Einhundertfünfunddreißig Tage

“Noch keine Regierungsbildung in der Bundesrepublik hat so lange gedauert.” – “Zugleich betonte [Martin Schulz], dass die 13-tägigen Koalitionsverhandlungen die kürzesten gewesen seien, die es in der Geschichte solcher Gespräche je gegeben habe.”

Deutsche Welle:

GroKo: Schulz wird Außenminister, Seehofer Innenminister. “Sie haben lange gerungen, am Ende konnten sich CDU, CSU und SPD auf einen Koalitionsvertrag einigen. Auch wer welchen Posten in der neuen Regierung übernimmt, steht nun teilweise fest.

GroKo: Das letzte Wort hat die SPD. “Der Koalitionsvertrag ist fertig, eine Regierung hat Deutschland trotzdem nicht. Über “Sein oder Nichtsein” befinden rund 460.000 SPD-Mitglieder. Ist das demokratisch? Darüber gibt es Streit. Sabine Kinkartz berichtet.”

“Die GroKo und der “Willens-Muskel”. “Nach 24 Stunden Dauerverhandlungen hatten sich CDU/CSU und SPD also auf einen Koalitionsvertrag geeinigt. Der psychisch Stärkere war bei diesem Marathon klar im Vorteil, meint der Psychologe Roman Trötschel.”

Kleine SPD bei Ministerien ganz groß. “Nach einer Marathon-Nachtsitzung haben CDU, CSU und SPD sich im Grundsatz auf eine Regierungskoalition verständigt. Bei der Ressort-Aufteilung gab es Überraschungen: Die SPD sichert sich die wichtigsten Ministerien.”

Angela Merkel muss warten. “Der Koalitionsvertrag steht, aber kann er auch in Kraft treten? Das liegt in der Hand der SPD-Mitglieder. Die Bundeskanzlerin kann nur zuschauen – eine neue Erfahrung für Merkel. Aus Berlin berichtet Sabine Kinkartz.”

Kommentar: Endlich – Der neue Koalitionsvertrag steht. “Noch keine Regierungsbildung in der Bundesrepublik hat so lange gedauert. Der jetzt ausgehandelte Koalitionsvertrag zwischen CDU/CSU und SPD ist überfällig. Und doch nur ein weiteres Etappenziel, meint Christoph Strack.”

Deutsche Welle in English:

Germany’s Angela Merkel finally reaches coalition deal with SPD. “After protracted talks, Angela Merkel’s conservatives have made a deal with the Social Democrats for a new coalition contract in Germany. The SPD confirmed this in a message to its members, who will have the final say.”

Martin Schulz, leader of Germany’s Social Democrats in profile. “The SPD chief has made a major U-turn. After initially ruling out another grand coalition with Angela Merkel’s conservatives, the former European Parliament president could now set to be the new German foreign minister.”

The Mueller investigation appears to have been picking up steam in the last three weeks —and homing in on a series of targets.

Wired: Bob Mueller’s Investigation Is Larger – and Further Along – Than You Think. By Garrett M. Graff.

“President Trump claimed in a tweet over the weekend that the controversial Nunes memo “totally vindicates“ him, clearing him of the cloud of the Russia investigation that has hung over his administration for a year now.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact, if anything, the Mueller investigation appears to have been picking up steam in the past three weeks—and homing in on a series of targets.”

The author lists five separate investigative angles:

Preexisting Business Deals and Money Laundering.
Russian Information Operations.
Active Cyber Intrusions.
Russian Campaign Contacts.
Obstruction of Justice.

Link via MetaFilter.

Clinical trials seem promising

Gone With A Shot? Hopeful New Signs Of Relief For Migraine Sufferers.

“Humans have suffered from migraines for millennia. Yet, despite decades of research, there isn’t a drug on the market today that prevents them by targeting the underlying cause. All of that could change in a few months when the FDA is expected to announce its decision about new therapies that have the potential to turn migraine treatment on its head.
The new therapies are based on research begun in the 1980s showing that people in the throes of a migraine attack have high levels of a protein called calcitonin gene–related peptide (CGRP) in their blood.”

See also New Drugs Could Prevent Migraine Headaches For Some People and the older article What’s Triggering Your Migraine? by David Buchholz of Johns Hopkins University, author of Heal Your Headache.

18 years + 8 days

I just realized that I missed this weblog’s 18th anniversary last week on January 25th. It’s all grown up now…

To continue my tradition:

On this day in…
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005 (a day late)
2006
2007
2008 (16 days late)
2009 (six days late)
2010
2011 (three days late)
2012
2013
2014 (eleven days late, though I posted in the meantime)
2015 (forgot the anniversary entirely, closest post was three days later)
2016
2017

“Big Brother can make a difference, just not necessarily with the long arm of the law.”

NPR Goats and Soda: 2 Approaches To Ending Smoking: Laws And Labels.

“We hear it from smokers struggling to quit all the time: “If only they’d make it illegal, then I’d have to quit.”
[…] Many countries have been experimenting with anti-tobacco strategies and legislation for years, but of all the efforts — from Orwellian-style bans to smoke-free cars — only a handful seem to have delivered results.
Oddly, making smoking illegal isn’t one of them.”