EPTEuropean Politico-economics QA Mega-thread - Page 881
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LegalLord
United States13779 Posts
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Elizar
Germany431 Posts
On June 01 2017 00:51 LegalLord wrote: Though I have my fair share of disdain for some aspects of the way the Germans try to make sense of their WWII legacy, it cannot be said that they do not acknowledge their own part in the genocide or that they seek to repeat the errors of the past. It might take a few more decades before they properly move past that ugly point in history, but the effort is certainly commendable on the collective part of most Germans. I´m intrigued. Do you mean that from the perspective as a 1) brit, 2) russian or 3) american? And while I partly agree with your post, who wants to move past that ugly point of history? It is already history. We have already moved on. Most germans have nothing to do with that as individual persons. On the other hand we do not deny it happened. | ||
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Nyxisto
Germany6287 Posts
China and the EU have forged a green alliance to combat climate change and counteract any retreat from international action by Donald Trump. In a stark realignment of forces, documents seen by the Financial Times show that Beijing and Brussels have agreed to measures to accelerate what they call the “irreversible” shift away from fossil fuels and the “historic achievement” of the Paris climate accord. Their collaboration is to be revealed on Friday at a summit of EU leaders with China’s Premier Li Keqiang in the same week that Mr Trump has said he will end months of indecision over whether to pull the US out of the Paris agreement. The move comes days after a tense G7 summit in Italy that ended with Mr Trump at loggerheads with other leaders on the Paris deal and trade. The sour mood intensified after German chancellor Angela Merkel later hinted at a deeper transatlantic rift by saying Europe could no longer “fully count on others” and needed to “fight for our own future ourselves”. The alliance struck by the EU and China is a concrete expression of international frustration with Mr Trump, who has already moved to undo measures his predecessor, Barack Obama, agreed as part of the Paris deal adopted by almost every country in the world in December 2015.[...] + Show Spoiler + The joint statement agreed by Beijing and Brussels for Friday’s summit, seen by the FT, says the two sides are “determined to forge ahead” with measures to “lead the energy transition” towards a global low economy. The EU, home to the world’s largest carbon market, has agreed to give China €10m to support its plan to roll out a national emissions trading system this year in a move officials say will hasten the possibility of linking the two schemes. Separately, two countries have agreed to look at helping the world’s poorest countries to develop greener economies. This move could prove important in maintaining developing country support for the Paris deal if Mr Trump withdraws the US from the accord. Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday: “I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Axios, the website, and other US media outlets have reported that Mr Trump has decided that the US should withdraw from the accord. Mr Trump’s advisers are deeply split over whether he should follow through on his campaign pledge to quit the Paris accord. Steve Bannon, his chief strategist who leads the economic nationalist camp, has been the leading advocate for withdrawal along with a big group of Republican senators. But Gary Cohn, head of the White House national economic council, Rex Tillerson, secretary of state, and Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka, are trying to persuade the president not to withdraw. The US under Mr Obama was a major contributor to international climate financing programmes. Many developing countries have submitted climate plans for the Paris agreement that are contingent on receiving international funding. The EU and China have also agreed to co-operate on the deployment of electric cars, energy-efficiency labelling and scientific research into green innovation. They will also work on ways to spur the growth of renewable energy, such as boosting interconnected power networks. The EU-China collaboration began at UN climate talks in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, but were jolted by the unexpected election victory of Mr Trump, who once called global warming a Chinese “hoax”. The agreement was negotiated by China’s special representative on climate change, Xie Zhenhua, and the EU’s climate and energy commissioner, Miguel Arias Cañete. In their joint statement, the EU and China said “the increasing impacts of climate change require a decisive response”. “Tackling climate change and reforming our energy systems are significant drivers of job creation, investment opportunities and economic growth,” they added. Wendel Trio, of Climate Action Network, said co-operation between Brussels and Beijing to support vulnerable countries would be “one of the interesting breakthroughs” and went “beyond the traditional divide” on climate change between developed and developing nations. Well good we still got our reliable Chinese partners. We truly have ended up in the weirdest timeline | ||
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a_flayer
Netherlands2826 Posts
On June 01 2017 02:22 Nyxisto wrote: On the topic of climate change source Well good we still got our reliable Chinese partners. We truly have ended up in the weirdest timeline Not to mention India. Looks like we're sailing into a new world order. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in talks in Berlin on Tuesday that India would stay in the Paris climate accord even if the United States pulled out, a delegation source said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. Source | ||
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opisska
Poland8852 Posts
What does that even mean? In 1995, Vladimír Mečiar, the semi-totalitarian past prime minister of Slovakia, the person responsible for its "independence" on Czech Republic and its subsequent economical and social demise from which it is still recovering in some ways, was in a quarrel with then-president Kováč and probably to make a point, his friends from the secret service kidnapped the president's son to Austria. If this sounds like a lot of fun, wait for what is going to surface now when the investigation is actually possible - until now it was stopped by the amnesty given by Mečiar when he assumed some of the president's powers when the parliament was unable to elect a successor to Kováč. The crown witness of the prosecution is willing to testify and has some juicy things to say to the court. | ||
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Sent.
Poland9319 Posts
On June 01 2017 02:22 Nyxisto wrote: On the topic of climate change source Well good we still got our reliable Chinese partners. We truly have ended up in the weirdest timeline "Green alliance with world's largest CO2 emitter" sounds really awkward. "Fuck Trump alliance" is more adequate. | ||
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Gorsameth
Netherlands22476 Posts
On June 01 2017 07:58 Sent. wrote: "Green alliance with world's largest CO2 emitter" sounds really awkward. "Fuck Trump alliance" is more adequate. Largest country in the world produces the most CO2. Still has less then half the per capita of the US tho... (latest data I could find was 2013 tho) | ||
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Nyxisto
Germany6287 Posts
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Sent.
Poland9319 Posts
It's like Middle Ages where Byzantines and Latins were fighting each other for silly reasons instead of uniting against the Turks. + Show Spoiler + I'm joking but I couldn't stop myself from making this shitpost | ||
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LegalLord
United States13779 Posts
On June 01 2017 02:16 Elizar wrote: I´m intrigued. Do you mean that from the perspective as a 1) brit, 2) russian or 3) american? And while I partly agree with your post, who wants to move past that ugly point of history? It is already history. We have already moved on. Most germans have nothing to do with that as individual persons. On the other hand we do not deny it happened. I say it from my own perspective. The Brit part is a joke and neither the US nor Russia holds my opinion in any official/semi-official capacity. What I've noticed among most Germans I've had contact with is a sort of implicit need to show that they are not cut from the same cloth as the Nazis - often by showcasing the nation's deeds in the international arena. Germany is not Nazi Germany, it doesn't glorify those who fought alongside the Nazis (the same cannot be said for all Nazi sympathizers), and it acknowledges the past for what it was. Nothing more is necessary and there shouldn't be some form of continuing national "atonement" for that past. | ||
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SoSexy
Italy3725 Posts
The big issue with me is driving. While alcohol can be spotted precisely, weed cannot. This led to a stupid law that considers anyone with THC over 0,6% to be DUI. What does that mean? I'll make you some examples, collected from people who really passed through this. 1) Tom goes to Amsterdam for a weekend. Weed is legal there. He smokes a lot and returns home on Sunday evening. The next Thursday, another driver invades his lane and crashes into him. 4 days have passed since his consumption in a LEGAL environment. He is considered DUI. This leads to: if the vehicle belongs to Tom himself, it will be stopped by the police from 6 to 12 months. His driving license will be suspended and he will need to go to the SERT (a place where they make Tom talk with psychiatrists, asking why he did that, keeping him controlled, etc. It's a place where heroin users and heavy alcoholics go.) 2) Jim was a heavy cannabis user who smoked for 15 years daily. He recently quit and started riding his bike to get healthy. One night it's pretty dark and he does not see another dude on a bike and they crash into each others. 26 days have passed since his last cannabis hit. A bike is considered a vehicle for the Italian regulations. Since he smoked for so long, he still has THC in his system. Guess what? DUI. In two weeks he will see a psychiatrist along with metadone users. Does this seem normal to you? I have no words. Do they really believe that after 20 days weed is the cause of the accident? | ||
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warding
Portugal2396 Posts
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Acrofales
Spain18375 Posts
On June 01 2017 20:18 SoSexy wrote: Guys, how's the cannabis situation in your country? Lately I've been doing some research as far as Italy is concerned and oh, boy... saying that the law is ridicolous would be reductive. The big issue with me is driving. While alcohol can be spotted precisely, weed cannot. This led to a stupid law that considers anyone with THC over 0,6% to be DUI. What does that mean? I'll make you some examples, collected from people who really passed through this. 1) Tom goes to Amsterdam for a weekend. Weed is legal there. He smokes a lot and returns home on Sunday evening. The next Thursday, another driver invades his lane and crashes into him. 4 days have passed since his consumption in a LEGAL environment. He is considered DUI. This leads to: if the vehicle belongs to Tom himself, it will be stopped by the police from 6 to 12 months. His driving license will be suspended and he will need to go to the SERT (a place where they make Tom talk with psychiatrists, asking why he did that, keeping him controlled, etc. It's a place where heroin users and heavy alcoholics go.) 2) Jim was a heavy cannabis user who smoked for 15 years daily. He recently quit and started riding his bike to get healthy. One night it's pretty dark and he does not see another dude on a bike and they crash into each others. 26 days have passed since his last cannabis hit. A bike is considered a vehicle for the Italian regulations. Since he smoked for so long, he still has THC in his system. Guess what? DUI. In two weeks he will see a psychiatrist along with metadone users. Does this seem normal to you? I have no words. Do they really believe that after 20 days weed is the cause of the accident? I thought you were a proponent of the police state? 0 tolerance! Lock them up. Throw away the key! That sort of thing. Have you had a come to Jesus moment? | ||
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Artisreal
Germany9235 Posts
As I don't smoke I have no idea about punishment but it varies from state to state how they treat you when caught with some amount of substance. Apparently you can drive under the influence, i.e. cannabinoids in your blood and unless you display some sort of inability you're Scot free. | ||
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bardtown
England2313 Posts
On June 01 2017 20:29 warding wrote: Consumption of marijuana is not a crime in Portugal. Don't remember any drug issues being in the news here since the 90s when heroine was rampant. I don't use it myself but a lot of people consume pretty liberally, often casually on the street. The only downside to the liberal drug policy is the open offering of drugs in downtown by shady-looking characters. Not sure how different that is in places with strict drug policies. I get that whenever I go to London. And occasionally people like to ask me where to find dealers. Consequence of having long hair is that everybody assumes you're a hippy. | ||
TheNewEra
Germany3128 Posts
There is basically an inofficial threshold of how much you can possess in Germany. If you are under the threshold usually nothing will happen to you as the persecution/paperwork and stuff will cost the state to much and our BVerfG. acknowledged that you are probably not a danger to society if you only bought small amounts. In this case the lawsuit against you will be dropped. Note: this varies from state to state. It's easier to get away with this in Berlin than in deepy conservative Bavaria. As said before this is inofficial. If the attorney is deepy conservative, anti-cannabis or maybe just has a grumpy day he may still go after you even if you only have 1/10 of the threshold amount in your possession. Also if you are a repeat offender you may not get off scot-free On June 01 2017 21:39 Artisreal wrote: Apparently you can drive under the influence, i.e. cannabinoids in your blood and unless you display some sort of inability you're Scot free. This is not true tho. The police in Germany actually handles driving under the influence of cannabis alot like in SoSexy's examples. Our threshold for this is usually 1ng THC/ml blood with exceptions in some jurisdications. If you are over this amount then you may lose your drivers licence for 1 month, get 2 points in Flensburg(after a certain amount you lose your drivers license completely) and you're going to have to do the MPU("Idiotentest", a test to see if you should be allowed to drive a car). You don't have to be involved in a crash for this. Also if you consume beer and cannabis together (Mischkonsum, mix consume) it may result in the assumption that you're not fit for driving anymore even if this had nothing to do with driving. For example if you were drinking beer and smoking a joint in a park and a policeman sees this. Worst case? Drivers license (temporarily) gone. | ||
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Godwrath
Spain10154 Posts
Here it's more about knowing people who grows, or going to shady places in the suburbs where you can and probably will get shafted if you don't know them. Except in Granada. About driving under the influence, here they do stops to test drugs on the road (much more rarer than alcohol, but i was pulled over once). You don't even need to be involved in a car accident. I never drive under the influence, be alcohol or marijuana, but that shit is crazy, because i know i can hit positive if it's the wrong day even if i only do it a few times a year. In the other hand, i had also met a lot of people who do drive under the influence, and sometimes it isn't pretty. Around fifteen years ago an old acquaintance was involved in car accident while being under cocaine's influence and he managed to get away with it even if it was his fault (he recognized it to me) because the other driver hit positive on alcohol (not by much). He used to brag about the money he got from it, dumbass. So i don't see an easy way to solve it, rather than continue to work toward making the drug tests better and more reasonable. | ||
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Artisreal
Germany9235 Posts
This is what I based my statement on. It reads something like "even though the driver was tested with about double the concentration, it cannot be used as indication of him violating the law". Forgive my un-attorney-esque language. | ||
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Acrofales
Spain18375 Posts
On June 01 2017 22:57 Godwrath wrote: Yeah, i was quite amazed on how easilly obtainable marijuana was when i was on London for holidays. Enter a KFC, a black guy inside asked "ganja?", i smiled and instant deal. Or in the street in the middle of the day with a cool moroccian fellah. Between that, and the people at the hostal my visit to london was quite a trip. Here it's more about knowing people who grows, or going to shady places in the suburbs where you can and probably will get shafted if you don't know them. Except in Granada. About driving under the influence, here they do stops to test drugs on the road (much more rarer than alcohol, but i was pulled over once). You don't even need to be involved in a car accident. I never drive under the influence, be alcohol or marijuana, but that shit is crazy, because i know i can hit positive if it's the wrong day even if i only do it a few times a year. In the other hand, i had also met a lot of people who do drive under the influence, and sometimes it isn't pretty. Around fifteen years ago an old acquaintance was involved in car accident while being under cocaine's influence and he managed to get away with it even if it was his fault (he recognized it to me) because the other driver hit positive on alcohol (not by much). He used to brag about the money he got from it, dumbass. So i don't see an easy way to solve it, rather than continue to work toward making the drug tests better and more reasonable. Not sure where in Spain you live, but in Barcelona getting weed is ridiculously easy. Step 1: join smoker's club Step 2: buy weed Plenty of street sellers too, but they're obviously dodgier, and far more likely to sell you low quality crap at a premium price. | ||
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TheNewEra
Germany3128 Posts
On June 01 2017 22:57 Artisreal wrote: Source This is what I based my statement on. It reads something like "even though the driver was tested with about double the concentration, it cannot be used as indication of him violating the law". Forgive my un-attorney-esque language. Interesting. Am on mobile so I can't read everything now but I'm gonna take a look at the whole article later! | ||
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