UK: Soldiering Unpopular
PaPaPeng
We should stop fooling ourselves. Our armed forces are no longer world
class
Public distaste for Blair's unpopular wars, coupled with the unfitness
of our teenagers, has left Britain woefully short of soldiers
Max Hastings
The Guardian,
Monday April 28 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/28/defence.military
The Ministry of Defence is plunged into a grim process described as a
"mini defence review". Teams of service officers and civil servants
are exploring every aspect of spending and procurement plans in a
desperate effort to save money. Current year sums have been made to
add up only by creative accountancy, pushing back some big bills to
2010. Whoever becomes defence secretary after an election that year
will face a pile of yellowing, unpaid invoices.
Everybody knows that a major defence programme must be cancelled. The
navy's cherished aircraft carriers? These would be the first choices
of most soldiers, but because the ships mean jobs in Labour
constituencies, they are almost certainly safe. Some frigates and
destroyers? At least two planned escorts are likely to be axed. The
army is fearful about its next-generation armoured vehicle. Several
headquarters will have to go. General Sir Richard Dannatt, chief of
the general staff, has failed in his attempt to persuade ministers to
increase the army's numbers.
Dannatt's case is founded on the fact that his soldiers are attempting
to fight one major war, in Afghanistan, with inadequate resources,
while 4,000 troops are in another theatre, Iraq, to appease American
sensitivities. The army also maintains a significant peacekeeping
presence in the Balkans. It was announced last week that another
infantry battalion is to be sent to Kosovo.
Yet the deep instinct of the government, and even more so of the
parliamentary Labour party, is that Tony Blair's wars have brought
Britain only embarrassment and grief. The last thing they want is to
throw good money after bad by recruiting more soldiers, never mind
deploying them in combat.
The scepticism is understandable, but the conclusion is mistaken. Many
people, myself included, are dismayed by the huge mistakes made in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet it remains essential for Britain to possess
a credible army. A strength of 100,000 is insufficient. Whether we
like it or not, the 21st century will produce new conflicts in which
we are obliged to participate or at least provide peacekeepers.
Britain cannot alone fill the yawning gap in Afghanistan left by other
Nato countries that refuse to do their share of fighting and
supporting humanitarian reconstruction. But we can never hope to win
this conflict, or any other, without more boots on the ground. Mass
matters. It is not enough for western powers to announce in a given
crisis: "We are committing troops," then to dispatch three men and a
dog. No strategic purpose is attainable unless soldiers are deployed
in sufficient strength, with convincing humanitarian backup.
I argued on these pages two years ago that the force that Tony Blair
and the then defence secretary John Reid were sending to Afghanistan's
Helmand province was entirely inadequate for its role, and represented
gesture strategy. So it has proved. Western defence policy will remain
rooted in tokenism until all the European nations, and indeed the US,
can field sufficient foot soldiers - who are far more relevant to
"wars among the people" than tanks and stealth bombers - to fulfil
policy objectives.
The shortfall is not exclusively the fault of governments. Part of the
problem stems from our changing culture. It is becoming progressively
more difficult for western societies to recruit infantry. Most British
infantry regiments are under establishment, and Scottish units
especially so, not only because of Treasury parsimony, but also
because recruiting languishes and retention is difficult.
For centuries, armies have largely consisted of young working-class
men, often with poor qualifications. They opted for a life of
adventure and comradeship, accepting both the duty to kill and the
risk of their own deaths. The army was seldom their career of choice,
but many prospered in uniform.
Today, however, a lot of parents and schools recoil from seeing young
men embrace the warrior ethos. They find repugnant the notion of
arming teenagers and dispatching them to fight, whatever the cause.
Thanks to the internet, a radio exchange between a female interviewer
and an Australian general named Peter Cosgrove has passed into
contemporary legend. Cosgrove, as head of the Australian army,
described on air a scheme to introduce Australian boy scouts to the
exciting life on offer to a soldier by inviting them to bases where
they could try climbing, canoeing, archery and rifle-shooting.
"Shooting!" exclaimed the appalled interviewer. "That's a bit
irresponsible, isn't it ?"
"I don't see why," said the general. "They'll be properly supervised
on the range." The interviewer was unconvinced: "Don't you admit that
this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children? You're
equipping them to become violent killers." Cosgrove remained
unabashed: "Well, ma'am, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but
you're not one, are you?"
A lot of people share the interviewer's instinctive revulsion towards
guns, as well as other aspects of soldiering. Some British schools are
unwilling to welcome army recruiting teams. The Joseph Rowntree
Charitable Trust recently caricatured itself by publishing a report
arguing that the army has a duty more frankly to warn recruits in its
advertising about the prospect that they may have to kill or be
killed.
Overlaid upon such fastidiousness is the problem of many teenagers'
lack of fitness for service life. The British army is striving to
reduce the high dropout rate in basic training among new entrants who
either find discipline unacceptable or cannot contend with the
physical demands. Teenagers who have never walked if they could ride,
and define enthusiasm for sport by watching it on telly, find assault
courses tough going.
The result is that all western nations are struggling to identify
enough young men able and willing to carry rifles on battlefields. It
is hard to foresee social trends that will make it less so. The armed
forces as an institution still command public respect. But this is of
limited worth unless it translates into a willingness by the young to
sign up and do the business.
It is paradoxical that Tony Blair, who sought to use Britain's armed
forces more ambitiously than any modern prime minister, inflicted deep
damage by associating them with some unpopular and perhaps unwinnable
causes.
Britain's three services are now so small that, if current policies
and difficulties continue, it will be almost impossible to reverse the
process of decline. Relations between senior officers at the MoD have
become rancorous, amid fears and recriminations about budget cuts,
real and threatened.
Unless one is an outright pacifist, rejecting military commitment
anywhere, in any cause, it is necessary to recognise that the national
interest must suffer if the services become tarnished and are
penalised for a prime minister's political misjudgments. The old
cliche is often trotted out that our armed forces are still world
class. In truth, it is no longer valid. However high their quality,
they are now too few to fulfil many of the tasks they are assigned.
Even if ministers try to delude us otherwise, the public should not be
fooled.
Tiger
Well the Great Britian was great for a while. No wonder Prince William
has to cross train for everything. There's nobody to fill the slots.
Perhaps things will change one day. Before it's too late.
Andrew Swallow
[snip]
> class. In truth, it is no longer valid. However high their quality,
> they are now too few to fulfil many of the tasks they are assigned.
> Even if ministers try to delude us otherwise, the public should not be
> fooled.
>
Do not worry about the size of the British Army - Peking will be nuked.
Andrew Swallow
David E. Powell
Kids learning shooting with proper supervision is a good thing.
Teaches responsibility along with the more obvious skill set.
Mileage may vary on when the best age is though.
Paul J. Adam
<am.sw...@btinternet.com> writes
Why bother? Poor PaPaPeng keeps trying to rattle an empty scabbard, but
it all comes down to some paranoid idea about everyone hating China and
wanting to invade, conquer, rape, loot, pillage, whereupon he offers
assorted Heath Robinson schemes of how the Western devils will be
repelled and their schemes thwarted...
Perhaps one day he'll realise that we'd rather trade with China to
mutual profit than waste effort fighting her, which is part of why
Supreme Leader Brown can get away with chiselling defence spending. Even
Gordon realises that if he wants a _third_ ongoing operation he'll have
to pay for it... which our PM knows, China's leaders know, I know, you
know, and in fact *everyone* except the pitiably-paranoid PaPaPeng seems
to understand.
--
The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its
warriors, will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done
by fools.
-Thucydides
paul<dot>j<dot>adam[at]googlemail{dot}.com
PaPaPeng
As the gen'rl said "Cosgrove remained
Andrew Swallow
One of the advantages of putting nuclear missiles on a submarine
is that they can reach every capital on Earth.
As for the British being cowards - ignore the polite words and recall
who they have been killing. You may wish to make a list of the
countries the British have been to war with.
Andrew Swallow
Andrew Swallow
> In message <ILKdnRopWsrE2ovV...@bt.com>, Andrew Swallow
> <am.sw...@btinternet.com> writes
>>
>> Do not worry about the size of the British Army - Peking will be nuked.
>
> Why bother?
Just a suspicion that where there is a mouth there may be an ear.
(Possibly on a different head.)
Eugene Griessel
>As for the British being cowards - ignore the polite words and recall
>who they have been killing. You may wish to make a list of the
>countries the British have been to war with.
Wouldn't it be easier to make a list of the countries the British have
not been to war with?
Eugene L Griessel
Multitasking = screwing up several things at once.
- I usually post only from Sci.Military.Naval -
Andrew Swallow
> Andrew Swallow <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>> As for the British being cowards - ignore the polite words and recall
>> who they have been killing. You may wish to make a list of the
>> countries the British have been to war with.
>
> Wouldn't it be easier to make a list of the countries the British have
> not been to war with?
>
Andrew Swallow
Peter Skelton
1798-1803
Peter Skelton
Andrew Swallow
I had not realised the Napolean has invaded Switzerland.
This is going to be a very short list.
Andrew Swallow
Peter Skelton
<am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote:
Canada is the only one I can think of, unless you discount wars
against natives.
Peter Skelton
Andrew Swallow
British General James Wolfe died during the 1759 Battle of Quebec.
Unless someone is going to claim that Quebec was in New France
rather than Canada.
Did Britain ever get a force to Outer Mongolia?
Andrew Swallow
David V. Loewe, Jr
<am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>Peter Skelton wrote:
>> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:57:05 +0100, Andrew Swallow
>> <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>>> Peter Skelton wrote:
>>>> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:59:55 +0100, Andrew Swallow
>>>> <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>>>>> Eugene Griessel wrote:
>>>>>> Andrew Swallow <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> As for the British being cowards - ignore the polite words and recall
>>>>>>> who they have been killing. You may wish to make a list of the
>>>>>>> countries the British have been to war with.
>>>>>> Wouldn't it be easier to make a list of the countries the British have
>>>>>> not been to war with?
>>>>>>
>>>>> Easier but a single line containing Switzerland is not frightening.
>>>>>
>>>> 1798-1803
>>> I had not realised the Napolean has invaded Switzerland.
>>>
>>> This is going to be a very short list.
>>>
>> Canada is the only one I can think of, unless you discount wars
>> against natives.
>British General James Wolfe died during the 1759 Battle of Quebec.
>Unless someone is going to claim that Quebec was in New France
>rather than Canada.
>
>Did Britain ever get a force to Outer Mongolia?
have they ever been at war with Oz or NZ?
--
"No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who
does not want to adopt a rational attitude."
Sir Karl Popper
John D Salt
news:iiqf1410hha47sbtf...@4ax.com:
[Snips]
> have they ever been at war with Oz or NZ?
Why d'you think both countries are now largely populated with English-speakers?
All the best,
John.
tankfixer
am.sw...@btinternet.com says...
Unfortunately it seems the processing module was left out of that model.
--
"Oh Norman, listen! The loons are calling!"
- Katherine Hepburn, "On Golden Pond"
Joe Osman
> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:59:55 +0100, Andrew Swallow
>
>
> >>> As for the British being cowards - ignore the polite words and recall
> >>> who they have been killing. You may wish to make a list of the
> >>> countries the British have been to war with.
>
> >> Wouldn't it be easier to make a list of the countries the British have
> >> not been to war with?
>
> >Easier but a single line containing Switzerland is not frightening.
>
> 1798-1803
>
> Peter Skelton
The US has fought the Swiss as well. The US was invaded by the Swiss
De Watteville's Regiment, serving in the British army, at Oswego, NY,
in May 1814.
Joe
dott.Piergiorgio
> The US has fought the Swiss as well. The US was invaded by the Swiss
> De Watteville's Regiment, serving in the British army, at Oswego, NY,
> in May 1814.
oh, another singular case in the most unusual war ever, the war of 1812....
You can tell me some more ?
Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio.
David V. Loewe, Jr
<jdsalt_AT_gotadsl.co.uk> wrote:
>"David V. Loewe, Jr" <dave...@charter.net> wrote:
>
>[Snips]
>> have they ever been at war with Oz or NZ?
>
>Why d'you think both countries are now largely populated with English-speakers?
Was what came before a nation?
John D Salt
news:bl9k14998a5g5otkp...@4ax.com:
> On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:43:58 -0500, John D Salt
> <jdsalt_AT_gotadsl.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>"David V. Loewe, Jr" <dave...@charter.net> wrote:
>>
>>[Snips]
>
>>> have they ever been at war with Oz or NZ?
>>
>>Why d'you think both countries are now largely populated with
>>English-speakers?
>
> Was what came before a nation?
Several of them, I should think. Possibly not states, though.
All the best,
John.
Kerryn Offord
But not because the UK went to war against the inhabitants...
I'm pretty sure that the English settlers were never at war with the
indigenous peoples of Australia..
And the "Maori Wars" in NZ were after the majority of Maori signed a
treaty with the Crown for settlement (More of a civil war than an
invasion...) There were land ownership "problems"... Also the Maoris
were undercutting the white farmers ...
Brian Sharrock
"dott.Piergiorgio" <dott.Pierg...@KAIGUN.fastwebnet.it> wrote in
message news:KSjSj.28527$o06....@tornado.fastwebnet.it...
'De Waterville' was a Swiss national. He had received a British Commission
and was appointed Colonel of a ragle-taggle British regiment of
multi-national soldiers, some of whom were Swiss.
It's a stretch of the language to utilise the terms; 'Swiss'; 'invaded'; and
'US' in this context.
Wikipedia can be your friend.
HTH
--
Brian
John D Salt
news:481a...@clear.net.nz:
[Snips]
> I'm pretty sure that the English settlers were never at war with the
> indigenous peoples of Australia..
You might want to google "Kalkadoon War" or "Battle Mountain".
All the best,
John.
dott.Piergiorgio
Has helped, thanks.
The War of 1812 (of course in his land side) is the most unusual war
ever, I came to the conclusion is the perfect showcase for taught plebes
(or whatever they are called at West Point) how NOT to conduct war.
(BTW, how is spelled/declined the verb "to teach" ? I know that is a
very nasty irregular. Alan ?)
Vince Brannigan
> Brian Sharrock ha scritto:
>> "dott.Piergiorgio" <dott.Pierg...@KAIGUN.fastwebnet.it> wrote
>> in message news:KSjSj.28527$o06....@tornado.fastwebnet.it...
>>> Joe Osman ha scritto:
>>>
>>>> The US has fought the Swiss as well. The US was invaded by the Swiss
>>>> De Watteville's Regiment, serving in the British army, at Oswego, NY,
>>>> in May 1814.
>>> oh, another singular case in the most unusual war ever, the war of
>>> 1812....
>>>
>>> You can tell me some more ?
>>>
>>> Best regards from Italy,
>>> Dott. Piergiorgio.
>>
>> 'De Waterville' was a Swiss national. He had received a British
>> Commission and was appointed Colonel of a ragle-taggle British
>> regiment of multi-national soldiers, some of whom were Swiss.
>>
>> It's a stretch of the language to utilise the terms; 'Swiss';
>> 'invaded'; and 'US' in this context.
>> Wikipedia can be your friend.
>>
>> HTH
>
> Has helped, thanks.
>
> The War of 1812 (of course in his land side) is the most unusual war
> ever, I came to the conclusion is the perfect showcase for taught
> plebes (or whatever they are called at West Point)
cadets
plebes are first year Midshipmen at Canoe U
> how NOT to conduct war.
>
> (BTW, how is spelled/declined the verb "to teach" ? I know that is a
> very nasty irregular. Alan ?)
>
> Best regards from Italy,
> Dott. Piergiorgio.
it is used for teaching plebes
I am teaching tomorrow
I taught yesterday
I have taught students in the past
interestingly the word taught is used in the Uk in a way that is unknown
in the USA
e.g. a "taught degree" as opposed to a research degree.
Vince
Andrew Swallow
[snip]
> (BTW, how is spelled/declined the verb "to teach" ? I know that is a
> very nasty irregular. Alan ?)
>
> Best regards from Italy,
> Dott. Piergiorgio.
Teachers' teach.
Student's study and learn.
Past tense of teach is taught.
Brian Sharrock
"Vince Brannigan" <fir...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:yzKSj.35$Bb3.13@trnddc01...
> dott.Piergiorgio wrote:
>> Brian Sharrock ha scritto:
>>> "dott.Piergiorgio" <dott.Pierg...@KAIGUN.fastwebnet.it> wrote in
>>> message news:KSjSj.28527$o06....@tornado.fastwebnet.it...
>>> It's a stretch of the language to utilise the terms; 'Swiss'; 'invaded';
>>> and 'US' in this context.
>>> Wikipedia can be your friend.
>>>
>>> HTH
>>
>> Has helped, thanks.
>>
>> The War of 1812 (of course in his land side)
mitpick; " .. in _its_ land side ... " (most nouns are considered of
neuter gender in this context).
>>
>> ...... is the most unusual war ever, I came to the conclusion is the
>> perfect showcase for taught plebes (or whatever they are called at West
>> Point)
>
>
> cadets
> plebes are first year Midshipmen at Canoe U
>> how NOT to conduct war.
>>
>> (BTW, how is spelled/declined the verb "to teach" ? I know that is a very
>> nasty irregular. Alan ?)
>>
>> Best regards from Italy,
>> Dott. Piergiorgio.
>
> it is used for teaching plebes
> I am teaching tomorrow
> I taught yesterday
> I have taught students in the past
>
well mannered folk are taught not to teach their grandmothers to suck eggs.
SMN: context; "Teacher" is the officer who tutors and adjudicates aspirant
Sumarine Commanders undertaiking the RN's 'Perisher' Course. AIUI; other
navies that follow the RN-type courses; Norway; Australia; Brasil;
Netherlands et.al.; have a 'Teacher' equivalent.
> interestingly the word taught is used in the Uk in a way that is unknown
> in the USA
> e.g. a "taught degree" as opposed to a research degree.
>
> Vince
--
Brian
dott.Piergiorgio
>> The War of 1812 (of course in his land side) is the most unusual war
>> ever, I came to the conclusion is the perfect showcase for taught
>> plebes (or whatever they are called at West Point)
> cadets
> plebes are first year Midshipmen at Canoe U
meh... here in Italy cadets is also the correct term for the 1st-year
Midshipmen at the Leghorn Academy (the Italian Naval academy) but the
translation of "plebes" in the correct Italian "Navalese" is "pivelli".
>> (BTW, how is spelled/declined the verb "to teach" ? I know that is a
>> very nasty irregular. Alan ?)
> it is used for teaching plebes
> I am teaching tomorrow
> I taught yesterday
> I have taught students in the past
Ok thanks.
> interestingly the word taught is used in the Uk in a way that is unknown
> in the USA
> e.g. a "taught degree" as opposed to a research degree.
mmm....
How are the schedule of doctorate students in UK ? here in Italy the
"dottorandi di ricerca" more than often have the burden of doing
substituite teacher roles, and receiving students, and in general having
boring acting (menial) roles when the professor is absent, sometimes for
vacations, more often for making "intrallazzi" (Alan will explain, I
don't find a decent word for this) with principals, deans, rectors and
bigwigs in general, or even "examining" in some discreet & reserved
place female students, more precisely their prestations and aesthetical
qualities, ending invariably in an academic 30 cum lauda (I called, and
still call this, "30 cum bocchino", hope there's no need of
translation...) and generally being AWOL for all reasons save that whose
are truly academic and legit.
Best regards from this pathethic Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio
(Who has a point of honour to stick to Dottore degree until Italian
academic system is radically cleansed & pruned)
dott.Piergiorgio
>>> The War of 1812 (of course in his land side)
>
> mitpick; " .. in _its_ land side ... " (most nouns are considered of
> neuter gender in this context).
OK I stand corrected.
dott.Piergiorgio
>
> Teachers' teach.
> Student's study and learn.
>
> Past tense of teach is taught.
So, you mean, "to teach" hasn't passive form in English ?
In Italian we have expressions like "il maestro mi insegnò a contare"
(hope this is a word simply enough to eventually survive babelfish....)
"Insegnò" is the first person, passive, past tense, of the verb
"insegnare", whose, is, indeed, "to teach". Beware, that in the passive
form "insegnare" is always reflexive (Alan, this is the correct
translation of "riflessivo" ?)
Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio
(Alan: atrocissimo dubbio... non e' che ho. come moltissimi italiani
ormai, CONFUSO IL CONGIUNTIVOOOO ????)
Andrew Swallow
> Andrew Swallow ha scritto:
>
>>
>> Teachers' teach.
>> Student's study and learn.
>>
>> Past tense of teach is taught.
>
> So, you mean, "to teach" hasn't passive form in English ?
>
> In Italian we have expressions like "il maestro mi insegnò a contare"
> (hope this is a word simply enough to eventually survive babelfish....)
>
"il maestro mi insegnò a contare" is translated by babelfish as
"the master taught to me to count".
I would have written that as "The teacher taught me to count".
Andrew Swallow
Andrew Swallow
Alternatively "The school master taught me how to count".
Andrew Swallow
Vince Brannigan
>
> mmm....
>
> How are the schedule of doctorate students in UK ? here in Italy the
> "dottorandi di ricerca" more than often have the burden of doing
> substituite teacher roles, and receiving students, and in general
> having boring acting (menial) roles when the professor is absent,
> sometimes for vacations, more often for making "intrallazzi" (Alan
> will explain, I don't find a decent word for this) with principals,
> deans, rectors and bigwigs in general, or even "examining" in some
> discreet & reserved place female students, more precisely their
> prestations and aesthetical qualities, ending invariably in an
> academic 30 cum lauda (I called, and still call this, "30 cum
> bocchino", hope there's no need of translation...) and generally being
> AWOL for all reasons save that whose are truly academic and legit.
>
> Best regards from this pathethic Italy,
> Dott. Piergiorgio
> (Who has a point of honour to stick to Dottore degree until Italian
> academic system is radically cleansed & pruned)
Speaking only the science and engineering side of large USA research
universities, Professors run a kind of "Academic business".
Graduate Students and post docs are the employees, product and greatest
cost of running the business. If a professor cant get enough grants to
support the grad students and post docs in the lab he or she will go out
of business, with fairly miserable consequences. Everything at the
university is structured around getting money. Departments are
collections of these faculty businesses and schools like engineering are
collections of such departments. Engineering brings in $4 in outside
research for every doallr we get from the state. The fastest way to get
fired , even as a full professor, is to fool around in any way shape or
form with one of your students.
Vince
John D Salt
news:46NSj.29859$o06....@tornado.fastwebnet.it:
[Snips]
> How are the schedule of doctorate students in UK ? here in Italy the
> "dottorandi di ricerca" more than often have the burden of doing
> substituite teacher roles, and receiving students, and in general
> having boring acting (menial) roles when the professor is absent,
There's still no single picture of how a "typical" doctorate student (for
some reason Cand. Sci. is never used in the UK) works, because every
university still has considerable authority to do things its own way.
Where I was, however (Brunel) it was certainly normal for PhD students to
take work as teaching assistants (TAs) or research assistants (RAs), who
are "auxiliary" staff working under the direction of a lecturer
("professor" in the UK normally only means holders of chairs). We only
did PhDs by research; I don't know how much time a taught or partially-
taught PhD course would leave for TA or RA duties, as our institution did
not believe that taught PhDs were "real" PhDs.
In my own case, I paid my own fees for the first 3 years of my part-time
PhD and worked as a full-time lecturer (a real one, not an assistant) for
the last 3, but this was not usual.
> sometimes for vacations, more often for making "intrallazzi" (Alan
> will explain, I don't find a decent word for this) with principals,
> deans, rectors and bigwigs in general,
Something I googled gave "wheeling and dealing" as the English
translation, which made me wonder what the Italian is for the American
term "cumshaw work".
In the UK I would expect this job to be done by more senior academics.
> or even "examining" in some
> discreet & reserved place female students, more precisely their
> prestations and aesthetical qualities,
...and I would definitely expect that job to be done by the more senior
academics. ;-)
All the best,
John.
Peter Skelton
<dott.Pierg...@KAIGUN.fastwebnet.it> wrote:
>Andrew Swallow ha scritto:
>
>>
>> Teachers' teach.
>> Student's study and learn.
>>
>> Past tense of teach is taught.
>
>So, you mean, "to teach" hasn't passive form in English ?
>
>In Italian we have expressions like "il maestro mi insegnò a contare"
>(hope this is a word simply enough to eventually survive babelfish....)
>
I was taught (someone did it to me)
I have been taught
I taught (I did it to someone else)
I have taught
>"Insegnò" is the first person, passive, past tense, of the verb
>"insegnare", whose, is, indeed, "to teach". Beware, that in the passive
>form "insegnare" is always reflexive (Alan, this is the correct
>translation of "riflessivo" ?)
>
>Best regards from Italy,
>Dott. Piergiorgio
>
>(Alan: atrocissimo dubbio... non e' che ho. come moltissimi italiani
>ormai, CONFUSO IL CONGIUNTIVOOOO ????)
Peter Skelton
William Black
"Andrew Swallow" <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:ILKdnRopWsrE2ovV...@bt.com...
> PaPaPeng wrote:
> [snip]
>
>> class. In truth, it is no longer valid. However high their quality,
>> they are now too few to fulfil many of the tasks they are assigned.
>> Even if ministers try to delude us otherwise, the public should not be
>> fooled.
>>
>
> Do not worry about the size of the British Army - Peking will be nuked.
>
Why bother?
It only took 20,000 European troops to take Peking last time, and they're
still talking about it there.
Of course everywhere else it's forgotten.
Like the Tai Ping rebellion.
That went on for fifteen years until the Chinese were loaned a single
British officer, then it was over in eighteen months...
The Chinese army can obviously be safely ignored. Everyone else ignores
it...
--
William Black
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.
William Black
"Eugene Griessel" <eugene@dynagen..co..za> wrote in message
news:4816f94d...@news.uunet.co.za...
> Andrew Swallow <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>>As for the British being cowards - ignore the polite words and recall
>>who they have been killing. You may wish to make a list of the
>>countries the British have been to war with.
>
> Wouldn't it be easier to make a list of the countries the British have
> not been to war with?
Quicker anyway...
Is there one?
PaPaPeng
<willia...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
.
>
>The Chinese army can obviously be safely ignored. Everyone else ignores
>it...
That's what Nehru and Krishna Menon figured too.
William Black
"PaPaPeng" <PaPa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:chgq14lt6eh6cbv1n...@4ax.com...
All those Chinese Red Army parades in New Delhi are the proof of Chinese
military supremacy...
Zomby...@cox.net
<willia...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>
>"Andrew Swallow" <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
>news:ILKdnRopWsrE2ovV...@bt.com...
>> PaPaPeng wrote:
>> [snip]
>>
>>> class. In truth, it is no longer valid. However high their quality,
>>> they are now too few to fulfil many of the tasks they are assigned.
>>> Even if ministers try to delude us otherwise, the public should not be
>>> fooled.
>>>
>>
>> Do not worry about the size of the British Army - Peking will be nuked.
>>
>
>Why bother?
>
>It only took 20,000 European troops to take Peking last time, and they're
>still talking about it there.
>
>Of course everywhere else it's forgotten.
>
>Like the Tai Ping rebellion.
>
>That went on for fifteen years until the Chinese were loaned a single
>British officer, then it was over in eighteen months...
>
>The Chinese army can obviously be safely ignored. Everyone else ignores
>it...
>
Until a million of em are camped out in your backyard, then they
become rather hard to ignore.
--
"Before all else, be armed" -- Machiavelli
Soren Larsen
They have been camped in the Vietnamese backyard for quite a while.
In 79 they tried to take on Vietnam while the vietnamese was occupied
taking out the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia..
It was a very bad idea to mess with an army that had just defeated
France and the US in succession.
The PLA invaded Vietnam with 85.000 troops and was kicked out in
about a month with about 60.000 (western estimates) casualties
--
History is not what it used to be.
William Black
<Zomby...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:4imu14tt9qpcse46o...@4ax.com...
Nope.
Vietnam doesn't care.
India is a lot less worried than they were.
The Chinese Army, to coin a phrase, is a paper tiger...
They can't even get that torch up Everest in mid summer...
george
wrote:
> They can't even get that torch up Everest in mid summer...
Doesn't say a shitload about their helicopter technology does it
William Black
"george" <gbl...@hnpl.net> wrote in message
news:bcfba541-bc34-4392...@i36g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
Dunno, helicopters don't like it that high up.
Says a shitload about their organisational ability though.
Maybe they're worried about a passing Buddhist monk throwing his beads at
them?
Joe Osman
My BS and MS are in Physics and my Ph.D. is in Solid State Science and
Technology, so I can speak about the situation in physics in the US.
In physics departments here, there is a need for a lot of teaching
assistants (TAs) to help with the large number of science and
engineering students taking the calculus based 3 semester physics
sequence. The next step is to become a research assistant (RA) and
start your thesis work, but there is often not enough money to fund RA
positions for all the graduate students that have been TAs. A written
and oral test called the the qualifier is then used to cut down the
number that advance to RA positions. Many universities the flunk out
rate can be near 20-30% or so. Physics students don't have to take
economics like engineering students do but face the hard reality of
economics before they even begin their career. Some graduate students
take an entire semester off just to study for their qualifiers.
Joe
Andrew Robert Breen
(I've deliberately not snipped the above in order to retain context).
It's a bit different in the UK system - at least in the part of it
I operate in. The following applies to that section of Physics
which used to be supported by the Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Council (which did pretty much what the name said) and is
now funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. The
situation may differ in larger University Physics departments, but
this is the view from a space scientist in a smaller department..
Research degree positions are almost always (always, in my experience)
tied to specific projects which have been proposed by the supervisor
(via the department). The supervisor gets the money, then goes looking
for a suitable student (whether by advertising, talking to promising
students in the department, getting other staff memebers to divert
people your way, asking colleagues at other univerisities to point
people your way...) - this is very different from other academic areas,
especially in the Humanities.
If a student doesn't have a degree in the upper two classes (I or II(i))
then they're not going to get a funded PhD position. Taking a (usually
taught) Master's degree between finishing their Batchelor;s degree and
applying for a PhD can make a II(ii) fundable (or at lkeast it did the
last time I looked at the rules - end of last year).
PhD students aren't used as teaching assistants - or, lat least, not in
lectures. They may (often are) used to supervise undergraduate laboratories,
but there are always academic staff there as well. Some universities use
graduate students to mark undergraaduate assignments. Others don't (we
don't, at least not in Physics).
OTOH, we /do/ ask new graduate students to sit in on undergraduate lectures
in cases where the new student might not have some of the specialist
background (e.g. student who arrives with a Physics degree to do a PhD
in space physics would be asked to sit in on undergraduate space physics
lectures in the 1st year of their PhD).
There's a substantial degree of reluctance to give PhD students anything
to do which takes them away from their research work - this is driven
by pressure from the funding agencies for rapid completion (if a PhD
thesis isn't submitted in 4 years then this is counted as a "fail" by
the funding agency, and the department will suffer for this (in
raduced numbers of studentships allocated) in future years. Except in
rare cases, funding forn the student is for 3 years, so that's an
incentive for the student to push on (though, often, the supervisor
is alive to this problem before they are...). Sometimes a student
can get a Research Associate or Graduate Research Assistant post (the
names vary between universities) while they write up their thesis.
This might involve doing research unrelated to their thesis topic and
could involve some teaching.
If someone drops out of a PhD in the first year then there's a good
chance of replacing them on the same funding. After that it gets difficult
(with drop-outs counting as "fails" and a risk of the department
getting penalised).
Next step (after PhD) is post-doctoral research assistant (or fellow,
again the title differs between universities). PDRAs should be starting to
develop their own research track (within the framework of the project
they're employed in). Funding for these positions is again (overwhelmingly)
from the research councils, forming part of an overall research grant
to the department (in other words, these are "soft money" posts and
only exist for the length of the grant - this leads to interesting
complications re: employment legislation..). PDRAs can be required
to do a limited amount of teaching (we keep it down to 1/2 course / year
as a rule of thumb). There are limits to how much time PDRAs can spend
on non-research work, laid down by the research councils. We like to
stay well below these limits.
"Inappropriate contact" between academics and students is a /very/ fast way
for an academic to leave the profession. It used to happen (though only
once that I know of in a case where the academic was in a supervisory role
at the time, and that wasn't in the UK system) but the sense of what is
permissable has changed in the last 25-odd years. Now it would bring
the roof down..
--
Andy Breen ~ Not speaking on behalf of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Feng Shui: an ancient oriental art for extracting
money from the gullible (Martin Sinclair)
Fred J. McCall
:In article <911f6dc3-aa47-48c4...@e39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
:
All these uses for grad students are, of course, why academic types
never see the need of research into robotics. They already have
slaves, after all, so who needs a robot?
--
"Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute."
-- Charles Pinckney
La N
"Andrew Robert Breen" <a...@aber.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:8bcbf5x...@news.aber.ac.uk...
Upon reading this, I am reminded of the little correspondence we exchanged a
couple years back, Andy, re. my own brother being a prof at a Wales
University - Swansea. I had his family as visitors to this part of Canada
last Christmas and New Years and the previous Swedish-accented English was
replaced by a Welsh lilt on the part of the tribe of kids who were
absolutely thrilled to be able to make snow forts, ski, and go to hockey
games ... ;)
Glad to see you posting like a heart-healthy netizen!
- nilita
Joe Osman
> In article <911f6dc3-aa47-48c4-b3f5-1c906c904...@e39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
Here in the US an experimental physics Ph.D. can easily take 7 years.
The professors hate to give up the cheap labor. There have been
strikes of graduate students for more money, IIRC Columbia U. had one.
I was in the USMC between high school and college and was put in the
graduate dorms as an undergraduate because of my age. I was visiting
my math graduate student friend one day in 1973 when they jokingly put
up a poster with "Ask us about our guaranteed A program for attractive
female students". The head of the math department was in the room
tearing it off the wall in about 5 minutes cussing at every graduate
student in sight. That was the extent of the punishment. Now there
would probably be firings and organized protests for such a thing.
Joe