Monarch Discussion | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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Monarch Discussion

DavidSSS

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Dec 11, 2017
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General, I think the US comparison is a bit over drawn. The US system has more fundamental differences than just having a President. In the US the Executive Government is deliberately separated from the legislature. Without the jargon, what that means is that all of our ministers are members of parliament, in the US the ministers are not allowed to be members of congress. It is a hard division between legislature and executive which a Westminster system, like ours, does not have.

We don't have to go down the US road, we can look for a better way to do this.

DS
 
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tigerdell

Hope springs infernal
Mar 29, 2014
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Ive been driving around Bakes turf, rural WA.

And the aboriginal flags on civic buildings at half mast is annoying the *smile* out of me.

If i was a mayor, id be asking the local blackfellas

If theyde like a kite,

To fly THEIR flag at double or triple mast.
not just in rural oz, here in Frankston its annoying the bejeebus outta me.
Edit - DS explained why, so I'll stop worrying about flags.
 
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IanG

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Sep 27, 2004
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So, this is a very large straw man argument.

Aside from that, even if that "wealth" was to be redistributed, do you think we'd see any of it? No, it'd be brought by the Packer's, the Rinehart's, the Adani's, the Forrest's, etc. At least this overly inflated BS establishment stays largely in their box now, as they know if they step too far out of it, their perfect world will come tumbling down. I'd much rather someone like Queen Lizard hold this land, than any of the people above.

As for a Republic, I'd love to have one, but we would have to do a lot of small changes constitutionally and I think that opens it up to exploitation by vested interests. For example, we already have a President of the Senate here (Currently Sue Lines). I wouldn't want to have another election process, for someone to compete with the Prime Minister - we already have enough giant douche vs crap sandwich arrangements. I don't want a Grand Poobar version above them.

I'd rather leave things alone, than open us up to an American or simliar type of government.

Thsi is why you do it in stages, first do we want to be a republic, then later what form should it take. As has been suggested here some form of Council of Elders would seem to be a good model and does not have the issues of a US style republic.
 
Jul 26, 2004
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Off with their *smile*'in heads.

Just on this spook I was shocked at this video so dug a bit deeper.
Despite the phrase, 'Crown Land' it doesn't automatically means the Monarchy owns it so the video is a bit misleading.
They own plenty of assets but their land holdings was exaggerated for affect.
 
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The_General

It's been a very hard working from home
Staff member
May 4, 2004
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Just on this spook I was shocked at this video so dug a bit deeper.
Despite the phrase, 'Crown Land' it doesn't automatically means the Monarchy owns it so the video is a bit misleading.
They own plenty of assets but their land holdings was exaggerated for affect.
Exactly. Most of these types of factoids deliberately misinterprete info and then build arguments on top of that to sensationalise their point. It's click bait garbage.
 
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Panthera Tigris

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Apr 27, 2010
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I'd say the Dismissal was definitely a contributing factor, Pantsman. But it would have built on the greater influence, that being the large amount of Irish in our national DNA, with around 30% of the population having some Irish heritage compared with 13% for Canada (most of whom are Protestants) and 15% for New Zealand.

I'm from Irish Catholic stock, and antipathy towards the royals has been passed down the generations for hundreds of years. With good reason - they murdered and/or dispossessed our people, going back to Henry VIII but also including the attempted genocide that was the Potato Famine.

It's no coincidence early Irish settlers in Australia formed affinities with the blackfellas, nor that many Irish Catholic Australians (including Richmond footballers) refused to join the lemmings at Gallipoli when their own homeland was being brutally occupied by the country they were supposed to now go and fight for.
Not really relevant to this forum. But heard a cracking joke Spook that I thought you might appreciate.

During the troubles in Belfast, A man gets stopped in his car on the Shankhill Rd by men with guns and balaclavas. The men ask him, “Are you a Protestant or a Catholic?” The man replies, “I’m an atheist actually.” To which the balaclava clad men respond without hesitation, “But are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?”

I thought it was pretty good satire. Will pay that one.
 
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AngryAnt

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Nov 25, 2004
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Not really relevant to this forum. But heard a cracking joke Spook that I thought you might appreciate.

During the troubles in Belfast, A man gets stopped in his car on the Shankhill Rd by men with guns and balaclavas. The men ask him, “Are you a Protestant or a Catholic?” The man replies, “I’m an atheist actually.” To which the balaclava clad men respond without hesitation, “But are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?”

I thought it was pretty good satire. Will pay that one.

My dad was briefly in prison in South Africa for activism against Apartheid in the early 60s. When asked what religion he was, he said "Agnostic". The prison guard shook his head and said "never heard of that one, can you give me the details of your Agnostic priest so we can arrange visits"
 
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AngryAnt

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Nov 25, 2004
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Here's another of my favourite religious jokes..

A Jewish man in New York is entering the last stages of his life, which to be fair has been a long and hard one. In desperation he prays to God. "God, God, I've been a faithful and devout Jew all my life. To ease my last days I pray to you to grant me the 1st prize in the next New York lottery"
Day of the lottery comes and goes, and no win.
He tries again. "God, God, do not forsake me. I've prayed hard and devoutly, and not even a minor prize in the lottery. So I can live out my last days in comfort please grant me the 1st prize in the next lottery!!
Of course, no win occurs.
Finally in desperation he prays again... "God, God, do not forsake me now!! I need money for medication, my rent is due, and my television is on the fritz!!! I beg you for the final time, let me win the first prize"

All of a sudden the Heavens opened, the clouds parted and God appears in all his glory and in a deep booming voice he says
"Saul, Saul, help me out and next time at least buy a ticket"
 
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AngryAnt

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Nov 25, 2004
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Not really relevant to this forum. But heard a cracking joke Spook that I thought you might appreciate.

During the troubles in Belfast, A man gets stopped in his car on the Shankhill Rd by men with guns and balaclavas. The men ask him, “Are you a Protestant or a Catholic?” The man replies, “I’m an atheist actually.” To which the balaclava clad men respond without hesitation, “But are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?”

I thought it was pretty good satire. Will pay that one.

Nice!

Of course an atheist might say to a Christian - "you don't believe in 99.99% of all the gods ever imagined by humankind and only believe in one, I've just taken that line of thought one step further" :)
 

Panthera Tigris

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Apr 27, 2010
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Nice!

Of course an atheist might say to a Christian - "you don't believe in 99.99% of all the gods ever imagined by humankind and only believe in one, I've just taken that line of thought one step further" :)
What I loved about that Protestant atheist vs Catholic atheist joke is that it isn't really a joke about believing in god. It describes so succinctly what a lot of outsiders not educated in the Northern Ireland conflict don't understand. It isn't a religious conflict. It moved beyond that hundreds of years ago. It's a tribal/ethnic identity conflict, more akin to Serb vs Croat vs Bosniak conflicts in the Balkans.

Regarding that. Sitting on the bus, commuting to work here in Hobart just this morning. There was a car driving along decorated in Northern Ireland red hand flag bumper stickers. Struck me as quite a peculiar political statement in this part of the world.

I know in the late 70s-early 80s there was a bit of a mini wave of migrants to Tasmania from Northern Ireland. A combination of the troubles and decimation of the working class jobs in Britain in that era. Quite a few settled in my suburb. I was at the local public school, but the neighbouring Catholic school had a lot of kids from these families. Made really good lifelong friends with some of these kids, growing up playing for local suburban junior sports clubs with them.

Remember I said earlier that it used to be said that the south of Tasmania was traditional run by Catholics and the north traditionally run by Protestants? Well the settlement patterns of the the migrants from Northern Ireland seemed to match this. Who knows if it was by fluke or design. Perhaps the red hand flag car was visiting from Launceston for the day :).
 
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AngryAnt

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Nov 25, 2004
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What I loved about that Protestant atheist vs Catholic atheist joke is that it isn't really a joke about believing in god. It describes so succinctly what a lot of outsiders not educated in the Northern Ireland conflict don't understand. It isn't a religious conflict. It moved beyond that hundreds of years ago. It's a tribal/ethnic identity conflict, more akin to Serb vs Croat vs Bosniak conflicts in the Balkans.

Regarding that. Sitting on the bus, commuting to work here in Hobart just this morning. There was a car driving along decorated in Northern Ireland red hand flag bumper stickers. Struck me as quite a peculiar political statement in this part of the world.

I know in the late 70s-early 80s there was a bit of a mini wave of migrants to Tasmania from Northern Ireland. A combination of the troubles and decimation of the working class jobs in Britain in that era. Quite a few settled in my suburb. I was at the local public school, but the neighbouring Catholic school had a lot of kids from these families. Made really good lifelong friends with some of these kids, growing up playing for local suburban junior sports clubs with them.

Remember I said earlier that it used to be said that the south of Tasmania was traditional run by Catholics and the north traditionally run by Protestants? Well the settlement patterns of the the migrants from Northern Ireland seemed to match this. Who knows if it was by fluke or design. Perhaps the red hand flag car was visiting from Launceston for the day :).


Yes, no doubt... and even philosophically it's also not as silly as it sounds as even atheists are influenced by the particular moral/religious culture they grew up in. I also think throughout history there have been millions and millions of atheists who quietly just professed belief, fronted up to the church or the mosque and went through the motions just because not doing so would have severe social and physical consequences.

But yeah, you wouldn't want to be a protestant atheist in the context of that joke PT
 

Panthera Tigris

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Apr 27, 2010
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Although not head of state nor a monarch, as the social media driven society keeps incorrectly professing.

She is the spouse of a monarch, no different to the status her father in law, Prince Henrik held. Having said that, people seem to get entirely confused by the terminology, whereby the female spouse of a monarch will be referred to as Queen, but a male equivalent is only ever Prince or Duke - never King.