Mega Thread News of the Day / Interesting Articles & Links

[medusala]

Yeah that is exactly what they teach. Spot on.

And you love it. Plenty don't.

In the battle of beards, Im taking God over Marx thanks very much.

 

[Chief]

And you love it. Plenty don't.

In the battle of beards, Im taking God over Marx thanks very much.

Yeah bud. You know everything that goes on in the classrooms of a country you don't even live in. You're a legend.

 

[medusala]

Yeah bud. You know everything that goes on in the classrooms of a country you don't even live in. You're a legend.

What's your expertise in the classrooms of private schools then? Or are you just on another dreary anti religion / private school rant which flies in the face of all the evidence that state schools do a poor job.

Each to their own but I certainly wouldn't condemn my children to a poor education on the basis of ideology.

Res ipsa loquitur. You must have come across that in your legal studies.

 

[Chief]

You don't have children. You don't live in this country.

You have dodgy stats based on self-selection and test rigging. Once they hit uni, private school kids do no better than anyone else.

I have two children in primary school, and a job that lets me be involved in their schooling.

You're a racist, elitist idiot.

 

[medusala]

You're a racist, elitist idiot.

Lol, coming from the biggest anti Christian zealot on here.

You have dodgy stats based on self-selection and test rigging.

Yep, keep telling yourself that. I am sure the masses who send their kids to private schools believe you. Ditto all those who would like to but cant afford to. The facts speak for themselves.

And humour that you think calling me elitist is in some way insulting.

 

[Chief]

Lol, coming from the biggest anti Christian zealot on here.



Yep, keep telling yourself that. I am sure the masses who send their kids to private schools believe you. Ditto all those who would like to but cant afford to. The facts speak for themselves.

And humour that you think calling me elitist is in some way insulting.

So nobody falls for dodgy stats.

This is proof?

I can afford it. My sons go to the local public schools.

 

[medusala]

So nobody falls for dodgy stats.

All the time Chief, most stats put out by government are lie (inflation being a particular favourite)

The dodgiest stats are those provided by the education unions. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that even after accounting for income private schools do better.

Of course there is also evidence (and teachers hate this even more) that the hereditary aspect account for the lions share of educational outcome differences. Recent article in Daily Telegraph re this but couldn't google it in a two minute look.

 

[Chief]

We know that the act of putting your child in a private school is self-selection. We know that private schools push out the kids they think won't do well.

In the U.S. the stats apparently show the best indicator of academic performance is postal code.

Only a snobby bellend like you would think elitist is complimentary term.

As a mutual acquaintance said "he's an ok guy but thinks every problem is caused by too many foreigners in England".

So at least there is someone who understands you and is sort of your friend.

 

[iBeng]

I went to a Private Catholic school for Grades 8 through to 11. Im not Catholic, nor am I religious in anyway, my mother just happened to work there. From my experiences there, they did everything in their power to keep high achievers and the expense of lesser viewed kids. And not just in the classroom. If there was a kid getting straight Ds that could play Rugby like a champion, he'd "randomly" get a free pass to the next year or a free, school fees paid scholarship deal.

 

[Mofra]

All the time Chief, most stats put out by government are lie (inflation being a particular favourite)

Can you substantiate this claim at all?

 

[YES! YES! YES!]

I went to your typical APS private school.

I know so many people from there who got into a degree at Melbourne or Monash University.

This is because the emphasis on education is highly looked upon. Therefore, when the cohort does well on the exams, it lifts other people's internal marks upwards so they get ridiculous ATARs in the 90s.

However that's not to say that a Melbourne/Monash degree guarantees that someone gets set for life.

 

[medusala]

Can you substantiate this claim at all?

Yep. Lots of examples re that. Gordon Brown shifting from RPI to CPI was one of most well known ones. The CPI basket changes on a regular basis. Its not hard to manipulate it to get the desired outcome. Given benefits/ pensions are often increased in line with inflation, its not hard to see why they do it. Links below.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2011/02/rpi_to_cpi_costs_pension_saver.html
But the calculation may upset the millions of people affected by the changes, since it says that the effect of the move from RPI to CPI for protecting the value of future pensions is to reduce the value of their benefits over the next 15 years by £83bn

http://www.forbes.com/sites/periann...l-rate-of-inflation-dont-bother-with-the-cpi/

http://www.shadowstats.com/article/no-438-public-comment-on-inflation-measurement


Do you recall the below? That got lots of press as well.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/5/obamas-fudged-unemployment-numbers/

plenty of other examples as well eg off budget items, immigration etc.

 

[medusala]

Nazi gold train 'found' in Poland: live

'Significant find' confirmed in Poland as speculation builds it could be lost Nazi train carrying gold - follow latest updates

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/11826840/Nazi-gold-train-found-in-Poland-live.html

According to “unofficial information” quoted in the local press a possible location for the train is in a secret tunnel just to the north of Walbrzych, adjacent to an in-use railway line.

Apparently there is eyewitness evidence claiming there was a tunnel there - but its entrance was blown up by the Nazis.

The area has been the site of previous hunts for the train.

 

[Mofra]

Yep. Lots of examples re that. Gordon Brown shifting from RPI to CPI was one of most well known ones. The CPI basket changes on a regular basis. Its not hard to manipulate it to get the desired outcome. Given benefits/ pensions are often increased in line with inflation, its not hard to see why they do it. Links below.

Interesting. I know in Australia there is a lot of confusion about which "type" of inflation is used to measure economic performance which can lead to inaccuracies - "headline" inflation attracts the most attention (based on the CPI basket of goods reviewed every 5 years including components and weighting) but underlying inflation is often cited as the more accurate measure.

 

[Red Black and Blue]

http://www.news.com.au/finance/busi...duce-fancy-feast/story-fnkgdhrc-1227505957209

NESTLE is facing a major class action over allegations the Swiss company uses slave labour and human trafficking to produce its popular Fancy Feast cat food.

An investigation published last week by the New York Times revealed systematic abuse of workers, mainly men and boys from Cambodia and Myanmar, trafficked over the border with the promise of work and held in bondage on Thai fishing boats.

Boys as young as 15, many of whom don’t even know how to swim, work 20-hour days in dangerous and filthy conditions on unregistered “ghost ships”, and suffer beatings or even murder for minor transgressions.

According to a 2009 United Nations survey of 50 Cambodian men and boys sold to Thai fishing boats, 29 said they had witnessed their captain or a crew member kill a worker. The slaves were sold to the fishing boats for about 10,000-15,000 baht each — roughly $390-$590.

Most survive on a single bowl of rice a day, and serious infections from open sores constantly exposed to the elements are rife.

“By hiding this from public view, Nestle has effectively tricked millions of consumers into supporting and encouraging slave labour on floating prisons,”

Only brand that doesn't make my Cat sick makes me want to throw up.

 

[kfc1]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/world/outlaw-ocean-thailand-fishing-sea-slaves-pets.html?_r=2

‘SEA SLAVES’: THE HUMAN MISERY THAT FEEDS PETS AND LIVESTOCK

While forced labor exists throughout the world, nowhere is the problem more pronounced than here in the South China Sea, especially in the Thai fishing fleet, which faces an annual shortage of about 50,000 mariners, based on United Nations estimates. The shortfall is primarily filled by using migrants, mostly from Cambodia and Myanmar.

Many of them, like Mr. Long, are lured across the border by traffickers only to become so-called sea slaves in floating labor camps. Often they are beaten for the smallest transgressions, like stitching a torn net too slowly or mistakenly placing a mackerel into a bucket for herring, according to a United Nations survey of about 50 Cambodian men and boys sold to Thai fishing boats. Of those interviewed in the 2009 survey, 29 said they had witnessed their captain or other officers kill a worker.

 

[Maggie5]

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/que...t-over-donations-inquiry-20150901-gjcdsu.html

This should be interesting, an inquiry into political donations in Qld.

My favourite is the following:

"The LNP has labelled Labor's planned inquiry into political donations a "witch hunt" that will put the integrity of the state's corruption watchdog at risk."

Now where have I read the words "witch hunt" before?

 

[Deliverance]

So the Syrians are walking from Budapest to Vienna. If a kids gets run over by a truck and someone takes a photo of it, is this Europe's fault? I mean why don't they stay in Hungary and get processed for refugee status?

 

[Chief]

So the Syrians are walking from Budapest to Vienna. If a kids gets run over by a truck and someone takes a photo of it, is this Europe's fault? I mean why don't they stay in Hungary and get processed for refugee status?

Would you stay where you might get processed or go where you've been told you will be granted asylum?

 

[Deliverance]

Would you stay where you might get processed or go where you've been told you will be granted asylum?

Umm, no they are still being processed in Germany, waiting up to a week just be registered for processing and being looked after by members of the public because German resources are pushed beyond their current limits.

 

[medusala]

Looks like another case of a council turning a blind eye to some pretty horrific stuff.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11848625/Aylesbury-child-sex-ring-sentence.html

Six members of the Aylesbury child sex ring have been jailed for a total of more than 82 years for taking part in the horrifying abuse of two schoolgirls.

The Asian men went on trial for a range of sex offences between 2006 and 2012 - including multiple rape of a child under 13, child prostitution and administering a substance to "stupefy" a girl in order to engage in sexual activity.

 

[medusala]

We know that the act of putting your child in a private school is self-selection. We know that private schools push out the kids they think won't do well.

That's crap. Parents on other hand take the rational decision to take their kids out of private school after year 10 if they aren't that bright / going to uni etc. In my experience all that left private schools, left school ie didn't transfer to the state system.

What is your experience of private schools based on?

In the U.S. the stats apparently show the best indicator of academic performance is postal code.

Correlation isn't causation. Just because rich people are more likely to go to private schools it does NOT mean that sending a kid from a poorer area to a private school wont have a positive outcome compared to being in the state system.

Regardless if its all about parental income then Catholic schools shouldn't outperform state schools in the manner in which they do.

 

[showdownhero]

Thought this was a pretty interesting segment and worth the watch

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2015/09/07/4305337.htm

What do Vegemite, Cadbury's chocolate, Bega cheese and Kellogg's cereals have in common? They are all Halal certified. Like many products on our supermarket shelves, they've been given the tick of approval for Muslim consumers to buy.

 

[Chief]

That's crap.

Nope. It's true.

 

[Balony_pony16]

I went to a Private Catholic school for Grades 8 through to 11. Im not Catholic, nor am I religious in anyway, my mother just happened to work there. From my experiences there, they did everything in their power to keep high achievers and the expense of lesser viewed kids. And not just in the classroom. If there was a kid getting straight Ds that could play Rugby like a champion, he'd "randomly" get a free pass to the next year or a free, school fees paid scholarship deal.

Thats how Cathy Freeman got through school... knew someone that went to school with her