Reply to: War in Europe

[Doggy Styles]

I find it sad in the UK that there is this perception that the EU shares the British Empire culture that still persists in the UK. The continentals have long since shed this, but some Brits are itching to get back into their Spitfires and reignite WWII.

What are you talking about?

[BlasterBates]

This is a good question. AFAIK there is no provision for this.

When the United States of America was formed, some suggested a provision for states to secede from the Union. It was argued against, that there was nothing to prevent a state from seceding, so that a special provision was not needed. Later of course Lincoln argued that since there was no provision for a state to secede, it was not allowed, and could be resisted even against the wishes of the people of such a state, by the then bloodiest conflict ever seen, if need be.

Indeed there is provision. Countries have retained their central banks, printing presses and mints. In fact each country design and mints its own coins. These central banks send representatives to the ECB who then vote on interest rates and other monetary issues. In fact it is desirable for there to be an exit so that if a country starts "printing money" or spending too much it can be pressured to leave the Euro one through a legal process. The structures are in place in each country where they could easily introduce their own currency if they so wished.

I find it sad in the UK that there is this perception that the EU shares the British Empire culture that still persists in the UK. The continentals have long since shed this, but some Brits are itching to get back into their Spitfires and reignite WWII.

[Board Game Geek]

All I can predict it this :

The next World War will be fought not over territory for the sake of it, but for the resouces the territory contains.

[Rantor]

If the Russians decide they want their "spheres of influence" back, they may decide to do it sooner rather than later, before the Yanks have absorbed them into NATO and planted nuclear weapons on their soil.

That was what Georgia was all about. The Yanks encouraged the Georgians in order to test Russia. They got their answer and it wasn't good from an American point of view.

There is a view that regards this as a continuation of the West-Central-East European pendulum where pwer swings back and forth over the last 250 yrs or so. Noce idea but I'm not sure how well it will stand up.Still, wtf will 'europe' do when russia starts putting itself about a bit more. I'm guessing absolutely nothing other than hot air and appeasement.

The Europe at war thing is something that I've given a fair bit of thought to lately and I would be surprised if something unpleasent doesn't happen. As an entity, Europe is way beyond the decadent stage as it is (for the moment) stinking rich and incredibly weak - the historical precedents for countries/empires at this stage surviving is not very promising.

If you look at things on a national level, there is an upwelling of nationalist retardism in many wealthy countries that has been building up during a sustained boom. This will likely skyrocket during a prolonged slump if the past is anything to go by. Whether this will lead to local balkan type situations or the breakup of the EU will be i

[NetwkSupport]

What renewable energy is this then? A bunch of windmills in Scotland are hardly going to keep the lights on for long.

Exactly my point, we are no where near a viable re-newable solution.

[moorfield]

energy war and climate change should be much higher up the list of "worries" than "the downturn"

Not any more. All that trendy green stuff is out of the window now. We're back to old fashioned basic politics.

Poor Jobless Electorate = No Votes for Me.

[Mich the Tester]

What renewable energy is this then? A bunch of windmills in Scotland are hardly going to keep the lights on for long.

You can place a very big bunch of wind turbines in the sea, with wave power installations tied to the bottom of them.

Renewables won’t replace fossil fuels for quite some time, but they can reduce dependence and buy some time.

[moorfield]

WHS. I alluded to this in my thread of yesterday but people were more inclined to dicscuss farting and following through, or something like that...

It's an important topic. Wind power may be all that's left once the oil is gone.

[swamp]

Once oil and gas gets to the point of supplies running out (close) we are all in for it. The goverment is just not serious enough about re-newable energy, we will be nowhere near prepared.

What renewable energy is this then? A bunch of windmills in Scotland are hardly going to keep the lights on for long.

[Mich the Tester]

Once oil and gas gets to the point of supplies running out (close) we are all in for it. The goverment is just not serious enough about re-newable energy, we will be nowhere near prepared.

The supplies don’t need to run out to cause major problems, as has been demonstrated by mr Putin this week.

The most pressing reason for renewable energy is the fact that most of the world’s fossil fuels are in the hands of psychopaths, religious fanatics and ex KGB criminals.

[PM-Junkie]

energy war and climate change should be much higher up the list of "worries" than "the downturn"

All boils down to the same thing though - idiot politicians who are either dumb or corrupt, and usually both.

Politicians are the main problem.

[NetwkSupport]

energy war and climate change should be much higher up the list of "worries" than "the downturn"

[ratewhore]

A global energy war is coming.

WHS. I alluded to this in my thread of yesterday but people were more inclined to dicscuss farting and following through, or something like that...

[Doggy Styles]

Once oil and gas gets to the point of supplies running out (close) we are all in for it. The goverment is just not serious enough about re-newable energy, we will be nowhere near prepared.

No worries there. threaded will use his time machine to steal it from the past in five-gallon cans.

[NetwkSupport]

Once oil and gas gets to the point of supplies running out (close) we are all in for it. The goverment is just not serious enough about re-newable energy, we will be nowhere near prepared.