Salmond laid it on the line, committed himself in the last and final debate with Darling, when he said in reply to the "what if" plan "b" point (which caught him on the hop at the first meeting) that the "better together" movement were making, that if the people were voting for independence, then as far as he was concerned, the view that the Scottish government was taking, was that sticking with the pound, with an agreement with Westminster was the best option. So, it would probably be too late to advocate any other formula. If the Scots decide to vote for independence, that is the route they will be going down.
What I have found funny over the last few days, has been all those extra bits of carrots which Cameron and Co have come up with to try and keep the Union. First of all we had the stick, no say on the pound, kicked out of the E.U. no chance of getting back in, fleeing of international and national businesses from Scotland. No compensation or help to remove the Polaris bases in Scotland and so on.
Yet Salmond and the Scottish government tried to get included in the referendum questions, another alternative which would allow for greater devolution of powers, rather than just a straight Yes/No question on independence. Cameron and Co. refused point blank to have it included, said it would be too complicated. Cameron has now, or is going up there to sort it all out. The trouble he has got is that he is seen as a typical English Conservative, the hooray henry with the hoighty toighty accent, speaks with chukkie stones in his mouth, and all that jazz. He might finish up making the situation a lot worse. I certainly wouldn't like to be in his shoes...:-).
They calculated that they were going to easily win the vote and didn't want the third alternative clouding the issue. Yet, here they are, trying to do that very thing, even though the postal votes are already in. Could finish up, if it goes pear shaped for the Scottish government and they lose the independence vote; that they could appeal and go for a re-run of the referendum, due to the waters being muddied by the Conservative/Liberal Coalition changing the goalposts.
Ah! Well! The proof o' the puddin' is aye in the eatin. And whether the Scots vote with their hearts or their minds, we won't know until the day of reckonin'.
ATB Dougie. On 08/09/14 23:33, Aftermath wrote:
I dont think theyve considered it either unlike Ecuador or Iceland, but they could still have paper money by using QR codes on paper and and creating exchanges to exchange fiat to digital.The new proof of steak method is far more efficent and arguably more secure than the proof of work that first gen cryptocurrencies use so massive distributed mining and electrical consumption wouldnt be an issue..On Monday, September 8, 2014, doug <douglasrankine2001@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:douglasrankine2001@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:Hi Aftermath, Now, that is a very interesting point. The Scots were never short at inventiveness during the industrial revolution, and very few of us learned our reading and writing without the aid of that great Scots American Andrew Carnegie, who devoted so much of the wealth which he extracted from exploiting his U.S. workforce in the late 19th and early 20th century, that he didn't know what to do with it and gave 90% away to funding the educational and philanthropic institutions with the wherewithal’s to give a diverse education to the underdogs of the world...including us Scots. There is nary a town in Scotland that doesn't have its main library named after and funded by Andrew Carnegie. I, myself would never have been able to read books on so many subjects, in the comfort of a nice, warm reference room in the middle of a harrowing Scottish winter, if it hadn't been for this man's great benefaction... That said...I don't think that the Scottish establishment has even considered using a crypto-currency....though I could be wrong! It has found great difficulty getting its head round the practicalities of using the pound Sterling, and cannot even agree on how much oil wealth they have. And they have the same problem prioritising and balancing the budget as does any other bureaucratic state. Really, at the time they decided to go for a referendum on independence, they were hoping to join the Euro, as an alternative to the pound if they couldn't get some kind of agreement with the Bank of England. However, the global financial crisis "scotched" that, if you will pardon the pun, so they were left with the alternative of going for the pound sterling or creating a new currency called the Scottish pound. Trying the concept of joining the Euro on the Scottish masses, was unfortunately a no go area at the time and it was felt that it would lose them any referendum. A crypto-currency would be even more confusing, in my humble opinion. I remember carrying out a survey in my local computer club a couple of years ago, and I was the only one who had ever heard of Bitcoin, and no one had a clue what it was. Having left Scotland in 1964 as an economic migrant and hitch-hiked all the way to London with £50 in my pocket to make my fortune, most of my close family have passed on and I have little contact with rare relatives, and therefore, nux influence on Scottish life. However, if anyone on here has contact with the Scottish Social media, it might well be worth while bringing the subject up... Kind Regards, Dougie. On 08/09/14 21:44, Aftermath wrote:as far as their national currency, its not unheard of for a country to atleast CONSIDER the use of cryptocurrency. On Monday, September 8, 2014, doug <douglasrankine2001@xxxxxxxxxxx <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','douglasrankine2001@xxxxxxxxxxx');>> wrote: Hi Silent1, I am a member Yougov, but they didn't give me the chance to vote in any of their polls on Scotland. Doesn't surprise me in the slightest that the "Yes" lot are using such tactics...I dare say, so are the "No" vote...who is the biggest. And why is it all so urgent...tomorrow is another day. Long before the referendum, I watched the various debates in the parliamentary committees on the Scottish question...one could see then how the arguments were going to pan out. I loved the currency question, when it came up at in the Financial Committee. Completely flummoxed the Scottish Civil Servant, I was surprised that Salmond got caught out on it, he is a wiley politician if there is one. It will be interesting to find out how the social media has been used by all the Parties, institutions and organisations, and how much it will influence the outcome. I dare say that some academic will be doing a report on it. Regarding The West Lothian Question...I fully agree. I don't see why the M.P.s representing Scottish constituencies should be allowed to vote in the Westminster Parliament on what are English questions. The issue has been raised many times by the Scottish nationalists, they drew Cameron's attention to the contradiction, but it was ignored, too busy fighting and funding foreign wars and supporting the U.S. and the Al Quaeda Liberation Front in Syria. If Cameron had paid more attention and put more money into the kitty, then perhaps his Conservative/Liberal government and their "Better Together" cronies would be in a stronger position, both in England as well as Scotland. English Nationalists, little Englanders and UKIP popping up everywhere. I loved the crack made by a member of the public at one of the debates between the Scottish P.M. Alex Salmond and the "Better Together" leader, Alistair Darling. He asked Mr. Darling why we weren't better together now, rather than getting on better in the future...difficult one to answer...got a big laugh...:-). ATB Dougie. On 08/09/14 19:15, Silent1 wrote: Just a small note regarding polling, a lot of the yes voting camp were getting people the sign up to yougov (the main referendum polling agency) a few months ago so it can't be taken to be all that accurate. I'm indifferent to Scotland leaving or staying I'd rather the West Lothian question was sorted though. -----Original Message----- From: cryptome-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:cryptome-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of doug Sent: Monday, September 08, 2014 6:43 PM To: cryptome@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [cryptome] Scottish Independence? Dear Colleagues, With the recent polls giving the "Yes to Independence" vote a small majority for the first time in the referendum on nationhood....which has shocked a number of their English "betters" and surprised the Scots Nats even more. I was just thinking about the strategic implications for the Western powers if the Scottish people do decide to leave the UK and strike out on their own. It would certainly mean some kind of changes to NATO, to 5 eyes, to various Western alliances, and England's position in the world. it is a different proposition arguing world politics and sending armies to Afghanistan, Iraq and such like, as a "little Englander" nation rather than the United Kingdom. One can see why Obama wants Scotland to stay as part of the UK, what with the polaris bases and storage facilities and other US listening posts based there. There are a lot of Scots wanting rid of these facilities and would rather spend the money on "proper" jobs like tourism and protecting the environment. I wonder if Obama and the NSA will offer pots of money for a new Scottish C.I.A. and NSA to work in alliance with GCHQ and the secret intelligence service. I wonder if the S.I.S. will consider us as friendly aliens". I wonder if the S.I.S. and the security service, considers all of those who support yes and vote yes, as enemies of the state, radicals and targets of operations... It is interesting to note, too, that the very Conservative Westminster parliament, after being very negative about the Scots being able to do without the support, expertise and money from the English parliament, that the Conservative politicians are now offering all sorts of carrots to keep the Scots in the kingdom. And this is being done...AFTER...some of the voting has already taken place. That wouldn't be allowed to happen in a UK election, yet it is being forced upon the Scots. i wonder how the Scots will react to it. The same thing happened with the Poll Tax, the Scots bore the brunt of it. All the stops are being pulled out at Westminster, the dirty tricks are starting, and I dare say that the U.S. embassy will be sticking its oar in as well... Maybe the Scots should use the dollar...rather than the pound...:-). Food for thought. ATB Dougie. P.S. I am not a nationalist, nor am I for or against independence. Just like being a member of the E.U. I don't have a clue whether it is a good or a bad thing. Personally, I think small is beautiful.
