Interesting Facts

Around two-thirds of Western countries charge patients to see their GP, fees range from 80p in France to £18 in Sweden, with an extra £5 for a home visit.  In the UK it is currently free (see below). (In some countries patients pay for hospital visits or stays, including Germany, and Sweden where they charge around £7.50 per night, and in Portugal you also have to pay £8 every time you go to A&E. According to a poll conducted by Pulse magazine, half of British GPs are in favour of charging patients for appointments - with some wanting to impose fees of between £5 and £25 a time. The problem is that it puts people off seeking medical help. Germany introduced a similar GP charge, but they later scrapped it.) We've been talking about this in the forum .

30th April 2014 is National Honesty Day in the US. Allegedly, a man called M. Hirst Goldberg (who interestingly wrote a book about lies), established April 30th as National Honesty Day in an attempt to balance out the beginning of the month, which begins with April’s Fool Day. I think this should go global!  Like a great big game of truth or dare.  :)

According to figures from the Halifax, of every £100.00 spent in the UK (not including credit), debit cards account for £28.87, direct debits for £19.90, so-called ‘faster payments’, which covers internet and smartphone transactions, for £12.81, cheques £11.28, standing orders £7.82 and 'other' methods of paying bills £1.34. (This means that only £17.99, is spent in cold, hard cash, down by £3.03 on a year ago, So maybe the death knell is already ringing for the money in your pocket. +Andrey Orlov  - It's funny how sometimes people ask me a question in a session, and then it crops up in the news.  :) )

29th April 2014 is One Day Without Shoes Day. I won't wear my shoes around the garden and house, but sorry, I will be wearing them to take the dog for a walk. http://www.toms.com/onedaywithoutshoes/l

In legalese, "gainful employment" is defined as work that a person can pursue and perform for money or activities intended to provide an income to a person. (This is where wording can have a huge effect, as Tony Hakki, a professional poker player, who allegedly refused to pay child support for his children, has won a legal fight to keep all his poker winnings.  Court of Appeal judges agreed that Tony Hakki's winnings were not from "gainful employment" and so did not meet the regulations governing the payment of child support. This is what I would call "getting off on a technicality".)

28th April 2014 is Ed Balls Day. A day to celebrate Ed Balls accidentally tweeting his own name at 4:20pm, on 28th April, 2011.

The UK government has announced plans to spend £85m building a secure college in Leicestershire that will hold up to 320 young people in custody.. (This should go under "sad facts", because it's in reaction to the number of deaths in custody over the last 10 years.  During that time, 163 young people under the age of 24 have killed themselves in prison in the UK The secure college is planned to be the first step towards several other so called "fortified schools" that will eventually cater for the vast majority of young offenders.)