Westministenders: A Year of Johnson

[RedToothBrush]

So having given the benefit of the doubt...

... whats your reflections?

Good (and yes do have some thoughts on the positive - challenge yourself on this one as its important) and the bad (and yes this is the easy bit but keep it within reason)?

Yoikes what did you watch Chernobyl on? I made the mistake of finding a godawful American film last time I looked for it and had to turn it off after 10mins. I keep meaning to watch it! Thanks for the Altered Carbon link. I May Destroy You was my latest to recommend and before that Little Fires Everywhere.

jesuis chernobyl is on netflix I think...I'll check.

I really recommend altered carbon...I don't know anyone else who has watched it!

I'm gearing myself up to watch years and years but fear I'm in too delicate a state atm...

Or perhaps being a great, and beautiful, woman does not absolve you of the invisibility cloak of being over 50

jesuis
Its on sky one or now TV.

Instead of working out what is needed and what would be most useful in the modern world, and then shaping education (or health or policing) around that, it's been found to be much easier to work out what metrics look best in the Daily Mail, and work towards keeping those good.

One issue hiding in the closet is that "what is needed and what would be most useful" is social and economic capital. There's no way around it in Britain - every statistic confirms what we can all see. What matters most is who your parents are, how much money they have and who they know. That tendency has been increasing, even before we hit the covid-flattened job market.

...and how much support they will give you.

pepperwort
What matters most is who your parents are, how much money they have and who they know. That tendency has been increasing, even before we hit the covid-flattened job market.

Never a truer word spoke!

Dgd I'll from September last year till march.missed mocks in February as she was in hospital and had not been in school since end January. So missed nearly 2 months if school before schools closed. A 3A* student is sitting at home worried sick she won't make either her firm or insurance offers. She doesn't want to go to a uni and do a lesser course. She has not resources to resit exams in October and wait a year to apply again especially with all international students who didn't start this year because of Covid plus 30,000 extra from this year taking gap years plus next year's cohort. It's now or never for her. All the hard slog will be for nothing. No private tutoring or even a parent who has a degree to help her just a single mum minimum wage zero contract no sick pay full time working carer,and dgd being totally isolated for four months (auto immune blood disorder so shielded) and all her dreams could be destroyed by a bloody algorithm!

That's awful. I'm sorry.
Have you both had any contact with the school, can they say anything that would help? If she's got 3A* records, that should be in her favour?

sos That's so unfair for your DGD who has got her chance through brains and hard work, not tutoring and has struggled on despite her health

I really hope she nails the offer she wants most 🤛🏼
Do let us know when you get the news later

Thanks peppermint and BCFxx
Latest from Telegraph is grades will drop. I have got to stage where I cannot read anymore about it. It's so depressing. We are so worried about dgds mental health now ( something we never had to worry about before Covid and her illness) I just hope she gets her grades and hope this cohort who have had it rough all way through ( first to have to sit all gcses the new format and now this) get grades and unis they wanted.

pepperwort not peppermint💐

Instead of working out what is needed and what would be most useful in the modern world
I don't like this - it's impossible to predict what will be useful in the 3years a course takes, let alone a decade later when you're getting into gear.
IMHO what matters is 'learning to learn' rather than being taught, a broad spectrum of learning opportunity and meeting the widest variety of people outside your comfort zone.

It used to be said that the UK was good at innovation and crap at exploiting it. We used to allow students to do what they were interested in - that maximises potential - real innovation is often cross discipline and that learning model made it likely that you'd be working in a subject not specifically related to your degree etc. We've thrown that away so are losing innovative edge but haven't reshaped the free market forces that focus on short term returns - the worst of both worlds.

When I was recruiting in IT - a computing degree, with the honourable exception of two of the old polys that did sandwich courses, was rarely associated with a good performer - more recently, fairly near the top of the profession and being privileged to work in several high performing teams - very few colleagues had computing/it as a first degree.

When I was recruiting in IT - a computing degree, with the honourable exception of two of the old polys that did sandwich courses, was rarely associated with a good performer - more recently, fairly near the top of the profession and being privileged to work in several high performing teams - very few colleagues had computing/it as a first degree.

When I started in IT, most people had non-IT degrees. My first supervisor did History, and our boss and her boss had language degrees. But our section was the IT hub for the entire department.

(That's my weird work history, my first job my boss was a woman, as was her boss. This was the 80s).

DGR my DH started as a programmer in 1971 with a philosophy degree. He was asked if he played bridge and did crosswords, which he did. These got him the job.

I actually object to Tim Shipmans expression with regards coronavirus- it implies a superiority of the British, and is so colonialist. Not that I would defend wet markets - I think they are abhorrent, but it's not like the brits are superior.

I saw the thing about David frost briefing Tory MP's - I wondered if there is concern amongst the ranks about no deal

IT was new to all then and outside the old status system. If you could show interest and work you were fine. The good old days. You need degrees now like everything.

Has anyone seen this from America? The way Sky is reporting, it sounds like the Berlin Wall coming down!
news.sky.com/story/portland-parents-nurses-and-veterans-join-protests-after-federal-officers-deployed-12037024

[quote Pepperwort]IT was new to all then and outside the old status system. If you could show interest and work you were fine. The good old days. You need degrees now like everything.

Has anyone seen this from America? The way Sky is reporting, it sounds like the Berlin Wall coming down!
news.sky.com/story/portland-parents-nurses-and-veterans-join-protests-after-federal-officers-deployed-12037024[/quote]
Last I read (last week) Dads were joining Mums with leaf blowers to push back the tear gas they were expecting.

Just a few pages back, someone said that Irish incomes were among the lowest in the EU. As we've learned during 'that' Referendum, it is important to fact check. Link below places Ireland's wages higher than the poster maintains.

Household incomes:
appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_di04&lang=en

Wages:
www.reinisfischer.com/average-salary-european-union-2018

Of course, these don't give the full picture about quality of life. Where your tax goes, what services are provided by the State and many other variables are for another discussion. Also, with regard to this issue, you'd have to take into account the overall benefits gained by membership. Not just material, either.

p.s. The word for Ireland is Éire (if you're speaking Irish). If you're not speaking Irish, or aren't Irish, using Eire gives off the scent of a sad attempt at condescension. Rather flags the possibility of the user having a less than honourable agenda. Of course, this may not be intentional!

Yes those are mentioned again. Apparently both sides have them now.

If you're not speaking Irish, or aren't Irish, using Eire gives off the scent of a sad attempt at condescension.

But a lot of posters of a certain age (raises hand) might have learned that at school. And like a lot of things that change in the world, may not have got the memo.

I also learned the capital of China was "Peking". And there were cities in India called Bombay and Calcutta.

Generally I'd never set out to upset or offend anyone by getting something wrong, but I certainly understand how it could happen.

Apropos of probably not much, Portland was the home of Ursula Le Guin, the author of “The ones who walk away from Omelas”. I think she’d have been supporting the protesters.

😂 John Crace has become my political analyst of choice

• he is genuinely good at disentangling BJ's thought processes, such as they are:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/22/boris-is-the-emperor-with-no-clothes-and-its-not-a-pretty-sight

How come Johnson had managed to sit on something that had highlighted Russia as an urgent and immediate threat for 10 months?

The honest answer would have been that Johnson had actually intended to sit on the report for much longer than 10 months
but had been caught on the hop when Chris Grayling, his nominated stooge for the committee chair, managed to lose a vote that had been rigged in his favour.

He should have paid more attention to those who had warned him there was no bad situation that Failing Grayling could not make worse.

There should be statues to Grayling in every city, symbols of hope for losers everywhere.

Portland Oregon :
most of the city is quietly plodding along as normal
but the leaf blower dads and the cycle helmet moms are quite a statement
if Trump is dumb enough to order the DHS into bigger cities, they will be ready for him .....

if Trump is dumb enough to order the DHS into bigger cities, they will be ready for him .....

He will order them in. He has no choice. If he intends to ignore the results of the presidential elections (if they are ever held) then he needs to lay down a story that Amerikkka is under attack from conveniently nebulous and vague "powers of (descends into a mumble)".

Has he crossed his Rubicon yet ?

DGR
The election will be held
and if he loses, under the constitution, any federal officer who obeys him rather than the winner will be arrested - quite probably by the Portland Police