There are some indications in initial A-level results that private schools may have widened the gap with state schools A quarter of a million A-level candidates receive their results today amid some indications that private schools may have widened the gap with state schools. The Girls’ School Association, which represents heads of independent girls’ schools, said that of the first schools to announce their results, 32.9% of grades awarded were at A* level and 70% at A and A*. In last year’s results, for all private schools, 17.9% of entries were awarded an A* and just over half secured the two top grades. The Girls’ School Association figures were from just 18 schools, and the proportions may shift when results are published later on Thursday. In the GSA results, 61.9% of grades for combined sciences were at A and A*, and the A* pass rate for maths was 48.6%. The A* grade is being used to discriminate between the best candidates at an increased number of universities this year. Oxford is demanding the grade for 15 of its courses, while students applying for some courses at Bristol, Exeter and Sussex have been asked for it. Last year, the only universities to require an A* were Imperial, Cambridge, UCL and Warwick. The publication of results will trigger a scramble for the remaining places available in clearing. The number of applicants to UK universities has risen to 673,570 this year, a record high and a rise of 1.3% on 2010. There were around 487,000 undergraduates accepted at UK universities last year, and a similar number of places available this year. Around 210,000 candidates lost out on a place at university last year. Commenting on the girls’ school results, Caroline Jordan, who chairs the GSA’s education committee, and is also headmistress of St George’s, Ascot, said: “These are great emerging results which means that today girls educated in our schools are celebrating getting into the most prestigious universities, many of them to study medical, science and language courses. They have also proved themselves to be team players and taken part in a multitude of extra curricula activities throughout their time at school, they are well placed to be the leaders of tomorrow.” Students from low-income families will be less likely to be offered places at top universities next year, according to a study published on Thursday. The Higher Education Policy Institute, a thinktank, analysed the government’s university reforms which were unveiled in a white paper in June. As part of the changes, English universities will, from next year, have an 8% cut to the number of places they offer to students achieving less than two As and a B in their A-levels. However, they will be allowed to recruit an unlimited number of students with two As and a B or better. The thinktank warns that these reforms will damage social mobility because bright pupils from low-achieving schools and homes may be just as capable as their better-off peers, but are less likely to achieve two As and a B. The universities that take the largest share of poor students will be most affected by the 8% cut because they tend not to have many students with two As and a B, the thinktank says. Its study also predicts that middle and low-ranking universities will be forced to dramatically reduce their average tuition fees for next year to less than £7,500. The government is proposing to make extra places available under this threshold. At the moment, the estimated average annual tuition fee universities and colleges will charge next year is £8,393. Within a year or two, all but the most competitive universities will have to charge £7,500 or less, the thinktank expects. It says this will create a two-tier and “polarised” system under which bright, poor students would attend further education colleges and universities that lacked “kudos and the social capital of the more competitive institutions”. The thinktank predicts that in future years, top universities will be engaged in an “arms race” whereby they continually compete for AAB students by offering ever more generous scholarships and financial inducements. Responding to the analysis, universities minister David Willetts said: “The intent of our higher education reforms are clear: we are putting students at the heart of the system with a financing system that is fairer and affordable for the nation. “While we expect universities to offer good value for money, students will have the information to decide what course and institution is right for them. “Institutions will have to work much harder to attract students and be explicit about the quality of their teaching and the type of experience they offer.” Higher education A-levels Schools Jeevan Vasagar Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …At CSM Perry Hit Piece, Former Biden Economist Erroneously Applies BLS Data
August 17, 2011 No Comment
The Christian Science Monitor appears to have a problem monitoring its bloggers. Even though it asserts that its “diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there … (have) responsibility for the content of their blogs,” the largely respected CSM should understand that Jared Bernstein has just embarrassed it bigtime. To its credit, CSM describes Bernstein, currently a senior fellow at the very liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Director emeritus: Marian Wright Edelman ), as a Biden/Democrat hack: “Jared was chief economist to Vice President Joseph Biden and executive director of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class.” But unless CSM wants to be seen as a place like the Huffington Post, where it seems that anyone can throw up anything regardless of its truthfulness (I'm talking to you, Sam Stein ), it needs to at least fact-check info with an obvious surface stench — and I could smell the acrid aroma from Bernstein's item here in Ohio. His woeful Wednesday post goes beyond predictable cherry-picking into the realm of flat-out errors. Here is the graph Bernstein employs to supposedly prove his contention that “Texas and the government are chummier than you'd think” (included for fair use, discussion and humiliation purposes): Bernstein claims that the graph portrays “the net number of private and public sector jobs lost and gained in Texas from 2007 to 2010,” meaning that he purports it to show what happened between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2010. It doesn't, as these partial charts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will show: Incredibly, especially for an economist, Bernstein used the annual averages for 2007 and 2010 as his comparison points instead of going from the end of 2006 to the end of 2010 to pick up what happened during the entire four-year period he told readers he was presenting. Readers can see that the actual results differ significantly when compared to Jared's Junk, specifically: 214,000 total jobs gained instead of 53,000 lost; 73,000 private sector gains instead of 178,000 losses; and 141,000 government job gains instead of 125,000 If Jared Bernstein is one of “the best economy-related bloggers out there,” I'm Milton Friedman. Let's look at what has happened during two more logical benchmarking points: the three years ended June 2011, which includes the recession as normal people define it plus the subsequent two years, and the two years also ended June 2011, focusing on the period of “recovery” alone (all figures are not seasonally adjusted, consistent with the tables Bernstein used): Three years ended June 2011: USA: -6,086K total jobs lost, consisting of -5,674K in the private sector and -412K in the public sector Texas: -33K total jobs lost, consisting of -120K in the private sector and +87K in the public sector Two years ended June 2011: USA: +709K total jobs gained, consisting of +1,188K in the private sector and -479K in the public sector Texas: +302K total jobs gained, consisting of +263K in the private sector and +39K in the public sector The data is subject to revision (new state info will be released on Friday morning), but I would expect that such revisions won't significantly affect the overall results. Clearly, the past two and three years have been better in Texas than in the rest of the country. The increases in Lone Star State public sector employment are roughly proportional to the state's increased overall population in each instance cited in this post. Further investigation would be needed, but it may be that local governments in Texas have been able to avoid firing thousands of public employees because their pay and benefits packages are not ridiculously out of whack with what is seen in the private sector, as is definitely the case here in Ohio. There are other points I could make about Bernstein's underlying article, which is a series of barely disguised childish taunts. But why bother? The underlying data he used is so obviously wrong, doing so would be a waste of time. Instead of engaging in erroneous cherry-picking, Jared Bernstein should be on his knees every night thanking God for Texas. Imagine how awful the nation's economic stats would be without the Lone Star State's positive contributions. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .
Continue reading …
Police had initially given Hazare permission to hold only a three-day public hunger strike but they have now relented A renowned Indian anti-corruption crusader struck a deal with police early on Thursday to hold a 15-day public hunger strike against graft, ending a bizarre standoff at a New Delhi prison where the activist’s brief detention had turned into a sit-in protest. Anna Hazare’s ordeal has struck a chord with Indians fed up with rampant corruption. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through cities across the country to show their support for his demand for a revised government reform bill, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accused Hazare of trying to circumvent democracy. Police had initially given Hazare permission to hold only a three-day public hunger strike, which he refused, but early Thursday morning they relented and agreed to allow him to hold a 15-day protest at a venue in the capital, Kiran Bedi, another protest leader, wrote on her Twitter account. “Delhi police removed the unacceptable conditions and offered 15 days permission. Anna accepted there,” Bedi wrote. The protest was to start Thursday afternoon. New Delhi police arrested Hazare on Tuesday to block his planned fast against corruption, but released him hours later. Hazare stopped eating Tuesday and refused to leave the jailhouse, demanding police allow him to hold the hunger strike publicly and indefinitely. After he struck his deal with police, the hundreds camped outside the jail erupted in cheers, threw flower petals in the air and shouted “Anna has won.” Hazare, clad in the simple white cotton garb of India’s liberation leaders, has become an anti-corruption icon by channeling the tactics of freedom fighter Mohandas K. Gandhi. In April, Hazare used a four-day fast to force the government to draft legislation for an anti-corruption watchdog. He had planned for weeks to begin another fast to press for a stronger bill. While Hazare’s campaign against corruption has strong support within India, critics have raised concerns that his method – embarking on a declared hunger strike to the death – is akin to blackmailing the government. On Wednesday, Singh told Parliament that Hazare was free to express his views, but that he was improperly usurping the role of elected representatives by trying to force them to pass his own version of the anti-corruption bill. “The path that he has chosen to impose his draft of a bill upon Parliament is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our parliamentary democracy,” Singh said, shouting over jeering opposition lawmakers. “Those who believe that their voice and their voice alone represents the will of 1.2 billion people should reflect deeply on that position,” he said. “They must allow the elected representatives of the people in Parliament to do the job that they were elected for.” New Delhi district court lawyers held a one-day strike to demand the judiciary also fall under the purview of any anti-corruption ombudsman. Protests erupted in cities across India, with some demonstrators burning effigies of Singh, while others held yagna ceremonies – purification rituals using fire – to symbolically clean the government. The protesters, many wearing headbands reading “I am Anna,” crossed religious and caste lines and included rich and poor, students, the elderly, eunuchs, housewives, businessmen and the homeless. Orissa’s state assembly shut down in shouting matches, and lawyers in one town wore black badges protesting Hazare’s arrest as an assault on democracy. “Do the people in this country have no rights about how an anti-corruption watchdog will work? Is this the end of Indian democracy?” said Prashant Bhushan, a lawyer who was helping organise the protest movement. The government is battling corruption allegations stemming from the murky sale of cellphone licenses and the hosting of last year’s Commonwealth Games, which together lost the country as much as $40 billion, according to government auditors. The main opposition is mired in a multibillion-dollar bribery scandal involving the granting of mining contracts in southern India. The scandals have embarrassed the government and paralysed Parliament, with lawmakers trading insults and accusations instead of addressing widespread malnutrition and a desperate need for land reform. On Tuesday, Parliament adjourned amid screaming between government and opposition lawmakers over Hazare’s arrest. India Anna Hazare guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Click here to view this media There’s not much to say for this except Christine O’Donnell doesn’t want to share her views on gay marriage. Apparently she wants to be taken seriously as a deep thinker on fiscal and constitutional matters. The more Morgan pressed the more indignant she seemed to get. Finally she had enough. PIERS MORGAN: “Why are you being so weird about this?” CHRISTINE O’DONNELL: “I’m not being weird about this Piers. I’m not running for office, I’m not promoting a legislative agenda. I’m promoting the policies that I lay out in the book that are mostly fiscal that are mostly constitutional. That’s why I agreed to come on your show. That’s what I want to talk about. I’m not being weird you’re being a little rude.” PIERS MORGAN: “I think I’m rather being charming and respectful.” And with that she walked off. O’Donnell was promoting her new book “Troublemaker” , allegedly a political memoir which details her absurd senate run last year, among other things. The e-version though describes it as a work of fiction , which seems appropriate for her entire career.
Continue reading …Bless her heart Michele Bachmann just can’t win the song war. Maybe she should just give up and have someone make her own campaign song like Herman Cain did. Tuesday, Bachmann greeted the crowd giving a nod to The King on the day of his birth after coming out on stage to “Promised Land.” Only…. it wasn’t his birthday. Fans of Elvis gathered in Graceland to celebrate his death instead. As I’m sure you remember, Bachmann had some issues when she chose “American Girl” by Tom Petty to usher her out onto stages across Iowa. Petty wasn’t too happy about it and asked Bachmann to stop or .. I suppose that would be the last dance with the Mary Jane of the Midwest. But now Bachmann is using the Elvis Presley song “Promised Land.” At least we say it was an Elvis song because he was the one who made it famous. And his is the version that Bachmann uses. The interesting thing is that it wasn’t actually written by Elvis – it was actually written by Chuck Berry …. while he was in in a mid-western prison serving a sentence for armed robbery after hijacking a car at gunpoint, after sticking up a gas station and a convenience store. I’m sure this has no parallel to Bachmann’s mid-western tour where she’s trying to hijack democracy. None at all. Nor does it have any parallels to Bachmann sticking up the middle class in favor of more billionaires subsidies. Of course not! Berry after all is reformed and a musical genius such that America is happy to look past his early days and Bachmann is… well… Bachmann. It isn’t clear who owns the copyright to Promise Land – whether it’s Elvis or Berry, but if its Berry who still has the rights I wonder what his feelings are about the right-wing teabagger using it to welcome her supporters at every event.
Continue reading …
Click here to view this media I’m glad that the president has decided to propose creating jobs with new ideas after the Labor Day holiday, but I still don’t understand the strategy behind them including huge deficit spending cuts and tax breaks at the same time as high unemployment during a bad economy. Seeking to jolt the economy, President Barack Obama will propose new ideas to create jobs and help the struggling poor and middle class in a major speech after Labor Day. And then he will try to seize political advantage by spending the fall pressuring Congress to act on his plan. Obama’s plan is likely to contain a mix of tax cuts, jobs-boosting construction projects and steps to help the long-term unemployed, a senior administration official told The Associated Press. The official emphasized that Obama’s proposals would be fresh ones, not a rehash of plans he has pitched for many weeks and still supports, like his idea of an “infrastructure bank” to finance construction jobs. On a related front, Obama will also present a specific plan to cut the staggering national debt and to pay for the cost of his new short-term economic ideas. His version will challenge the new “supercommittee” of Congress to go beyond its goal of $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. Confirming the deficit-reduction part of his plan directly, Obama told a rural town hall crowd in Illinois on Wednesday: “I don’t think it’s good enough for us to just do it part way. If we’re going to do it, let’s go ahead and fix it.” Obama’s major economic speech will come right after the Sept. 5 Labor Day holiday. Republicans were underwhelmed. I hate the Super Committee and all that it stands for, but Obama is doubling down on it and hoping the Gang of Twelve will fix everything. Is it some kind of ploy? I doubt they’ll get much consensus in the end since Republicans will not negotiate. They will need Democrats to pass the Super Congress recomendations and if their are benefit cuts to our social safety nets then what that probably means is a deal of complete capitulation, but that’s just me. President Obama can push for jobs and more jobs with whatever means he can. It appears that he’s not going to listen to his milquetoast advisers that want him to placate Republicans with a small package and instead insert ‘new ideas’ into his speech. I guess we’ll wait for the trial balloons to be leaked out since we don’t know what they are at this point. Go for it. Fight for the working class. Use the bully pulpit for progressive beliefs for a change instead of austerity. It’s been a major fail in Europe and it will fail here too . Joan McCarter writes: The AP is reporting that we’ll hear more than these same ideas from the president in September, with a White House official saying that “all of Obama’s proposals would be fresh ones, not a rehash of plans he has pitched for many weeks and still supports, including his ‘infrastructure bank’ idea to finance construction jobs.” It’s a better message than all austerity, all the time. There’s the little problem of how you get any of the six Republicans on the committee to go along with anything that would actually help the country, but we are at least now seeing more of an effort on the part of Democrats to challenge them on that by putting jobs at the fore of their rhetoric. You start with the message, and hopefully that will translate into action. And please stop talking about shoes and dresses .
Continue reading …Research: Tea Party’s Growing Unpopularity Traced To Infusing Politics With Religion
August 17, 2011 No CommentInteresting op-ed in the NYTimes pointing out the strong and growing disapproval for the tea party – and why. David E. Campbell, an associate professor of political science at Notre Dame, and Robert D. Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard, say most Americans oppose the tea party’s favored mixing of politics and religion: Beginning in 2006 we interviewed a representative sample of 3,000 Americans as part of our continuing research into national political attitudes, and we returned to interview many of the same people again this summer. As a result, we can look at what people told us, long before there was a Tea Party, to predict who would become a Tea Party supporter five years later. We can also account for multiple influences simultaneously — isolating the impact of one factor while holding others constant. Our analysis casts doubt on the Tea Party’s “origin story.” Early on, Tea Partiers were often described as nonpartisan political neophytes . Actually, the Tea Party’s supporters today were highly partisan Republicans long before the Tea Party was born, and were more likely than others to have contacted government officials. In fact, past Republican affiliation is the single strongest predictor of Tea Party support today. What’s more, contrary to some accounts, the Tea Party is not a creature of the Great Recession. Many Americans have suffered in the last four years, but they are no more likely than anyone else to support the Tea Party. And while the public image of the Tea Party focuses on a desire to shrink government, concern over big government is hardly the only or even the most important predictor of Tea Party support among voters. So what do Tea Partiers have in common? They are overwhelmingly white, but even compared to other white Republicans, they had a low regard for immigrants and blacks long before Barack Obama was president, and they still do. More important, they were disproportionately social conservatives in 2006 — opposing abortion, for example — and still are today. Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious” elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates . The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller government, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government. This inclination among the Tea Party faithful to mix religion and politics explains their support for Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas. Their appeal to Tea Partiers lies less in what they say about the budget or taxes, and more in their overt use of religious language and imagery, including Mrs. Bachmann’s lengthy prayers at campaign stops and Mr. Perry’s prayer rally in Houston. Yet it is precisely this infusion of religion into politics that most Americans increasingly oppose. While over the last five years Americans have become slightly more conservative economically, they have swung even further in opposition to mingling religion and politics . It thus makes sense that the Tea Party ranks alongside the Christian Right in unpopularity. On everything but the size of government, Tea Party supporters are increasingly out of step with most Americans, even many Republicans. Indeed, at the opposite end of the ideological spectrum, today’s Tea Party parallels the anti-Vietnam War movement which rallied behind George S. McGovern in 1972. The McGovernite activists brought energy, but also stridency, to the Democratic Party — repelling moderate voters and damaging the Democratic brand for a generation. By embracing the Tea Party, Republicans risk repeating history . Sounds like this is the point Democrats should hit over and over again: That this nation was founded on religious freedom (and now includes the freedom not to worship) and we don’t need elected officials interfering with that. Once we breach the wall separating church and state, we’re no longer America.
Continue reading …
‘We were so excited about our future together,’ says Gemma Redmond of her husband Ian The wife of a British man killed in a shark attack while the couple were on honeymoon in the Seychelles has paid tribute to her husband and “best friend”. In a statement, Gemma Redmond said of Ian: “We were having so much fun and were so excited about our future together. Myself, our families and our friends are devastated and shocked by what has happened. The loss of Ian has left a gaping hole in our hearts that will never be
Continue reading …Jack Cafferty Gives Credence to Liberal Conspiracy Tying Bachmann, Perry to Radical Christian Movement
August 17, 2011 No Comment
Citing a Daily Beast piece linking GOP candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry to a radical Christian strain called “Dominionism,” CNN's Jack Cafferty fretted about a possible Christian theocracy in America on Wednesday's Cafferty File. “I got to reading this piece, and it scared the hell out of me,” Cafferty fearfully remarked of the article's conspiratorial claims. “We contacted both campaigns a few hours ago, haven't heard a word back form either one of them.” [Video below the break.] The article was published in the liberal Daily Beast and reported on by NewsBusters yesterday. Cafferty even cited NewsBusters in his brief summary of the article's critics. “And the website Newsbusters says the Daily Beast quote, 'went a few more steps off the deep end by publishing this piece',” Cafferty mentioned. According to the Daily Beast, Dominionism claims that Christians have a “God-given right to rule” all earthly institutions, political and cultural. “Think of it like political Islamism,” author Michelle Goldberg writes. And what are the ties which Perry and Bachmann supposedly possess to this movement? Bachmann was apparently “close” to one a group supporting Dominionism, and appeared in a documentary produced by that group, Truth In Action Ministries. She has also praised certain religious figures connected with the movement, according to the Daily Beast piece. Perry, meanwhile, has not directly supported the movement, at least from what the Daily Beast has found. One group, The New Apostolic Reformation, which appears to harbor Dominionist beliefs, supports Perry's bid for President and was involved in his recent prayer vigil. That's the major “link” Perry shares with these fringe beliefs. A transcript of the segment, which aired on August 17 at 5:14 p.m. EDT, is as follows: JACK CAFFERTY: Forget about the separation of church and state. There is reason to believe that religion could have a whole new meaning for the next occupant of the White House. The Daily Beast reports that two of the Republican candidates for President – Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry – are quote, “deeply associated” with a theocratic strain of Christian fundamentalism that's called “Dominionism.” For those of you who haven't heard of this before – and I was one of those, I hadn't heard of it either – stand by, 'cause this stuff is really out there. The Daily Beast writes how Dominionists believe that Christians have a God-given right to rule all earthly institutions. Dominionism finds its roots in a small fringe sect called Christian Reconstructionism – people who advocate replacing U.S. law with the laws of the Old Testament. That would include the death penalty for homosexuality and abortion. Swell. The Daily Beast reports that both Bachmann and Perry appear to have ties to groups that support Dominionism. Bachmann appeared in a documentary for one of these groups called “Truth In Ministries.” Also, she often praises or cites different religious leaders who are connected to these beliefs. As for Perry, there is a group called The New Apostolic Reformation that sees him as their ticket to power. They talk about quote, “taking dominion over American society,” unquote, and they hope that Perry can claim the so-called mountain of government. This group was also involved in Perry's prayer vigil in Houston a couple of weeks ago. Critics suggest the Daily Beast's examples show so-called Dominionist groups attaching themselves to the candidates, and not so much the other way around. And the website Newsbusters says the Daily Beast quote, “went a few more steps off the deep end by publishing this piece.” We reached out to both campaigns for a response, and not unexpectedly haven't heard a word back from either one of them. Here’s the question: How much does it worry you if both Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry have ties to Dominionism? (…) CAFFRTY: This is way out there, Wolf. WOLF BLITZER: Yeah, I never heard of Dominion – like you, I never heard of Dominion – CAFFERTY: I hadn't either. I got to reading this piece, and it scared the hell out of me. I thought, what is this? BLITZER: Alright, well we're anxious to get some reaction from the Bachmann and Perry campaigns. If we do, we'll of course share it with our viewers right away. CAFFERTY: We asked for a reaction. We contacted both campaigns a few hours ago, haven't heard a word back from either one of them. BLITZER: Alright, well if they come in in the next hour or two, we'll share it with our viewers whenever we get it.
Continue reading …Rick Perry Claims: ‘Substantial Number’ of Climate Scientists ‘Manipulating’ Data
August 17, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry suggested Wednesday that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by scientists who are motivated by cash. “There are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects,” the Texas governor told a group of supporters at the “Politics and Eggs” Breakfast in Bedford, New Hampshire. “I think we are seeing it almost weekly or even daily, scientists who are coming forward and questioning the original idea that manmade global warming is what is causing the climate to change,” Perry added. “Yes, our climate has changed. They been changing for ever since the Earth was formed.” “But I do not buy into a group of scientists, who have been, in some cases, found to be manipulating this information. And the cost to the country and to the world of implementing these anti-carbon programs is in the billions if not trillions of dollars at the end of the day. And I don’t think, from my perspective, that I want America to be engaged in spending that much money on still a scientific theory that has not been proven, and from my perspective, is more and more being put into question.”
Continue reading …