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1,377 thoughts on “Andy Myles

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  • Mary

    Here we go.

    A cut of the saw’s blade on the limbs of the NHS from a Blair ex civil servant, then Health Minister.

    Call for £10 a month fee to use NHS and £20 a night to stay in hospital: Former Labour health minister says out-of-date service needs the cash
    •Lord Warner called for levy to be paid before anyone receives free treatment
    •There is rising concern that the NHS is running out of money
    •Former adviser to Tony Blair said health service was ‘unaffordable’

    By Sophie Borland
    30 March 2014

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592986/Call-10-month-fee-use-NHS-20-night-stay-hospital-Former-health-minister-says-money-help-prevent-financial-crisis.html

    So those who can afford private health insurance will say ‘What’s the difference . I would rather go private and be in a nice hospital with a foyer that resembles a hotel.’ The rest of us can go hang.

    Warner’s Register of Interests

    1: Directorships
    ◦Executive Director, Sage Advice Ltd (own private company engaged in advisory work, including public affairs advice – see category 3)


    3: Clients
    ◦Adviser to Synlab Limited (German pathology company)


    4: Shareholdings (a)
    ◦50% of shares in Sage Advice Ltd (see category 1)


    10: Non-financial interests (e)
    ◦Trustee, Council for European and Palestinian Relations
    ◦AMember of Advisory Council of Reform (a think tank)
    ~~~
    113. Lord Warner: Labour – Former adviser (until 2009) to Apax Partners, one of the leading global investors in the healthcare sector. Current director of Sage Advice Ltd. Works as an adviser to Xansa, a technology firm, and Byotrol, an antimicrobial company, which both sell services or products to the NHS” and was “paid by DLA Piper, which advised ministers on the £12 billion IT project for the NHS” projects that he was responsible for when he was a government minister. Lord Warner explains his role here.
    http://socialinvestigations.blogspot.co.uk/p/lords-financial-links-to-companies.html
    ~~

    Warner has just been on Sky News saying that his proposals would raise £2bn. The ConDems have just spent £3bn on a reorganization that nobody wanted. No irony there.

    He introduced independent sector treatment centres which were expensive and generally speaking had indifferent results. Mostly South African owned companies set them up. They addressed the waiting lists and patients were treated according to their place on a list and not for reasons of clinical need.

  • YouKnowMyName

    APRIL FOOL!

    Guardian Link from Agence France Presse report that the Ukrainian situation will soon be solved by Darth Vader, running for President! or something like that. BBC will announce that this is Putin’s fault, whilst RT will announce that everyone in Russia is happy for the new Federal Ukraine empire under Darth.

  • Mary

    God. I have been out in the garden for most of the morning, came in for a break and see they (the t—-s) are still at their task. Beyond a joke.

  • Mary

    BBC challenged for misleading its audiences on status of Jerusalem

    March 31, 2014

    The BBC’s insistence on referring to the whole of Jerusalem as an Israeli city, despite the position of international law, is being challenged in the office of the Information Commissioner by Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Friends of Al Aqsa.

    The two organisations have today submitted a request to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) asking that it investigates the BBC’s decision to consider Jerusalem, in its entirety, to be Israeli.

    The BBC’s decision was outlined in an email sent to Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) in May last year by the BBC Trust. The email made clear that the BBC did not consider it was in breach of its editorial guidelines on accuracy and impartiality by referring to Jerusalem as an Israeli city.

    /..

    http://www.palestinecampaign.org/bbc-challenged-misleading-audience-status-jerusalem/

  • Jay

    The corporations should be taxed to subsidise the NHS as it is Britain
    Needs to finance the NHS. Something’s will need to change, with an ageing, ailing, selfish people the NHS has an ever increasing commitment to health care.

    I am sorry to say there imeasureable needless actions that cost the NHS that comes straight off the bottom line.
    Violent injuries
    Accidents through neglect.
    Sexual diseases, malfunctions.
    Abortions.

    Health and social guidance would be responsible in altering the NHS.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    “Why would shooting somebody in the back be considered cowardice?”
    _____________

    In war (or war-like sitautions) I don’t think it would be.

    In peace, what is the difference between shooting someone in the back or from the front? Neither should occur.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Ba’al Zevul

    ““I hope your friend DoNNyDarKo (12h31, above) follows it”
    I think you’ll have to lead him by example, buggerlugs. But I don’t actually know what he’s done to annoy you (more), and can’t be arsed looking.”
    ______________

    That’s OK, happy to arse for you 🙂 – anyway, other way round, BlabberFull: judging by the whine reproduced below, I think I must have done something to annoy him:

    “but to the part time visitor it’s demoralising to watch as the same ol suspects drift into what they’re here for.
    Isn’t it possible to build in a filter so a user can block out the voices that bring head pain ?”

    Boo hoo

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    “Call for £10 a month fee to use NHS and £20 a night to stay in hospital: Former Labour health minister says out-of-date service needs the cash”
    ___________________-

    Nothing wrong with that, surely. In some continental countries people pay for healthcare both through taxation and social security contributions and through compulsory affiliation to a ‘mutuelle’, for which they have to pay a monthly amount (to the ‘mutelle’). Warner’s idea is merely a variant of that. In addition to this, in virtually all continental systems there also is an element of self-financing – not only on the ‘input’ side (ie, contributions) as descrobed above but also on the ‘output’ (ie, one pays a small part of the cost of medicines, stay in hospital, tests, visits to the GP, etc).

    Continental health care seems to work fine.

  • Mary

    H is sneaky. His posts (two out of three within 18 mins) are on the bottom of p2 and top of p3, for maximum effect – or so he thinks. Nobody is impressed. They consist of the usual disruptive, diverting bilge and contribute nothing.

  • Phil

    DoNNyDarKo 31 Mar, 2014 – 12:31 pm
    “Isn’t it possible to build in a filter so a user can block out the voices that bring head pain ?”

    You’ll be wanting Greasemonkey for that.

    Alternatively, use the “scroll past” method.

    Or this.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Pastiche poetry from a sock-puppet, BlubberFull?

    Who is SKN’s real father, I wonder?

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    “H is sneaky. His posts (two out of three within 18 mins) are on the bottom of p2 and top of p3, for maximum effect”
    ________________

    In the Ben style : Paranoia? Have the inmates taken over the asylum, in meaningful symbiosis with the Insolent Squatter?

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    “H is sneaky. His posts (two out of three within 18 mins) are on the bottom of p2 and top of p3, for maximum effect – or so he thinks. Nobody is impressed. They consist of the usual disruptive, diverting bilge and contribute nothing.”
    _________________

    Well, Mary, my post at 16h46, on healthcare, could be discussed – provided of course that you were capable of discussing anything rather than just cutting and pasting in whinging mode. But I know that you get distressed when anyone disagrees with you, so perhaps you could sub-contract discussion to one or several of your Fellow Eminences?

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Back to healthcare, the NHS and Warner’s proposal.

    Mary says: “So those who can afford private health insurance will say ‘What’s the difference . I would rather go private and be in a nice hospital with a foyer that resembles a hotel.’”

    Habbabkuk says: but people who can afford private health insurance ALREADY tend to go to private (“nice”) hospitals, so how would Warner’s proposals change anything there?

    Warner’s proposals – which as I’ve already said are simply a variant of what already happens in most of western Europe – appear to offer a way of putting more money into the NHS.

    And I’d point out, in that context, that people who have private health insurance in the UK are not thereby exempted from paying social security charges (N.I.) – so they in fact contribute to financing a service they do not use.

    Please don’t bother to discuss this, as I’m obviously only trying to divert and disrupt.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    BTW, foyers can be important and contribute to raising morale.

    Pity some of the NHS (yes, NHS) doctors’ practices don’t invest some of the NHS doctors’ extremely high salaries (the highest in Europe) on nicer foyers for their patient waiting rooms.

    And when necessary spend longer than 10 minutes with each patient.

  • CanSpeccy

    Wow! Fascinating post. Twenty-one words prompting four hundred and something comments. Terrific. I will come here more often in the confident expectation of further enlightenment.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    CanSpeccy

    “Wow! Fascinating post. Twenty-one words prompting four hundred and something comments. Terrific. I will come here more often in the confident expectation of further enlightenment.”
    _______________

    I agree that the phenomenon’s fascinating. If only the quality matched the quantity.

  • Jay

    Habba,

    My post was not aimed at being detrimental to any individual rights, I mean as responsible citizens our health and well being in general terms are concern for both society and the individual and our current responsibility of indulgence regarding how and what we consume as a socialist society that put strains on our systems of governance.

    Stupidity and irresponsible actions and silly mistakes, vanity, and lack of confidence all should be addressed through education and media.

    £10.00 a month is all very well but the bigger picture needs looking at.

    Radical socialism and liberalism through education can find responsible capitalism via sustainable corporatism.
    As share holders in the system we could appease the Gods and find harmony in whatever are choosing?

  • Mary

    £10 a month, or whatever amount, would be the thin edge of the wedge and in reality, another poll tax.

    The NHS belongs to us, the British people, and is under an enormous attack from the privateers. Lose it and it’s gone for good. It does not belong to the insurance companies. We should be proud of it and cherish it.

    The consequences. Private medicine in the USA.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_debt

    Biggest cause of personal bankruptcy: Medical bills – TODAY.com
    25 Jun 2013 – Rising medical bills are expected to push 1.7 million American … to pay more out-of-pocket costs are a challenge for many households.
    http://www.today.com/money/biggest-cause-personal-bankruptcy-medical-bills-6C10442408

  • Anon

    “The NHS belongs to us, the British people, and is under an enormous attack from the privateers. Lose it and it’s gone for good. It does not belong to the insurance companies. We should be proud of it and cherish it.The consequences. Private medicine in the USA.”

    It’s almost like a religion. No one is suggesting we adopt the American system. As has been pointed out, a Continental-style system seems to work well enough and yes, that involves the partial death of your sacred cow but does not entail a fully privatized service.

  • Mary

    Good news Nevermind if you are around.

    King’s Lynn incinerator: £500m scheme set to be scrapped
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-26820542

    I forget who it was I heard on the radio the other day. Some council jobsworth was boasting that very little of the refuse his council collected went to landfill. It went to create ‘energy’ he said.

  • BrianFujisan

    Mary

    Some more on BDS

    ” How do you describe the feeling that your life has been a lie? I think that the reason Jews are so reluctant to acknowledge what is clearly in front of them, is that shifting from ‘Israel is never wrong’ to ‘we have created a monster’ is such a terrifying realisation, self delusion is the easier path.

    Please hold my hand. I need you to talk me ‘down from the ledge’ because as I finally see the horror in front of us, I am petrified. I’m reaching out because I don’t know what to do and I hope that by explaining to you, how scary shifting your position on Israel is, I can help us establish a process for other Jews. I need help.

    Like Alcoholics Anonymous we need a place where Jews can safely process the ramifications of Israel. This is not a well written article, I’ve edited it many times, but please identify the confused structure, panic and paranoia as the experience all Jews go through when we realise what is in front of us.

    I am sure there is a clever word for people like me (a play on birthright, birthrefusal?) who were raised pro-Israel and now see that the only logical position, any sane person can take is that the USA was complicit in Israeli crimes against humanity. How can any normal person not be pro-Palestinian? How can any American not be outraged at what they funded, supported and received hatred for?

    I live in London in the UK, my father is Israeli and I was raised to support Israel. Pure hasbara. The atmosphere in Europe towards Israel was bad but is now toxic. If the USA shared the European view, the Jews would be deported out of Israel. Europe used to hate Jews because of anti-semitism, now they have a reason to hate us.

    No sane person can support Israel. Any sane person can form a conclusion that the organized American Jewish community, that I admire and love so much, has blinded Americans, given tax money to Israel, and put a bullseye on their back.

    My concern is not a reduction in support for Israel, but a vitriolic backlash from the American people, towards Israel, the Jews, the Adelsons of this world, AIPAC, etc. Support for Israel won’t go from 51% to 49%, it will fall off a cliff, with massive implications.

    While we sit and dither, the BDS and internet movements have hit a nerve. Students and academics are the only people ‘the lobby’ can’t buy or intimidate. Telling young people no, only makes them more determined. No open debate can support Israel. This is an albatross and will haunt us forever. President Obama has set up Israel perfectly and even peace now won’t suppress future criticisms and revisions. Israel is a stain on America’s history”

    Full piece @

    http://mondoweiss.net/2014/03/rapidly-shifting-opinion.html

  • technicolour

    What Nye Bevan says

    “The collective principle asserts that the resources of medical skill and the apparatus of healing shall be placed at the disposal of the patient, without charge, when he or she needs them; that medical treatment and care should be a communal responsibility that they should be made available to rich and poor alike in accordance with medical need and by no other criteria. It claims that financial anxiety in time of sickness is a serious hindrance to recovery, apart from its unnecessary cruelty. It insists that no society can legitimately call itself civilized if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means”

    http://www.sochealth.co.uk/resources/national-health-service/the-sma-and-the-foundation-of-the-national-health-service-dr-leslie-hilliard-1980/aneurin-bevan-and-the-foundation-of-the-nhs/in-place-of-fear-a-free-health-service-1952/

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