Well if its in the Mail it must be true…….We should sell our WMD assets to make up the difference. Teh question is does anyone believe this stuff anymore, apart from the usual crew on Scotsman and Herald comments pages.
You have to wonder at people who landed a job whereby they get to spend hours of their day dreaming up negatives about another country and reinforcing stereotypes.
I read the economist piece and there were a few flaws in their argument:
1) They brought up the Darien Scheme (again) as some sort of proof of an inherent flaw in the ability of Scots to survive independently.
2) When discussing the 'Arc of Prosperity' they did not mention Norway.
3) They claimed that small countries have suffered worst in the Global Recession – Norway, Sweeden, Netherlands, Denmark etc… not mentioned as evidence in contrary to that statement.
4) They assert that Scotland would suffer due to volatility in Oil prices and that its almost gone anyway… where have I heard that before?
5) They assert that Post Oil (50+ Years from now), Scotland would struggle to fill the gap in taxation by assuming that the wider economy will not be transformed by the investment possible from controlling our own taxation and resources.
6) They regurgitate the myth that Scotland will not be a member of the EU upon independence.
7) They roll out the line that Scotland would have been responsible for the entire Bank Bailout, when in actuallity the debts that would have accrued to Scotland would have amounted for only around 5%. The debts were covered by the countries in which they were liable, i.e. England (due to London Banking).
8) They assert that as such, Scotlands Financial sector would collapse. This is strange since Edinburgh is one of the largest financial centres in the world, ranked within the top 20 at least. This is international banking and as such would not have disrupted the Scottish Economy, except for short term loss of Corporation Tax (If the banks hadn't avoided it already)
9) They then go on to cast aspersion on the Scots by saying that Edingburgh was once known as the "Athens of the North" for its architecture, before saying it would be known in the future as the "Athens of the North" for its economic collapse.
The piece is biased from the get go and most importantly (and ironically given that it is the Economist)…
THEY DO NOT PROVIDE ANY DATA OR FIGURES OR QUOTES TO BACK UP THEIR ASSERTIONS.
Their analysis is as useful as a conversation overheard in a lift!
On the fuel bills thing – this is inevitable surely, given we're moving to much pricier electricity generation methods. Fuel bills are going to rocket, in order to Save the Planet.
Not linked to Independence though, I think.
The economist seems to struggle to sink to new depths each year. You'd expect them to at least try a bit harder than the gutter press and live up to their name instead.
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Alf Baird on Just Good Friends: “A ‘mediocre meritocracy’ is the inevitable reality within a colonial society (Memmi), much as we see. But this is not…” Jul 12, 22:28
Alf Baird on Just Good Friends: “” if Scotland is still in large parts a Scots speaking nation, there’s precious little evidence for it on here.”…” Jul 12, 22:20
Shug on Just Good Friends: “It is very telling that the BBC is not making hay with this material. They will when that are ready…” Jul 12, 21:25
Northcode on Just Good Friends: “This infernal heat has driven me mad and in my madness I’ve been forced to transcribe the first few paragraphs…” Jul 12, 20:33
agent x on Just Good Friends: “http://www.manifestoforindependence link to petition.parliament.uk those links don’t work for me.” Jul 12, 19:47
Young Lochinvar on Just Good Friends: “In reply to P3nisbreath McP3nisbreathface @ 4.04pm The sexual perversion thing is all yours, just trawl back through your posts,…” Jul 12, 17:25
Hatey McHateface on Just Good Friends: “Alf, if Scotland is still in large parts a Scots speaking nation, there’s precious little evidence for it on here.…” Jul 12, 16:11
Hatey McHateface on Just Good Friends: “If “logically” the UK no longer exists, you’ll have burned your passport and your driving license. Looking forwards to your…” Jul 12, 16:04
Hatey McHateface on Just Good Friends: “Not too bad a post, NC, but it lacks fundamental clarity. Which union are you discussing? The UK or the…” Jul 12, 15:59
Young Lochinvar on Just Good Friends: “Good post NC. One small correction, the construct was first called Great Britain. The United Kingdom came along later when…” Jul 12, 15:34
sarah on Just Good Friends: “A lot of us do, Dan – just not speaking up much nowadays. I shall mention, again, several things that…” Jul 12, 13:49
TURABDIN on Just Good Friends: “PILE it HIGH, sell it cheap in POUNDLAND. https://archive.is/VLCVd Everything must go!” Jul 12, 13:23
TURABDIN on Just Good Friends: “FALSE FRIENDS. DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS fail when people with ability don’t have authority and people with authority don’t have ability What…” Jul 12, 12:45
Aidan on Just Good Friends: “Have you done any polling on how important the issue of the formation of the union in 1707 is to…” Jul 12, 12:13
Alf Baird on Just Good Friends: “Yes Hatey, if we “look at voting preferences against geographical areas in recent times” what we find is that the…” Jul 12, 11:49
Dan on Just Good Friends: “Things going on in Scotland… (Not that anybody here seems to give a shit) https://www.isp.scot/july-5th-july-11th-2025/” Jul 12, 10:23
Northcode on Just Good Friends: ““It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t…” Jul 12, 09:52
Northcode on Just Good Friends: “Naebody wid hae thocht hit possible tae uise ersecheeks tae blaff oot Inglis lees oan a keybuird an hae whit…” Jul 12, 08:38
James Cheyne on Too Tight To Mention: “Alf Baird. I apologise for late reply as busy thinking about re- locating.” Jul 12, 08:33
James Cheyne on Too Tight To Mention: “Alf Baird. ” Thus the old Scottish parliament members became [English parliamentarians]when they entered the continued English Westminster parliament resting…” Jul 12, 08:30
DaveL on Just Good Friends: “What the fuck are you talking about? What’s a ‘Da Dews’? I’ve never heard of it. While I’m here you…” Jul 12, 00:28
Hatey McHateface on Just Good Friends: “I was confident you were going to morph onto Da Dews there, Confused, but you didn’t. Well done you. Bit…” Jul 11, 23:55
Hatey McHateface on Just Good Friends: “@Alf I must hae colonised masel! Partition is a possibility if the kind of eejits currently ruling the roost at…” Jul 11, 23:45
Confused on Just Good Friends: “Deviants are blackmailable. Makes them easy to control. They go to “young leaders” shindigs all round the world and are…” Jul 11, 22:40
Dunx on Just Good Friends: “The SNP might also like to consider whether sixteen year old children are mature enough to vote in any future…” Jul 11, 22:01
Alf Baird on Just Good Friends: “” I think that any kind of extreme dehumanizing and/or hatred of any group of people is a form of…” Jul 11, 20:31
Mark Beggan on Just Good Friends: “Craig Murray? wasn’t he one of the Merry Pranksters in the Koolaid Acid Test.” Jul 11, 19:26
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Hatey McHateface on Just Good Friends: ““continually displayed abhorrent behaviour and used derogatory language to describe other fellow humans” Check out the synthetic outrage from Dan.…” Jul 11, 18:15
Well if its in the Mail it must be true…….We should sell our WMD assets to make up the difference. Teh question is does anyone believe this stuff anymore, apart from the usual crew on Scotsman and Herald comments pages.
You have to wonder at people who landed a job whereby they get to spend hours of their day dreaming up negatives about another country and reinforcing stereotypes.
I read the economist piece and there were a few flaws in their argument:
1) They brought up the Darien Scheme (again) as some sort of proof of an inherent flaw in the ability of Scots to survive independently.
2) When discussing the 'Arc of Prosperity' they did not mention Norway.
3) They claimed that small countries have suffered worst in the Global Recession – Norway, Sweeden, Netherlands, Denmark etc… not mentioned as evidence in contrary to that statement.
4) They assert that Scotland would suffer due to volatility in Oil prices and that its almost gone anyway… where have I heard that before?
5) They assert that Post Oil (50+ Years from now), Scotland would struggle to fill the gap in taxation by assuming that the wider economy will not be transformed by the investment possible from controlling our own taxation and resources.
6) They regurgitate the myth that Scotland will not be a member of the EU upon independence.
7) They roll out the line that Scotland would have been responsible for the entire Bank Bailout, when in actuallity the debts that would have accrued to Scotland would have amounted for only around 5%. The debts were covered by the countries in which they were liable, i.e. England (due to London Banking).
8) They assert that as such, Scotlands Financial sector would collapse. This is strange since Edinburgh is one of the largest financial centres in the world, ranked within the top 20 at least. This is international banking and as such would not have disrupted the Scottish Economy, except for short term loss of Corporation Tax (If the banks hadn't avoided it already)
9) They then go on to cast aspersion on the Scots by saying that Edingburgh was once known as the "Athens of the North" for its architecture, before saying it would be known in the future as the "Athens of the North" for its economic collapse.
The piece is biased from the get go and most importantly (and ironically given that it is the Economist)…
THEY DO NOT PROVIDE ANY DATA OR FIGURES OR QUOTES TO BACK UP THEIR ASSERTIONS.
Their analysis is as useful as a conversation overheard in a lift!
P.S. Apparently if you write 8 then ) together it comes out as 8)
**NOTE TO SELF**
Yeah, always best to go with "8." or "[8]" just to be on the safe side
I wonder what happens when you write 8 and ( 8(
Aha! A postive only blog.
8)
"8"
"8."
Pass me the crayons Nurse, please
"[8]" [8]e we?
Not the sharpest of chimeras, ar
On the fuel bills thing – this is inevitable surely, given we're moving to much pricier electricity generation methods. Fuel bills are going to rocket, in order to Save the Planet.
Not linked to Independence though, I think.
Mm. Fuel bills went up almost £200 last year alone, inside the Union…
http://www.uswitch.com/news/utilities/eon-price-rise-to-add-170-to-gas-and-electricity-bills–900001065/
They must have chuckled to themselves coming up with that map. Oh, the wit. It burns.
The economist seems to struggle to sink to new depths each year. You'd expect them to at least try a bit harder than the gutter press and live up to their name instead.