The European Union has its uses. While rootling around for stuff to link to from CNE Competition, I came across this:
Left-wing Labour MPs are girding themselves for a rebellion over a European Union plan which they say could spell the end of the National Health Service.
When left wing Labour MPs rebel, I at least hope for possible goodness.
The European Commission will publish its health directive next week and it is meant to make it easier for people to travel to get specific medical treatment in another EU country.
Ah, the age-old dilemma of the EUrosceptic. What do you think if the EU imposes something sensible?
British diplomats say that this is NOT the same as making sure that if you fall sick in Slovakia or have an accident in Austria you can get treatment straight away.
When British diplomats say that something is NOT something else, it means that they have been told to say that by their political masters and that the small print of their argument will be about a very small difference. The feathers on the other something will definitely NOT be the exact same colour, but the other something will otherwise waddle and quack in an identical fashion to the original something, and will in fact be just another duck. For “NOT”, read ” “, in other words.
It is what some people call “health tourism” and both critics and fans say it will allow people to shop around for health care.
Sounds great. So what if it is just a plan to sell Eurostar tickets; I still like it.
In the end, there is nothing like people preferring something else to whatever bogus nirvana is being peddled by the bogus nirvana peddlers. The one argument against the much vaunted Soviet Communist nirvana that the vaunters could never wriggle free from was the fact – for fact it was – that this was a nirvana that millions wanted to escape from, through minefields if need be, and with only the clothes they were wearing at the time of their escape if that was all they could take with them. A similar process is now under way with Britain’s similarly vaunted NHS, the best healthcare system in the world except for all the others.
Not really a dilemma…
A man is walking down the street and a mugger jumps out, hits him across the head and takes his wallet. The mugger then takes the bleeding man to hospital and is surprised when his victim asks for his wallet back. “But I just brought you to hospital!” the mugger says, “you should be thanking me, not asking me to give you money!”
Well, I’m not sure I like the EU (or whatever) imposing anything. It doesn’t surprise me though that in decades of turning out laws, regulations and consultations there’s a few good ideas in there. Apes & typewriters.
The slight problem of all those managing to enter the EU,and their dependents will also have access.
What price the ID card to enable one to reap the benefits of the Welfare State? “Where is your ID card”? “Sorry I’ll get an interpreter”.
What the hell am I doing awake at this hour?
The same thing happened here over the last few years. President Bush issued an executive order called HSPD-5, Homeland Security Presidential Directive number 5. HSPD-5 basically ordered every agency (Federal, AND state, AND local) to adopt a uniform incident command system to allow for multi-agency cooperation in disasters and major incidents like that[1]. Basically, the system that we were all forced in on would mandate common terminology (plain English on the radio as opposed to “I’m 10-8 that 10-50 and I’ll be 10-76, 10-27 10-29 when you’re ready.”[2]
Interoperability is a good thing, and in general everybody wants to be on the same page. And the revised version of the 1970’s FireScore Incident Command System mandated by HSPD-5 isn’t too bad, it can be scaled up or down from a single-car injury accident to 9-11-01.
And yet, I can’t help but shake the feeling that we should have raised a fuss about one important question: Where the hell does that stupid prick in the White House get off telling us that we have to do XYZ? We don’t work for him.
[1]..save the Hurricane Katrina jokes. The Mayor and Governor were already so incompetent (and in Mayor Nagin’s case, probably corrupt) that Bush never had a chance to screw it up worse than it already was.
[2] I’m not positive what half of that crap means either.
Zactly, Nick. Although I was thinking about broken clocks, not apes.
On second thoughts, those secretarial apes are probably a rather more accurate analogy – being right twice a day is a bit too generous for the EU.
James,
I almost used the broken clock. Then I decided to go for the apes. I like apes. I can watch their amusing antics for hours, especially orangs and gibbons but I don’t want them ordering me about.
Well, I like chimps; they pout, they grin, they pretend to use the telephone (or the typewriter!), they never fail to be a comedy slam dunk. However, I recently discovered that they have extremely high muscle density in their upper body, meaning that an adult male is strong enough to rip your arm off and beat you to death with it. Let’s hope the EU doesn’t get like that.
It is, and always has been, legal to go overseas and buy medical treatment.
At the moment one of the high quality hospitals in India (and there are some) would seem to be the most sensible move – rather than Europe.
Unless they mean “go to another E.U. country, get treatment – and then come home and charge the taxpayers for it”.
That is NOT something to be welcomed.
As for chimps.
Yes there was an experiment into how hard they could hit – a robot was disguised as a leopard (skin, smell, noises) and put close to some females and baby chimps.
One of the male chimps hit the robot so hard that the experiment ended – as he had broken the measuring gauge under the armour.
“Bad cat – Hulk SMASH!”.
The human way of fighting is to do so from a distance – humans are better at throwing things than chimps are (not just about standing upright – there are other factors).
Stones (oddly effective – the Romans still used them, and not just from slings) and spear and spear throwers, and bow – and then other things.
Paul:
If it ever came to a close quarter throwdown between man and chimp, I believe we would only survive by kicking the crap out of the chimp with our powerful legs before its primary weapons get within striking range.
Sorry to hijack the thread with lowbrow chimp v. human hypotheticals, Brian.
LOL!