Marmora Man

Just back from Barcelona - which was much colder than we had planned for. However, the journey was excellent. No. 63 bus to King's X. 15.01 Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris, arriving 18.30. Metro to Gare De Austerlitz and time for a relaxing glass of wine in Paris before catching the 20.23 Elipsos sleeper to Barcelona. Dinner on the train with complimentary Cava and as much wine & aperitifs as we wished, all n the ticket price. Dinner was good. We had splashed on out a sleeper compartment with en-suite for two - comfortable night's sleep for me (no worse that being at sea) but Mrs MM not quite so comfortable. Shower & WC were small but worked fine. We woke at 7.00am to have breakfast watching the Spanish countryside pass by and arrived in Barcelona at 08.30. Returning we left at 08.13 by train to Figeures then the 10.20 TGV to Paris. SNCF didn't cover itself in glory - arriving 90 minutes late and providing a cold carriage & seating. To be fair the weather was against them. One tip - catering, to my surprise, on SCNF was worse than I've ever encountered in UK. If travelling on French railways - buy some decent bread, pate and wine - and have a picnic. Do not rely on over pieced, microwaved plastic tubs of risotto. Our railway journey has persuaded us to go this way again - more expensive than Ryan Air / Easy Jet but infinitely more relaxing and comfortable (SNCF notwithstanding). For the return journey we left at 08.15

Chippy, Reportage, such your last post, doesn't quality as debate, argument or discussion. I can read the news expressed with more rational and objective comment and analysis in the broadsheets.

Where was this comparison made?

I've worked as Interim CEO of the AOMRC - it is extremely unusual for them not to reach a consensus - but on this occasion they could not and the draft statement was not ratified. Thus indicating not the Royal Colleges opposition but that the Royal Colleges could not agtree to oppose.

Chippy, As Hugenot has already pointed out you have a bunch of trades unions arguing to perpetuate the existing flawed model, scarcely the progressive alliance they would purport to be. The Royal College of GPs is the only Royal College to collectively (I use the term deliberately - if you're worried about privatising the NHS you needd look no further than the mighty trades union / monopoly threat that is the RCGP) to come out against the Bill. They tried, at a recent Academy of Royal Medical Colleges meeting to get all Royal Medical Colleges to sign up to oppose the bill but couldn't persuade their surgeon and anaesthetist colleagues to do so. Noting some of the crowd that makes up the opposition tends to make me want to support the Bill. There are a number of aspects within the Bill that I do endorse but I would agree that the implementation planning looks poor and Lansley has made a sterling job of turning support for his initial plans into, almost, total opposition. He's a nice man, a deep thinker but clearly a poor Minister and manager.

HAL9000 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In case anyone else is interested in technical > details: > > Filename - DSC00909.jpg > Make - SONY > Model - DSC-HX9V > ExposureTime - 1/250 seconds > FNumber - 5.90 > ExposureProgram - Normal program > ISOSpeedRatings - 100 > DateTimeOriginal - 2012:02:04 13:05:14 > BrightnessValue - 7.17 > ExposureBiasValue - 0.00 > MaxApertureValue - F 3.29 > MeteringMode - Multi-segment > LightSource - Auto > Flash - Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode > FocalLength - 68.48 mm Blimey, I just pressed the button, picked the best from a burst of images, cropped it and posted it.

PeckhamRose Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Fabulous pic MarmoraMan. We love seeing the same view. I also love that 'pod' on top of the Aura building, down the road on Peckham Rye. Boosboss told me he knew the man who lived in it. And you have caught it beautifully in this photo too. Is this shot from the top of your house? Yes - saw it from dining room window and then went to the top of the house to do my best - but don't have your skill with camera.

It was a very frosty morning - mist I think rising as the moisture warmed up.

This may have been what the architect was anticipating - The Shard catching the sun on this crisp Saturday morning

I am considering hiking the Lycian Way - 420Km along South Turkish coast. As I'm a gadget man I want to take my Kindle (with downloaded guide and books to amuse), mobile phone (to keep in touch with family every few days) and digital camera to record the journey and possibly a GPS (a gadget I have in mind to buy as maps of Turkey do not compare well with OS maps). Can anyone recommend a really good solar charger that would enable me to keep all these gadgets topped up? And / or a retailer / supplier in UK where I can purchase one.

quite spoilt my day - up early to go out touring N Yorkshire. Watched opening overs of England's 2nd innings - left feeling the target would be met easily, despite Cook & Strauss not being entirely comfortable. Then stopped in Whitby, checked the score and B*****.

Plenty of wooden sash repairs about - will install draft excluder materials as feel. Never quite as effective as draught proof PVC but oh so much better to look at and live with. Probably no more expensive and possible even less expensive.

You're beginning to get the idea NN.

It has always amazed me that Dulwich village itself has such lousy eateries. It seems to me to be a spot where a truly great aspiring Michelin style place would do well. Why not?

The Artist - a must see. Within minutes the fact that it's silent and black & white is totally forgotten as you become absorbed in the plot and the characters. It is not a pastiche - it works on many levels and there are many really clever and subtle touches. Recommended. Tho' I do find it hilarious that, reportedly, a number of cinema goers are walking out when they discover it is a B&W silent film - and in significantly greater numbers in Liverpool than elsewhere. Does they not read a review before buying a ticket?

I tend to use phone payment systems as: 1. I don't often have the right quantity of change 2. I get a reminder just before the time runs out and can extend time without having to return to the car 3. Have invariably found I'm charged in minutes. The 20p convenience charge is OK by me.

Chippy Minton Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > As for "bonuses are something you give out when > times are good" I assume you completely missed the > announcement by Goldman Sachs today that they paid > out ?7.4 billion in pay and bonuses last year even > though its profits halved. Yet the GS bonus will be paid by a private sector company and won't cost the taxpayer anything. In fact the tax on ?7bn will probably come in handy. The Tube driver demand is simply blackmail to be paid for by the tax payer / fare payer.

Off to see The Artist tonight. Will report back

If you pm me your email my son, a ski instructor, could chat / email you. He's not looking for work as he's at Uni but knows his stuff.

For info - a 10 point plan put forward by an Independent Healthcare Operator. Point 10 is a very sensible proposal. 1. ????The guidance for all medical devices to be re-examined to ensure patients can be tracked quickly and effectively if concerns are raised around any implants they received. 2. ????Standardised data collection methods to be used to improve outcome data. 3. ????The government to reintroduce a National Implant Registry for all breast and other cosmetic implant medical devices (as with the hip, knee and ankle registries). ? 4. ????A review to take place of all other voluntary registries (such as the bariatric surgery registry) and consider extending to other implants (such as pacemakers and cataract lenses). 5. ????The introduction of standards for patient information and informed consent with ?cooling off? period for all cosmetic surgery. 6. ????International collaboration to allow monitoring of the issues and complications which can arise from breast implant surgery. 7. ????A review of the actions and guidance provided by the MHRA on PIP implants and of the CE marking scheme for medical devices. 8. ????The MHRA to make it clearer to doctors on how to report issues with medical devices. ? 9. ????The implementation of wider safeguards for patients of all cosmetic treatments, injectables, fillers and medical lasers. ?A ban on direct consumer cosmetic advertising (as exists for medicines). Fillers to be reclassified as prescription-only medicines. Deregulation of lasers to be reversed. 10. The consideration of an industry ?bond? scheme (along the terms of ABTA / ATOL in the travel industry) where all cosmetic providers are required to provide a guarantee scheme to protect patients. ?This must include the provision of hospital facilities and follow-up to manage complications, longer-term follow-up and specialist care when required by patients.

And I sent it to The News Quiz. Ms B Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sue Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Ms B Wrote: > > > > > > > > The last time I went past it the board > outside > > > said the pastor is 'L Bent', arguably the > > greatest > > > name ever for a preacher. > > > > xxxxxxx > > > > Yep, I posted that in the Lounge on the thread > > "Things which have made me laugh" :)) :)):)) > > Think I did too!! > > And I sent it to Popbitch. > > Oh dear.

You're shifting the argument but, hey ho - that's what you usually do. On what do you base this thesis? No business, whether it's healthcare or the making of widgets, ever becomes or remains successful without attending to it's customers interests. Profit and healthcare are not incompatible - I've worked both sides of the healthcare divide NHS & Independent and I know. Notwithstanding the recent PIP breats prothesis problem - I would wish the NHS to be as flexible, commercial and cost aware as the independent sector. Remember, the NHS has its own scandals, one's that don't occur in independent acute healthcare - MRSA, C Diff, N. Staffs, Pembury at Tunbridge Wells - the list is very very long.

UDT - you are usually one of the progressives that rail against me for my right wing and conservative stance. Progressives are supposed to be against the power of patronage, protection of the status quo, preservation of the past and for change & progress. Why do you relinquish this fervour when it comes to the NHS? As I have often argued the NHS is a faulty, inefficient and mind bogglingly bureaucratic system that eats up money yet delivers very little discernible improvement.

Some thoughts from me - someone, almost, in the eye of the storm. I'm currently managing a large private hospital (Interim Managment turnaround contract) for a group that has not used any significant number of PIP breast prothesis (approximately 150 patients over ten years of the > 40,000 reported cases in UK. The group was first to state they would explant and replace any PIP implants free of charge and has been central in providing advice to worried women and in proposing new rules and regulation around this aspect opf cosmetic surgery. The other major independent sector providers have behaved in a similarly ethical fashion, tho' the smaller specialist cosmetic surgery providers haven't. With my team we're just working out how to support 63 women with PIP implants, for soem of whom the oruiginal surgeon and hospital is no longer available. My thoughts on who pays - it's an interesting conundrum. The absolutists - as per OP: Their choice, their risk, their cost is a understanable argument. My libertarian instincts kick in and sees the logic of this argument. The rationalists: The NHS exists to provide healthcare, free at the point of care, to all regardless of how or why the problem occurred. Alcoholics requiring liver transplants, promiscuity leading to sexual health problems, smoking leading to lung cancer could all be seen as self created problems - but the NHS looks after the patient. So this element says it is right for the NHS / gov't to pick up the cost. The legalist: The various cosmetic surgeons and the dodgier cowboy clinics were using what were "kitemarked" protheses approved by government agencies so had good reason to believe they were safe and appropriate - albeit suspiciously cheap. This argues that it's a failure of regulation and thus the cost should fall to gov't. On the whole I come down on El Pibe's side to do otherwise is to question the NHS commitment to no blame treatment. However, I would also expect the NHS and / or others providing free care and support to make claims on either the original manufacturer (difficult - it's bankrupt) or the government as the failed regulator.

It is difficult to know where to start with piece of egregious disinformation that has clearly been drafted by someone only interested in maintaining the status quo, which leads me to believe it may be sponsored by Unison or a similar organisation. My own political views are well known to regular readers, and most will be aware that I work predominately in the healthcare sector. Until I know something more about this new poster "Peckhamnearbe" I will refrain from detailed comment. I would add that the criticism of Circle is the one well founded fact in the paper. Much of the rest is pure b******s.