Medical Greed

Doctors have voted this week to take industrial action in the non-urgent care sector because of proposed changes to their pensions. Under the new plans, NHS medical practitioners in England and Wales would see their retirement age rise from 65 to 68 by 2015. Contributions to pension plans would also rise, and a new doctor joining the scheme could only expect to receive £68,000 per year when retired … I’m sorry, what? Did I read that right? Doctors are preparing to strike because they will only be receiving 68 grand a year?! Most people won’t ever get anywhere near that amount! Patients should not have to suffer a loss of medical care (even if it is non-urgent) just because doctors have become greedy in their old age. The NHS is meant to be a public service, not a golden handshake freebie giveaway! And as far as the retirement age goes, when state pensions were first widely delivered to the population after World War II the retirement age was set at 65 because life expectancy at that time was less than 70. A pension was intended to give a working person some peace and quiet in their final years. Yet over the passage of time, retirement has become a period of luxurious indulgence, foreign holidays and the start of new adventures! So the fact that we are now having to redress that balance should really come as no great surprise - well, not to anyone who studies history, anyway.

Hindu Bullshit

Why am I even having to write this new post on my blog? Why does society tolerate such obsessive religious nonsense? The Skanda Vale in Wales recently has been the place for legal wranglings concernings Shambo (what the fuck?!) the bull. Shambo was diagnosed many weeks ago with bovine TB but was not immediately slaughtered as would usually be the case because this bull was considered sacred by a group of Hindu monks. Are you kidding me?! If this bull had been transported even short distances across the country it could have infected herds of cows causing farmers to lose their livelihoods; and farmers who had already lost their livelihoods through such an epidemic must have been livid at the blatant double standards. Let's also not forget that bovine TB has the potential to infect humans; frankly I wouldn't have particularly cared if the monks had been infected but they could then have taken it outside their 'sanctuary' and allowed it to pass to innocent hard-working people.
Thankfully, yesterday a group of police officers were finally allowed to barge their way in and take the bull to the slaughterhouse, an act which should have been carried out weeks ago instead of having to wade through acres of possibly infectious red tape! This is simply another example of how religion causes more problems than it solves. I only wish Michael Jackson had been there to scream out "Shambo!"