LONDON–Of 3,000 viewers of UKTV Gold television surveyed, a quarter believe Winston Churchill was mythological and almost half thought the same of King Richard the Lionheart. More than that believed Sherlock Holmes was a real man.

At least, that’s what they told the pollsters. I confess, if someone called me to ask whether I thought various people were fiction or non, I might start making up all kinds of answers. But if they had a camera in my face, I’d probably answer as truthfully as I could.

Having read Bryan Appleyard’s praise, perhaps mockingly, of Obama, linked from Books, Inq., I feel compelled to link to this fascinating video linked from the American Spectator. Obama, along with many artists, call us to hope for undefined change and say “Yes, we can.” I wouldn’t say, as the blogger John Tabin says, that the video is creepy, but it is remarkably vapid. This rhetoric of empowerment regardless of policy or character has failed many American voters and their communities for decades.

Let me close by quoting a more famous Democrat than the one above, one who at least got the idea right, if not some of the actions:

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility–I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it–and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.

Some people at Woolworths, a British retail chain, thought a good name for “a whitewashed wooden bed with pull-out desk and cupboard intended for girls aged about six” would be Lolita.

“What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either,” a spokesman told British newspapers, according to Reuters.

Next up, a line of girls clothes called Maggie’s Street. After that, maybe a line of cutting tools under the name Raskolnikov. More positively, perhaps they could sell a line of kites called Hassan’s.

Researchers argue that less than 1% of “green marketing” claims are true or not misleading. From the report, “State of Green Business 2008”:

Consumers’ skepticism was given credence in a report on “the six sins of greenwashing,” which found that the overwhelming majority of environmental marketing claims in North America are inaccurate, inappropriate, or unsubstantiated. After examining 1,018 consumer products bearing 1,753 environmental claims, researchers concluded that all but one made claims that are either “demonstrably false or that risk misleading intended audiences.”

(I’m gunning for most obvious headline of the year with this post. But what am I doing posting on environmental propaganda? I think some other bloggers are influencing me. Tsk, tsk.)