Cornwall should have a devolved Assembly/Parliament

He he. This is why Wikipedia is fundamentally flawed. My information comes from the article on one of the Lib-Dem MPs representing Cornwall, Andrew George, [http://en.wikipedia.org...(politician)] who attempted to raise a question about the Duchy in 1997. I think there's something wrong with a system where a parliamentary representative is blocked from discussing the rule of his own constituency...something very wrong indeed. As far as I know, racism is racism and there are no subsets. And although the Celtic race is separate from the Anglo-Saxon race, they are indistinguishable. The desire for self-rule is in now way racist. How can you even think that? I'm not going to tell you the Cornish are racist, because they're not. The age of globalization is immaterial. It only means that information and travel across the world are faster, not that national, linguistic, and racial differences are going to go away. If all conflict between the different sections of humanity is going to end in the "age of globalization," it sure hasn't made much progress so far. The climate reference was tongue-in-cheek, but it was meant to illustrate yet again how Cornwall is different from England. It is not part of the same country; it doesn't even look like it. No, I think states average out to be as restrictive or free law-wise as the federal government is. Some states are more liberal, some are more conservative, and thus the laws are different, but state authority in and of itself does not lead to tighter laws. It leads to more regionalized thinking. The founders of America, in entrusting so much power of the states, saw rightly that the people and industries and practices of Alaska were going to be different from those in Indiana, and so on. So, they decided that the states themselves, obviously with their own best interests at heart, would do a better job in some tasks of government than the federal government, which is just as selfish but with no state for that to filter through to. Ireland is still one of the freest nations on earth. Knowing nothing about it as I do, that health care system sounds harebrained--but compared to some of the shenanigans in the UK and US these days, it's practically paradise. The tax rate, which is the biggest factor I think in a "freedom index" is very low in Ireland. Exactly my point: The UK has become less free. It has become less free because it is ruled by a bureaucratic monolith. Why don't you support the Cornish assembly, then, which would break a gaping hole in the monolith--and perhaps lead other parts of Britain to follow their example? Again, you have no evidence at all that smaller jurisdictions "get away with more oppression." That sounds to me like it was pulled out of a hat. I'd love to see some hard data. That's exactly the opposite of what, say, the Founders of the US thought. Just because the Cornish haven't armed themselves and marched on London recently (they have in the past; believe me. Ever heard of the Prayer Book Rebellion?) doesn't mean they don't deserve independence. There was, in fact, a radical Cornish front for a while. I believe that they're now defunct, but they put bombs in post boxes and removed "English Heritage" signs from several castles and such. First of all, Cornwall is much smaller than Ireland, and second, they're just less hot-headed than the Irish. While the Irish migrants to the US were hot-headed; reminds me of an old John Wayne movie, Hatari: "Sean's (John Wayne's) Irish, so he gets mad. He takes it out on us, nobody gets hurt" Cornish immigrants like my great-grandparents were placid and calm. They went to work in the mines, such as in Mineral Point, Wisconsin and the Iron Range. Cornwall never really experienced the Industrial Revolution and the industrial philosophy of treating workers like chaff, as Ireland and Wales did. Cornwall's chief industry is mining, and it's been done much the same way since before Roman times, when they would trade it to the Phoenicians. They don't really have anything to hate the English for, like the Irish do (inadequate help during the potato famine and general treatment as second-class--read Jonathan Swift's great story A Modest Proposal.) That is, until recently when retirees from the British welfare state have descended upon Cornwall and driven up home prices precipitously. In conclusion, it only makes sense. Cornwall, and in fact every other specific region in the UK, deserves self-rule. This is not a "racist" proposal; I extend it to every major county in England. The Republic of Yorkshire, anyone? Contrary to your odd ideas, small government for a small jurisdiction is more economical, more free, and altogether better than big government for big jurisdiction. I support it in Cornwall as I support keeping it here in Wisconsin. Thanks, Sola Gratia. Corn