UK a joke!

zarathustrazarathustra
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
So there's this old lady, of German descent married to a Greek man. She has a disfunctional family: sons unemployed apart from meeting people, going to lunch and failing in business an a string of failled marrages... AND WE'VE GOT HER AS HEAD OF STATE!



No wonder people laugh at us..."Quaint" is being kind. I think the Royal Family make us look pathetic.



(Sorry to go on I know it' irrelevant to nearly everyone in the world (you lucky b*****ds) but this is a bad weekend for a democrat/republican in the UK)
«134

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 69
    cdhostagecdhostage Posts: 1,038member
    Does the Regent carry any actual power nowadays?



    I mean, power is always political - people obeying you. Sometimes it's because you've got scary men with guns behind you... even the FREE Americans still have to pay income taxes because if they don't, scary men with guns come to take away their property.



    But....

    can the Majesty declare war? I mean, even if she doesn't have the legal power to do so, the People will follow a reasonable declaration...

    can the Majesty order a citizen put to death for no publicly known reason?

    can the Majesty appoint taxes to pay for his/her sumptuous palaces and banquets?
  • Reply 2 of 69
    zarathustrazarathustra Posts: 264member
    Legally, Our head of state does have the power to declare war without recourse to parliament. We are often told contradictory things about her residual powers. At the same time that royalists reassure us that the powers are in name only and would never actually be used we are told that we desperatly need. could not do without the royals. If their function is merely decorous I cannot see how they can be at the same time indispensble. More worrying for me is the fact that our prime minister exercises powers in her name. The power to dissolve government call elections make appointments to our second chamber etc. The tax thing is topical. Did you hear about the deal our queen did recently? Having escaped taxation for years the royal family agreed to pay tax on (some of) their income. In exchange they negotiated a deal to avoid inheritance taxes saving approx £20 million after the death of the queen mother. 'Private' residencies are renovated at public expense, 'Public' buildings are occupied soley for their use. also at our expense. But its not the money, its about self respect, I'd like to see a true democracy, where people rose or fell according to merit. We have an unhealthy relationship to authority. 'our betters' in the UK.
  • Reply 3 of 69
    macfenianmacfenian Posts: 276member
    Trust me mate, the people in the UK with the real power are possibly even scarier than the queen.



    Check for references with the Guildford 4, Birmingham 6, Maze prison hunger strikers, Bloody Sunday part 1 and 2.



    Lloyd George, Thatcher and Churchill were possibly even more merciless than Victoria and Henry VIII put together.



    Mind you, at least Blair apologized to the Guildford 4. I´m sure that makes up for the fact that Gerry Conlon doesn´t have a father anymore. Or that he spent 15 years in prison on fabricated and witheld evidence. Or that the people that fabricated and witheld this evidence were allowed to get away with it.



    You´d be better of with just a queen and no parliament at all.
  • Reply 4 of 69
    the installerthe installer Posts: 910member
    [quote]Originally posted by Zarathustra:

    <strong>...but this is a bad weekend for a democrat/republican in the UK)</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Especially if you are in a minority



    Tony Blair? World statesman? Sure thing . . .



    - T.I. (Royalist, so there)
  • Reply 5 of 69
    alpha macalpha mac Posts: 463member




    [ 06-03-2002: Message edited by: Alpha Mac ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 69
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    FTQ
  • Reply 7 of 69
    marcukmarcuk Posts: 4,442member
    I thought this was going to be a post about the England soccer team!
  • Reply 8 of 69
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    [quote]Originally posted by MarcUK:

    <strong>I thought this was going to be a post about the England soccer team!</strong><hr></blockquote>



    No, UK generally refers to more than just England.



    J :cool:
  • Reply 9 of 69
    scott_h_phdscott_h_phd Posts: 448member
    [quote]Originally posted by MarcUK:

    <strong>I thought this was going to be a post about the England soccer team!</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Me too.



    BTW the English must be idiots to withhold fabricated evidence.
  • Reply 10 of 69
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    Watching the Jubilee celebrations on the BBC tonight really made me proud to me British. Now I can't wait to get back to work and make some more tax to pay for the royal family.



    Only the UK is stupid enough to hold such a huge, expensive party for a woman who has done f*ck all for the last fifty years and on top of that we pay her an enormous salary. Lucky old cow.



    FTQ - F*ck The Queen



    J :cool: (Not feeling at all Jubilant)
  • Reply 11 of 69
    spookyspooky Posts: 504member
    Macvasco has it right. The Uk is controlled by the most corrupt, evil and merciless bastards ever to walk the Earth. The will of the people is nothing but a phrase that has no meaning. Millions of people live in despair, disillusionemnt, frustration and hopelessness as they meander through their tedious, repetitive unfulfilling lives - just to survive. Whilst Blair and his friends in Big Business just keep getting richer. They are the new aristocracy. An elite that belive themselves inherently superior and born to rule.



    If u ever thought the matrix was fiction, come and live here in the uk for a while.



    No one has been born in the uk for generations. We're just farmed as an inexhaustible supply of cheap labour.
  • Reply 12 of 69
    macfenianmacfenian Posts: 276member
    [quote]Originally posted by Jamie:

    <strong>

    Only the UK is stupid enough to hold such a huge, expensive party for a woman who has done f*ck all for the last fifty years and on top of that we pay her an enormous salary. Lucky old cow.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Correction, there will always be countries like the Netherlands, Belgium and even Monaco to share your grief.
  • Reply 13 of 69
    the installerthe installer Posts: 910member
    [quote]Originally posted by Jamie:

    <strong> ...for a woman who has done f*ck all for the last fifty years and on top of that we pay her an enormous salary. Lucky old cow.</strong><hr></blockquote> I wonder if all the people who were out in the streets yesterday, and who are out today felt/feel the same. I think not.



    Recent polls also prove the great popularity of the Queen.



    As to her salary, just think of the money that she brings in through tourism. I think the U.K. is getting a pretty good return there.



    God save the Queen



    - T.I.
  • Reply 14 of 69
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Installer:

    <strong> I wonder if all the people who were out in the streets yesterday, and who are out today felt/feel the same. I think not.



    Recent polls also prove the great popularity of the Queen.



    As to her salary, just think of the money that she brings in through tourism. I think the U.K. is getting a pretty good return there.



    God save the Queen



    - T.I.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    God save TI



    In France we have also our crowned family : the Prince of Monaco and his delighted Stephanie which bring money through people press

  • Reply 15 of 69
    the installerthe installer Posts: 910member
    [quote]Originally posted by powerdoc:

    <strong>

    God save TI </strong><hr></blockquote>

    &lt; waves hand graciously &gt;



    [quote]Originally posted by powerdoc:

    <strong>In France we have also our crowned family : the Prince of Monaco and his delighted Stephanie which bring money through people press

    </strong><hr></blockquote> I used to fancy Princess Caroline years ago :cool:



    - T.I.
  • Reply 16 of 69
    bellebelle Posts: 1,574member
    In some ways, I kind of like the notion of a head of state who doesn't have a (public) political bias.



    The best thing about all this jubilee business? - A friend in the UK e-mailed me an MP3 of "Take Down The Union Jack". I love Billy Bragg.

    [code]Take Down The Union Jack



    Take down the union jack, it clashes with the sunset

    And put it in the attic with the emperors old clothes

    When did it fall apart? Sometime in the 80s

    When the Great and the Good gave way to the greedy and the mean

    Britain isn?t cool you know, its really not that great

    It's not a proper country, it doesn?t even have a patron saint

    It's just an economic union that?s passed its sell-by date



    Take down the union jack, it clashes with the sunset

    And ask our Scottish neighbours if independence looks any good

    ?Cos they just might understand how to take an abstract notion

    Of personal identity and turn it into nationhood

    Is this the 19th century that I?m watching on tv?

    The dear old Queen of England handing out those MBEs

    Member of the British Empire - that doesn?t sound too good to me



    Gilbert and George are taking the piss aren?t they?

    Gilbert and George are taking the piss.

    What could be more British than here?s a picture of my bum?

    Gilbert and George are taking the piss



    Take down the union jack, it clashes with the sunset

    And pile all those history books, but don?t throw them away

    They just might have some clues about what it really means

    To be an Anglo hyphen Saxon in England.co.uk



    WORDS AND MUSIC: Billy Bragg (2002)</pre><hr></blockquote>



    I expect Jamie's standing with his hand on his heart...



    [ 06-04-2002: Message edited by: Belle ]</p>
  • Reply 17 of 69
    the installerthe installer Posts: 910member




    God save our gracious Queen,

    Long live our noble Queen,

    God save the Queen!

    Send her victorious,

    Happy and Glorious,

    Long to reign over us;

    God save the Queen!



    O Lord our God arise,

    Scatter her enemies

    And make them fall;

    Confound their politics,

    Frustrate their knavish tricks,

    On Thee our hopes we fix,

    Oh, save us all!



    Thy choicest gifts in store

    On her be pleased to pour;

    Long may she reign;

    May she defend our laws,

    And ever give us cause

    To sing with heart and voice,

    God save the Queen!



    - T.I.
  • Reply 18 of 69
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    [quote]Originally posted by Belle:

    <strong>



    I expect Jamie's standing with his hand on his heart...

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Cheers Belle!



    Great song, I've been playing it all day.



    J :cool:
  • Reply 19 of 69
    the installerthe installer Posts: 910member
    [quote]Originally posted by Jamie:

    <strong>...Great song...</strong><hr></blockquote>It's very popular too. Not.



    Even the Sex Pistols are represented in the Top 40, with, guess what . . . "God Save the Queen"



    - T.I.
  • Reply 20 of 69
    bellebelle Posts: 1,574member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Installer:

    <strong>It's very popular too. Not.



    Even the Sex Pistols are represented in the Top 40, with, guess what . . . "God Save the Queen"</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Now, now, The Installer, you should know as well as anyone that the tastes of the public majority are not an indication of musical quality.



    Need I remind everyone present which song has held the number one spot in the UK charts for the longest period of time?
Sign In or Register to comment.