Are you trying to say something, or is it just innocent?

Many people are guilty of saying "England" or "English" when referring generally to Great Britain or British. This is not just outsiders, but also those who live in England. It seems a small thing, but it irks those who live in Scotland or Wales, or who are originally from those places.

This is not to give excuses, but one might be a little more forgiving to outsiders (Americans who say that, at least) when you remember that 82% of the population of the UK lives in England.

12%, incidentally, of that, lives in the London area. Give or take.

I'm not making excuses for the English, though. Sometimes (as an outsider) I get the hint that it may go deeper than just a slip of the tongue.

DOES it go deeper than just an innocent slip of the tongue? Give me some inside stuff. :)

Happy St. George's Day

Happy St. George's Day to you all. I'm sure you went to the parade.

For those Americans reading this, St. George is the patron saint of England. And, boy, do they really celebrate! (He's the one who chased all the snakes out of England. Like that Irish guy who killed the dragon.)

Anyway, St. George's Day is quite a bit like our Independence Day, only much different.

An analysis of English govermental entities

In the USA, the governmental units are pretty straightforward: we have states and they are divided into counties.

There was probably a time when it was that simple in England too but not so simple today. This post attempts to analyze the governmental units in England.

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First of all, England is a country within the UK.

Under today's system of governmental breakdown, land in England is either

1. Located in an area called Greater London, or

2. Located outside the area called Greater London.

The land that is located inside the entity called Greater London consists of

1. The actual City of London, and

2. 32 other boroughs which surround that inner city, called London Boroughs

The land that is locate outside the entity called Greater London is divided into counties. These counties are further classified

1. As Metropolitan counties, if that county mainly consists of a major city, or

2. Non-Metropolitan counties.

There are (as of this writing) 82 Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan counties. Of these, six are Metropolitan Counties, each with a typical population of between 1 and 3 million.

Non-Metropolitan counties are either

1. Shire counties, or

2. Unitary authorities.

There are 28 shire counties. A shire country has multiple districts within it. A shire county does not have to have the word "shire" in its name.

The remaining counties are of the unitary authority type. A unitary authority type of county does not have districts, but only one council for the entire county.

The whole of England is divided into 10 government office regions used by the central government. These large regions are separate from the counties themselves, and are superior to the counties from a governmental standpoint.

Partial list of job requirements to be in line to the British throne

In the old days (the old OLD days) all you had to do to be king was get together an army, kill the current king, and just move into the castle. I suppose you can still do that, but if you want to go by the actual rules, here are a few of those rules

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1. First, you have to be a descendant of the lady pictured above, Electress Sophia of Hanover. If you aren't, then you can just scratch your ass off the list right away.

2. You must be a protestant at the time of your accession. You must enter into communion with the Church of England after your accession.

3. Just in case you didn't get number 2, anyone who is a Roman Catholic, becomes a Roman Catholic, or marries a Roman Catholic (or maybe even just touches a Roman Catholic) is permanently excluded from the succession.

4. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. Wait. That doesn't apply to British Monarchs. You must be a protestant. I can't repeat that too often, but I won't again.

5. A person who is born to parents who are not married to each other at the time of birth (a bastard) may not be included in the line of succession. ::Coff coff:: Subsequent marriage of the parents does not alter this. A child born to a married woman is assumed to be the child of her husband. ::Coff coff::

6. A monarch is always succeeded immediately by his or her legitimate descendants. Birth order matters. Gender matters: boys first, girls second.

7. Once you start, you can't go back: until you run out of children and grandchildren, your siblings are just out of luck.

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"British throne" today means the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.