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Wings Over Scotland



Latvian lessons 127

Posted on October 24, 2013 by

Latvia has been ruled by others for most of the past thousand years, with Riga even being the largest city in Sweden until they carelessly lost it to Peter the Great in 1710. Independence from Russia came in 1918 and then from the Soviet Union in 1991.

latvia

I arrived in Riga a few months later and stayed for a year and a half. At the time I joked that, apart from my paid work, I was there to observe what they were going through and to take notes for when Scotland became independent. It’s been a long time but some things, I hope, will be relevant to the process over the next year.

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    • Spartan 117 on Response Level Upgrade: “Indeed. One concurs. I’m not sure what I cringe more at, the plastic kilted Bravehearts with the bagpipes advertising to…Jun 14, 23:10
    • WhoRattledYourCage on Response Level Upgrade: “Fuck the World Cup. Abject idiocy by morons, for morons. https://whorattledyourcage.blogspot.com/2026/06/state-of-pity-party.htmlJun 14, 22:37
    • Southernbystander on Response Level Upgrade: “It is an interesting question with no easy answers as all simple solutions start to fall apart once you ask…Jun 14, 20:46
    • Dan on Response Level Upgrade: “Robert Hughes comment btl on the Grousebeater article articulates well my thoughts. One could easily piece together a narrative and…Jun 14, 20:34
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Response Level Upgrade: “The grave issue raised here is way beyond any mundane account of high-profile independence proponents not getting on with each…Jun 14, 20:10
    • sam on Response Level Upgrade: “Well said, Dan. Let’s look at how little Ireland fares against the might of the UK as an example of…Jun 14, 20:03
    • Dan on Response Level Upgrade: “Well of course folk would think that if you listened to and gave any credence to Unionist and Devolutionist Scot’s…Jun 14, 19:21
    • Hatey McHateface on Response Level Upgrade: “It’s a straw man right enough. By remaining dogmatically determined that Scotland’s place is as an unimportant Brussels-administered colony on…Jun 14, 19:19
    • BigJay on Response Level Upgrade: “Usually, I can’t stand Euan McColm’s writings in the Scotsman. However, today he has written a decent article about how…Jun 14, 19:07
    • twathater on Response Level Upgrade: ““an independent, free, prosperous and peaceful Scotland remains out of reach.” Because accepting and embracing the denigration and derision handed…Jun 14, 18:00
    • Hatey McHateface on Response Level Upgrade: “It’s all so simplistic it reduces the topic to a joke. Far better to ask the respondents if they think…Jun 14, 17:52
    • Hatey McHateface on Response Level Upgrade: “Scots, Irish, Basque, Sami, Roma. But not the Jews, obvs. To your typical Scots semi-professional victim, keening by the fire,…Jun 14, 17:40
    • Hatey McHateface on Response Level Upgrade: “Confused and his Spanish galleons always raises a smile. The good people of the Americas; Aztecs, Maya, etc. begged the…Jun 14, 17:32
    • Hatey McHateface on Response Level Upgrade: “Truths stick in the memory. Turds stick in the U bend. Anybody ken hoo mony short planks equals a Du…Jun 14, 17:14
    • Northcode on Response Level Upgrade: ““Edward Said, however, confirmed that colonialism had already been long since directed at European races…” Thanks for that clarification. You…Jun 14, 17:13
    • Dan on Response Level Upgrade: “It’s all gone a bit Pete Tong hasn’t it… I was just looking at the “Voices for Independence” feed and…Jun 14, 17:09
    • Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “It started badly, it tailed off a little in the middle and the less said about the end the better,…Jun 14, 15:43
    • Alf Baird on Response Level Upgrade: ““With colonialism the victims were non-Europeans, but with fascism Europeans became the victims.” Crevel’s ‘Murderous Humanitarianism’ (1932) attacked colonialism, capitalism,…Jun 14, 15:22
    • Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “Nine out of ten cats said they prefer kittekat.Jun 14, 15:19
    • Young Lochinvar on Response Level Upgrade: “AX He’ll be (ahem) servicing the cell blocks “Mr Big” and giving the Lags tutorials on embezzling..Jun 14, 15:06
    • sam on Response Level Upgrade: “https://lordashcroftpolls.com/2026/06/will-they-win-how-will-the-civil-service-react-who-should-follow-farage-my-survey-of-reform-uk-members/ “Just under four in ten Reform UK members said they would describe someone who was from an ethnic minority,…Jun 14, 14:19
    • Confused on Response Level Upgrade: “whats new? the anglos started out as pirates, then … just stuck with it; harassed by the vikings they started…Jun 14, 13:32
    • Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “From the river to the sea It’ll be years till they’re free!Jun 14, 13:06
    • Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “Alfred the Great Northy. A leader to unite the kingdom against the Danish cross dressers. Scotland needs an Eliot Ness!…Jun 14, 12:55
    • Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “@Andthetoilette. Is this the new boyfriend Sam?Jun 14, 12:37
    • Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “Allocoprophagia!Jun 14, 12:30
    • Northcode on Response Level Upgrade: “It’s laughable… except it really isn’t. The BIG news story on the BBC today is ‘some commandos boarded an unarmed…Jun 14, 12:22
    • Captain Caveman on Response Level Upgrade: “Another day, another dollar – and another demented old lefty declaring yet another thing as “fascist”, misquoting and/or misappropriating the…Jun 14, 12:04
    • Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “@Sam As clear as dirty dish water.Jun 14, 12:01
    • Andouillette on Response Level Upgrade: “Easy. ‘Their’ refers to the Deform members he polled. A bit clumsy but makes sense in that context.Jun 14, 12:00
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