Will this increase or decrease the likelihood of terrorist actions in America, Europe and the rest of the world?

If you were a member of a family murdered in this conflict, would you be seeking revenge?

Should Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert, be tried for war crimes if or when this conflict comes to an end?

What will the price of oil be in 4 weeks time?

Fred - not answering your points at all but

sending kids to university and the debts those kids will have when they leave universities
there is the great con going back many years where there has been fostered the belief that (a) as many children as possible should go to uni and (b) once they come out of there, that the streets will be paved with gold

there are far too many rubbish degrees on offer from 3rd rate unis which have no value whatsoever in the market place

i would like to see apprenticeships brought back into the arena, but small/medium-sized companies cannot afford to offer them ..... it follows that instead of "wasting" money on these rubbish unis, it should be offered to companies to subsidise the employment and training of apprentices

not a snowball's chance i'm afraid, due to what has now become an ingrained culture and (false) belief in a right to a uni education (another misnomer!)

"there are far too many rubbish degrees on offer from 3rd rate unis which have no value whatsoever in the market place"

A good example being hayparrot's "degree" in Hypnotherapy. Totally useless to both man and beast, and even less so after he was crossed off the register.

fuck off ITLOB :-) ...... i was having a rant but also being quite serious at the same time

ITLOTB
It was not a degree anyway. I have chosen not to practice. I did the course mainly out of interest. It would be difficult to be 'crossed off' as you say as there is no register to be crossed off. Where do you think this register is held and what is it? One of the problems with hypnotherapy is that it is not regulated and there is no register.

There certainly are far too many people going to 'universities'. It is interesting that my son's sixth form college refers to the new universities as polytechnics, which is of course what they were before being absurdly upgraded. His college tries to steer the kids away from the new universities and tells them that the qualifications received will be be pretty much useless.

so far so good, but what does that college suggest as an alternative?

They can't offer an alternative. That's part of the problem. Apprentiships would be an alternative for many. The other route is just to leave school at 17/18 and find a job. That's the way things used to be. Now the government expects kids to go to university and study silly courses. The end result is the same. They look for jobs with the only difference that they may now have some stupid qualifications unless they fail them. I have a relative that is at 'university'. She was accepted with no A levels at all. Her 'university' was not even a polytechnic before. It was a sort of vocational college for nurses, police and vicars. The qualification she will get is not recognised by anyone. She only went to college becauase her friends were going.

if you're a hands-on sort of guy, then i guess there's decent qualifications that can be got through city & guilds and similar, and at least those have genuine value ..... however, unless the colleges offering those sort of course also have links to companies who can offer proper work experience, then even they can be something of a con

use to be 14 in the late 50's think it went up to 15 years

Hays.

Your experience of hospital outpatients is different to mine. I wonder why.

Check the waiting times for major surgery in 1997 and compare them to 2010.
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Cynic,

I have a similar opinion to you of some of changes in Education and in particular the universities.

I was working at a university during the 70s -90s when the Thatcher government introduced the market economy to them. (or them to the Market economy).

I thought the relabelling of some institutions was crazy and destructive of the some main core universities.

Market forces led to the introduction of Mickey Mouse degrees in order to attract money in order to keep some universities functioning.

I personally don't think that universities are the correct places for many courses that they are running. But do think there should be state funded ongoing adult education for those who wish to pursue non-core subjects.

Also, believe that there should be increase in the number of apprentices etc. unless they are Mickey Mouse and considered as cheap labour.

The number of apprentices in the labour force was reduced dramatically by Maggies cut backs and the crazy rapid shrinkage of heavy industry.

I think the expansion of the university students was over optimistic and frankly stupid, but university education should be accessible by those who merit it academically and not based on the ability to pay.
I was lucky to go to university, didnt consider it a route to a golden idol, but certainly benefitted financially from doing so.
It does dismay me, that nowadays many choosing university courses are often chosen by what they expect the ultimate financial returns to be, rather than interest or value in the subjects being studied.

Due to family income, I had fees paid but little else.

My father paid for my upkeep, as he did for my brother and was satisfied by the outcome, but there were many at university at my time, who would not have been in university without the financial support of the state.

They paid their dues to society by becoming teachers, lecturers, researchers and various management jobs in business.

Also, they paid, or are paying tax, at a suitable level to their income.

It is a question of what you value in a society.

===============================

It is strange how you wish to move from the topic of this thread. 8-)

My wife's son who is 16 is coming over from the Philippines on a settlement visa and plans to go to collage / uni until he is 18 , i got no idea what it will cost. Would the Open university be cheaper ? thinking of business study's.

too much idiotic comment on this thread as it is meant to be!

i am very happy for students who have academic ability to go to uni, and there are many degrees that may be classed as "non core" that have genuine value
i am equally happy that those who need subsidising should receive it
however, i am very UNhappy that university is now portrayed as a right and an end in itself

i admit that maggie eventually lost the plot, but by golly she didn't half do a great job beforehand
we should all be eternally thankful to her, not least for breaking the stranglehold that the luddite and hard left unions had over a broad spectrum of all businesses and industries

Yes, and she had the foresight to stop free milk to school kids otherwise we would have had many more fat 60 year old's

And she got us a big rebate from the EU. she was the only Prime Minster that would have stood up to for this country.

"fuck off ITLOB :-) ...... i was having a rant but also being quite serious at the same time "

Forgive me, cynic, but I can't resist the temptation to highlight the parrot's idiocy :)

"One of the problems with hypnotherapy is that it is not regulated and there is no register. "

No wonder parrot felt he might succeed LOL !

I am an IT consultant. The hypnotherapy was just an interest.

ooo....errrr............bully for you.
What's your speciality?
Copy and paste ? LOL

Is that why you often seem asleep! O-)

No, it's because his brain has never woken up

George Osborne today won crucial backing from an influential think tank for his tough plans to tackle Britain's growing debt mountain.

With the Chancellor due to deliver his Budget next week, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said he had struck the "right balance" between cutting the deficit and encouraging growth.