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Saturday 20 September 2014

Personal Style: Dry Your Eyes



The results are in; for those not living in the UK or keeping up with its news, Scotland voted in their referendum on independence on thursday, and the vote was a no. I've been a yes supporter for a long time, and I was gutted; this issue means a lot, and I spent a fair chunk of the morning crying. Between this and a backlog of work, I've not had time for blogging. 

I took these photos maybe two weeks ago, but due to my disaster of a schedule haven't posted them until now. I'm a big fan of this jumper with everything in my wardrobe, but Dundee has been surprisingly warm and unsuitable for autumnal clothing, so it's been relegated to the top shelf for now. Maxis are also a favourite, and I've since picked up a skirt to sit beside this dress. 


When I was taking these photos, I could hear high pitched bird noises, and found that some pigeons seemed to be stuck behind a girder attached to the wall. I took pity on them and called the SSPCA, but when they arrived and called me apparently the pigeons had left and it must have been a nest I'd heard. Oops. 


I'm still feeling low post-result, but it not time to give up; 45% of Scotland is not happy, and I have to dry my eyes and join in. Yesterday was a day for mourning, but today we demand our politicians prove their accountability and give us our powers. Then, next generation, we try again. 





Fiona


P.s. I realise both my header and sidebar have gone down, and I apologise for this. This is clearly my fault for being a useless coder and will try and fix it today. (Edit: header is fixed, and I'll do the sidebar later today!)

12 comments:

  1. Aw, I love how the print on your cardigan looks occult, yet it's not occult at all. On the other hand I'm very no-no for the maxi skirt worn with combat boots. In Poland it's a staple outfit of every single babybat/metalhead girl and avoided at all costs by those with more refined taste - but from what I've seen on the internet, Western babybats tend to wear wide bondage pants (which are nowhere to be seen in Poland), so I guess you don't such have nightmarish associations with this combo as I do :D And I love your face expression, you look so fierce and stubborn, and on the last photo also a little rebellious. I think it's still an aftereffect of your lost expectations of your country's future...

    Could you tell in short, why does Scotland want to separate from UK? I have no idea about Scottish economy or how British government treats parts other than England.

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    1. The British Government treats all parts of the British Union like it's own personal toilet unless you live in the south and have been to Eton. Then you can roll in the clover with the millionaire cabinet ministers and pay very little tax, become a banker who cashes in off the backs of the poor and not rely on the mercies of a private rented landlord after the sainted conservatives sold out the social housing system. I'm from North Eastern England, which borders Scotland, and we are actually in a worse position than the Scots, who at least have some devolved powers and say over their social policy - however, that doesn't take away from the Scottish argument for devolution for what is essentially a completely politically and socially separate country.

      Personally, as a North Easterner I'm glad Scotland stayed part of the union - if it had become independent the NE would have been fighting two governments that didn't give a stuff about it, as Scotland would have been free to undercut the local economy in my area and tempt businesses away from my already impoverished region. And I feel I have more in common with the Scots than the south.

      However, I fully understand why Scots would have wanted independence and the ability to make their own decisions on policies affecting them. As a country it has it's own judicial system, it's own education system, and as I found in my Masters research, a very different social responsibility ethos.

      I'm sorry the decision was such a big disappointment for you Fee, but please be assured that some of us in England are genuinely glad we are still a union (for whatever reasons, selfish or not) - and you do at least get a shot at securing more devolved decision making powers.

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    2. (Reply to Ra's comment)

      Really? Maxi dress and boots are pretty acceptable and not exclusively gothic here (though, obviously, I'm making it so via the use of a black colour palate). I do understand the effect of negative associations, though. Bondage trousers used to be worn very commonly by baby bats here and are something I hate, I must admit. Thank you for the compliment; I was broken hearted on friday, but now I'm full of steely resolve and am ready to destroy some tories. ;)

      With regards to the Scottish Independence issue, it's a pretty complex debate that goes back centuries; Scotland was historically an independent country with poor relations with England, but eventually became united with them. There's still a level of animosity between the two countries with regards to that, but the debate has a lot more breadth; Scottish interests tend to be poorly represented in parliament, and Scotland has far more socialist/left wing interests than England. Britain is very class driven and Scotland has very high rates of poverty, in no small part due to Westminster policy (particularly during the 1970s-1980s), despite having a lot of natural resources and cultural richness. Proponents of independence argue that we'd be better off separate and deserve control of our own affairs.

      I would bear in mind that I am obviously biased in favour of the Yes vote, and a no voter would tell you all about how we're too poor and the British Government can totally be trusted to give us those devolved powers, but it's my blog and I can spread yes rhetoric if I like. ;)

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    3. (Reply to Breaking the Angel)

      The government doesn't care about anything other than appeasing the hand that feeds it (bankers and big business), and stamping out human rights; realistically, we shouldn't need devolved powers, and yet I thank god everyday that we do.

      I do think it's unfortunate that the North of England is so ignored by parliament; a lot of people up here actually have a lot of sympathy for the North. As my friend jokingly put it, "why can't there be an option for 'independence for Scotland and the north of England' on the ballot?" I kind of hope that the northern cities get more devolved powers, quite honestly.

      The social ethos reasons for independence can seem a bit wishy washy, but in practice are a massive chasm between the two countries; it's probably the main reason I want independence. Thanks for the consolations; I hope you guys are more successful than us, and by god we will hold them to their hollow promises!

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    4. It's not wishy washy at all; when doing my research I looked at commodification / decommodification of social care provision within the Esping Andersen framework of 3 'worlds' of welfare state. When looking at this in Scotland within the devolution context of the time, it was quite clear that Scotland had a social-democratic (i.e. Labour ideology) based model of provision, whereas in England there was a definite shift towards the conservative model. Simply put, Scotland wishes to take care of it's poor, vulnerable, elderly and infirm people regardless of their level of income; the English state does not.

      And yes, the winter nights did fly by doing that research....!

      We did have a chance 10 years ago to vote for our own regional assembly with limited powers here in the NE - the vote was an overwhelming 'no' - probably because people didn't understand what they were voting for (I voted yes). Then we had a labour government who was feeding lots of regeneration money into the region. I suspect a vote would be much closer now!

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    5. Oh, no, I agree - just when I was discussing it with no voters they didn't really understand how big a difference it is. Scotland cares for one another in ways the English state scoffs at.

      Best of luck for your push! I hope we all break away from Westminster and leave them in the lurch. ;)

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  2. I'm sorry that the voting wasn't in your favour. It would have been interesting to see a new country being formed. I read your comments about how you feel that your people has been treated along with the northern England people. It's not unique. those who rule in the capitol town seems to forget about the big country outside. We only hear abut Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmoe all the time and the rest is called "countryside" forgetting all those industries induce jobs and taxes.
    The shirt is very cool. It looks like some kind of symbolic pattern.

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    1. Definitely; it's not a unique problem, feeling isolated from major population centres, but Scotland is on the other side of the political spectrum compared to England, and has been operating with devolved powers for some time now.

      Thanks! I love the pattern too.

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  3. I am glad you called the SPCA even if the animals ended up being ok, better safe than sorry! Your heart is in the right place! I once walked to the local animal welfare shop to get their number for a duck I thought was unwell, when I got back, he was wandering away, guess he was just taking a nap in the middle of the day.

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    1. I would have been upset to leave them, even if I could have used a dose more of common sense. Oh well.

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  4. I am so loving the long skirt/dress trend right now!

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