Any beef with each other? Did you miss anything? Yes, absolutely! :)

There's certainly the external threat from Iran, and the Shi'a population in many of the countries are less than happy with their Sunni rulers. Did I mention Iran? They're quite protective of Shi'as; be it during the recent uprising in Bahrain or the current war in Yemen [on Saudi Arabia's border]. There's always the threat of homegrown terrorists who wish to establish a theocratic state (Sunni). Saudi Arabia has been battling its own extremists for years now. Iraq already attacked Kuwait once and wanted to move on Saudi Arabia. Today Iraq is mostly a threat because of instability.

However you seem to have missed the real point of the GCC's plan; to come together and create a confederation for economic and social development. They're not banding together because of threats - they're planning ahead. How long will the oil last? What do they live off afterwards? They have to develop their economies, industries, educate and train the population and be less reliant on foreign workers [from Asia and the West].

As for India and Pakistan, that's not their problem as those are Asian countries. Israel is obviously not loved by the GCC countries.

It would be nice to think that a regional water shortage would pull these countries together to solve a mutual problem.

Oh, you mean like the GCC? :) Now, it's a long way from finished, but it's what you asked for.

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a political and economic union of the Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf and located on or near the Arabian Peninsula, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Jordan and Morocco have been invited to join the council.

On 6 March 2012, the six members of the GCC announced that the Gulf Cooperation Council would be evolving from a regional bloc to a confederation, in possible response to Arab democratic unrest and increased Iranian influence in the region.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperation_Council_for_the_Arab_States_of_the_Gulf

Extremely common? It's really different from country to country; the Swedish market is strictly controlled, while just next door in Norway the market is free and open.

Thanks, now, that's a seminal piece of software I didn't know about! I should ask my father about it since he once worked on PDP's.

I remember using POV-Ray as a young boy, I believe it came with a magazine, and I found the rendering process absolutely fascinating!

I don't think my friends quite understood my interest, then again my father and brother had already introduced me to CP/M, DOS, Windows, Pascal, BASIC and so on by this time. The family computer was even upgraded to a 286! It would take hours to render any new drawing, but it was wonderful!

Audits. Norway already has a department that checks measuring devices such as weights, [gas] pumps etc. Maybe they check cash registers as well. There are classes of devices that have to be certified periodically (a number of years) by law.

I believe they check the software at the gas pumps, because obviously the numbers have to match with the output they claim was sold and delivered to the customer. I believe it would be a small matter to run checksums on cash register software.

In fact I believe they might as well require them to be online [and constantly report checksums]. There isn't a shop location in Norway that doesn't already have some digital connection to the debit card payment system run by the Norwegian banks' [shared] exchange. Most Norwegians hardly touch cash any longer, it's mostly debit cards and has been for the last decades.

I beg to differ in general and in this specific case. In this case Austria claims the Data Retention Directive is in conflict with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which sets out the whole range of civil, political, economic and social rights of European citizens and all persons resident in the EU (including the European Convention on Human Rights). At what point has the Charter or the [non-EU] ECHR ever been changed?

I find that many European citizens that are hostile towards the EU in general make spurious claims regardless of the context and frequently lack objectivity when considering proposed laws and treaties. You may oppose the EU in principle, which is fair, but you cannot deny the progress and benefits it has brought. The recent Nobel Peace Prize rightly recognizes the EU's effect on our continent. A perfectly timed reminder for Europe of what they stand to lose regardless of its imperfections.

To translate what you said to American: "Watch the Constitution get changed".

That does not happen often in the US or EU. It's fundamental EU laws we're talking about.

Iran called. You're guilty of unislamic behavior in the US/UK/anywhere. Please report to Teheran's Torture and Corrections department tomorrow... They too have extraterritorial laws, we should respect that, right? Hahaha.

particularly Norway, where one fifth of the child population is in State care

Your "research" is utter nonsense. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. As a Norwegian I had a good laugh at your expense!

To explain what teg (97890) referred to I'll translate the important part:

In 2010 almost 50 000 children, or 4 percent of Norway's youth population (ages 0-22 years), were recipients of care measures. Measures in this context includes assistance programmes including after school activities or holidays, offers of education or work, a separate home for young adults, or an extra "support family" for regular visits, financial assistance or even supervision of the home.

Removal from the home is the final resort, which you seem to have confused with care. Your confusion is natural as the British system is not very good or remotely comparable to Scandinavian systems, and your ignorance is probably linked to your attitude towards other Europeans.

Your "understanding" is probably based on the two recent Indian families that were prosecuted in Norwegian courts for their failure to treat their children properly. We don't want their children, you're just full of lies and groundless claims. The latest family physically hurt their son! What do you expect to happen? Their children are all in India now by the way. Why is that according to you?

Sweden's use of "häktning" has repeatedly been criticised on human rights grounds

Yes, criticised on the basis of the convention. It's a cause for concern, but it doesn't diminish the importance or value of the treaty in general or with regards to Swedish law. I'm also a Scandinavian (Norwegian/Swedish family) and a trained lawyer.

That you would attack the practice of "lay judges" surprises me! I find that it gives our system a democratic element without burdening the average citizen too much and avoids making a mockery of due process with American style juries. I think our system is excellent, full juries are not needed in courts of first instance. Are you Swedish by the way?

The presumption of innocence applies to the trial, not when gathering evidence. In the previous case for which he is serving time, he was awarded his freedom pre and post trial. He fled the country to escape justice afterwards! Now, they have every right to ensure he does not make arrangements to have evidence destroyed in the ongoing investigation [of the Logica case].

You may disagree with the conviction and the evidence in the previous trial, but it's a valid conviction as it stands. We have to respect the law and authority of Swedish courts.

There are very few countries in the world in general that use Common Law, it is however no requirement for a bill of rights or human rights. All European countries have equal protections [to the US Bill of Rights] and more by way of the European Convention on Human Rights.

What I find strange is that none of you considered the fact that he is convicted of the crime for which he is serving time. He subsequently fled the jurisdiction and is obviously not only a flight risk, has the ability to and great interest in destroying evidence against himself. It's perfectly understandable that the police would want him isolated.

Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is a provision of the European Convention which protects the right to a fair trial. In criminal law cases and cases to determine civil rights it protects the right to a public hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal within reasonable time, the presumption of innocence, and other minimum rights for those charged in a criminal case (adequate time and facilities to prepare their defence, access to legal representation, right to examine witnesses against them or have them examined, right to the free assistance of an interpreter).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_6_of_the_European_Convention_on_Human_Rights

it is also a much broader legal principle that should be expected in any civilized legal system.

It is guaranteed by law in all European countries including Sweden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_6_of_the_European_Convention_on_Human_Rights

It's not the case in European countries, the gift recipient obviously pays the gift tax. I think the anonymous comment is entirely wrong.

The EU doesn't write tax laws as Europe doesn't have a "federal" tax. We're still individual nations and taxes are national and local.