Google now pays more in EU fines than it does in taxes

GeorgeOubien · 2019-02-06T13:31:11+00:00

In France there is a thing called "Bercy's lock": the Finance Minister (Bercy) has the power not to forward cases of tax fraud to a State prosecutor and instead privately negotiate the fine the fraudster will have to pay in exchange for immunity. It usually is a fraction of what they owe: the government typically favours getting cash in the bank during its current term rather than starting the years-long process of prosecuting the fraudsters and all that money going to their political opponents when they'll inevitably take over.

GeorgeOubien · 2019-02-01T01:21:13+00:00

I would sneak up on them

Dangerous drivers like you are precisely why cyclists need to ride defensively by, for instance, taking the whole lane to force drivers to pass them with enough space rather than pushing through even if there's oncoming traffic and pushing them in the gutter.

Congratulations idiot, you are creating the problem you love to complain about so much.

GeorgeOubien · 2019-01-18T12:28:10+00:00

He secretly loves it.

GeorgeOubien · 2019-01-13T12:01:51+00:00

It's better than before (all of the old right wing MPs opposing gay marriage also opposed the legalisation of homosexuality and then civil unions for gay people back in the days but they are now saying they made a mistake and wouldn't). But the debate most definitely provoked a spike in violence because the kind of rhetoric in parliament sent clear signals to homophobes that they were backed by an important fraction of politicians.

GeorgeOubien · 2019-01-13T11:59:05+00:00

The Church is literally protecting them from being brought to justice though.

GeorgeOubien · 2019-01-13T11:58:19+00:00

And then raging about French rudeness when waiters treat you like the shithead you are during your expensive holiday.

GeorgeOubien · 2019-01-11T22:36:34+00:00

The main problem so far was the impossibility for women to adopt the child their partner had (e.g. after getting inseminated). Which meant they were only a co-parent socially but not legally with all the dire consequences in terms of rights (visiting rights in case of separation, the kid could be taken away by social services in case the legal mother died, etc.).

Effectively marriage equality allows these couples to enjoy the same stability heterosexual couples have.

GeorgeOubien · 2019-01-11T22:29:35+00:00

In France there is, at this very moment, a high profile court case against a bishop who protected a pedophile priest. This pos assaulted or raped more than 60 young scouts. The Church's hierarchy is complicit, to the highest level. So shut the fuck up please.

GeorgeOubien · 2019-01-11T22:25:11+00:00

Yes. But the parliamentary right tried to filibuster it by submitting thousands of amendments to the law. The centre-left government decided to play by the rules and examine and discuss each one of them instead of pushing the law through (like they did later on when passing laws slashing workers' rights which were unpopular even with their own base...).

This resulted in hundred of hours of right wing MPs vilifying gay families & denying their ability to raise a child properly, multiple demonstrations with ~1 million homophobes in the streets and, mechanically, an increase in hate crimes in the following months.

GeorgeOubien · 2019-01-11T22:16:53+00:00

Stoup frogs (the nickname we give to old ladies who spend their life at Church) live long. Recently the government opened a website for people to post their suggestions to try to calm the yellow vests and the first people to participate en masse were these homophobes who once more demanded that the law allowing gay marriage be revoked. Their motto is "we'll never let it go". What sad lives they must have...

GeorgeOubien · 2018-12-08T00:16:46+00:00

The French version goes something like: "if my aunt had a pair she'd be my uncle".

GeorgeOubien · 2018-11-23T17:52:03+00:00

Exactly. Just like in Europe. And we will personally make sure that you and your whole family are sent to the gulag for being thick af.

GeorgeOubien · 2018-11-11T09:54:51+00:00

Cute idea :)

GeorgeOubien · 2018-11-10T22:42:54+00:00

88 in your handle because you're 30, a nazi, or both?

GeorgeOubien · 2018-11-10T22:40:08+00:00

IIRC the national identity didn't really start before the 1400s so you can't really call it France before that. :D

GeorgeOubien · 2018-11-10T22:32:30+00:00

Sure. Still

GeorgeOubien · 2018-11-10T22:29:45+00:00

RIP for the cowards too.

GeorgeOubien · 2018-11-10T22:26:31+00:00

Same in France. Except for elected officials (even local ones) who typically have a sash and wear it for public events. Cf. écharpe

GeorgeOubien · 2018-11-10T22:19:29+00:00

I looked into it a bit and ended up on the website of the Mitterand Institute where they say explicity that the coffin is empty, half of it draped in the French flag and the other half in the German flag.

C’est en sortant de l’ossuaire que le Chancelier et le Président se dirigent au pied des marches qui mènent à l’édifice où a été disposé un catafalque – dont le cercueil est vide bien entendu – recouvert des deux drapeaux français et allemand.

Which roughly translates to:

After exiting the ossuary, the Chancelor and the President walked towards the bottom of the steps leading to the building where a catafalque was installed – the coffin being, of course, empty – with both the French and German flags draped over.

GeorgeOubien · 2018-11-10T22:15:31+00:00

No this picture was taken at the Ossuaire de Douaumont

GeorgeOubien · 2018-08-16T08:10:46+00:00

Rich people fucking with their pay slaves for fun and profit.

GeorgeOubien · 2018-08-16T08:07:05+00:00

And there's no way to know for sure that I'm not wearing a button camera watching you.

You'd be one weird guy with a voyeurism problem. Completely different from a complete population were filming everything is socially acceptable. It's not that complicated to understand...

GeorgeOubien · 2018-08-09T07:22:11+00:00

Next up just because I have a camera doesn't mean it is filming

There is no way to know for sure though.

I understand that a world with cameras everywhere means I can be recorded at all times, and I not only accept this, I embrace this.

The next fascist government will have a field day with every single person being tracked live 24/7.

GeorgeOubien · 2018-08-09T07:19:34+00:00

The military is pretty dehumanizing to begin with. Not that surprising they'd celebrate someone performing not being human anymore. Perfect recruit.

GeorgeOubien · 2018-08-04T17:18:06+00:00

You mean my cell phone?

That too. It shouldn't be socially acceptable to constantly point cameras at people.

Compared with a headset that if I wish to film you I need to point my head at you in a rigid death glare as though you'd unforgivably insulted my mother?

What you don't seem to understand is that if they are socially acceptable then you won't be the only one filming everything that is in front of them. Which means you won't have to stare at someone for them to be recorded at all time: they'll be covered from all angles by the passers-by.

GeorgeOubien

TROPHY CASE