Rich Daley's homepage

Good afternoon. Welcome to my humble abode!

My name is Rich Daley, and I'm a geek living in Manchester, UK.

Me in brief: software engineer, music fan, socialist, pedant, Unitarian.

Take a look at the infobar for the latest updates to the site.

If you are a regular, you could save a lot of time by syndicating the site. RSS feeds are available for the mind, blog, pics and links.

The very latest weblog entry appears below.

The site is divided into four main sections:

• mind is meant to be where I put my writings about my life and my ponderings. It's currently very empty since I haven't had time to write very much stuff yet.
• blog is my web log - a sort of online diary that I use to share my temporal thoughts with the world. It's the oldest part of the site, and has archives going back to the start of 2004.
• pics is where I share my holiday snaps and others. I'm not a great photographer, but I like to share what I do.
• links is automatically updated with a link whenever I find a web site I like.

You may also drop me a line if you want to get in touch personally.

This site finally works in Microsoft Internet Explorer. But I'd still recommend you get a standards-compliant browser, such as Firefox, because IE is rubbish.

MPs will soon be debating the question of withdrawing NHS funding for and MHRA licensing of homeopathic remedies.

If, like me, you feel strongly about this cause, please write to your MP and urge him or her to support your viewpoint in Parliament.

I've included my own letter to Hazel Blears (Salford's MP) on this subject if you want to do a copy & paste job.

Dear Ms Blears,

I am writing to draw your attention to the Science & Technology Committee's report 'Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy' and to urge you to join me in my support of the report's recommendation to withdraw NHS funding and MHRA licensing of homeopathy.

Homeopathy has, since its inception, failed to stand up to any kind of scientific scrutiny and has shown itself time and time again to function only in the same way as (much cheaper) placebo medication.

While I agree it is a patient's choice if he or she wishes to take these medications, funding them on the NHS and providing them with MHRA drug licenses legitimizes them to the point that many people believe they are the same as conventional medicines, which have - by and large - been proven to work in clinical trials. This could have serious ramifications for a patient's health if he or she abandons conventional treatment in favour of homeopathic remedies.

NHS funding of homeopathy is not simply a matter of wasting taxpayers' money; it is a matter of public confusion over the efficacy of a treatment based entirely on mysticism.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

~ Rich Daley

(Thanks to Zak who has started a Facebook group encouraging people to do this.)

Tagged as: letter homeopathy democracy mp

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