Do you want to be on TV?

Readers may complain that I discriminate by not publishing perfectly normal tidbits from the British print media, as I did when in China.

That is because, as a developed country, the UK believes in losing its dignity through the airwaves. Specifically, the TV.

Some of this is homegrown, no doubt heartwarming to legions of Britons. Perhaps feeling inferior to US programs such as Fantasy Island (or, Island full of Whores, as it should be called), we have Britain's Got Talent. Before you roll your eyes, please note Britain's Got More Talent. Not to mention The Apprentice (UK).

However the field of cheap, but popular, mass TV - also known as reality TV - from the US is alive and well. The Dog Whisperer delivers his hispanic-accented homilies on Spot and Rover; My Half Ton Dad will make anyone throw up his or her meals from the last week.

This, and possibly the classic reserve of British grown ups, probably explains the ubiquitous parade of 13-year old sluts and drunk yobs on trains and buses.