Space Rotation

The movement of expanding space around an imaginary centre of a sphere is equal to the trajectory of the cube moving through quaternary.

Forewarned = Forearmed

Jupiter conjoin Saturn in Pisces three times, 7BC.

Britain wins bid July 2005 (thus 2012). London Bombed 7/7/2005 – 52 dead. 2005 –> 5002 –> 52.

Britain 2012 projection, 7/7/05 –> 05/07/2012. 2012 –> 2102 –> 212,  212 x 7 = 1484?

Psychiatrist's wages

I was on the bus yesterday, and I got to thinking about what psychiatrists are paid. Personally I have thought in the past that psychiatrists are guilty of biological reductionism. To be honest I now think that if they reduce mental illness to biology, then we should reduce them to the dealing with that biology, including a subsequent considerable drop in their wages!!!

Nearly all the constructive input into my mental health, and thus any real healing I have received, has been from nursing staff, and yet they get paid a fraction of the wages of shrinks. Having pursued a BSc with a considerable biosciences component including neurobiology, I doubt that the average SHO has a better grasp of the subject than I, and certainly a £70-100k consultant's knowledge would be far less than a PhD student on a £16k stipend who might go on to earn in the region of £30-40k. No doubt they would argue that they do more than merely address neurobiology, but there's the irony; clinicians often spend all their time poo pooing (or at least completely disregarding) the statements of patients in regard to socioeconomic, psychological, and micro-political concerns, then justify their wage packets by arguing they address precisely these factors. In fact much of the real treatment for psychiatric patients is rendered by CPNs, RMNs, Care Assistants, Social Workers, 'Lay' Therapists and Workers. It times where the state has to tighten its belt, when cuts must be made, I can think of no better place to start than with psychiatrists. They would no doubt wish to be compared with other grades and consultants across the NHS, but let us not forget that very many of these have a wide skill base, often including surgical skill (and I'm not arguing for more psychosurgery before they get any ideas!!!). Its time that we turn around the description of psychiatry as biologically reductionist, and reduce both their job description (to cover what they can or will ACTUALLY do) with an associated drop in wages. Some might argue that with lower wages in the discipline talent would be drained away from psychiatry, having met much of the 'talent' I'd argue that this might be no bad thing.

After all how much should somebody be paid for holding the metaphorical keys to the meds cabinet?

If we consider that it is projected that after recovery by 2012, the average price of a house will be around £226,000. Even if we take psychiatrists as being of above average importance to society (let's say for arguments sake double the average) and that they pay a third of their wages in NI and Tax, then we are left with a standard consultant psychiatrists home being worth c£500k, with a yearly wage after tax of c£66k (and ignoring private practice or 'consultancy'). That would mean they would be able, not counting their ability to gain multiple properties, mortages and related incomes, to buy outright a half a million pound home in around 12 years with a remaining wage of c24k (after tax!!!) a year for that 12 year period.

Given that the average person's mortgage is around 25 years, and given that we have already calculated that their home would be worth twice as much, are we also meant to swallow that it would also take them half the time for pay for a house valued at double the (average) value???

I would think that considering their education, training, and position, a capped salary from the public purse for their biomedical intervention should be fairly set at c£50k?

No go…

Well, I didn’t get the job. Indeed the whole attempt at getting back to work has gone on the back burner. Signed off by the Dr for 3 months, lets see how the DWP can help? I am going to try and get down to the charity I did an applied project with during my MSc, partly as a service user, but also because they wanted help carrying out a project. Might as well put my time into something constructive.

Clarity.

I’m starting, as I approach my 40th birthday to have some real clarity about interpersonal relationships, and the concept of what I suppose might be categorised as shared subjective external focussed reality. 

“Mirror mirror on the wall…”

Research position!

So, I may not have got any leads for administrative work, but I have been called in for interview for a research position with a leading psychiatric medical research institute. I have to prep a short presentation on my research interests, but hopefully it will go well. It could be a really good break allowing me to practice and improve my epidemiological and statistical skill set. As to more anthropological research interests, I have my two dissertations which I’d like to work on, but when will I get the opportunity to carry out the fieldwork?

What will the next weeks bring?

So, I’ve walked out of my job and been unemployed for two weeks. I’ve been filling in applications and sending off CVs, not, it must be said, with too much success. There are a couple of research positions which want graduates. One in particular is asking for a graduate in health, anthropology, and/or epidemiology; my BSc hits all those. I’d hope with an MSc to throw into the mix I might hit…let’s hope…

Undervalued?

I’ve been told while looking for work that I set the bar too low, that I undervalue my worth; classic. Some recruiter told me that with a BSc and MSc he wouldn’t put me forward for administrative jobs as I’d intimidate the client! The truth is that most people overvalue themselves, and flagrantly exhibit cognitive biases and blinds. I mean shit, where the fuck do you think the overvalued markets came from? 'Credit' crunch? You work it out!!

Exams, work and the future...

I'm sat in work, covering a colleague (the receptionist) while she goes out for her lunch. I'm prepping in part for my Masters exam which is on the 6th May; I have to at least pass it to get my degree. I had a job lined up with a well known medical school/research institute, but due to unforseen circumsrances could not take the position. It's a shame on multiple counts, on a very mundane level it would have seen my wages jump near 3 fold, it would have been a first step on a road to research in the specific field I am interested in. Oh well, I suppose just get this exam boxed off, restructure my dissertation, and hopefully I'll have this degree achieved.

“A Wayward Soul”

So I just entered into a digital distribution deal with ReverbNation, a site where I host my songs for free. It will be interesting to see if I actually sell any. They’re actually available for free from RN, and thus via Facebook and Myspace, but having them available through Amazon and iTunes will be an interesting exercise. Not sure how good the artwork is, but it will do…or rather…it will have to do…

The Hippy versus the Nihilist.

I have an internal debate come conflict going on between a hippy optimist and a nihilist pessimist. I’d love to be able to go with the hippy, thing is when it comes to the ideological battle, the nihilist wins hands down…and nihilist IS a euphemism!!!

Seems fitting for the economic times...

...and the lyrics...

"I'm standing alone
I'm watching you all
I'm seeing you sinking
I'm standing alone
You're weighing the gold
I'm watching you sinking
Fools gold."

...surely sums it up perfectly.

"When the doors of perception are cleansed...

...man will see things as they truly are, infinite'; so writes Blake. So a buddy and mine were talking about the deceptiveness of time, that being our perception of it, rather than it in and of itself. Of course Blake and Huxley rank high in discussions of the subculture. Being nearly 40 this year, I have to wonder how the subculture is doing. It seems alive and well with my children, they seem ready to ponder any detail I share with them, they surely refract indigo light into the world. It seems that terra is at a cross-roads, perhaps even the bottleneck I have pondered these last years approaches...what lies beyond? How much can we save? Nothing left but to break on through...

“Kill one of us…

…and we’ll kill a hundred of you”. That's really what this recent conflict has been about. People witter about objectives, goals, stages, but in truth it boils down to the opening statement. That the Israelis will now ‘cease their fire’ is only because they feel they’ve killed enough to make their point. The underlying strategic and tactical objectives, despite what the pundits, politicos, etc might say, is simply this “Kill us, we’ll kill at a ratio of 100:1; if you’re happy with that, so are we”

After watching the Qatar conference on Al Jazeera…

…it’s so obvious what the fellows have to do. It’s been moot before, but the only weapon the collected possess is the ability to change the listing of oil from Dollars to Euros. This is the only weapon that is capable of being deployed, and they should not draw back from its use because of a regime change in the US.

Happy Birthday Cuba!!!!

Seems rude not to acknowledge the day that Cuba celebrates 50 years since its revolution. Not bad going to hold out against the most powerful nation in the last century. Let's hope this 50th year sees the standard of life improve.