Reply to: UKIP in the news again. Now even the Greeks want to join Ukip!

[Mich the Tester]

Worth noting too that Norway, for such a small population, has a tulip LOAD of oil.

Yes, indeed. Britain and the Netherlands did too but various governments blew all the dosh while the Norwegians excluded it from the budget and put the money in a big sovereign wealth fund that means that every citizen, sorry, legal resident of Norway is now effectively a euro millionaire.

[SpontaneousOrder]

Do you know why I think Norway, Switzerland and Germany are well run countries? Well, wait for it; it's because they're run by Norwegian, Swiss and German people. Now I know, I'm usually the one saying we shouldn't be prejudiced against people and really we shouldn't, but this is a positive point based on my observation over many years that those people tend to be pretty damned good at organising stuff. They tend not to be particularly good at humour or music, although there ARE exceptions, and sometimes they appear a bit stuffy and even, dare I say, boring, but they do tend to run things quite well, occasionally a little too enthousiastically. I don't think that Britain, Scotland or any other country will suddenly become well run and prosperous as a result of a change in sovereignty; that takes generations of cultural and political evolution. You might argue that Scotland should therefore be able to start sooner rather than later, but I would argue that a gradual evolution of culture that doesn't have a specific goal such as independence might fit the Scots much better. But then it's your choice, not mine.

Worth noting too that Norway, for such a small population, has a tulip LOAD of oil.

[Mich the Tester]

Fair comment. I vote for a proverb instead of a face.

"We'll set about ya"

There have been so many new countries, newly independent countries, seperated regions in the world that all do the same thing; they visit some shop, probably an internet 'start a country' shop and get themselves all the boring, dated accoutrements of nationhood;

- the national anthem, usually some tinned military marching music with lyrics to the tune of 'defending the fatherland to the death' or some such cack.
- a national flower, often one that's either imported from somewhere else but we don't talk about that, or one that doesn't actually grow anywhere any more
- a national animal, see national flower
- a flag, often tiringly predictable and related to the various tribes of the 'nation'
- a national myth related to some heroic character who swished his sword around chopping off the heads of peasants who probably wanted nothing to do with it, while taking a few of their wives back to his place for a bit of one sided fun
- a big national government building with great pillars and statues of the great and the good
- a national banknote with pictures of some bloke we're supposed to know about from the history books but most of don't actually give a stuff, and anyway, if he was so great, isn't it a bit disrespectful to rub sweaty fingers over his face every day?

It's all terribly boring. Please, Scots, IF you decide to go for independence, which isn't really what I support, but it's your choice, PLEASE be a bit different; the world needs a bit more style and creativity in these matters. Show the world you've got a sense of FUN.

[suityou01]

Fair comment. I vote for a proverb instead of a face.

"We'll set about ya"

GIRFUY?

[scooterscot]

Stop taking it so seriously; put Rab C Nesbitt on one note and Billy Connolly on another and give the world something to laugh about. It's a bit different to the usual conformist cack that puts the great and the good on banknotes. Bloody hell, if you're going to have a new country, do things differently. At least we can all raise a glass to that.

Fair comment. I vote for a proverb instead of a face.

"We'll set about ya"

[scooterscot]

Do you know why I think Norway, Switzerland and Germany are well run countries? Well, wait for it; it's because they're run by Norwegian, Swiss and German people. Now I know, I'm usually the one saying we shouldn't be prejudiced against people and really we shouldn't, but this is a positive point based on my observation over many years that those people tend to be pretty damned good at organising stuff. They tend not to be particularly good at humour or music, although there ARE exceptions, and sometimes they appear a bit stuffy and even, dare I say, boring, but they do tend to run things quite well, occasionally a little too enthousiastically. I don't think that Britain, Scotland or any other country will suddenly become well run and prosperous as a result of a change in sovereignty; that takes generations of cultural and political evolution. You might argue that Scotland should therefore be able to start sooner rather than later, but I would argue that a gradual evolution of culture that doesn't have a specific goal such as independence might fit the Scots much better. But then it's your choice, not mine.

I would agree. Small and independent is the way to go for many countries throughout Europe. Even Westminster wants the breakup of the EU, but they've could never admit that.

Scotland is more than capable of looking after itself. I don't doubt that, once they get their affairs in order and would be healthier for them to.

[Mich the Tester]

Don Cameron (balloonist)

Robert Lickley

Alex Smith (engineer)
Thomas Coughtrie


Take you pick, there's loads: Category:Scottish engineers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stop taking it so seriously; put Rab C Nesbitt on one note and Billy Connolly on another and give the world something to laugh about. It's a bit different to the usual conformist cack that puts the great and the good on banknotes. Bloody hell, if you're going to have a new country, do things differently. At least we can all raise a glass to that.

[scooterscot]

Bloke in a skirt (at the very least there will be one of them)? A spider? A pint of 90 shilling? A half and half? A sheep's stomach?

Don Cameron (balloonist)

Robert Lickley

Alex Smith (engineer)
Thomas Coughtrie


Take you pick, there's loads: Category:Scottish engineers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Mich the Tester]

Tell that to Germany or Switzerland, or a near debt free country such as Norway.

Do you know why I think Norway, Switzerland and Germany are well run countries? Well, wait for it; it's because they're run by Norwegian, Swiss and German people. Now I know, I'm usually the one saying we shouldn't be prejudiced against people and really we shouldn't, but this is a positive point based on my observation over many years that those people tend to be pretty damned good at organising stuff. They tend not to be particularly good at humour or music, although there ARE exceptions, and sometimes they appear a bit stuffy and even, dare I say, boring, but they do tend to run things quite well, occasionally a little too enthousiastically. I don't think that Britain, Scotland or any other country will suddenly become well run and prosperous as a result of a change in sovereignty; that takes generations of cultural and political evolution. You might argue that Scotland should therefore be able to start sooner rather than later, but I would argue that a gradual evolution of culture that doesn't have a specific goal such as independence might fit the Scots much better. But then it's your choice, not mine.

[darmstadt]

Who would go on the new notes? Salmond?

Bloke in a skirt (at the very least there will be one of them)? A spider? A pint of 90 shilling? A half and half? A sheep's stomach?

[petergriffin]

Who would go on the new notes? Salmond?

What a question! Susan Boyle of course!

[scooterscot]

There's no such a thing as economic independence. We're all ruled by Goldmann Sachs and JP Morgan.

Tell that to Germany or Switzerland, or a near debt free country such as Norway.

I can't take the argument of the Scottish independence seriously until you guys settle for a Republic and repudiate the royals from your printed money.

Don't worry, you're not required to take seriously. You just need to sleepwalk your way to change like the rest of parliament.

[suityou01]

There's no such a thing as economic independence. We're all ruled by Goldmann Sachs and JP Morgan.

I can't take the argument of the Scottish independence seriously until you guys settle for a Republic and repudiate the royals from your printed money.

Who would go on the new notes? Salmond?

[petergriffin]

True - but the argument for economic independence is also attracting more and more attention.

There's no such a thing as economic independence. We're all ruled by Goldmann Sachs and JP Morgan.

I can't take the argument of the Scottish independence seriously until you guys settle for a Republic and repudiate the royals from your printed money.

[scooterscot]

Farage is single-handedly doing more for the Scottish independentist cause than that ham face Salmond.

True - but the argument for economic independence is also attracting more and more attention.