So Cameron is back and trumpeting his new deal with the EU. We’re hoping someone will spell out the details in the near future since nothing stands out. The ‘in’ position seems to be the risk of leaving rather than the changes that have been agreed. If that remains their case it simply reinforces the lack of success in the negotiations. If we’d always avoided risk, in 1944 for instance, the Germans would be in total control of Europe. Whoops, for a second I forgot, they already are. Oh for a Churchill when you need one. Someone called Cameron, Churchill Light the other day. If only he was that close to the real thing. And now he’s taken a very public and extremely snide shot at Boris Johnson for joining the ‘out’ campaign. That shows a side of his character that we hadn’t seen before – inability to cope with a setback is a serious weakness in a leader. Interestingly, all the major European newspapers see Johnson’s support for ‘out’ as a major boost for that team so maybe that’s Cameron’s real concern.  Hopefully, in the weeks that follow we shall see some factual debate to support one side or the other. If not, we’ll be having a finger in the air decision about the most fundamental decision of a lifetime. 

    The fatwa on Salman Rushdie just got increased to $600,000. He should launch another book asap. He could never raise a marketing budget that large through normal events. The concensus in the pub is that the exchange rate means the reward not quite high enough yet!! If it reaches a mill Rushdie may need to steer clear of the areas we frequent.

    We’re not sure if it’s kosher, but what purports to be a copy of a receipt for a six-night stay and treatment in a USA hospital is circulating the web. At just north of $55,000 (£38K in real money) it is an eye opener for those who complain about our NHS. It included charges for the operating room, the emergency room and the recovery room. We kept looking for charges for the bathroom since the individual that got the bill would certainly crap him or herself.      

    Jai Dara Latto (It’s her real name) had a short-lived spell as Miss Transgender in the UK. Stripped of her title for not living full-time as a woman she has lost the prize of £10,000 of surgery in India. Losing the title was inevitable after she was seen working out in the gym wearing boxers and a tee shirt. The solution is for the competition to have a naked stage though it seems likely there would be more testicles on show than in the male showers.

    Scientists say that the worsening floods in American coastal communities are down to our production of greenhouse gases. Currently the floods are routinely dealt with but the US National Academy of Sciences states that we’re getting signs of things to come. They forecast sea level rises of 2/3 feet over the 21^st Century. Emerging economies will demand their right to growth, making the unarguable point that developed countries never had limits on their use of fossil fuels. So we need another solution in the immediate term. Yet all that we hear national leaders pontificating about are greenhouse gases. When will they think outside the box and take some immediate action to buy time?

     The North Middlesex Hospital in Edmonton got so jammed with patients this weekend that they took emergency action. They made a loudspeaker announcement at 11p.m asking anyone without a life-threatening illness to go home, adding that the wait to see a doctor could be eight hours. It must have led to some interesting discussions between patients as they tried to assess their conditions. Diagnose a Friend classes will shortly be introduced at the hospital.  Even more interesting would be the confusion of immigrants who didn’t understand the broadcast message. Net immigration last year was 330,000, slightly more than the population of Coventry. Neither the NHS nor the Education system can cope. It has nothing to do with xenophobia, racism or lack of moral compass. It is simply a matter of numbers. In the meantime, sign up for the nearest ‘Diagnose a Friend’ class. You may need it sooner than you think!

    Media reports that American Intelligence Services tapped the phones of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi got a rapid reaction. The Italian foreign ministry summoned the US ambassador for discussions. They were satisfied when US sources confirmed that they only wanted a copy of phone numbers in his little black book!