Scottish Independence

[LongBlade]

I look at it like Texas wanting to leave.

ya I get your talking points....  but dont be stupid.

Crazy as that sounds...

The failed Scottish vote to pull out from the United Kingdom stirred secessionist hopes for some in the United States, where almost a quarter of people are open to their states leaving the union, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Some 23.9 percent of Americans polled from Aug. 23 through Sept. 16 said they strongly supported or tended to support the idea of their state breaking away, while 53.3 percent of the 8,952 respondents strongly opposed or tended to oppose the notion.

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/19/us-usa-secession-exclusive-idUSKBN0HE19U20140919

[BanzaiCat]

Usually secessionists are seen as kooks and insane people, but it's something people are slowly taking more seriously (though they're still in the vast minority).

Texas itself has several secessionist movements and they've been around for years. The Republic of Texas movement, the Texas Nationalist movement, etc. The Texas Nationalist Movement seems to have the most traction though they're certainly in the minority (though they did garner over 120,000 signatures to a petition to WhiteHouse.gov to seek permission to secede - the response was, of course, "no.")

There's a Supreme Court case, Texas v. White, from 1869 that serves as a legal precedent that basically says states do not have the right to secede from the Union - though it barely passed with a 5-3 vote.

[mirth]

Thank God it didn't come to this

[BanzaiCat]

I know, riiiiiight? I mean, like, OMG, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry were TOOOOOTALLY like, fighting and stuff!  :))

[undercovergeek]

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/19/scottish-independence-glasgow-riots_n_5851212.html?icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl1|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D294400

now it starts

and i did think Salmond would go, it was his main party line and now he doesnt have it

[JudgeDredd]

As a Glaswegian I am not surprised by this but still saddened. They won...wth are they rioting about.

Glasgow has a very strong sectarian hatred running through it...as a Catholic school boy, I saw that nasty side a lot and it's very, very unpleasant. I've said often enough that Glasgow is like Belfast in many ways.

Any YES campaigners would be wise to avoid the area and any other filth and let them sing their sectarian shite to themselves and make the Nazi salute to themselves.

As a whole, there's currently an undercurrent of right wing fascism running through the UK which I do not like one bit.

[Gusington]

I am sorry to hear this. Hopefully it won't get any more heated.

[bayonetbrant]

[undercovergeek]

apparently the yes vote in Glasgow was 82%  :o

[BanzaiCat]

Wow. I wonder why it was so high there?

I heard the voting age was lowered to 16 before this vote. Seems fishy. 16-year-olds don't have the sense to know what to make to eat for a meal, let alone decide the fate of a country.

[endfire79]

Alcohol + politics: never turns out right.

I can remember growing up here when waving a Canadian flag in some areas would get a nasty look from some people.  I find it less so now, though there are always some knuckleheads out there.   I decided since then to have it up several times a year along with the provincial flag and a Greek flag), and never backed down to hooligans since then.  Hatred is taught at an early age, and children on both sides learn from their parents and their peers.  Hooligans like that need to get a life, grow up and learn about mutual respect.

[endfire79]

On a lighter note:

[JudgeDredd]

apparently the yes vote in Glasgow was 82%  :o

Again - that doesn't surprise me. Glasgow is one of the cities in Scotland which has always been hit most of all economically. The slums in Glasgow when I was a kid were on an almost Victorian scale...and I'm not exaggerating.

I'm not saying they were worse than areas in Manchester, London, Newcastle...I couldn't possibly say - but that is why the voting population of Glasgow was always going to be for independence. If any people in Scotland were to feel let down by the establishment, Glasgow would be high on the list.

I saw an interview with a guy from Edinburgh where he said "People round here have a lot to lose"...ergo 67% (?) of people in Edinburgh voted NO...same as Aberdeen...lot of money round there.

People in Glasgow...lots of people...don't have a lot to lose...in a phrase "Things can only get better". I believe Dundee is similar in that large parts of it are (or at least were) very low level living standards.

[JudgeDredd]

Wow. I wonder why it was so high there?

I heard the voting age was lowered to 16 before this vote. Seems fishy. 16-year-olds don't have the sense to know what to make to eat for a meal, let alone decide the fate of a country.

I think that is EXTREMELY unfair. Not from a "Scottish" perspective either.

What you are suggesting is that 16 year olds can't make an informed decision but people over that age can. Well, I can tell you that my mum votes occasionally (and I'll put a penny to every pound she's not the only one) based on "who she likes". "Oh...I don't like him...look at his wee fat smug face" I heard her say about Salmond.

16 year olds should most definitely have a vote and why? Because those are the ones who will be affected by the next incoming government when they are most likely to be affected by the policies being put forward.

For example - a 16 year old who is finishing off in school before a general election. One of the parties is threatening to increase university fees from £3000 to £9000 a year. A 16 year old with no vote is going to be hit by such a policy...but can't do a thing about it. The same party, for example, may be offering a tax cut to the very well off. The 16 year old might want to have a say in something like that.

The polls showed that the older people were, the more likely they were to vote NO. I don't know if that was known or suspected before...but 16 and 17 years old kids were always going to be most profoundly affected by an independent Scotland...especially in the longer term.

I am all for 16 year olds being given the vote. Just because you turn 18 doesn't mean you suddenly grow into a mature, thought provoking adult. People 18 and over don't have a monopoly on what happens in the future.

[JudgeDredd]

On a lighter note:

lmao - nice one  :D