Is it time for Scotland to be FREE?

Is this your A2K equivalent of a Saul type conversion, hawk?


Have you actually read your opening post and comment?

Scotland doesn't necessarily need to be free. I think that for a modest fee, people would still be willing to visit from time to time.

How much would Scotland pay me to visit it?

Never enough.

the best geo tour of the fuckin PLANET is in SCotland. The Grampian highlands is a magnificent mush of rock and sea that unravels all the mysteries of the earth . In an area smaller than PEI

Scotland is a magnificent place to visit, absolutely beautiful. Being part of one of the really strong economies of the world is a big benefit to Scotland. I'm not sure of any benefits to independence other than trying to distribute its oil money over a much smaller population. I think they make the right call.

Scotland is beautiful, full of history, populated with kind and fun people. Scotland also have some good authors and it is a place worth visiting.
Your racial attitude towards Scotland is not apriciated.

The most interesting thing to me is how the pollsters could be so wrong. This was supposed to be close. Did loads of Scots wake up that morning remembering the disaster of Darien and think "oh ****, i'd better vote no"?

A lot of the people in this thread apparently lack even a rudimentary sense of humor. EhBeth's remark was not even vaguely racist--she made no comments about the character of the Scots people. Vague and unsubstantiated accusations of racism are "not apriciated."

the analysis that I have read says mostly that, 1) the yes promoters did not have an answer to what happens when the oil fields start shutting down in 2020 and are all gone by 2035, and they did not have an argument that Scotland would be better off financially even before that. THis was taking on risk with no financial benefits, and giving England the finger was not worth that finger costing so much risk.


We shall see in future days if there is a better explanation for "no".

I think the opening age of 16 was counted on as being a shoe-in for the "Yes Men". Counting on kids is like carrying frogs in a wheelbarrow.
There were a lot of issues that came up late--"Crikey I dina theenk a thet"

Scotland would suddenly have become the 4th biggest nuclear power in the world.

"wuts at ginna kest us?"


I hung around with a lot a Glaswesians in a past life.

Lots of Irish among them.

I'd love to go to Scotland, and both Irelands, and England and Wales, and walk around. Maybe for a year. Send lottery tickets..

Welcome back, Saab.
I don't think ehBeth meant that as racist either.

The pollsters didn't get anything wrong, as they were simply recording the information that they were given.
What happened here was that the majority of ordinary, discreet, gentle, kind Scots never once commented to anyone as to how they would vote.
The loud, partisan campaigning Scots made a noise for a few days, and then the quiet ordinary people crossed their ballot papers in the privacy and anonymity of the polling booth.

The pollsters just happened to locate themselves in predominantly loud, partisan areas. That was their mistake, maybe.

Racist? I just don't think I'd like it there.

I have friends there - and friends who visit regularly. What they say about it doesn't make it seem worth the trip.

I agree, that has the ring of truth. Moreover, or the past several months it appeared, based on earlier polling, that the separation measure would fail by about 5% - a margin that was very close to the actual result. It was only in the last few weeks and days that the polling gap narrowed, catching, it appears, nearly everyone by surprise. Such last minute surges are not unusual in elections, and very often they are the result of intense interest, self-promotion by various factions, and media excesses. Common stuff, but as usual, clear only in retrospect.

Considering how effective the media storm was in getting concessions from England before the polls opened I have to wonder if something more manipulative was going on. The Scotland power side won this skirmish.

The scramble by our inept politicians towards the end of the campaign was nothing short of an embarrassment.
A leader with spine would have laid the cards fully on the table and let the Scots decide.
As it is, it might have a silver lining, as it looks like we all might become a bit more equal, with the "West Lothian question" being looked at and ( hopefully) sorted.

The way things are going the leader of the UK is going to end up to be the mayor of London. How far down can this once superpower dissolve?

They are in a bit of a pickle, being bought and paid for agents of the corporate class even as the economic might of the nation continues its long degrade. The politicians seem to understand that they have lost the people and that they have no ideas on how to bring the nation back to any sort of glory. They will continue to hop from crisis to crisis, looking for any thread to hand onto, any story to sell to the masses to keep from being thrown out by rebellion. The situation is much the same in the rest of Europe and in the US.

It'll be the other way around if Boris has anything to do with it.