January 30, 2020

"So graceless; so humourless. Au revoir EU."

138 comments:

stevew said...

How dare you reject our benevolence. Too bad a woman delivered these comments, comes across as the stereotypical woman scorned. She may as well have said, "We never liked you anyway".

Ray - SoCal said...

The entire video of Nigel Farage speech is amazing! Only 5 minutes.
NIGEL FARAGE BIDS FAREWELL TO THE EU - via Powerlineblog

Tom T. said...

That seems to be the norm these days after losing an election.

More seriously, throughout this process, the EU has openly set out to be as hostile and destructive to the UK as it can, presumably to send a message to any other country that might think about leaving.

tim in vermont said...

I liked Gutfeld’s tweet, that that video had a better ending than Love Actually.

Paddy O said...

She's Irish. There's a lot of history with those flags and a cause for lack of humor and grace toward the UK. While I support UKs move here, I still find an Irish woman saying good riddance to an Englishman in a dismissive tone very satisfying.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Scottish parliament votes to hold new independence referendum

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

We should all celebrate being rid of the English.

Michael K said...

ARM should consider moving to Scotland. There he will enjoy a Socialist government, if they ever do leave the UK plus the weather is nice.

It is sad to see what has happened to Scotland, which was once the source of the Enlightenment, and most of the progress in Medicine that occurred in the UK.

More blogger crap. x 4

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

This is exactly right. For centuries the English have ridden on the backs of Scottish genius.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

At least they didn’t have to go to war to get out of the EU. The thuggery of the EU has been interesting. Bernie fans take note. You can vote yourself into socialism but you will have to shoot your way out.

rehajm said...

The entire video of Nigel Farage speech is amazing!

That was a great speech. It will resonate. The back and forth between the two bodies tells all:

"You may loath populism but I'll tell you a funny thing...it's becoming very popular."

"If you disobey the rules you get cut off. Will you please remove the flags."

That was rule #115,922 they broke by the way. The I'm Hurt by Flag Waving So you Don't Get to Do It statute.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

It is worthwhile remembering the first declaration of independence from England, the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath:

"As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Also, 21 of the 50 signers of America’s founding legal document were of Scottish descent. The Scots have always been on the side of freedom.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Let's hope the people of Wales and Northern Ireland also value freedom as much as the Scots.

rehajm said...

The commune starts to fall apart once you run out of room on the chalkboard for new rules.

buwaya said...

There is a good statistical argument whereby the best of the Scottish gene pool has emigrated, to Ireland, to the US, to Canada/Australia etc., and most of all to England. A brain drain that has lasted at least three centuries. That has to have had an effect on the native breeding population.

Whats left in Scotland proper may be only a depleted remnant, leached of its best, negatively selected for the mediocre.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Upon Scottish freedom the sons and daughters of Scotland will return. Make Scotland great again.

Shouting Thomas said...

God, what a tedious, egotistical bore you are ARM.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

I love you too. And your desperate cries for attention are duly noted.

Shouting Thomas said...

At least Howard is good for some unintended laughs.

Where is he?

Save us from ARM’s idiot self-congratulation, Howard!

Shouting Thomas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mezzrow said...

I thought I detected the distinct scent of Buckfast and Irn Bru from ARM's corner this morning. Celtic or Rangers, Jock?

buwaya said...

Nigel Farage is a remarkable man.

He made Brexit happen, with minimal official support, the tiniest financial resources and only marginal personal political success. He is however a great political guerrilla fighter.

He can be seen as the proper political heir to both Margaret Thatcher and Enoch Powell. He actually met Enoch Powell as a schoolboy, and was it seems inspired into politics by this meeting. And he avenged Thatcher, who was turfed out largely because she opposed Britains entry into the EU in the first place. Farage corrected that shameful betrayal and vindicated Thatcher.

Leland said...

I thought Farage's speech a little overdone until I made it to the end. Way to play your part to make his point, Vice President McGuinness. Now I think Farage's speech was perfect.

tim in vermont said...

KInd of ironic that the choice of the Scots may be to enslave themselves to the “anti-democratic” EU. Farage is not wrong. The people who make the laws (European Commission) are not elected and the European “Parliament” is little more consequential than the House of Lords.

But let the Scots choose as they will, I am all for that. Even if it will probably be the last consequential democratic vote that nation sees for a very long time.

"Now I think Farage's speech was perfect.”

He knew what he was dealing with.

AllenS said...

From what I've heard lately about Scotland, is that alcoholism is about all they have going for them. It's worse there, than Wisconsin!

Michael K said...

I agree with buwaya that the Scots' gene pool is depleted.

An Irish friend told me why the Irish are not that happy to see Americans looking for their "roots."

He said, "They know the cream left." The Scots left for America . What is left is the SNP dregs that ARM loves so much.

The left likes beggars because they are so easy to please. Cuba and Venezuela have seen the same phenomenon.

buwaya said...

"Upon Scottish freedom the sons and daughters of Scotland will return."

This has rarely happened in history (to any appreciable extent). People lose connection with the old land, become something else, and if they move on from there they go to greener pastures, not the burned out wreckage of the old country which has become terminally foreign.

I do not see how an independent Scotland can ever be anything but a bureaucracy-choked economic wasteland. It is never going to be a land of opportunity without exterminating its stifling leadership class, and entirely reprogramming its populati on.

There are just two important exceptions. One is Israel, and that was only because of the peculiar circumstance of the holocaust. The other is that of the Frech pieds noirs from Algeria, and that is because they had to flee, for good reason.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Who knew there was so much anti-Scots bigotry in the world? I blame the English.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Scottish parliament votes to hold new independence referendum

So. They just had a vote and Scottish Independence lost. Don't be such whiney losers and suck it up

buwaya said...

"Farage is a drama queen. Just go, man. Why the show?"

Politics is showmanship. This little incident is intended to be remembered. I have no idea what Farage intends, but this manifestation at the ending of this phase is deliberate.

rehajm said...

People lose connection with the old land, become something else...

Humans live in tribes. We have to that sort out from time to time.

mockturtle said...

Brexit may be rats leaving a sinking ship but the ship is, in fact, sinking. I fully expect France to be next but she will await the possibly dire consequences to Britain before making her move. Germany will get left with the bill.

tim in vermont said...

I went back to Holland and didn’t feel very Dutch. And I am first generation.

buwaya said...

There was never much anti-Scots bigotry anywhere.

Indeed, the Scots were quite openly welcomed into the great melting pots of London, and the general British Empire and the Anglosphere, and the whole world really. Its quite amazing, the places you will find Scotsmen. Where they melted into the mass.
You will find Scots ubiquitous in the world as a whole, from London to Saint Petersburg to Hong Kong.

But its clear that all that talent from the Scottish enlightenment, all those great minds at Endinburgh - are elsewhere, everywhere. But they aren't really Scots anymore.

We are talking here about the remnant. Statistically, in every way, a rather pathetic remnant. Note that the brain drain is as powerful right now as it has ever been.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-38207729

Scottish schools performance has been in a wild free-fall. This is unique in Europe, a notable phenomenon of the last two decades. This is one of those inconvenient facts, critical phenomena rarely considered. But if you want to predict the future, its this stuff that matters.

Rick said...

Also, 21 of the 50 signers of America’s founding legal document were of Scottish descent. The Scots have always been on the side of freedom.

How amusing someone would write this just after linking an article describing that their desire for "independence" is so they can submit to a different master. It's almost like he asserts whatever he thinks wins a political point regardless of facts.

JAORE said...

We take an international trip every year. Friends ask if I have been to the country of my father's father.

Nope. No interest compared to the multitudes of places I have not been.

Just me I suppose.

Lucid-Ideas said...

You can't cheer in here, this is a chasted government solemnity-cavern!

Lucid-Ideas said...

Just like the Napoleonic Wars, it's the UK verses the Continental System. They were just as bad then too.

Lucid-Ideas said...

I've always been a supporter of secession movements by and large. I feel the same about NAxit (North America). They managed to keep a claw on Canada, but I'm glad we 'Brexit'd' before it became cool.

Sebastian said...

Of course, the scolding lady couldn't help but lie: Farage did not say he hated anyone or any country, in fact he said he loved Europe -- but hated the European project.

Lurker21 said...

The Irishwoman had a thousand years to come up with something memorable and that's the best she could do?

Conflicted feelings here in New England as well. We feel all the resentment of the Irish against the English and the old Yankees. Also all the resentment of everybody else against the Irish, who have replaced the Brahmins.

And one reason why the Irish and the Scots don't always love tourists in search of their roots is that the visitors go around claiming to be Irish or Scots when they're obviously only Americans.

gerry said...

It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

But Scots seek to remain members of the EU, where their liberty will rot?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

The English are in for a hard time. They have no true allies. Trump is himself half Scottish and unlikely to give them an easy time, just on principle. The Australians and New Zealanders can't wait to fuck them over in pay back for their abandonment of the Commonwealth trading bloc. And, it's best not to talk about what the Chinese think - or or the Indians, or the Germans, or the French, or the entire middle east and half of Africa. Some dark days ahead. But not for plucky little Scotland, which will rise Phoenix-like from the ashes of English imperialism to once more shine its glorious light upon the world.

n.n said...

But Scots seek to remain members of the EU, where their liberty will rot?

Comfortably managed.

Fernandinande said...

She doesn't look healthy - a mutated potato blight that jumped to humans? Well, jumped to the Irish anyway.

mockturtle said...

They have no true allies. Trump is himself half Scottish and unlikely to give them an easy time, just on principle.

LOL, ARM. Not everyone is as tribal as you are. Trump will side with Britain on principle.

Fernandinande said...

I left the EU and sure don't recall any fanfare about it.

tim in vermont said...

"But not for plucky little Scotland, which will rise Phoenix-like from the ashes of English imperialism to once more shine its glorious light upon the world.”

That’s good.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Trump is also half German and, truth be told, he has no principles other than that everyone should pay full-price. The English aren't getting a free ride from us. Trump has my unqualified support in this.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

"If you disobey, you get cut off."

What a leftwing progressive thing to say.

Gahrie said...

Now they just need to plug up the Chunnel.

tcrosse said...

Beam me up, Scottie.

Gahrie said...

The English are in for a hard time... Some dark days ahead. But not for plucky little Scotland, which will rise Phoenix-like from the ashes of English imperialism to once more shine its glorious light upon the world.

I bet you are exactly wrong. (as usual) I bet England's economy soars, and Scotland continues to languish.

Hagar said...

The brightest prospect before a Scottish lad is still the road to London!

Chris N said...

Hey ARM, if you’re making actual predictions, can you list them by

1. Prediction
2. Probability percentage of prediction occurring
3. Timeframe and variability of timeframe
4. Evidence for the prediction

These seem to be factual matters. I want to make sure how to bet on the future and share this knowledge with others

Thanks

buwaya said...

Arguably Scotland WAS British imperialism.

There were hordes of Scots running, or exploiting, the British Empire. And creating the "interests" that kept it expanding. As I noted above, they were ubiquitous. Why did the British have an empire in East Asia? Jardine and Matheson. Scots.

Just as the Basques were the heart and soul of the Spanish Empire. They ran it, they were the treasure fleets, the sailors and admirals and merchants.

Its often minority subcultures within an imperial structure that dominate economic niches, Thomas Sowells market dominant minorities.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

London itself wants to secede from the rest of the English.

tim in vermont said...

Obviously the Davos set has the story on lockdown here in the US, but France doesn’t seem all that happy with the EU either.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

The discussion above about the character of Scotland and Wales and Ireland is very interesting as it pertains to the founding and the character of "America".

I am Welsh, Scottish and Irish in my heritage. 85% according to DNA. My very first ancestors in the US came from Scotland and Wales in the 1930's. They fought in the Revolutionary War and every war since.

The book Born Fighting by Senator Jim Webb is instructive in how the Scots-Irish founded and shaped this country. Look up Scots-Irish. It probably isn't what you think it is.

Scotland has always had a very rocky relationship with England. Their stubborn contrariness is no surprise.

Trump is 50% Scottish. His mother was born and raised in a very poor family and a harsh part of Scotland. Bio or Mary Anne Macleod Read and consider how Trump became Trump.

Stubborn and contrary. My people!!!

Clyde said...

@ Michael K

Before posting your text, highlight the entire thing and copy it. Then post. If Blogger screws up, all you have to do is paste your text back in and try again. This will save you a lot of frustration!

tcrosse said...

There are plenty of Scots willing to do anything for Scotland except live in it.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Dust Bunny, well said.

AMDG said...

Isn’t there any guaranty that an independent Scotland would be admitted to the EU?

Temujin said...

She could enjoy a great career as a sidekick on the CNN comedy, “The Don Lemon Show”. She’s a natural.

Rory said...

"There are just two important exceptions. One is Israel, and that was only because of the peculiar circumstance of the holocaust. The other is that of the Frech pieds noirs from Algeria, and that is because they had to flee, for good reason."

There's also been a measurable movement of black Americans from the North back to the South.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"More seriously, throughout this process, the EU has openly set out to be as hostile and destructive to the UK as it can, presumably to send a message to any other country that might think about leaving."

Exactly. Thuggishness and graceless butthurt at one go. They know the air is going out of the balloon.

Scottish independence is, at best a vanity project. They can continue to receive English largesse or be a pauper state in a crumbling EU. I would bet they chose the former, after all the chest beating is done.

tim in vermont said...

My ancestors on Dad’s side have fought in every war since the French and Indian, but they were of German and Dutch stock. I think that the Scots Irish thing is overblown. It’s Viking stock, implanted by rape over much of coastal norther Europe and the British Isles, that led to the Norman conquest of England and eventually the creation of an empire that spanned the globe.

Not that the Scots, historically, haven’t been really something. Probably because the avoided the brutal rule of the Romans, some real IQ squishers there. Anybody who could be a threat to the order of the invaders was brutally murdered under Roman rule.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

While the Scots may have played some small, minor, barely noticeable role in the excesses of the English Empire, while just following English orders, they have wisely chosen to remain close allies with the German, Belgium and French nations, whose own problematic history in this area would serve to camouflage this barely worth mentioning slice of Scottish history, if such camouflage were actually needed.

Greg the class traitor said...

Back in 2014 the Scotts had a chance to leave the UK. The vote failed, horribly.

Why?

Because what's left in Scotland is a bunch of socialist voting welfare queens.

I was a big fan of Scottish independence, because I thought it would have two positive outcomes:

1: Without the Scottish votes for Labour / SNP, the Torys could move father right and still regularly crush Labour. So the UK would get better government

2: Without the UK Gov't teat to suck off of, the Scotts would be forced to stop being such a bunch of socialist layabouts.


Oh, and anyone who thinks the EU would actually let Scotland join if it declared independence from the UK is really not paying attention. The EU is death on separatist movements. Because it's made up of a bunch of governments that are facing them, and don't like them.

And Scotland would definitely be a net drain on the EU.

So:

1: They just had a "once in a generation vote", and lost
2: The EU wont' take them if they do separate
3: Their populace isn't willing to have to live on their own resources, rather than welfare checks from someone else

I'd love to see Scottish Independence happen. But it won't

tim in vermont said...

I would like to thank ARM for the entertaining thread.

Seeing Red said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Seeing Red said...

The English are in for a hard time. They have no true allies.

No country has true allies. Especially America.

The time for the Scots to play the Brits off the EWwwwww are coming to and end.



Curious George said...

"My very first ancestors in the US came from Scotland and Wales in the 1930's. They fought in the Revolutionary War and every war since."

Huh?

Chuck said...

I hope and expect that Farage will get what he’s been asking for.

Good and hard.

Seeing Red said...

The Scots should leave. They’ll be worse off and sometimes getting it and living with the consequences good and hard, like the NY criminal release policy is the only way to learn.

Bill Peschel said...

It's so refreshing to see the masks come off. Dictator's tears are so tasty.

Greg the class traitor said...

AMDG said...
Isn’t there any guaranty that an independent Scotland would be admitted to the EU?


Nope

In 2014 the EU said they wouldn't let Scotland enter.

To spite the UK, the rules of the EU might try to change that position. But, IIRC, they need the approval of every EU Country in order to let in a new country. And I expect that one or more country will vote to block that change (either an Eastern European Country that is fighting with the EU power structure, and wants to take the opportunity to screw them over, or just one of the poorer countries, not wanting another poor country added to feed at the limited trough).

Chuck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Howard said...

Almost nobody in the United States claims to have English heritage. Like dust Bunny my isle blood comes from Wales Ireland and Scotland. My Viking blood comes from Norway and my Teutonic blood from Germany.

I like the theory put forth on this thread that the best people have left their native gene pool. The same can be said for the distribution of population in the United States. all the best people from the Midwest moved west to California Oregon and Washington after the second world War which is why the West became the economic social and technological juggernaut that it is. It also explains the decline of the heartland into deplorable Trumpism.

tcrosse said...

Even as a person of Scots-Irish French-Canadian lineage, it gave me pleasure to see Nigel Farage give the EU the old forked fingers.

narciso said...

The only loss would be the missile bases on scottish territory. Scots used to be the advance party for the Empire, takr the aberdeen argyle highlanders what are they now?

RNB said...

Reminds me of the (doubtless apochryphal) story about DeGaulle calling in the NATO commander (an American general) at the time of France's leaving NATO and telling him to remove his troops from French soil.

(Supposedly) the commander asked, "The dead ones, too?"

Seeing Red said...

Btw Arm. It optics. Very few care she’s Scottish. Most American children don’t know our history much less their history. What they see is a female representative of the EU being boorish and a nag and reminding them why they Brexited.

Drago said...

"LOL, ARM. Not everyone is as tribal as you are. Trump will side with Britain on principle."

Trump has ALREADY sided with the UK and there is no doubt Trump will align himself with Britain's bargaining position against the EU.

The UK/Whitehall has already developed about 20 trade agreements with multiple other nations that are completely ready to go and the Big Stick agreement with the US is what the EU fears most.

It is being hinted everywhere that the US will force the EU to not take a hard line with Britain lest the EU gets a US tariff hammer applied to the sides of their heads. Further, it is also being hinted everywhere that the US will make it advantageous for EU companies to move some operations into Britain in order to reap the benefits of the coming trade deal between the US and Britain while the US.

Further, Britain RIGHT NOW, all by itself, has a trade imbalance advantage over the EU in terms of products which are critical to a completely sinking German economy.

On top of all that, the IMF is currently projecting a German GDP "gain" of nearly zero to .5% (if they are lucky). More likely: recession (which Merkel and her team will lie about). All the while the IMF is projecting Britain GDP growth of 2%, which would lead the EU nations individually as well as in aggregate.

And remember, the EU was using Britain as its #2 cash cow for funds flowing into Brussels. Only Britain and Germany were Net "givers" to the EU. Everyone else is a "taker".

If the Scots want to align themselves with Brussels (spoiler: the majority of Scots do not as evidenced by the last election: 55% voted for parties representing "Leave") the first thing the EU will do is shut down most of Scotland's fisheries and hand the volume to other EU partners, which the EU has been doing for years.

There are so many layers to this discussion its impossible to effectively cover them all concisely, but all these factors add up to Britain winning.

Browndog said...

Strange, isn't it?

Once the unrivaled rulers of the New World, now forced to beg governments, including their own, for the privilege of self-governance.

Moondawggie said...


"History repeats itself; first as tragedy, then as farce." ...Karl Marx

The Farage speech to the EU was a masterful repeat of the Delta House/Faber College hearing in Animal House. The Irish Chairwoman played Dean Wormer's part perfectly, the non-Brit EU hacks acted just like the Omega autocrats, and Farage getting up and marching out with all the other Brits, waving the British flag in the EU's faces, would have made Eric Stratton proud.

Watch the full 5 minutes, folks. Monty Python couldn't have skewered the EU toffs any better.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/01/nigel-farage-bids-farewell-to-the-eu.php

Rocketeer said...

London itself wants to secede from the rest of the English.

Too bad for London it can't feed itself.

Seeing Red said...

the first thing the EU will do is shut down most of Scotland's fisheries and hand the volume to other EU partners, which the EU has been doing for years.


Yup.

I used to read a Scottish blog. That fisheries deal was awful.

Yancey Ward said...

ARM not liking those sour grapes, I see.

Drago said...

LLR-lefty Chuck: "I hope and expect that Farage will get what he’s been asking for.
Good and hard."

He will. It's called Success for Britain While The EU Falters.

Get used to it.

Britain the Cash Cow has left the EU barn and all that's left is Germany with a collapsing economy.

BTW dummy, did you know that on the heels of Brexit the EU is already proposing to CUT IN HALF all its programs to assist the poorest EU citizens?

Yep, that money is now needed to barely make ends meet while beginning to build an EU Army!! Literally!! At the very same time few EU nations are able to meet even the paltry 2% GDP minimum contribution to NATO!! Germany itself only allocates about 1.3% of its GDP to military spending, and even that is totally fake since the Germans count road building and other clearly civilian infrastructure and programs within their "military" budget as "military" related.

The Germans currently have about 10 to 15 fighter jets TOTAL that are supposedly combat ready. Zero of the German submarine force are capable of putting to sea! They are all rusting at the pier for lack of crews, parts, maintenance, etc.

Why? Because they have been living off the US forever and for Britain for 47 years.

That's all over now.

So it appears that despite LLR-lefty Chuck's most fervent hopes, it is the EU that is getting it "good and hard"!!

Once again, LLR-lefty Chuck is PRECISELY WRONG about everything, because he only listens to and believes in a child-like way everything western "elites" tell him is the truth.

What a dolt Chuck is!

Drago said...

I'll bet LLR-lefty Chuck couldn't even find Germany on a map, much less understand what is occurring economically within the EU!!

Narr said...

CG I think it's clear from the context 1730s was meant.

Oh the Scots. My wife--who has much less Scots blood than I, SFAWK--has become involved with the local Scottish Society. Last Saturday was their 37th annual Burns Nicht supper, complete with pipe band, kilts, dancers, Ode to the Haggis (the high point IMO), and such non-Narr activities as hand-holding circle dances, singalongs, and prayers. (And an invited speaker, an American with a PhD in Celtic Studies, who I'm pretty sure was a little surprised at the goings-on; we hoped to talk shop but it wasn't in the cards.)

I learned that Robbie Burns has the third-most statues in the entire world, after Queen Victoria and I forget who else, and has been an inspiration to humble, freedom-loving people the world over. And other good stuff.

Some other posters have already mentioned Webb's book--which has a fairly plausible argument but isn't well-documented, and have obviously read Arthur Herman too. Niall Ferguson is worth a look also, on the topic of the Scottish near-dominance of the Second British Empire's administration and military forces. A creative minority indeed.

In 1750, Scottish tartans and customs were discourage if not criminalized; in 1850 the fat little Kraut queen was parading as a Scotswoman and kitting out her favorite Scots regiments in plaid.

My wife's Outlander-nut buddies (whether Scottish or not) talk about the desire of the Scots to live in a free country. I don't bother telling them that the words don't mean what they think they do.

Narr
Sigh . . .

Narr said...

Back in the 80's the Speccy was calling the EU-joiners "Federasts."

Narr
Still true

Anonymous said...

Paddy O: She's Irish. There's a lot of history with those flags and a cause for lack of humor and grace toward the UK. While I support UKs move here, I still find an Irish woman saying good riddance to an Englishman in a dismissive tone very satisfying.

"Humorless apparatchik" isn't a traditional Irish mode of being, even toward the English. If she were channeling that "lot of history" she would have been witty and/or poetically blarney-full about it. Nope, this a full on scolding bureaucrat authoritarian - excuse my Gaelic - cunt. Full stop.

Irish globalist bugmen are of a piece with the rest of their ilk the world over; nothing distinctively "Irish" about them beyond the accent.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Howard: Almost nobody in the United States claims to have English heritage. Like dust Bunny my isle blood comes from Wales Ireland and Scotland. My Viking blood comes from Norway and my Teutonic blood from Germany.

Hiya Cousin. The rest of my DNA/genealogy is English, Normans (way way back) German and Iberian Peninsula which is likely Basque. Throw in a bunch of Quakers and what a mix!

Hubby is mostly English, Scottish and a bit of Scandinavian with some Europe (French German) mixed in. The Viking in his heritage is the Viking's Disease (Dupuytren's contracture). Thanks a lot Vikings.

We are all just mongrels of varying ethnic and DNA mixtures from all parts of the world. Europe, Asia, Africa, Amerindian you name it. :-) AKA Americans.

Wince said...

Farage: "we love Europe, we just hate the European Union."

Observe the Schiff-style put words in my opponent's mouth technique on display.

"The word hate was used in the last contribution..."

tcrosse said...

For my most grievous sins I spent a few years in Scotland as a guest of the US Navy half a century ago. Some working-class Glasgow friends of mine told me that all this kilts and bagpipes stuff was a lot of romantic moonshine concocted by Sir Walter Scott.

Anonymous said...

buwaya: He made Brexit happen, with minimal official support, the tiniest financial resources and only marginal personal political success. He is however a great political guerrilla fighter.

He can be seen as the proper political heir to both Margaret Thatcher and Enoch Powell. He actually met Enoch Powell as a schoolboy, and was it seems inspired into politics by this meeting. And he avenged Thatcher, who was turfed out largely because she opposed Britains entry into the EU in the first place. Farage corrected that shameful betrayal and vindicated Thatcher.


Enoch Powell? Er, not quite. While it's nice to see the Brits give the middle finger to the EU, it's not as if it's going to make any difference in the "abolition of Britain" - the deliberate destruction of its historical and cultural identity and its ongoing transformation into multi-culti flophouse and labor exchange. (Same with the Irish, which is why its so funny to hear them still bitching about the English when they're voluntarily selling out their allegedly precious identity for a mess o' EU/globalist pottage.)

You are correct about the disproportionate role of the Scots setting up and running the British Empire.

Roughcoat said...

I'm a half-breed: half Irish, half German, right down the middle, third generation on both sides. The Irish/German combo is still the most numerous ethnic mix in Illinois in particular, and throughout the Midwest. So much so it's virtually a distinct ethnicity. That being the case I'm planning to establish a website and blog dedicated to the Irish/German combo. Probably later this year. If anyone is interested in this project, let me know.

Anyway ... Never any love for the English or the Scots in my Irish family. We were taught to regard the Scots as "lackies of the English" who long ago gave up the fight for Scottish freedom for service in English armies. Also that it was the Scots who were imported from to Ireland who were in large part responsible for dispossessing us of our ancestral lands.

As for the native Ireland who take a dim view or Irish Americans exploring their roots, I don't give a damn for what they think. "Irish America" is a unique and distinct entity and we don't need the Irish to validate it.

Howard said...

The Basque are very cool, DBQ. When we lived in the Owens Valley, Basque sheepherders would run their flock on horseback along the power lines that ran to Los Angeles. They had a look of very ancient people. Whenever we visit my friend in Gardnerville Nevada we always go to The Basque family style restaurants in town. They are one of the few people that do not speak an Indo-European language.

narciso said...

and basque etymologically not like any other European language,

could Scotland be self sufficient, that's very unclear, they fought two wars so the uk would not be subservient to Europe, but the masstricht treaty made it superfluous,

jaydub said...

"and basque etymologically not like any other European language"

It's closer to Finnish than anything else, but the Basque origins are not clear. They have occupied that corner of Spain and France for a very long time.

"This is exactly right. For centuries the English have ridden on the backs of Scottish genius"

BS. Scotland and Wales will never vote for full independence because both are welfare states totally dependent on English largess.

Anonymous said...


Blogger Chuck said...
I hope and expect that Farage will get what he’s been asking for.

Good and hard.

1/30/20, 9:46 AM

Of course you do, because you’re just the most truest of all conservatives that ever existed; it’s just Trump you don’t like. After all, American conservatives and Republicans really love for unelected bureaucrats to control every aspect of their daily life. It’s utterly unreasonable for Farage want the UK to do silly things like control their own borders.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Howard: The Basque are very cool, DBQ

I think so too. There are still Basque sheep herders in a high desert area east of us. They have a long established restaurant and the lamb dishes are to die for.

My Great Grandparents on my father's side were both from Wales. Emigrated in the 1850's and ended up in Rock Springs. The G G Grandfather had a Basque mother. We need graph paper for this. So the Basque heritage is pretty small and diluted by now :-)

As an anthropology/archeology major in college I was always fascinated by the linguistic anomaly and entomology (I think that is the word) of the Basque and Welsh language> The Etruscan peoples also had an interesting language isolate.

Etruscan was a relatively isolated language not connected with the Indo-European languages of Italy, and with only two known related languages considered to have derived from the same common parent source. These are Raetic, spoken in the alpine region north of Verona, and the language spoken on Lemnos before Greek, both with very limited surviving text examples, and the latter probably derived from Etruscan traders. It seems that the 1st-century BCE historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus was entirely justified in claiming that the Etruscans were "a very ancient people resembling no other either in language or customs" (Heurgon, 1)

Rusty said...

Wasn't a Scottsman tasked with compiling the OED?
James Watt was Scotts.

readering said...

Now show the video of th chamber standing and singing old Lang syne.

Howard said...

Thanks for reminding me of the Etruscans, DBQ. I've been meaning to dial up some documentaries on YouTube. The human diaspora is endlessly fascinating.

Howard said...

The Scottish enlightenment what is a first-order factor in the development of the technical philosophical social and economic development and domination of the world by Western democracies

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Rocketeer said...
"London itself wants to secede from the rest of the English."

London is no longer a majority English city, as John Cleese noted recently.

Narr said...

One of my wife's DNA tests pulls up Etruscan as a possible/probable lineage. (I always thought her butt was Sicilian but I am not a scientist.)

I'm 1/2 late-arriving Kraut and 1/2 British Isles (Revolution/Confederate branch).

Narr
And all charm

Anonymous said...

jaydub: It's closer to Finnish than anything else, but the Basque origins are not clear.

Never heard that Basque had any known relation to Finnish (or any other Uralic language). A quick search doesn't throw up anything aside from pointing out that, no, they're not related, and are "alike" only in that they're both non-Indo-European languages.

Are there people out there pushing this theory?

Narr said...

Mark Kurlansky's "Basque History of the World" is great, as are most of his books that I have read. I hear you can order them easily.

Narr
Bon apetit

Narr said...

A-D,SB I had the same thought. I know the Finnish-Hungarian-Turkish connections but hadn't heard it put to Basque.

Narr
Kurlansky says "honchoe" is Basque

Curious George said...

"Blogger We Have The Meats said...
I hope and expect that Farage will get what he’s been asking for.

Good and hard."

Why?

tcrosse said...

It is noted at the Telegraph that with Brexit the Scottish government will receive new, already devolved powers over fishing, agriculture, and the environment which have hitherto been wielded by Brussels. This realization might dampen the Scots enthusiasm for the EU.

Seeing Red said...

Rocketeer said...
"London itself wants to secede from the rest of the English."

London is no longer a majority English city, as John Cleese noted recently.

My friend was there a couple of years ago and said the same.

Seeing Red said...

But they didn’t build that.

Seeing Red said...

New powers or old powers of somewhat self-determination over their economic potential?

GingerBeer said...

The “fiercely independent” Scots refused to be ruled by the wankers in London any longer. They much prefer to be ruled by the wankers in Brussels.

Rick said...

Howard said...all the best people from the Midwest moved west to California Oregon and Washington after the second world War which is why the West became the economic social and technological juggernaut that it is. It also explains the decline of the heartland into deplorable Trumpism.

Another example of left wingers concocting fantasies based on their political animus. Everywhere populations are more dense on the coasts because sea trade is easier than river trade and river trade is easier than land trade. Trade centers drive economic activist which in turn draws labor.

tim in vermont said...

Kind of surprising in how many states the third most widely spoken language after English and Spanish is German

https://twitter.com/baseballcrank/status/1222944258350637056

MadisonMan said...

@Aunty, I'm guessing German is 4th after Hmong in WI/MN. Hmong as #3 is a relatively recent thing.

Greg the class traitor said...

Howard said...all the best people from the Midwest moved west to California Oregon and Washington after the second world War which is why the West became the economic social and technological juggernaut that it is.


Yep.

Then the Cold War ended, the defense industries died, and those people were replaced by the fruitcakes and losers that made places like CA one Party States where the streets are covered in human waste.

Check out one way uHaul rates to / from CA. They've been higher going out than coming in, for decades.

Because the good people have been leaving.

CA voted GOP for President in 80, 84, and 88, chum

Curious George said...

"MadisonMan said...
@Aunty, I'm guessing German is 4th after Hmong in WI/MN. Hmong as #3 is a relatively recent thing."

I'd guess Polish.

JaimeRoberto said...

It's SHITE being Scottish! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the English. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand, are COLONIZED by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to be colonized BY.

Quaestor said...

Upon Scottish freedom [sic] the sons and daughters of Scotland will return. Make Scotland great again.

Low comedy.

What will ARM do for an encore? Slip on a banana peel?

Narr said...

Mike Myers and SNL used to have a field day (night?) with Scots chauvinism--which like most Euroriented jokes in American mass entertainment went past most of the audience. Even SNL writers could write above their fans.

Robert Graves, that brilliant Euromongrel, said that in the Great War, "the Scots ran like hell both ways." On our recent Anglophone tour, two Yorkshiremen with us explained that a Yorkshireman is a Scotsman with all the generosity squeezed out.

Narr
I got a million of 'em

Gk1 said...

That Farage speech was a corker! All the better a humorous prig shut off his mic and scowled impotently at the British. There is nothing that bothers the elite more than being mocked. The angrier they get the more people laugh. "Populism is popular" should make a good tattoo for someone.

Howard said...

Actually Greg, in the 1960's, California was inundated by youths from the northeast who came with their Flatlander progressive politics and started taking over city, county, then state government.

Quaestor said...

Long, long ago, Punch had a look at the SNP and its fantasies.

Quaestor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ken in tx said...

The Brits are eat up with regional and class antagonisms. I used to read 'The Spectator' magazine. They frequently published disparaging remarks and jokes about the Scots. They were verbally treated even worse than Southern whites are in American culture.

My ancestors came from Ireland in 1788, however, my DNA is German. Probably Palatine Irish--German refugees resettled in Ireland by the Brits.

My wife's DNA is English and Danish, which fits with where her family is supposed to come from--the Dane-Law part of England. There is a village there with her family name.

Nichevo said...

That being the case I'm planning to establish a website and blog dedicated to the Irish/German combo. Probably later this year. If anyone is interested in this project, let me know.


Tell us all about it, my kraut-mick friend!

Narr said...

test

Narr said...

Keep us posted K-M Roughcoat. I worked with a K-M retired navy chief from Cincinnati.

Nobody should be surprised by the German stream in the US population. If I recall my population history, German-speakers were the largest single demo of immigration in the 19th C (and there was quite a bit in the 18th, from PA down to NC and West--not all the pioneers were Scots-Irish). They and the Irish together made up 25+% (? check me) of Union forces in the WABAWTS, and there were German and German-descent units in the CSA too. Despite the bad press garnered by hardluck XI Corps, they actually did pretty well--no other Union corps would have done much better at C-ville or G-burg if in the same positions and situations.

In 1860 there were two German language newspapers in Memphis; I have read that in some rural areas of the Midwest there were church services in German until the 1960s.

Narr
Kraut-Mixt

Tyrone Slothrop said...

The Scots branch of my ancestry had the surname Wright, a maker of things. That's interesting to me because I like making things more than anything else in the world. Greatest race of engineers the world has ever known, the Scots.

Kirk Parker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kirk Parker said...

Narr,

Sometime in the 1990s we discovered this little German-speaking church in no-man's-land between Tacoma and Puyallup WA. They actually had (very old!) shape-note German language hymnals in the pew racks.