Obamacare precursor: Pregnant Scot with H1N1 goes to Sweden due to NHS' lack of proper facilities

So, speaking of a national health care plan...

please click Fri 24 July News at Noon Part 2,

and see the reality of the current NHS
URL: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1529573111?bclid=30437470001&bctid=30621718001

This topic starts at 4:10, following news re

Norwich North by-election won by Conservative

Chloe Smith, now the youngest MP, who received

twice as many votes as her Labour opponent,

Ostrowski, who was, himself, selected by the party

to replace popular Labour MP Ian Gibson,

who was embroiled in the Expenses scandal

as a result of letting his daughter stay at a home,

rent-free, that U.K. taxpayers were actually paying

for.

And for good measure, substitute candidate
Ostrowski caught Swine Flu, and was unable
to campaign the last few days!

When it rains, it pours!

The bigger story is the completely inadequate number

of intensive care beds in the U.K. for victims of H1N1
-esp. units for children- and most particularly in the

SE and SW of England, as well as in the Midlands.

And the National Pandemic Flu Service website was

crashing just hours after being put up, after 100,000

people in the U.K. reported symptoms last week,

twice the number of the previous week.

If you let the segment roll on, you'll come to the

very well-produced report from the previous night,

including comparisons to the flu of 1969,

before anti-virals were available, that resulted in

30,000 deaths in the U.K.

To see their take on Obama's health care plan

and the ads using British doctors and patients

complaining about care under the NHS.

After seeing it, perhaps you'll better appreciate
why I try to watch Channel Four everyday,
or catch up on segments I missed on rainy Saturdays
like this past weekend, when I thought that I'd
be down on South Beach with some friends,
instead of staring at my computer and listening
to the Cards-Phillies game in the background,
after my friends canceled our plans.

See: http://www.channel4.com/news/

Meanwhile, back in Britain on the 4th of July, Channel Four says...

July 4th, 2009

Have been watching and listening all afternoon to some

very interesting and troubling news stories today via

Britain's Channel Four, while trying to get some work

done on some overdue emails and the blogs, before

heading up to Hollywood Beach later for their fireworks,

since Hallandale Beach cut them out this year on

account of costs.

If you watch these news stories, you'll see why I make

a point everyday of trying to find time in my schedule

to watch Channel Four's newscasts,

http://www.channel4.com/news/ via their website's

video, as they all feature top-notch reporters that know

how to tell a compelling story and first-rate production

graphics, maps and visual cues to assist them in this

effort.

http://www.channel4.com/news/watchlisten/video/

(Meanwhile, when a small earthquake hits an area

on the sparsely populated California-Nevada border,

the American cablenets inevitably put an oversize

map of the American West Coast on-screen.

One that shows Washington State, which is only

nowhere near the site of the quake, which while

the focus of the story, is represented by a dot.

What big city that we might've ever heard of is

closest to the area?

We never know, because 15 seconds later, they've

moved on to the next story.)

I'll soon be posting some things I've been working on

the past month about Westminster's expanding

and embarrassing expense scandal, which has a lot

of resonance for me because of the very compelling

CBS4 I-Team investigation stories by Stephen Stock

on the Miami-Dade Commission's discretionary funds,

and the difficulty in finding anything like it in the rest

of the United States.

Yet another "Only in Miami" story.

http://cbs4.com/iteam/miami.dade.commission.2.907201.html

http://cbs4.com/iteam/investigation.carry.over.2.954322.html

http://cbs4.com/iteam/miami.dade.commission.2.907201.html

http://cbs4.com/iteam/commission.mudget.broward.2.957878.html

I should also mention that if you start with the first video

of the U.K.'s Channel Four, they will continue on to the

next news segment unless you pause or stop it.

Let it roll so you can see how they do things, and hear

how much better-written and edited their telecasts are

compared to what we've become used to here.

See old newscasts here:

http://www.channel4.com/news/watchlisten/video/

Important historical changes in the U.K. on rules regarding

double jeopardy finally bear fruit as career criminal finally

gets convicted.

As the result of the direct testimony at Old Bailey of a

victim that refused to die and keep quiet, a man has now

been convicted and sentenced to Life in Prison after

previously being found not guilty of manslaughter in the

death of his former girlfriend, Cassandra McDermott,

and now convicted of that crime and the attempted

murder of a subsequent girlfriend, model Kara Hoyte,

who was initially paralyzed and suffered brain damage

as a result of the heinous attack.

Shocker- his behavior is nothing new, as he had

a long track record of abusive behavior towards

women.

Comes up at 4:04 in this news segment and runs

thru 6:40.

URL link:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1529573111?bclid=27693009001&bctid=28391597001

Skin Deep

Racial identity in apartheid-era South Africa is the

subject of a compelling new film called "Skin,"

based on the sad but true story of Sandra Laing.

It stars the always excellent Sam Neill as her father,

Sophie Okonedo as Sandra and South African-born

actress Alice Krige as her mother, whom you may

know better as the Borg Queen.

The real Sandra Laing and the director of the film

about her, Anthony Fabian, are interviewed after

some clips of the film, which come out in the U.K.

at the end of the month.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964586/

See also: Fighting for acceptance

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/film_tv/fighting+for+acceptance/3249317

URLK link:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1529573111?bclid=27494662001&bctid=28486886001

Rogue oil trader Steve Perkins unauthorized moves

cost his company $10 million.

Moral: Irresponsible speculators are likely responsible

for more than 50% of costs of oil?

Length 3:57

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1529573111?bclid=27693009001&bctid=28424868001

Preview of coming Obamacare?

That one in ten patients entering the hospital in Britain

and Wales are suffering serious harm as a result of

the NHS government-run health care, possibly including

death, is just one of disturbing conclusions of an MP's

report saying bureaucratic targets gets preference over

patient care.

Includes interview with Health Secretary Mike O'Brien,

and argument over wide cleavage over desired principals

and actual practices at these facilities.

This particular story ends at 7:20

URL link:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1529573111?bclid=27693009001&bctid=28424904001

FYI: At 14:20 of the last segment, we get a LIVE stand-up

at the Old Bailey following Kara Hoyte's brave testimony,

with Cassandra McDermott's family lending their emotional

support to her. It's very touching.