Heheā¦
President Prody said that if EU members would stay together EU would have won most medals at the olympic games.
So face in Beijing 2008 the EU flag 
If that ever happens, I will renounce my citizenship as a UK citizen. My country already has more in common with Pakistan and Albania as it is without being paraded under a different meaningless peice of cloth.
Weāve had enough identity taken from us as it is, and Europe is, at itās best, becoming bland. The identities of all participating countries involved are being erased and merged.
Europe? Shove it up your Are there any others who feel the same way?
I have a feeling that a European Union olympic team would be less than the sum of its parts.
[quote=āDangermouseā]If that ever happens, I will renounce my citizenship as a UK citizen. My country already has more in common with Pakistan and Albania as it is without being paraded under a different meaningless peice of cloth.
Weāve had enough identity taken from us as it is, and Europe is, at itās best, becoming bland. The identities of all participating countries involved are being erased and merged.
Europe? Shove it up your Are there any others who feel the same way?[/quote]
The UK will remain stronger by putting its distance between itself and the EU in matters around the board. Despite the euphoria on the street, the EU as it is going is a paralyzing and innovation-killing mechanism. Iām speaking as an American who sees the EU becoming more hostile to the US, although not willing to do anything about it, because it is lazy.
Example: When French hostages are taken, what does France do ā¦ Practially nothing. What can they do? Theyāve signed over their will and gumption and somewhata their sovernty to make threats and then to back them up with anything substantive ā¦ except ātalkā and āresolutionsā. When the incident happend with the British soldiers and Iran, I can imagine the UK actually sending a warship and platoon to do a reconisance mission ā¦ if it had escalated. The UK still has some balls. They wonāt if they decide to totally embarace the EU.
I totally agree. Europe on the whole is becoming more of a threat than a friend to the US. I think the reason for this is because it wants to overtake the US as an economic power and will pull out all the stops necessary to do this. (Including selling arms willy nilly and not getting involved in wars because mediation is cheaper (sell weapons, not use them)).
Unfortunately, Blair wants to be the ruler of such an entity and will try his best to involve the UK in anything European. European laws are followed by the book in the UK where in France and Germany, Belgium and Spain where these rules and laws are often dreampt up, they are flaunted and mean nothing. The current Government is full of lefties, socialists and yoghurt knitters.
Because of Europe we spend 1 million UK Pounds per day (1.4 US) just for membership.
We took a record number of asylum seekers, more than any country in Europe and 1000ās more than the US last year, but you can fit the UK more than 8 times into France and over 25 times into the US.
All this because France canāt be bothered to control itās borders. Because of the Comission for European Human Rights, the Asylum Seeekers need to be housed, clothed, fed and watered. Some are even given cars so they can get around. All at the taxpayers expence.
A million pounds a day could fix the health service in a week, get more cops on the street and get public transport up to scratch or aid business and commerce.
But instead it gets spend on red tape, stupid art sculptures and negotiations that dont even concern the UK.
It piisses me off something rotten.
I hate to tell you this, but it already has.
As for the topic of this thread, itās the former Soviet Union that won the Olympic Games. Add up all their medals, and youāll see theyāre still the best.
reading this, I am happy not being EU, US, USSR, China, ROC, PRC or whatever. I think/dream that medals per population for each contesting nation is pretty important.
5 Gold, 1 Bronze, 4,5 Mill Peopleā¦
Jaevelin was a killerā¦
ā¦againā¦don;tā¦typeā¦etcā¦
Iām skeptical about this. Most of Europe are hard-core socialist governments. A bunch of socialist governments getting together is even worse. How in the world has socialism ever āpulled out the stopsā for anything economically speaking. It is socialism. It doesnāt compare to capitalism and the culture/spirit behind it. America has on of the highest labor productivity statistics in the world, blowing away places like France.
What makes America the envy of the world is its people, not its government. Pepole without chains can do great things. However, it is the opposite view in Europe. Government will make people great.
No doubt that if you create an umbrella organization like the EU and dump a continents-worth of countries in it that perhpas some day the combined GDP will overtake the US. This will eventually happen in China. But this is only size. Other indicators of economic might are more important including labor productivity and something called āTFPā (total factor productivity) to economists ā¦ areas where the US leads.
Itās not so easy. On paper, if you just add all their medals together, the former Soviet Union or current EU countries would outstrip the U.Sā¦ Trouble is, theyāre fielding a dozen national teams each. If the U.S. got to field a dozen teams, maybe one of them wouldnāt embarrass us at basketball.
I mean, how are you counting it if Italy, France, and Germany get the gold, silver, and bronze in some event? If they have the chance to get all three medals, but the U.S. can at most get one, then itās no longer a fair contest.
A superfluos question, but what perchance is a Yoghurt knitter? You pommie bastards are a strange lot you are.
Iām a pomme and i donāt know what a āYoghurt knitterā is either. As for the asylum issue? I thought Iād left the Daily Mail readers back in Blighty. Fact is we have an ageing population who should be happy to have the increase in young people brought about by asylum seekers. Most of these people have travel horrific journeys, made terrific sacrifices and what for? Well according to your average ignorant brit, they come for the benifits. Do me a favour! The reason most people are up in arms about the asylum issue is that they realise that the vast majority of these people have more get-up-and-go than the average brit can dream of and they feel threatened by that. Well boo-fucking-hoo.
Butcher Boy, you are speaking out of your bum hole.
If you had read my post correctly you would have seen that I was not complaining about asylum seekers per-se, but was complaining about the numbers of asylum seekers taken by the UK as compared to the EU, the amount of money we spend on the issue compared to other countries in the EU and the fact that Britain follows the EU laws to the dot but ārealā EU countries change the goalposts to suit themselves.
Yes, asylum seekers can be good for the economy. But not an influx of tens of thousands. And not where a good majority enter illegally and are not known to be in the country.
And what happens to these asylum seekers? They choose to live in areas where other people from their neighbouring countries live. These are the very people they were trying to run away from in the first place. What happens? Riots.
Iām all for immigration, but it needs to be controlled and the EU shouldnāt pass the buck to the UK on every occasion.
For your information, I donāt read the Daily Mail.
Judging by your narrow minded post, you are obviously an ignorant Brit.
[quote]Dangermouse wrote:
I totally agree. Europe on the whole is becoming more of a threat than a friend to the US. I think the reason for this is because it wants to overtake the US as an economic power and will pull out all the stops necessary to do this.
Pinesay wrote
Iām skeptical about this. Most of Europe are hard-core socialist governments. A bunch of socialist governments getting together is even worse. How in the world has socialism ever āpulled out the stopsā for anything economically speaking[/quote]
I think this is the way Europe wants to go, but because of the reasons you mentioned above I donāt think it will ever happen. The countries in the EU have too much of a differing view from each other. They canāt even agree on the most simple of issues, let alone foriegn policy and the Euro.
On paper it sounds great. In reality, it will never happen.
I hope it never happens.
[quote]
Unfortunately, Blair wants to be the ruler of such an entity and will try his best to involve the UK in anything European. European laws are followed by the book in the UK where in France and Germany, Belgium and Spain where these rules and laws are often dreampt up, they are flaunted and mean nothing. The current Government is full of lefties, socialists and yoghurt knitters.
Because of Europe we spend 1 million UK Pounds per day (1.4 US) just for membership.
We took a record number of asylum seekers, more than any country in Europe and 1000ās more than the US last year, but you can fit the UK more than 8 times into France and over 25 times into the US.
All this because France canāt be bothered to control itās borders. Because of the Comission for European Human Rights, the Asylum Seeekers need to be housed, clothed, fed and watered. Some are even given cars so they can get around. All at the taxpayers expence.
A million pounds a day could fix the health service in a week, get more cops on the street and get public transport up to scratch or aid business and commerce.
But instead it gets spend on red tape, stupid art sculptures and negotiations that dont even concern the UK.
It piisses me off something rotten.[/quote]
Your blair himself with Germanyās chancellor Schroeder are the last social democratics in the EU.
Blair ( Bambi ) has a quite soft immigration policy. Last time I went to a job center in Germany there was a big presentation by the job center plus.
UK job advisior with the Jonathan Bennett from Edingburg was really hard seeking for foreign employeers.
āPlease come to the UK. We need builders, nurses, house keepers, maids and so onā¦ā
You donāt need to speak fluent English, you donāt need UK residence.
For example to get a work permission in Germany you have to show permanent residence in Germany, insurances and so on. Your company has to prrof that no EU citizen may do the work of this foreigner.
Besides UK all EU members are pretty tight in giving work permission visas, but the UK allow comment wealth citizens to get first your 2 years visa stamp and then you so simple get visa at embassies from the UK.
The poor devils of refugees cross the EURO tunnel to get into UK, because your country has the most libral foreign policy in the EU.
In France many Frenchs vote for natioalist parties Spain , Italy have deals with north-African countries even to shoot down refugees boats.
And so long your economic is strong in the Southern part of England with your high exchange rate of British pounds even people from far China ( like the snake head gang who smuggal Chinese sometimes even dead to UK), Africa and other poor places will try to get in the UK.
I just wonder that Ireland has no problems like the UK. But I donāt well the UK. I just have been twice to London, where you really donāt need to speak English. You can speak Chinese ( Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese),Japanese,Korean,Russian,Arabian,Italianā¦whatever you want.
The police never ask me to see my passportā¦, but in Germany the border police checked my passport 3 timesā¦
And the EU?..I think if so many people vote for UK independenceā¦you are really not willing to become Europeans.
I think most EU members are Republicsā¦the UK is still a Kingdomā¦a strange mixā¦,but if you quit EU, you will lose Europeās mainland market and the foreign investors will move their last factories to EU and China.
The moving to China will happen anyway.
The UK could pull an end-run (American football lingo) by turing the UK into a kind of Kayman Island tax-free or tax-low investment zone. Youād see mass defection from Europe. It would be a laugh.
Not at all!
I am a European and a British citizen. European first, though!
The EU needs work, undoubtedly. But I still believe in the ideal of an integrated Europe! :Europe:
[quote=āpinesayā]
It doesnāt compare to capitalism and the culture/spirit behind it. America has on of the highest labor productivity statistics in the world, blowing away places like France.[/quote]
No.
[quote=āsalmonā][quote=āpinesayā]
It doesnāt compare to capitalism and the culture/spirit behind it. America has on of the highest labor productivity statistics in the world, blowing away places like France.[/quote]
No.
[/quote]
As I said, thatās GDP ā¦ not labor productivity. Related mathematically, but not the same.
Total Factor Productivity(TFP): The ratio of the economyās output to its stock of labour and capital.
Does that fit with the GDP per hour thing in salmonās post?
Also pinsay would you care to comment on the productivity growth chart that salmon provided.? You remind me of a 1986 Michael Keaton film called Gung Ho. A japanese car company takes over a us plant and the us workers get real peaved at what is expected of them. We are American workers, we are the most productive, they canāt treat us like this blah blah blah. Only when they finally realise that just being American doesnāt make them the best or most productive around do they finaly start to show that they can be the best. You remind me of those workers.
No. You donāt know what youāre talking about. Labour productivity is defined as output per unit of labour. GDP per hour worked is a standard measure of labour productivity.
To reiterate, while
[quote=āyouā]America has on of the highest labor productivity statistics in the world, blowing away places like France.[/quote] in reality labour productivity in Germany and France now exceeds that in America.