homesweethomeMrL

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According to the latest survey conducted for RTL and NTV, the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD)  party not only recorded record support, but for the first time took the lead, ahead of the Christian Democrats coalition CDU/CSU by 1 percentage point.

Although almost two months have passed since the elections in Germany, coalition talks between the CDU/CSU and the SPD are  still ongoing, which are to jointly form a new government. Key issues include migration policy, taxes, pensions and energy policy. Initially, it was assumed that the new government would be formed before Easter, now the vote on the election of Friedrich Marz as the new chancellor is scheduled for early May. Meanwhile, the CDU/CSU and the SDP, which are to rule, are clearly losing support in the polls, while the AfD is gaining.

Growing support for the AfD  has been observed since the elections, which took place on February 23. In the latest survey, the far-right party scored 26%, which allowed it to surpass the CDU/CSU  (25%). Compared to the election results of February 23, AFD gained 5.2 percentage points, and the Christian Democrats lost 3.5 points.

If the election were held now, the SPD  party would be in third place, which is to form a new government with the CDU/CSU. 15% of respondents would vote for it, while in the February elections the SPD received 16.4%. This means that the parties that are to create a new cabinet  lost a total of 4.9 percentage points compared to the election results before they even started to rule.

 The next places were the Greens with a result of 11% (11.6% in the elections), the Left with a result of 9% (8.8% in the elections), the FDP (4%) and BSW (4%).

RLT and NTV also published the results of another study on the motives for voting for specific parties  in the February elections. Special attention was paid to the voters of the AfD. 35% of them indicated that they voted for the AfD because of the convergence of their views with those proclaimed by the party. 19% admitted, however, that their main motivation was their dislike of the entire political system. As many as 40% indicated that they voted for the AfD in protest against other parties. 24% cited dissatisfaction with the SPD, Greens and FDP government as the main reason, 15% indicated objections to the leader of the CDU and the candidate for chancellor, Friedrich Merz.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/10522239

geteilt von: https://europe.pub/post/159443

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27935573

Summary

Home Depot co-founder and GOP megadonor Ken Langone blasted Trump’s sweeping tariffs as “bulls--t,” calling the 10% across-the-board rate and country-specific hikes—like 34% on China and 46% on Vietnam—“too aggressive” and poorly calculated.

Langone criticized the administration’s formula, based on trade deficits, as nonsensical.

Other prominent figures, including economists and billionaires like Stanley Druckenmiller, Bill Ackman, and Elon Musk, have also spoken out.

Critics warn the tariffs hinder negotiation and lack sound economic grounding. Langone said Trump is being “poorly advised” on trade policy.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27777293

Tariffs threaten to upend markets American farmers depend on

Summary

New tariffs under Trump threaten U.S. farmers who rely heavily on exports, with leaders warning of rising input costs and potential market losses. Over 20% of U.S. farm income depends on exports, according to farm groups.

Tariffs on countries like Vietnam (46%) and the Philippines (17%) could spark retaliatory actions, cutting demand for U.S. crops.

Farmers, already facing high equipment and fertilizer costs, fear long-term damage to trade relationships.

Some hope Trump will use tariffs to expand markets, but others remain skeptical, recalling mixed outcomes from past trade wars.

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/24940344

EFF is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mark Klein, a bona fide hero who risked civil liability and criminal prosecution to help expose a massive spying program that violated the rights of millions of Americans. Mark didn’t set out to change the world. For 22 years, he was a telecommunications technician for AT&T, most of that in San Francisco. But he always had a strong sense of right and wrong and a commitment to privacy. Mark not only saw how it works, he had the documents to prove it. When the New York Times reported in late 2005 that the NSA was engaging in spying inside the U.S., Mark realized that he had witnessed how it was happening. He also realized that the President was not telling Americans the truth about the program. And, though newly retired, he knew that he had to do something. He showed up at EFF’s front door in early 2006 with a simple question: “Do you folks care about privacy?”  We did. And what Mark told us changed everything. Through his work, Mark had learned that the National Security Agency (NSA) had installed a secret, secure room at AT&T’s central office in San Francisco, called Room 641A. Mark was assigned to connect circuits carrying Internet data to optical “splitters” that sat just outside of the secret NSA room but were hardwired into it. Those splitters—as well as similar ones in cities around the U.S.—made a copy of all data going through those circuits and delivered it into the secret room.

Mark[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/22980438

praxis rule

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/15827490

How was this a surprise?