. . . is no way for a country to go through life.
Who knew that the Brits' famed stiff upper lip got that way from trying to make it to the 'loo before blowing chunks?FROM THE DAILY MAIL in London, we get this depressing account of the Big Night in the U.K.:
Binge-drinking revellers fuelled a chaotic start to 2008 as over-stretched ambulance workers battled to cope with emergency calls flooding in at a peak of one every eight seconds.
In the capital alone the London Ambulance Service had to deal with its highest number of emergency calls since the Millennium - the majority related to excess alcohol.
As midnight came and went there was mayhem as scores of drunken partygoers around the country tumbled into the streets, some wearing little more than their underwear.
Fights erupted and a string of dishevelled young men and women collapsed on benches and in doorways, too inebriated to remember or care that the night was supposed to be a celebration.
There to mop up the mess were thousands of emergency workers drafted in to provide cover on the busiest night of the year.
In the first four hours of 2008, London Ambulance Service (LAS) dealt with an astonishing 1,825 calls alone, peaking at over 500 calls an hour between 2am and 4am. The volume of 999 calls was up 17 per cent on last year' and four times worse than a normal night.
Meanwhile in the West Midlands the ambulance service fielded 1,400 calls in just five hours - a rate of one every 12 seconds. It was mirrored by the North East Ambulance Service which received 1,860 calls between 11pm and 5am.
Last night the astonishing number of calls to deal with booze-fuelled illness of injury prompted accusations that lives of those in real emergencies were being put at risk and demands for partygoers to wake up the costs of binge-drinking.
LAS spokeswoman Gemma Gidley said: "These calls put the Service under increased pressure to manage demand when we have to ensure we respond quickly to other patients with potentially life-threatening emergencies.
"People need to think about the real consequences of drinking so much that they require treatment."
In the south, the South Central Ambulance Service dealt with three times more incidents that normal.
OR, IN THE WORDS of that English prophet, Johnny Rotten:
God save the queen,
The fascist regime,
They made you a moron,
Potential H-bomb.
God save the queen,
She ain't no human being.
There is no future,
In England's dreaming.
Don't be told what you want,
Don't be told what you need,
There's no future no future,
No future for you!
God save the queen,
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves.
God save the queen,
'Cos tourists are money
Our figure's head
Is not what she seems.
Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh lord god have mercy
All claims are paid
When there's no future
How can there be sin?
We're the flowers in the dustbin,
We're the poison in your human machine,
We're the future; your future.
God save the queen
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves.
God save the queen
We mean it man
And there is no future
In England's dreaming.
No future no future
No future for you
No future no future
No future for me.
No future no future
No future for you
No future no future
No future for you
No future no future for you.