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  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Mark Wallace
    @wallaceme

    My favourite ever Jeremy Corbyn parliamentary quote (from way back in 1989) "There was nothing wrong with the Luddites"
  • MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034

    I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.

    Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ... :/

    Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:

    I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
    I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
    About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news
    With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
    I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
    I know the scientific names of beings animalculous

    :)
    Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    MTimT said:

    I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.

    Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ... :/

    Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:

    I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
    I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
    About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news
    With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
    I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
    I know the scientific names of beings animalculous

    :)
    Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
    I am the very model of a modern Major General!
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,751

    isam said:

    MP_SE said:

    Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today

    It begins...
    According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.

    He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11872727/Islamic-terrorist-shot-dead-after-Berlin-attack-on-policewoman.html
    Lets not get so excited about migrants to Germany having to wait 8 years before getting citizenship then eh?!
    I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!

    It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
    Well, look at how long it's taken the UK to deport individuals we don't want to have in the country.

  • LucyJonesLucyJones Posts: 651
    edited September 2015



    I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!

    It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.


    Pretty sure it wasn't aimed at you but at a couple of others who have been arguing that we won't be affected in the UK by the large number of migrants entering Germany because they won't be eligible for German citizenship for 8 years. By which time they will be settled in Germany and won't want to move to the UK - or so the argument goes.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    edited September 2015
    MTimT said:

    I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.

    Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ... :/

    Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:

    I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
    I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
    About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news
    With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
    I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
    I know the scientific names of beings animalculous

    :)
    Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
    the very model of a modern major general ;)

    I almost had to sing it. Every Speech Day at school we put on a Gilbert and Sullivan performance. In my memory it always seemed to be either Pinafore or Pirates.
  • welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,464
    MaxPB said:

    welshowl said:

    MaxPB said:

    I got into Oxford with BBBD (and 2 failed S Levels)

    I probably would have worked harder - but I was given a BBB offer - so why bother doing any more? (I am in no doubt that I was part of an affirmative action scheme to get more state school pupils into Oxford - but I did my research and found the college who wanted to work like that, so used the system)

    Ah the joys of the 1980s!

    I got mediocre A-Levels, BBC, got into Cardiff and then a 1st in Chemistry and Physics. A-Levels are not meaningful in terms of measuring intelligence. It's just a measure of how well one can memorise useless information.
    UCC, UWIST or the later incarnation as "Cardiff university"?
    Cardiff University.
    UCC
  • alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    O/T - anyone know what's going on with Corbyn's shadow ministerial team. Is this a complete list?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Opposition_frontbench

    If so, to say that he's leaning rather heavily on the House of Lords is a bit of an understatement!
  • isamisam Posts: 42,615

    isam said:

    MP_SE said:

    Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today

    It begins...
    According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.

    He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11872727/Islamic-terrorist-shot-dead-after-Berlin-attack-on-policewoman.html
    Lets not get so excited about migrants to Germany having to wait 8 years before getting citizenship then eh?!
    I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!

    It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.
    It wasn't a dig at you at all, but there have been people on here saying it was nothing to worry about that Germany wanted to take 800k migrants, as it takes 8 years to become EU citizens and by then they'd be assimilated to German culture.. a preposterous argument from short termists and dreamers I'd say
  • MaxPB said:

    welshowl said:

    MaxPB said:

    I got into Oxford with BBBD (and 2 failed S Levels)

    I probably would have worked harder - but I was given a BBB offer - so why bother doing any more? (I am in no doubt that I was part of an affirmative action scheme to get more state school pupils into Oxford - but I did my research and found the college who wanted to work like that, so used the system)

    Ah the joys of the 1980s!

    I got mediocre A-Levels, BBC, got into Cardiff and then a 1st in Chemistry and Physics. A-Levels are not meaningful in terms of measuring intelligence. It's just a measure of how well one can memorise useless information.
    UCC, UWIST or the later incarnation as "Cardiff university"?
    Cardiff University.
    Welshowl and I were both at UCC in the mid 80s.
  • MTimT said:

    I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.

    Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ... :/

    Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:

    I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
    I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
    About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news
    With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
    I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
    I know the scientific names of beings animalculous

    :)
    Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
    Pirates of Penzance. I sing it (*) to my son to get him to sleep. I started learning the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' to say to him, but progress has recently stalled.

    (*) My singing's so good that it's been mentioned in a published book. Something about a cat being strangled. ;)
  • PaulyPauly Posts: 897
    alex. said:

    O/T - anyone know what's going on with Corbyn's shadow ministerial team. Is this a complete list?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Opposition_frontbench

    If so, to say that he's leaning rather heavily on the House of Lords is a bit of an understatement!

    According to LabourList still ongoing, maybe an announcement tonight but may take a while..
    See http://labourlist.org/2015/09/liveblog-whos-in-jeremy-corbyns-shadow-cabinet/
  • MTimT said:

    I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.

    Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ... :/

    Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:

    I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
    I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
    About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news
    With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
    I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
    I know the scientific names of beings animalculous

    :)
    Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
    Pirates of Penzance

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major-General's_Song
  • MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034

    MTimT said:

    I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.

    Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ... :/

    Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:

    I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
    I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
    About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news
    With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
    I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
    I know the scientific names of beings animalculous

    :)
    Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
    Pirates of Penzance. I sing it (*) to my son to get him to sleep. I started learning the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' to say to him, but progress has recently stalled.

    (*) My singing's so good that it's been mentioned in a published book. Something about a cat being strangled. ;)
    Ta
  • weejonnieweejonnie Posts: 3,820

    MTimT said:

    I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.

    Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ... :/

    Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:

    I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
    I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
    About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news
    With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
    I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
    I know the scientific names of beings animalculous

    :)
    Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
    Pirates of Penzance. I sing it (*) to my son to get him to sleep. I started learning the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' to say to him, but progress has recently stalled.

    (*) My singing's so good that it's been mentioned in a published book. Something about a cat being strangled. ;)
    And since it's about chemistry : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYW50F42ss8
  • MP_SE said:

    Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today

    It begins...
    According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.

    He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11872727/Islamic-terrorist-shot-dead-after-Berlin-attack-on-policewoman.html
    Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Paul Waugh
    .@JeremyCorbyn4PM will join a union rally at party conference. The TORY party conference.
    http://t.co/IG77CcGXBm #novel
  • welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,464
    edited September 2015

    MaxPB said:

    welshowl said:

    MaxPB said:

    I got into Oxford with BBBD (and 2 failed S Levels)

    I probably would have worked harder - but I was given a BBB offer - so why bother doing any more? (I am in no doubt that I was part of an affirmative action scheme to get more state school pupils into Oxford - but I did my research and found the college who wanted to work like that, so used the system)

    Ah the joys of the 1980s!

    I got mediocre A-Levels, BBC, got into Cardiff and then a 1st in Chemistry and Physics. A-Levels are not meaningful in terms of measuring intelligence. It's just a measure of how well one can memorise useless information.
    UCC, UWIST or the later incarnation as "Cardiff university"?
    Cardiff University.
    Welshowl and I were both at UCC in the mid 80s.
    We're getting close to taxi filling status! Think anyone else will emerge and we can get into minibus territory?

    Actually it feels like there's more than a fair share on here with connections to the Principality.
  • TudorRoseTudorRose Posts: 1,683

    Paul Waugh
    .@JeremyCorbyn4PM will join a union rally at party conference. The TORY party conference.
    http://t.co/IG77CcGXBm #novel

    It's to thank all the people that voted for him!
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    edited September 2015
    :lol:

    EDIT IIRC YouGov calculated that 3000 Tories at GE2015 voted for Corbyn
    TudorRose said:

    Paul Waugh
    .@JeremyCorbyn4PM will join a union rally at party conference. The TORY party conference.
    http://t.co/IG77CcGXBm #novel

    It's to thank all the people that voted for him!
  • MP_SE said:

    Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today

    It begins...
    According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.

    He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11872727/Islamic-terrorist-shot-dead-after-Berlin-attack-on-policewoman.html
    Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
    And after the threatened the judge and police after he was released in 2013, at least according to the DT story.

    Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway.
  • HaroldOHaroldO Posts: 1,185

    Paul Waugh
    .@JeremyCorbyn4PM will join a union rally at party conference. The TORY party conference.
    http://t.co/IG77CcGXBm #novel

    Awesome. He's breaking all the rules, and looks like an over-age James Dean rebel as a result.
  • isamisam Posts: 42,615

    MP_SE said:

    Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today

    It begins...
    According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.

    He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11872727/Islamic-terrorist-shot-dead-after-Berlin-attack-on-policewoman.html
    Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
    And after the threatened the judge and police after he was released in 2013, at least according to the DT story.

    Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway.
    "Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway"

    You'd like to think not!
  • John_MJohn_M Posts: 7,503
    HaroldO said:

    Paul Waugh
    .@JeremyCorbyn4PM will join a union rally at party conference. The TORY party conference.
    http://t.co/IG77CcGXBm #novel

    Awesome. He's breaking all the rules, and looks like an over-age James Dean rebel as a result.
    I liked this Corbyn quote from the article:

    “The labour movement exists to organise people, it exists to bring about change. It does not exist to accommodate capital.”
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 80,112
    Will Corbyn bend the knee :D ?
  • HaroldOHaroldO Posts: 1,185
    John_M said:

    HaroldO said:

    Paul Waugh
    .@JeremyCorbyn4PM will join a union rally at party conference. The TORY party conference.
    http://t.co/IG77CcGXBm #novel

    Awesome. He's breaking all the rules, and looks like an over-age James Dean rebel as a result.
    I liked this Corbyn quote from the article:

    “The labour movement exists to organise people, it exists to bring about change. It does not exist to accommodate capital.”
    I'm being thick here (as per) but does he mean capital in a sickeningly Marxist sense?
  • isamisam Posts: 42,615
    Scott_P said:
    Methinks Brown Mamba may be a PBer...
  • Ah, the thread where I get to say that I got three As in maths, chemistry and physics. That was when there was a quota for As. I also sat the S level papers in maths and chemistry without having been taught the extra syllabus - and failed both by some margin. I agree that you can basically knock a grade off today's sixth formers to equate to a 1980s basis.
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Something for Jezzbollah to get upset about

    UK airstrikes have killed 330 Isis fighters, says Fallon http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4559700.ece
  • PaulyPauly Posts: 897
    To be fair, as someone who has just finished his A-levels, the Tories are starting to make them harder again. They're putting all a-level exams to be sat at the end of the two years and restricting resits.
    As someone who did maths & further-maths, that'd mean 12 maths based exams at the end of the 2 years. So I think the days of grade inflation just might be dead.
  • isam said:

    MP_SE said:

    Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today

    It begins...
    According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.

    He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11872727/Islamic-terrorist-shot-dead-after-Berlin-attack-on-policewoman.html
    Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
    And after the threatened the judge and police after he was released in 2013, at least according to the DT story.

    Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway.
    "Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway"

    You'd like to think not!
    No, you would know not. The idea that terrorists and murderers are in any way typical of even a fraction of 1% of the migrants is just ludicrous.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 80,112
    US rates unchanged..
  • alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    I got a 1 in the STEP and a C in the A-Level (both further maths). I think there was some dodgy marking in the latter...
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 3,988
    John_M said:

    HaroldO said:

    Paul Waugh
    .@JeremyCorbyn4PM will join a union rally at party conference. The TORY party conference.
    http://t.co/IG77CcGXBm #novel

    Awesome. He's breaking all the rules, and looks like an over-age James Dean rebel as a result.
    I liked this Corbyn quote from the article:

    “The labour movement exists to organise people, it exists to bring about change. It does not exist to accommodate capital.”
    Does this explain why so many left-wing posters don't employ capital letters?
  • isamisam Posts: 42,615

    isam said:

    MP_SE said:

    Man identified as Rafik Y, who had been convicted in 2008 plot to murder Iraqi PM, stabbed a policewoman in western Berlin before being shot dead today

    It begins...
    According to the DT, he's been in Germany for years, and was in fact convicted there for a plot to assassinate the Iraqi PM in 2004.

    He only had his electronic tag removed hours earlier.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11872727/Islamic-terrorist-shot-dead-after-Berlin-attack-on-policewoman.html
    Yep. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current migrant crisis. Mind you, you do have to ask why a man convicted of attempted murder associated with terrorist activitieswas then allowed to stay in the country after he had completed his sentence?
    And after the threatened the judge and police after he was released in 2013, at least according to the DT story.

    Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway.
    "Yet he would not be a 'typical' migrant or refugee anyway"

    You'd like to think not!
    No, you would know not. The idea that terrorists and murderers are in any way typical of even a fraction of 1% of the migrants is just ludicrous.
    Who said they were?!
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,338
    edited September 2015

    MTimT said:

    I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.

    Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ... :/

    Every pupil leaving school should be able to say the following:

    I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
    I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
    About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news
    With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
    I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
    I know the scientific names of beings animalculous

    :)
    Sounds like Flanders and Swan. Or Gilbert and Sullivan. Going by the rhythm, HMS Pinafore?
    Pirates of Penzance

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major-General's_Song
    Sir Joseph Porter...Pinafore.

    I grew so rich that I was sent
    By a pocket borough into Parliament
    I always voted at my party's call
    And I never thought of thinking for myself at all
    No, he never thought of thinking for himself at all
    I thought so little, they rewarded me
    By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navy
    He thought so little, they rewarded he
    By making him the Ruler of the Queen's Navy
  • Pauly said:

    To be fair, as someone who has just finished his A-levels, the Tories are starting to make them harder again. They're putting all a-level exams to be sat at the end of the two years and restricting resits.
    As someone who did maths & further-maths, that'd mean 12 maths based exams at the end of the 2 years. So I think the days of grade inflation just might be dead.

    Trouble with the new system is that you still have to do an exam after your first year which doesn't contribute to your final grade.
  • I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.

    The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."

    Thank god, Labour are not in power.
  • ReggieCideReggieCide Posts: 4,312
    LucyJones said:


    I've never mentioned that, if that's meant to be a dig at me!

    It'd be good to know why he was allowed to remain in Germany after he was released. You'd think he'd be the sort of person who'd be on the first flight out of the country.


    Pretty sure it wasn't aimed at you but at a couple of others who have been arguing that we won't be affected in the UK by the large number of migrants entering Germany because they won't be eligible for German citizenship for 8 years. By which time they will be settled in Germany and won't want to move to the UK - or so the argument goes.

    The way things are going, the EU will have ceased to exist by then. If it hasn't we'll have been long gone.
  • I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.

    The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."

    Thank god, Labour are not in power.

    Hollande is stymied by the fact that Le Pen is leading the polls in the first round (although she wouldn't win the run off)
  • One of my friends failed her AS year and re-did it, and by no means did she find the exams 'easy'. I think the resitting is balanced out by the increase in the amount of exams taken. I don't think incidentally though, that doing exams all in one year will scare people for life. What might is having those of the older generation lord it over the my generation about their grades.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 61,405

    I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.

    The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."

    Thank god, Labour are not in power.

    If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
  • The_ApocalypseThe_Apocalypse Posts: 7,831
    edited September 2015
    I also think exam pressure for students starts much earlier than year 11 - arguably it begins in year six, with SATs. I remember those where the first exams I did which were treated as literally life and death by my primary school.
  • isamisam Posts: 42,615
    rcs1000 said:

    I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.

    The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."

    Thank god, Labour are not in power.

    If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
    Good job Socrates is no longer here to reply
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
  • welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,464

    One of my friends failed her AS year and re-did it, and by no means did she find the exams 'easy'. I think the resitting is balanced out by the increase in the amount of exams taken. I don't think incidentally though, that doing exams all in one year will scare people for life. What might is having those of the older generation lord it over the my generation about their grades.

    Lording it so to speak would not be right, but I doubt I'm alone on here in having interviewed folk for a job and just not been in a position to take grades seriously anymore. It's been all well and good the educational establishment egged on and for all I know cajoled by Govt to "produce" better grades for 30 odd years so ministers could give "good news" and teachers and pupils/students ( not their fault mind) feel good, if the end result is that crusty old sods like me who are the eventual targets of the grading system so to speak increasingly think it's all a load of crap.
  • @MyBurningEars Really? One of our family friends is a teacher, and that's pretty much what she told us. The system makes more sense without any first year exam, really. I also think the whole idea of taking 4 subjects and then dropping one is a stupid idea. Many people did subjects they didn't really care for as a result. The time could have been better spent revising the three other subjects.
  • PaulyPauly Posts: 897
    MP_SE said:
    Simon knows exactly what he is doing here, he is causing media damage with minimal effort. He knows the second he poses with the only UKIP MP just days after their new leader, exactly what message he is sending out. The question really is whether or not he just sending the warning or if there have been real discussions - it is clear he doesn't give a damn about secrecy.
  • ArtistArtist Posts: 1,894
    Attention seeker..
  • isamisam Posts: 42,615
    Tottenham 0-1 at home to Azerbaijan's finest
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 61,405
    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.

    The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."

    Thank god, Labour are not in power.

    If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
    Good job Socrates is no longer here to reply
    I was just teasing LadyBucket :-)
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    A propos of nothing, I just found out that 'Bubble-Wrap' is a trademark of Sealed Air Corporation.

    Who knew?
  • isamisam Posts: 42,615
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.

    The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."

    Thank god, Labour are not in power.

    If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
    Good job Socrates is no longer here to reply
    I was just teasing LadyBucket :-)
    Hyacinth?!
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 61,405

    rcs1000 said:

    I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.

    The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."

    Thank god, Labour are not in power.

    If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
    If men come and settle down and establish a life for themselves, it wouldn't be a surprise for partners to join them from abroad later. That would be quite normal in terms of migration patterns. It's likely that social networks for marriage etc will persist throughout all the migratory disruption - the internet makes that easier than ever.
    Although if it's all unmarried 23 year old men, then they will be competing for the attentions of unmarried females. If they particularly want a Muslim bride, then the changing demographics will suddenly allow female Muslims in Europe a lot of power. Alternatively, if they are not fussy (which I suspect most 23 year old men are not), then they are likely to be giving up their Islamic principles.

    There is already a shortage of monumentally stupid Islamic brides in this country, as demonstrated by the (completely unsatiated) desire of the also monumentally stupid would be Islamic warriors to get Jihadi brides in Syria.
  • welshowl said:

    One of my friends failed her AS year and re-did it, and by no means did she find the exams 'easy'. I think the resitting is balanced out by the increase in the amount of exams taken. I don't think incidentally though, that doing exams all in one year will scare people for life. What might is having those of the older generation lord it over the my generation about their grades.

    Lording it so to speak would not be right, but I doubt I'm alone on here in having interviewed folk for a job and just not been in a position to take grades seriously anymore. It's been all well and good the educational establishment egged on and for all I know cajoled by Govt to "produce" better grades for 30 odd years so ministers could give "good news" and teachers and pupils/students ( not their fault mind) feel good, if the end result is that crusty old sods like me who are the eventual targets of the grading system so to speak increasingly think it's all a load of crap.
    Tbh, I think it would be an accurate description. For a very long time now, the people who have faced the brunt of the criticism for the failings of the education system have been students - who are in a no-win position. Do well? You're grades are worthless anyway. Do badly? Wow, you must be utterly dumb. Go to university? Who cares, everyone gets in anyway. Do a vocational qualification? That's criticised by employers too. Meanwhile there is always someone of the 80s, 70s, generation - arguably a generation of more opportunity than what many people my age will face - who will say how great their grades were, how hard their exams were etc. I've heard on comment sections, and on blogs a million anecdotal stories like the above about someone who on paper has good/decent grades but who doesn't impress in the job interview. The way many young people are talked about today by some I'm honestly shocked they know any. If the education system is so rubbish, criticise the politicians who actually created it, rather than the students who can only work with what they have.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,750

    Ah, the thread where I get to say that I got three As in maths, chemistry and physics. That was when there was a quota for As. I also sat the S level papers in maths and chemistry without having been taught the extra syllabus - and failed both by some margin. I agree that you can basically knock a grade off today's sixth formers to equate to a 1980s basis.

    Comparing to the 80s is probably two grades by now. It was about one grade when I took them over 10 years ago.
  • alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    Apparently Jeremy Corbyn has abolished the post of Shadow Immigration minister.

    It appears that a large number of Labour shadows haven't got any people to shadow, and a large number of Conservative ministers haven't got anyone to shadow them.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    It's official - the GOP debate last night is CNN's most watched program ever.

    23 million pairs of eyeballs, just a million less than watched the Fox News debate last month.

    See how Marco and Carly do in the aftermath.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    alex. said:

    Apparently Jeremy Corbyn has abolished the post of Shadow Immigration minister.

    It appears that a large number of Labour shadows haven't got any people to shadow, and a large number of Conservative ministers haven't got anyone to shadow them.

    Does that make the shadow cabinet the phantom cabinet?
  • @MyBurningEars Really? One of our family friends is a teacher, and that's pretty much what she told us. The system makes more sense without any first year exam, really. I also think the whole idea of taking 4 subjects and then dropping one is a stupid idea. Many people did subjects they didn't really care for as a result. The time could have been better spent revising the three other subjects.

    You lucky thing Ms Apocalypse, I am apparently devoting my thousandth post to you.*

    I know of only a few schools in London which ignore AS levels but I imagine it is going to become much more common. One of the things that frustrated me as a teacher/lecturer - most of the third term in the first year was lost, for practical purposes. Another was that the sense of community spirit in sixth form was much diminished since my day: when Year 12 was not an externally examined year, they would often be at the heart of school life. Running activities for younger children, voluntary work in the community, school productions, debating competitions, sport, music, that kind of thing. Once Year 13 was really up and running - marked by the sending of university applications - then that activity was cut down, but by then the new Year 12s would be running the shows so there was someone to pass the baton to. In many ways Year 12 was a good opportunity to broaden your experience of the real world and polish up your CV before uni. That has died off a lot now, very few colleges still give a regular slot (for some reason it was often Wednesday afternoons!) to extracurricular activities for Year 12.

    You are of course correct that exam pressure starts as early as 11! But a bit of pressure, applied at the correct time (by which, I don't mean 11!) is no bad thing. It's the continual pressure of Year 11, Year 12, Year 13 which worries me.

    * Thousandth. Bloody hell. Bear in mind that there were very many comments on Disqus, and goodness knows how many on the custom commenting system PB had before that, and I am finally being held to account for the time spent, or wasted, here. That list of "all those other things I have been meant to be doing" over the years only grows longer!
    I think that the pressure applied in year Six is way too much. It feels very sudden, when seemingly there was nowhere near that kind of pressure previously. I agree though that from Year 10 onwards really, the exam pressure is conterminous and feels very stressful - almost a 'end of the world' situation. I'd love a scheme where between Year 10 - 13, companies would come into schools and give students some form of work experience - with those that really impress potentially having long-term opportunities to be more involved/work for the company.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 3,988
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.

    The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."

    Thank god, Labour are not in power.

    If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
    Good job Socrates is no longer here to reply
    I was just teasing LadyBucket :-)
    @rcs1000 You posted a comment on a recent thread that you are certain Schengen will be back in operation in March. Did you only have in mind a winter season slowing the number of migrants/refugees, or was it something more permanent?
  • rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I see President Hollande is wisely keeping his mouth shut because he knows his mate, Frau Merkel, has made a catastrophic error. The demographics of vast parts of Europe will be changed for ever. This is HUGE.

    The migrants are becoming very media savvy - some now holding up placards saying "where is our human rights."

    Thank god, Labour are not in power.

    If it's all men, then it won't have much impact on demographics
    If men come and settle down and establish a life for themselves, it wouldn't be a surprise for partners to join them from abroad later. That would be quite normal in terms of migration patterns. It's likely that social networks for marriage etc will persist throughout all the migratory disruption - the internet makes that easier than ever.
    Although if it's all unmarried 23 year old men, then they will be competing for the attentions of unmarried females. If they particularly want a Muslim bride, then the changing demographics will suddenly allow female Muslims in Europe a lot of power. Alternatively, if they are not fussy (which I suspect most 23 year old men are not), then they are likely to be giving up their Islamic principles.

    There is already a shortage of monumentally stupid Islamic brides in this country, as demonstrated by the (completely unsatiated) desire of the also monumentally stupid would be Islamic warriors to get Jihadi brides in Syria.
    In the case of the parents of a couple of my old schoolfriends, it was a case of a Pakistani man marrying an English woman, then expecting them to essentially convert to Islam, in deed if not officially.

    For one, the hypocrisy was massive. Despite the fact that he had married an Enslighwoman, he forbade his children from marrying one.

    It got much worse than that, but I won't go further.

    On the other hand, I know a fair few Muslims who are very well integrated into society, and lots (including Mrs J) who are from a Muslim country but are not practising the religion.

    I've also made a little money working for a successful company CEO'd by an immigrant from a Muslim country.
  • PaulyPauly Posts: 897
    edited September 2015
    Tim_B said:

    alex. said:

    Apparently Jeremy Corbyn has abolished the post of Shadow Immigration minister.

    It appears that a large number of Labour shadows haven't got any people to shadow, and a large number of Conservative ministers haven't got anyone to shadow them.

    Does that make the shadow cabinet the phantom cabinet?
    He misread the LabourList comment like I did I think. Corbyn has not abolished that post. It was merged to become Minister for Security and Immigration by the Tories not so long ago.
    However the phantom cabinet is still a very real possibility.
  • MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    MP_SE said:
    Will they appear together at the UKIP conference next weekend? :D
  • alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    Pauly said:

    Tim_B said:

    alex. said:

    Apparently Jeremy Corbyn has abolished the post of Shadow Immigration minister.

    It appears that a large number of Labour shadows haven't got any people to shadow, and a large number of Conservative ministers haven't got anyone to shadow them.

    Does that make the shadow cabinet the phantom cabinet?
    He misread the LabourList comment like I did I think. Corbyn has not abolished that post. It was merged to become Minister for Security and Immigration by the Tories not so long ago.
    However the phantom cabinet is still a very real possibility.
    oops
  • welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,464

    welshowl said:

    One of my friends failed her AS year and re-did it, and by no means did she find the exams 'easy'. I think the resitting is balanced out by the increase in the amount of exams taken. I don't think incidentally though, that doing exams all in one year will scare people for life. What might is having those of the older generation lord it over the my generation about their grades.

    Lording it so to speak would not be right, but I doubt I'm alone on here in having interviewed folk for a job and just not been in a position to take grades seriously anymore. It's been all well and good the educational establishment egged on and for all I know cajoled by Govt to "produce" better grades for 30 odd years so ministers could give "good news" and teachers and pupils/students ( not their fault mind) feel good, if the end result is that crusty old sods like me who are the eventual targets of the grading system so to speak increasingly think it's all a load of crap.
    Tbh, I think it would be an accurate description. For a very long time now, the people who have faced the brunt of the criticism for the failings of the education system have been students - who are in a no-win position. Do well? You're grades are worthless anyway. Do badly? Wow, you must be utterly dumb. Go to university? Who cares, everyone gets in anyway. Do a vocational qualification? That's criticised by employers too. Meanwhile there is always someone of the 80s, 70s, generation - arguably a generation of more opportunity than what many people my age will face - who will say how great their grades were, how hard their exams were etc. I've heard on comment sections, and on blogs a million anecdotal stories like the above about someone who on paper has good/decent grades but who doesn't impress in the job interview. The way many young people are talked about today by some I'm honestly shocked they know any. If the education system is so rubbish, criticise the politicians who actually created it, rather than the students who can only work with what they have.
    Quite right. The students can only pass what's put in front of them. They can't go back to the 70's or 80's and sit then. It's the politicians who've ballsed it all up. The vast expansion of degree level education started by the Tories, I believe, and gone for even bigger by T Blair is a nonsense which ( as I've said before) has conned your generation. It used to be really quite hard to get into uni, but the relative few that made it were paid for and tended to have better prospects of better and (generally) better paid careers. Increase supply of graduates hugely and the price falls, it ain't rocket science.

    Some increase was doubtless needed but all this "everyone needs a degree" rubbish has gone wrong and mostly for the under 35's.
  • JonnyJimmyJonnyJimmy Posts: 2,548
    Every time the Director of Rebuttals states that Jezza has been quoted out of context he should be asked whether Maggie said "there's no such thing as society"
  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591
    edited September 2015

    MP_SE said:

    I teach the basics of a Fourier transform to 2nd year chemists partly as an experimental technique and partly as a way of bringing in ideas such as complex numbers and integration.

    Which is damning, as most haven't really seen those two concepts before ... :/

    Complex numbers are really interesting.

    sqrt(-1) = i

    blew my mind when I learnt about it.
    Complex numbers are brilliant! Surely one of the best and most exciting discoveries in mathematics for 2000 years (for those non-maths types here, without complex numbers you wouldn't be reading this as electronic computers would not be possible). Aside from the sheer joy of Complex Number Theory, the philosophy and the history behind them is huge fun to read about (and, after a few beers, to debate).

    Infinity and infinitesimals may be the most fun mathematical discoveries ever but complex numbers must run them a close third.
    Absolutely! Quadratic equations in complex numbers were great fun. De moivre's theorem was also very cool too! Cos theta + I sin theta and it has its uses in electricity if I recall correctly.
  • MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    GoodnightVienna ‏@CallingEngland 21m21 minutes ago
    #Farage: 'Angela Merkel is the only person I've met who is even more miserable in private than she is in public.' :) #UKIP

  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    MikeK said:

    GoodnightVienna ‏@CallingEngland 21m21 minutes ago
    #Farage: 'Angela Merkel is the only person I've met who is even more miserable in private than she is in public.' :) #UKIP

    That's because she never had the pleasure of going on a motorcycle tour of East Germany with Jeremy Corbyn.
  • Danczuk has a better chance of holding Rochdale for UKIP against a Corbynite Labour than Mark Reckless did against the Tories in R&S, IMHO.
  • new thread

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