The many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XIX

[SS-18 ICBM]

Can anybody think of a reason why Scandinavian countries aren't major ice wine producers? Seems like it would be perfect there.

 

[Traitorfish]

Will someone from Scotland tell me how like they are to vote for independence?

I'm really interested in that but my BBC app only brings up sporadically seeing how far off the vote is.

It's very difficult to tell at this point. While only a minority of Scots (something like 30%) are pro-independence as a matter of principle, even fewer are pro-Union as a matter of principle (something like 10-20%), the majority being broadly sympathetic towards independence but basically pragmatic. This means that the outcome will depend not on fixed ideology, but on how the British economic and political systems develop over the next couple of years, and how well well the pro- and anti-independence camps are able to make their case in reaction to that.

Personally, I think the odds are in favour of independence. As mentioned, Unionist sentiment is actually quite limited, so the pro-Union camp needs to be able to make a strong case not just for the Union but against independence, and in Scotland what that means is making a strong left-wing case against independence. The undecided voters are to an extent which is not very well recognised comprised of Labour voters, who are too invested in the welfare state to gamble lightly on an independent Scotland, but need to be assured that we're not looking at another seventeen years of Tory government in Westminster to be convinced that independence, rather than Union, is the gamble. That's something which I don't think that Milliband is remotely capable of doing, and something which the Conservatives are obviously not going to indulge him in.

 

[Cutlass]

Can anybody think of a reason why Scandinavian countries aren't major ice wine producers? Seems like it would be perfect there.

I'm not an expert on wine production. But from what I do know the growing conditions you need for the grapes are a moderate to long summer, Scandinavia has a short one. It needs weather conditions and soil conditions that I don't know that exist there, it needs winters not so harsh that the grape vines survive them. I wouldn't expect the far north to be good for wine.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Ah, you're right. I was just thinking about the cold weather needed to harvest the grapes. Summer is in good supply here in Ontario, don't know about Germany.

 

[madviking]

Why wasn't a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction given out for 2012?

 

[Cutlass]

Why wasn't a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction given out for 2012?

Because when evaluating the top nominees for the award, they felt that none of them were quite up to the standards of the prize. The prize doesn't just go to the best of the year, but it goes to the best that exceed (in their viewpoint) a certain level.

 

[madviking]

Many thanks, cut.

 

[_random_]

Does anyone know of a freeware program comparable to Scrivener?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Thanks traitorfish!

What would independence for Scotland mean in a practical, day to day sense?

Would it assume a place in the commonwealth similar to say, Canada or Australia? Would the queen remain sovereign? Do you keep the pound, and the same military? Has any of that even been sorted out.

I have a million questions. It's very exciting when a people get a chance to set their own course

 

[hobbsyoyo]

On the topic of independence, are there any Puerto Ricans interested in commenting on the coming referendum? I heard the governor only allowed 2 options - statehood or independence. No status quo option. If that's true I don't think it's fair.

I also don't get why the media barely mentions it. It's a big deal.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Thanks traitorfish!

What would independence for Scotland mean in a practical, day to day sense?

Would it assume a place in the commonwealth similar to say, Canada or Australia? Would the queen remain sovereign? Do you keep the pound, and the same military? Has any of that even been sorted out.

I have a million questions. It's very exciting when a people get a chance to set their own course

Better yet, would London even allow it.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Yes. Or else we'll send mel gibson across the pond with a fresh kilt....FREEDOM

 

[Traitorfish]

Would it assume a place in the commonwealth similar to say, Canada or Australia? Would the queen remain sovereign?

That's likely to be the case, yeah. There isn't a very strong monarchist sentiment in Scotland, but at the same time there's not a strong republican sentiment, so most people will tend to opt for the status quo. It's possible that over time, the Scots might drift towards the sort of mild republicanism that we see in Australia, but that remains to be seen.

Do you keep the pound...

That's probably the case. The SNP were previously keen to enter into the Euro, but the financial upheavals of the last few years make that less likely. What I expect is that they'll stick with the sterling for the immediate future, and perhaps adopt an independent currency at a later date.

and the same military? Has any of that even been sorted out.

I honestly have no idea how the military dimension would be resolved, and I don't think that anyone has. Salmond has made what seem reasonable enough claims to the Royal Scottish Regiment, but beyond that it's anyone's guess. A lot of what we presume about an independent Scotland is based on the experience of the Dominions or on Ireland, but in this case the latter had their own military forces when they achieved independence, while the military of the latter is descended from the rebel Irish Republican Army rather than the British Army, so neither are very much help to us.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Ah, you're right. I was just thinking about the cold weather needed to harvest the grapes. Summer is in good supply here in Ontario, don't know about Germany.

There is a lot of German wine. But yeah, Scandinavia seems a little too up north.

 

[Cutlass]

Why does Scotland have such a small population?

 

[Flying Pig]

It's a small country, and the vast majority of it is cold and mountainous. Furthermore, deep-fried mars bars provide an effective substitute for birth control.

 

[salty mud]

Why does Scotland have such a small population?

Would you want to live there?

 

[Cutlass]

Would you want to live there?

Having not been there, I don't know how much I might like it. At least it would be more interesting than here is.

 

[Traitorfish]

Part of it's just geography, as Flying Pig said; there's less flat ground to go around, so less to put people on. But a lot of it is also comes down to socioeconomic factors, specifically that Scotland has always had a higher rate of emigration than England. There's basically two main reasons for this: firstly, Scotland was slow to industrialise, so the population of ex-peasants that in England became the urban working class often had to leave Scotland, either for England or for the colonies. This is particularly true of the Highland Gaels, who at the time of the Highland Clearances still represented something like a quarter of the Scottish population, a lot of whom were forced to migrate to North America for lack of opportunities within Scotland. Secondly, when Scotland did industrialise, its towns often relied heavily on certain specific industries- for example, Dundee basically existed to produce a single textile, jute- and this economic inflexibility meant that slumps hit harder than they would in somewhere with greater economic diversity, which naturally provoked people to try their chances somewhere else.

 

[Ajidica]

Question about Excel:
I have a spreadsheet listing data for a bunch of different organizations and I want to find which organizations have a budget or greater than $1,000,000. I can't seem to figure out how to get the Filter command to do that. How can I do that, or what terms should I use in a google search?