Heartofice Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 53 minutes ago, mormont said: You are correct, though, that philosophically I don't see migration as inherently bad. If capital can move freely, labour must be able to also. If our prosperity as a country is based on our current values and not our historic exploitation of others, we should not be afraid of others coming here. Migration is a litmus test of who we are as a country: are we selfish hypocrites or do we believe in ourselves? The problem here is that you are viewing migration as a binary. Either open borders or closed borders. That is not the debate and it never is. The question is always about how much migration is necessary and whether it is beneficial for the country. That question cannot be answered while there are people who still throw out the tired trite answer above. It is all at once deeply naive, coming from an ivory tower position as someone who never interacts with immigration personally, utopian as well as crushingly boring, with hints of colonialism revenge. It’s not based on any sort of reality, and that’s the problem. The reality is that not all immigration is equal or needed by a country. There are limits to how much immigration any country can sustain at any point. Immigration has costs as well as benefits and some immigration has far more costs. Going back to the point of the article, the claims for UK university visas is that it is a way to bring in more highly skilled immigrants who will add more to the UK economy, but the reality is that changes to the system have meant it doesn’t really perform that function and instead is a back door for people to stay here for dubious reasons. So the outcry over Sunaks post is really because those people don’t understand the issue and and reacting as a reflex to something that doesn’t sound ‘nice’ Cas Stark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 15 minutes ago, Heartofice said: coming from an ivory tower position as someone who never interacts with immigration personally As tempting as it may be, to make assumptions about a stranger's life is never a good idea. But putting aside my personal life, which you have no knowledge of, I've already said that I've spent decades working with students, who are here on student visas, and are by definition the recipients of graduate visas. And I am an employer and have sponsored employment visas. I would say I have more interaction with immigration than most people you'll meet. Zorral and Spockydog 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 On 12/30/2023 at 3:05 PM, Spockydog said: Spoiler Alert: of course it's fucking true. More on this and other scary stuff on Thiel: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 11 hours ago, mormont said: I would say I have more interaction with immigration than most people you'll meet. The same here, along with a lot of other kinds of immigration contacts for help and assistance, support and guidance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Here we go again: https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/live-flooding-updates-gloucestershire-brink-9012124 Another involuntary day off work; already had 1 patient say "I'm a fisherman, I've got waders, I can get to you" and be unhappy with a (more diplomatic) response of "I'm not, I don't, I can't" Fragile Bird 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 On 1/2/2024 at 10:26 AM, mormont said: More to the point, if we want to cut overseas student numbers - even by a little - or remove the graduate visa, which amounts to the same thing we have two choices: fund universities properly with public money, or watch many of them go under. The reason the growth is highest in 'cheapest' universities1 is because those are the universities with least research funding, so they are most dependent on teaching funding, which can only increase through overseas recruitment because 'tuition fees' for domestic students are no such thing. They are a graduate tax with an up front discount for the wealthy. We've seen this problem here, not because we tried to get rid of overseas students, but because they did not come back once we opened up in the post-acute phase of the pandemic. Public funding of universities was exposed as being woefully inadequate without the injection of overseas student fees and virtually all universities were hit with financial crises with having to cut teaching and research positions and axe courses. I think our universities could go into a death spiral of seeing fewer overseas students returning, leading to less funding, leading to lower quality of education and research, leading to even fewer overseas students wanting to come here and thus even less money etc etc. Unless the govt steps up and covers the overseas student fees shortfall + increasing funding in real terms things are looking pretty bad here. At least in the UK you still have some of the world's best ranked universities so a death spiral across the whole tertiary sector is improbable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A wilding Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 So they have started a police investigation into the Post Office scandal. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67899189 About time. Though I am sure that only an underling or two are ever going to end up in the dock. Sophelia, ants and Spockydog 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 (edited) 12 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said: I think our universities could go into a death spiral Seems to be happening everywhere, as the fascists used every tool they can come up with destroy education across the board at every level. You all have seen what the guv of Florida has done to public universities there. Now the fascists have discovered a tool to go at the elite private institutions too -- antisemitism. They have already boasted of it, including a congressional committee to investigate them, calling for accusations against programs and individuals, anonymously. It's McCarthyism all over again, with new libel, since They are all up with Russia and China and -- yes, wildly -- listen to rumpistas quoting him -- Hitler Edited January 6 by Zorral Heartofice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 On 1/6/2024 at 10:58 AM, A wilding said: So they have started a police investigation into the Post Office scandal. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67899189 About time. Though I am sure that only an underling or two are ever going to end up in the dock. It is but I'm not not sure why it took ITV making an admittedly quite good drama about it for this to happen. It's not like it's revealed any information that was publicly available before. Paula Vennells getting a CBE in 2019 was pretty nuts in retrospect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Well, there weren't votes in it until it had been on the telly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 On 1/4/2024 at 10:10 AM, Which Tyler said: Here we go again: https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/live-flooding-updates-gloucestershire-brink-9012124 Another involuntary day off work; already had 1 patient say "I'm a fisherman, I've got waders, I can get to you" and be unhappy with a (more diplomatic) response of "I'm not, I don't, I can't" https://www.facebook.com/aidan.barry.967/posts/pfbid0J3xvjgeDmewsipYWpo4hicDfyEkti6FPxpxL3ge45diYFuvehby5M17ZrB3pAkjol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Law to overturn postmaster convictions coming. All they will have to do apparently is sign something to say they are innocent and that's it. The thing is, I bet a few sneaky fuckers did do it, and they will now get compo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippounet Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 38 minutes ago, Rippounet said: It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer. Chief Wiggum is my spirit animal 'i'd rather let 1000 guilty men go free, than chase after them'. Rippounet, ants and maarsen 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said: Law to overturn postmaster convictions coming. All they will have to do apparently is sign something to say they are innocent and that's it. The thing is, I bet a few sneaky fuckers did do it, and they will now get compo. My brother was *this* close to becoming a sub-postmaster in the 90s. Thank fuck he went back to uni and did his masters, because getting caught up in this bullshit would have probably killed him. Fragile Bird 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 (edited) 2 hours ago, BigFatCoward said: Law to overturn postmaster convictions coming. All they will have to do apparently is sign something to say they are innocent and that's it. The thing is, I bet a few sneaky fuckers did do it, and they will now get compo. You realize what this is? Avoidance of scandal after scandal being made public, endless stories in the media. Just sign here. Most people will be glad it’s over and done and won’t want to relive their pain in a newspaper story. Edited January 10 by Fragile Bird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Beat this for the stupidest shit you have ever heard Speaking during PMQs on Wednesday, the Conservatives’ Anna Firth said: “New, very large shellfish beds have been discovered in the Thames estuary, including razor clams and Manila clams, both highly prized around the world.” She asked for the prime minister to congratulate the fisherman in question for his “proactive work”, before inviting the PM to her constituency to “maximise this brilliant Brexit bonus for Essex fishermen”. kissdbyfire 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 If it wasn't for Brexit causing fishermen to desperately search for new ways to stay in the fishing industry and make a decent living probably no one would have gone fossicking around in the Thames estuary to see what's there. So Brexit is probably the reason those decades, or possibly centuries old untouched populations of clams will be pillaged. I hope a quota system will be put in place, otherwise those populations will be decimated in a few short years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Unless there's like a decades' worth of clams down there, I'm not seeing why that's a huge deal. You flog those clams and that's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 We have wild oyster beds that are sustainably (for the oyster population at least) harvested. But there is a very short harvesting season and strict limits on quantity. That will be necessary with these clams if there is any desire for them to be a long term commercial food source. Does the UK have a robust fisheries quota management system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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