A Message From the Queen

 

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty
 Queen Elizabeth II

 In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates
 for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give
 notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.
 (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)
 Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties
 over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas , which she
 does not fancy).
 Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America
 without the need for further elections.
 Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be
 circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.
 To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following
 rules are introduced with immediate effect:
 
 
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 1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,'
 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell
 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will
 be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to
 raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').
 ------------------------
 2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises
 such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of
 communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Mi
 crosoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be
 adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the
 elimination o f '-ize.'
 -------------------
 3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
 -----------------
 4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns,
 lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and
 therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns
 should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out
 without suing someone or speaking to a therapist,then you're not ready to
 shoot grouse.
 ----------------------
 5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything
 more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be
 required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
 ----------------------
 6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will
 start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time,
 you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of
 conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you
understand the British sense of humour.
 --------------------
 7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been
 calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.
 -------------------
 8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French
 fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato
 chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in
 animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
 -------------------
 9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually
 beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to
 as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be
 referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are
 pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be
 due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see
 what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen
 Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
 ---------------------
 10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as
 good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play
 English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in
 Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears
 removed with a cheese grater.
 ---------------------
 11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind
 of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will,
 in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American
 football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or
 wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).
 ---------------------
 12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to
 host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played
 outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world
 beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn
 cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the
 sting out of their deliveries.
 --------------------
 13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
 -----------------
 14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's
 Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all
 monies due (backdated to 1776).
 ---------------
 15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with
 saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes;
 plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.
 God Save the Queen!
 
 PS: Only share this with friends who have a good sense of humour (NOT
 humor)!