I have just received a phone call from a young lady in England who is disgusted at the way she is being discriminated against. Her “crime” is to try to celebrate Saint George’s Day, the feast day of her nation’s patron saint. The lady in question was refused entry into three pubs in the Covent Garden area of London because she was carrying the Cross of St George, England’s national flag. In a pathetic example of the ethno-masochistic self-loathing that afflicts my native land, it seems that the English are not welcome in English pubs. One suspects, in fact, that many in England’s green and pleasant land would now support the Dragon, symbolic of Satan, in the showdown with England’s patron saint. No matter. Those who back the Dragon are ultimately on the losing side.

Saint George’s day is also the birthday of England’s Bard, the great Shakespeare. I celebrated the great day by finishing my new book on Shakespeare, and dispatching it to my publisher! It’s a great relief, and good reason to celebrate with a pint of good English ale! And the toast is: For Shakespeare, England and Saint George!