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E_Murdstone

Listed below are comments made by E_Murdstone between Wednesday, 10th September 2008 and Tuesday, 7th October 2008.

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42-days is dead 4:21pm on 07 Oct 2008 #303 Sagamix

What about this reaction.

#1 - agree 100%

#2 - agree that it is human nature to want to give your children the best start in life, disagree that people should be encouraged to pursue the "private" option.

My understanding of the private school sector is that many parents would prefer not to pay fees if there was an equally good state alternative on offer. Where I live, two of the three state schools produce better academic results than the local private school.

But of course, it's not that simple is it? one of the other state schools is very poor by comparison, and so people who can afford to move into the catchment area of the good schools - for many families, moving into the catchment areas is as unobtainable as paying private fees.

What about selective state education? Some parents will help/push (depends on your point of view) their children (extra coaching, etc) to get them in. Other parents leave their kids to fend for themselves.

what about faith schools? Some parents are religious - their kids get access. Some parents will play the church game for a few years - their kids get access. Some parents won't bother.

It is one of the great failures of (all) modern governments that they have not been able to come up with an education system that provides genuine equality of oppurtunity for all children (your "assertion 1"). While they continue to fail on that front, human nature will continue to mean there are haves and have nots - both in the division between private and state education, and within the state system itself.

Bit longer than expected, sorry.
42-days is dead 2:05pm on 07 Oct 2008 I need the help of regular bloggers on here.
I am trying to cast the lead in a film of Charles's life. I need an actor who is a combination of:

Clint Eastwood / Charles Bronson (cleaning up the mean streets)
Kevin Costner (Elliot Ness - taking on the Mob)
Bruce Lee (martial arts supremo)
Daniel Craig (secret service insider)
Bill Gates (technology wizard)
Karl Rove (kingmaker, power behind the throne, etc)
Gary Kasparov (master strategist)
Buddha
The messiah
Probably ought to throw in a few inspirational business leaders as well...

Any ideas?
Back to the future again 8:53pm on 03 Oct 2008 #266 Sagamix

Sorry, I think you've got you're wires crossed. If you read the post again you will hopefully see that Max is not the subject.

People have their opinions and their political persuasions. I hope I can respect their right to hold opinons that differ to mine. After all, in the final analysis, it is one person, one vote. What I despise, and sometimes comment on, is hubris, hypocracy and a lack of humility.
Back to the future again 5:04pm on 03 Oct 2008 #226 MaxSceptic

I just scroll through these posts now, saves me time and energy. Sometimes, if they're not too long, I'll read them for a laugh.

I'm put in mind of a gauche teenager who has discovered some long words, has read his first "grown up books" and now wants to show the world how clever he is.
Back to the future again 3:33pm on 03 Oct 2008 # 159 SecondSpanners

regarding your last line - yes, he does.

As someone else has already suggested, it's best just to ignore the posts, or treat them as amusing fiction. It's not worth expending any energy on them, just move on.
Prime ministerial performance? 1:41pm on 30 Sep 2008 #1 Charles

Paragraphs two and three of your post. Replace "Tories" with "New Labour" and "Cameron" with "Blair", then read it again. Leave Thatcherism in there for both.

I think you are being a little naive if you hold on to the belief that one of these major policital parties is different from the other when it comes to courting the affections of the City and big business.
Lots of work for Kremlinologists 3:35pm on 15 Sep 2008 This isn't about policy, it's not about fundamental ideology, it is about competence - strong, decisive leadership. Or, more pertinently, the yawning lack of it.

There are plently of examples of the ineptitude of this government even during the short tenure of Gordon Brown. But really you have to look no further than the 10p tax fiasco.

And please, don't give me the line about a government being big enough to recognise its mistakes and to rectify them. Any govt that is so (insert the srongest expletive you can think of here) stupid that they couldn't foresee the damage of such a change, but ploughed on regardless just so GB could stand at the dispatch box and annouce a cut in basic rate tax does not deserve office.

If it was genuinely a change borne out of an ideological stance then they should have had the guts to stick to their guns. But they didn't, which just highlights what a "tactical" and slimey move it was. Especially when you consider it in light of the simultaneous hike in NICs (which was conveniently buried in the small print - funny how that never got annouced at the dispatch box).

Everyone on here consoles themselves in the knowledge that it is one person, one vote. So even if you vigourously disagree with others, you know your opinion has exactly the same weight and influence as theirs' when it comes to polling day.

Whether the election is in a week, a month or in May 2010, I will not forget the incompetency of this government and I will never vote for them. If I went to the Early Learning Centre to buy a government, this lot would be in the box.
Class war or not? 2:37pm on 10 Sep 2008 #74

I agree with your point on health. If you smoke, if you drink to excess, you're not doing yourself any favours.

But I thik your education point is unfair. I think it is unreasonable to expect a child to battle against the "anti-learning" atmosphere that seems to exist in some schools. If two children of roughly equal intelligence are sent to two different school - then it is pretty reasonable to expect that that ethos and atmosphere in each school is going to have a significant impact on the child.

This is shameful failure of successive governments. It is not about the curriculum, it is the fact that they have not been able to create environments which give different children the chance to find their niche.
Shock news 12:24pm on 10 Sep 2008 Grandantidote - re post 170

To quote you from yesterday (on the Travelling Companions blog):

"123 pot kettle , Now then old chap I can see that your very easy to wind up"

To quote you again from yesterday:

"Nincompoop"

Sadly, Kiwilegs no longer posts on here. I say sadly because, although I strongly disagreed with her views she could certainly present an argument and quite often her postings would make me stop and think. She was sometimes rude and cranky, however in amongst all that she did make a real contribution to the debate at hand.

You sir, on the other hand, are way out of your depth. No facts, no reasoned opinion. It is like a watching a caught fish flounder around on the deck of a boat - and if I wanted to se that I'd get myself a ticket to the Labour conference.

You'll carry on posting on here. You won't be able to resist. And once in a while I'll get so fed up with you that I'll pop back to remind you of your ineptitude and hypocracy. Until then, adieu.
Shock news 10:59am on 10 Sep 2008 Grandantidote,

Post 140 - Good try, young man. Unfortunately these are still just a jumble of random words. Tricky business this argument lark! Stick at it.

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