Archive for June, 2009

Sark chasm

Published June 29th, 2009 in ambrand. 0 Comments

Sark Island (pop. 600), Bailiwick of Guernsey, Channel Islands is a Crown Dependency in the southwestern English Channel.  It has a population of about 600. Sark’s main industries are tourism, crafts and finance. Sark has an area of two square miles (5.45 km²) and was the last European territory to abolish what some called classic feudalism, in 2008.

Owners of the island’s 40 tenements had an automatic seat in the Chief Pleas, and islanders chose 12 people’s deputies.

Sark’s government can directly trace its roots back to Queen Elizabeth I, who once granted the ruling “Seigner” a fief on the tiny Channel Island.

The unelected descendents of 40 families brought in to colonise Sark, after the French abandoned it in 1553, had governed life on the island ever since. But its feudal system of government started coming under pressure in 2000 in the light of human rights laws. Two proposals for reform were rejected in 2005 and 2007

Seneshal Lt Col Reg Guille, who acts as a presiding officer of the Chief Pleas, said the original settlers of the island would be “horrified” at the change. A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “Sark is seeking to reform its feudal constitution in order to make it comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and other international obligations. The UK is responsible for ensuring that Sark’s constitution meets those requirements and the UK is vulnerable to challenge if it does not.”

The plight of the deposed Royal Family

Published June 29th, 2009 in ice breaker, republics and lord of the manor. 0 Comments

The United Kingdom has a Royal Family, and a member of the family - the Queen - is actually a head of state.

New Royal Families haven’t been “created” for about a century, indeed activity is in the other direction, as rules, and thus Families are deposed form time to time. But Royal Families, like all families, never really die; someone carries on the name, even a 100th cousin. But once a member ceases to hold any official position the raison d’etre seems to become historic. So if we look at countries that are now republics can we really call decedents of former kings “Royal”?

* Brazilian Imperial Family (deposed)
* Bulgarian Royal Family (deposed)
* Greek Royal Family (deposed)
* Korean Imperial Family (Deposed)
* Koch Rajbongshi Royal Family India (deposed)
* Grand Ducal families of Mecklenburg (Schwerin and Strelitz) (deposed)
* Laotian Royal Family (deposed)
* Nepalese Royal Familydeposed)
* Italian Royal Family (deposed)
* Romanian Royal Family (deposed)
* Portuguese Royal Family (deposed)
* Princely Family of Schwarzenberg (mediatised)
* Yugoslavian (Serbian) Royal Family (deposed)

Let us take the example of Karel Schwarzenberg. Who? Well his full name is Karl Johannes Nepomuk Josef Norbert Friedrich Antonius Wratislaw Mena von Schwarzenberg. He is the current head of the House of Schwarzenberg, the eldest son of Prince Karl VI of Schwarzenberg and Princess Antonie von Fürstenberg. His full title is His Serene Highness The Prince of Schwarzenberg, Count of Sulz, Princely Landgrave in Klettgau, and Duke of Krumlov.

The territory once ruled by the House of Schwarzenberg is now part of the Czech Republic. The President of the Czech Republic is now the head of state of the Czech Republic. So what does Schwarzenberg’s title mean today? Well what does a hereditry British peerage mean? THe raison d’etre of a seat in the House of Lords has been removed.

To answer the question fully would be impossible but having a title retains some advantages’

*A personal sense of pride in ones family history
*Invitations to events in the former terriroty as an honoured guest
*An extra line on the CV
*A prefix on the Business Card

But the most important advantage
*Money - all Royal families were at one stage rich, and so, chances are some of that wealth still exists.

Returning to Karel Schwarzenbeg, while his status as HSH gives him no political power he did manage to get elected and was Minsiter for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic from 9th January 2007 to  8th May 2009. Could he have secured that position without his title?

Summer 2009 Soundtrack

Published June 29th, 2009 in life soundtrack, autotune, swagga and auto tune. 0 Comments

This week I have been mostly listening to Black Eyes Peas - Boom Boom Pow. The official video is ace, but embedding has been disabled.

I appreciate the chosen tempo, a chronotron speedup must have been tempting but it doesn’t work

NameCheap problems

Published June 23rd, 2009 in bad business, held to ransom, ransom and registrar. 0 Comments

I rarely use namecheap.com to register domains anymore. They have a nice clean control panel but everytime I want to register a domain I end up using GoDaddy instead because their price is usually USD 1 cheaper.

So I only login to namecheap to unlock domains and get EPP codes so that I can transfer to GoDaddy. I’m not sure if its incompetence or a strategy but for the third time this year a domain I have with namecheap has ceased to appear in their control panel. That means I cannot unlock it and I cannot get its EPP code. So I can’t leave namecheap!

I’ve contacted their customer support, but because there is only 45 days left that human being will certainly know why I want to modify the domain! Will he/she drag his or her heels?

This is a textbook example of a problem so complicated that it will never make headlines.

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