Medical multiculturalism in Britain



A foreign doctor attacked a female patient in his surgery when she disagreed with his diagnosis.

Dr Abiodun Bale, 42, grabbed Sheena Cunningham as she tried to leave his consultation room in tears after they argued over treatment for a facial condition.

The doctor from Nigeria denied assault when he appeared in court but was found guilty after a two-day trial.  He was given a six-month  conditional discharge but will face a disciplinary hearing at work and could lose his job.

Bale, who qualified as a doctor at the University of Lagos in 1995, worked as a gynaecologist in his home country before  coming to Britain and registering with the General Medical Council in 2006.

He was given a licence to practise here in November 2009 and was on a placement, for speciality GP training, at Hyndburn Medical Practice in Accrington, Lancashire, when the assault happened on March 26.

Eddie Harrison, prosecuting, said Bale had asked Mrs Cunningham to come in to the practice after a telephone consultation about a problem with her face, during which she had become distressed.

When she arrived, the doctor told Mrs Cunningham she might need to call for an ambulance if her condition deteriorated later when the surgery was closed.

Mr Harrison told Burnley Magistrates’ Court: ‘She didn’t want to do this and at this point he raised his voice.’

Mrs Cunningham was frightened, got up to leave and said she wanted a second opinion, the court was told. ‘[Bale] became agitated and, as she stepped out, he grabbed her hand to prevent her closing the door,’ Mr Harrison said.

‘He then grabbed her by the forearm with both hands and tried to drag her back into the room. She screamed and shouted at him to get off her arm. This attracted the attention of another doctor and two cleaners. The other doctor told Bale to go back into his office and then escorted Mrs Cunningham out of the surgery.’

The court was told that a week earlier the GP, who lives in  Manchester, ‘flipped’ at another patient, shouting at her: ‘For God’s sake, I have other people to see besides you.’ ‘She got up to leave and he tried to grab her hand. She felt frightened and vulnerable,’ said Mr Harrison.

Bale claimed the incident with Mrs Cunningham was a misunderstanding, saying: ‘I’m a  doctor, not a thug.’

But Mr Harrison said: ‘There was no mistake or misunderstanding. She was crying so loudly that two ladies outside heard her crying.’

After the allegations, the GMC placed conditions on how Bale worked, including allowing him to carry out consultations only if another qualified medical practitioner was present.

The Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust, which employs Bale, said he would face disciplinary  proceedings.  ‘The trust will now consider the consequences for his ongoing employment and training,’ a spokesman said.

SOURCE





No hiding place for those who opt for a life on welfare, says British government minister

Unemployed people who make a 'lifestyle choice' to live on benefits without bothering to seek work will face a crackdown from next year, Iain Duncan Smith has announced.

The Work and Pensions Secretary has warned that anyone who refuses to seek work will have 'no hiding place' under his reforms.

Today, in an article written for the Daily Mail, he goes on to insist that looking for work should be a 'full-time job' in itself.

And he reveals that from 2014, thousands of jobless people who are 'lacking motivation' will be forced to spend 35 hours a week applying for work.

He says: 'This will make it crystal clear that looking for work requires as much effort and commitment as a full-time job – and that jobseekers should think of themselves as in work to find work.'

The minister adds that the decision to claim unemployment benefits should no longer be 'a lifestyle choice'.

Mr Duncan Smith also makes clear that the Government remains unbowed by recent controversy over the introduction of Universal Credit as well as the cuts to housing benefit for claimants with spare rooms – the so-called 'bedroom tax'.

And he writes: 'I'm not going to say “job done”. We've made great strides in fixing the system, but there is more to do. That includes asking for more from jobseekers.'

Mr Duncan Smith recognises that most jobseekers 'are determined to get a job' and pledges to help those who are genuinely searching for work.

At October's Tory Party conference, Mr Duncan Smith announced that there were plans to make some jobless attend 'full-time mandatory attendance centres'.

He said the plans for enforced full-time job searches would be aimed at the long-term unemployed and those suspected of working in the black economy, who earn cash in hand rather than searching for legitimate jobs.

Today, he has made it clear that the new system will also be targeted at unemployed people who lack 'the motivation' to find work.

DWP sources say that those who can't be bothered to look for work will be identified early by job centre staff.   They will have to enrol in a full-time job search before they are referred to the Work Programme – the Government scheme to provide support, work experience and training to the unemployed.

Addressing his critics, Mr Duncan Smith insists in his article that it is 'a complete nonsense' to suggest that the Government has removed the welfare safety net.

And he vows to continue rolling out Universal Credit, which will replace most out-of-work benefits with a single payment, despite having to delay the full introduction of the plans until 2017.

Making a virtue of the delay, Mr  Duncan Smith says the scheme will be rolled out across the country 'carefully and safely over the next four years'.

He goes on to say that he believes the slower time frame should help avoid the 'costly mistakes' that Labour made introducing schemes 'in a “big bang” approach'. Mr  Duncan Smith last week revealed that the welfare cap of £26,000 per household has pushed 250 people into work every week.

Government figures show that almost half of those affected by the benefit limit are now back in work. And since April, adults in 19,000 households who have had their benefits capped have taken up jobs.  Some 1,300 of these households now claim £200 less a week than they did before the cap.

And another 51 households  are claiming £400 less under the new rules. Previously these claimants could have been receiving £46,000 from the Government each year.

SOURCE





Mother who baked cookies for children on school bus for 15 years ordered to stop after anonymous complaint

A Minnesota mother dubbed the 'Cookie Lady' who has been baking treats for the kids on her children's bus for 15 years has been shut down by an anonymous complaint.

Every Friday, Anne Tabat has met the school bus in her subdivision with a basket of cookies. It began as a thank you to the bus driver.

And, Tabat said, she couldn't give the driver a cookie without giving one to every child on the bus.

Tabat said the cookies were also a way to get to know her neighbors.  'I didn't live in the suburbs until I turned 40,' she told Minnesota Public Radio.

'Look at the way these houses are designed here. They're not designed with a friendly neighborliness community in mind. I haven't been in most of the houses in my neighborhood.  'People live such busy lives; you don't talk to your neighbors, you don't know your neighbors.'

But for the first time in many years, Tabat wasn't at the bus stop yesterday.

She received a phone call from the school this week telling her someone had complained and that she should cease and desist the dispensing of cookies.

She said she never really had a straight answer about the specifics of the complaint.  'She (the woman who complained) didn’t bother to know me, the bus driver, or anything about the cookie-bus thing. I don’t care if I get shut down, the kids are going to live,' she said.

'I woke up the day after this and thought ‘let’s have a protest, let’s sign a petition,’ but the person this would fall back on would be the bus driver.  'Whatever you do I don’t want anything to stick to the bus driver because this was meant to thank the bus driver.'

Tabat said it was soon time to end the tradition - the last of her three kids will graduate high school soon - but she wanted to stop baking on her own terms.

'I know all these well-meaning people who do kindly gestures but they backfire because they’re not thinking about things like that. That’s not what this is about,' she said.

SOURCE





Australia: Racist Muslim spokesman loses defamation case against radio station

The report below is from 4 years ago.  I report it here because Trad has just lost his final appeal against the judgment.  He will be up for hundreds of thousands of legal costs but the Lakemba mosque will no doubt help with that



KEYSAR Trad, the longtime spokesman for Muslim cleric Sheik Taj bin al-Hilaly, has been described as "racist" and "offensive" by a judge who today rejected his defamation claim against radio station 2GB.

Mr Trad sued the top-rating Sydney station in the NSW Supreme Court after presenter Jason Morrison described him "gutless" and " just trouble" for his conduct at a rally after the Cronulla riots in December 2005, The Australian reported.

Mr Trad's comment about the "shame of tabloid journalism' caused the crowd to boo and harass a 2GB journalist near the stage.

The reporter told Mr Morrison he feared for his safety, prompting the presenter to deliver his tirade the following morning, in which he also described Mr Trad as "disgraceful and dangerous individual who incited violence, hatred and racism."

In August 2007, a jury found Mr Morrison had defamed Mr Trad but Justice Peter McClellan found for 2GB in the second - or defence - phase of the trial that was heard in May, saying the statement were true and also protected as comment based on fact.

"There is little doubt that many of the plaintiff's remarks are offensive to Jewish persons and homosexuals," Justice McClellan said in his judgment.

"Many of his remarks are distasteful and appear to condone violence.   "I'm satisfied that the plaintiff does hold views which can properly be described as racist. "I'm also satisfied that he encourages others to hold those views. In particular he holds views derogatory of Jewish people.

"The views which he holds would not be acceptable to most right-thinking Australians."

Mr Trad, who founded the Islamic Friendship Association, faces up to $400,000 in court costs and there are question marks over his credibility after Justice McClellan's scathing judgment.

During the trial he was subjected to close scrutiny about his public profile as Sheik Hilaly's right-hand man and he frequent statements he made to "clarify" the controversial views of the cleric.

These included comments that women who dressed provocatively were "uncovered meat" inviting the attention of rapists.

Mr Trad suggested Hilaly was "talking about people who engage in extramarital sex."

Neither Mr Trad or Mr Morrison were at Sydney's Supreme Court to hear the judgment.  Outside court, a representative for Mr Trad said he planned to appeal.

SOURCE

*************************

Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and  DISSECTING LEFTISM.   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here. 

***************************