Woosh!

The implications of this treatment would be clearer if they identified which animals they used as guinea pigs.

That's not what he said, and by suggesting it was, you have rather proved his point about your stupidity.

You're confusing the Libyan Embassy Siege (1984) and the Iranian Embassy Siege (1980). See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Yvonne_Fletcher and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_siege

I think you're confused between the Libyan Embassy Siege (1984) and the Iranian Embassy Siege (1980): The gunman was in the Libyan embassy: "Following the shooting, the embassy was surrounded by armed police for eleven days, in one of the longest police sieges in London's history. Meanwhile, Gaddafi claimed that the embassy was under attack from British forces, and Libyan soldiers surrounded the United Kingdom's embassy in Tripoli in response. The British government eventually resolved the incident by allowing the embassy staff to leave the embassy and then expelling them from the country." See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Yvonne_Fletcher Whereas the Iranian Embassy was stormed by the DRFLA and retaken by UK security forces: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_siege

Firstly, the UK hasn't threatened to storm anything, and secondly, the UK has protected embassies in the past in just the way that you describe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_siege

But if we all start using "correcthorsebatterystaple" that's surely even worse?

That's true, but that's not the only way to spin it. Everybody dies and for the majority of people, the most healthcare they receive is in the final few weeks of their lives. The real burden on a socialised healthcare system (and the economy in general) is non-earning old people desiccating away decades after retirement. Bringing forward the day of their death means fewer old aged non-workers hanging on in retirement homes. So, while I suspect that you don't share my views on socialised medicine, I too think that the government has no business in telling people how to live their lives. Let them bloat (and smoke) and die early, just as long as they earn and pay tax up until they croak.

Don't we already have the word "specious" for things that look true but are not? So might "intentionally specious" be a better definition?

Of course, the homeopathically correct way to take the sleeping medicine is to throw almost all of it away, put the remainder into a swimming pool then dip in a finger and touch it to the tongue.

Waiting lists are inevitable in a system where demand slightly outstrips supply and so are valuable metrics on how the system in operating. That's not to say emergency treatment is restricted, but you will probably have to wait a while to get your bunions treated. It seems to me a sign of a mature and caring democracy where this metric *is* the primary concern of a society. Oh... and no one believes it is "free". It is only "free" at the point of delivery, we know we pay a lot for it and that's why we need to make sure we're receiving value for the money. This is why the metric is important.

Tastiness?