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G4EBT > OFCOM 06.09.05 17:19l 162 Lines 5758 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 8D0658G4EBT
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: RSGB's Royal Patron! 'FTD
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0AR<GB7FCR
Sent: 050906/1224Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:291 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:8D0658G4EB
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : OFCOM@WW
G0FTD wrote:-
> Like David I too found the pathetic ranting of the RSGB to be beneath
> contempt and I bet "Phil the Greek" and his advisors are left wondering
> if His continued Royal Patronage of the RSGB could become an
> embarrassment ;-)
I'm not so sure about that!
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, AKA "Phil the Greek", Patron of the RSGB, is
noted for his gaffe's. With the RSGB's present disastrous PR efforts, he
seems to be just the man for the job!
Here are a few of his more noteworthy foot-in-mouth gaffes:
Tamils:
He asked a Tamil priest about any links to the militant fighters the
Tamil Tigers, during a visit to a Hindu temple with the Queen on her
Golden Jubilee tour.
The Deaf:
In 1999 he angered deaf people during a visit to the new Welsh Assembly.
While he was with a group from the British Deaf Association who were
standing near a band, he pointed to the musicians and said:
"Deaf? If you're near there, no wonder you are deaf."
Dunblane School Gun Massacre:
In 1996 he caused an outcry among gun law reformers when he said: "There's
no evidence that people who use weapons for sport are any more dangerous
than people who use golf clubs or tennis rackets or cricket bats."
"If a cricketer, for instance, suddenly decided to go into a school and
batter a lot of people to death with a cricket bat, which he could do
very easily, I mean, are you going to ban cricket bats?" (in 1996, amid
calls to ban firearms after the Dunblane shooting)
On the 13th. March 1996, Thomas Hamilton (43) walked into Dunblane Primary
School armed with 4 legally held weapons. In the space of 3 minutes he
shot 3 staff and 28 pupils. Of these 1 staff member died and 16 children
were killed.
From 1994 - 1996 nearly 50 % of domestic killings in the UK were with
legally held weapons. Nearly 20 % of homicidal killings involved legally
held weapons.
As a result, strict gun laws ensued, and additional laws are proposed to
prohibit the possession, manufacture or importation of imitation weapons.
Also, to tighten the law on air weapons, which have been responsible for
a number of deaths and serious injuries in the UK.
Gun laws in Oz were tightened after a similar incident:
Twelve days after 35 people were shot dead by a single gunman in Tasmania,
Australia's state and federal governments agreed to enact wide-ranging new
gun control laws to curb firearm-related death and injury. Between July
1996 and August 1998, the new restrictions were brought into force.
Contrast this with the USA:
In a single year 3,012 children and teens were killed by gunfire in the
United States, according to the national data for 2002. That's one child
every three hours; eight children every day; and more than 50 children
every week. Every year, at least 4 to 5 times as many kids and teens
suffer from non-fatal firearm injuries. (Children's Defense Fund and
National Center for Health Statistics)
American children are more at risk from firearms than the children of any
other industrialized nation. In one year, firearms killed no children in
Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada,
and 5,285 in the United States. (Centers for Disease Control).
Anyway, enough of that. Back to Phil the Greek's gaffes:
Driving Instructors:
In 1995 he asked a Scottish driving instructor:
"How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test."
Lockerbie Pan Am jumbo jet terrorist atrocity:
The Prince angered residents in Lockerbie, when on a visit to the town in
1993, he said to a man who lived in a road where 11 people had been killed
by wreckage from the Pan Am jumbo jet: "People usually say that after a
fire it is water damage that is the worst. We are still trying
to dry out Windsor Castle."
Car Park Attendants:
"Bloody silly fool!" (in 1997, referring to a Cambridge University
car park attendant who failed to recognise him).
Indians:
"It looks as if it was put in by an Indian." (in 1999, referring
to an old-fashioned fuse box in a factory near Edinburgh)
The Chinese:
During a Royal visit to China in 1986 he described Peking as "ghastly"
and told British students: "If you stay here much longer you'll all be
slitty-eyed."
"Goodwill" Tour of Canada:
He said of Canada: "We don't come here for our health.
We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves."
The Unemployed:
At the height of the recession in 1981 he said: "Everybody was saying we
must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed."
Women and cooking:
In 1966 he provoked outrage by saying: "British women can't cook."
Service Personnel:
Commenting on stress counselling for servicemen in a TV documentary on the
50th Anniversary of D-Day, he said: "It was part of the fortunes of war.
We didn't have counsellors rushing around every time somebody let off a
gun, asking `are you all right - are you sure you don't have a ghastly
problem?'. You just got on with it."
(Some truth in that).
Pop Stars:
Personal remarks have annoyed singing stars. In 1969 The Duke said to
Tom Jones after the Royal Variety Performance: "What do you gargle with,
pebbles?".
At a private lunch given 30 years ago he said he thought Adam
Faith's singing was like bath water going down a plug hole.
(Not wrong there then!).
So, all in all, he's mucked the best of 'em about. In contrast, getting on
the wrong side of Ofcom should be a doddle, not that RSGB need any help on
that score!
He'd go down a storm on packet:-)
73 - David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
Eddystone User Group Member
G-QRP Club Member No: 1339
QTH: Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 09:48 on 2005-Sep-06
Message sent using WinPack-Telnet V6.70
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