Think of the Trees!

Maybe because they /could/ have it now, but those in charge choose not
to give it to them.

 

Well I'd expect you to have some sympathy and compassion for the poor
barstewards in Afghanistan. We gave them all the means to get rid of the
Communist tyrants then left them to the even worse whims of Islamic tyrants.
I'd say our only fault is we don't help other nations in similar straights.

Well here is another opinion you may agree with.
Our professional armed forces are a mercenary army. Being paid by a
democratically elected sovereign govmint only it look more respectible.
Therefor they can't complain about the job, whatever it may be on a given
day. When we had a conscripted army it was reasonable that they be put at
risk only to protect the worst risks to national interests.

You may also agree that we should have as much petrol as we want as cheaply
as possible ;o)

I don't expect you to agree with my opinion that we shouldn't have stopped
at the borders of Iran.

 

It seems reasonable that we supply them with the best kit we can but when
the wind changes it can take time to re-equip and they need to deal with it.

The (very) simple problem in Afghanistan, as in Iraq post conflict, is lack
of numbers to fight an insurgent war. There is one man for every 100 they
need. It would have made more sense to have occupied a smaller area,
trained a local army then let them go out and fight it. Because the other
problem is the legal standards we impose on our own troops.

 

Oh I can justify it on several levels. But I admit the justification used
at the time was shoddy.

I'm curious if you agree it's wrong to trade with countries like China or to
allow our companies to do business there until they reform completely.
I expect you agreed with the isolation of South Eeefrica, which I suppose I
did too, and with the various justifications of said. Countries like China
seem worse (to me).

 

Ah, well, that's a very good point.
I'd do sanctions properly. The lot. Trade. Internet. Telecoms. Flights.

 

I am not sure he did ever exist but assuming he did the Dread Pirate thing
offered by Mark is probably it.

Either way we all know that most of the so called terror threat comes from
our own gummints trying to scare the shit out of us for their own ends.
Warmonger Property Tycoon and Friend of Haliburton Blur is the perfect
example of lies for the sake of profiteering[1] as you will ever come
across.


[1] Political and financial.

 

Perhaps then The Eton Boy will sell it off to private capital so it can
make a profit because as far as I can see we don't now.

 

Worked for Rhodesia. Nobody can deny we totally fucked that place over by
using sanctions.

 

I understand that you're given to complaining about the levels of public
spending and, hence, taxation.

 

Not me guv. I object to wasting public money on things like disability
benefit for anyone who can spell 'I feel a bit poorly', & I object to
using it to increase the massive profits the universities make, but I
certainly don't object to ensuring squaddies on active service don't
have to share body armour.

 

No idea - but the local Uni to here seems to have made profits of £2.7m
on turnover of £260m this year and a loss of £1.3m on turnover of £235m
last year.

Not quite sure I'd call that "massive". Maybe they're just
unrepresentative?

 

They aren't making massive or, in most cases, any, profits.

 

Dunno, enjoying the interest I suppose.

No, because they wouldn't expect to have those. It's not about giving
them the best possible kit regardless of expense, it's about giving
them what they're meant to have, & squaddies on the front line are
meant to have body armour & reliable weapons.

 

Yours made 16 million net profit last year, almost entirely from fees,
& the profits have increased year on year. The annual report's
available online for anyone to look at.

I admit I haven't checked any other universities so maybe yours is the
exception, but it seems unlikely. I'll hold my hands up if it is though.

 

It's a bit more than a couple of years, it originally kicked off in
2003 when a guy was killed after having to lend his armour to someone
else.

Dunno, at least a decade or two.

They complained more with the new ones that jammed at the merest hint
of sand, & rightly so imo.

 

Surplus, not profit. That will be eaten up as the cuts to funding come
in. As for it being `almost entirely from fees', check the table on
page 6. The largest single element is funding council grants and they
will be cut in the near future.

It is an exception:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7773034.stm

Bath is a bit odd, because it is essentially a technical university
(engineering, science, management and modern languages are the main
subjects) and has not been hit by the cuts to `non-priority' areas.

 

(M J Carley) gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

Could just as easily suggest the surplus (£12.2m according to the most
recent annual report, on £175m turnover - oh, and £3.7m of that surplus
is "exceptional items", so only £8.5m from normal activities, or just
under 5%) is from research (£30m income) or "other income" (£30m) as from
fees. Anyway, how's that £50m fee income split between UK first degree
undergrads, overseas undergrads, postgrads and the other "educational
contracts"?

 

Well we can only hope the general effect will be that more and more centres
of learning go this way, more and more students will take useful courses and
the rest of the shite will dwindle.

 

The 73 million in cash/investment assets should keep them going for a
while yet.

My mistake, I was remembering the text that says the increase from the
previous year was mainly due to an increase in tuition fees.

'may face deficit', 'concerns' & 'predicting' doesn't mean much. I'll
go rooting for a few other sets of accounts next time I'm bored.

That & the fact you work there

 

The money stays in the bank: no `profits' are made. How many companies
would consider that a `massive' profit, by the way?

You reckon? You can only sell the family silver once.

And that is about to be wiped out by the measures proposed by the
government: an increase in fees but a massive cut in subsidy.

Go ahead. You might like to start here:

http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5149