Today's show 08/03/11

Four more good reasons not to listen today:

1) Police Job Losses - Government cuts could lead to twenty eight thousand police job losses. Is the solution for us to do some of the policing ourselves? : That will be 12,000 less police hassling innocent photographers then. And how can I become a vigilante? Next...

2) Motor Neurone Disease - A man with motor neurone disease is recording his own voice so he can still read to his son when he loses the power of speech : That should, of course, be "... loses the power of SPEACH ...". A speech is an address to other people, not the ability to speak. English not a strong point? Anyway, good for him. It just goes to show that there are still some free-thinking individuals out there who do not rely on the state or the media (aren't they the same thing?) telling them what to do. Next...

3) University Fees - 'I am a child of parents on welfare, I live on a council estate and I have just got 4 A stars at A-level. I will now walk into Oxford University and get my fees paid for.' What's wrong about this statement? : Hmmm... I love a grammatical challenge. Let me think.... OK, how about this:

 - There should be a capital W on Welfare as it is a proper noun.

 - The word "got" isn't very good as it does not give any indication of effort and hard work, so how about "achieved"?

 - Ideally, the number 4 should be written as the word "four".

 - The phrase "get my fees paid for" is cumbersome, and should be "have my fees paid" or similar.

What ever happened to BBC English, eh? Next...

4) Burning Poppies : A Muslim extremist has been fined £50 for burning poppies on Armistice Day : And an injured soldier was fined £60 for parking in a disabled parking bay (http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/8893050.Injured_soldier_fined_for_parking_in_disabled_bay/). So Jeremy, other than winding up your unfortunate listeners in to a state of apoplexy, what are YOU going to do about it? Can I guess? How about ABSOLUTELY NOTHING? How does it feel to be so powerless? How does it feel to be a former professional journalist who has been reduced to nothing more than a talk show host? For God's sake man, remember how it used to be, prove your worth and DO SOMETHING.