Tuesday morning links

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Tuesday, May 13. 2025

Alaska Defies Court Order, Moves Forward with Controversial Bear-Killing Program Despite Ruling It Is Illegal

Bananas Under Threat From Global Boiling

ASU campus that is 30% male says it will focus on ‘gender equity’ – for women

VDH: The Decivilizing of America - From secure borders to functioning
cities, America is shedding the hard-won pillars of civilization—by
choice, not chance—in a sweeping, top-down descent into disorder.

Why Elon Musk Is Right: The Case Against Subsidizing Amtrak

Financial Media's Tariff Incontinence: A Retrospective

Is President Trumps EO on Drug Prices 'Price Control'?

Trump's drug pricing order delivers blow to pharmacy benefit managers

Long American Tradition of Tension Between the Executive and the Judiciary

The Scandal Buried in the Air Force One Story

UK PM Keir Starmer now says migrants should learn English -- after arresting Brits for hate speech for saying the same thing

Germany Halts Surveillance of AfD Amid US Pressure and Legal Challenge Over Extremist Label

Germany Is On The Brink Of National Suicide

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 07:57 | Comments (11) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

re Germany Is On The Brink Of National Suicide

I think he makes an important point about AfD:

QUOTE:

He said the classification ensures AfD will remain on the outside of political power, regardless of how many people support them.

“It will cement this aura that no government under their parliamentary democracy system will ask them to join to form a majority government,” Hanson said.

“So the process of ostracism and demonization of this party continues.”

I think VDH is right. The question is, how long will it take for Germany to destroy itself?

#1 feeblemind on 2025-05-13 10:41 (Reply)

QUOTE:

“It will cement this aura that no government under their parliamentary democracy system will ask them to join to form a majority government,” Hanson said.

In a parliamentary system, there is no compulsion to ally with any other party. That Germans are concerned about the far right is due to their history: In the twentieth century, the rise of the far right led to the utter devastation of Germany and the whole of Europe.

QUOTE:

He noted the country finally reached its long-delayed NATO defense spending goal, pledging 2% of GDP—something it was supposed to do back in 2014.

That is incorrect. With the Wales Summit Declaration in 2014, Germany agreed to raise defense spending to 2% of GDP within ten years—which it did.

#1.1 Zachriel on 2025-05-13 11:22 (Reply)

Germans are only concerned with maintaining an authoritarian government that approves of the green agenda and until a week ago was not concerned with illegal immigration. It does remind us of the US democrat/progressive/socialist party.
If the US drops out of Nato, the Germans and all of Europe, will quickly find out that 2% is a pittance. Like 2% milk. They need to stand on their own feet, which they are currently unable to do.

#1.1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2025-05-13 13:20 (Reply)

"The Germas are concerned about the far right because of their history." No. they're concerned with any anti-establishment movement gaining power. AFD is not far right even by European standards. It is center left to left by American standards. If not wanting your society destroyed by freeloading, violent foreigners who have no intention or desire to assimilate into their host culture is RW, then they are RW in that regard. But many European center left parties give lip service to exactly the same rhetoric that AFD users regarding immigration.

And Nazis were not RW. No matter how many times you say it. They were left wing. No matter how many times you deny it. I could take a more nuanced position and say they were a blending of both. But you're a liar whose only concern is to avoid having the taint of authoritianism on your precious progressivism despite the fact that that is where the majority of it belongs. So I'll be damned if I'm going to concede that ground to you.

#1.1.2 James on 2025-05-13 17:51 (Reply)

BTW, if one digs into the numbers, Germany arrives at the 2.12%/GDP figure by including a good deal of spending that the USA does not include in its defense budget. Using the same accounting the US uses, they are still significantly short of 2%.

#1.1.3 James on 2025-05-13 18:08 (Reply)

James: And Nazis were not RW. No matter how many times you say it. They were left wing.

Sure, because when anyone sees a gang of skinheads with Nazi and Iron Cross tattoos, they think "lefty".

Outside of a small group of ideologues, Nazis have always been considered on the political right, then and now, scholarly and laypersons. Don't confuse populism with the political left. Populism can be found on the left or the right, just as extremism or moderation can be found on the left or the right.

The political left advocates for greater equality, while the political right advocates for hierarchy or at least the preservation of existing hierarchies (conservatism). This distinction has been consistent through history; so, Louis XVI was said to be on the right, Robespierre was said to be on the left, and Lafayette somewhere in the center. The Nazis advocated for extreme hierarchy, within German society as well as between ethnic nations, so they were on the far right. Contrariwise, Communists advocated for absolute equality, for all nations and peoples, so they were on the far left.

James: AFD is not far right even by European standards.

In 2016, AfD’s program for the federal election stated: “The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a national-conservative party with a liberal economic orientation and a right-wing populist approach to engaging the concerns of the German people.” Virtually all references to AfD acknowledge they are on the political right. The legal question in Germany is whether they are on the extreme right, a question which is under court appeal. We did not take a position on whether AfD is extremist. Their leadership has flirted with extremist rhetoric, but they reject the categorization and claim to be representing marginalized ethnic Germans.

James: Germany arrives at the 2.12%/GDP figure by including a good deal of spending that the USA does not include in its defense budget.

The definition of defense expenditures is based on agreed principles set in the 1950s.

#1.1.4 Zachriel on 2025-05-14 09:47 (Reply)

Drug prices.
A long time pet peeve. The drug companies charge the U.S. 400% more for drugs than they do for most other countries. This policy evolved over time in a more or less generous effort to help people in poorer countries acquire medicine. The U.S. now subsidizes even the rich countries and this harms Americans and hurts our effort to make medications available for everyone.

Price controls would be the setting of prices by the government. Trump isn't setting the prices. What Trump is doing is requiring drug companies to stop overcharging U.S. customers.

#2 OneGuy on 2025-05-13 10:50 (Reply)

re UK PM Keir Starmer now says migrants should learn English -- after arresting Brits for hate speech for saying the same thing

Has Starmer become dimly aware that the peasants are unhappy?

Will this proclamation gain him additional political support? Or will the peasants see it as a sham and pandering?

#3 feeblemind on 2025-05-13 10:51 (Reply)

Oh my. There are so many reasons that a city or nation supports popular rail services, even though they may not turn a profit. The teamsters have destroyed Amtrak. Plain and simple. Their refusal to allow for an upgraded and pleasant rail service with pricing over and above the low fares demanded for America's underprivileged is the cause of the decline. People with money and time won't travel on Amtrak. They want their surroundings to be clean, comfortable and pleasant. Travelling in the same car with drug addicts peeing in the aisle does not help to develop a rise in income! Europe's trains work to move the masses for one simple reason--they provide a two class system. Something our liberals/teamsters won't tolerate.

Our loss can also be attributed to bad design. Putting the same hard, easy-to-clean, uncomfortable seats in another car and adding extra unionists to wipe it up more often does not equate to a "better quality" experience. There is one route on the east coast that caters to those who can enjoy the ride and it is much more economically successful than any other Amtrak effort.

#4 faculty wife on 2025-05-13 13:04 (Reply)

Brightline...Orlando to Miami.

#4.1 Stargazer on 2025-05-13 15:01 (Reply)

Bear culling; read little Suzy's article & the comments for an Alaska take on the Alaskan subject; https://mustreadalaska.com/alaska-acts-to-protect-caribou-herd-after-court-declines-to-block-bear-culling-plan/

#5 Jim in Alaska (Link) on 2025-05-13 13:05 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Tuesday, May 13. 2025

Tuesday morning links