Episode 14 is now available, and it's free no matter where you get it from. You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of the post
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I recorded this episode early so that I could post it on Friday. I’ll talk about comments on Episode 13 and this episode next time.
Monday is Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday in New Zealand, even though her real birthday is April 21. It’s the only public holiday between Easter Weekend and Labour Day at the end of October.
Queen Elizabeth, as Queen of New Zealand, is Head of State. She’s the only person in the world who is monarch of more than one independent nation. Parliament actually runs the country, which is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen is represented in New Zealand by the Governor General, who is appointed by Parliament.
It’s probably inevitable that New Zealand will become a republic, but the new head of state is unlikely to be a US-style president. There’s no urgency to any change however, which is probably many years away.
Queen’s Birthday was a kind of gay holiday, a kind of second birthday for everyday queens. That’s probably less common than it used to be. But it’s still a day off for everyone.
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4 comments:
Does republican mean the same thing in NZ as it means here in the states? It's always nice to have a day off. Happy Queen's birthday holiday! As usual, I love the ending music.
I agree with a lot of what you said. Wouldn't it have been great if the November election had caused George to go. But it didn't :-(
I think the Democratic congress has done some things. The investigation into the Attorney General would never have happened under the Republicans.
Also the Democrats will continue to push on the war which is a very good thing. September now seems to be the month when things come to a head. Of course we'll only know if that's the case when September arrives.
I'm sad that you guys don't seem to still have parties for every queen's birthday. I really know so little about what queen Elizabeth has actually done, so I can't make any judgments on her. Although any excuse for a holiday is a good one in my opinion. You know how people drink Corona's and margaritas for Cinco de Mayo, do people drink port on the queen's birthday?
Archerr: "Republican" definitely does not mean the same thing in NZ as in the US. Here it merely means the opposite of monarchist—it means one who backs a republic over a monarchy.
This holiday IS nice to have!
Jason: Well, I certainly voted against Bush, not that it really helped (Kerry would've won Illinois without my vote). Still, under a parliamentary system, Bush would be gone now.
I've been critical of the Democrats, many of whom are "Demopubicans" (people who call themselves Democrats but who vote like Republicans) in part because I want to see a US party that ACTS differently from the Repubicans, not just one that has a different name.
However, I am glad they're investigating the Attorney General. but until that moron is gone, their job isn't done.
As for the dems pushing the Bushies on the war, big deal. Bush won everything he wanted, the Dems got nothing but the opportunity to wag their finger at the Bushies. Meanwhile, Americans and Iraqis alike are still dying in Iraq's civil war, and nothing has been done to put even modest controls on the imperial presidency.
My bet: September will arrive, Bush will change nothing and Congress will do nothing about it. I hope I'm wrong.
Kalvin: I actually have no idea if there are still parties or not, though there probably are. We hardly ever see the gay paper and I never think to look online to see what events are going on. But it's still a day off, which is always good.
As for port, well, there are plenty of people who have that without an excuse.
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