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Fionavroom

Listed below are comments made by Fionavroom between Tuesday, 13th January 2009 and Friday, 20th February 2009.

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Learn EU-speak 1:19pm on 20 Feb 2009 karolina001 @ 280:
"immigration to us and canada will start.. italy the most affected.."

I am enjoying this babel of conversations but I don't understand what you are talking about here: I don't think the US is a good place to emigrate to at the moment, with unemployment rising and insecure jobs, as for Canada I am not really sure. Unemployment in Northern Italy is among the lowest in Europe but remains high in the South. Southern Italians tend to emigrate to the North of the country or to other EU countries, rather than to US or Canada. Here in Ireland people are fearful of another 1980 style mass emigration to other English speaking countries, in particular Australia.
Learn EU-speak 4:42pm on 19 Feb 2009 robinstp: you show a very poor knowledge of current affairs, perhaps you should try to learn about what goes on in the world, even if you don't like it. The various parts of what you call 'EEC/EU or whatever you may wish to use to describe so many languages/countries/cultures/religions' did not develop in isolation but have a lot in common. I like to concentrate on what we have in common, instead than proclaiming the supremacy of my country/language/culture/religion.
Why don't you apply for a job in a EU institution? It may be a useful experience and help you to either confirm your views or change your point of view.
I don't understand who is the 'autocrat' you are referring to, would it be Barroso, the EU Commissioners, the MEPs? All these people are either elected directly by EU citizens or appointed by the 27 EU governments.
Learn EU-speak 2:18pm on 18 Feb 2009 threnodio: Yes, I made a mistake but how do you know that I am not 14? I wish I was! Thanks for the apologies, I also apologise for going on and on... we all have our bad days :-)

greypolyglot: sorry for misspelling your name! This time I did use cut-and-paste... ;-)

It is quite interesting how this forum has developed and we managed to divert the conversation and ended up discussing a number of different and unrelated topics. Will it ever end?
Learn EU-speak 3:35pm on 17 Feb 2009 Thank you graypolyglot for supporting my (correct) point! There is a great deal of difference between 'its' (possessive) and it's (abbreviation of 'it is') and I expect people whose native language is English to know and understand such difference, even at the tender age of 15! Furthermore we all have spellcheck tools that can alert us on grammar and syntax mistakes. Enough with this!
I am also very tired of all this talk about 'Europe out there'. UK and Ireland are geographically part of Europe, they did not develop in isolation but since prehistory there was much exchange in cultural and commercial terms with continental Europe and beyond. The English language is full of terms deriving from other languages so why having such an insular and provincial view of 'Europe down there'? We ARE Europe!
Learn EU-speak 12:31pm on 13 Feb 2009 secretpcjunkie: you wrote:
"Time for a change now, get rid of the very expensive EU and all it's problems."

I am not surprised you don't understand 'the EU language': you don't know the difference between 'its' and 'it's'! I suggest your knowledge of your own language is not too good... Back to school?
Learn EU-speak 11:51am on 13 Feb 2009 JorgeG1: I totally agree with you. It is a shame to see how much the tabloid style influences the public and the other media, such as the mighty BBC. It would be useful if people were informed in an objective manner on what happens in Brussels and also on what happens on the other EU countries (e.g. coverage of elections as good as for the US and Israel). Unfortunately, we have to be informed daily on Carla and Sarko intimate details, various gossip and fashion on Obama and family, etc. This is not journalism the way it should be. I don't have a PhD but I have no difficulties in understanding EU communications, obviously official documents have to be written in the appropriate language, even in the UK! I am amazed at people who enjoy displaying their ignorance with pride, the fact that so many people can barely read and write is hardly the fault of the 'eurocrats on their gravy train' in Brussels!
Confusion on the wildcat strikes (2) 12:25pm on 06 Feb 2009 In Italy there are many British workers employed in the oil sector (e.g. Exxon-Mobil in Porto Vigo, near Rovigo) but Italian workers didn't go on strike against them! If indeed this had happened in Italy, the country would have been universally condemned...
The issue in the UK has been raised and exacerbated by the likes of UKIP and similar people. It is regrettable that the unions should support this unreasonable protest.
The euro: safety net or straitjacket? 2:43pm on 02 Feb 2009 As already mentioned, the discussion on the merits of the Euro happens mainly in the countries that did not adopt it, with the exception of Ireland. Here there is a very malevolent campaign by some anti-EU lobby that appeared from the blue just before the Lisbon Treaty referendum. Now I read on this forum (again) that the demise of the Irish economy is mostly due to the low interest rates in the Eurozone. The Celtic Tiger was the biggest mass hallucination in Irish history: we kept selling each other badly-built or decrepit property at over-inflated prices and borrowed well above our capacity from easygoing banks. At some point the system imploded and we are left here to pick up the debris and the debts. As for the competitivity of the Irish system, well, it is no more and Dell has moved to better places. If we were not in the Eurozone we would be in a situation very similar to Iceland.
But is it art? 6:39pm on 14 Jan 2009 I hope this was paid by the Czech government and not by EU taxpayers! Usually Eu presidency countries use the opportunity for showcasing their country. This time it really didn't work for the Czech government but it definitely did so for the so-called artist, who got a lot of free publicity. Perhaps he should have done something to ridicule his country, to show that Czechs have a good sense of humour but instead he decided to offend nearly everyone. However, this is not the first time EU presidencies get it wrong. Years ago the UK under Blair decided to have symbols for the different countries allegedly designed by children... it didn't work in all cases and some found the depiction of their country offensive. Personally I find that this kind of clever ideas are better avoided, there is enough racism in the word as it is, I sympathise with the Bulgarians for being so upset.
The next enlargement: Iceland? 6:23pm on 13 Jan 2009 FreebornJ: I understand now why you are so upset: your relatives in the construction industry are not having a good time at the moment... but they probably profited greatly during the booming time. I also have my doubts on your knowledge of economics (you must be one of these guys that read the Economist and think that it is the Bible). What you mean here is that government and banks policies were correct and have nothing to do with the crush landing of the economy? Only the ECB is to be blamed, of course. Bad, bad, bad ECB! Do you mean that people living well beyond their means and getting deeper into debts are not responsible for their own foolishness? It is very sad and regrettable that Ireland should be in such a terrible shape now and nothing was done for the people during the booming years. Now that so much has been lost are the most vulnerable that pay the highest price.

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