That’s it. We should hand back our “developed country” card.

What’s his negotiating stance with doctors again?

What’s funny about all of this is everyone is obsessed with the funding model instead of the delivery model.

If you choose to fund it privately, please keep in mind that they need to make a profit - which means that if a publicly funded service could do things within the same cost envelope they would be cheaper as they wouldn’t need to add the profit margin on top. There is no more cost effective solution than single payer, public sector service.

So. Why does no one talk about how healthcare is actually delivered?

In Liz we Truss. Amen.

That’s right. Let’s totally fail to consider arguments on their merits, one way or the other (and recognise that his party has been holding down doctors pay for over a decade while demanding more of them, not to mention the whole pandemic thing), and instead worry about “sending a message”.

I wonder if he has a bet riding on the outcome of this?

“Government does not understand” - standard current-era (c.2010 onwards) Tory.

Cancelling a chunk of HS2 in a way that at the time and increasingly since comes across as “on a whim” suggests a total lack of understanding not just of rail but of national infrastructure, our economy and our people.

HS2 never had to be some kind of souped up bullet train service. All HS2 had to be was an increase in capacity, with any added speed as a bonus. Four track instead of two track - so that fast trains didn’t get stuck behind stopping services. That’s all that was needed.

This country is ridiculous. We are a tiny island. How hard is it to connect up all the bits with road and rail? The roads are falling apart and our once world-leading and world-beating railways are outdated, poorly routed/connected and economically constrictive.

Predictably it’s the 15-minute-city conspiracy crap.

The inside of the right-wing brain must be a fearful place; ripe for radicalisation and manipulation.

I don’t see the £50m in quite same way as you do; I see it as the “opportunity cost” of the strikes - and it often seems to be the case that the opportunity cost is much higher than what it would cost to negotiate and settle (by extension, it also seems that employers / governments playing hardball with workers is probably based more on ideology than on financial sense).

I believe we share the same sentiment though; these RMT folks are critical to the economy and they should be treated (and compensated) as such.

Gray. Wheeler. Who next? If these people didn’t have excellent reputations for what they do, it could almost be trolling.

ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS, EXCEPT EUROPA.

ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE.

USE THEM TOGETHER.

USE THEM IN PEACE.

“Doctor, there’s nothin’ wrong with me Doctor, doctor, can’t you see? Doctor, I ain’t gonna die Just write me an alibi” - Lemmy

Yes; my advice was going to be to get hold of one decent cooking pot and one decent chef’s knife and learn to cook.

Prepping my own food and being able to bulk cook meals for a few days to a few weeks ahead was a big advantage. Also helped me to get to know people and make friends.

You need a decent pot. And a knife you can maintain and sharpen. And to learn to cook.

That’s Brexit Britain for you. We always exceed expectations.

“And he brought me into a vast farmland of our own Midwest And as we descended, cries of impending doom rose from the soil One thousand, nay, a million voices full of fear And terror possessed me then And I begged, “Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?” And the angel said unto me “These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots! You see, Reverend Maynard Tomorrow is harvest day and to them, it is the Holocaust” And I sprang from my slumber, drenched in sweat Like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared “Hear me now, I have seen the light! They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers!””

Disgustipated - Tool

I thought Domino as depicted in Deadpool 2 was pretty cool. Just lucky enough.

Will you be able to get a seat at Dorsia’s?

I mean that sounds like a curse. Endless screaming. Where others may see a cute bunny munching on some grass, or a bee buzzing around a flower, all you will hear are shrieks of pain and abject terror.

These “Sunak is set to consider / scrap / ban” any old crap headlines just keep on coming. Something will stick to the wall eventually I guess.

Remember hearing it the first time. There’s a recording here.

Yes and no; for reasons that are beyond me the door has been left somewhat open on that one:

“Vitamin-E acetate (VEA) is found in counterfeit cartridges and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of EVALI patients. Other reports implicated the presence of aromatic/volatile hydrocarbons and oils consisting of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT oil), including terpenes and mineral oil in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) containing counterfeit vaping products. These compounds are involved in oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in the lung. Here, we provide the perspectives on the recent case reports on EVALI, etiology, and discuss pulmonary toxicity as well as the mechanisms underlying EVALI susceptibility and lung pathophysiology.”

But the cutting agent certainly seems to have been pretty bad.