Scottish Independence

[Surfcrest]

They implemented a different plan - instead of bailing out the Banks and allowing their criminal Bankers to continue to collect millions in bonuses - Iceland let the banks fail, jailed the worst of the bankers, wiped out all mortgages and personal debt, protected the poor and disabled, and started from square one. They are now doing pretty well according to the IMF. Here we protected the Bankers, and chose to cut the wages of ordinary workers and benefits to the poor and disabled to make them pay for the bail out.

Again, from Iceland's example...I can't see allowing the banks to fail would create any long term stability to investor confidence. The instability in the banking Sector over here in North America is a shining example of that and the continuing sluggish response of the American economy to the last 2008 downturn. If you actually study the North American banking sector, or indeed the entire banking Sector in the Americas...it has actually been the Canadian banks that have done well through our regulatory system....vs the US, "anything goes" methodology.

TD, a big player across the US Eastern seaboard is actually an acronym for the Toronto Dominion Bank. Any if you've been anywhere south of the US, you'll know Scotiabank or as it has always been know, The Bank of Nova Scotia.

From a business perspective...while many citizens might not agree, the bonus structure is a necessary requirement to attract the right talent and to keep them there. You can't be a strong company without strong people resources steering the ship or bringing in revenue. Are the bankers really criminal, or is it really a crime as to how certain countries have allowed their banking structures to go unregulated for so long? Sorry, but I can only blame the politicians for creating this mess, not the bankers with their bonuses.

Surfcrest

[Surfcrest]

Thanks for that Surfcrest - only in the minds of the UK Govt and SGT admins does a trillion dollar national asset become a liability.

:sign5:

I wouldn't say it's a liability, but more so the expanded version of the little boy who finds a dollar in his pocket, thinks he's rich and sets his site on leaving home.
Take this from your pals across the pond who have more oil than we'd ever know to do with, but who keep our feet firmly planted on the ground.

Surfcrest

[timmberty]

surfcrest i agree with you about the bankers .. just imagine if you didnt pay out those billions in bonuses .. you could end up with people who had no clue about banking .. they could have bought countries to their knees ...
for sure you need people who know what they are doing.

[scottish-guy]

I don't think we need to obsess on the oil - the revenues make up only around 15% of the Scottish economy - but it is a major asset.

What's important is have control over future revenues - which for the last 40 years have been completely squandered.

Norway did not waste her windfall and now has an Oil Fund worth some ┬г450 billion - the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world - ┬г90,000 for every man, woman, and child. What does the UK have to show for 40 years of revenue? Fuck all - it's all been blown.

It's a finite resource - we need control NOW or the remaining revenues will be similarly squandered.

[giggsy]

Ha Ha Reading this reminded me of a Catherine Tate sketch, perhaps we could re-make it with Beachlover as the grandson, Timmberty as Nan , Scottishguy as himself and Monty as Bombay Mary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMDg4oVAR8E

[scottish-guy]

I took this photo of Christianpfc at the rally - isn't he cute in his lederhosen.....

[attachment=0:4vqt6j76]rally 032 - resize2.JPG[/attachment:4vqt6j76]

So those who pay taxes in Scotland but have no UK citizenship (because they're EU nationals, for example) have no right to vote even though the decision will undoubtedly impact them. I wonder what the American colonists ("no taxation without representation") would make of that.

[scottish-guy]

No, it's very fair and simple - it's basically a residency qualification - so, if you live in Scotland, are 16+, and are on the voters roll, you have a vote in the referendum.

The only exceptions (nationality-wise) would be persons who are non-British, non-EU, non-Commonwealth, and non British Overseas Territories or Crown Dependencies. People of at least 100 different nationalities will be eligible to vote provided they are resident in Scotland. Even the English.

But not Americans?

[scottish-guy]

You're correct - Americans (who elected George W Bush not once but twice) are excluded.

:kap: