The day I will pay attention to politicians guffing about "parity of esteem" is the day one of their children goes to an FE college.
Chris Hale
@chrisghale.bsky.social
Posting in a personal capacity mostly on higher education & occasionally on cycling and Southampton FC. Brit and former Lewisham resident currently living in the wonderful Aotearoa New Zealand.
Winston Peter's imagined 'snivelling wokesters' aside 🙄, I'm disappointed Boaty McBoatface was note even considered for at least one of these #nzpol. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Kupe and Cook: Names of new Cook Strait ferries announced
The two new Cook Strait ferries will be named Kupe and Cook.
rnz.co.nz
Very sad news. A great Kiwi. He was in some superb films, but Uncle Hec in Hunt for the Wilder People is still one of my faves "Trees. Birds. Rivers. Sky. Running with my Uncle Hec. Living forever." RIP Sam Neill
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3w agoSam Neill, star of Jurassic Park films, Peaky Blinders and The Piano, dies aged 78
I’ve been living overseas for about three and a half years now. Feeling fond of the old place watching this. No where quite like it.
Eliot Higgins@eliothiggins.bsky.social · 4w agoIn case you missed it, here's Count Binface's appearance on the BBC this morning.
Wondering what England productivity figures will look like for Monday 6 July.
They don’t make it easy, eh. Thank god. What a game.
Chris Hale@chrisghale.bsky.social · last mo.Oh god. 11 minutes extra time
Did an interview with a US journalist about Brexit yesterday. He asked if I'd been surprised by anything that's happened. Usually I'd try and think of something to avoid looking unimaginative. But I couldn't think of anything. It's been pretty much exactly as shit as I expected.
"We hear little of these other incidents because their white perpetrators do not fit the narrative — or the political business model — of the populist right." - terrific column by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social:
The business model of white victimhood
Rage on the right and a narrative of disadvantage changing sides is rewarded by social media
ft.com
Not too much for universities in the Budget: - Some additional funding to support domestic pipeline forecasts (whose forecast?) for next 2 years - Fees Free year scrapped as expected, with partial reinvestment elsewhere in education budget. www.tec.govt.nz/funding/fund...
tec.govt.nz
RIP Sonny Rollings. Was fortunate enough to see him at the Jazz Cafe in Camden c20 years ago. A brilliant gig.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo agoSonny Rollins obituary
an 'almost infinite capacity for self-delusion' 🤔
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo agoTony Blair says Labour must abandon net zero, support Trump and move firmly to the right
Good to see a proposal for how the fees free money could be better targeted. Clearly FF didn't work, but the problem it was attempting to address has not gone away. The money needs to be protected and reinvested in access and participation intiatives that work. www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3610...
Fees Free is gone, so what replaces it?
OPINION: In Thursday's Budget, the Government will formalise what Winston Peters confirmed two weeks ago: Fees Free is being scrapped, and the $350 million a year it cost will be repurposed.
thepress.co.nz
I get the concern around axing fees free. But NZ has income‑contingent loans, so it does little for access (it actually helps higher‑income grads repay debts faster). My worry is govt banking the savings, rather than better target things that will make a difference. www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
Fees-free study didn't remove real barriers to tertiary study
New research found little evidence that the scheme had actually widened access to tertiary studies.
rnz.co.nz
Good grief. Gutted and the sanction feels more than a bit disproportionate, but there is a tiny little bit of me that is relieved I don't have to now get up at 3.30 on Sunday morning to watch the game. www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
Southampton expelled from play-offs for spying on Middlesbrough, Oxford and Ipswich
Southampton have been thrown out of the play-offs after admitting they spied on three clubs during the Championship season.
bbc.com
‘Ask not for whom the bell tolls...’ nah, forget it.
RNZ News Feeds@rnzrss.bsky.social · 3mo agoSurfers and swimmers urged not to ignore shark bell at Dunedin beach
Interesting, if true. I’m not a big fan of fees free policy as it gives subsidises to those who need it least. Funding could be better targeted eg living costs for most in need. A key question is whether government claw it back or redirect to better support equity. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Fees-free university scheme to be scrapped in upcoming Budget, Nicola Willis confirms
Finance minister Nicola Willis said students completing study this year remain eligible.
rnz.co.nz
Woke up at 5.30 this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. A little voice said ‘just get up and go out on the bike’. Was rewarded with a stunning sunrise over Otago Harbour and the mighty Pacific Ocean. Moral of the story, listen to the voices 😆.
Beautiful autumn day yesterday on the bike around the roads of Ōtepoti Dunedin. Not a bad little corner of the world we inhabit down here. #ōtepoti #dunedin #dunnerstunner
I know this is a historic moment and everything, but those parachutes are making me think of Tunnock’s Tea Cakes. Giant ones! 😋
European Space Agency@esa.int · 4mo ago✅ #Artemis II splashdown at 01:07 BST/02:07 CEST!
Political nihilism reaches it’s nadir in the UK. Everyone dies so nothing matters.
The i Paper @theipaper.com · 4mo agoReform UK’s Simon Dudley says post-Grenfell safety rules go too far - 'everyone dies in the end' and safety regulation is choking housebuilding 🔴 @vickyspratt.bsky.social reports Read more: trib.al/3kh8lvT
April Fools Day. We need a complete news blackout as it’s too cognitively demanding this year to tell reality from hoax.
Such a great film. Having live here a few years I’d agree that it is very New Zealand! ‘I didn’t choose the skux life, the skux life chose me’
RNZ News Feeds@rnzrss.bsky.social · 4mo agoHunt for the Wilderpeople: Ten years of 'the most New Zealand film ever made'
Funding squeeze for domestic enrolments at NZ universities. Some difficult choices for institutions in relation to how much they seek to grow and what the focus of any growth is. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Tertiary Education Commission warns of government funding shortfall for domestic enrolments
It's the third consecutive year government funding is expected to fall short of demand for tertiary education.
rnz.co.nz
Ironically, AI's been boom time for newspaper columnists, I've seen at least half a dozen or so of this sort of thing in the last week. The biggest challenge for them isn’t the tech, it’s when the novelty wears off.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 5mo agoI challenged ChatGPT to a writing competition. Could it actually replace me?
i feel like if i was tasked with not starting a war and bringing back US manufacturing jobs, i could have done a better job than this