The I cant believe it’s not politics thread.

[Lionator]

6 minutes ago, Fazzer 7 said:

Really, I find this surprising. I’ve always felt Biden and the Dems would lie somewhere between Starmer and Corbyn. But I really don’t know, which was why I sought opinion. 

I think if you look at general overall policy, UK conservative government (although privatising it) run a socialist healthcare system, such a thing in America is so far away that it’s unreal. 

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, Lionator said:

I think if you look at general overall policy, UK conservative government (although privatising it) run a socialist healthcare system, such a thing in America is so far away that it’s unreal. 

And that's far from the only area where the Tories and either US party differ.

[Lionator]

34 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

And that's far from the only area where the Tories and either US party differ.

Yep environmental stuff, the existence of a welfare state, attitude towards religion  etc etc. The US political system is a sewer. 

[Bellend Sebastian]

Staying with an old mate who is quite a high fallutin' corporate lawyer.

 

He's recently come back from a whistle stop tour of partner law firms on the continent and said he felt like he spent a disproportionate amount of time on the visit apologising about Brexit. He said that the most common sentiment he encountered was that, in the absence of any perceived practical advantages of the exercise, either in the run up and especially since, his continental peers were genuinely worried that we'd cut them off simply because we didn't like them and that was really sad because they had always really liked us.

 

It didn't make me feel any better about it all.  Didn't really have any sense of feelings on the continent as the last time I was there we hadn't actually left,  and the only insight I had into it was a very sad Portuguese passport control officer telling me without any prompting that he didn't know why we'd done it

[Bryn]

37 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Staying with an old mate who is quite a high fallutin' corporate lawyer.

 

He's recently come back from a whistle stop tour of partner law firms on the continent and said he felt like he spent a disproportionate amount of time on the visit apologising about Brexit. He said that the most common sentiment he encountered was that, in the absence of any perceived practical advantages of the exercise, either in the run up and especially since, his continental peers were genuinely worried that we'd cut them off simply because we didn't like them and that was really sad because they had always really liked us.

 

It didn't make me feel any better about it all.  Didn't really have any sense of feelings on the continent as the last time I was there we hadn't actually left,  and the only insight I had into it was a very sad Portuguese passport control officer telling me without any prompting that he didn't know why we'd done it

 

Europe was stronger with us and we were stronger with them.  When I travel Europe and when I lived in France there was always banter against the British but make no mistake, our culture has always been respected across Europe. I think what we've done is a slap in the face to them and also leaves them feeling like they misjudged us and misplaced their trust.

[Bryn]

5 hours ago, Lionator said:

Interesting that Sunak proposing a further package to support people this winter is being criticised in Tory circles yet they love Truss’s “we can talk ourselves out of recession” vibes. She’s an idiot as is the base. 

 

Sunak doing himself no favours by flitting back and forth from pandering to the right wing to trying to show his true economic colours which I think are far more centrist.

Think you might see more of the true Sunak from here on as I think he knows he's lost this fight and might be positioning himself for cabinet positions and even another tilt at leadership once Truss has failed, which I think she will.

[kenny]

4 hours ago, Bryn said:

 

Europe was stronger with us and we were stronger with them.  When I travel Europe and when I lived in France there was always banter against the British but make no mistake, our culture has always been respected across Europe. I think what we've done is a slap in the face to them and also leaves them feeling like they misjudged us and misplaced their trust.

It was also reported that the UK bought balance to the europhillics and that the mainstream politicians appreciated our leadership within the EU.

 

It's also worth noting that the balance on racial issues has changed since we left. This article is interesting in that the UK is/was leading the EU in terms of racial equality.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-bame-eu-parliament-members-ethnic-minority-a9315036.html%3famp

 

 

 

 

[kenny]

21 hours ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

I don’t really get what you are saying. If you are in car and there’s a traffic jam on a motorway, you are either completely stuck or adding a diversion but it’s unproductive time bar the odd phone call, as you are at the wheel. 
 

There’s no such thing as ‘stuck on a platform. You simply get off the platform, if there’s barriers explain to the train staff and jump in a number of cafes nearby or in a big city, visit a plug in/play office spaces such as ‘we work’.

If we are talking about getting home (I have never ever been marooned in a city getting a train back), you can fully claim compensation if no train runs that evening but generally speaking they get run them running at some time that day (mainly because the freight services that simply need to operate overnight) 
 

Now even if we are talking a commute, outside of working hours, inner city routes upon trains cancelling default to bus services. The car parking is sky high alongside a congestion charge. I can take the twenty-five train ride or a fifty minute journey into a city when both operate fine, so I take the train. When the train goes haywire, I have to drive but then that directly impacts on the traffic. So the morale of the story is invest on the public transport options and the impact is gross far better
 

Ironically the worst experience I’ve had for travelling for work was by plane this year. Which speaks volumes that the most profit driven method was the worse 

Trying to get home from the KP. 

 

PT really is horrific, the last bus was 15 minutes late and I was in the process of organising lifts home for the people at the stop when it got here.

 

Total shambles.

[CosbehFox]

11 minutes ago, kenny said:

Trying to get home from the KP. 

 

PT really is horrific, the last bus was 15 minutes late and I was in the process of organising lifts home for the people at the stop when it got here.

 

Total shambles.

Didn’t mention bus tbh like - I think that’s a whole different debate

[kenny]

7 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Didn’t mention bus tbh like - I think that’s a whole different debate

Fair enough. No debate needed, they are shit.

 

I think they have a lack of drivers and are not and are not compelled to admit it.

 

They are still reasonable at peak hours bit during the day, evenings or weekends I suspect they are barely 50% running.

[urban.spaceman]

Money is the only thing that matters to these people. Sciences? Arts? Humanities? Sports? Go **** yourselves  

 

[CosbehFox]

1 minute ago, urban.spaceman said:

Money is the only thing that matters to these people. Sciences? Arts? Humanities? Sports? Go **** yourselves  

 

Like Daily Mail bingo these pair 

[rachhere]

19 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

Money is the only thing that matters to these people. Sciences? Arts? Humanities? Sports? Go **** yourselves  

 

 

Don't they teach about social mobility at Oxford...?  

 

 

[Sampson]

2 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

Money is the only thing that matters to these people. Sciences? Arts? Humanities? Sports? Go **** yourselves  

 

Christ. What a depressing outlook on life and the joys of existence - that education is only worth it if it adds economic value.
 

Forget the cultural, artistic, knowledge, joy of learning, becoming a better rounded person, improvements in mental health and satisfaction in the human condition you can get both as individual through education and that you can bring to society through the development, sharing or spreading of knowledge in different fields. All that matters is whether you can make money off it.

Edited 7 August 2022 by Sampson

[Guest Kopfkino]

53 minutes ago, Sampson said:

Christ. What a depressing outlook on life and the joys of existence - that education is only worth it if it adds economic value.
 

Forget the cultural, artistic, knowledge, joy of learning, becoming a better rounded person, improvements in mental health and satisfaction in the human condition you can get both as individual through education and that you can bring to society through the development, sharing or spreading of knowledge in different fields. All that matters is whether you can make money off it.

Well there does have to be some sort of ROI calculation to it, that can include non-monetary variables too. Obviously it’s an intervention that needs fleshing out still, I would disagree with it based solely on earning potential but that’s not what’s actually said. I would hope for a more rounded look at the interaction of education and early careers, although I fear the mindset of jobs needing a degree is too entrenched in unimaginative middle management class.

 

we can talk about all the hairy fairy reasons why education is about more than just earning potential but people can’t seriously deny that there’s a heap of courses at ‘universities’ that that have limited value. There’s a line drawn somewhere hence I don’t see the calls To fund everyone to do any PhD they want to do for all of the above benefits?

 

Theres also better ways of achieving the above benefits of education than packing 18 years olds off to do some doss course at the University of Chichester.

Edited 7 August 2022 by Kopfkino

[bovril]

15 hours ago, Fazzer 7 said:

Looking at how, according to a piece in the Telegraph, the Democrats are running  California into the ground, both economically and socially. How do Bidens Democrats compare with Starmers Labour. Are the Democrats more left wing than the current Labour Party. 

Americans are all insane. Hope this helps. 

[leicsmac]

Thankfully, not all insane - at least, not quite enough in the Senate and House, anyway.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62457386

 

Rubio and assorted others might squawk and display their ignorance and contempt for the future, but this was sorely needed.

[Jon the Hat]

6 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

Money is the only thing that matters to these people. Sciences? Arts? Humanities? Sports? Go **** yourselves  

 

I can only describe this whole policy as muddle.  Yes encourage technical / trade education to be better and more appealing to ensure we develop the next generation of skilled people.  Yes look at degree courses with high drop out rates (personally think that university should have to refund fees if they fail to match people and courses better).  Then stop thinking before you go down a rabbit hole of bollocks.

[Jon the Hat]

6 hours ago, rachhere said:

 

Don't they teach about social mobility at Oxford...?  

 

 

The policy appears to actively exclude important jobs like nursing, which is daft because I would think a Nursing degree has a very high post grad employment rate and impact on earnings.

[Jon the Hat]

19 hours ago, Lionator said:

Interesting that Sunak proposing a further package to support people this winter is being criticised in Tory circles yet they love Truss’s “we can talk ourselves out of recession” vibes. She’s an idiot as is the base. 

As far as I can make out Truss seems to be saying we should help people by cutting tax (notably the NI increase). Sunak is alluding to help without too much detail but rules out tax cuts. Personally I think we are headed for a shitstorm, and only capping energy prices at current levels and cutting Fuel duty on Petrol and Diesel will help.  

[Jattdogg]

I cant talk much being over here with Falsedeau boy but i think you guys win for having the worst clowns for politicians over us lot. Lol

 

Feel like the world needs a giant bitch slap back to reality and make politicians and wealthy tossers recognize they are so out of touch. 

[RobHawk]

7 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

Money is the only thing that matters to these people. Sciences? Arts? Humanities? Sports? Go **** yourselves  

 

It'll never happen. The competition between university's is higher than ever and it's now a big money industry. This is literally just a sound bite that he knows Tory members will lap up.

[Jon the Hat]

A thought on the video of Sunak talking in Tunbridge Wells.  While the area is no doubt generally quite well off, that doesn't mean there are not poor areas in need of funding, and I know from experience in my previous home that the schools where receiving much less than schools of similar socio economic catchment areas in cities and the north.  There are areas of significant deprivation in all parts of the country, and fair funding formulae need to take that into account, not favour areas which suit the politicians at the time.  

[Captain...]

11 hours ago, rachhere said:

 

Don't they teach about social mobility at Oxford...?  

 

 

And this is the smart one of the 2? Literally every single degree increases earning potential, because all graduate trainee schemes which are a pathway to greater earning potential, require a degree, any degree is valid, there is often a requirement on a 2:1 or better but ANY degree will do. So many jobs have the requirement of a degree, it doesn't matter what in. Some of those that do require specific qualifications, like accountancy, have courses and programs to bring anyone with any degree up to speed. Obviously there are some professions that require a specific degree but the vast majority don't they just need a degree of any kind.

Edited 8 August 2022 by Captain...

[Dames]

This Tory Leadership contest is clearly aimed at appeasing wealthy but for some reason angry pensioners. 

 

Its giving Labour a lot of ammunition leading into the next General Election.