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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Jan-2017
8-Jan-17 World View -- Violent protests in Sri Lanka over China's takeover of Hambantota seaport

Web Log - January, 2017

8-Jan-17 World View -- Violent protests in Sri Lanka over China's takeover of Hambantota seaport

Britain's hospitals run out of beds as Red Cross declares NHS in 'humanitarian crisis'

by John J. Xenakis

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Britain's hospitals run out of beds as Red Cross declares NHS in 'humanitarian crisis'
Violent protests in Sri Lanka over China's takeover of Hambantota seaport

Britain's hospitals run out of beds as Red Cross declares NHS in 'humanitarian crisis'

About 6,000 patients per week are being left in ambulances because the hospital is too crowded to admit them (Evening Standard)

About 6,000 patients per week are being left in ambulances because the hospital is too crowded to admit them (Evening Standard)

The British Red Cross is declaring the National Health Service (NHS) to be in "humanitarian crisis," because 6,000 patients per week are being left in ambulances outside of hospitals that have run out of beds. When patients are left in ambulances, then the ambulances can no longer be used to transport new patients in medical emergencies. So the NHS has asked the Red Cross to help out by providing volunteers and use Land Rovers to transport patients.

Red Cross chief Mike Adamson said:

"The British Red Cross is on the front line, responding to the humanitarian crisis in our hospital and ambulance services across the country.
We have been called in to support the NHS and help get people home from hospital and free up much-needed beds.
This means deploying our team of emergency volunteers and even calling on our partner Land Rover to lend vehicles to transport patients and get the system moving.
We call on the UK government to allocate immediate funding to stabilize the current system and set out plans towards creating a sustainable funding settlement for the future."

Not surprisingly, a politician like Adamson is simply calling for more money. I've been writing about the NHS for years, and the problem is that there's no more money.

As we reported a year ago, Britain's National Health Service (NHS) is facing an existential crisis, with a huge and accelerating deficit expected to reach 22 billion pounds ($32 billion) by 2020.

The system is corrupt, with doctors falsifying records, claiming for work that was never done, or putting in for bogus overtime. Dentistry services are so bad that people are buying "do-it-yourself (DIY) dentistry kits" to take care of their whole families, as was done centuries ago.

In desperation to save money, many hospitals have had bed cuts, or have closed their Accident & Emergency departments (known in America as Emergency Rooms). Many maternity units have also been targeted for closure.

One of the biggest farces of the 2016 was perpetrated by the "Leave European Union" camp of the Brexit campaign. They promised that if the UK left the EU, then Ł350m-a-week that is currently being sent to Brussels would not be invested in the NHS. It was a total lie, and it was retracted soon after the referendum passed, but it's typical of the lies we hear from politicians on a daily basis.

It would be nice if it were possible to give free health care to everyone, but it isn't. In America, both the Veterans Administration and Obamacare are financial disasters. At least the NHS was designed carefully enough that it was financially healthy for fifty years of its life, but Obamacare was so poorly designed that it's a financial disaster within five years of its life. Jonathan Gruber said that Obamacare passed because of "the stupidity of the American voter," and that same stupidity is continuing, in both America and Britain. London Evening Standard and Reuters and British Red Cross and Guardian (London, 10-Sep-2016)

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Violent protests in Sri Lanka over China's takeover of Hambantota seaport

Thousands of Sri Lanka's Buddhist monks and anti-government protesters held demonstrations on Saturday that turned violent, protesting China's takeover of Sri Lanka's Hambantota seaport by the Chinese in repayment of a debt to the Chinese incurred by the government.

In 2009, China invested $1.2 billion in the port as part of its "string of pearls" strategy to surround India. Sri Lanka had expected to repay the debt through profits earned by the port, but the slowdown in trade throughout the entire region in the last few years has meant that Sri Lanka has been unable to repay the debt.

Now Sri Lanka's government has been forced to give China a 99-year lease to take over the port. In addition, China will lease 15,000 acres in the region for an industrial zone for Chinese factories. China is expected to invest another $5 billion in Sri Lanka for industrial development.

At least 21 people were injured on Saturday in violent clashes between government supporters versus those opposed to the plan, the latter led by Buddhist monks. The two groups threw rocks at each other, and police responded with water cannon.

Opponents of the plan say that thousands of people will lose their homes because of the project. They say that China will establish a "Chinese colony" on Sri Lankan soil that will grow and can never be removed.

Supporters of the plan say that China will invest $5 billion in the region, and the new industries will generation 100,000 new jobs.

There are other international implications. China will have responsibility for security at the port, which means that it the port will host the Chinese military, including warships and submarines.

China already has similar seaports in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and India is concerned that it's being surrounded by China's military and warships. Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka) and AP and News First (Sri Lanka) and BBC

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(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 8-Jan-17 World View -- Violent protests in Sri Lanka over China's takeover of Hambantota seaport thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (8-Jan-2017) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Jan-2017 8-Jan-17 World View -- Violent protests in Sri Lanka over China's takeover of Hambantota seaport

Britain's hospitals run out of beds as Red Cross declares NHS in 'humanitarian crisis'

Violent protests in Sri Lanka over China's takeover of Hambantota seaport

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Jan-2017
8-Jan-17 World View -- Violent protests in Sri Lanka over China's takeover of Hambantota seaport