Using a tiny, hidden camera, Hans-Peter Martin filmed his European Parliament colleagues as they signed in at work to get a daily allowance -- and then headed to the airport to fly home.
Such methods have made him a Robin Hood to some, but an underhanded sensation-seeker to others. But -- more than anyone else -- the Austrian EU parliamentarian has succeeded in shaking up Europe's staid assembly with unconventional sleuthing meant to uncover abuses of its generous perks system.
The perks can be worth some US$14,700 a month, one member of the parliament was quoted as saying.
Martin's efforts meet with general resentment by his colleagues, but are grudgingly recognized by others.
Jens-Peter Bonde, a veteran parliamentarian who represents Denmark's June Movement party, said he expects the next session of the EU parliament to tighten up the system of allowances and other perks given legislators.
Martin's methods are "uncivilized," but, "I am very thankful for the result," said Bonde, initiator of 50 failed reform motions aimed at reducing perks.
However, a spokesman for parliament's Socialist group, Peter Reischert, said Martin had "excluded himself" from the group through his methods.
"Spying on your colleagues -- that will never work in any organization," he said.
Because of such Socialist condemnation, Martin, a parliamentarian since 1999, is running for re-election as an independent. He told reporters he was compelled to blow the whistle on a system he says is so lavish that it essentially provides EU lawmakers with "hidden income."
Deputies, for example, are reimbursed for full-fare airplane tickets home, regardless of what their tickets cost, and they get at least extra compensation if they travel more than 500km.
"I consider what I have done an act of self-defense in the interest of the taxpayers," he said.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
For two decades, researchers observed members of the Ngogo chimpanzee group of Kibale National Park in Uganda spend their days eating fruits and leaves, resting, traveling and grooming in their tropical rainforest abode, but this stable community then fractured and descended into years of deadly violence. The researchers are now describing the first clearly documented example of a group of wild chimpanzees splitting into two separate factions, with one launching a series of coordinated attacks against the other. Adult males and infants were targeted, with 28 deaths. “Biting, pounding the victim with their hands, dragging them, kicking them — mostly adult males,
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
SUPERFAN: The Japanese PM played keyboard in a Deep Purple tribute band in middle school and then switched to drums at university, she told the British rock band Legendary British rock band Deep Purple yesterday made Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s day with a brief visit to their high-profile superfan as they returned to the nation they first toured more than half a century ago. Takaichi’s reputation as an amateur drummer, and a fan of hard rock and heavy metal has been well documented, and she has referred to Deep Purple as one of her favorite bands along with the likes of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. “You are my god,” a giddy Takaichi said in English to Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, presenting him with a set of made-in-Japan
RSS