As a Brit I am completely hacked off with what I see as coercive mourning.
If people want to pay their respects on an individual basis, then fine but to turn our news coverage into a 24/7 death fest and everyone have to suffer what amounts to a national shutdown on Monday, in my eyes is just plain wrong.
Every now and again the argument is raised about doing away with the monarchy but this last week has made me realise it is as futile as the chat us Brits have every year about whether or not to carry on putting the clocks back. A completely pointless conversation that never moves on.
‘Two days before she died, the queen was still getting dressed up to welcome in the new PM, smiling, made up, posing for photos, doing tiresome small talk.’
And there we have it. (First it is Queen with a capital.) That widespread misunderstanding that foreigners have - it is a Constitutional Monarchy. The Crown is the Government - Her Majesty’s Government, now His Majesty’s Government. ‘Getting dressed up’ was her constitutional duty, not a tea party and cozy chat.
She wasn’t welcoming the new PM, because when Liz Truss entered the room she wasn’t PM she was leader of the Conservative Party. By constitutional tradition the leader of the Party with a majority in Parliament is INVITED by the Monarch to form His/Her Government. She became PM when the Queen invited her and appointed her a Minister of the Crown and incidentally, First Lord of the Treasury (what the plate on the door of No 10 states) since there is no constitutional office of Prime Minister, it is just a title - the meeting with the Queen known as ‘kissing of hands’ and Truss swore an oath of loyalty to the Crown. The tiresome small talk was about matters of State regarding the just appointed PM’s prospective policies. The Monarch can fire his/her ministers, appoint new ones, dissolve Parliament, no Bill passed by Parliament is law until given Royal Assent. The Courts are Crown Courts, the judiciary are appointees of the Crown, the police, MI5, MI6 services of the Crown, officers in the military are officers of the Crown, the Royal Navy (clue in the name) ships are His Majesty’s Ships.
UK has no single document stating its constitution, instead the British Constitution is everywhere, a tapestry of law, custom, tradition, manners, some written, some not, going back over 1300 years to the Saxon Kings and all woven round the Crown.
I have just transitioned my six-year Visual Storytelling Newsletter to Substack, so I'd recommend my deep-dive post about the brave new world of AI Generated Images. Lay of the land, tips and predictions: https://visualstorytell.substack.com/p/what-is-ai-generated-image
Why would anyone denigrate such an exemplary .woman who dedicated her total life to service of Brits and colonials like me......she was far more than a Queen........shame on you Julie Dee !
As a Brit I am completely hacked off with what I see as coercive mourning.
If people want to pay their respects on an individual basis, then fine but to turn our news coverage into a 24/7 death fest and everyone have to suffer what amounts to a national shutdown on Monday, in my eyes is just plain wrong.
Every now and again the argument is raised about doing away with the monarchy but this last week has made me realise it is as futile as the chat us Brits have every year about whether or not to carry on putting the clocks back. A completely pointless conversation that never moves on.
Stanford sugar babies is a crazy article. Can’t believe onlyfans has 50x the revenue of substack. Pirate wires is a must read every week
Substack promotional reads are overly US centric.
You cannot celebrate the queen’s life and not at the same time, celebrate the monarchy. Let the queen and her barbaric institution die
One of my favourite free Substacks is Economic Insights, and they publish regularly. Two recent ones that really were special were:
An update of the Pakistan floods: https://economicinsights.substack.com/p/pakistans-floods-a-foreign-aid-warning
And the impact of #MeToo on economics and the necessary next steps: https://economicinsights.substack.com/p/economics-and-its-metoo-problem
At the risk of self-promotion, I'd like to offer up my own post with a reflection of what it was like growing up with black and white TV and how it affected me as a kid, the bad and the good. https://howaboutthis.substack.com/p/curious-realizer-monochrome-was-the
From yesterdays NY Times - a poem by Rose Milligan
Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture or write a letter
Bake a cake or plant a s seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need.
Dust if you must but there's not much time
with rivers to swim and mountains to climb;
music to hear and books to read
friends to cherish and life to lead.
‘Two days before she died, the queen was still getting dressed up to welcome in the new PM, smiling, made up, posing for photos, doing tiresome small talk.’
And there we have it. (First it is Queen with a capital.) That widespread misunderstanding that foreigners have - it is a Constitutional Monarchy. The Crown is the Government - Her Majesty’s Government, now His Majesty’s Government. ‘Getting dressed up’ was her constitutional duty, not a tea party and cozy chat.
She wasn’t welcoming the new PM, because when Liz Truss entered the room she wasn’t PM she was leader of the Conservative Party. By constitutional tradition the leader of the Party with a majority in Parliament is INVITED by the Monarch to form His/Her Government. She became PM when the Queen invited her and appointed her a Minister of the Crown and incidentally, First Lord of the Treasury (what the plate on the door of No 10 states) since there is no constitutional office of Prime Minister, it is just a title - the meeting with the Queen known as ‘kissing of hands’ and Truss swore an oath of loyalty to the Crown. The tiresome small talk was about matters of State regarding the just appointed PM’s prospective policies. The Monarch can fire his/her ministers, appoint new ones, dissolve Parliament, no Bill passed by Parliament is law until given Royal Assent. The Courts are Crown Courts, the judiciary are appointees of the Crown, the police, MI5, MI6 services of the Crown, officers in the military are officers of the Crown, the Royal Navy (clue in the name) ships are His Majesty’s Ships.
UK has no single document stating its constitution, instead the British Constitution is everywhere, a tapestry of law, custom, tradition, manners, some written, some not, going back over 1300 years to the Saxon Kings and all woven round the Crown.
This newish Substack is super: https://jillianhess.substack.com/ it's focused on the art and process of note taking by writers.
Here's a great piece on Patricia Highsmith's note taking:
https://jillianhess.substack.com/p/patricia-highsmiths-columbia-notebooks
It's like there's a Substack for everything 😀👍
第賣榜
I published an article today called ‘American Psych-No’. I talk about the internet subculture of shitposting, and people who purposely provoke by sharing inflammatory opinions. https://open.substack.com/pub/themaplemoon/p/american-psych-no?r=k9fyk&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
من نمیدانم چرا این روزها
مرغ دل گاهی هوایی میشود!
دست و پا و فکر و هوشم آن زمان؛
با دلم دمساز و راهی میشود!
When God created woman he was working late on the 6th day.......
An angel came by and asked." Why spend so much time on her?"
The lord answered. "Have you seen all the specifications I have to meet to shape her?"
She must function on all kinds of situations,
She must be able to embrace several kids at the same time,
Have a hug that can heal anything from a bruised knee to a broken heart,
She must do all this with only two hands,"She cures herself when sick and can work 18 hours a day"
THE ANGEL was impressed "Just two hands.....impossible!
And this is the standard model?"
The Angel came closer and touched the woman
"But you have made her so soft, Lord".
"She is soft", said the Lord,
"But I have made her strong. You can't imagine what she can endure and overcome."
"Can she think?" The Angel asked...
The Lord answered. "Not only can she think, she can reason and negotiate."
The Angel touched her cheeks....
"Lord, it seems this creation is leaking! You have put too many burdens on her"
"She is not leaking...it is a tear" The Lord corrected the Angel…
"What's it for?" Asked the Angel..... .
The Lord said. "Tears are her way of expressing her grief, her doubts, her love, her loneliness, her suffering and her pride."...
This made a big impression on the Angel,
"Lord, you are a genius. You thought of everything.
A woman is indeed marvellous"
Lord said."Indeed she is.
She has strength that amazes a man.
She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens.
She holds happiness, love and opinions.
She smiles when she feels like screaming.
She sings when she feels like crying, cries when happy and laughs when afraid.
She fights for what she believes in.
Her love is unconditional.
Her heart is broken when a next-of-kin or a friend dies but she finds strength to get on with life"
The Angel asked: "So she is a perfect being?"
The lord replied: "No. She has just one drawback
She often forgets what she is worth."
(Original post was by from Megan James
Photo is “Dream” by CalvinHollywood
https://calvinhollywood.deviantart.com/art/DREAM-67154791)
https://open.substack.com/pub/themaplemoon/p/food-trauma-the-secret-phenomena?r=k9fyk&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post I published this Substack today on the science behind food trauma and my personal experiences with it; linking to A Clockwork Orange as an example of aversion.
I have just transitioned my six-year Visual Storytelling Newsletter to Substack, so I'd recommend my deep-dive post about the brave new world of AI Generated Images. Lay of the land, tips and predictions: https://visualstorytell.substack.com/p/what-is-ai-generated-image
Why would anyone denigrate such an exemplary .woman who dedicated her total life to service of Brits and colonials like me......she was far more than a Queen........shame on you Julie Dee !