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After my first visit to the Rheumatology Consultant last week, and before I start on the medication (a DMARD called methotextrate, an anti-emetic for the consequent nausea, and folic acid for the likely anemia) later this coming week, I’m enjoying the temporary respite from pain afforded by steroid injections and co-codomol.

Things might be worse. Rheumatoid arthritis is an unfortunate condition which is  likely to reduce my lifespan and which will oblige me to modify my lifestyle. It’s painful and it’s progressive. But then I think of people like Virginia Postrel, whom I first happened upon through her blog at Dynamist. A few years ago she donated a kidney to her friend, and wrote and spoke quite convincingly on living organ donation and payment to organ donors – and then she was diagnosed with breast cancer, had surgery and chemo and is now starting radiation therapy. Things could be much worse.

There’ll be more over at Rheumatoidia soon, as soon as I’ve finished the new theme for the site.

When Chris Lightfoot, who was involved in the development of MySociety projects such as WriteToThem and PledgeBank, committed suicide last year, I thought again about the No2ID campaign he’d been so enthusiastically supporting – and I thought they were a bit, well, anti-statist libertarian cranky.

After all, I have to carry around several items that identify me all the time. Cashpoint cards, credit cards; sometimes my driving licence; sometimes my passport.

Of course, the Government-proposed ID cards won’t replace any of the identifying documents I already have to carry. There’s no tie-in with my bank, or with the DVLA, and they’re not going to replace passports. So it’s another form of ID I will have to carry around with me.

Then a couple of weeks ago I received from the Inland Revenue  details of a request for a tax credit for someone who wasn’t me, who doesn’t live in my house, whom I’ve never heard of. Over the next few days, I was sent more information about this person and his spouse, including their full bank account details (bank, branch, sort code, account number).

Now I don’t think i could trust the Government to run an ID scheme even if there were quite pressing reasons to introduce one. So I’m joining up with No2ID.

Training days for England’s teachers should be quadrupled to 20 a year, costing £75m, a think tank proposes.

Teachers ‘need better training’, The IPPR via the BBC

Every good teacher knows that, however seemingly interesting the pre-announced topics for teacher training days, the training itself is almost invariable bad. And then there are the days dedicated to Brain Gym, or De Bono’s 4-Hats snake oil. How we need more of those.