I pay no attention whatsoever to the charts, so when I saw this entry on Duncan Borrowman's blog I had to go and look it up to be certain, but it's true! The Accadacca are at number one! This is the second thing to bring a smile to my face all day, what with being in bed ill and poorly and space-brained as I am. The first thing to bring a smile to my face was this, which was emailed to me by the lovely stephmog. In light of recent discussion of statistics and the scientific method, I am amused to see scientific proof (for an early Victorian definition of scientific proof ;)) that beer is not only more nutritious than tea, but MORALLY healthier too! Ladies, if you drink tea you are sure to end up as a prostitute!

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I suspect Charlotte didn't realise she was starting a meme when she wrote this, but since it's been picked up by other people: Four things I really care about and why

I'm going to make this harder for myself by not allowing myself to pick any of the things that Charlotte has already chosen. Also, please note that due to my ill-in-bedness there might be some ill-thought-outness going on here.

1, My family. Not just my immediate family - Mat, Hol, Mum and Dad, my brothers - but my extended family. And my family is very extended - from my high-powered cousin in Canada to the Lib Dem councillor in Eaglescliffe they all provide me with a context and a richness that I am very lucky to have. I think of a lot of you guys as family, too - people like caseytalk and puddingcat who are not afraid to tell me I'm wrong and give me fresh intellectual perspectives; and people like ginasketch and innerbrat without whose emotional wisdom I would be a much poorer person; also people like sovietkiki and muffin_nuffin who give me hope for the future of the human race with their youth and enthusiasm.

2, Equality. Without equality, you can't have liberty. What's the point of liberty for a privileged few? It's all right for those few, but the rest of us will be fucked. My personal version of equality is that individuals should be judged on their actions and capabilities, and not the irrelevant stuff. Obviously, there is a case by case element to this - being female is not relevant to one's capabilities as a politician, but you rather need to be female if you are applying for a job as a page 3 girl. Similarly, being muslim matters not one jot if you want to be a cricket umpire, but it might hamper you from working in a brewery.

3, The BBC. Yeah, I know. But radio four is the pulse of life for me. I know what time it is by what is on the radio without having to look at the clock. And where would I be without Question Time, Top Gear, Doctor Who? Where would I be without those precious, priceless times sat watching Star Trek with my dad as a child? I'd be a very different person. I watch very little TV these days, and I wouldn't miss any of the commercial TV or radio channels. But if the BBC was gone, there would be a gaping void in my life.

4, The internet. I care about the internet for selfish reasons because of what it has brought me - my fiance for one - but also for selfless reasons because of what it has brought wider society. It has brought us a voice. In the years before the internet, to have a column that reached as many people as this blog does involved either having enough money to self-publish, or being given the opportunity by someone already in power. Now, because of the internet, the free exchange of ideas is so much easier. Yes, there are flamewars and trolling and nastiness. But there is also free and frank discussion, and democratisation, and power to the people. Tim Berners-Lee? I salute you.