Health Services - A Consumers View

I see a growing influence of the media. Unwittingly we are being taught to complain because it stirs up news for the media. Journalism is all very fine but it is based on irresponsibility. Most of the journalists I know are very good at opening their mouths but have no idea how to solve the problem, themselves. At the end of the day there is only so much money available and unless we want our taxes to go up we have to be realistic about what we get for that money. Unfortunately, I believe politicians are about as good as journalists at actually doing something practical like running a department. I would like to say that bloggers have their pulse on the mood and with their keen analytical skills would be ideal candidates for managerial positions. Alas, not true, either. I recently sent 6 posts to a blogger high on political commentary but seemingly unable to either read or comprehend his own correspondence. I started off being impressed but after getting no sense out of him just gave up. http://ardenforester.blogspot.com/ .

Many of my readers will know that I suffered a heart attack 6 months ago. Forced retirement has led me to look again at what I can and, realistically, cannot do - hence becoming a blogger. Over the past few months I have got my blog up and running and tested out the schedule. Now the time has come to take a break. My triple bypass surgery is just 2 weeks away so the next 2 weeks will be filled with preparations and the period after with recovery. I have every intention of returning to blogging as soon as I am able and may be able to post a few bits and pieces in the meantime.

As far as the National Health Service is concerned I see a service which delivers a huge throughput day after day and staff that do an excellent job. I would be hard pressed to criticize, as a consumer. Of course, everyone wants more, more, more but there is no end to that theme. My question to all those whingers is 'Which specific service or issue is a problem for you and what would you like to be cut back to afford it?' The truth is most of the complainers are just baying for blood because that's the mood at the moment.

Anyway, bye for now. See you all again when I'm on the road to recovery.

Pierre

Image source: www.schoolscience.co.uk/content/4/biology/abpi/heart/heart7.html

Tags: health heart public complain

The Genius of Bob Dylan

In the United Kingdom we have recently been treated to an evening of Bob Dylan on BBC 4. This included the celebrated Martin Scorsese film and a fascinating documentary about the search for the tape of a play Dylan was in which was filmed in December 1962. I will not attempt to sum up Dylan's life and times, much as I am tempted, simply because many others have done this so well. What did catch my eye, however, was the interviews which he was obliged to give as well as the attitudes of some of the interviewers. Dylan hated being interviewed quite simply because he did not have a clue what to say. He saw himself as a 'song and dance man'. He loved writing and performing songs, period.

To many others he was far more than that. He lived through turbulent times - very turbulent times, by our standards. This was the era marked by the assassination of President Kennedy and the civil rights movement. Following a decade or more of persecution and paranoia, hopes were riding on anyone who seemed to be carrying the torch of freedom. If you listen to the words of his songs you would have to conclude that Dylan was part of that movement. His association with Joan Baez and subsequent attendance at significant events, his declared love of Woody Guthrie and all that that seemed to stand for, suggest that here was a powerful ally for the cause. Yet when asked about the symbolism in his songs he says there is no hidden meaning. It is what it is. He did not set out with the intention of writing a song with a special allegorical meaning.

As I watched the films I could see that what he says is exactly what did happen. He just sat down and wrote, or more often than not, typed. Apparently some of his songs were 50 verses long! They just came out, effortlessly. What sort of a man does that - and gets away with it?

Back in the 1970s I worked with a psychiatrist called Sylvia Lendrum. She had a famous twin brother who played Maigret on the television and they shared the same characteristic ear lobes (but she didn't smoke a pipe!) She was in her 80s then and had been brought out of retirement to help out. She was a truly remarkable woman and although I have worked with some very excellent and celebrated colleagues since, she remains my firm favourite. The reason for this is that she never used jargon or tried to impress. She talked in ordinary language about ordinary things and everyone from the smallest child to the wisest professor knew what she meant. She did not have to think about what she was doing - it just came naturally. Her impression on me was so profound that I spent the next 20 years trying to turn long words into short ones. Happily, clear English became a theme of our time, so my efforts, hopefully, were appreciated. I wish I could have seen Sylvia at age 20 to find out if she was as natural then, or whether I was simply seeing the cumulative impact of a lifetime of practice.

So, to return to Dylan. What sort of man just does it? The answer is a natural. He just wrote what he felt and sang what pleased him. When people tried to pin him down or make him perform for them, he took a break. To his credit, he remained true to himself and did not let the industry destroy him. Incredibly, all that happened over 40 years ago. Dylan at his most productive was 20 years old. He did not follow a cause - he followed his heart. I don't think he would have had the creative muse inside him if he had attached himself to anything deliberate.

We believe so very much in education and training these days and I would be the first to applaud this, but Dylan's legacy to us must surely be that we should avoid the little boxes that all look the same. I will, no doubt, write a piece about genius in due course. For the effect that his music has on me I have to say that Dylan was a genius, a natural talent, but whether or not he will fit the criteria I set when I look more closely is another matter. Anyway, I have a sneaky suspicion that he would not thank me for sticking a label on him - too much like the little boxes.

Pierre

Image source: http://www.rocksite.info/r-dylan-bob.htm

Tags: Bob Dylan genius Martin Scorsese interview civil rights Joan Baez Woody Guthrie Maigret

Dragon Slaying

Few Brits would care to admit that our American brethren can teach us anything about government and yet our experience of it in recent years suggests otherwise. Americans seem to be proud to be Americans and to share common ideals, loosely the inventory of democracy. Although the country is truly vast the individual state or county does not seem to matter half as much as the nation. Perhaps it matters in different ways.

Not so in the UK. We have been a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland since 1800, the Scots having joined in 1707 and the Welsh between 1536 and 1543. Our identity as citizens, however, remains very local, not just national in the sense of Welsh, Scottish, Irish or English but by county or even town. Why should a country with such relative stability over many years have such a near parochial sense of personal identity? In a world increasingly looking toward a 'citizen of Earth' perspective we remain focussed on our own backyard.

Since 1997 we have devolved much political power to our constituent countries and our capital. London now has a mayor, much more like an American mayor than a British one - we chucked most of our historical mayors out some years ago as no longer appropriate to the modern age. Some towns brought them back again because they liked the ceremonial connection with history. England has a Parliament. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have Assemblies, which are junior to Parliament. There is a campaign for an English 'parliament' or Assembly because the others have it but the English do not. Reading some of the arguments for this I get the impression that it is more a question of national identity than an enthusiasm for adding yet another tier of government to an already expanding bureacracy. I suspect the sight of an English flag as opposed to the Union Jack in football games has played some part in this new nationalistic wave.

America was born out of ideals into a tough world. It was always the land of opportunity and every settler was a foreigner in that vast land. The United Kingdom was born out of feudalism. Our ancestors paid allegience to the local landowner. We had no place bothering ourselves with what was happening in the world beyond. The cultural differences which developed even just a few miles apart are remarkable. So at least we spawned diversity. Perhaps our cousins across the pond could teach us a culture of national diversity or maybe we should all just skip that stage and go straight for 'citizen of Earth'

By the way, happy St George's Day, the patron saint of England.

Pierre

Tags: comment history government identity

Image source: http://www.toque.co.uk/witan/