Video Test

This is Stewart Lee's brilliant routine on PC. I've posted the text of this routine before, here it is live.

Warning,the last minute includes "strong language".

St Georges Day

I remember my childhood. I would celebrate St Georges day, while others cynically ignored it. They ignored it because "they" wanted them not to.

Fast forward to 2009, I have acquaintances putting patriotic images on social websites, and joining groups like "Don't let the government kill St Georges day."
This is the PC myth once again. There is no movement to "kill" St Georges day. One or two people may not be too fond of national pride, but it's a personal belief and hardly amounts to a movement.

While there are people who are genuinely celebrate the day (my Scouting friends for example) I get the impression there is a distinct subgroup who are doing so just to "stick it to the PC brigade." Maybe it's a false impression that the attitude is prevalent, but it exists. This attitude helps no-one. The only thing that killed ST Georges day was apathy and cynicism, combined with no-one having an idea as to what it was for.

Last week I was relieved to find that people were genuinely, for the first time in ages, celebrating the day. No-one moaned that they were being prevented from doing something they didn't want to do any way, no-one moaned about things "the govment" isn't doing... It wasn't a truly vibrant celebration, but it was a start: nicely happy and free from bitterness.

So my message: celebrate St George's day if that's what's in your heart. Love your country because you believe it is a good place to be in its own right. Don't sully the flag with anger, cynicism, or defiance.

The BBC

The BBC is not a taxi. It’s a bus. Paying your licence fee and deciding that entitles you to dictate the output of the BBC is like buying a bus ticket and saying “Right, I’ve got this ticket, therefore this is now my bus! It must drive me home, park in front of my house and wait there until the morning when I need it again."

- Mitch Benn

(c/o Barnaby "Dalek Innards" Edwards)

Ben Goldacre gets understandably frustrated.

You may call this article a rant. I call it a reasonable point, well made.