Headlines and Deadlines

October 16, 2009

Teaching Maths in British schools – progress

1. Teaching maths in 1970

A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
What is his profit?

2. Teaching Maths in 1980

A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 80% of the price.
What is his profit?

3. Teaching Maths In 1990

A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is £80.
How much was his profit?

4. Teaching Maths in 2000

A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is £80 and his profit is £20.
Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Maths in 2005

A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habit of animals or the preservation of our woodlands.

Your assignment: Discuss how the birds and squirrels might feel as the logger cut down their homes just for a measly profit of £20.

6. Teaching Maths in 2009

A logger is arrested for trying to cut down a tree in case it may be offensive to Muslims or other religious groups not consulted in the felling licence. He is also fined a £100 as his chainsaw is in breach of Health and Safety legislation as it deemed too dangerous and could cut something. He has used the chainsaw for over 20 years without incident however he does not have the correct certificate of competence and is therefore considered to be a recidivist and habitual criminal.

His DNA is sampled and his details circulated throughout all government agenci es. He protest s and is taken to court and fined another £100 because he is such an easy target. When he is released he returns to find Gypsies have cut down half his wood to build a camp on his land. He tries to throw them off but is arrested, prosecuted for harassing an ethnic minority, imprisoned and fined a further £100. While he is in jail the Gypsies cut down the rest of his wood and sell it on the black market for £100 cash. They also have a leaving BBQ of squirrel and pheasant and depart leaving behind several tonnes of rubbish and asbestos sheeting.

The forester on release is warned that failure to clear the fly tipped rubbish immediately at his own cost is an offence. He complains and is arrested for environmental pollution, breach of the peace and invoiced £12,000 plus VAT for safe disposal costs by a regulated government contractor.

Your assignment: How many ! times is the logger going to have to be
arrested and fined before he realises that he is never going to make £20 profit by hard work, give up, sign onto the dole and live off the state for the rest of his life?

7. Teaching Maths in 2010

A logger doesn’t sell a lorry load of timber because he can’t get a loan to buy a new lorry because his bank has spent all his and their money on a derivative of securitised debt related to sub- prime mortgages in Alabama and lost the lot with only some government money left to pay a few million pound bonuses to their senior directors and the traders who made the biggest losses.

The logger struggles to pay the £1,200 road tax on his old lorry however, as it was built in the 1970s it no longer meets the emissions regulations and he is forced to scrap it.

Some Bulgarian loggers buy the lorry from the scrap merchant and put it back on the road. T! hey undercut everyone on price for haul age and send th eir cash back home, while claiming unemployment for themselves and their relatives. If questioned they speak no English and it is easier to deport them at the governments expense. Following their holiday back home they return to the UK with different names and fresh girls and start again. The logger protests, is accused of being a bigoted racist and as his name is on the side of his old lorry he is forced to pay £1,500 registration fees as a gang master.

The Government borrows more money to pay more to the bankers as bonus’s are not cheap. The parliamentarians feel they are missing out and claim the difference on expenses and allowances. You do the maths.

8. Teaching Maths in 2017

أ المسجل تبيع حموله شاحنة من الخشب من اجل 100 دولار. صاحب تكلفة
الانت=D 8ج
منالثمن

May 7, 2009

British Man Wins Best Job in the World

Not even a little bit smug now…

Ben Southall was born for this.

February 14, 2009

13 Year Old Father – Alfie Patten – Is It Legal?

The British media is full of stories concerning Alfie Patten, the 13 year old boy whose girlfriend Chantelle Steadman (15) gave birth to their baby 4 days ago.

Alfie may be 13, but his voice has yet to break and at just 4 feet tall, he looks more like 8.

In an interview with the Sun newspaper, he says, “When my mum found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble.

“We wanted to have the baby but were worried how people would react.”

This boy’s life is ruined – how will he ever be able to concentrate on homework? Is anyone actually expecting him to be a responsible father?

Where does the law stand on this? Should the parents, who allowed the kids to sleep together, be taken to court?

More on this story at The Sun.

January 31, 2009

Bristol’s Broad Plain Boys: Sexist

A Bristol sports club has been forced to change its name after being branded sexist.

Bristol City Councillors warned Broad Plain Boys could lose funding.

The club is based at the Riverside Leisure Club in Easton and had held the title since 1894.

Now the complex, which does have girl members, calls itself Broad Plain Working With Young People Group.

Is it me, or is that political correctness gone mad? Given the current economic climate, don’t Bristol City Councillors have anything better to do?

January 11, 2009

How racist is ‘Paki’… Response to Prince Harry using the word ‘Paki’.

Quote from Ingrid Seward, Majesty Magazine (courtesy of BBC Online)

“I think it was a private video, he was talking about a friend of his, they were having fun and they were calling each other nicknames and I think it’s been taken out of context.

“Yes, it would be very offensive if Harry went around calling people Pakis in a racist way, but this was not meant, you know, it was meant more of a nickname.
“I mean, Harry’s mates call him Ginge or Ginger – that could be equally offensive to people with red hair.”

How racist is ‘Paki’?

Prince Harry, a respected member of our Royal Family and an icon for future generations, has apologised publicly for using the term ‘Paki’ to describe a Pakistani colleague in a video diary filmed during his training at Sandhurst Military College.

Whilst most people see the term ‘Paki’ as low level racism, I wonder just how racist it really is in the eyes of a Pakistani person?

After all, isn’t ‘Paki’ just an abbreviation of ‘Pakistani’? Just like ‘Ozzy’ is an abbreviation of ‘Australian’ and ‘Brit’ is an abbreviation of ‘Briton’ or ‘British’.

It’s clear that Prince Harry used the term as a nickname for a popular member of his platoon. If his friend had taken offense then I am certain he’d have lodged a complaint himself.

Isn’t use of the word ‘Paki’ to be considered in context, just like everything else? Yes, ‘Paki’ used to be derogatory and it’s true that racists can add an offensive tone of voice to the word, but the same could be said of ‘Ginge’ and ‘Shorty’ and most people would agree that these could be used affectionately as well.

Prince Harry was not acting out of malice, but out of affection.

Should he apologise for that?

If so, then I’ll be writing to all the people at school who called me ‘Gangly’. There’s probably some compensation waiting for me.

Blog at WordPress.com.