buctootim

I doubt they were planning to occupy Tokyo but could easily have been a land grab as thet did initially in Ukraine with Crimea. Japan and Russia have an ongoing dispute over the Kurill Islands and there are others nearby Russia could go after.

Its clearly just an error either by her speech writer or in translation - for example when we call police constables 'officers'

No they haven't. They have temporarily occupied some land which Ukraine is progressively pushing them out of. In doing so they have put both Donbass and Crimea back into play, something that was unthinkable in January. They have also likely lost £300bn in assets, half of their armour and a third of their regular army. It is also highly likely that the Putin regime have screwed themselves Not sure how you fill in scorecards but I wouldnt play bingo with you.

“Ukraine is a sovereign, independent nation state and it will choose its own path to peace and security. Nothing good came from that confrontation between us and the rest of the world. We certainly gained nothing from it" 2002 NATO-Russia Summit Guess who didnt heed his own warning....

Actually it hasn't. What has been said is that Russia are running low on stocks of some missiles - which is exactly why they are using anti aircraft missiles for attacks on housing. IKts also why they are using nuclear forces cruise missiles with their warheads removed as decoys because so many of their scarce missiles are being shot down.

I did my first cruise solely for practical reasons not because I really wanted to. I had two small kids, was divorced and single and wanted somewhere where they could meet other kids, be free but contained at same time, but also resonably priced and exotic. Was mainland side of Caribbean - Mexico, Belize, Roatan and then Caymans. Actually turned out to be really good, great value for money. Done several since

Cheers both. Those tiny specks of islands with nice beach are quite appealiong but I think Id be bored in a couple of says. I'll check out Barbados and Jamaica.

I signed up to that when it was airmiles. Gradually got degraded to the point it was a complete con. Made me less loyal to them not more.

The only Caribbean island I've been to was Grand Cayman but fancy trying out one or more others. Currently thinking about Barbuda, Tortola and Barbados. Does anyone have as strong views about best Caribbean islands as they do about LBQT in Qatar?

To be fair to them they arent as strict on visitors as Qatari citizens. I read you can get a hotel room as a non married couple for example, which Qataris cant. Have a beer in some licenced places etc. Ditto in places like morocco

I didnt realise you ran a ranking system. Probably should have guessed. I thought you'd like "footie". Long established word for football, more popular usage than colloquial phrases like "ale house" and "tired old schtick"

Is that not okay with you? Can I get you some anti anxiety sessions?

Kyiv is just beautiful in the winter. The best place for a pre Christmas break next year for those of you planning.

Not enough milk and alcohol

Thats why I discount your opinion on this. The inefficiencies in the structure the NHS have to work under were introduced by the Tory party. They are responsible for the same inefficiences they now complain about. Supporting this government in its campaign of blame deflection is risible. When I started work for the NHS the health services in each district were funded by a block grant based on the age, wealth etc demographics of the local population. 99.5% of the money went to patient care. A small team of public health staff then monitored disease and health levels within that population. The Tories introduced the internal market whereby health providers got paid for every procedure they did. Everything a healthcare professional did had to be coded and recorded and that data was then used to agree the basis of a contract between health authorities and the hospitals and GPs. Doctors and nurse practioners now spend up to 40% of their time on systems. Both hospitals and health authorities spend a fortune on Badger's IT systems and contract teams. All so that they can produce the data that inform the contracts that new staff groups now haggle with each other over. They also introduced arbitary targets based on PR about waiting times rather than clinical need. So now a 20 year old who thinks their freckle is too big has to be seen in the same timeframe and as a 50 year old with a big black obvious melanoma on his back. But yeah ofc. The Government is right and it's the NHS' fault that there are too many managers running the system that the Government insists they use.

Especially this. Past health ministers have made the mistake of trying to solve recruitment and retention crises by paying higher salaries when what most doctors wants is to not feel constantly pressured, have more time with patients and to have more colleagues to share the load.

I agree, its falling apart and the service has become unacceptable. That's a whole different issue from efficiency though. My point is solely that the problems in the NHS are not due to its own inefficiency they are due to telling it to do too much for the money available and in a nonsensical way. That is further compounded by a record high staff shortage due to covid / Brexit / low unemployment / disllusionment with work conditions. We either need to agree to ration / prioritise care and not do everything for everybody, including thing like in- vitro fertilisation, sex changes and full cure cancer treatments for 90 year olds. Or fund it at a much higher level commensurate with the kind of universal high quality care everybody says they want but arent prepared to pay for.

Nope. It means that the countries you and your ilk say are better, aren't. You shoot for the stars though - replace what we have with a new perfect 100% efficient healthcare system that hitherto doesnt exist anywhere in the world. When it fails miserably you can blame the EU. Worked for Brexit.

Same old same old. Its all inefficient and other places do it better for less. If only it were private we could have the Golden Ticket. Really? Who? name them with objective measures and reports. There many assessments of healthcare efficiency and most of them place the NHS near the top, regardless of what measures used. A simple money spent versus life expectancy like the one below demonstrates what everybody who has managed in the health service knows - its damn good for the spend, especially given its catering to a largely obese unfit population. Yes it not as good as some others who spend a lot more, but some spend a lot more and achieve less. Germany, supposedly one of the best healthcare systems (as assessed by those people who look at the shininess of the lobby and how nice the rooms and food is) spends 50% more than the UK on a PPP basis and achieves what with it? slightly worse life expectancy. If you compare Britain to neighbouring countries who have broadly similar climates, dietary habits and gene pools - Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, maybe Ireland they all spend between 20% and 50% more and get life expectancy ranges from three months less to six months more at best. The US based Commonwealth Fund produces a more sophisticated multi dimensional analysis and again the NHS performs better than the industrialised world average. Fatally for the 'inefficient innit' argument, on bang for the buck efficiency measures it outperforms all the healthcare systems which are often touted as the models we should aspire to. So what magic beans you going to replace it with? Certainly not Germany, France or Switzerland. By all means privatise it fully. This is like Brexit. People have been promised free unicorns and they want them. I can tell you now what you'll actually get - an almost entirely imported workforce, world class treatment limited to the very rich and an overall bill for healthcare more than it is now, probably around 30% more. The only other alternative is to force everybody to eat a low fat high fish mediterannean or Japanese / Korean / Icelandic type diet. Can't see that going down too well. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2021/aug/mirror-mirror-2021-reflecting-poorly

Exactly. Drug companies often charge extortionate prices for drugs because people are desperate and they can play hospital chains off against each other. That doesnt work in the UK with its huge unified buying power. When I was working in the NHS the prices we were charged for drugs were a fraction of what American hospitals paid. Literally a fraction, not 10 or 15% less but often 75-80% less.

Blue sky of happiness

That reminds me of a big moment in my own life. I always buy Yorkshire tea. When I experimented with their special hard water blend it was nowhere near as good as the orginal depsite me living in a chalky hard water area.