Verbal

His views about the NHS generally have been shaped over the years by his wife's experiences in the NHS. In any case, the wings of the Tory Party now seem to be not 'left or 'right', but 'occasionally reasonable' (Ken Clarke) to 'egotistical, dimwitted maniac' (Lansley), with 'rabbit caught in the headlights (Clegg, Honorary Tory for Sheffield South) somewhere in between. Lansley couldn't help himself with the language he used for the 'apology' he issued to health professionals for his (now on-hold) 'reforms': 'I'm sorry you don't get it.' It's common to discover that politicians are idiots. But to put such an utter fool in charge of a £100 billion organisation is what makes Cameron so historically useless. Maybe he thought that Lansley's brainlessness wouldn't stand out among the other cretins like Gove (education u-turn), Spelman (Forests sell-off u-turn), Willetts (higher education cOck-up)...etc, etc. He was wrong.

It's more of a sliding scale - and Cameron has slid to the bottom with greased-lightning speed. Only Clegg has outdone him by demonstrating his utter uselessness, so transparently, so quickly, while making sure that he, like Cameron, has benefitted, free, from all the privileges (like an Oxbridge education) they are now busily denying succeeding generations. Incidentally, the odd and funny thing about Cameron's complaint about Oxford's admissions of black students (or black student singular), is that his numbers were based solely on those collected by David Lammy (then Labour Minister for Higher Ed), who made the same mistake when he threw an identical wobbly last year.

Close. I think Gemmel had Gandhi in mind.

More like Goebbels.

No, a debit card doesn't give you the same protection.

But Lansley is not proposing cuts to the NHS. He's proposing an INCREASE - and an overnight revolution based on some ideas he came up with in his sleep. And they're bonkers. It's like making army generals submarine commanders. The strong likelihood is that - like higher education - these 'reforms' will cost billions more.

I think when the nurses' union gives an unprecedented vote of no confidence in Lansley, at a crushing 98%, something is deeply wrong. In any case, your premise is mistaken. This government came in pledging NOT to cut the NHS. That's not what these 'reforms' are supposed to be about - though heaven only knows what they ARE about. Even Cameron seems baffled. And are rightly seen as both bizarre (because GPs on many of their own admission know remarkably little about the way the HNS works, and yet they somehow will be given blanket powers to determine NHS spending), counterproductive (driving down patient care), and ideologically driven (trying to create a 'market' in health). This thread should be merged with the Cameron=bellend thread - it's just the latest episode from these hopeless, immature, moronic, bellended toffs.

You're very welcome. Sleep paralysis and its characteristics are by no means 'one man's research' (the one man being Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths' College, London). It's a reasonably well studied phenomenon among professional psychologists, and I don't know of any that dispute Chris's basic argument. You could try and find some if you like, to support your 'pass'. I'd be interested to see a professional counterargument.

I wouldn't exclude enthusiastic loopiness.

Correct. Sorry.

That is precisely the thing that Chris French is describing - and episodes like this, he says, are surprisingly common, except that people are generally reluctant to admit they've experienced them. Sleep paralysis isn't only what's really going on when people claim they've been abducted by aliens (or attacked by demons in other cultures); it's been the inspiration of innumerable horror movies. Interesting also that you describe the effort to wake up. Chris maintained that most people are aware that they are dreaming, in some sense, and that the only escape is to wake up - except of course, they're paralysed and they are 'dreaming-awake'. Seems the worst of all nightmares.

I met an interesting psychologist last year called Chris French, who pretty convincingly argues that all claims of alien abduction are explained by a psychological event called sleep paralysis, during which hallucinations are common. More than half the population has experienced something like this at least once in their lives (which should mean a fair few on here): "The light had been switched off, and a comfortable feeling of warmth and heaviness marked the onset of sleep. But suddenly a slurping sound startled the sleeper. Everything seemed completely normal – until he noticed the green liana which had grown from the pot plant and reached his body. "Every movement became impossible, and every scream was smothered by the plant material that was growing around his mouth and throat. Thoughts raced through the mind: This wasn't a nightmare, the reality of the room was far too distinct and his perception and thinking were far too clear. Were the plants taking revenge on humankind, or had aliens conquered the planet?" The dreamer, in this case, was an eminent geoscientist from Edinburgh. What makes sleep paralysis particularly frightening is that, as the term suggests, you just can't move away from the threat and yet you're apparently wide awake (even though you're actually dreaming). http://www.ripaonline.co.uk/studies/sleep-paralysis-study

Why do aliens always head straight for the US of A? Why not Plumstead? Or Belgium?

Of course she's in the wrong. She's an idiot for behaving the way she did. All of which has nothing to do with Dune trawling google for every illustration he can possibly find to show 'Muslims' in a bad light and put them up here as threads. Such are the cumulative actions of a committed and obsessive racist. Her actions have nothing to do with being a Muslim as such, but are grist to the mills of the self-righteous, 'I told you so' fanatics. It's the broader equation dune is going for: Muslims = brown people = figures of hate. This is not about you, Micky, or anyone who objects to her silliness; it's about a repugnant little englander much closer (sadly) to home.

Then you'd be in the vast majority of niqab enthusiasts.

If you wear a niqab, none.

Agreed. Except for the bit about 'in danger'. This site has crossed the line already on a number of occasions (eg the decisions to allow BNP and EDL propaganda to be posted verbatim). There is a particularly ugly strain of hate on this site, which is little more than white rage dressed up as outrage against religion.

You have to be carful about this stuff. BBC Radio Four broadcast a programme recently called 'Schrodinger's Quantum Kittens' and received complaints about cruelty to cats in boxes.

You mean Christian.

There was an excellent documentary on this called 'Plan 9 from Outer Space'.

He could have been anywhere. Was the cat dead?

This is true from my experience having to drive up dreaded north. Dangerous because they are always getting in my goddamned ****ing way. However, if they were to actually hit anything themselves they wouldn't even dent a daffodil.

Exactly. I strongly resent the implication here, mocking the clear and consistent bias against Saints shown by the BBC, all of it orchestrated from the very top. I hear Mark Thompson regularly convenes executives' meetings to work out their anti-Saints strategy. I am with dune - he and others who share his planet-view should withhold their licence fee and tell the licensing authorities that they are doing so. Then we'll really see some changes around here.

Have you turned into Malcolm 'Alex' McDowell?

I've asked this question too, and received no answer of course. It seems some racists are more acceptable than others. Dune is, Stanley isn't. Go figure.