I stand corrected, it's only to 25% in the first half of 2012 from 20% in 2011. Of that 20% of total consumption (in 2011), 19,500GWh came from hydro; 46,500GWh from wind; 31,920GWh from biomass; 5,000GWh from waste; 19,000GWh from PV; 18.8GWh from thermo.
Also, 600km is nothing (roughly 2 hours by train or 3 by car).
To be honest, I think your concerns are moot, at best.
And I like it, because we can focus on next-generation technology. In the first half of 2012, 40% of our energy requirement can from renewable resources, which means we'll have the mature technology for sale when other countries want to switch:)
I love the high speed rail in Germany and use it almost every day. However, every HSR system will have accidents. It's the cost of doing business when you're propelling people at 200mph for hundreds of kms or more at a time. It's almost impossible to police the entire system.
Don't get me wrong, I hate the Chinese government's response. And I hate the fact that when you watch the videos of the train cars being buried without investigation that you can see bodies falling out. I also hate the fact that they cancelled the S&R operation and a few people disobeyed and found a living baby. But, stating that deaths due to HSR only happen in China is quite naïve.
And, FWIW, the US doesn't have HSR, so you can't compare rail accidents between China/Germany and the US. The Acela Express is a huge POS (not ever really HSR), and it seems to be getting worse every time I use it:(
i don't include FICA as a "tax" per se, because it funds a retirement pension and isn't included in my 35% tax payment. over here "tax" is "tax", while retirement is a different deduction and thus not in the original "paying 35-40% on their taxes" (which is horrible English by AwesomeMcgee). maybe you guys call that a "tax." if you do, i pay roughly 45-50% in "taxes" by your definition.
it depends on a lot of things... including the price of mortgage and the value of the internal contents when furnished. On Strandvägen, it was a "reasonable" price. Also, dealing with Hyresgästföreningen is a time-consuming process, and our time isn't free. If we paid that in Hjulsta it would be a different story. And yes, I think there's huge gouging going on (there's been a black market for contracts for 30+ years) and that Stockholm is the toughest housing market in Europe, by far. Munich/London/Paris are much easier.
I doubt that in the US, most engineers are paying 35-40% federal income tax. In the states, the 33% bracket "starts" at $178k. Even if you factor in 7% state income tax, the 28% federal bracket starts at $85k, which means only 40k is taxed at 28% (based on the 120k median stated in the article.) I'd wager that the "average tax rate" on that income would be around 25% or so. Here, in Germany, I'm in the 42% bracket... and pay about 35% total federal tax based on where the brackets divide. Adding the mandatory retirement, old-age insurance and health insurance contribution plus the reunitification tax and "church tax"... it goes almost to 55% total deductions.
However, the more interesting thing is how much is saved for retirement. My employer puts 9.9% gross in and I put 9.9% gross in (maybe only for the first €70k or so). I pay an extra 1.5% and the employer matches with 6.5%. Then I tend to save another 10% gross in a personal account. So roughly 38% of my gross is saved, not including savings for a house and standard banking.
for people not familiar with the cost of living in Germany... 19% sales tax (MwSt or VAT) on most items. Fuel is currently 1.7€/L ($8.50/gal). Housing is reasonable by European prices (I pay €1000 all-inclusive w/phone/internet/TV for 600 sq ft in central Frankfurt... we paid €1100 all-inclusive for 300 sq ft in Stockholm). Buying an apartment/house is very expensive and usually a 30-40% down payment is required. However, food and transport (aside from fuel) are relatively cheap. Food is less expensive than the US (heavily subsidized and very stiff supermarket competition... WalMart withdrew from Germany as it couldn't make money). Rail transport is quite cheap (IMHO) if one books ahead (7h at 200mph for €60 round-trip Munich-Frankfurt). However, the train service was a monopoly for a very long time (against bus transport). Together (w/gf) we make roughly €150k/year pre-tax (brutto) and feel that it would go much farther than $200k pre-tax in the US when one factors in the retirement, "free" child care, lack of university tuition (maybe €1k/year), roughly 40+ holidays and reasonable working hours for those outside academia (37-38h/weeks for standard jobs, 55-60h/wk+travel for consultants, 70+h/wk for academics).
It's also common for PhD students to work 80h/wk in Germany (at least at the reputable institutions... Excellence Universities and Max-Planck Institutes) for example. Even students doing diplomarbeit work 60+ hr/wk.
Also, one needs to compare net (netto) salaries. More the 50% of my gross (brutto) salaries is "comsumed" (for better rather than worse most of the time) in taxes (roughly 35% when income/old age/solidarity/church tax (which I opt-out of)/unemployment), mandatory health insurance (roughly 8%), mandatory pension (roughly 10%).
Also, I wouldn't directly convert €1:$1.3 because with the cost of living and the VAT... it's much closer to €1:$1 in real terms.
I have a micro PhD and have worked as faculty in Sweden and now Germany. Hey folks... it's extremely competitive and 80-100/h weeks are the norm. Your output is measured in volume (number of papers, talks and posters) and you need to be working that often just to physically write/travel/talk/present often enough to keep up. In addition, not only do you need to produce high volume, it better be top-notch quality.
As far as salary goes, after PhD (at least in Europe) it's quite good. Postdocs start at €40k and can easily negotiate €60k with the standard 6-8 weeks of holidays (which do get used by most people that I know.) Currently, I am flirting with Professorship offers at major unis in the US right now and it seems that going rate is $8-10k/month gross salary and most universities cover the 9 months that you teach, which leaves your first grant to covers the last three... so you're looking at $96-120k/year in the US and a job where you're essentially not subject to being fired (tenured). It's not that bad of a gig. Sure, consultants make more (on both sides of the pond), but do you really want to do that?
just make prostitution legal (and regulated) like most of Europe. You can even tax the income, while ensuring the safety of the workers and the clients. For bonus points, I grew in Wells, ME, about 10km south of Kennebunk... and this kinda of ridiculous attention to foolish stories/details like this is one of the reasons I left (small town politics, anyone?) A john's life destroyed? Hardly, especially not by an "employer" with half a brain.
"Sie" doesn't really indicate "Sir." Also, it's very environmentally conditional. The same person could be "du" at home and "Sie" at work. I have to admit that the workplace is much more formal in Germany than in the US and I'm not sure that's actually bad... unless one can't handle the formality.
But you must admit that the time between the technology being available (all dissertations being publicly available in electronic PDF form and OCR being widely implementable, the wiki framework for crowd-sourcing a problem, and the media being willing to really hang a prominent member of a prominent noble family out to dry) and the rise of self-policing websites has been extremely fast.
Also, he has 12 names plus a von and zu trailer. That alone would prevent me from typing his name.
The graphics at the bottom clearly translate for a non-German audience... as do the lines through the "type" of doctoral degree directly above the graphic.
For a non-German perspective, I now see how someone could perhaps see this "as sport" as nothing like this has happened anywhere else to my knowledge (and definitely not in the US, where you'd probably be DCMA'd or immediately sued for slander).
As an academic who earned a PhD in the US and worked as faculty in Sweden and now Germany, you're being quite naïve if you don't think this happens in every country including the US. The difference is that the Germans self-police (in standard volunteer wiki-style), while the US and Sweden do not, to my knowledge.
As far as it being a "sport", that's ridiculous. Being that we (Germany's inhabitants) take titles very seriously, with good reason, as the Chancellor has a doctorate in Quantum Chemistry, every thesis should be thoroughly scrutinized.
I would wager my degrees that the percentage of pages plagiarized are very similar between the US, Sweden and Germany. We just find the plagiarism over here and hold politicians (and all others) accountable.
Why would a letter from the prime minister of France to other French ministers, not be in French? is the editor trying to be sarcastic? the grammar is so horrible (e.g. there is a common missing in front of "of course") that I can't tell if this is a dig on Franco-phones?
could get any worse and here you go and surprise me again. I really do feel sorry for you guys as you had the best deals on the planet (by far) pre-iPhone and now there some of the worst.
... but don't touch my mandatory 29 holidays per year + 11 federal holidays + unlimited sick time (Germany). I'll work hard when I'm in town, but when I'm out of town (40 days = 8 weeks mandatory / year), I'm really out of town, usually not even in Germany, nor Europe for the most part. "Work hard & play hard."
Slashdot Mirror
In September 2010, the German government announced a new aggressive energy policy with the following targets:
Increasing the relative share of renewable energy in gross energy consumption to 18% by 2020, 30% by 2030 and 60% by 2050
Increasing the relative share of renewable energy in gross electrical consumption to 35% by 2020 and 80% by 2050
Increasing the national energy efficiency by cutting electrical consumption 50% below 2008 levels by 2050
I stand corrected, it's only to 25% in the first half of 2012 from 20% in 2011. Of that 20% of total consumption (in 2011), 19,500GWh came from hydro; 46,500GWh from wind; 31,920GWh from biomass; 5,000GWh from waste; 19,000GWh from PV; 18.8GWh from thermo.
Also, 600km is nothing (roughly 2 hours by train or 3 by car).
To be honest, I think your concerns are moot, at best.
And I like it, because we can focus on next-generation technology. In the first half of 2012, 40% of our energy requirement can from renewable resources, which means we'll have the mature technology for sale when other countries want to switch :)
I love the high speed rail in Germany and use it almost every day. However, every HSR system will have accidents. It's the cost of doing business when you're propelling people at 200mph for hundreds of kms or more at a time. It's almost impossible to police the entire system.
Link to German accident where 101 people died.
Don't get me wrong, I hate the Chinese government's response. And I hate the fact that when you watch the videos of the train cars being buried without investigation that you can see bodies falling out. I also hate the fact that they cancelled the S&R operation and a few people disobeyed and found a living baby. But, stating that deaths due to HSR only happen in China is quite naïve.
And, FWIW, the US doesn't have HSR, so you can't compare rail accidents between China/Germany and the US. The Acela Express is a huge POS (not ever really HSR), and it seems to be getting worse every time I use it :(
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Ha ha, made ya look. (heard in a Nelson from the Simpsons voice)
i don't include FICA as a "tax" per se, because it funds a retirement pension and isn't included in my 35% tax payment. over here "tax" is "tax", while retirement is a different deduction and thus not in the original "paying 35-40% on their taxes" (which is horrible English by AwesomeMcgee). maybe you guys call that a "tax." if you do, i pay roughly 45-50% in "taxes" by your definition.
it depends on a lot of things ... including the price of mortgage and the value of the internal contents when furnished. On Strandvägen, it was a "reasonable" price. Also, dealing with Hyresgästföreningen is a time-consuming process, and our time isn't free. If we paid that in Hjulsta it would be a different story. And yes, I think there's huge gouging going on (there's been a black market for contracts for 30+ years) and that Stockholm is the toughest housing market in Europe, by far. Munich/London/Paris are much easier.
i guess the most appropriate comment for that amount of taxation in the states considering the lack of social systems/benefits is "lol"
I doubt that in the US, most engineers are paying 35-40% federal income tax. In the states, the 33% bracket "starts" at $178k. Even if you factor in 7% state income tax, the 28% federal bracket starts at $85k, which means only 40k is taxed at 28% (based on the 120k median stated in the article.) I'd wager that the "average tax rate" on that income would be around 25% or so. Here, in Germany, I'm in the 42% bracket ... and pay about 35% total federal tax based on where the brackets divide. Adding the mandatory retirement, old-age insurance and health insurance contribution plus the reunitification tax and "church tax" ... it goes almost to 55% total deductions.
However, the more interesting thing is how much is saved for retirement. My employer puts 9.9% gross in and I put 9.9% gross in (maybe only for the first €70k or so). I pay an extra 1.5% and the employer matches with 6.5%. Then I tend to save another 10% gross in a personal account. So roughly 38% of my gross is saved, not including savings for a house and standard banking.
for people not familiar with the cost of living in Germany ... 19% sales tax (MwSt or VAT) on most items. Fuel is currently 1.7€/L ($8.50/gal). Housing is reasonable by European prices (I pay €1000 all-inclusive w/phone/internet/TV for 600 sq ft in central Frankfurt ... we paid €1100 all-inclusive for 300 sq ft in Stockholm). Buying an apartment/house is very expensive and usually a 30-40% down payment is required. However, food and transport (aside from fuel) are relatively cheap. Food is less expensive than the US (heavily subsidized and very stiff supermarket competition ... WalMart withdrew from Germany as it couldn't make money). Rail transport is quite cheap (IMHO) if one books ahead (7h at 200mph for €60 round-trip Munich-Frankfurt). However, the train service was a monopoly for a very long time (against bus transport). Together (w/gf) we make roughly €150k/year pre-tax (brutto) and feel that it would go much farther than $200k pre-tax in the US when one factors in the retirement, "free" child care, lack of university tuition (maybe €1k/year), roughly 40+ holidays and reasonable working hours for those outside academia (37-38h/weeks for standard jobs, 55-60h/wk+travel for consultants, 70+h/wk for academics).
i hope he's not a tt'er. That place seems to be the worse place to meet authentic Germans (or Bavarians rather.)
It's also common for PhD students to work 80h/wk in Germany (at least at the reputable institutions ... Excellence Universities and Max-Planck Institutes) for example. Even students doing diplomarbeit work 60+ hr/wk.
Also, one needs to compare net (netto) salaries. More the 50% of my gross (brutto) salaries is "comsumed" (for better rather than worse most of the time) in taxes (roughly 35% when income/old age/solidarity/church tax (which I opt-out of) /unemployment), mandatory health insurance (roughly 8%), mandatory pension (roughly 10%).
Also, I wouldn't directly convert €1:$1.3 because with the cost of living and the VAT ... it's much closer to €1:$1 in real terms.
I have a micro PhD and have worked as faculty in Sweden and now Germany. Hey folks ... it's extremely competitive and 80-100/h weeks are the norm. Your output is measured in volume (number of papers, talks and posters) and you need to be working that often just to physically write/travel/talk/present often enough to keep up. In addition, not only do you need to produce high volume, it better be top-notch quality.
As far as salary goes, after PhD (at least in Europe) it's quite good. Postdocs start at €40k and can easily negotiate €60k with the standard 6-8 weeks of holidays (which do get used by most people that I know.) Currently, I am flirting with Professorship offers at major unis in the US right now and it seems that going rate is $8-10k/month gross salary and most universities cover the 9 months that you teach, which leaves your first grant to covers the last three ... so you're looking at $96-120k/year in the US and a job where you're essentially not subject to being fired (tenured). It's not that bad of a gig. Sure, consultants make more (on both sides of the pond), but do you really want to do that?
in Germany, we worry about educating the children, if they don't want to be there then so be it. We also train children to be more independent.
Examples with photos!
just make prostitution legal (and regulated) like most of Europe. You can even tax the income, while ensuring the safety of the workers and the clients. For bonus points, I grew in Wells, ME, about 10km south of Kennebunk ... and this kinda of ridiculous attention to foolish stories/details like this is one of the reasons I left (small town politics, anyone?) A john's life destroyed? Hardly, especially not by an "employer" with half a brain.
"Sie" doesn't really indicate "Sir." Also, it's very environmentally conditional. The same person could be "du" at home and "Sie" at work. I have to admit that the workplace is much more formal in Germany than in the US and I'm not sure that's actually bad ... unless one can't handle the formality.
Sure, it's a new phenomenon.
But you must admit that the time between the technology being available (all dissertations being publicly available in electronic PDF form and OCR being widely implementable, the wiki framework for crowd-sourcing a problem, and the media being willing to really hang a prominent member of a prominent noble family out to dry) and the rise of self-policing websites has been extremely fast.
Also, he has 12 names plus a von and zu trailer. That alone would prevent me from typing his name.
http://de.vroniplag.wikia.com/wiki/%C3%9Cbersicht
http://de.vroniplag.wikia.com/wiki/%C3%9Cbersicht
The graphics at the bottom clearly translate for a non-German audience ... as do the lines through the "type" of doctoral degree directly above the graphic.
For a non-German perspective, I now see how someone could perhaps see this "as sport" as nothing like this has happened anywhere else to my knowledge (and definitely not in the US, where you'd probably be DCMA'd or immediately sued for slander).
... as shown by the website here: http://de.vroniplag.wikia.com/wiki/Home/English
As an academic who earned a PhD in the US and worked as faculty in Sweden and now Germany, you're being quite naïve if you don't think this happens in every country including the US. The difference is that the Germans self-police (in standard volunteer wiki-style), while the US and Sweden do not, to my knowledge.
As far as it being a "sport", that's ridiculous. Being that we (Germany's inhabitants) take titles very seriously, with good reason, as the Chancellor has a doctorate in Quantum Chemistry, every thesis should be thoroughly scrutinized.
I would wager my degrees that the percentage of pages plagiarized are very similar between the US, Sweden and Germany. We just find the plagiarism over here and hold politicians (and all others) accountable.
you must be from ITALY or you must vacation there a lot
Why would a letter from the prime minister of France to other French ministers, not be in French? is the editor trying to be sarcastic? the grammar is so horrible (e.g. there is a common missing in front of "of course") that I can't tell if this is a dig on Franco-phones?
godspeed as it seems that breaking something for profit is the only way corporations make improvements!
could get any worse and here you go and surprise me again. I really do feel sorry for you guys as you had the best deals on the planet (by far) pre-iPhone and now there some of the worst.
... but don't touch my mandatory 29 holidays per year + 11 federal holidays + unlimited sick time (Germany). I'll work hard when I'm in town, but when I'm out of town (40 days = 8 weeks mandatory / year), I'm really out of town, usually not even in Germany, nor Europe for the most part. "Work hard & play hard."