Sir Patrick Stewart 324
david.emery was one of a few folks who noted that Patrick Stewart can now be referred to as Sir Captain as he will be knighted by the Queen. This should bring balance to any future X-Men movies.
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Sir Patrick Stewart
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Re:Obligatory (Score:2, Interesting)
Kirk is Canadian isn't he? Canada is part of the Commonwealth, the Queen is head of the Commonwealth. A tenuous link to allow ol' fat-boy to achieve a gong, or queenie doing it just to fuel Trek wars.
Re:Abolishment? (Score:1, Interesting)
"And people ask what the point of having the monarchy around is."
Considering the state of the world, I don't think some people would mind trying having temporarily having a king to kick the asshats out of government. Some days I think we should just give absolute power to one man temporarily so he can get fire and get rid of people who are not doing their jobs.
Re:Balance... (Score:5, Interesting)
It's SIr Patrick, you use the last name when someone is a peer.
Re:Abolishment? (Score:4, Interesting)
I thought she was there to veto insane government legislation
That's the nuclear option. She can do it once, and then there will be a drastic constitutional reform to ensure she doesn't do it again.
Great actor (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not a Star Trek fan (I've only watched a few episodes of the original and nothing else), but I really like Stewart's works. For example I enjoyed his "Christmas Carol" much more than any other Christmas Carol (and there are several out there) as well as Henry II in The Lion in Winter. Actually I have to watch that movie again now that I think about it.
Re:Great actor (Score:3, Interesting)
Amen to A Christmas Carol. I had recorded it when it was on TNT originally in 1999, but set it aside and never watched it. About two weeks ago I picked it up and me and my family watched it. We loved it, even the four year old and the 2 year old. They rendered their opinion of Scrooge as "He's a grumpy old man who doesn't like Christmas."
I liked it so much I ordered the DVD from Amazon so I wouldn't have to put up with the commercials. Of course, the kids found the "Muppet Christmas Carol" so now it's tough to watch anything but that; but it's okay, I like Michael Caine too.
From an American Point of View (Score:5, Interesting)
The Queen is a lot more powerful than most people seem to believe. Yes, she is a ceremonial monarch, but her assent (correct me if I'm wrong) is required to convene Parliament in Canada, Australia, and the UK. She is the Defender of the Kingdom, the head of the Anglican Church, and all the UK, Canadian, and Australian armed forces ceremoniously answer to her. Also, she does possess that veto power, but I suspect that if she ever had to use it, there would not be a Constitutional reform movement because most likely the situation would have been so dire that her subjects would agree with her actions, and therefore guarantee no reprisal from any Parliament. She is the Queen of Canada, Australia, and the UK, and she holds the allegiance of millions. If the UK parliament were ever to screw up so badly that it loses the absolute faith of its constituents, then I could see how the monarchy could reassert itself as an applicable executive branch of government.
Perhaps it's like Captain Carrot - a king should remain hidden in the background, coming forward only when needed. I can certainly imagine that if worst came to worst, the British Empire would reunite under Elizabeth's banner, or that of William (couldn't even begin to see that with Charles)
Re:From an American Point of View (Score:5, Interesting)
Incidentally, I have been asking British troops (currently serving and former) now and then whether, in the event of conflicting orders, they would obey the orders of the Queen, or those from parliament/government/elected representatives.
Every single time, without any of them hesitating at all, the answer comes back "The Queen".
Of course, if that theory was ever really tested, I doubt that I'd want to be around to see the result...
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:From an American Point of View (Score:4, Interesting)
i think that the a monarchy allows for a sense of stability while politicians come and go. Especially if they are able to remain somewhat outside of the day to day politics. But then i'm norwegian, and our short times as a modern constitutional monarchy have shown such things as a king using public transport when there was a oil crisis, and the crown prince and princess going to public school.
Re:Then Obama should knight William Shatner (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Pedantic, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't know where you got that idea from. In Australia we seem to be roughly 50/50 split among monarchists and those who don't want the British queen as our head of state. Probably not enough to pass a referendum (requires a majority in a majority of states) and the idea of a referendum was scuppered 10 years ago because it didn't have bipartisan support. Here we are 10 years later, and we've got another rabid monarchist/extreme conservative leading the "liberal" party (Tony Abbot aka "slime").
IMO it's in no way "patriotic" to listen to a speech from from someone who is almost entirely uninterested in this country, and whose speech almost certainly didn't mention this country (and if it did, did so in the context of the commonwealth). But I wouldn't know, as I'm an Australian who didn't listen to the speech (and nor did anyone else in my immediate family/circle of friends).
Re:Balance... (Score:2, Interesting)
A knighthood is not a peerage. To be an (English) peer one must be a Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount or Baron. Obviously a peerage is a much bigger deal than a knighthood.