Showing posts with label middle east. Show all posts
Showing posts with label middle east. Show all posts

Sunday 20 March 2011

Dave C and the NHS (again): Who is next on the list? Illegal squatting: Tesco takes a hit: Tutu much: No lottery for German unemployed: and the price of going into space.


Cold and damp at the Castle this morn, the butler is back on furnace duty and I bled the radiators yesterday, lots of windy stuff removed.
Did a “spring clean” as well, now I am too frightened to do anything in case it makes the Castle dirty again, but I expect I will get over that very quickly.

Out in the world:



A Tory MP and family doctor that his health reforms could "destroy" the National Health Service, Sarah Wollaston, MP for Totnes, launched the most scathing attack yet on the plans, saying they risked changing the NHS "beyond recognition".
The controversial proposals to hand the £80billion health service budget to GPs to administer would result in the NHS going "belly-up, not top-down", she said.
Key elements of the major re-organisation were "completely unrealistic" and "doomed to fail".
Under the plans, GPs will control of most of the NHS budget from 2013. Doctors working in consortia will take on responsibility for buying in the bulk of hospital and community services for their patients. In the process, all 151 primary care trusts (PCTS) and strategic health authorities will be disbanded.
PPP Dave has privately told MPs there will be "no retreat" from the plans, although he admitted there were problems with "presentation".

No shit……




Unidentified gunmen firing on an anti-government rally in the Yemeni capital Sanaa have killed at least 45 people and injured 270, doctors told the BBC.
The gunmen fired from rooftops overlooking the central square in what the opposition called a massacre.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared a national state of emergency but denied his forces were behind the shooting.
A month of violence has gripped Yemen and demonstrators reportedly gathered in other cities across the country on Friday:
In the city of Taez, security forces, tanks and armoured vehicles surrounded a square where protesters had gathered, and access to the square was blocked
In Mahweet, protesters reportedly captured five gunmen who had been firing at protesters; they were found inside the governor's house along with weapons and spent ammunition, eyewitnesses told the BBC

Dave’s next target? After all they do have Oil Civilians in the Yemen.




According to the Torygraph, squatting is to be made a criminal offence, in a victory for The Sunday Telegraph's Stop the Squatters campaign.
The PPP Coalition will bring forward legislation to help homeowners protect their properties from unlawful occupants.
The Torygraph has highlighted cases where squatters have moved in to other people's houses then exploited current laws to remain on the premises, forcing the owner to go to court to obtain an eviction order - a process that can take weeks or months.
Grant Shapps, the Housing Minister, is the first member of the Government to confirm that new laws are on the way.

Sorry, wrong story I thought they were going to ban going to the toilet.



Gran Sheila Aspinall’s trip to the shops turned into a terrifying half-mile downhill ride on the wrong side of the road in a driverless car, which then crashed into a supermarket.
A bizarre set of events combined to send Sheila, who was sitting in the passenger seat, screaming on her nightmare journey.
But amazingly, the tea lady, 62, climbed from the wreckage with barely a scratch.
“As I hit the Tesco window there seemed to be millions of pieces of glass falling on me. I was wearing my seatbelt which I am certain saved my life.” She said.
Sheila was being driven by pal Harry Hackwood, who stopped the car at the top of a hill after it developed problems. But as he looked under the bonnet the handbrake failed and the car started to roll downhill with Sheila in the passenger seat and Harry in hot pursuit on foot.
The BMW careered downhill on the wrong side of a dual carriageway then ploughed into a Tesco store in Burnley, Lancs.

I feel the same way about Tesco, still at least it was “proper” window shopping.



A Numpty who set fire to his drinking pal’s tutu has left him scarred for life.

David Riley, 46, torched Stephen Barton’s skirt in the back garden of a pub after getting drunk watching a World Cup football match.

The flames engulfed 28-year-old Stephen Barton leaving him with severe burns to his hand and back.

Mr Barton had borrowed the tutu from his girlfriend during the session in Riley’s hometown of Bacup, Lancs.
He pleaded guilty to attempted arson, confessing: “It was a drunken prank.”

Giving him a suspended six-month prison term and a four-week curfew, Burnley crown court Judge Jonathan Gibson said: “What you did was wholly immature.”

What worries me is why was his mate wearing a Tutu in the first place?





Apparently people who live on ­benefits in Germany are banned from buying lottery tickets or betting. If they indulge they face a fine of £250,000.

Must have been listening to PPP Dave C-kick em while they are down…

And finally:



Russia is raising the amount it charges NASA to fly astronauts to the International Space Station by more than 20 percent to nearly $63 million each, under a new contract signed Monday.
With the space shuttles being retired, NASA has relied exclusively on Russia for space station crew transport since late 2009 at a cost until now of $51 million a person.
The International Space Station is a $100 billion project of 16 nations. NASA plans two final shuttle flights, in April and June, to outfit the station, which orbits about 220 miles above Earth.
The shuttles are being retired due to high operating costs and to free up funds for NASA to develop new spaceships that can travel to the moon, asteroids and other destinations beyond the station’s orbit.
The Obama administration hopes commercial U.S. companies will develop the capability to fly people to the station, so NASA can purchase flight services domestically.
“If we are to win the future and out-build our competitors, it’s essential that we make this program a success,” NASA chief Charlie Bolden said in a statement.
The administration’s 2012 budget request for NASA includes $700 million to spur commercial crew space transportation services.
NASA’s $753 million contract modification with the Russian Federal Space Agency covers crew transportation, rescue and related services from 2014 through June 2016 for 12 space station crew members.
The contract also covers about 110 pounds of cargo per flight to the station, about 37 pounds of cargo returned to Earth and disposal of about 66 pounds of trash.

Cheap at half the price (well it would be).

And today’s thought: How does eating a pound box of chocolates . . . make you gain 5 lbs?

Angus

Wednesday 31 December 2008

THE NEW YEARS HONOURS LIST-ARCANE OR NECESSARY


Yes, it’s that time of year again, our Maj has debated long and hard, the Gov has just picked names out of a hat and the rest of us watch with occasional joy and a lot of confusion.

There has always been debate regarding some of the recipients of “honours”, the one that will cause the most anger I think is-
Nick Macpherson, the Permanent Secretary at the Treasury and on an annual salary of £196,400, had been knighted while it was still too early to claim that the £500 billion banking bailout was a success. Sir Nick, 49, a close ally of the Prime Minister, was appointed in 2005 and was in charge of the Treasury at the height of the lending boom.

And also Alastair Clark, a former Bank of England expert in financial stability, who was brought out of retirement to help with Northern Rock. He is appointed CBE for “services to central banking”.

The full list is available on the above web site.

But there are good choices: my favourite is Elle Simmonds, who won gold in the pool, at the ripe old age of 13, was totally gob-smacked and cried with happiness.

The “Team GB” honours can be found here, all thoroughly well deserved.

And of course there are the “normal” people honoured for years of dedication and hard work.

The New Years Honours list is of course arcane, it is one of “our” quirks, it always starts arguments, and personally I think there are too many “flavours” of honours.

Perhaps there should be just one-a United Kingdom Medal, which would make all those on the list equal but when all is said and done, honouring those that deserve being honoured is a good and uplifting thing.


That’s enough of being nice, the year ends with a wimper: the firkin Government, bankers, dealers and hedge fund arses have dropped us in the brown runny stuff, because of their greed and inaction we are stuffed.

Jobs are disappearing faster than you can say recession and, millions of people are in fear of losing their income and homes. But as usual there is no apology from the “Powers that Be”, Gordon Brown-trousers and his flatmate Darling are conspicuous in their absence during the “festive” season.

The BBC is showing different versions of the terpsichorean cock-up, still being paid for with MY license fee

The Middle East is still trying to self-destruct, and they are going to drag out the year by adding a “leap second” to it.

But there is some good news-BBC NEWS and no, this isn’t an early April fools joke.

A passenger plane has successfully completed a two-hour test flight partly powered by vegetable oil.
Air New Zealand hailed the flight as a "milestone" in the development of sustainable fuels that could lower aeroplane emissions and cut costs.
One engine of the Boeing 747-400 was fueled by a 50-50 mixture of jatropha plant oil and standard A1 jet fuel.
A Virgin Atlantic test flight in February used fuel derived from a blend of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts.

They still make the same amount of noise but the smell is wonderful.

Scotland (or most of it) has done away with Hospital car parking charges, as has Wales, and about firkin time, unfortunately the brain cell of the English Government hasn’t manage to get itself up to speed and follow suit, get you finger out Gord this is one rip off you need to do away with.


Patients to rate GPs on website BBC NEWS, this idea is about as bad as “iwantgreatcare.org” that wonderful idea by Neil (crispy) Bacon, which is about as much use as a chocolate fire guard, the site will be open to abuse, and manipulation, it won’t improve treatment, it won’t make our experience of healthcare any better, it will however provide a platform for the dissatisfied and the spin doctors.

If you have a good GP, and want to comment, write them a letter of thanks, tell all your friends and family, word of mouth is a much better way of providing information about your primary healthcare provider, and a nice letters from patients will be happily received by the GPs.

I am now going to withdraw from the day and read the book-bad science, kindly sent to me by Rita Pal of NHS behind the headlines fame.

Angus