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383
Forum Administration / Re: Questions to the Administrator
An advantage of a whisper is that it is available at the time that its recipient is reading the post about which you are whispering; as in;

[whisper]I know my post is not what I wrote to you before about Men being no good at cooking, but since Putin came out as a transvestite things have changed a lot[/whisper]

I have to admit it's disturbing to know that others may read the whisper but [whisper] just between you, me and the moderator[/whisper] this is not a problem with the normal posts and unless one thinks that whispers are for corrupt and outrageous secret messages having international repercussions, I don't actually see a difference
385
DnD Central / Re: The Great DnD Vote of Our Time
Quote from: rjhowie on

Eh? Come on now string you are not a nutjob from over the pond!

May I remind you that the NO Campaign includes Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat Parties. The party which produced the Bill to go through the Edinburgh Parliament was the SNP - along with 2 Greens so that lot of sandal wearers don't count for anything. So it was an SNP thing and only they could pruce the thing. So you are trying to be fait in a non-starter thing and I am surprised at you. There would be no Referendum but for them and he has to support them to try for independence as there is NO alternative. No SNP and there would be no damn Referendum. Tut, tut.  :doh: :faint:


I try to be objective and fair, although I admit both are difficult in this area.

Please check your PMs.

There are many who are inclined to vote Yes who are members of other parties, even Conservatives, it would not surprise me at all if Luxor was one of them if not the latter, especially as he said so. But he can speak for himself.

386
DnD Central / Re: The Great DnD Vote of Our Time
General, Sir!

Google :

tv debate Scotland youtube

and you will find the debates and be able to enjoy the charming Mr Salmond.

It is said that Salmond "won" the debate.

It depends what the criteria for winning are I suppose. Note the (coached) advances towards the audience.
387
DnD Central / Re: The Great DnD Vote of Our Time
Hey whoa there rjh, Luxor said he was not a member of SNP, so maybe he didn't vote for them either, save your ammunition, or are you just practicing?

388
DnD Central / Re: The Great DnD Vote of Our Time
    Quote from: jax on

    Currency unions tend to be short-lived. A UK union would be the sensible short-term option, but longer-term a Scottish currency would likely be a more sensible option, better than joining £ or € (or the Norwegian kroner for that matter, but The North European Petrodollar is a scheme that wouldn't happen in real life). Much smaller economies than the Scottish have managed that just fine.
    There is so much that has been written about a potential Scottish/UK currency union, but I won't bore you with a multitude of links. Suffice it to say that, as a general rule;


    o  A monetary Union will only work if it is perceived to be committed to by all parties and is long term/permanent
    o  A monetary union only works with fiscal integration (ref the EURO Countries)[/li][/list]

    There is no knowing how long the Scots would want the Currency Union to last, so it would not last.

    In the case of Scotland and the UK
    o  The UK would stand large risks which would not be reciprocated by Scotland who would not be contributing (no insurance payments in other words)
    o  Scotland would have no say over interest rates and liquidity and would have no monetary weapons in the event of a change in oil prices
    o  Scotland would have to accept the UK's control over its own budget and expenditure (as per the Euro)

    Remember that Scotland is only about a 10th of the size of the UK.
    389
    DnD Central / Re: The Great DnD Vote of Our Time
    The question of the Scottish currency remains a problem, but Salmond mislead the Scottish voters. I will explain.

    First I should say that Luxor is probably right about Scotland having to use the pound in the event that the “Yes” vote won, but the matter is rather convoluted, so bear with me.

    The SNP/Yes campaign doggedly maintains that a Currency Union will be agreed with the UK in spite of all three political parties saying it is a no-starter. There are many reasons for the latter, one major one being the additional risk to the UK due to the statements in the so-called "SNP White Paper" (it's an SNP manifesto (Paid for by the Scottish Taxpayer) which is used to sell the SNP vision of a separated Scotland) which declares that Scotland would have a Currency Union with the UK.

    The "options/choices" are given in Currency Choices for an Independent Scotland, subdivided into groups headed "Set Up New Currency" and "Monetary Union with the UK". For the latter, there are two options, "Formal" and "Informal (i.e. Sterlingisation)"; the former choice is a currency union, the latter not a union at all, Scotland would just use the pound but in Sterlingisation mode.

    The SNP assumes for the former choice; "BoE undertakes monetary policy for Sterling Area (i.e. interest rates determined by conditions in Scotland and rUK)" and also "Full fiscal autonomy – alongside other economic levers (e.g. regulation)" amongst other implausible claims. These powers are clearly not remotely possible. Foreign countries do not set their interest rates according to the whims of foreign countries 1/10th their size nor do they permit such a foreign country full fiscal autonomy. There is also the implicit assumption that the Bank of England would act as a lender of last resort, an arrangement where the UK would carry a large risk of default and Scotland would have no control over monetary policy. So no Currency Union.

    So that leaves the use of the Pound in a Sterlingisation mode. This is certainly possible although it cannot be called a Monetary Union and, again, Scotland would have no control over monetary policy in spite of the SNP claim that it would have, again, “full fiscal autonomy”. But it could be done, with it’s attendant lack of monetary control for Scotland. However the UK would no longer be the lender of last resort; not a attractive prospect for business or, in particular, Scotland’s large financial sector which is already showing signs of leaving Scotland in the event of a “Yes” vote.

    The other options, under the banner “Set up new currency”, are apparently not available to the SNP without a new Scottish Election. The SNP states (my underline);

    “Of course some would prefer Scotland to become a republic, to leave the EU or NATO, or to have our own currency. After Scotland becomes independent, any political party seeking to make these kinds of changes would first have to win support to do so in an election.”.

    https://www.snp.org/sites/default/files/issue/documents/yes_-_choice.pdf bottom of page X

    So this option is not open to the SNP to propose, but they are pretending it is an option.

    These things have to be resolved before March 2016 and the lack of any clear decision now is potentially very damaging to the Scottish Economy. It seems that the only real option (with its own downsides) is to have a new currency in place by Independence but since this would need an election followed by a large effort to set up the different institutions. (*) I doubt if the SNP could stomach that because it is by no means certain that they would win re-election.

    So when Salmond stated that he had 3 Plan Bs for the price of 1, he was grossly misleading. He knows full well that the only option he will eventually offer is Sterlingisation, not a currency or monetary union nor a new currency, but use of another countries currency without a lender of last resort.


    (*) rjh please note that and pass it on - I doubt many have noticed that.
    390
    DnD Central / Re: The Great DnD Vote of Our Time
    I also watched the debate, all of it.

    As far as I understand there was a poll afterwards and about 70% of the people said that Salmond had won it.

    There was also another poll which showed that no-one had changed their mind as a result.

    I know the arguments on both sides well enough by now so could gather roughly what they were talking about but there was so much over-talking that it was impossible at times to tell what was being said. Salmond was definitely the champion over-talker though.
    391
    DnD Central / Re: Tripe about Ukraine
    @krake - yes I too noted "Ukrainian military says" and assigned it in my mind as "provisional information". I don't believe it all, but something is happening since it's clear that Russia is assisting the Rebels and deliberately stoking the situation.

    The right course would be to get the participants to talk but neither side seem to want that particularly.

    However I blame Russia and specifically the wee man in the Kremin for the initiation of this crisis. It could have been dampened down so easily if Russia had taken a less confrontational and more hones stance at the beginning.
    393
    DnD Central / Re: Tripe about Ukraine
    Meanwhile 'Column from Russia' moves on Mariupol

    Quote
    Ukraine's military said border guards had halted the column about 5km (3 miles) north-east of Novoazovsk, which is about 10km from the frontier in the far south-east of Ukraine.

    Heavy clashes were reported at the village of Markyne.

    One commander of a Ukrainian national guard unit in the area told Reuters news agency: "A war has broken out here."


    This situation is getting out of control.
    394
    DnD Central / Re: Curious Sites
    The following site , FlightRadar24, shows the current position of aircraft as per the GPS system.

    http://www.flightradar24.com

    It updates every few seconds so if you watch a flight it will move very, very slowly. You can drag the map to different places.

    Unless you join and pay them some money it dies after half an hour and you have to restart it.

    It’s a bit like watching paint dry but It could become interesting in some situations.
    395
    DnD Central / Curious Sites
    A thread to share sites which you find interesting or novel or useful or downright daft.

    Explain a little of what is in it.

    Spammers will be deforested.
    397
    DnD Central / Re: Tripe about Ukraine
    It reminds me of an old joke: to make it very short a man was pushing a wheelbarrow out of an army base with bricks in it. Every time he was searched but the guards could find nothing special about the bricks. This happened many times.

    Years later a friend asked him if he was smuggling anything;

    he replied "Oh yes - it was wheelbarrows".

    I wonder how many army lorries went back to Russia.
    398
    DnD Central / Re: The Great DnD Vote of Our Time
    Well I hope you are right about the last remark. The SNP/Yes Campaign has done little but make false claims bout the future Scottish Economy should Scotland separate and ferment bad relations between us. They are doing great harm. Already there are signs that the Scottish Financial Sector, a source of wealth in Scotland, is thinking of leaving, perhaps as early as the day after the Referendum and even before, and their predictions of oil wealth for ever is sadly in conflict with reality.