Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once. English is a rich and complex language. It can also be confusing, particularly when a change in emphasis, where the spelling is the same, or with the addition or deletion of just one letter can change alter the whole meaning of the word. An example of this happened to me only yesterday (5th March) when I had an appointment with a consultant at a local hospital. I had arranged this appointment over the telephone a couple of days earlier, following a conversation with my GP. She had advised me to make the necessary arrangements and that her referral letter would be sent to the hospital through the post as normal. Arriving at the hospital in good time, I completed the usual formalities of confirming my registration on their system and awaited the call. The consultant duly arrived and conducted me through to his consulting room where we sat down and commenced the appointment. I described to him the symptoms which I ...
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nhs-explainer-why-are-we-experiencing-an-ae-crisis-now-9961468.html Why are we experiencing an A&E crisis now? A very busy HNS Since the 1980's, when it became the policy to close hundreds of the smaller hospitals and create super size “centres of excellence” at a few locations around the country with the rather naive assumption that “Bigger is better”, we have had an “A&E crisis”, which has not been limited to the A&E departments but has percolated throughout the hospital system. This A&E crisis, was exacerbated throughout the 1990's with the fallacious proposition, that in order to solve the problem it was essential to introduce more and more layers of management, introduce “targets” to monitor performance of departments and individuals, and to pour money into the system. A fiscal policy which mainly went into financing the expanding bureaucracy rather than improving the standards of care. ...
In the wake of President Mahmoud Abbas address to UN, a voice of reality from amongst the vitriolic responses.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.617951# Israel’s criticism of Abbas’ speech is the rhetoric of despair Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses UN General Assembly One Israeli newspaper at least is prepared to think the unthinkable and speak the unspeakable truth, that Israel and the Israeli leadership are wrong. "The government is now grasping at Abbas’ statements as if it were grasping at a life raft. But leaning on Abbas’ speech reflects nothing but fear and weak leadership. Israel has neither an answer nor a strategy for the diplomatic elements in Abbas’ address." Haaretz: Sunday, September 28, 2014 Tishrei 4, 5775 The longer that Israel resists the inevitable establishment of a Palestinian State, based on the 1967 borders, then the more they will become isolated and marginalised around the world.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/clone.of.life-returns-gaza-as-truce-holds-20148271.html Life returns to Gaza as truce holds but Netanyahu faces criticism in Israel over the offensive. Palestinians celebrate the beginning of the truce in Gaza City After 50 days of intense bombardment by Israeli military forces and fierce resistance from the Palestinian factions within Gaza, the ceasefire brokered by the Egyptians came into effect at 17:00 yesterday (26th August). Not withstanding what Mark Regev, the Israeli mouthpiece for Benjamin Netanyahu, may say to try to convince you otherwise, the ceasefire terms agreed to in Cairo are not the same as those that were "on the table", 3 weeks ago. By now of course, we are only too well aware of how Mark Regev, Peter Lerner, Ron Prosor and other Israeli spokespersons are, without even batting an eyelid, able to turn fantasy and wishful thinking into their presentation of "fact and truth"....
When the "News" is neither accurate or comprehensive. At 10pm last night, we had stories covering Nouri al-Maliki, Ferguson Missouri, mount Sinjar, Robin Williams, GCE A levels, Sir Cliff Richard, David Cameron and arming the Kurds, Russia and the Ukraine, Syria, European athletics, Ebola, Eurozone, Tony Pulis (I did not know who he is either. It seems that he is/was the manager of Crystal Palace), and a number of other, in some cases even less significant stories than those listed, purporting to be "The News". BBC Television News channel, Sky News, The News from ITN and even Aljazeera, all carrying stories and reports of events at home and from around the world. However, what was conspicuous by its absence on all news channels, certainly the ones which I saw at least, was any report on the current situation in Gaza. Not a mention or even a word. It was as if Gaza had completely ceased to exist and had disappeared into the sea. Aljazeera did not mak...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/03/israel-air-strike-un-school-gaza-rafah Gaza school attack denounced as 'criminal act' by UN Lt. Col. Peter Lerner. Israeli spokesperson. Lt. Col Peter Lerner is lying (again). It seems that Israeli forces targeted 3 militants on a motor cycle. In an interview shown on Aljazeera Television, Lerner says that the extensive damage to the UN school and the deaths of at least 10 Palestinians, was probably as a result of the "militants" carrying explosives. The UN school was being used as a shelter for 3000 civilians. United Nations school sheltering displaced people
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelgaza-conflict-at-least-100-dead-in-24-hours-in-rafah-9644624.html At least 100 dead in 24 hours in Rafah 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin Now that the authorities have established that 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin was in fact killed in action, rather than being "kidnapped" by Hammas or any of the other Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza, will we now see some sort of apology from Obama, Ban Ki-Moon, Cameron or any of the western leaders who were so quick to leap onto the band wagon of "condemning in the strongest terms" or "demanding the immediate unconditional release", or any of the other frenzied clamour which filled our media and news reports for most of yesterday? Somehow, I doubt it, as the purpose of the hysteria has now been fulfilled. Obama, Cameron and the other pro Israel leaders, were able to divert atte...
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, the Israeli Defence Forces spokesman lied during television interview. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner IDF Spokesman Yesterday, 1st August 2014, I wrote, under the title of “Israel has a very warped understanding of a ceasefire", a Blog post criticising Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, the Israeli Defence Forces spokesman for essentially lying when being interviewed on the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza. This criticism generated some response, not least in the Huffington Post where one poster using the name Bjorn (Bjorn_Ag), wrote Unless you are aware of the terms of the agreement how can you define the destruction of the tunnels as 'aggression'? Do you know the terms of the agreement? To suggest that one side would be allowed to continue with aggression whilst the other be expected to remain subservient, suggests that you don't. The alternative of course is that Ham as failed to read the agreement properly before signing it. How st...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-conflict-israels-great-fear-is-realised-as-soldier-is-seized-in-ambush-that-killed-two-more-9643912.html Obama calls for immediate release of captured Israeli soldier in Gaza President Barak Obama Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon President of the United States Barak Obama, Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon and other "western leaders" reveal more than a degree of hypocrisy with their close to hysterical rantings on the capture, (many commentators insist on using the word kidnapping, just to generate some emotive prejudice against Palestinians), of 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin during yesterdays Israeli ceasefire breaking operation, to extend the destruction of tunnels and other infrastructure in Gaza. Finger jabbing rhetoric demanding the "immediate unconditional release", or "condemning in the strongest terms" or even being "shocked and ...