As you may be aware, there is a referendum approaching in the UK to determine whether or not to switch from a “first past the post” voting system to an “alternative vote” (AV) voting system.

Here at the Big Bad Blog, we have previously voiced our arguments for why an AV system is preferable to the current model, and have yet to hear a convincing argument to the contrary. Indeed, we have yet to hear a single point that was not addressed in our original post.

Still, we understand why some people might still be on the fence, and would like to convince you — if you are such a person — that AV is the way to go. Rather than make further arguments for AV, however, we instead have elected to show you this actual real official video from the people behind the NO to AV campaign:

Believe it or not, this is NOT a parody. It is actually from the NO to AV people.

If the UK voting public is as stupid as the NO to AV people think it is, then they are probably right. There’s no helping us, anyway.

If, however, you disagree with this portrait of the average British voter, then you should vote for AV: we can probably handle it.

Image found at Political Scrapbook.

There are many things to confuse a Canadian who finds himself living in London. The cars drive on the other side of the street, the language — despite being the same language — is entirely different, the accents can be hard to understand, and the names of too many places are either not pronounced in the way they are spelled, or a bit too full of innuendo.

All of these things are easy to deal with. If you fail to die in the first week, you grow quickly accustomed to cars coming at you from the “wrong” direction. Your ear tunes to the accent, your vocabulary embraces the local dialect, and you learn not to giggle every time you hear “Cockfosters”.

And then there’s the holidays.

The United Kingdom has most of the same holidays — both official and unofficial — as Canada does. They do Mayday instead of Labour Day. They do not have the “family day” in February, or Canada Day. Their August holiday is at the end of the month, rather than the start.

New Year’s, Easter and Christmas all happen on the same dates as in Canada. The unofficial ones — Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween — all happen on the same date as in Canada. As you would expect. Father’s Day is always the third Sunday in June.

And then there’s Mother’s Day.

In Canada, it always occurs on the second Sunday of May. But in the UK it happens … on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

Let’s let that sink in for a second here … the fourth Sunday of Lent. When is that?

The answer, after some deliberation, is two weeks before Easter. But who came up with this system? As an atheist of Jewish upbringing, I do not have a strong tie-in with Lent. I know that Easter is supposed to align with Passover, but occurs on a weekend, and that Mother’s Day is two weeks before Easter, and … you may note that the logic to determine Mother’s Day is getting a bit convoluted.

No matter, though, because the card shops certainly give one plenty of warning that the most card-worthy of all holidays is approaching. The question then becomes what to do about it.

Do I call my mother and grandmother on the UK Mother’s Day? Won’t they then be a little bit confused when I wish them a “Happy Mother’s Day”? I would think so.

Do I then wait until mid-May to make that same phone call, and hope that I realise that it’s Mother’s Day when the day arrives?

Do I attempt both?

When I first moved to the UK, I was caught unawares by the early Mother’s Day. I made the assumption that I had forgotten when Mother’s Day was, and made the calls on UK Mother’s Day, surprising my Mom in the process.

The second year, I decided to call on both days. The logic goes that I am reminded by my environment about the UK mother’s day, but not about the Canadian one. So I am likely to forget the latter, but unlikely to forget the former. So I would try to call on the Canadian day, but if I forget to do so I have already called.

I am a sneaky, sneaky child.

These days, thanks to Twitter (and too much time spent on Twitter), I am certain to see the bazillion “Happy Mother’s Day” messages on Canadian Mother’s Day. It coincides with the American version, so it will be a trending topic. I will know, and will be able to make the calls.

But now Karen’s a mother too. And she has a mother. And they are both French. And their Mother’s Day is on neither the British or Canadian days, but on the last Sunday in May.

I just can’t win.

UK-based readers, be aware of the giant secret UK firewall plans that are being made.

If you love the Big Bad Blog, you will dislike this. Because we occasionally say not-nice things about various technology companies and most political parties, we expect to be the first against the (fire)wall when the internet shackles come down.

Or, at least, we would expect such a thing if people actually read this blog.

Image was found at Me Looky Me Likey. Artist unknown.
Webcomic is Martin, Angry Owl by Amy Crosthwaite.

Before we begin, you may be wondering what the English need to do in order to finally win the world cup. The answer is simple: buy more cats.

The European Court of Human Rights have held up a prior decision which found the stop and search powers granted under the Terrorist Act to be illegal.

Finally, the government in the UK is accepting nominations for laws to repeal in order to “restore civil liberties”. You can throw your support behind the repeal of the Digital Economy bill here.