Slashdot Mirror
Efficiency Gains Could Prove Proposed Plasma Ban Shortsighted
hihopes writes "As the EU calls for a ban on plasma TVs, a leading Harvey Norman executive said that the issue should be left to vendors, who at the recent CES Show in the USA showed an array of low-powered TV display screens."
It's one thing to care about the environment. It's another thing entirely to use the force of criminal law to impose your conservationist concerns on the rest of society.
Oh cry me a river. Hyperbole much? A little regulation on power consumption is not criminal law you stupid fucking whiner.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
"They love to present the EU as the creator of "loony rules" and regulations."
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And that happens for a reason. We could start with the very basic fact that the EU maintains two parliaments approximately 350 km apart and moves between these two parliaments (one in France and one in Belgium) every month. This would correspond to the US Congress moving between Washington and New Jersey every month. Do you consider such a decision to be sane?
Well more to the point. I am a scientist and I have had the unfortunate experience of participating in several EU efforts to build a EU capacity (Soviet style socialism with centrally issued 5 year plans with the goal of building government owned comglomerates in areas that are currently served by a mixture of private and public players) in different areas. It is clear at least from my experience that the EU Commission viewpoint is focused on expanding the influence of the EU in the member countries and not on what is best for the EU citizens as a whole.
But you are of course right that most EU regulation is not insane. It is simply the amount and pervasiveness of regulation that makes it easy to pick the insane parts.
[/rant]