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[Ukrainian Ranger]

(Reuters) - The European Union adopted new sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine war on Monday, but delayed enforcing them to leave time to assess whether a ceasefire in Ukraine is holding.

Hysterical laugher. I think Putin can play "Escalation\pause\Escalation\Pause" game forever

[scriver]

Hmm, if the vote is no in the end, can we trade the UK Scotland for Quebec?

No, we Scandinavians are already trading Scotland for Denmark.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Can somebody please just take Quebec? They're scaring everybody else again.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Give it to Russians. They always want new territory

[mainiac]

Because the vast bulk of their trade will be done with the UK and currency differences would increase the costs associated with that trade.

That sounds like a preferable alternative to a depreciated sterling though, and does simplify things a great deal in the event of independence.

"Sounds like" yes.  But take a moment to consider what a "depreciated" yuan has done for Chinese exports.  Or what a strong Euro has done for European employment.

And as for simplifying.  No that's just silly.

[Phmcw]

(Reuters) - The European Union adopted new sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine war on Monday, but delayed enforcing them to leave time to assess whether a ceasefire in Ukraine is holding.

Hysterical laugher. I think Putin can play "Escalation\pause\Escalation\Pause" game forever

I told you, Europe is just putting a show for the US. They don't give a shit about Russia expanding a little. Actually, that relieve them from the pressure of countries asking to join.

[RedKing]

Because the vast bulk of their trade will be done with the UK and currency differences would increase the costs associated with that trade.

That sounds like a preferable alternative to a depreciated sterling though, and does simplify things a great deal in the event of independence.

"Sounds like" yes.  But take a moment to consider what a "depreciated" yuan has done for Chinese exports.  Or what a strong Euro has done for European employment.

And as for simplifying.  No that's just silly.

Begs the question though -- is Scotland an export-based economy? And are we talking elastic exports like consumer goods or relatively inelastic exports like oil? And would they peg their oil prices to the dollar as most exporters do, or to the Euro, or to the pound sterling, or to the Scottish pound or to a new currency (I endorse the Scottish Caledonian Oil Tartan Sheep, or SCOTS).

[Erkki]

(Reuters) - The European Union adopted new sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine war on Monday, but delayed enforcing them to leave time to assess whether a ceasefire in Ukraine is holding.

Hysterical laugher. I think Putin can play "Escalation\pause\Escalation\Pause" game forever

I told you, Europe is just putting a show for the US. They don't give a shit about Russia expanding a little. Actually, that relieve them from the pressure of countries asking to join.

They care a lot - instability and wars are bad for business. Sanctions are supposed to have a long-term effect... But we probably agree that EU has been spineless at best. Its still all going according to Putin's plans, if he ever had one.

[XXSockXX]

I have to say that, as reluctant as I am to touch Germany's territorial integrity (their federal model is a nice example of something that can work) it would probably work best if Bavaria was independent. They're at least as different from the rest of Germany as Austria, anyway.

Actually most parts of Germany are pretty different from the other parts. Overall our federalism works pretty well though, most problems are administrative and financial stuff, nothing cultural.
If you think about an independent Bavaria, be careful to consider that only part of the Free State of Bavaria is actually really Bavarian, the northern part is Franconia, where there even is a party seeking it's own federal state, and some of the southwest is part of Swabia.

I think Bavarian political particularities stem from the fact that Bavaria used to be a rural, agricultural area (with a conservative electorate), that became really industrialized only after WW2 (more than 100 years after the Ruhr area or parts of the Rhineland) and relatively wealthy (thus politically influential). So the political culture and sensibilities are quite a bit different from other regions, where the cities and industrial centers are traditionally social-democratic while the rural areas are more conservative. In Bavaria that tradition never really developed like that, except for Munich maybe, which is more left-leaning like most bigger cities.

[RedKing]

I have to say that, as reluctant as I am to touch Germany's territorial integrity (their federal model is a nice example of something that can work) it would probably work best if Bavaria was independent. They're at least as different from the rest of Germany as Austria, anyway.

Actually most parts of Germany are pretty different from the other parts. Overall our federalism works pretty well though, most problems are administrative and financial stuff, nothing cultural.
If you think about an independent Bavaria, be careful to consider that only part of the Free State of Bavaria is actually really Bavarian, the northern part is Franconia, where there even is a party seeking it's own federal state, and some of the southwest is part of Swabia.

I think Bavarian political particularities stem from the fact that Bavaria used to be a rural, agricultural area (with a conservative electorate), that became really industrialized only after WW2 (more than 100 years after the Ruhr area or parts of the Rhineland) and relatively wealthy (thus politically influential). So the political culture and sensibilities are quite a bit different from other regions, where the cities and industrial centers are traditionally social-democratic while the rural areas are more conservative. In Bavaria that tradition never really developed like that, except for Munich maybe, which is more left-leaning like most bigger cities.

Sounds similar to the American South. Stayed agrarian and conservative for a long time (okay, still is). While the Northeast was urban, industrial and social-democratic. The interesting bit there though is that while antebellum Southern politics was dominated by an oligarchy of rich landowners, postwar Southern politics became far more populist (think Huey Long) because of the rise of the small farmer and mill worker, the steady demise of the antebellum "old money" families, and the lack of major urban concentrations.

Is/was there a strong populist streak in Bavarian politics?

[XXSockXX]

Sounds similar to the American South. Stayed agrarian and conservative for a long time (okay, still is). While the Northeast was urban and social-democratic. The interesting bit there though is that while antebellum Southern politics was dominated by an oligarchy of rich landowners, postwar Southern politics became far more populist (think Huey Long) because of the rise of the small farmer and mill worker, the steady demise of the antebellum "old money" families, and the lack of major urban concentrations.

Is/was there a strong populist streak in Bavarian politics?

Oh, absolutely. The CSU (Bavarian separate branch of the CDU, dominant party in Bavaria) is very well known for exactly that. Bavarian populism usually is conservative leaning as opposed to left/social democratic populism in other areas. It often seems to come more from a farmers-that-got-rich than a poor-mill-worker background.

Actually, in a way, Bavaria is the Texas of Germany, if you substitute industry for oil and (some parts of) Munich for Austin. Or something like that.

[RedKing]

And Tyrolean caps and lederhosen for cowboy hats and boots.
And beer for...uhh, actually that one stays the same.

[Sergarr]

Because the vast bulk of their trade will be done with the UK and currency differences would increase the costs associated with that trade.

That sounds like a preferable alternative to a depreciated sterling though, and does simplify things a great deal in the event of independence.

"Sounds like" yes.  But take a moment to consider what a "depreciated" yuan has done for Chinese exports.  Or what a strong Euro has done for European employment.

And as for simplifying.  No that's just silly.

Begs the question though -- is Scotland an export-based economy? And are we talking elastic exports like consumer goods or relatively inelastic exports like oil? And would they peg their oil prices to the dollar as most exporters do, or to the Euro, or to the pound sterling, or to the Scottish pound or to a new currency (I endorse the Scottish Caledonian Oil Tartan Sheep, or SCOTS).

From what I remember, solar, tides, hydro energy plus some off shelf oil on a successful diplomacy roll with UK.

[LordSlowpoke]

Because the vast bulk of their trade will be done with the UK and currency differences would increase the costs associated with that trade.

That sounds like a preferable alternative to a depreciated sterling though, and does simplify things a great deal in the event of independence.

"Sounds like" yes.  But take a moment to consider what a "depreciated" yuan has done for Chinese exports.  Or what a strong Euro has done for European employment.

And as for simplifying.  No that's just silly.

Begs the question though -- is Scotland an export-based economy? And are we talking elastic exports like consumer goods or relatively inelastic exports like oil? And would they peg their oil prices to the dollar as most exporters do, or to the Euro, or to the pound sterling, or to the Scottish pound or to a new currency (I endorse the Scottish Caledonian Oil Tartan Sheep, or SCOTS).

From what I remember, solar, tides, hydro energy plus some off shelf oil on a successful diplomacy roll with UK.

solar power

in britain

do you have zero knowledge of climate

[XXSockXX]

And Tyrolean caps and lederhosen for cowboy hats and boots.
And beer for...uhh, actually that one stays the same.

Yeah, you could take that pretty far, the comparison is made frequently, if not in a completely serious way. Back in the days of poor movie dubbing, a strong Bavarian accent was even sometimes used as a stand-in for a strong Texan or similar accent. Also other than most Germans from dialect heavy areas, Bavarian politicians and celebrities make no effort to hide their accent, which I think might be a parallel too.