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[Owlbread]

considering that kosovo is independent now, i doubt there is any irony to be found

they found a precedent and they're replicating it tit for tat

But the very fact that they're replicating it tit for tat is ironic.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Spend some time reading twitters of DNR\LNR supports

Damn, I like how they call us - Ukrs!!! Ukr sounds so cool. They should choose derogatory terms better

[Owlbread]

Whenever I see "DNR" I always think of "Do Not Resuscitate". I'm not sure if there's any meaning in that.

[Mr. Strange]

If the economies of the Baltic states, Finland, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary sink due to lack of energy supplies, will it bring the rest of the EU down or not?

I've seen this several times now, both from Bay12 Russian posters and Russian media, and let me tell you that Finnish economy wouldn't "sink" at all if Russian gas was cut off. Largest single source of energy in Finland is oil at ~25 %, next is nuclear energy ~20 %, even imported energy (~10-20 %) is more important than Russian gas, especially since latter is used solely in power plants, so cutting it wouldn't affect everyday life in the least since any drop in produced energy can be coverd by imported energy(all energy is sold to -and then bought from- Nordic Energy Market). It might cost little more, but users wouldn't notice anything.

Baltic states might be more vulnerable, but without knowing how large portion of their energy production is covered with Russian gas those charts don't tell you anything usefull, they are just usefull for  propaganda purposes, creating false sense of power and importance for Russian audience.

[Helgoland]

they found a precedent and they're replicating it tit for tat

Eeeeeeehhhhhh...  more like "producing a malformed wretched copy". Kinda like the creation of the Orks, if I remmeber my LotR lore correctly.

[GreatJustice]

If the economies of the Baltic states, Finland, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary sink due to lack of energy supplies, will it bring the rest of the EU down or not?

I've seen this several times now, both from Bay12 Russian posters and Russian media, and let me tell you that Finnish economy wouldn't "sink" at all if Russian gas was cut off. Largest single source of energy in Finland is oil at ~25 %, next is nuclear energy ~20 %, even imported energy (~10-20 %) is more important than Russian gas, especially since latter is used solely in power plants, so cutting it wouldn't affect everyday life in the least since any drop in produced energy can be coverd by imported energy(all energy is sold to -and then bought from- Nordic Energy Market). It might cost little more, but users wouldn't notice anything.

Baltic states might be more vulnerable, but without knowing how large portion of their energy production is covered with Russian gas those charts don't tell you anything usefull, they are just usefull for  propaganda purposes, creating false sense of power and importance for Russian audience.

After a very brief google search I discovered that

Finnish oil imports came from Russia (64 percent)

[Helgoland]

You can switch oil suppliers rather easily, though.

[Owlbread]

Some Huffington Post analysis saying the vote on Scottish independence is "too close to call". What do you fellows think of it?

[Darvi]

You can switch oil suppliers rather easily, though.

Yeah, the high percentage on those countries is most likely because they border Russia (or are otherwise very close to it) and that this makes it rather convenient to import from there. The real question should therefore not be "how much oil do they export from Russia", but "how easily can they switch over to a different source".

[Owlbread]

I think we'll find out when it happens.

Of course, yes, but I was just interested to hear what you fellows thought of the methodology in that link. I haven't seen analysis like that before of our polls - just the usual "polls of polls" which are just simple line charts.

[Descan]

Bullshit, it'll be so close that it'll take 14 different recounts before anyone even hazards a guess what the result is.

[Owlbread]

Bullshit, it'll be so close that it'll take 14 different recounts before anyone even hazards a guess what the result is.

I can actually see a Quebec-style situation e.g. 2-3% difference maximum. People are really underestimating how much things narrow in a short space of time.

As an aside, Scotland is actually a country without a national anthem. This is our "de facto" and unofficial anthem being sung at the Commonwealth Games but I'm not sure if I'm happy with it. The poetry of it isn't great and it's not as rousing as it should be. The problem is I'm not sure about the others either. The most popular answer to this topic being brought up in a conversation in Scotland is "we need to write a new one" but who the hang is going to do it? I just know it'll be Midge Ure and Marti Pellow from Wet Wet Wet or something and it'll be utterly shite. So shite in fact we'll go right back to singing Flower of Scotland at sports events as soon as we can.

The alternatives are

*: Highland Cathedral, written by Germans. It's a very nice pipe tune but the lyrics aren't very good and nobody knows them.
*: Scots Wha Hae, our historical de-facto anthem from the late 18th, early 19th centuries. It's my personal favourite but it's a bit too nationalistic for a lot of people's tastes.
*: Freedom Come All Ye, a song about social justice and change in the world, very internationalist etc. It's an "international anthem" if there ever was one. The lyrics are also very well written and it's a powerful song.
*: Scotland the Brave, a good pipe tune, our "acceptable" anthem formerly played at the Commonwealth Games and the like. I don't like it because I see Imperialist associations with it. It's Scotland's imperial anthem, basically. Nobody knows the lyrics anymore.
*: Is There For Honest Poverty, another Burns song like Scots Wha Hae. An early Socialist/Leftist anthem that speaks of how the "honest man, though ever so poor, is king of men" and so on, but very popular. It's one of my favourite songs for its lyrics but I'm not sure if it could be played successfully at a sports event. This is how it's meant to be sung, of course.
*: Auld Lang Syne, the song all of you probably sing at New Year. Written by Burns again it's a very nice song about companionship, nostalgia and remembrance. Nothing too controversial, everyone knows the lyrics (at least in Scotland). If we use this it would be a bit like the Koreans using "Arirang" as a national anthem.

[TD1]

I vote Scotland the Brave.

The lyrics aren't well known, though I could sing a wee bit of it, but the tune stands alone. Used to play it on the bagpipes.

[MonkeyHead]

FWIW I actually think F.o.S is a cracking anthem - rousing, fun to sing, with the right amount of "scottishness" (granted, I am an outsider...) to it. Not as good as "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau", but then nothing really is...

A quick googling suggests that all of the "anthems" of the territories in the UK are not official by act of law, with the UK having "God Save the Queen" (ugh, what a dirge) as its anthem, which has been adopted by England as its anthem, with people wanting a specific English anthem chosen in its place (most common suggestion being the hymn Jerusalem). No doubt this adoption is what has led the rest of us to pick our own.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

My choice is Scots Wha Hae