souvenirs
b returned from the uk with a bunch of kitch and a political perspective. the american form of government is superior to the british in all ways except one. the separation of the head of state and head of government. everyone loves the queen. who apparently has a bunch of powers that she never uses. like the ability to dissolve parliament and call for new elections. presumably this would be done when the people are angry enough to go all guy fawkes and storm the houses with pitchforks and uh flaming sticks. [english torches are flashlights. i don't know the english word for torch.] i'm inclined to agree. the uk recently dramatically cut its budget in response to the recession. fiscally a very good move. we, on the other hand, decided to spend more in the form of stimulus packages and extended the time we pay people to not work. politically a very good move. fiscally not so much. if the us had a regent loved by the people, we might be talking about one of those governmental dissolutions. sigh. timmer for king.