[shaggy eel]

,,, Helen Clark's strategy is going according to plan. Smash defense, strain relations with Aussie and the US; become a republic (leaving NZ non-aligned) and await further orders from Beijing.

[shaggy eel]

,,, shall I pencil you in for a room at the Huka Lodge with Georgina Beyer (pumpkin included)?

[New Zealander]

"The idea of a nation such as New Zealand being ruled by a head of state some 20,000 kilometres away is absurd," she [clark] said in a speech to the London School of Economics.

Bollicks - what is absurd is that clark is 20 000kM away while the Queen is here. What the hell is she thinking? I just can't believe this vindictive snub - that cow has got to realise that she is never going to play a role in the history of New Zealand that remotely compares to that of England. The queen as head of state, the flag, knighthoods - these are not fickle fashions that can be changed by whim. Who the hell does helen think she is?