This is a horror show; how could this go through? In the US, healthcare is an atrocity, a war against its own citizens, bankrupting the middle class poor. People sometimes have to choose between medicine and food. There's no excuse for this in the US where 1% now control 90% (I thought that was an exaggeration, but it's not). I could tell you horror stories about friends of mine who have had cancer and died literally in their own shit, about people unable to get proper treatment - ever, etc. Even though I'm eligible for medicare - it costs an addition $5000 year just to make the coverage functional at all. How can they do this in England? How can they get away with it? The universities are another case in point; at one time, California had the best system in the country - now they charge so much a lot of people can't afford to go and professors are furloughed.
It makes me furious watching these things develop world-wide, as the rich get fatter and fatter and better enclaved, and the poor are left to fend for themselves, without resources and often without hope. - Alan On Sun, 20 Mar 2011, Simon Biggs wrote: > Don't ask Alan. > > The new Con-Dem government are privatising everything. They do not > necessarily call it that, but it is that in all but name. > > The NHS, for example, will no longer be funded directly but through > consortiums of health service purchasers - mostly large private companies of > GP's but also other private gatekeepers. A number of private US health firms > are queuing up to come into that market. The NHS will be there but as a > provider of service to these companies. Further to that, private primary > providers will be able to compete with the NHS and doctors's groups will be > required to put services out to competitive tender. The NHS will not be a > monopoly. That is effective privatisation on the US model. > > In English higher education the government is withdrawing all funding for > taught provision. Students will be charged the full cost of their course > (about ?8000/year on average). The student can choose to borrow the fee from > the State and then repay it with interest on graduation. This breaks the > link between State funding agencies and the Universities, at least in > respect of teaching. Research will still be directly funded - although there > are questions as to what will happen in the future. > > In Scotland it is a bit different. Scotland does not raise its own taxes > (that is done in London) and government income is calculated as a proportion > of UK tax. The allocation for Scottish higher education has been cut by the > same amount as in England (40%). Scotland doesn't have fees and has no > mechanism to make up that lost revenue. We have an election in a few weeks > and neither of the parties that could win will consider fees. It would be > political suicide. There will be a shortfall in Scottish higher education > funding and there is currently no solution. It is only a matter of months > till this budget kicks in. The most likely outcome is a big cut in the > number of students and a lot of unemployed academics (we have no tenure in > the UK). > > Best > > Simon > > > On 20/03/2011 16:31, "Alan Sondheim" <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> Hi Simon, >> >> I'm not sure why US law would hold, since the census would be within UK >> and subject to UK laws. But it's shocking that this has been delegated to >> any private/commercial company; the whole point of the census is >> demographic neutrality. Is this part of a general privatization of >> functions like these? What about the health-care system for example? >> >> Thanks, Alan >> >> >> On Sun, 20 Mar 2011, Simon Biggs wrote: >> >>> The census use to be government run in the UK but they asked for sensitive >>> information that could be used against you. I understand its value for >>> planning and consider some aspects of it valid. When I was in Australia I >>> always filled it in. At that time they didn't ask about things I find >>> difficult now. The UK have now decided to use a US company, and a dodgy one >>> at that, making the issue more difficult. Firstly, the data will be >>> collected and processed by a military organisation and, secondly, US law >>> might override UK law and require disclosure, making a mockery of the UK's >>> data protection systems. >>> >>> Best >>> >>> Simon >>> >>> >>> On 20/03/2011 16:08, "Alan Sondheim" <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> In the US, the census is government run; Azure worked for them this year. >>>> It's important for people to fill the stuff out, since funding and votes >>>> depend on it. Oddly, othodox Jews resisted. >>>> >>>> - Alan >>>> >>>> On Sun, 20 Mar 2011, Simon Biggs wrote: >>>> >>>>> I ignored the last one and will ignore this one. I'm a private citizen. >>>>> >>>>> Best >>>>> >>>>> Simon >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On 20/03/2011 12:50, "list|marianne" <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Resistance to the decennial census is growing as a coalition of anti-war >>>>>> groups, pacifists, religious organisations and digital activists begin >>>>>> raising public awareness about the role of Lockheed Martin, America's >>>>>> largest arms manufacturer. >>>>>> >>>>>> The company, which makes Trident nuclear missiles, cluster bombs and F-16 >>>>>> fighter jets, won the ?150m contract to run the census on behalf of the >>>>>> Office for National Statistics (ONS). >>>>>> >>>>>> "The really worrying thing is the fact that the information being >>>>>> collected >>>>>> in the next census ? including new questions on sources of income and >>>>>> place >>>>>> of birth [to help monitor immigration] ? would be ideal fodder for the >>>>>> kind >>>>>> of anti-terror analyses being carried out by Lockheed, and could lead to >>>>>> a >>>>>> faraway database identifying thousands of us as potential 'threats'." >>>>>> >>>>>> Lockheed Martin ? which does 80% of its work for the US defence >>>>>> department >>>>>> ? >>>>>> assists more than two dozen American government agencies and is involved >>>>>> in >>>>>> surveillance and data processing for the CIA and FBI. It has >>>>>> controversially >>>>>> provided private contract interrogators to the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq >>>>>> and >>>>>> Guant?namo Bay in Cuba. All US-based companies are subject to the >>>>>> Patriot >>>>>> Act, which allows the US government to have access to any data in the >>>>>> company's possession. Campaigners have warned this could give the US >>>>>> government access to detailed and personal data on the UK's entire >>>>>> population. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/feb/19/census-boycott-lockheed-martin >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> NetBehaviour mailing list >>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>> http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Simon Biggs >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> http://www.littlepig.org.uk/ >>>>> >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> http://www.elmcip.net/ >>>>> http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> NetBehaviour mailing list >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> == >>>> email archive: http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/ >>>> webpage http://www.alansondheim.org >>>> music archive: http://www.espdisk.com/alansondheim/ >>>> current text http://www.alansondheim.org/qx.txt >>>> == >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> NetBehaviour mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >>>> >>> >>> >>> Simon Biggs >>> [email protected] >>> http://www.littlepig.org.uk/ >>> >>> [email protected] >>> http://www.elmcip.net/ >>> http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/ >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> NetBehaviour mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >>> >>> >> >> >> == >> email archive: http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/ >> webpage http://www.alansondheim.org >> music archive: http://www.espdisk.com/alansondheim/ >> current text http://www.alansondheim.org/qx.txt >> == >> _______________________________________________ >> NetBehaviour mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >> > > > Simon Biggs > [email protected] > http://www.littlepig.org.uk/ > > [email protected] > http://www.elmcip.net/ > http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/ > > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > > == email archive: http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/ webpage http://www.alansondheim.org music archive: http://www.espdisk.com/alansondheim/ current text http://www.alansondheim.org/qx.txt == _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
