Education is overrated, especially in Britain, the value of degrees is eroded by their ease of accessibility and attainability to the stupid and mediocre alike.
1. 60- 70% of the population need only know how to read, write and do basic arithmetic. These are the majority who will work in Wal-Mart, McDonald's, collect garbage, deliver mail etc. or serve as enlisted personnel in the armed forces.
The beauty of the armed forces is they will continue to educate them & McDonald's will give them stars.
2. There are now too many half arsed universities, offering ludicrous courses, to people who if they had not benefitted from the dumbing down of qualifications, would be covered in point 1.
These are people who labour under the misapprehension that a degree (any degree) is the key to success. This was true 50 years ago, when only the top 10% went to university, now it's just a fast track route to the call centre for most. (A call centre that will eventually be outsourced to India)
3. University should be free to those doing essential courses for a career, teaching, nursing, medical, law, engineering etc. But having gained the qualification free of charge should have to do 5 years "National Service" to repay society, this would just mean working for the state, so state schools, hospitals, or armed services etc. Similarly, essential vocational courses should be treated in the same way.
Non essential and frivolous courses should be chargable at the full rate and not subsidised by the taxpayer at all. If you want to take a degree in Sir Cliff Richard Studies, at Scunthorpe Metropolitan University, you should do so at your own expense, see how many take up "Creative Knitting" when they have to stump up £35,000 to do so.
Thursday 22 October 2009
Sunday 4 January 2009
Israel needs help, is there a doctor in the house?
Once again Israel is on the offensive, having bombed Gaza, ground troops, supported by artillery, tanks and helicopters have flooded into the region and with an estimated 500 dead Palestinians in the past week already, how many more civillians will die at their hands?
Of course Hamas should not be firing rockets at Israel, but when 4 Israelis have died in the same time span, is this really a proportionate response, and can any country be allowed to conduct itself like this in the 21st century?
If you ask a jewish person, why the children of Israel wandered for forty years in the wilderness, before the reached the land of canaan? (a journey which should only have taken a matter of weeks) They will tell you, that god did not want the founders of their new nation to have a slave mentality. He wanted all those born into bondage to die off, and a new generation born into freedom to be the ones to create a new society, free from the hang-ups of slavery, oppression, cruelty and abuse.
When the new state of Israel was created however, it was created by refugees of Europe, from survivors of the holocaust, people who had been brutalised, oppressed, enslaved and systematically butchered without mercy. The very people who were not allowed to do the job back in the time of Moses.
It is commonly known, that those commit acts of abuse, were often the victims of abuse themselves, and it is a self perpetuating cycle. Is it any wonder therefore, that Israel should show behavioral tendancies, not dissimilar to the German army in occupied France in WW2?
They even use the same terminology as the nazis, when the resistance would attack a convoy, or engage in an act of sabotage, they too would take "REPRISALS", a phrase commonly used by the Israelis. The Germans too, used to kill a disproportionate number of civillians, for each of their casualties, usually ten to one, but on last weeks count, Israel are working on the basis of one hundred and twenty-five to one.
Israel one might think, has been around long enough now to have shrugged off the effects of WW2, but no, as the country was set up by people damaged by these events and this problem runs through the fabric of their society like a golden thread, not until Israel wants to be healed, admits it has a problem and seeks help, no matter however many special envoys, Camp David summits or cease-fires are put in place, things will never improve even Tony Blair won't have a chance.
Of course Hamas should not be firing rockets at Israel, but when 4 Israelis have died in the same time span, is this really a proportionate response, and can any country be allowed to conduct itself like this in the 21st century?
If you ask a jewish person, why the children of Israel wandered for forty years in the wilderness, before the reached the land of canaan? (a journey which should only have taken a matter of weeks) They will tell you, that god did not want the founders of their new nation to have a slave mentality. He wanted all those born into bondage to die off, and a new generation born into freedom to be the ones to create a new society, free from the hang-ups of slavery, oppression, cruelty and abuse.
When the new state of Israel was created however, it was created by refugees of Europe, from survivors of the holocaust, people who had been brutalised, oppressed, enslaved and systematically butchered without mercy. The very people who were not allowed to do the job back in the time of Moses.
It is commonly known, that those commit acts of abuse, were often the victims of abuse themselves, and it is a self perpetuating cycle. Is it any wonder therefore, that Israel should show behavioral tendancies, not dissimilar to the German army in occupied France in WW2?
They even use the same terminology as the nazis, when the resistance would attack a convoy, or engage in an act of sabotage, they too would take "REPRISALS", a phrase commonly used by the Israelis. The Germans too, used to kill a disproportionate number of civillians, for each of their casualties, usually ten to one, but on last weeks count, Israel are working on the basis of one hundred and twenty-five to one.
Israel one might think, has been around long enough now to have shrugged off the effects of WW2, but no, as the country was set up by people damaged by these events and this problem runs through the fabric of their society like a golden thread, not until Israel wants to be healed, admits it has a problem and seeks help, no matter however many special envoys, Camp David summits or cease-fires are put in place, things will never improve even Tony Blair won't have a chance.
Thursday 20 November 2008
Democracy - Yeah Right!
There is a massive constitutional problem in Britain, it has been swept under the carpet by government, but it is a national disgrace, and one that calls into question the legitimacy of Gordon Brown to hold the office of Prime Minister (and the legitimacy of Gordon Brown hehehe).
So what's my beef with the Scotch Git ™? Well it's very simple, it's the West Lothian Question.
For those unfamilliar with this, this is what it means;
So what's my beef with the Scotch Git ™? Well it's very simple, it's the West Lothian Question.
For those unfamilliar with this, this is what it means;
Scotland has a devolved Parliament which makes decisions on some areas of Scottish life. Westminster MP's no longer have a say in these aspects, such as prescription charges, university tution fees and many other domestic issues. So the Scots have MSP's (Members od the Scottish Parliament) who represent them in their parliament in these matters. However, they also have MP's in Westminster who represent them in National Government. So if the government wanted to bring in University tution fees in England and Wales, they wheeled in their Scottish constituency MP's to vote for it.
Therefore residents of Scotland get to decide for themselves and then get the right to arbitarilly choose something different for the English.
Gordon Brown's children will be entitled to free University education, but he has decided that the vast majority of British students shouldn't be entitled to this and has used the votes of those who have no right to have any say in the matter, to get it through.
While these sort of issues exist, the people of England are being treated as second class citizens, and in no other country would this be tolerated. It would be like the people of New York voting to abolish sales tax, but then voting to have the tax raised to 20% in Vermont, it makes a nonsense of our democracy.
Tuesday 18 November 2008
British Jobs For British Workers
Another week and more announcements of companies cutting jobs. Now it's Virgin Media announcing 2200 job losses. This has got to be good news for Mumbai, as you are already directed to Indian call centres for a number of their services.
But what can be done to safeguard our economy? Surely it is sensible to promote jobs in Britain, as the unemployed will not be subscribing to Cable TV presumably. The problem is a far worse one than this however, and goes all the way to 10 Downing Street.
If Gordon Brown tells you he wants to promote or safeguard British jobs he is a liar. The British government outsource more work now than ever before, and they don't much care where these jobs go. Currently Capita are operating the Coal Health Contract (the scheme that compensates miners for industrial disease on behalf of DECC), TV Licensing and the Criminal Records Bureau in Mumbai. Whilst they lay off staff in Britain they are constantly ramping up the numbers in India, all with the government's blessing. Officials from the relevant departments have all been out there and have openly said how pleased they are with the way things are being done.
It is an outrage and a scandal that the British Government, should carry on like this. It's one thing for private companies to operate offshore, we all have a choice whether we use their services or not, but when the Government do it, the same people that we have elected to look after our interests, the same politicians who talk about stimulating the economy and creating jobs, it shows what contempt politicians have for the electorate.
Of course Capita were embroiled in the loans to labour scandal and had to pay Rod Aldridge the then chairman his million pounds back. So is it any wonder that Capita was given carte blanche by the government to send their jobs abroad?
But what can be done to safeguard our economy? Surely it is sensible to promote jobs in Britain, as the unemployed will not be subscribing to Cable TV presumably. The problem is a far worse one than this however, and goes all the way to 10 Downing Street.
If Gordon Brown tells you he wants to promote or safeguard British jobs he is a liar. The British government outsource more work now than ever before, and they don't much care where these jobs go. Currently Capita are operating the Coal Health Contract (the scheme that compensates miners for industrial disease on behalf of DECC), TV Licensing and the Criminal Records Bureau in Mumbai. Whilst they lay off staff in Britain they are constantly ramping up the numbers in India, all with the government's blessing. Officials from the relevant departments have all been out there and have openly said how pleased they are with the way things are being done.
It is an outrage and a scandal that the British Government, should carry on like this. It's one thing for private companies to operate offshore, we all have a choice whether we use their services or not, but when the Government do it, the same people that we have elected to look after our interests, the same politicians who talk about stimulating the economy and creating jobs, it shows what contempt politicians have for the electorate.
Of course Capita were embroiled in the loans to labour scandal and had to pay Rod Aldridge the then chairman his million pounds back. So is it any wonder that Capita was given carte blanche by the government to send their jobs abroad?
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