Europe

Why NSA Snooping Is Bigger Deal in Germany

"While the U.S. has few laws concerning data privacy, Germany has something unknown to Americans: 17 state data protection supervisors (one national and one for each state), who watch over the compliance of authorities and companies with data privacy laws. After the Snowden revelations, they have discontinued giving out new licenses to companies under the so-called Safe Harbor principles, which are meant to guarantee that personal data is only transferred to countries with sufficient data protection, for example when Germans use American companies’ cloud storage space. The supervisors consider user data in the hands of U.S. companies not safe anymore." Continue reading →

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Papers Please: TSA-Style Checkpoints at UK Bus & Train Stations

"‘Airport-style’ security checkpoints are being rolled out at local bus and train stations up and down the UK after local pilot schemes conducted over the last two years were deemed a success by police. The checkpoints comprise metal detector arches, drug-sniffing dogs, police pat-downs and bag searches. The reason? To 'help people who use public transport feel safer.' Over the last couple of years more and more of these ‘security’ checkpoints have been quietly introduced at local bus and train stations across the UK under a number of pretexts that simply don’t bear scrutiny." Continue reading →

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Copenhagen Bike-Sharing Program To Be Most High-Tech Yet

"For the next generation of bike-sharing innovations, take a look at Copenhagen and smile. Trains and a bike-sharing program working as one travel option now offer a GPS built into the bike. Not only do you know where to pick up your next connection – you have a schedule of all local train times between your front bars. The Europeans and Copenhageners (again) increase a bike lover’s convenience in transit with this new innovation. With an Android tablet offering a built-in GPS, real-time train departures and ticket integration, and real-time info on available bikes and docks in the area, one glides easily from destination to destination." Continue reading →

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Manufacturing of Zeppelins temporarily shut down sausage makers in World War I

"According to a new documentary, the quantity of cow intestines used in manufacturing the airships was so enormous – and the military appetite for the dirigibles so strong – that the making of sausages was temporarily outlawed in Germany and allied or occupied parts of Austria, Poland and northern France. With the guts from more than 250,000 cows needed to produce the bags that held the hydrogen gas in each Zeppelin, the German war machine had to choose between long-range bombing and wurst. It chose the former." Continue reading →

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In-person Bitcoin exchanges make a splash in Berlin

"Supporters of Bitcoin spent Saturday engaging in personal exchanges in Berlin, taking place in a mobile art space which supports the cryptocurrency. Its official recognition by the German state earlier this month is only aiding its expansion. Bitcoin Exchange Berlin hosted their third meeting on Saturday at the city’s Platoon Kunsthalle (Platoon Art Hall) to launch a European hub where people can both buy and sell a selection of products using Bitcoin and buy and sell the currency itself in a stock-exchange type climate. Buyers attend with notebooks or electronic devices in order to create an account with the currency and buy it." Continue reading →

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Paris Pickpockets Are Profiling Chinese Tourists

"Chinese visitors are descending on Paris in record numbers and their lavish spending on luxury brands has made them an irresistible target for thieves. Petty crime between January and the end of June in one of the world’s most-visited cities jumped 7.8 per cent compared with the same period in 2012 – but it was up by more than 24 per cent when it came to Chinese tourists. Jean-Francois Zhou, a tour operator based on the Champs-Elyseés, says that thieves see the hordes of Chinese as prime targets because they carry far more cash than visitors from other countries." Continue reading →

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The Economic Philosopher’s Outcast: Mises

"SS Gestapo Chief Henrich Himmler's agents sped through the streets of Vienna on an early morning, March 11, 1938, to capture and eliminate Nazi Germany's enemies. One of his prime targets lived in a middle-class Jewish neighborhood at 28 Weihoffen St. Apartment 7. Ludwig Von Mises, a 58-year-old political philosopher, was Jewish and defenseless. Hitler deemed this man an enemy of the state and one of the top targets to be seized during the Nazi takeover of Austria. Fleeing from the city the day before, Professor Mises narrowly escaped to Switzerland. Despite attempts on his life, Mises spent the 92 years of his life fighting totalitarianism." Continue reading →

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British Politicians Aim To Ban Non-Hybrid Cars By 2040

"While some American politicians may take issue with the government’s investment in green automobiles, it pales in comparison to the debates taking place in England. There, the Liberal Democrats have proposed a bill that would outlaw all non-hybrid cars from English roads by 2040. It sounds insane, but stranger things have happened. Ambitious but left with a lot of blanks to fill, one of the key components of the Liberal Dems Britain of the future is eliminating all but ultra-low emissions non-freight vehicles from British roads. That would mean only hybrids, electric cars, or super-efficient diesels would be allowed to drive British streets." Continue reading →

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The European Economy You Must Own

"The catalyst that will emerge is Poland’s inclusion in the euro zone in the next few years. When that happens, every institutional investor in the world with a euro focus will flood into Polish stocks. At this moment, many look at Poland and say it’s too early to invest there. That’s the wrong mentality. Polish companies are strong. The Polish economy is strong. Stocks are cheap. It’s not like you’re trying to catch a falling knife. In this case, the knife has already landed in the block of wood, and it stopped vibrating long ago. Today, you can just walk up and grab it by the handle without fear." Continue reading →

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The Forgotten Country Where Profits Beckon

"In my travels through Eastern and Southeastern Europe over the last couple of years, I’ve heard time and again about the Germans. They’re everywhere. In Hungary. In Turkey. In Slovakia. In Romania. They’re all over Poland. And like Genghis Khan, they’re invading Kazakhstan in search of oil and gas and other natural resources the Germans need to power the great German manufacturing machine. Honestly, you could do a lot worse as an investor than following Germany around the world. Unlike the U.S., the Germans are flooding into some of the fastest-growth markets in the world – Mongolia, Eastern Europe and Kazakhstan." Continue reading →

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