Are you referring to Gibbon's "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"? If so, Gibbon referred to "decline" in the title as he was anti-Empire and thought they were all intrinsically in a state of decline, however they developed.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/12/romania-management-idUSL6E7NC1ZR20111212
CEE MONEY-Help wanted: emerging EU state needs good CEOs
Dec 12 (Reuters) - For two decades, Romania's inefficient state companies have undermined the country's economy through graft, mismanagement, disadvantageous business deals and budget-sapping losses.
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Qualified by "EU". (I didn't exclude it specifically, I took it as read that all qualifiers were out.)
Parliament endorses European Protection Order for crime victims
Crime victims who are granted protection from their aggressors in one EU Member State will be able to get similar protection if they move to another, under new rules adopted by Parliament on Tuesday. The European Protection Order aims to protect victims of, for instance, gender violence, harassment, abduction, stalking or attempted murder. Member States will have three years to transpose this directive into national law.
Measures to protect crime victims from aggressors already exist in all EU Member States but at present they cease to apply if the victim moves to another country. The European Protection Order (EPO) directive, already agreed with national governments, will enable anyone protected under criminal law in one EU state to apply for similar protection if they move to another.
Hardly! The fact they use "EU Member State" twice in the quote before "EU state" makes this particularly weak...
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http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/policies/asylum/asylum_criteria_en.htm
The "Dublin" Regulation â" Which EU State is responsible for examining an asylum application?
Knowing which State is responsible for an asylum claim avoids asylum seekers being transferred from one EU State to another, with none accepting responsibility, as well as multiple or simultaneous applications by the same person in different EU States (a phenomenon known as âasylum shoppingâ(TM)).
Again, there is a qualifier. EU. And it is capitalised.
> It simply does not mean that in this context
Well, to help us establish what it DOES mean in this context, perhaps you could cite usage of the word "state", with reference to a country in the EU, uncapitalised and unmodified by the words "member", "sovereign" or "the", in EU documentation. Or anywhere else.
> Using the term "member state" does not mean that country is part of some United States of Europe in the same way that the State of California is part of the United States of America.
Very true! Nor have I ever suggested that it does. "Member state" is pretty innocuous I think.
But then "member state" was not the term I was objecting to. It no-where appears in the summary.
> Your euro-phobia is leading you to defend an untenable position, as you are simply wrong.
mmm - will leaving aside your sloppy mindedness in thinking you can derive a political position from anything I have in this thread - isn't this something you should take the trouble to demonstrate?
... "EU member state" was not the term employed!
So you are essentially changing the subject.
Had the summary referenced "member states" I doubt any of the people who have commented on the strange use of the word "state" in isolation, in this context, would have done so.
Interestingly enough, it is still the term "countries" that seems to be preferred.
http://europa.eu/about-eu/27-member-countries/index_en.htm
If you can't defend the use of the word "state" in this context, unmodified by "member" or "sovereign", and uncapitalised, then you are effectively conceding the point.
> The difference between the US and the EU is the powers delegated to the States
Well - yes - as far as it goes - but obviously there are all sorts of powers held by countries in the EU that are NOT delegated to them by the EU.
oops - finger trouble...
"in this contact is revealing" should have been "in this context is revealing"
> As another poster in this sub-thread pointed out, you're not just wrong, you're stupid wrong.
Something that you have not yourself been able to demonstrate. Citing an ad-hominem by an anonymous coward is surely a little beneath you... Or perhaps not.
>I just knew as soon as I saw the summary that there'd be someone making a fool of himself by complaining about the use of the word "state" in this context, and congratulations, you didn't disappoint.
Excellent! Always nice to feel one has brought a little joy into the world! The fact that you too were struck by the inappropriateness of the word "state" in this contact is revealing.
>Declarative statements about the intent of the summary's author are necessarily outrageous fabrications when made by anyone but the original author.
Nonsense! We can state categorically, for example, that the summary did not intend to refer to green cheese.
Actually, I am a Brit - and it is the standard English English use of the term I am defending.
Note that you capitalised "States". You thus use it in a different sense to that to which I am objecting.
Which is this:
> Further, half of those in some of the southern and western states
note the lower case...
I suggest that in standard English English that is at best poorly expressed and confusing and at worst simply incorrect.
The term is not employed in the article linked to - only the submission. The common use of the term "states" in reference to the EU, without a modifier such as "Sovereign" or "Member" is in arguments about the precise political relationship of the 27 members to each other. To refer to them as "states" is to take a position in that political discussion.
... and I think that the fact your link is to the definition of "Sovereign State" rather than "State" rather suggests that you have missed the point!
"Sovereign State" was not the concept employed.
You appear to have made the word so versatile that it has become almost meaningless. It is worth noting that the term "state" did not appear in the original article.
I think you are simply incorrect that the a "state" is ANY politically distinct entity.
>Further, half of those in some of the southern and western states do not even have internet access at home.
The EU is not a federation, or any other sort of relation-ship, of states. All talk of states in this context is incorrect.
Not a perfect solution I grant, and it requires you interact with Apple kit/websites - but lots of people upgrading to iPhone 4S's have perfectly functional 3GS phones, which will run iOS5, that they may be happy to give you are sell to you for a modest sum. (Not sure what they cost on ebay, here in Japan people are giving them to me "free" - I have quite a collection I am wondering how best to use...)
As far as I know, the GPS works reasonably well without a network/3g connection. You should be able to use either the "find my iPhone" facility, or, if you have another iToy, set it up on a separate account and set up the "Find Friend" function. You will need to provide power for it of course, but then hide it as best you can. Password protect the iPhone of course.
I THINK that should work.
10 to the 6th power Bicycles = 2 megacycles
