*I am icily determined to watch this, no matter how stunningly boring it is.
I've known for a long time that stunning boredom is the secret weapon of
European integration. Europe succeeds precisely by being so entirely and
utterly boring that the world's most fractious and warlike peoples are, like...
huh? What were you saying? Cucumbers? We freakin' firebombed Dresden
and you're talking about cucumbers now?
*That's right, Hans, Francois, Giuseppe. You did firebomb Dresden and, that's why
you've been sentenced to sixty solid years (and counting) of cucumber regulations.
And it works, too.
*And now the SWEDES are at the wheel. The world's best-organized,
most tedious socialists. Guess what: in a sudden, daring move, the Swedes ease
up on the cucumbers:
http://se2009.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/a-good-day-for-consumers/
"A good day for consumers
"2009/07/01
"On this very first day of the Swedish EU presidency, there has been a lot of improvements for consumers across Europe.
Starting 1 July, prices on sending SMS and web surf will be drastically reduced for anyone using a mobile phone in another Member State. The competition on the internal market has not worked well in this case, and that’s why we really need common regulations.
"I am also glad that we won’t have to pay a 14 per cent import duty for multi-functional mobile phones imported to the European Union. They will still be defined as mobile phones even with a GPS or a MP3-player integrated.
"As from today, we can also buy ‘crooked’ cucumbers. Few consumers have experienced that crooked cucumbers constitute a true cross-border problem. I am therefore delighted that this famous regulation, that has been the very symbol of euroscepticism in many countries, has finally been removed."
*I dunno how much of this I can take. It's beaten better men than me.
