Falklands vote shows 99.8 pct want to stay British

[cali]

STANLEY, Falkland Islands — An overwhelming 99.8 percent of Falkland Islands voters have backed keeping their government just the way it is: a British Overseas Territory.

Of the 1,517 valid votes cast, only 3 islanders voted "no" to the question: "Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?" One vote was somehow lost, officials said Monday.

The referendum was aimed at showing the world that the residents' self-determination must be considered in any discussion about the future of the remote South Atlantic islands that are claimed by both Britain and Argentina.

Elections officials reported a 92 percent turnout among the approximately 1,650 Falkland Islands voters eligible to cast ballots in the referendum. International election observer Juan Henao said the process was completely normal.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130311/lt-falklands-referendum/?utm_hp_ref=homepage&ir=homepage

[loli phabay]

1. good, hopefully the argies will back off though i doubt it.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

2. The argies are calling the vote a farce

so no, they won't back off. Shame on them though.

[loli phabay]

3. of course they are, not sure what would make them finally accept it. doubt they want another war

But it will probuably happen eventually.

[Brayshawna Williams]

4. if i steal a toddler...

And the toddler becomes a teen who wants to be with me... and the theft is discovered...do I keep the child? Or does the mother get him back?
Do I go to jail?

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. The difference here is the Falklands were uninhabited

before the Europeans discovered them. The Europeans who got independence in Argentina have no more inherent right to them than the Europeans who discovered them. So self-determination by the people who actually live there is the best way to decide it.

To put it in the terms of your analogy, a baby was found by someone, who brought them up as their own. But someone else objects that they live in the same street the baby was found in, while the other person lives on the other side of town, so the baby should be theirs. When the teen is asked, they say they want to stay with the person who brought them up. That seems fair enough.

[Nye Bevan]

6. That would be an argument for throwing all non-native Americans out of the USA.

It does not apply in the case of the Falklands, though, as Muriel points out.

And BTW if the teen is now over 18, they get to choose who they want to live with.

[cali]

7. Um, what was stolen? The Falkland Islands? How so?

The archipelago is 300 miles off shore of Argentina. Not close to their territorial waters which extend 14 miles off of a country's coastline. Cuba is 90 miles from the U.S. Does that mean that Cuba and the Bahamas, for instance, should belong to the U.S. or the nearest large country? The Falklands were uninhabited when Europeans first came there. The current inhabitants overwhelmingly want to remain as they are and have been since 1840. It's called self-determination.

By your way of "thinking", St Pierre and Miquelon which are only 20 miles off of Newfoundland and are part of France- though like the Falklands, self-governing, should belong to Canada. And that goes for a slew of other islands around the world which are off the coast of large countries should all belong to the nearest large country.

[geek tragedy]

8. In your hypothetical the mother wasn't even born

when the child was adopted.

If that makes no sense to you, it shouldn't, because Argentina's claim is legal and factual nonsense.