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RE: 2015 UK General Election
May 15, 2015 at 12:02 pm
(May 15, 2015 at 8:14 am)Iroscato Wrote: Indeed, but I see little reason not to adopt that as our official name if we did dissolve the monarchy. Or just Britain, a bit less big-headed 
A bit nit-picky, but there's nothing big headed about the name Great Britain. It refers to the distinction between us and Brittany; major britannia, emphasising that of the two, we are the larger.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: 2015 UK General Election
May 15, 2015 at 12:11 pm
This is a sneak preview of the next Tory campaign:
http://youtu.be/jOlbOZ9w84I
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RE: 2015 UK General Election
May 15, 2015 at 1:57 pm
(May 15, 2015 at 5:41 am)robvalue Wrote: You know, I never actually made the connection between UK and "kingdom". Wow! I just thought about it as its name.
That is natural with names, to not think about what they mean. I have a cousin who grew up in the southern part of the U.S., who thought "damn Yankee" was one word when he was a little kid. (If he had seen it in print, it would have been immediately obvious that it is two words, but he only heard it in speech.)
My mother told me a story of when she was a little girl, referring to Brazil nuts by racist slang, because that was the name of them that she had heard other people use (judging from what her parents were like, I am pretty sure my mother must not have picked it up from them, but from other children or other adults). However, a black friend of hers pointed out the meaning, and my mother never called them by the racist slang ever again.
(I am purposefully leaving off what the racist slang was, as I do not wish to reintroduce such terminology into the world, as I have never heard anyone use it myself, and some things are best left dead.)
Back to the issue at hand, obviously, you could keep calling yourselves the United Kingdom, even if you were no longer a kingdom. A name need not accurately represent the thing named. (In some cases, that is the point of the name, though that is not applicable in this instance.)
But I think the question is academic, as I doubt you are going to abolish the monarchy any time soon. (Even though you should have abolished it long ago. But that does not make you worse than other people; there are many things we ought to be doing differently, too.)
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: 2015 UK General Election
May 15, 2015 at 2:18 pm
(May 15, 2015 at 1:57 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: A name need not accurately represent the thing named.
Case in point, "Democratic People's Republic of Korea".
Of course, they'd argue it's democratic because they hold elections.
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RE: 2015 UK General Election
May 15, 2015 at 2:20 pm
(This post was last modified: May 15, 2015 at 2:23 pm by robvalue.)
We wouldn't need to abolish the royals if agent 47 would get off his arse. He keeps giving me excuses about working on a new game or something. Accidents happen...
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RE: 2015 UK General Election
May 15, 2015 at 2:36 pm
(May 15, 2015 at 2:18 pm)Tiberius Wrote: (May 15, 2015 at 1:57 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: A name need not accurately represent the thing named.
Case in point, "Democratic People's Republic of Korea".
Of course, they'd argue it's democratic because they hold elections.
They do? NK, you never cease to amaze me...
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RE: 2015 UK General Election
May 15, 2015 at 2:41 pm
There's an old joke concerning the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, meeting the Queen at Balmoral to discuss plans to increase his country's world standing.
He suggests adopting the name of the Kingdom of Australia. Liz shakes her head and says, "For a kingdom one needs a king - and you are certainly not a king."
Next he suggests the Empire of Australia. She replies, "That would require one to be an emperor; and you, Mr Howard, are certainly not an emperor."
He thinks for a moment and then suggests the Principality of Australia. With a diplomatic sigh, she says, "That would require one to be a prince, and you are most certainly not a prince."
She puts down her bone china teacup and says, "Without wishing to be personal, Mr Howard, I think on balance it would be better for you to remain a country."
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: 2015 UK General Election
May 15, 2015 at 4:55 pm
(May 15, 2015 at 2:36 pm)Iroscato Wrote: They do? NK, you never cease to amaze me...
Elections in North Korea are hilarious. There are three main parties (Workers' Party of Korea, Korean Social Democratic Party, and Cheondoist Chongu Party). Independent candidates are also allowed. All three parties have elected members of government, and there are (as of 2014) 8 elected independent members of government. Sounds fair and democratic right?
Well, in actuality, all of those parties are members of an alliance called "Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland", and all candidates (including independent candidates) have to be members of the alliance as well. On top of that, all candidates have to be approved by the alliance before they can run for election. So when you look at the overall picture, all candidates for election, and therefore all actual elected politicians belong to a single party.
Also, according to North Korea, in the 2014 election there was a 99.97% voter turnout.
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