 |
 |
|
Latest Programmes
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV.
|
 |
 |
|
The Ant & the Grasshopper Fable ____________________________________
|
 |
 |
|
Classic Version
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
The End.
The British Version
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like him, are cold and starving. The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper, with cuts to a video of the ant in his comfortable warm home in Hampstead with a table laden with food. The British are stunned that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty. The Coalition Against Hard Work demonstrate in front of the ant's house. The BBC broadcasts them singing "We Shall Overcome." An MP laments in an interview with Panorama that the ant has got rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share". In response, the government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti-Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant's taxes are reassessed, and he is also fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as helpers. Without enough money to pay the fine and his newly-imposed retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by Camden Council. The ant moves to France, and starts a successful AgriBiz company funded by the EU. The BBC later shows the now fat grasshopper finishing up the last of the ant's food, though spring is still months away, while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to maintain it. Inadequate government funding is blamed, The grasshopper is soon dead of a drug overdose, the Guardian blames it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity.
The End.
|
 |
 |
|
All About Evil ________________
|
 |
 |
|
A professor at a well known institution challenged his students :"Did God create everything that exists?" A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!" "God created everything?" the professor asked. "Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied. The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil. And, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil. The student became quiet and did not answer the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?" "Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The other students snickered at the young man's question. The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe the condition the absence of heat."
The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?" The professor responded, "Of course it does." The student replied, "Once again you are wrong, sir. Darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colours and study the various wavelengths of each colour. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe the condition of the absence of light."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?" The professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
The student sat down.
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The Brick ____________________
|
|
|
|
A young and successful executive was travelling down a neighbourhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that all about, and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"
The young boy was really apologetic. "Please, mister... Please. I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," he pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop..." With tears pouring down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just round a parked car. "It's my brother, "he said "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me." Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. "Thank you," the grateful child told the stranger.
Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy! push his wheelchair-bound brother down the pavement towards their home.
It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: "Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention."
|
|
|
The Clever Lawyer _____________________
|
|
|
|
A court room fills where a person is on trial for murder. There is strong evidence indicating guilt; however, there is no corpse.
In the defense's closing statement the lawyer, knowing that his client is guilty and that it looks like he'll probably be convicted, resorts to a clever idea.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you all," the lawyer says as he looks at his watch. "Within 1 minute, the person presumed dead in this case will walk into this court room," he says and he looks toward the courtroom door.
The jury, somewhat stunned, all look on eagerly. A minute passes. Nothing happens.
Finally the lawyer says: 'Actually, I made up the previous statement. But you all looked on with anticipation. I, therefore, put it to you that there is reasonable doubt in this case as to whether anyone was killed and insist that you return a verdict of not guilty."
The jury, clearly confused, retires to deliberate. A while later, the jury returns and a representative pronounces a verdict of guilty. "But how?" inquires the lawyer. "You must have had some doubt; I saw all of you stare at the door."
The representative answered. "Oh, we did look. But your client didn't."
|
|
|
The Chairman and the Teacher _________________________________
|
|
|
|
The chairman of a large company decided to explain the problem with education. He argued,"What' s a child going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can , do. Those who can't, teach."
To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Arthur. Be honest. What difference do you make to society?"
Arthur replied, "You want to know what difference I make? (He paused for a second, then began.)
"Well, I make children work harder than they ever thought they could.
I make an achievement no matter how small seem like a medal of honour.
I make children sit through forty minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for five without an iPod, Game Cube or feature film.
I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them apologise and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and then I make them write properly. Typing at a keyboarding isn't everything.
I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math. They use their God-given brain, not the man-made calculator.
Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.
Then, when people try to judge me by what I do, with me knowing money isn't everything.”
There was silence around the table.
|
|
|
Children Complete Well-known Phrases ______________________________________
|
|
|
|
|
1.
|
Don't change horses
|
until they stop running.
|
|
2.
|
Strike while the
|
bug is close.
|
|
3.
|
It's always darkest before
|
Daylight Saving Time.
|
|
4.
|
Never underestimate the power of
|
termites.
|
|
5.
|
You can lead a horse to water but
|
how?
|
|
6.
|
Don't bite the hand that
|
looks dirty.
|
|
7.
|
No news is
|
Impossible.
|
|
8.
|
A miss is as good as a
|
Mr.
|
|
9.
|
You can't teach an old dog new
|
math.
|
|
10.
|
If you lie down with dogs, you'll
|
stink in the morning.
|
|
11.
|
Love all, trust
|
me.
|
|
12.
|
The pen is mightier than the
|
pigs.
|
|
13.
|
An idle mind is
|
the best way to relax.
|
|
14.
|
Where there's smoke there's
|
pollution.
|
|
15.
|
Happy the bride who
|
gets all the presents.
|
|
16.
|
A penny saved is
|
not much.
|
|
17.
|
Two's company, three's
|
the Musketeers.
|
|
18.
|
Don't put off till tomorrow what
|
you put on to go to bed.
|
|
19.
|
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and
|
you have to blow your nose.
|
|
20.
|
There are none so blind as
|
Stevie Wonder.
|
|
21.
|
Children should be seen and not
|
spanked or grounded.
|
|
22.
|
If at first you don't succeed
|
get new batteries.
|
|
23.
|
You get out of something only what you
|
see in the picture on the box.
|
|
24.
|
When the blind lead the blind
|
get out of the way.
|
|
25.
|
A bird in the hand
|
is going to poop on you.
|
|
|
|
|
My Mother Taught Me _________________________
|
|
|
|
1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE . 'If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.'
2. My mother taught me RELIGION. 'You better pray that will come out of the carpet.'
3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL . 'If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!'
4. My mother taught me LOGIC. ' Because I said so, that's why.'
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC . 'If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the shops with me.'
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT. 'Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident.'
7. My mother taught me IRONY 'Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.'
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS . 'Shut your mouth and eat your supper.'
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. 'Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!'
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA. 'You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone.'
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER . 'This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.'
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. 'If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!'
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. 'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.'
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. 'Stop acting like your father!'
15. My mother taught me about ENVY. 'There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do.'
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. 'Just wait until we get home.'
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING . 'You are going to get it when you get home!'
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. 'If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to stay that way.'
19. My mother taught me ESP. 'Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?'
20. My mother taught me HUMOUR . 'When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me.'
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT . 'If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up.'
22. My mother taught me GENETICS. 'You're just like your father.'
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS . 'Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?'
24. My mother taught me WISDOM. 'When you get to be my age, you'll understand.'
25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE 'One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|