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Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

bbc.com

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Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#341

Post by owebmaster »

elmo125 wrote: post #276
WarmWash wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU is cooked unless they can figure out domestic industry. They currently have a US tech stack because they strangled Euro tech in the cradle, and now that things are rough with the US, they are looking to China to be their new, err, "trading partner". Anything other than realize they went way to far with "kill enterprise, embrace relaxation" mindset. Trust beyond anything else, when money gets to be tight, and t…

You know what, there is something about China i see people are failing to realize, but china is creating dependcy more than competency, they first makes you me and everyone depend on them, then, they will start to make rules at a point where no one will be able to object

That's called globalization. It was considered great while the world was forced to depend on US and EU companies.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#342

Post by amunozo »

p-e-w wrote: post #222
amunozo wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the EU should make an exception, which also could draw Norway closer.

No high-income country has shown serious interest in joining the EU in decades. Norway is a hyper-privileged nation that already has several relevant treaties with the EU and has very little to gain by submitting to a system where the Balkan gets to vote on the measures Norway must implement.

Nobody wants to risk when things are going well, obviously. These countries do, however, have a huge number of bilateral agreements, so they find a lot of benefits in joining, at least partially, the EU. Norway already implement most of EU regulation without having any voting powers.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#343

Post by aniviacat »

087532379864 wrote: post #246
amunozo wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You guys are beyond parody. What an unserious place to discuss anything this is.

[flagged]

If the EU was totalitarian, it would have passed the first time. But alas, it never did.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#344

Post by trinix912 »

ExoticPearTree wrote: post #297
amunozo wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you understand that a massive project like the EU has pros and cons, and things are not unidimensional? I am against chat control, but there is more to the EU than that.

Again, it was a nice dream 20-30 years ago. Today the EU is just a massive bureaucracy with nothing to show for. The single market is a joke, regulations on top of regulations and so on. Why would any sane country join?

No internal customs, easy trade and travel between the multiple relatively small countries, and a very stable common monetary unit, are "nothing to show for"??

If you had lived in an EU country that wasn't in the EU 20-30 years ago, you would've known damn well what's there today to show for. You either don't live in the EU or you've got amnesia and can't remember what it used to be like. Cut your bullshit.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#345

Post by aniviacat »

quantummagic wrote: post #298
hmry wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the person you are responding to didn't say "any and all borders are racist, including borders in your own home". You are the one misrepresenting their argument.

I don't know if you're being intentionally obtuse, or you genuinely believe what you're saying. I was the one saying that a border is a border, and you had better have a good explanation as to why the national border is fundamentally different from your home. If it's okay to protect your home, why is it WRONG to protect your country? See? I was putting the OP to the test: why is one just fine, but the other reprehens…

There is a lot of space in my country that is not actively used as living space. On the other hand, 100% of the space in my home is actively used as living space.

Comparing a country and a home is a poor comparison.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#346

Post by aniviacat »

quantummagic wrote: post #270
runarberg wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry I must brake away from HN guidelines here: But this is an infinitely dumb comparison. I can’t even begin to fathom what kind of endless ignorance and prejudges can possess a person to speak such stupid words. A persons house is not the same as a border. You are comparing apples to grocery stores here. An immigrant can simply build another house next to mine if they want it. You can have open borders and private…

Typical response. Defending my home isn't racist. And your willingness to use that accusation is pathetic and not really worthy of a response... but understand that a border is the same concept be it for a home, for a community, for a city, or for a nation. Your dismissal is not cogent, it just hides utter misunderstanding of reality, and a desire to make other people pay a price you're not willing to pay yourself.

> understand that a border is the same concept be it for a home, for a community, for a city, or for a nation

People from other cities may enter my city, but people from other homes may not enter my home. These concepts are not the same, nor are they close, nor are they comparable.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#347

Post by jasoncartwright »

realty_geek wrote: post #334
saevarom wrote: post #181

I run the count at one of the constituencies. We have about 42.000 people on the electoral register and we'll probably see about 75-80% turnout, so we're going to be counting about 33.000 votes with about 30-35 people on staff, 24 of them doing the actual counting. For the interest of the HN crowd, here is the technical report: You'll find that the Icelandic voting system is very low tech. The electoral registry for…

"marked using a pencil" Why would you not want to mark paper ballots with pens / ink which will be harder to change?

I've attended a few UK vote counts. Pencil is also used - but you can bring your own pen if you'd like.

I think it's mainly to prevent smudges as the paper is folded to be put into the ballot box. Pencils are also more reliable than pens, and have a longer shelf life between votes, I'd imagine?

At the polling stations & counts I've been to and overseen there is pretty much zero opportunity (or interest) in changing people's votes on the papers. I'd imagine this is the same in most first-world countries. In fact, once I spotted and got corrected a paper missed for a candidate opposing the candidate I was a counting agent for.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#348

Post by rocqua »

petra wrote: post #333
badc0ffee wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US keeps talking about leaving.

I hope that Trump doesn't represent US policies in the long term.

Trumps short term actions will have long term consequences on the alliance. Specifically on how the alliance views reliance on the US. Trump has shown how unreliable an ally the US can be. Putting that cat bag in the bag doesn’t reverse the realisation that there’s a cat in that bag.

This will likely strengthen NATO in the long term. But only if it doesn’t get tested by Russia in the short term.

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#349

Post by xvedejas »

rozab wrote: post #317
bluGill wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't need to join the EU to use the euro. There are countries that use the U.S. dollar even though they're not the U.S. Sometimes it's just de facto use the dollar. There is technically a local currency and people use it when forced to but they would prefer the dollar. If you're a small country, something like the dollar or the euro is probably your best bet because of the stability it affords. The advantage to…

This means giving up all the advantages of central banking and is generally only done informally by countries experiencing hyperinflation without capital controls. It's a marker of a failed state. I remember in live TV debates for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the Yes leader insisted that Scotland could not be prevented from using the Pound sterling. It's technically true, but a very, very bad idea.

Montenegro unilaterally uses the euro and it doesn't seem to otherwise be a failed state. Besides this being a "marker", what do you think are the actual problems caused? Like why does a small country need its own capital controls when there is a very stable currency available nearby?

Re: Iceland votes on whether to restart talks on joining EU

#350

Post by troupo »

sgt wrote: post #254
troupo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Norway and Switzerland are in the EU in all but final signatures ar this point: they are fully ibtegrated into EU economy, apply EU's laws and regulations and even pay into EU funds.

Stop claiming this. It's complete bullshit and you probably have never even been here.

As we all know, being somewhere makes you instantly know everything there is to know about that particular there. Of course, this is the inly way to know anything.

My comment hyperbolizes the integration, but it's not too far from the truth.

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