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[johnslat]

"EDINBURGH, Scotland — Scotland becomes the 17th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday passed the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill by an overwhelming majority.

105 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) voted in favor, 18 objected and 0 abstained."

Regards,
John



http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/02/breaking-scotland-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/#.UvEy15Rop04.facebook

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Johnslat

The most interesting part of that article was in its description of Scotland as a country. Always lively fodder for pub debates and rows. Only for the brave of heart...

Best wishes

Sasha

[grahamb]

Not just a country, chaps, but one of the oldest in Europe. While Sasha's Muscovite chums were having a terrible (!) time under Ivan, the savvy Scots were guzzling fine Bordeaux wines.

Scots such as John Witherspoon (a signatory of the Declaration of Independence) tried to educate the 'mericans, alas with mixed results.

[Sashadroogie]

Yes, but.... (rolls up sleeves, shifts bar stool) ... don't countries have their own passports, money, army, foreign policy? To name just a few things that Scotland currently lacks.. (Not the alcohol guzzling, I hasten to add!)

Yes, I know that there technically is Scottish money minted by the Bank of Scotland - but it is really the same old sterling in use in the rest of the UK.

[grahamb]

Scotland is an example of a country that isn't a sovereign state (i.e. self-governing), whereas France, being self-governing, is a sovereign state.

There isn't Scottish money per se, just banknotes issued by Scottish banks. Technically not Sterling - all very confusing - Treaty of Union and all that.

[johnslat]

"As Wings over Scotland put it recently:

If you’re claiming “my country” as being Scotland, then it’s a country [that] only gets the government its people vote for around 40% of the time. The argument from the No camp is that Scots have a vote in electing UK governments like everyone else does, and should just shut up and accept it if their wishes get over-ruled by the much larger population of England, because that’s democracy and people in Newcastle get Tory governments they didn’t vote for either.

But that only works if you’re saying that your “country” is the UK. The minute you identify Scotland as being a country in its own right, that argument disintegrates. Regions of a country have to accept the overall will. Countries should get the governments they vote for.

In other words, if Scotland is a country, then the UK is a union and Scotland should get many more seats in the House of Commons. It’s also logical that Scotland has a parliament, a separate legal system and even its own football team.

However, if Scotland is just a region which is ceremonially called a country, then the current representation in the House of Commons is completely fair, but it’s then a bit strange why Scotland needs a parliament when other regions don’t (in this world view, four regions have parliaments — Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and London — but eight don’t: NE England, NW England, Yorkshire and The Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, SE England and SW England), and there’s absolutely no justification for Scotland having a separate legal system and its own football team.

I’d like people from the No campaign to tell me what kind of country they consider Scotland to be."

http://www.arcofprosperity.org/is-fife-a-kingdom-and-is-scotland-a-country/

Regards,
John

[VietCanada]

[grahamb]

Yes, they can't even spell "Arkansaw" properly. Mind you, Canucks say "evidenced" instead of "evinced"!

Note for the innocents out there: I know it's spelt A-r-k-a-n-s-a-s.

[HungGarTiger]

[Sashadroogie]

Number 18?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-26075280

[Sashadroogie]

[scot47]

Scotland is currently a "Nation without a State". That could change on 18 September

[MuscatGary]

Who's going to design the new Union Flag?