Secession lagniappe

Secession lagniappe

Reason has a video on the Honduran ZEDEs out this week, produced by Ross Kenyon and Zach Weissmueller:

Mark Johanson in CNN on micronations:

Many like Cruickshank credit Ernest Hemingway’s younger brother Leicester with popularizing the concept in the mid-1960s when he towed an 8×30-foot bamboo raft to a spot 12 nautical miles off the southwest coast of Jamaica and declared it New Atlantis under the obscure Guano Islands Act of 1856.

He’s written on this subject before. Al Jazeera had a long spot on micronations recently too.

SON on Boko Haram declaring a caliphate.

We’re less than a month from the Scottish referendum. Here’s Alex Massie on this week’s debate:

There are plenty of holes in the SNP’s case but Darling seemed unable – most of the time – last night to point them out. So Salmond won, not just by default but because he made the more persuasive case.

And, of course, he rediscovered the importance of lyricism: “This is our time. It’s our moment. Let us do it now.” A simple but powerful message that asks Scots only to believe in themselves. Since people like the idea of believing in themselves it’s neither a daft nor a fruitless appeal. Hope still matters.

Will it be enough? Well, I would expect the Yes side to enjoy a small bounce in the polls later this week. Perhaps a couple of points improvement. Whether that lasts as long as polling day, however, is a different matter.

That seems to have happened. David Byrne comes out against.

Tony Burman on its reverberations:

Given the many dramatic and unexpected directions in which this century is heading, the ground seems to be moving beneath our feet. Regardless of the result, there are increasing signs that history may ultimately see the Sept. 18 vote in Scotland as the beginning of something transformational.

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Secession lagniappe

A good read on how the new Spanish king could impact Catalonia’s aspirations for independence.

Lega Nord remains committed to an independent Padania.

BBC on the other Europeans with their eyes on Edinburgh. Related: Scotland gets its own internet domain, with the catchy name dot-scot.

Peter Singer on Scotland and Catalonia:

The EU is also unlikely to accept Scotland or Catalonia as a member if the UK or Spain rejects their claims to independence. Indeed, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has said that the EU may reject Scotland and Catalonia’s applications, or at least delay them considerably, even if the UK and Spain do accept their independence. And, without EU membership, it is hard to imagine that a majority of people in Scotland or Catalonia would take the plunge into economic uncertainty that independence would bring.

The role of a referendum in a region seeking to secede can therefore only be a form of persuasion aimed at the government of the existing state. A large turnout showing a clear majority for independence would be a way to say: See how strongly we feel about this issue. We are so dissatisfied with the status quo that most of us now favour secession. If you want us to stay, you need to address the grievances that have caused a majority of us to want to leave.

Discovery Channel News has a spot on Iraq, Scotland, and Ukraine: “What do people of a region need in order to secede?

BBC covers the Muslim Seleka rebels in the northern Central African Republic, who are calling for a new state:

The New America Foundation, which is running stuff at Vox of course, on why Singapore should probably be crushed:

For these and other reasons, we are sanguine about Singapore’s transition to a liberal democracy with a far more redistributive state. Our optimism stands in stark contrast to the government’s fears about how increased democratic pressures here will make Singapore less governable, impede quick and enlightened decision making by elites who know better, and increase the likelihood of policies being made for short-term or populist reasons.

We think such fears are mostly misplaced. The contest in Singapore is less about basic political rights and freedoms. But neither is it just over “bread and butter” issues. Rather, it is a post-modern debate over people’s ability to determine what constitutes achievement and well-being.

Three Irish republicans reportedly linked to the Real IRA denied entry into Canada.

Tasmanians are getting sick of being kicked around.

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OSS Jefferson State 2

Has the Jefferson statehood movement stalled?

That was the narrative coming off this series of votes, which saw a union-backed opposition defeat the referendum in Del Norte County, even though the one in Tehama County passed.

The Shasta County supervisors voted down a Jefferson proposal last month too, but according to this letter in the Redding Record-Searchlight, the room wasn’t happy about it:

I went to the Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday morning and was very disappointed. The room was standing room only with supporters in favor of the State of Jefferson. Those in favor outnumbered opponents 7-to-1. The supervisors who voted against supporting the State of Jefferson movement said they haven’t seen any proof that such a state would be economically viable. How do you explain in three minutes something as complicated as dividing a state into two separate states?

This Tuesday, Sutter County’s board of supervisors is expected to adopt a resolution in support of Jefferson secession:

Interesting discussion was held by the Sutter Supervisors on Tuesday, July 8th, who all stated their frustration with the State of California and said they support the 51st State of Jefferson project. But the supervisors decided to write their own resolution regarding withdrawal from the state. So it will be during their July 22nd Board meeting, when they will finalize a resolution with a vote.

According to this article, the board is unanimous:

Each board member told the room packed with State of Jefferson advocates on Tuesday they supported withdrawal of North State counties from the rest of California.

So, no, it doesn’t really look like things have stalled at all.

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Secession lagniappe

The Hawaiian restoration movement tell the Obama administration to take its ethno-satrapy proposal and shove it has been one of the more inspiring things to watch in a while:

If the Department of Justice was unclear as to which constitutional power Congress exercised in 1898 when it purported to have annexed Hawaiian territory by joint resolution, it should still be unclear as to how Congress “has enacted more than 150 statutes that specifically recognize and implement this trust relationship with the Native Hawaiian community, including the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the Native Hawaiian Education Act, and the Native Hawaiian Health Care Act” stated in its press release.

It is clear that the Department of Justice had this information since 1988, but for obvious reasons did not cite that opinion in its joint report with the DOI that covered the portion on annexation (p. 26-30). To do so, would have completely undermined all the statutes the Congress has enacted for Hawai‘i, which would also include the lawful authority of the State of Hawai‘i government itself since it was created by an Act of Congress in 1959.

This was precisely the significance of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs CEO Dr. Kamana‘opono Crabbe’s questions to Secretary of State John Kerry. Without any evidence that the United States extinguished the Hawaiian Kingdom as an independent and sovereign State under international law, the Hawaiian Kingdom is presumed to still be in existence and therefore under an illegal and prolonged occupation.

The DOI is holding meetings starting Monday and running through August to solicit public feedback about initiating government-to-government relations with the OHA, which seeks what amounts to tribal recognition and ethnic spoils for its list of registered native Hawaiians (the sign above refers to their list). Crabbe bucked that plan with his letter to Secretary Kerry, and the cat’s out of the bag now. More here. Free Hawaii is sounding the alarm, telling people to protest the DOI, with some suggested slogans:

Kamaki Kanahele Is Not Our King
Robin Danner Does Not Speak For Us
SCHAA Shafts Hawaiian Homesteaders
Abercrombie Against Hawaiians
Hawaiians Say NO To Rule Changes
Go Home DOI
DOI Will leave Hawaiians High & Dry
Bye Bye DOI
No Aloha In OHA

It also appears that we may have found the economist laureate of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Dr. Umi Perkins, with a sort of aloha Georgism.

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Secession lagniappe

Reid Wilson passes on a map of the U.S. that could have been, by Andrew Shears:

USNeverWasBig

Mixed results in the Jefferson State referenda this week:

California voters in two northern rural counties split the difference Tuesday on 51st state ballot measures aimed at carving out a new state called Jefferson.

Measure A lost by 41 to 59 percent in Del Norte County, while Tehama County voters approved Measure A by 56 to 44 percent, according to figures from the county clerks.

… In Del Norte County, a union-backed group called Keep It California waged a battle against the measure, arguing that it would further impoverish the county by removing state funding for services like schools. The school board had also opposed the proposal.

Supposedly the AFL-CIO and SEIU-backed opposition spent more than 40k opposing the measure. More county boards are taking it up next week, so stay tuned. Mark Baird fires back at local officials regarding the unsuccessful Del Norte county vote:

We are not finished by a long shot. It took Maine three tries to break away from Massachusetts. The apathy from the Massachusetts legislature toward a distant corner of the state is a reflection of what is going on here.

Liars, lie. It is what they do. It is in David Finnigan’s nature to be a liar. He has violated county administrative procedures by denying the other Supervisors the opportunity to speak and to vote. He has denied the public their First Amendment rights in a public meeting. He has lied to his constituents regarding attempts to widen the highway, when he is a member of the group which wants to keep a dangerous road. Martha McClure is cut from the same cloth.

Isn’t Hendricks the guy responsible for the alleged missing funds from the waste management district?

He’s quoted in this Washington Times report too.

Here’s Keli’i Akina’s piece on why the Obama administration’s proposal for what amounts to tribal recognition for Native Hawaiians is unconstitutional and doesn’t address the aspirations of independence advocates.

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Secession lagniappe

Several more Northern California counties plan secession votes:

Voters in Del Norte and Tehama, with a combined population of about 91,000, will decide June 3 on an advisory measure that asks each county’s board of supervisors to join a wider effort to form a 51st state named Jefferson.

Elected officials in Glenn, Modoc, Siskiyou and Yuba counties already voted to join the movement. Supervisors in Butte County will vote June 10, while local bodies in other northern counties are awaiting the June 3 ballot results before deciding what to do.

A similar but unrelated question on the primary ballot in Siskiyou County asks voters to rename that county the Republic of Jefferson.

“We have 11 counties up here that share one state senator,” compared to 20 for the greater Los Angeles area and 10 for the San Francisco Bay Area, said Aaron Funk of Crescent City, a coastal town in Del Norte County near the Oregon border. “Essentially, we have no representation whatsoever.”

More here.

Frank Bryan, the legendary historian of Vermont town meeting politics, has a new essay in Green Mountain Noise, the Second Vermont Republic’s magazine, about decentralism and human-scale government:

Within the chaos of incompetency lies the great danger to our Republic. A proliferation of unseen, unaccountable and thus uncontrollable nodes of influence have arisen to deal with the complexity of governing a continental enterprise from the center.   The result is what political scientists have traditionally called the “politics of muddling through.” Accordingly, any serious notion of “democratic accountability” has long since vanished.

Those who face the daunting challenge of reinstating a truly democratic America should see this as an opportunity. The tide of history is with us. We are not challenging a healthy, robust and competent democracy. We are challenging a tired democracy and therefore a weak democracy; a splendid achievement in the history collective human behavior that unfortunately has been hobbled by its inability to reign in its natural appetite for aggrandizing authority — even though the cost of this authority was paid in terms of democratic legitimacy. …

In 1789, we created the framework for a continental, federal enterprise, dividing authority between the states and the central government.  More importantly we trumped any chance of coherent central enterprise (one thinks of Canada) by setting our national institutions against one another. …

The structure of our democracy is currently out of whack. Power to the states and within the states, power to the towns and within the towns, power to the individual and within each individual the awareness that it is in the small community alone that true distinctiveness can be accurately perceived, assessed, and rewarded – where authentic individualism is possible.

We live in a democratic moment and place. Let us behave accordingly.

Read the whole thingThese essays in the same issue about Burlington’s drug culture aren’t bad either.

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