A guest post from a regular reader follows:
Should Holy Mother CBC restore the use of a 1950s laugh track? To highlight moments when the National News is being profoundly obtuse and deliberately absurd?
I say this after watching a short Remembrance Day “investigation” of two healthcare systems – one in Scotland vs another in England.
(The video isn’t yet online. As a representative of failed Journalism Standards it’s hilarious.)
How? By ignoring far too much relevant context. It avoids everything already understood to be disastrously wrong with an ideologically-inspired shattering of public trust by British Tories to slowly privatize the world-famous National Health.
Scotland? Tragic. Those poor rural folks up there! They are too emotion-driven, too sensitive about being “Scottish”. Consistently too proud to admit the error of unsophisticated thought, they thus unwittingly adhered to maintaining a first-class public service.
So sad. They like, respect and recklessly help each other. Madness!
The National, by presenting stats about wait times, dismisses a political reality that includes the near-total collapse of public confidence in the Starmer Labour government. Instead, the report tried to claim that golly/gosh, the two systems (with one being demolished) – statistically – aren’t that different after all.
Contrast with this report from The Lancet:
Warning: You’ll wait forever to hear the verboten word “privatized” in this CBC glowing report on “Collaborative Care” in the Maritimes.
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Complaint 1/ Has no writer/researcher at the CBC heard of Europe? It’s relatively big, and its versions of “socialized” health consistently outperform ours.
Complaint 2/ Could the CBC find no relevant stats on European healthcare and its success? Europe includes so many countries with robust public services. Why not look? Or compare?
Complaint 3/ Why not investigate Scandinavian healthcare to explain their pride in their success? How about China and SE Asia? Nope. Not a squeak!
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Today, another ideological monkey wrench materialized. Starmerism is running rampant.
Thousands of NHS staff will be made redundant as the government presses ahead with plans to abolish NHS England, The Independent has been told.
In a briefing to staff on Tuesday, NHS England confirmed voluntary redundancies planned for the organization, as well as local NHS integrated care boards, will go ahead next year.
In a slide, seen by The Independent, NHS England said there would be a “50 per cent reduction”. It said there is a push for voluntary redundancies and that the roles will be cut from mid-March 2026.
NHS England employs more than 15,000 staff and was set up in 2013 by then-Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley to give the NHS greater autonomy.
When announcing plans to abolish, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said an “arms-length” body should not make decisions about the more than £150bn annual NHS England budget, as he promised the move would allow the government to deliver better care.
Starmerism: fire lots of people who are vital to maintaining essential services. Simultaneously, declare that this cost-saving gesture inevitably improves service delivery.
To many, the UK is experiencing an economic crusade to enforce an elite perception that socialized medicine must be throttled by downsizing, defunding, shuttering services, and tossing what remains to the private sector.. But be assured, such “reform” will still perform miracles.
Hooray for magical thinking! What matters most is intent!
From the Comments Section:
There is certainly something wrong with the NHS. Wes Streeting seems very good at speaking convincingly but behind all his talk, I understand that he receives a lot of donations from the private health sector.
Fifteen further comments add depth to the argument that the UK is lost in a fantasy ritual of economic seppuku, purification and rectification. This sounds uncomfortably similar to what has been done to Canadian healthcare by our privatization-loving quango-inspired politicos.
To help explain Margaret Thatcher’s contribution, there’s this.
Spurnman:
Thatcher put in 2 or three levels of ‘management’ into the NHS for reasons unknown; perhaps THEY need slimming down?
As stated below, staff are essential: doctors, nurses, etc., need to be assured their work will be supported with needed resources.
BrotherChe:
The Tories and their media enablers ranted about a bonfire of the quangos, eagerly dismantling regulatory bodies that protected the public, while creating the mother of all quangos, NHS England, which has flogged chunks of the NHS Estate to line the pockets of the already rich at the expense of us all.
A number of years back I sat in the preserved commemorative workhouse of Charlie Chaplins, only to be told that Kings NHS Trust were selling it, against the assurances given to the community group that looked after it that it would not be sold. The flaggers will vote for more of that on steroids, with Reformerts then bleating about their loss of identity and services, blaming it on everyone but themselves.
Back 40 years ago, I recall a staff party in the Mortgage Banking Division. My boss began with an anecdote:
During the last days of Marie Antoinette, she cornered the President of the Bank of France and demanded to know. “What is being done to protect the Franc! The people of France are becoming extremely agitated!”
Thrusting his chin forward, he replied, “Done? Being Done? Your Highness, nothing is being done! No! Nothing at all! The Situation is far too Serious!”
Instant nervous laughter followed, and a slow recognition by some that it isn’t governments alone who determine policy. Regardless of consequences experienced later by kings, princes, officials and lowly politicians, some politicians will concede that, “We just had to do this!” Without ever fully disclosing why..
The catastrophe represented by Keir Starmer and so many other current politicians is not merely that an irate public understands his policies are ruinous, but they also comprehend his obvious obedience as a useful tool of others. Others he dares not oppose.
That’s the Zeitgeist.
That’s what Professor Ord at the “Precipice” recognizes.
Categories: Health
in-sights.ca 
Another BC housing scandal?
With a co-op! And not one person in the federal or provincial government ever saw it coming?
https://vancouversun.com/news/vancouver-co-op-rent-shock-new-members-blindsided-68-per-cent-rent-increase-a-week-before-move-in
“Vancouver co-op rent shock: New members blindsided with 68% rent increase a week before move-in
“Newly accepted members of the co-operative allege their applications were approved at one housing rate, only to have their rent skyrocket just days before move-in”
https://globalnews.ca/news/11333926/bc-couple-co-op-housing-rent-increase/
“Under BC Housing, the HILs program, or Housing Income Limits, represents “the maximum gross household income for eligibility in many affordable housing programs. The HILs are based on figures established by (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation), and are intended to reflect the minimum income required to afford appropriate accommodation in the private market.””
“The couple now faces a rental bill of $2,265 a month.”
““The amount of rent that can be increased per year legally is a lot less than what the co-op increased our rent to, and in normal circumstances, under the BC Residential Tenancy Branch, that major of an increase will be illegal,” Busch said.”
“The Co-op Federation confirmed to Global News that Kinship follows BC Housing limit guidelines and BC Housing follows limits set by the Canadian government.”
Was spending a billion in China for BC Ferry construction a really great idea for BC? BC unions don’t think so.
https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/bc-ndp-ferries-china-david-eby
“B.C. NDP members upset at building ferries in China, but wrath unlikely to touch David Eby
Vaughn Palmer: A party committee has made sure the ferry motions are so low on the order paper they’re unlikely to come up for debate”
https://vancouversun.com/news/david-eby-ndp-convention-likely-criticisms-labour-strife-economic-policy
“B.C. labour strife, economic policy the hot points as David Eby heads into weekend NDP convention”
“There are issues that could trip up the premier, such as concerns about how the government is handling the Cowichan land title case, and contract talks with unions such as the B.C. Nurses’ Union.”
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Forty pounds sterling [GBP] = $73.90 [CAD].
Three hundred and 75 pounds [GBP] = $692.79 [CAD].
Today (25-11-16) the BBC reported an energy experiment. An innovative way to reduce heating costs by installing a “Data Centre”. Albeit In a shed.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rpy7envr5o
“An Essex couple have become the first people in the country to trial a scheme that sees them heat their home using a data centre in their garden shed.”
“Terrence and Lesley Bridges have seen their energy bills drop dramatically, from £375 a month down to as low as £40, since they swapped their gas boiler for a HeatHub – a small data centre containing more than 500 computers.”
“Data centres are banks of computers which carry out digital tasks. As the computers process data, they generate lots of heat, which is captured by oil and then transferred into the Bridges’ hot water system.”
“The HeatHub was developed by Thermify and is part of UK Power Networks’ SHIELD project, which aims to come up with innovative ways for low-income households to transition to net zero.”
“Through SHIELD, the Bridges also had solar panels and a battery put in, which have contributed to their savings.”
“Mr Bridges, a retired RAF sergeant, says despite putting “the heating up fairly high to keep it nice and warm”, his bill has fallen to between £40 and £60 each month.”
“I think it’s fantastic because it’s eco-friendly,” he continues, “we’re not burning any gases, so it’s green – it’s environmentally friendly.”
“The Bridges’ landlord, social housing provider Eastlight Community Homes, is also part of SHIELD.”
“Daniel Greenwood, Eastlight’s head of asset management, says he hopes the next phase of the project will see 50 homes get HeatHubs, and adds: “We’ve seen great results for the current installation, and although this is the first of its kind, we’re looking to roll that out more broadly.”
“Data centres help run the modern world. It is estimated they consume about 2.5% of the UK’s electricity, and as more are built, their power demand could rise fourfold by 2030.”
“Thermify is not alone in trying to capture and use the heat generated by data centres.”
“A swimming pool in Devon is being warmed by a washing machine-sized “digital boiler”.
“The company behind that scheme is also involved in a proposal to build the Melbourn Energy Superloop – a combined solar-powered data centre and district heat network in south Cambridgeshire.”
“Milton Keynes University Hospital was also hoping to be the first place in the city to benefit from £95m plans to share heat from a new data centre.”
Among many possible sites are Hospitals, Schools. Much larger Data Centres will use water as a coolant, either salt or fresh..
“Project Natick saw more than 850 servers sunk in a giant metal tube off the coast of Orkney between 2018 and 2020.”
“There are reports that Chinese companies were also planning to sink data centres into the ocean.”
So? Know of any hospitals experiencing money problems? How many BC municipalities are next door to large bodies of water?
Has any official in Ottawa or Victoria contacted the BBC for information?
Or do we really believe that only selling lots of LNG can rescue Canada? While the world accepts new ways to get things done and changes course.
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Dated October 2025 the BBC revealed plans to use excess heat for….
“Hospital gets low-carbon heating from data centres”
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cew4080092eo
“Buildings in a city will be provided with low-carbon heating from data centres in a new £95m scheme.”
“Milton Keynes University Hospital will be the first place in the city to benefit from the heat network by developers 1Energy.”
“1Energy said 100 gigawatt hours of energy would be generated through the network each year, equivalent to the heat needed for 20,000 homes.”
“It will initially heat 74 large buildings by the end of 2027 with longer term ambitions to start heating households.”
“The developer said the Milton Keynes Energy Network would help to cut customers’ reliance on fossil fuels while supporting both the NHS and the city’s ambitions to reduce net carbon emissions to zero.”
“It said the scheme would cut 15,000 tonnes of emissions a year – the equivalent of planting 238,000 trees – because of the 75% reduction in heating emissions for the connected buildings, compared to gas boilers.”
“Mr Bungey said that as well as delivering efficient, low-carbon heating it was “an example of how we can re-purpose waste heat into community value, powering a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future.””
“The energy centre that will help to provide heat to the network will be located adjacent to Linford Wood.”
“It will be powered by large air source heat pumps, which extract heat from the air and turn it into useable heating – like a fridge in reverse.”
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