Re: The totally off-topic thread
I think the issue will not just go away, even after this defeat. Many petitions in the past which were basically against the status quo have never died, and naturally in countries like these (and Australia), people will take full advantage of their right to freedom of expression (as opposed to some other countries where even before such a vote, those who dissent as such will be suppressed or imprisoned).
Western Australian secession was sent to referendum twice - both defeated - and are still making the odd noise here and there about it now. Same state and daylight savings, and they even had a short term trial before another referendum. That has been sent to vote 3 times and all defeated - maybe not convincingly, but nonetheless. Imagine if Scotland were allowed a "trial period" of independence before a referendum to actually decide if they would permanently leave the UK or not.
In the end it is a natural consequence that most things against the status quo will always garner more attention and the right for 'review' more than the default condition, because the latter has had the advantage of experience and ease of implementation (i.e. do nothing). In practice, given a few more months or a year later, it will be interesting to hear anything about the Scottish independence movement, especially in guise of (if it happens) any other independence pushes, e.g. Catalonia.
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