[conspire] (forw) HaveIBeenPwned.com (was: Safer Browsing)

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Texx (texxgadget at gmail.com):

> Many of you have noticed my penchant for kilts.
> I am actually part scot (and considering the number of times the vikings
> sacked Scotland, I must be part Scandahoovian as well...)

Since the clan name is derived from the French name ('La Haye') of a set
of villages in Normany, you're probably part Norman Sassenach, as well.
Ha-ha.  ;->

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Hay

'Sassenach' is a weird name of derogation, I notice, being derived from
the mediaeval Latin saxonēs, meaning Saxons:  Highlanders tended to call
lowlanders 'Sassenach' to suggest that they're Saxon-ish Englishmen, and
Lowland Scots historically called any Englishman 'Sassenach' in part to
suggest that the speaker isn't.

In that sense, it's somewhat parallel to the usage of 'Yankee' (possibly
from the Dutch 'Janke', a diminutive of Jan), which is in Europe a term
of derogation for Americans.  In Dixie, it's a term of derogation for
northerners.  In the north, it's a New Englander.  In New England,
well... let me just quote E.B. White:

  To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
  To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
  To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
  To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
  To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
  And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.

Deirdre, as a longtime Vermonter, can speak to the quality of the Green
Mountain state's apples, but yes, pie for breakfast there is very much 
a thing:
https://books.google.com/books?id=GNH93R5OtfkC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=sue+hubbell+pie&source=bl&ots=x_1TOpIVFF&sig=4se562E_E6WFXkX0FQt__VNJHqE&hl=en&ei=mbriTLLjIIjWtQPeyMVm&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q=sue%20hubbell%20pie&f=false


> In case you have not heard, the whole Brexit thing started out as something
> that would financially benefit a small number of people.
> It was really a financial scam against the rest of the UK.

Yes.  This piece is _incredibly_ long, but I admire its naming of names:
https://richardhutton.wordpress.com/category/brexit-was-the-result-of-a-corporate-lobbying-campaign-which-backfired/

> Scotland voted down independence a while back.
> Scotland LIKES being in the EU.
> Should Brexit actually happen (Not likely at this point) it would be likely
> another Scotish independence vote would happen.
> Should Brexit actually happen, Scottish independence is likely to pass.

Both Scotland and NI are strongly Remainer (DUP notwithstanding).

My current cherished political fantasy involves Queen Bess Deux
declaring that May no longer has the confidence of Parliment, 
invites Nicola Sturgeon of Scottish National Party (the third largest
faction in Westminster) to form a new government, and the SNP-lead
government then cancels Article 50.

Sadly, Bess is 92, and also remembers what happened to her Uncle Bertie
(aka Edward VIII) when he got too involved in politics.  

My second-favourite political fantasy involves repeal of the Acts of
Union 1707 and withdrawal of NI to join Scotland, with that new country
naming itself the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland, and
maybe federating with the Republic of Ireland.

Sadder and nastier outcomes are more likely, though.