A thread to talk about news and politics affecting Europe as a whole, rather than just politics within specific European countries.
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Edited by Mrph1 on Jan 9th 2024 at 3:24:05 PM
For Byzantium!
edited 22nd Apr '15 9:08:08 AM by LogoP
It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.Not all, not all.
Keep Rolling OnLet me rephrase and say that the kind willing to use violent irredentism would, since thats who I am talking about in this case.
Final Fantasy, Foreign Policy, and Bollywood. Helluva combo, that...WTF?!
edited 25th Apr '15 5:50:46 AM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.An ambitious plan. It'll crash and burn.
Si Vis Pacem, Para PerkeleWell, an Epic Fail is still better than a mild fail, and this seems like one in the making. Like Bitcoin.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.Between Serbs and Croats. What a terrifically safe place to be.
Schild und Schwert der ParteiRemove Liberty!
Si Vis Pacem, Para PerkeleAnd the Bosniaks must be like "Amateur."
Final Fantasy, Foreign Policy, and Bollywood. Helluva combo, that..."Finland chases off suspected submarine".
Anyone in Finland heard anything more about this? We here in Sweden had something similar happen earlier. What nations have subs close to us?
probably most of them. It's probably russian, though. That is, if It's a sub.
Only thing the navy is willing to say is that small depth charges were detonated as a warning. Everything else is "no comment"-territory, but the Defence Minister did say that the situation is over and they are now investigating what it was. Make of it what you will.
Si Vis Pacem, Para PerkeleGoldman Sachs’ reported spending on EU lobbying rises 14-fold.
Link is paywalled, though I found the text elsewhere:
The rules also sparked a sharp increase in the lobbying expenses reported by UBS. The Swiss bank’s spending jumped from less than €100,000 in 2013 to €1.7m in 2014.
The increased figures follow the introduction of tougher rules that banned commission officials from meeting companies unless they were on the institution’s transparency register by December 1. Goldman joined the register at the end of November.
New rules also require companies to include a proportion of trade association fees in their lobbying spending disclosures, said a person familiar with the matter.
These rules have also been followed by sharp increases in the spending reported by other financial services companies. Deutsche Bank said it spent almost €2m lobbying EU institutions in 2013, rising to €4m in 2014, according to its latest filing.
Goldman’s opening of a new office in Brussels last autumn also affected the disclosure, although the bank had decided to join the register before then, say those familiar with the matter.
Its outlay in Brussels compares with the $3.4m it said it spent lobbying the US government in Washington last year. That number has changed little in the past three years, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, but is down from a record $4.6m in 2010 when Goldman was under fire in the US Congress for its pre-crisis activities.
Goldman’s filings with the US Congress say it employed nine external law firms and lobbying groups as well as eight in-house lobbyists, including Michael Paese, a former aide to the House financial services committee.
The spending is a little less than comparable financial services companies. Morgan Stanley shelled out $4.8m last year and JP Morgan Chase $6.3m.
But the monetary totals are an inexact measure of lobbying. Goldman’s influence in Washington has been scrutinised for several years because there is a long history of officials and Goldman bankers going through the so-called revolving door between the two worlds.
Lobbying rules in Brussels were until recently relatively loose, leading campaigners to argue that some large companies were underplaying their efforts to affect rulemaking.
Campaigners from Lobby Control, Corporate Europe Observatory and Friends of the Earth Europe complained to regulators this year that Goldman had lowballed its 2013 estimate.
Vicky Cann, campaigner for Corporate Europe Observatory, said: “Goldman Sachs’ former lobby register entry made it look like a bit player. In fact it has been active in EU lobbying for years, with access to the commission that other lobbyists could only dream of.”
Although Goldman employs several government affairs staff, some of whom earn millions of dollars, the bank accounts only for the proportion of their time spent lobbying, as defined as narrowly as the rules allow. In the US, this means that John Rogers, Goldman’s secretary, who is deeply involved in government affairs, is not listed as a lobbyist. The US investment bank spent between €700,000 and €799,000 on lobbying in Brussels in 2014, according to its entry in the European Commission’s transparency register. This compares with the estimated €50,000 it says it spent in 2013 on lobbying in Brussels.
Oh, and of their boys is running the ECB (Mario Draghi) and keeping the money train flowing with cheap money for his friends.
Also, remember that these are the guys you turn to when you need someone to cook the books of a sovereign EU state.
Happy Norwegian Constitution Day everyone!
[Derp]
edited 18th May '15 3:18:01 AM by PotatoesRock
Danish radio host clubs rabbit to death on morning A radio station in Denmark argued Tuesday that it was merely fulfilling its public service mandate to provoke debate when the host of a morning show beat a baby rabbit to death with a bicycle pump this week during a live discussion of animal welfare.
"Mom Scandinavia is being weird again!!"
I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.Not enough sun. That's their problem.
edited 26th May '15 7:54:07 PM by LogoP
It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.I blame socialism. This is the exact sort of depravity one can expect from Commie Europe
I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.What Communists? They've not been relevant since 1991...
Keep Rolling OnOf course. Everyone knows that Europe is actially dominated by socialists .
It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.It is a common stereotype that Americans think Socialists and Communists are the same thing. I was saying that for the sake of humor.
I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.x6 Thus Calvinism
Trump delenda estMuslim women in France say veil ban gives cover for discrimination
I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.It redirects me to a paywall. Can I get the Cliff Notes version?
Speaking of France, apparently the UMP wants to rename itself the Republicans. It's like they're not even trying to be subtle anymore... or maybe they are, in which case, that's really sad. (ETA: But the even sadder part is, it might work)
edited 28th May '15 1:30:20 AM by Medinoc
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
All for the glorious Greek Empire?
Final Fantasy, Foreign Policy, and Bollywood. Helluva combo, that...