Results after 360 votes counted:Originally posted on May 1st
- ACTA, 18%
- Spying in cars, 13%
- Dehydration, 11%
- Light bulbs, 11%
- Corporate women quotas, 8%
- Hypocritical smoking bans, 6%
- Strong vacuum cleaner ban, 6%
Around May 24th, the citizens of EU countries will vote deputies to the European Parliament. This "parliament" isn't terribly important – for example, it is not allowed to propose any legislation (it is the only "parliament" in the world with this minor defect) but we may still think that it's important that the right people will be able to speak on that forum.
Various parties opposing the creeping European unifications are expected to make a strong showing – taking over approximately 1/3 of the Parliament. We will probably see that the Euroskeptics are far from being a uniform body, too. It's very likely that I will vote the Euro-skeptical "Party of Free Citizens [SSO]" for the first time because I am obviously much closer to it than to the older parties and I was impressed by SSO's gains during the latest national elections. Slovak economist Richard Sulik is the boss of a libertarian party that has some nonzero chances to shine in Slovakia, too.
I decided to translate his poll choosing the greatest absurdity of the European Union. Just to be sure, I think that there are much more serious processes taking place at the EU level than these 20 items. But the list of the 20 items is amusing and you may pick your winner.
First, let me describe the 20 contestants and at the end, you may submit your ballot, too.
Here are the contestants:
- Water closet quotas:
EU is preparing a law on the maximum volume of toilet tank to be 6 liters. It's based on a study named "Building the base of evidence concerning toilets and urinals" that cost EUR 90,000. More frequent splashing may actually increase the water consumption. More...
- Classic light bulb ban:
EU has already banned the import and production of the Edison light bulbs. Energy-efficient fluorescent ones are much more expensive, less reliable, and their light is less natural which brings new health risks. These "environmental" light bulbs also contain the toxic mercury. More...
- Ban of sugar in juices:
EU has banned the addition of sugar into juices as a part of its fight against obesity. However, people are allowed to drink syrups and lemonades with a much higher sugar content which may increase the obesity rates. More...
- Ban on bears and elephants on milk packages:
Milk packages for children won't be allowed to feature pictures of animals, smiling children, or fairy-tale characters. According to the EU, the cute pictures are "misleading the consumer". Normalized euroboxes may make the consumers' orientation harder. More...
- Water doesn't help against dehydration:
EU has prohibited to mention that water helps to fight dehydration. This followed from an expensive research project in which 21 scientists have been looking for a relationship between water and dehydration for 3 years. They arrived to that conclusion despite the fact that "dehydration" literally means the shortage of water in the organism. More...
- Ban on "powerful" vacuum cleaners:
Since September 2014, the EU will ban vacuum cleaners above 1,600 watts and since 2017, above 900 watts. Common vacuum cleaners today have more than 2,000 watts. Consumers will be forced to buy weaker vacuum cleaners or they will pay more money for the same ones. More...
- New burdens for employers:
The EU wants to impose extra duties on the employers. For example, they will have to possess "individual roadmaps of schooling", quantitative targets for development, or an annual budget for schooling. Increased expenses may lead to layoffs. More...
- Hypocritical fight against smoking:
The EU will ban menthol cigarettes. It will also prohibit e-cigarettes; to fight those, it doesn't hesitate to distort the truth and act non-democratically. In spite of that, tobacco producers are getting generous subsidies. More...
- Ban on plastic bags:
The EU is thinking about new taxes or a complete ban on plastic bags. Ironically, such a ban could harm the environment, public health, and even increase the crime rate. The ban will also steal some extra money from the people's and nations' pockets. More...
- Bureaucratic olive oil:
The EU was planning to introduce a ban on olive oil served in open vessels in the restaurants. Only specially designed bottles were supposed to be allowed but after an intense backlash, the proposal was shelved. More...
- Spying on car drivers:
The EU plans measures to terminate the privacy of car drivers. Black boxes and camcorders in cars will become mandatory, the coordinates will be constantly monitored, and police will be able to remotely stop the car. More...
- Earlier driving license expiration dates:
The EU has already shortened the validity of driver licenses. It used to be unlimited, now it's 15 years. The safety isn't improved because the renewal of the licenses is a mere bureaucratic formality without tests and exams. More...
- Three more billions euros for Greek superhighways:
Slovakia has 450 kilometers of superhighways, Greece should naturally have 900 km because it's twice as large. However, Greece already has 3,200 km of superhighways, the maximum in the EU on a per-capita basis. In spite of that, the Greeks received additional EUR 3 billions in January. The justification was to prevent "traumatic experience" of the Greeks caused by the unfinished superhighways. More...
- End of weekly waste collection:
The EU insists that the households are dividing the waste to at least 5 different containers. At many places, this will reduce the frequency of waste pickup which will encourage the propagation of stinks, diseases, rodents, and other fauna. More...
- 40% of young people have to have college:
Because the EU wants so, at least 40% of people between 30 and 34 years of age will have to have a college degree by 2020. This inevitably leads to decreasing standards. Schools are being transformed to diploma factories required to fulfill the EU diploma plans. More...
- Plums and digestion:
Three people in the EU have done some research and the EU has banned the claims that plums are supporting the functions in the colon. More...
- Quotas on women in companies:
According to the EU, at least 40% in the large enough corporate boards have to be female. Such quotas are likely to worsen the position of women because no every individual female member will be believed to have become a board member because of something else than her skills and efforts. More...
- Harmonizing the tax base:
The EU is building plans to unify the tax base for all firms operating in the EU countries. This is the first step towards the tax harmonization which will lead to higher taxes in the EU, especially in newer member states such as Slovakia. More...
- ACTA used to censor the Internet:
ACTA is supposed to reduce the illegal content on the Internet but it would lead to censorship and disappearing freedom on the Internet. ACTA was being penned secretly and the plan was to approve the bill invisibly in between some bills about agriculture and fishing. More...
- More stringent MOT tests:
The EU has made the MOT tests (technical checks of cars) more stringent and more frequent; they will have to take place annually. The new policy is based on questionable statistics that diametrically differ from the available Slovak statistics. More...
BTW readers from the U.K. mostly came to this page from James Delingpole's essay Why the Mainstream Media Will Never "Get" UKIP.
The flag of the Three Percenters (yes, the page had to be censored), an American conservative militia. The name derives from the fact that only 3% of the people on the U.S. territory have fought and won the American revolution with their guns. The remaining 97% are chicken littles – for example, these 97% of climatological hired guns believe in the chicken-little climate change delusion.
Off-topic: the Bundy standoff
Cliven Bundy is a Nevada rancher whose ancestors' cattle have been grazing a certain piece of land in the state. In 1993, the federal grazing rules have changed and he didn't accept the changes. In fact, Bundy does not accept the existence of the United States of America. He's OK according to the laws of his country, Nevada, but the U.S. is a problem. The federal courts want him to pay $1 million for the 20-year-long violation of the federal law and to kill his cattle. He doesn't want to accept anything although he's losing all the trials. So his militias want to defend their perceived rights and cut a hypothetical loose part of Harry Reid's body if the Democrat dares to visit the place again.
Bundy has lost some GOP supporters when he dared to suggest that the blacks were better off in the era of slavery than now, when they're mostly on government subsidies. Given the fact that Bundy's opinions were the mainstream on a big part of North America just 150 years ago, I think it's a clear example of a violation of the freedom of speech in the U.S.
Despite all the sympathies I may have, it is hard for me to imagine how he wants to beat the U.S. in the "civil war" that Bundy's supporters sometimes mention. The federal government may be and often is acting like a big Mafia but it's still unwise to deny its existence and power. Bundy doesn't seem to propose any realistic system how to reorganize the rights on the U.S. territory so that some kind of new rule of the law would be sustainable.
Nevertheless, I also believe that the federal ownership of the land in the Western part of the U.S. is crazy – there is still some land communism over there. Much of the land should be privatized. These bizarre patterns should at least be seriously discussed.
The EU's 20 absurdities: a poll
![The EU's 20 absurdities: a poll]()
Reviewed by MCH
on
May 06, 2014
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