On to the Scottish referendum

[Lianachan]

Mona Chalabi at FiveThirtyEight speculates that the postal vote are more likely to have been cast for the "No" side.

I've said since day one that no will win, due to massive postal voting fraud. The Labour Party, in particular, have history with that.

[Мастер]

Multiple articles in this week's Economist. The editorial staff are very clearly in the "no" camp.

[Lianachan]

Indeed. They've been blurting out shite about it for a while now.

[Lianachan]

Mona Chalabi at FiveThirtyEight speculates that the postal vote are more likely to have been cast for the "No" side.

Due to the breach of rules by the NO camp, trying to change what a NO vote actually represents (or, at least, trying to convince people to believe that a NO vote will bring more powers), postal voters regret their choice. This is why those rules exist, and they should have been followed.

[Lianachan]

Wow. I can't believe how stupid this union thinks it's members must be. Check out the last paragraph, where they say don't let anybody tell you how to vote, just vote no.

[Мастер]

I can't believe how stupid this union thinks it's members must be.

Are you familiar with this union? Perhaps its appraisal of its membership is accurate, I don't know :)

[Lianachan]

I've heard of it, but that's the limit of my expertise.

[Мастер]

Widely diverging results in the polls.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09 ... 16024.html

[Мастер]

Groundskeeper Willie supports independence.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09 ... _hp_ref=uk

Willie won't back down to world leaders, because I haven't a clue who they are and I'm not willing to learn.

[Lianachan]

Indeed - the polls are all over the place. I can't understand why NO seems to be doing so well in most of them. Looking around and speaking to people would suggest that yes should be sitting on at least 70%. We'll find out in a few days.

[Lianachan]

Wow. I can't believe how stupid this union thinks it's members must be. Check out the last paragraph, where they say don't let anybody tell you how to vote, just vote no.

Ha! Just seen the results of a poll of members of that union:

YES 87.5%
UNDECIDED 12.5%
NO 0%

[Мастер]

Ha! Just seen the results of a poll of members of that union:

YES 87.5%
UNDECIDED 12.5%
NO 0%

Hmm. Apparently this union has eight members :)

[Мастер]

Sol Zanetti, advocate of Quebec independence, weighs in.

[Enzo]

Um... blah blah here is what you ought to do, but mind your own business. Not sure what to make of that. WOuld Scotland get a parade if they stayed?

[Arneb]

They'll get EVERYTHING. World peace, unending wealth, heaven on Earth. Cause Davy says so.

[Мастер]

They'll get EVERYTHING. World peace, unending wealth, heaven on Earth. Cause Davy says so.

The biggest disaster for any politician, winning the election :)

[Мастер]

So yesterday was the birthday of Malaysia, now we will find out whether tomorrow witnesses the birth of something new.

[Lianachan]

Actually the rebirth of something very old.

[tubeswell]

Then after that its on to the NZ govt elections the next day. Exciting times.

[Arneb]

Did I mention we held elections to the regional parliament of the great State of Brandenburg last Saturday? My team even managed to enter parliament!

OK, two topical jokes:

Sean connery has stated he is going to return to an independent Scotland in order to live there. He must be peeing his pants right now.

The English warn the Scots that after independence Scotland will be third-world country. But will that really improve things?

[Мастер]

Did I mention we held elections to the regional parliament of the great State of Brandenburg last Saturday? My team even managed to enter parliament!

OK, that gets us down to six of the thirteen parties. It looks like the criterion to be in parliament was, you had to have more votes (combined constituent and list) than "Invalid/blank votes"

Sean connery has stated he is going to return to an independent Scotland in order to live there. He must be peeing his pants right now.

They'll probably still be in the EU, so he can always say they're not truly independent. (Peeing his pants, or his kilt?)

The English warn the Scots that after independence Scotland will be third-world country. But will that really improve things?

Pretty much everywhere I go seems a bit third-worldish to me these days.

[Arneb]

Did I mention we held elections to the regional parliament of the great State of Brandenburg last Saturday? My team even managed to enter parliament!

OK, that gets us down to six of the thirteen parties. It looks like the criterion to be in parliament was, you had to have more votes (combined constituent and list) than "Invalid/blank votes"

In this case, yes. But the Free Voters only got in because they won one constituency and, by a quirk of the elction law, now sit in parliament with a share of seats roughly equivalent to their 2,7% share of the List vote - which is the one that determines relative strength of parties in a parliament but leads into zero representation if your party stays below 5%.

Also, the constituency votes are pretty much useless for smaller parties, as these seats are decided American/British (if you forgive the word) style in a first-past-the-post manner, and you lose big if you come in third at 10 % in every constituency - the Free Voters being the one exception again.

[Мастер]

In this case, yes. But the Free Voters only got in because they won one constituency and, by a quirk of the elction law, now sit in parliament with a share of seats roughly equivalent to their 2,7% share of the List vote - which is the one that determines relative strength of parties in a parliament but leads into zero representation if your party stays below 5%.

Also, the constituency votes are pretty much useless for smaller parties, as these seats are decided American/British (if you forgive the word) style in a first-past-the-post manner, and you lose big if you come in third at 10 % in every constituency - the Free Voters being the one exception again.

So the system for state elections is similar, at least, to the federal then?

[Мастер]

It's after midnight here, so today is the judgement day. Those eligible to vote, do the right thing :)

[tubeswell]

David Cameron To Scottish People: "I'll kill myself if you leave"