Intellectual property office sides with Bobby G against three other original ex-bandmates in legal ruling over dispute The UK intellectual property office has been making its mind up which members of Bucks Fizz, the pop group which won the 1981 Eurovision song contest, are eligible to claim the name as their own. Rival members of the original group, Mike Nolan and Cheryl Baker on one side and Robert Gubby, aka Bobby G on the other, resorted to law to establish who could claim the name during their respective bands’ tours of out-of-season holiday camp 80s weekends. Allan James, the principal hearing officer, sided with Gubby. With forensic attention to detail, an exegesis worthy of Shakespearean scholarship and a little asperity, James ruled in a 25-page judgment that Gubby and his partner, Heidi Manton, owned the name, having registered it as a trademark in 2001. Exhibit A was a letter from Nolan dating back to June 1981, which ceded the rights to them. The dispute arose in 2009 as Nolan and Baker – referred to under her real name Rita Stroud – later joined by the group’s other original member, Jay Aston, started touring again, calling themselves the Original Bucks Fizz. They complained that Gubby’s rival group, called Bucks Fizz or Bobby G’s Bucks Fizz, were misleading audiences into thinking they were the band that won Eurovision with Making Your Mind Up. In fact over the past 30 years, as the ruling pointed out, 15 people have belonged to Bucks Fizz at various times. The ruling stated: “The submission that two original members are enough to avoid misleading the public (possibly provided these are Rita Stroud and Mike Nolan) but that one original member is not enough appears to me to be an arbitrary distinction. “The public would have no reason to expect the group performing as Bucks Fizz to consist of the original lineup … [that] had not performed together for 24 years.” Bucks Fizz, the penultimate British winners of the Eurovision contest (Katrina and the Waves scored the latest UK victory, in 1997), was specifically formed to compete by the Big Note Music group and, though the group toured for three years after the competition and had a number of hits, the trademark registration had lapsed. According to the judgment, the group had fewer than 100 fans. Giving evidence for Nolan and Baker, Ian Stocker, a longstanding fan and operator of a website dedicated to the group, insisted that he and his relatives spoke of little else and that people were misled. “The subject of Bucks Fizz is often raised and discussed with me at social gatherings,” he said. “The most commonly asked question is in connection with what the band is currently doing and who is currently in the band. This has caused much confusion over the years.” James said: “This suggests that Mr Stocker’s circle … are well aware that the current lineup is not the original one. Of course, given his own exceptional interest the level of knowledge of his friends may not be typical of the public at large.” Nolan and Baker will face costs from the hearing, likely to be about £5,000. Chris McLeod, director of trademarks at the law firm Squire, Sanders and Dempsey said: “The case shows the importance of registering trademarks and the importance of music groups – which are often partnerships – having written partnership agreements in place at the outset so they retain equal rights to the name.” Intellectual property Pop and rock Eurovision Stephen Bates guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Intellectual property office sides with Bobby G against three other original ex-bandmates in legal ruling over dispute The UK intellectual property office has been making its mind up which members of Bucks Fizz, the pop group which won the 1981 Eurovision song contest, are eligible to claim the name as their own. Rival members of the original group, Mike Nolan and Cheryl Baker on one side and Robert Gubby, aka Bobby G on the other, resorted to law to establish who could claim the name during their respective bands’ tours of out-of-season holiday camp 80s weekends. Allan James, the principal hearing officer, sided with Gubby. With forensic attention to detail, an exegesis worthy of Shakespearean scholarship and a little asperity, James ruled in a 25-page judgment that Gubby and his partner, Heidi Manton, owned the name, having registered it as a trademark in 2001. Exhibit A was a letter from Nolan dating back to June 1981, which ceded the rights to them. The dispute arose in 2009 as Nolan and Baker – referred to under her real name Rita Stroud – later joined by the group’s other original member, Jay Aston, started touring again, calling themselves the Original Bucks Fizz. They complained that Gubby’s rival group, called Bucks Fizz or Bobby G’s Bucks Fizz, were misleading audiences into thinking they were the band that won Eurovision with Making Your Mind Up. In fact over the past 30 years, as the ruling pointed out, 15 people have belonged to Bucks Fizz at various times. The ruling stated: “The submission that two original members are enough to avoid misleading the public (possibly provided these are Rita Stroud and Mike Nolan) but that one original member is not enough appears to me to be an arbitrary distinction. “The public would have no reason to expect the group performing as Bucks Fizz to consist of the original lineup … [that] had not performed together for 24 years.” Bucks Fizz, the penultimate British winners of the Eurovision contest (Katrina and the Waves scored the latest UK victory, in 1997), was specifically formed to compete by the Big Note Music group and, though the group toured for three years after the competition and had a number of hits, the trademark registration had lapsed. According to the judgment, the group had fewer than 100 fans. Giving evidence for Nolan and Baker, Ian Stocker, a longstanding fan and operator of a website dedicated to the group, insisted that he and his relatives spoke of little else and that people were misled. “The subject of Bucks Fizz is often raised and discussed with me at social gatherings,” he said. “The most commonly asked question is in connection with what the band is currently doing and who is currently in the band. This has caused much confusion over the years.” James said: “This suggests that Mr Stocker’s circle … are well aware that the current lineup is not the original one. Of course, given his own exceptional interest the level of knowledge of his friends may not be typical of the public at large.” Nolan and Baker will face costs from the hearing, likely to be about £5,000. Chris McLeod, director of trademarks at the law firm Squire, Sanders and Dempsey said: “The case shows the importance of registering trademarks and the importance of music groups – which are often partnerships – having written partnership agreements in place at the outset so they retain equal rights to the name.” Intellectual property Pop and rock Eurovision Stephen Bates guardian.co.uk
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Small cracks found at top of monument after tremor on US east coast, while city officials order inspection of all school buildings The earthquake that hit the east coast of the US on Tuesday left minor cracks in the pyramid at the top of the Washington Monument and forced the precautionary closure of Washington DC’s schools. Although no casualties or any serious damage have yet been reported as a result of one of the biggest quakes to hit the east coast, the Washington schools authority issued a statement saying that, while it understood the inconvenience the closure would cause to some parents, it wanted engineers to inspect its 126 school buildings. The US parks department, which is responsible for many of DC’s monuments, reported some minor cracks on the pyramid at the top of the 555ft monument. The national cathedral in Washington, one of the highest buildings in the city, also suffered minor damage, with several capstones dislodged from its spires. The quake, which registered 5.8 on the Richter scale, was followed by a tremor on Wednesday morning. The quake on Tuesday led to the evacuation of the White House, Congress, schools and offices. Many workers then headed home or to the nearest bar to wait for the traffic to ease. Planes were grounded and trains stopped while rails were checked. The media response to the quake was greeted with mild amusement in California, where tremors are a regular occurrence. Cable channels such as CNN – which, until that point, had been providing almost non-stop reports from Muammar Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli – switched to devote a lot of their coverage to the quake. The Washington Post led with it on Wednesday, headlining: “Earthquake jolts DC area”. The Post reported that the first warnings of the quake may have come from the National Zoo, where officials said red-ruffed lemurs began “alarm calling” a full 15 minutes before the quake hit and. In the great ape house, Iris the orangutan bellowed 10 seconds before the keepers felt it. The east coast is bracing itself for the landfall of Hurricane Irene, which is on course to hit North Carolina. United States Washington DC Natural disasters and extreme weather Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …France’s rich keen to pay more tax as PM Fillon announces ‘rigour package’
August 24, 2011 No Comment
Sixteen wealthy French citizens have signed a petition As a group of France’s wealthiest citizens, including L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt , take up the call for a tax on the rich, François Fillon, the French prime minister, announced on Wednesday a “rigour package” to cut the country’s deficit and save €11bn (£9.7bn). The 16 business executives and wealthy individuals signed a petition calling for an “exceptional contribution” by the country’s richest citizens as a measure to help France drag itself out of the economic crisis that his hit the eurozone countries. The idea follows a similar suggestion from the American billionaire Warren Buffett, which has been picked up and supported by Maurice Lévy, the influential head of the advertising and marketing group Publicis, and Pierre Bergé, founder of the fashion house Yves Saint Laurent. Buffett had criticised the fact that he was paying less tax than many of his employees. The letter on the website of the French news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur was signed by some of France’s leading businessmen, including Christophe de Margerie, of the oil group Total, Frédéric Oudea, head of France’s second biggest bank Societé Générale, and Jean-Cyril Spinetta, president of Air France-KLM. Bettencourt, 88, France’s richest woman, with a fortune estimated at €17bn (£15bn), also put her name to the petition. The measures in the rigour package, dubbed by some the “financial turn of the screw”, include: • an “exceptional contribution” of 3% on taxable earnings for those earning above €500,000 to remain in place until France’s deficit had been reduced to 3% of GDP. • an increase in tax on tobacco and alcohol • a modification of capital gains tax on property Fillon also spoke of a “harmonisation” of taxes on businesses and companies between France and Germany. He said growth predictions for 2011 were down to 1.75% (from 2%) and 1.75% for 2012 (0.5% less than originally forecast). In the letter to Le Nouvel Observateur, the 16 signatories said: “We, presidents or company leaders, businessmen and women, bankers, professionals and wealthy citizens, would like an ‘exceptional contribution’ imposed on the most fortunate French taxpayers. “We are aware that we have fully benefited from the French model and European environment to which we are attached and that we want to help preserve them. This contribution is not a solution in itself: it should be part of a more global effort of reforms affecting [public] spending as well as [tax] revenues. “At a time when the public finances deficit and the prospect of a worsening state debt threaten the future of France and Europe, and when the government is asking everyone to show their solidarity, it seems necessary for us to contribute to this.” Any tax on the country’s wealthiest citizens would be imposed for a limited period, probably about two years, said analysts, and would target those considered the richest personally and not the companies for whom they work. France has promised to rein in its public deficit in previous years but without success. The eurozone sovereign debt crisis has prompted it to announce plans to trim its public deficit to 5.7 % this year, 4.6 % next year and 3% in 2013. Among other measures, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is reported to be considering the abandonment of tax-free overtime for workers. This was one of the financial measures that under the slogan “work harder to earn more”, was a pillar of his election campaign in 2005, but has cost the government an estimated €4.5bn in lost revenues. The government is also looking at ending tax breaks for companies. Having recently abolished the “financial shield”, which set a limit on the total amount of tax the rich were expected to pay, a new tax on the wealthy would avoid accusations his austerity measures would hit those lower down the income scale and small businesses hardest, in the run up to next year’s presidential elections. France and Germany are also discussing proposals for a tax on financial transactions, a measure that is vehemently opposed by Britain. France Europe Europe Tax and spending Nicolas Sarkozy Warren Buffett Euro European monetary union Financial crisis Tobin tax Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk
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enlarge I was sitting at my desk Tuesday when I felt something strange. My desk chair was rolling back and forth, and when I turned around to look out my window, I saw the wall shaking. I live in Philadelphia. We’re not used to earthquakes. We’re not designed for them. More to the point, my city has old, poorly-maintained infrastructure. In my neighborhood, every time we have a heavy rainstorm, we see sinkholes pucker up everywhere. Our local sewer system is 150 years old . Our bridges are uncomfortably close to collapse, and no one does anything other than slap the equivalent of Band-Aids on the problems. Why? Because for 30 years, state and congressional Republicans have made it impossible to raise necessary taxes. When the earthquake hit, I was checking the latest storm track for Hurricane Irene. All I could think of was, “Swell. Looks like a direct hit on the East Coast, and I wonder what programs the Republicans will insist we cut to pay for the clean-up.” I look at Dave’s story, where we see funding was cut for earthquake sensors at nuclear power plants — right near the epicenter of yesterday’s quake — and I feel like screaming, “What the hell is wrong with you people?” Then I see the latest reports that indicate (surprise!) the Deepwater Horizon site is leaking again , and no one’s talking about it. Seen anything on the news? Oh, and I’m not even mentioning the news that the area around the Fukushima power plants will be uninhabitable for a long, long time . And that’s not counting the numerous problems with our food and water supplies. What do these things have in common? They’re things government can, and should, take care of. Here in the U.S., we count on our federal agencies to regulate, enforce, anticipate problems – and clean up after national disasters. We are the richest nation in the world. We can afford this. What we can’t afford is another string of wars. We can’t continue to cut everything at home to pay for wars elsewhere, particularly when they’re for such blatantly dishonest reasons. We need to stop. Now. I continue to be astounded by the national disconnect over global climate change. We are facing more numerous storms, more powerful weather extremes, and our infrastructure is no longer built to handle it. So what are our brave senators fighting over? Who can cut more spending. Instead of doing what’s best for our country, they do what’s best for their reelection . They’re more worried about Pope Grover than they are about their duty to the rest of us. We are all connected, everywhere. A nuclear power plant in Fukushima spits out a radioactive plume, and now it’s in our air, food and water. A typhoon in one part of the world drives up food prices everywhere else. A massive earthquake in Japan affects the financial health of the global economy. One world. Everything connected. To have elected representatives who are too cowardly and craven to do the job for which they were elected — it’s not acceptable. Don’t accept it. Start speaking out. This crap is crazy. Pick up the phone, write a letter, go to a town hall. Sit in. Raise hell. Tell them you won’t vote for anyone who refuses to act like a freaking grownup and raise the revenue to pay for them. Get moving. Because if we wait much longer, it’s going to be too late.
Continue reading …Death of man who ‘taught Germans to laugh’ knocks the battle for Tripoli off the front pages Germany is known for many things: reliable cars, punctual trains, a national reluctance to cross the road if the lights are on red. Comedy, though, not so much. And yet, when the most famous German comic of the postwar era died this week, aged 87, the country went into mourning. It is a measure of the devotion inspired by Loriot that when his death was announced the foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, told journalists at the start of a press conference on Libya that he would take questions on Loriot only after he had answered all Gaddafi-related queries. Loriot – real name Bernhard Victor Christoph-Carl von Bülow, better known as Vicco – was a national treasure who combined the eloquence and linguistic dexterity of a Stephen Fry with a Peter Sellers-style sense of the absurd. Pretty much every German newspaper on Wednesday carried a picture of him on the front page, or one of his cartoons, rather than a photograph of the battle for Tripoli. “Thank you for the laughter” was the headline in the tabloid Bild . “Through him, Germans learned to laugh”, said die taz . “What did Germans laugh about before Loriot came long? Nothing.” A graphic designer by trade, von Bülow started sketching cartoons in 1950 under the pseudonym Loriot. Having spent three years as a Wehrmacht soldier fighting on the eastern front, Loriot returned to a Germany very different to the one he had left. The cities were still reduced to rubble; families had been ripped apart. There was very little to laugh about. By the time his first cartoons appeared, in magazines such as Stern and Quick, Germany had been split into two. Though he was born in the East German state of Brandenburg, it was in West Germany that Loriot found fame. The high point of his career came between 1976 and 1978 with his eponymous TV sketch show, with its hugely popular mixture of straight-faced slapstick and wry jokes that touched on key German stereotypes. Loriot was particularly good at poking fun at the German devotion to formality and earnestness. One of his most famous cartoons featured Herr Müller Lüdenscheid and Herr Doktor Klöbner, two naked men sitting in a hotel bath . The skit begins with the former saying, “I don’t wish to appear rude, but I would really like to be alone.” The latter answers: “Who on earth are you?” The two then introduce themselves, with full honorifics. Herr Müller Lüdenscheid then says: “Would you mind telling me what you are doing in my bath?” To which the other man replies: “I was down in the basement ping pong room and got my room number mixed up.” And on it goes. In one TV skit, Loriot is on a plane, chatting up an attractive younger woman , played by his long-term sidekick, Evelyn Hamann (who died in 2007). The two have a tremendously highfalutin conversation, quoting their favourite Rilke poems while struggling with the logistics of eating elegantly on an aeroplane. In another popular sketch, ( here with subtitles ) a group of distinguished adults are taking a class at the Modern Institute of Yodelling. In one famous line, a lady is asked by a radio journalist why she, as a woman, has been so keen to gain her yodelling diploma. “I think, of all people, a housewife with children should have vocational qualifications. Then, when the time comes, and your grown-up children go away or anything happens, then after two years at yodelling school I will have my yodelling diploma.” Loriot’s trademark was his poker face. “You will not see laughter in any of my films. Nowhere. The audience should be the ones laughing,” he once told Die Zeit . Four classic Loriot Sketches (with English subtitles) German for Foreigners Grocery Shopping The Noodle The Picture Isn’t Hanging Straight The Breakfast Egg (Das Frühstücksei) See if you can crack the German sense of humour by watching this video and reading the transcript below. Him: Berta! Her: Yes … Him: The egg is hard! Her: [silence] Him: The egg is hard!!! Her: I heard you … Him: How long did the egg cook for? Her: You always want them to be cooked for four and a half minutes … Him: I know … Her: So why are you asking? Him: Because this egg cannot have been cooked for four and a half minutes! Her: But every morning I cook your egg for four and a half minutes. Him: So why is it sometimes too hard and sometimes too soft? Her: I don’t know! I’m not a chicken. Him: Ach. So how do you know when an egg is ready? Her: I take it out of the water after four and a half minutes, my God. Him: You use a clock or what? Her: Intuition. A housewife just has a feeling. Him: A feeling? You have a feeling? Her: I just feel it when the egg is ready. Him: But it’s hard … maybe your feelings aren’t quite right. Her: My feelings aren’t right? I’m in the kitchen all day, doing washing, sorting out your things, making the flat homely, getting irritated with the children under my feet, and you’re telling me my feelings aren’t right? Him: Yes, yes. Yes. Yes. If you cook an egg using your intuition then, if it does cook for exactly four and a half minutes, that will be a coincidence. Her: It shouldn’t matter to you whether the egg coincidentally cooks for four and a half minutes. The main thing is that it cooks for four and a half minutes! Him: I would simply like a soft boiled egg and not a coincidentally soft egg. I don’t care how long it cooks for! Her: Aha! You don’t care. So you don’t care if I slave for four and a half minutes in the kitchen! Him: No – no Her: But it does matter. The egg must be cooked for four and a half minutes Him: That’s what I said! Her: But you just said you didn’t care! Him: I only wanted a soft boiled egg … Her: God, men are primitive. Him: [grim faced] I’ll kill her. Tomorrow, I’ll kill her Germany Europe Helen Pidd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Death of man who ‘taught Germans to laugh’ knocks the battle for Tripoli off the front pages Germany is known for many things: reliable cars, punctual trains, a national reluctance to cross the road if the lights are on red. Comedy, though, not so much. And yet, when the most famous German comic of the postwar era died this week, aged 87, the country went into mourning. It is a measure of the devotion inspired by Loriot that when his death was announced the foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, told journalists at the start of a press conference on Libya that he would take questions on Loriot only after he had answered all Gaddafi-related queries. Loriot – real name Bernhard Victor Christoph-Carl von Bülow, better known as Vicco – was a national treasure who combined the eloquence and linguistic dexterity of a Stephen Fry with a Peter Sellers-style sense of the absurd. Pretty much every German newspaper on Wednesday carried a picture of him on the front page, or one of his cartoons, rather than a photograph of the battle for Tripoli. “Thank you for the laughter” was the headline in the tabloid Bild . “Through him, Germans learned to laugh”, said die taz . “What did Germans laugh about before Loriot came long? Nothing.” A graphic designer by trade, von Bülow started sketching cartoons in 1950 under the pseudonym Loriot. Having spent three years as a Wehrmacht soldier fighting on the eastern front, Loriot returned to a Germany very different to the one he had left. The cities were still reduced to rubble; families had been ripped apart. There was very little to laugh about. By the time his first cartoons appeared, in magazines such as Stern and Quick, Germany had been split into two. Though he was born in the East German state of Brandenburg, it was in West Germany that Loriot found fame. The high point of his career came between 1976 and 1978 with his eponymous TV sketch show, with its hugely popular mixture of straight-faced slapstick and wry jokes that touched on key German stereotypes. Loriot was particularly good at poking fun at the German devotion to formality and earnestness. One of his most famous cartoons featured Herr Müller Lüdenscheid and Herr Doktor Klöbner, two naked men sitting in a hotel bath . The skit begins with the former saying, “I don’t wish to appear rude, but I would really like to be alone.” The latter answers: “Who on earth are you?” The two then introduce themselves, with full honorifics. Herr Müller Lüdenscheid then says: “Would you mind telling me what you are doing in my bath?” To which the other man replies: “I was down in the basement ping pong room and got my room number mixed up.” And on it goes. In one TV skit, Loriot is on a plane, chatting up an attractive younger woman , played by his long-term sidekick, Evelyn Hamann (who died in 2007). The two have a tremendously highfalutin conversation, quoting their favourite Rilke poems while struggling with the logistics of eating elegantly on an aeroplane. In another popular sketch, ( here with subtitles ) a group of distinguished adults are taking a class at the Modern Institute of Yodelling. In one famous line, a lady is asked by a radio journalist why she, as a woman, has been so keen to gain her yodelling diploma. “I think, of all people, a housewife with children should have vocational qualifications. Then, when the time comes, and your grown-up children go away or anything happens, then after two years at yodelling school I will have my yodelling diploma.” Loriot’s trademark was his poker face. “You will not see laughter in any of my films. Nowhere. The audience should be the ones laughing,” he once told Die Zeit . Four classic Loriot Sketches (with English subtitles) German for Foreigners Grocery Shopping The Noodle The Picture Isn’t Hanging Straight The Breakfast Egg (Das Frühstücksei) See if you can crack the German sense of humour by watching this video and reading the transcript below. Him: Berta! Her: Yes … Him: The egg is hard! Her: [silence] Him: The egg is hard!!! Her: I heard you … Him: How long did the egg cook for? Her: You always want them to be cooked for four and a half minutes … Him: I know … Her: So why are you asking? Him: Because this egg cannot have been cooked for four and a half minutes! Her: But every morning I cook your egg for four and a half minutes. Him: So why is it sometimes too hard and sometimes too soft? Her: I don’t know! I’m not a chicken. Him: Ach. So how do you know when an egg is ready? Her: I take it out of the water after four and a half minutes, my God. Him: You use a clock or what? Her: Intuition. A housewife just has a feeling. Him: A feeling? You have a feeling? Her: I just feel it when the egg is ready. Him: But it’s hard … maybe your feelings aren’t quite right. Her: My feelings aren’t right? I’m in the kitchen all day, doing washing, sorting out your things, making the flat homely, getting irritated with the children under my feet, and you’re telling me my feelings aren’t right? Him: Yes, yes. Yes. Yes. If you cook an egg using your intuition then, if it does cook for exactly four and a half minutes, that will be a coincidence. Her: It shouldn’t matter to you whether the egg coincidentally cooks for four and a half minutes. The main thing is that it cooks for four and a half minutes! Him: I would simply like a soft boiled egg and not a coincidentally soft egg. I don’t care how long it cooks for! Her: Aha! You don’t care. So you don’t care if I slave for four and a half minutes in the kitchen! Him: No – no Her: But it does matter. The egg must be cooked for four and a half minutes Him: That’s what I said! Her: But you just said you didn’t care! Him: I only wanted a soft boiled egg … Her: God, men are primitive. Him: [grim faced] I’ll kill her. Tomorrow, I’ll kill her Germany Europe Helen Pidd guardian.co.uk
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University-educated workers still earn far more than those who left school at 16, but gap is narrowing The value of holding a degree has been eroded as the share of the population with a university education has more than doubled over two decades, a study shows. But graduates still attract a hefty salary premium compared with workers who finished their education at 16. An analysis of salaries in the final quarter of 2010 showed graduate employees earning 85% more than those who left school after GCSEs. In the last quarter of 1993, graduates earned 95% more. Since 1993, the percentage of the UK population with a degree has more than doubled from 12% to 25% last year. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which compiled the study, the dip in graduate earnings is explained by a fall in the proportion of graduates doing highly skilled jobs. In 1993, 68% of graduate employees had a job in the highest skill group – including roles as managers, engineers or accountants – compared with 57% in 2010. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK , which represents vice-chancellors, defended university education and said the figures showed the graduate premium had held up over time. “Looking at all graduates, degree holders continue to earn considerably more than non-graduates over a working lifetime and are also more likely to be in employment,” she said. “Despite the exponential growth in the number of people gaining a degree since 1993, there still remains a considerable pay premium for graduates.” But holding a degree is no guarantee of financial success. The ONS analysis also found that the bottom 20% of graduate employees earned less than the average for those whose highest qualification was A-levels. The worst-paid 15% of graduate workers earned less than the average for those who had only GCSEs. The analysis is based on data from the Labour Force Survey , a sample of UK households. Most people whose education finished at age 16 are working in jobs categorised as “lower-middle skill” – such as shop assistants, secretaries or machine operatives, the ONS found. There has been a fall in the percentage of people with no formal educational qualification, from 25% of the population in 1993 to 11% last year. This is mainly due to the fact that older people are less likely to have formal qualifications. As this swath of the population retires, the proportion of those with no qualification falls. Separately, government figures published on Wednesday showed a big rise in the number of people aged 19-24 who are not in education, employment or training – so-called Neets. The Department for Education said nearly a fifth of that age group falls into the category. The figures show that in the second quarter of this year, 794,000 of those aged 19-24 were not in work or study – up by 120,000 in a year. However, the number of those aged 16-18 who are neither working or studying fell by more than 10,000 to 186,000. Jim Hillage, director of research at the Institute for Employment Studies , said: “The labour market is a very tough place to be for young people at the moment. Young adults who can’t find an apprenticeship or a college place are finding it particularly hard to compete for jobs against older, more experienced, jobseekers not just from this country but also from the rest of Europe. “Unfortunately it seems likely that the situation will get worse before it gets better as the economic recovery falters and job growth stalls.” A government spokesman said: “The number of young people not in education, employment or training has been too high for too long – we are determined to bring the number down. “There are encouraging signs, with the proportion of 16- to 18-year-olds in the Neet category falling recently, and government departments are working together to ensure that all those aged 16 to 24 are provided with the coherent support they need. “We have made clear our commitment to raising the participation age, so all 16- and 17-year-olds are in education or training by 2015, and our cross-government strategy later in the year will set out how we will improve post-16 participation further.” Andy Burnham, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “These figures show that the Tory-led government is being far too complacent about getting young people back to work or into training, and risks leaving the next generation behind. “By scrapping Labour’s guarantee of an apprenticeship place for young people who want one, scrapping the EMA [education maintenance allowance] and cutting careers services, this government is making it harder for young people to get on – so that for the first time there is a risk that the next generation will do worse than the last.” Higher education GCSEs Schools Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Graduate careers Work & careers Office for National Statistics Andy Burnham Jeevan Vasagar guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …University-educated workers still earn far more than those who left school at 16, but gap is narrowing The value of holding a degree has been eroded as the share of the population with a university education has more than doubled over two decades, a study shows. But graduates still attract a hefty salary premium compared with workers who finished their education at 16. An analysis of salaries in the final quarter of 2010 showed graduate employees earning 85% more than those who left school after GCSEs. In the last quarter of 1993, graduates earned 95% more. Since 1993, the percentage of the UK population with a degree has more than doubled from 12% to 25% last year. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which compiled the study, the dip in graduate earnings is explained by a fall in the proportion of graduates doing highly skilled jobs. In 1993, 68% of graduate employees had a job in the highest skill group – including roles as managers, engineers or accountants – compared with 57% in 2010. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK , which represents vice-chancellors, defended university education and said the figures showed the graduate premium had held up over time. “Looking at all graduates, degree holders continue to earn considerably more than non-graduates over a working lifetime and are also more likely to be in employment,” she said. “Despite the exponential growth in the number of people gaining a degree since 1993, there still remains a considerable pay premium for graduates.” But holding a degree is no guarantee of financial success. The ONS analysis also found that the bottom 20% of graduate employees earned less than the average for those whose highest qualification was A-levels. The worst-paid 15% of graduate workers earned less than the average for those who had only GCSEs. The analysis is based on data from the Labour Force Survey , a sample of UK households. Most people whose education finished at age 16 are working in jobs categorised as “lower-middle skill” – such as shop assistants, secretaries or machine operatives, the ONS found. There has been a fall in the percentage of people with no formal educational qualification, from 25% of the population in 1993 to 11% last year. This is mainly due to the fact that older people are less likely to have formal qualifications. As this swath of the population retires, the proportion of those with no qualification falls. Separately, government figures published on Wednesday showed a big rise in the number of people aged 19-24 who are not in education, employment or training – so-called Neets. The Department for Education said nearly a fifth of that age group falls into the category. The figures show that in the second quarter of this year, 794,000 of those aged 19-24 were not in work or study – up by 120,000 in a year. However, the number of those aged 16-18 who are neither working or studying fell by more than 10,000 to 186,000. Jim Hillage, director of research at the Institute for Employment Studies , said: “The labour market is a very tough place to be for young people at the moment. Young adults who can’t find an apprenticeship or a college place are finding it particularly hard to compete for jobs against older, more experienced, jobseekers not just from this country but also from the rest of Europe. “Unfortunately it seems likely that the situation will get worse before it gets better as the economic recovery falters and job growth stalls.” A government spokesman said: “The number of young people not in education, employment or training has been too high for too long – we are determined to bring the number down. “There are encouraging signs, with the proportion of 16- to 18-year-olds in the Neet category falling recently, and government departments are working together to ensure that all those aged 16 to 24 are provided with the coherent support they need. “We have made clear our commitment to raising the participation age, so all 16- and 17-year-olds are in education or training by 2015, and our cross-government strategy later in the year will set out how we will improve post-16 participation further.” Andy Burnham, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “These figures show that the Tory-led government is being far too complacent about getting young people back to work or into training, and risks leaving the next generation behind. “By scrapping Labour’s guarantee of an apprenticeship place for young people who want one, scrapping the EMA [education maintenance allowance] and cutting careers services, this government is making it harder for young people to get on – so that for the first time there is a risk that the next generation will do worse than the last.” Higher education GCSEs Schools Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Graduate careers Work & careers Office for National Statistics Andy Burnham Jeevan Vasagar guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Media Matters got this video from David in Colorado who received a telemarketing phone call from the NRA. The caller is working from an obvious script complete with worldwide conspiracies including: Hillary Clinton, Cuba and Iran. Perhaps my favorite part is when the NRA caller offers condolences for “the school shooting,” even though she of course doesn’t know which school shooting she’s offering condolences for when challenged (it is apparently that one “in the paper” that “recently” happened–you know, Columbine, in 1999). There is no such thing as shame–not during Wayne LaPierre’s tenure at the NRA. They’ll use fake compassion over a school shooting and a manufactured galactic conspiracy if it will bring in more cash for arms dealers and help pay LaPierre’s $1.27 million salary per year. Follow me on Twitter @cliffschecter
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