View Topic

I was actually curious to know if the UK was going to keep the word "United" in their name had Scotland split


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Why would they change the name? Scotland just wouldn't be a part.

They voted no nevertheless.

Technically it would still be a United Kingdom, since it includes Wales and Northern Ireland.

In any case, I read that in exchange for staying in as part of the UK, legislative power is going to be even more decentralized and Scotland will have even more say in its own affairs...a deal that has and likely will upset the English, who have no such separate parliament or autonomy. The article I read then went on to suggest that this will divide the UK more and more, until it separates on its own accord.

Well you need to start finding better articles! There is no chance of the UK breaking apart now, or in the future.

Scotland are getting greater devolution, but so will Wales and Northern Ireland in time. It has created a debate about English votes for English laws, but it is not particularly serious.

It seemed entirely plausible to me...when one group feels that another is getting special privileges, of course they're going to feel put off and jealous and want the same things themselves. Are you telling me that the English are perfectly fine with a Parliament where Scottish representatives can take part in deciding affairs in the entire nation, but their own representatives in many cases won't have as much say over Scotland?

Honestly, I don't think I would mind a Confederate States of America if it wasn't for the slavery. It would certainly distinguish which country was referred to as 'America' and 'Murica'. And 'America' wouldn't be laughed at as much by everyone else in the world.

The south is hardly why we are laughed at by the rest of the world


Texas
Living here I've heard plenty of 'good ol' southern boys' preach about how Texas would be 'so much better off' if we seceded from the Union. I've thought about it, and in fact I have a lot of "nationalist" pride in Texas. I associate myself with this state more than any other (and I've been to quite a few states). I care less about national ongoings than I do about what happens in Texas, where our motto is "It's a whole nother' country". I love this state, with blemishes and all.

It seemed entirely plausible to me...when one group feels that another is getting special privileges, of course they're going to feel put off and jealous and want the same things themselves. Are you telling me that the English are perfectly fine with a Parliament where Scottish representatives can take part in deciding affairs in the entire nation, but their own representatives in many cases won't have as much say over Scotland?

Majority of people don't think about it like that in my experience. The Conservatives are trying to use 'English votes for English laws' as an election ploy to trap Labour in the aftermath of the Scottish referendum, nothing more.

Living here I've heard plenty of 'good ol' southern boys' preach about how Texas would be 'so much better off' if we seceded from the Union.

Yeah, but, uh, I believe the rest of America would not want one of its most iconic, productive, and most American states to decide to leave all of a sudden. And, well, it can't. If I may quote CGPGrey, "There is no 'Get Out of the Union Free' clause in the constitution."

Never imagined you were a proud Texan, Jone.

This is going to sound really weird from someone like me but I think I've missed my calling.

I wasn't raised in a very religious family (only my grandma liked to pray and really believed in God like most people her age (born in 1917), my mom was one of these "cultural Catholics" and I ended up as an agnostic, what Dawkins calls a "cowardly position" because he isn't actually all that smart, anyway, I digress) but when I was younger I took a lot from my grandmother since I was raised by her and my mother (we all lived together) and I had a stronger faith in my teens...not necessarily really strong, but stronger than it is now. I was baptized like most people in my generation as an infant (because lol Catholics) then confirmed at a young age and there ended my involvement with organized religion aside from my folks dragging me reluctantly at Christmas mass, which I found boring because people sung in Latin and I didn't know what it meant. I enjoyed reading the Bible and I thought the lessons therein made sense if not taken literally and if taking into account the different cultural eras.

And quite few times, regularly in fact, during my teenage years, I got "the calling", even though I was not very religious still. I wanted to be a priest. I felt it, man, it was burning inside, up until the pedophilia scandals rocked the Church and I was so disgusted, like most people, that I just buried it and forgot about it. I did many other things since then, I have a degree in modern languages where I studied Spanish, German, art history and philosophy, and as you all know I'm finishing an LL.B. in just a few months. But I'm realizing now that I've not liked what I've done, that despite all I do and achieve I feel empty inside, and suddenly "the calling" came back. It's like I'm missing a few limbs, I'm not feeling whole at all. A few days ago I had a dream where I was at the church of my childhood, where I grew up, but I was the one in the cassock, delivering a sermon, and it felt absolutely glorious. I felt like I had an impact, that I changed lives for the better.

I've always wanted to help others, change the world, I'm an idealist. And as a priest I could. I do believe that I'm right on many degrees, that I have some truth that many ignore (that sounds arrogant, but hey) and that I have something worth saying. Lawyers don't have much stock in moral matters, and the system is too rigid to change but priests do for some people, and since they act on people's hearts and mind, it's much easier to have an impact. I think faith is an individual matter and I'm pretty free-spirited by nature, so even if ordained I wouldn't really tow the line perfectly. I wouldn't care about going to the Vatican or becoming a bishop or an archbishop or whatever other ranks they've got. I'd tow it just enough to not be defrocked, but I would get my message out all the same, and I'd like to believe that this message could even change the archaic behemoth that is the Catholic Church. I've been reading on the life of the new Pope and he did many great things...helped people, changed lives. That's what I want to do too, and spirituality is a better way to do just that than law is.

This is long, and rambling, but...I think once my LL.B. is done, I'll go on a retreat to a monastery. One week, maybe two of peace and quiet, so I can think. Quebec is great about that because we have a lot of monasteries and all of them have a hosting service, and they are all on a "pay what you can" basis. I'll start praying, not in a Church but by myself because that's how it's meant to be done, in a dark corner and in secret. If I still feel that void, I'll look towards taking the necessary steps to be ordained. I'm pretty sure that some of you must have pretty negative opinions of the Catholics, and religion in general. I share them in part. I never was a very good Catholic, but if being a good Catholic means hating on LGBT people and abortion, I will never be, because that will never change. I like everyone, don't condemn and don't judge.

I don't know why I feel the need to write this, but I really do, and I'm really serious about this. My mom thought I was just the regular confused teen and wondered why the Hell I would want to be a priest. But the fact that it is happening again and again is a pretty good indication that perhaps I'm meant to do this and perhaps I won't feel complete, serene and happy until I do. I don't know if God is calling me or not (and I suppose to a rational mind like mine, it seems pretty ridiculous that He is calling me, very nearly an unbeliever, Christian only by culture, when there's a huge stock of people already sold to Him He could call upon - I'm very aware of the cognitive dissonance involved), maybe that calling originates from myself, but it's getting harder and harder to ignore it, even with all I know and have experienced, even with the things I think and have said in the past.

In the depth of my person, I've always wanted a quiet life, in contemplation, spiritual or academic. I've often said the ideal life for me would be to study every day until I die. In Catholic churches, they don't make dumb priests (unlike many other denominations with fake universities where you can buy a degree - consistency is definitely a quality I can identify with), all of them have a master's degree plus many more years of study in a seminary, and the vast majority accrue knowledge until they die. There's even a very well-known order that makes knowledge, secular and spiritual, their prime focus, and I'd like to live a life like that. They have access to books and the Internet, they aren't cut off from the rest of the world. And yeah, there are kiddie fiddlers, but I am not one, and isn't that what matters in the end? It's not like I'll become a pedo because I'm a priest.

I'm gonna try that spiritual retreat with the monks, and really participate in their daily lives, and if that fixes the fucking black hole I have in myself, my mind will be set. Do you believe in callings?

Texas
Living here I've heard plenty of 'good ol' southern boys' preach about how Texas would be 'so much better off' if we seceded from the Union. I've thought about it, and in fact I have a lot of "nationalist" pride in Texas. I associate myself with this state more than any other (and I've been to quite a few states). I care less about national ongoings than I do about what happens in Texas, where our motto is "It's a whole nother' country". I love this state, with blemishes and all.

I'm sure there are small rumblings of secession in a lot of states. I myself have heard some of it here. I think Texas gets the wrap for it because it is the second largest (by population) in the union, and it is a deeply conservative state under a Democratic president that is the devil incarnate, if you believe Rick Perry.

And I totally get your sentiment towards Texas. I feel the exact same way about West Virginia. I know we get a bad wrap for being backwards hilljacks (even though we really aren't), but this is my home and it always will be.

Texas
Living here I've heard plenty of 'good ol' southern boys' preach about how Texas would be 'so much better off' if we seceded from the Union. I've thought about it, and in fact I have a lot of "nationalist" pride in Texas. I associate myself with this state more than any other (and I've been to quite a few states). I care less about national ongoings than I do about what happens in Texas, where our motto is "It's a whole nother' country". I love this state, with blemishes and all.

I'm sure there are small rumblings of secession in a lot of states. I myself have heard some of it here. I think Texas gets the wrap for it because it is the second largest (by population) in the union, and it is a deeply conservative state under a Democratic president that is the devil incarnate, if you believe Rick Perry.

And I totally get your sentiment towards Texas. I feel the exact same way about West Virginia. I know we get a bad wrap for being backwards hilljacks (even though we really aren't), but this is my home and it always will be.

Coming from a Canadian province with an history of a pretty big secession movement (the biggest in America in fact) that was very nearly succeeded, I can understand the desire for secession, but I honestly fail to believe how it applies to Texas.

Yes, Texas used to be it's own country, but isn't that pretty much where it ends? What cultural distinctions, for example, are present and important enough to warrant Texas leaving the union? What is the reason that supports the movement? I mean, Texas has a lot in common with the other southern states. They aren't completely separated like Quebec is, where we have difficulty finding much in common with Canada, be that on a ideological, linguistic, cultural or even religious standpoint. Texans speak English, are mostly Republicans, have a similar culture to the other southern states are are Protestants. There's so much more that links the state with the US than what might separates it. I honestly just don't see it.

Is it just because many citizens hate Obama and want to secede as a knee-jerk reaction, taking their ball and going home because they don't like him, or are there economic reasons? Is it because of Mexican immigration, legal or otherwise? I'd think Texans would have some kind of enmity with Mexico, what with the history between them. I'd also think Texas isn't all that rich (maybe mistakenly) compared to the northern states. It has oil, aside from the services sector, isn't that pretty much all as far as valuable commodities go? Besides, Texas benefits from the US military and diplomatic influence which are both many times bigger than what Texas could afford. And going back on the economy, how would that work? Doesn't Texas benefit a lot from the union? A huge, freely accessible market of 300+ million people, for example? Are most secessionists Christian fundamentalists that would want to shape Texas into some sort of theocracy? I mean, the CSA did happen, but wasn't that almost only a slavery issue? As an aside, I've always found strange how so many people view the CSA with nostalgia, wasn't it pretty much an economically depressed shithole with huge inflation because they were printing money just to pay for a war that was lost from the get-go? I mean, unlike people with ostalgia (the nostalgia of East Germany), no people are alive today to know what living in the CSA was like, and I'm not sure it had many things going for itself, perhaps even nothing.

I mean, given the ideological difference between northern and southern states, I'd understand a southern secession movement, a new Confederacy so to speak where Republicans would have a stronghold on governance, but just Texas? Seems weird to me.

I ask without meaning to cause offense - it's not that I think there aren't any, but I just don't know them. Educate me if you can.

So... I just got offered a promotion. I am thinking on it...means more pay but a lot more responsibility.

Texas
Living here I've heard plenty of 'good ol' southern boys' preach about how Texas would be 'so much better off' if we seceded from the Union. I've thought about it, and in fact I have a lot of "nationalist" pride in Texas. I associate myself with this state more than any other (and I've been to quite a few states). I care less about national ongoings than I do about what happens in Texas, where our motto is "It's a whole nother' country". I love this state, with blemishes and all.

I'm sure there are small rumblings of secession in a lot of states. I myself have heard some of it here. I think Texas gets the wrap for it because it is the second largest (by population) in the union, and it is a deeply conservative state under a Democratic president that is the devil incarnate, if you believe Rick Perry.

And I totally get your sentiment towards Texas. I feel the exact same way about West Virginia. I know we get a bad wrap for being backwards hilljacks (even though we really aren't), but this is my home and it always will be.

Coming from a Canadian province with an history of a pretty big secession movement (the biggest in America in fact) that was very nearly succeeded, I can understand the desire for secession, but I honestly fail to believe how it applies to Texas.

Yes, Texas used to be it's own country, but isn't that pretty much where it ends? What cultural distinctions, for example, are present and important enough to warrant Texas leaving the union? What is the reason that supports the movement? I mean, Texas has a lot in common with the other southern states. They aren't completely separated like Quebec is, where we have difficulty finding much in common with Canada, be that on a ideological, linguistic, cultural or even religious standpoint. Texans speak English, are mostly Republicans, have a similar culture to the other southern states are are Protestants. There's so much more that links the state with the US than what might separates it. I honestly just don't see it.

Is it just because many citizens hate Obama and want to secede as a knee-jerk reaction, taking their ball and going home because they don't like him, or are there economic reasons? Is it because of Mexican immigration, legal or otherwise? I'd think Texans would have some kind of enmity with Mexico, what with the history between them. I'd also think Texas isn't all that rich (maybe mistakenly) compared to the northern states. It has oil, aside from the services sector, isn't that pretty much all as far as valuable commodities go? Besides, Texas benefits from the US military and diplomatic influence which are both many times bigger than what Texas could afford. And going back on the economy, how would that work? Doesn't Texas benefit a lot from the union? A huge, freely accessible market of 300+ million people, for example? Are most secessionists Christian fundamentalists that would want to shape Texas into some sort of theocracy? I mean, the CSA did happen, but wasn't that almost only a slavery issue? As an aside, I've always found strange how so many people view the CSA with nostalgia, wasn't it pretty much an economically depressed shithole with huge inflation because they were printing money just to pay for a war that was lost from the get-go? I mean, unlike people with ostalgia (the nostalgia of East Germany), no people are alive today to know what living in the CSA was like, and I'm not sure it had many things going for itself, perhaps even nothing.

I mean, given the ideological difference between northern and southern states, I'd understand a southern secession movement, a new Confederacy so to speak where Republicans would have a stronghold on governance, but just Texas? Seems weird to me.

I ask without meaning to cause offense - it's not that I think there aren't any, but I just don't know them. Educate me if you can.

Oh my dear...I have a lot to learn you on Texas. I'll get back to your questions when I get off work...phew this is gonna be a dozy loll.

So, looks like my supervisor will be out this week too...starting to get a little concerning, since we're apparently late on statewide reports that only she has access to submit and run. It will take quite a bit of time if it ends up that I have to work on them, especially since I've never been trained on them. Otherwise...it went well today. The new person I'm supervising caught on that I was bi, because he pretty much just asked me...it wasn't a big deal though, and mostly led to a discussion about relationships and such, and what he hated about girls...the pitfalls of being straight I guess lol.

Four more days to the weekend. Eighty-one days until my three-week vacation.

On callings, I'm not sure I've ever had a 'calling'. When I was a kid I wanted to be a meteorologist, but by high school I had gotten tired of being known as the weather guy. At about the same time, I took my first programming class as a senior, not out of interest but because there were so few electives to choose from at my school and this one seemed pretty simple. It was very simple C++ stuff, but I found interesting. Once I got internet through cable I started looking up programming knowledge required to build things I wanted to do...it's how I learned HTML and PHP for instance. Then once I started working where I am now, I was fortunate enough to slowly be able to move towards SQL-related reporting jobs. I found pulling data to be fascinating...it was fascinating to explore how it connected with each other in a database, and nicely formatted and pulled data looked beautiful in its own way.

But my primary interests are still the ones I do on my own times...projects such as Wintreath. It's nice to have a decent paycheck and insurance, but I don't feel like I'm changing anything at work...I often feel like I'm a digital paper-pusher, and as I get older and things happen I realize more and more that I want to be someone who makes a difference for others, even if it's just a small group of people. I suppose if I were to have a calling it would be this...building communities with awesome people. I've certainly tried enough times in my life...it's nice to have finally succeeded in at least some regard here.

Most of my dream jobs in life have been religious jobs... A priest or missionary... I could never do catholic work but some of the lighter Christianies I've always been good at... In settings where it becomes relevant I've always been considered a leader or wiseman among my peers...
I've never been baptized in any form though... My parents are staunchly antitheist and I have no extended family... I've been offered the chance to before but it always seemed greatly disingenuous to take part in that... I've even been a physical witness to two baptisms... The person who asks the questions. (They change per sect and not all sects ask the questions or have a witness... If they do ask a question it's usually along the lines of "Do you accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior?")
I don't know... I've always thought of myself as a spiritual person who is just too logical to believe in something unknown... Talk about following my namesake... (Søren Kierkegaard.)

Reon, you're a prefect Episcopalian.  Seriously.