Via James Graham I see the Government has given an excellent (if slightly hand-washing) response to a petition calling for recognition of Jedi Knights as a religious group.

The Government has no overarching role in regulating or recognising personal belief or faith. The UK has a long held commitment to freedom of worship and belief, and people are free to form religions and free to follow their own practices and beliefs provided they remain within the law.

May the Force be with you.

Paul off of Hot Ginger and Dynamite has tagged me with ye olde book meme.

1) Grab the closest book to you.

The nearest two books are software manuals, but neither of them has normal page numbers. Looking further afield, I have found a book in the nearest cupboard. (The other option was the big dictionary I got from Countdown, but I’ve not unwrapped it yet.) So, the book is The Welfare State We’re In by James Bartholomew.

2) Open to page 123, go down to the 4th sentence.

Okey doke…

3) Post the text of the following 3 sentences on your blog.

Thrillingly, it is this:

This section of the 1943 pamphlet also stressed the importance of research for good medical care. ‘The service must be amply equipped and endowed for research,’ it states. We have already seen that prior to 1948, Britain was a world leader in research.

Voilà.

Last weekend, I went to Brussels where I foolishly agreed to record this exciting short film.

Set your video/DVD recorder/hard disc recorder/magic space box for Channel 4 at 3.30pm tomorrow (Tuesday) – or, if you’re not in gainful employment or work from home, just switch on the TV – for I will be a contestant on long-running cult afternoon game show Countdown.

I’ll be joined by current champion Vivienne, hosts Des O’Connor and Carol Vorderman, and Susie Dent and Rick Wakeman in Dictionary Corner.

One from the top and five from the bottom please, Carol.