Parliament has spoken

For once it feels as if parliament has spoken with a voice that really does represent the people. This is despite the fact that Milliband - the leader of the opposition  - was playing cheap party politics.

The people of Britain have not recovered from being duped by Tony Blair and America over Iraq.
All those lies about WMD's ready to fire on us all at a moments notice. I for one was taken in by them and still feel very angry about it.

As a nation it has caused us to lose trust in politicians here and in America.
There were no WMD's in Iraq.

Syria is having the most horrible time. Atrocities are being committed by both sides.
But it is a fight between two Islamic factions Sunni and Shia - similar to the old Catholic against Protestant wars in Europe most recently seen in Ireland.
It is not our war and we cannot be seen to side with one faction over the other. There are evil/dangerous parties in both factions.

We must stay right out of it
It is something they have to sort out for themselves

Wind farm Scandal

How about this for insanity
"Developers have received payments of £19 million not to generate 215 gigawatt hours - enough electricity to supply 50,000 households for a year"
I have just read this in The Times 26 August.

It would seem that when the wind blows and all the wind turbines go round (as they have been designed to do) the national grid cannot cope with all the electricity produced and the turbines have to be turned off. Compensation then has to be paid to the wind farm owners.

Guess who ultimately pays for that?  
Us - through our electricity bills.
It is BONKERS.

Here is what it goes on to say in the paper
" This is equivalent to 3 megawatt wind farms, costing about £90 million to build, standing idle since the beginning of the year.

So
We pay the landowners about £20,000 a year per turbine
 and
We pay the wind farm owners to stop them making electricity
Bonkers - scandalous

Until a means has been found of storing the power made by wind, then it is all a complete waste of money.

No - worse than that - it is a huge rip off

The Scottish Highland Clearances - still happening

I was brought up in an area of the Highlands of Scotland where everything was mostly owned by own family - The Lovats.
Lord Lovat was the head of Clan Fraser and also a WW11 hero and was much loved and respected by all.

In olden times, Scotland had it's clan system. A clan with it's clan head/ chieftain was a huge family all carrying the same name and living in the same area. Some clans were rich and powerful and others were not. The Lovats owned almost all of Inverness-shire and,  where we lived, everyone was called Fraser. They would be known as - Fraser - the post, Fraser - the butcher, Fraser - the undertaker etc.

Near our house lived Fraser - the farmer - two brothers Rod and Simon and their sister Mhairi. They were a God fearing family who followed the most strict of all the Presbyterian faiths. Every Sabbath they would drive very slowly to  church in an ancient huge black car, wearing their best clothes. Their fields were those that surrounded our house and as a child I grew up watching the rotation of various crops and animal stock - always in perfect condition. The farm - like everything else - was owned by the Lovats, but Rod and Simon's family had leased it from them for many generations.
But now
Lord Lovat has died. His son lost the family fortune through gamboling and mismanagement and most of the vast estate has been sold. The remainder is in the hands of a factor whose remit appears to be to maximise profit.
and
Rod and Simon have died.
Simon's son Bryan  had taken over  running the farm for them and had expected to carry on doing so after they died.
NO
The factor has seen that there is more money to be made by clearing Bryan off the land his family has farmed for generations, converting the beautiful old farm steading into houses and renting out the fields to a  neighbouring farmer.

Bryan will leave with nothing. He is grieving his father's loss and at the same time wondering how he is going to survive.

This is happening in many rural areas. Accountants advise on the economics of scale. The larger the farm the more economical it is to run. Farmer's houses and farm steadings are being converted and sold or rented out  as holiday homes or to people from the nearest town. Somewhere there is one very busy farmer managing huge acres of land dotted all over the place. It is the farming equivalent of globalisation.

There is a similarity to The Highland Clearances in the past, where crofters were cleared from their crofts, to make place for sheep and the sheep farmer  -because it made more profit for the land owner.

It is a scandal
AND
knowing Lord Lovat (which I did) I think he would be very upset.
He would never have done this. He looked after his people.

Wind farm companies bribe small communities

In the far away north of Scotland, the big landowners at last see a way of making money from their MAMBA (miles and miles of bugger all). They are paid up to £100,000 per turbine which comes from our electricity bills.
In amongst all this MAMBA there are small communities of people, mostly crofting folk, who meet at the pub and the post office / general store and the school, community Hall and the Church. These people come from families who have lived there for generations. It is a place where nothing changes.

But now their landscape is being changed by the slow march of the Wind farms. Every year brings another one - with more beautiful wild landscape ruined.
The people are not happy. When the last one was proposed they wanted to object en masse but were bribed with offers of money from the company.
They feel cheated. It turns out that the wind farm company cannot pay for anything that would normally be provided by the local council. So their payment consists of a few paltry baskets of flowers in the village and a monthly showing of a film in the hall - an insult.

There is now another wind farm proposed and this time there are lots of objections. Sadly we know that Salmond and Sturgeon - our fishy political leaders - will overule any local opinion in the pursuit of their political ideal
We are told that the huge monstrosities will be removed when they come to the end of their very short lives, but it is not hard to imagine that those concerned will be long gone by then (either dead of bankrupt) and they will remain forever as the dreadful legacy of Salmond and Sturgeon - the politicians that ruined Scotland's landscape in the same way that Beeching is remembered for ruining our once wonderful railway system.

Men packing the car

Why do men feel that they have to be in charge of packing the car - when going on holiday?
Is this just a Scottish thing?
Is it just my pensioner generation?
Or is it just those I have talked to about it?

Why should a male think that somehow he is the only person capable of storing away stuff in the back of a car. He does not feel the same compulsion about storing away groceries in the kitchen after a  supermarket shop - although that is far more onerous.

Is it a left-over from the day when the family car belonged to the man of the house - a time when the little woman  would have no money to buy her own car and perhaps did not drive.

Or is it a left over from a time when there was a clear division of territory - the car and garden shed  being the man's and the kitchen being the woman's?

Is it a left over from those days of the big strong husband carrying the heavy suitcases for the little wife? That is a possibility I suppose - a remnant from the days of chivalry?

Somehow I don't think so.

For a start we don't go in for heavy cases - all those leather things went to the charity shop years ago . We now use various kit bags and rucksacks and carrier bags and boxes.

Fitting it all in is a challenge. However - it is not a challenge of strength, but of intelligence, particularly spatial awareness. It does not require a knowledge of machines or mechanics or of making things work or of mending things  - all of which - I am the first to admit - I am useless at.
No - it requires skills I have to the same to degree of excellence as any male - if not better.
It is therefore most irksome when there is the assumption that the senior male must be in charge
No - I say
It is time for us females to fight back.

Embarrassed by my fellow Scots

Last night we went to to see a well known English comedian at The Edinburgh Festival.
It began at 7.30 pm and there was a performance of something else before it. Hence we all had to queue outside until the venue had emptied. This is the standard Edinburgh Festival routine where event follows event with minimal change over time and to my  mind always demonstrates remarkable good natured  crowd management,
 Behind us in said queue where a bunch of drunken Scots with, it would appear, minimal intelligence and education. Listening to them was a comedy show in itself. One subject they roamed onto was Scottish Independence. Oh Dear - to think that people like that will be voting on Independence is frightening.
We then all entered the hall and the comedian - Milton Jones - was being most amusing and entertaining us all well. At one point he tried for a bit of audience participation by asking what we were all doing afterwards. A drunken women four along from us shouted out the name of a night club.

"What was that " he said
She repeated the name and then added

"YOU ENGLISH WANKER"

I was shocked and horrified and wanted to shout out

"Ignore that - she is drunk - and
"That is not how us Scots think of you"
But
although Scottish, I speak educated (Queens) English which is perceived by the average uneducated person in Scotland as meaning that I am either posh or English  (I am neither). However, saying what I wanted to say would have caused a riot.
So I shall say it now.

English people - we do not think you are wankers - such a horrible term.
It is only the wankers in Scotland who would think such a thing. Sadly, they are a very loud minority especially when drunk - which is often.
To Milton Jones and all other English people in that audience- on behalf of the quiet majority of the Scottish people - I apologise

Genetically modified GM food

Until recently I was quite against messing with genes. I visualised awful things happening.
But - I met - a potato man. No not the toy. He was a world expert in the genetics of potatoes. A quiet unassuming man until he started on his subject and then - wow.
It is always wonderful to meet someone highly intelligent, interested and passionate about their subject.

After a bit I pinned him down on genetics
"Was all this messing around with the genes of plants a good thing - was it safe?" I asked
His answer was quite categorical
"It was a good thing and it was quite safe" he said
and went on
"There are many safe guards that would make it impossible for anyone to do anything that was risky or unsafe"
"Even the giant multinationals?" I asked
"Even them" he said
I told him that I had heard stories of big companies making modified seeds for crops that would then tie farmers into using only specific  weedkillers made by the same company. He said that was all untrue and would not be possible with the present safeguards.
He totally convinced me with expert knowledge, science and fact.
These are things that are very hard to come by.
I then read a sad and terrible and scandelous story
Two scientists - Potrykus and Beyer decided to do something to help the malnourished people of the world
Without any pay or personal gain, they slightly altered the genes in rice so that it contained extra vitamin A and then persuaded companies to waive their patents so they could give the rice seeds away free - a purely humanitarian and wonderful act.
Millions of people in the third world suffer and die from lack of Vitamin A and this golden rice would save them.
All that was needed was for governments and the anti-brigade to accept and do it.
And there it has stuck - for 10 years.
Organisations like Greenpeace are quite blinkered on this issue and will not even look at it.
It is estimated that 20 million children have died in the meantime through Vitamin A Deficiency.
The WHO estimates that 170 million to 230 million children and 20 million pregnant women are vitamin A deficient and, as it weakens the immune system, that 1.9 million to 2.7 million will die of it each year -
That is more than from  - Aids and TB and Malaria.
Come on Greenpeace - take the blinkers off -  look at this properly - accept it  - and get it done.

To take blood pressure medicine - or not

Amongst us old retired doctors there is a great dislike of taking tablets to prevent illness. When we were young we prescribed medicines to people who were ill - to make them better. Now all the emphasis is on prevention. But - we grumble - perhaps all these preventative medicines are worse than the illness they supposedly prevent. It is one thing to alter ones life style to improve health but it is quite another to take daily - forever- a strong medicine. One could say that it is actually just a huge social experiment. It has never been done before. We are living a vast clinical trial with no control.

Medications are responsible for at least 10% of emergency hospital admissions in older people so the less taken the better

We are advised to-
Take statins - to control cholesterol
Take anti hypertensives - to control blood pressure
Take asprin to control risk of clots

Well I have already talked about statins (see previous blog)
Asprin is great at stopping clots but causes lots of  bleeds  - gastric bleeds and bleeds in the brain.

Anti-hypertensives (bloods pressure pills) are strong medicines which also have side effects.  So who do you get to take them? According to NICE everyone with a BP over 140/90. Well I don't know about you but when I am tested (for anything) my blood pressure goes up. Being tested is terrifying whether it is on your times tables at primary school or on anatomy at medical school or by someone in a white coat at the surgery taking your blood pressure.

This is why us older doctors would not dream of taking the tablets unless it had been shown that our blood pressure was raised under normal conditions at home. Under these conditions NICE recommends 135/85 as the upper limit above which those tablets should be taken.

It is easy to check blood pressure at home. Chemists sell inexpensive home blood pressure testing stuff - very easy to use. Test yourself several times at day (at the same times) for several days and take an average reading. Most GP's are quite happy to be shown home readings. If the average is below 135/85 - no worries.
There is always the problem with the nurse and her protocol - beyond which she cannot see. You may have to battle your way past her or him.

Statisticians are terrifying people. They sit in ivory towers, where real people never go, playing around with numbers and coming out with bonkers ideas. Yes - statistically it might  make sense to put everyone over 50 on the above three medicines in order to reduce cardiovascular disease in the country as a whole. But these people are not numbers, they are complex and are likely to get side effects - some very nasty and will feel awful and whose lives will be made quite miserable and who may never ever ever have been likely to suffer from cardiovascular illness anyway.
Now - here is an idea for the statisticians
Lots of people over 50 get breast cancer and prostate cancer. So - to improve the statistics - why not remove both breasts and prostates in all the over 50's in the country?

To take Statins - or not

My fellow doctors like nothing better than to get all us patients taking Statins once we get older. They have been instructed to do so by higher powers and get brownie points for it and therefore try quite hard.
Well my husband and I - both retired doctors - think it is a bad idea.

Statins  reduce your blood  cholesterol levels and therefore reduce risk of cardiovascular disease or that is the theory. It perhaps is good treatment for someone who is at high risk - with several risk factors such as -
a family history of cardiovascular problems,
a smoker,
a boozer,
overweight,
a couch potatoe
an unhealthy diet full of fried stuff and crisps and pies

But for those of us who are not high risk  -NO - not a good idea
Statins are nasty particularly for elderly people. They have horrible side effects and they have now shown that they cause diabetes.
Statins give people leg cramps. I know people who have suffered terrible leg cramps when on Statins
Statins reduce muscle mass in the elderly increasing the chance of a fall
Statins block T-cell recognition causing an increased risk of infection such as pneumonia
Statins cause depression in half the elderly people who take them. I know of one older lady with a horrible depression - on Statins - who refuses to mention it to her GP. She is of the age group who feel that depression is something shameful, that should be coped with on ones own and certainly not something to bother the busy young doctor about. Her prescription is given to her by the nurse who works to a protocol - I suspect without adequate medical knowledge.
Here is my cynical definition of medical protocols -
Protocols are designed to allow the less well informed to carry out the task of those with more knowledge and intelligence.
Statins cause diabetes. This has been shown in  new research. It may just be that it hastens the onset of diabetes in someone who was going to get it anyway  - whatever - you still get it.
AND
No study has ever shown a statistically significant benefit in reduction of death by taking Statins

So -  I would not take Statins  - unless I was at very high risk of cardiovascular illness