regular-ish news whinge

Well, what can I let off steam about in today’s news? In no particular order:

Some ******’s come up with the idea of school-leavers being asked to give an oath of allegiance to the queen. What a repulsive idea. Allegiance to the country I do agree with, but not the bloody royal family.

What strikes me as cheapening an already cheap idea is to proffer some kind of reward to those who volunteer (council tax discounts or student loan payments).

One suggestion I do like is the idea of offering immigrants a bursary towards English lessons. Ideally this should be a voucher scheme, or a grant towards establishments to offer these courses. And a mandatory test after 12 months (not a complex one, but just one to prove they’re progressing) otherwise kick them out. This is far more important than some pointless chant with a raised hand.

Also part of this raft of "ideas" includes the half-formed thought od updating the national anthem to remove verses not often used. What’s the point in that? If we don’t use them, we don’t use them. Whether they’re there or not makes no odds.

What the national anthem needs is changing. I’m sure I’ve ranted about this previously, but England needs an anthem of its own – the other three nations have theirs while for some reason we’re stuck with the generic British one, which further decreases our sense of national identity. I vote for Land of Hope and Glory. The UK should change the dull dirge we have now to the significantly more rousing Rule Britannia.

I wonder how much the moron who dreamed this lot up got paid?

Not exactly news, but always worth reiterating is the fact that the BNP are a bunch of ***** (and not the nice type). This time, their crime is not so much using a photograph that they (possibly correctly) claim is public domain, but the way they’ve used it. Their new leaflet seems to be endorsed by the family of a girl who died of a heroin overdose.

Within this heap of racist **** they try not to call &quo;propaganda" they also try to make out that drug abuse is a Muslim problem. No wonder so much of the world hates white people. Between ******* like these and the American government, we’ve so far painted every Muslim as a potential junkie who wants to strap explosives to his chest and fly a plane into a tower block.

Always up for a giggle is the Catholic church. I’ve been beaten to my views on this story by a lot of the comments on it, but at least it means I’m not alone in my amazement at their stupidity. They’ve announced some modern-day updates to the commandments / sins which they obviously haven’t researched too well.

First up, being excessively rich will stop you being allowed through the Pearly Gates. Interesting given the wealth coveted by their little organisation. Oh, hang on. Isn’t covetousness also a sin? Strike two.

Conspicuous by its absence is buggering choirboys, which is obviously still acceptable. A good job, or despite a lifetime in the cloth, hardly any of their priests would make it past Beelzebub’s pitchfork.

And finally, to sport. I’m just happy to see the teams which have made it through to the FA Cup semi-finals this year. One Premiership club (and not a so-called "top four" one at that, therefore guaranteeing a lower-league club a place in the final and a chance at European football next year.

A huge congratulations to Barnsley, West Brom, Cardiff and Portsmouth. For the first time in years there’s no foregone conclusions on the result. Some of the best "cupsets", and all on the same weekend as well. Brilliant.