This afternoon 18-year-old Harvey Elliott was playing for Liverpool.  He's a brilliant young player, and by all accounts a smashing lad.  He was the recipient of a tackle that left his foot pointing in a direction it didn't used to point in, and medical halp was called onto ther pitch imediately.  Young Harvey was stretchered off, bunged in an ambulance, and taken to hospital where (accorging to reportsa from the club) the medics got his foot pointing in the right direction again.  That's not quite the end of the story today though, because this turned up on Twitter a while later.



Full marks to Harvey for that gesture when he certainly was not at his best.  What a brilliant young ambassador for the club.

R Kelly guilty as charged.

Let's hope he gets the sentence he deserves.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58714203

That is good to hear. I've been following it closely.

Meet Dr Marcus Rashford of Manchester University.



Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford said it felt “bittersweet” collecting his honorary degree for tackling child poverty the day after the Universal Credit uplift was retracted.

The England international used his speech at the University of Manchester ceremony at Old Trafford to highlight how the Government’s cut meant “millions of families across the UK lost a lifeline”.

At 23 years old, Rashford became the youngest recipient of an honorary doctorate from the university, rewarding his campaign against child poverty.

Former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who also has an honorary degree from the university, joined Rashford’s friends and family to see him receive the award from vice-chancellor Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell.

Speaking at the ceremony donned in a red, maroon and gold graduation gown with a doctorate cap, Rashford also urged politicians to get “out into communities” like his home town of Wythenshawe in south Manchester.

He said: “To be here in the presence of a great such as Sir Alex and those who have played a huge role in my journey to be where I am today is special.

“I’m here to receive my honorary doctorate for my workaround child poverty.

“Yesterday, millions of families across the UK lost a lifeline and a means of staying afloat – a move that could see child poverty rise to one in three children. For that reason, today is bittersweet.

“It’s time that representatives got out into communities like mine.

“It’s time they saw first-hand the true measure of struggle. Covid-19 can no longer be used as an excuse.”

The University of Manchester announced Rashford would receive the accolade in July last year but postponed the in-person ceremony because of the pandemic.

On presenting Rashford with his degree, Dame Nancy said: “Marcus is an exceptional young man who continues to demonstrate a sense of community and generosity that goes well beyond his years.

“Our university also has social responsibility at its core, and we are extremely proud to share these values with Marcus.

“It really is an honour to finally present him with this well-deserved award on behalf of our institution.

“His ongoing charity work and high-profile campaigns not only help millions of people across the country but inspire many more to try and make a difference themselves. Long may it continue.”

Rashford waged a high-profile campaign last year to persuade the Government to provide free meals to vulnerable youngsters in England throughout the school holidays during the coronavirus pandemic, forcing Prime Minister Boris Johnson into a U-turn.

He has backed several child food poverty initiatives and became the youngest person to top the Sunday Times Giving List by raising £20million in donations from supermarkets for groups tackling the issue.

In a speech at the ceremony, Collette Roche, Manchester United’s chief operating officer, said the footballer “embodies everything which this club stands for”.

She said: “Marcus is an exceptional footballer and an exceptional person.

“He is a young man who embodies everything which this club stands for – he is humble, he is passionate and he is driven to succeed in everything he does.

“Those qualities have shone through in his work to champion the needs of young people, to tackle food poverty and to deliver real change, which has helped thousands of families across the country when they needed it most.

“We are all so proud of you Marcus and it is wonderful for us all to be with you and your family this evening to see your efforts recognised.”

The £20-a-week increase to Universal Credit introduced to support people on low incomes during the pandemic is being withdrawn.

From Wednesday, benefits assessments no longer include the uplift, meaning that from October 13 – a week later – no monthly payments will be received which include the extra money.

The cut will be staggered as families receive payments on different dates.

SOURCE

Great to see Hans Beekhuyzen back online after a completely successful procedure to deal with his Essential tremor condition.

Unbelievable, man. Sounds a bit like what I'm dealing with here when on the phone with the health insurance, a doctors office, and a specialists office. All 3 got something wrong.

Doctors office was incorrect about many things as always including which insurance I have. Health insurance didn't get it right when establishing who my PCP is after 45 minutes on the phone talking about this one PCP. And the specialists office for my foot got literally everything wrong and called me a couple of extra times to confirm dates and times that were incorrect.

Will cost me $180-250.

Hmm I'm surprised we rank even 3rd.

At the private practices it is absurd how often patients are given misinformation.

It's not the doctors themselves causing the problems but the trillions of people they must employ to do all of the clerical work. Maybe they are overwhelmed. I've had more than one doctor tell me that the system is broken. It's a fight between the practice and the insurance with the patient caught in the middle and all 3 are incompetent.

Oh wow, I misread that.

Yes 100% you can see the kind of money that is generated even just from going to get blood samples taken. Every single motion done by the technician is a seperate billable item. That's a fact. Once in a while they accidentally bill each item twice. Oops. A week of phone calls can clear that up though.

When the money is tasted there's no going back.

Glad to hear she got the operation. Any idea how she's doing now healthwise and how badly the operation and treatment hurt her financially or if she was able to make a lifelong payment plan?