pap

Never knew Aspergers was contagious.

Italy would be one of those newer nations I mentioned earlier. This wiki link is quite interesting. Not only does it list all of the countries that have National Days, there's normally a date and reason for the celebration. I never realised that Italy's national day celebrates the declaration of the 1946 republic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day National Days aren't really about "look at how great we are". A huge proportion of the countries that celebrate a National Day are celebrating a specific event, usually a change of sovereignty, territory or constitutional makeup. We've had the same form of government for a few hundred years (albeit with a smaller electorate the farther you go back), haven't been invaded since 1066 and almost all of our recent "achievements" have been shared with others, not something that we can independently say we've done on our tod. We don't really qualify for a National Day under the "established" rules. What specific event would we celebrate that defines us as a nation, is constitutionally relevant and is relatively recent?

Horse head under duvet.

It'd be quite amusing if the Old Testament God was real and Jesus wasn't actually his son. Lot of people worshipping false idols...

Very difficult to know what to make of AVB. Good career before he came to England, undone by player power at Chelski. From his cryptic remarks last night, he might not have had say over who Spurs bought with the Bale money. Some might argue the a Welsh wonder has made a few managers look better than they are. Whatever, if there's some alchemy to getting a team to gel, he doesn't seem to have it. Respect issue?

Maybe a lower basic and a high clean sheet bonus would be the way to go.

Well, if nothing else I've learned that Saint in Paradise is frightened of Muslims.

He has been told to cut his wage demands if he wants to join. If he does, he stands a much better chance of going to the World Cup. http://www.footballfancast.com/football-news/southampton-tell-brazilian-to-lower-wage-demands?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The commonalities between Barry Sanchez and dune are certainly there. You'd also have to figure that a sad c**t like dune, who basically couldn't do without this place, would be back in some way, shape or form.

Matey. Give the little demons that operate the levers in your brain some time off. They've been very busy this year.

Right. I've reviewed this and actually gone to the trouble of watching them on YouTube. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. You have performed a vital service to the nation. Ordinarily, I'd discount most acts from the X-Factor as "more of the same". This is a dewy-eyed duet with a chance of winning it; a modern day Kylie and Jason backed by the marketing muscle of Simon Cowell. Given that this man has managed to convince most of the nation that the X-Factor is a good thing, Alex & Sierra represent a clear and present danger to our nation's health. They must be stopped.

I agreed with PhillipineSaint's points, talked about the role of media (the Daily Fail) and other divisive points, such as the class system. Some may correctly surmise that by talking about other factors, I might not have been attributing a lack of national unity to just one thing.

My closing line was intentionally silly and immature. However, neither of the people he quoted said the things he claimed they did. Please show me otherwise.

I'd vote Tokyo, but he got mouthy the last time I actually voted. That might be a danger given the award he's up for.

I'd advise having a cup of coffee or two to short those logic circuits into action, mucker. PhillipineSaint pointed out a lack of national unity as a reason that a national day might not be a goer. He pointed out local rivalries as evidence of this. At no point in his post did he say that this was exclusive to the English. I came along with some broader definitions of division to support his argument. At no point in my post do I indicate that this is an exclusive trait of the English. You wade in with your typical strawman boll*cks, insisting that we think that this is exclusive to the English. You're arguing a point we never made, and declaring victory in a battle that never existed. Frankly, I think you've made a fool of yourself, and should take some time to reconsider your life

Do you have anything like The Daily Mail in Norway though?

Bletch, can you have a go at Tokyo and Smirking please? They're having a go at me for voting for you. Pure jealousy mucker, but what can you do?

I must have missed the part where I said tribalism was exclusive to the English. You obviously didn't though. Thanks for spotting it. A big "add" to the debate, I feel.

Yay, someone gets it. Those are some localised examples, but you've also got the whole North/South thing or perhaps more accurately, the whole South East/Everywhere Else thing. Not really that surprising when you've got the likes of the Daily Mail, Britain's least accurate newspaper, devoting a fair amount of its headlines on the denigration of certain sections of society. We're not even considering class differences here either.

No-one. If this had gone down on the Flower Estates, at least one person would have remarked "the c**t's taking liberties!" Sort it out, lads.

Brussels sprouts and real ale, perchance?

I'd indignantly refute this suggestion and insist that we Brits have better taste, but I know we don't. How horrible are they?

Which as I've already established, I don't really give a f*ck about. How do you reckon your comment about being disappointed about lack of main board recognition (from me, of all people) will go down?

I'm not on the main board nearly as much as other places, and as someone who frequently declares I know **** all about football, my nomination may not help you secure victory. Main board threads are far too long. If the whole world is truly a popularity contest, then I think we're a bit f**ked. X-Factor is popular, One Direction is popular. You see where I'm going with this. Popularity is no guarantee of quality. Sometimes the two intersect, but not often. There are enough people out there parroting popular views, whereas I deliberately posit provocative ones. It ain't the best way to make friends - going against the grain is rarely a popular move, but it sometimes forces people to challenge their views.

We all pay into the tax system, so there's that. Similarly, I think most Saints fans can say that they are part of the success of the club. We help to fund it, build awareness of it and the EPL through social media channels, and it's really football fandom that underpins the overall enterprise and makes football the thing it is. No fans = no market = no massive TV gravy chain. I'm very a la carte with my Englishness. I love the politeness, humour, sense of fair play - but I dislike the deference, the apathy and the tub-thumping part of the enterprise. I've brought this point up tons before, but Paxman reckons a defining characteristic about being English is being so comfy in your nationality that you don't give a f*ck about it. I'm no different in that respect; I have a quiet confidence about my nationality and as I said, respect for a lot of the things we're supposed to hold dear. Thing is, I'm not entirely sure what we're supposed to celebrate at the moment. The country doesn't seem too unified to me. Our actions, viewed externally, haven't been particularly honourable lately. Our domestic policy and population is directed by the EU. Our foreign policy is directed by the US. The country owes $160K per person atm, and is borrowing more. Nobody seems to have a long-term vision about what the country is going to do to support itself in future.