Speaking of troughers

Swine Flu Update

His daughter, and my dear old Mum.

Almost killed off by the system until I behaved very badly to get her into a hospital to be stabilised and then out asap into ’self-funded’ care.

I despair for all, and especially for the sandwich generation trying to deal with both. Then more so our kids as they inherit Gordon’s prudent legacy for mine.

‘Envy of the world’, we’re told, by various ‘trust us’ organs, from Guv to Aunty.

I. DON’T BELIEVE. ANY. OF. YOU. ANY. MORE!

Down the farm

NHS executive salaries rocket during 'squeeze'

'A former member of the Communist Party'

A current member might have some trouble reconciling the situation, but in Brown's Britain I am sure there are some who could.

Where there's smoke there's a bonfire

Just saw a snippet on the latest wheeze (geddit?) from our initiative-obsessed government.

Seems that, in the name of 'awareness', more money is being stuffed into a bit of a programme, plus attendant PR, to create squads of folk who will approach street smokers to offer to help them onto the path of righteousness.

Now, I am no fan of smoking, but now it's out in the open and not hurting me or mine I can pretty much leave smokers to do to themselves what they will, and leave to them the consequences, as no one can be unaware of what they might be. Frankly miserable, huddled types outside public buildings is about as good as it gets as a negative ad, to my mind.

Hence the money devoted to this latest brief flare of publicity designed to get a Labour Minister on the telly might be better assigned to DO something.

Of course, it took an inevitable twofer reactionary in the form of one Rod Liddle to undermine and hence highlight the vacuousness of this effort by leaving the Minister stuttering (and, possibly lying, as a 'fact' was disputed but not confirmed/denied by the moderators...again) when confronted with the 'claim' that the authority vanguarding this was listed as the worst for health delivery, and maybe sorting that out first may be a plan.

Taking the p*ss

I don't claim it's an easy line, but our messengers often seem to get pretty mixed up with how they share our messages.

For most of the lunchtime BBC news, we have had a gleeful collection of reporters and anchors falling over themselves to enjoy if not share in the fact that the victorious Man U side spent all night getting hammered.

So far, so inevitable.

I just wonder which irony-free numptie didn't think how that segued so smoothly into a sanctimonious piece about how 'we' as a nation were drinking ourselves into being banned from the NHS for not being healthy enough to be admitted.

It looks like it is a serious issue. I'm just not sure our national broadcaster is very serious in addressing it consistently in complement. Another propagandist Oh Lord HIAW HIAW Having it all ways (repeat) Having it all ways.

Inspiration from depression

I spend a lot of time slagging off the BBC Breakfast News.

That isn't likely to stop any time soon, at least so long as the standards of reporting and editorial emphasis still lurk in the current barrel bottom they do.

However, it does serve a useful function on occasion in a) highlighting a barking bit of official numptiness (sadly, rarely taking on the individuals responsible and holding them accountable, and certainly not beyond the next day) and, b) on occasion bringing to one's attention a truly awesome individual.

Kate Spall is one such. She has taken on the system... and won. And she's prepared to do it for others. Poor woman has just been given a national task, but seems up for it. Frankly, she deserves all the funding she can be given... by private benefactors who are keen to get things DONE, and keep things out of the hands of the legions of parasites who work in 'public services' these days, and who are measured more on money they 'save' than any service they provide.

Cancer drugs: how to appeal

We're hearing the story of how one woman's campaign for better cancer treatment, following the death of her mother. Kate Spall's website is named after her mother, Pamela Northcott.
The Pamela Northcott Fund