Maoraigh wrote:
An independent Scotland in the present scenario would be the rat leaving the sinking ship.
If the majority of the Scottish people wish to be independent then so be it but the old saying about the grass being greener still hold true. If England now opted to provide no more enhanced taxpayer funding to Scotland and ceased to provide government contracts to keep jobs in Scotland then maybe, just maybe, we might find a different voice.
I do detect in some of the posts what may be described as politics of envy which is very sad. Is this what was the final nail in the coffin for Mr Corbyn?
One difference is that in Czechoslovakia there was never a referendum, or even popular support for the split. What Peter says about au-pairs is true though. When I was an impoverished student I once took an Eurolines coach from London to Bratislava and found myself the only man on the bus for the whole journey (driver excepted). The rest were au-pairs without exception.
I suspect the present drug problem in Scotland is fueled by the lack of incentive or opportunity for youths to work.
I read that, after leaving the EU, Scottish education might have to change to supply workers, who are at present recruited from outside Scotland.
To have an education system not serving the country’s employee needs is cheating its young.
The Conservative, Labour, and SNP politicians see Education as a media toy to boast about their achievements. Recently I read that the target of 50% attending university had at last been achieved, without considering what that would achieve.
PS I’m not anti-NATO, to the extent it can be afforded while maintaining investment in industry.
I believe we should have trusted Saddam Hussein, Ghadaffi, and Assad to handle IS.
Maoraigh wrote:
I believe we should have trusted Saddam Hussein, Ghadaffi, and Assad to handle IS.
You and I need to meet for a coffee. It is like listening to myself. We could change the world!!!!!!
Keeping ruthless dictators in place has been the way the 1st World foreign policy was run for decades, but I don’t think you would get a lot of sympathy for that view from the Guardian, or any other organ of today’s woke world 
Re Scotland, on my few visits to Oban, almost all staff in the hotels were from the former Soviet Bloc, and they said the locals are not interested in working in “hospitality”. Education won’t change that because you don’t need much education to do those jobs; the problem is that the social security system is a bit too generous. But the whole 1st World is struggling with that problem (the inescapable convergence between the “social security safety net” and the “national minimum wage” (whatever form that takes) driven by human rights campaigners).
At work, I can usually tell if the parcel delivery man is from the Societ Bloc, because he brings the package to our upstairs office and wishes us a nice day, whereas the British driver often leaves it downstairs and walks back out quickly, occassionally forging a signature
Of course the only way to achieve 50% university attendance was to dramatically drop the standards.
Pushing everyone to university is a big mistake. The drop in standards and rise in total mickey mouse courses that are of no use. It also seems to produce in some cases some pretty radical left wing people who think that with their gender studies degree they should have their pick of the top jobs and find it unpalatable to accept an unskilled job more suited to their qualification.
It also seems to have pushed people to not value those who do take up a trade or skill.
The comedian Dominic Frisby has added a new verse to his song about our recent democratic questions. There is some strong language used in it, but it is meant as an amusing ditty. (Peter if this is outside of the permitted rules I’ll happily remove the link)
This discussion is very interesting. It unveils the demographic engaged in private general aviation well.
Bit of an old boys club, isn’t it? :)
Maoraigh wrote: I believe we should have trusted Saddam Hussein, Ghadaffi, and Assad to handle IS.
You and I need to meet for a coffee. It is like listening to myself. We could change the world!!!!!!
Confirmation bias is real. We all fall victim to it.
Snoopy wrote:
Confirmation bias is real. We all fall victim to it.
Of course particularly when the message is real. Or fake news?
Doesn’t matter. We all strive to confirm our views and beliefs.
