The EU isn't as bad as we think

It means his old man was a Minister; Presbyterian in his case.

 

Cheers, I'd been wondering about that. Wasn't he an orange man?

 

Not that I know of, Stefan. They're not necessarily the same thing; the name just really means 'Protestant' these days.
Now the Free Presbyterian Church, on the other hand...they're yer actual Calvinists.

 

Not in the traditional sense, I don't think. They seem to see everything as 'sinful'.

 

Just realised where I got confused, it was Blair's mothers father who was the Orangeman.

 

There was a riddle that went along these lines

Q: Why doesn't the Calvinists have sex standing up?

A: They are afraid that dance may become of it.

 

Good one Jaeger, Back to the Eu: If I were Norwegian I'd probably think like you about the EU, Norway can afford to live without the Union (at least as long as thye have petrol or investments which derive from it). However most countries do not have petrol. On the other hand, if I have a weekend to spend in the North it's easier and cheaper for me to go to Finland and stay in the Euro zone, so I bleieve this is true not only for tourism but also business and Norway might loose parts by not joining.

 

Hello there skipper.

It's just that for a NW highlander as myself I would suffer like Northern Sweden did after joining up. An entire area of Sweden is depopulated. There is now way I can compete with farmers who are closer to equator than I am to the Arctic circle. The local anthem here is 'Among hill tops and crags by the ocean..'

As for our ruddy oil, it is just as much a curse. The money is sent abroad, and the high wages to the petrolium industry has made everyone play catch up. So it is pretty darn deer for many people in Norway.

Generally speaking we have acess to the EU through treaties, and that without giving up an independence. There was a famous Lawyer that made a knee-jerk remark that joining the EU was breaking the first law in the Norwegian constitution. No one has managed to disprove that yet...

Our tourism is going great. The ones we get come here to see the specific scenery and experience fishing/hunting etc. I for one do not count tourism as a sustainable industry given the peak oil period.

Before we know it we will have the British Salmond Earls and Kaiser Wilhelm as our tourists again.

Speaking of Finland there is an increase of Finns that seek a closer co-operation with the Scandianavian countries rater than the rest of the EU.

Take Care

Jaeger

 

That's interesting info Jaeger. All I get here daily are SNP supporters continually telling us how great everything is in Norway, the oil's a Godsend and look how well they're doing as an independent country. The fact that Norway isn't in the EU and the SNP want an independent Scotland to actually be in it are conveniently glossed over. Maybe you should visit The Scotsman forums and stir things up......

Stefan,
I'll bet Blair's grandad is turning in his grave over his recent conversion!

 

This is interesting indeed, we've been told the same thing. Our news must be SNP then, as we hear the same story about wealthy Norway and it's petrol. One of these days I must really go to Norway and find out for myself. The scenery of the Fjords must be great.

 

I agree and it is a shame we are.

 

Of course things are great in Norway. And were doing well as an independent nation. What winds me up is that a lot of people think that our oil is all we have got, and that is a blessing. The thing is that oil push our prices up, and we cannot use all the money because it would ruin our competetivness on other products.

We do get to protect our social structure, our district policy, and our sensetive areas. And we are governed by people that we have voted on. that is the perk.

I don't want to go deeper in the EU discussion, Norway isn't part of it and we are doing great, but for those who are part of it and benefit from it...Great.

 

Fair points which are usually forgotten on this side of the North Sea. Certain people over here spent years bleating about how Holland was the only country to discover oil and get poorer, now their obsession is Norway.
They never mention independent countries like Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, San Marino, Andorra, Monaco.....

 

Some fair points here, but I'm certain we'll all say that we are paying for other countries. The richer counties will help the others to develop, I think it's fair. The East countries did not benefit from a Marshall plan like the west did, so now it's our turn to help them. Others before have benefited from this. See the changes in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and now Slovenia. Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus have even adopted the Euro in 2007/2008 which would not have been possible for the respective economies only 4 years ago.

BTW : Luxembourg has been part of Benelux as early as 1944 and was a pioneer founding member of the Union as early as 1956 (Treaty of Rome) .

As some of the other micro states I'd call most of them occult hiding places for tax payers. It's easy to get money this way. No wonder Liechtenstein has money, ask Germany and Italy about their taxpayer scandals there. Same for Monaco (is this a country or a territory with a population of a small town? ) . As for Andorra, they make fortunes with duty free shops.

 

Jaeger is seen marching off into the hills with his fishing rod....in the buff...

 

Good idea, I think I'll go fishing too. May be I'll be back later .

 

Dear Historian,
I think thats a wee bit unfair. PM Golden Brown has had an almost impossible task in convincing the British establishment he is a safe part of hands. However, I am sure you'll agree at that sacrifices must be made when keeping the union in one piece.




SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer