A teenager has been caught practicing medicine in Florida without medical qualifications.  The supposed ‘doctor’ opened his own surgery and seemed to be developing a successful practice. His only degree was purchased from the Universal Life Church for $29.95. We’ve had a few of those ‘doctors’ in this country, generally from India or Pakistan, but a similar situation couldn’t occur any longer. They would quickly be caught out. Patients being offered appointments by a GP without a three-week waiting period would instantly smell a rat.

    On second thoughts, this fake doctor might find a place in the hospital service as all the junior staff are on strike as I type. We’re sorry to come back to the topic but it won’t go away. The doctor’s banners insist the strike is about saving the NHS but their position flies in the face of all who experience weekends in hospital. As our pal’s illness kept him in, 5 weeks becoming 9, simple observation put the seven-day service in perspective. Most of the service grinds to a halt during the weekend, doctors on call about as visible as Lord Lucan. Death rate statistics simply support what you see as patient or visitor at the weekend. Hospital doctors invariably get support and respect from the public but call the issue what it is – a pay dispute.

    China has targeted 2020 as the year to land a ‘rover’ on Mars. Their technological abilities suggest they are likely to succeed. We wonder how long it will take them to populate then fill the planet?

    Obama seems to have instigated a ‘love in’ with Angela Merkel as demonstrations against the TTIP negotiations took place around them. He also suggested her position on immigration to Germany was the right one. It’s good to see accord between leaders, even if they are completely at odds with significant proportions of voters – in both countries! We find it remarkable that Obama takes positions in foreign countries that he wouldn’t dare raise, let alone support, in America. Obama certainly left a legacy in the UK with his comments on the EU. Interestingly, all his interviews and meetings gave him a ‘soft’ ride, the selected audiences and questions obviously vetted. Most people feel his visit was to give Cameron a helping hand while remaining focused on America’s requirements of Europe. We’re just sad he didn’t manage a visit to Newark in the UK – he’d have felt at home there.

    Health club Fitness First’s analysis of 5 years of data showed that members named Laura and James worked out more often and more efficiently than any other named members. So if you are planning dinner parties use the ‘Royals’ technique for seating. They recommend seating the boring people next to one another.

    Paddy made a point we didn’t need to hear this week. “Things we buy now will never wear out,” he said. That sort of comment doesn’t improve your lunch.   

    TTIP – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is worth a bit more examination as our leaders push for it. It took a Freedom of Information request to get data about the only risk assessment of TTIP carried out in the UK. The Department Of Innovation and Skills (BIS) has carried out a single review (Unpublished). The study suggested that TTIP would have limited political and economic benefits. It may also result in ‘meaningful economic costs in the UK’.  Many of us are aware of so-called mushroom management – ‘keep them in the dark and feed them shit’, the classic description. Politicians seem to be taking it to a whole new level.

    Based on comments from the police and the NHS casualty departments we were under the impression that the UK is a pretty boozy country. We are constantly questioned about numbers of units we drink every time we have a check up at the GP’s. Most of us lie. Not deliberately, you understand. Partly it is due to the difference in the size of glasses we use and how much we pour. The other issue is memory. We often have problems remembering what we did yesterday let alone how many units we have each week. Now it appears we’re non-starters in the drinking stakes. Data on dependence on alcohol puts The UK 25^th in the world. On the basis of that data, we shall stop worrying about units, safe in the knowledge that we can’t be drinking too much or we’d be much higher in the league table.