The Scottish Parliament is the national unicameral legislature of
Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh. The Parliament is
a democratically elected body comprised of 129 members who are known
as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Members are elected for
four year terms under the proportional representation system. The
original Parliament of Scotland was the national legislature of the
independent Kingdom of Scotland and existed from the early thirteenth
century until the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of
England under the Acts of Union 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great
Britain. Following a referendum in 1997 where the Scottish people gave
their consent, the current Parliament was established by the Scotland
Act 1998 which sets out its powers as a devolved legislature. The Act
delineated the areas in which it can make laws by explicitly
specifying powers that are "reserved" to the Parliament of the United
Kingdom. All matters that are not explicitly reserved are
automatically the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament. The UK
Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the
Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it
can make laws. The first meeting of the new Parliament took place on
12 May 1999.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Parliament
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Today's selected anniversaries:
474:
As the seven-year old Leo II was deemed too young to rule, his father
Zeno was crowned as the co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno_(emperor))
1895:
Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical
education director, in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volleyball)
1920:
The Svalbard Treaty was signed, recognizing Norwegian sovereignty over
the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard)
1950:
Red Scare: Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the U.S. State Department
of being filled with communists.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy)
1960:
Actress Joanne Woodward was honored with the first star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Belief may be no more, in the end, than a source of energy, like a
battery which one clips into an idea to make it run. -- J. M. Coetzee
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee)