Merz declares victory in German election
Posted By: Dreadnought, 2/23/2025 12:50:24 PM
BERLIN — Friedrich Merz’s conservative alliance has won Germany’s national parliamentary election, while the far right has recorded its highest-ever showing. The conservatives, consisting of Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), look set to finish far ahead of all other parties with 29 percent, according to a projection based on the first results counted. Merz declared victory a few minutes after these figures were released at 6:30 p.m. in Berlin. “The world out there is not waiting for us, nor is it waiting for lengthy coalition talks and negotiations,” Merz told party supporters in the German capital. “We must now quickly
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Dreadnought"
We reported earlier on the disturbing news that chat logs of the NSA government messaging program for the intelligence community showed that NSA, CIA, and FBI personnel were discussing some concerning lurid topics including transgender sex subjects and "wide-ranging discussions of sex, kink, polyamory, and castration."
“All NSA employees sign agreements stating that publishing non-mission related material on Intelink is a usage violation and will result in disciplinary action.” The CIA has now responded to the reports. Director of Public Affairs for the CIA Liz Lyons said that the messages "allegedly involving a CIA official are unacceptable and have no place at the Agency.
Starbucks is laying off workers and paring
back the menu as it tries to turn the
business around 28 replies
back the menu as it tries to turn the
business around 28 replies
New York — Starbucks announced Monday it will lay off over 1,000 corporate workers and cut complex and unpopular drinks from its menu in an effort to turn around lagging sales and revamp the coffee chain.
Starbucks is cutting some Frappuccino blended drinks, Royal English Breakfast Latte and White Hot Chocolate as part of its effort to simplify operations and shrink its menu.
“These items aren’t commonly purchased, can be complex to make, or are like other beverages on our menu,” the company said in a release announcing the menu change. Starbucks is cutting 30% of its menu in an effort to simplify its processes.
Today’s election in Germany turned out as polls had predicted: the Christian Democrats, an ostensibly conservative party, had a 29% plurality; the Alternative for Germany, a genuinely conservative party, finished second with 21% of the vote; and the formerly ruling coalition was roundly repudiated, with Olaf Scholz’s SPD getting only 17%, while the Greens trailed with 12%.
At the Daily Economy, my friend and colleague, the economist John Phelan, predicted today’s result and attributed it to the futile pursuit of “Green Dreams.” See the original for many links:
The proximate cause of Sunday’s election is the collapse of the governing coalition
Tell me you're out of touch without telling me you're out of touch.
I wasn't planning on writing anything today as I'm knee-deep in a house cleaning project, but I took a little break to peruse the news and saw an article in the New York Times that had me wondering if I'd accidentally stumbled upon a satire site like the Babylon Bee. It was about how deporting illegal migrants would have a negative impact on the wealthy people who have homes in the Hamptons. You know, the real victims in all of this.
The article is entitled "They Help Make
The mostly even tempered Michael Smerconish rarely gets discombobulated to the extent of threatening to shut off his guest's mic. However that is exactly what happened on Saturday on his CNN show after he called the DOGE dividend plan created by his guest, James Fishback, a "Ponzi" scheme. When Fishback retorted by wondering where CNN was when the federal government promoted such "Ponzi" schemes as Ukraine War funding and $7000 per month payments to illegal migrants, a very defensive Smerconish went into mic shutoff threat territory. Before the mic shutoff threat, Smerconish went into nervous laughter seemingly in an attempt to override Fishback speaking
For all the talk out there that President Trump is slipping in the polls and that voters are turning on him as his second term progresses, one of the most experienced of pollsters, Mark Penn, a sane Democrat who has done polling for the Clintons in the past, finds a different story: I must be the most mainstream of voters, because what Penn says makes sense to me.
Sure, there are a few minor things I'm not completely fond of from Trump's presidency so far -- such as the 'Gulf of America,' (I like heritage names), tariffs, or not enough attention on the Fed and its relation to inflation.
President Trump has tapped Dan Bongino, a hard-charging Trump supporter and one of America’s most popular and prolific conservative commentators, to serve as deputy director of the FBI.
A top podcaster, former Fox News host, New York City Police Department officer, and 12-year veteran of the Secret Service, Bongino is a close friend of FBI Director Kash Patel and will now serve as his right-hand man at the FBI, Trump announced on Truth Social Sunday.
Trump’s choice of Bongino to join Patel at the FBI as its deputy came just three days after the Senate confirmed Patel’s nomination, 49 to 51,
The Trump administration continued its bloodbath gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development, cutting 2,000 workers and placing all but a fraction of other staffers on leave.
It comes after a federal judge on Friday allowed the administration to move forward with pulling thousands of domestic USAID staffers off the job and around the world.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols rejected pleas that came in a lawsuit from employees to keep temporarily blocking the government´s plan.
'As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed
President Donald Trump has temporarily taken the 150-year-old Resolute Desk out of the Oval Office for refinishing.
“A President, after election, gets a choice of 1 in 7 desks,” Trump wrote on social media. “This desk, the ‘C&O,’ which is also very well known and was used by President George H.W. Bush and others, has been temporarily installed in the White House while the Resolute Desk is being lightly refinished—a very important job. This is a beautiful, but temporary replacement!”
When President Harry S. Truman first used the desk at the White House, it was brought into the Oval Office
Merz declares victory in German election
10 replies
BERLIN — Friedrich Merz’s conservative alliance has won Germany’s national parliamentary election, while the far right has recorded its highest-ever showing.
The conservatives, consisting of Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), look set to finish far ahead of all other parties with 29 percent, according to a projection based on the first results counted.
Merz declared victory a few minutes after these figures were released at 6:30 p.m. in Berlin. “The world out there is not waiting for us, nor is it waiting for lengthy coalition talks and negotiations,” Merz told party supporters in the German capital. “We must now quickly
Top officials of President Donald Trump’s administration — including newly-confirmed FBI director Kash Patel — are instructing their employees not to respond to an email sent late Saturday from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) which asked them to justify their jobs. Trump senior advisor Elon Musk has warned that failure to respond to the email will be considered a resignation.
Sent late Saturday with the subject line “What did you do last week?”, the email — which was sent to staff at multiple federal agencies — demanded federal employees justify their jobs.
In a new development in Yemen, Houthi rebels have for the first time engaged a U.S. F-16 fighter and an MQ-9 Reaper drone operating in the area with surface-to-air missiles (SAMs.) Neither aircraft was struck.
Houthi rebels for the first time fired surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at a U.S. F-16 fighter jet on Feb. 19, three senior U.S. defense officials tell Fox News.
The jet was flying off the coast of Yemen over the Red Sea when the SAM was fired. The missile did not strike the jet.
Houthis fired another SAM at an American MQ-9 Reaper drone that the U.S. was flying over Yemen outside Houthi-controlled areas on Feb. 19.
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MSNBC liberal mainstay Joy Reid’s show has been canceled as part of a major overhaul by the network’s new president Rebecca Kutler, according to a report.
The 7 p.m. program hosted by ardent Trump critic Reid, 56, will be replaced by a new panel show featuring co-hosts Alicia Menendez, Michael Steele, and Symone Sanders Townsend, the New York Times reported, citing insiders.
‘We’re Mad as Hell’: Fuming Canadians
Nix U.S. Vacations to Protest President
Donald Trump’s Tariffs 40 replies
Nix U.S. Vacations to Protest President
Donald Trump’s Tariffs 40 replies
Miffed Canadians are opting out of American vacations as President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on their country to protect his own nation and its people.
The Canadians’ decision not to visit America is having an effect on air and land travel as they push back against the tariffs levied against their nation, the New York Post reported on Saturday. (X) On January 31, the White House confirmed that Trump was preparing to impose fresh tariffs on major U.S. trading partners in an effort to shield American industry and national security, per Breitbart News’s John Carney:
She lost the election, but she’ll always have the NAACP Chairman’s Award.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris reemerged in the public limelight for her first major speech since departing the White House Saturday night and took not-so-subtle shots at both President Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk.
During an acceptance speech at the 56th annual NAACP Image Awards, Harris painted a bleak picture of the state of the country and urged attendees not to lose hope as her own party struggles over its direction amid Trump’s return. (Photo) “While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written
Actress Jane Fonda won the SAG life achievement honor at the SAG Awards on Sunday night and used her speech to defend woke and encourage Hollywood to pursue an anti-Trump agenda.
While the world and broader culture has been seeking to leave woke behind, Jane Fonda came to its defense at the SAG Awards on Sunday night, defining it as simply giving “a damn about other people.” “What we, actors, create is empathy. Our job is to understand another human being so profoundly that we can touch their souls,” said Fonda. “And make no mistake, empathy is not weak or woke. By the way, woke just means
Top officials of President Donald Trump’s administration — including newly-confirmed FBI director Kash Patel — are instructing their employees not to respond to an email sent late Saturday from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) which asked them to justify their jobs. Trump senior advisor Elon Musk has warned that failure to respond to the email will be considered a resignation.
Sent late Saturday with the subject line “What did you do last week?”, the email — which was sent to staff at multiple federal agencies — demanded federal employees justify their jobs.
I’ve written about how the left uses language to (often falsely) shape political and social narratives. Abortion is “health care.” Illegal aliens are “undocumented citizens.” The homeless are the “unhoused,” or recently and more and more ridiculously, “people experiencing homelessness,” while people who have ties to Latin America are “Latinx” (although most Latinos in reality want nothing to do with the term).
One the silliest arguments they regularly bring forth, though, is regarding the term “woman”—what does it mean? Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson doesn’t know; meanwhile, many leftists define it as “anyone who identifies as one.” Right.
Enter Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D, but you probably already knew that),
Starbucks is laying off workers and paring
back the menu as it tries to turn the
business around 28 replies
back the menu as it tries to turn the
business around 28 replies
New York — Starbucks announced Monday it will lay off over 1,000 corporate workers and cut complex and unpopular drinks from its menu in an effort to turn around lagging sales and revamp the coffee chain.
Starbucks is cutting some Frappuccino blended drinks, Royal English Breakfast Latte and White Hot Chocolate as part of its effort to simplify operations and shrink its menu.
“These items aren’t commonly purchased, can be complex to make, or are like other beverages on our menu,” the company said in a release announcing the menu change. Starbucks is cutting 30% of its menu in an effort to simplify its processes.
Renowned Democratic strategist James Carville has delivered a stunning prediction that the Trump administration is in the “midst of a collapse” and will crumble within four to six weeks.
Carville, 80, on Friday urged his fellow Democrats to play “possum,” clear out of the way and let Republicans implode as President Trump plows ahead with his dramatic overhaul of the federal government.
“What I have said very publicly is that Democrats need to play possum. This whole thing is collapsing,” Carville mused to Mediaite founder Dan Abrams.
The elderly Dem guru was the top strategist in Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, when Democrats soared back into the White House after 12 years
On Saturday's edition of MSNBC's The Weekend, former CIA Director and current MSNBC analyst John Brennan claimed it was "absurd" to suggest that President Trump fired C.Q. Brown, who Biden had appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, because he had a woke agenda.
Absurd? Really? After the death of George Floyd in 2020, Brown put out a video in which he focused on his own trials and tribulations as an African-American, and concluded by saying that he wanted "to lead and listen to necessary conversations on racism, diversity, and inclusion."
Democrats are anxious to rebuild their party on the heels of President Trump’s victory in November. But they have a major problem as they try to refashion their brand: The money isn’t there. Democratic donors — from bundlers to small dollar donors — say they are still angry about the election results and uninspired by anything their side has put forward since then. (Snip) Much of the consternation among the donor community stems from the unprecedented 2024 election cycle, where many felt misled by the party and former President Biden’s reelection campaign. Until the Democratic debate in June, donors and
Unfixable cars? Enough already!
22 replies
I am old enough to have owned a half-dozen cars or trucks with no computers, including a 1941 Ford coup, a 1956 Chevrolet two-door sedan, and a 1966 Chevrolet Malibu. Fixing these vehicles to make them run correctly took some rudimentary skills and a Motors Manual. The electrical system comprised wires, fuses, and a fuse box. The fuel system was simple as well. Diagnosing the problems was simple, and I could fix it all myself. Even the carburetor was not that hard to rebuild. [snip]Under the guise of helping to clean up the environment, the program all but eliminated all cars and parts
Jane Fonda takes aim at Trump administration
during SAG Lifetime Achievement Award speech 21 replies
during SAG Lifetime Achievement Award speech 21 replies
Jane Fonda is getting on her soapbox at the SAG Awards. The SAG-nominated actress was recognized for her decadeslong career with the Lifetime Achievement Award at Sunday's ceremony. Fonda was presented with the honor by fellow actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. (Snip) Fonda's fiery speech couldn't even be derailed by a malfunction in the SAG Awards teleprompter. "I can conjure up voices," she joked. The actress also took a shot at President Donald Trump's attack on diversity, equity and inclusion while discussing the importance of empathy in acting. Fonda briefly referenced Sebastian Stan's portrayal of Trump in the 2024 biopic "The Apprentice."
Comments:
W/Emily Schultheis and Chris Lunday.