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If in the US we wanted to enact mandatory voting (which we don't, because not voting is casting your vote to abstain, and mandatory voting is less freedom), first we'd have to count everybody and by doing that we'd be forced to figure out which people get to vote and which don't. We can't do that because then we'd be witch-hunting the illegal aliens.

In the current partisan climate anyone who tried that would be absolutely shredded in the stooge court of public opinion.

So, how are you guys able to get this done in Belgium? Well I think one big difference is you guys pretty much ignore race (it's illegal to collect data on race in France as an example). You collect ethnicity stats, but that's not the same. Take for example the wikipedia entries for demographics for the US versus Belgium:

US Demographics
Belgium Demographics

Since you don't have stats on race, you can't really use it as a partisan crutch when influencing opinion and votes. Must be nice! Over here in the US, we're too busy making sure that all of the races are treated "with the justice", so everything that happens to an individual for whom race might be a consideration pretty much always has race being the obvious factor for whatever happened.

Don't get me wrong. There's still some racist assholes in the US. There's racist assholes in Belgium too. Here is a really interesting article describing a bit of the elevator racism going on in the EU today. But, since you don't track it, it's obviously not one of the problems that exist in that society, right? At least, when anyone has difficulty obtaining something from the government or a business, it can't be something silly like race, can it? That's crazy talk. There's no way that would make the papers. At least your government has the capability of tracking down all these people who should have voted but didn't and fining them or putting them in jail, or to arbitrarily just do whatever because laws are really just there to start a discussion with a judge.

Funny how the EU always levies fines on American tech companies, and never dares touch Chinese companies.

Maybe the Chinese companies aren't dodging taxes? Or they haven't been around in the EU market long enough for their dodginess to be uncovered? Non-tech Chinese products have been on the EU market for a long time...and the EU raised quite a big fuss over some of them.

Also you will be glad to know that besides dishing out fines for American companies, the EU happily does that for it's own companies and those from other countries (like Japan) as well when they break the rules.

to be fair, trump gets some results. you just have to, what is it, have some memory.

trump said early on he wants NATO members to pay for their shit per the original agreement (i.e., spend 2% min. of GDP on defense). so they say "eh maybe", he insults them, threatens to pull out, calls em douches again for good measure, and now some NATO members are saying they need to better fund their own armies and acting like theyre doing it to spite trump. theyre threatening trump with what he wants for fucks sake. (NATO members stepping up)

plus, trump called out china for being IP-stealing douches and made border US security/the illegal immigrant issue a national dialogue.

whats more retarded than trump is that someone like trump was needed to address these issues in the first place. seriously, WTF.

No, the Russians didn't hack the election. such uttereances are part of a neocon plot to distract the American voter from who really rules America. ref ref

Paper? Forget it. Should be burned or dumped into pits for methane gas retrieval, and used for power. Cheaper and more environmentally friendly to plant more trees. Then breaking it down, de-inking, re-bleaching, and reprocessing it.

Where, exactly?

Maybe in North America it's cheaper with its vast empty (of people and farms) landscapes with endless forests. In places like Europe...I don't think so. I mean, the industry lobbying body says itself that "we want every fiber back...it’s our precious raw material". Furthermore they say 88% of corrugated boxes are made from recycled material...so why would they be doing this if it were cheaper to just cut down fresh trees? Well, because it isn't cheaper to cut down fresh trees.

Let's hope other countries do the same thing too.

Remember, agencies of the US government regularly attempt to influence elections overseas, and, oppose the natural desires of their electorate

Below are a selection of links about the same, from across the political spectrum that are quite well-documented.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/0...

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

https://www.channel4.com/news/...

https://www.straitstimes.com/w...

https://www.telesurtv.net/engl...

http://www.latimes.com/nation/...

https://www.wnyc.org/story/his...

http://www.truth-out.org/opini...

https://www.foreignaffairs.com...

https://www.thenewamerican.com...

https://www.npr.org/2016/12/22...

https://www.politico.eu/articl...

https://www.strategic-culture....

Just look at how he's trying to character assassinate Loretta Lynch:

According to ABC News, the former FBI director felt compelled to take a prominent public role in the investigation into Clinton in part because of a “development still unknown to the American public to this day” about former Attorney General Loretta Lynch that he feared critics would use to raise doubts about the integrity of the investigation.

"Gee, she was bad, but I can't tell you why! You have to trust me!"

What's he going to do? Leak it to a "friend" again?

I have a tendency not to believe a word Trump says. https://www.politico.eu/articl...

Since the Ukrainian vote to join the EU, Russia has gone on an all-out propaganda offensive with the intention to split the west and weaken NATO. Russia regards the Ukraine as its "home-turf" and buffer against perceived NATO "aggression", and it regards the EU as the gateway to NATO membership for eastern European countries that were formally part of the Soviet Union.
Russia feels as if NATO is encroaching on its sphere of influence and waging an "underhanded" war of political expansion. Looking at a map you will see how one by one, former Soviet republics have been converted into NATO countries.
Russia also feels that this NATO expansion is a violation of a promise made to Gorbachev at the dissolution of the Soviet Union, that NATO would not expand to the east.
For this reasons Russia has decided to go on the offensive and start fighting NATO. Not by military means, since it does not have the means to seriously compete with NATO, but by information warfare, taking full advantage of the traits of our open societies, such as freedom of speech and of the press. Using fake news and trolls that sow discontent and dissent, it intends to cause a rift between our countries and institutions.
Russian agents already provided plenty of cannon fodder to the Brexit crew and succeeded in swaying public opinion. Everything that causes a rift through the EU and NATO is good for Russia.
Russia is very active in spreading fake news and inciting discontent around far-right groups in Europe, using the refugee crisis to full effect (fake news about rapists, terrorists and other criminals among refugees) to strengthen the far-right and to politically destabilize European nations, especially Germany and France. Fortunately these activities have only had marginal success thus far, with the far-right Front National in France and the AfD in Germany gaining some votes, but not enough to pose a serious threat to the political establishment.
It had resounding success in the U.S. were it just so managed to tip the scale in favor of Trump, the weaker candidate, and the US government and especially foreign policy is practically paralyzed and ineffectual at the moment. If you want some information or evidence on these activities, it's really only a good google search away.
Russian activities in Germany and Europe:
https://www.nato.int/docu/Revi...
http://time.com/4889471/german...
https://www.politico.eu/articl...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...

On Russia's overall strategy and interference in the US:
https://www.newyorker.com/maga...
http://www.slate.com/articles/...

That should be a good start to get an idea.

While they are at it, can they show me NSA, CIA, FBI, Plus every other propaganda agency of every other government. Why just single out the Russians.

It may take some time, but the role that at least some of them played (if any) will come out.

House Republicans quietly investigate perceived corruption at DOJ, FBI

Paul Calls For Investigation of Obama Officials: Collusion Against Trump Could Be 'Worse Than Watergate'

After it comes out there may be people going to jail ... and it probably won't be Trump's associates.

Indeed, more interesting things keep emerging with time . . .

The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook

While we're waiting for all of the unpleasantness to be revealed perhaps you'd like to listen to some Maurice Chevalier, Édith Piaf , or Vera Lynn ?

why were only a few hundred admitted to hospital

Among the official count of these hundreds admitted to hospitals are also included those who said that felt anxiety watching the news on TV.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/08/catalonia-demo-injuries-fact-checking
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/ 2017/10/19/how-fake-news-helped-shape-the-cataloni a-independence-vote/
http://www.politico.eu/article/russia-catalonia-re ferendum-fake-news-misinformation/

And of course those who blatantly lied and got caught red handed.

http://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20171003/431773709255/la-mujer-que-denuncio-que-la-policia-le-habia-roto-los-dedos-admite-ahora-que-solo-es-una-inflamacion.html

President Kersti Kaljulaid:
Estonia's six-month turn at the rotating presidency will focus on digital innovation, particularly electronic public services, which the Baltic nation has made a hallmark of its own government. Estonia likes to boast that the only things a citizen cannot do online are get married, get divorced, or sell their home.

What's with all the Russophobia?

Common sense?

Do the Russians blow up little girls at concerts?

I certainly don't doubt that Putin would do so. The most you can say is that he won't see it as to his advantage.

Or perhaps they call for the murder of gays/lesbians?

They actually murder them

Do they advocate stoning women who don't wear tents in public?

No, they advocate throwing their enemies in the gulag.

And no, they aren't exactly good on attire, no.

Did their Prophet call for enslavement, rape, and murder of the Christians/Jews?

Russians aren't big on religious tolerance either, no.

I get it, you probably have the Russians precisely because they fight the radical Islamic terrorists. How fucking sick.

Oh so, they fight the Radical Islamic terrorists, so nothing they do can be wrong, is that it?

Maybe it's just like WW2, when Stalin and Hitler were BOTH MURDEROUS TYRANNICAL DESPOTS.

And since the Islamic terrorists don't have a tenth of Hitler's war machine, I see no reason to buddy up to Putin.

I will not give him a favorable reference in the House of Commons, the House of Representatives, or in the House of Saud.

So far as I'm aware, Spain has made no such statement. It's position is considerably more nuanced:

http://www.politico.eu/article...

Essentially, it means Scotland won't be able to "remain" in the EU if it should secede during or around the time of Brexit, and that Spain might agree to "eventually" let Scotland in. In other words, it is in the Spanish government's best interests that Scotland spend some amount of time out in the cold, simply because Spain cannot afford to be seen to be rewarding any independence movement, lest it light a fire underneath Catalan independence.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-nor...

Scotland is definitely leaving the EU along with UK. If they vote for independence, they could reapply to the EU. But this is far from automatic, since there are other EU members that are struggling to discourage their own secessionists.

http://www.politico.eu/article...

It's over millennials. Your parents know better than you and we're hoping you'll grow up and figure that out at some point.

I'm not sure where you're going with that. The demographics of the vote show clearly that millennials and under-50 voters were solidly in the "remain" camp.

Indeed. The NY Times has a few articles about this and an Op-Ed titled Brexit and Europe’s Angry Old Men mentioning a poll over there indicating the older the person, the more likely they were inclined to leave the EU:

Some 64 percent of the age group from 18 to 24 said they would vote for Remain; just 35 percent of those between 50 and 64 wanted to stay.

It's over millennials. Your parents know better than you and we're hoping you'll grow up and figure that out at some point.

I'm not sure where you're going with that. The demographics of the vote show clearly that millennials and under-50 voters were solidly in the "remain" camp.

Subject-change detected â" the usual tactics of Kremlin bots.

You mean projection, from another American Exceptionalist. With the bit that anyone who answers western propaganda with facts is a Putinbot.

I accept your surrender of the previous topic â" of Russia being a dangerous aggressor

They're not. You're comparing an anthill to Mt. Everest. Parked on top of Mauna Kea. On top Mt. McKinley, on Fuji, on Rainier...It takes a positively Biblical level of willful blindness for a westerner to point at Russia and claim it's an aggressive power. How many democracies has Russia overthrown since Obama took office? How many countries in Central America have Russian drones flying over them, ready to murder suspects (and dozens of nearby people) at the touch of a button? How many countries has Russia illegally bombed/invaded since the fall of the USSR, compared to the United States? Has Putin been busy expanding the Warsaw Pact to Mexico and Canada, after promising not to do so, running the largest military drills since the second world war? How many bases does Russia have around the world, compared to the U.S.> I could go on all day with facts that cannot be disputed.

Notably, your bombastic accusation includes neither a link to the video, nor transcript of the actual words.

Like asking for a citation that water is wet.

It is perfectly normal for countries to spend money on legal organizations abroad. USSR has been doing just that for decades fomenting racial strife in the US, for example, as well as the so-called "Peace Movement". In the Middle East KGB kept Arafat afloat and fighting Israel.

GTFO with that amateur hour BS. Radio America, heard of it? How many governments around the world has Russia - and even the USSR - overthrown compared to the United States? Is the KGB trying to spy on the electronic communications of every person on the planet? No, that would be the NSA.

You joked about Obama being a KGB-agent

On what planet was that?

And that, even if it were true, equates to an armed invasion in your opinion? Wow...

You want to play that game? Obama has bombed more countries than Bush - how many countries has Putin bombed without the request of that nation's government? Where's the evidence of Putin's "invasion" of Ukraine that doesn't come from social media? Months of western propaganda that Ukraine was being "invaded" by Russian forces, without a single satellite photo.

Because even Colin Powell, when testifying at the U.N., had satellite photos. He was as full of shit as the rest of you American Exceptionalists, but he had photos! Which is more than you have.

I'm a citizen of a country that made the tragic mistake to be part of the EU, hopefully not forever, and I see the EU itself as a threat to the sovereignty of my own homeland. And given the topic of the article, I'd like to remember you that Bruxelles' institutions also use trolling to promote themselves, they don't even deny it: http://www.politico.eu/article... ... but results appear to be embarrassing: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/bus...

History has widely proven that real "nations" arise from one majority people (yes, it means ethnicity), one culture and one language, "the EU" does not comply with these basic requirements, and it is composed by 29 nations that used to be at war with one another for more than 2K years. So please, don't spread the illusion of a non-existing "EU nationalism", recent elections and the skyrocketing results of anti-EU parties prove it is just bullshit.

That "anti-disinfo" project lools like EU trolling, just with a slightly different name. The difference between Russia and the ridiculously corrupt Bruxelles institutions is that the latter don't even deny their own trolling, they just call it "counter narrative" or something like that: http://www.politico.eu/article...

However, luckily it doesn't seem to be very effective, given the EU's sinking popularity among its own (unwilling) citizens: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/bus...

Oh look. I caught a Russian troll.

That "anti-disinfo" project lools like EU trolling, just with a slightly different name. The difference between Russia and the ridiculously corrupt Bruxelles institutions is that the latter don't even deny their own trolling, they just call it "counter narrative" or something like that: http://www.politico.eu/article...

However, luckily it doesn't seem to be very effective, given the EU's sinking popularity among its own (unwilling) citizens: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/bus...

This is an interesting point; I wonder if one can find historical analogues to better understand how the process goes.

Of course, the price of coal cannot decrease forever; as it sinks below cost mining will simply becoming unprofitable. This is already happening in Poland, mostly due to their inefficient mining.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/10...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...
http://www.americanthinker.com...
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ge...
http://nypost.com/2016/02/09/e...
https://pjmedia.com/homeland-s...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/ho...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...
http://www.thelocal.dk/2016012...
http://www.politico.eu/article...
http://www.express.co.uk/news/...
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2...
http://www.breitbart.com/big-g...