In the news

How much worse can it get for Queensland Health at the moment? The Australian (although, strangely, not the Courier Mail yet) is reporting that the apparently unqualified Russian psychiatrist employed for a time in the Townsville hospital was a convicted pedophile and served time for it in Russia! What next...Hannibal Lector worked as a neurosurgeon in Royal Brisbane? ("I was wondering why he always brought his lunch box into theatre with him" says the nurse.)

I heard recently on the ABC that the lack of doctors is acute all over the Western world, so there is a huge "market" for qualified doctors from just about anywhere to work in the Western country of their choosing. But surely to God Medical Boards in other States or countries have done a better job at ensuring applicants are not forging qualifications.

It is also presumably a good time to study medicine if you are inclined. I know someone whose son is in first year of medicine. The joke going around the students was "what do you call the med student who comes last in exams? Answer: ' Doctor' ".

More on what some doctors will do is here (abort late term pregnancies because the mother doesn't the financial cost of a child.) Good to see a prosecution happening for this.

Meanwhile, I don't really understand this whole oil price thing. Why does just the threat of terrorism against westerners in Saudi Arabia cause the price to go up? If the threat was directly against oil production facilities, maybe I understand. But attacks on housing estates, hotels and embassies, which is the character of many past attacks, doesn't seem to have that much to do with oil production to me.

The Economist reports briefly on what oil rich countries are looking at doing with their new oil wealth. Building super luxury resorts and shopping centres is much of the answer. But how many westerners want to holiday in the Middle East at any point in the near future? These nations ought to remember Nauru , I reckon. It will all end in tears before the century is out.