Good Riddance?

As Price of Corn Rises, Catfish Farms Dry Up - Maybe the food is getting more expensive, but As Good As News thinks that what these fish really need is more water.

Rule, Britannia, But Maybe Not Over Scotland - Scot Andy Murray stirred the pot with some anti-Brit remarks at Wimbledon, but there is a real trend here. In a world where security and trade can be handled through supranational organizations like NATO and the EU, the smaller nation state can thrive. The Czechs and Slovaks divorced because there was just no compelling reason to stick together. In an effort to quell Scottish nationalism, the Scottish got their own parliament and expanded home rule in the late 1990's, but this step towards autonomy seems only to have fueled the fire of independence. The facts in the linked story suggests that England and Scotland may be heading into a spiral of mutual resentment that could lead to separation. Interesting, especially if the English go all the way in tiring of their conquests and drop out of Great Britain entirely, leaving Northern Ireland stranded. Free Wales will become a political rallying cry instead of a banner printed by a spelling challenged ecologist.

The movement toward smaller nation states was a natural outgrowth of the fall of the USSR and Yugoslavia, but if Scotland splits from Great Britain after a shot-gun wedding that lasted for 300 years, what's next? Canada seems to have stalled the free Quebec contingent, but the French speaking Canadians realize they receive a net economic benefit by remaining part of Canada while the rest of Canada demonstrated remarkable flexibility and patience in responding to the concerns of the French speaking nationalists. Texas has a brief history as a republic and a long history of whining about the rest of the country. As Good As News could easily see the Lone Star State as the first to go. The minute Texans get serious about independence, the reaction will include a very unCanadian "good riddance" backlash that will be swift and furious, kicking off the same type of cycle the Scots and English may be entering.