I’m off this afternoon to England, and for those of you going to the Oxford or London events, I’ll see you there. On this day in 1944, plutonium was first produced at the Hanford nuclear facility in the state of Washington, later to be used in the Fat Man atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. On November 6, 1999, Australia voted to keep the Head of Commonwealth (i.e., the Queen) as their head of state. That amazes me still. Why, Aussies? On this day in 1854, John Philip Sousa was born, as was Edsel Ford in 1943 and Sally Field in 1946. And, in 1893, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky died on this day, as did Maxim of Bulgaria in 2012. Finally, it’s International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict; did you know that? Clearly it’s not an exciting day in history. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is being lazier than her staff, both of whom are down with bad colds but are nevertheless working.
A: Hili, get up. It’s 8 o’clock.
Hili: Can’t I sleep a bit longer even on Sunday?
A: It’s Saturday.
Hili: What’s the difference?
In Polish:
Ja: Hili, wstawaj, ósma godzina.
Hili: Nawet w niedzielę nie można sobie dłużej pospać.
Ja: Jest sobota.
Hili: A co za różnica?
May I respectfully add that on this day in 1952 Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne.
Far more importantly then Brenda Saxe-Coborg Gotha getting a new hat, on this day the news of mountaineers Tenzing and Hillary having reached the summit of Mt Everest (Chomolungmafeng, and several other names) came through to the outside world.
Hang on : Friday? Saturday, shurely, Ed?
A discrepancy. Clicking on the link to “International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict” says the day is November 6
“…Australia voted to keep the Head of Commonwealth (i.e., the Queen) as their head of state. That amazes me still. Why, Aussies?”
My theory is that, like me (a canadian), they don’t trust any of their own politicians to be the actual head of state.
“Why, Aussies?” Because the question was too specific, as it was designed to be by the royalist government of the day (see here), and it was still damn close (55:45).
If the first question had been ‘Should Australia become a republic with an Australian head of state?’ it would have been approved by a huge majority. No sane person has ever disputed that.
The next question should have offered two options, the bi-partisan appointment model (and minimal ceremonial role for the pres.) that was actually voted on, and some kind of popular-election executive president model. The royalists exploited the fact that the republican movement was pretty evenly split between the two, and that enough of the ones who wanted a US-style presidential system would not accept a ‘compromise’.
There’s a lesson there that all conservative institutions have learned: dividing the progressives is all you need to do in order to hold power for ever.
If we had this vote in NZ, I’d vote to retain the queen as head of state. For me, it’s not because of any special regard for monarchy, but because of the system of government we have as a result of having a constitutional monarchy.
I know I’ve got a bit of a habit of over-praising NZ, but when it comes to our system of government I genuinely believe we do have the best. (Which doesn’t make it perfect of course – it could do with some tweaks.) Part of the reason for that is a constitutional monarchy, which thus effectively has no power.
See: http://www.vox.com/2014/9/23/6831777/new-zealand-electoral-system-constitution-mixed-member-unicameral
I totally want to boot the Queen out as head of state. I figure we can have a parliamentary system minus the queen. In Canada, I think having an English Queen only pisses off the French more and I have more in common with French Canadians than a foreign monarch so I’d rather keep the French Canadians happy.
I think if I was Canadian I might feel differently too. It’s just that for me it’s not the Queen, it’s the type of government it allows us to have that’s the point.
Wait, isn’t this the Saturday dialogue?
I got worried too, but I see there is a Caturday post for our delectation.
Good. I’m not the only one.
[Searches for coffee.]
Haha. I was honestly confused about where I was in space and time.
FYI: Edsel Ford was born in 1893 and died in 1943. I knew this because I just watched a PBS program on Henry Ford, who was a terrible father to his only child, Edsel.
He was kind of a bad guy all around. For a guy who was the example of the American dream, in his own personal beliefs he was just the opposite.
Edsel returned the compliment by being an absolute bomb of a car. I’m told, by petrol-heads.
“Bomb” in the sense of “tonnes of high explosive causing the evacuation of major public buildings”.
I wonder if there’s an Edsel dealer in Edzell?
Regardless of all the historical links, today was also another Republican debate day. For one reason or another, I found myself watching the final 2/3 of the debate. Ugh. . .What if one of these loonies gets elected President? Do you think Australia would mind if I were to migrate there? Pardon me while I get sick.
Re: melanistic animals.
Over several decades of watching pigeons, I have seen several all-white pigeons (no markings at all). These are very rare but can be spotted on occasion.
Over the decades, I have seen only ONE–full stop!–all-black pigeon. Extraordinarily rare, unless somewhere there’s a local population with that kind of genetics.