So, it’s Queen’s Birthday weekend.
Except… it’s not her birthday.
She was actually born on April 21st 1926.
Moving the reigning monach’s birthday celebration to another day began with George II back in 1748 who was born in November and thought it was too cold in his kingdom to party outdoors that time of year.
So that’s why the Queen’s official birthday bash is usually held on a Saturday in June when it’s warmer in the UK.
Except… it’s colder in New Zealand
This year it’s officially June 13th.
Except… not in New Zealand which is also known as Aotearoa
Except… you won’t find our country called Aotearoa in our Constitution Act (1986) despite the fact that te reo Māori is one of our official languages.
We have a Constitution?
Yes we do.
Except… it’s not a written one like in the USA.
Ours sets out a framework of governance in a law, because it arguably makes it easier to change all our other laws to match our beliefs about what’s right and wrong as they change over time.
Except.. some people say this is not a good idea.
Be that as it may, Queen Elizabet II is our current Head Of State.
Except…she was 95 last April and she did once she was going to step down when she reached that age and hand over to Charles.
Except.. she’s changed her mind.
Some say that when her reign is over we should become a Republic.
Except… if the Crown no longer existed how would that affect Treaty rights?
Mmm…
.. maybe that’s why the British sing “God Save the Queen!” so loudly at official events.
Except….which god are they talking about ….given the UK is now a multi-cultural country in which thhey majoroity say they no longer believe in the existence of the omnipresent ,omniscient, punishing ( yet loving ) masculine God of the Bible?
Oh…. but what the hey …
It’s a holiday!
Enjoy! Relax !
Except… of course if you are working.
Like me.
PS. Rose says she’s overwhelmed by the nice things people said about her yesterday and to thank you. She says she is open to becoming the Head of State if Queen Elizabeth II decides to step down, as long as she doesn’t have to move to Wellington. (Um…She’s also a bit worried about the guy she picked to live with who seems to think she’s talking to him 🙂)
Bryan Bruce is one of NZs most respected documentary makers and public intellectuals who has tirelessly exposed NZs neoliberal economic settings as the main cause for social issues.
Sometime ago I wrote a letter to QE 2 and spelled out my grave concerns for where neoliberalism in all it’s many cloaks, daggers, dis-eases, scams and swindles was dragging us down to.
I got a reply by actual mail. Proper mail. Postman Pat mail.
Her Majesty expressed what I took to be sincere interest in the issues I’d raised and was considering the points I’d made. ( So her press secretary wrote on HRH’s behalf.)
There was a red rubber stamp mark on the back of the envelope which read ” This mail took longer to be delivered because the sender had placed insufficient postage on the envelope.” I thought that was hilarious.
Not long after that, Prince William rolled in for a beersie with jonky then jonky went bye-bye and we’ve had a change of government boasting a record voter turn out and now the natzo’s are struggling in the poles and their only hope of reelection lies in a psychopath in a frock who looks more dangerous than a meth addict Wooki and no doubt smells worse.
Not even I am brave enough to suggest my letter had any effect at all on those events… Or did it!? There is one certainty however. If I’d not written that letter then I’d know for certain that it couldn’t have.
( I strongly believe that more AO/NZ’ers should directly engage with the Crown.)
I have an enormous respect and admiration for the whanau that is the Monarchy. They may be many things, like all families, and like all families they may have many skelletons in many closets but they have one vital, essential thing that separates them from the rapacious commercialised rabble of the Americloned ‘free world’. They have Class. The Americans would quite literally kill for the innate Class the Crown has but they’re coming to realise there are some things that money can’t buy. Money can’t buy Class. Money can buy the end of all life on Earth but it can’t buy class and if you have difficulties in comprehending Class then compare a Bentley Coupe to a Cadillac? A Range Rover Vogue to a Dodge Ram? A Trump to a Charles? A jonky to a Kirk?
A word of caution after a question. Should AO/NZ become a republic? Sure ! Great idea ! If you want to be a D grade citizen in your AO/NZ. An AO/NZ which would rapidly become a South Pacific Gaza. ( Australia? You’re next mates.)
There are private individuals out there who have enough money to literally buy AO/NZ. They’d have enough left over to scrape us 5 million off our AO/NZ then move in and call our entire country their own. The only thing stopping that happening, at this point, is the Crown. And an impressive British military, navy and air force.
Therefore… Happy Birthday ( when ever that is ) HRH QE 2 ! xxx
CB, love your views on life in general.
Recently I have seen some really big changes in this great little country, especially in regards to Te Ao Maori- the Maori world.
For too many years many Maori were too polite to expose the BS that was being foisted on our race – NOT ANY MORE. If ever Maori protested unfairness, they would often be branded as Maori Activists, as if that was a bad thing. Now we have leaders both young and old who not prepared to accept anymore of the colonialist BS that has reigned for too long.
Fortunately many of the proponents of racism, anti-Maori, anti-Treaty, and pro-neoliberalism are coming to the end of the lives. They are fast coming to the end of their Use-by dates, and we are seeing a new generation of NZ’ers who want to live in a fair society for all, who find being multi-lingual, and respectful of indigenous and multi-cultural practices something to be proud of.
Only a few years ago who would have thought that we would hear and see Maori, Pacifica, and other foreign names being correctly pronounced on TV. Our news media presenters and journalists are doing a marvellous job, and setting excellent examples.
I can see further changes still to come, the reversal of many significant place names back to their original relevant names, and the icing on the cake will be when this country will again be named Aotearoa.
Boy that change will put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Thank you @ Maama.
I’m most aware of the manipulative habits of banking. Banking and finance have zero interest in race, culture, sex, nature, whanau or the wondrous complexities of the creative mind. Money, sees only one thing. More money.
I’m willing to put forward the idea that money will become a dreaded weapon of AI. It’s already a weapon used by those who have it to crush those who don’t.
Have you ever noticed that when times get financially difficult the msm start talking working poor and the unemployed as if somehow they’re to blame? New strategies are put in place with patronising focus on new skills, new, hardworking, money earning habits are expected and all the while the msm actively grinds the middle classes into the working classes and that invariably involves race blaming and poverty shaming.
And then, of course, our costs of living keep going up. Why? Why aren’t rents the same as they were 30 years ago? Why isn’t electricity the same as it was 40 years ago? Why is food so expensive in the supermarkets? Market gardeners are getting fuck all more than they were 40 years ago so what the fuck’s going on, one might ask.
That, right there, is a battle tactic. If one were to invade another, the first thing to do is to turn one’s enemy against itself. It used to be called propaganda.
muldoon was a propagandist. Whenever things started heating up for the nasty little fool he’d trot out race, single parents, those on benefits and the abortion issue to muddy the waters. To distract with controversy. Create disharmony where there was none, or at least nothing that a sit down and a cup of tea couldn’t fix.
These natzo/labour bastards are the same thing. The natzo’s and labour are one and the same thing and nothing would give then a better night’s sleep than hearing Maori and non Maori warring in the streets.
Nothing would alarm and worry them more than if Maori and non Maori parked up their grievances ( Engine running, hand brake on.) and together took a close look into exactly how and for whom our politics actually works for. Because it aint fucking us.
Kia kaha @ Maama.
Thank you Bryan. An excellent bit of work even if it was done on Queen’s Birthday. Take the rest of the day off! 🙂
Christmas is fake; Easter is fake, Labour Day is fake. So why not have a fake Queen’s Birthday? After all, the whole royal family is fake.
Meanwhile the planet melts from excessive emissions of CO2. And ‘no one’ notices.
420 ppm atmospheric CO2.
And next year’s Queen’s Birthday it will be about 423 ppm.
The only things that re real are the environment and Matariki -which we don’t get to celebrate till 2022, un less we are ahead of the times.
Better to be ahead of them ahead of the times than behind the times or in them.
With a couple of big houses containing well over 1000 rooms. Worth more than $1.5b.
I think is time she retire and start repatriating the stolen wealth to all the countries that it was stolen from on her behalf.
Ahhh an anti mornarchy post, always helps up the total of clicks and posts of the marxists far left, delicious to see!
Keep up the good work for the dozen or so regular posters on here…im happy to throw in the occasional post to help the numbers, charity begins at home afterall.
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