Obamas Give Queen Elizabeth an iPod 649
Ponca City, We love you writes "What did the Obamas give Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday when they arrived at Buckingham Palace? An Obama aide reported the queen was given an iPod loaded with video and photos of her 2007 trip to the United States, as well as songs and accessories. She also received a rare songbook signed by the composer Richard Rodgers. The gift issue had come up after Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the White House last month. Mr. Brown gave Mr. Obama a pen holder carved from the timber of an anti-slave ship, receiving in return a DVD box set of American movies, igniting a torrent of criticism in the British press. According to news reports, the queen gave the Obamas a silver-framed signed photograph — a gift she gives to all visiting dignitaries."
Re:Obama Policies Will Bankrupt USA Tsarkon Report (Score:2, Informative)
The summary doesn't even mention that the DVDs that Obama gave Brown were encoded for the USA, and therefore wouldn't play on DVD players in Britain. Come on, Obumbler! You're eye-poppingly wealthy and you now have an army of people to pick out gifts on your behalf. Can you please send them somewhere besides Wal-Mart 30 minutes before you're supposed to meet a head of state? Sad amateur, indeed. What should we expect, though, from someone who's been taking instead of giving his whole life?
Title is wrong (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Problem with DVDs was... (Score:1, Informative)
That's actually quite true.
Gifts given to UK MPs end up either getting sent back, sold or they have to be bought by the PM.
Re:Royal Navy anti slavery actions (Score:4, Informative)
In 1632 King Charles of England gave out charters to support the slave trade. Up to three million Africans had been transported in British ships since 1650, and at the end of the 18th century Britain was dominating the trade, with an average of more than 150 slave ships leaving Liverpool, Bristol, and London each year. This made Britain very rich.
There were people who realized that the slave trade was an abomination against human rights and they started a campaign against it. By 1807, Britain was forced to outlaw the practice and the Royal Navy had to enforce the new law but this was difficult because of the huge profits. The slave trade continued through 1880.
In light of the wealth that Britain received from the slave trade, it probably would have been more appropriate for Gordon Brown to give Obama a gift made from a slave trade ship (this gift would be less hypocritical but probably would not be appropriate). Britain has yet to seriously discuss reparations for the damage done to Africa from the profits they made in the slave trade.
Re:Problem with DVDs was... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:It's not an iPod (Score:5, Informative)
Umm, no, he's making fun of how the royals pronounce vowels (the clue is RP = Received Pronunciation, look it up on wikipedia)
Or maybe IHBT...
Re:Obama Policies Will Bankrupt USA Tsarkon Report (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The iPod will be taken apart ... (Score:5, Informative)
She has a face-to-face meeting with the Prime Minister, the senior elected official of Her Majesty's Government once a week to talk about Britain and he Commonwealth, its current state and its place in the world. She receives a box of State papers every day to work through -- as Head of State she signs off on all treaties and international agreements negotiated between the UK and other countries.
She's been doing this for more than fifty years now, day in day out, week in week out. She's heard everything, the good news and the bad. Apart from the anodyne Christmas address to the nation she keeps her mouth shut about it, as it is her duty to do so.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Silly (Score:5, Informative)
The Queen's gift is a diplomatic one ... she gives the same gift of the same cost, to everyone, regardless of how important they are and regardless of what they give her in return, no one is snubbed, overvalued, undervalued, or insulted ....
The giving of gifts is done for purely diplomatic reasons and the cost of the gift given by the British PM is limited, any gift given to him over that same cost is owned by the government not by the current PM ....
Re:The iPod will be taken apart ... (Score:5, Informative)
The Queen owns the government, she is not part of it. Hence, Her Majesty's Government, as well as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.
Re:Royal Navy anti slavery actions (Score:5, Informative)
I see that you, along with all romantics, have entirely neglected the role that Africans themselves [wikipedia.org] played in the slave trade. Slaves traded across the Atlantic were bought from African dealers. I have yet to see any Afro-Americans demanding apologies from Africans, let alone reparations.
Britain was one of the first nations to abolish this hideous practice (by democratic choice, not "force"), before any African nation did, and Britain did more than most to bring an end to it. Even after the Atlantic slave trade was brought to a halt by the British [wikipedia.org] and later American navies, innocent Africans were being sold into slavery by Africans to Arabs [wikipedia.org]. Yet still Britain seems to have the majority of the blame for the slave trade forced upon it. This seems deeply unfair to me.
You are wrong (Score:3, Informative)
Queen is just a hereditary title and can be used like any other title including social titles like Mr, Dr, Sir, Mrs and so on.
Using the term Queen Elizabeth without specifying which Queen Elizabeth is no less correct than referring to someone called Paul who is a Dr. as Dr. Paul. The only reason you'd want to specify is if there were multiple Dr. Pauls you could be referring to, but seeing as the summary quite clearly points out he met a living Queen there is no room for ambiguity and so there is no need to refer to her as Queen Elizabeth II.
Using Queen Elizabeth is merely an informal way of referring to her.
If you were writing a book on English Queens then yes, you would be wise to use Queen Elizabeth II to make it clear who is being referred to. As we're talking about someone visiting the living Queen of England, no, there is no need.
Re:Obama Policies Will Bankrupt USA Tsarkon Report (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry to answer myself again, but I believe she has an iPod already.. since 2005... a 6GB iPod mini.
Its pretty well known actually (google queen ipod).
Not sure what she uses it for, but if i remember rightly, she (or maybe Prince Philip) are avid podcast listeners.
Commander in Chief of the military (Score:3, Informative)
The queen has no role in the security status of her government
The Queen is Commander in Chief of the UK military [wikipedia.org]..
Re:Royal Navy anti slavery actions (Score:4, Informative)
I have yet to see any Afro-Americans demanding apologies from Africans, let alone reparations.
Because they don't have any money. That's what it's all about at the end of the day. I've yet to understand how giving money to the descendants of slaves repairs the damage that was done by the slave trade, but there you go.
My bloodline includes Native American, Polish, Jewish and German ancestry (typical American mutt here I suppose). When do I get my rent check for this nice continent my ancestors "gave" you? When do I get my check from Germany for all the damage done to my Polish and Jewish ancestors? When do I get my check from the British and Americans to make up for Dresden?
Re:All hail Lord Brown! (Score:5, Informative)
I don't even understand the controversy. 25 DVD's is a pretty damn good gift. Maybe the Brits don't understand that, in the U.S., giving exquisite gifts to politicians is a MAJOR no-no (unless you're Ted Stevens, of course). I'm surprised they even gave him that much. A U.S. politician couldn't accept anything in excess of $335 in value as a gift from a foreign leader.
It's pretty much standard here that diplomatic gifts aren't kept by the President; they're accepted on behalf of, and given over to, the American people. I'd imagine that it's pretty much the same in the UK; "suitcases full of cash and rare art" would be state-to-state gifts that just happen to be presented by/to individuals acting as representatives to their people.
Diplomatic gifts aren't really supposed to be personal anyways. The pen and case aren't for Obama to take home and use for paying his bills; they'll most likely be displayed for a little while, possibly used to sign some kind of treaty or trade agreement with the UK, and eventually filed away in a box somewhere. It might eventually go on display at whatever Presidential library Obama builds, but would remain the property of the United States and just be loaned to said library.
Re:Royal Navy anti slavery actions (Score:3, Informative)
I knew this. I spout it occasionally. No one likes to listen, especially my black mates after they start their chip-on-the-shoulder rants. People can't seem to understand that a small handful of English would have been easily overrun by masses of Africans. Without the help of the Africans, the slave trade wouldn't have happened.
Re:Royal Navy anti slavery actions (Score:3, Informative)
Obama is not descended from slaves! I know this is true of most black Americans, but it is NOT true of Obama! He has no more relationship with the slavery than any of you cube-dwelling white boys!
Re:Not Silly (Score:2, Informative)
Impeach him for what?
Re:Problem with DVDs was... (Score:5, Informative)
I'm guilty of buying a region-enforcing Pioneer at Best Buy. I had just blown through two $25 generic players in two years and was willing to pay more so that I wouldn't have to buy a new one and hook everything up yet again in another year. Plus, Pioneer seems to "get it" and will play formats like DiVX.
That aside, just look at this page [videohelp.com] to make sure the player you are about to buy has an unlock code.
Re:Not Silly (Score:3, Informative)
It goes to show the lack of class in the man and his administration. The two gifts mentioned from the British were classy gifts, and were well thought out.
The gifts from the Obama administration don't have a clue what class is.
Expect more of the same until we impeach and fire this clown of a president.
I am not entirely sure what you are saying? Do you not recall Bush? The tool that gave Angela Merkel (the prime minister of Germany) a back massage at a meeting? How about the time he winked at the Queen of England? Or when he addressed a room full of donors by saying something to the effect of: "Quite an impressive room of people here, the haves, and the have mores...". The same guy who got us involved in two wars and ushered in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
And YOU have the gall to call Obama a "clown of a president" who needs to be impeached? Seriously? If you were marked troll, I would have let your comments go and not even read your post. The fact that somehow, you ended up listed as insightful absolutely astounds me. Given the stark contrast of character between the two men, a grass roots community organizer vs. a man who shirked his military duties, you must need a wheelbarrow to carry your balls around in.
Finally, as a general rule, anyone who finds a need to use the term "class" in the same context you did in your post typically has none themselves.
Re:The "Anti Slave Ship" is worth about a klan hoo (Score:3, Informative)
How strange, then, that the plantations in the West Indies that supplied Britain's vast appetite for sugar and rum were even more reliant on slave labour than those on the mainland. And how strange that the Caribbean colonies did not become independent, nor did the newly-formed United States take any action to free them from the Empire. And how strange that even so, the British Empire did indeed abolish the slave trade and then slavery itself, and command the Royal Navy to seize all slavers wherever they might be found.
Re:The iPod will be taken apart ... (Score:5, Informative)
Indeed. Winston Churchill said, after the fact of course, that King George (Queen Elizabeth's father) was one of the very, very few people with whom he would discuss all the secret plans and his thoughts about the war.
Re:The iPod will be taken apart ... (Score:2, Informative)
In the commonwealth states (that used to be part of the British empire), there is the queen's representative, the governor general. The governor general is the one that dissolves parliament when a minority government loses a vote of confidence and then a new parliament election has to take place. At the end of 2008, the governor general in Canada locked the doors of parliament rather than allow a new election, which was within her power. The office is not an elected office, but is appointed, and then authorized by the queen of England. So the queen wields some small power in all the countries that are part of the British commonwealth, rather than just England.
Re:Obama's not playing by the rules... (Score:3, Informative)
Um, actually, I think an iPod pre-loaded with content that the queen finds entertaining (show tunes, video of her appearances) is quite relevant and a tasteful gift.
Compare and contrast this with GW Bush's near sexual assault of the German president trying to give her a "back rub". Obama has a long way to go before he stoops to Bush's level of diplomacy.
Re:Silly (Score:3, Informative)
You've probably seen them all, but I don't see them as the lead off news stories anymore.
Video [about.com] of him tripping all over himself.
Quite a few random quotes [about.com].
More videos [telegraph.co.uk]. Some already covered and includes some Biden classics.
I think these things are funny and bound to happen when you have the media attention that any sitting President would have. I thought many of the Bush ones were funny too. What I disagree with is attacking Bush for every verbal trip up while gushing all over Obama when he does the EXACT same thing on a fairly regular basis.
Re:who cares? (Score:5, Informative)
From http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/ask/20070508.html [archives.gov] regarding the queen's visit to the White House in 2007:
President and Mrs. Bush gave Her Majesty a bronze statuette âoeHigh Desert Princessâ with a personal inscription on the bottom of the base. It is a replica of the original life size statue that is located in front of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas.
President and Mrs. Bush gave The Prince Philip an exclusive sterling silver eagle box by Tiffany & Co. with personal inscription on the inside lid.
President and Mrs. Bush gave Their Majesties a leather presentation box filled with a collection of documents from the National Archives. One of the items was a copy of an original letter from President Roosevelt to her father, King George, written in 1938. There were also photos from previous royal visits and a DVD of the footage from the Queenâ(TM)s visit to the United States when she was Princess Elizabeth in 1951.
Their Majesties gave President Bush a sterling silver oversized plate by William & Son with gold seals including: the Presidential seal, the Royal seal and a center seal with the star of Texas surrounded by roses. There was a personal inscription on the back of the plate. They gave Mrs. Bush a gold and crystal clock with the Royal seal by William & Son.
The Office of the Chief of Protocol assists the President and First Lady in the selection and presentation of gifts to foreign leaders.
I can hardly say that gift is any more elegant.
Re:All hail Lord Brown! (Score:3, Informative)
It is the same. In fact, if MPs wish to accept a gift personally, they have to pay its full market value. That includes the Prime Minister. There was a funny story at the start of Blair's first term; President Chirac sent him some rare and expensive French wine as a birthday gift. As Ian Hislop commented at the time;
He's basically sent Blair a large fine.
The Daily Show thought it was bad too, it wasn't only the British media. It won't affect relations between the US and the UK, but it does show a lack of awareness of the world on the part of the Obama administration.
Re:Problem is lack of thoughtfulness (Score:3, Informative)
As a Brit, I probably shouldn't say this, but I thought the pen was a fantastic gift. The symbolism worked on so many levels. Much like the Resolute desk.
Re:The iPod will be taken apart ... (Score:5, Informative)
The Queen of England (United Kingdom actually, there hasn't been a Queen of England since Queen Anne) has no power in Canada. The Queen of Canada does. Yes, they are the same person, but they don't have to be.
The Queen of the United Kingdom doesn't appoint our Governor General, the Queen of Canada does, on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister and Privy Council.