I knew what you were getting at, Angus.

Heh. What I mean is, many (but not all) of us Unamerican Buffistas are in exactly the same position as many (but not all) of the American Buffistas: our nations are active participants in the war, but we're personally opposed to it.

Which, as I think you're saying, is ironic when "UnAmerican" has become synonymous with being anti-war. (Sorry if I'm being a bit slow, I slept really badly last night).

Heather, I think if you do encounter any patriotic cowboys, the welcome you and your friends give your friend's boyfriend should go some way to countering that. If the French guy is expecting to be unpopular he may be pleasantly surprised. I don't think there's any more that you can do, but it may go a long way to making his stay nicer.

On a related note: my SO sometimes listens to AFN (American Forces Network) in the car. A few weeks ago, he came in a bit... perplexed. He said he'd been listening to this guy doing some sort of monologue who'd been saying really weird things, including that Germany was against the war because all Germans were anti-semitic. He was really upset that someone could accuse him of being anti-semitic simply because he was German, and wondered if this was a typical American view.

A few days later he came in again and said, "I heard that monologue guy again, his name is Rush Limbo or something". So I was able to give him a bit of background and put what he'd heard into perspective.

I do find it pretty scary that AFN is broadcasting Rush Limbaugh, though.

My only namedropping thing is that I was at University with the present Max Von Hapsburg.

My dad taught a descendant of Lord Elgin at school. He was doing Greek and Latin because there were some old rocks at home he wanted to be able to decipher.

We've had over a decade to sort out a way to identify our own side, to make sure that the Americans can identify the Brits and vice versa. At present, they are relying on sticky tape and good luck, as far as I can gather.

Some sort of signature –electronic perhaps. You know like the banners you guys used to wear over your armour a few years back to say “Hi, I’m Erik of the House of XXX if you are on my team please don’t spear me Else bring it on!”. I do agree with you only well the reason they invented those coats of arms back then was because in skirmishes people do get killed by their own side sometimes. There are however limits.

I cited the Romanian peasants (with scythes et al) because that's the only first-hand example I've had of seeing the weird juxtaposition of US television shows piped via satellite into a setting which was in most other respects medieval.

Oh OK. You’ve never lived in the Highlands then. Running water. Check. Electricity (Hydro) Check. Gas. Um? Phone line. Nope. TV Huh? (speaking of me own wee but n ben here. Real all year round Highland people are just as 1st world as the rest of us UK people).

I don't think - although I'm not an expert on EU politics by any means - that Germany's familial ties with the House of Hanover Windsor give us any real leverage with them.

I’m not sure but they might. Worth thinking about I thought.

Since the close blood ties between the German and British monarchies (the Kaiser was King Edward's nephew) didn't stop, or even slow, WWI, I think that's a safe bet.

According to my school history lessons what with the treaties of treaties of alliances etc we were a gnats whisker away from fighting WITH Germany in WWI.

is the Greek Royal Family actually imported from somewhere else? Because as far as being sexy and Mediterranean looking - well, he ain't all that and the proverbial bag of chips.

*snicker* t straight face

FayJay I’m sorry if I sound brusque honestly I am. I get an idea and I want to say “hey everyone I’ve had an idea!” so I type out the idea and then see what everyone says -"usually your idea is rubbish". My actual exposition always takes several to many individual posts because the ideas come in bits and I’m slowly putting them together. I admire your ability to put so much together so coherently into a single post.

I do so like my sources to be primary.

I don't think - although I'm not an expert on EU politics by any means - that Germany's familial ties with the House of Hanover Windsor give us any real leverage with them.

I'm not sure but they might.

No, they won't. Not a bit. The Germans do not see the British royal family as being German, perhaps because they're *not* German. They like it when they look pretty (or not, as the case may be) on the cover of glossy magazines, and watch their weddings and funerals on TV, but that's as far as it goes. (And that fascination extends to all European monarchies, not just the Brits.) Monarchs of various nationalities have been marrying into and conquering other countries for millennia. You're the nationality of the country you rule. It's The Law.

Oh OK. You've never lived in the Highlands then. Running water. Check. Electricity (Hydro) Check. Gas. Um? Phone line. Nope. TV Huh? (speaking of me own wee but n ben here. Real all year round Highland people are just as 1st world as the rest of us UK people).

There will always be pockets in first-world countries where amenities are not quite as readily available, like holiday homes. This doesn't negate Fay's argument in any way.

I'm sorry if I sound brusque honestly I am. I get an idea and I want to say hey everyone I've had an idea! so I type out the idea and then see what everyone says.

Zoe: I have to confess that very often I too have no clue as to what you're getting at, while at the same time finding you rather rude. I would respectfully suggest that perhaps you should take a bit more time over your posts, or at least respond politely when other posters take issue with your style.

Oh OK. You've never lived in the Highlands then.

Oh OK. You've never lived in the Highlands then. ;-)

You're the nationality of the country you rule. It's The Law.

Yes, but law adheres to sovereignty, sovereignty does not adhere to law. It's a fine point but still hold within Euope.
The Queen is ABOVE the law as are all other monarchs because the law works FOR the Queen. No-one can sue the Queen, she can't be prosecuted for any offence etc.

Yes, but law adheres to sovereignty, sovereignty does not adhere to law. It's a fine point but still hold within Euope.

I think you may be confusing the person with the post. The person of the Queen has some German ancestry (as well as French ancestry, Dutch ancestry, a Greek husband, etc. etc.). "The sovereign" (Rex/Regina) as used in law is by definition not subject to the considerations of ordinary people, such as what nationality granny was.

On edit: my "It's The Law" was a joke, btw, but the point stands.

I think you may be confusing the person with the post.

Possibly. I always considered the two to be one and the same.

It's not really legal influence I was thinking of, more, personal influence. With the Dutch and the Greek too. Embracing the Euro-ness of the Queen within the EU could be good. There are other European monarchs in the Nederlands I know for sure and others too but none are as world renouned as the Queen of England.
On a separate personal issue I would like to have a real British monarch but that's just wishful thinking.

Edit: Blackadder the Second is so so so much funnier than Blackadder the Third.

And KateP will have seem all manner of wildly different places too in her travels lately. But you have to go a bloody long way to find somewhere that Coca Cola (and other icons of Americana) hasn't reached.

I haven't found anywhere yet where I couldn't get a Coke. In fact, it's often much easier to get a Coke than to get clean water. That feels a bit like stating the very obvious, but it's a sobering thought nonetheless!

Going back a bit, an interesting consequence of Britain's historic connection with Hanover was that in WW1 British and Hanoverian troops sometimes fought each other under regimental standards which commemorated their joint participation in the defense of Gibraltar against the French and Spanish (1778-1783). (When Bismark unified Germany in 1871 he let the Hanoverian regiments, now incorporated in the German army, retain their battle honours).

When the Kaiser heard in 1915 that his cousin George II had changed the British royal family's name to Windsor, he made one of his jokes: "I can't wait for the next performance of 'The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha'".

Good article in the International Herald - Tribune.

And Heather, since it reports that only 53% of the French want the Coalition to win the war, your friend may have some 'splanin to do to more than just "cowboys".

Meaning, of course they can have their opinions and all that, but they may want to think them through a little more carefully now. People that I know who are pro-war are beginning to watch enough coverage that they know why the French feel the way they do and they don't mind as much because a) they don't expect anything else and b) democracies can disagree on things and still be friends.

But if the "Axis of Weasels" (snerk) gets a rep as being not only opposed to the war but actively rooting for Saddam's regime to continue, that won't help its cause at all. A lot of their moral force has come from the idea that being anti-war doesn't mean they support Saddam. If they start openly supporting him in a fit of anti-Americanism, they'll lose it.

BTW, when the hell did "cowboy" become a synonym for homicidal tactless maniac? Sheesh.

Off to work, see you in twelve hours!