Here's the problem with invading Ukraine that Russia is experiencing, and it's the same problem with invading Russia:
Once you invade and take territory, now you have to sit there in Ukraine (or Russia) while someone lobs artillery at you. Capturing a few miles of land outside Kharkiv is not worth dying for.
lol what did we think was going to happen after so many months of republican dithering, and then a breakthrough appropriating billions in arms and funding? russia was just gonna take a nap? how were these armaments not ready day one second one, how were they not already staged on the ground in germany?
Yep. Military moving equipment around, even just packing up, costs money. There's a cost+ contract somewhere that was just waiting for funds before anyone was even allowed to look at the armaments.
I am worried that this will only be a symbolic gesture. Palestine can not be a state with 700,000 settlers on the Westbank and the settlers will never accept to give up the settlements and the Israeli state will never force the settlers to do something they don’t accept.
So the question is, if the EU is ready to put real pressure on Israel like they did on the South African Apartheid regime. And will they get the only superpower and hegemon USA to join their efforts.
Not to speak of my country, Germany, where most of the people don’t even know about the Palestinian cause and every opinion differing from the Israeli government's announcements is officially considered antisemitic.
But it’s a nice move and actually Spain and Ireland are the only countries to mitigate my shame for being European.
At this point I'm very much done with all the "theoretical politics".
Just like America saying that they want a two state solution and then block it and make up some BS reason to pretend "the entire world isn't smart enough to understand".
Because international law is more about "there's a general consensus about this" than written law (and in few places this is as true as what counts as a sovereign entity), this kind of organized action can have more impact than they might seem at first.
I'm not sure what to do with these numbers. I get countries like Greece, Italy and Spain justifiably feel this way. On the other hand there are also a lot of countries that whine when asked to pull their weight, but are at the front of the line when EU is handing out subsidies.
If respondents have the perception their country takes in too many immigrants, but statistics actually show they take in below average, then frankly my response would be: tough titty, either you take in your fair share of people in need as a country or forgo your share when EU is dishing out subsidies. You can't have it both ways.
If respondents have the perception their country takes in too many immigrants
Pretty much any right wing party in the Netherlands lied about the number of asylum seekers. Then they purposely mix up the number of immigrants and asylum seekers. Plus asylum seekers are the latest group to be blamed for government failures.
People are giving significant tax benefits for work immigrants. But give them a different name (knowledge workers), so they can continue to pretend most immigrants are asylum seekers. While in reality asylum seekers make up a tiny portion of the immigrants in the Netherlands.
If I see stuff about immigrants I'm always suspicious. Likely the complaint is about asylum seekers and equalling every immigrant as an asylum seeker.
It's exactly the same in Switzerland. The economy profits tremendously from highly educated EU immigrants (of which there is a fuckton), but the right wing parties whine constantly about the asylum seekers (of which there are comparatively very few) and blame them for made up and actual problems
Same in Germany. I hate to say it, but we are actively going towards a time about 80 years ago. Yet our democratic parties are scared to ban the AfD(our right wing party where you're legally allowed to call one of their leaders a Nazi).
The countries where most people consider immigration a problem are Bulgaria (74% of respondents), the Czech Republic (73%), Hungary and Cyprus (68% in both cases). Paradoxically, in Italy, the European country where the largest number of immigrants entered irregularly last year (157,652), only 44% of respondents viewed it as a problem and only 14% saw it as the main problem. In Greece and Spain, the second and third countries with the most irregular arrivals in 2023, respectively, only 11% of respondents considered it the issue of most concern to them, below the European average of 17%. However, Greece is the country where the most people (90%) believe their country takes in too many migrants.
So basically local poverty is a far better predictor of people thinking there's too many immigrants than actual immigrant numbers. No wonder the Tories in the UK revel in the boat people rhetoric. Lol. Lmao even. Our species is fucked.
At some point you reach critical mass, where the majority of the population uses the bicycle as at least one of their modes of transportation, after which improvements to bicycle infrastructure are more widely supported and thus more easily made - which then causes more people to use the bicycle, etc.
That's what happened in the Netherlands a couple of decades ago, and the infrastructure now is wonderful and still getting better.
Driving in London and Paris is such a pain in the arse I would never buy one of I had to live there. If I needed a car for a weekend trip I'd just rent one.
I bike everyday to work, and everytime someone ask me "what about the rain" I answer "I know I'm sweet, but fortunately, I'm not made of sugar" it's gets a rolleyes or a laugh, 50/50.
In most places it actually rains a lot less that you would.think, and often it only rains a small part of the day. I know that when the forecast is for rain often the 30 minutes it takes me to commute are dry.
I commute everyday in a place that has a reputation for being a bit rainy in winter and I get actually wet like 5 times a year.
On most rainy days you can get quite far with checking rain radar prediction. It often doesn't really matter if i cycle somewhere at 16h30 or 17h00, you look at the radar and try to not get wet :'). Most rain is in short bursts, dry periods between, most cycle trips aren't longer than 20-30 mins. And yeah, sometimes you do get wet. That is okay if you got good gear and if it didn't take you by surprise.
If you have quality rain gear you will stay dry. But also, lots of people choose other transit modes when it rains. I lived in a very bike friendly city and when it rained, the public transit would be packed with people and the roads packed with cars.
In fact, this is a bit of a strange question. Are we assuming that everyone is always going to be biking with no other options? I don’t think anyone is even advocating for that.
Are we assuming that everyone is always going to be biking with no other options? I don’t think anyone is even advocating for that.
BUT WHAT IF YOUR LEGS ARE BROKEN? WHAT IF THERE'S A NUCLEAR WAR???
The people who seem to think that biking is an untenable option because you might have to very occasionally use other modes of transport make me wonder if that mindset comes from the fact that people feel that it's normal to only use one mode of transport pretty much ever, because that's how many people are with cars.
If there's a nuclear war I'd rather be using the decentralized, free to use mode of transport that is bikes. Or legs. When the war comes all the car drivers will run out of fuel in a couple days and have to steal it, but I already have a bicycle and cannot be stopped by the breakdown of society.
Rain jacket. Or just a normal coat with hood that's water proof. If it's really coming down waterproof trousers as well that I pack in my rucksack. Rain is really not a problem and I commute every day by bike.
I live in the Pacific Northwest of North America. It rains here a lot. The vast majority of my trips are by bike year round. I tend to find rain jackets and pants cause me to sweat uncomfortably. I usually wear a rain cape. I drape it over my handlebars and it keeps my pants mostly dry and my top completely dry. Once I get where I'm going it's easy to remove and tuck it into my bag.
If I'm just riding to ride I'll wear a merino wool base layer and just get wet. The wool stays warm even when I'm soaked
The last stat I've seen in Paris is that if you were to bike to work every day on a 9 to 5 job, then you will encounter rain 17 times per year in average. When that happens, as others said, you can just accept being wet and/or dress appropriately, or take public transport.
Does that take into account the hours when rainfall occurs or how could that number be so low? In a city with an average of 162 days of rainfall/year (according to climate.top, no idea how accurate that is). Apparently Amsterdam has 217 days of rain. Oooff. Been there a few times, can confirm. People still bike.
I vaguely remembered they used an assumption of 20 minutes commute with fixed hours. So yes, they were taking the hours into account.
My personal experience commuting 2 to 3 days a week is that I was soaked 4/6 times the past 2 years, slightly wet probably 15 to 20 times. I've chosen public transport once but rain was a contributing factor, not the key reason.
If you have flexible work times you can usually schedule your bike ride to avoid the rain. Rain radar helps tremendously. I am currently in the Netherlands and had to use rain protection clothes a maximum of 10 times in 2 years.
He d to bike to work daily (6km each way), 5 times a week in Lille. Used rain pants and jacket during the winter. Only time when I questioned my choice was when there was fresh snow and/or frost (25mm tires on a modified race bike)...
I have rain proof pants and a thin rain proof jacket with me while cycling.
Sounds tedious but when the first rain drops start I stop for a second and put on the gear. It's pretty fast and then keeps me warm and comfortable. I can't stress enough how comfortable it is to cycle through rain in proper gear.
You see the clouds in the sky? They are made of tiny water droplets. At some point the cloud is saturated and the droplets get too big to stay suspended in the air any longer, so they start falling towards the earth as raindrops. Some may hit a cyclist and either roll off their raincoat or get absorbed by other clothing until they evaporate again, travelling upwards into the clouds and starting their journey all over again.
english.elpais.com
Heiß