Word: germanism
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...lead in the latest efforts, says the most significant change is a 2004 ruling by a Cologne judge in a case brought by Scientologists to end surveillance by state intelligence agencies. The judge ruled that the monitoring was warranted because the activities of the Scientologists were a threat to German constitutional protections, in particular the right of Germans to exercise their political will, the right to equal treatment and guarantees against bodily harm. (The judge ruled, among other things, that the group brainwashes members.) Says Sweden: "For the first time, we had a judge, and not just rumors, stating that...
...initiative requires Germany's intelligence agencies in each state to compile a dossier on Scientology activities that might violate the German constitution. Their report will probably be presented at the next meeting of interior ministers in the spring and then delivered to federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who will have to decide whether or not to initiate a federal-level investigation. The Hamburg officials are hoping that in 2008 or 2009 a process will be initiated that will result in a federal ban on the organization, potentially freezing its assets and outlawing fundraising and recruitment - restrictions similar to those that...
...German analysts as well as some government officials speaking on condition of anonymity doubt that the new effort will get very far. "It is not only unlikely; it won't happen," says an official familiar with the process. Having been alerted to the state-level investigations now under way, the Church of Scientology is likely to be extra careful not to transgress the law. "If you really want to do this kind of thing, you keep quiet. You don't announce that you are going to do it," says the official. Moreover, even if courts could uncover illegal behavior...
...Scientology's claim to be a church despite the German courts' ruling denying it such status could also cause problems for the government, as many Germans believe the question of what qualifies as a religion is a matter of personal conscience rather than government authority. Skeptics warn that taking steps to ban Scientology could backfire, either by driving members underground or by making them appear as victims of state persecution. The 1997 government probe prompted several Hollywood stars, including Dustin Hoffman and Goldie Hawn, to sign an advertisement printed in German newspapers comparing the move to the repression of Jews...
...Stevens, who is taking intermediate German and introductory Arabic, said that languages like Arabic that do not use the Latin alphabet pose an issue for the software she uses to do her reading. And because no one at Harvard could translate the Arabic script into Braille, ATL had to hire an outside company to translate the book...