones that either I follow or that I check from time to time. I don't follow as many English accounts because German ones are usually more up-to-date for German news, but there are still some really good ones out there!

English

SPIEGEL English: All the magic of Der Spiegel....but in English! This account is usually updated several times a day, which is still much less than the official Spiegel account.

DW - Global is a good source of German-based world news in English, which is nice for those of you who are looking for some less US-centric world news.

GPPi is a Berlin-based think tank, so if you're into more policy-based analysis, this is a good one for you!

German

Obviously, Der SPIEGEL is one of my top accounts for German language news. They update quite frequently - I'd put it just below the amount BBC World updates - so it can feel a bit much at times.

DW - Deutsch is the German-language news account for Deutsche Welle.

I really enjoy ZDF Thueringen for keeping up with news from the area where I used to live. Of course, the major stations have regional accounts for different parts of German, so you can find one that suits your regional interests quite easily!

SWP Berlin is another think tank. Sometimes posts are in English, but they are more often in German.

You can also follow all sorts of political parties by region, parliamentary group, and politician, just like in the US. For example, here are the parliamentary accounts for the CDU/CSU, SPD, Greens, and Left.

Bonus: I enjoy reading the Lebensmittelklarheit account as well - they're a governmental group that works for clarity and truth on food packaging.
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Cover photo: Unsplash

.@b_riexinger - könnte auch #Kanzler ;-) #FeelTheBernd #LTW16 #BWPlusSozial pic.twitter.com/ayIGtiSPH6

— fds BaWü (@fds_linke_bw) February 5, 2016

The Washington Post has some interesting photos from Karneval earlier this month. The most controversial was a float which features Donald Trump with the slogan "Make Fascism Great Again."

Also, Thuringian governor Bodo Ramelow visited the Pope at the end of the month, which made this thesis-writer very happy.

pic.twitter.com/vvfCDmapeM

— Bodo Ramelow (@bodoramelow) February 26, 2016

Get out the vote campaigns are usually an indicator of how close it is to a major election. There are so many good reasons to become an informed citizen and go and vote for your representatives. However, if you can't be convinced for reasons of self-interest, please think of the others.

In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that 13.1 million non-citizens live legally in the United States. That's 13.1 million people who live in a country where they cannot choose their own representatives.

On top of that, the United States' place as a leader in international affairs means that decisions made here don't just stop at our borders. Decisions made by American leadership change lives around the world on a daily basis. Every single day, thousands of Americans come into contact with foreign nationals through programs such as the Peace Corps and the Fulbright Program that are federally funded. Worldwide, many people are living in areas where USAID is present and Americans are providing relief.

Americans use current trade laws to purchase objects made in foreign countries. Changes in these laws could have impact on those people in foreign countries who may have moved from the countryside to a factory-filled city to find a better life.

You know that University of Texas slogan that they used on their commercials? It is actually true on election day in the United States: what starts here changes the world.

Please vote in the presidential primary and the election in November.

If you live in Oklahoma and you know you'll be busy on November 18, apply for an absentee ballot here or consider voting early.

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Title photo: pre-1959 flag from Unsplash

The Financial Diet is one of my favorite websites. It focuses on helping people in their twenties make responsible financial choices, and I love to contribute to it. Here's a new article I wrote if you're interested.