our Health institutions on the spur to bite the dust

Our Health debates - 057 -  Two Serious issues

item #1 -US

Gun Deaths 

Philadelphia, PA, February 1, 2016 - Gun deaths are a serious public health issue in the United States and the scope of the problem is often difficult to illustrate. A new study published inThe American Journal of Medicine lays out the risk in concrete terms. When compared to 22 other high-income nations, 

In order to help put America's relationship with guns into perspective, researchers from the University of Nevada-Reno and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed mortality data gathered by the World Health Organization in 2010. Investigators found that despite having similar rates of nonlethal crimes as other high-income countries, the U.S. has much higher rates of lethal violence, mostly driven by extremely higher rates of gun-related homicides.

The study reveals some stark truths about living and dying in the United States. When compared to other high-income nations, as an American you are: 

• Seven times more likely to be violently killed

• Twenty-five times more likely to be violently killed with a gun

• Six times more likely to be accidentally killed with a gun

• Eight times more likely to commit suicide using a gun

• Ten times more likely to die from a firearm death overall

Homicide is the second leading cause of death for Americans 15 to 24 years of age, and the third leading cause of death among those 25 to 34 years of age. Investigators found that for these two groups, the risk relative to their counterparts in other developed nations is alarmingly elevated. Americans 15 to 24 years of age are nearly 50 times more likely to die from firearm homicide compared to similarly aged young people in other high-income nations. For those aged 25 to 34, the risk is just 32 times higher.

• "Differences in overall suicide rates across cities, states, and regions in the United States are best explained not by differences in mental health, suicide ideation, or even suicide attempts, but by availability of firearms," explained study co-author David Hemenway, PhD, Harvard Professor
• America's love affair with firearms has dire consequences, especially when compared to outcomes in the rest of the developed world. 

• Investigators found that despite having only half the population of the other 22 high-income nations combined, the U.S. accounted for 82% of all firearm deaths. In addition, the U.S. accounted for  slightly over 90% of these three groups: 

•  all women  

•  children aged 0 to 14 years  

•  youth aged 15 to 24 years who were killed by firearms. 

• "Overall, our results show that the U.S., which has the most firearms per capita in the world, suffers disproportionately from firearms compared with other high-income countries," noted Dr. Grinshteyn. "These results are consistent with the hypothesis that our firearms are killing us rather than protecting us."

Rounding off:
Choose one of the graphics on the CNN post here.

item # 2 - UK is KO

 The state of health in the UK -2016

NHS does it stand for ..........No Health Service?

16 July 2015 -
Jeremy Hunt announces new measures to improve safety across NHS

This announcement formed part of a wider package of announcements today, in which the Health Secretary set out his ambition for an NHS with patients at its centre.

12 January 2016 -

• Why are junior doctors going on strike?

Listen to a couple of them:  video (01:30) 

7 February 2016 -

Jeremy Hunt blames unions for junior doctor concernsListen to this video (02:41) 

Artist Matin Rowson on minister Hunt and NHS

Here I select some 6  comments:

1. the British people will stand by our Doctors and Nurses and against a lying man who is not fit to serve the country, Jeremy Hunt. He should have been fired for the Sky sham, let alone allowed to wreck the NHS for privatisation plndering. What monsters we have in positions of power.
2. Here we go . . .: "It's all the fault of the foreigners, nasty scrounging foreigners, coming over here and taking our hospital beds!"
3. Exactly! - Ealing hospital maternity wards comes to mind, have you visited it recently?
4. And Croydon University Hospital, the one near Luna House, where people get leave to stay.
5. It is ridiculous that there is so much despair and complaint about austerity, the NHS, the police cuts the state of education, the cuts to councils Atos etc. etc when this is exactly what the country voted for.
6. The NHS clearly can't go on being run by a spectator at its own funeral, who is only interested in accentuating the bad news so as to be able to drive in a privatising wedge.
7. Either a capable minister should be appointed or, if the Tories really want to press ahead with privatisation in the face of the feelings of the workforce, we should have a referendum first, to see if the public really wants more of its shared capital distributed to corporates

Martin Rowson on Jeremy Hunt and the NHS – cartoon

To round off: 

a couple of follow-up reflections:

on the minus side (1) -Ian Williams

on the plus side (2) - Pemberton

1- A sick joke: the NHS in 2024, 

as seen by GP and graphic novelist Ian Williams

In his book The Bad Doctor, Ian Williams explored the life of a troubled family physician. Here, in an exclusive strip for the Guardian, he imagines the future of the NHS ...

2-  How to fix the NHS: a doctor's prescription

Competition – and ideology – isn't working

  (18-10-2014)

US health -2. underperforming system

Health 2. 

We'll have a look at these old  4 features today.




 comparing  tables

• The most notable way the U.S. differs from other countries is the absence of universal health insurance coverage. 

• Health reform legislation recently signed into law by President Barack Obama should begin to improve the affordability of insurance and access to care when fully implemented in 2014.

Overview.  Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries. This report—an update to three earlier editions—includes data from seven countries and incorporates patients' and physicians' survey results on care experiences and ratings on dimensions of care. Compared with six other nations—Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—the U.S. health care system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives. 

Other reasons that costs are higher and quality is lower is the system is based on an entrepeneurial model.

Furthermore, the U.S. performs less well on health status indicators because of the huge gap between the rich and poor.

Research on social determinants show that when gaps between rich and poor widen, the health of all suffer--even those in the middle. The  U. S.  Seniors info below:

  1 )))   

  2 )))    to check the US Child Health system performance 

by all the States click here

 3 )))   about life expectancy, at globalsociology

Pay especially attention to France and South Korea, both retiring at 60- 

considering a similar retirement age. 

Also note the dramatic improvements in Turkey and Ireland, for instance.




ORAL TASK.  (6 min) 
             You and your team are collecting info about different country health issues. 
             You want to make ONE entry in your  school blog. 
             Discuss  the infograph below and consider the main ideas shown in the graph.

  4 )))  Mashable's overview of  World Health:


life expectancy (years) and cost per capita ($)
Via Mashable (zoomable version here),

sources: GOOD magazine Amazing facts!

C1- Tests Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) links

Three webpages with thorough language tests

Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English - CAE

Practise the Reading + Listening 

                      (and    Use of English sections)

Exam English ✓

   webpage 1.   examenglish.com

Difficulty level: C1 / advanced 

CAE is one of the Cambridge exams.

What is the CAE test like?The test has five sections:

1. Reading - 75 minutes
2. Writing - 2 or 3 tasks , 120 minutes
3. Use of English- 5 tasks with 50 questions - 60 minutes
4. Listening - 40 minutes, 30 questions

   webpage 2.   two tests

2.  English tests `

   webpage 3. 

 

 

3. FLO-LEO  tests

American citizenship -Liberty for Chaplin

Born in London on April 16, 1889, Charles Spencer Chaplin rose from crippling poverty to become the preeminent comedic star of his day. Employing a fake moustache and splayfooted walk, he specialized in slapstick portrayals of the quintessential everyman.
Despite living in the United States for almost 40 years, Chaplin never became an American citizen. Meanwhile, due in part to “Modern Times,” a satire of the machine age, he gained a reputation as a communist sympathizer.

Troublesome Speech of Truth

During the McCarthy era, the FBI put him under surveillance, and a Mississippi congressman called for his deportation.  Then the US Attorney-General announced plans to lauch an inquiry into whether he would be re-admitted to the US.

They arrived one day at his home. When the deputation arrived, it consisted of a stenographer, an FBI agent and an immigration officer, who told him that they had the right to demand Chaplins evidence under oath. 

The unexpected inquisition lasted for four hours and was recorded by the stenographer. It contained personal questions about Chaplins racial origins, political views and sex life. He found the enquiries into his life, thought and opinions most personal, insulting and disgusting.

The U.S. government then revoked his re-entry permit in 1952 as he traveled to England on vacation. Mr Chaplin is still a British citizen, despite living in America for almost 40 years, and has no automatic right to re-enter the country.

Under US law, grounds for denying a foreigner admission include "moral turpitude" and "political affiliations".  

GUARDIAN_ Video- BBC -here 

He turned against his erstwhile home, saying, "I would not go back there even if Jesus Christ was the president."

For a Follow-up

The Banishment of Charlie Chaplin

   ADDENDA  

• English writer Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, and his wife Maria applied for U.S. citizenship in 1953 after having lived in the United States for fourteen years.  

• Huxley renounced all war, and his pacifist views ultimately prevented him from becoming a U.S. citizen.  

• Huxley presented themselves for examination. When Huxley refused to bear arms for the U.S. and would not state that his objections were based on religious ideals, the judge had to adjourn the proceedings.

• ... Huxley never received U.S. citizenship.

On 21 October 1949, Huxley wrote to George Orwell, author of Nineteen Eighty-Four, congratulating him on "how fine and how profoundly important the book is." In his letter to Orwell, he predicted:

• Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narcohypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience.

branding lessons... keep faith on the brave old brand

              The Brave New Brand World

John Hegarty the creative guru behind some of the most iconic ads of the last 30 years with Audi, British airways or google.
When questioned about powerful brands, he had an extremely interesting answer, one that many would raise an eyebrow over however - when you stop and think...... actually he is right.
 It wasn't Coca Cola, Nike, Apple but...

• A brand that has potentially the most iconic logo - .....
• A brand that has and has had the most incredible architects - for instance......
• A brand that has and has had the most iconic designers/artists - for instance .....
• A brand that went global - ......
• A brand that has and has had some amazing composers - for instance Bach
• A brand that has published its main work countless times - billions
• This powerful brand is .... really universal!

Jeez YOU GOT IT:  by gosh, keep fingers CROSSed... 

Anvar Alikhan   made a tongue-in-cheek presentation on how the best “brand” ever was built, by using a brilliant combination of:

market segmentation, symbols and music, 

“store design”, “brand rituals”, “sponsorships” and a deeply motivated “sales force”

In a discussion on the world’s greatest brand Hegarty says it is none of these but instead the Catholic Church, καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία, which he calls “the world’s first truly global brand”.

http://catholicbrand.blogspot.com.es/

A little over 2,000 years ago, 12 poor men from a back-water town in the Roman Empire founded what was to become the largest, richest, and most influential organization in human history. 

Lesson 7: Maintain the Mystery

Many successful companies have used secrets to propel their brands. From McDonald's secret sauce to the Colonel Sander's secret recipe, keeping something behind the curtain can help generate interest and buzz in a brand. 

Lesson 6: Appeal to Accepted Traditions and Tastes

Lesson 5: Engage All the Senses

Lesson 4: Create a New Category

Lesson 3: Provide Consistent Service

Lesson 2: Promote a Consistent Message

Lesson 1: Protect Your Intellectual Property

Does the Catholic Church Need a Brand Manager? 
by Shannen Zarate   November 11, 2002 

  

Brand Manager Position: Available Immediately Would you like to work for the largest and most influential nongovernmental agency outside the US? We are seeking an ambitious and experienced brand manager to help address market challenges such as lack of relevance and differentiation for a US$ 7 billion brand. If interested, please send a resume to The Vatican, Rome.What? The Vatican doesn't have a brand manager, right? Well perhaps they should. All great brands have brand managers and the Catholic Church is a great brand. A great brand that is suffering considerably because it has gone unmanaged for far too long. The Catholic Church is currently struggling with many of the same challenges that brand-focused companies like Cadillac, and Dean Foods struggle with regularly. Things like shrinking market share due to a lack of differentiation and failure to maintain relevance with its core customers.

One of the biggest challenges that the Catholic Church is facing right now is the lack of a differentiating benefit from its competitive set. In the simplest terms, the core benefit of Catholicism is salvation.

From I to WE: getting involved - playing an active part

A spoken word  2015 film about taking action and using your voice.

‘It’s Your Future’ is a film about getting involved and playing an active part in politics. Politics affects everyone, especially young people. No matter how disengaged you feel, the only way to make a difference is to take action. For change to begin, you must make your voice heard.  

REGISTER TO VOTE: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

It’s Your Future  -   Edited by Gary Turk.

When I was 18, politics was boring. 

I didn’t go and vote, I didn’t pay attention, I didn’t really care at what age people got their pension. That seemed ages away, I was just starting out, I really had no interest in what politics was about.

But I should have, the young are most affected. Most 18 to 24s don’t care who gets elected. And I’m not surprised, I once felt that way too... Why vote for a system that doesn’t represent you?

Middle aged, middle classed, old men in old buildings. Too posh and too rich to care about the small things.From the same schools and same clubs, to same suits and same tailors. To the same privileged upbringings with no experience of failures.

When we see them answer questions, a chance they should be seizing. They forget about us, and resort to playground teasing. Like children, taking part in a food fight. Wasting words that have power on a false appetite, that lies. That only wants first prize. That cares less about its people and more what power buys.

But the government works for you, and this can all be resolved. If you stand up for what you believe in, and do your part to get involved. There is strength in your numbers, you are not the minority. You only feel this way as you’ve been made a low priority... by politicians, who are chasing the vote. They won't try and please you if they think there’s no hope.

So prove them all wrong, prove you have a voice. Do the unexpected and accept you have a choice. And vote, but first find out the truth,Look at their policies and how it affects the youth.

This world is yours to inherit, it’s more your future than theirs. Don’t let your life be dictated by the old and billionaires.
It’s the young that pay tuition, it’s the young that fight the wars. It’s the young who need jobs, or could end up living outdoors. 

It’s the young who adopt the planet, it’s the young who clean up the mess. It’s the young who care for the old, so why do the young vote less?
You have a say, that needs to be respected. People are dying for the right to have a leader that’s elected. 

So register to vote, be a part of democracy. Doing nothing and complaining is outright hypocrisy.
You don’t have to be a whisper, your voices are real,You can be the generation that creates a better deal. 

If you want to make a difference, you have to grow up,Our country’s fate is decided by those who show up.

Bonus track

Latest Gary's speech  at  TEDx talk  Newcastle 

• October 2019

UPDATED  2019: 
on Friday 13th  morning ... poetic indeed. 

After the Theresa May’s “strong and stable” in the dustbin of history, 

the Tory party got a 40-seat majority (365 representatives) 

in Dec 12  elections to get Brexit done.

  

• taking back “control of our money” 
• taking back “control our own trade policy”.

Mark Grist 2018- Alchemist - a poem and a punishment:

To go back to this dark 

atmosphere of

 R. Dahl's characters.... 


you may also read 

some negative criticism

 to his work... here

Mark Grist   

 Alchemist: A Poem about a Mistake

            TASK1.  Listen to the poem below 
                           and assess the final punishment.

      TASK2.   Read the script provided in the automatic captions

 and deal with the punctuation of one of the  6 passages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qbu-RDvzRc 

Oct 3, 2018

hERE IS a poem for National Poetry day  2018. 

Hope you like it

·        

•        my stomach flipped thinking of downing vinegar.. oof!

•       Chapter 5: Solution- made me chuckle

•                    Chapter 1.   The confesion

•       01:23   Chapter 2.   Desire

•       02:22    Chapter 3.   Action

•       03:05   Chapter 4.   Failure

•       04:47   Chapter 5.   The solution

•       06:19   Chapter  6.   Punishment

      TASK2.   Read the script provided in the automatic captions

 and deal with the punctuation of one of the  6 passages

here's a confession

Chapter 1.   The confesion

When I was 7, 
I harbored a rather unusual obsession.

Deep in the night when my parents both slept,

I would creep to the kitchen ...

find bottles,
 and neckin the sauces, the syrups 

Oh, how I loved it! 
Sneaking supplies from the back of the cupboard. 
A conquerer, plunderer, condiment pillager.

My favorite thing to drink...
 it was vinegar.

And glug, glug, glug, glug, I would

secretly chug upon each of those bottles.

Guzzle them up. Yes.

Cooking oil was nasty, Tabasco was rough,

but these were experiments and 
I wasn't fuss and with each one I sampled 

I felt a bit braver,  a little bit bolder.

As I nicked them all down 

but really my eye was 

on something much greater :
a bottle that shimmered brighter... and pinker.

The liquid within was so vibrant ... and loud.

What I wanted was sat 
far off from the kitchen 
the sweetest of visions, ...
 it was my dad's mouthwash.

01:23   Chapter 2.   Desire

oh how it sat there

so shiny so pink from high on its throne

looking down on the sink each night I

would brush on my teeth and I'd wonder

what does it taste like and asking my

mother if tonight was the night that I

could try some she'd shake her head

saying oh you're still much too young

now knowing the things I had secretly

drunk all these rules and concern seemed

a little bit dumb oh it's only for

adults mouthwash is dangerous and look

how my father he'd carefully take it all

measured out in some small little cap I would certainly

swig on it braver than that so one fine

night I headed to bed excited elated

already quite proud because tonight

was the night I would do something great

tonight was the night I was drinking

that mouthwash

02:22    Chapter 3.   Action

I had a small nap early that evening so

wide awake and my parents both sleeping

I crept out of bed I crept to the door I

crept to the bathroom looked up and saw

that bottle

oh goodness how brightly it Shawn as

bright as the fleece that the argonauts

one and the moon high above me not

making a sound I climbed on the sink and

pulling it down I stood with it held in

both of my hands this was my moment this

was my chance i undid the lid and

tilting it up I went glug glug glug ride

it hurt and it stung   

 03:05   Chapter 4.   Failure

and I yelped and

gassed as if in slow motion the bottle

it dropped and lashings of potion in

great whopping arks flew out I stood

stunned the bottle then hitting the

floor with a dunk and I dropped down to her tripping hands that were shaken I grabbed for the bottle held it dismayed

it was practically empty down to the

dregs most of it soaked in the bath mat instead and my throat it was stinging my

eyes were now brimming with tears when

they found out I knew they'd be livid

because when I was a child if he did something rotten the punishment was that

you got a smacked bottom and I didn't

want one I wiped both my eyes and I

tried to get what I could back up inside

but there wasn't much more than some drops to be found so I picked up the bat

mat began squeezing it out but now there

was just some grey bits therefore in the bottle there wasn't much there what there was and looked awful

again the tears came and I thought of my dad and the imminent burn on my bum of that smack I was really in trouble I was

out for the count but what if somehow

I could make a new mouthwash it just replaced what was lost with the same pinkish glow I could balance it back my

dad wouldn't know I look around the bathroom surveying the bottles and

things of course this is doable I'll

take some of these things and I'll mix

them together who knows perhaps I could make something that tastes even better

04:47 Chapter 5.   The solution

so first off I took toothpaste

you know it's minty it's fresh it goes

in your mouth I picked up the tube began squeezing it out then I added some water

measured and thorough eye drops for texture

cow poll for color then I moved on to

the rest of the bathroom it got a bit

weird that added some shampoo and some shower gel - it wasn't like it was

planned I really regretted the bit of

bubble bath because it was now really bubbly and it still wasn't complete so with things looking drastic I added some

bleach and now if I'm honest it didn't

look right there were great big yellow

blobs and even the pink bits looked a

bit odd but I found if I took it and

shook it together it looked kind of

alright for a couple of seconds so I

shook it and balanced it turned and I

scuttled on back to my bed I hid under the covers and for hours that night I lay awake in my bed knowing that when my dad drinks it he'll drop down dead and

knowing the trouble I'd be in for owning

up my head in this work I just wasn't

sure which of those two things was worse

so I lay there and cried and I shivered

and bored until suddenly it was sunlight

I woke up all sprawled on the floor and

I turned and looked on with dread

my parents were stood at the end of the be

06:19   Chapter  6.   Punishment

ma have you done something? my father

then asked I could see the bottle held

tight in his grasp it was now sort of

green with these yellow blobs - so I

cried out I'm sorry dad I think I've

just murdered you you've done what my

dad said I've killed you I babbled they

looked at me looking really quite

baffled you've not killed him my mum

said don't be ridiculous this looks like

some kind of poison no way that he's

drinking it there there it's all right

there's no need to panic just tell us

what happened

they were both understanding and they

were both really kind and they gave me a

hug and they said that they thought I'd

been punished enough so I saved up my

pocket money and I paid for a

replacement my bottom when unsnapped

 I'd somehow escaped it reborn and forgiven a

true prodigal son and I only ever stole

condiments from that morning on.