blackhole
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Posts posted by blackhole
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We need to reduce numbers, but it has to be done on ability, not ability to pay.
Exactly. You don't need to come from a wealthy background these days to be capable, especially with information so freely available (good ol' internet).
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Indirect consequence - you're giving too much credit to them to begin with...
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Dunno, but I am firmly of the opinion that scaling back the University system to provide proper degrees to the best qualified young people would be the best idea.
For the less academically gifted there should be be other far more worthwhile (for them) training available.
What is the real purpose of this imaginary 50% of kids going to University?
Oh and while they are at it they should bring some real standards back into the A-Level and Higher (in Scotland) exams. Now it appears that everyone can now get straight A's which hardly helps the Universities selecting the best students for 'proper'* courses.
* by proper I mean medicine, law, veterinary, physics, engineering, maths and other degrees that a proper economy should be encourging.
I'm actually not against reducing the numbers on the whole at all, and as said, encouraging core sciences.
However it needs to be done in such a way that someone who's family cant afford to fork out potentially £14k/yr in fees but has the academic track record, can still do a science degree and hopefully put that education to some use afterwards. None of which has been even touched upon yet. As per usual, those at the top not giving a **** about social mobility.
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I'm confused. So apparently we're running out of good skilled people throughout many industries. And yet these lords (some of whom no doubt had a free education on the tax payer if they turned up at the correct time!) believe offering education to those who's parents will fund it, is the way forward?
Am I missing something here...?!
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Hold on a sec - some courses such as mine made a industrial placement almost compulsary, which was actually paid work experience for a year. Pretty much everyone I work with at work who's within 5yrs of my age had done some form of an industrial placement before they had joined the company.
Maybe more graduates could do with a sandwhich year to get them a bit more ready and tuned for reality in the working world, nevermind proof they can get out of bed early for a year
Also, honestly what skills do some of these 'degrees' such as Media Studies even offer to employers....?!
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Thankfully we have a tradition in our family - gifts for kids only. Makes things far simpler.
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our food is utter badger @rse
Couldn't put it any better
Always shocks me when I'm abroad just how good the produce is, and yet how cheap it is. And you wonder why some families in this country don't want a family dinner - its shit!
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This isnt helped by the fact that the 2nd hand car market is flooded with Vectras and Astras. A <2 yr (typically around 1yr) old Astra 1.6 petrol can be had for just over £5k, and 07 Vectra 1.8 VVTs can be had for less than £7k. You'd be clinically insane to buy new.
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If you're going to an English speaking Western country, like Canada, I'd just up sticks and do it. A lot of my family live in Winnipeg. Not the best place there, but they come to the UK now and again and go back glad they've lived in Canada all their lives. They are very old mind and have been there since the sixties.
The rest of them live in LA. Yikes!!
I'm a bit of a hedonist, so I began the transfer to Thailand when I was 27. Now knocking on the door of 34, everything's set up, family, infrastructure the lot.
It helps if you have family or at least friends in your chosen destination.
Indeed, renamed the 'house deposit' fund to 'getting the **** outta here' fund. I've worked wayyy too hard over the years to build my skills, and for what exactly? What triggered my internal 'time to move' mindset was a recent amendment, that police have the power to request anyone's encryption keys for their data or face prison...and I dont even have much data encrypted to begin with!!!
I agree it does help to have some family and friends over there to help at first, which thankfully we do.
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I really didn't want to encourage those it could ruin. However, I'm nothing special and I managed it. In fact it was easier than trying in the UK. Path of least resistance is the one I usually take.
It really does require the gutsy risk taking type to begin with, and in all fairness, I dont think most brits of my generation have what it takes. I'm very much considering it myself as me and my partner definately meet the 'criteria' to get into say Canada (using her family relations ofcourse), but then i've always been considered a freak
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Only if you're;
Relatively young
Single
With money
With transferable skills and international contacts
Adventurous
Well that eliminates most young brits!
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One of the underlying causes of people living beyond their means is the celebrity lifestyle culture which is so prominent here in the UK.
For years, fly-on-the-wall programs was shown, showing WAGs in their house castle with that 70” plasma, the designer kitchen , the multiple 4x4s and the Aston in the driveway.
Add that to the availability of cheap credit, and you have one of the biggest debt-fuelled boom in modern times.
What I'd like to know is where did consuming lots of material **** on credit became living ???
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From my reading of AVForums, most posters have more credit than sense.
Just a slight correction
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It appears petrol prices have come down low enough to increase demand of those awfully built Ford pickups : http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/05/trucks-...overtime-for-f/
Now I do appreciate that they'll be a minority who actually use it as intended, but blimey, what short memories the rest must have (!!!)
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A degree in engineering is pretty much wasted in this country. Demonstrates a level of ability which will usually get you a job.. but very rarely in anything related to what you learned.
Quite sad really.
Just what I was thinking, couldnt put it any better myself.
Besides, why be any good at anything in the workplace when the brown nosed ***** will end up progressing without working nearly as hard?!
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****** me, looks like the OP has forgotten about balance altogether!
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Amazing that suddenly everyone is so sure of this. Like all the pundits got a script and have done their rehearsals and everything. What changed? This isn't a black swan event is it?? In fact i would ask what event actually occured??
The dollar must be the most ass raped currency on the planet backed only by depleted uranium rounds. Its a given that in 10 years the US will be one of the better placed western countries to make a proper economic recovery...but right now? 10tr of unfunded liabilities, a Fed that is hell bent on swapping Treasuries for garbage with it Wall street mates??
Sorry l don't buy it. Feel free to tell me in single syllables why this so, are we simply seeing the last bubble being inflated here?
Funny how Goldman Sachs once again is leading the media with their forecasts. Anyone remember their PR releases when Oil was skyrocketing? I bet they had their hands in the Oil till at the same time...
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Back in October 2007, the guardian wrote an article stating how 1million people reached to credit to pay for credit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/oct/17/creditcards Dont know how accurate these figgures are overall, but if they're only half way true... its gonna be a bumpy 2009!
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Big fat 0 myself, though I have **** all outgoing anyway
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I know Bush and co arent the brightest sparks, but surely the US cant afford another war without totally destroying their economy in the process?
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Do capita do solar?
I believe the question should be "when do capita do solar?".
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Totally agree. It has been shown again and again in research studies that the City attracts a phenomenal proportion of narcissists, psycopaths and sociopaths......and ones with a clear need to make up for their inadeqaucies via loadsamoney. So basically they are all massively unstable to strart with. Then, take away their status and bang! Thousands of shrinks discovering things they would rather not have heard. American Psycho - painfully accurate.
This is very true, and doesnt just apply to the City. The wife of a friend of mine works in mental health. She told me how a nurse moved from Swindon to Bristol, and how people in Swindon with mental health issues more often than not were purely for work/money reasons and that they had no family or friends to spend time with, leaving them isolated and far more vulnerable to mental health issues.
In short, dont go somewhere just for the money if you have any sense of wellbeing. And if you do, at least have a social life!
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With a wife like that I wouldn't put the money in her name
AFP
What he said! If that's her attitude... keep it in your control just in case.
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Good thing the NHS is free.
Mental health services on the NHS is very much a hit and miss matter. Not that I have much sympathy for those who cant prepare for a rainy day despite a healthy income.
Do Parents Lie To Ofsted
in House prices and the economy
Posted
You did interpret correctly. Its a tricky one. On one hand your saying that parents will say whatever they can to ensure a school has a glowing 5* report card. But for most rational parents, why would they paint their school as perfect when they may know of a weakness in a certain area, and therefore why waste the opportunity to help highlight and improve that area in the school all in the aid of house prices?
Not saying your scenario is not possible, but given how passionate some are about ensuring their kids get the right education to get the right start in life, I'd put it on the lower end of chances.