Nate Silver: it's the numbers, stupid

Player

poker and baseball nerd become political forecaster gained fame after predicting the outcome of U.S. elections, with amazing accuracy. And as his star rises so does a whole new generation of "some" leaders of the digital revolution

Nate Silver is a new type of star policy. Someone who really knows what he's talking about. United States, scholarship has always been to have the right kind of hair or teeth or on the right side of the foam. Money has none of these things. It has only numbers. Many of them. And in the night of the U.S. presidential election, proved correct fairly spectacular.

For weeks and months, the election was "very close". Pundit after commenter stated that the election could "go either way". That was "head to head". But this was not the case. In the end, turned out not to be suitable for all. Or simply that Nate Silver had been saying for months. On election day, predicted that Obama was able to win 90.9% in the majority of electoral votes and gnashing of survey data successfully predicted the correct result in 50 of 50 states.

"Do you know who won the election night?" Asked MSNBC TV presenter, Rachel Maddow. "Nate Silver."

Twitter is in crisis. The blogosphere was Nate Silvertastic. Sales of his first book,

signal and noise: The art and science of forecasting

jumped 800% overnight and reached number two on the sales list. And whole sections of the press decided that it was not only a personal triumph for Nate Silver - was the triumph of the nerds. A man and his mathematical model had overcome a political journalists, Spin Doctors, hacks and commentators.

Silver

not much later fame and hottest American television news. Or "The new boyfriend chattering classes", as Washington Post

called. La Plata 34 years is a very convincing Clark Kent before Superman makeover. It is so small, brewing, headlong into the room, looked almost embarrassed by the idea of ??being interviewed. poor Nate. There is a lot to live up to. Pushes glasses up his nose. "It was crazy," he said. But then, it really does not see it. "I became invested with symbolic power. Transcends not really what I do and what they truly deserve. And I would be the first to say I want the diversity of opinions. You do not want to treat a person as an oracle. "

It may be a little late for that, though. The day after the election, he continued

The Daily Show

and Jon Stewart was hailed as "Nate Silver, the Lord, the God of the algorithm."

In other circumstances, if the money had been another type of personality, be more selfish, it could all be a bit much. But it is also a story about the underdog coming out on top. In the weeks before the election, critics of money (especially on the right, angry, he predicted an Obama victory). Attacked not only the methodology, but also

UnSkewedPolls.com Dean Chambers celebrated its "voodoo statistics", said he was "smoking locoweed" and finally declared a "weak and effeminate" man "small "with a" soft-sounding voice. "

There was more than a touch of homophobia criticism (Silver is gay), to say nothing of aversion to scientific rationalism that has come to characterize some areas of the right conservative. (Gawker compared the attack "slap something like jock a mathematics book in the hands of a child saying" NICE NUMBERS, FAG. ")

But anyway, it seems that flattery was more difficult to handle. "It makes me nervous. Because I guarantee you will begin to go wrong," he said. "We" is his blog, FiveThirtyEight (the name of the 538 electoral votes), which was created in 2007 to provide a data-based analysis of the police and, in 2010, moved to the site of the great Cathedral of the new policy and the U.S., the

New York Times

is a fact that reinforces his credentials as Clark Kent. We sit in

Times

of super smooth Manhattan Midtown skyline with its view of millions. And yet, in the days before the election, was rudimentary little blog money, which led to 20% of its traffic. (Is not it a coincidence that DC Comics announced last month that, after 70 odd years, Superman would withdraw from the

Daily Planet

create a blog. ) Silver Because if this is not the Superman of Big Data, it is certainly Supergeek their pin-up boy. And it is clear that learning more about politics without assistance is almost as effective a method of searching for the truth that the stool dodge.

always been a matter of numbers with Silver. "I've always been a bit silly," he said. He grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, the local baseball team, the Detroit Tigers won the World Series when I was six years old, "and had all kinds of statistics and it really was. "

After graduating from the University of Chicago with a degree in economics, he worked for four years as a consultant at KPMG. Then he discovered online poker. "It was the time when there were many people who come on sites that had really no idea," says Silver. He, however, was good enough to take your money, taken in its work "for a time lived the dream of poker. "

Poker is a magnet in the life of the money. He learned about the accident and its role in life. "And I had a better education than anything else I can think of how to weigh the new information, which could be important information that could be lower. Our base instincts tend to be not very proper. Tend to overweight new information. "

Finally, he said, "had this tenuous relationship between skill and luck and ambiguity between the two. Where is this money, I was lucky or was I right? Never can tell. "Estimates made about $ 400,000 (? 252,000) gambling online, simply pursue his other love: baseball. Sport is changing and money has become one of the few People who saw the possibility that it is more objective and information management. has created a website, Pecota, who modeled a system for predicting the career of players in Major League Baseball, then sold the prospectus baseball.

is a battle between the old-school scouts and a new wave of newcomers statistically spirit, a struggle that was said in the bestselling book by Michael Lewis Moneyball

and later a movie with Brad Pitt. In 2007, Silver was casting around for something new.

"I was looking for something like baseball, where a large amount of data and the competition was quite low. It was then that I discovered politics. "It was originally anonymous, calling Poblano, until a few months later, he marginalized.

Silver

thought that taking the available data and the application of Bayesian theory to it, you could have "a few perks." There is a wealth of data on American politics and the Bayesian theory, a way to calculate conditional probabilities has been an English clergyman Thomas Bayes, who first made some time in the early 18th century. It was not, as his critics have been quick to point out, exactly rocket science.

But money is the first to agree. It is not even the only one to have done this. Others have been less successful. Basically, it is absolutely bog-standard statistics. He said electoral data. The project or the "secret" of his model is what gives weight to these data. How is it done in the past, which could be biased, what other information can be exerted on it.

But in the rarefied world of American politics, showed significantly more accurate than was there before. Or even in British politics for that matter. We do not have the same abundance of survey data that exist in America, so that its use could be less successful here, but this has not prevented the Daily Telegraph Janet Daley with a weight on the France elections. On election day, said a win for Romney, arguing that the Obama campaign does not "feel" like a winner to her. Others had a "hunch" that Romney would edge. With competition like that, said Silver, it really was not hard to do something a little less medieval.

• . "Figures are not perfect, but for me it is a number with all its imperfections against shit You had people saying," You can not quantify the feelings of people through the numbers! But what is the alternative? I sat in my Georgetown cocktail that I know how people in Toledo, Ohio, vote better than the real people of Toledo, Ohio, who responded to a poll? It is incredibly presumptuous. And the truth is an absolute defense. So, if this were the case, it would be one thing, but did not. They are always wrong. "
• Silver
• not work in the party scene of Georgetown. Failure to lobbyists, Spin Doctors, campaign managers and press officers. No, really, the game system that political relations, both in the United States and the United Kingdom, is a system, a system that can sometimes seem like a deal. In Britain, the atmosphere you-scratch-my-back-and-I-scratch-your entrance is on the hot seat at the expenses scandal, a scandal that led to a reporter outside the political to pop apart. In the United States, money is described as "transactional".
"From time to time, you will have the occasional scoop, if you're a good performance and play., But it's just a game with a lot of interests at work. Campaigns Do not forget because it is louder. "

What is interesting is that campaigns, especially Obama, the importance of data. They hired a "chief scientist" and, according to campaign manager, Jim Messina, set to "measure everything." Numbers says that the approach and how to approach them.

Find best price for : --Twitter----Georgetown----Daley----Janet----Brad----Superman----Rachel----MSNBC----Nate----Silver----poker--

Iran, U.N. nuclear agency to resume talks in December

Insurgents kill 8 Afghan police, soldiers

AstraZeneca deepens collaboration with academia

Tunisia in arrested development over human rights, says Amnesty

Arab Spring success in the crisis that the report on the first anniversary of free elections reveals the repression of dissent by the new leaders

Progress on human rights in Tunisia after the revolution of the Arab Spring last year is being reversed by the current government, said Amnesty International, as the country marks the first anniversary of free and fair democratic elections.

reforms that followed the departure of President Ali Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 - including the release of political prisoners, new laws on freedom of the press and associations - have not followed, said. Last October elections were widely hailed as representing a model of transition to democracy.

However, in the latest in a series of tests by international human rights observers, Amnesty says that recent months have seen new restrictions on the freedom of expression of journalists, artists, for people Government critics, writers and bloggers.

"The protesters, who continued to take to the streets in different parts of Tunisia to express their dissatisfaction with the slow pace of reforms have been met with excessive force and unnecessary," said Amnesty adding that has received reports of torture and other ill-treatment ", many of them protesters who were beaten during demonstrations, in custody or in detention centers."

• state of emergency in force since the uprising has been renovated several times, most recently until the end of this month. The Tunisian authorities have also been "unable or unwilling" to protect individuals against attacks that are believed to be affiliated with Salafi groups.
• Last week, Human Rights Watch said it had documented a series of attacks by radical religious groups against political activists, the authorities had not investigated. HRW also expressed concern that a bill that prohibits the Ben Ali era of government to seek the office was too restrictive and does not move the "inclusive democracy".

Tunisian Journalists also on strike, accusing the government of trying to impose new controls. Investigators from the UN and the African Union recently noted human rights violations, including attacks against journalists, artists and activists, torture, threats conservative Islamist groups and the use of excessive force against demonstrators police.

Tunisia was the first and most peaceful uprisings of the Arab Spring, sending shock waves through the Middle East and North Africa when Ben Ali, who had ruled the country since 1987, was overthrown and fled into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Find best price for : --Watch----rights----human--

Free education from political meddling and hand control to teachers

politicians instead of control, that education is in good hands if I had a body independent of the teaching profession at the bar?

Last week I was talking to my father. It is a principal retired, who taught for 50 years (from 1957), I am a teacher who began 17 years ago. We, as teachers do, put the world in order. The conversation included Gove (of course), Ofsted (how boring is Wilshaw), review problems, finance, labor, SATS, and so on, the usual subjects. This is usually the same conversation we had for nearly 20 years. Gove swap Baker, Wilshaw for Woodhead. But this time the conversation ended differently. Usually, we have a whinge, discuss how things can be done differently and I agree that we would do a better job at every opportunity. We love to complain (what teacher does not), but we always ended our conversations accept things that are generally better than they were in the past.

Essentially, we are both educational and optimistic, even though we complained the details have always believed that things are improving in general. Although the people who run the educational system are the politicians who know nothing about education (with some exceptions), most are motivated by the desire to improve the life chances of all children (I have said you are optimistic), and its appearance in the wrong direction to operate the political system as well as you can.

Ed Balls is a good example of this type of minister, motivated by all the right reasons to do all the wrong things, not because he wants to destroy the system, but because it is a economist and I know nothing about education. Wilshaw is another example, but of another class (eg Woodhead). Someone who knew a lot about education, but a politician has forgotten what they learned. It is, I believe, sincerely wants to see the system improve and you want to see all the lights of the schools are teaching effectiveness, but destroyed the morale of teachers in some of its expressions less thought and makes it less likely that improved things. He must learn the maxim "things effective, efficient people." Regrettably, it is not a danger to Wilshaw central principle of education for all children have the right to genuine educational experiences that prepare them their future lives.

Gove, on the other hand, is really dangerous. It is powered by a very different ideological motivation and seems to have a profound contempt for the idea that all children should have the same opportunities to flourish and succeed. By his actions since taking office, Gove seems determined to break the consensus education and dismantling 68 years of progress in education. In the emerging system Govite students today and in the future will focus their education on the perceived needs of the economy. Educational experiences, both primary and secondary, has been reduced to a small set of academic skills and knowledge to measure, record and analyze data tracking software. Not enough space for everyone to succeed, so some have to fail. Rigor called.

rigor is the new mantra of modern politicians undisputed education. We hear from both sides. Another is "raising the bar" (a metaphor hate) and "make teachers accountable." All, no doubt, in order to improve outcomes for children and reduce the gap between rich and poor . It is the consensus view. Gove But a different program. He is not interested in fixing or improving education for all. In their eyes, the system does not work, does never worked and not worth fixing. seems that your device is to create a narrow elitist education system that benefits the industry and the privileges of the economic and political elite. He did not intend to increase social mobility. objectives are actually widen the gap, build barriers and make education a business. If you want to see that education in this country will be like once you have finished taking a look at the worst excesses of the American model.

Gove

My goal is not like the other ministers of education we have had in the past - inept and ill-informed and involved, but most of the time with good intentions - is a tow that does not improve our education system, wants to destroy.

• You may be thinking right now, "wait, it's a little hard," but remember, I'm an optimist. In fact, when it comes to education, I'm pink, eyes open, Pollyanna. I love teaching, which is what I prefer. But for the first time in my career that I think about stopping, I plan an exit strategy, leaving the machine before I eat, and I'm not alone. According to some reports more than half of the profession are looking for other careers. My hunch is that this is only the tip of the iceberg and we begin to see the end of teaching as a profession and privatization of the entire education system.

a depressing thought, especially since I have two kids in high school and a primary school. So this time, when my father and I have finished our usual catch up and complain, not finished feel better. Instead we ended up feeling worse and more depressed about the future than we have been.

What could be the end of this article - another in a long list of blogs sadly things have become so familiar recognizing the seriousness of the only way is - until recently, I read the comments sections the end of these blogs and I noticed a theme developing. Among the usual trolls and troglodytes has been a growing number of employees - teachers, parents, academics, students and even Ofsted inspectors - who said enough is enough, we are not powerless in this process. We must take a stand and create opposition to the demolition of our educational system is based on the universal opportunity. Not through unions, whose business is to protect the rights of workers, or the Labour Party, which has made a mess when they had the chance, but by a popular movement of ordinary teachers, parents, students and others who want to protect our education system (with all its faults) and demand an end to this process of ideological destruction.

If you feel the same way then click here to sign the petition and join the opposition to political interference in education and the creation of an independent professional faculty to oversee the protection universal educational opportunities and long-term development of a world-class education for the 21st century.

Tim Taylor is Professor of AST working in Norfolk and editor mantleoftheexpert.com

Find best price for : --Guardian----Balls--

Romney makes late play for centre ground after months stuck out right

Report

Romney

their latest in a series of abrupt changes in direction being wobbly Obama

'47% '

It took more time than expected to arrive, but Mitt Romney finally took the advice of his chief adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, and turned his campaign for the U.S. presidency in an Etch A Sketch. Fehrnstrom also famous back in March:

"You can kind of shake and start again."

In the first presidential debate on television with President Obama Wednesday night, and media appearances later, the former Massachusetts governor has made several abrupt changes of direction that experienced observers have left Romney flabbergasted. The most dramatic is Thursday evening, when, during an interview on Fox News that all denounced his comments in a famous private fundraising that 47% of Americans dependent on the government.

In the firestorm that followed the publication of Mother Jones notes, Romney has tried to stand up for them, saying they were correct, but elegant set. But Thursday night, which left completely, saying: "In this case, I said something that is just completely wrong."

The turn was the spirit of his presidential debate performance last night, which seems similar revisions superb political positions was projecting the campaign for at least 18 months.

the year, after having spent the entire Republican primary season trying to convince the Tea Party fiscally conservative could trust tax cuts for all Americans that the super-rich, said: "I will not reduce the proportion of taxes paid by high-income people [who] do very well. "

Having spent months attacking the government bureaucracy to hamper the creativity of the market economy, announced that it is now believed that. "The regulation is essential that you can not have a free labor market if you do not control."

• And have a bath constantly hit the campaign against Obamacare, he tried to embrace the most popular aspects of the Act affordable health care. "I have a plan that supports people with preexisting conditions," he said, referring to the provisions of the law that prevents insurance companies that reject these patients.
• even praised his own health reform in Massachusetts as a "model for the nation, state by state." In the past, Romney has tended to avoid talking about your medical history as governor, because it is considered by many conservative than their liberal tendencies arc evidence closet.
Obama has been criticized by experts on the left and the right not to identify agile footwork of his opponent Wednesday night. But he tried to compensate for the omission in the discourse since. At a rally in Fairfax, Virginia, on Friday morning, Romney accused Obama of "trying to make a pas de deux, for an extreme makeover."

political observers reacted to Romney energy shift in the center with surprise, he did not take the decision itself, but made so late in the election cycle. Political scientist Larry Sabato said: ".. Romney has so far ignored the advice of Richard Nixon - go right for the primaries and then back to the center for the general election only respond"

Find best price for : --Rush----Sketch----McCain----John----Mother----Massachusetts----Etch----Eric----Romney----Mitt----Obama--

Said & Done: Ken Bates on Leeds fans; Sepp's pet hate; plus brothel news

Ken Bates Leeds fans, hatred, Sepp pets, best layoffs per week Becali on racism new brothel

Men

of the week

Ken Bates: in the negotiations on the sale of Leeds in a new ownership structure sea in relation to Bahrain, where pro-democracy 150 athletes were jailed last year - and draw a line on his difficult relationship for seven years with the confidence of Leeds fans. "They are idiots ... ignorant, illiterate. They give the club a bad name. "

social difference

social responsibility news last week: Premier League clubs investment

£ 18m

over three years through the new Premier League Fund Community, "using football to make a positive difference in society."

days it takes Premier League clubs spend £ 18 million in wages

. Also last week: Fifa reveal its total investment over 13 years in global projects rose

$ 250 million

, there including $ 500k aa> a new place in the Sudan FA.

$ 1.293bn

:. FIFA Ultimate reserve fund until a "moderate 1%" last year

Quotable

Joseph Blatter

, like football: "I do not like when someone says there is too much corruption in football against hard work. Is called "corruption. So do not say there is too much corruption in football. "

Manager

news

Topping out last week:

The number of days before John Ward Colchester sacked its chief executive, Tim Waddington, the fan pressure changes nothing revealed: "The merry-go-round is not here." do not throw the baby out with the bath water. "

Chile, August 28:

Deportes La Serena President Mauricio Peyreblanque coach Miguel Ponce. "The looting is not an option. We 100% back in Ponce., I do not like what they say tweets from fans, I do not care. "

September 22:.

will Sacks

September 24

, Dynamo Kyiv vice Oleksiy Semenenko, denying reports manager Yuri Semin output. "This is not only true Maybe going to happen in two minutes, maybe half a year, but let's be clear: .. Semin is our coach"

September 24:.

takes place in two minutes

. More

Steve Kean

- stay positive, hours, seven before leaving Blackburn. "The speculation is not new, I've had very positive discussions and very constructive conversations with the owners ... were very, very constructive. We are a positive feeling and we prepare for the game in a way that is positive and professional. Was one week very positive. "

Meanwhile

Palermo president

• Maurizio Zamparini
says he is transferring responsibility for PR to a colleague Pietro Lo Monaco. "I have to stop talking: my words will not do more harm than good." Best of Monaco PR time:

2008

- smooth a dispute with Jose Mourinho . "Mourinho crashed on the teeth. Disgusting is a charlatan. "

fines of the week

100 K ? well for Dinamo Zagreb

Domagoj Vida to open a beer on the team bus. The media say President Zdravko Mamic was "smart" after news of the incident filtered. "Mamic cried for an hour."
Find best price for : --Bates----Fernández----Cinthia----Defederico----Matías----Batziolas----Giannis----Coxim----Alvemiro----Mauro----Gerardo----Santa----Gigi----Paganese----Juventus----Alma----Fano----Vida----Domagoj----Dinamo----José----Pietro----Yuri----Oleksiy----Kyiv----Dynamo----Miguel----Peyreblanque----Mauricio----Serena----Ward----John----Colchester----Leeds--

Lady Gaga's 'body revolution' for people with eating disorders? No thanks | Sady Doyle

It smells sales specialists acceptance dangerous. Gaga is known record company make a profitable demographic outcasts

Lady Gaga has made a career of her insecurities reassure fans. What was once a subversive act cool - a pop star who seemed to mock his own glory -. Was dissolved in a mess of procuring

Gaga has positioned itself as the champion of LGBT fans, feminism, people with AIDS, immigrants of all races, "whether black, white or Chola East is" and basically anyone who is willing to spend money on an album of Lady Gaga. It embraces and loves her "little monsters" publicly, at the end, and with clumsy literalism: "If life has left you disabled outcast, bullied or teased, rejoice and love yourself today Cause that baby you were born this way, "he sings.

Oh, my God, I thank you, Gaga! And I thought that I hate. Now I'm really in the mood to buy some items from Lady Gaga, after all, comes packed with free self-esteem!

Its ultimate goal is body image. After the photos of Gaga performing in costumes that were apparently too small for it to hit the press - who won about 25 pounds, he said - and sparked a torrent of ridicule, she took to her website to view photos her without makeup and in the pants.

"bulimia and anorexia since the age of 15," subtitled Gaga photos, to encourage their fans to send in their own pictures revealing: "Be brave and celebrate with us their" defects seen "as the company says. "With characteristic grandiosity Gaga, who called it the" body of revolution. "

In the early days of Gaga, body image is one of many topics discussed with aplomb. Although we roll our eyes at his antics last is shocking, it is important to remember what was once his act - especially since she was a pop star tried not to look conventionally beautiful. She appeared with dilated eyes, alien contacts transplants spine and Kermit dresses, mocking the whole mechanism of perfect girls, beautiful vocals are perfect, beautiful songs.

feminists rejoiced. We worked for years to highlight the artificiality of pop stars, his inability to models. Now, there was a pop star, every point of which is to act before. "Do you?" Gaga seemed to say: "I hated you for not looking like Britney because a company has spent millions of dollars, what you look like Britney. Was honored shutter shades and Kermit dress fucking I wish that, too. "

But there is something uncomfortable with the body of revolution. Eating disorders are a very sensitive issue, "thinspiration" (images or pieces of writing that are used to promote weight loss) can take anything. I work for an online magazine for teens, and I can confirm that the descriptions of weight loss or body shape should be carefully monitored, in order not to provoke readers anorexic or bulimic. Here's one thing that I think is useful for eating disorders: presenting images of themselves being judged by their favorite pop stars

At least the comments are favorable Lady Gaga: "eh GUUrl not need to diet, you are fucking great," he wrote in an old box fan anorexic recovery. "Looking good b * tch", she posts a photo of a friend who had a double mastectomy. Some feminists have argued that it reinforces the claims against Gaga SSO. I disagree, I do not think feminism is to protest against the fact that feels good to get a compliment. And when you feel bad about your body, you will hear is sexy (I assure you) much more able to listen to a long speech on political reasons as long as you are sexy.

Find best price for : --GUUrl----Lady----Orient----Gaga--

Paris Auto Show opens doors amid decline in sales

Automakers

Breaking down silos to deliver better public services

Spain: Model plane video evidence of terror plot

Spain

officials Saturday released a video showing suspected Al-Qaeda claims to the formation of an attack with a model airplane, the latest development in a case that has resulted in three arrests.

Olympics: a true legacy would be sport for all | Observer editorial

After the Olympics, it is important to focus on financing and understand how to encourage greater participation

Last week, the

New York Times

columnist Roger Cohen Twitter

the Olympics became Britain of "penumbra a smile" in the blink of an eye.

source of pride was running (almost) flawless Olympic competitions. The capital has not stopped. Instead, the Games were a city more beautiful and more welcoming, light - even for those who live there -. Under the gaze of visitors, both competitors and fans

A second cause for celebration was a huge success and multifaceted the British team, which has produced many inspiring stories and competitive.

approach was not full and incremental cycling Dave Brailsford and the irresistible rise of elite athletes, stories of dedication, large and small, to overcome adversity and defeat sportingly accepted and charm. Games have told us something about who we are as a nation - with the triumph of athletes, Mo Farah, who came to the UK as a child in Somalia, a reproach to those who have studied closely to define the British ideas of what should be.

But a bitter taste has been implemented in recent days pushing politicians who tried to make political capital out of the Games, packaging both its success and the prospect of future realization .

The question of how British sport should be based on the Olympic Games last week caused an unseemly competition between David Cameron - who even donned a tracksuit top Team GB in a moment - and Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, on the amount of mandatory physical education children should be required to make a detailed discussion of hoaxes and frauds.

For

yesterday, Cameron "political" has been installed in a wave, unbudgeted idea that all children in primary schools should be required to participate in competitive team sports, an idea that outside the box in which the wish that, in 16 years of military service.

The reality is that Cameron and Johnson expressed the desire to continue a legacy of sporting excellence through a "cultural shift toward greater competition" in schools is contrary to policies his party on sport at school, but not least, scrapping targets for the number of children who play sports in schools.

as recently pointed out, the biggest decline in school sport participation was under the last Conservative prime minister John Major, the same man who has been hailed by the National Lottery funds channeled for elite sports to ensure that flourished in London in 2012.

• It is interesting to note that when the ruling coalition, 90% of children were two hours of sport per week, at least, this document has been campaigning for. Under the current government, however, funding for the organization of school sport in school sport partnerships is being cut from £ 162m to just £ 9 million next year.
If some of the numbers that have circulated throughout the year in the last few days have been false, then the terms of the debate - at least among the political classes - were much more edifying. For the British success in the medals table should be applauded by those who have worked so hard, it ignores the fact that, while their achievements are a source of inspiration, they often have little to do with why the vast majority participate in sports or active leisure.

In fact, for many people, especially girls and young women, there is strong evidence that, far from encouraging continued participation in sport, competitive sport compulsory school can often be deeply alienating . All this leads to a deeper question - how can we see the wider contribution of sport in our society, in a country where one in four adults is considered obese, and almost one-fifth of the population reporting physical activity insignificant

And while nearly 7 million Britons who exercise three times a week, according to data collected by Sport England - an increase of more than 600,000 in 2005/6 - the organization also noted a worrying decline in participation of 16 - to 19 years, many say they could not afford to take part in the current economic climate

Find best price for : --Roker----Debi----Coleman----Lester----Louise----Brailsford----Dave--

City fears that Wall Street has the Square Mile in its sights

Behind

charges against shocks Standard Chartered is perhaps a major U.S. financial agenda

midmorning text message Peter Sands interrupted his vacation in Canada. The head of Standard Chartered had just started their summer holidays and unwind after the presentation of a new set of benefits records half of the city.

This is a U.S. regulator had accused the bank of violating financial sanctions against Iran was a flash of blue. It was a Monday and a few minutes of trading left in London, when the report, which said that the bank had helped clients to avoid U.S. sanctions on Iran 60,000 transactions worth $ 250 billion (160 billion), has landed.

several years, Standard Chartered, the bank had pulled through the financial crisis with a very squeaky clean reputation, told shareholders in their annual reports that he was "in negotiations" with the authorities U.S. on "historical" punish violations. But the nature of the allegations made by the Department of New York Financial Services (DFS) were extraordinary.

Despite the small window of commerce, bank shares lost 6% of its value on Monday and Tuesday morning were in freefall, losing nearly a quarter of its value at the time , as investors abandoned the action amid fears that the bank could lose its banking license in New York critical.

lamentable is the latest chapter in what has been a bad year for the Square Mile of London, which is still digesting the record fine imposed for having attempted to manipulate Libor Barclays and HSBC effusive apology in Assuming helping Mexican drug lords launder money.

Last week, Standard Chartered had boasted that he was too "boring" by the scandal and if the evidence were necessary Sands, CEO of Standard group and its leaders were not current regulator New York lawsky ambitious Benjamin was preparing to land, it lies in the fact that it took eight hours to respond agony. Standard Chartered has insisted that 99.9% of its transactions were legal and apologized to just under 300, for a total value of $ 14 million, had violated the rules.

Meanwhile investors use this time to study the report and it does not look pretty, but on the contrary, harsh speech attributed to a high standard framework approved which took a colleague New York fear of failure sanctions, memorable short confession. "Damn Americans Who are you to tell us the rest of the world, we will not deal with the Iranians"

not take long to realize that diatribe was supposed to have been made by Richard Meddings, CFO bank today highly respected. The bank insists that the quote is inaccurate.

For Tuesday Sands was on a plane back to London, leaving her vacation with her parents and return to the head office of the bank to start the return is crucial, not only for their own reputation wild but to help restore the fortunes of the battered city itself.

New York, where the president of the bank, Sir John Peace, went to meet lawyers of the bank, the episode is presented as an example of the city of rotten heart of London . "It seems that every great disaster arrives in London trading," said Carolyn Maloney in the U.S. Congress House Financial Services Commission investigation that the massive loss of JP Morgan in London earlier this summer.

• Ironically, until the banking crisis of 2008, London was arrested by U.S. policymakers as a model of economic dynamism. «Back to 2005, 2006 and London was the envy of New York," said Peter Henning, a professor at Wayne State University Law Center. London was lighter regulation and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been considered "bite", a trait that Henning said he was admired by Wall Street bankers.
• Meanwhile, Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York, and New York Senator Charles Schumer warned that the city was "stifled by restrictive regulations" put in place after the Enron scandal.
• Henning
• As mentioned above, a large part of the - alleged and admitted - otherwise Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered envied happened during this period of "light-touch" regulation. "Well, now, I think we will probably see the consequences," he added.

with the regulatory framework of the city tightens the coalition government, the dissolution of the FSA and to cede control of banking supervision at the Bank of England in London, it is feared American politicians are opportunistic.

DFS
addition, Standard Chartered is in talks with four other agencies, including the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, but apparently broke ranks lawsky without informing other agencies.

Labour MP John Mann, is not a friend of the bank as a whole, feared "a growing anti-British bias regulators and politicians who seek to change the financial markets London to New York. "
Even the Bank of England, Mervyn King, Governor Sir must say that the British authorities expect that the various U.S. regulatory authorities to work together while Chancellor George Osborne has sought assurances from U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner that Standard Chartered would be treated fairly, the U.S. authorities usually work in these colonies.

Find best price for : --City----Square----James----HSBC----Street----Wall----Henning----University----John----Richard----Lawsky----Benjamin----York----Sands----Peter----Chartered----Standard--

Fixed term tenancies: no 'Higgs boson' for the housing sector

short term leases have their supporters and detractors, but it will not solve the housing problems. Everything depends on the government to fund new homes

When I started working in the 1980s, private tenants had few rights. My job was to keep them at home as long as possible. If we can not answer this, a handful chance to win the lottery for the rental of the board. We all breathed a sigh of relief when it happened, because they could not stay there forever.

Now

advice and housing associations should not grant new leases on life. Is this a step forward for justice or just another example of two wrongs do not make a right? You can make a strong case for and against five-year leases social landlords.

owners fixed long-term leases say they can accommodate more people. It is simply a better way to sweat assets, houses to let out more often and if you load new tenants higher rents more money for construction

You can tell more tenants move or pay to stay. No more empty nest with two spare bedrooms while families in need are trapped in overcrowded housing. Some owners claim that term leases are more accurate. Why does everyone get a lease for life? It is a certainty that race, at one time, others will have more interest in the property.

However, the case against fixed term lease is just as powerful. If people can afford to leave social housing in general, yes, but today it is difficult to get a mortgage for people not leaving. Why not solve rental instead of playing? Do we want people who are able to leave our land? It is a scorched earth approach to sensitive models?

Council housing managers also fear that the costs associated with the management of lease duration. Where is the money coming from to run the tests of means and resources inevitable? When tenants change as there are significant costs associated with abandonment, check and repair the house. There is a final moral question: Is it fair to force a family to relocate? We still have some sympathy for the old adage 'an Englishman's home is his castle. " People form an attachment to your house, and an area for schools and support. Fortunately, it is not for me to exercise the Wisdom of Solomon and select the winner of these two. Some owners are testing the long-term fixed leases, so that in time we will find out what works and what does not.

• My prediction is that the fixed-term lease is not the Higgs boson for the housing sector. It will not solve all mysteries and complexities of our social housing system. The fact of the matter is that this will be the plan of the coalition government for five years for growth, not the five-year lease, which can get us out of the housing crisis.
• simply build more houses. If these houses are pretty good tenants move upwards. If not, what right do we have to force them to leave?

Alistair McIntosh is the Chief Executive Officer

Housing Quality Network

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional.

Find best price for : --Higgs--

MOOCs: a massive opportunity for higher education, or digital hype?

As best universities join the name of revolution MOOC risk, Mike Boxall ask what we can learn from history and future dot.com winner will

MOOCs (massive open online courses) is the latest addition to the initial lexicon attached to higher education, and perhaps most important of all. They represent a new generation of online education, freely available on the Internet and has led to many students.

months, we have seen a number of large companies MOOC major universities such as MIT, Harvard, Princeton and Berkeley, which offers free lectures and courses of world leaders in their respective countries fields. And in July, 12 universities in the United States and Europe Coursera announced their participation in a platform online course created by two researchers at Stanford University.

The phenomenon has been compared by the president of Stanford University with a "digital tsunami" that threatens to sweep the classic university. Whether or not increased MOOCs prove to justify such hyperbole, there is no doubt that something very important is happening in the global system, which raises serious questions about the nature and future of higher education.

MOOCs are not entirely new. Both the MIT and the Open University have offered our own open-source educational resources and free online short courses for a few years, but most of the time as "tasters" for power. iTunesU, TED and Academic Earth are among the non-academic sources and excellent free video lectures by eminent specialists. What's new in MOOCs is the breadth, scope and pace of business.

new major players include Coursera, EDX Udacity, Minerva Institute Khan, Straightline and People's University. All offer a wide range of high quality courses, free access, with varying degrees of support online, homework, assessment and certification, even for programs that perform. Each claims to have signed hundreds of thousands of students around the world, but with relatively low percentages perseverance to complete their courses.

Unlike commercial online courses, like the University of Phoenix Private, most have grown MOOCs non-profit spin-off of Ivy League universities in the United States and the institutions involved in the world. They have, however, attracted more than 100 million of private investment and venture capital this year, and the enthusiastic support of the global giants of the industry such as information Google and Pearson. there are clear echoes here of the dot-com revolution of the late 1990s, which is reflected in the diversity of interpretations of industry observers of higher education. Many share the opinion of the president of Stanford MOOCs reproduce breakthrough innovations that have reshaped the global information, media and communications, moving the market power of incumbents for businesses and the creation of upstart providers alternative.

Other

are more skeptical, noting that the current versions are essentially MOOCs modern external correspondence courses are available for 50 years or more. Supporters MOOCs academic tradition points not offer degrees or even recognized university credits for awards that distinguish "appropriate" graduates. Memories of the dot-com boom-and-bust year in question the viability of a business model based on giving away their main products and potentially also their intellectual property rights.

• The economic viability of open (read, free) online learning has not yet been established, but it could be compared to other industries based on the Internet and the Information. In the post-dot-com, value and benefits are mainly from the ownership of technology platforms through which users access and services. This gives platform owners huge amounts of information on markets and sales opportunities have generated hundreds of thousands of captive customers. This is why the global media and technology giants are lining up to invest in this emerging market, which industry analysts Global Inc. have estimated at $ 100 billion worldwide in 2015. And this is where the fiercest battles of the market that can be combatted.
In this first stage of the revolution MOOC, it is premature to predict the impacts on traditional higher education institutions. Universities and hedge funds that invest in this field openly acknowledge the high level of experimentation and testing the waters in question. MOOC current offerings are mostly digital versions of traditional pedagogies - that Dan Butin blogger "Learning Products 1.0 in a Web 2.0 World"

This can and will change depending on the type of interactivity incorporating users are already well established in the social media technologies. There is no intrinsic reason to MOOC knowledge can not be accredited and recognized, especially in power OTOR market opening, with the exception perhaps of the relevant provisions of quality assurance.

, or should we say, mature MOOCs will therefore question our basic notions of higher education, as well as our relationships with news, entertainment and other information have been transformed . When knowledge and educational content becomes property free, how the value of universities justify their fees? When the level of curriculum and support services are available upon request, when and how students want access to them, why should it be tied to school schedules classes liturgical calendar basis? And when the elements of higher education - the content, courses, support, evaluation, rewards - are available separately from world-class suppliers, what is the role of the university

Mike Boxall leads PA Consulting

Find best price for : --League----Straightline----MOOCs----Stanford----Princeton----Online----Open----MOOC--