Who done it!

“Drunkenness is his best virtue, for he will be swine drunk, and in his sleep he does little harm, save to his bedclothes about him.”

"As the 193 member states of the World Health Organization meet in Geneva, questions over the body's handling of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic are high on the agenda.

Some medical experts doubt whether this was really a pandemic at all ... "Dr Wolfgang Wodarg, a German doctor and former member of parliament, had been watching the spread of swine flu in Mexico City, and was puzzled at the reaction of the WHO"What we experienced in Mexico City was a very mild flu," he explained, "which did not kill more than usual - which killed even less people than usual. This was suddenly, a fast-spreading mild flu, a pandemic. But this is not the definition of a pandemic I learned, which has to be severe, with a much higher than usual death rate."

Tom Jefferson, a researcher for the international Cochrane Centre, the world's leading independent assessor of medical interventions and medical research, claims that the WHO changed the definition of what a pandemic actually was just weeks before it declared one on 11 June last year.

"On 1 May the WHO's global pandemic website had the old definition of an influenza pandemic, which included very large numbers of cases, complications and deaths," he said.

"By 4 May that definition had disappeared and what remained was simply a new virus which spreads rapidly and infects very many people."

Dr Jefferson also believes that the WHO advice put emphasis on the use of vaccines and antivirals, ahead of effective and inexpensive measures like hand-washing."

" ... Really the only people to benefit were the pharmaceutical companies"

Paul Flynn British MP

All this was expected really! All of it! ... Would anybody ever trust this organisation again?! Shame on WHO! ... but will anyone in this organisation pay for terrifying the whole world? .... let's wait and see, although I am not hoping for much in this regard! But ...

Hopefully, this will bring a closure to the swine era ... the mess and the resulting scare!

... but .... what to do for next winter ... eh? ... the Marsians in flying saucers have landed perhaps?!


“For truth is precious and divine, too rich a pearl for carnal swine.”

Andy for Labour!

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”

Andy Burnham is running for the leadership of the Labour party!

"Handsome former culture secretary Andy Burnham, 40, will be a welcome addition to the Labour leadership contest among the party's grassroots.

As a 14-year-old, man-of-the-people Mr Burnham staged a pitch invasion at a football match after his side, Everton, reached the FA Cup final.

Just the sort of working class credentials his waxwork opponents, Ed Balls and the laugh-a-minute Miliband brothers, can only dream of."

So, even The Mail is not mentioning Andy's bout as SoS for Health! Maybe because he was such a good SoS for culture? Or, perhaps his appointment as SoS for Health was so unfair on him, given who he was bossing at the time ...


... but to be fair, bright Andy was an excellent SoS for Culture, and after a shakey start, he did try his best in Health ... He is an ambitious, hard working honest man with lots of stamina and a great smile - and to me that means hope! He's also a down to earth man who's always eager to learn new things and does benefit from what he learns ... and given the alternatives, including those who think it's a 'family business', I'd pick Andy anytime ... at least he has true potential!
... and where are you Alan Johnson?!

Meanwhile, way to go Andy! ... Good luck! ... and I sincerely mean it!

It would be nice to see him standing in opposition against Dave ... and Nick! :-)

“From little acorns mighty oaks do grow”

“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.”

The future is bright!

"Despite graduating into a tough job market, Imperial College London’s newest postgraduate degree holders should be optimistic about the opportunities ahead of them, Rector Sir Keith O’Nions will say at today’s graduation ceremonies held in the Royal Albert Hall.

The largest Postgraduate Awards ceremonies in the College’s history will see around 2,000 science, engineering, medicine and business graduands receive their degree, watched by 4,700 guests. Describing today’s graduates as “our greatest contribution to societies around the world”, Sir Keith will tell them:

“Pessimism and self-doubt have always been in rather short supply at Imperial and would in my view be entirely misplaced at these times. You have the knowledge and understanding that is key to meeting the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow - you will without doubt be part of moulding the world’s future. Your skills, knowledge and expertise are necessary now more than ever, because it is only through innovation in science, technology and medicine and sound business sense that our economy will advance. We can only guess at the advances that your generation will make - but I am confident you will be part of it."

Good luck to each and every one of you brilliant Imperial postgraduates ... and everybody else graduating soon :-)

I hope our leaders are listening - for those are the ones who will shape the future! ... A very bright future too ... given the opportunity ...

Democracy

1. n. Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is retained and directly exercised by the people.

2. n. Government by popular representation; a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people, but is indirectly exercised through a system of representation and delegated authority periodically renewed; a constitutional representative government; a republic.

3. n. Collectively, the people, regarded as the source of government.

4. n. The principles and policy of the Democratic party, so called.

Hung people?

I was just wondering; If the Tories won the elections and in case of a 'hung parliament', would David Cameron be able to keep his promise to protect fronline staff jobs in the NHS if the two other parties oppose him? ... what about other promises?

Does it then matter who is in power?

The wild deer ...

Hello, O wild deer of the desert, where are you?
Receiving most of my love and my care are you.

Two lone travellers, perplexed, a friendless pair;
wild beasts, whispered curses lurk here and there.

Come, so of each other’s condition we can enquire:
if we can, we will seek what the both of us desire.

For I can see that in this desert is only confusion,
having no oasis of joy, no happy green profusion.

Companions, who’ll be the companion to loners?
Explain, who will be the friend of the strangers?

Perhaps Khizer’s blessed footsteps will now arrive,
for from fortunate help great deeds come alive.

Perhaps time of generous Grace Divine has come,
for: "Leave me not alone," as my sign, has come.

Awhile ago a drunken lover who was on the way,
to wayfarer crossing a land did courteously say:

"O Wayfarer, what do you have in your bag there?
Come, if it is the grain, use it as bait for a snare."

He answered him by saying this: "I have the grain;
but the Simurgh is that Prey I desire to obtain."

The other said: "How will your hand find a trace,
for we haven’t found trace of It’s nesting place?"

Don’t hand away cup of wine and base of the rose,
be careful of Time, power-drunk; be on your toes!

When that straight cypress joins with that Caravan,
with cypress-branch, watching the path is the plan.

You departed, turning my happy disposition sad:
when did companion make companion feel so bad?

You struck the sword of separation so mercilessly,
one could say acquaintanceship has ceased to be.

How could my poor offerings be possibly accepted,
when wealthy sun from purse, its riches scattered?

The edge of the pooi of water and bank of estuary;
a dewdrop, then talk to oneself about a memory.

Remembering the departed, remembering friends,
be in sympathy with what the April cloud sends.

When the running water is weeping before you,
give it some help; the water of your eye pour too.

Over my head the water of separation has passed:
in this condition, courtesy is unfit to be grasped.

Perhaps auspicious feet of Khizer can help convey
these lonely forms to those forms long gone away.

Why do I try so hard to change my own destiny?
From the star of my Fate, why do I try to flee?

From now on I take path of the Friend’s street:
if I die in that Path, then my death I will greet.

The exiled strangers who hear of my condition,
will above my dust sit for awhile in meditation.

Here, They scorch the wings of Gabriel with fire,
so that children who play with fire can admire.

Who has the power to speak, to say a word here?
O Lord, in this valley, is freedom’s sword here?

Go Hafiz, and stop filling space talking of this:
make your speech short, for God, knowing all is.

Hafez

Translated by Paul Smith

Elections 2010, mirage? .. or sabotage?

“An illusion or a myth moves for men as a mirage; its power lies in its ever-receding nature. When the gap is closed, he embraces only his own disillusion.”

Plan 2000! That's when Tony Blair decreed, and rightly so, that this country needs to nourish local talent to man our health system instead of importing doctors and nurses from abroad. And so, medical schools were instructed to increase their capacity, even new shinny colleges were built to fit the new purpose; suiting our own supply of talent to our own demand in health - Good move! ... in all, medical school intake was increased by 70% ... but did this unprecedented increase relax the rigorous demands or criteria for entry to medicine? No! Still, only the best applied, and of those, only the best-est were selected! ... and the commission was complete, let's celebrate? ... No!

For someone, somewhere forgot (?) to close the doors to the foreign supply ... and they kept on coming! ... and someone, somewhere forgot (?) to make it policy and inform those unsuspecting comers that they would be welcomed here providing they come to fill the gaps until our now suited to our needs produce are ripe for harvesting! The result?

An unprecedented shameful event in British medical history ... Catastrophy MTAS 2007

Three years on ... and those who experienced MTAS have not recovered yet, whether they were saved or not!

yet to date, nobody has been held to account for the MTAS nightmare! Instead, those involved in it's irrational, untested and inept implementation have now moved on - or will be moving on to more lucrative positions earning them hundreds of thousands of pounds!And you think, at least that sorry episode is behind us, and it was Gordon who initiated the repair so, to me, despite all major paties pledging to protect frontline staff, I thought, let's allow Gordon to finish the work he started. He has the experience and everybody else is offering nearly the same policies on health or otherwise any way, so why risk change?

You see, I was surprised the bankers would still get their six or seven figure bonuses despite what they've done to the whole world! I even thought those big bank bosses were crafty to say they have to pay those enormous bonuses to retain good staff - it just sounded like ... do they think we're all stupid?! For where would this 'good' staff go if no bonus was offered? since all banks were now under the one roof of bankrupcy and now that us the tax payers had to bail them out?!

... then there was the Swine Flu scamdemic where a whole 1,000,000,000.00 pounds were lost without trace ....

... and then there was this by Prof Maynard, an ex-pert who's IMO always had a blinkered, uncaring and biased view ... and I thought, if he and those helping him stopped talking, would anybody miss them? ... there you go, this is where waste in the public sector lies and where the Maynard axe must really swing to reduce waste and save lots of money! ... if we're talking proper economics that is ... and there is loads of similar stuff that can go without anybody noticing they have ever existed, either in the NHS or elsewhere!

And that's what Gordon's own trusted with the current reform of the whole of our health system real expert has said recently! He said;

"Cutting clinical staff to save money in the recession would be “catastrophic” for the NHS ... Medical and nursing staff are the ones able to identify the huge amounts of inefficiencies in the system"

... and since I trust his vast expertise as well as integrity too, I am confused as to why he is not being listened to?!

" General Election 2010: Secret plans to cut thousands of trainee jobs for NHS doctors and nurses. NHS bosses have drawn up secret plans to axe thousands of jobs for doctors and nurses after the election, despite Labour's claims that it would protect front line services if it retained power."

I am disappointed and confused! For I can't see why should our children graduate to ruin and pay with their livelihoods for the mistakes of the bankers and the swines! While those are reaping the rewards of their incompetence in six or seven figure sums!

Confusion always leads me to fear ... and I do not function very well when I am afraid ... and so, I have decided to leave it to those who aren't to decide for me on May the 6th ... I am hoping they have a clearer view and will be able enough to select us our future leader; someone who cares for us and our children ...

... and may the best man win.


“For it is a land of illusion, a place in the mind, a shimmering mirage of riches and mystery and death. These illusions have distorted its landscape and contorted its history.”