Ooh No !!, yes another Star Wars The Last Jedi Review

Somehow I would gather that people are blue in the face from the all publicity this film has got and its only out since last Friday (15th December). Went to see this Monday evening at the Omniplex at the Crescent shopping center and was not impressed by what I saw. I wasn’t too impressed by the previous episode “The Force Awakens”, so was not in a queue for this film in particular. Hey what the heck given all the publicity and hype and the “rave” reviews given to it by film critics, had to go see it. Well what I think is that the film has very much recycled the plot of the “Empire Strikes Back”. The beginning of the Last Jedi is a total lift of the rebels escape from the Ice planet Hoth in the “Empire Strikes Back”.

The last Jedi borrows a lot from previous films and its not at all original. The film is very “PC” lots of women, black and Asian actors to the point where they become noticeable and detracts from the film a lot especially the “Empire” or “First Order”. “Luke Skywalker”  is back as a very grumpy Jedi Master who lives on a Island, promises to train “Rey” but doesn’t, the part doesn’t suit Mark Hamill “Luke Skywalker” very well. Snoke, Kylo Ren and General Hux don’t make it as baddies. The whole film looked like a terrible remake, with having no plot to tell basically. No need to make any more Star Wars films I think.

Here is the Irish Times on Star Wars The Last Jedi

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/star-wars-the-last-jedi-review-boring-bloated-and-confusing-1.3324286

An Excerpt from the “Bitter Pill” or what is wrong with Ireland(RoI) Healthcare system.

Here is a excerpt from the “Bitter Pill” on what is wrong with Ireland’s Healthcare system. Verbatim

“The Two Tier System

No discussion of the Irish health system can take place without an examination of its foundations. It is built on the two -tier system of public and private healthcare. At the heart of this system is a blatant lie about choice, one that is propagated by the government and vested interests in a system that rewards private practice and penalises public patients . The two-tier system is the single greatest obstacle to improving the level of healthcare provided in the country. This is because it leaches off resources paid for by the taxpayer and gives little in return to the public, while providing incentives to neglect their public duties. As such it is a system that services no one other than those who profit from it, and it works fundamentally against the improvement of public health services. Yet as long as this system prevails, those who can afford to rightly feel they have little choice but to purchase private health insurance.

 

The Power of Consultants

The two-tier system, in turn must be understood in terms of the role of consultants and, more specifically the power they wield within the health service. Consultants are paid by the State to work a normal working day in their public capacity, but they retain complete discretion over when they choose to be in the hospital and when they chose to leave. Consultants who complain about having to work long hours often neglect to mention that many of those hours are spent looking after private patients to supplement their income. Considering  that the Irish taxpayer is paying salaries of upward €140 K * to these men and women, there is a major question to be asked about accountability.

It is a well- established and universally accepted fact that accountability is a key factor in achieving the standards of best medical practice.’Measuring practice’ and comparing it ‘against existing standards’ are key components in the audit cycle , the gold-standard for evaluating and improving medical practise. Yet in the ‘Medical Consultants Report’ , published in March 2007 by the Comptroller and Auditor General, it was found that no record is kept of how many hours consultants devote to public service as compared to private work, and that the prioritising of private patients is leading to a neglect of public care”

*Book was published in 2007

That Christmas feeling or the lack of it.

Its that time of the year again Christmas !! Well all the radio stations are playing christmas songs all the time but I don’t feel that Christmassy somehow. Maybe it is just me but I lack any emotion or christmas spirit at this time of year. Everything encourages people to spend, spend, all for just one day. If I was in the buying market i would wait till the New year but i am not everyone, its all bit of a rush. The main feeling i get is the passage of time another year over and new one just starting. Its a feeling of getting older, no longer immortal like in those younger days, now all too aware of our mortal life. Christmas definitely is for the young ones expecting Santa and all that.