The Quiet German: The astonishing rise of Angela Merkel

[Admiral Yi]

I find your Merkele obsession somewhat alarming Hillary.

[Syt]

Does he have: a Merkle Boner (SFW)?

[HVC]

I find your Merkele obsession somewhat alarming Hillary.

Oh, wrong initials guy.

[Admiral Yi]

Oh, wrong initials guy.

Woops!

[PRC]

Oh, wrong initials guy.

Woops!

Based on the image alone, i'm more obsessed with the girl on the right. 

[Razgovory]

Allegedly this is a young Angela Merkel, on the left, at a nude beach (NSFW): http://i.imgur.com/kj8CvZb.jpg

Yeah, I'm not clicking on that link.

[Tonitrus]

Allegedly this is a young Angela Merkel, on the left, at a nude beach (NSFW): http://i.imgur.com/kj8CvZb.jpg

Yeah, I'm not clicking on that link.

It is certainly NSFW, but also nothing worse than you'd find in 90% of art galleries featuring B/W nude photography.  All you see are normal, naked women. Nothing exceptional in the photo.

[Valmy]

Does he have: a Merkle Boner (SFW)?

That is the most awesome use of an obscure baseball reference ever. 

[Valmy]

Allegedly this is a young Angela Merkel, on the left, at a nude beach (NSFW): http://i.imgur.com/kj8CvZb.jpg

Yeah, I'm not clicking on that link.

Nothing particularly freaky about it.

[Ed Anger]

I clicked on it. Repeatedly.

[Admiral Yi]

I thought the luxurious pelts would drive you away.

[Ed Anger]

I get two dollars a pelt at the French trading post down the river.

[Josquius]

There's a goo bbc documentary about her past . It's on youtube.

[Razgovory]

There's a goo bbc documentary about her past . It's on youtube.

Is that related to the picture that PRC posted.

[Zanza]

I'll just use this as a German politics thread as Germany is pretty much a personality cult politically these days anyway.

Merkel overwhelmingly reelected as party leader

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been reelected as head of Germany's ruling party. The results show just how confident the Christian Democrats are in their powerful leader.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Germany's ruling conservative party, has once again shown its unwavering support for Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday as she was elected party leader for the eighth consecutive time at the party conference in Cologne. According to German news agency dpa, only 30 of the 919 delegates voted against her.

Merkel was elected by a staggering 97.7 percent, though even that doesn't beat her record of 97.9 percent in 2012. Indeed, in her eight elections since 2000, the lowest backing she has ever received was 88.4 percent in 2004.

Merkel thanked her party for the "overwhelming vote of confidence" after the results were announced.

'The world is waiting'

Before the vote, Chancellor Merkel gave a 60 minute speech which she used to defend her tough fiscal stance, pointing out that her government has introduced the first balanced budget in 46 years, which is one of her proudest achievements since being elected to a third term as chancellor last year.

She also spoke about the need to foster entrepreneurship in Germany: "Young entrepreneurs should be helped not only in the United States but also in Europe," adding "the world is waiting for us," at the end of her speech, for which her fellow party members gave her a 10-minute standing ovation.

Merkel also blasted grand coalition partners the Social Democrats (SPD) in her speech, calling their decision to partner with the Left and Green parties in the eastern state of Thuringia "bankrupt" and praising former coalition partners the Free Democrats (FDP), another conservative party that did not make the required 5 percent of the vote to gain seats in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in last year's election.

http://www.dw.de/merkel-overwhelmingly-reelected-as-party-leader/a-18118953

(Reuters) - A majority of Germans want Angela Merkel to run for a fourth term as Chancellor and nearly three in four believe she would like to remain in office beyond 2017, when her current term ends, a new poll shows.

Last year some leading German commentators speculated that Merkel, 60, might step down in the middle of her third term to give a successor time to consolidate his or her position before the next federal vote.

But one year into her third term, Merkel is enjoying popularity levels that other leaders can only dream of, while the leading candidate to succeed her as leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), Ursula von der Leyen, has made a mixed start as defence minister.

The survey was conducted days before Merkel is expected to be feted at the CDU's annual congress in Cologne.

Conducted by polling group Emnid for the Sunday edition of the Bild newspaper, the poll showed 56 percent of Germans would like Merkel to run for a fourth term, against 37 percent who would prefer she stop after three. Some 74 percent of respondents said they believe that she wants a fourth term.

TOUGH STANCE

In post-war Germany only Helmut Kohl, the father of German reunification and an early mentor of Merkel, has served four terms as Chancellor.

A separate poll for public broadcaster ARD last week showed that 67 percent of Germans approve of the job Merkel is doing.

Record low unemployment levels and Merkel's defence of German interests during the euro zone debt crisis have contributed to her popularity.

Her tough stance towards Russia during the Ukraine crisis has also become popular in recent months after earlier polls suggested that most Germans were sceptical about whether punishing Moscow with economic sanctions was wise.

The ARD poll showed that only 39 percent of Germans approve of von der Leyen, who has come under fire for making ambitious pledges of German support for crisis regions at a time when Germany's military hardware is in a state of disrepair.

Other world leaders are also faring poorly compared with Merkel.

Approval ratings for U.S. President Barack Obama have hovered around 40 percent in recent polls and a survey for French daily Le Figaro last month showed that 86 percent of French voters do not want President Francois Hollande to stand for re-election in 2017.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/12/07/uk-germany-merkel-poll-idUKKBN0JL0G420141207