Three months after the election, the Social Democrats in Germany have voted to join a coalition with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party. The alliance means that Merkel has won a third term as German Chancellor. The vote by the center-left party to align with the center-right was overwhelming, suggesting that the coalition will be durable. The price for their support is a higher minimum wage that had been opposed by the Christian Democrats, and looser pension rules for some workers. These reforms are not consistent with the austerity policies that Germany has been insisting upon from economically troubled members of the European Union. The inconsistency is not lost upon the Greeks, the Italians, the Spanish, and the Portuguese.
The American Civil Liberties Union has opposed the surveillance techniques of the US National Security Agency. It has decided to use humor to make its case, and has done so quite effectively.
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