The Brooks Blog

The cut in student visas intention is to reduce im...

2012-04-21T08:17:35.202+01:00

The cut in student visas intention is to reduce immigration into Britain, and reports of large scale abuse of the student visas in the Indian sub-continent. Immigration officials will be able to refuse entry to students who cannot speak English without an interpreter, and who therefore do not meet the minimum standard.

It looks good Thom, but with the cover, I think yo...

2012-04-17T18:23:37.467+01:00

It looks good Thom, but with the cover, I think you should have sub-titled it "Ride the Lightning".

Many thanks!!

2012-03-03T12:57:45.153Z

Many thanks!!

Heartiest congratulations Thom!! Well-earned.

2012-03-02T23:24:51.883Z

Heartiest congratulations Thom!! Well-earned.

My personal theory is that they don't want to ...

2012-02-20T14:38:37.755Z

My personal theory is that they don't want to answer the phone so people can't get their IBR info in correctly and lower their monthly payments. I thought at first it was just lowest-bidder incompetence, but lately I'm starting to suspect actual malice.

"I suspect that the "correct" nu...

2012-02-13T16:22:41.615Z
"I suspect that the "correct" number to dial for all persons living outside North America is instead 001 315 738 6634."

I wish this were the case. I just dialed the above number and was met with more frustrating beep-beep-beeping. It's almost like they don't want me to pay my loans...

I've been visiting your site for many times. L...

2012-01-29T10:21:24.795Z
I've been visiting your site for many times. Like what Allan said, you have many quality post that keep us coming back here.
hope more valuable post.

Completely agree with Alan and looking forward to ...

2012-01-26T21:08:54.925Z
Completely agree with Alan and looking forward to following you on your new site.

Thanks so much, Alan!!

2012-01-24T09:31:30.053Z
Thanks so much, Alan!!

Your site has been one that I checked almost daily...

2012-01-23T23:33:18.195Z
Your site has been one that I checked almost daily, and I frequently have been awestruck by your ability to keep up the high quality of all your pursuits. But there really are just so many hours in a day! Well done Thom, and good luck! (And I agree with your assessment of the future of blogging.)

This idea is being circulated with regard to the c...

2011-12-17T03:45:54.214Z
This idea is being circulated with regard to the concept of reliable fuel services and international fuel banks.

The objective is to stem the rise of dual use uranium enrichment facilities which can support both commercial nuclear power and weapons.

Sadly,the cellular structure of the UK HE sector a...

2011-12-16T11:34:52.861Z
Sadly,the cellular structure of the UK HE sector and the spirit of short-term locally-advantageous competition that successive governments have promoted (supported by the V-Cs), which I analysed in this piece (http://600transformer.blogspot.com/2011/05/state-were-in-part-2.html), has had its all too predictable outcome amongst history departments in the CFP for this conference (http://www.bangor.ac.uk/history/conferences/ccss/index.php). Dangle the opportunity for all-important grants in front of UK academic historians especially, and any concern for principle or the Greater Good soon goes out of the window. Depressingly predictable.

Small correction: not all US-based 800 numbers wor...

2011-12-12T13:56:15.725Z
Small correction: not all US-based 800 numbers work from Canada. You have to specifically ask for a toll-free number that'll work in both countries. I've run into this (living in Canada) a few times.

What I never understand is when companies won't give out any other number. Given a seven-digit phone number + state, I can figure out all the extra numbers I have to dial from anywhere -- so why keep it secret?

I'm further delighted to learn that I was one ...

2011-12-08T19:44:08.048Z
I'm further delighted to learn that I was one of two judges noted in the souvenier book, alongside Cameron, Clegg, and Salmond. Wow.

http://debialper.blogspot.com/2010/07/true-fairy-tale.html

It is something that seeps through society. How ca...

2011-12-07T11:55:24.198Z
It is something that seeps through society. How can a headteacher know the challenges of teaching without being able to do so. Similarly I think the same could be levelled at MPs and ministers - surely if you are the Secretary of State for Education, it would help if you had taught at some stage. Indeed, I have worked in many CABx where management seek funding and make promises without ever having advised clients. Horses for courses pls.

Congratulations on the Series getting up and runni...

2011-11-27T04:36:10.112Z
Congratulations on the Series getting up and running, Thom. The book by Staples on statelessness looks great, and not just because it's relevant to my own research interests- it's a topic that hasn't received a good theoretical discussion but needed one. I'll hope to have the chance to read it soon.

In Venice there is a pair of signs, both saying &q...

2011-11-19T23:56:30.085Z
In Venice there is a pair of signs, both saying "Per Rialto", and pointing in opposite directions. One can feel like Buridan's ass. And I think (but am not sure) that I once saw, at a conference, a photograph of a similar pair of signs telling you to turn both left and right for Larissa, a possibility not explored at Meno 97 a-b.

I agree that the panel could be more representativ...

2011-11-10T13:00:31.837Z
I agree that the panel could be more representative. (While I was invited, I am not organizing this event.) One big problem is that there were allegedly quite a few declined invitations. I understand the AHRC CEO and Universities Minister were invited -amongst many others- who declined. So it might be that only one side thinks there is anything to talk about -- or perhaps only one side willing to talk about it at all.

Nevertheless, many on the panel may have their criticisms - true about any policy - but I strongly suspect there will be wide disagreement on what is problematic about the HE White Paper and what should be done about it. Moreover, I expect there will be plenty at the event - to be held at the House of Commons - who will engage from a wide variety of viewpoints. Or so I hope.

This is a really interesting topic, but it won'...

2011-11-10T12:28:21.198Z
This is a really interesting topic, but it won't be a debate, as only one point of view will be expressed. I am in sympathy with that point of view, but it's not effective just to have rhetoric exchanged amongst those already persuaded that English HE government policy is misguided. The other side needs to be put as well.

Many thanks for your excellent comments. Clearly, ...

2011-11-04T10:18:30.772Z
Many thanks for your excellent comments. Clearly, the academy scheme is meant to break the current system promoting new local pay conditions that will end (or at least "problematize") collective bargaining by unions. I understand that not only particularly well performing schools, but all schools in certain authorities are coming under some pressure to make this switch. One further reason why they should not is that while today schools x may well (in certain cases) receive more all things considered, they still lose the safety net and support of local authorities. So the extra cash today as an incentive to schools to become academies is not cash that might be there forever and once a school has become an academy there may be no turning back (as local authorities might not receive extra funding to support academies that wish to become schools again). It is a Faustian bargain at worst and a gamble at best, one that I think that is highly likely to lead to damaging collective bargaining and the real possibility of our seeing academies close. These new risks are unnecessary and potentially damaging, in addition to being bad economics. Academies should be opposed.

Hello Thom. Came to this through Cribsheet. Intere...

2011-11-04T09:50:00.183Z
Hello Thom. Came to this through Cribsheet. Interesting post. One reason why schools may have embraced the academies model despite, as you say, appearing to get no net financial benefit is that the policy under the Coalition has been targeted at already strongly performing schools which make proportionately less use of local authority central services than other schools. Because the money is not ring fenced, stronger performing schools do benefit financially as they recieve amoun'x' but can spend it on what they want, rather than what the local authority wants. Just as financially it would benefit healthy people to receive a health allowance directly rather than paying into the NHS which they don't use, strong schools do receive a financial benefit. This for me is the real problem with academies - they undermine any notion of a collective schools system where the performance of the system as a whole is important, not just the performance of individual institutions.

To clarify: the editor has been Robert Talisse (an...

2011-11-02T11:07:02.198Z
To clarify: the editor has been Robert Talisse (and not me - I still edit the Journal of Moral Philosophy). Hope some great candidates come forward for the important role.

Good luck in your new editorial role, Thom. Hope y...

2011-11-02T04:06:41.075Z
Good luck in your new editorial role, Thom. Hope your search for a Managing Editor has turned up some good candidates.

I've been reminded that a terrific example is ...

2011-11-01T10:16:13.921Z
I've been reminded that a terrific example is GWF Hegel, my philosophical hero. Hegel was a late bloomer and outperformed by his schoolfriends Hoelderlin and Schelling, failing to earn a salaried FT university position until he was 40. Thought for the day: if only Hegel were born in September...

Many thanks for your reflections, John. I think it...

2011-10-31T12:19:15.639Z
Many thanks for your reflections, John. I think it's fairly incredible to claim Labour somehow "caused" increasing immigration during the Blair years. There is nothing I've read to convince me the situation would have been any different (e.g., less immigration) if Major had remained in government given conditions at the time.

If anything, it has been Labour that has led from the front in attempting to address public concerns. These efforts include launching the UK citizenship test and points system for immigrants.

The coalition government - despite much rhetoric on how much more seriously they take immigration than any previous government - has yet to update the current test which was last published in March 2007 and informs all prospective immigrants that the Home Secretary is Rt Hon John Reid. (Note: after my interview on BBC Radio 4 where I called on the government to update its test, the Prime Minister has confirmed there will be a new updated test published next year.) That said, the government has found that, in fact, there isn't much that it can do aside from approving fewer non-EU student visas (damaging to the fragile UK economy) and make it ever more difficult (and costly) for non-EU immigrants.

I believe fears of overpopulation are overblown: beyond pure speculation, no one working in this area genuinely appears to believe overpopulation is a problem. If anything, the problem is a growing ageing population with too few of working age to support current support systems. There is a need for more people with important skills to support the economy.

The idea that social identity might also change...well, when was this not true? The UK is a diverse country that has been home to the Romans, the Normans, etc. so new populations are hardly a new phenomena for anyone who looks seriously at British history.

The true state of play is that immigrants both enrich us culturally and economically. We need not support open borders, but we should recognise the strong economic - and cultural - reasons to promote the UK as a welcoming new home for ambitious future citizens.