[Black Wolf]

Originally posted by aldo_14
They actually voted to keep 'er in a referendum though, didn't they?

Not exactly. We voted not to maintain the queen, but to not make use of the ridiculous republic system John Howard (Who is a die hard monarchist) made us vote for. Essentially, it came down to

"Keep things as they are"

or

"Change to a republic where the general public has no say in who becomes our head of state, and the leader of the country is elected by parliament, from parliament."

Had we been given a reasonable republican model, things would have been very different. The majority of people at the time were republicans, but the referendum was very neatly destroyed before it began.

[Flipside]

Sounds about right for that lot

I suppose the Queen is handy as something to roll out on ceremonial occasions, very traditional and 'Historic' and all that. But why does one family need over 450 bedrooms in total?

Especially when I see families struggling to maintain a one bedroom flat

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Because they need somewhere to put 450 beds?

[vyper]

[q]Of course, there is a Glaswiegan tendency to be 'rough' working class and dislike the super rich / posh. Even for someone like me, who comes from what is pretty much middle class household in the 'burbs.[/q]

Ignore this man he's not representing us all. I object to the monarchy in theory due to it's very nature, but I support it in practise as a unifying force for Britain and her Commonwealth.

[aldo_14]

"Her" Commonwealth?

anyway, you just said you didn't like the monarchy due to its nature, which is pretty much what I just said.

[karajorma]

Plus I like the fact that although she never uses it the Queen does act as a balance against the power of parliment. Remember that the Queen can refuse to enact a law. The law would have to be pretty drastic for the Queen to get involved in politics but one day it may prove useful.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by karajorma
Plus I like the fact that although she never uses it the Queen does act as a balance against the power of parliment. Remember that the Queen can refuse to enact a law. The law would have to be pretty drastic for the Queen to get involved in politics but one day it may prove useful.

what about her doss son, though?

[karajorma]

Like I said I'm not as fond of Charles. He champions organic food and that's enough to make me wish he'd choke to death on his own stupidity.

[IceFire]

Arnie also said "we will terminate the terrorists."

Its funny because he uses all his movie catch phrases and turns them into political sound bytes and the funny thing is that it works!

[redmenace]

Welfare reform? Yeah, if you mean making it so poor people can't get welfare, sure.

LOL apparently you don't know that you can still get welfare here in the US. Only difference is you can't sit there and STAY ON IT. There is a limited amount of time that you stay on welfare. And in that time you need to find stable employment ect ect ect. Also before the reform, there was major abuses. such as people that would collect welfare in multiple states. They would have multiple residences:such as a summer home and a winter home. If you have two homes why the hell do you need welfare. THAT IS CALLED FRAUD.

On the subject of grenada, this sums it up very well:
"Alarm bells sounded early in the Reagan administration when the Marxist regime of Grenada's prime minister Maurice Bishop nuzzled up to Moscow and Havana. The construction of a 10,000-foot runway that could accommodate the largest military transports, and the influx of hundreds of East-bloc advisers and military personnel, meant that Grenada was fast becoming another forward base for Soviet designs on the region. The Detroit News noted in its editorial that in his four years as ruler, Bishop 'had censored the press, canceled elections, stifled opposition parties, and jailed numerous political detainees.'

As for the map from a gas station I think it was. THERE WAS A LACK OF INTELLIGENCE. THEY WENT IN NOT TOTALLY PREPARED. However, the US did not act unilaterly.

To the Moderators:
This is the last post on the subject I will make and encourage this thread to be closed sorry for the way it went.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by karajorma
Like I said I'm not as fond of Charles. He champions organic food and that's enough to make me wish he'd choke to death on his own stupidity.

Exactly - and we can;t stop him taking the throne and gaining the power to veto bills.... imagine the devastation it'd wreak on the scientific community and the country as a whole - we'd all end up living in tents on allotments growing organic turnips.

[Ford Prefect]

The organic food cause has merit. The amount of hormones and antibiotics that's going into food now is starting to get dangerous.

[ionia23]

"Girlie men".  I love that .  People need thicker skin for crying out loud.

[StratComm]

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
The organic food cause has merit. The amount of hormones and antibiotics that's going into food now is starting to get dangerous.

That is absolutely not true.  It's not significantly different now from 25 years ago other than in GM crops.  And besides, the biggest element of "organic" farming is in vegetable growth (no hormones or antibiotics there anyway, you're thinking of cattle) and is, in fact, much less environmentally friendly and not significantly healthier for human consumption than conventional farming.

The practice of feeding beef scraps back to live cattle should stop, but that one is not dependant on organic or non-organic farming.

[Ford Prefect]

I was thinking more of livestock, actually. I'll take your word for it regarding vegetables, but meat is getting really screwed up.

[.::Tin Can::.]

Originally posted by Corsair
Arnold just went and did it again.
"...and to those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: don't be economic girlie men!"
[ singlehandedly displaying Republican homophobia and Republican denial .. what a guy ]

Discuss.

Who cares, really?

He says "girlymen" and everyone goes nuts. Leave it alone for christs sakes. If you guys made a nit-picking topic about the Democratic convention, please, let me read over it.

[vyper]

[q]"Girlie men". I love that . People need thicker skin for crying out loud.[/q]

Yep, it's Ahrnie! The master of "You lack discipline" (movie) and "I like all women... espcially blonde ones with large breasts" (RL).

[jdjtcagle]

Arnold Swcharsnenager

[Kazan]

learn how to spell

Arnold Schwarzenaegger

[Rictor]

oh do shut up Kaz.
There's a good lad.