Well its illogical, either you are against pain and suffering or you are not.
Its like the death penalty.
moralist: Killing is wrong, we will kill you if you kill.
rationalist: Duh? So Killing is ok then?
moralist: No its wrong. Unless we decide it its not wrong..

Be the change you want to see. If you do not want to see animals harmed then its a double standard to celebrate a human being harmed, for whatever reason.
What you are advocating is an eye for an eye, which as we all know would lead to all of us being blind.

At the risk of being a killjoy, I think this thread is a bit sad. Distasteful, even.

this ^^^

You just knew her and ratboy would be like moths to a flame.

chilli plants are annuals unless you are in spain.

Oh my, the write up is really good, the last day was 98km on a fat bike, I am impressed. Looks amazing and even though I don’t know either of you I felt immensely proud of you for making it to the end.

he’s clearly on “the spectrum” and has become a bit more caricatured recently, but surely he’s harmless enough

Yer, I guess I don’t hate him, I just find him v irritating, and I don’t get why he appears to be universally revered.

fat white bastard

That’s effn brilliant.

I’d happily slag Guy Martin off now never mind after he’s dead (If he dies before me..) gets on right on my tits he does.

England V Aus is the decider of that group, Wales will lose to both.

Oh Kryton, I fear you are too optimistic. I feel an embarrassing exit coming on..

You are right to be concerned.
I’m a LL too and have been faced with this.
I got them to sign agreement to surrender the tenancy, witnessed etc. Then gave them a two week holiday let.Pay upfront on the holiday let.
For 95 quid you can get annual membership to the RLA which has a free legal advice line.

I’m plannimg on putting 100 quid on wales knocking england out of pool stages. Then I’m happy either way.

Well I suppose that qualification rules out the two obvious alternatives to educating your children

I’m no lord.

No worries, perhaps we can discuss this? What I love about your advances are the way when you think that someone gets it wrong, you help them to ease their way into the right way of thinking. I’m sure this is reflected in the way you behave in the classroom/rugby field with your charges. How lucky they must feel.

And this bit

The fact that middle class families are successful in hoarding the best opportunities in the education system and in the labour market is a real barrier to the upward social mobility of less advantaged children.

I’m not hoarding anything. I don’t even get what this statement really means. So perhaps your amazing pedagogue status can help me out, cos I’m a bit thick and my school let me down.

Well AA you will have to join the queue for my affections you little charmer. I felt your handbag brush my cheek and I am somewhat Sewell-ised.

I read this bit

If policy makers are determined to increase social mobility in a climate where ‘room at the top’ is not expanding then the factors that limit downward mobility will need to be addressed

as a threat to my efforts to prevent my children from mobilising downward. IS there another meaning to that sentence that you could help me with in a constructive fashion?

PS you and the other haters need to coordinate your efforts, some seem to think that it is good that I feel uncomfortable, you are saying that I have misread the article. Can you clarify, does this mean you think I need not feel uncomfortable?
PPS Either way I don’t feel uncomfortable, I pay a shit load of tax which I hope the govt puts to good use to help everyone, I’m extremely happy about that, I feel privileged to have been born in a country like this. What is left is mine to do what I legally want with.

But the catchment area does raise a thought. If the school is so bad, then so probably is the neighbourhood.

This is unfortunately not an accurate assumption. Many local authorities have tried to dilute the issue by stretching the catchment area across well off and deprived areas. We live in a nice area, with lovely neighbours, rich and poor, but the local schools intake is not just limited to our area, and are woeful. Anyway the issue is broader than that, the bloody stupid system brought in by labour means that your kid might not get into your local school. Our neighbours oldest child is in one local state school, but the youngest did not get a place, which is a fricken logistical nightmare for the parents, and possibly has a bigger effect on their social mobility than anything else.

Bigdummy

That doesn’t imply any judgement on anyone. It does imply that if you’re remotely serious about a society which rewards individual talent rather than parental background, there is some work to do.

I an bit sure I am serious about this. It makes it all sound like a race..
I was thinking about my kids future, and insulating them from any issues, 10 years before we even had an kids.

Probably something wrong with your maths there fella…

Nope. The increase in mortgage for an equivalent house in the catchment area of the only decent comparable state school over 13 years (thats 5-18 yeas old) is more per month than the school fees for both of them put together.

Really, who GAF what other people think?

Wrecker, indeed, good advice. I’m not looking for approval, just interested in the philosophy behind it. I have done and always will do it the way I want.

Your posts suggest you’re a bit of a whinger with a persecution complex, but you might be a lovely guy apart from that.

Chapaking, you are such a flirt, you’re making me blush.

But this

I believe this is wrong and personally disapprove strongly of private education.

is what I am interested in, please explain why? I know the research shows the children of well off parents do better, but I am still stuck as to why this is wrong. Perhaps you could go in to it a bit more constructively for me?

Aracer

I did it the proper middle class way by living in the catchment of an excellent state school (though as always these things are a virtuous circle – we’re surrounded by other parents who value education,

Believe it or not, but it would have been more expensive for us to do this than go to private school. By a long way.

moose – all power to you mate.

I made my point clearly and concisely, do you only want a ‘discussion’ if we all humour your middle class hand wringing?

You havent made any point other than you dont like me. I dont object, but why is it a good thing to hassle those who want to do well for their kids? What reason please tell?

I already said I work part time. The wife works. I couldn’t afford to take the girls on holiday this year, but that’s a cross I have to bear. I ask them would they rather be going away or have me around and they look at me in disgust. Something must be working.

Loddrik, sorry that defines you as well off, most genuinely poor people I know have to both work full time and still do not get a holiday. I’m not digging at you, but its a fact that you must be doing OK.Nevertheless I’m not sure what this brings to the discussion? Are you saying that you intend to buck the trend that kids of rich parents do well, where kids of poor parents don’t. Your time at home surely will help them on their way right?

Precisely the opposite, I’m skint, but it was a sacrifice I didn’t have to think twice about.

I’m sorry but you must be well off in some way. Maybe your partner earns enough that you dont need to work? Nobody I know can live on nothing? How do you pay for rent/mort food, clothes, utilities, transport, internet?

It’s good that this makes you feel uncomfortable IMO.

Why? This is a discussion, so it would be great to have one.
Loddrik, well thats nice, my kids seem happy as larry, and I have never spent more than 5k on a car, don’t think this si the topic at hand though is it? You must be reasonably well off to be able to give up work, so you are up there with this statistic are you not?

We have one scientist in the commons….just one.

That is terrifying.

I guess where do you draw the line between nepotism and finding employees you will get on with.

And nepotism happens at every level. My mate the commercial decorator got his son a job working for his firm. That is not fair on the kids with parents working at big firms with a stricter employment process.

DD I agree that isn’t fair, but implying its the rich kids/parents fault is missing the point and a bit divisive. I am glad that I pay tax which contributes the education system, despite me not using it for my kids and paying lots extra.

PS if you read up there I kinda countered that. I also know people who dont get home until 7:30-8 most evenings so they miss out on a lot of kid time anyway. I reckon my commitment on weekends more than makes up for my not being there monday to friday (I’m normally home by 6pm friday)
Add up the hours you spent with your kids last week. Did you go for a ride this weekend? I have been with them since 6pm friday without a break. We have gone to martial arts classes together, been cycling in the woods together, watched a film together on tv, played board games, went to see minion movie this morn cos of rain, now we are all in the front room and they are drawing and chatting to me as I type this. Some less than charitable family members reckon I am a better Dad since working away..

I have said many times on here that the only advantage we get from the school we have selected is (from our experience and research into our school)
1) smaller class sizes – which leads to more attention and better pastoral care.
2) Parents and hence peers who respect the desire to work hard and do well at school.

In the state sector the classes locally are enormous, and a proportion of the kids think academic achievement is lame/wrong. (as do some of the parents).
If I was king I would fix these two issues before blaming those who work hard to help their kids.

(PS they are already ungrateful little sods, so I’m thinking I must a bloody crap Dad)

Convert – I think that is a perception thing. I would be extremely happy for them to be top of the class, what exactly is wrong with that? Is it wrong of Lewis Hamiltons Dad to be proud of him for being the fastest racing driver? I do not really understand what a goldstar chaser is, I think this is perhaps your perception and not my intention.I just want my kids to be the best they can be.

Perth MTB, congrats to her. I was home until the youngest was 4, and then this opportunity came up. Might not be forever.

Perthmtb, I agree, but I counter this by being am home every weekend and spend 36 hrs with my kids to the detriment of my own social life, it also means we can afford for my wife not to work so she is there all the time.

Thats a joke ^.(The surely thing)

But Convert , Hmm, I’m not sure I agree, if you were given an opportunity to put your child ahead of any others you would not take it?
EG – it is likely that if you teach your child to read at an early age then you will put them ahead of many of the other kids in school, you wouldn’t do this?

Apologies, I have fixed the spelling of surely.

What is interesting about this, is that most of you have posted what are essentially harmless, if annoying phrases. Bruneep however has touched on my utter hatred of a certain type of phrase: Weasel words.
Those words that are insidious in supporting prejudice, unfounded accusations, and spite. These have the capability to damage and will bring people down.

just saying
inappropriate (the worst of them all)
apparently
allegedly
they say
(anyone other than yourself) said
questions have been raised
common sense

I don’t care about it either way, but was a waste of parliamentary time to bring it in, even more of a waste to look at it again.

This ere translation program is dead ‘andy too. Innum.

http://www.gpsbabel.org/

she probably feels bad that she can’t b e with the dog. You are doing her a favour helping to see she’s not cut out for dog ownership.

wrong way round???
Edit – panic over, mines KMC…

apparently a camera overheated earlier.

yes feeds gone down. bummer/

Cheers Bucko we had a great ride 24 kms up and down, mostly followed your route, found some of the enduro stuff and had a ball.
Will be back for more soon. Thanks for all the input everyone.

Maybe. I’m in exeter. Have been since before christ…