Did the Cardinals just stick it to the Brits on the Falklands?

[yellowcanine]

The Falklands just voted to stay with the UK and the Cardinals pick an Argentinian Pope. Coincidence?

[HipChick]

1. The Brits really need to give it back

They learnt nothing from Northern Ireland

[hrmjustin]

4. The people voted to stay with the UK.

I think the people should be the ones who make that choice.

[Recursion]

23. Then they should let everybody on the islands vote. Not just current UK subjects (nt)

[hrmjustin]

25. That is interesting that they did not ask all the locals.

Do you know what percentage of the people are not UK citizens?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

27. I though residency was the standard in addition to age

International observers said it went very well

[HereSince1628]

7. IIRC the original colonies there were French and British

That history doesn't seem to parallel that of N. Ireland

[Applan]

8. You really have no idea what you are talking about do you

The Falkland Islands never belonged to Argentina

[gcomeau]

9. Give it back?

The population of the island just voted over 99% in favor of remaining UK territory! Just how exactly do you think "giving it back" would look?

[cemaphonic]

15. Give it back to the penguins and seals maybe?

All those sheep would have to go though, they're colonizers too.

[yellowcanine]

19. The seals might eat the sheep. At least the lambs which fall into the water.

There are probably eagles also who wouldn't pass up a lamb snack.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. The Brits don't care; they've got their own church.

[yellowcanine]

11. In 2010 one in 12 people reported to be Catholic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/11297461

And some Catholics have claimed that the UK is more Catholic than Anglican. Tony Blair famously converted, albeit because of his wife. It is enough of a sore point for Anglicans that they have officially denied that the UK is Catholic.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1573549/Anglicans-England-is-not-a-Catholic-nation.html

And of course, there were the blatant attempts by Pope Benedict to make inroads on Anglican churches. Some Anglicans and considered it "sheep stealing." Even some English Catholics were shocked by Benedict's actions.

http://www.examiner.com/article/pope-benedict-plans-a-trip-to-england-to-steal-sheep

[dipsydoodle]

14. There are over 1.2 billion Catholics

so any comments here need to be in that context.

And no - I'm not Catholic.

[arely staircase]

24. don't know about uk catholics

but here in the us, they don't march to the papal drum.

[LiberalFighter]

3. No they just wanted a Pope with Italian connections.

[Renew Deal]

5. I don't think there is any connection

[Glorfindel]

6. Probably not. After all, they haven't elected a citizen of the USA, and we still have Guam

American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. All things considered, I'd prefer to keep them rather than have an American Pope, given the choice.

[Buzz Clik]

10. Er... what? Not everything involving Argentina has to do with the Falklands/Malvinas.

[yellowcanine]

12. Ok I went back and put in a sarcasm tag just for you......

Maybe I should have posted this in the lounge....

[Buzz Clik]

13. Thanks. I see now that I'm the only one who missed the sarcasm.

[yellowcanine]

17. "...just for you" was hyperbole. Maybe we need a hyperbole smilie.

[Poll_Blind]

16. He got the second-most number of votes after Ratzinger in 2005.

Apparently he's been a pretty popular choice for a while now.

PB

[yellowcanine]

18. Is that public info or did someone leak it? I thought that is why they make a point of

all of the secrecy and burning the ballots, etc. If they are going to announce runner ups, why bother?

[Posteritatis]

26. It's speculation based on pre-ballot meetings

Nobody's got the exact numbers, though lots of people claim they do.

You can find voting breakdowns for various conclaves, and they often vary hugely - it's much more likely that someone is making numbers up in a convincing way when that happens.

[arely staircase]

20. will they commit troops?

[yellowcanine]

21. How Many Divisions Does the Pope Have? - Stalin

[arely staircase]

22. and there's the rub

i realized after posting i can find pics of british troops in arguably equally silly outfits. but i can also find pictures of them on aircraft carriers, so point still stands.