Been following the news about the move for Scottish independence? You hear so little about it on US media, but it sure seems momentous to me: A successful vote for independence breaks the “United Kingdom”. As I understand the iconography of the British flag, it’ll mean removing one entire color from it. Or something like that. There are lots of gnarly component issues, like whether to continue to use the British pound, create/resurrect a Scottish pound, or adopt the Euro. One so-British oddity: Scots love the BBC and they insist that it keep broadcasting into Scotland. The idea of an “SBC” generally gets raspberries.

The referendum’s getting close: September 18th. Last I heard, it’s a toss-up.

You know my last name. I’d vote “yes” if they let Americans of Scottish descent have a say in it.

One thing that cut through the fog, for me, was a recurring phrase in the coverage of the issue: “the city-state of London”. That says a lot about the state of the UK these days, about its politics, its class structure, and its distribution of wealth. The UK’s 0.1%, by all accounts, is turning London into a gated community and everybody else is starting to resent it. One of the pro-independence arguments is that Scotland would have a much more egalitarian economic order than the UK, and it’s a winner with many Scots.

So bully for the Scots for proposing to tell London to bugger off. Ye have me blessing, laddies and lasses. Go fer it!

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When you want news of the UK, you go to the Guardian. Their Scottish independence topic page. I added the Guardian to my news list a few months ago, and I really like them as one of the last independent papers, and one that seems to have its head screwed on straight.