holy shit! brussels goes off into the deep end with PC crap!

[Col. Crackpot]

oh my god. i thought the US was bad.this could actually be law in the EU.They are actually talking about overiding actuarial tables with rabid feminist bullshit! thats insane!

[Tsyroc]

Why stop with gender stereotypes?

There are so many other sterotypes that I am sure offend someone so why not ban those as well?

It's strange that they think the proposal might hurt stop "page 3 girls" from being printed but it wouldn't interfere with London gentelmen's clubs? That seems odd, but I guess there's more tradition and money behind the clubs.

[Peregrin Toker]

This is just insane. Equality is a good thing, but considering it more important than liberty is just WRONG.

[Sea Skimmer]

It's becoming increasingly hard for me now to burst out laughing whenever someone speaks of rising EU power. By 2020 or so it's going to be illegal to do anything but sit quietly, assuming sitting isn't determined to be offensives requiring that everyone squat or stand.

[Col. Crackpot]

Sea Skimmer hits the nail on the head. Economic potential alone does not a superpower make. The EU is a paper tiger that will trip over its own red tape...and it will trip on the same red tape, over and over and over again.

[Oberleutnant]

What are the odds for that going through? Right now it doesn't even have enough support to become a draft law, and even after that it would have to be approved by the Parliament and EU governments.

[Joe]

It's becoming increasingly hard for me now to burst out laughing whenever someone speaks of rising EU power. By 2020 or so it's going to be illegal to do anything but sit quietly, assuming sitting isn't determined to be offensives requiring that everyone squat or stand.

Mind your language, Skimmer. I do not believe in the word "stand," and I advise you to be sensitive to my needs.

[Perinquus]

Found a rather amusing little gem on the net. Here's an excerpt:

"There's nothing better than a game of golf, is there, Agent Smith?"

"I wouldn't know, President Bush," Secret Service Agent Smith answered, "I've never played. I just stand here in the sun and watch you. Rather asinine, if you ask me."

"Yep, nothing better than a good game of golf," Bush said as he adjusted his cowboy hat, and then prepared for a swing.

"President Bush!" yelled out a voice.

Startled, Bush screwed up his swing, sending his ball into the brush. "Grrr!" Bush yelled, "Agent Smith, whoever just messed up my shot I want you to inject him in the neck with that stuff that makes it look like he had a heart attack."

"That stuff ain't cheap, sir," Agent Smith reminded him.

"It was I who called out your name," said a sinister figure, "Chief Floopergibble of the Belgian international police force." More men in black uniforms emerged from the brush. "I, under the authority of Belgium, am placing you under arrest for lying about WMD's and having an illegal war with Iraq."

"Well, I guess we'll have to go peacefully," Bush said, dropping his golf club, "Wouldn't make much sense to - KILL THEM!" Bush drew his peacemaker while Agent Smith drew his Beretta and they both started firing at the Belgians.

Nothing happened.

"What's the matter?" Bush asked desperately.

"Apparently they're too irrelevant," Agent Smith answered, "Our bullets are going right through them in search of more substantive targets."

"Dammit! Always when I’m finally making par."

The Belgians closed in on them while laughing their evil Belginian laugh.

I love that bit about the Belgians being too irrelevant for their bullets to hit.

Here's a link to the whole thing:
http://www.rightwingnews.com/archives/w ... PHP#001057

[Edi]

Do you people actually believe that piece of garbage will ever get support enough to pass? And even if it by some miracle does, it'll just be ignored, or it will get overturned by the EU court. It's just some fanatics making noise and the *STOMP* sound you'll hear sometime in the future will be them getting a smackdown of epic proportions.

Edi

[Sea Skimmer]

Mind your language, Skimmer. I do not believe in the word "stand," and I advise you to be sensitive to my needs.

I advise your ass to be sensitive to my steel-toed boot. Insufficient engagement in ass kicking has been determined to be detrimental to my mental health state by a licensed professional.

[Peregrin Toker]

Do you people actually believe that piece of garbage will ever get support enough to pass? And even if it by some miracle does, it'll just be ignored, or it will get overturned by the EU court. It's just some fanatics making noise and the *STOMP* sound you'll hear sometime in the future will be them getting a smackdown of epic proportions.

Edi

I hope so... I hope so...

[Sarevok]

It's becoming increasingly hard for me now to burst out laughing whenever someone speaks of rising EU power. By 2020 or so it's going to be illegal to do anything but sit quietly, assuming sitting isn't determined to be offensives requiring that everyone squat or stand.

EU should never have been rising as a global power but the way things are going I am afraid that Europeans will replace the America as the worlds most powerful nation.

This is not just speculation there is reason behind it. The US economy is falling apart with no hope of recovery, the EU on the otherhand is getting richer and more powerful by the day. George W Bush has hurt America very badly by mismaneging the economy.

Thanks to Bush's forgein policy US has became the number one hated nation on earth. It is now a mere shadow of its former self as beacon of liberty and freedom. The US has lost its image of a great nation. This is an irreparable damage.

Without the trust of the entire world the US can not continue to be the worlds sole superpower. With the cost of more wars and increasing hatred towards America the US economy will collapse even further and she will no longer be able to support her huge and expensive military. The US will go down then leaving China and the EU as the dominant global powers.

[Hobot]

Uh, I think that's rather alarmist.

The US economy is having some hard times but it's not as bad as all that. The US is still respected by countries with a global influence.

[Sarevok]

Uh, I think that's rather alarmist.

The US economy is having some hard times but it's not as bad as all that. The US is still respected by countries with a global influence.

The US no longer considered as the land of freedom and liberty by most people. A nation that has become public enemy number one for so many people in so many countries is unlikely to recover unless the root causes of the hatred is answered. Since people hate America they are less likely to buy American stuff, more likely to support anti-Americanism and even attack American assets themselves.

This is scary. America is our only hope in the world against Chineese communists and Eurpean extreme left wingers. Yet she letting herself being destroyed. It would take decades but eventualy America will fall from grace if things keep being as bad as present. I hope sane voices do emerge in America and for good of the world and herself America turns away from the path unilateralism and war.

[Joe]

EU should never have been rising as a global power but the way things are going I am afraid that Europeans will replace the America as the worlds most powerful nation.

That's assuming the EU can get its shit together. It currently devotes half of its relatively small budget to farm subsidies, a policy which I understand is going to change within a few years, but is certainly indicative of a government that does not have its priorities straight.

This is not just speculation there is reason behind it. The US economy is falling apart with no hope of recovery, the EU on the otherhand is getting richer and more powerful by the day. George W Bush has hurt America very badly by mismaneging the economy.

The CLINTON economy began tanking before George W. Bush was in power. Not that Clinton deserves the blame for the current economy, either, it's quite a clever trick that the American people have been convinced that whoever is in the White House is responsible for the state of the economy. If anyone deserves blame, it is the Fed.

Thanks to Bush's forgein policy US has became the number one hated nation on earth. It is now a mere shadow of its former self as beacon of liberty and freedom. The US has lost its image of a great nation. This is an irreparable damage.

Hate to break it to you, but we probably the most hated nation on Earth before Bush's foreign policy as well.

Without the trust of the entire world the US can not continue to be the worlds sole superpower. With the cost of more wars and increasing hatred towards America the US economy will collapse even further and she will no longer be able to support her huge and expensive military. The US will go down then leaving China and the EU as the dominant global powers.

Why the hell will the U.S. economy collapse? It's tied in with just about every first-world country there is, even the ones that hate us, and pretty much the entire world would stand to lose by the collapse of the U.S. economy. And the military only absorbs about 3 percent of GDP, a number which will inflate to 4 percent at the most.

The US no longer considered as the land of freedom and liberty by most people. A nation that has become public enemy number one for so many people in so many countries is unlikely to recover unless the root causes of the hatred is answered. Since people hate America they are less likely to buy American stuff, more likely to support anti-Americanism and even attack American assets themselves.

The violence, I think, will be contained to Islamic fundies and anti-globalization protestors. The world may not respect American foreign policy, but the American economy is something else altogether. And you seem to be focusing on the fact that we are disliked abroad too much. While it would be nice to commend a little more respect, it is not really relevant as long as we remain the superpower.

This is scary. America is our only hope in the world against Chineese communists and Eurpean extreme left wingers. Yet she letting herself being destroyed. It would take decades but eventualy America will fall from grace if things keep being as bad as present. I hope sane voices do emerge in America and for good of the world and herself America turns away from the path unilateralism and war.

I guess I agree with you about Europe, but the Chinese Communists are becoming capitalists just as fast as we can let them, plus it will take China quite some time to build up a military comparable to the U.S. (the country still lacks a single aircraft carrier).

[Peregrin Toker]

The US no longer considered as the land of freedom and liberty by most people. A nation that has become public enemy number one for so many people in so many countries is unlikely to recover unless the root causes of the hatred is answered. Since people hate America they are less likely to buy American stuff, more likely to support anti-Americanism and even attack American assets themselves.

I think the anti-americanism hearkens all back to the Vietnam War. Back then, TV transmissions often showed authentic footage of Vietnamese civilians being brutally treated by US troops.

[quote}
This is scary. America is our only hope in the world against Chineese communists and Eurpean extreme left wingers.[/quote]

European extreme left wingers??

Pardon me, but the European Union isn't the Soviet Union just because some crazy socialists are represented in our parlaments and the European political center is to the left of the American center. Using your logic, I could easily claim that Europe was our only hope in the world against American rightwing extremists.

Most european nations still have market-based economies, and there's nothing suggesting we're going to collectivize it all.

[Perinquus]

EU should never have been rising as a global power but the way things are going I am afraid that Europeans will replace the America as the worlds most powerful nation.

This is not just speculation there is reason behind it. The US economy is falling apart with no hope of recovery, the EU on the otherhand is getting richer and more powerful by the day. George W Bush has hurt America very badly by mismaneging the economy.

Thanks to Bush's forgein policy US has became the number one hated nation on earth. It is now a mere shadow of its former self as beacon of liberty and freedom. The US has lost its image of a great nation. This is an irreparable damage.

Without the trust of the entire world the US can not continue to be the worlds sole superpower. With the cost of more wars and increasing hatred towards America the US economy will collapse even further and she will no longer be able to support her huge and expensive military. The US will go down then leaving China and the EU as the dominant global powers.

The US no longer considered as the land of freedom and liberty by most people. A nation that has become public enemy number one for so many people in so many countries is unlikely to recover unless the root causes of the hatred is answered. Since people hate America they are less likely to buy American stuff, more likely to support anti-Americanism and even attack American assets themselves.

This is scary. America is our only hope in the world against Chineese communists and Eurpean extreme left wingers. Yet she letting herself being destroyed. It would take decades but eventualy America will fall from grace if things keep being as bad as present. I hope sane voices do emerge in America and for good of the world and herself America turns away from the path unilateralism and war.

Talk about alarmist. The European economy is too eaten up with socialism to supplant our as the world's strongest anytime soon. A certain degree of socialized programs is good, but carried to too great an extreme and it's a drag on the economy. The increasing centralization and regulation that is taking place as the European Union coalesces will not help either.

The U.S. economy is hardly falling apart with no hope of recovery. In fact, according to a May 29th AP report, The U.S. economy performed a little bit better in the first three months of 2003 than first thought, growing at an annual rate of 1.9 percent. This is not really strong growth, but it's still growth. Consumer confidence was also higher than expected this month, driven by optimism about the economy's prospects six months from now, the New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday. Our ecomomy is not spiralling down into the toilet the way you seem to think. Jesus Christ! To hear people like you, we might as well be back in the Great Depression, and one would expect to see it raining strockbrokers on Wall Street.

As for America becoming the world's most hated nation because of Bush's foreign policy - more alarmism. In the first place, every nation that has enjoyed "world's most powerful" status in its era has had more and more bitter enemies than anyone else in that period; the U.S. is no exception. The surge of anti-Americanism abroad during the war was notable, I grant you, but there were similar anti-American protests when Reagan deployed Pershing missiles to Germany, and when he walked out of the summit with Gorbachev in Iceland, and there were similar anti-America protests during the Vietnam War. Relax. It'll blow over. Bush is not the most adroit foreign policy president we've ever had, but frankly, I'll take him over Clinton - giving secrets away to the Chinese, and appeasing rogue states like North Korea (with the same results appeasement always gets) - or over Carter, giving away a vital strategic asset like the Panama Canal.

And will you, for fuck's sake, look up the definition of unilateral in your dictionary? When we have a coalition of several other nations joining in the effort with us, and still more publicly expressing support, if not actually contributing, our actions are not unilateral. What part of this do you people find so difficult to understand?

[NecronLord]

That's assuming the EU can get its shit together. It currently devotes half of its relatively small budget to farm subsidies, a policy which I understand is going to change within a few years, but is certainly indicative of a government that does not have its priorities straight.

Bread > everything but water.

Seems about right to me

Seriously though Chiraq did offer that france would drop them when the US did. Bush said no.

As for America becoming the world's most hated nation because of Bush's foreign policy - more alarmism. In the first place, every nation that has enjoyed "world's most powerful" status in its era has had more and more bitter enemies than anyone else in that period; the U.S. is no exception.

People fought wars to get into the Roman Empire...

[Perinquus]

As for America becoming the world's most hated nation because of Bush's foreign policy - more alarmism. In the first place, every nation that has enjoyed "world's most powerful" status in its era has had more and more bitter enemies than anyone else in that period; the U.S. is no exception.

People fought wars to get into the Roman Empire...

Who would that be? The Gauls? The Britons? The Germans? The Dacians? The Greeks? The Jews? The Persians?

Face reality guy. Most of the subjects of the Empire had to be conquered by force. It was only later that Barbarian tribes like the Goths were really so keen to get in, and that was at least partly because of pressure from other, westward moving barbarians like the Huns, which caused them to seek shelter within the Empire.

[Perinquus]

Oh, and I almost left out the Carthaginians, the Celtiberians, the Etruscans, the Helvetians, the Vascones (Basques). etc. - more people who fought against Rome. The list goes on and on. Rome was the great superpower of her day, and like us, she had plenty of enemies.

[Joe]

Bread > everything but water.

Seems about right to me

Overproduction, which tends to be caused by subsidies, is a Bad Thing. The EU does not need to subsidize farms. Other countries can produce agricultural goods cheaper and better.

It's only fair, anyway, god knows the EU threw a temper tantrum when we passed those accursed steel tariffs, while keeping a protectionist policy of its own in place.

[TheDarkling]

Bread > everything but water.

Seems about right to me

Overproduction, which tends to be caused by subsidies, is a Bad Thing. The EU does not need to subsidize farms. Other countries can produce agricultural goods cheaper and better.

It's only fair, anyway, god knows the EU threw a temper tantrum when we passed those accursed steel tariffs, while keeping a protectionist policy of its own in place.

Actually what is worse is that the EU threw a fit when the US boosted its own agricultural subsidies by several billion.

The EU has just done some CAP reform but it isn't as much as I would have liked .