Everybody and their auntie is having a say about our independence vote.
Academic Matt Qvortrup pops up regularly on TV news channels and even on these pages.
Should we heed his words even though he is associated with the Centre for Policy Studies, a Thatcherite think tank? Then again his surname has a respectable Scrabble score of 22.
Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, says nothing will be gained from breaking up the UK Union. He's a Belgian politician (with a surname Scrabble score of only 13) whose country had no government for years because the Flems and Walloons couldn't agree on any kind of union.
Cyprus, a former British colony, says an independent Scotland should get to the back of the queue for EU membership. The same Cypriots whose EOKA terrorists killed Scottish soldiers during their struggle for independence back in the 1950s.
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in Indiana had an editorial saying Scotland should not be free because it would be "another European mini-state unable to contribute meaningfully to global security". And therefore unable to contribute significantly to America's colonial wars.
I have noticed no word yet about our future from the Falkland Islands. The Falklanders are busy with their own referendum. Their's is a long question which boils down to: Would you rather be an Argie or a Brit? Yes for Britain is a safe bet, even if penguins and sheep are allowed to vote.
In Pakistan a political party has launched a referendum asking voters if the country should be run along Taliban lines. Presumably with a second question asking if teenage girls should be shot in the head for saying they want to go school.
Meanwhile back at our saner debate, the Let's Batter Scotland Together campaign continues to get solid support from the kilted editions of the English press. Scottish author Ronald Frame has been wheeled out to say he will be for the off from an independent Scotland. He says it would not be just a small country but a small-minded country.
I haven't read any of Frame's award-winning books but I'm missing him already.
n Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, has not as far as I know pronounced on our referendum. Which is a pity, since his short surname has an impressive Scrabble score of 22.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article