Fake Sheikh
The News of the World has been busy running round trying to gag the press – good thing I saved a copy of the photograph from that website before it got taken down 
You can still find it on Google Images, if you’re interested. I’d post it here but lawyers make such poor conversation.
Update – It’s past 4pm, the embargo is off, up goes the photo of Mazher Mahmood… fuck you Murdoch 
Double Update – OK, maybe we have to wait till 5pm now 
Triple Update – 5pm! 4pm tomorrow?! Damn you courts!
Final Post – Injunction removed
Summary of the story – The News of the World doesn’t want this photo published. Clearly, therefore, it is every man, woman and child’s duty to publish this photo as much as they possibly can.
A letter from 900 NHS doctors to the Prime Minister today makes the case for ending the ‘free at the point of delivery’ mantra that has been with the Health Service since its inception.
“Rationing of services and bigger financial deficits were the inevitable result of preserving the status quo, they said.” (The Guardian)
What we see here is the continual failure to understand ‘rationing’. There is always rationing of services, in any system, and always will be. Unless, of course, we discover Socialist Utopia World* (TM) with unlimited resources, then clearly there will always be rationing!
In the NHS, services are not rationed by price but by time (‘waiting lists’) and a limit to how far the service will go (i.e. the NHS will prioritise younger patients with a greater chance of survival, and pay for the drugs with the highest success rate.) In other systems, price simply becomes another form of rationing – along with more bureaucracy, more waste and greater inequality.
To increase your ‘rations’, you have to increase supply. Hence more money going into the NHS, reform of its structure to make it more effective, etc etc. (Argue about how well this has been done till dawn if you want to.) Of course demand is also rising – an ageing population, greater demand for ever more expensive health services and so on. I think the obvious conclusion is that the NHS will always have a limit to what it provides – but just like any other system on the planet.
The public agree. “Two-thirds said the NHS in its present form was unlikely ever to meet public demands, however much was spent on it.” But there is no magic replacement system, and the NHS is the fairest and most equitable way of delivering healthcare – free at the point of delivery, regardless of the ability to pay. So perhaps those 900 NHS doctors should get back to work, on their increased pay packets.
Oh and there is one piece of good news – “Three-quarters of the sample said politicians should be removed from day-to-day management of the health service.”
*(Socialist Utopia World does sounds like a great name for a theme park. In the leaflet: How do I get to Socialist Utopia World? Keep turning left.)
Welcome to Quote of the Day, your daily morsel of the world.
Each morning at 9am I’ll post whatever line catches my eye, and you can subscribe via RSS as well as checking out the new placement on the home page. 
Some of the inspiration, by the way, comes from Queen Park’s ridiculously silly ‘Thought of the Week’ pieces at the bottom of each week’s newsletter. You know the ones, deliberately constructed to state the bloody obvious and trying to sound clever while doing it. Quote for the Day, on the other hand, will be different.
We’ll see how it goes… but enjoy the ride!
Well Easter holidays start today, April 1st, for me at least. (And no – nothing I type is an April Fools, it’s after 12!) That means I finally have some chance to relax and plan a bit instead of hurtling along the term as usual. Lots of homework, coursework and general revision to do, naturally, and I’ll also be launching a new feature on this site (soonish) which will finally make some more use of the home page. Yay!
And, of course, Doctor Who returns April 15th at 7pm, BBC ONE. It’s going to be awesome, so make sure you watch
Today (well, yesterday) was our wonderful Physics lectures trip to prepare for upcoming exams. An examiner was going through power in electric circuits when we notice a guy standing in one of the rows behind where we were sitting, praying. Praying loudly and annoyingly and distractingly with lots of humming. Well, it was a church after all, when it’s not being rented out for conferences. Attempting to first ignore him, then asking him to leave (prayer rooms were available elsewhere after all 
) the police were eventually called and he was led out in handcuffs.
Forget about the individual case, I just love the symbolism. Physics over prayer 
And prayer certainly won’t help with what I have just realised… it’s almost April, and April is my last full month before exams start again. Eek! And my first exam will be a Physics practical, officially the most stressful exam in the world, ever, bar none. Making language orals look like a walk in the park. I’d fail it but I really don’t want to, so I won’t. 
Update: How did I forget to mention that Costa Coffee gave us all free coffee as we came home yesterday? I’m not really a coffee person – go hot chocolate! – but I like the price of free. So here you go Costa, have some free blog publicity in return
Helen on It’s (waiting) time.: “Fabulous news, congratulations to you both! X” Jun 8, 21:51
