Prince Michael's visit

This week’s edition of the Jamaica Tory is not so much an argumentative piece, as it is a descriptive one, last week Jamaica played host to it's third  royal visitor in three years , this time the royal in Question was His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent, son of the late Duke of Kent, Prince George and brother of the present Duke, Prince Edward. Prince Michael is also the grandson of His Late Majesty King George V and as such is first cousin to the present sovereign Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

                     

Prince Michael who serves as Royal Patron for the Commission for Global Road Safety arrived in Jamaica on the invitation of the National Road Safety Council which was celebrating it’s 20^th anniversary. Among the activities he was involved in were weeklong celebrations of the NRCS anniversary, meetings with the Governor-General, Ministers of Government, government and opposition members of parliament and senior business leaders.

The Prince was also invited on his tour to visit several primary and high schools as well as the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies; such tours are common of royal visits over the years.

            

According to the NRSC their invitation of Prince Michael was meant to strengthen the bonds between the NRSC and its international partners, however that’s not the only bond that the royal visit will solidify, whether the NRSC intended to or not the visit also served to strengthen the bonds between Jamaica and the monarchy considering that this is the third royal visit in only three years, in 2011 there was the visit of Anne, Princess Royal, then in 2012 the Diamond Jubilee visit of Prince Henry which was keenly followed by media houses all over the world and now in 2013 it’s Prince Michael turn to see the Land of Wood and Water . Republicans love to point out that we hardly ever see the royals in Jamaica when the truth is that members of the royal family are frequent visitors to Jamaica, the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Wessex and the Princess Royal being the most recurrent  all of whom have no doubt fallen deeply in love to the island to the point where they wanted to come again and again, bet the  pro-republican socialist government i.e. the PNP  no idea that the royal visit will cause all this to be seen, as a matter of fact unlike the visit of Prince Harry last year,  there was not even a mention of that  accursed  word “republic”  during Prince Michael ‘s visit which in my book is an excellent thing.

                        

Like other members of the royal House of Windsor, the Prince,  who  was very well received by all whom he came in contact with, was filled  with nothing but praise and admiration of the Jamaican people, reaffirming the lasting ties between Jamaica and the Crown showing indeed that bonds that bind us all are strong, indivisible and not so easily severed.

Tribute to the Iron Lady

This latest post pays tribute to a very special person, who was very instrumental in shaping the world we now live in, a woman who embodies strength and resolve, who focused on principles rather than popularity and ended up paying the ultimate political price for her resilience and defiance, I speak of none other than former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, The Baroness Thatcher  who passed away peacefully last week.
                                     
Lady Thatcher was not called Iron Lady for nothing  and to this day remains a very controversial figure, one who changed Britain and the world forever, she was a stanch opponent of anything that even resembled  Marxism and stood should to shoulder with many other political leaders of her time as was demonstrated by her special friendship with then U.S. President Ronald Reagan, as well as close alliances formed with other anti-communist leaders of the 1980s including our very own Prime Minister Edward Seaga.
                           
The Baroness did much to improve her country’s economy which was in quite a state after years of mismanagement by the Labour Party (British Labour that is, not the JLP), unlike populist leaders who promised  redistribution of wealth, Thatcher did something more concrete instead of encouraging  her people to depend on the state to be their surrogate parent  and provide them with welfare, she instead encouraged business, capital growth investment and innovation. She encouraged efficiency in government by the transfering  of loss making entities into private hands. She was a genius who ran the state like a business, she understood that the only way to develop and grow an economy is through capital growth, not by taking the wealth of one class of people and giving it to another, she  had the foresight to know that wealth redistribution is not the way out of poverty but rather creation of new wealth. Surprising as it may seem I also admire the way she dealt the the Trade Union system in Britain who were at the backbone of the economic downfall of Britain promoting their own secret agenda to reduce productivity with their constant support of strikes and other forms of industrial actions most of which were taken for all forms of ridiculous reasons, I personally have no problem with Trade Union in itself but when such bodies abuse their power in order slow down productivity and damage a country’s production sector they must be brought to heel and this is exactly what the Right Honourable Lady did.
                               
I also supported her foreign policy stance (at least most of the time), she was instrumental in leading the fight against international communism along with Regan, she also brought in the Trident missile system to bolster her country's defences against nuclear weapons. Without a doubt however her greatest victory came in 1983 when she ordered Her Majesty’s Armed Forces to crush the Argentine invaders and retake the  Falkland islands thus restoring a surge of new hope in an era of great depression. Regardless of these great achievements , I must say that she also made a few mistakes along the way the biggest one was the support of the Apartheid Regime even while it was clear that both the Commonwealth and the rest  of the international community had seen enough and wanted Apartheid gone,  perhaps she could have handled the situation in a more tactful manner instead of finding herself on the opposite side of international public opinion.

                               

But  in her defence the Iron Lady was not one for falling in line, that is why most conservatives (myself included) admire her so much while she is utterly despised by the left, even after her death the left are still insisting of tarnishing her name and making her out be the villain when this is not the case, it was quite horrifying to see and hear to Left wingers organizing parties to celebrate her death, how disgraceful, she was  knifed in the back by her own fellow Tories in life and now people are celebrating her demise? Some people just don’t appreciate greatness when they see it, this is the typical attitude of the mob. What is ironic about these “celebrations” is that most of the party-goers are young people, who were either too young to remember or not even born when Lady Thatcher was in Downing Street, yet they celebrate her death because she did not conform to thier ideologies. It’s amazing how ungrateful people can be, what a shame!!,  but this only goes to show the attitude of liberals, socialist, communist and others of the left, no dignity, no class, not even so much as sympathy for the family. I know  that no tears were shed by right-wingers  when Hugo Chavez died a few months ago, but none of us took to street in celebration  either.
                            
                       
Margaret Thatcher embodies the type of political leader that the Jamaican Tory can respect, a true patriot to both Queen and Country, one who employs the use of conservative principles in all aspects, a devoted monarchist although there was a false rumour going around that Thatcher and the Queen were at odds this is utterly false, they may not have always have seen all  things in the same light e.g. The Apartheid Issue, but to say they were enemies is going a bit too far as the Queen could not have found a prime minister that was more loyal to her than Thatcher (except perhaps Churchill) , the British People and the World were very lucky to have some as dedicated and uncompromising as the Iron Lady.

The Real Meaning of $100 to $1

The Markets have been on edge, investors are getting worried, The People are getting agitated and everyone is now waiting to hear the evitable news, The Jamaican Dollar has officially reached the benchmark 0.01 US$  i.e. not long from now (may very well be today) it will take $100JMD to buy a US dollar and the Canadian dollar is not lagging far behind  either, now the big question on everybody’s lips is with both currencies (but especially the greenback) about to hit the roof with record breaking levels what will it mean for the future of our economy? . Most naturally see this scenario as a picture of gloom and hopeless considering that these countries are our major trading partners, which would mean the cost of import would naturally skyrocket and cause a host of other problems not the least of with is rapid scale inflation on everything.

                    

Others however are still trying to be optimistic  presenting a scenario as an opportunity to grow rather than shrink in a period of deep austerity and great crisis, in a forum hosted by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute earlier this week,  it was heavily debated between the a group of financial experts and private sector leaders, whether or not the devaluation of the dollar was an advantage or will it be to the nation’s detriment, one such panelist was of the view that the devaluation can be useful as this would make our exports more marketable using the Keynesian model of maket equilibrium he argued that if we increase exports decrease imports and hold all other factors at a steady rate then currency devaluation may be seen as an oppurtunity to grow, the only problem with that logic however is that while it sounds good, Jamaica exports far more than it imports, in fact data from the EXIM Bank shows that 95% of all Jamaican exports is based on a mere 6 products, the question one can ask here is are we really in a position to take advantage of this change in market value?". Of course the issue of import substitution was also brought forward, while it is a noble suggestion which I absolutely embrace, the question still remains how feasible is it to carry out the process and in what timeframe?.  

According to the latest Ease of Doing Business Report that is published by the World Bank, Jamaica ranks 90^th of all countries in the world, it’s no wonder that many investors (even Jamaican ones) are choosing to place their money elsewhere as it is quite clear that there is not much of a business friendly environment and the risks are far too great. The simple fact of the matter is that Austerity Measures are short term, what this country really needs is structural adjustments to transform the way we do business , anything short of that will result in failure.

                                             

Of course when Talking Structural Adjustment Programmes, who better to consult than the International Monetary Fund, a multilateral lending agency that  countries would rather avoid yet so many of them end up doing business with anyway, who could forget the promises made by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller who during her bid for Prime Minister in the 2011 promised to have an IMF deal on the table within two weeks after winning the elections, but now it’s over a year and still no deal, in fact after months of waiting for a response, the Jamaican public is now hear that the IMF is just beginning to look at the Government’s proposal, clearly the government has no clue what it is doing, in fact it’s proposed national debt exchange which was supposed to reap success turn out instead  to be an utter failure on part of the government and investors lost millions, one bank records as much as $2.5 Billion JMD in losses purely as result of the debt exchange,how can  anyone even consider that  this government is competent enough to manage the economy when they can't even get the debt exchange right, the Bruce Golding Government  had also tried a debt exchange, the difference however is that they were successful where Simpson Miller and most especially her Finance Minister Peter Philips has failed .

               

As I have reiterated before the Simpson-Miller government has demonstrated its incompetence, time and time again, it has ruined our economy, thousands are workers are laid off lowering productivity, investors are being scared away by their anti-capitalist policies and overly bureaucratic regulations, inflation is going haywire and now the dollar is nearing the dreaded mark to equal both $100USD and $100CDN (it could very well be happening now as I write), with the Government set to open the budget debate in parliament next week the Philips has promised no new taxes, but I’m not holding my breath for their promises to materialise, it wouldn’t be the first time that these self-serving politicians have lied to the country before and it certainly won’t be the last. 

The Lie Called "Marriage Equality'

I wish to speak about a new phenomenon that I have been observing for quite some time now, it’s all over the news these days, not to mention amount of Facebook post I've seen concerning both sides of the debate and it all has to do with the idea of marriage equality and whether or not persons should be allowed to legally wed persons of their own gender. This new agenda has been no doubt pushed by every liberal and Marxist political leader, media houses and lobby groups all seeking to propagate the notion that such a lifestyle should be accepted as normal to the point where it’s even taught in schools in some countries (though thankfully not here in Jamaica) as an alternative to the traditional family unit.

                              

                                 

Being a true Jamaican and a genuine Tory (traditional Tory that is, not the David Cameron version), I feel no shame in categorically stating that I oppose any change to the traditional defintion of marriage and I believe  that such ideology is abominable and violate all the laws of nature as well as centuries of long standing human practice. There was a time when marriage equality meant that the Husband (1 man) and the wife (1 woman) were equal partners in a marriage relationship, but the liberals and the pro-gay community have taken the meaning of marriage equality and twisted it to suit their own depraved way of thinking, I’m not surprised that they would do this since they have distorted the meaning of marriage itself and are publicizing the notion that others should do the same, they disgust me.

                                                

Unfortunately whether we like it or not (and I certainly do not) these people and their ideas are intent on sticking around and are not going anywhere, we see it all around us in forms of media both print and electronic, political leaders in many countries are now falling in line with this agenda including our very own Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller who is lauded by the LGBT community both locally and overseas for her stance, thank God for  sensible leaders like Vladimir Putin and  Bruce Golding etc. who are not afraid to stand up to the bullies in the LGBT community and tell them to bugger off.

The real question though is why do these people want to get married anyway? Up to half a century ago they wouldn't even dare show their face in public, but now all of them are “coming out of the closet” and are asking for all kinds of rights, marriage, adoption rights and recognition rights and what not, they sicken me.  Originally the whole point of marriage in the first place was the create a stable framework in which to raise a family, since LGBT people cannot have children then what’s the point of marriage for them, isn't it  already bad enough that they are allowed to have civil unions? I find it hypocritical that the same gay rights people who are often critical of religious leaders who oppose their immoral lifestyle are now wanting to force these same religious leaders to marry them off, and if they refuse then these clergymen are targeted for not falling in line with the gay agenda, whatever happened to freedom of speech or freedom of conscience?  When we live in a world where it’s a normal thing to openly promote homosexuality and profanity in the media but where Christians can’t even so much as kneel down to pray in a public building for fear of prosecution then it’s a sure sign that the world has gone mad.

                                       

Thankfully in my country the Liberal agenda is not as strong as it is in other countries in North America and Western Europe, the LGBT Lobby groups and their so called “human rights” co-conspirators are gaining ground but for now conservative ideologies still reign, although it’s being slowly but surely eroded (one only needs to take a look at some of the columns in the Daily Gleaner or Daily Observer to see what I’m talking about)  who could forget the  now famous words uttered by former Prime Minister Bruce Golding “Not in my cabinet” indicating his abhorrence to the idea of legalizing LGBT rights in Jamaica, If he had been the P.M. of some other country when he made that bold statement, he probably would have crucified  before the interview was over, unfortunately the current  PM well known for her liberal and Marxist views seem to taking an opposite trajectory, it’s a good thing that  Portia Simpson  Miller is no Barack Obama or David Cameron, should she ever dare to propose the idea of marriage equality or any other rights for this abnormal sect of people she would face a massive riot in the country even from members of her very own cabinet, she would never get away with it, such notions would surely be swept away by the turning wheels of the counterrevolution that would erupt.

                                

I did not get to focus much on the religious aspects of the debate in this post (I’ll do that another time), as this post was more inclined toward the political and social side but I will say this,  marriage equality is an idea that comes straight from hell, there is nothing anyone can say to convince me that same sex marriage is normal, in fact it is  one of the most repulsive things I could ever think of, it’s high time that people wake up and realize that the West is being overtaken by cultural Marxism, time to reject the liberal agenda and force these people back into the closet from whence they came, the future of our civilization depends on it. 

North Korea: All Bark and No Bite

This week Yours Truly the Jamaican Tory will  get out of his  usual comfort zone and will be taking a trip to the Far East and land right into the  heart of Pyongyang where a very interesting turn of events seem to be taking shape. North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un seems to preparing for war, war to whom? You might ask , from the intelligence coming from North Korea (note that they keep a very tight lid on what they let escape into the news), the main target is none other than the big bad United States of America (the mainland that is), other targets include Japan, Guam, Hawaii and last but most certainly not least their arch-nemesis South Korea.

                        

                                 

The North Korean Government has been putting out a lot of anti-American propaganda lately (more than usual) depicting fictional stories of them invading the USA and destroying symbols of American sovereignty such as the Capitol and the White House, other films also show North Korean troops defeating a combined force of American and South Korean troops and taking control of the entire Korean peninsula,  other State owned agencies have been shown  the North Korean military training for battle and making ready their attack plans with Kim III  often displayed as “the man in charge”, the North is  making ready all their weapons the most deadly of which are the nuclear rockets which they proudly display in public (at least Iran was  sensible enough to deny any existence of nuclear rockets in their country), the most deadly stunt however was a reporter on North Korean state television (the only TV station allowed in North Korea) proudly announcing that the People’s “Democratic” Republic of Korea was ready to strike the United States of America.

                         

Sounds scary right? Since if that were to ever come to past it would probably be the last war ever fought as both sides would end up destroying each other and the entire world with their Weapons of Mass Destruction. But let’s take a step back for a while, haven’t we been down this road before?, North Korea seems to have very aggressive policies especially when it comes to the United States and South Korea, I cannot count the number of times I have seen sabre rattling exercises between the two Koreas only to have the matter die down and then spring back up and then die down and the endless cycle goes on and on.

                                         

Scaremongering seems to a tool of North Korean policy both foreign and domestic and from what can tell from King Jong Un so far, his bark is worse than his bite, no one even knows whether some of the statistics on North Korean military and nuclear capabilities are even true due to the lack of credible sources of information, everything is strictly controlled by the state. There is speculation by many that the military figures are over-exaggerated  and as for the photos in some of those military parades that have become iconic representations of the world’s most tyrannical communist regime, they are in fact doctored and that the North Korean forces are not as scary as they are made out to be, seems to me like they’re compensating for something, perhaps it’s the fear that if people  should find out how militarily weak they are then the US, South Korea, Japan and the rest of their allies will step in depose the regime, the last Korean War in the 1950s was quite bloody enough and I’m sure no one wants to have a Korean War II

                        

 But then again all of this is mere speculation and nobody knows the truth for sure, nor do they want to take the chance to find out  only to discovering that the North is in fact as deadly as they say it is and which case all stakeholders would find themselves in big trouble. In any case regardless of how much potential they have, I sincerely doubt that North Korea will really be as dumb as try to invade the U.S.A. sure they have nuclear weapons but so does America and they have more of it too, there has been talk that since succeeding his father Kim Jong Il in 2011, the younger Kim has not been able to command the full respect of the communist party due to his age and inexperience, maybe this is just his way to shut of his critics and show them who is boss. 

The Madness of President Kirchener

I wish to weigh in on the Falklands dispute currently on going between the United Kingdom and the Argentine Republic, this dispute has been going on for many years now due to the fact that Argentina insist on asserting that the Islands belong to them, a claim supported by rhetoric and much sentiment but not backed by the rules of international law, British claim to the island on the other hand can be fully supported by certain principles as set out in international law including those of “Terra Nullius”, “Uti Possidetis Uris”  and most important of all the Principle of self-determination.

This last principle is most applicable in the modern scenario as it states that the people living in a particular state or territory have the right to decide their destiny for themselves. This is precisely what happened on Monday March 11, 2013 when the people of the Falklands Islands after holding a referendum on the issue decided to remain a British Territory, the other option would be to become a province of Argentina (I found it kind of odd that a third option for full independence was not considered as well) but at the end of the day the people of the Falklands have decided their destiny and as such that should have been the end of the matter.

                    

But unfortunately that is not so as Argentine President Christine Kirchener has maintained that the vote is invalid by claiming that                                                                                                                                        

1.The Falklanders have no right to self-determination in the first place                                                                

2. The Falklands occupation is illegal                                                                                                                             

3. The Islands are adjacent to Argentina and as such belongs to them.                                                             

Looking at it from a sentimentalist anti-colonial point of view one might be tempted to agree with the President but let’s forget sentiment for a while and examine the claims made by Mrs. Kirchener. Argentina asserts that the British settlement in the Falkland is a violation of international law as such they have no right to self-determination, the truth  however is that it is Argentina and not the UK who are the real violators of  international law as set out in both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that all persons have the right to self-determination and to choose their own destiny, by denying that the citizens of the Falklands have that basic right the Kirchener administration have demonstrated that they have no respect for the rule of law.

                      

Argentina’s second claim is also invalid for two reasons. First of all  British claim to the Falklands go all the way back to 1690 when the Islands were first discovered by officers of the Royal Navy, long before Argentina even existed as a state, unlike most other areas in the Americas at the time the Falklands had no indigenous population as such the Brits were the first occupiers of the islands, Argentine claims on the other hand go back to the mid-19^th century when they launched their first invasion of the islands, such claims were short lived as they were expelled from the islands in 1833, the British descended citizens have been living peacefully in the territory ever since that time until now except for the upheaval in 1982 when Argentina again tried to unsuccessful “retake” the islands that were never theirs in the first place.  The Argentine claim that the current Falklanders are descendants of British colonialist are also invalid as the Argentines themselves are descendants of Spanish colonialist who unlike the British wiped out the previous indigenous population in order to gain control that area, how then can they call the Falkland Islands a product of colonialism when Argentina itself is a product of colonialism? If that’s not hypocrisy then I don’t know what is.

President Kirchener’s last claim is just as bogus as the ones made before, anyone following that  faulty line of reasoning   may as well conclude that Alaska belongs to Canada and not to the United States  or that Aruba belongs to Venezuela and not the Netherlands, there is nowhere in international law that states that if one territory is adjacent to another when the larger territory has the right to exercise sovereignty over the smaller one, what counts in this case is not geography  but rather the will of the people.

                   

Still not satisfied with the fact that she is being ignored as many people are starting to see this smokescreen for what is truly is, President Kirchener has gone ahead and enlisted the help of the newly elected pope, who also  happens to be Argentine, quite frankly that will achieve nothing for two reasons

1. The Pope as an Argentine Citizen can hardly be described as neutral and as such is not the best figure arbitrate on such matters

 2. The Crown is under no obligation to the Pope, the Sovereign as head of the Church of England is a religious head in her own right and has no need to fear excommunication or any other action the Vatican may take.

 Most are of the view that Francis will not get involved in the dispute as he already has too much on his plate to deal with, but the very fact that La Senora Presidente would attempt such a move shows who the real colonialist is  this move reeks of 15^th century imperialism  when  the catholic rulers of Europe tried to get the Pope to recognize their claims to the Americas, I wonder if Kircherner expects the pope to draft up a modern day Treaty of Tordesillas for her to sign?. If that what she expects then she should probably brush up on her history, The rulings of the papacy had no effect on protestant nations back then who by and large ignored the papal bulls, what makes her think that time around will be any different?

                           

 Argentina claims to support the rules of democracy and international law yet they refuse the recognize the result of a plebiscite held in a free or fair manner, the President even has the nerve to refer to it as a parody announcing days before the vote was even held that she will not accept any result that is not in her favour, how then can anyone expect Argentina to be objective and unbiased when they have already made up their minds as to what the results should be. Whether Kirchener likes it or not, the people have spoken loud and clear that the Falklanders are British Territory as such The President should stop behaving like a sore loser, accept the results for what it is and move on. 

Celebrating the Commonwealth in 2013

Today Monday March 11, 2013, marks another Commonwealth Day, which is used to celebrate the unity of nations that are within the British Commonwealth celebrating both the shared nature as well as the diversity in the histories, cultures and ideals in our 54 nation strong alliance that were all once part of the British Empire (with exception of Mozambique and Rwanda). The Theme of this year’s Commonwealth Day is “Opportunity Through Enterprise” and as the Queen’s 2013 Commonwealth Day message rightly puts it “We are all born with the desire to learn, to explore, to try new things.  And each of us can think of occasions when we have been inspired to do something more efficiently, or to assist others in achieving their full potential. Yet it still takes courage to launch into the unknown, ambition and curiosity open new avenues of opportunity” A message resonating with the common man something that everyone can relate to, Her Majesty’s messages have often been a source of courage and inspiration to many and this year is no different.

Unlike previous years however Commonwealth Day 2013 also has some controversy attached to it even though I’m sure this was never the Queen’s intention, this has to do with the Commonwealth Charter of Rights agreed upon by the Commonwealth Heads of Government that some are now calling the “Magna Carta of the 21^st century”, This document originally meant to promote equal rights for all and total non-discrimination is being used as a front by gay rights groups to promote their agenda, some media houses even have the nerve to boldly proclaim in their headlines that the Queen by signing this charter is now fighting on the side of gay rights, a very presumptuous and preposterous claim as Her Majesty has never made any such statement yet it is being interpreted as such when the truth of the matter is that The Queen has no known views on the issue. Those who spread such stories present themselves as being friendly supporters of the monarchy pretending to congratulate the Queen on taking such a bold step in support of human rights and LGBT movements however their true motives are far more sinister than it appears. If interpreted the wrong way the signing of the charter will have serious consequences for Commonwealth countries that refuse to support the agenda of these deviants who are now seeking to use the monarchy as a scapegoat, those responsible for the drafting of this document certainly have no interest of preserving the monarchy or maintaining the unity of the Commonwealth. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if I were to find out later on that this whole thing was a charade, deliberately crafted and schemed from the very beginning to bring down both the monarchy and the Commonwealth.

The truth of the matter is that this document regardless of the so called “positive spin” being put on the this whole issue, serves no one’s best interest and will do more harm than it does good as many traditionalist will find themselves alienated and even be made to feel as though the Queen is deliberately sticking it to them while taking sides with their opponents in a monarchical system where the sovereign is supposed to be apolitical, this is little more than the heights of hypocrisy on the part of liberals, who have for years been very critical particularly of the Prince of Wales for his open political views, of course if the Queen had chosen not to sign the Charter you would never hear the end of it as the liberal media, the LGBT power elite and their collaborators would all go out of their way to vilify the Queen and the royal family, the long and short of it is that monarchist who uphold traditional values are likely to feel offended and betrayed should it be seen that the monarchy is siding with the LGBT community whereas republicans who  hold pro-gay views will continue to advocate for  abolishing the monarchy in other words everybody loses and the monarchical institution is the one being set up for the greatest backlash.

As a devout monarchist I will continue to remain loyal to Her Majesty as well as her heirs and successors, as a conservative however I will certainly not support an alternate lifestyle that contravenes the law of nature and any measures put in place that makes things more difficult for them to practice that lifestyle regardless of how discriminatory or draconian it may seem will certainly have my support. That being said we must do well to remember that the charter speaks to equal rights not LGBT rights and as such the media should stop misrepresenting the facts,having read the Queen’s Commonwealth Day message I've seen where it  spoke to innovation, enterprise and equality of opportunity for all nothing was ever mentioned about special rights for a special group of people  yet that is all the press keeps focusing it, it makes me sick.

                           

All that being said I really think that Commonwealth Day is not getting the attention that it deserves for many years, apart from an “Interfaith” service in Westminster Abbey (I’m still trying to figure how they manage to pull that off)  and the broadcast of the Queen’s Message there is not much else to talk about, (although I was very privileged to attend a special forum and reception at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last year put on by the ministry in conjunction with the Royal Commonwealth Society), the day is more likely celebrated in official circles but not by the general public , the least they can do is publicize it in the media so people can be more aware of the significance of the day, so by and large the day goes unnoticed and ignored by many when it should not be so.

 2013 message by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth: 

http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Speechesandarticles/2013/CommonwealthDayMessage2013.aspx