Immunisation

OK - I accept this will probably not be a very popular post. I expect I will be called a cruel, heartless, unfeeling bastard. But I'll risk it - because I think this needs to be said...

I'm not going to suggest that getting rid of Polio from the face of planet is a bad idea, because it isn't. After all, it worked for smallpox - well, except for the bits they keep at Porton Down for biological warfare purposes of course. The question I am going to ask is this :

"Why is it always us?????"

Cameron has pledged £1.3bn towards the campaign. The UK has already committed more than any other nation - £2bn over 30 years. The extra £814m comes on top of the UK's existing commitment of £680m between 2011 and 2015.

Other countries - including the United States - have contributed far less ($450 million) despite their considerably larger populations and economies. The Germans contributed £49 million, for Christ sake! That's like pissing into the wind! Even Bill Gates is giving a $1 billion...

The fact is that the UK is funding about a third of the total global programme. That's scandalous.

And how does Cameron justify this expenditure? He said there was a "strong moral case" for keeping pledges Britain had made to the developing world, no matter the economic circumstances at home.

"Today we come together because we have the chance to save another four million lives." He said the idea of children dying from pneumonia and diarrhoea should be "unthinkable" in 2011.

"To those who say fine but we should put off seeing through those promises to another day because right now we can't afford to help: I say - we can't afford to wait."

Laudable aims, Dave - but you're wrong.

Let's stop trying to impress the world with our leadership because, frankly, they're just laughing at our naivety and stupidity...

Immunisation

OK - I accept this will probably not be a very popular post. I expect I will be called a cruel, heartless, unfeeling bastard. But I'll risk it - because I think this needs to be said...

I'm not going to suggest that getting rid of Polio from the face of planet is a bad idea, because it isn't. After all, it worked for smallpox - well, except for the bits they keep at Porton Down for biological warfare purposes of course. The question I am going to ask is this :

"Why is it always us?????"

Cameron has pledged £1.3bn towards the campaign. The UK has already committed more than any other nation - £2bn over 30 years. The extra £814m comes on top of the UK's existing commitment of £680m between 2011 and 2015.

Other countries - including the United States - have contributed far less ($450 million) despite their considerably larger populations and economies. The Germans contributed £49 million, for Christ sake! That's like pissing into the wind! Even Bill Gates is giving a $1 billion...

The fact is that the UK is funding about a third of the total global programme. That's scandalous.

And how does Cameron justify this expenditure? He said there was a "strong moral case" for keeping pledges Britain had made to the developing world, no matter the economic circumstances at home.

"Today we come together because we have the chance to save another four million lives." He said the idea of children dying from pneumonia and diarrhoea should be "unthinkable" in 2011.

"To those who say fine but we should put off seeing through those promises to another day because right now we can't afford to help: I say - we can't afford to wait."

Laudable aims, Dave - but you're wrong.

Let's stop trying to impress the world with our leadership because, frankly, they're just laughing at our naivety and stupidity...

Potato kills motorists!

Dangerous things potatoes!

I was listening to the BBC Breakfast programme the other day and they were running a piece on the statistical correlation between the consumption of alcohol and deaths due to cancer.

According to the BBC, the statistics prove that cancer is caused by alcohol. You are, apparently, proven to be 18% more likely to get cancer if you consume two glasses of wine a day. I can picture my smokey drinkey blogger friends out there shouting at the screen already as they read this!

It is, of course, absolute tosh!

Now I have been accused in the past of being pedantic and insisting that English is used properly (shurely not!) so crap like this raises my blood pressure - which is apparently OK as a couple of glasses of red wine tend to lower it again, so at least I'll die of cancer instead of a heart attack.

So let's clear this up. If the Beeb had said 'there is a strong statistical correlation that suggests a link between alcohol and cancer' then fair enough, but in these days of lack of 'Standards, dear boy. Standards' the Beeb is notorious for grabbing the sensational headline...

Statistically, pretty much everyone who has been killed in a road accident has, at some point, eaten potatoes. Therefore, applying the BBC's exacting standards, potatoes have been proven to kill motorists.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics...

Potato kills motorists!

Dangerous things potatoes!

I was listening to the BBC Breakfast programme the other day and they were running a piece on the statistical correlation between the consumption of alcohol and deaths due to cancer.

According to the BBC, the statistics prove that cancer is caused by alcohol. You are, apparently, proven to be 18% more likely to get cancer if you consume two glasses of wine a day. I can picture my smokey drinkey blogger friends out there shouting at the screen already as they read this!

It is, of course, absolute tosh!

Now I have been accused in the past of being pedantic and insisting that English is used properly (shurely not!) so crap like this raises my blood pressure - which is apparently OK as a couple of glasses of red wine tend to lower it again, so at least I'll die of cancer instead of a heart attack.

So let's clear this up. If the Beeb had said 'there is a strong statistical correlation that suggests a link between alcohol and cancer' then fair enough, but in these days of lack of 'Standards, dear boy. Standards' the Beeb is notorious for grabbing the sensational headline...

Statistically, pretty much everyone who has been killed in a road accident has, at some point, eaten potatoes. Therefore, applying the BBC's exacting standards, potatoes have been proven to kill motorists.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics...

Smokey drinkey music

To celebrate National No Smoking Day, this song is dedicated to my friends Leg Iron, BilloTheWisp and the Filthy Engineer as well as all the rest of you out there who like a smoke and a drink and don't like being told what is good for you...

Best enjoyed with a pair of headphones and the volume full up!

Smokey drinkey music

To celebrate National No Smoking Day, this song is dedicated to my friends Leg Iron, BilloTheWisp and the Filthy Engineer as well as all the rest of you out there who like a smoke and a drink and don't like being told what is good for you...

Best enjoyed with a pair of headphones and the volume full up!

Dignity in Dying

Returning to a controversial subject for which I have been criticised before on this blog, I would like to introduce you to someone who talks a lot of sense.

The lady on the left is Dr. Ann McPherson CBE. Ann qualified as a doctor in 1968 and was a general practitioner in Oxford for 30 years until 2008.

She is a fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners and Green College Oxford, and a patron of Dignity in Dying.

On Monday morning she appeared on the BBC Breakfast programme to highlight the issue of 'physician assisted death'. As I understand it, she supports the idea in principle  - for people of sound mind with limitted time left to live who find their pain insufferable.

Earlier this year, she wrote the following in the Guardian :

"I am dying of pancreatic cancer. I wish I wasn't. But dying isn't a failure on my part, it is part of life. I wish to live as long as possible, but not at the expense of enduring an undignified death. In the final days or weeks of my life, if I consider my suffering to be unbearable, I would like the choice to die at home at a time of my choosing surrounded by my loved ones."

You can read the full article by clicking >here< and I urge you to do so.

The reason for her appearance was to reopen this debate prior to the GPs conference later this week. She knows it is an important subject and wants to ensure that the debate is kept in the public eye.

I encourage you to find out more about this issue because, who knows, it may well effect you one day...

Dignity in Dying

Returning to a controversial subject for which I have been criticised before on this blog, I would like to introduce you to someone who talks a lot of sense.

The lady on the left is Dr. Ann McPherson CBE. Ann qualified as a doctor in 1968 and was a general practitioner in Oxford for 30 years until 2008.

She is a fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners and Green College Oxford, and a patron of Dignity in Dying.

On Monday morning she appeared on the BBC Breakfast programme to highlight the issue of 'physician assisted death'. As I understand it, she supports the idea in principle  - for people of sound mind with limitted time left to live who find their pain insufferable.

Earlier this year, she wrote the following in the Guardian :

"I am dying of pancreatic cancer. I wish I wasn't. But dying isn't a failure on my part, it is part of life. I wish to live as long as possible, but not at the expense of enduring an undignified death. In the final days or weeks of my life, if I consider my suffering to be unbearable, I would like the choice to die at home at a time of my choosing surrounded by my loved ones."

You can read the full article by clicking >here< and I urge you to do so.

The reason for her appearance was to reopen this debate prior to the GPs conference later this week. She knows it is an important subject and wants to ensure that the debate is kept in the public eye.

I encourage you to find out more about this issue because, who knows, it may well effect you one day...

New superbug set to sweep the world

News today from the Department of Health that a new superbug has been discovered.

The bug, "Americanus 4nPolyC", seen pictured on the left is easily identified under the microscope by its distinctive red, white and blue stripes. It contains the deadly enzyme US4Fr which is resistant to all attempts to control it.

A spokesman for the DoH, Dr. Quango Gravietrane, said "We have tried everything to stop the progress of this bug, but nothing we do seems to make any difference. If left unchecked, it could dominate the world!" A frightening thought indeed.

The bug is believed to have originated in the Pakistan region possibly crossing the border from neighbouring Afghanistan and brought home by American troops.

There is, however, one glimmer of hope; In Scotland, a man given only three months to live has survived for a year. US officials have called for his medical records to be examined but the Scottish administration so far has resisted this call saying "We have the situation firmly under our control."

New superbug set to sweep the world

News today from the Department of Health that a new superbug has been discovered.

The bug, "Americanus 4nPolyC", seen pictured on the left is easily identified under the microscope by its distinctive red, white and blue stripes. It contains the deadly enzyme US4Fr which is resistant to all attempts to control it.

A spokesman for the DoH, Dr. Quango Gravietrane, said "We have tried everything to stop the progress of this bug, but nothing we do seems to make any difference. If left unchecked, it could dominate the world!" A frightening thought indeed.

The bug is believed to have originated in the Pakistan region possibly crossing the border from neighbouring Afghanistan and brought home by American troops.

There is, however, one glimmer of hope; In Scotland, a man given only three months to live has survived for a year. US officials have called for his medical records to be examined but the Scottish administration so far has resisted this call saying "We have the situation firmly under our control."