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[scrdest]

I think Cameron's handling of the UK-EU relationship is a great asset to Scotland here. He managed to piss off just about everyone with his talks of leaving or renegotiating to get even more goodies. The UK don't have many friends left anymore. I'm sure the whole of Eastern Europe will be sympathetic with Scotland due to their history of gaining independence from the Russians, so Scotland should have a majority of the EU on its side.

However, it is also possible that some members will decide to make Scotland join the EU again to get rid of the exceptions and rebates it currently enjoy as part of the UK.

I wouldn't assume that the history of fighting for the independence from Russia is equivalent to being sympathetic for Scottish independence. Russia is a country that has historically been dominated by a single, all-powerful ruler supported by an extensive apparatus of political terror (be it Tsars and oprichina/okhranka or Stalin with KGB) that aggressively suppressed the identity of subjugated nations.

Meanwhile UK, while it crushed all attempts at independence, was always far less centralist.

So, people might as well think 'What the hell is your problem, you had it easy!'.

[XXSockXX]

So Sebastian Edathy, a leading but not well-known SPD politician may or may not have possessed child pornography. When the police started investigating, he may or may not have been tipped off by members of the government. The minister of the interior Hans-Peter Friedrich has already stepped down.

Oh yeah  . Biggest political scandal in recent German history. Of course it's actually rather boring.
Edathy's career is over, even if the stuff he bought wasn't illegal it certainly leaves him looking creepy.
More interesting how many heads will roll in the SPD and how the thing will affect the coalition. Merkel of course remains untouchable as always. I was laughing my ass off though seeing Gabriel defending Friedrich. Who would have thought a year ago something like that would ever happen.

[Sheb]

We'll see how it plays out, but unlike in most of western europe, nationalism and the right to self-determination is seen a a thing worth fighting for.Although you  might be right, two of the 5 EU state that do not recognize Kosovo are Slovakia and Romania.

[Loud Whispers]

So Sebastian Edathy, a leading but not well-known SPD politician may or may not have possessed child pornography. When the police started investigating, he may or may not have been tipped off by members of the government. The minister of the interior Hans-Peter Friedrich has already stepped down.

Well did he?

[Helgoland]

Yes, but no. There's a strong argument that the stuff he bought, while depicting naked children, was legal (or could at least assumed to be legal when he bought it). It's pretty much established by now that he's a pedophile, though.

[XXSockXX]

It's clear that Edathy bought movies of naked boys. So even if these are possibly not in illegal territory, that should make him look too creepy for a further career.
The more relevant thing in the case is who informed who about the investigation and when. It's possible that Edathy was tipped off about the investigation. His party leaders were warned and the question is whether that was legal or not and who might possibly have tipped him off. One one hand it prevented damage to the government because Edathy was likely to get a high ranking job there. On the other hand it's a breach of confidence. Could be difficult to determine who did what and how wrong that was, since there are too many people involved.
The flow of information is the actual scandal and it would have been one too if Edathy was completely innocent.

[Sheb]

Progress in Cyprus. You can read the declaration here.

Normalizing relation between Turkish and Greek Cyprus is definitely something good, but to me the proposed state look a bit too much like Bosnia-Herzegovinia (Or Belgium) to be stable. I'm not sure a bi-national federal state is such a good idea.

[WarRoot]

We'll see how it plays out, but unlike in most of western europe, nationalism and the right to self-determination is seen a a thing worth fighting for.Although you  might be right, two of the 5 EU state that do not recognize Kosovo are Slovakia and Romania.

It's only worth fighting for when its your self-determination not others' 
Slovakia and Romania are afraid that it might bolster the cause of their Hungarian minorities.

[Owlbread]

I am still waiting for the SNP response (which seems to be set for Monday) but in the meantime it might be enjoyable for some of you to view this video. It's a speech from the legendary and infamous Tommy Sheridan, the most recognisable voice on the Scottish far left.

Normally I wouldn't have posted this because it's a bit on the niche side of things, but for some reason this speech has gotten the attention of a lot of Scots (and even English, Welsh and Irish people) who aren't normally involved in politics. Perhaps it's because it's the first speech of its kind in the campaign thus far, barring those given at the various rallies. This is Tommy at his best though, I'd recommend anyone watch it for the show more than anything. Tommy is still a showman for all that.

Scotland sounds like a cold and desolate place. If not for Owlbread, I wouldn't even be sure someone lived there.

There was also Robert Burns. We had to learn his poem "My Heart's in the Highlands" at school.

That's fascinating, though I have heard at times that some people abroad do study him. Was he introduced as an Anglichanin though? You should really have studied his poem A Man's a Man for A' That, or traditionally "Is There for Honest Poverty". I understand it is popular in Germany under the name "Trotz alledem":

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

It's actually a song. This here is how it's meant to be sung. One of my preferred candidates for a Scottish National Anthem, there.

[Dutchling]

Robert Burns definitely rings a bell. Probably studied some of the dude's work during English Literature class.

(in other words, I hate that guy)

[Owlbread]

Robert Burns definitely rings a bell. Probably studied some of the dude's work during English Literature class.

(in other words, I hate that guy)

Studying Burns in an English Literature class. It just gets worse and worse. But yes, I take it you read his translations? Did they introduce him as an Englishman?

[Dutchling]

I'm not sure that's where I recognize him from though.

edit: Is he a poet/philosopher associated with enlightenment and/or the French Revolution / US independence? As I might have studied his stuff for History class...

[Guardian G.I.]

Scotland sounds like a cold and desolate place. If not for Owlbread, I wouldn't even be sure someone lived there.

There was also Robert Burns. We had to learn his poem "My Heart's in the Highlands" at school.

That's fascinating, though I have heard at times that some people abroad do study him. Was he introduced as an Anglichanin though? You should really have studied his poem A Man's a Man for A' That, or traditionally "Is There for Honest Poverty". I understand it is popular in Germany under the name "Trotz alledem".

As far as I can remember, his nationality wasn't mentioned at all back then. I was 12 years old back then and studied in the 6th form (or grade, I'm not sure how it's properly called)
We had a topic about Scotland in our English textbooks that described its geography and culture. I can't recall any historical material about Scotland in our English language curriculum - most materials about history of Britain in our English textbooks were pretty rudimentary. I remember there were topics about William the Conqueror and the history of London. When British holidays were described, Hogmanay and first-footing were always mentioned as separate Scottish traditions.
We used English textbooks published in Russia (and later on expensive textbooks imported from the EU) because the material there was much more complex than in Belarusian textbooks. Our school used to be specialized in English, so our curriculum was more expansive than in other schools. I'm not sure how Scotland is described in Belarusian textbooks because I haven't seen those much.

Our first year English phonetics textbooks at my university have "My Heart's in the Highlands" included for learning by heart.

[Descan]

I'm okay with Scottish literature being discussed in English classes, if only because a good deal of (internationally known) Scottish literature is published in English.

Now, if Scottish history was (only) mentioned in English history class (and only in relation to English history) then THAT'S an issue.

[Sheb]

Yeah, but then I don't think anyone outside England or college got "English history class". You got segment on England in history class, and historical stuff in English class, but why would you have a course dedicated to studying the history of one specific other country?