[blogfocus tuesday] is this what the doctor ordered

The photo had to be either Dr. Michelle or Dr. Dork and I think I made the correct choice here. This evening's Blogfocus is only for Doctors and the major question we're faced with is which one of these eight is not, repeat not, a real medical doctor? 1 Dr. Michelle Tempest kicks off with the battle of the sexes: Famous astronomer Sir Patrick Moore who holds the Guinness Book of Records title for the longest-serving TV presenter, having appeared on his show about astronomy since 1957, has claimed that British TV standards are deteriorating because the BBC is "run by women". He has called for separate channels to cater for the needs of the different sexes. He went on "I would like to see two independent wavelengths - one controlled by women, and one for us, controlled by men." 2 Up in Scotland, Doctor Vee bravely defends the LibDems: And there is the big sticking point for supporters of independence. Because while the SNP have a plurality seats and got a plurality of votes in the election, they have nowhere near a majority. As I said on Friday, there is no mandate for a referendum. That post provided a reaction from an anonymous commenter: If there’s a majority for it in parliament there is. Simple as that. To which I reply, “precisely”. Because there is not a majority for it in Parliament. On the Lib Dems’ refusal to enter into coalition, Iain MacLaren says, This is a real disgrace and shows the contempt with which the LibDems treat their own voters. In fact, the opposite is true. The Lib Dems’ “own voters” voted against independence and voted against holding a referendum. If they were to make a slippery deal with Alex Salmond on an independence referendum, they would have utterly betrayed their own voters. 3 And Doctor Grumble defends the standard of training in the U.K.: But Dr Grumble can tell you that they were getting training. Doctors came from all over the world to be trained in the UK. It was recognised to be training of the highest quality - amongst the best in the world. It's hard to believe now but that is how it was. The Royal Colleges ensured that to get a consultant post you had to have been trained to the very highest standard. If you weren't good enough to satisfy the College you didn't get the job. Curiously, the more structured the training has become the more there have been doubts about the standards of the training. Training can have a structure but be of poor quality. It can also have no formal structure but be of high quality. Ticking competency boxes to document 'adequacy' is not the path to excellence. 4 Moving further afield - The Purple Medical Blog is a U.S. blog with a straight take on medical issues of general interest: If you eat fewer calories while still getting a well balanced nutritional diet,the chances are good that you will live longer. That seems to be the upshot of several reports that have been published over the years. It has been reported for many years that chronic calorie restriction without nutritional deficiencies increases the length of life. Now a study reports that they may have found a gene that explains why calorie restriction may lengthen life. Scientists can "knock out" or shut down the function of various genes in a study animal to see which are important. 5 And U.S. based Dr. Anonymous brings together various medical blogs, rather like this Focus does this evening, only he does it full time: If you don't know what Grand Rounds is, it is a weekly compilation of the best posts from the medical blogosphere that moves to different sites each week. And, who doesn't like reading about medicine and science? Next week, GR moves to The Blog That Ate Manhattan. Great posts recently over there about a road trip to Athens, Georgia including pictures and great storytelling. Check it out. 6 I wouldn't want you to get the idea that doctors only write of medicine. What they do with their wives in their spare time is also of immense interest, as U.K. Docblogger Thersites explains: I cheated and bought a D-Link DWL-G810 wireless bridge to plug into the back of my machine. Ten minutes of configuration and all was working fine. The manual for this piece of kit has to be read as the bridge has a static IP which needs to be changed to interface with the router if using the router’s default IP address of 192.168.1.1 All now works fine, the wife is happy that the ethernet cabling has been removed and I’ve had a great time spending money on some new gadgets. 7 The incomparable NHS Blogdoctor himself, Dr. Crippen, goes write off the medical path with this political rant: Parasitical or not, it might be be naïve to claim that NHS BLOG DOCTOR is apolitical but the real political bloggers are Iain Dale, the DK, Mr Eugenides, and Guido. Each of the four has enormously enriched political commentary. The DK and Mr Eugenides are the masters of the “swearblogging” universe. This new art form of political criticism could not exist in the main stream media which still lives in the land of asterisk make-believe. Some apparently find “fuck” offensive but are untroubled by “f**k”. Can someone talk me through that? Asterisks or not, though, it is hard to believe that either the DK or Mr Eugenides will be asked to write leaders for The Times. Do not underrate swearblogging. It is a source of constant amusement but also has a greater and better purpose. 8 Finally, the Australian Dr. Dork winds up this Focus with a typical doctor-patient dialogue: Dr Dork: Of course. Do the wrists give you much trouble after the operations ? Mr O: None at all, doc. Dr D: Great! Good for you. How has the drinking been going ? Mr O : I drink a bottle and a half each night, but I took out the unhealthy stuff from the mix. Dr D: Meaning...? Mr O: I saw my iridologist just after the operations. He told me to cut down on the Coca-Cola. Now I mix my bourbon with ice-water.