How will CH cope with Brexit?

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rockfreak
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How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by rockfreak »

Brexit is a worry for all (except JR) but on a huge scale for CH. How will they recruit Spanish masters? And what about the food? Years ago when I was there the skiffage pie would have been produced organically and healthily in the fields of West Sussex, but what now? Well OK I hope they've moved on a bit from skiffage pie but the foodstuffs for all of us come massively from the EU. Is CH already stockpiling? And where? Maybe they could give us a few hints about what will be in short supply.
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by michael scuffil »

No one* will cope with Brexit, so CH will be in the same boat as everyone else. But when rockfreak and I were at CH, we still had Empire Day services on May 24 (a good thing too, it meant there was no time for PT that morning). Perhaps these could be reintroduced to indoctrinate the young with the notion that Britain could still rule the world if only it wasn't for these pesky Europeans.


*except of course for Nigel Lawson with his mansion in France, Jacob Rees Mogg with his hedge fund in Dublin, James Dyson with his factory in Singapore (with which the EU has a trade deal), Rupert Murdoch who cares so little about patriotism that he gave up his Australian passport for an American one which allows him to make more money, or Jeremy Corbyn, who will make no money out of Brexit but will gain ideological comfort as he can more realistically indulge his fantasy of universal nationalization.
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marty
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by marty »

rockfreak wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 8:17 pm Is CH already stockpiling? And where? Maybe they could give us a few hints about what will be in short supply.
I can confirm that the infirmary had begun stockpiling Bradosol as early as 1989 :D
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

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rockfreak wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 8:17 pmBrexit is a worry for all (except JR) but on a huge scale for CH ...
I dunno, CH will probably do what any organisation in their position has always done, either avoid or soften any negative impacts by having enough money to ride out any discomfort, or having low friends in high places operating on the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" principle who will help you sidestep any inconveniences the will negatively affect the gen pop. Failing that they'll cut their cloth to meet demands, and in financial terms that would mean a rejigging of fee structures and proportion of higher paying students to subsidised ones.

For that reason I imagine certain sections of the CH management team must be secretly relieved that the new and costly sports centre building work has been delayed.

As for hiring non-UK teachers, that'll be as easy as it's always been. The only thing about all of this I feel confident predicting is that actual number of non-UK workers will not decrease. It's more likely to increase IMO.
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rockfreak
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by rockfreak »

I imagine that Banker Brown is already considering taking a short position on the pound in anticipation of its Icarus-like descent if we leave. Will he be as successful as George Soros and his friends in 1992?
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by sejintenej »

rockfreak wrote: Fri Feb 15, 2019 6:55 pm I imagine that Banker Brown is already considering taking a short position on the pound in anticipation of its Icarus-like descent if we leave. Will he be as successful as George Soros and his friends in 1992?
What imagination! the contract was done nearly 3 years ago

As for language teachers there re plenty of Spaniards permanently in the UK where they have businesses and families. AFAIR France even has a Deputy for French nationals living in the UK. Around here there a lot of Germans, many working for my wife's ex-employer. A couple who live close to me come from Belo Horizonte and are fluent enough in that form of Portuguese.
Going back to your reference to Spanish - which one? There are about 7 or 8 versions in Spain alone - my teacher here speaks a dialect very different to one of the common ones which I originally learned. If you check out M.I.T. (the US university) their Undergraduate Spanish course covers not only Castillian Spanish but also (from memory) Argentine, Chilean, Colombian, Mexican, Cuban and Puerto Rican as well. I can assure you that some of those differ considerable from the European version and Paraguayan is, in my opinion and personal experience, uninteligible.

Now we come to the quality question. A girl my daughter went to school with has Spanish parents and from birth spoke only Spanish at home and also when she was teaching in school. Unfortunately British examiners didn't think much of her spanish when it came to A levels!

I have earlier recounted how a man, brought up in France and later Eton taught SOE agents but then declared that my French teacher at CH did not have the first idea. Despite that I got O level somehow but couldn't speak it and had big problems reading it.

Edit: just to make the point I have just got back from my Spoanish lessons; in two weeks time my teacher is going to Spain for a few weeks to her family before returning to the UK.
Last edited by sejintenej on Mon Feb 18, 2019 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

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Michael Scuffil mentions Empire Day when we were at CH. Doesn't this sound like a long time ago? And yet in his and my lifetime. Empire? When we ran large parts of the globe and no-one (except the subjugated peoples - let's call them the Empirees) questioned our right. In about 1954 I was in the Prep and on Sunday evenings we had a service in the hall and various non-Prep worthies were invited to come and give a sermon. Well OK, it wasn't really a full sermon - more what you might call a homily. On one occasion some guy that I was unfamiliar with came and gave us what was in effect a pep talk about the might of the British Empire. "Be proud to be British, boys," he concluded. I remember thinking, "Where does God come into this?" Well we were left in no doubt that God was on the side of the Empire
Years later I worked with young men who had done their national military service in places in the Middle East (Dr Scuffil and I just avoided it by a few months because they decided to abolish it) and these guys told me that they were told by their COs, "If you get any lip from the kaffirs, give 'em a good whack with your rifle butt." This was later graphically confirmed in 1968 on the cinema newsreels when the Quatar district of Aden rose up against us and an officer called Mad Mitch was sent in with one of those elite Scottish regiments to restore order, and indeed, after order had been restored there were our squaddies meting out rifle bashings to any Arab who happened to come wandering by. This is in my lifetime so I've no doubt that in many parts of the Middle East it's still very much folk memory.
Last edited by rockfreak on Fri Mar 22, 2019 9:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by sejintenej »

rockfreak wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 7:58 pm Michael Scuffil mentions Empire Day when we were at CH. Doesn't this sound like a long time ago? And yet in his and my lifetime. Empire? When we ran large parts of the globe and no-one (except the subjugated peoples - let's call them the Empirees) questioned our right. In about 1954 I was in the Prep and on Sunday evenings we had a service in the hall and various non-Prep worthies were invited to come and give a sermon. Well OK, it wasn't really a full sermon - more what you might call a homily. One one occasion some guy that I was unfamiliar with came and gave us what was in effect a pep talk about the might of the British Empire. "Be proud to be British, boys," he concluded. I remember thinking, "Where does God come into this?" Well we were left in no doubt that God was on the side of the Empire
I was in JFK one evening and listening to a distant noise. A gentleman (and he turned out to be a real gentleman) of colour saw me and asked what the noise was. I replied (to his surprise) that they were "drumming the Asantahene" which is a mark of celebration and respect amongst the Akan. The man turned out to be an ex-minister of Finance of Ghana who, in a long conversation, disclosed that the British made a lot of mistakes in the Gold Coast but they only made one big mistake - they left! And that was from a member of the Government!
This was later graphically confirmed in 1968 on the cinema newsreels when the Quatar district of Aden rose up against us and an officer called Mad Mitch was sent in with one of those elite Scottish regiments to restore order, and indeed, after order had been restored there were our squaddies meting out rifle bashings to any Arab who happened to come wandering by. This is in my lifetime so I've no doubt that in many parts of the Middle East it's still very much folk memory.
Your comments about Crater differ from most accounts. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had the job of controlling part of the port area known as Crater but could not get in without inflicting heavy casualties on the population. Mad Mich had the regiment in full dress uniform and at daybreak they marched in behind their pipers, and took control without a shot being fired. It was his action, not approved by the bosses in advance which stupidly got his regiment disbanded.
I don't know if it actually happened (I suspect it did because of the man involved) but (I think it was) in a Bridge Too Far the white sweatered Lord Lovat marched up the middle of the road which was under German fire with his personal piper beside him and his personal army behind him. Amazing what the pipes can do!
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by rockfreak »

scrub wrote: Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:49 am
rockfreak wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 8:17 pmBrexit is a worry for all (except JR) but on a huge scale for CH ...
I dunno, CH will probably do what any organisation in their position has always done, either avoid or soften any negative impacts by having enough money to ride out any discomfort, or having low friends in high places operating on the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" principle who will help you sidestep any inconveniences the will negatively affect the gen pop. Failing that they'll cut their cloth to meet demands, and in financial terms that would mean a rejigging of fee structures and proportion of higher paying students to subsidised ones.

For that reason I imagine certain sections of the CH management team must be secretly relieved that the new and costly sports centre building work has been delayed.

As for hiring non-UK teachers, that'll be as easy as it's always been. The only thing about all of this I feel confident predicting is that actual number of non-UK workers will not decrease. It's more likely to increase IMO.

Just a mischievous thought, Daniel Levy isn't overseeing the building of the new sports centre by any chance?
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by J.R. »

And Comrade 'Jeremy the Red' is now commanding a sinking ship.
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by Katharine »

sejintenej wrote: Mon Feb 18, 2019 6:09 pm I was in JFK one evening and listening to a distant noise. A gentleman (and he turned out to be a real gentleman) of colour saw me and asked what the noise was. I replied (to his surprise) that they were "drumming the Asantahene" which is a mark of celebration and respect amongst the Akan. The man turned out to be an ex-minister of Finance of Ghana who, in a long conversation, disclosed that the British made a lot of mistakes in the Gold Coast but they only made one big mistake - they left! And that was from a member of the Government!
Your post reminds me of our time in Ghana, and the first time I had a rifle pointed at me as we stopped at a road block. It was 1970 and the recently deceased Asantehene was being buried at a secret location - and we were innocently driving past it. We could see the shadowy figures taking part in the ceremony, but it was some way from the road. We were allowed to proceed after a while.

My husband worked for The British Council and as that particular posting was considered an Aid Posting we had a Union Jack on the car, which was greeted with many comments almost always complimentary, some saying things were better then.
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by sejintenej »

To do a take off of Rock Feaky, sejiontenej has had seven items published today in a RESPONSIBLE newspaper on a variety of subjects such as Angele Mand the tribute to the dead in the Normandy landings (and how they are related to the Brexit problems) , comparing Typhoid Mary to a certain Moslem woman in the news etc etc. , slamming the publisher for two totally contrary headlines on the same subject in the same edition, I now have to go back and heap praise on the Independents proving that some Labourites are sensible.
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by sejintenej »

Katharine wrote: Thu Jan 01, 1970 5:18 am]
Your post reminds me of our time in Ghana, and the first time I had a rifle pointed at me as we stopped at a road block. It was 1970 and the recently deceased Asantehene was being buried at a secret location - and we were innocently driving past it. We could see the shadowy figures taking part in the ceremony, but it was some way from the road. We were allowed to proceed after a while.
For the benefit of others, the Asantahene is the king of the Akan (in English, the Ashanti tribe) who once ruled from Sierra Leone to the Sudan. He has no national authority but is considered to be the nearest thing to the King and he is consulted on national matters.
There is a parallel which is seldom mentioned; the blood successor to the Emperor of Portugal has a similar position; a civilian, he is banned from standing for any public office but he has a high degree of respect as the king in waiting and also as a sucessful businessman near Rio de Janeiro

Katharine being stopped at the point of a rifle does not surprise me. Many of the police there (and especially the illiterate ones) routinely carried rifles. Imagine stumbling on the funeral of a senior Royal here ..........
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by rockfreak »

It's an interesting point Katharine to ask why we Brits were in these places to begin with. The Gold Coast (Ghana) might be a giveaway. It's so often because these countries are rich in minerals that the big powers take an interest in them. If we were doing such a great job why did resistance or independence movements spring up in just about every one? I believe that Ghana was the first in 1957. The wind of change, as Harold Macmillan put it.
Nkrumah, first president of Ghana, proposed an avowedly egalitarian regime when he came to power. He was subsequently deposed by a military coup while out of the country. I have no idea who was behind it but could it have been the western powers, angry perhaps that their corporations weren't getting the favours that they'd expected? Who knows.
The pattern of colonialism has so often involved getting one tribe or grouping on your side while screwing the others. Divide and rule. This was certainly the case in Kenya where we settled whites in large numbers and took over the Kikuyu's farmlands (without asking) in the 1920s and it took until the 1950s before the Kikuyu rose up against us. There was great savagery on all sides. We called it "the emergency": I suppose they said that they just wanted their land back. When we caught the "terrorists" we dealt with them by blinding them or castrating them. In recent years a few old tribesmen from those days have beached up at our Royal Courts of Justice asking for restitution. It was a bit difficult for our courts to deal with apparently because our authorities in Kenya and the British civil service had conveniently lost much of the documentation.
I do find it utterly astonishing, reading this site that, in this day and age, there should still be a sentimental affection for colonialism. I comfort myself by saying that the massive majority who go to CH are not posting on this site and so perhaps do not share these views.
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Re: How will CH cope with Brexit?

Post by sejintenej »

I left Ghana exactly two days before Nkrumah's overthrow. Although it was said to be a military action there were a very large number of civilians involved, with exceptions all locals of the different tribes. It came about that way because the military was a cohesive and effectkive grouping though a very large number of local people knew the overthrow was going to happen and when it would happen - there was no surprise.
At independence Ghana had been left with more financial backing from Britain than any subsequesnt independent colony but Nkrumah wasted it all on statues, palaces, the hosteses of Ethiopian Airlines etc etc. There was a tiny elite but the vast majority were worse off after independence than before.

Unfortunately Ghana after the overthrow (and to a lesser extent before) became the yardstick for African governments after they got independence; the President would ensure that his own tribe got the best jobs and conditions. Jomo Kenyatta was an exception but like other African rulers subsequent presidents followed the trend. An extreme was Zimbabwe but Nigeria has followed the lead - Biafra was partly tribal and partly religious Moslems versus Christians.

Why were we there? The Christian people of Britain realised that the poor people of Africa had not heard of Jesus Christ and resolved to educate them in civilian ways. They were living in very poor conditions, fighting tribe against tribe, there was slavery/selling of women to the Arabs, so the aid agencies resolved to improve their lot. In the case of Nigeria at independence it was the food bowl of Africa - there was plenty for everyone and for export. Now Nigeria cannot feed its people due to misrule and poor control.
You should compare the Empire with Stalin's control of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary etc. in our day.

As for blinding terrorists I had not heard of that in Africa - Simon de Montfort certainly carried out blinding of the entire population of Bram (as an exception one man was allowed one eye) and he was so great that a university is named de Montfort. What I have come across is mothers cutting the tendon/ligament behind their child's knee so they couldn't walk and would be more effective beggars on the streets.
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
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